Title: Their Bonds

Summary: He may have forgotten, but they never did—not the days they ran underneath the scorching sun in the name of adventure, or the mundane breaks where they talked about rumors that only held truths. No one would ever dare to forget those days—most especially, a certain lone Cloud.

Genre: Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Humor

Warnings: Swearing and OOC-ness.

Author's note: (PLEASE READ)

1. I'm really, really sorry for not updating for the past two weeks. Though I already said I was extra busy, I didn't know I'll be that busy that I won't be able to at least update. Well, anyway, the busy hell weeks are finally over, and I have enough free time now to update and reply to your reviews.

2. Updates are still every Wednesdays and Saturdays. I just want to get this chapter out, since I know you've all been waiting for this, that's why I updated today. So expect Interval III this Saturday, and Chapter 4 the Wednesday of next week.

3. Since 1827 is my OTP, there'll be... teasing starting from this chapter and here on out. But again, just to remind you guys, don't expect any romance to develop. This is pure friendship.

4. Lastly, enjoy reading :)

... .. .

Chapter 3: Form a bond

Tsuna was now starting to regret that he didn't asked Gokudera and Yamamoto to accompany him, and instead lied to the two that he had some important matters to attend to—which was actually true, now that he thought about it, though he also remembered why he didn't want them to know—lest he wanted Gokudera to explode and Yamamoto to laugh it all off, making the silver-haired all the more irritated.

But he still wished that he at least had someone, anyone with him, because Tsuna was utterly and freakishly nervous being by himself on this.

Why was it so hard to see one Hibari Kyoya?

And so—because of his nerves and the maybe-beating he might get just for being there—after taking one hesitant step, Tsuna was now all ready to turn around and walk fruitlessly away when one very loud and very recognizable voice called out to him, making him jump.

"YO, SAWADA!"

"O-O-Onii-san!"

Ryohei couldn't help laughing. "Did I scare you or something?"

"Y-Yeah…" Tsuna answered honestly. "By the way, what are you doing here, Onii-san?" he asked next, curious since the hallway where the reception room was located was rarely used by anyone—except when you're a Disciplinary Committee member or a regular offender—obviously because of the fear everyone had of the head prefect.

But Onii-san is one of the few people I know that don't really fear Hibari-san, the brunette reminded himself.

"I'm actually on my way back from the boxing club!" Ryohei replied, after flashing his kouhai a toothy grin. "This hallway is actually a shortcut to my classroom, so I always use it whenever I'm late for class when I train for too long, or if I want to have more time for lunch, like this time."

"But how about you, Sawada?" the white-haired then queried, a peculiar gleam shining on his gray eyes, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Yamamoto and octopus-head since it's lunch time?"

"Ah, well…" Tsuna rubbed the back of his neck unsurely. His nervousness still hadn't quite left him. "I-I'm actually… heading for the reception room…"

Ryohei raised a white brow, though that odd gleam was still on his eyes. "Hmm? Did Hibari called you out or something?"

"Eh—no, it's not like that! I just, umm—" The brunette averted his sight as he urgently thought of what he should say, because truthfully, he still didn't know how he should go on with what he wanted to know from the skylark. "Ah! I heard Hibari-san is swamped with work right now! So I, umm… want to help him out or something…" he finally offered, hoping that the white-haired would take it and wouldn't ask any further.

The boxer would, usually, but Ryohei was extra nosy that day, and so asked the question that Tsuna dreaded. "Why?" The brunette silently cursed. "It's not like I don't get you, but Hibari doesn't really like crowding, remember? So helping him out might only hurt you, Sawada."

"I-I know that. But—" Tsuna paused, scrunched his brows, as the events of yesterday afternoon replayed in his mind. "But… the truth is Onii-san, that's not the only reason why I want to help Hibari-san." He was now fully aware that he actually knew Hibari, though how so, he still had no clue, but that strong feeling that he knew him, coupled with the others things he had felt—the familiarity, the longing, the sadness, the pain—"I actually…"— made Tsuna wanted, desired—"I actually want to know more about Hibari-san, that's why I'm going to the reception room and see him."—to know who Hibari Kyoya was.

