(no subject)
☣flip a coin.
PG13 | TWENTY-ONE CANDLES | 5066
「H E A D S」
► 23 SEP 2007
One final spritz from the can of hair spray, and he's ready to face another pointless day. But he takes one last look at the mirror, fixes the spikes that need fixing, and then steps back to give himself a glance-over. Hair, check; uniform ( last few buttons unbuttoned, shirt not quite untucked, tie haphazardly fixed ), check; accessories ( his rings, his necklace, his lifeline ), check. The whole package, Gokudera Hayato, age fourteen, right-hand man of the Tenth Vongola, check, check, check. Everything seems in place. Screw it if it looks off.
Now the only thing left is getting himself to Namimori High, in one piece. Either on time, or not, who the fuck cares. As long as he gets there, sees to it that the Tenth is well-prepared and ready to tackle another one of Reborn-san's tasks, and makes sure that the Tenth succeeds in completing said task, no matter what the cost.
He glances at the clock. Right. Time to go.
He pulls out a cigarette from his last pack, mentally reminding himself to buy a couple new ones on the way before lighting it up. A few puffs of smoke, and then he's already making his way out of his apartment. It's one of those that look like it's about to get a demolition notice any time soon, with its leaky roofs, deteriorating paint, rusty railings, and a whole bunch of other things gone wrong ( gone bad ), but it's the only space he could afford, and it's enough. Anything's way better than sleeping out on the streets anyway.
The trip down the stairs doesn't take too long, but just when he's about to reach the end, he freezes in mid-step, eyes immediately narrowing. He shoves his hands inside his pockets angrily and practically storms down the remaining steps, passing by the idiot that tries to raise a hand in greeting but never gets the chance.
There's a laugh though, followed by, "Yo, Gokudera! Wait up!", and then the sounds of sneakers padding down the pavement after him. He can feel his eyebrow twitch. There's a part of him that wishes he had a whole other pack to smoke, because the one he has right now isn't quite as fresh as the annoyance he now faces.
"Haha, geez, are we doing a walkathon or something?" And somehow that makes him slow down. Fuck.
"Shut the fuck up, baseball freak," calm down, calm down, it's too fucking early in the morning to use up all your energy over this, "What the hell are you doing here?"
And of course, the baseball freak says, "Huh? Walking to school with you!", like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Something inside Gokudera begins to strain a little. Maybe it's that thing called tolerance.
"That's not what I fucking meant, dumbass! Why are you here?!"
Yamamoto looks at him like he doesn't know why he's so angry. "Haha, what are you getting so angry for?"-fuck you too-"Your place was along the way, so why not? Besides-" and this is where he feels that all-too familiar drape of a lanky arm around his shoulders, which subsequently makes him bristle, hackles raised, don't fucking touch me! and everything, but it just makes Yamamoto laugh again "-walking to school's way more fun when there's two people, right."
Gokudera doesn't even look at him.
That smile's pissing him off.
► 03 NOV 2007
He doesn't really remember why he agreed to this.
But he's stuck here now, thanks to that idiot's annoying persistence, and the fact that he's way too exhausted to argue any more than he already did. It's not a fucking long walk versus It's late at night now! So what, baseball freak?! versus What if you get kidnapped or something. What the fuck, what the fuck are you talking about?! versus Hahaha! I don't know why you're getting so mad, Gokudera. I said you can stay here the night, right? And that's where he got on his feet, went up to Yamamoto, grabbed his collar, and threatened to fucking punch his lights out, which he really would have, but-
But then the baseball idiot started laughing.
And it was so out of the blue, so disarming, that Gokudera found himself slowly letting him go until he was completely placated. Probably a little dumbfounded too. Yamamoto only smiled at him.
Said that it's kind of weird to have a sleepover when you're both guys.
Said that only girls do this kind of thing, right.
And said that it's fine and fun because it's Gokudera and Gokudera kind of looks like a girl anyway, so it works out.
And that was the part where Gokudera tackled him to the floor, near strangling him, but it didn't look like Yamamoto knew that his life was in danger, because he just kept laughing, and laughing. That kind of laugh that said geez, Gokudera, why are you so mad?
And that's where Gokudera pretty much gave up.
There's no point knocking some sense into a dumbass with a brain the size of a fucking baseball.
Fucking idiot, he thinks to himself, pulling the covers over his head, trying to get used to how the futon feels under him, but never quite getting there. Not only is he sleeping in the room of a defective dumbass, but he's sleeping on a defective bed too ( nobody told Gokudera that futons aren't really beds, but- ).
"Night, Gokudera!"
He's quiet for a second longer, and then, "Fuck off."
"Hahaha, sweet dreams too!"
And then it's lights off.
► 15 MAY 2008
Only one of them is laughing.
The other-way too busy trying to look the other way, trying to look like he's not interested.
The one laughing is talking about how you transform separate ingredients into the delicacy they're eating now, but it falls on deaf ears, ears that think he's bragging like a fool. But he isn't. He's just telling how it is, how it's so simple to whip up a snack for two people in just a short amount of time.
He gets a snort in response, and a rude comment about how this tastes like shit, but he only laughs, good-natured as always. It goes on like this for a while-laughter and growls, growls and laughter.
It's almost routine.
And both just fall right into it.
► 04 AUG 2008
It's been a long day.
And every single second he had left at Namimori Shrine is spent watching how funny Gokudera gets around Tsuna. The fireworks show is over, so now everyone's either just mingling around, or going home. They're doing a bit of both, because some of the stalls are still open, namely that one where you can catch a goldfish and take it home with you, and that was their original plan-until Tsuna's stomach started growling.
Now Gokudera's fawning over him. Asking him if he wants anpan, edamame, takoyaki, agemochi, taiyaki, or kakigori, because he's got them right here, ready to be eaten at any given moment. Yamamoto has to take a second to wonder when Gokudera bought all that, but he doesn't dwell on it. There's only laughter when he sees the look on Tsuna's face, and then he comes in between them, slinging his arms on their shoulders.
"Hahaha! Guess we can have a feast now, huh," he says, with a huge grin on his face. Tsuna gives him a sheepish kind of smile in return, while Gokudera grits his teeth and untangles himself from him. Yells something that goes like, fuck off, baseball freak! This is all for the Tenth, and the Tenth alone!
A blink, once, twice, and you can tell Yamamoto's confused.
"But how's he even gonna finish all that?"
"That's not the point! The point is-"
"Go-Gokudera-kun!"
