Hello there. I don't have much to say other than this is from some time back, but just now decided to post it. Let's see how it goes.

He didn't know what was going on. He knew that something had seemed off when he saw him but… who could have thought that such a thing actually happens in real life, as wrecked as his was. As he gazed with ever-increasing pain at the both of them he tried to think coherently. As he collapsed on the ground the half-formed questions ran in his mind.

Why were they….?

Yamamoto Takeshi was walking with long and quick strides towards the house of a certain brunet. As he neared the Sawada household he spotted a silver-head and grinning widely he waved at him. The Italian snorted but otherwise ignored him as he continued to approach the brunet's house. Yamamoto dropped his arm as excitement entered him once again and had to refrain himself from running. After all, Tsuna was finally back.

By Reborn's insistence, Tsuna had been on a six-month-long trip to Italy for training and he was to return, yesterday night. Yamamoto had to do his best not to rush to him, in midnight, when the brunet supposedly returned. There was a small nagging concern at the back of his mind because Tsuna hadn't contacted him but his current exhilaration was what kept his mind occupied.

Unable to hold it anymore, the baseball jock ran the short distance to the gate of the house, just as Gokudera Hayato opened it.

"Tsuna!"

"Jyuudaime!" The teens' shouts overlapped as they called for him; Gokudera turned his head, ready to snap at him when the door opening caught both their attention.

A nervous face peered at them with familiar brown eyes, under the messy brown hair, characteristic of him. The teen's eyes widened suddenly before a weird grin spread over his lips. Sawada Tsunayoshi carefully walked out and closed the door.

"H-hello, Gokudera..Y-Yamamoto." He said and bit his lip nervously.

Both Gokudera's and Yamamoto's smiles weakened somewhat. The brunet had spoken with a hoarse voice, but that was the least. He was unusually thin and paler than before, also, he sported dark bags under each eye. Yamamoto thought there was something off with that smile.

"Tsuna wha-?"

The brunet waved at him, in a nervous way. "I'll tell you guys later, we better get going or we'll be late."

"But-"

"I'm fine, let's get going already Gokudera."

"If you say so, Jyuudaime…" Gokudera said worriedly. He was the first to exit, behind him, Yamamoto and closing the procession was Tsuna.

At school, Tsuna's appearance was treated with plenty of murmurs by the general population and concern on the other guardians and Kyoko.

Tsuna sighed tiredly as he went to the rooftop, followed by three curious and worried friends—Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei—, he walked to the side of the building, keeping his back close to the wall. When he had sat down and had a waiting public round him he shifted nervously and sighed again.

" So what do you want to know?" He started with a nervous smile and they frowned.

Ryohei was about to ask when he was cut by Yamamoto:

"What happened to you?" Tsuna doubted, looked to the ground, to the side and to their faces before speaking.

"Well…Reborn had me training for the whole time-"

"With all due respect, I don't think that training would leave you like that Jyuudaime." Gokudera said, looking at the brunet.

"Well yes, but let me finish. He had me training for four or five months but I got sick about…a month ago?" Tsuna pondered over it. "Yeah, about a month ago."

"And why are you so jumpy?" Yamamoto asked after considering the previous answer. Tsuna blinked at him, then he brushed a strand of hair away from his ear.

"R-Reborn's training was harsh…" Tsuna said apologetic. Yamamoto frowned a little but Ryohei was nodding firmly.

"I guess some EXTREME training has its down parts…" He said grinning. Yamamoto gazed earnestly at the brunet, as if trying to discover some secret hidden in his face. Tsuna was blushing while looking to the ground. Noticing this, Gokudera glared at Yamamoto for a few seconds before getting up and dragging the turf top away with him. He ignored the boxer's protests and before closing the door he sent a murderous glare towards the black-haired teen, who just smiled sheepishly at them.

When the door slammed shut, Tsuna jumped slightly. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and continued to look at the ground.

"Tsuna…" The warm, loving tone caught his attention and he locked eyes with Yamamoto. The teen reached out a hand to caress his cheek but stopped when the brunet flinched ever so slightly away from him. He frowned. " Tsuna, what's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong!" Tsuna said raising his hands as in surrender, retreating back even more as he chuckled nervously. Yamamoto just continued to look at him. "…I don't want you to get sick, that's all."

"Hmm? Tsuna you're still sick?" Yamamoto said worriedly.

"Just a little, yeah…" Tsuna said slowly lowering his arms.

"Well…and how about a hug?" Yamamoto asked innocently. Tsuna blushed.

"Wha-eh…I…don't-!" Tsuna stuttered but was cut short as Yamamoto practically lunged towards him, keeping sure he didn't put an ounce of his weight on the brunet.

The brunet froze when he felt the warmth irradiating from another body, although he was blushing. Yamamoto hugged him a while longer but as the other stayed stiff he slowly retreated, looking a little sad.

"Tsuna, are you really alright?" Tsuna avoided his gaze again. Yamamoto moved back completely, not wanting to make Tsuna uncomfortable. The teen brushed a strand of hair away from his ear again.

"I'm alright…just, give me some time…"Tsuna said tiredly. Yamamoto was alarmed by the tone but refrained himself from pestering him with questions.

"Alright then, I'll keep off you until you feel better." He said as he connected both their foreheads. "And feel free to tell me if there's something wrong, okay?"

"Thank you Yamamoto." The baseball teen grinned and kissed him on the cheek before retreating.

"No prob!" He said to the blushing Sky guardian.

