Open Sky Yet Not [KHR Fanfic]

Target 45: Before The Storm

"Spanner, mind checking that code sequence for me?" Irie requested somewhat absentmindedly as he worked switched back and forth between several monitors, his hands rapidly flying across the keyboards connected to each.

"Are you looping seven decimals or nine?"

"Uh... wait, give me a sec."

Gokudera watched the two teen scientists busying themselves about. They were, without a doubt, inexperienced from how they seemed to stumble here and there and that obvious troubled expression on their faces, but they were capable despite all of that.

More capable than him, who has been in the mafia since birth.

Thinking back, all he did was panic like a headless chicken when something terrible happened and god, Gokudera ran his hand down his face, he never felt so useless before.

.

"Gokudera, this isn't the time to get into a frenzy, understand? So calm the f—Calm down."

.

I am calm!

.

"You need to be practical about the here and now."

.

I am being practical—

—No, you're not.

.

Gokudera paused as if a bucket of water was poured over his head. He stared blankly at the dynamite he was playing in his hand for a long while before tightening his grip.

Right, he wasn't being practical at all. Panicking wasn't going to help. Disparaging himself wasn't a good idea. Sitting around wasn't going to get anything done.

What he should be doing is deciding what to do next, the best choice to make for the most effective outcome to lift as much as he could from his Sky's shoulders.

Gokudera never felt as calm and levelheaded as he was now—and that was saying something for a young, hot-headed Storm such as himself. (There was a thrum of satisfaction in his chest, and honestly, he didn't care if he was being possessed by a UMA anymore if it was pointing him down the right path.)

Tsuna's sudden disappearance was like a mental slap that woke Gokudera up. Reliance was good, but too much was just as bad. Tsuna was someone to rely on yes, but he wasn't a solution for everything. He will hold onto their hands with a firm grip, but there is a limit as to how long he will be able to keep them under his wing.

Besides, they'd held onto Tsuna's hand long enough.

Gokudera's hand loosen before tightening again, a sense of urgency bubbled in his chest as his mind finally started turning forward instead of back.

Lambo sensed the sudden change in Gokudera, turning his redden eyes towards the young Storm. "Gokudera?"

"I..." Gokudera paused, bending down to carry Lambo in his arms. For once, he didn't torment the poor child. Instead, he ruffled the child's curly hair like he always does, though Lambo noticed there seemed to be a discrete sense of comfort hidden in the rough gesture.

"Grow up."

"..." Lambo wrote that discrete suspicion off to his imagination.

Gokudera looked back to the busybody technicians, deciding to quietly leave for the two teens to focus on their work.

He knew he wasn't going to be of any help being in the Tech room—and he wasn't degrading himself by thinking such thoughts now. He could be of use elsewhere.