Rachel: Hi. *wave of knives are tossed at her* IM SORRY WE WERE GONE FOR SO LONG I KNOW ITS APRIL YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY TIMES WE SCREAMED AH ITS APRIL TO EACH OTHER AT SCHOOL IM SORRY WE PROCRASTINATED TO MUCH IM REALLY SORRY IM REA-

Sabrina: *hiding behind Rachel to hide from the knives*

Rachel: *gets hit by a knife and dies (temporarily)*

Sabrina: Oh well. We don't own

(Replies to Reviews):

khr female (guest): Rachel- Thanks you~! Glad you like it XDXD

Sabrina- Yay thank you!

R-Ace27: Rachel- HHHAAAIII I want the happy ending too :)

Sabrina- WOW NO ONE IS ON MY SIDE (Rachel-haha too bad XP)

Sir Butt: Rachel- Ok~ Thx for the advice and review!

Sabrina- Sad ending.

Naya (Guest): Rachel- Hahaha sorry about that! Well I'm sure you can see us two are not the best writers in the world too haha… XP

Sabrina- Well sorry for being cliche…? (Rachel-WOW SABRINA STOP BEING RUDE I apologize okay we're terrible at writing sorry we'll try to fix that)

QuirkyKit: Rachel- Yay! So happy you like it! I want the happy ending too so ^_^

Sabrina- Haha you enjoyed it! Dang, No one is on my side for the sad ending….

AdictaMoon: Sabrina- DAMMIT oh thanks for the reply though

Rachel- Yup I agree HA SABRINA HAPPY ENDING :) Thx for the review too~

Guest: Sabrina- ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU because yes a sad ending would totally fit right? Like this is ANGST, and TRAGEDY AND-

Rachel- Shut up Sabrina. Sorry about that. You see, I want the happy ending and she wants the sad ending sooo…. she was extremely excited when she saw that someone was on her side ^.^

Lovleydragonfly: Rachel- YES THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING

Sabrina- thanks!

Azalealady: Sabrina- haha our updates are getting slower oh my god

Rachel- (to Sabrina) ITS APRIL AAAAHHHH *both screaming* IM SORRY WE MEANT TO POST THIS FOREVER AGO BUT IT SEEMED TOO SHORT

Yona0: Rachel- YES I AGREE

Sabrina- why is nobody on my side

Zurarose (guest): Sabrina- OMG SUCH A LONG REVIEW THANK YOU

Rachel- same TYTY haha it was mostly Sabrina that wrote that omake XP

Pottedcactus (Guest): Rachel- uh thanks for the multiple reviews! We'll try to fix that

Sabrina- wow three reviews on three different chapters

Warning: this is going to be one of the especially dark and sad chapters. again 3 -Sabrina

(I TRIED TO STOP HER I SWEAR IM SORRY actually in reality i did half of this… oops… -Rachel)

Last Time:

Tsuna was rescued from the shitty Morte boss and was immediately brought home bloody and broken...in more ways than one. After he woke up, he started acting strangely, one moment numb and emotionless and then next violent and he even stabbed his father, Iemitsu, refusing any contact from anyone. And then, suddenly, Reborn comes in with news: they're going to….experiment...on Tsuna..?

"We're going to experiment on Tsuna." Reborn stated, breaking the silence. At first, nobody moved at all. Then, slowly, Gokudera turned his head, as if he was mechanical and not quite human; he opened his mouth to speak. However, instead up simply speaking, he stood up abruptly, the sound of scraping chair legs and a breaking cup echoing through the quiet kitchen.

"WHAT? AFTER ALL HE'S BEEN THROUGH? YOU, AS WELL?"

He walked forward, his eyes blurred with anger, and grabbed the front of Iemitsu's jacket.

"AND YOU! YOU AGREE TO THIS, AND STILL CLAIM TO BE HIS FATHER?"

Iemitsu stood there, head down; he did not protest. The other guardians simply stared, unable to move or process the speed of shocking events that were happening.

"REBORN! EXPLAIN YOUR DECISION TO THE TE-"

There was a sudden bang, and Gokudera reached his hand up to his face; there was a cut on his right cheek, where a bullet had narrowly skimmed past.

