warning: this chapter mentions bullying (which is kinda the basic premise of this whole story so i'd rather not repeat myself) and implied rape (nothing graphic or explicit, just in passing, but better safe than sorry).

. . .

Tsuna didn't know who or why but he was certain someone was watching him. It wasn't usual people or Hibari (because the prefect was his own brand of pain and misery) but who else would be interested in Dame-Tsuna?

He made himself smaller in his seat as he tried to answer his math exam and forced himself not to fidget. He didn't want anyone (else because his stalker has been persistently watching him since yesterday) to take notice of him because that meant he would get their attention. That was the last thing he wanted.

(He knew that being clumsy and fidgety got their - people, bullies, Hibari - attention, which meant pain. But he couldn't help it because the feeling of being watched makes him more clumsy and fidgety than usual.)

He wanted to get out of this hellhole called school (or life, either was fine with him) because he couldn't concentrate with his eyes watering and his head pounding. It was really hard to answer an exam with a fever. (But even without his sickness, he knew he would inevitably fail the exam. Again.) As soon as he heard the bell, he quickly passed his empty test paper and left.

As he went home (because he needed to get money from his mother's wallet to buy some medicine), he was blocked by some of his classmates.

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna," one of them, Goro, said as he slung his arm around Tsuna's shoulder, pinning him to the larger boy's side. "Where do you think you're going?" he added, looking down on Tsuna with a grin.

"H-home," he stuttered back, loud enough so it could be heard but soft enough to be a whisper. He stood still as he was surrounded by three of his classmates.

"Alone?" another one, Ichigo, asked mockingly. Tsuna just stayed quiet as he stared at the ground.

"Oi," Akira said as he slapped Tsuna on the back of his head, worsening his headache but he didn't dare voice that out. "Ichigo asked you a question. You should answer your betters."

"Ye-yes," he stuttered back to which Goro (painfully) squeezed his arm in response.

"How about we come with you? So you know, others won't pick on you?" Ichigo said as he went to Tsuna's other side and gripped his arm (no doubt leaving a bruise).

"O-okay," he said, forcing himself to keep his breathing even. With Goro and Ichigo squeezing him, on top of his sickness, it was getting harder and harder by the moment. But he knew better than to complain.

"You should be grateful, Dame-Tsuna, that we're being such good friends to you! Even if you obviously don't deserve it," Akira said with a resigned sigh.

"Ye-yes. Th-thank you very m-much."

"So as payment, you should treat us to Takesushi. They have a sale today, you know," Goro said with a grin that implied there was no such sale at Takesushi, the best and most expensive sushi restaurant in Nanimori.

Before the four of them left the school grounds, there was a loud sound (A crash? A bang? A pop?) from behind. They all looked back and saw Hibari wearing pink shades - and when did Hibari wear sunglasses, much less pink-tinted ones? – carrying in his arms a baby wearing a suit and fedora.

"Leave."

The command wasn't spoken with Hibari's usual indifference and ruthlessness; instead it sounded soft and light, as if it was a request. But those intense green eyes that glowed from behind his lowered shades promised more – pain, suffering, torment – than just being bitten to death if they disobeyed.

Goro and Ichigo practically threw him to the ground as the three of them ran as if the devil was after them, which wasn't that far off when Hibari is involved.

He managed to twist his body so instead of falling face-first into the ground, he fell on his back. But that didn't stop the jolt of pain he felt when the wounds on his back (and ribs and other parts of his body) were aggravated by the fall. He gasped in pain, which led to an intense coughing session, feeling the mucus (which oddly tasted like blood) build up at the back of his throat.

He planned to stay there for a while at least until he got back his breath or his brain stopped threatening to burst from his eye sockets. And then he realized too late, when a pair of boots came into his blurry view, that Hibari wouldn't be pleased with his loitering.

He just closed his eyes, hoping it wouldn't be too painful when Hibari finally puts him out of his misery. (But that is surely wishful thinking because Hibari enjoyed biting people to death, after all.)

Only to feel a blessedly cool hand on his forehead.

"It's worse than we thought." Despite the stuffing in his ears and his pounding headache, he could easily hear - feel - the gentle warmth in the voice. He dared to open his eyes and saw Hibari, with his rose-tinted glasses back on, crouched in front of him with a small frown. When did Hibari not wear his uniform? When did he wear gloves? When did the prefect grow his hair out?

