"I keep forgetting that the only reason you even got into this school is because someone thought you were good at swinging around a wooden stick."

The text book snapped shut, nearly taking Yamamoto's fingers with it, and the silver-haired boy made it clear that he was done wasting his lunch break trying to help the baseball player with his Algebra II homework. It had seemed like a good plan-- get it out of the way now and then his afternoon would be free to spend training or helping the Tenth with his homework instead.

Yamamoto laughed sheepishly, catching the book when Gokudera tossed it carelessly his way. "Haha, lucky for me!" he agreed. "Maybe we can try again after school. You need some help with this too, don't you, Tsuna?"

"Ah..." The smallest of the trio sighed with none of the aplomb that Yamamoto so easily maintained. "Yeah... and I don't even have any sports to fall back on to keep me afloat. Augh." He sagged against the support of the chain link that circled the roof of Namimori High.

"That's alright, Tenth!" Gokudera hurried to amend. "You've got many other talents! You're way ahead of this guy in fighting skill, anyway!" He jerked a thumb in Yamamoto's direction. "Don't worry! I won't let you fail! It's my personal mission!"

Yamamoto tossed a friendly arm around Tsuna's shoulders, dragging him into a hug and ruffling his hair. "Lucky for me that means I won't fail either!" he laughed.

"Unfortunately," Gokudera scoffed, already in the process of dragging out his lunch --yakisoba bread and canned tea, two of Japan's best fast food options, in his not-so-humble Italian opinion.

"Ne, Yamamoto...." Tsuna began as they settled in with their own bento, the baseball player's box of sushi, as always, like delicious jewels in the afternoon sun. "Who was that girl you were talking to this morning?"

Yamamoto looked puzzled for a long moment, tapping his chopsticks against his lips. "Girl... girl... oh! She was confessing her love. Her name is... Naka...something."

A knowing snort followed this information, Gokudera adding an exaggerated roll of his eye for effect. "What's that, the 3rd this month?"

"You're always very nice to them," Tsuna observed. "I guess baseball keeps you very busy, though, huh?"

"Yep, real busy. And I wouldn't want to have a girl trying to drag me away from the mafia game when it comes up! Most girls don't get that kind of stuff, haha! Well, except maybe Sasegawa." He gave Tsuna a sly grin, nudging him with an elbow.

Tsuna, true to form, blushed a deep red, eternally embarrassed by the discussion of Kyoko, nevermind that it had now been nearly half a year since they'd officially begun dating. "W-well, Kyoko-chan i-is--"

"Of course she gets it, turf-for-brains," Gokudera cut in. "We all wouldn't have given our approval if she wasn't right for the Tenth in every way!" His voice was strong, cocky as ever, nothing but Gokudera-brand attitude in every word. He was, all things considered, handling the whole thing very professionally.

"That's true." Yamamoto grinned. "What about Gokudera? What if a girl came up to you right now and confessed her love to you, would you take her out?"

Gokudera shot him a look, then smirked, darkly. "Probably," he decided, pulling a dynamite stick from his pocket and twirling it idly between two fingers. "If I thought I could get away with it and not bring shame to the Family."

Both of the other boys stared at him, blinking for a long moment. Then Tsuna shrieked.

"G-G-Gokudera-kun! You can't--!!"

"A joke, Tenth!" Gokudera held up his hands quickly, apologetically, the alarm in his eyes mirroring Tsuna's. "It was just a joke!"

Tsuna was hyperventilating slightly but he managed to get himself under control as Yamamoto piped up.

"Oh! Take her out! I get it! Take her out, like a hit. Like mafia stuff. Hahaha, that's hilarious, Gokudera!"

Yamamoto's sudden inspiration did not seem to impress Gokudera much, judging from the look of utter non-humor turned in his direction. "Try not to think too hard, Genius."

Undeterred, Yamamoto just continued to laugh, finding ever more hilarity in Gokudera's joke while Tsuna looked arguably pale and harrowed in comparison.