"-yes, Tenth?" It'll never stop amusing him just how fast Gokudera can switch from being the angriest person alive to someone who's all smiles and eager to please. He watches as Tsuna tries to say that it's fine if they had to share the food, because there's no way he'll be able to eat it all, and grins a little wider when Gokudera agrees-sure, Tenth, of course!-but insists that the food is still for him and not meant for that stupid baseball freak.
Yamamoto can only laugh.
They'll be here a while, he thinks.
Especially since Gokudera's distracted again and is asking just what the fuck is so fucking funny?!
"Hahaha," it's wholehearted and simple, "You're a funny guy, Gokudera. You're a funny guy."
► 08 SEP 2008
Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out.
The way Yamamoto tries to soothe out his nerves by controlling the way he breathes-it's almost as if he's the one trying to stay alive.
Haha, wait, no, Gokudera's alive, he's okay, but-
He lost a lot of blood, got hit by a pretty strong poison, but he'll make it through the night. Gokudera's a tough guy like that. Or that's what Yamamoto tells himself, just to quell the anxiety building up inside. It's not that he's worried-he's trying real hard not to be, because Gokudera will be just fine, right?-but the fact that this whole thing even happened-that's what pisses him off.
No one messes with his friends like that.
► 15 SEP 2008
Gokudera looks like he's seen a ghost, turning white as a sheet, or at least, that's what it looks like to Yamamoto, and he can't help but flash a sympathetic grin. Or, well, he tried to make it sympathetic, but maybe he didn't pull it off, because Gokudera's got his eyes narrowed and teeth bared at him again. Damage control time? Something like that-not that he really understands why he's raising his arms up a little in a half-hearted surrender.
"Yo, Gokudera!" And he adds a friendly grin with that, to show that he means no harm. Haha, it's like talking to a cornered animal because Gokudera just glares at him even more as he stalks away from the swing set. It doesn't even cross his mind to wonder why Gokudera's in a playground, but it still looks like he's committed a mortal sin or something like that. He never really knows what he's done to piss off Gokudera, and this time's no different.
"Don't talk to me," is what he hears from the pissed off right-hand man ( haha, man, Gokudera sure likes weird nicknames ), "And fuck off."
But Yamamoto only smiles at him, jogging to catch up, slowing down once he did. "Hey, you wanna come over for some sushi? My dad's trying out a new recipe, so-"
"I said don't fucking talk to me."
Yamamoto blinks, looks confused for one, two, three seconds, and then he's all smiles again. Guess they're playing the silent game again.
"Haha, sure."
It's not like this is anything new.
► 21 OCT 2008
He can tell the boy he's half-dragging, half-supporting is pissed off, the way he doesn't talk, the way his face looks like it's about to kill the next thing that comes into view. But he can only smile at this, to maybe lighten up the situation a little, because even if the outcome wasn't the one they were looking for, at least he's still alive, right? That's all that matters in the end-or should, but Gokudera's not the type to let things slide so easily like that.
"Hey, Gokudera," he doesn't really know where he's going with this, but somewhere along the road, Yamamoto realized that tying Tsuna in somehow here would be beneficial, so he tries it, just to see where it goes, "I don't get why you're so mad, haha. Tsuna said it's fine, right?" But the reaction he gets isn't the one he's expecting.
Gokudera pushes himself off from his body, struggles to stand still, holding onto a still bleeding wound on his stomach. Yamamoto reaches out to keep him steady, but the glare from Gokudera's eyes stops him dead, so he backs off, backs away. Even if Gokudera looks like he's about to keel over from the slow but continuous loss of blood. Maybe they really should have let Romario-san treat his wounds before leaving?
Not that he gets to think about this for too long, because Gokudera's talking, spitting out every single word with acid attached. And for once, it's not directed at him.
"Why the fuck wouldn't I be? That was a fucking disgrace on my part-I fucking won, you saw it, but that asshole just had to-he just had to-fuck-fucking shit!"
Yamamoto grabs his hand before he manages to hurt himself even more by punching the closest thing, which happens to be the a telephone pole. He holds him still until he's done ranting about this and that, about how that ring should have been his, about how it's going to be all his fault if they end up losing because of his slip-up. And Yamamoto just has to laugh, even if it's the most inappropriate thing to do, even if it earns him an elbow jab to the guts.
"You did your best, right? That's good enough."
But this doesn't satisfy Gokudera at all, and it confuses him a little. How many times does he have to say it's fine until Gokudera starts believing it? Haha-
"How the fuck is it good enough?! I let the ring slip out of my fingers!"
-guess this makes it three. "It's fine, haha. Tsuna said so himself."
Four. "So stop worrying about it."
Five. "We can always get back the ring anyway, haha."
And all Gokudera has to say this time is, "Fuck you," so maybe it's working? Maybe it's not, too.
Who knows.
Gokudera's always been a confusing guy, but as long as he's not worrying over what they can't change, then it's fine, right?
-haha, make that six.
► 28 DEC 2008
"Fuck off. And just get the fuck out."
"But-"
"What part of get the fuck out don't you get?"
"... Hahaha, is this another one of your games, Gokudera?"
"Games?! Is this just a shitty-you know what, here, let's play a game. It's called get the fuck out of my sight."
"Sure, haha, uh-I'll just uh, go or something-yeah-uh, sorry-"
► 30 JAN 2009
"Heard you almost jumped off here once," is the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he closes the door and crosses the rooftop until he's standing an arm's length away from the only other person out here. Yamamoto turns around to face him, eyes a little wide in surprise, and then there's a sheepish smile on his face. It's kind of awkward, it says-at least that's the vibe Gokudera's getting from it.
He tch's quietly, pulling out a cigarette to light it and breathe in the cancerous smoke. "Well?"
"Haha-yeah-yeah, that was a while ago." Yamamoto shifts back to leaning against the too-thin fencing, looking out at the school yard down below, where students are slowly filing out of the buildings, on their way home. Gokudera doesn't see the almost too-sad smile on his face that comes and goes in a split-second. "A guy can do pretty stupid things when he's depressed. Funny, huh?"
Gokudera looks at him, and then moves to claim a spot right beside Yamamoto, leaning his back against the chicken-wire fence, smoking all the time. "Nah," and somehow saying this feels a little bit too weird for him, "it's fucking stupid. But I don't expect anything less from a baseball idiot like you."
