Quick Recap: Sawada Tsunayoshi's life just went from boring and mundane to having a mysterious children-hating new student Rokudo Mukuro arrive and learning that his classmate can wield fire without any apparent damage and is acquaintances with a murderous baby. Saved by his friend Byakuran, hopefully yesterday would stay in the past, and Tsuna can go back to his daily life as he sleeps his fever away only to be accompanied with strange burning dreams. However, Mukuro can't very well say he enjoys finding the brunet with a ring on his finger.

… I will never recap like this again. Next chapter I'm going back to my vague ones.

Chapter Two: I Think That Would Be Truly Wonderful

"I can grant you a wish."
"Hey? Is that true?"
"A wish is..."
"Anything you want. Even if it is a miracle, I can grant it!"
"That sounds wonderful."

Tsuna brushed his fingers through the debris, looking for something. For what, he couldn't really say. Something was missing, something that was a part of him but was now lost.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Hidden behind the shadows of light, it's only a matter of time before dusk. And that's when the real fun begins."

Tsuna turned away from the stage and dimming music, finding himself with the baby - Reborn - polishing his silver gun while sitting on the plush couch, not looking at the confused brunet.

"Tell me about your friends, Dame-Tsuna," the baby asked, ordered, inspecting the gun for its shine.

Tsuna wasn't very popular. Everyone seemed to avoid him, especially when he's with his two close classmates. "U-uh, well there's Byakuran-san, Irie-san…"

His thoughts trailed over to the raven-haired sempai who liked to watch him from the rooftops.

"And I think… very, very slightly… Hibari-san." At least there were brief moments of eye contact. Sometimes even decent conversation. By decent conversation, Tsuna means asking him to stop trying to bite him to death since Byakuran wasn't around.

Reborn stopped polishing the weapon. "Hibari Kyoya?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah..."

Reborn lowered his head, so Tsuna could no longer see his eyes. "And of Rokudo Mukuro?"

Tsuna blinked once again as music began to play behind him, quiet applause before the orchestra restarted.

"R-Rukuro-san?" He shook his head. "I don't know about him yet." Reborn was about to nod, but stopped when Tsuna continued, "But I think we could be friends."

Reborn shook his head, disapproving. "I rather you be in Enma's company than with Mukuro and Byakuran." He continued to polish his gun. "Actually, I would rather you avoid him at all costs. Stick with those Enma, or Hibari's company at least, and your destiny will come sooner than you expect." He took out a pack of cigarettes from his inside pocket. Tsuna was stunned as the baby took out a stick before aiming his gun towards the end of it. The gun itself turned out to be a lighter, as it lit the tip and Reborn took a deep breath before exhaling, breathing the smoke into Tsuna's face. The brunet wasn't expecting such a thing, still shocked at the sight of a babysmoking,and trying to exhale the smoke he'd just inhaled, started coughing.

Reborn took another long drag, ignoring the brunet, whose dry coughs blocked out the music. He aimed his lighter and shot a bullet at a pineapple in the fruit bowl as Tsuna fell to the floor caused by his coughing fit.

"Your destiny cannot be avoided, no matter what."

Choking. That was the sensation Tsuna was feeling before waking up with a jolt. After taking a few breaths, it was gone, but his throat was now sore in contrast to his sudden fever.

Placing his hand over his forehead, Tsuna was glad that it felt soothing to touch, not warm at all. Now, it was whether or not he could convince his mother if he could go to school. He didn't like taking too many sick days, especially when he didn't really need it.

Tsuna blinked with his left eye then his right before reaching out for a glass in water to parch the dryness in his throat. He should really readjust the angle of his bed so that the desk could be easier to access. His left hand brushed over thin slices of paper, and Tsuna turned to the table by his bed to see a small notebook with an orange mechanical pencil hidden under the spiral binding that kept the sheets together by his glass of water.

He picked up the book gingerly, eying its cover of an chibi flaming puffball lion. Tsuna flipped through the notebook he assumed his mother had placed down by his bed, scanning the pages to find nothing inside but lines and a small replication of the flaming lion on the bottom right side of each orange-shaded page.

He wasn't one to chew on his pencils, but just twirling it between his fingers was difficult enough as it is.

