Genesis - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Chapter 17

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 17

HappyFace1886

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Haru tightened her grip around the scarf around her neck. It was the one she and Giotto shared. He had insisted that she take it because the weather was getting cold and she was glad she had accepted it. The crisp autumn air was approaching quickly and while Haru normally enjoyed the changing seasons, she was too tense to appreciate how nice it was.

Attilio glanced behind him when he saw that Haru was adjusting her scarf for the umpteenth time. Her nervousness was to be expected as it was obvious that the village had some ties to Giotto’s past. It didn’t help that she was also a foreigner who didn’t speak the native language. Even if she knew how to do basic communications, Attilio knew that she couldn’t speak as well as Giotto could when picking up another language.

It was another unnatural talent of that boy.

Up ahead, the village came to view. The place was tiny and quite far from some of the major cities. It was a remote area that upheld traditions and was a modest area with a small number of people. Everyone knew one another and the place was very peaceful, unperturbed by the outsides of the world.

He sighed, his shoulders sagging as with each step they took, the village came upon them. When he had decided to become a part of the church, he had known his job would have caused him to end up in grim circumstances in occasion. But to think it would involve people as young as these two.

The girl was probably scared stiff and would most likely not leave his side during the duration of their time in the village. Not that he could blame her. Any one, especially of her age, would be frighten of her circumstances. Then there’s the fact that she was in a totally alien country. Why-.

Attilio was brought out of his musings when he realized he could only hear a single pair of footsteps. There was a momentary pause of surprise before he whirled around in astonishment.

When did she-?

No, wait, there was no time for this!

That stupid, foolish-! Words couldn’t explain his irritation.

Growling angrily, he stormed around in search of the charge of his charge.

---

“Hahi, that’s dangerous!” Haru scolded, unable to help herself when she had caught sight of two boys streaking through the dirt pathway with their clothes practically falling off of them. She had caught them from her peripheral view and ended up chasing after them without thinking when she realized just how easily they could get sick with how they were dressed.

The boys looked up at her in quiet astonishment.

Oh dear, one of them even had a drippy nose!

“Mom and dad will worry if you sick,” Haru stumbled out the words quickly, more intent on righting their clothes. She reached out and quickly buttoned up their clothes. It was nice to know that no matter what timeline she was in, kids were still kids and just as cute.

While she was busy with making sure they were looking proper, the boys were observing her, obviously taken by her exotic features. They couldn’t be more than seven and were completely covered from head to toe in dirt.

“Who are you?” one of them asked before he was promptly elbowed in the gut really hard.

“Stupid! Look at how she looks!”

Haru looked at them confused. “Looks?”

The second boy, who had dirty blonde hair, scowled at her with his hands squished into his fists. “You won’t fool me, you-!”

“Don’t be mean!” the other boy proclaimed, elbowing back just as hard. He was the one with the drippy nose, quickly wiping it away with his long sleeve. He then gave Haru a toothy smile, his hazel eyes crinkling with delight. “You’re nothing like a demon.”

This just left Haru even more bemused. “Demon? What do you mean?”

“Shut up!” the blonde yelled. “You’re not supposed to tell anything!”

The hazel eyed boy looked shocked before he clamped his hands over his mouth. Haru saw that he was about to start crying since he must’ve done something he wasn’t supposed to and gave him a reassuring smile. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Liar.” The blonde grumbled.

“Hahi? It’s true! I know nothing.” Haru said with a mock pout. “I’m telling the truth!”

“Prove it!”

Now the hazel eyed boy looked confused. “How?”

The stumped blonde was left speechless. “Uh...”

Haru could have squealed over how cute they were. She just wanted to hug them.

No, no, she had to contain herself. This was getting way off track of what she was here for. Wait... the reason why she was here...

Her eyes widened comically as she stood up straight, looking around at her surroundings.

Trees...

There was nothing but trees!

Where was Attilio-san?!

---

Meanwhile, Attilio was running around the village with an angry vibe that sent most of the villagers scurrying to the side.

Where was that stupid girl?

