A/N: Hello, all. This is an 8059/6927 (Yamamoto x Gokudera / Mukuro x Tsuna) KHR fanfic, so if you don't like those pairings, don't read it. I referred to some songs while writing this; here's a list:
Mamma Mia by ABBA
She Loves You by The Beatles
Paparazzi by Lady Gaga
"Mama Mia," Gokudera sighed, gazing into the framed photograph of Yamamoto that was sitting on his night table. He seemed to be talking to it. "Here I go again."
"My, my," he continued, removing the picture from the night table and holding it close to his chest. "How can I resist you?" His words were beginning to turn into notes.
"Mamma Mia, Does it show again?" he spoke-sang. "My, my, Just how much I've missed you." At this point, the silver-haired boy was belting it out passionately. "Yes, I've been brokenhearted; blue since the day we parted. Why, why, did I ever let you go? Mamma Mia, now I really kno-"
He cut himself off as Yamamoto walked into their apartment.
"What the hell, Gokudera? Put your shirt on."
Gokudera quickly obeyed, slipping on a T-shirt and hiding the picture frame under his pillow. There was an awkward silence. "Hi," the storm guardian greeted. It didn't help.
"Uh, hey. Guess what I got?" Yamamoto said, holding up two sheets of paper.
"Forms?"
"Not just any forms!"
"Just what kind of forms, then?"
"The kind you fill out."
"I'm leaving."
"No, wait! Seriously, these are forms to join the Volunteer Fire Department!" the raven explained.
"So why do you have two?"
"Because we're both joining."
"Okay, no."
"You have to!" the rain guardian pleaded. "Besides, it'll look good on your college application."
"Right. Among all the detentions, suspensions, tardies, ISS's, and criminal offenses. We both know I'm not going to college."
"If you don't join, I'm kicking you out of this apartment."
"You don't mean that."
"You wanna bet?"
"Okay, fine," the silver-haired boy relented.
"Here, fill this out."
The two roommates sat in silence, scribbling down information. Suddenly, Gokudera let out a gasp. Yamamoto looked at him, puzzled.
"They want to know if I have AIDS, Yamamoto!"
"Well, do you?"
"Of course not."
"Then write that down."
That night, Gokudera couldn't seem to get to sleep. No matter what he tried, his eyes just wouldn't stay closed. He climbed the ladder on the side of their bunk bed to see whether Yamamoto was having trouble sleeping, too. In fact, he was.
"I'm bored, Yamamoto," he complained. "I can't sleep a wink."
"Neither can I," the older boy agreed.
"What do you wanna do?" Gokudera asked.
"I don't know, watch a movie? That'll probably help us get some rest."
"Good idea." The silver-haired boy said, switching on the lights and walking over to their DVD shelf. "What do you wanna watch?" He held up five or six titles for the rain guardian to choose from. In the end, a tragedy film called "Final Romance" was selected. The two boys prepared a bowl of popcorn and a dimly lit apartment to create a grand cinema atmosphere. Yamamoto pressed "play" and it began.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, Gokudera was sniffling as the main character, Clara, read John's bloodstained letter aloud in her bedroom. By the near ending, the two were both sobbing uncontrollably in each others' arms. During the credits, Gokudera managed to pull himself together.
"Look at us," he said. "If we're gonna be firemen, we can't stay up all night crying over heartfelt tragedy films! We're a couple of pansies!"
Yamamoto sighed in agreement. "I suppose you're right," he said. "But, Clara… and John…"
"Shut up about them!" the storm guardian snapped. He pointed the remote at the TV and shut it off. "Now," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "Day after tomorrow, we will be official volunteer firemen. We need our sleep."
"Yeah…" Yamamoto sighed, climbing back up to his bunk. The two both fell asleep with ease.