Lowering his eyes to his right fist, the brunette now stared at the tightly squeezed digits, at the same fingers that let Hibari escape. Yesterday's events also made him realize how little he knew about his Cloud Guardian—he even knew more things about Mukuro, who he barely saw—fueling his desire to know just who the skylark really was.

After remembering that then and those peculiar feelings, Tsuna's nervousness finally subsided, and together with his newfound resolve, he looked up to Ryohei—and immediately, his Hyper Intuition told him that something was wrong, that something was greatly misunderstood—and he suddenly found himself blushing, especially because of the white-haired's oddly knowing smile. "W-Well, see Onii-san! Like you, Hibari-san's one of the Guardians, a part of the family, and yet I barely know anything about him! Even less than Mukuro, who I rarely see, whereas even if I see Hibari-san almost every day here at school, I—"

"You don't need to explain any further, Sawada!" Ryohei exclaimed as he placed a comforting hand on the still-blushing brunette's shoulder. "I extremely understand your reasons," the older male said next. Tsuna doubted him. "And so, I decided to extremely help you with your quest!"

Tsuna face-palmed promptly. He decided to just ignore his nagging Hyper Intuition and appreciate Ryohei's company. Well, at least he finally had someone to go with him to the reception room—

"YO, HIBARI! SAWADA HERE TOLD ME EARLIER THAT HE WANTS TO EXTREMELY HAVE A DATE WITH YOU!"

—though he immediately regretted, again, of not asking Gokudera and Yamamoto to tag along with him the second after Ryohei roughly opened the sliding door and shouted that.

A disgruntled Hibari looked up from the paper in his hand and aptly glared at the loud intruder.

"A what?"

"A date!"

"Come again?"

"I said a date! You know, going to movies and learning more about each other and stuff! A date!"

Tsuna stared in utter disbelief at Ryohei before he finally closed his gaping mouth and pulled the white-haired by the sleeve. 'O-Onii-san! That's not what I meant when I said I want to know about Hibari-san more! It's more like as a family, not as a l-l-lover!' Tsuna whispered desperately as he tried to make Ryohei understand.

The older Sasagawa did, somewhat. Ryohei then smiled apologetically at Hibari, who now had a dark, murderous aura around him. "Sorry, I got that wrong! What I meant was that Sawada actually wants to start a family with you, Hibari! How about a night over then? Ah, but that might be a little dangerous, so maybe I should mandate—"

Ryohei quickly dodged his head to the left as a tonfa swiftly passed by, barely missing him, lodging instead in the wall behind.

"Herbivores." Hibari didn't need to say anything more. The two gulped and quickly ran for their lives.

Kusakabe, who was in the room all along, just sighed and turned to follow his angry boss.

Now somewhere in the school, in a certain second year classroom, a dark-haired girl looked up from her lunch as she heard a loud scream nearing them.

"What is that?" Hana asked as the scream, now accompanied by running footsteps, got closer and closer.

Kyoko suddenly stood up as she recognized the voice. "That sounds like Tsuna-kun!"

The two then quickly went to the door and slid it open—just in time to see a screaming Tsuna and a laughing Ryohei ran away from a very angry Hibari, Kusakabe walking behind them leisurely as if he was taking a stroll.

Kyoko at once giggled while Hana commented about monkeys, before they turned their backs at the usual scene and returned to chatting about the newly-opened cake shop down the street.

... .. .

"Did we lose him?"

"I—I think so," Tsuna answered as he wiped away the sweat sliding down his chin. Still out of breath, he then looked around for any sign of an angry, tonfa-wielding prefect—quite surprised when he saw that they actually ended up running out to the school ground—and sighed in relief shortly after when he found none.

Ryohei grinned at the confirmation. Placing a bandaged hand above his eyes, he stared at the midday sky, his smile widening at the refreshing blueness, before he suddenly bowed down and afterwards laughed aloud. "Really, running around the school like that was extremely fun! Don't you think so too, Sawada?"

"Y-Yeah…" Tsuna smiled awkwardly. He didn't think so too, actually. Because my definition of fun isn't being chased around by a very angry prefect!

