"Ah, looks like Yamamoto has gotten more cupcakes today!"

"Eh, really?" said Yamamoto, surprised. "Another one?"

And sure enough, there was a brown paper bag sitting on top of his desk innocently. Yamamoto did not even need to open it to know what was inside, but he did anyway. Inside, there were three pink-coloured cupcakes with some white icing on top of each of them. He took one out and held it in front of his face for a moment before taking a bite out of it. As expected, it tasted great, as usual. It was not too sweet, and the cake was quite soft yet firm.

"It's delicious, as usual," Yamamoto said happily as he sat down. "I wonder who it is that is so nice as to give me these every day? I'd like to thank her."

"Tch. The person who gave you those stupid things is obviously someone who doesn't know that you're a baseball freak," a silver-haired teen scoffed. He did not even bother to look up from his Mathematics textbook. "Otherwise, she would have known better."

When Yamamoto only laughed and said, "That is so mean, Gokudera," in response to his comment, the scowl on Gokudera's face deepened.

"Whatever," he muttered, choosing to immerse himself in Mathematics once more.

Yamamoto did not really mind what Gokudera had said, though. He was pretty much used to the other's temperamental behaviour. He took another bite out of the cupcake. It really was good. He really wanted to know who it was that had been baking these for him. Every day for nearly a week now Yamamoto had been getting cupcakes and they were always put in a brown paper bag. And they were also always placed either on his desk or under it. Now, he was used to getting treats from girls in school every now and then, but it was not often that a girl baked for him every day. In fact, this was probably the first time.

His birthday was just two days away. Maybe this had something to do with that?

Leaning back in his chair, Yamamoto looked around the classroom, wondering who it was that could have possibly sent him these. Several girls giggled and blushed when he looked their way. He simply waved at them in his usual friendly way, causing them to burst into a fresh round of giggles. Sensing someone glaring at him, Yamamoto turned around, only to be met with the sight of Gokudera putting down his textbook huffily. He did not seem to look very happy.

"What's wrong?"

"You're disgusting," the Storm Guardian said flatly.

"Aww, don't be like that, Gokudera," Yamamoto said, trying to mollify his friend. He walked over, slung his arm around the other's shoulders and presented the brown paper bag to him. "Would you like some of the cake? You can have one, if you want," he offered. "It might cheer you up."

Gokudera narrowed his eyes. "No," he snapped. "And will you get your stupid arm off of me?!" He swatted at the dark-haired teen's offending arm. "Don't touch me!"

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Good," Gokudera said, satisfied. "Because it's supposed to."

Tsuna only shook his head and sighed at the sight of seeing his two best friends squabbling. Well, it was Gokudera who was doing all of the squabbling while Yamamoto just brushed off most of his comments in his usual way. What was he going to do about those two? The both of them were so absorbed in their "conversation" with each other, that they did not even notice Tsuna leave.

After being hit by Gokudera multiple times in the shoulder, Yamamoto rubbed the spot where he had been hit, laughing.

"Idiot," the silver-haired teen scorned.

"You don't mean that." Yamamoto smiled.

"What are you, stupid?"

"No." Yamamoto placed his chin on the palm of his hand. "I just know you."

"Go to hell."

Now, though Gokudera threw insults his way on a regular basis and often said that they were not friends, it was something that he did not take much note of. He knew as well as Gokudera that they were friends. Very close ones, in fact. It was just that this was something that Gokudera did not want to admit.

For example, when Gokudera went to his house to visit him because Yamamoto was sick, he said that it was only because "The Tenth thinks I should." Speaking of which, it had been awhile now since he had Gokudera or any of his friends over at his house.

"Hey, Gokudera," Yamamoto said, slinging his arm around the other's shoulders once more.

Gokudera threw him a warning look which he ignored. "What?" he hissed.

"How about we have dinner at my house tonight? It has been awhile since you've been over."

"No. I have things I have to do."

"Aww, come on. It's only once in awhile."

"No fucking way in hell."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please...?"

"NO."

"Please...?"

"Are you deaf? I said, 'NO'."

"Please, 'Dera?"

Gokudera's right eye twitched in annoyance upon hearing that wretched nickname. That Yamamoto could be a persistent bastard if he wanted to. "The hell did you just call me? I thought I told you not to call me that anymore!"

"Aww, come on, 'Dera," Yamamoto tried once more, completely ignoring what Gokudera had said. "It's only once in awhile."

"..."

"'Dera?"

