6 Chapter 6

Tsuna wakes up with dread pooling deep inside his gut for the second time that day. He's tired because the little outing he made in the middle of the night and then the two hours he spent awake, drinking tea, and just talking with Huo-san who seemed to not want to sleep just yet. He obviously needed some sort of distraction so Tsuna ended up telling him a heavily edited version of what happened in the bar the day before.

Huo-san is such a nice person to not mock him for all the flailing he did.

"A strong mind will help you to not lose your cool. I could teach you a martial art style; they're good for you."

"Eh… I think I would need to train my body first and that would take a lot of time."

"You do have a weak body. A surprisingly high pain tolerance and resistance, but a weak and pitiful body all the same," Huo-san admitted with a sage-like nod as if the words weren't insulting. "Let's start with some meditation, then."

… Huo-san is still a nice person. A bit blunt and thoughtless, but nice, unlike their meditation sessions. Tsuna doesn't know where Huo-san got that stick, because he's sure as heck he didn't have it when Tsuna was checking him for injuries, but apparently it's used on his shoulders whenever his mind is not as empty as it should be. How Huo-san knows he's thinking of something when his eyes are closed and his posture is relaxed, Tsuna doesn't know. He only hopes he doesn't get to meet any more sadistic mind readers.

But at least that explains what he's doing laying on his couch. His last memory is of him closing his eyes and trying to meditate, after all. He probably fell asleep and Huo-san put him to bed. The blanket is a clear giveaway, too. Though it makes him wonder where Huo-san slept. He expands his senses and feels him near, so that means he hasn't—

Oh.

That's why the dread has set in then.

"We know you're awake," Stranger-san says suddenly. Tsuna 'eeps', cutting all his chances of pretending to be asleep to nothing.

He doesn't look over his shoulder as he sits up; he wants to drag it out as much as he can. Then slowly, so very slowly, he turns around, the blanket falling to his lap.

Huo-san and Stranger-san are sitting at his table, three similar portions of food in front of them. One wearing a pleasant, if a bit strained smile, while the other is almost emotionless, only a hint of annoyance showing. Considering they're both a Storm and a Sun respectively; it's a bit funny how their expressions don't match their flames.

"You never mentioned you knew such a famous person," Huo-san starts.

"I didn't?" he asks back, honestly confused. Though maybe that just means his survival instinct exists as he doesn't think talking about each other would go well. His intuition even agrees with—"Wait." He turns to Stranger-san. "You're famous?"

"Are you really surprised?"

Tsuna tilts his head and looks at Stranger-san intently. "It explains the�� suits," he says, though he really meant to say 'ego'. By the glare he receives, Stranger-san probably read his mind.

He's actually a bit surprised he hasn't been shot. Stranger-san likes to do that.

"So you didn't know he was a famous hitman?"

He shakes his head, but the lack of surprise in his expression may explain the smug look Stranger-san throws at Huo-san. He has the suspicion there was a discussion going on before he woke up about their jobs.

"He needed a place to take a bullet out of him and he chose mine—"

"His lights were on."

"—and how I was in the middle of making coffee, I invited him to have some. Then he kept returning for more."

Huo-san narrows his eyes. "And you didn't find it suspicious?"

"I met you while you were fighting five men. There was a pile of unconscious bodies surrounding you."

"Touché," Huo-san says with a smile, not even bothering to look chagrined.

Tsuna turns to Stranger-san. "And there was a shooting going on. I couldn't sleep. Excuse me for having the light of my lamp on while making coffee."

"There was a shooting going on," Stranger-san repeats as if that's enough counter-argument.

(It is, but he's not going to give him the satisfaction of being right.)

"Just try to not meet any more dangerous people, please."

Stranger-san snorts. "Too late. There's someone stalking his job."

"The hotel or the bar?" Huo-san asks with narrowed eyes because of course he also knows.

"Oh. He didn't tell you?"

"Put the smug smirk away, Stranger-san, I was worried about other things and I kinda… forgot. Sorry, Huo-san."

Huo-san chuckles amusedly. "Stranger-san?"

"He's unimaginative."

"I'm not," he grumbles but then remembers how his other alias is the name he gave his animal box, and how unoriginal it was even back when he named the small flame lion. Tsuna covers his head with the blanket, his only consolation being that at least he's not as bad at naming things as Hibari-san and Gokudera are. Were? Will be?

"Perhaps we should go back to the topic of the stalker?"

