Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Does You Plus Me Equal Love?

He always thought of you as a friend, nothing more, nothing less. He believed that you two would always remain that way, throughout your entire lives.

But you were different.

You loved him. It wasn't a sisterly love or a friendly love. You were _in _love with Sawada Tsunayoshi.

So you confessed.

Why did you confess? You knew that he liked Sasagawa Kyoko, but these feelings just kept building and building up inside of you. You couldn't contain them anymore. So that's why you confessed.

He was not expecting it. That was no surprise to you. You knew that he only thought of you as a friend, but you wanted more...

He stared at you. As of right now, you two were facing each other in a nearby park in the setting sun. People were starting to return to their houses, but in the distance, he could still hear children laughing as they continued to stay for a bit longer.

"How do I feel about you?" he said in a quiet voice, echoing your question. He blushed as he finished registering your confession. "Um, I wouldn't say that I don't like you. After all, we're friends, [First name]."

He was about to say that his like was different from yours, however, but he saw a painful red under your eyes, despite the setting sun. Could you have been crying, he wondered.

You had, in fact. It happened right after school, when you had thought about confessing. Then you saw him and Kyoko together, smiling happily and laughing. That image caused jealousy to burn inside you, and a painful stab in the heart made you turn away.

_'Enough,'_ you had thought as you hugged your knees to your chest under the stairway. _'I've had enough. I just want this pain to go away...'_

Tsuna felt a small _thump_ in his chest as he thought, _'Ah, you can be cute sometimes.'_

You felt your heart race uncomfortably as you waited for his answer. But nothing was heard. Not having the courage to look at him and instead at the ground, you squeezed your eyes shut and turned away. You couldn't handle this nervousness for much longer, and you were afraid of being rejected, for you knew that the relationship you previously had would never be the same.

As you ran away, Tsuna found himself grabbing a hold of your hand. When you turned to look at him in surprise, he saw your tear-filled wide eyes and the small droplets that briefly stayed mid-air from the force of you turning around. Deep within his chest, something he couldn't identify suddenly began to stir.

_'Ah,'_ he thought, _'it would be nice if a study guide for love existed.' _There were too many problems that he didn't understand. Like the small _thump _he felt earlier when he thought about you crying because of him, or the feeling he couldn't identify in his chest at the moment. _'It'd be nice if a teacher for love existed,' _because he wondered if love was the answer between you and him.

"Um, Tsuna," you said, your shock still evident. Your voice trembled a bit too. He looked up at you, for he had been staring at his hand that held yours as he mused to himself. "You can tell me your answer later, so," you wriggled your hand a little, "please let go of my hand."

"S-sorry!" he stuttered, seeming to have snapped out of it. He let go of your hand hastily, his face a bright red. Though because of the tears in your eyes, you weren't sure if it was because of the sun or not.

He saw you slowly take a step back. Then you bowed and said awkwardly, "Then, I'll...see you tomorrow."

"Yeah..." he replied with the same awkwardness. You immediately bolted away from the park.

The following days were awkward. It was so awkward that you went as far as to avoid him and also the others, because you were sure that if you didn't also avoid the normal gang they would drag you along with them.

But even though you went so far as to do that, you found yourselves alone together during lunch one day. You didn't know where Yamamoto or Gokudera were, or even where Kyoko was. Desperate to break the silence, you asked, "Tsuna, what kind of girls do you like?"

He choked on the sandwich he was eating and sipped his juice to wash it down. "W-what?!" he managed to cough out.

"I mean it." You didn't look at him, but your expression was serious. He saw that you had your skirt bunched up in your hands.

"Um," he dragged out the syllables softly as he thought. "I guess I like sunny girls." Kyoko's smile popped up in his head, then Haru's did for some reason also. Then Kyoko's popped up again, and kept popping up, since she smiled endlessly. _'Her smile is just so bright.'_

You knew what and who he was thinking of with one look. You put on a pout as he continued to think about Kyoko. You puffed up your cheeks unconsciously and felt a stinging behind your eyes, signaling the beginning of your tears.

Tsuna, oblivious to how you looked, continued to think to himself. It was true that Kyoko's smile was bright, but lately he only had one person who kept popping up in his mind. As he closed his eyes, he saw a smile that was on the face of someone who looked exactly like you. That smile was the one he liked best, he realized.

He felt that feeling again in his chest. That feeling that he couldn't identify the past few days. His chest had practically been shouting it at him, but for some reason, he couldn't hear its voice.

He found himself thinking again that it would be nice if there was a textbook for love, because he was a lot more dense than most people. Excluding Yamamoto, probably. _'I wish there was a teacher who specialized in love,'_ he thought. _'I wonder if one plus one equals love...'_

* * *

You were on a break from school, and you haven't seen Tsuna since. You had been thinking about what had happened since you confessed, and you came to the conclusion that maybe you two just weren't meant to be together in that way. After all, there had been nothing but an uncomfortable awkwardness between the two of you since. He still hadn't given you his answer, but you were a hundred percent sure it was a rejection. He just couldn't tell you because he didn't want to hurt your feelings.

