Title: Show and Tell

Pairing: 5927 or 2759 (not really sure in this one)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Boys kissing, some language

Summary: Everyone in Tsuna's class is supposed to bring in their most valuable possession for show-and-tell.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kateikyoushi Hitman REBORN! This is a work of fanfiction, and I am not making any financial profit from it. (If I owned Reborn, Tsuna would keep Gokudera on a leash and there would be lots and lots of Boys Love crammed into every volume.)

Notes: This takes place before the TYL Arc, but it has a brief mention of Gokudera's past (and even that is partially fabricated, hehe).

…

As the bell rang, releasing the students from the prison known as Namimori Middle School, their homeroom teacher reminded them, "Don't forget to bring in something for show-and-tell tomorrow!" Many of the students scoffed at the teacher, bickering and complaining about how they weren't in elementary school anymore. But, as it was one of the many parts of the principal's new, out-of-the-blue plan to unite the student body (and Tsuna suspected Reborn had some influence over the whole mess), there was no escaping it.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed, running after Tsuna, who had almost made it safely out the door unnoticed. Tsuna sighed in dismay but halted; it was mostly for show—he didn't really mind Gokudera's company on the walk home. If he was completely honest with himself, he enjoyed and even looked forward to it. It was especially nice when Yamamoto had practice and Gokudera could therefore spend some time talking to him rather than picking a fight with the baseball jock. "Let's walk home together, Juudaime!"

"Sure," Tsuna agreed as casually as he could manage, trying not to show his excitement. It was a big deal for Tsuna, being escorted home by Gokudera. The dynamite user's unwavering devotion meant a lot to him. He was "dame Tsuna," and yet he never felt like it when he was with Gokudera—Gokudera who was good at sports, good-looking, and smart, and yet who acknowledged Tsuna as something other than a no-good loser, who treated him like something to be protected and treasured.

As they walked home, side-by-side, Tsuna smiled warmly at Gokudera. Gokudera, of course, returned it with a grin, but the confusion was written clearly on his face as to what he had done to merit such an expression from the 10th.

"So, what will Gokudera-kun bring for show-and-tell?" Tsuna inquired curiously, ignoring Gokudera's own unspoken question.

Eager to please, Gokudera abandoned his own curiosity in favor of a reply, "A ring." Tsuna blinked, and at the blank look he received, Gokudera began to fish around in his pocket. Pulling out the small gold band with an elegant flower design on it, clearly made for a woman's finger, he explained, "It was my mother's."

Tsuna stopped walking for a moment to admire it properly. "It's beautiful."

"It was a gift she received from my father when he was trying to woo her into his bed," Gokudera said, his voice laced with a strange mixture of bitterness and fondness. "In the end, both my mother and the ring meant very little to him, but it meant the world to her."

"She gave it to you before…she died?"

The silver-haired boy shook his head. "No, Dr. Shamal gave it to me. He took it from her body on the autopsy table." They resumed their trek home, both of them silent. Tsuna kept his eyes fixed on the street in front of him, so he didn't notice that Gokudera's gaze kept darting between Tsuna's hand and his face. Swallowing and returning his gaze to the path ahead of them, he asked, "What are you going to bring, Juudaime?"

Tsuna jumped and let out an embarrassed "hiiiii," his face turning red. Gokudera tried unsuccessfully to hide his bemusement. "Uh, well, that is, um, I mean—"

"You don't have something picked out yet?" Gokudera guessed, trying to help Tsuna find the words he was fumbling for.

"It's not that," Tsuna replied awkwardly. "It's just…I don't know if I can really do…what I want. I mean…it's not just a 'thing' that I want to share."

Gokudera frowned. "Well, things can often represent the feelings and significance put into them. If you explain it to everyone, I'm sure they will understand your meaning, Juudaime."

"I hope you're right," Tsuna mumbled, face still flushed with color and awkwardness.

"Don't worry, Juudaime!" Gokudera grinned. "If they don't, I'll beat them up until they do!" Tsuna looked anything but reassured. Sobering up, Gokudera added, "So what is it that you want to share, Juudaime?" Tsuna fidgeted and didn't answer. After a moment, Gokudera sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "It's okay, Juudaime. Please forget I asked."

"Can…can you wait until tomorrow?" Tsuna murmured in a small voice that made Gokudera pause. "…please wait?"