At least it wasn't a pen.

Mechanical pencils felt so comfortable in between his fingers, and he took out the pencil before clicking out the lead. He spun it a few times before bringing it to hover the point over the blank canvas, vaguely planning on what to do with it.

Supposedly it was his dream journal, something that she suggested that he have yesterday. But as it was he didn't remember his dream last night. He never remembered anything about dreams after waking up. Nothing at all.

It was annoying that he was right handed, it made life somewhat difficult.

Still, it didn't stop his hand from gliding along the page, ignoring the guidelines as he let his hand run free to draw whatever.

He looked down into the book, and noticed a strange accessory that he didn't remember ever seeing before. The middle finger on his right hand was donning a ring. Its platinum band being about half the size of his smallest fingernail, the unidentified deep blue gem cut into an oval shape, twinkling in the sunlight streaming from his window.

He eyed the ring, wondering how it got on his finger before a slight knock on his door. The sound made him jump and resulted in him quickly hiding his hand behind his back and under his pillow as his mother walked in with a singular sky-blue ice pop. He didn't want her to see it for some reason, not yet.

She pouted at Tsuna's face, which was awake and blinking at her. "Awe, Tsu-kun! I wanted to be the one to wake you!" After making her way to his bed, she placed the ice pop down and her cold hand on his forehead. "Your fever's down, that's good." She smiled.

"Kaa-san, can I go to school?" Tsuna was to the point, causing for his mother to blink at his bluntness. If Tsuna wanted to go, he needed to ask now or else it would be too late.

She recovered and smiled again. "If that's what you want, Tsu-kun. I don't mind. But are you well enough to go?"

Tsuna nodded, trying to take of the ring as he tried to get up. "I think so." To his surprise, it wouldn't come off. He deflated back into his bed.

Nana spotted the open notebook on Tsuna's bed, pencil about to fall on the floor. She stared at the picture that her son had drawn, of a pacifier, for a few moments before refocusing her attention to the artist. "Since you're feeling well and are going to school, you're not going to have time to eat this, hmm?" She dangled the ice pop in front of her son's eyes, who stared at it longingly. Ignoring this, Nana got up from her son's bed and made her way towards the door. "I'll go prepare your breakfast and put this away for later then."

Tsuna nodded, smiling as he started to get up from his bed to get ready for school, still hiding the ring-bearing hand under the covers. "See you in a bit, Kaa-san."

Nana smiled from the door before closing it to leave her son to his privacy. She continued down the hall with the ice pop in hand, knowing that it wouldn't melt as the air conditioning was on.

She passed by the kitchen and moved further down the hall and into her room, quickly closing the door behind her. Placing the treat on the table, she moved towards her bed and by her bed table, where she kept the remote.

As she approached, sounds of screaming started to play before she pressed a button, making it abruptly cut off. She pressed it again, grinning madly as it was erased.

"If you say you're feeling well, Tsu-kun, I'm sure it's fine."

Tsuna struggled, trying to remove the ring.

Why won't it come off?

It wasn't uncomfortable. Rather, it was quite smug on his finger. But it refused to come off, even if it perfectly fit on his finger. He was wasting valuable time. Tsuna sighed, accepting the fate of having jewelry permanently on his finger, at least for now, and grabbed his bag by his desk before going down the stairs, making sure not to trip on anything.

"Ah, Tsu-kun! Just on time!" His mother beamed from the stove, placing the eggs on the bed of rice as Tsuna took a seat by the table. Nana placed it in front of him with his daily bowl of miso and a glass of apple juice this time.

"Itadakimasu," Tsuna murmured as he picked up his spoon.

Nana smiled as she watched her son eat his breakfast, spying the deep blue ring on his finger. Neither saying anything as time passed by quietly.

Nothing was wrong at all.

"Tsu-chan~!" Byakuran placed his arm over the brunet, having thoughts about the events prior fading away. "How're you feeling?"

"F-fine, thank you," Tsuna quietly replied, wondering where Shoichi was.

"Sho-chan's already in school, early tutoring sessions." Byakuran said, as if reading Tsuna's mind. He actually jumped, looking at his white haired friend as he smiled widely at him.