Something about Yamamoto's laugh sounds so happy, so amused. "Yeah, I guess so. That was pretty dumb of me. But good thing Tsuna saved me. Or else I'd be missing out on all the fun roleplaying games we've been doing, haha!"
Gokudera's eyebrow twitches, almost protests out loud that they've never been games, but he lets it slide. Just this once.
"The Tenth's an amazing person like that," he says admiringly, tilting his head up at the blue sky.
Yamamoto, on the other hand, looks down a little. "Tsuna? Yeah, he's amazing." A big grin, a big smile. "Great guy, haha. Great friend."
And they fall into quiet lull. No one speaks, no one moves-until Yamamoto decides to break it. He's pushing himself away from the fence, picking up his bag, slowly taking a few steps back. He looks like he wants to say something, but this is what comes out of him instead: "I should go-"
But before he manages to shift away, Gokudera's voice stops him, "Hey."
"Huh-?"
Gokudera takes one final drag from his cigarette and then drops it to the floor, crushing it with his sneaker. He almost looks annoyed. "I didn't tell you to go, baseball freak."
Yamamoto's about to question it, but he doesn't in the end, doesn't see the need to. Because this means they're good, right? But there's a grin on his face anyway, and it grows wider by the second, especially when he places himself right back beside Gokudera. He's laughing, and it sounds happier, sounds relieved, and all he can say is, "Okay."
► 29 MAR 2009
It's running late. 10:37 PM, and counting.
There's barely anybody on the bus now, just the two of them at the very back, a lady and her phone near the backdoor, an old man reading his newspaper up front, and the driver. That's it. That's all. No one's talking because there's nothing to talk about, and maybe everyone's just about to fall asleep. It doesn't help that it's been a long day, and the driver even turns the lights off.
A common courtesy, but Gokudera doesn't want to close his eyes when he's the one who has to watch out for their stop. And it's all because the baseball freak fell asleep right beside him.
He feels a light pressure on his shoulder, makes him look over and see that it's Yamamoto leaning against him. "What the fuck?!" he sputters out, and then he shoves him off to the side, making the sleeping Yamamoto wobble a little before steadying himself in an upright position again. And even though he knows the idiot won't see it, he glares at him anyway before looking away.
But then he feels that same pressure again, and Yamamoto's head is back to leaning against his shoulder. He clenches his fists and bristles up, but one look at Yamamoto's face and he suddenly loses the will to push him away this time. And he has no idea why.
He shakes his head, growls under his breath, and keeps that glare in place.
"Fuck you too."
「T A I L S」
► 01 MAY 2017
It's a change of pace, a change of style.
They've got nothing to lose, but they can pretend for just a little while longer, that they have everything to give, and nothing to be afraid of. Because this is just another day, another night, another thing gone wrong in the face of bang bang bang from the distance. The taller one, with a laugh on his face, ducks and cuts a corner to head straight for a dead-end ( deadman ) alley. The shorter one, a short fuse ready to pop, calls him an idiot as he growls out a long string of curses, bitches about how he should've turned left instead of right. Right gone wrong, wrong gone right.
But there's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to lose.
Even when the ground collides with a wall, blocking their escape, blocking their path.
"Fuck," he says, allowing a bright red flame to burn on the ring on his finger, "if we die here, then it's all your fault."
"Hahaha!" A short laugh, a happy laugh. And this one's got his sword ready, blue flame ablazing. "Geez, Gokudera, you worry too much."
"Fuck you."
"Bet I can take out more than you will."
"Che! A coward like you who doesn't fight to kill?" It only takes a split-second for a gothic weapon to wrap around his arm, ready to aim, ready to fire. "As if."
"Haha, we'll see. We'll see."
► 22 JUN 2017
"What the hell is up with you and sushi?!"
"Huh? Oh-haha, why not?"
"The hell do you mean by why not?! It's all you eat!"
"Haha, it's easy to make!" A pause. And an expression that is almost thoughtful. "Didn't I tell you this before?"
"Like only a fucking thousand times," but this one's reaching out to take a bit anyway.
A laugh. "It's good, right?"
"Still tastes like shit."
But Yamamoto laughs and looks away, just so Gokudera thinks he's not looking when the other man pops another roll in his mouth.
► 13 NOV 2017
Gokudera sees him come out of his room with a blank look on his face, something unreadable, but the moment their eyes meet, he's all smiles again. "Yo, Gokudera," he says, but there's something off, something missing. There isn't a lot of cheerfulness behind that greeting. It's a little bit more somber than usual. And the way he smiles, it's sharp around the edges, almost a straight line.
But Gokudera doesn't question it. Instead, he plays along, sees how it goes. "You being lazy again?"
"Huh?" Yamamoto appears confused, but then he gets it. "Oh! No, haha. Squalo's been keeping me busy with his tapes-they're fun to watch." And he turns around to leave, but Gokudera's hand shoots out to grab his shoulder and hold him back.
"I'm not done with you yet," Gokudera points out, green eyes narrowed yet again.
"Oh, sorry, haha. I'm kinda in a hurry, but-what's up?"
"Tenth told me to tell you that your old man's been looking for you," he blinks when Yamamoto doesn't show his usual interest whenever it came to his own dad, but he lets it go, "s'got something to do with baseball, is what I heard."
"-oh."
Now this is where Gokudera's taken aback. "What?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I know about that, haha-I'll call him up later." Yamamoto's turning away from him again, and he flashes an apologetic smile too. "But look, I really gotta go. I'll talk to you in a bit-"
And then he's gone, leaving Gokudera standing there, watching his retreating back. The look on his face says it all: what the fuck just happened.
► 01 DEC 2017
He watches as Yamamoto pulls his sword out from its recent victim, watches as he stumbles back and almost reaches out to stop the body from falling face forward, but he freezes up instead, eyes completely wide open in disbelief, because he knows that person's dead. And Gokudera's sure this is slowly killing Yamamoto on the inside with the way they glance at each other, both looking for answers neither one could provide.
"Gokudera-I-"
He curls his lips into a sneer, staring down at Yamamoto with a stern look. "Pull yourself together."
And when Yamamoto only blinks back at him, he adds with a threatening snarl, "'cause I don't need you falling apart on me. We still have a job to do."
Yamamoto looks away this time. "Ha-guess so..."
But Gokudera can see that his eyes are still locked on the bleeding body on the floor, and this pisses him off. Pisses him off enough to grab Yamamoto by the collar, pull him closer, and spit out words he'll never have to hear again. "So you killed someone. So what. Like I said, we still have a job to do. So wisen up, get over it, and shut the hell up. I don't wanna work with you if you're gonna be like this."