Tsuna smiled softy at last, encouraged by the other's grin. After a while the bell rang, signaling they had to go back.

"Yamamoto, let's go." Tsuna said as he got up, heading towards the door but stopped when he didn't hear any movement. "Yamamoto?"

"Nah, go on ahead, I'll stay here for a while." He said as he reclined against the wall. Seeing Tsuna doubting he smiled at him. "I'll be with you in a while."

"Ah," Tsuna muttered before waving at him and closing the door behind him. When the door was closed, Yamamoto's face changed into one of concern.

What was wrong with Tsuna? Yamamoto couldn't believe just getting sick could get him that bad. As he rested his head back tiredly he suddenly turned serious and looked around.

"Oh, it's you Kid!" he said relaxing his pose once he identified him.

"Ciaossu Yamamoto." Reborn greeted joining him by the wall. "I see you noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"That Dame-Tsuna is acting strange."

"Oh…yeah" Yamamoto whispered as he heaved a sigh. "Hey, Kid, did something happen in Italy?"

"Yes." Reborn said gravely, hiding his eyes with his fedora. Yamamoto held his breath and waited for the story. "I wanted to tell all the guardians at the same time but…perhaps having you help me from the very beginning will be better. Besides, Dame-Tsuna would notice I gathered them together…

"Anyways, the first couple of months I trained him, as you already know…At that moment we were in a small town near the CEDEF headquarters…" Reborn told him the events that happened then. He saw as the baseball ace's muscles tensed and his eyes widen before turning a little cold; the teen didn't interrupt him at all.

He only heaved a long, tired sigh.

Gokudera looked up from his desktop see his precious boss entering the boring classroom. He noticed the baseball idiot wasn't with him and he frowned slightly. Tsuna sat down with a stiff and straight back as he looked at his twirling hands.

Gokudera rested his head on his hand as he looked at him, ignoring the class completely. He saw as Tsuna's eyes glancing at him from the side before darting away. He scratched his head and brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. Suddenly his face scrunched slightly and a hand moved to the side of his stomach.

Gokudera frowned and opened his mouth to say something about it when Tsuna glanced at him again, alarm showing in those brown orbs. Gokudera closed his mouth, even more concerned now.

After a while Tsuna asked for permission to use the bathroom and heaved a relieved sigh when he left the class.

He was walking slowly to the restroom when he spotted Kyoko.

"Tsuna-kun!" She said as she threw herself at him, hugging him. The brunet winced softly and almost fell with the extra weight. Noticing this she was quick to let go. "Tsuna-kun I'm sorry, are you alright?"

"Ah…Kyoko…-chan" Tsuna said nervously. "Yes…I'm fine."

"Tsuna-kun, I'd wanted to greet you properly since morning but… I thought Yamamoto-kun would appreciate having you alone for the day." She grinned impishly at that. Tsuna blinked twice before a small blush adorned his face.

"There was no need…" Tsuna started but trailed off soon after. He brushed a strand of hair that had gotten in his eye, and he remembered something:

"Umm…Do you know where-?" Mist. Indigo Mist. "Chrome is?" Tsuna frowned as he tried to clear his mind of images of swirling fog.

"Chrome-chan? She's on sick leave. She said she caught a cold." Kyoko answered with a sigh. "We were planning on visiting her this afternoon, would you –" Kyoko glanced quickly up and down him as she paused. "Would you like to go with us?"

Tsuna looked troubled "Eh, well, I, I'll see."

Kyoko looked at him before smiling softly "Don't push yourself." Tsuna stared at her weirdly before looking at the ground. Kyoko started going back to her classroom when:

"W-wait! I-I I'll go!" Tsuna said with closed eyes.

"Alright! We'll meet at the school gate, go with Yamamoto-kun and Gokudera-kun." Kyoko beamed at him before finally going back to her class.

The four of them met up with Ryohei and pretty soon they were at the rusty front gates of Kokuyo Land when they heard an animalistic growl.

"Eh?" Kyoko mumbled getting a little scared as she looked around. Tsuna and the rest tensed up as they searched for the source.

"Che, so it's you. Why the hell are you here anyways?" A shadowed figure said as he approached. Ken glared at each one of them.

"Yo! It's Ken, right? We just came to visit Chrome-chan, since she's sick." Yamamoto, the ever cheerful teen greeted the other. Ken huffed.

"The stupid woman, huh? Tch, don't stay long." With that, the animalistic teen walked away. The group continued their trek to where Chrome usually was, not noticing how the blonde stared at a certain brunet with an indecipherable gaze.

Ken and Chikusa were standing just outside their building, watching the parting group. The group seemed quite normal— their own crazy version of normal at least.

"Hey, Kakipi," Ken suddenly spoke up. "I smelt blood on the brat. Blood and fear."

"I noticed." Chikusa replied blankly as he adjusted his glasses.

"I don't like him…he reminds me of…of stupid memories." Ken mumbled, looking at the ground. Chikusa's eyes wandered over to his companion before glancing away.

"Yeah…I know."

The pair didn't say anything else on the matter, there was nothing they wanted to add, anyway. The less they talked about it, the better. But still, as shadows started to spread in Kokuyo Land neither Ken nor Chikusa could shake off the feeling that there was something terribly wrong with the brunet.

TBC

It really doesn't show much. It's kinda like a prologue. Might continue if interest is shown. If not, it'll be updated at a whim.

Leave a comment with your thoughts.