"I… I see," Tsuna replied, accepting when Byakuran took a hold of his hand. He didn't expect the hard squeeze, expecting a gentle, teasing one as the one he usually received.

"Where did you get this?" All of the jokes were out of his voice as he turned to Tsuna, holding his hand high to study and touch the ring on his finger.

"Eh heh heh," Tsuna smiled nervously. "I don't know..." He tried to pull his hand away, but Byakuran refused to let go.

"U-uh, Byakuran-san," Tsuna said quietly, trying harder to remove himself from his grasp. "It's too tight..." Byakuran said nothing, and tightened his grip instead, making Tsuna wince. He was about to attempt to pull the ring off when a voice made him refrain from doing so.

"Sawada-san!"

He was finally released and Tsuna turned to the new voice. He didn't see Byakuran's eyes harden at the red head who didn't meet the white haired man's gaze as he was focused on Tsuna instead.

"K-Kozato-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, surprised that he was there. He's always in school by the time he got there. "What are you doing here?" he asked rather bluntly.

Enma smiled as he simply backed away from the pair, holding his hands up in defense as he noticed Byakuran's hostility. "Nothing really, I just wanted to say hi, Sawada-san."

"Hi?" Tsuna blinked, what brought this up? They've never spoken a line of dialogue to one another until yesterday.

Flashes of what happened yesterday flew through Tsuna's mind, making him stagger a bit before Enma grabbed onto his arm tightly to prevent himself from falling.

"That was close," Tsuna heard Enma mutter as he helped him get back to his feet. Enma smiled as he let go, not glancing at the brunet's companion. He briefly brushed his hand over Tsuna's, making it burn with a strange heat that was comforting yet painful at the same time for a second before the red head ran off without another word.

Byakuran glared at Enma before turning his attention back to Tsuna, who was panting, clutching his hand close to his chest. He closed his eyes, trying to gain his wits about him as he felt a cold surface brush over his forehead, easing him somewhat.

Tsuna could feel it. Things were about to get weird, as always.

"You still sick, Tsu-chan?" Byakuran asked, concerned.

Tsuna took calming breaths, rubbing his eye. "I'm fine." He gently attempted to push Byakuran from him, blushing slightly. Like always, he failed as he was weaker than his friend.

Byakuran didn't reply, but placed his arm over Tsuna's waist and the brunet's arm over his own. He bent down and placed his forehead to Tsuna's again, whose breathing calmed.

"Faint traces of fever..." He muttered before placing his lips over Tsuna's, the two sharing a chaste kiss before Byakuran deepened it, coaxing reluctant lips to crack open.

Something in Tsuna shivered, as if someone was watching the two kiss. He wanted to turn to where he was sure the person was, but Byakuran wanted his full attention and held the brunet tightly, not allowing him to move his head.

Finally, Tsuna relented and allowed a small space for Byakuran to slip his tongue in, receiving a taste of marshmallows as he gave the flavor of vanilla in return. He felt himself grow light-headed as they remained lip-locked for a few more moments before Byakuran broke it off, smiling widely.

He placed his forehead on the brunet's again. "It's gone, great! Let's get going, don't want to be late." He took Tsuna's arm and began to skip to the school, dragging dazed Tsuna along.

It was always weird going to school without Shoichi to distract Tsuna's walking companion.

At least his fever was gone.

"Today I'm going to tell you something very important," Spanner started his lecture, Tsuna faintly paying attention. Sure he said it was important, but that's what he said about the towels, the coconut shampoo and cherry conditioner, and the newspapers and magazines about Lost Christmas. None of those things appearing on his exams. So he let his eyes wander over to the empty seat at the front, where the new student's desk was.

It was only his second day, and he was out? Was it his eye? He did have to go to the Nurse's Office for his eye. Although, Tsuna never did actually see if he did go to the Office.

… It wouldn't have to do with what happened yesterday, would it?

He blinked, not wanting to think about it. Refocusing, he felt gazes aimed at him from different angles of the room. One from his left, one from his right, and one from the farthest right. And, perhaps one from the window. But he doubt the last one. He shivered, slumping down into his seat as he took out the pen from his mouth and let his hand wander as he tried to pay attention to notes that will most likely not be very important.

