Summary: After coming back to the present era, Hibari had come into contact with the feelings for Tsuna from his future self. Being who he was, he was determined to toss it away only to find it kept coming back to him. Main 1827, slight 6927

Note: This fanfic based on the anime version. Main story is set five years after the future arc. But this first chapter shifts from one point in time to another, also includes past and future (which mostly involves the KHR future arc's original plot)

Prologue: Past, Present, and Future

Feelings that lie dormant within one's heart are bound to surface…no matter what time and space

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Aside from Namimori, Hibari Kyoya took little to no interest at all concerning any other things. Biting people to death was an additional benefit he discovered once he'd fended people off of his territory in the beginning, later it had became his habit. More often than not, it satisfied his insatiable bloodlust. Then he'd have to look for another one, and another one. Whatever came into his life, he never dwelled on it.

Being the Cloud Guardian, he could go his own way without restraint. But before he knew it, his eyes were coming back to Sawada Tsunayoshi…once again.

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X

Tilting his head upward, above him flowed the vast sky. In Namimori School, there was nothing (besides biting crowds to death) as good as taking a nap on the rooftop under the clear blue sky.

The Disciplinary Committee leader yawned but he found himself far from sleep. Lately, it was happening quite often. He couldn't step into the world of sleep as easily as he used to. It could be his defense mechanism of avoiding the recurring dreams that had been plaguing him lately. Hibari Kyoya, having a defense mechanism? No one would ever believe it, not even himself.

In his dream, he wasn't himself. His mind rebelled at the abnormal contents of his dream but he couldn't deny his feelings because it felt far from wrong. It was frustrating; the first thing in life that had emerged and dared to confuse him.

It happened right after coming back to their era and it had something to do with Sawada Tsunayoshi.

This left a burden on his shoulders. As well as in his heart, strange as it was, since the prefect thought he didn't have one. His being just didn't have a room for this kind of feeling. It was alien to him. Hibari had absolutely no idea what it was all about. One look at the herbivore and he could see that Sawada Tsunayoshi was oblivious about it too.

Thinking back, he was next to the last of arrivals to the future era, and knowing next to nothing. He must have missed something significant. But what exactly could have been significant concerning the herbivore?

From past episodes of life, Hibari had to admit that Sawada Tsunayoshi was an exception to the norm after having categorized him as the weakest of the weakest for so long. And ever since the boy had jumped in the middle of his combat with Rokudo Mukuro to stop them, he was starting to really look at the boy in a different light.

No ordinary person could -or would do that. Add Sawada Tsunayoshi to his to-fight list.

From then on, he'd kept his eye on Tsuna. Hibari watched him grow a backbone and sometimes gave into doubt if a person who used to be pathetically weak could do as such. He knew the younger boy's only source of strength was the will to protect his friends. Sawada Tsunayoshi was the type that was bound to other people and vice versa. He found his own strength in passing it to his friends when the strength left all of them. Something Hibari would never be able to understand.

Given that, Hibari never wanted to have anything to do with Tsuna. Hibari didn't believe that the true source of strength lied in other beings but oneself and sharing strength just wasn't his way of moving along in life.

They were polar opposites, what could have been significant between them?

Hibari produced his own answer: Nothing.

Yet, his doubt grew each passing day and it needed to find its way out. Thus, Hibari took action in different kinds of ways. But they only served to further increase the riddles while solving only a pint of questions.

He'd kept his cool and aloof self intact until it came to the day where he'd done something that led to a drastic change in his life.

He didn't know what had possessed him to guard Tsuna from being attacked, or so he thought it was an attack. One moment he had the herbivore behind him and himself facing the young man in a cow suit who was holding a familiar violet bazooka, originally targeted for Tsuna; the next, he was sprawled in an unfamiliar tatami room with Tsuna no where in sight.

……….

"Waahhh!" Tsuna exclaimed as he waved a hand in the smoke to clear his vision. Not understanding completely what was going on, he still called out, "Hibari-san!"

