This. This was unbelievable.

This was horrible.

Gokudera could not believe how stupid he had been.

How reckless.

Even though he had nothing else to do last night, that did NOT mean that he had to go and join that damned reunion. Look where that led him. He cursed under his breath as he stuffed his clothes into his open suitcase, frustrated. He blamed this on Dino. That damned, meddling Dino Cavallone. But most of all, he blamed himself. He could have easily NOT attended that thing, but no... He just HAD to, didn't he? He just had to give in to curiosity and, and...

And into temptation.

And hope.

The temptation, the hope of possibly seeing him again.

"Gokudera..."

The way that Yamamoto looked at him, eyes filled with so many conflicting emotions, but mostly sadness, made Gokudera freeze, unable to move. He did not even move when the distance between them shortened. Shortened dramatically until their breaths mingled with each other. Even though they were right outside the hotel room at the time, Gokudera did not do anything. He had done nothing to push the other away. If anything, though he had found that his heart stopped beating at the close proximity that they shared, and though he was a bit petrified and most definitely shocked, he found that he was, most of all, experiencing anticipation.

Imagine the scandal that would have been created if they were found like that, with Yamamoto's lips mere inches away from his own.

Two big names. The media would have had a field day.

But even with that thought in mind, Gokudera still had not done anything. He was... He...

Gokudera stuffed a pair of pants into the suitcase. He did not want to think about what had happened last night. He was careless.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Gokudera muttered angrily, mostly to himself. On his cheeks, a light shade of pink burned upon them at the memory.

Beep, beep, beep.

Gokudera started, then ignored the sound of his cell phone ringing, knowing full well who it was that was trying to contact him.

Instead of closing the distance between them, Yamamoto withdrew.

"I'm sorry, Gokudera."

"Morning!" Dino, without Gokudera realizing it, had invited himself into his room. He sat down on the edge of Gokudera's bed and watched as the writer stuffed the last of his belongings into it. He raised an eyebrow at this. "What are you doing, Gokudera?"

"I'm packing, of course. We are leaving today, aren't we?" Gokudera said as he closed the suitcase. He took out a small padlock, ready to lock it. "Or have you forgotten? We need to get to the next book signing in Tokyo. Honestly, you should get your head checked. You're so forgetful."

"Gokudera..." Yamamoto said. "Before you leave today, is it okay if we meet?"

Dino laughed and placed his hand on top of Gokudera's when the younger was about to lock the suitcase.

"There is no need for that, Haya-chan."

"What are you talking about?" Gokudera said incredulously. "We have to pack, don't we?"

Dino grinned.

Gokudera really, really, really did not like the smile on Dino's face.

"... What is it?" Gokudera said tersely.

"Oh, nothing," Dino said simply, "It's just that I decided to extend our stay here in Namimori is all. I've already sorted everything out so that your book signings at the other places will still be held. And also-" Dino slipped his hand off of Gokudera's "-I arranged for you to have another book signing here today." He was grinning so much now that Gokudera wanted to slap it off of his face. "Am I an awesome manager or what?"

No. No, you're not.

You're an awful manager. Awful, awful, awful!

Gokudera mentally screamed in his mind.

If there was a moment where he wanted to kill Cavallone, it was right now.

"DINO CAVALLONE, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

As insults from an incensed Gokudera Hayato rained upon Dino, the writer's cell phone kept on beeping.

"Eh...?" Yamamoto Takeshi pulled his cell phone away from his ear.

That was strange. Gokudera did not answer his call.

After his calls had gone unanswered for what must have been the sixth time that morning (and leading him to believe that Gokudera was either extremely busy or purposely ignoring his calls. He sincerely hoped that it was the former), Yamamoto gave up and slipped his cell phone into his pocket. The moment he did that, though, he was immediately subjected to Haru Miura's endless stream of babble. Something about her favourite new writer.

"His books really are amazing!" she gushed to Tsuna, who was feigning interest. "Especially his latest one! It's so sad that it made Haru cry!"