Spanner bit into his watermelon lollipop, Tsuna mentally resigning his marzipan to Byakuran and Shoichi before focusing on his teacher's words.

"Contrary to popular, idiotic, belief, never in the canon - that is the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle - did famous fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes ever mutter the words," He cleared his voice in an attempt for an English accent. "'Elementary, my dear Watson,' to his companion Doctor John Watson." He sucked on his candy as he picked up a book and tossed it back on the desk.

"This phrase was never uttered by the character in any of Arthur Conan Doyle's written works. Though 'elementary,'" He dragged on with air quotes. "and 'my dear Watson'," He used air quotes again. "both do appear near the beginning of The Crooked Man, which was published in 1893. It is the 'my dear Watson'," Back with the air quotes. "line that appears first, and 'elementary'," Hopefully the last of the air quotes. "is the short and snappy reply to Watson's exclamation a few lines of dialogue later. These are the closest these four words ever appear together in the canon."

Tsuna rolled his eyes, looking down in his book to see what notes he had written down, until he caught the time. The bell rang at the perfect moment and Spanner walked out before the second ring. Closing his book, he got up from his seat and quickly moved out the door right after his teacher, before anyone of those owners of gazers could stop him.

Going to the Nurse's Office everyday was a pain, but it was part of the usual routine so Tsuna resigned himself to his fate and went inside without another complaint. As always, it was empty, save for himself. He sighed, taking his usual spot by his bed before going to lay in it, yawning a bit before pulling the curtains to hide himself from prying eyes. He reached into his bag to take out a notebook.

"Great, you're alone. This makes everything so much more easier."

Tsuna turned to the window to see that baby he saw yesterday, staring at the baby's obsidians with his chocolate diamonds. A strange sense of déjà vu shivered through Tsuna as he found himself caught in the eyes that held so much yet spoke nothing at all.

"I see you've passed the test. As expected." He glanced over at Tsuna's right hand, where the blue twinkled at him. "Let me see it."

Not knowing how else to reply, Tsuna just held up his hand to the baby to let him see what he requested, still not understanding what was so important about it. Still, he knew that it was, if it wasn't obvious by the fact that he couldn't take it off.

"It… won't come off," Tsuna confessed, trying to take it off to prove it. To his surprise, it easily slid off his finger and was now in between the tips of his thumb and middle finger of his left hand. He blinked, stunned at how easily it came off in contrast to being impossible to do so this morning. "Eh?"

"Give it here." The baby held out his hand and Tsuna handed it over, having no reason to not do so.

"You're, um, Reborn, right?" At least that was what he thought he heard yesterday. What a strange name.

"For Enma, it's an alias. I'm not one to reveal my true name, Sawada Tsunayoshi," was his answer as Reborn studied the ring, gazing into it carefully. "It's starting out with Lapis lazuli." He smirked. "Interesting."

Tsuna blinked, looking into the gem. Now that it was no longer attached his finger, he was able to get a better focus on it. The gem had a deep blue color that contained sparkles glimmering in the sunlight like this morning. "Lapis… lazuli?" He smiled sweetly; it was a pleasing name to roll off his tongue.

Reborn noticed his smile. "A little lesson for you. The melodious name is composed from 'lapis', the Latin word for stone, and the Arabic word 'azula', meaning blue. It is regarded by many people around the world as the stone of friendship and truth and is said to encourage harmony. The small inclusions with their golden shimmer are not of gold as people think, but by pyrites because of iron. The blue color comes from the sulphur content of the lazurite and may range from pure ultramarine to a lighter blue," he told him.

Okay, so maybe Tsuna gave himself too much credit as a student, because he didn't listen to a word Reborn just said.

"Ultramarine, by the way, means something along the lines of 'from beyond the sea'." Reborn looked up from his explanation to see Tsuna enchanted by the gem the ring held.

"It's like the starry night sky," Tsuna couldn't help but murmur, mesmerized by the beauty. As a result, he didn't catch Reborn's twisted grin that flashed through before it disappeared.