"If I go, will you stop bugging me about this?"

Yamamoto grinned. "Of course."

"Fine," Gokudera said grudgingly. "But just this once. And only because you're so whiny about it."

"Yay! Thanks, 'Dera!" he said excitedly, pulling the Storm Guardian into a one-armed hug, surprising him.

"Fuck, let go of me!"

When he finally did let go of a squirming Gokudera, the silver-haired teen's cheeks was tinted with a most curious shade of pink.

"Get back to your seat. Class is gonna begin," Gokudera scolded just when their teacher walked in. He avoided Yamamoto's gaze. "Idiot."

Yamamoto hummed to himself happily as he walked to his locker. He had a good time last night. As promised, Gokudera had come over to his house for dinner. Though they finished quite late since Yamamoto kept on insisting that the other should stay longer, Gokudera refused to sleep over at his house, stating that he had more important things to do than to waste his time with "a baseball nut". He had even kicked Yamamoto in the shin to emphasize his point before leaving.

Oh, well. Aside from Gokudera's extremely painful departure, Yamamoto had a pretty good time. It had been awhile since he spent time with Gokudera till it was past ten.

... And speak of the devil.

There, right there rummaging through his own locker was Gokudera. The silver-haired teen seemed pretty preoccupied with arranging his books in the locker that he did not notice Yamamoto's presence.

"Hey, Gokudera," Yamamoto greeted.

Gokudera stopped what he was doing, startled. He looked up at the Japanese, and the look of surprise immediately turned to one of indifference.

"Oh, it's you," he said flatly.

"Ha ha! Wow, you're so cruel." When Gokudera did not respond, he added, "Thanks for coming over last night, by the way. I had fun. Gokudera should come on over more often."

Gokudera shrugged and continued where he left off, ignoring his friend's offer.

"So, I see that you received another bag of those things," he said.

"What?" It took awhile for what Gokudera meant to sink in, but when he saw the other gesture at what he was holding in his hand, Yamamoto understood. "Yup!" Yamamoto confirmed. He held out the brown paper bag. As usual, he had found it on his desk as soon as he walked into class that morning. This time, he received yellow-coloured cupcakes with sprinkles on them. "You want some? They taste great."

The Italian flicked green eyes over at the bag that Yamamoto held before him and then murmured, "No. They're for you."

Yamamoto blinked. "Does it really matter-"

"So are you going home straight after school?" Gokudera interrupted, changing the subject.

"Nope. I'm thinking of going to the batting field to practice."

"Hn. See you later in class, then." And with that, Gokudera slammed his locker close before making his way to class, not even bothering to give Yamamoto a second look.

"Eh?" Yamamoto scratched the back of his neck, mildly confused with other's behaviour. Gokudera sure was interesting.

"Oh, no," Yamamoto groaned when he accidentally stepped into a puddle. It had started raining and it looked like it was going to get heavier. The Japanese pulled his jacket over his head. He really should not have practiced for so long. Now he was going to catch a cold or maybe even a fever and then he would not be able to play baseball for awhile.

And he would hate for something like that to happen.

Wait. Maybe things were not that bad after all, because he could see Gokudera's place right up ahead. His spirits soaring, Yamamoto Takeshi speeded up.

In his house, Gokudera was busy washing the utensils that he had used. The scent of baked goods filled the entire kitchen. Though it was a pain to bake all of that crap all the time, he must say that he felt pretty satisfied with his work. All of that practice paid off because that baseball idiot was enjoying what he baked for him so far. He knew that the first few times he had tried baking, his cakes always ended up burnt, but he improved with time. All in all, he was doing pretty well. He was thankful that he was better at baking than Bianchi or else Yamamoto would have ended up dead a long time ago.

Gokudera glanced back at the oven, where he knew that the new batch that he had made today would soon become cupcakes. He smiled.

The idiot better enjoy those or I will personally kick his ass.

It was a good thing that he was able to bake a few cupcakes for the idiot with the leftover ingredients he had once he got back home late last night. Gokudera cursed under his breath. He would not have had to rush baking last night if Yamamoto did not keep insisting that he stayed longer. Gokudera had a hard time trying to resist the temptation to hit the idiot until he finally gave into it and kicked him in the shin. Served him right.

"If you like them so much, you better not piss me off by taking up so much of my time," Gokudera muttered.

It was a good thing that the baseball idiot decided on practicing at the batting field again today or else Gokudera would not have been able to get anything done. If Yamamoto wanted to hang out again, he would have to rush things again.