Tsuna's first thought was that Hibari's action could be considered guarding him from Lambo who had popped out of nowhere with his Ten-Year Bazooka. Hibari knew what effect the device would cause. But if there was one thing that was embedded in Tsuna's mind, it was that Hibari wouldn't want any part in anything beyond the ground of Namimori. Countless times Tsuna had misinterpreted Hibari coming to save him when in fact he wasn't. By then, Tsuna quit having that kind of false beliefs altogether. There was no reason for Hibari to guard him. Sooner than Tsuna could rationalize on Hibari's most recent act, the smoke cleared.

Before him, stood a lone figure. Tsuna felt goosebump as it dawned on him when he recognized the man in front of him. Okay, it didn't really come out as a surprise. Being shot by 10-Years-Bazooka. Who else would it be if not the 10-Years-Later version of Hibari.

"Hmm? My past self was shot? How could he?" A deep, calm voice floated over as Hibari, ten years older, rested his eyes on Tsuna. "Judging from the way you're parking yourself down there."

True, Tsuna was now on the ground, too shocked at what was unfolding before him.

"---and the cow running away."

True, Lambo was high-tailing away from his failure of an errand.

"Did my past self take the shot for you?" the older Hibari asked. Once Tsuna nodded dumbly, the man smiled. A smile that made Tsuna confused to the core.

It was a smile, not a smirk that usually decorated Hibari Kyoya's face whenever his lips curved upward.

"That's a good sign," Hibari trailed off as he closed the gap between them.

"Hiii!!!" Tsuna shrieked, but quickly regained himself shortly after. "Hi-Hibari-san! I'm sorry for the trouble, but rest assured! You'll be back in the future era in five minutes so please don't bite me---!"

"I was the one who informed Lambo Bovino to abduct you to my era," Hibari cut in Tsuna's frantic ramble and his eyes momentarily looked away as he said, "Right, we only have five minutes." Then he looked back at Tsuna and said, "It doesn't matter if I'm the one arriving here instead of you there, since I get to see you."

Flabbergasted, Tsuna pointed at himself, "See…me?" As soon as he finished, his hand was seized and he was dragged along the path.

"It's too crowded here," Hibari said as he made his way with Tsuna behind him from the school backyard and along the hallway to the reception room. Once he closed the door he turned his attention on the flustered boy and addressed him, "Tsunayoshi."

That seemed to have an effect.

Tsuna's head jerked up slightly. Hibari never addressed him by his first name, let alone his full first name. Anyhow, under the circumstance, he was obliged to ask hastily, "Do-do I need to know something? Is something happening in the future era again?"

"No. The reason is only because I wanted to see you."

Silence filled the room before Tsuna managed a "Wha-?"

"Your future self laid a perfect plan for you so you could change the future." Hibari paced in the room and gazed out the window, "I was restrained by your future self not to do things that would reveal anything about us because it would interfere with your mind while you prepared to become stronger." Placing his hands on the windowsill, he closed his eyes as if nostalgic, whether to the room itself or the subject that they were on. "However, if the plan succeeds, as it already did, I could do things my own way. So here I am now, because I wanted to see you."

"Eh? I still don't get it…to see me? And what do you mean by…" '-about us?' and now that Tsuna looked into it more closely, there was something different about the Hibari he'd met in the future era and the Hibari in front of him here. Yet, they looked the same; Tsuna's intuition confirmed that this Hibari wasn't any other Hibari from the parallel worlds that he didn't know of. He was sure of it.

Hibari's eyes zeroed on in Tsuna and it was only then that Tsuna realized what was different. This Hibari was absent of his murderous aura. And if Tsuna wasn't mistaken, Hibari even looked almost gentle. Almost. Like the time when Tsuna saw him regarding his Hibird.

'Hii!!!' Tsuna screamed at the thought. 'How could I have ever thought of that!? Hibari and gentle doesn't go along in one sentence! And I'm not Hibird!' While Tsuna was wracking his brains out, he didn't notice when his future Cloud guardian closed in on him and reached for him. The next thing he knew, he found himself in the Cloud guardian's arms. Tsuna was rendered speechless. Nevertheless, it seemed that his brain did work to construct something rational even in a stunning moment, 'Why did Hibari-san want to see my past self?'