"Do you see this exceptionally bright twinkle, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn pointed it out to the brunet, who watched it twinkle brighter than the rest. Tsuna stared at it, captivated by its brightness that did, now that it was pointed out, outshine the rest. Although he knew that the brunet wasn't really paying attention to his words anymore, Reborn continued, "It means that there's a gem much more valuable hidden underneath this one."

Tsuna widened his eyes. "A-another gem?"

Reborn turned to him, his face sporting a poker quality. "Did you know, Tsuna, that only the rings that contain two gems are the rings that prove that you have been chosen?"

"C-chosen?"

Reborn tsked, annoyed. "You must fix your stuttering problem, Dame-Tsuna. But yes, you are one of the very few that have been chosen." He gave back the ring, but when Tsuna was about to put it in his pocket, he snatched it back and placed it back on his finger, tightly. Tsuna looked at it before attempting to take it off. To his distress, it wouldn't come off.

"W-what?" He tugged on harder, but it was as if it was glued on. And it came off so easily before!

Reborn ignored him and looked up to the moderately cloudy sky before looking to the door. "Speak with Enma and you'll discover more. I must go, business to attend to. I'll be back and meet up with you later," the baby said before fading away, making Tsuna do a double-take. He rubbed his eyes and stared at where Reborn was previously.

But the baby was gone.

Soon he'll be able to leave. He can go meet up with Shoichi and Byakuran with school being over in just a few minutes. Then go buy them some of that marzipan that he wasn't too fond of anyway. He had to admit though, their shapes were cute and colorful. But their taste was just awful in his opinion, no matter what Byakuran said.

"Sawada-san, can I speak to you for a moment? It's kinda important."

Tsuna jumped, and looked up from his doodling to see Kozato Enma by his bed, rubbing his arm and on the lookout for anyone nearby. But there wasn't anyone nearby. He had made his move at the perfect time. After all, Tsuna was doodling in his notebook in the Nurse's Office.

Stupid medication.

Tsuna quickly closed his notebook, hoping that he didn't see anything in it. His notebooks were something that he didn't like to share. "U-uh, s-sure, Kozato-san," Tsuna replied, looking up to the red head and gave him a rather weak smile. "What's up?"

Enma smiled shyly back, reaching out a hand. "Could I see it?"

"E-eh?" Before he could properly reply, Enma grabbed Tsuna's right hand, gazing the ring on his middle finger. He eyed it carefully, studying it, admiring it. "Beautiful..." he breathed very quietly. Tsuna heard it but it quickly left his mind when Enma raised Tsuna's hand to his lips and kissed the gem the ring held.

Tsuna pulled back, hiding his hand with his other, surprised and slightly horrified at Enma's crude behavior. "W-what are you doing, Kozato-san?" Tsuna demanded, confused with the whole situation.

"I'd like to explain what happened. But now's not the time, so I'll meet up with you later." And with a turn, Tsuna blinked as the red head walked away before the brunet could answer him with a reply.

"Be careful, Sawada-san, people aren't whom they appear or claim to be," Tsuna heard Enma whisper before turning the door.

Tsuna looked back to his notebook, being held from falling off the bed by his hand. He placed the notebook on his lap and raised his hand to his eye level, studying the ring on his finger.

Something compelled for him to turn, so Tsuna turned to the door to see Rokudo Mukuro at the door. The new student walked into the room, seemly ignoring Tsuna, until he walked up to him. Tsuna paid him no mind and tried to ignore him until Mukuro took hold of his shoulders, gazing deeply into his eyes and causing for Tsuna to wince from his tight grip.

Finally he spoke first. "Did he speak to you?"

Tsuna blinked. "E-eh? W-who?"

Mismatched ruby and sapphire shifted from chocolate diamond to the lapis lazuli on his finger and Tsuna heard Mukuro curse under his breath in a language that he didn't understand before releasing him and storming out of the Office.

Tsuna just stared at the door. "… E-eh?"

Then the bell rang.

Shoichi continued with his rant, "But seriously, it was ridiculous. I had to show him like four times that the answer was that the problem was impossible to solve. It's people like that cause for me to weep for the future." His eyes caught a glimmer of blue. "Hey, Tsuna-kun, what's that?"