It was now their first day on the job. The pair strolled into the fire station, clad in their best collared shirts and slacks. To their surprise, the only other members were students from their school. The first person they noticed was Hibari Kyouya, who seemed to be in charge of the place. There were only two others: Sawada Tsunayoshi and Rokudo Mukuro. They were sitting up against the brick wall by the fire pole.
"Yeah, and I saw her yesterday," Tsuna was telling Mukuro. "She told me to say she loves you. You know that can't be bad."
"It couldn't be worse," Mukuro groaned.
"Listen, man," Tsuna continued. "She says she loves you, and you know you should be glad."
"The problem with Chrome is," Mukuro sighed. "Is that I don't love her back."
Tsuna sighed. "Everything good in your life, you take for granted. You have a powerful position in the Mafia, and all you can think about is how you will take it down. You have a girl who loves you, and you're sick about it. You'll never know what you have until it's gone."
"Hey," Mukuro said, leaning in closer to face the brunet. "The reason I don't love her back is because I- I lo-love yo-" Mukuro was cut off by Hibari calling Tsuna over to check a fire engine. The brunet got up and walked away; Mukuro was left hopelessly abandoned and he dropped his head.
Yamamoto sighed. He turned to Gokudera.
"Shall we go get our uniforms?"
"I guess so," the silver-haired boy replied. They both walked over to Hibari, where they greeted Tsuna and found their heatproof jumpsuits.
"You look ridiculous," they both said to each other in unison.
"Yeah, but I make it work, right?" Gokudera gloated, striking a pose.
"Whatever," Yamamoto muttered. At that exact moment in time, an alarm sounded. Everyone suddenly became very panicked and confused. Hibari instructed them all to board the fire engine, and took off as soon they did.
The truck sped down the crowded city streets at top speed and managed to make it to the flaming apartment complex in twelve minutes. Hibari ran in to search for stranded victims and then signaled for Yamamoto to hit the building with the fire hose at full blast. Gokudera quenched the few small flames that were left with a fire extinguisher. All the saved civilians cried out for joy as the big red fire apparatus sailed smoothly off into the sunset.
"Or at least, that's how it should've gone," Gokudera thought to himself as Tsuna tenderly applied bandages to his burn wounds.
"So, uh, how the hell did you manage that one?" Yamamoto asked, looking moderately concerned for his roommate. Gokudera glared at the raven in response.
"Don't act like you're so high and mighty," the storm guardian spat. "Mister I-can't-even-lift-a-fire-hose. That was so lame."
"Shaddap!" the raven snapped. "Don't you think we should be off, anyway?"
"What? It's only seven o'clock!"
"Yes. And we have a dinner to eat." And with that, he took Gokudera by the wrist and dragged him off.
Mukuro turned to Tsuna, smiling. "Guess it's just us," he said.
"Yeah, and Hibari," the brunet replied, motioning to said person. Mukuro mentally banged his head against a wall.
"Tsuna, I'm your biggest fan," he admitted.
"What?"
"I'll follow you until you love me."
"What?"
"Baby, there's no other superstar, you know that I'll be your paparazzi."
Tsuna stood there, confused. Then, realization suddenly dawned upon him. "Oh, you like that song, too? That's so cool!" Now it was Mukuro's turn to be confused. He patted Tsuna on the back and walked over to where Hibari was standing.
"Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine," he said, pointing to the brunet. "Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me..."
Hibari silently walked away.
Back at the apartment, Yamamoto was fixing two cups of instant ramen while Gokudera sat waiting at the table.
"That totally sucked," he commented, rubbing the back of his aching head.
"Agreed," the raven replied.
"Agh, these burns hurt so bad," Gokudera complained, frowning at the hopelessly blistered flesh on his arm.
"What, do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" Yamamoto teased. He advanced toward the shorter boy, as if he were half-serious.
"Back off!"
"I was just kidding; don't take it so seriously," the raven replied, turning back to monitor their steaming ramen cups. Gokudera stuck out his tongue at his roommate behind his back.