You see, the reason why they were currently walking to the biggest bookstore in Namimori is because of this; Haru's latest obsession. Tsuna and Yamamoto had woken up to her calls and enthusiastic knockings on the door, demanding for them to accompany her to some book signing. Barely an hour had passed before they were out the door with an excited Haru, showered, dressed, well-fed (they practically had to gulp down their breakfast) and still sleepy. It was only now that the sleep had begun to wear off of them.

Neither Yamamoto nor Tsuna really read much, so they did not really have a clue as to what Haru was talking about.

"He is so amazing," Haru chattered on as they neared the bookstore. "His books are mostly sci-fi. He keeps writing about UMAs, but his latest book is different. It's romance, and even though it's his first time writing that genre, it's really good!"

"Right... We'll take your word for- ack- Haru-!"

Yamamoto was so surprised by the queue that extended outside of the bookstore that he did not even notice when Haru suddenly pulled Tsuna to the end of the line.

"Yamamoto-san!" Haru called. "Here!"

Wow... he must really be popular... Yamamoto thought as he walked past a group of gaggling women before joining his friends. He pulled down his cap, not wanting to get recognized; especially not at such a crowded area. Luckily, though, everyone seemed to be distracted by the aspect of meeting the writer. His gaze flicked over to the signboard in front of the store. G. Archery... That name sounded vaguely familiar. He must have seen this guy's books somewhere before.

Though the sun beat down upon them, it did not seem to deter Haru in the least. She held the books that she wanted to be autographed to her chest, her eyes shining brightly. She was practically skipping.

"It's so lucky that he decided to extend his book signing for another day, or else Haru wouldn't have been able to attend!" she exclaimed. "And, and," she added excitedly. "Haru's friends saw him, and told Haru that he's very handsome."

"Right, right..." Yamamoto laughed, placing his hand on top of her head before pushing it down gently. She was just as enthusiastic as when they were teenagers.

And so they waited for their turn. It took awhile, but eventually, the line shortened until they were inside the store itself.

The sight that met Yamamoto's eyes took him back a little. If anything, the crowd in the store was even worse than it was outside. The corner of the store was especially crowded; it must be where the table of the author was. It seemed that in every corner and behind every shelf he cast his gaze upon was stuffed with people. Men, women, people of all shapes and sizes gathered here, books by the famous G. Archery in their arms.

A few more minutes passed until finally, they were the second ones in line. By that time, Yamamoto's attention was already elsewhere, and Tsuna was no better; the brown-haired male was equally bored. Yamamoto looked around the store with detached interest when the voice of Haru reached his ears, bringing him to attention.

"Hahi! Gokudera-san is G. Archery?"

Wait... what?

Yamamoto immediately pulled his gaze away from the shelf of books that he had been staring at and looked at the person sitting behind the table in front of him. Sure enough, sitting in the chair behind the table sat Gokudera Hayato. Surprise spread across Gokudera's face when his and Yamamoto's eyes met, but that look immediately changed into one of annoyance when Haru's voice pierced the air once more; she practically had her face in front of his face, not caring that she was invading his personal space. She looked dismayed.

"Haru's friends lied! Gokudera-san isn't handsome!"

A few people who heard that statement chuckled.

Gokudera's eye twitched.

He did not seem to find it very funny.

"Do I look like I fucking care about that?" he growled. "So are you gonna have your books signed or no- ow! Dino, you ass!"

Dino, the blond that Yamamoto had seen Gokudera with at school last night, had elbowed Gokudera in the shoulder.

"Be nice, Haya-chan," Dino said lightly.

"To hell with that-"

Dino cleared his throat, nudged the writer in the shoulder gently, and gestured at the line behind Yamamoto and Haru. A few people were trying to see what the commotion was about.

Gokudera may be interacting with his friends, but he still had to uphold an image in front of his readers. When Gokudera noticed a few curious looks being cast his way, he reached for one of Haru's books and muttered;

"Fine..."

Gokudera kept his head down as he began to sign the books, not wanting to look Yamamoto in the eye. Damn it, he thought, as he signed his signature in one of the books Haru had presented to him. Due to his nervousness, his signature had come out rather shaky, much to Haru's annoyance. He did not expect for that baseball idiot to come here, of all places. It was bad enough that his old friends now knew about his identity, but for Yamamoto to be here in person? Bad, bad, bad. Shit. He was lucky that Yamamoto Takeshi was not a reader; at least, he hoped that Yamamoto still wasn't.

