A bit of introspection on what it might have been like for Tsuna post-sealing of his Flames.

In the future, Tsuna doesn't really remember being Sealed. He does, however, remember what life was like after: being cold and broken, where nothing works no matter how hard he tries.

He remembers feeling like everything was in shades of gray instead of the technicolor he knows it should be.

He remembers tripping over nothing, his body ignoring his mind's commands, even the most basic.

He remembers struggling in school where everything his teachers said just didn't make sense, no matter how many times they explained it.

He remembers how every injury hurt more than he thought it should, scrapes that healed within days feeling like they were seared into his bones, bruises like brands.

He remembers the first time he realized that being Dame-Tsuna meant that he was nobody's friend. He remembers the sharp stab of pain, of loneliness, of knowing he would always be alone. He remembers thinking, as the agony found a home in his heart, that he could just look down and watch himself bleed to death.

Tsuna remembers all of that. He also remembers the burst of color when Reborn's bullet first hit his forehead, shock overriding the instant of betrayal. And then the world righted itself, his body worked and he wasn't cold for the first time in his memory, though that blessed warmth, that feeling of rightcompletewhole, only lasted for five minutes. And even through the intense embarrassment of the situation - humiliated in front of his peers in nothing but his boxers - he still felt it. For the first time, Tsuna felt hope.