Title: Their Bonds

Summary: He may have forgotten, but they never did—not the days they ran underneath the scorching sun in the name of adventure, or the mundane breaks where they talked about rumors that only held truths. No one would ever dare to forget those days—most especially, a certain lone Cloud.

Genre: Friendship, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Humor

Warnings: Swearing and OOC-ness.

Episode(s)/Chapter(s): Ch. 323

Author's note: So, uh, well—

Hi.

It's been a month since my last update, and though I know most of you don't mind it as long as I don't abandon this fanfic (like hell I will), I still feel the need to offer an apology for the lack of, well, updates. I had promised, as written in the author's note in Interval VIII, that there'll be, at most, an update once every two weeks. But as you all had witnessed, that declaration just went regrettably down the drain.

I wasn't busy or anything. Honestly - and quite mortifyingly, I confess, the two reasons I wasn't able to do any updates were because of laziness and neglect. And though I know this - procrastination, is quite common for fanfic authors, since I'm a serious person in general - this has been a really big letdown for me.

So, in order to not feel that big tub of disappointment again, I'll strive to be a better author now. But I won't make any promises yet, since I tend to break those too easily, but I'll at least try to shorten the time between updates.

Another thing - you see, well, I want to offer another apology, since after waiting for a month, this time's update is only a rather short interval.

(Sorry.)

But I also want to thank you dear readers for waiting this long, though maybe not patiently, and for reading this whole, uh, long note.

Again, sorry for the delay, and the shortness, and until the next update - ciao!

... .. .

Interval IX: What we can never give up

He had told him to watch his fight.

—a lot of annoying things had come up ever since they came back from the future. Starting from those transfer students, particularly Suzuki Adelheid, who so much as dared to make a claim on his territory; the injuring of one of the students from his school, of one of the few people he consider as a nakama, though he would only ever admit that to himself; then the damage his pride had taken; and lastly, and most irritating of all—

"Whys is someone like you with the likes of Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

That dull, utterly empty look they made Tsuna wore.

"This is the end," Kyoya stated, his reinforced tonfa just an inch away from properly smashing the Simon Guardian's face.

Adelheid regrettably admitted her defeat. "But Enma will surely revive Simon, no matter what the cost. And you will eventually regret siding with the Vongola."

"I'm not on anyone's side," Kyoya next declared. He didn't make any movement that betrayed his words. "I only do whatever I want to do."

Adelheid deepen her glare as she turned her face a bit to the side. "You truly are a floating cloud, uncontrollable by any being… So in the end, you've become the Vongola Cloud Guardian of the great Sky."

Kyoya closed his eyes. He wondered if what he wanted to say to Tsuna got through. "I don't like the way you phrased that…" He wondered, if the boy had realized what his own pride was—his strength—that something that he could never surrender and should fight for in this war. "But… you do have a point."

In the next moment, Hibird spread his wings and flew.

When they were young—cold, fearsome, and scarred he may be, Tsuna still accepted him, and let him be who he sought to be. And just like that, the brunette continued to welcome queer people like him in his life—though at times, not so willingly.

Kyoya now opened his eyes. A smirk spread on his face as he looked up at the wide, blue sky. "It is the sky after all," he could feel locks of his hair move around as it got tousled by the wind, "that allows the cloud to move about freely."

Tsuna's strength was his nakama—his friends, his comrades. They were the pride the brunette could never surrender. Once he become aware of that, then, surely, that dull look would immediately be wiped off from his face. Definitely, he would come to know what he must do to end this strife with the other little animal positively.

And most certainly, he would realize how many people were now by his side, giving him strength—making him strong.

Kyoya's smirk grew wider. "But someday, I will even bite up the sky itself."