Since they were still too tired to go back to their classrooms, the two decided to sit underneath the shade of a large tree—and swiftly Tsuna's stomach decided to growl in protest the moment their bottoms touched the ground. Ryohei immediately laughed again as Tsuna covered his empty stomach and blushed in embarrassment, before the white-haired gave his smaller companion a protein bar he took out from his pocket.

"Do you always carry these?" Tsuna asked as he opened the red packet.

"Yeah," Ryohei replied as he opened his, "since I always train my body, I get hungry every now and then. So I make sure I always have some with me whenever those hunger pangs come."

The brunette nodded in understanding as he bit his protein bar, since hunger was one of his constant companions every time he had those hellish trainings with Reborn, before he suddenly choke when he heard Ryohei's next musing.

"So a family with Hibari, huh? I never knew you like him that way, Sawada!"

Tsuna tried his best to stay alive. "Y-You've got it all wrong, Onii-san!" he said after a fitful of coughs. "By family I meant like—like a brother!" Though for him that still didn't felt right. "And definitely not as a h-husband!" Yeah, absolutely not!

Ryohei's two eyebrows shot up. "Is that so?" He at last fully understood.

Tsuna sighed and gave his bar another bite. "Hibari-san's just… out of everyone, he's the one I know the least," he said after he swallowed, "and since he's part of our Famiglia, our family, I want to know about him more. I know I can't ask him directly to tell me things about himself, and I don't think the other members of the Disciplinary Committee will tell me anything. So I thought that—maybe by helping around, I can learn more about him, Onii-san." Tsuna then pouted. "But then you had to blurt about me wanting to date him or starting a family with him…"

"Ah… sorry?" Ryohei apologized. Tsuna gave him a you're-already-forgiven smile.

"By the way, Onii-san," the brunette began when his was halfway through his second protein bar. "Do you know anything about Hibari-san that I don't? Since you're a year older and all…"

A lot of things immediately flashed in Ryohei's mind—"Hmm… let me see…"—about kindergarten, about Tsuna's friendship with Hibari, their adventures, their laughters, their frustrations, the sudden goodbye—things that he could never tell Tsuna who still couldn't, and may never remember. "I really don't know what year he's in, but when I entered this school, Hibari's already the Disciplinary chairman, so I guess he's a year older than us…" he then trailed off, quiet for a short while, before flashing Tsuna an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I guess you know about the same as me."

The brunette smiled again at him to show that he was forgiven, before his caramel-brown eyes stared dazedly at the ground as his mouth chewed what's left of his second protein bar.

Ryohei abruptly ruffled Tsuna's hair. "Don't worry, Sawada! Hibari will always be Hibari, so you shouldn't worry too much!"

Tsuna blinked, suddenly awoke from his trance. "What do you mean, Onii-san?"

He'll always be by your side. Ryohei just continued to ruffle Tsuna's gravity-defying hair, earning shouts of protests from the brunette. When he finally let go, the white-haired looked up above him, at the shadowed leaves of the large tree, and almost instantaneously—he recalled the first adventure they had.

"Ne Sawada, what do you think of adventures?"

"Eh?" Tsuna turned to Ryohei, whose gray eyes were still locked on the darkened leaves. "I… I think they're a hassle—but, I guess they can be fun…" he answered as he remembered his much earlier so-called trainings, when it involved not only just him. He smiled. "Yeah, that's about right."

Ryohei too smiled at the answer, before he finally faced Tsuna and ruffled the brunette's hair for one more time.

"Let's have an extreme adventure one day with everyone then, ne?"

... .. .

It was now late in the afternoon, and Tsuna somehow managed to rid himself of his two usual go-home-with companions—by convincing Gokudera to give himself more time with his research on UMAs (to which the silver-head had promised him that he would definitely find a way to communicate with and invite to the Famiglia), and by telling Yamamoto to help out his father at their restaurant, since their team didn't have baseball practice that afternoon. It took a good half-hour to convince Gokudera, Yamamoto less than a minute, before Tsuna could finally stand ten minutes later in front of the reception room's sliding door.

Gripping the straps of his school bag tightly, he stared nervously at the should-have-been-ordinary-but-now-ominous-looking door, the thought of coming there earlier with his Sun Guardian seemed a lot better and safer, somewhat, than facing his Cloud alone this time.

