Kyoya watched silently as a disheveled-looking brunet, Sawada Tsunayoshi, dashed through the school gates the moment the school bell rang.

The boy whipped his head worriedly from side to side, as if expecting someone to attack him, and it didn't take Kyoya long to realize that the brunet was looking for him.

He felt a small stirring of irritation within him, but not enough for him to want to attack the boy.

His expression was so different, but there was just something, something in his eyes, that brought to the skylark's mind an image of an older man. It brought to mind an image of the man that he, Hibari Kyoya, had acknowledged; a man he respected and even, he hated to admit it, cared for.

But this boy wasn't him; not yet at least, and maybe he never would be.

Maybe he would never become the man that had changed Kyoya's life completely.

But his eyes…had his eyes always been like that?

Hadn't his eyes been innocent and carefree and idiotic?

When did he gain that maturity?

When had his eyes becoming so…so…knowing?

Maybe it had to do with surviving a life-threatening accident.

It was the same accident that Kyoya and two other herbivores, Yamamoto and Sasagawa, had survived through.

It never occurred to Kyoya that maybe the omnivore he was currently watching had had the same dreams as him while he had been in a comatose state.

It was impossible.

He refused to acknowledge the possibility.

Because then, what if it turned out he hadn't had them?

Where would Kyoya be then?

Shaking his head as the omnivore finally rushed off to class, Kyoya turned around, thinking he would let him off the hook, just this one time.

Takeshi perked up the moment he saw the door slide open, three minutes into class, to allow a certain familiar brunet to enter.

He resisted the urge to call out a greeting to his friend as the teacher scolded, letting him off lightly because it was his first day back after a terrible accident.

Takeshi had to hold back a chuckle as Tsuna hurried to his seat, looking a little lost.

For a moment, Takeshi's eyes met Tsuna's, and he grinned his usual grin.

Tsuna, though, immediately broke eye contact and turned to look back at the board, not once turning Takeshi's way.

This hurt.

It hurt a lot.

It meant that Tsuna didn't remember a thing; he didn't remember what they had gone through together.

Or what Takeshi had thought they'd gone through.

Maybe it really was all a dream; a wonderful dream conjured up by his lonely mind.

Now many people would think it odd that one of the most popular boys in school felt lonely, but it wasn't quite so strange.

Wouldn't anyone feel lonely if they were surrounded by people who only wanted to hang around them because of their popularity, or their looks, or their talents?

Trying to ignore the loneliness gnawing at his mind, Takeshi turned his attention to the blackboard, trying to pay attention to what the teacher was teaching them.

This was going to be one long day.

Ryohei was frustrated.

Sending yet another devastating punch at the punching bag that was his victim today, the white-haired boy tried to sort out all the confused thoughts in his head.

He had been training like this for a while now; ever since lunch had started.

There was a dull ache in his hands, but it wasn't enough to take his mind off of what was troubling him.

He was so used to just facing whatever came at him, not giving much thought to what-ifs, but lately, his mind was full of them.

What if it wasn't all a dream?

What if he could have his family again?

What if he were to approach Sawada Tsunayoshi?

What if he were to ask him about the Vongola?

What if he could be the sun guardian again?

…What if none of it was true?

Shaking his head to clear it of all these confusing thoughts, Ryohei punched the bag again even harder.

"Onii-san!" came a worried voice from behind him, and he turned to see his sister standing there, her expression looking worried.

Rushing up to him, she took his gloved hands in her own and looked up at him with searching eyes. "What's wrong, onii-san?"

"Nothing…" he replied, looking stubbornly away.

Kyoko let out a small sigh, then tried to gently tug his gloves off.

Ryohei winced, feeling a sharp pain run up his arm, but let her pull it off, and heard her small gasp of worry.

"Onii-san! Just look at your hands! You need to be more careful, or you could seriously injure yourself!"

"Hai…" said Ryohei dejectedly before smiling tiredly at his younger sister. "Sorry, Kyoko. I'll be careful now."

Nodding, she pushed her brother towards the changing rooms, saying, "Hurry up and get changed. I don't know what's been bothering you, but I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten anything yet. You need to take better care of your body!"

Cheering up a little at his sister's concern, Ryohei let out a small chuckle, saying, "Hai, I'll be going, then."

After he was done changing, though, and was leaving the changing rooms, Ryohei caught sight of a certain familiar someone rushing past him, not giving him a second glance, and he found himself brooding again.

Tsuna flopped down onto his bed after a long and exhausting first day back at school.

He had expected it to be lonely, what with him being used to being around his seven rather rambunctious guardians, but he hadn't been prepared for just howlonely it would be.

He hadn't realized how much he'd miss Hayato and Lambo's arguments, or Kyoya and Mukuro at each other's necks.

And this morning, when he'd walked into the classroom, for just a second, he'd met Takeshi's eyes, and when the boy had flashed him a smile, he'd felt lonelier than ever.

It wasn't the same kind of smile he was used to, the kind of smile that was reserved only for him and the other Vongola guardians, but the kind of smile that the popular baseball ace showed to his fans, the polite smile of an acquaintance.

Taking a deep breath, Tsuna put that memory out of his mind, but as soon as he did so, another memory took its place.

This memory had Tsuna jerking up to a sitting position, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before.

His sky flames!

SkyGem: As promised, there's the second chapter! I hope you guys liked it, ne? I'm not sure when the next chap will be out, but this will most likely be either a short story (about 5-10 chaps) or a long one (20-30); haven't decided yet, but probably the former. Anyways, do leave a review and tell me what you thought!