Sometimes when the wrappings fall, there's nothing underneath at all.

Theme date: March 27, 2007.

Set in the TYL universe, right after TYL!Tsuna's death.

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The first things Yamamoto noted when he awoke were the blinding brilliance of the lampposts and the snowflakes drifting about — snow, in the middle of summer. The sensation of bone-wracking pain in nearly every part of his body followed afterward.

"Don't move around. You're broken in several places."

"Heh. Fancy that, huh?"

Yamamoto knew that he should've been worried when Hibari didn't scoff at him. The older guardian was kneeling by his stretcher, looking like he had just walked out of the gates of Hell. His tonfa, the fangs that the Cloud Guardian was known for, lay some distance away. They were completely covered in blood.

"Why is it snowing—"

"That isn't snow. That's from the mansion."

Hibari turned away. Yamamoto suddenly remembered what he had been doing before the blast had knocked him out.

"Where are the others?"

"Around."

That answer was dishearteningly vague, and Yamamoto would have pushed for something more had he not felt the tremble of Hibari's hand from where it was on his one uninjured arm. The Rain Guardian looked on, silently, as Hibari's fists clenched.

"…I came too late. He's gone."

That night, even with the depth of his own loss to deal with, Yamamoto could do nothing but hold Hibari's hand and pretend that he couldn't see the other guardian crying.