Tsuna immediately shook his head and threw out those thoughts—after all, there was a reason why he had asked Gokudera and Yamamoto to go home without him, a reason why he needed to see Hibari by himself. And as yesterday's events were again recalled, Tsuna finally placed his hand on the handle and slid open the reception room's door.

The setting sun's glare at once blinded him before he could even fully open the entryway. He lifted his arms up then to shield his eyes, stepping next inside, uninvited, before he moved to his left to escape the blinding light. With the sun's rays now gone, Tsuna finally lowered his arm and gasped.

At first he could only see were eyes—narrow blue-gray eyes shining brightly as it glared menacingly at him against the darkness—when it finally registered in his mind that it was actually Hibari before him, seated on his leather chair, the setting sun behind blackening his body, enshrouding the prefect in near-perfect darkness.

As he stood there then, body deathly-still in shock and slight awe, Tsuna was greatly reminded of the fear he had for the skylark, the strange familiarity and nostalgic security he had been feeling the past few days now just mere, almost insignificant dots against his ever growing mural of unease. His fear-laden mind had somehow also perceived that Kusakabe wasn't there—it was just him and the skylark, alone in the sunset-lit room.

"G-G-Good a-afternoon, H-Hibari-san," Tsuna stuttered a greeting, culture and instinct telling him that it should be the first thing he must say.

Hibari, on the other hand, continued to glare at him for a few more seconds before he at last asked—though in Tsuna's ears more like demand—"What are you doing here, little animal?"

Tsuna didn't answer the query immediately. He was distracted—let himself be, as he had now only noticed the weary state his Cloud Guardian was in. He stared then at the slightly disheveled hair, at the clearly tired eyes, at the far too pale complexion—before he finally decided to answer Hibari with a question of his own.

"Are you all right, Hibari-san?"

The skylark only intensified his scowl at the question, and did not respond. Tsuna stayed silent too. Two sets of eyes gazed at each other then—one filled with worry and apprehension, another filled with annoyance and exhaustion.

Hibari was the first to break the contact.

He moved then in his seat, standing up slightly—which made Tsuna stepped back, his palms almost touching the wall, as he remembered that the prefect still had to discipline him for the intrusion earlier with Ryohei. But Hibari did not approach him, he did not even stand up fully—the raven-haired only adjusted his place in his seat, to rest much more comfortably.

"Let me ask again, herbivore," Hibari said, voice laced with irritation. "What are you doing here?"

Tsuna answered his question this time. "I-I heard you were swamped with work, a-and that you don't have enough men to help you, so I-I thought I could come by and l-lend a hand…"

Hibari closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "I don't need it," he stated, hand finding its way up to massage the bridge of his nose. It was true that, presently, he didn't have enough men to help him, however, the raven-haired didn't want someone as clumsy as Tsuna to help out—his mistakes and teaching him the correct way of doing things would be too troublesome, too time-consuming. He needed all the time he had right now for his work. "Now leave, or I'll bite you death."

The brunette eyed the tall stacks of documents on Hibari's desk, and weakly retaliated, "B-But, Hibari-san—" before he abruptly stopped, Hibari's deathly glare making him close his mouth shut.

"Leave." Hibari threatened again, expecting Tsuna to finally do what he had said. But Tsuna didn't. Instead, the brunette took a step forward and held his ground—he actually decided to defy him. Hibari raised a-not-so-amused eyebrow.

"Hibari-san," Tsuna began in a much steadier voice, glad that he no longer stuttered, "please, let me help."

Once again, the skylark decided to not respond. He only stared at the brunette in front—at the slight frown his lips formed, at the seriousness his eyes now held—and straight away he felt his hand twitched for his retractable tonfas. But he didn't took them—not yet—for irritated he may be, Hibari wanted to hold out to see where this was going.

"And why do you want to help me so much, little animal?" he decided to ask.

Tsuna was suddenly back to stuttering, but his eyes still held that resolve. "I-I already t-told you, it's b-because—"

"That's not it," Hibari interjected, "that's not the real reason, isn't it?" For somehow, the raven-haired could see something in those clear resolute eyes, something that rekindled a feeling inside of him—one he thought he had lost and now didn't want to entertain.