Faced with such adorable doe eyes, Gokudera could only nod stupidly. "Okay. Tomorrow, then." Tsuna's grateful smile made it worth the agony of not being the first to know. He gulped at the sight, his mind running a mile a minute with thoughts of what it could possibly be, and why Tsuna couldn't tell him, and why he, Tsuna's right-hand man, couldn't figure it out.

…

Show-and-tell was a pathetically predictable affair. Yamamoto brought in a whole bunch of baseball memorabilia. Kyoko brought in a cute stuffed rabbit toy that she had had since she was a baby. Hana brought a stalker-ish picture of the back of adult-Lambo's head as the Bovino ran around the corner with a raging Bianchi on his heels. Haru, who wasn't even a member of Namimori (so why was she there?!), brought in a pair of Tsuna's boxers, which she had probably swiped when helping Nana with the laundry (and Tsuna had really liked that pair!). Gokudera brought the ring.

Gokudera's show-and-tell is where things took a turn for the weird. After explaining how the ring was infinitely important to him, Gokudera stalked over to Tsuna's desk and held out the tiny object in offering. "Here, Juudaime! For you!" he chirped, grinning widely. The classroom was filled with soft buzz of whispers. Tsuna, mortified, shook his head, trying to tell Gokudera without words (because he was too embarrassed to speak) to go sit down. As if what he himself was about to do wasn't bad enough…

"Okay, Gokudera, sit down," the teacher said, irritated and bored. "You can exchange vows with your boyfriend later." Laughing and jeering accompanied this remark, and Tsuna sank lower in his seat, losing his nerve altogether. He really wanted to just disappear into the floor. "Sawada, you're next."

Gulping, Tsuna rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the classroom, ignoring "dame Tsuna" cheers from his classmates as he did so. "I, uh…the thing is, what's most important to me is not an object. It's, uh…it's a person." Laughter and teasing words echoed throughout the room, and Tsuna blushed to his roots. Forcing down his dame-Tsuna fleeing instincts, he locked his eyes onto his target. "Everyone always treats me like a loser. I know I'm no-good, and it only makes it worse to have it rubbed in my face. But Gokudera-kun—who seems to be good at everything—was the first person that didn't do that. He was the first person who liked me not because I could do something amazing, but because of my personality and character. He was my first friend. Now, I'd have to say he is my best friend."

Licking his lips nervously, Tsuna continued, "I can't exactly say that Gokudera-kun is my show-and-tell object, because he's not a material possession, but a very special person who is important to 'dame dame no kono dame Tsuna.' Gokudera is most important to me, and he's worth bragging to the world about." Gulping, he added, "Gokudera-kun…I…Iloveyou." A few people snickered at him, but most of the students were dead silent.

"Juudaime…" sniffled a teary-eyed puppy-dog Gokudera. Leaping up from his desk, Gokudera lunged at Tsuna with open arms, fully prepared to tackle-glomp the smaller boy. Tsuna flinched upon contact and was immediately squeeze breathless by the over ecstatic dynamite expert. "Juudaime can make me his 'material possession' whenever he wants!" Gokudera exclaimed, much to Tsuna's humiliation.

"Hey, what did I say about exchanging your vows after class!!" the teacher yelled at them. The entire class burst into fits of giggles. As embarrassed as he was by all of the attention, Tsuna was happy he'd had the courage to say how he felt. And being in Gokudera's arms was…nice, to say the least.

…

After class, Gokudera and Tsuna walked home in silence. Tsuna wanted more than anything to reach out and take hold of Gokudera's hand and entwine their fingers and walk down the street like that for the whole world to see. At the same time, he wished Gokudera would say something, anything, to break the tense silence that was preventing him from acting on his desire.

"Juudaime," Gokudera began at last. Tsuna made a small "hn?" of acknowledgement. "About what you said at school…did you mean it?" Tsuna nodded his head once in affirmation, keeping his eyes carefully on the road in front of him. His fingers twitched again in longing. Gokudera was so close that he could practically feel the heat of the other boy's body beside him. Every so often their shoulders brushed as they walked. "Jaa…" the silver-haired boy trailed off uncertainly.

Tsuna gulped and, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart against his ribcage, let his hand brush Gokudera's—only for a brief second at first, and then a little longer, and then, when he received no sign of discouragement, slipped his hand into Gokudera's larger one, tentatively lacing their fingers together. He carefully avoided eye contact with the explosives expert.

"J-Juudaime," Gokudera gasped, unable to vocalize a response. After letting his hand dangle limply entwined with Tsuna's for a moment, he gently squeezed the smaller hand, grinning in his usual fashion at Tsuna. "Arigatou, Juudaime!"