Once he finished washing all of the utensils, Gokudera wiped his hands on his apron and looked around the kitchen.

Well, his work here was done. Now all he had to do was to wait for the new batch to be done. Of course, tomorrow he would have to go to school early again just so that he could put the stupid things on Yamamoto's desk because there was no way in hell that he was going to give those personally. He would rather die than to have Yamamoto know that he was the one baking cupcakes for him.

And since tomorrow was Yamamoto's birthday, Gokudera had taken great care to make sure that this would be the best batch, and had even whipped up a little extra as well. After tomorrow, he would not have to bake those things anymore. Consider them as his birthday gift to the idiot.

... Not that he wanted to bake cupcakes or do anything nice for Yamamoto. He just did it because he had nothing else to do.

Gokudera was about to check on the cupcakes when he heard the doorbell ring.

Fuck, he thought, annoyed. Who the hell could that be?

Outside, Yamamoto was waiting impatiently for Gokudera to open the door. Maybe he did not hear the doorbell ring? He rang the doorbell once more. He hoped that Gokudera was home and that he was in a good mood or else he would have no choice but to walk around in the rain again. Yamamoto was about to ring the doorbell once more when the door suddenly opened, revealing a disgruntled Gokudera wearing of all things, an apron.

"Hold your fuckin' horses, I-" and the words just died on Gokudera's lips when he caught sight of Yamamoto. For once, he seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Hey, Gokudera," Yamamoto greeted, pushing his way into Gokudera's house without even asking permission. The Italian, being in the stunned state that he was in did not react and simply stared at Yamamoto. Yamamoto looked at him curiously. "What's with the apron? You cooking?"

That made Gokudera return to his senses.

"None of your business." His face pulled into a scowl, he demanded, "The hell are you doing here? Get out of my house!"

"It's raining," Yamamoto whined, as though it explained everything.

"So? That's not my problem. Get out!"

But Yamamoto was already exploring his house, looking around in wonder. "It has been awhile since I've been to your house, 'Dera," he said. A pleasant aroma reached his nostrils. "And hey, what's that smell? Are you baking something? It smells good~"

"What did I say about calling me that? Get out, get out, get out! Don't you dare go near the kitchen!" Gokudera said frantically. "Fuck! Who said that you can go in there?" Gokudera immediately stood in front of the entrance to the kitchen, his arms stretched at his sides, when he saw Yamamoto make his way towards the kitchen. This action only caused him to earn an expression that was a mix of surprise and confusion from Yamamoto, but really, Gokudera did not care. "Don't go in there," he breathed. He wracked his brains for a suitable excuse. "The place is uhh... It's in a mess," he finished lamely.

There was no way he was letting Yamamoto know his secret. Ever.

"Oh... Okay, 'Dera," Yamamoto laughed. "I'll just go into the living room then."

"No, no, no! Get out!" But it was too late; Yamamoto was already making himself comfortable in the living room. "Shit."

Gokudera groaned.

Once Yamamoto had made up his mind, it was near impossible to change it. Well, at least he did not go into the kitchen, otherwise he would have seen the cupcakes in the oven for sure. The sound of lightning and thunder could be heard, making Gokudera look out of the window. It was really raining heavily.

Gokudera ran a hand through his silver hair, sighing. There was nothing else for him to do but to let Yamamoto stay. He could not simply let him go back out in the rain, especially not since there was lightning. He did not want Yamamoto to end up dead or anything. He would just have to make sure that the idiot did not go anywhere near the kitchen.

"You stay right where you are, Yamamoto. I'll go get you some fresh clothes and a towel," Gokudera called out to him before disappearing into his room. "And don't you dare go in the kitchen."

"Okay, 'Dera!" Yamamoto said cheerfully. "Hey, do you think Gokudera can tutor me while I'm here? I seem to be having trouble with Maths again."

"Don't push your luck."

Oh, well. It was worth a try.

Bored, he cast his eyes around his surroundings once more when something that was placed on the table caught his eye. Yamamoto picked it up curiously. It was a book on baking.

"Eh, since when did Gokudera become interested in baking?" He raised an eyebrow as he flipped it open, skimming through the pages of recipes. The book was filled with pictures of cakes, muffins, cookies, cupcakes, you name it. It had practically every baked good in it. He knitted his eyebrows together. This did not seem like something Gokudera would be into. Maybe it was Bianchi's? Hearing Gokudera come back, Yamamoto immediately put back the book onto the table and grinned. "Hey, 'Dera!"