He had already given up on that possibility a long time ago after all.

Still, he decided to wait for Tsuna's answer. But when the brunette was quiet for far too long for his liking—Hibari finally stood up and took out his tonfas.

"W-Wait, Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaimed as he held up his hands in front of him, as if the gesture could somehow stop the slowly approaching prefect. "Why can't you just let me help?! Those documents are too many for you alone!"

Hibari ignored him. He only continued his advance, lunged when he was close enough, aiming for Tsuna's left temple—and then stopped, when someone unexpectedly got to him first and kicked Tsuna at the back of his head instead.

"Tsk."

"Itai! Damnit, Reborn, that hurts!" Tsuna shouted as he held the all too familiar pain at the back of his head. He stared angrily at the infant then, now standing atop the coffee table.

Reborn paid no heed to his student. "He's right Hibari," he said as he looked up at the prefect, no longer bothering with greetings and such, "you should let Dame-Tsuna help with your work."

The skylark promptly glared at the infant. "No way," he finally responded.

"But this could help Tsuna when he becomes the new Primo," Reborn reasoned, "since as a boss, he will be smothered with piles and piles of paperwork, much more than the measly amount you have there." As he finished, the five-year old gestured with his head at the stack of documents on Hibari's table, making the two teens turn to it in reflex; the prefect's face remained annoyed at the sight of his piled-up work, while Tsuna's paled at the thought of how much paperwork he would have in the future if Hibari's was actually considered as freaking measly.

"There's also another, much more important thing that you could help Tsuna with, Hibari," Reborn continued, his choice of words catching enough of Hibari's interest for him to listen. The infant grinned at this. "He could definitely learn a thing or two from you about leading, since even though he had already accepted the role of Neo Primo, Tsuna pretty much lacks the confidence in leading his own Famiglia. That's why you should let him help—be close enough to you to let him observe how you do things."

Tsuna blinked in surprise at what Reborn had just said, at what his tutor had seen through him again.

Meanwhile, Hibari contemplated the new impromptu proposal from the hitman—although, instead of being silent like last time, this time, the skylark gave Reborn a definite reply. "The answer is still no, infant. Now leave, you two are just wasting my time just by being here."

Reborn lowered his fedora at this reply, hiding his eyes. "I'm not really saying it as a request, Hibari." He tightened his grip on his hat. "I'm saying it more as an order."

The skylark raised an eyebrow.

"There's only one thing I want to happen from this, actually," Reborn confessed before he raised his face again, his beady eyes meeting Hibari's curious and at the same time annoyed gaze.

"I want you two to form a bond."

Tsuna immediately voiced his concern. "What do you mean, Reborn?"

The infant tutor finally turned to his student and explained. "Remember how you suggested that the Foundation should replace CEDEF and become the new Vongola's external advisor? Well, I decided to implement that. But," Reborn paused, to give Hibari a sideway glance, "I only have one major concern about that." He then turned his attention back to Tsuna. "What if Hibari suddenly leaves?"

"Can you repeat that, infant?" Hibari demanded, and Reborn subsequently stepped back and spun half-around to face him.

"Answer me, Hibari," the infant ordered, completely ignoring Hibari's question. "Until when will you stay and fight alongside us?" he asked next, "until when will you watch over him?"

The skylark intensified his glare at once at the queries.

But Reborn was unaffected by the menacing stare and continued his words, "You are definitely a Cloud—aloof, independent, drifting—someone whom nothing can ever bind. You do things as you like, but, because of that, I'm afraid that you'll just one day leave and never return. That's why I want you two to form a bond—so that no matter how far and how long you may be gone, you'll always return to us, to Tsuna's side."

Hibari furrowed his brows angrily further. "We don't need that so-called bond anymore, infant," he snarled. "And you already know why. The same can be said to those questions, to those stupid concerns of yours—you already know the answer to them. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Then tell me, Hibari." Once more then, Reborn locked gazes with the skylark. And as he stared straight into those angry blue-gray eyes, the hitman relayed words to the raven-haired, truths that he would rather not tell in front of his student, not yet—If what you said back then was true, that whatever relationship you had with Tsuna is now long gone, no more bonds to tie you down, then—

"What's keeping you by Tsuna's side?"