A/N: Normally I would send a reply through PM but I thought I should put this one here.

Response to pandagame: 'Study Till You Drop: Part I' was written when I had exams and I was stressed, and absolutely did not have the motivation at all to study. So I thought, okay, take a break, write this and get cracking (needless to say, it didn't work-because when did I ever have the motivation to study.) I do have plans for the next part of this ministory but now that my exams and everything are over and it's the holidays, I really don't have the inspiration to pick it up. But I will write the next part one day. It will be done. Thank you for your review :)

Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship, slight angst (very tiny)
Characters: Niou Masaharu, Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou, Yanagi Renji, Marui Bunta, Jackal Kuwahara, Yagyuu Hiroshi, Kirihara Akaya
Warning(s): None

Summary: "I had a dream once," Niou shared. The eight of them sat in a circle around the campfire, the logs crackling as the flames devoured them. The air was cool and the night was silent. "I had a dream once—"

"I had a dream once"

"I had a dream once," Niou shared. The eight of them sat in a circle around the campfire, the logs crackling as the flames devoured them. The air was cool and the night was silent. "I had a dream once," he repeated, "a dream where we never met, and we were alone. Life was dull, I was stuck in a loop; going to school, heading back home, eating, sleeping, and repeat."

They stared at the fire, watching its orange glow light the darkness of the campsite.

"It was terrifying," Niou said with a slight shudder in his speech. "It makes you wonder whether everything we have right now is all a dream and then we'll wake up to see…nothing—emptiness." With a frown, Niou picked a stick up from the ground and played with it. "If parallel universes do exist, and there's one where we are anything but friends…I'd rather it didn't. Because, that's not a life at all."

Niou rustled the leaves under his shoes and gestured a hand to his right. Marui nodded at the signal and started, "I had a dream once…"

The night dragged on, as one by one, the regulars spilt the secrets of their hearts to their friends. By the end, they were comfortable in the heat of the flames and they shared a laugh, knowing that the world would never be a fair place, but as long as they were together…

They can defeat anything.

A/N: I will strive to make the next one longer and more humorous.