Gokudera's back hurts like someone shoved a knife or ten into it.
He should be resting, he knows that, but he can't rest when Tsuna is propped up on pillows in the bed in front of him, completely spent from his fight.
Logically he knows that none of his injuries are dangerous by themselves, but combine his broken ribs and those huge purplish bruises with his physical and emotional exhaustion and you get something that's... still not life-threatening, but it's enough that Gokudera refuses to leave him without supervision.
Logically he even knows that the patients in Vongola's hideout are never without some technological supervision and that Yamamoto, in much better physical shape, is sitting right there on the other side of the bed, but Gokudera belongs here, goddamnit , so some third-rate back injury can suck it .
So he stays and waits patiently, guarding his boss's sleep like the Guardian he's supposed to be.
"He'll be fine, right?" Yamamoto whispers after what feels like hours of tentative silence, voice weary and wavering under his own exhaustion.
"Of course he'll be fine," he answers with the same tired whisper. He doesn't even have the energy to glare at the idiot. Besides, Yamamoto was the one to carry Tsuna back after they watched their boss collapse without warning a few minutes into their trek back to the hideout. He felt all his pained gasps for breath, not life-threatening, but terrifying all the same. Gokudera can't really be too mad at him at the moment.
"I know he'll heal. But it's just that Tsuna..." he pauses, takes a deep breath. "Byakuran is dead," he blurts out fast and quiet, as if afraid that Tsuna's going to hear him through his sleep.
Gokudera's breath hitches because that's just it, isn't it?
"He'll be fine," he says more to himself than to Yamamoto.
The Rain nods, but the look on his face is tight, unsatisfied with that answer. Not unexpectedly, he starts again after a lengthy pause.
"Tsuna's not like us. I wouldn't like it, but I think I'd never regret it. Byakuran deserved it after what he did to Pops, to Yuni, to the world, to... to future Tsuna... I'm glad he's dead. And you grew up like this, didn't you? You've done it already, haven't you?"
Gokudera sighs slowly through his nose. "Just once," he says. He didn't like it, but he never once regretted ridding the world of one pedophile. He doesn't regret it, but he hopes that one day he'll be able forget the smell of charred flesh. He hopes that he'll forget knowing that it's kill or be used, that he forgets the rough grasp of sweaty hands on his hips and the revolting taste of cheap alcohol on bruising lips.
The bastard didn't get any further than that.
"Tsuna killed him," Yamamoto says the words that none of them had the courage to say yet, whispering them so quietly that Gokudera has to strain his ears to hear them in the silent room.
"If you have a problem with it, leave," he scoffs, but doesn't bother putting any real bite into his tone. If Yamamoto hates that Tsuna killed for the sake of them all, he can just leave. They don't need a Guardian who can't accept the Sky. That's all there is to it.
" I won't leave ," Yamamoto hisses angrily and his Will backs up his words as blue flames flare up from his ring finger and then steadily envelop his entire body.
Tsuna shifts on the bed and they both flinch. Yamamoto clamps down on his flames hard, like slamming a lid over a pan fire. They both reach out for their boss, but only Yamamoto makes it that far. Gokudera freezes right after, his back strongly disagreeing with his movement, sending stabbing pain up from his spine into his shoulder blades. Still, he breathes steadily through the pain, keeping his eyes on his boss.
After a few tense moments Tsuna just sighs quietly and falls back into deeper slumber with a slight frown on his brow.
"Sorry, sorry," Yamamoto says as he nervously checks the nasal cannula. Tsuna doesn't really need the extra oxygen anymore, but they all felt better when he had it on.
"You know he's sensitive to flames, idiot!" Gokudera whispers furiously. He seriously considers throwing something at the idiot, but that would probably leave him groaning in pain on the ground and Yamamoto is not worth that kind of physical exertion.
"I know, sorry. Won't do it again," he promises.
He takes his time to think as he gently smooths out a stubborn wrinkle in Tsuna's blanket, but Gokudera doesn't give him the chance to speak.
"You think this is going to break him."
Yamamoto hums thoughtfully.
"Tsuna's strong. I don't think it's going to break him, I just think it's gonna mess him up real bad. I mean, Tsuna's different from the rest of us. Unlike you or me, he's going to regret this and he'll think that he failed for not finding a better way to end it. He can be– I don't know if you've noticed, but he can be very... uncertain about the things he does and he gets super flustered all the time. Especially when he thinks he's wrong. So yeah. I think this is going to mess him up because he'll think he made the wrong choice."
"It's called anxiety, dumbass," Gokudera grumbles as he mulls over Yamamoto's words. The bastard really hit the nail right on the head.
It's not really the physical injuries why they're not leaving this room until Tsuna wakes up. They're staying here because they all saw how Byakuran burned in Tsuna's flame, so hot and pure that not even ashes were left behind. They were all there in the silent aftermath, watching how Tsuna stood there, exhausted and hurt and perfectly aware of what he had done, but ignoring it all to deal with what he deemed was more important than his physical and mental health.
"You think he'll talk to us about it?"
"No," Gokudera huffs.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Yamamoto agrees. He leans back on his chair, a slight smile on his face. "I guess we'll just have to be there for him. Make sure he knows we support him no matter what happens. And next time, there won't be a barrier between us and we'll help him do whatever needs to be done."
"Of course we will," he scowls at him. "We need to be better. We need to be better Guardians."
"Both in battle and in life," Yamamoto adds.
-x-
Notes: Hello friends! So yeah, I know it's been years since I posted anything, but I found these two snips almost entirely finished so here they are. This will most likely be my final contribution to the KHR fandom, but well, nothing is certain in life. So maybe I'll be back again after 3 more years to update some of those multichapter fics. Or not. Who knows.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these little snippets and I wish you guys all the best! Bye!