Yamamoto stretched his arms above his head as he walked towards class. Man, that was a really good work-out. Morning practice today was pretty intense and because of that, his senior took pity on them and let them off early. Today was really a good day. He had his usual glass of milk to kick start the day, his dad gave him a birthday present which consisted of a new pair of jeans and had even promised Yamamoto that he would make sushi for him for dinner, and his team mates on the baseball team had wished him happy birthday. So far, so good.

He had not seen the rest of his friends, but he had no doubt he would soon. It might take awhile, though, since it was still pretty early. He was probably one of the few students who was in school right now.

Upon reaching his class, Yamamoto caught sight of a very familiar face. A smile instantly lit up on his face.

Gokudera.

The Italian was the only one in class at the moment. He did not seem to notice Yamamoto's presence.

This was as good a time as any for him to thank Gokudera for putting up with him yesterday. And maybe he could persuade him to hang out for awhile before class started.

With these thoughts in mind, Yamamoto was about to wave and call out to Gokudera when he noticed something that made him stop, mesmerised; Gokudera was smiling, a serene look on his face. A few strands of silver hair fell across green eyes, but even then, even from where Yamamoto was at, he could see that the smile reached his eyes. It was a real smile, the type that he hardly saw on Gokudera's face. He looked beautiful. But what stunned him even more was not how Gokudera looked like at the moment when he thought that no one else was around, but rather, what he was doing.

Yamamoto's heart stopped.

Gokudera was placing a brown paper bag onto his desk.

By the time Gokudera looked up, there was no one standing in the doorway anymore.

Noting that the bag seemed bigger this time, Yamamoto opened the brown paper bag, and to his surprise, found that there were two boxes inside. Inside one of them, he found the usual cupcakes that he had been receiving for one week now, except that this time, there was a variety of them. Some had sprinkles, some had icing, some had cream and some had chocolate on top of them.

"'Dera..." Yamamoto's eyes softened.

The second box, however, was something different.

Inside the second box was a small-sized cake with the words "Happy birthday, Yamamoto" written in icing on top of it.

"Happy birthday, Yamamoto!"

"Ha ha! Thanks, everyone!" Yamamoto was practically beaming. All of his friends, everyone that he cared about, were here. The moment he got back home from school, he was suddenly greeted with everyone cheering, "SURPRISE!" at him. And he must say that they did succeed in surprising him. He certainly did not expect his friends and his dad to throw a surprise birthday party for him.

Other than people, what was a party without food? It was certainly something that the party did not lack; his father and the girls made sure of that. There was an assortment of food and desserts placed on the table, along with a birthday cake placed in the middle. Seeing this reminded him of the birthday cake that he had received earlier that day. Speaking of which, where was Gokudera? He did not seem to be anywhere in sight.

"Ah, Tsuna!" Yamamoto said, touching his friend's shoulder when he walked by. Tsuna looked up at him questioningly. "Where is Gokudera? I don't see him anywhere."

"Gokudera?" Tsuna thought for awhile. "I think he is upstairs. When he found out that Bianchi is coming, he disappeared."

"Thanks! I'm gonna go see him now."

Tsuna caught his sleeve, preventing him from going any further. "Wait! What about the cake? They're going to sing Happy Birthday to you soon."

Yamamoto gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. This won't take long. Just call me when it's time. And try to get Bianchi to cover part of her face with something so that Gokudera can come on down."

Tsuna nodded. "Alright then." He let go of Yamamoto's sleeve.

Upstairs, upstairs... If Gokudera was upstairs, then he knew exactly where he was. He was probably in his room right now. Once Yamamoto was in front of his own room, he stared at the door, unsure of what to do. What was he going to say? He took a deep breath. Relax. It was still Gokudera. And with that, Yamamoto pushed his bedroom door open and found the Storm Guardian sitting on his bed, reading a magazine. At the sound of the door creaking open, Gokudera looked up, saw Yamamoto, and scowled.

Yeap, definitely still Gokudera.

"Hey, 'Dera," Yamamoto said, closing the door behind him.

No reply. Just the flipping sound of the magazine pages as Gokudera turned each page.

Yamamoto shifted uncomfortably. What was he supposed to say? He watched as Gokudera continued to read as he blatantly ignored Yamamoto's presence. It was not like he could suddenly come out and say that he knew that Gokudera was the one who had been baking treats for him every day. Especially not when it was apparent that Gokudera wanted to keep it a secret, if his not mentioning it to Yamamoto at all was any indication.