"What'd the girl give you this time?" Gokudera spoke up, loudly, his best attempt to steer the conversation away from himself without involving dynamite (which would, undoubtedly upset the Tenth). "Cake? A love journal? Hand-knitted sweater?"

"Nah, nothing like that. Just this twelve page love letter." He produced a wrinkled stack of pages from his bag, with his name in pretty, well-written text on the front. "I think it might be signed in blood. Hahaha, girls are so weird!"

"T-twelve pages?" Tsuna gulped, eyes wide as Yamamoto passed him the letter.

"What a freak," Gokudera agreed, leaning over Tsuna's shoulder to scan the first page. "'You probably don't know who I am, but I think the back of your head is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen'?"

"I didn't think the back of my head was anything special," Yamamoto said with a shrug and a smile.

"It's not," Gokudera was quick to agree.

"'You are such a sweet and gentle soul... You remind me of Ichiro Suzuki when I watch you play baseball... I wish you would touch me as lovingly as you do your bat'?," Tsuna read, brow furrowed with concern, eyes scanning down the page. "This is..."

"Gross," Gokudera decided firmly.

"She seemed like a nice girl. I hope she wasn't too hurt when I turned her down."

"You're better off hoping she doesn't start stalking your house," Gokudera pointed out, gagging as he sat back, done with the creepy letter.

Tsuna too, folded the papers once more and handed them back to Yamamoto. "How did she react?"

"Ummm, I'm not sure. I spotted Gokudera, so I ran off to catch up with him right after. I'm sure she'll understand though! Don't you think?"

Tsuna looked between the two of them, searching for help from Gokudera, who only shrugged, blinking. "Y-yeah," Tsuna finally answered. "I mean, I'm sure, right? Girls do that sort of thing all the time, don't they? Haha..."

"Besides," Gokudera added. "Everyone knows this guy doesn't have room in his head for anything more than swords and baseball."

Yamamoto just grinned.

When Gokudera finished their evening lesson, he looked to the other two boys questioningly. Yamamoto stretched and shut his book. "I think I get it now!"

Tsuna looked rather less confidently (and more honestly) worried but he offered their more intelligent friend a smile and his deep gratitude anyway.

"It's about time," Gokudera said to Yamamoto, and to Tsuna he flashed a proud smile. "Don't worry, Tenth! You'll do fine on the test! I guarantee it!"

"Hey, do you guys want to come over for dinner tonight?" Yamamoto piped as they packed up their books. "There's a big game against Osaka tonight, it's going to be great!"

Gokudera hesitated, predictably, his answer no doubt dependent on whether or not Tsuna seemed keen to accept the invitation.

"Ah..." Tsuna hesitated, looking away. The tell-tale blush was already starting to appear. "A-actually... I sort of... Kyoko and I, tonight were..."

Yamamoto's eyes lit up with brotherly affection. "Do you have a date?"

And there it was, the full-on, red-faced reaction, the waving hands, the embarrassed but also clearly fond smile. "A-ah, yeah, we were.... um. Dinner. Out."

"That's great, Tenth!" Gokudera clapped him on the back, cheerful, enthusiastic. "You should take her out for Italian!"

Tsuna gave him an appreciative smile. "That's not a bad idea... but! Um -- don't let me stop you from going over, Gokudera-kun! You should go have a good time."

Gokudera hesitated, mouth open, clearly torn between his need to please Tsuna and his disinterest in Yamamoto's idea of a fun evening. "Well, I--"

Yamamoto scooped up his bag and tossed an arm around Gokudera's shoulders. "Come on, it'll be great! I'll treat you to our best chuutoro! And tomorrow Tsuna can tell us all about his romantic date!"

"Yamamoto--!"

"Tenth!" Gokudera called, over his shoulder, even as he struggled to shrug out from under Yamamoto's arm. "Please have a wonderful evening! I'll make sure this idiot finds his way home. Don't worry about a thing! Go have fun!"

