Genesis - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Chapter 19

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 19

HappyFace1886

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Haru stared at the tear in the material she had been handed. From the corner of her eyes, she had seen the older girls dutifully stitching the material together. However, years of experience with cosplaying and mending her family’s clothing had taught Haru that they were doing it wrong.

...well, wrong was too harsh of a word.  More like it was old in her timeline and new for this timeline. With the oncoming factories and industrialisms probably taking over the era, the old way of sewing and such were slowly disappearing.

The way the girls were doing it was efficient, but the new hole would appear very soon.

With a look of concentration, Haru began to mend the clothing the way she was used to. Maybe it was the way she enthusiastically waved her arms as she did so, but she soon had the attention of the other girls who were watching her carefully. When her work was completed, Haru looked at the shirt with a look of satisfaction.

Good, this should last the shirt a very long time.

She looked up when she felt eyes on her and all the sets of eyes that had been peering at her curiously turned away instantly. Haru sighed in dismay. Still, there was nothing she could do. When she was about to resume her work, a shadow descended upon her and she saw Adelina’s mother peering down her nose at her.

“Erm... hello?”

---

Haru sighed as she sat against the wall, having been sent outside while the rest of the clothes she had been mending were snatched from her hands. The only one left to her was the one she had already finished mending and it was the very thing she was staring at right now dejectedly in her hands. A sound from the corner of the building she was leaning against made her head shoot towards there and she sighed in relief at the sight of Adelina.

The twelve year old girl was her sole friend in this cold neighborhood.

“What are you doing here, silly demon?”

“I told you, I’m no demon.” Haru said, scrunching her nose up.

Adelina smiled at that. In fact, Adelina seemed to smile happily a lot whenever Haru denied that she was a demon. “Yes, yes, I remember. What are you doing here?”

At this, Haru sighed again, her breath coming out in a puff of white. “I got sent out.”

“Why?”

“...because I’m fixing clothes with demon magic.”

Adelina’s eyes widened. “Were you?”

“Of course not!” Haru exclaimed. “The way I sewed would make clothes last longer!”

“Hm... was that how your town does it?” Adelina inquired curiously, sitting next to Haru while blowing warm air into her hands. She noticed the shirt in Haru’s grasp and took it from her, observing the stitched lines carefully.

“Erm... kind of,” Haru said, unable to tell the truth. Perhaps that would be true if the future, her timeline, was considered her ‘town’. “Anyway, that’s how I was taught and it mends last longer if done this way. Way done here is good... but will have to work again soon if fixing clothes with that method.”

Adelina suddenly looked at Haru. “Are you confident?”

“Hahi?”

“Are you sure those clothes will last?” Adelina asked, arching an eyebrow challengingly.

“Of course!” the clothes Haru wore in the future had lasted for so long with the sewing techniques she implemented, especially her cosplay costumes. Not to mention, when she hung out with her friends and acted as wild as she wished, she didn’t have the constant need to spend money for more clothes. She trusted her methods and it was disheartening that everyone seemed to shun them.

Adelina’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Shall we test it out?”

---

“Erm.... Adelina, are you sure about this?” Haru asked as the clothes she mended were put on two very familiar little boys.

“Why should we put on clothes with demon magic on it?” the dirty blonde haired boy complained, glaring at the oversized shirt that had been forced on them.

“You get to skip out on chores and play in the woods to your heart’s content.” Adelina said promptly while adjusting the other shirt on the hazel eyed boy. The two had been given the shirts worn by the older villagers –The blonde boy wearing the one Haru’s had mended while the hazel eyed one wore a shirt mended in the normal method by the village girls– and underneath them were their normal winter clothes.

The hazel eyed boy’s widened and gleamed with delight. “Really?”

Blonde hit Hazel on the head. “Idiot! It’s a trick!”

Blonde was then hit on the head by Adelina. “Stop hitting him, you idiot. And it’s no trick. You guys get to skip out on your chores today, as long as you wear these clothes.”

Blonde looked at the shirt suspiciously, but the need to play was overpowering. With reluctant excitement, he gave Adelina a nod and grabbed Hazel’s hand. “Let’s go. I heard that the fishes are frozen right now!”

“Don’t go too crazy!” Adelina yelled while the two boys ran off. Haru stood behind her, feeling confused.

