Based on the wonderful(ly sad) dream 0Oo The River Witch oO0 shared with me.

AU in which, when he sleeps, a young Tsuna who was never Vongola Decimo keeps getting spiritually transported into the future of a world in which he was the Vongola Decimo but died very young. His guardians, varia, etc. can see his spirit, but every time they try to get close to him, he wakes up.

This is basically an embellished version of riverly-melody's dream.

Warning: not a happy thing

-o-

Fifteen year old Tsuna was a normal boy, going to a normal school. The only thing not typical about him was his nickname of "Dame-Tsuna". To be honest, it was a nickname he could live without but the window of opportunity to get rid of the nickname had come and gone, and so Tsuna was resigned to the nickname until he died. Or graduation.

Sometimes, however, Tsuna had strange dreams. Dreams like having a baby as a tutor, or being a dragon, or being good at computers. Those dreams were fantastical, and he looked forward to them. An escape into a different world. This time, however, the dream felt wrong.

He was in the middle of a crowd in a building. Everyone was wearing black, and he could see that some of them were holding white flowers. The looked on their faces were somber, and Tsuna couldn't help but feel that something had gone terribly wrong. He himself was wearing a black hoodie with a hat that cast a shadow over his face, obscuring his features. A strange sadness seemed to fill him to the bone as he looked around him.

The crowd began to move and he moved along with them. He came to stop in front of the crowd and saw six men and one women standing around a black box. A coffin. He was in the middle of a funeral service.

One of the men shifted and suddenly, Tsuna got a clear view of the person laying in the coffin. His face was peaceful and void of any tension, as if he were only sleeping. Both his hands were folded in front of him, with an orange flower Tsuna didn't know the name of resting underneath. Unruly brown hair framed his face, unable to be tamed even in death. With a feeling of deep shock and terror, Tsuna realised that the person in the coffin… was him.

As terror and adrenaline suddenly coursed through his veins, Tsuna knew, for a fact, that he couldn't let anyone see him. Couldn't let them see his face and recognise him as the person in the coffin. Why? He wasn't sure, but one thing he knew was that he was thankful for the hat and hoodie that disguised him.

As Tsuna turned to leave, not wanting to spend another moment near his dead body, one of the men near the coffin turned around and they made eye contact. Both of them went stock still, although probably due to different reasons.

Is that Hibari-san? Was Tsuna's first thought, followed by Shit, he saw me!

The man with silver hair turned to Hibari, about to say something, when he, too, caught sight of Tsuna. Like Hibari, the man froze up and colour drained out of his face.

I need to get out of here.

Without missing a beat, Tsuna whirled around and started a flat dash back to the exit of the building. He heard footsteps behind him and knew that, without a doubt, those people who had been near the coffin were chasing after him.

Usually, Tsuna would get tired out after a near minute of running but seeing that this was a dream, Tsuna ran for what seemed like hours without stopping. He took sharp turns into alleyways and ducked into shadowed corners. Finally, the footsteps faded away and Tsuna could allow himself to slow down. His heart beat wildly in his chest as his breathing evened out. Now, all he needed to do was to find a place to hide until he woke up.

He stealthily entered a store and looked around for a place to sit. Shelves stocked with tarot cards, books on divination and, oddly enough, pendulums, filled his gaze. He didn't pay much attention to it, and walked towards a chair that was hidden away in a dark corner. Sitting down, he brought his knees to his chest and hugged them, trying to calm the raging feelings burning within him. Apart from terror and hurt trying to claw their way out of his chest, there was the strange feeling of betrayal simmering in his stomach. Above all, however, was the overwhelming urge to just… go. To go back to those strange people.

He couldn't do that, though. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't.

The urge to run filled Tsuna once again and he uncurled himself and slid off the chair, turning to the door. He immediately stiffened up.

Hibari was standing in the doorway.

There was an odd expression on his face that Tsuna didn't recognise as Hibari stepped forward. Tsuna took a few steps backwards, heart rate shooting up once again.

"Tsunayoshi…" Hibari reach out towards Tsuna, all but lunging for him with an almost desperate look on his face, and Tsuna…

Tsuna woke up.