Tsuna laughed with no small measure of chagrin as he watched them go. On the street, the two boys fell into step together and Yamamoto tucked his arms behind his head as they went, glancing at Gokudera from the corner of his eye. "Don't worry, I won't make you stay for the whole game. But it might be so good that you just have to!"

"I would think you'd have figured out in the three years you've known me that I don't -care- about baseball. Like... at all," Gokudera pointed out with a roll of his eyes, a down-right gentle reminder coming from him.

"Haha, I know, I know." Yamamoto smiled softly, looking skyward for a long moment. When he spoke again it was quieter, a bit more serious than his usual chortle. "Hey, Gokudera... are you okay with this?"

The look Gokudera shot him was suspicious. "What are you talking about?" he ventured, frowning.

Yamamoto tilted his head to one side. Then the other. He glanced at the silver haired boy from the corner of his eye. "Tsuna," he answered simply.

They hadn't talked about it, not in the many months that it had been happening. Not past the 'Isn't he funny about it' and the 'Aren't they cute' that Yamamoto might laughingly toss out. But not about this. Not about the thing that Yamamoto had called him out on some time ago and ten years in the future.

For a beat, Gokudera said nothing. Then he shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" he answered, clearly trying to inject a sort of casual lack of concern into his voice.

Yamamoto was easy to fool a lot of the time, but this wasn't exactly Gokudera's best effort.

"Because he's gone a lot now. And you get stuck with me." A good-natured chuckle. "Sometimes I wonder what you think about that."

"Naturally, you're a poor substitute," Gokudera quipped instantly, instinctively, a short laugh like a snapping twig that didn't seem entirely natural. He shrugged a moment later, and this, more likely than not, was the more honest of his answers.

Yamamoto stretched and then finally lowered his arms. He flashed Gokudera a grin. "I thought maybe when he told us they were dating you were going to you know -- take her out. Hahaha!"

Gokudera didn't say anything right away, though he did offer a hearty rolling of eyes for the joke that Yamamoto still found hilarious. "It's our job to respect the Tenth's wishes," he said, picking his words as though he were making a point to tread carefully.

"Maybe so," Yamamoto said and the sliver of rare seriousness in his voice reached Gokudera's attention, the silver-haired boy's eyes lifting instantly to his face. "But a few years ago you wouldn't have taken it nearly so well. You've grown up a lot, Gokudera."

For a beat, Yamamoto could see the open surprise there. The young Italian had never been very good at hiding his feelings. Quickly though, his expression dissolved into irritation and Yamamoto became the recipient of a fast punch to the shoulder. "Who do you think you are? Making observations like that. I don't need your approval."

Yamamoto laughed, rubbing at his shoulder and ducking briefly away to avoid any further violence that might have been aimed at him. "I know, I know." Then before he could protest again, he wrapped his arm again around the other boy's neck, rubbing a set of knuckles into his scalp. "I'm not complaining though if it means I get to see Gokudera more often!"

The silver-haired boy shrank under Yamamoto's zealous attention, scowling as his shoulders lifted, his hand shoved deep into both pockets. "You're such a freak."

"I know," Yamamoto said again, chuckling. Then falling quiet for a moment, his playful embrace relaxed a bit, the weight of his arm falling to Gokudera's shoulders as they walked. It lingered there for just a touch too long, a few steps too many. And then suddenly, he darted away, hiking his bag on his shoulder. "Race you to my place!"

"What?" Gokudera barked, eyes widening as Yamamoto jogged away. "You've got to be kidding me..." A beat, and a smirk appeared on the Italian's lips. "... if you think you can beat me even with the head-start you've given yourself." Even before he'd finished speaking, Gokudera rushed after him, lit cigarette in his mouth and a handful of dynamite at the ready.

"Hey, hey!" Yamamoto laughed, waving his hands in front of him as he ran. "No cheating! There's no fireworks in racing!"

"Good thing I'm not using 'fireworks', then, huh?" Gokudera shouted, grinning as he lobbed a stick or too in Yamamoto's direction. "You gonna race, or you gonna whine about rules?"