"Next time, Hayato, listen before you no, I couldn't care less if you're the precious Vongola guardian- from the ways things are going, Basil will be the next guardian and I think he'll think differently from Tsunayoshi. So sit down."

Gokudera cast another furious look at Reborn, but seemed to have decided to instead sit back down when he saw the unnerving look on the arcobaleno's face.

Reborn began to talk again, this time with a tinges of frost in his tone, as he paced the room, eye shadowed.

"We know nothing about the poison that Tsunayo-Tsuna had been administered to, and the place where the needle had been placed has already healed, so we can't get any direct traces of the poison. Also, earlier, we" -he gestured at Iemitsu, who still had that troubled look on his face- " received the results to Tsuna's health investigation on the plane. The poison detecting machine almost broke when it scanned Tsuna's body, the poison had been so strong. However, when they took a blood sample, not a single trace of the poison could be found, and the machine couldn't determine what type of poison it was either. Little do we know, Tsuna might die any second."

Another cup shattered, and each of the guardians, even Hibari, visibly tensed.

"So. There's no other way to do it. We'll experiment on Tsuna. Even if he dies, at least we may have gathered some evidence for future patients." He turned away, which was as good an apology as the guardians needed.

"Fine."

Every head turned, and each was more surprised than the next to see no other than Hibari, the only one of the guardians standing up.

It was swirling black, and all he could do was reach out his arms, as if blind, and try to find his way around the swirling darkness. However, there was no right or left, top or bottom, north or east. There was only the swirling darkness that made his head spin in dizzying circles. And then light shone. On his right, a meter away, was Hibari, standing with his tonfas out, intimidating expression just like how he had remembered it.

"Come, Herbivore."

Hibari was extremely dangerous, and potentially murderous at the most unpredictable times, but Tsuna knew that Hibari was safety.

However, a second later, there was another light, coming from another Hibari, a clone.

"Don't listen to him, Herbivore. Do not be deceived by the lying fake." the new Hibari said.

"No, the herbivore is lying to you."

"I do not have time to waste. Come, Sawada Tsunayoshi, unless you wish to die."

"Y-you came here for me, Hibari-san...s?"

"Of course not," the first Hibari said. "I don't have time to waste on a weak herbivore like you, but the baby ordered me to come," while the second Hibari simply looked to the side and make a 'tch' sound.

Both were inconveniently convincing.

And then there was light to his left, a meter away. It was the Morte Boss or, as Tsuna associated it with, Danger.

"Come to me, Tsunayoshi. I'm the only one you can trust."

Stop.

Don't listen to him, what are you doing.

Stop walking.

However, Tsuna, after glancing at the two Hibaris, now both with their tonfas out, took a step towards the Morte boss. And then another. And another.

Stop.

Tsuna tried to stop, tried to keep his mind from directing him towards the Morte boss. However, even as his strained his mind to breaking point trying to stop himself, his legs still kept on taking steady steps towards the Morte boss until he was just centimeters away from him.

"Tsuna, stop!"

Horrified, Tsuna turned his head to see both Hibaris starting towards him, and suddenly felt sudden pain.

His mind could not comprehend where the small, bloodied knife buried in his stomach had come from.

Hibari smirked.

Everyone was frozen until, like always, Gokudera stepped up.

"You complete bastard, is the only time you want to help when you get to torture the tenth?!"

Reborn gave off a half sigh, before saying "thank you Hibari; i knew i could depend on you."

Hibari looked away from glaring at Gokudera before looking down at Reborn disdainfully and retorting "but only if you promise to fight with me later."

Reborn seemed to smile a bit as his face was shadowed by his hat, but when he looked up again his face was serious as he said, "we need more people for this. And no,"-he looked at Gokudera-"I can't promise his safety."

Everyone tensed visibly, and everyone remained silent until Mukuro stood up, his normal relaxed smile placed loosely on his face. "I'll help." After a second, Chrome also stood up, glancing nervously between each of the guardians. "I-I'll help too...if i can…i guess.."

After a few more tense seconds, Yamamoto also stood up with a sigh, scratching the back of his head. "I suppose..this is better than just leaving Tsuna…" By now, the only one sitting tensely and with a more pained than angry expression was Gokudera, who was defiantly glaring down a his own lap, fists clenched tightly on his laps.