It shook him to the core. If they had already changed the future, why would Hibari want to see him in this era?

Out of instinct, he grabbed the hem of Hibari's shirt, trying to meet the eyes of the taller man, "Hi-Hibari-san! What is the meaning of this? Why do you want to see me? If we-uh-we in the past already changed the future, why would you want to-" He stopped himself.

Because Hibari was giving him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Tsuna never imagined such a smile would be on Hibari's face.

As if not wanting Tsuna to see it any longer, Hibari pushed the boy's head to his chest and buried his chin in Tsuna's mop of hair.

Completely lost at what was going on, Tsuna naturally stuttered, "Hi-Hibari-san?" If Reborn's first appearance and every bloody enemy the Vongola encountered were too overwhelming, making it feels like a dream, this would also be one of those times.

Hibari, the inhuman tyrant of Namimori, was cradling him.

Tsuna didn't rule out the likelihood that he'd gone out of his mind. It could conceivably be the result of carrying heavy burdens and having unwanted circumstances shoved onto him relentlessly. Or it could even be the consequence of having undergone Reborn's Spartan education for too long that it had knocked his screw loose. Somehow, he didn't feel it to be incongruous. It even felt right; something inside of him wistfully reached out for it.

"Ah, it's almost time," Hibari said.

Tsuna's eyes widened. He hadn't learned anything new yet and already, Hibari was leaving. He attempted to dislodge himself from the grasp, to do anything but not get answers from Hibari. However, the man refused to let the boy be in any other position than in his arms.

"Tsunayoshi. It was me who had realized it too late, and even more accepted it too late. Even if we had managed to catch on to it, I don't want to make the same mistakes again in any alternate futures." Hibari spoke calmly, feeling the smaller boy suspended thrashing about. "That was why I left a part of me to Hibari of this era. When you and your people returned here from my era, he must have felt it."

"Hibari-san, what are you saying? What did you leave for Hibari-san of this era?" Tsuna asked in muffled tone.

"My sentiments."

As soon as the statement was finished, the smoke erupted around Hibari, engulfing Tsuna along. Tsuna realized it was time the older Hibari was gone as he felt the one holding him was slightly different…smaller, yet equally unyielding. Tsuna wasn't in the place to understand any of this. But for whatever reason, he started crying.

And so did Hibari in this era.

'The future, no matter what world it is in, will never be guaranteed. Hibari Kyoya, commit it to your mind of what it feels like… the world without the sky.'

X

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Two years later found Tsuna graduating from Namimori School, along with his friends. Right after the commencement, Reborn sent them out to the world much to the young Vongola's chagrin.

As Tsuna's right hand man, Gokudera Hayato was the only one who'd stick by Tsuna's side, at all times. While Yamamoto Takeshi put his friends before anything, Tsuna had insisted that the athlete should never leave that part of him where baseball was his life. Lambo Bovino was still a pain to everyone, although now Tsuna could tell that the cow suit-clad boy was growing out of his bratty selfishness little by little. For Sasagawa Ryohei, quite more extreme with his beloved sport, contrary to Yamamoto, his primary devotion was still boxing and the role of the Sun Guardian came in second in importance. Chrome Dokuro, evidently taking a full liking to her boss, went along with Tsuna after receiving a mental accord with her Mukuro-sama.

As for Hibari Kyoya, he'd allowed himself to be dragged from his beloved Namimori to Italy for the official ceremony of the guardians due to Reborn's request. Nonetheless, he'd disappeared without a word afterwards. Many had assumed various things but the conclusion drawn was that Hibari had no reason to stay. He was Hibari after all. Unknown to all of them, Hibari had left for one reason.

The reason that Hibari would take to his grave.

"He'll return, just you wait." Reborn declared to all of them but mostly addressing it to his student, Tsuna.

