Disclaimer: the people in toronto are so proud of their public transit system and i just want to gently tell them that they're wrong

Notes: You know, when I started this fic, I never planned it to be something chronological. So. There's going to be time gaps between chapters.

EDIT 28/04/2019: umh guys don't forget to review? (that's what keeps me going?)

Lost in Translation

Tsuna lets his head hit the table with a loud thump, the sound of his skull hitting the hard wood clear and sharp in the nearly empty classroom.

The rest of the class has cleared out for lunch and even Uraraka had given up on inviting him to eat with the rest of them. Tsuna was fine without lunch, really. He'd lived like this for his almost entire school life and never had a problem with it. Besides, even if the lunch at U.A. was cheap, it still added up in the end and he can use that money for much more essential necessities than lunch at school.

Though, he does wish he'd grabbed an apple or something from home. Yesterday was absolutely exhausting and he never got the chance to grab dinner before passing out. And this morning he woke up so late that he only had time for a few bites of plain toast.

Never mind that today has been a challenge, too. Not only did Natsu manage to embarrass him in front of Midoriya who, luckily, was tolerant enough with him even though he practically sleepwalked to school, there was a huge crowd of reporters in front of the school gates, trying to pry an interview from them. Tsuna somehow managed to duck his head and escape together with Midoriya, still afraid that one of the sharper reporters would recognise him from that stupid incident from years ago.

Not that he hoped his identity would stay hidden forever, as there is always someone who digs it out sooner rather than later, but it would be nice to pretend that he isn't hated by the entire school just a little longer.

Todoroki's already been glaring at him the whole day, so he's probably not too far from figuring it out.

"Tsunayoshi?"

And then there was that mess of choosing class president in homeroom where he somehow managed to gather two entire votes and only barely escaped from his duties by slipping the vice president's position to Yaoyorozu with some mumbled out excuses. She took the job gracefully and Tsuna's sure that she'll be much, much better at it than he ever would.

And to top all of that off, there was an evaluation test in Math that Tsuna flunked so horribly that he kind of wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

"Hellooo? Tsunayoshi?"

The day is just half over and he's already so exhausted that he just wants to sleep for a few days. Amazingly enough, he doesn't have work tonight so he can just go home, make something quick to eat, and then go to sleep with Natsu curled up in the gap between his shoulder and head. Unless, of course, his mother decides to–

A sudden hand on his shoulder forces him out of his thoughts.

Tsuna snaps his head up as a sharp yelp escapes his lips, ready to leave his bag and flee if he has to… and comes face to face with a spooked, but certainly not hostile-looking blond classmate.

'Aoyama Yuga,' Tsuna quickly remembers through the foggy panic in his head. 'Laser from his navel,' his brain adds helpfully as he pushes down several automatic thoughts about how a laser could be used to hurt him.

"Um…" he says instead.

"Are you alright? Do you need to go to the nurse again?" Aoyama is smiling now, but the expression is tight and a bit careful.

"No, no! No, I'm okay. Sorry, I just…" he ends with a pathetic shrug.

Right. He did end up in Recovery Girl's office yesterday. He can see why someone who just got out from the nurse's office slamming his head down on a desk would be a worrying sight. He's just not used to people caring about small things like this.

"You and Todoroki both went pretty wild yesterday, but only you collapsed. Did you overuse your quirk?"

"Kind of, yeah. Sorry. I'm okay."

He's not, actually. Not entirely. The exhaustion will linger for a while longer, but he is okay enough to function.

"I don't really know what you're sorry for, Tsunayoshi."

And wow. It really does sound weird when people call him by his full first name.

"Just Tsuna is fine, Aoyama-kun," he says automatically, before he can think to stop himself.

But Aoyama flashes him a bright smile so fast that Tsuna can't even start panicking about this mistake.

"Non, non, Tsunayoshi. I like your name. It sounds étranger."

"Étra-? Oooh. Um. No, it's really not. I'm named after a shogun. It's… pretty hard to get more Japanese than that. Sorry?"

Aoyama's smile grows impossibly even brighter. "You knew what I meant. Do you perchance speak le français, Tsunayoshi?"

"No, not a word." He hesitates for a moment, but even if he has issues with his father, he's never been ashamed of his original home. Even if it's largely to please his mother.

Besides, it's not like he's going to share his entire life story here. And Aoyama does seem nice, just like Midoriya and Uraraka and Iida, too. So maybe it's okay to share a little.

"I lived in Italy as a kid. We still speak Italian at home sometimes. And, I mean, French and Italian aren't very similar, but I could still tell from context. Are you… are you from France, Aoyama-kun?"

Aoyama's smile doesn't change much, but something in his eyes turns a little softer and nostalgic. "Not really, I was born au Japon, but some of my la famille étendue is from France. I just think French sounds beautiful, so I wanted to learn. Too bad there's not many people I can practice it with."

"Huh, that's amazing. Learning a whole language because you think it's beautiful. That's… I think that's really respectable." He pauses, then cringes slightly at Aoyama's expression. "Please don't go full French on me, Aoyama-kun. I only know Italian so I wouldn't be able to even guess what you're talking about."

"Oui, je comprends."

"Uh, sorry, what?"

Instead of answering, Aoyama reaches out and takes Tsuna's hand in his own. He slips something into his palm and for a moment Tsuna completely freaks out because it feels a bit cold and rubbery and he does not have good experiences with things like these.

Aoyama's smile is mysterious, not malicious.

Tsuna gathers up his courage and looks down into his hand.

"Cheese?"

"Oui."

"Er. Thank you?" Aoyama keeps smiling like he's expecting something else. It takes a moment for Tsuna to get it. "Grazie?"

"Avec plaisir," he says and goes back to his seat to eat his rather elaborate homemade lunch.

Tsuna doesn't know exactly what that means, but he thinks it should be 'my pleasure' or something like that.

He shrugs, only hesitating a moment before plopping the piece of cheese in his mouth. Aoyama is weird, but he's kind and he probably won't do anything bad to him.

Then the emergency alarm goes off. The two boys share a confused look.

"This is just a drill, right?"

.

Author's notes: Tsuna's flight response is pretty strong. But at least he's making friends! Also, answers to some of your questions?

Other notes: One of my cats died early this year of disease. Her name was Saffy, she was 11 years old and she was very dear to all of us. For a while it looked like she might get better, but in the end she just grew weaker and weaker and I wasn't even able to go home to see her one last time before she passed away. So all of you who have your pets nearby, always hug them before you leave on longer trips. Things happen unexpectedly and you never know if it's the last hug you can give them.