10 Year Mishap

18

Tsuna kept his attention on his book for the entirety of an hour before he couldn't focus on it anymore. He was fine with sitting still and being quiet, but the shuffling of papers and occasional swears from the man behind the desk kept pulling his eyes over to see what was going on. He actually didn't know if the man was fully conscious of his presence in the room. He doubted it. Working up some courage, he climbed off his chair and walked over to stand next to the silver haired man. "Hello?" he said.

The man startled, obviously not having been previously aware of the child in the room, and looked to the source of the voice. "How the hell did you get in here?" The identity of the child was currently lost to him.

Tsuna tilted his head. "I'm Tsuna. Ryohei brought me in here about an hour ago."

The man seemed to be rolling the information in his head. "Tsuna..?" Then, it clicked. "Tsuna-sama!" he slipped into Japanese as stood so fast that his chair knocked over. Tsuna flinched back and the man calmed a bit, going back to Italian. "Sorry about that, I was so lost in my work that I didn't even realize you'd been left in here. I'm Hayato."

Tsuna nodded at the information, sounding out the name in his head before speaking. "What're you doing, Hayato?" He was genuinely curious as to what the male was doing. Why had it had his full, unbridled attention?

Hayato stood the chai back op and sat down. He picked Tsuna up and put him on his lap as an unconscious movement. He'd done the same with Lambo until the kid was about eleven. "Just some paperwork that il capo can't do right now."

"Because I'm here instead."

"Huh?" The kid's sour mood was unexpected.

"It's because I'm here that you're stuck in here, doing other-me's work, isn't it? If I wasn't here, then you'd all be spending time together and smiling and laughing. No one would have to be extra cautious. Don't think I haven't noticed all the people wandering around. There are more people on each shift than there was when I first got here. Not to mention you and the others seem pretty close. I don't think you guys would be spending so much time separated if your-me was still here." He sniffled.

Hayato was taken aback. "How did you.."

A forced laugh, truly unbefitting and disgusting of the child,, left the young Sky. "I'm a lot more observant than you give me credit for. I'm also smarter than you think. You keep treating me like a kid, and I'm thankful that you are, but I know more about what's going on that you seem to think I do."

Hayato thought about everything the kid had said. The implications and the litterals all running through his head multiple times a minute. If Tsuna already knew what was going, on, then there really was no point in trying to hide anything. The kid already knew he wasn't supposed to be there, and seemed to want to be included in everything that was going on because of his arrival. Hayato didn't see too many problems with telling the kid what he wanted to know, and the few he did find could easily be fixed or worked around. So, he turned the chair and scooted closer to the desk. "Because your being here is a dangerous secret the Vongola will take to our graves, we've informed everyone in the castle and have upped security. Kyoya - I don't think you've met him yet - is in charge of security. With the subtly rise in the guard, he's had to be working extra to make sure no one gets information they're not supposed to have. Mukuro and Chrome - you've already met them - were the ones to spreed the news around to the staff. Now that that's done, though, they've doubled down to catch any spies that, although extremely unlikely, may have gotten past Kyoya. Lambo - you played in his room yesterday - is working in the labs with the other engineers to figure out how to get you home and get our Tsuna back. Ryohei and Takeshi - you've spent time with the both of them several times since arriving - are in charge of your wellbeing. Ryohei is a doctor, so he's in charge of making sure your physical health and stamina are up to snuff. Takeshi isn't a doctor, but he's very in tune with his and others emotions, whether he admits it or not. He's been charged with making sure your mental health doesn't suffer while you're here. Because of my position of 'Right Hand', I've been charged with taking care of all the paperwork and meetings that I can. Anything that I can't do will have to wait until we manage to switch you and il capo back."

Tsuna honestly hadn't expected to be given the information. He hadn't been trying to fish for answers, but he was glad to know a bit more of what was going on. Now that he knew what everyone was doing, he could better keep out of their way. He kept his spot on Hayato's lap as the Storm got back to work. Slowly but surely, he started to fall asleep. The man's steady heartbeat and breathing providing a lullaby that soothed the child, the previously irritating shuffling of papers now served as white noise. Tsuna let himself give in to the pull of his dreams. It felt nice to fall asleep to another person's internal song - for everyone had one - and he just knew that he wouldn't have any nightmares as long as he was here.

Hayato felt the boy slumb against his chest as he fell asleep. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He had no idea how to entertain the child, so a nap was good. Though, as he thought this, he felt himself ywan and the sofa in the room suddenly looked very comfortable. Unable to resist, he picked up the child on his lap and laid on the couch with him A nap sounded good.