And he lets him go, and starts walking away. Maybe that was a little harsh, but he can't take back whatever he said now. Yamamoto chose this over baseball, so he might as well get a reality check now, instead of later, where it's going to hit even harder.
► 20 DEC 2017
He's feeling a little numb when Gokudera finds him, glancing over at the wreckage that used to be his home.
"Yamamoto."
"Hey," it feels weird to talk like this, like a kind of foreign taste in his mouth because it's so bitter and metallic, "the place is a mess." It's a solemn statement. Nothing else attached. He tears his eyes away from the bloody form on the floor, a face mangled beyond recognition, and half the body is even missing because it's buried under a ton of debris. But he knows who he is. Doesn't need to take a second look. And he can't bring himself to smile as he says, "Sorry about that."
"What the hell are you-"
"-haha. I don't know."
He really doesn't.
► 03 MAY 2018
And he doesn't know what to do when Gokudera finds out that Shamal got ambushed somewhere, and that they couldn't find the body, no matter where they looked. When he tried bringing it up the first time, Gokudera didn't even look at him in the face, and all he got was a simple, "I don't really give a shit." And that confused him, still does, because wasn't Gokudera pretty close with Dr. Shamal?
Something isn't clicking.
So he tries again the day after, just to see if Gokudera's doing any better compared to the night before. And since Gokudera has a knack for making it hard for people to look for him, it takes Yamamoto a while before he finally finds him, situated on one of the swings, smoking a dying cigarette. His hair looks a little different by now too, and even though it's the first thing Yamamoto notices, he doesn't say anything about it.
"You doing okay?" But all he gets is one look at him, and nothing else. He wears a smile on his face, and it's sad, but it's close to his usual grin-maybe he's not all that gone yet. But it's not about him right now.
He takes the other swing because Gokudera doesn't stop him, sits there for as long as Gokudera lets him, because this is all he can do right now. This is all he can offer.
► 10 AUG 2018
"The mood's been way too serious around here lately, huh."
"Sure."
"Haha, can't even stand it sometimes..."
"I guess."
"... Feel like going out?"
"No."
But somehow, this doesn't discourage Yamamoto at all. "It's the summer festival today. Heard the fireworks are gonna be great this year. Sure you don't wanna go?"
There's a long pause, where Gokudera starts smoking a new cigarette, taking long drags. He isn't looking at Yamamoto, and he even ends up turning his back on him, because he's sure he's close to breaking his blank face.
"There's no point without the Tenth."
► 11 OCT 2018
Everything was supposed to go smoothly, without a glaring mistake. They go in their enemy's base, take what they came for, and come back out alive, in one piece. But something went wrong along the road, and Gokudera was the only one who was able to find a way out.
But now he's looking for him, doesn't even waste a single second. He goes right back inside, kills whoever he had to kill, does whatever he has to do, but there's one problem.
He can't find him.
No matter where he looks, no matter where he goes. And slowly, there's a sinking kind of feeling at the pit of his stomach that slowly builds up, the kind that goes maybe he's dead, maybe he's dying, maybe he's already gone. And there's no way to find him. He's panicking a little now, and deep breaths aren't calming him down. But still he's trying to take it all rationally, argues that someone like Yamamoto isn't going to go down that easily-something like that.
And maybe it's working. Maybe it's not. But he doesn't have the time to think about that now, because-
► 11 OCT 2018
-there are people after him, on his tail, and no matter what he does, he can't shake them off. And the fact that he doesn't even know where he's going isn't helping either. But since the only thing he can do is run away, that's all he does. He runs. Turns left and right whenever he could, goes down the stairs whenever he finds them, but in the end, he's nowhere near the exit. And the people behind him are slowly catching up.
But the minute he dives for another corner, he freezes, because he meets up with the sight of a gun aimed straight for his head. Every single instinct inside him is telling him to duck, to find cover, or to fight back before the guy gets him first, but he's completely rigid, rendered immobile and it's not even fear. Maybe it's just the shock, or something else entirely, but-but then something happens.
It's a quick blur, and he's sure he heard the distinct sound of a gun firing, but he doesn't feel any pain. Instead, there's a familiar weight pressing him down on the floor, and the all too familiar insult of you stupid fucking baseball freak, and then a flash of silver hair.
► 12 OCT 2018
"That was crazy, what you did back there-"
"It saved your ass, so shut the hell up, baseball freak."
"Haha. I guess so..." When he feels Gokudera slump against him, he can't help but smile. "Is this gonna be another sleep over?"
"Tch-call me a girl again and I'll fucking sock you in the face."
"Hahaha! I know you will. You don't look much of a girl right now anyway."
"Just shut the hell up, baseball freak."
"... Hahaha. Night then, Gokudera."
And the smile's completely wiped off from his face.
「? ? ? ? ?」
► 18 JUN 20XX
"Hey, Gokudera-"
"Too fucking loud, baseball freak."
He laughs, just because it's so like Gokudera to complain about something like that right now. But there's a smile on his face, and it's not like his usual one. This one's a lot more content. "Haha, but I gotta tell you something."
"Don't fucking say it."
"Why not?"
"I don't wanna hear it."
"Haha, sure," he laughs, sincere in every way. "Guess you already know what I was gonna say then."
"Che! So why do you keep bringing it up, dumbass?"
"Dunno, haha. Just wanna make sure, I guess."
"That's what you always say."
This time, his laughter's a bit louder, completely amused, completely happy. "I know."
"So just shut the hell up."
"Haha, sure," he says, "Okay."
title. Flip a Coin.
genre. General/Fluff/Angst.
rating. PG13.
characters. Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi; Katekyo Hitman REBORN!
warnings. Watch out for Gokudera's mouth. Implied death. Death. Implied 8059. OR MAYBE IT'S NOT THERE AT ALL. Who knows, haha.
wordcount. 5066.
notes. This is totally NOT for genkitozuku ( oh Addy ♥ ), who is celebrating her twenty-first birthday right now. LULZ twenty-one drabbles -- what -- don't look at me like that.
disclaimer. Bodies, limbs, thoughts, &things aren't mine. I just pull the strings &stay on the sidelines, 'cause that's where the puppeteer belongs when her dolls are strutting all over the stage.
synopsis. Twenty-one scenes, twenty-one instances. Moments that flicker in and out of your memory-one deep breath and it's all gone. Just like that.