_'That's Tsuna for you,' _you thought, smiling to yourself. _'That's why I fell in love with him in the first place, because he's so kind.'_ You stared at a message on your phone. It was from a male student at Namimori High who asked you out for an afternoon date.

_'But sometimes that kindness is hurtful,'_ you thought as you pressed the send button, confirming the appointment.

* * *

Tsuna hadn't seen you since the break from school started. He wondered if you were avoiding him, but he wondered also if he was actually the one avoiding you. Things were just so awkward between the two of you now, and he never knew what to say or talk about anymore.

He had decided that today he would see you and give his answer to your confession. It was probably really late, but he wanted to end this awkwardness. At least, he hoped it would end with his answer.

Before coming to see you, he wondered if he should get you a gift. He found himself wandering the shopping district before he had come to an answer, though.

As he browsed through the shops, he thought he saw someone that looked really similar to you in the park, but he waved it off as his imagination. After all, he had his mind on seeing you so his mind was just using that to play tricks on him.

He stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned around just to make sure.

It _was_ you. You were with another guy. And judging from his fidgeting figure and the redness on his face, he wasn't a normal friend.

Tsuna felt something unpleasant stir inside him as he watched the two of you. Before he could stop himself, he was running toward you. You heard rapid footsteps coming your way and turned. Your eyes widened upon seeing the panting Tsuna, but you were more surprised to see that he was frowning rather deeply.

"Tsuna...?"

He looked at you, still panting from his sprint at the shopping district; he was afraid that you would make it out of his sight. He didn't say anything, just grabbed your hand and led you away.

"Huh? Hey- Tsuna?!" you stuttered, a blush coming to your cheeks at the feel of his hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" the student you were with demanded from Tsuna. "She's with me!"

Tsuna turned around and looked at him, earning a surprised "Dame-Tsuna?!". "No," he said with a wavering voice as he tried to keep his calm, "[First name] is with me."

He and you stared at the brunet with a dumbfounded expression. Tsuna didn't wait for a response from either of you as his grip on you tightened and he bolted out of the park with you on his heels.

"Eh- Hey!" he yelled after them, but you two were already lost in the crowd.

"Tsuna?!" you yelled. "What are you doing?! Tsuna!" You stopped with all your force, making him jerk to a stop also. "What the heck are you doing?!"

"What about you?" he asked, not looking at you.

"What?" You were confused. What about you?

"You tell me you love me, and then you go on a date with another guy? Were you just messing with me?"

You felt angry all of a sudden. "I wasn't messing with you!" You tried to throw his hand away, but his grip around your wrist was strong. "How do you even know if it was a date or not? And if it was, why do you care? It's not like you were going to reply with the answer I wanted anyways."

"You don't know that!" he shouted, making you flinch. He had never yelled at you before. He turned around and faced you, his brows furrowed. To you, he looked more like he was confused about something, instead of glaring at you.

"...What do you mean by that?" you asked quietly.

He didn't answer. Then he said, "I don't know. All I know is that I've been thinking of mostly only you ever since you confessed, and that whenever I see you, I get this feeling in my chest that I can't describe. And when I saw you today with another guy, I felt extremely angry inside, along with something else, but I don't know what it is..."

As he continued to ramble on, you stared at him with a shocked expression. Then you mentally sighed, releasing it to the outside world through your nose as you looked at him.

"Tsuna," he looked up from the ground at you. You could see that he was still trying to sort things out from the look in his eyes. You breathed and exhaled slowly, your heart thumping in your chest, "doesn't that mean...that you love me?"

He stared at you. Ten seconds passed before a deep blush flashed across his face. "L-love?! No! That's not it..." He sounded uncertain though.

"That angry feeling you had when you saw me with another guy," you continued to press, "was because you were mad that I was with him in the first place, right? And that other feeling, wasn't it jealousy? Weren't you jealous that he was the one with me, instead of you?"

He looked at you with wide eyes, his face red and his brows creased upwards. "No... That's not it..."

You grew impatient. "Don't deny it!" you yelled, feeling your eyes prick with how much he was denying it. "You love me, Tsuna! Don't you see?"

He continued to stare at you with wide eyes. They widened even further when he saw that you were about to cry. No, he didn't want to see you cry. There were too many problems that he didn't understand, so that's why he wished for a teacher and a textbook or study guide that specialized in love. He wondered if you and him equaled love. But now he didn't need a teacher, or a textbook, or a study guide to answer that for him. He knew it himself.

"I do," he replied quietly. "I love you." One plus one equaled love. That was you and him, one person and one person.

Your eyes widened, but they narrowed again as you smiled, the tears threatening to spill as a warm feeling engulfed you. Your love was returned, this truly was a miracle. Tsuna felt warm also, seeing your relieved and happy expression.

Not being able to contain yourself any longer, you slipped your hand out of his grasp, which had loosened when he was thinking. You stepped forward until your hands were placed gently against his chest, and you leaned upwards, capturing his lips with yours.

Both of you were not expecting this, but you weren't expecting the previous things to happen either. There were many things that he didn't understand, and Tsuna knew that it was because he was denser than most people.

But as he closed his eyes, he knew that you plus him, equaled love.


End file.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Romance