Tsuna found it incredibly strange to be thanked for a confession of love. What did that mean, anyways? Did it mean Gokudera liked him as well? Or was he saying "thanks, I appreciate it, but no thanks," as in trying to turn Tsuna down kindly. Although, the latter idea didn't quite make sense; Gokudera was still holding his hand.

"Ne, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna hesitantly broached the subject, finally gathering the courage to look the other boy in the eye. Gokudera looked at Tsuna with innocent curiosity written across his pink-splashed face.

"Yes, Juudaime?" Tsuna tried to calm himself down, but he was so anxious that his hands started to tremble. Gokudera stopped walking, forcing Tsuna to follow suit via their joined hands, and watched the young Vongola in concern. "Juudaime, why are you shaking? What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Tsuna shook his head and bit his lip. Gokudera watched him with a worried frown on his face. When Tsuna had managed to stop trembling, he asked the question that was on his mind, "Gokudera-kun, earlier, I told you how I felt about you. I meant it—I mean it. I really care about you. You're very important and special to me. But…"

"What is it, Juudaime?" confusion and concern laced Gokudera's voice.

Tsuna tilted his head and looked to the side, knowing he'd lose his nerve if he looked directly at the silver-haired teen. "I still don't know…how Gokudera-kun feels."

There was only a brief pause before he received his answer. "Juudaime, I love you. Please, never doubt it."

"But…" Tsuna faltered. He felt so selfish, forcing a confession from Gokudera-kun, who would undoubtedly do anything—even lie—to please him. "But how do you love me? You see, I don't think Gokudera-kun understands when I say that I lov—" A warm, moist pair of lips met his in a short, tender greeting before Gokudera pulled back to look down at Tsuna through hooded lids.

"I love you, Juudaime. Never doubt it," he repeated. With one hand wrapped around the small of Tsuna's back to support the smaller boy, who had gone weak in the knees at the kiss, he cupped Tsuna's pink face with his other palm, stroking it tenderly before leaning in to claim those lips once more, this time slowly and with less urgency, a languid exchange of affection that left Tsuna utterly breathless and yet longing for more.

"Juudaime…" Gokudera breathed against Tsuna's lips.

"Gokudera-kun…" This time, Tsuna was the one to initiate the kiss, craning his neck up to reach Gokudera's mouth, arms trapped between their bodies, and only Gokudera's grip on his waist was keeping him upright, but Tsuna found that he couldn't care less as long as he could keep kissing Gokudera. When lips alone weren't enough any longer, Tsuna pressed his body closer and let his tongue slide along Gokudera's lips. The silver-haired boy immediately responded by parting his lips in a pleased moan, welcoming Tsuna's tongue inside with his own.

As Tsuna explored Gokudera's mouth and engaged in an intimate battle of tongues, Tsuna felt Gokudera use the hand that wasn't supporting them to take hold of one of Tsuna's, but he was so caught up in the taste and feel of Gokudera that he didn't pay the move any attention. It wasn't until he felt something cold slip onto one of his fingers that he became curious enough to pull away. Gokudera reluctantly allowed him to break the kiss.

To say that Tsuna was surprised to find Gokudera's mother's ring on his finger was an understatement. He couldn't begin to fathom, as he looked at the delicate piece of jewelry, why Gokudera would want to give him something so precious and sacred; it was his mother's, after all.

"Juudaime, I love you," Gokudera said for the third time that evening. Tsuna looked up to find Gokudera's smoldering gaze fixed on his face. He blushed deeply and mumbled a flustered "thank you" for the ring.

"But is it really okay to give this to me?" Tsuna wondered anxiously, looking ready to take it off at the first word of doubt that crossed Gokudera's lips. "It's so important to you."

Gokudera merely smiled fondly and replied, "That's exactly why I'm giving to you, Juudaime. This ring is important to me, and so I want to entrust it to you because you are also important to me. Juudaime is far more important to me than any ring." Tsuna blushed again. "When Juudaime stood up in front of the whole class and said I was his most important possession, it made me very happy," he admitted, kissing Tsuna's forehead. "Juudaime is most important to me, too."

No more words were spoken as they walked home hand-in-hand. Tsuna smiled blissfully and hugged Gokudera's arm. Gokudera shot him a gleeful, puppy-dog-like grin in return. Both of them were thinking the same thing at that moment: Thank you for finding such worth in me when no one else cared enough to look.

((Owari.))