PG13 | TWENTY-ONE CANDLES | 5066
「H E A D S」
► 23 SEP 2007
One final spritz from the can of hair spray, and he's ready to face another pointless day. But he takes one last look at the mirror, fixes the spikes that need fixing, and then steps back to give himself a glance-over. Hair, check; uniform ( last few buttons unbuttoned, shirt not quite untucked, tie haphazardly fixed ), check; accessories ( his rings, his necklace, his lifeline ), check. The whole package, Gokudera Hayato, age fourteen, right-hand man of the Tenth Vongola, check, check, check. Everything seems in place. Screw it if it looks off.
Now the only thing left is getting himself to Namimori High, in one piece. Either on time, or not, who the fuck cares. As long as he gets there, sees to it that the Tenth is well-prepared and ready to tackle another one of Reborn-san's tasks, and makes sure that the Tenth succeeds in completing said task, no matter what the cost.
He glances at the clock. Right. Time to go.
He pulls out a cigarette from his last pack, mentally reminding himself to buy a couple new ones on the way before lighting it up. A few puffs of smoke, and then he's already making his way out of his apartment. It's one of those that look like it's about to get a demolition notice any time soon, with its leaky roofs, deteriorating paint, rusty railings, and a whole bunch of other things gone wrong ( gone bad ), but it's the only space he could afford, and it's enough. Anything's way better than sleeping out on the streets anyway.
The trip down the stairs doesn't take too long, but just when he's about to reach the end, he freezes in mid-step, eyes immediately narrowing. He shoves his hands inside his pockets angrily and practically storms down the remaining steps, passing by the idiot that tries to raise a hand in greeting but never gets the chance.
There's a laugh though, followed by, "Yo, Gokudera! Wait up!", and then the sounds of sneakers padding down the pavement after him. He can feel his eyebrow twitch. There's a part of him that wishes he had a whole other pack to smoke, because the one he has right now isn't quite as fresh as the annoyance he now faces.
"Haha, geez, are we doing a walkathon or something?" And somehow that makes him slow down. Fuck.
"Shut the fuck up, baseball freak," calm down, calm down, it's too fucking early in the morning to use up all your energy over this, "What the hell are you doing here?"
And of course, the baseball freak says, "Huh? Walking to school with you!", like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Something inside Gokudera begins to strain a little. Maybe it's that thing called tolerance.
"That's not what I fucking meant, dumbass! Why are you here?!"
Yamamoto looks at him like he doesn't know why he's so angry. "Haha, what are you getting so angry for?"-fuck you too-"Your place was along the way, so why not? Besides-" and this is where he feels that all-too familiar drape of a lanky arm around his shoulders, which subsequently makes him bristle, hackles raised, don't fucking touch me! and everything, but it just makes Yamamoto laugh again "-walking to school's way more fun when there's two people, right."
Gokudera doesn't even look at him.
That smile's pissing him off.
► 03 NOV 2007
He doesn't really remember why he agreed to this.
But he's stuck here now, thanks to that idiot's annoying persistence, and the fact that he's way too exhausted to argue any more than he already did. It's not a fucking long walk versus It's late at night now! So what, baseball freak?! versus What if you get kidnapped or something. What the fuck, what the fuck are you talking about?! versus Hahaha! I don't know why you're getting so mad, Gokudera. I said you can stay here the night, right? And that's where he got on his feet, went up to Yamamoto, grabbed his collar, and threatened to fucking punch his lights out, which he really would have, but-
But then the baseball idiot started laughing.
And it was so out of the blue, so disarming, that Gokudera found himself slowly letting him go until he was completely placated. Probably a little dumbfounded too. Yamamoto only smiled at him.
Said that it's kind of weird to have a sleepover when you're both guys.
Said that only girls do this kind of thing, right.
And said that it's fine and fun because it's Gokudera and Gokudera kind of looks like a girl anyway, so it works out.
And that was the part where Gokudera tackled him to the floor, near strangling him, but it didn't look like Yamamoto knew that his life was in danger, because he just kept laughing, and laughing. That kind of laugh that said geez, Gokudera, why are you so mad?
And that's where Gokudera pretty much gave up.
There's no point knocking some sense into a dumbass with a brain the size of a fucking baseball.
Fucking idiot, he thinks to himself, pulling the covers over his head, trying to get used to how the futon feels under him, but never quite getting there. Not only is he sleeping in the room of a defective dumbass, but he's sleeping on a defective bed too ( nobody told Gokudera that futons aren't really beds, but- ).
"Night, Gokudera!"
He's quiet for a second longer, and then, "Fuck off."
"Hahaha, sweet dreams too!"
And then it's lights off.
► 15 MAY 2008
Only one of them is laughing.
The other-way too busy trying to look the other way, trying to look like he's not interested.
The one laughing is talking about how you transform separate ingredients into the delicacy they're eating now, but it falls on deaf ears, ears that think he's bragging like a fool. But he isn't. He's just telling how it is, how it's so simple to whip up a snack for two people in just a short amount of time.
He gets a snort in response, and a rude comment about how this tastes like shit, but he only laughs, good-natured as always. It goes on like this for a while-laughter and growls, growls and laughter.
It's almost routine.
And both just fall right into it.
► 04 AUG 2008
It's been a long day.
And every single second he had left at Namimori Shrine is spent watching how funny Gokudera gets around Tsuna. The fireworks show is over, so now everyone's either just mingling around, or going home. They're doing a bit of both, because some of the stalls are still open, namely that one where you can catch a goldfish and take it home with you, and that was their original plan-until Tsuna's stomach started growling.
Now Gokudera's fawning over him. Asking him if he wants anpan, edamame, takoyaki, agemochi, taiyaki, or kakigori, because he's got them right here, ready to be eaten at any given moment. Yamamoto has to take a second to wonder when Gokudera bought all that, but he doesn't dwell on it. There's only laughter when he sees the look on Tsuna's face, and then he comes in between them, slinging his arms on their shoulders.
"Hahaha! Guess we can have a feast now, huh," he says, with a huge grin on his face. Tsuna gives him a sheepish kind of smile in return, while Gokudera grits his teeth and untangles himself from him. Yells something that goes like, fuck off, baseball freak! This is all for the Tenth, and the Tenth alone!
A blink, once, twice, and you can tell Yamamoto's confused.
"But how's he even gonna finish all that?"
"That's not the point! The point is-"
"Go-Gokudera-kun!"
