The Wish

The most fantastic magical things can happen, and it all starts with a wish.

Tsuna didn't want to be at school.

He almost never wanted to be at school – he couldn't understand what was going on most of the time and the teachers could be kind of mean – but he really didn't want to be at school today especially.

It was getting closer to summer vacation – they only had about two weeks left – and all the other kids were already grouping up and talking excitedly about what they were going to do, where they were going to go, and who they were going to play with every chance they got.

Staring glumly out the window as the teachers set up the bamboo trees in the courtyard for the festival today, Tsuna mentally went over his own plans for the summer.

Play video games, read manga, stay at home and sleep, probably run errand for Mama… and all by himself.

He loved his Mama, he really did, but he didn't want to spend all summer in the house with her.

Laying his head down on the desk, he turned his attention back to his classmates, listening to them laugh.

He wanted that. Wanted people to talk to and laugh with. Wanted friends.

But nobody wanted to be friends with Dame-Tsuna.

It wasn't like he was trying to be Dame; he'd checked out books from the library so he could practice at home and hopefully improve his grades, but the words always seemed to twist together the longer he looked until it was nothing but gibberish. By the time he actually managed to work something out and understand it the class would have moved on and he would be horrible lost again.

He couldn't really do anything about the clumsiness.

So he just gave up.

Tsuna was 'Dame' and would always be 'Dame'. He was going to sit in the back of the room like he always did, ignore his bullies the best he could, and count down the days until summer vacation when he could hole himself up in his house where it was safe.

Where he could pretend he wasn't lonely.

"Alright class! Quiet down!" The sharp rapping of a ruler against a desk had the class quieting down and hurrying back to their seats. Tanaka-sensei eyed them for a moment hefting a stack of paper slips and string a little higher in her arms before smiling.

"As you all know, today is the Tanabata festival." Cheering started up again, and Tanaka-sensei had to whack the ruler against the desk a few more times to quiet everyone down, "The bamboo's already been set up in the court yard. I'm going to hand out the paper for your wishes. Before you leave, be sure you tie them on so your wish comes true!" she chirped.

Handing out the fragile paper, Tanaka-sensei gave them all another bright smile before dismissing them for the day.

Kids immediately grouped together again, frantically scribbling down their wishes, talking to their friends, then erasing what they wrote so that they could write something else. In no time at all the classroom was empty, save for Tsuna who had done his best to sink into his desk, staring blankly at his own paper.

Should he wish for more video games? Biting his lip, Tsuna ran through his mental wish list, scratching off all the things that seemed to unrealistic.

He couldn't have a robot no matter how much he wanted one. That wouldn't fit in his room.

Briefly recalling the girl next to him squealing about wanting a puppy, Tsuna fought back a shiver. He didn't want a dog, but it did give him an idea. Maybe he could wish for his neighbor's dog to stop chasing him?

Five more minutes passed with Tsuna gnawing on the end of his pencil, just staring at the blank page.

"Tsuna." Jerking up with a small scream, Tsuna looked up into the somewhat impatient face of his homeroom teacher.

"Class is over Tsuna. You need to go now."

Babbling apologies, Tsuna hurriedly grabbed his stuff and booked it out of the classroom, slowing down just enough so that he wouldn't dive head first down the stairs.

Finally in the courtyard he stopped in front of one of the many bamboo trees, branches already weighted down with paper and wishes.

He knew the wishes never really came true. He'd been trying for a few years now and he had never gotten his wish.

Deciding it wouldn't matter whatever he wrote Tsuna scribbled down his biggest wish, tying it to one of the free low hanging branches before walking home, shoulders slightly slumped.

He didn't see the way the words thickened, taking on a silvery hue before fading into white, leaving nothing to show that a wish had been written, not even indentations in the paper remained of those four simple words:

"I want a friend."