Tsuna looked over to see what Shoichi was asking about. "Oh, that? It's... hang on a sec." He took his change from the cashier and led three of them to a booth.

Byakuran narrowed his eyes at Shoichi, who looked back to him and shivered under the lilac glare. Tsuna finally found their usual spot and the three took a seat inside the booth before the marshmallow obsessed member of their group grabbed his plate of marzipan. "I don't know why you don't like marzipan, Tsu-chan," Byakuran said, licking his fork. "Almond paste! And it looks so cute too!" He picked up his piece decorated to look like a penguin and kissed it before popping it in his mouth.

Tsuna smiled. "It's just not my thing." He looked over to Shoichi, who was staring blankly at Byakuran as he ate his and Tsuna's portion, which was shaped like a rabbit. "You were saying, Irie-san?"

"Huh? O-oh, it was nothing, nothing at all." Shoichi looked away, slipping his hand through for his own plate of marzipan. "Just about the kid I was tutoring." He sighed.

"But, Irie-san," Tsuna said as he bit into his cucumber sandwich, "You were tutoring a college student. I'm your age, and I don't even know what we're learning about for our lessons now." He sighed and kept his gaze down. "Maybe I'm one of those failures that will ruin the next generation."

"D-don't say that, Tsuna-kun!" Shoichi exclaimed, standing up and banging on the table. "Just because of what happened - "

"We are not talking about it." Byakuran cut him off. He looked up to the red head and smiled sickly sweet. "Shoichi, isn't it time for you to go to your prep classes?"

Shoichi backed down hastily. "O-oh, yes, you're right." He got up to grab his book bag. "I… I'll see you both later, then." He left without another word.

Byakuran turned to the brunet, who was nibbling quietly on his sandwich, still looking down. "Tsu-chan, what brought this up all of a sudden?"

Tsuna sighed, placing down his sandwich onto the tray it was previously on, gaze upon it. "Everything's been so weird lately, and that's not including you. Just…"

Byakuran reached out for Shoichi's abandoned marzipan, which was in the shape of a frog. He pulled the plate closer to him and stabbed into its head. He asked, "Was it Reborn? Did he approach you again?"

Tsuna looked up, confused. "Eh?"

Byakuran continued to stab the little frog into little pieces. "Or perhaps it was Kozato." His eyes hardened. "I was there yesterday, Tsu-chan, remember? I saw Reborn. And Kozato was with him, knew him. Trust me, Tsu-chan, you don't want to associate with those two."

Tsuna looked up, he was supposedly to meet up with Enma later on sometime today. "B-but…"

"Everything's fine the way it is, don't get involved with them." Byakuran continued to smash the treat into a finer paste. "That includes Mukuro as well."

This confused Tsuna even further. "M-Mukuro-kun?"

Byakuran was ruthless in his assault of Shoichi's frog. "If you ever need anything, I'm here for you, Tsunayoshi." He looked up to the dazed Tsuna and smiled sweetly. "Just like Nana-chan."

Tsuna's gaze was far away. "Kaa...san…"

Byakuran finally stopped destroying the frog, it now just a mess of lime green. He scooped up the frog remains and devoured it, its lack of visual appeal not bothering him in the slightest. "It's almost sunset, no?" They looked over out the window to watch the sun start its slow decent down. "Let's get you home."

His mother's gentle, subtle breakdown yesterday came back to Tsuna.

"O… okay."

Wow, the doorbell was ringing. That never happens this late at night.

"I got it, Kaa-san!" Tsuna quickly got up to answer the door, to save his mom the trouble of doing so.

When he opened it, he blinked at who he saw outside.

Enma smiled softly. "Hey, Sawada-san. You're alone, save for your mom, right?" He pulled the brunet outside, who was too stunned at his company to protest. "Let's go have that discussion. I'm sure I can answer most of your questions you have."

A/N: Cliffhanger somewhat. Sorry about that, but this chapter's starting to get a little long.

I really want to work on my other Reborn fic, which would be like G27 or 2772 or something along those lines, but since I already have this halfway done I decided to finish this chapter first.

I have a poll on my profile, if you all would be so kind as to take it? It would help me a lot. Please and thank you!

And, least but not last, please review and thanks for reading!