In an instant, Yamamoto whipped the still-cased sword off of his back, hands wrapped around it like a bat. Two lightning fast swiped and he popped the sticks high, great explosions bursting overhead. "Hahaha – double grand slam! The crowd goes wild!"

"Now who's cheating?" Gokudera called, silver hair whipping in his face as he surged forward, taking advantage of Yamamoto's pause and the swing of his bat. "There's no baseball in racing!" he singsonged, turning to take a few strides backward, getting Yamamoto in his sights for the chance to offer a rude gesture before taking off once more.

Laughing the whole way, Yamamoto was on his heels, only a few steps behind the other sprinting teen. Once or twice he got a lungful of cigarette smoke and a cough slowed him down but never faltered his grin. When they were finally panting at Takesushi's back door, he asked, "How can you run that fast with a cigarette in your mouth!?"

"Training," Gokudera smirked. Nevermind the faint flush of ash-burn that grazed his jaw. He took the opportunity to put out the cigarette, always respectful of Yamamoto's father and his restaurant, even if he rarely showed his son the same courtesy. "I won, by the way."

"All right, all right," Yamamoto consented. He leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, key in hand but not yet reaching for the lock. He aimed a flushed grin at the other boy. "We never settled on a prize though."

"Chuutoro and and your best tako," Gokudera answered instantly. If there was one thing he no longer hesitated to admit, it was that the Yamamoto family made damn good sushi. "And maybe some of that eel, too."

"Fair enough." That grin stayed plastered in place as he slid the key into the lock. He hesitated then, thoughtful for a moment and then looked up to meet Gokudera's questioning gaze. "Hey, I think there's some show on tonight about UFOs. You wanna watch that after dinner?"

Gokudera's eyes lit up in an embarrassingly enthusiastic manner, but he glanced away, rubbing at the back of his neck, doing his utmost to appear unaffected. "I thought there was some... 'super exciting' game on tonight," he pointed out, glancing up without lifting his head.

Yamamoto shrugged. "I can catch the highlights later. It's just baseball, after all." There was something about the lopsided smile that he offered Gokudera that was a little embarrassed as well – and a little goofy.

Gokudera frowned, uncertain, maybe a little suspicious. "I-- whatever. We'll see. Let's just eat first. I'm starving." He pushed past Yamamoto then, impatient, shooed his hand away to turn the key and open the door, already kicking off his shoes when Yamamoto Senior called a greeting from the front.

Gokudera's rapt expression and the grin that appeared during the UFO program, only to be quickly shaken off to save face, was enough that the following day Yamamoto was still warm inside with joy. He'd even caught the end of the game and Gokudera had stayed. He'd rolled his eyes dramatically when Yamamoto jumped on the couch as the winning team poured onto the field. He'd scoffed when Yamamoto shouted at the screen.

But still, he'd stayed. And he'd even let Yamamoto walk him to the corner with only halfhearted complaint.

It kept a smile on the baseball player's face all day, though no one seemed to notice that there was a difference between his usual smile and this one. Well, almost no one.

"You look really happy today," Tsuna observed after Gokudera had left their last class for archery practice -- one of his newly discovered interests, and a club that Reborn had thus insisted he join to improve his skills.

"Do I?" Yamamoto wondered with an unwavering grin as they walked across the campus. They'd watch the tail end of the practice from a safe distance, waiting for the third member of their party. "Guess I just had a real nice evening yesterday. How about you?"

Tsuna blushed predictably, but he smiled as well, a brightness in his eyes that Yamamoto thought he recognized. "It was... really nice," Tsuna said, then laughed when he realized he'd more or less echoed Yamamoto's words. "I mean, it was great. Kyoko-chan... is great. We even shared dessert!"

Yamamoto grinned and ruffled Tsuna's hair. He flopped down on the bleachers, eyes turned out to the distance across the field where the archery club's arrows sailed. "It must be nice to have someone do to those kind of things with."