"I…."

"You're particularly essential to these experiments, Gokudera."

Everyone looked at Reborn who had walked in front of the rather stricken guardian.

"Like i said- you're very essential to these experiments, Gokudera. After all, you are the Tenth's right hand man, aren't you?"

"First test- recognition and trust." Everyone was sitting on the couch, and Reborn was pacing in front of them, holding a clipboard and pencil.

"Even though Tsuna panicked when he was first here, with the very little information that we already have we can assume that Tsuna only panics when brought to a new environment. So now, we'll send various people inside and see how Tsuna reacts to each of them."

It was cold, unbearably cold, as rain fell down seemingly endlessly from the dark clouds. The icy yet drops fell on Tsuna's matted hair, and slowly slid down his face, like the tears he wanted so badly to release from his eyes. Tsuna was standing outside his house, staring into the lively living room lit with a small fire through the backyard's glass sliding door. It cast a warm glow on the faces of the guardians, who were gathered around the kitchen table, chattering merrily, their hands warmed by the steaming cups of tea and hot chocolate. While he stood, out in the pouring, cold rain, his hands and face numb and teeth chattering from the cold. While he stood outside, alone.

And Tsunayoshi could only watch as the fire's light radiated among the happy group, its fingers of warmth pulling them close. And he stood, outside where the coldness seeped through clothes, chilling him to the bone, away from the fire that seemed close, but out of his grasp. He stared hungrily through the glass door filled with droplets of rain rushing down, as Hibari gave a rare flicker of a smile and the other guardians nearly fell out of their chairs, laughing. Tsuna felt like he was being observed, as a predator would to a prey, but every time he turned around nobody was there and when he faced the guardians once again he would get that same eerie feeling of being watched.

He stared through the glass, hand reaching out longingly for them, only to be stopped by the cold glass door. His body numbing. And his heart slowly freezing.

And as Tsuna's hand slipped back down, dropping limply back to his side, Yamamoto turned and caught his eye. He smiled and beckoned at Tsuna before turning back to the other guardians once again.

His heart lifting slightly, he stumbled forward, fumbling to open the door with his numb fingers. A small flicker of light had appeared in his dull eyes, as he finally managed to shove the door open. As it opened, he could feel the rush of the warm heat embrace him, and the sounds of laughter reached his ears. He could smell sweet scent of hot chocolate and tea, and his guardians were right in front of him. Tsuna tripped, but quickly scrambled back up, eager to join the others and the warm fire. However, the moment he stepped through the door and looked up, the guardians immediately faded away, along with the warm fire and his persistent smile.

So Tsuna stood there, the lingering scent of the warm drinks, the tenderness of the small fire, and the images of his friends slowly fading away. And so he turned and left. Slowly trudged out the now cold house, back into the rain, back to the cold, back to the loneliness. Because he knew, that the moment that door closed behind him, the moment he left, they would be back. And so they were. As Tsuna turned back to peer in through the windows once again, they were there. As if they had never left in the first place. And so he waited, outside, the water dripping down. And waited, waited with the slimmest hope that one again one of the guardians would beckon for him to go over, or come to open the door and welcome him in, but no matter how long he waiting, and even as he was soaked and feel the cold in his bones, nobody spared him a single glance again.

So Tsunayoshi lowered his head, turned, and walked away. He didn't know whether he was crying; his heart seemed beyond tears, yet the drops of water that dripped down his face were warm and salty, comforting compared to the icy droplets from the dark clouds.

In the gateway of his house, he stopped, his hand resting on the gate, but kept himself from looking back. There was nothing for him back there, after all.

And so, before he could change his mind, Tsuna walked away, never looking back even once. Just like the small, happy group inside his house had.

And he left, left with the tears from a crying sky.

Gokudera hesitantly opened the door to where his boss was. The brunette was huddling in a corner, curled up as if trying to shield himself from the unseen dangers.

Gokudera took a step forward

"...Tenth…?" he hesitantly called. Tsuna shot up, glancing wearily at him.

And he took another step.

Tsuna tensed.

"...Tenth. I-it's me. Remember? Gokudera Hayato."

