Genesis - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Chapter 09

Summary: There was a reason why Reborn got Haru involved with the Mafia. Even if she was useless to them in fights and even if she couldn't provide as much emotional strength as Kyoko, she was vital and without her, there would just be no Vongola. G86/GiottoHaru

My lack of KHR knowledge might make some things untrue or some characters OOC!

I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Please forgive any mistakes, both character-wise and grammatically-wise. I don't have time to re-read or edit things.

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Genesis: Chapter 09

HappyFace1886

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“Haru,” brown eyes looked inquisitively to the side from where she had been dipping her sore feet in the river. Golden hair peeked from the green bushes. Giotto’s lack of movement and the hushed tone he used to call out to her made her extra cautious, walking slowly and quietly to where he was.

It was good thing that her dress camouflaged easily with her surroundings.

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“The green one this time?” Haru asked as she took the dress Giotto handed her. She still didn’t understand why he wanted to choose her clothes, but when she asked, he’d just give her a playful yet bashful smile before proclaiming he’ll wait outside for her.

“It looks pretty on Haru.” He remarked and much to Haru’s delight, she didn’t turn red this time. Instead, she gave him a bemused tilt of her head.

“But Giotto-sama always says I look pretty no matter what I wear.” She explained, unfolding the clothes to look at it properly. It was a simple green dress with a white belt with a ribbon stitched on the waist area. Something comfortable and easy to move around for their daily hikes.

“This is the dress I want to see Haru in today.” He explained patiently and though she still didn’t fully understand his motives for this, the way he looked at her hopefully made it impossible for her to say no.

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Hm, maybe his keen intuition helped him predict the future where she’ll have to blend in with her surroundings... that’s why he chose green? The thought almost made her giggle though. Hyper intuition didn’t mean being able to predict the future. However, Giotto-sama had a way of making her feel as though he really could predict the future sometimes.

That thought made another question pop into her head.

Was Giotto-sama trained so that he could properly utilize his hyper intuition?

That seemed unlikely since he didn’t understand the implications behind the color of his eyes.

Hahi, this was just all so confusing! There were so many unanswered questions and it was impossible to just ask Giotto-sama everything. He seemed keen on having his privacy and while Haru respected that, it made everything so hard to understand.

“Be careful,” Giotto warned as he held his hand out for Haru to grab. He steadied her so that she could soundlessly crouch on the ground. She turned her head in the direction he was staring at and felt her curiosity turn to glee.

Rabbits!

Lots and lots of rabbits!

Many of them baby rabbits!

“So cute,” she cooed with delights. From the side, Giotto’s eyes warmed at the sight of her smiling. Since her arrival, he had been eager to show her everything about this forest he had grown up around, but oftentimes it had been places he found fun and nice. He knew she wasn’t as fit as him and had a hard time following him, but she never complained.

“I knew Haru would like to see them,” Giotto remarked softly. And it was just lucky for him that he noticed the rabbits running about nearby.

Haru nodded eagerly, not taking her eyes off of the fluffy adorableness. “I love animals. Next to babies, they’re one of the cutest things in the world.”

“Babies?” he echoed, blinking his eyes. She turned to look at him, giving him the happiest smile he had ever seen her give thus far.

“Yes, babies are so adorable!” she said in a muted squeal. “They still need guidance and protection in this world because they’re still vulnerable. Their bodies are tiny and yet their eyes are so big and innocent. I just want to smother them with hugs.”

By now, Haru was speaking more rapidly than she usually did around Giotto, too caught up in her enthusiasm. However, the gist of her words seemed to reach him. Instead of the usual amused smile he would give her whenever she became caught up in something she was passionate about, the beam on Giotto’s face seemed to fade a bit.

“But they can’t stay children forever.” He murmured quietly, almost to himself.

“Hahi?” Haru stopped in midway, looking at him confused.

“The day will come when they’re stripped of the innocence,” he continued in a flat tone Haru had never heard him speak in before. “They will learn of hatred and fear. They will have no qualms in isolating those they do not like and killing anyone and anything that gets in their way.”

“Gi-.” She began, but stopped when she faintly heard a rustle in a nearby bush. It was so silent that it hadn’t disturbed even the vigilante rabbits. Haru had only noticed because Giotto had tightened his grip on her hand, his gaze staring beyond from the animals on the ground.

A fox.

Her mind clicked in realization as she looked at the rabbits.

The fox was looking for a meal.

Before she could even consider moving, Giotto’s arm shot out and wrapped around her. He pulled her close to him so that her back was against his chest, his lips whispering into her ear. “Don’t.”