As a million thoughts flew through his mind, Gokudera did his best to remain calm and composed, indifferent.

But of course, he was not able to avoid Yamamoto for long, since Yamamoto decided that he had stayed silent for long enough.

"Gokudera, you're a writer?" Yamamoto said.

Was this book signing why Gokudera did not answer his calls earlier?

A grunt.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"It's not that important."

A stab at Yamamoto's heart, but still, he did his best to maintain a cheery demeanor.

Gokudera signed yet another book.

Yamamoto looked around the crowded store. All around, people kept trying to catch a glimpse of Gokudera.

"It looks pretty important to me," Yamamoto said, smiling.

Another grunt.

Thinking it was time for her to speak up again, Haru stood on tiptoes and whispered into Yamamoto's ear, "It's probably because Gokudera-san's shy about writing girly stories."

Gokudera just gave her a death glare.

"I am not shy," he snapped.

As Haru and Gokudera began to bicker with each other again, Yamamoto picked up one of the books on the table. Wow... Gokudera had certainly written quite a bit since he had left Namimori... Though Yamamoto was happy for Gokudera's success, seeing this made Yamamoto realize, with a sinking heart, just how much of Gokudera's life he had missed. And the fact that Gokudera had kept such a large part of his life a secret kind of hurt.

But still... when he read the summary for each of Gokudera's books at the back cover, he found that Gokudera had not really changed. Like Haru had said, the contents of Gokudera's stories were abundant with UMAs, mythical creatures, aliens and the like. It somewhat comforted him that his friend was still in there somewhere.

Yamamoto picked up another book. This one was the one Haru had mentioned; the romance one. He could tell this by the lack of extraordinary creatures in the summary. Affliction, that was the title. Yamamoto could not help but to chuckle. He had expected UMAs and the aliens, but... romance? This did not quite seem like Gokudera's cup of tea (but somehow, it did at the same time. Gokudera could be rather sentimental... when people were not looking). Just holding the book made him feel compelled to read it. He traced the name G. Archery that was written on the spine.

"Hey, why did you choose to write under this name?" Yamamoto asked suddenly, bringing Gokudera to attention.

Upon seeing the book that Yamamoto was currently holding, Gokudera's eyes widened. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Fuck no. He reached out and snatched the book from Yamamoto's hands.

"Because, using my real name is a nuisance. Writing under a pseudonym is easier," Gokudera huffed, his cheeks pink. When he received a skeptical look from Yamamoto, who knew that Gokudera was not telling the entire story, he then added in a lower voice, averting his gaze as he did so, "... And also because it sounds kinda cool."

Yeap.

Definitely the same Gokudera Hayato that he knew.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Okay, okay." Just knowing that Gokudera had not changed much made his heart feel a lot lighter. "Can you hand me back the book, please? I'd like to buy it."

"What?" Gokudera's hold on the book tightened. "Fuck no."

"Wha- please?"

"I said 'no'."

"But, Gokudera-"

"What part of 'no' don't you understand? The 'N' or the 'O'?"

"Gokudera, I-"

"Gokudera-san!" Haru was so close to whacking him upside the head with one of his books. "Hurry up and sign Haru's books!"

It came to no surprise that Gokudera and Haru drew themselves into yet another heated argument. Taking the opportunity that had suddenly decided to bestow itself upon him, Yamamoto, with his curiosity getting the better of him, took a new copy of Affliction from the table without Gokudera's noticing it.

As Yamamoto made his way to the counter to pay for the book, Dino nudged Yamamoto in the arm and winked at him.

"Happy reading."

DIOR: It has been awhile, hasn't it? Haha, I don't even have a good excuse for not updating this except that at first, university decided to catch me and put me in a jar, and I've lost confidence in this story. *sweatdrop* But since there're only 2-3 chapters left, I thought that I might as well finish it :P For those who are still reading this story, I hope you liked this chapter. Reviews are appreciated.