Tsuna joined him with a hum of agreement, plopping himself down on bleacher seat one up from him. He leaned forward, elbows on knees and chin in his hands, quiet for a moment. When Yamamoto looked up at him questioningly, Tsuna started, shaking his head apologetically. "Oh, it's just... well-- I hope you don't think that you have to avoid dating just because of this whole... mafia thing. I mean..." As Yamamoto watched, Tsuna's ears went pink and he laughed a little awkwardly. "Don't think I'm telling you what to do or something! It's just... well, if there's someone you like, I hope you won't turn them down. I mean, I know that Gokudera-kun says that there's no time for dating when you're busy with mafia stuff, but, I mean... I'm doing it, right? So... um... yeah."

Yamamoto blinked with surprise a few times and then laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, that... haha... well I guess..." He leaned back, arms propped on the seat behind him and shrugged. "I guess it's not so much that I don't want to do that at all as I just... I don't want just anybody, you know? Sure I could go out with those girls that talk to me before class but... I'd rather just wait for someone that I really care about. It should be special, right? Not just dating because there's nothing better to do. I want somebody who will get the things that are important to me, somebody who knows me, not just some girl that watches my games and likes me because of my batting average."

"Nh," Tsuna nodded, clearly still a little embarrassed to have pressed the subject, but when he caught Yamamoto's eye, he was smiling. "I can understand that. I think... I think I got really lucky with Kyoko-chan. That she understands me so well. And... well that she's okay with... all the complicated stuff too." A beat. "M-maybe I could help somehow?"

"Ah?" Yamamoto's smile quirked curiously but then he shook his head. "Oh, no, that's okay... I'm not in a hurry. I'm okay with waiting." He turned his gaze back across the field peacefully, his attention returning to the silver-haired boy with his bow.

"O-okay," Tsuna sounded unsure, like he wanted to say more, to try and get Yamamoto to open up. For a long moment he didn't say anything else, only sat beside him, staring across the grass, lost in thought. "But if-- you know, there's anything I can do or if you just... wanna talk."

Eyes still on the field, Yamamoto felt Tsuna's hand find his shoulder, offer a friendly squeeze. It pulled his glance away from the distance and the flying arrows, and Yamamoto grinned from ear to ear. "Awww!"

Tsuna yelped, startled when Yamamoto snagged him playfully around the neck and rubbed knuckles into his temple, as physical with his affection as ever. "You're such a good friend, Tsuna, you're the best!" he laughed, squeezing the slighter boy just a little too hard.

"Ack! Can't-- breathe--" Tsuna flailed half-heartedly, but laughed breathlessly when Yamamoto let him go, leaving his already wild hair just a little messier. "Hey! All this talk about girls made me forget! I meant to ask how the game was. I guess it went well for your team?"

"Oh, no, they actually lost," Yamamoto laughed. "I was so mad I was yelling at the television! It looked like a good game though, it was close in the end."

"'Looked like'?" Tsuna blinked. "Didn't you watch the whole game?"

"I just caught the end," Yamamoto replied easily. "There was a show on that I thought Gokudera would like. Something with aliens and abductions and stuff. It was pretty creepy!"

"So he stayed!" Tsuna sounded surprised, but when Yamamoto caught his eye, he was smiling in something like relief. "I'm glad. It's good that he's making more of an effort to get along with other people. Did you hear that he even partnered with Mukuro-san for some training that Reborn recommended? And he babysat Lambo for Mom last Thursday without even blowing up the living room!"

"Haha, no he didn't tell me that! That's great. Next thing you know, Sasegawa-nii will have him convinced to join the boxing club!"

"Lucky for Nii-san, the club's got plenty of members now," Tsuna grinned. "High school's not so bad as everyone says it is, after all. Everyone seems to be doing well."

"It's not bad at all! Even for slackers like us!"

There was definitely something pleasant about spending an afternoon lazying about on the bleachers after school, trading gossip and idle chit-chat with one good friend, while watching another send arrows flying to hit their mark with satisfying thunk after thunk. The time seemed to fly and before long, the team began packing up for the day, and Yamamoto watched as Gokudera unstrung his bow and took his leave, tossing his bag and the bow case over one shoulder. His waving arm caught Gokudera's attention, and the sight of Tsuna, no doubt, decided his course of action.