A soft aroma makes him lookup. Huo-san is standing in front of him with a cup of tea between his hands. Tsuna receives the cup with a smile before he mutters thanks and takes a sip.

Huo-san motions the kettle on the table. "I hope it doesn't bother you I made some tea."

"It's no problem," he says before turning to the other person sitting at the table, taking notice in the lack of a cup in front of him. He glances between the kettle and Stranger-san. "The tea is very good. Not as bitter as you would—"

"Make me an espresso."

"Damn it."

"Don't curse. Be quick so I can lecture you about going out in the middle of the night and letting suspicious people stay in your apartment."

"How did you—No, it doesn't matter." Tsuna stands up and throws the blanket on the couch. "It's my apartment and I can decide what to do with it!" he says, but his outburst falls flat when he turns around to fold the blanket. He glances at Huo-san over his shoulder. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Ozora."

Tsuna looks back at the task at hand when he feels himself blushing. It's weird to hear Huo-san speaking Italian and it's even weirder to hear him not using suffixes when using his name. "Um. What happened with the 'kun', Huo-san?"

"I'm speaking Italian now, Ozora. Italian doesn't use suffixes. You should try it, too."

He quickly shakes his head. He already tried it with the people at the bar and the results were embarrassing on his part. Damn it, he fits the Asian stereotype of demure to a T. He'll have to fix that, but he'd prefer to practice alone first.

"Cute," Stranger-san drawls, sarcastically. "Now, my expresso?"

"While I'm sure you came early because you were worried—" Here Stranger-san snorts at Huo-san's words. "—that doesn't excuse being so demanding with Ozora. You can prepare your own coffee, can't you?"

The temperature in the room lowers as they try to stare each other down. The sight is quite nostalgic, but Tsuna has seen it enough times to know he needs to step in before furniture starts breaking. So with a sigh, he stands up. "It's okay, Huo-san. I need some coffee myself if I want to function later for work and Stranger-san gets all the more impossible to deal with without a cup. You can start eating if you want."

"About that…" Huo-san starts, eyeing the food in front of him curiously. "I didn't question it before because I thought you always cooked it, but how…?"

"It was already there when I came and it's still warm," Stranger-san quips.

Their eyes no longer hold hostility and it's easier to breathe now, but Tsuna can't quite count it as a win considering the change of topic. He takes another sip of warm tea, glancing at the steamed rice, miso soup, and grilled fish that that morning breakfast consists of. Unlike his own and Huo-san's orange and red chopsticks, Stranger-san's seems to have a yellow set in front of him.

"A, um, 'friend' likes to make me breakfast," he says, hoping the word 'friend' hadn't come out resigned.

Huo-san raises an eyebrow at him. "I didn't feel anyone coming, aside from mister hitman here."

"A sneaky friend."

Stranger-san keeps looking dubiously at the food. Tsuna doesn't know if it is because he doesn't know who cooked it or merely because he's Italian and Italians are weirdos who don't eat breakfast right and function on a coffee-only diet.

"A sneaky chef friend." And because he is sure the food isn't poisoned, he adds, "You should try it. It's a Japanese-style breakfast."

"Why breakfast?" Huo-san asks, already eating. He's probably of the mind 'Ate already and it hasn't done anything, so why stop?'

Scratching his cheek, he says a bit embarrassed, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?"

Stranger-san gives him a faintly incredulous raise of the eyebrow but tries it anyway after Tsuna starts eating. Then he proceeds to inform the others what's going on in the hotel, not mentioning the Mist flames because of Stranger-san's presence, though he makes a mental note to tell Huo-san about it later.

"I wish I could check if it's something serious, but…"

Huo-san has another job, Tsuna knows. He mentioned it to him yesterday. It's not going to be anything too gruesome but he can't skip it if he doesn't want people on his tail. The Triads are harsh like that, apparently. Huo-san has a reason but that doesn't stop him from looking like a kicked puppy. Or as much as a kicked puppy as he can look. His eyebrows barely frown and his smile dims a little.

"I'll do it quickly," he assures him after long seconds of his weird sulking going on. He turns to Stranger-san as if expecting him to offer, too. His gaze darkens when he continues eating his food.

"He'll do it fine alone," is what he finally says, placing both chopsticks on his plate. Then he pulls a newspaper out from who knows where and starts reading.

By the time he's changed and ready to head to his job, Tsuna is almost afraid to leave them alone in his apartment. He hopes they don't end up destroying his things.

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