“What now?”

Adelina looked at her with her hands on her hips. “Now we wait.”

---

A few hours passed and there was a look of triumph on Adelina’s face, a look of revulsion on her mother’s face, and a look of bewilderment still on Haru’s.

Standing before them were two boys caked in mud, snow, and everything imaginable. They were looking at the floor while Adelina’s mother had her arms crossed, irritation and fury obvious on her face. “Adelina, what is the meaning of this?”

“Look mama,” Adelina said, pointing at the hazel eyed boy. “He tore his clothes. But what’s this, the clothes the demon made didn’t rip off.”

“Of course not!” the woman replied impatiently. “That’s because the demon put her magic into it and-.”

“A-Ano,” Haru began and looked at Adelina hesitantly. The younger girl gave her an encouraging look. “It’s because I used a sewing technique from my t-town. The way done here will r-rip easily.”

“C’mon mama, you have to recognize the patterns too!” Adelina piped in and then whipped out a dress from nowhere. Haru looked at her in amazement, wondering where she had gotten that from. The dress was exquisite, made with fine bold colors and the embroidery was absolutely breathtaking.

The expression on the woman’s face changed. “Nonsense Adelina. It is the work of the devil. She’s trying to trick you.”

Adelina scowled. “She was taken in by the demon and under the blessing of the Father. I’d say that she’s more of an innocent lamb taken in by the demon. Shouldn’t we be taking this girl in instead to protect her from evil?”

There was silence from the woman and Haru looked at the two hesitantly. Would they reveal more about what happened in the past?

“Adelina, please-.” But whatever the woman was going to say was silenced when the blonde haired boy grabbed the dress from Adelina. He looked at the stitches before looking at his own clothes.

“Hey, the patterns are the same.” He exclaimed in realization, comparing it to the sewing patterns on the hazel eyed boy’s clothes.

“That’s right. Grandmama made this dress from Mama,” Adelina explained. “That was the old way of sewing. Right now, we’re using this way, but I think Haru’s way is better. Grandmama was very good with the needle, probably the best in the village.”

“That’s right,” Adelina’s mother said quietly. “Haru... was it?”

Haru looked at the older woman cautiously, lifting her head up in acknowledgement.

The hard lines of the woman’s face faded a little, but there was still a look filled with caution and hesitation. “Do you mind... teaching me the pattern?”

Haru gave her a brilliant smile. “Hahi, of course not!”

---

Satisfaction practically oozed out of Haru as she took a sip of tea next to the fire place. The next hour had been so enjoyable with her teaching the older lady had to use her method of sewing. There hadn’t been as much talking, but it had been nice seeing the older woman’s features slowly relaxing around her.

“Happy?” a sarcastic voice inquired.

“Very,” Haru replied cheerfully.

There was a nod from Adelina as she sat beside her, throwing in another log into the fire. The flames roared with delight and slowly began their ascent to their new fuel. The two sat in amiable silence before Haru lowered her cup, giving Adelina a grateful smile.

“Thank you for your help.”

“It was nothing.” Adelina said briskly, a manner that made her resemble her mother a lot. “Those old coots need to stop letting superstition take over their lives.”

Haru tilted her head. “What do you mean by that? Do you know why they call me a demon?”

Adelina gazed into the flames bitterly. “It’s because you live with a demon.”

“Giotto-sama?”

If Adelina was confused by the honorific, she made no comment. Instead, her shoulders tensed at the name and she hugged her arms, unwillingly to look at Haru. It had been so long since she had heard that name being uttered, so long since anyone had spoken the name so casually as though there was nothing wrong with it. She clutched her arms tighter and spoke sullenly. “....it was my fault.”

“Hahi?”

Adelina shook her head quickly. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Haru’s eyes, however, gleamed with anticipation. Was this a clue? Had she found someone who could explain to her everything that happened?

But the look of pain in Adelina’s eyes said that if she did know anything, she wasn’t planning on sharing it anytime soon. And the fact that there was pain in the first place was a cause of concern. Was it something that had really hurt Adelina as well?

Haru tightened her fingers around her cup. She could only hope that once she uncovered this big secret, it didn’t cause more pain for the people around her as well.

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::tsuzuku::

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Chapter 18                                       Chapter 20