“But-.” She looked at the rabbits who seemed oblivious to their predator just several feet away.

“There’s no point in trying to save them.” He kept her still, his hand still holding onto hers. “If you save them, then what of the fox? Will you deprive her of her meal? What if she has kits? Will you spare the rabbits to kill them instead?”

The fox had lowered its stance further, the glint in its eyes showing that it was going to pounce any second now.

“Giotto-sama,” she rushed with an urgent hiss, but he wasn’t done.

“This is life, Haru.” The monotony of his voice made Haru shiver and as if to provide some measure of comfort, he brushed his cheek against her. His eyes, however, remained hard and merciless as he watched the fox then pounce at the rabbits.

The weak would be devoured by the strong.

The world wasn’t so compassionate as to provide shelter to those who could not withstand the reality of it all. Only those with power and the skills to survive would be the winners in the end.

When the blood was shed by the fox and several rabbits laid dead, he felt Haru trembling within his hold.

She was weak, that was a fact. If he hadn’t found her those weeks ago, as she had stated herself, she would be dead.

However, he wouldn’t allow that to happen.

She was under his protection.

He wouldn’t let a single thing happen to her.

The fox seemed to notice their presence and turned its attention to them. It was crouched low, the fur on its back standing on its end. The blood smeared on the fox’s paws and mouth gave it a savage look, its fangs barred and ready to defend its kill.

But one look of his glowing eyes that showed off a warning and the fox tucked its ears back, grabbing as much of its kill as it quickly could before running off.

“It’s over now, Haru,” he murmured. Somewhere in between, she had turned her head and buried it into his neck. He didn’t want to have to shove the truth to her face, but it needed to be done. Even if he wanted to protect her innocence, the world wasn’t kind. But it would be okay, because he-.

“It’s different,” she whispered, her words brushing against his neck. The heat of her breath almost made it seem as though she was searing her words into his skin. “Humans are different from animals of the wild.”

It startled him. How could she still say that after he had forced her to accept her helplessness? And yet when he pulled away slightly, he could see the steel-hard determination in her eyes.

She still believed in those naïve lies!

“Haru-.”

“The world isn’t just black and white.” She said gently. What could he have possibly gone through to make him have such a jaded view in life? “There are those who are cruel, but then there are those innocent from the hatred and anger.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “Everyone has evil in them.”

“Even me, Giotto-sama?” she might as well have hit him since he was now staring at her wide eyed. “And if this is a world that’s truly just survival of the fittest, then I would have died a long time ago. I-.”

“Haru is mine,” he rushed in an almost viciously protective tone. “I will never allow you to get hurt.”

It was clear that Giotto was no longer in control with himself. The famous self-control he was known for as an adult still hadn’t developed. He was still young and his emotions were running rampant inside of him. This topic they were on was undoubtedly bringing back unpleasant memories of the past that were haunting him.

His words, however, startled Haru. There was no time for her to contemplate the meaning behind it as she saw the pain in his face, how he was struggling to stop the flux of emotions.

“And I will never allow Giotto-sama to get hurt.” She replied gently, reaching up to hug him. “I won’t be able to do as good a job as you, but if you were to get hurt, I promise I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”

He froze under her hold, but seemed to slowly relax, his arms reaching out to wrap around her. Whether her words reached him or not, she didn’t know, and most likely, he was still clinging onto his pessimistic views in life.

But that didn’t matter at the moment.

There was resolution in Haru’s eyes. She had truly been willing to wait for Giotto to open up to her in his own pace, but she needed to know what was wrong if she was to be able to help him.

It didn’t matter that Giotto was to be the future Primo of Vongola. In fact, it was getting easier to forget the connection between him and the Primo because he was so different from the one she was used to hearing about.

This was Giotto.

The sweet boy who was obviously suffering from some traumatic incident in the past...

And she was going to find a way to save him no matter what.

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::tsuzuku::

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AU: I had various ideas when it came to how Haru would deal with the fox situation because every possibility seemed plausible, whether it was her saving the bunnies or just letting it happen. In the end, I decided with sacrificing the bunnies to show the difference between animals and humans. I'm not even going to start on the whole idea of how animals and humans aren't actually all that different from each other because I'm a huge animal lover, but I felt like it was needed in this case.

Anyways, gah, I feel like this is the worst thing I've ever written. @x@ hope you guys like it though. I kept writing and re-writing this thing because I wasn't happy with the results, but this chapter is necessary in order to move along with the story. I think the thing that irks me the most is that I don't know what's canon and so I have to make stuff up on my own. 

Chapter 08                                    Chapter 10