(When did Hibari not hurt Tsuna?)

"Can you apparate with him?" asked a childish voice.

"I can try," the Not-Hibari answered then smiled at Tsuna, making the smaller brunet shudder because nothing good happened when people smiled at him. The smile, along with the - wonderfully blessedly gentle - hand, disappeared as the Not-Hibari softly said, "I'm going to apparate with you, which would feel like going through a tiny tube."

The explanation didn't make sense (but then, when did Hibari ever make sense?) but he knew better than to struggle when the Not-Hibari held - not painful, not Hibari-like - Tsuna's arm.

Then the world shifted - going through a tube indeed.

He held on to the only solid thing in front of him (cylindrical, warm, and covered in cloth) and puked his breakfast and maybe dinner when he felt solid ground underneath his feet. When he finally stopped vomiting, he looked up and realized that he puked on Hibari. He jumped back with a squeal and closed his eyes.

This was it. He was going to be literally bitten to death by this Hibari with shades.

"Hey," the Not-Hibari spoke (because he could never associate the gentle warmth with the cold ruthless prefect, no matter how hard he tried). And he peeked at the Not-Hibari, who was crouching in front of Tsuna with a hand out. "Please come with me," he said and Tsuna knew better than to disobey so he shakily took the proffered hand, which helped him stand, and followed the taller brunet to one of the doors.

Tsuna stopped at the doorway when he realized it was a bedroom. He fearfully looked up to the Not-Hibari, who stopped pulling Tsuna and calmly stared at Tsuna. He'd rather be bitten to death than this, but he didn't protest when he was led to the bed.

"Lie down," he said, deceptively soft and light. Tsuna just swallowed the bile that was rising to his throat as he did what the other brunet commanded. The soft and warm bed did nothing to ease his fears as he lied stiffly on top of the sheets.

"Reborn, can you heal his wounds while I get some fever-reducers and pain-relievers?" The Not-Hibari asked, facing the ground which slightly calmed Tsuna because he wasn't looking at him.

"Don't bother with the pain-relievers," a childish voice responded. Not-Hibari nodded as he left the room.

"Ciaossu." He turned his head to the side to see Not-Hibari's baby on his bed. "Don't move," he said and Tsuna only stiffened as the fedora-wearing baby approached him. The baby sighed as he held on to his fedora. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you."

(Tsuna was obviously skeptical at the idea of the baby hurting him. But then there was Not-Hibari who hasn't hurt him yet).

Then the pacifier around his neck glowed yellow and there was only soothing warmth (which oddly reminded him of the Not-Hibari) that took away his pain.

After a few minutes, there was knocking on the door and Tsuna immediately stiffened and sat up. "Didn't I tell you not to move?" grumbled the baby as the door opened.

"It's all right, I would have asked him to sit up anyway," said the Not-Hibari as he entered, carrying a tray with shot glasses. "Please, drink this," he said, going to Tsuna's side and offering a shot glass filled with questionable liquid. He wanted to push it away because it smelled horrible and made his eyes water even more. But he was not stupid enough to go against the older brunet so he drank it, choking as he downed the goop that tasted worse than it smelled.

"I know it tastes horrible and I'm really sorry for that. But you needed to take a fever-reducer," he explained, taking the other shot glass and giving it to Tsuna. "Drink this as well, please. It's a dreamless sleep potion." And even though the Not-Hibari didn't make sense (as usual), he understood enough that he should drink the less-questionable liquid in his hand.

He slumped down as soon as he finished the drink and felt a pair of gentle warm arms move him so that he was lying down comfortably on the bed.

As far as dreams go, this one wasn't half-bad. In fact, it was even pretty good. He mused, drifting off with a smile on his face.

Dreaming of Angels - end.

i sincerely hope i was able to portray tsuna properly. if you think there was something wrong with this portrayal of tsuna, who never experienced kindness or positive attention from anyone, please tell me how i can improve upon it.

and i want to make sure, since this harry would be wearing shades/rose-tinted glasses (design is similar to shizuo heiwajima's of durarara! if you're wondering), what color would his eyes appear through the shades? correct me if i'm wrong but i'm assuming they would appear dark, near black.

and finally, i shall attempt to update this story every wednesday and sunday (my time, so it might be different for your timezone).

thank you for dropping by and i hope you enjoyed your read~