True to Reborn's word, one year later Hibari Kyoya returned with yet again no word of explanation.

The reason that Hibari again, would take to his grave.

"Welcome back, Hibari-san," those were the first words Tsuna gave to Hibari, accompanied with a smile.

Hibari's only response was a curt nod as he studied Tsuna. The boy had sloughed off the helpless and hopeless boy Hibari had once known. Whatever had taken place in the one year of his absence, it wasn't of any significance to look back into it. Hibari knew that this once-the-weakest herbivore must have undergone the toughest trials and paths that had been laid for him. After all, Tsuna had accomplished something that his future self couldn't complete alone. Dealing with the state of affairs of his future self no doubt drove him above the limit. And the road ahead was still a long way to go.

To the family's surprise, Hibari stayed this time, only retreating back to Namimori every once in a while (which was quite understandable to the others). Nonetheless, he was being cooperative with performing the Cloud Guardian's duties, even if he never proclaimed himself with the title.

Another two years later, Tsuna, now at the age of twenty, had grown out of the negative flaws of his old self. The young man had developed an image of a Mafia boss with his maturity and self-collected appearance. He'd gotten rid of his trademark shriek of terror, "Hiii." He spoke clear, fluent sentences without stuttering. One thing that Hibari noted above all else was how the younger man had grown immune to his intimidating aura.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was no longer frightened of Hibari Kyoya.

'No-good Tsuna' was history.

Yet, the positive side of his old self remained rooted. Everything he did, every uphill battle he fought, it was all for his family. And the development of his strength had yet to stop.

Without realizing it, Hibari had watched Tsuna grow, emotionally, mentally…

Except physically. It was a shame that while all of his family members progressed with their exterior shells, Tsuna was the only one who appeared to make a painstakingly dawdling progress on his height and musculature. To make up for that, Tsuna had grown his hair long in a thin pony tail that reached down his back, in hopes that it would help him look older. His face did do a little help on that part. The circumstances and the situations from bad to worst had etched itself on his youthful face and he could look downright serious if the situation called for it.

Hibari, who took little to no interest, had the realization dawn on him that he'd been keeping a close watch on Tsuna.

Hibari had concluded to himself that he'd been watching Tsuna only because of his admittedly remarkable evolution. The more Tsuna had gotten stronger, the more intriguing he'd become. There was no denying the fact.

So Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing more than merely a matter of his obsession in fighting. Hibari would look forward in fight the Vongola 10th, somewhere, sometime in the future.

If the future ever existed for Sawada Tsunayoshi.

……….

Something inside Hibari…felt out of place.

His eyes jerked open and he found himself leaning against the huge trunk of the tall tree in Vongola estate's vast garden. He must have dozed off for a while and allowed those plaguing dreams to take hold of him again. The dreams that cycled around his and Tsunayoshi's future selves. This disorder which was adopted since five years ago, sporadically messed with his sensibility of place and time. Sometimes he was Hibari who was literally with Tsunayoshi, sometimes he was still himself who would never be with anyone in the world.

He'd learned to accept it and tell apart whether it was a dream, the communication from his future self, or the reality he was facing. At this rate, he would no longer chase away what his future self was depositing him with. Yet, he wouldn't go as far as letting it out in the open.

"Hibari-san."

He eyed where the voice floated over and found Tsuna approaching him slowly, concern etched on his face.

"What?"

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Tsuna stopped before coming too close for the man's discomfort.

Cutting the younger boy a critical glance, Hibari bit out, "What are you talking about? Does it look like I hurt anywhere?"

"Yes."

Hibari's bluish-gray eyes widened imperceptibly. Did his face give anything away? From the looks of it, Sawada Tsunayoshi couldn't be talking nonsense. Jerking his head away, Hibari turned his back on Tsuna. And going against his will, he walked away.

"Hibari-san."

Hibari heard the voice no matter how small it was. It didn't stop him though. He continued to amble away as his mind replayed the memory from the future.