"Uhh..." Sweatdrop. "Gokudera?"

"What?" Gokudera said grumpily. "I'm not gonna wish you happy birthday if that's what you're thinking."

"No, no, it's not that."

"Then what?"

Yamamoto bit the inside of his cheek, trying to think of at least something to say. He could not get the image of what he had seen this morning out of his mind.

Noticing the look on Yamamoto's face, Gokudera put down the magazine and glared at him. "What? Why the hell are you staring at me like that?" he demanded. "If you have something that you want to say to me, then spit it out!"

Whoa. Yamamoto could feel sweat gathering under his collar. Not wanting to anger the Italian any further, Yamamoto said the first thing that came to his mind; "What are you doing up here?"

Gokudera raised an eyebrow. He regarded Yamamoto with suspicion. "Is that really all?"

Yamamoto nodded.

"Hn."

...

Finally, Gokudera chose to speak. "In case you haven't noticed, Bianchi is here," Gokudera said moodily.

"Oh, I see." Yamamoto sighed in relief and relaxed instantly now that the tension in the air was gone. At least now he was no longer in danger of getting sticks of dynamite thrown in his general direction by Gokudera. All the same, he tried looking at anything but Gokudera. The Italian was pretty touchy about being stared at.

Gokudera eyed the items that Yamamoto held under his arm. "The hell are those?"

"Oh, these?" he asked, startled. Gokudera nodded. Yamamoto looked down at the items he was carrying. "These are some of the birthday presents that I received today."

"Huh." Gokudera went back to reading the magazine "You'd never catch me doing something like that. The only reason I'm here anyway is because the Tenth insisted on me being here."

Yamamoto could not help but to smile at that.

Feeling Yamamoto's stare, Gokudera looked up from the magazine and glared at him. "The hell you smiling for?" he snapped. "Is there something funny that I don't know about?"

"Nothing."

"Then stop smiling. It's annoying."

"Why not? I have no reason not to smile right now."

"Like I said, it's annoying. Stop it."

If possible, his smile widened. This was good; them "talking" like this again. It made him forget why he felt awkward around the Italian in the first place. Gokudera really was so cute.

Gokudera was about to open his mouth to give Yamamoto a scathing reply when they suddenly heard Tsuna's voice coming from outside the room.

"Come on, guys! It's time for Yamamoto to cut the cake! Everyone is getting impatient."

"We're coming!" Yamamoto called.

As soon as he heard Tsuna's footsteps fade away, he turned back to Gokudera. "You coming?"

Gokudera hesitated.

"I told Tsuna to get Bianchi to cover part of her face," Yamamoto quickly added.

The moment those words left his lips, he could see relief wash over Gokudera's features. The scowl disappeared and it looked like the weight of the world was taken off of his shoulders. The other obviously did not want another repeat episode of getting sick via Bianchi. Gokudera put the magazine down and stood up, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll go on down and watch you cut your stupid cake," Gokudera said, walking to his side. "I'm tired of sitting around in here anyway."

What could he say? Yamamoto laughed. He just could not help it. He wrapped an arm around Gokudera's shoulders, just like he always did. And this time, he was not pushed away. If Gokudera was not ready to admit anything to him, he was not going to press him. He would wait until he was ready. "That's my 'Dera," he teased.

Gokudera glared at him. "I am not yours," he said, though a most adorable blush spread across his cheeks as he said it. "I don't even like you, you freak."

But even though Gokudera Hayato said that, when it was time for Yamamoto to blow out the candles on the cake and make a wish, Yamamoto caught sight of that rare smile that had suddenly made its way to his face. The sight of that alone was enough to make Yamamoto's heart flutter. Green eyes were lit up and gazing at him fondly, completely unaware of the fact that Yamamoto had noticed the change in him. And for a moment there, he was taken back to that morning, that morning when he saw Gokudera in the classroom. Smiling, Yamamoto bent down and looked at the still lit candles, the image of what he wanted clear in his mind. He knew exactly what he wanted to wish for.

He blew out the candles.

Thank you, Gokudera, for making this the best birthday ever.

DIOR: Happy birthday, Yama! XD Shameless fluff, I know. This is my first time writing 8059, so I hope it's fine. It's kind of a warm-up before I get started on my chaptered 8059 fics. :D Reviews are appreciated.