That night, when Gokudera was sure that Yamamoto had gone to sleep, he turned on his lamp and pulled out his framed photograph he had been hiding under his pillow. He held it close to his face, staring intently as if he were trying to see what the boy in the picture was thinking. His expression then changed to a distant look, as though he were lost in his roommate's deep brown eyes.
It just so happens that around this very moment, Yamamoto was waking up to look at his beloved photograph of Gokudera. The very first thing he noticed after pulling it out was that the light was already on. Curious, he peered down to find the lower boy peering up at him, as he had heard the shifting noise from the top bunk. When their eyes met, their noses were no more than two inches apart.
"Gah!" the two boys exclaimed in unisen, immediately backing away from one another.
"Why are you up?!" Gokudera interrogated.
"I could ask you the same thing!" was the raven's quick reply. Gokudera was about to say something, but Yamamoto cut him off.
"Oh my God! Do you smell that?" he said, looking quite alarmed.
"What?" the silver haired boy asked. Instead of answering, the raven simply jumped out of his bunk and sprinted to their kitchen area, where he found that the stove, having never been turned off since their dinner, was flaming and smoking.
"Call 911!" Yamamoto shouted urgently.
"Why? What's the problem?" Gokudera asked.
"There's a fire! Where's the phone?"
"Fire? Aren't we firemen? We can deal with this ourselves," the shorter boy gasconaded.
"Just shut up and get the phone!"
Gokudera did as he was told. Minutes later, Hibari kicked down the door, stepping in clad in a heatproof jumpsuit (similar to the ones they had worn earlier) and carrying a large hose.
"You're paying for that," Yamamoto noted. Ignoring this comment, Hibari dove into the fire and emerged from the smoke a moment later, no flames in sight. When the fumes cleared away, they could see that their entire stove was burnt. Hibari turned to face them.
"You're fired. Literally," he told them.
"What?"
"You're off the squad."
"Why?"
"If you're not responsible enough to prevent fires in your own home, how can you be expected to protect others from them? Besides, it's obvious that you're just a pair of bored losers who thought it would be cool to be the hero for once." With that, he left.
The two roommates exchanged glances.
"He's right," Yamamoto admitted. "We just made fools of ourselves out there anyway."
"No! He's not right!" Gokudera exclaimed. "And we're gonna prove him wrong! We're gonna be the best firemen there ever were!" The two roommates then proceeded to demonstrate their Super Secret Success handshake with great enthusiasm.
The next morning, Yamamoto awoke to a throbbing headache. Rubbing the back of his sore skull, he dragged himself into the kitchen area. To his surprise, the stove and half of the counter was charred and partially melted. Drawing back his memories from the night before, he realized that he would have to eat cereal this morning. He was beginning to pour some Cheerios into a large bowl when Gokudera awoke and met him in the kitchen.
"How are we going to pay for repairs on that stove?" he asked groggily, pulling up chair at the table.
"I'm not sure," Yamamoto replied. "Maybe I could work more hours at my job or something."
"Yeah, that be great! And I could get a job, too," the silver-haired boy suggested.
"If you can get a job," the raven reminded him.
"Shut up!"
Later that day, after Yamamoto had driven off to his job in fast food, Gokudera found himself bored yet unwilling to leave his home. The storm guardian glanced across the room, searching for some sort of task to occupy himself with. He noticed that their beds were unmade, and so proceeded to tidy them up. It was proven rather difficult to make a top bunk bed, seeing as there is no floor under oneself to stand next to the mattress on. Reluctant to give up, however, the silver haired boy decided to get on the bed and attempt to make it while sitting on the sheets. That was when he noticed a small glint of light among the blankets, most likely caused by light reflecting off of metal or glass. Curious, the boy picked it up, to find that it was a photograph of himself.
Gokudera felt a slight flush grace his cheeks. Why would Yamamoto keep a photo of his roommate in his own bed? Could it be that he liked him? Opting to let it be until the rain guardian got home, he carefully tucked the picture away into his pocket and resumed his task.