"-yes, Tenth?" It'll never stop amusing him just how fast Gokudera can switch from being the angriest person alive to someone who's all smiles and eager to please. He watches as Tsuna tries to say that it's fine if they had to share the food, because there's no way he'll be able to eat it all, and grins a little wider when Gokudera agrees-sure, Tenth, of course!-but insists that the food is still for him and not meant for that stupid baseball freak.
Yamamoto can only laugh.
They'll be here a while, he thinks.
Especially since Gokudera's distracted again and is asking just what the fuck is so fucking funny?!
"Hahaha," it's wholehearted and simple, "You're a funny guy, Gokudera. You're a funny guy."
► 08 SEP 2008
Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out.
The way Yamamoto tries to soothe out his nerves by controlling the way he breathes-it's almost as if he's the one trying to stay alive.
Haha, wait, no, Gokudera's alive, he's okay, but-
He lost a lot of blood, got hit by a pretty strong poison, but he'll make it through the night. Gokudera's a tough guy like that. Or that's what Yamamoto tells himself, just to quell the anxiety building up inside. It's not that he's worried-he's trying real hard not to be, because Gokudera will be just fine, right?-but the fact that this whole thing even happened-that's what pisses him off.
No one messes with his friends like that.
► 15 SEP 2008
Gokudera looks like he's seen a ghost, turning white as a sheet, or at least, that's what it looks like to Yamamoto, and he can't help but flash a sympathetic grin. Or, well, he tried to make it sympathetic, but maybe he didn't pull it off, because Gokudera's got his eyes narrowed and teeth bared at him again. Damage control time? Something like that-not that he really understands why he's raising his arms up a little in a half-hearted surrender.
"Yo, Gokudera!" And he adds a friendly grin with that, to show that he means no harm. Haha, it's like talking to a cornered animal because Gokudera just glares at him even more as he stalks away from the swing set. It doesn't even cross his mind to wonder why Gokudera's in a playground, but it still looks like he's committed a mortal sin or something like that. He never really knows what he's done to piss off Gokudera, and this time's no different.
"Don't talk to me," is what he hears from the pissed off right-hand man ( haha, man, Gokudera sure likes weird nicknames ), "And fuck off."
But Yamamoto only smiles at him, jogging to catch up, slowing down once he did. "Hey, you wanna come over for some sushi? My dad's trying out a new recipe, so-"
"I said don't fucking talk to me."
Yamamoto blinks, looks confused for one, two, three seconds, and then he's all smiles again. Guess they're playing the silent game again.
"Haha, sure."
It's not like this is anything new.
► 21 OCT 2008
He can tell the boy he's half-dragging, half-supporting is pissed off, the way he doesn't talk, the way his face looks like it's about to kill the next thing that comes into view. But he can only smile at this, to maybe lighten up the situation a little, because even if the outcome wasn't the one they were looking for, at least he's still alive, right? That's all that matters in the end-or should, but Gokudera's not the type to let things slide so easily like that.
"Hey, Gokudera," he doesn't really know where he's going with this, but somewhere along the road, Yamamoto realized that tying Tsuna in somehow here would be beneficial, so he tries it, just to see where it goes, "I don't get why you're so mad, haha. Tsuna said it's fine, right?" But the reaction he gets isn't the one he's expecting.
Gokudera pushes himself off from his body, struggles to stand still, holding onto a still bleeding wound on his stomach. Yamamoto reaches out to keep him steady, but the glare from Gokudera's eyes stops him dead, so he backs off, backs away. Even if Gokudera looks like he's about to keel over from the slow but continuous loss of blood. Maybe they really should have let Romario-san treat his wounds before leaving?
Not that he gets to think about this for too long, because Gokudera's talking, spitting out every single word with acid attached. And for once, it's not directed at him.
"Why the fuck wouldn't I be? That was a fucking disgrace on my part-I fucking won, you saw it, but that asshole just had to-he just had to-fuck-fucking shit!"
Yamamoto grabs his hand before he manages to hurt himself even more by punching the closest thing, which happens to be the a telephone pole. He holds him still until he's done ranting about this and that, about how that ring should have been his, about how it's going to be all his fault if they end up losing because of his slip-up. And Yamamoto just has to laugh, even if it's the most inappropriate thing to do, even if it earns him an elbow jab to the guts.
"You did your best, right? That's good enough."
But this doesn't satisfy Gokudera at all, and it confuses him a little. How many times does he have to say it's fine until Gokudera starts believing it? Haha-
"How the fuck is it good enough?! I let the ring slip out of my fingers!"
-guess this makes it three. "It's fine, haha. Tsuna said so himself."
Four. "So stop worrying about it."
Five. "We can always get back the ring anyway, haha."
And all Gokudera has to say this time is, "Fuck you," so maybe it's working? Maybe it's not, too.
Who knows.
Gokudera's always been a confusing guy, but as long as he's not worrying over what they can't change, then it's fine, right?
-haha, make that six.
► 28 DEC 2008
"Fuck off. And just get the fuck out."
"But-"
"What part of get the fuck out don't you get?"
"... Hahaha, is this another one of your games, Gokudera?"
"Games?! Is this just a shitty-you know what, here, let's play a game. It's called get the fuck out of my sight."
"Sure, haha, uh-I'll just uh, go or something-yeah-uh, sorry-"
► 30 JAN 2009
"Heard you almost jumped off here once," is the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he closes the door and crosses the rooftop until he's standing an arm's length away from the only other person out here. Yamamoto turns around to face him, eyes a little wide in surprise, and then there's a sheepish smile on his face. It's kind of awkward, it says-at least that's the vibe Gokudera's getting from it.
He tch's quietly, pulling out a cigarette to light it and breathe in the cancerous smoke. "Well?"
"Haha-yeah-yeah, that was a while ago." Yamamoto shifts back to leaning against the too-thin fencing, looking out at the school yard down below, where students are slowly filing out of the buildings, on their way home. Gokudera doesn't see the almost too-sad smile on his face that comes and goes in a split-second. "A guy can do pretty stupid things when he's depressed. Funny, huh?"
Gokudera looks at him, and then moves to claim a spot right beside Yamamoto, leaning his back against the chicken-wire fence, smoking all the time. "Nah," and somehow saying this feels a little bit too weird for him, "it's fucking stupid. But I don't expect anything less from a baseball idiot like you."
Something about Yamamoto's laugh sounds so happy, so amused. "Yeah, I guess so. That was pretty dumb of me. But good thing Tsuna saved me. Or else I'd be missing out on all the fun roleplaying games we've been doing, haha!"