Everything, everything that changed his life started with that future.

The future where Sawada Tsunayoshi was nothing but a body in a coffin.

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x x x

"Hibari-san, when my past self arrives here, don't allow yourself to go easy on him."

The Cloud guardian glanced sideways, his eyes naturally unreadable. But not to the Vongola 10th, a person whose became more than just a boss.

"You couldn't be serious. You think I'll go easy on you, Tsunayoshi?" Hibari returned expressionlessly. Again, the poker face that only Tsuna could see right through.

The Vongola boss laughed softly. "Yes, for a moment I think I did." He said quietly as he made his way from his office desk to the couch where his Cloud guardian was sprawled on casually. Tsuna reached out to touch Hibari's face, leaning deftly towards the older man. In reflex, the man circled his hands around Tsuna's small figure and pulled the boy close onto his lap. The younger man laughed again, "See? You're going soft on me."

There was a faint look of surprise passing Hibari's features but he composed himself as he closed his eye, brows knitting. "It's not necessary to be tough on you at this moment." He reopened his eyes, full of determination, "The Tsunayoshi of ten years earlier was nothing but a weak herbivore. I couldn't possibly be interested in him."

"Ow, that hurts. That herbivore is still me, you know," Tsuna smiled crookedly.

The Cloud guardian smirked his signature leer, "Do you wish your past self to be bitten to death if he fails to reach expectation?"

Tsuna laughed half-heartedly but answered in a serious tone, "Yes, please do so. For you, it wouldn't be so hard, would it?"

"Guess so," replied Hibari indifferently.

"Also keep in mind that---" Tsuna took Hibari's face by the palm of his hands so he could look into the grayish-blue eyes, "---don't let things about us in this era be known to my past self."

An unspoken detail, but Hibari understood immediately. "Sasagawa Kyoko?"

Tsuna nodded, "Me of ten years earlier hadn't seen things right through. It would only be a trouble if my past self would have to deal with two things at the same time. Millefiore must be put first in priority."

"Fine," Hibari's eyes turned dark as he looked away momentarily.

Then Tsuna's smile turned more despondent, "Hibari-san, I know I can count on you with this. You're the only one who can detach personal feelings from the profession. If the me of ten years ago couldn't increase his strength exponentially in the shortest amount of time possible…" Here, Tsuna twitched in seeing the expression on Hibari's face which read of nothing but uneasiness.

Ten years ago, such a thing would be the last thing on earth that would happen. Hibari, concerned for Tsuna's life.

Tsuna was well aware of the fact that Hibari was dying to head straight to Byakuran and kill the man this very instant. But Byakuran couldn't be eliminated in that simplest way, not even with the strength of Hibari. When the Cloud guardian had learned of that, only one word could describe him: infuriate. Hibari, as a Cloud guardian, never involved himself in the Mafia affairs unless it was inevitable. But this time, Tsuna's life was at stake and he'd taken it personally.

To ease the tension that fell between them, Tsuna pressed his lips lightly on the man's face under his eyelids. "After what I'd put you all through, everything will be fine, Hibari-san. It's the only way that I can return again."

Hibari shifted to drop Tsuna onto the couch. Satisfied at hearing a small 'hii' (which was rare nowadays) from the younger man, he trapped Tsuna between his arms. "This plan better work, Tsunayoshi. If you fail to return to my side-" He said grimly, as he lowered his face to claim Tsuna's lips lightly before resuming his promise "—through heaven or hell, I will pursue you to bite you to death."

Death was just a day away from Tsuna.

x x x

Note: The part where Tsuna stopped Hibari and Mukuro's fighting refers to Anime episode 145, there's no such occurrence in manga.

Okay, if anyone here has read doujinshi a Concealed Love by CAOS. I've gotta admit that I got a whole bunch of inspiration from her. Where future Hibari asked Lambo to kidnap Tsuna for him, and how he was gone, replacing by his present self with tears, these are not originally my idea, the rest are.

Thanks very much for your interest. Do leave some comments before you leave!

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