"Hey, Tenth!" he called across the field, as he began making his way over.

Yamamoto couldn't help but think that the kyudou uniform suited Gokudera wonderfully -- the dark hakama and clean, white haori, his hair pulled back in a little tail at the back of his head and bangs just a bit messy from his time in the sun. However, as he crossed the field, Yamamoto frowned. Something was off -- just a little bit. Something in his gait that he was trying to hide.

Tsuna called back a cheerful greeting but when Gokudera reached them, it was Yamamoto who spoke up. "You're limping, did something happen?"

Predictably, Gokudera's immediate reaction was to scowl darkly and turn away from Yamamoto's concerned attention. "I'm fine. Nothing happened. How was your test today, Tenth?"

Tsuna blinked up at him, then glanced at the way Yamamoto was frowning -- the way Yamamoto never frowned. "A-are you sure, Gokudera-kun? You're okay?"

"I'm fine, Tenth, really! I only stepped on a tack. Clumsy of me, but I'm completely okay. Please don't worry yourself over such a silly thing!" Gokudera's eye were soft, gently pleading when he leaned against the low fence between the field and the bleachers.

"Ah..." Tsuna's brown eyes studied him for a breath longer, vaguely suspicious for all of his trust in Yamamoto's intuition. But he let it slide, didn't press the other boy further for information. "Please be more careful! Um -- the test went okay, I think! What do you think Yamamoto?"

The baseball player's gaze was pulled away from scrutinizing their bomber friend when Tsuna looked his way. He put on his best smile and laughed. "Definitely aced it, thanks to Gokudera!"

"Ha!" Gokudera laughed skeptically, but it was evident that he enjoyed the praise, even coming from Yamamoto. "I'll believe it when I see your grade, Baseball idiot."

"I'll be sure to show it to you!"

"We were thinking about going to a movie," Tsuna put in. "Since there's no emergency studying to be done tonight. Want to go?"

Gokudera perked up instantly. "Of course I do!" After tossing his things to their side of the fence, Gokudera swung over, and managed to mostly hide his flinch as he landed. "I've still got to change... It wouldn't be too much trouble to wait for me, would it, Tenth?"

"Oh no! Not at all." Tsuna's phone chose that moment to ring and he fumbled for it. "Ah-- Kyoko-chan--"

"I'll walk with Gokudera," Yamamoto told him cheerfully. "We'll be right back!"

Tsuna shot him a grateful smile as he opened his phone and Yamamoto gave the archer a nudge toward the gym. As soon as Tsuna's voice faded from earshot, Yamamoto's smile faded from his face.

"Why are you lying to him? Was there a fight?"

Gokudera sighed, rolled his eyes as unaffectedly as possible, shook his head, slowed his steps long enough to let Yamamoto catch up. "No, there wasn't a fight. And I wasn't lying. Don't worry about it, okay? Such a little thing, it's embarrassing."

Yamamoto frowned, but generally he respected Gokudera's requests, short of something that was directly putting him in danger. And at least at the moment, it didn't seem to be that.

He waited while the other boy changed out of his haori and back into his uniform, standing out by the getabako where the student's shoes were stored. He watched carefully when Gokudera returned and went to retrieve his shoes. There was still the faint limp, not quite as protected and well hidden as it was in front of Tsuna. His feet were socked so Yamamoto couldn't see the damage. What he did see though was the tiny hesitation. Just the briefest moment where Gokudera, instead of dropping his shoes to the floor to slip in to them, picked them up and tilted them, looking at the insides. If it weren't for Yamamoto scrutinizing him, it wouldn't have been suspect or even noticeable at all.

And just as quick, he was in his shoes and putting back on his usual frown, the one that made the girls think he was 'cool' and 'mysterious'. He shut the shoe cupboard with a slam, and picked up his bags. "Ready? We shouldn't keep the Tenth waiting."

Yamamoto smiled. "Sure. Let's go."