Gokudera's eyebrow twitches, almost protests out loud that they've never been games, but he lets it slide. Just this once.
"The Tenth's an amazing person like that," he says admiringly, tilting his head up at the blue sky.
Yamamoto, on the other hand, looks down a little. "Tsuna? Yeah, he's amazing." A big grin, a big smile. "Great guy, haha. Great friend."
And they fall into quiet lull. No one speaks, no one moves-until Yamamoto decides to break it. He's pushing himself away from the fence, picking up his bag, slowly taking a few steps back. He looks like he wants to say something, but this is what comes out of him instead: "I should go-"
But before he manages to shift away, Gokudera's voice stops him, "Hey."
"Huh-?"
Gokudera takes one final drag from his cigarette and then drops it to the floor, crushing it with his sneaker. He almost looks annoyed. "I didn't tell you to go, baseball freak."
Yamamoto's about to question it, but he doesn't in the end, doesn't see the need to. Because this means they're good, right? But there's a grin on his face anyway, and it grows wider by the second, especially when he places himself right back beside Gokudera. He's laughing, and it sounds happier, sounds relieved, and all he can say is, "Okay."
► 29 MAR 2009
It's running late. 10:37 PM, and counting.
There's barely anybody on the bus now, just the two of them at the very back, a lady and her phone near the backdoor, an old man reading his newspaper up front, and the driver. That's it. That's all. No one's talking because there's nothing to talk about, and maybe everyone's just about to fall asleep. It doesn't help that it's been a long day, and the driver even turns the lights off.
A common courtesy, but Gokudera doesn't want to close his eyes when he's the one who has to watch out for their stop. And it's all because the baseball freak fell asleep right beside him.
He feels a light pressure on his shoulder, makes him look over and see that it's Yamamoto leaning against him. "What the fuck?!" he sputters out, and then he shoves him off to the side, making the sleeping Yamamoto wobble a little before steadying himself in an upright position again. And even though he knows the idiot won't see it, he glares at him anyway before looking away.
But then he feels that same pressure again, and Yamamoto's head is back to leaning against his shoulder. He clenches his fists and bristles up, but one look at Yamamoto's face and he suddenly loses the will to push him away this time. And he has no idea why.
He shakes his head, growls under his breath, and keeps that glare in place.
"Fuck you too."
「T A I L S」
► 01 MAY 2017
It's a change of pace, a change of style.
They've got nothing to lose, but they can pretend for just a little while longer, that they have everything to give, and nothing to be afraid of. Because this is just another day, another night, another thing gone wrong in the face of bang bang bang from the distance. The taller one, with a laugh on his face, ducks and cuts a corner to head straight for a dead-end ( deadman ) alley. The shorter one, a short fuse ready to pop, calls him an idiot as he growls out a long string of curses, bitches about how he should've turned left instead of right. Right gone wrong, wrong gone right.
But there's nothing to be afraid of, nothing to lose.
Even when the ground collides with a wall, blocking their escape, blocking their path.
"Fuck," he says, allowing a bright red flame to burn on the ring on his finger, "if we die here, then it's all your fault."
"Hahaha!" A short laugh, a happy laugh. And this one's got his sword ready, blue flame ablazing. "Geez, Gokudera, you worry too much."
"Fuck you."
"Bet I can take out more than you will."
"Che! A coward like you who doesn't fight to kill?" It only takes a split-second for a gothic weapon to wrap around his arm, ready to aim, ready to fire. "As if."
"Haha, we'll see. We'll see."
► 22 JUN 2017
"What the hell is up with you and sushi?!"
"Huh? Oh-haha, why not?"
"The hell do you mean by why not?! It's all you eat!"
"Haha, it's easy to make!" A pause. And an expression that is almost thoughtful. "Didn't I tell you this before?"
"Like only a fucking thousand times," but this one's reaching out to take a bit anyway.
A laugh. "It's good, right?"
"Still tastes like shit."
But Yamamoto laughs and looks away, just so Gokudera thinks he's not looking when the other man pops another roll in his mouth.
► 13 NOV 2017
Gokudera sees him come out of his room with a blank look on his face, something unreadable, but the moment their eyes meet, he's all smiles again. "Yo, Gokudera," he says, but there's something off, something missing. There isn't a lot of cheerfulness behind that greeting. It's a little bit more somber than usual. And the way he smiles, it's sharp around the edges, almost a straight line.
But Gokudera doesn't question it. Instead, he plays along, sees how it goes. "You being lazy again?"
"Huh?" Yamamoto appears confused, but then he gets it. "Oh! No, haha. Squalo's been keeping me busy with his tapes-they're fun to watch." And he turns around to leave, but Gokudera's hand shoots out to grab his shoulder and hold him back.
"I'm not done with you yet," Gokudera points out, green eyes narrowed yet again.
"Oh, sorry, haha. I'm kinda in a hurry, but-what's up?"
"Tenth told me to tell you that your old man's been looking for you," he blinks when Yamamoto doesn't show his usual interest whenever it came to his own dad, but he lets it go, "s'got something to do with baseball, is what I heard."
"-oh."
Now this is where Gokudera's taken aback. "What?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I know about that, haha-I'll call him up later." Yamamoto's turning away from him again, and he flashes an apologetic smile too. "But look, I really gotta go. I'll talk to you in a bit-"
And then he's gone, leaving Gokudera standing there, watching his retreating back. The look on his face says it all: what the fuck just happened.
► 01 DEC 2017
He watches as Yamamoto pulls his sword out from its recent victim, watches as he stumbles back and almost reaches out to stop the body from falling face forward, but he freezes up instead, eyes completely wide open in disbelief, because he knows that person's dead. And Gokudera's sure this is slowly killing Yamamoto on the inside with the way they glance at each other, both looking for answers neither one could provide.
"Gokudera-I-"
He curls his lips into a sneer, staring down at Yamamoto with a stern look. "Pull yourself together."
And when Yamamoto only blinks back at him, he adds with a threatening snarl, "'cause I don't need you falling apart on me. We still have a job to do."
Yamamoto looks away this time. "Ha-guess so..."
But Gokudera can see that his eyes are still locked on the bleeding body on the floor, and this pisses him off. Pisses him off enough to grab Yamamoto by the collar, pull him closer, and spit out words he'll never have to hear again. "So you killed someone. So what. Like I said, we still have a job to do. So wisen up, get over it, and shut the hell up. I don't wanna work with you if you're gonna be like this."