Put his right foot in front of his left. Step.

"I-I'm not gonna hurt you or anything...ok…?"

Left in front of right. Step.

Tsuna backed further into the corner.

Gokudera froze.

"Do you remember? We used to spend all day together. We went to school, we went to your house, we...we…"

Step.

"...We spent all that time together…" he finished in a whisper. The brunette in front of him merely continued staring at him with the same, broken, defeated look.

Step.

He was right in front of him now. The silverette knelt down slowly and began reaching a hesitant hand towards his friend.

Tsuna flinched, and Gokudera mirrored his action, withdrawing his hand slightly as well.

"T-Tenth. I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear. So please… please…" he shut his eyes and his hand dropped. Sinking to the ground, trying furiously to fight back the tears, he mumbled once again. "...please…"

And a hand lightly brushed against his hand. Gokudera's eyes shot open, and he saw, even if just for a moment, the same tenth that he followed, the same tenth that smiled at him, the same one that saved his life, gave him a meaning, helped him move on. The same tenth that gave him a reason to live. Tsuna's fingertips hesitantly touched the other's larger ones, though nearly instantly withdrew.

But it was fine.

For Gokudera, just that was enough.

Why was it so dark? So dark, miserable, cold, lonely. Lonely.

Yes, it was lonely. Where was everyone?

Tsuna found himself walking, slowly moving somewhere, even if he could see absolutely nothing in this void of darkness. See nothing but the blackness that surrounded him. Hear nothing but the the echoes of his footsteps.

But that wasn't all. Somewhere in the darkness there was someone there. Someone sobbing. Tsuna could hear the sniffles and hiccups, obviously attempted to have been quieted, but they were there. He could hear it. And without thinking, he turned and ran, ran and ran and ran towards the sound.

And there it was. Somewhere far in the distance, with silver hair. It was blurry, and no matter what he did, Tsuna couldn't approach him. The boy continued crying.

"Please"

The voice echoed back and forth, back and forth, and somehow, Tsuna could tell that it was the boy's voice. The voice of the crying boy.

'I have to help him.'

And even if he had no idea who the crying boy was and what the tears slipping down his face were for, he felt protectiveness. He wanted to hurry to his side and comfort him, to tell him that it was ok, that he shouldn't cry.

But who was that?

The instant he thought that, a single name echoed throughout his mind.

'Hayato.'

And though Tsunayoshi couldn't remember who that was no matter how familiar, he couldn't help but reach out to the crying boy.

One Week Later

Tsuna had finally begun to calm down, gradually coming to trust his loyal companions once more. Every once in awhile, the guardians would wake up to his bloodcurdling scream, or witness his violent panic attacks. But even then, they followed him and tried their best to help him, through any condition.

And they vowed, that they would never let their sky be taken away and broken again.

If only it were that simple.

"I think I want to try letting Tsuna go to school soon." Reborn confessed quietly, quite uncharacteristically. "I want to see how he would react to his peers."

Behind him, the said brunette was staring out the window, peering into the dark sky.

To be continued…

Rachel: (yes I can back from the dead)OKAY IM REALLY SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER WAS LIKE

Sabrina: way shorter than any of the others

Rachel: yeah BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE TO CUT IT SO HAHAha...ha...ha...

Sabrina: anyway we're sorry about the late chapter (and short) but please leave a review on your way out

Rachel: OH MY GOD ASUMA KOUSUKE-KUN PLEASE MARRY ME

Sabrina: (sorry she's obsessing over the actor of Oikawa Tooru and obsessed with Trashikawa and… well… I'm trying not to because I'll be crying when he gets a girlfriend)

Rachel: HEY I MEAN HES 19 YEARS OLD HES SO CUTE OKAY LIKE OKAY HEY I JUST REALIZED SABRINA UR SO LUCKY HES SO CUTE UR BORN IN THE SAME MONTH AS HIM HIS BIRTHDAY IS OCTOBER 20TH HES SO CUTE AND HE HAS BEEN PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AND BASEBALL SINCE HIGH SCHOOL AND-

Sabrina: ANYWAY bye and please leave a review on your way out!

Ciao~

Rachel and Sabrina