---

Oh dear.

Actually, that wasn’t the best way to describe her situation. If Gokudera-kun was stuck in her problem, he would probably say something along the lines of ‘oh shit!’

“What’s wrong?” the hazel eyed boy inquired, tugging at her skirt. The pretty looking girl was making a weird face while looking at the forest.

“Um... I... Ano...” Haru fumbled about. “...which way to village?”

“You know, you talk weird.” The blonde boy noted instead, giving her a scrutinizing look.

“I...” Haru scrambled. Oh gods, she was not suited for this situation. She didn’t know enough words to communicate properly! It was just bits and pieces of what came up when she talked to Giotto. In fact, she was regretting that she wasn’t as diligent as Giotto had been when trying to learn each other’s language.

Giotto-sama spoiled her too much.

Before, Haru could go on full blown panic mode, a shadow descended upon them and the hazel eyed boy perked up. “Adelina!”

“What are you brats doing here?” a female voice chided. Haru turned her head and saw a girl with a red checkered bandanna holding back golden brown hair. The girl couldn’t have been much older than the eight year olds, probably four years older at most. She had sharp emerald eyes that immediately zeroed in on Haru. “Who are you?”

“It’s her, Adelina!” the blonde boy crowed immediately, using Haru as an excuse to avoid a scolding. “She’s the demon girl!”

Haru looked at him, unable to contain her surprise.

Demon girl?

Emerald eyes narrowed and for a minute, Haru thought she was going to lash out at her. Instead, there were hard whacks on the heads of both boys. “That’s no excuse for you to skip your chores! Mama’s angry and is going to give you two a beating if you don’t hurry up and clean the chicken coop!”

There were loud yelps from both boys who ran away clutching their heads, a big steaming lump already forming. Adelina shot them a few more colorful words in a huff and once they were away, grumbled a few more choosey words to herself. Haru squeaked when Adelina suddenly whirled around towards her.

“So you’re the demon girl?” she gave Haru a once over. “You’re not much to look at. Pretty scrawny too.”

Haru barely caught her words as they had been spoken quickly. All she could do was stare at this girl blankly, wondering how she could get herself back to the village and preferably to Attilio-san.

“What’s wrong? Do demons not know how to talk to humans?” Adelina asked scathingly.

Haru frowned. “I can speak in Italian, but not good at it.”

“Then you should’ve hurried and said something instead of making me look like a fool.” Adelina crossed her arms and Haru noticed the muscles on them. Even though they weren’t glaringly out there like the muscles of bulky people, Adelina obviously had some strength in them. “What are you doing here, demon girl? Shouldn’t you be in the village with the priest?”

“My name is Haru!” she exclaimed. “And... And I’m lost.”

Adelina stared at her. “Lost? How did you get lost?”

“Boys dressed too cold.” Haru said clumsily, gesturing to help with her words. “Could get sick. Was worried.”

“Those brats?” Adelina said incredulously, thumbing where the boys had disappeared. “They’ve never gotten sick in their life! In fact, I want them to get sick once so that they’d stop running around! And how did you get separated from the priest anyways? Shouldn’t he have you on a leash like the demon boy?”

Haru caught parts of her words, but the part that stuck out the most was how she kept calling her a demon. And now, she was even calling Giotto a demon. They believed her and Giotto to be monsters? But why? What happened? And did she say leash?

She wasn’t an animal! Much less a demon! How could this girl say such words so casually?

“Well c’mon then.” Adelina said, turning around abruptly. She must’ve noticed Haru’s startled gaze as she spoke up again, tilting her head at her. “I’ll get you to your master.”

“Hahi, I’m no animal!” Haru argued and, to her surprise, Adelina seemed taken off guard by the outburst. Emerald eyes turned on her again, this time in curiosity. Haru instinctively became rigid by how the eyes seemed to stare straight through her. It felt like the girl had been watching her an eternity before she snorted.

“Okay then, Haru.” The younger girl said cockily. “Let’s go then!”

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::tsuzuku::

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Chapter 16                                                     Chapter 18