And he lets him go, and starts walking away. Maybe that was a little harsh, but he can't take back whatever he said now. Yamamoto chose this over baseball, so he might as well get a reality check now, instead of later, where it's going to hit even harder.
► 20 DEC 2017
He's feeling a little numb when Gokudera finds him, glancing over at the wreckage that used to be his home.
"Yamamoto."
"Hey," it feels weird to talk like this, like a kind of foreign taste in his mouth because it's so bitter and metallic, "the place is a mess." It's a solemn statement. Nothing else attached. He tears his eyes away from the bloody form on the floor, a face mangled beyond recognition, and half the body is even missing because it's buried under a ton of debris. But he knows who he is. Doesn't need to take a second look. And he can't bring himself to smile as he says, "Sorry about that."
"What the hell are you-"
"-haha. I don't know."
He really doesn't.
► 03 MAY 2018
And he doesn't know what to do when Gokudera finds out that Shamal got ambushed somewhere, and that they couldn't find the body, no matter where they looked. When he tried bringing it up the first time, Gokudera didn't even look at him in the face, and all he got was a simple, "I don't really give a shit." And that confused him, still does, because wasn't Gokudera pretty close with Dr. Shamal?
Something isn't clicking.
So he tries again the day after, just to see if Gokudera's doing any better compared to the night before. And since Gokudera has a knack for making it hard for people to look for him, it takes Yamamoto a while before he finally finds him, situated on one of the swings, smoking a dying cigarette. His hair looks a little different by now too, and even though it's the first thing Yamamoto notices, he doesn't say anything about it.
"You doing okay?" But all he gets is one look at him, and nothing else. He wears a smile on his face, and it's sad, but it's close to his usual grin-maybe he's not all that gone yet. But it's not about him right now.
He takes the other swing because Gokudera doesn't stop him, sits there for as long as Gokudera lets him, because this is all he can do right now. This is all he can offer.
► 10 AUG 2018
"The mood's been way too serious around here lately, huh."
"Sure."
"Haha, can't even stand it sometimes..."
"I guess."
"... Feel like going out?"
"No."
But somehow, this doesn't discourage Yamamoto at all. "It's the summer festival today. Heard the fireworks are gonna be great this year. Sure you don't wanna go?"
There's a long pause, where Gokudera starts smoking a new cigarette, taking long drags. He isn't looking at Yamamoto, and he even ends up turning his back on him, because he's sure he's close to breaking his blank face.
"There's no point without the Tenth."
► 11 OCT 2018
Everything was supposed to go smoothly, without a glaring mistake. They go in their enemy's base, take what they came for, and come back out alive, in one piece. But something went wrong along the road, and Gokudera was the only one who was able to find a way out.
But now he's looking for him, doesn't even waste a single second. He goes right back inside, kills whoever he had to kill, does whatever he has to do, but there's one problem.
He can't find him.
No matter where he looks, no matter where he goes. And slowly, there's a sinking kind of feeling at the pit of his stomach that slowly builds up, the kind that goes maybe he's dead, maybe he's dying, maybe he's already gone. And there's no way to find him. He's panicking a little now, and deep breaths aren't calming him down. But still he's trying to take it all rationally, argues that someone like Yamamoto isn't going to go down that easily-something like that.
And maybe it's working. Maybe it's not. But he doesn't have the time to think about that now, because-
► 11 OCT 2018
-there are people after him, on his tail, and no matter what he does, he can't shake them off. And the fact that he doesn't even know where he's going isn't helping either. But since the only thing he can do is run away, that's all he does. He runs. Turns left and right whenever he could, goes down the stairs whenever he finds them, but in the end, he's nowhere near the exit. And the people behind him are slowly catching up.
But the minute he dives for another corner, he freezes, because he meets up with the sight of a gun aimed straight for his head. Every single instinct inside him is telling him to duck, to find cover, or to fight back before the guy gets him first, but he's completely rigid, rendered immobile and it's not even fear. Maybe it's just the shock, or something else entirely, but-but then something happens.
It's a quick blur, and he's sure he heard the distinct sound of a gun firing, but he doesn't feel any pain. Instead, there's a familiar weight pressing him down on the floor, and the all too familiar insult of you stupid fucking baseball freak, and then a flash of silver hair.
► 12 OCT 2018
"That was crazy, what you did back there-"
"It saved your ass, so shut the hell up, baseball freak."
"Haha. I guess so..." When he feels Gokudera slump against him, he can't help but smile. "Is this gonna be another sleep over?"
"Tch-call me a girl again and I'll fucking sock you in the face."
"Hahaha! I know you will. You don't look much of a girl right now anyway."
"Just shut the hell up, baseball freak."
"... Hahaha. Night then, Gokudera."
And the smile's completely wiped off from his face.
「? ? ? ? ?」
► 18 JUN 20XX
"Hey, Gokudera-"
"Too fucking loud, baseball freak."
He laughs, just because it's so like Gokudera to complain about something like that right now. But there's a smile on his face, and it's not like his usual one. This one's a lot more content. "Haha, but I gotta tell you something."
"Don't fucking say it."
"Why not?"
"I don't wanna hear it."
"Haha, sure," he laughs, sincere in every way. "Guess you already know what I was gonna say then."
"Che! So why do you keep bringing it up, dumbass?"
"Dunno, haha. Just wanna make sure, I guess."
"That's what you always say."
This time, his laughter's a bit louder, completely amused, completely happy. "I know."
"So just shut the hell up."
"Haha, sure," he says, "Okay."
title. Flip a Coin.
genre. General/Fluff/Angst.
rating. PG13.
characters. Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi; Katekyo Hitman REBORN!
warnings. Watch out for Gokudera's mouth. Implied death. Death. Implied 8059. OR MAYBE IT'S NOT THERE AT ALL. Who knows, haha.
wordcount. 5066.
notes. This is totally NOT for genkitozuku ( oh Addy ♥ ), who is celebrating her twenty-first birthday right now. LULZ twenty-one drabbles -- what -- don't look at me like that.
disclaimer. Bodies, limbs, thoughts, &things aren't mine. I just pull the strings &stay on the sidelines, 'cause that's where the puppeteer belongs when her dolls are strutting all over the stage.
synopsis. Twenty-one scenes, twenty-one instances. Moments that flicker in and out of your memory-one deep breath and it's all gone. Just like that.