Of Warm Hands Hidden (KHR FANFIC)

Of Comfort Hesitating

Tsuna wakes up to the smell of something burning and panic flows in his veins like blood. The heat that hugs his palms like a parasite, screeches as it grows and grows and grows.

His vision is hazy with exhaustion despite having just woke up and Tsuna sits up in haste. All he hears are shouts and groans in pain as the battle around him grows intense.

A touch on his shoulder knocks him out of his hallucination. The touch is light but grounding and Tsuna relaxes. The trembles that rack his body comes to a stop and his breathing evens out once more.

Tsuna raises his eyes to meet Reborn's childish face. Ironically, Tsuna is reminded of that day. The day when the open field felt suddenly emptier without the overwhelming presence that was Byakuran. When Tsuna collapsed and ran away from the people he started to see as family.

However, rather than flinching away, Tsuna stays and gives a thankful smile.

Reborn replies with a confident smirk.

---

The burning smell turned out to be breakfast burning. Idly, Tsuna was impressed he slept long enough for his mother to be up and preparing everyone's morning meal.

That's two times he's slept past 4 am! He felt like he was winning already.

(It may or may not have been because Tsuna wanted to sleep so badly that he took some sleeping pills that Dino forgot a long time ago. Sometimes, Dino has trouble sleeping and couldn't wait for sleep to overtake him during exhausted nights.)

At one point or another, Reborn confesses that he chose not to make an action when they returned to the past up until the bathroom event. Rather than furious or betrayed, Tsuna had given a smile. Tsuna was honestly glad that Reborn had turned a blind eye for a little while. While without support, he had fallen into the deep end for a certain amount of time, Tsuna felt like he was given the chance to lament.

When questioned on why he decided to leave Tsuna alone for a few weeks, Reborn kept his mouth shut and said something cryptic like "baby birds are thrown off the edge before they learn how to fly and people on top of the food chain do not know how to act around those of the ranks below them," or something.

Today marked a month since that day and his hands still burned terribly.

Tsuna had to believe that there was hope for him but he wondered if the heat will ever stop haunting him.

Tsuna walks down the stairs and sits down by the table. His mother places his breakfast in front of him and sends him a watery smile. Tsuna grabs his mother's hand, thumb rubbing soothing circles over her skin. "I love you." The curve of his lips is small but genuine.

Nana's fragile smile crumbles and the tears start to flow. It was like Tsuna was watching it in slow motion. The way her forced cheerfulness deteriorate and all that's left is a woman engulfed in intense concern and sorrow. She collapses onto her knees and holds onto him like a lifeline, sobs escaping her.

Tsuna pats her back reassuringly. Eventually, Tsuna moves away from the chair and they're both on the ground, huddled together almost desperately. He misses her so much. He slowly rocks them both back and forth but his hold on his mother doesn't loosen. He could hear her frantic voice blubber which soon just became incomprehensible.

Tsuna was incredibly aware of the heat his palms contained, but he couldn't care less at that very moment. He wasn't going to neglect them, no certainly not– he's learnt his lesson. But his mother needs him at that moment and just the thought makes Tsuna tighten his hug.

As his hands make soothing motions over and over again against the soft fabric of his mother's blouse, his sense of smell covered in the calming familiarity of newly washed clothing and faint scents of morning's breakfast and the tranquil quietness that wrapped around them once his mother's loud weeping came to stop, he felt at peace.