That afternoon, when Yamamoto arrived back at the apartment, he discovered that his roommate was acting a little unusual. The cause of this, though the raven did not know it at the time, was that Gokudera was trying to find a remotely acceptable moment to bring up his finding from that morning. Eventually, he simply decided to bring it up.
"Hey, Yamamoto," he began awkwardly.
"Yeah?"
"Um.. Today, I was making our beds…"
"Thanks."
"…And I found… something…"
Gokudera was struggling to retain eye contact. He couldn't seem to get the words out, but Yamamoto knew exactly what he was trying to say. The raven's face turned sickly pale as realization dawned upon him. Gokudera removed the framed picture from his pocket and handed it to his companion. For a second, Yamamoto's mind was totally blank. Slowly, he found a somewhat legitimate* reply.
"Oh, that?" he asked, pointing to the item in his hand. Gokudera nodded. "Where did you find it?" the rain guardian asked, trying to maintain the façade of a cheery mood.
"In your bed."
"Yeah, I, um, I like to keep my friends very close to me.. You know it's a friendship thing; gotta retain your social life and all that.."
"Yeah, that's true," the shorter boy agreed. "But.." He looked away, blushing. "But, do you think maybe we could be.. more than friends?"
Yamamoto blinked. His mind was in an odd state; a mixture between shock and euphoria.
"S-seriously?" he gasped.
"Um.. I mean, it's okay if you don't feel the same way.. I shouldn't have brought it up, should I?" Gokudera's face was extremely red.
Yamamoto leaned over the table and gently pecked the shorter boy on the lips.
Coincidentally, at that very moment, they two heard a loud crashing noise and instantly broke apart. They turned to see the source of the noise. Hibari was, once again, standing in their doorway.
"Come on!" he ordered them.
"W-what? Why?!" Gokudera demanded, slightly annoyed by the interruption.
"Tsuna's tutor or something," Hibari explained, "shot him in the head and then his forehead caught on fire!"
"What? Are you serious?" Yamamoto asked. "Damn, they bought some serious special effects for that mafia roleplay they're doing. They even fooled Hibari!"
"We have to save Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed, obvious concern in his voice. They sped down to the fire house.
"Juudaime!" Gokudera called out frantically. "Are you okay?!"
"I am fine," Tsuna replied calmly, though there was a hint of annoyance in his tone. Mukuro was blowing on his forehead, trying to blow out the flame like a birthday candle.
"But.. But you're on fire!"
"Damn right," the brunet replied, smacking Mukuro away. "It's 'cause I'm so hot."
"Sorry," Reborn apologized, cutting in. "I tried to combine the dying will flame with an experimental bullet to boost power, but instead it just made him turn into an egotistical brat."
"Hey, bitch," Tsuna said, pointing to Reborn. "You best be shuttin' up or I'ma smack your weave off."
The baby sighed. He would have gotten revenge on him right there, but he was waiting for him to pass out. Likely side effects included emitting uncontrollably foul odor for long periods of time.
Taking advantage of the situation, Mukuro decided to make a pass at the brunet. "Hey, Tsunayoshi," he began, pulling the smaller boy's body closer to his. "I want you to light my fire."
"As if, pineapple head," the Vongola tenth cruelly rejected. Before Mukuro could reply, Tsuna fell unconscious. Luckily, the raven managed to catch him before he hit the floor.
About an hour later, he woke up again, to find himself lying on a cot in the back room of the fire station.
"Wh-what happened?" he asked Mukuro, who was reading the latest copy of Teen Vogue Magazine.
"Hm?" he said, looking up. "Oh, Reborn shot you and then you called me a pineapple head."
"Why would I do that?"
"'Cause I made a pass at you."
"A what?"
"Well, you can just forget it now," he said, getting up. "You stink like rotting fish."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please R&R!