Genesis - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Chapter 20

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 20

HappyFace1886

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Day in and day out, Haru went to the town with Attilio. She was soon used to the woods and was able to travel to the village by herself, but only during the day. At night, the darkness prevented her from using the visual keys she would use to guide herself.

Life was tedious in that nothing much happened. Adelina clammed up whenever Haru tried to ask her about the ‘demon boy’ and Haru was too afraid to strain her relationship with the girl. The good part, though, was that she was able to become friends with Adelina’s mother. This was a huge improvement since Adelina’s mother would give harsh disapproving looks to other girls or adults whenever they would make cruel remarks towards Haru. It helped her to save a lot of heartache.

And with the passing time, there was some form of acceptance in this tiny village.

Originally, Haru had felt it, the sensation of being an outsider and of being regarded suspiciously. But now, there were curious gazes and there had even been compliments over her sewing skills.

She was even getting better at this whole cooking scene.

“Haru, here’s the dough.” Adelina dumped the uncooked bread in front of Haru, busying herself with the cheese on the table.

The brown haired girl dutifully took the dough, her face partially covered in flour. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked out at the window, her eyes widening when she realized just how dark it was. “Adelina, I-.”

“It has been a while since Father has told us that he would be returning to his abode.” Adelina’s mother’s voice entered into the room. Haru turned around and saw the older woman sewing by the fireplace. “I told him that you would be spending the night here, Haru.”

Widened eyes widened even further. “Hahi? I-!”

“It is too dark to enter the forest and it’s currently snowing.” There was a motherly tut in her voice and in a way, the tone made Haru extremely homesick. Not to mention, it felt nice being occasionally mothered. Haru’s face flushed and she bowed her head. “You will stay with Adelina tonight once you are done with the bread.”

And with those words, she went off to gather the boys for bed.

Haru stared at the dough on the table, frowning with her eyes knitted together in confliction. Adelina glanced at her from the cheese.

“Mama’s right, you know. It’ll be impossible to return without sunlight. Even if you took a lantern, it’ll still be too dark to see outside.” Adelina said offhandedly, chopping the cheese so that it would be prepared for the following day.

“I know...” Haru murmured forlornly, kneading the dough. The two were right. The nights were treacherous and to leave right now would be a very bad decision.

Still, Haru’s eyes trailed to the windows... the snow falling gently into the pitched black night.

---

“She’s not coming.” Attilio remarked calmly, taking a sip of his tea. The boy refused to move from his seat, staring intently at the door. “This is probably the start. The girl will spend the night and then it’ll be days and before you know it, she will cease to come here.”

Giotto didn’t respond, remaining still with his arms wrapped around his legs. However, Attilio’s words lingered in his mind. Haru had been spending more time at the village. At the beginning, Attilio had returned early with Haru to their little cabin in the forest. But with passing time, her stay at the village grew longer and the time he spent with her much shorter.

Who’s to say that one day she wouldn’t come at all?

Attilio sighed at the stubbornness of the boy and stood up from his seat. Unlike Giotto, he had no plans for waiting for someone who wasn’t going to appear. Placing his teacup down, he adjourned to his room, though a lingering glimpse was placed on Giotto’s back.

That stupid boy.

---

The rhythmic tapping of Adelina’s knife against the cutting board and the crackling of the fire were the only things that broke the silence of the almost empty kitchen. Actually, scratch that, there was another sound in the kitchen... one Adelina had been trying to ignore.

She felt a vein threatening to pop in her head as the sounds continued, progressively growing louder.

Unable to take it anymore, she swung her knife towards the direction of the perpetrator.

“Will you stop that?” she yelled angrily and Haru looked up, completely startled. She had been sitting in front of the oven for the bread to bake.

“Hahi? W-What-?”

“Stop tapping your foot like that! It’s driving me crazy!” Adelina yelled, chopping the rest of the cheese with renewed vigor. With the speed she was going at, it took only a few more seconds until she was done. Afterwards, she began to breathe hard, her chest heaving with each breath.

“S-Sorry...” Haru mumbled while Adelina wiped her hands on her aprons, taking a seat in front of Haru.

“I don’t see why you’re so anxious though.” The younger girl mumbled. “It’s only one night. And if anything, you should be happy that we’re sheltering you from the demon tonight.”

Haru frowned. “Why do you all always call Giotto-sama a demon?”

“Because that’s what he is.”

The frown deepened. “That’s no answer.”

Adelina leaned back on her stool, swinging her legs back and forth. “A demon’s powers are great. They can manipulate nature and control fate. It is something people can’t comprehend... thus the reason why the demon was sent by evil, to tempt humans into defying the light. Only a priest can get rid of one... a creature that is cruel.... hateful... a being that does not care for anyone else.”

Hateful?

Cruel?

Haru’s stared at Adelina, still unable to contemplate these... these emotions towards Giotto.

Is that how everyone saw Giotto?

The kind boy who had protected her so many times during her stay here? Sure, there were moments where she worried about his psyche, but that was only because something traumatic had obviously happened . If anything, she was more wary of the people in this village who could have possibly done something horrible to him!

Her brown eyes strayed to the window again.

Giotto had no one else here. He had even said so himself. No one to rely on, no one to smile at... no one to hug.

For how long had he been separated from the village like this?

When had Attilio even come into the picture?

How long had Giotto-sama been all alone?

---

Giotto’s eyes glowed in the dark, the candle growing dimmer as the wax was eaten away. The fire was still alive and provided him a bit of warmth, but he could still feel the cold biting into his skin.

But none of that entered his mind as he stared at the closed door.

Haru was not coming.

She could not be coming.

Why would she even come?

No...

No....

No, she was coming.

This was Haru he was thinking about. She would come. She would absolutely come.

But for what reason would she come? What had he to offer her?

He was a demon. A plague to society.

He had nothing.

He was nothing.

The candle light faded away.

---

“The poor foolish child.” Adelina’s mother shook her head as she took out the extra blankets from the chest. “Manipulated by the demon. I bet her family is worried sick about her right now. Heavens, they would go into shock knowing that a demon has also taken her into its grasp. I could relate to them, after all. You were also-.”

“Mama,” Adelina said sharply, taking the beddings to put into the bed. “You know I don’t like talking about this.”

“Of course, my sweet.” Her mother patted her on the head. “It must be distressful, remembering such horrible memories. But don’t worry, you are safe now. And we shall protect Haru as well. She is a sweet girl, not to mention very pretty. I’m sure many boys here would love to marry her, even with her history with a demon. After all, I heard that even you with your demonic past have been getting offers. Like Michael-.”

“Mother!” Adelina said loudly with her face flushed as she threw a pillow onto the beds that had been joined together. Ignoring her mother’s amused smile, she fluffed the pillows while the blush faded, a more serious look on her face. “And I don’t think Haru needs any saving.”

“What makes you say that? She clearly has been tricked by the demon already.” Adelina’s mother shook her head. “The unfortunate soul.”

Adelina glanced out the window. “I’m sure she’ll be alright. Haru’s really strong...”

After all, she was fearlessly making the decisions Adelina herself had always been too much of a coward to make.

---

Giotto’s eyes opened slightly when his ears perked at the sound of the door opened. Cold wind entered the equally frigid room and he felt tiny bits of snow brushing his face. Confused, his eyes opened and saw a figure out of breath standing in the open doorway.

The dying flames of the fireplace shined dimly, revealing sparkling brown eyes that looked at Giotto with... happiness.

“Haru.” The name slipped from his lips as he was unable to take his eyes off of her.

Sure, he had seen her smile happily at him so many times, but it was as though now he felt the gravity of it all... the fact that someone was so happy to see him. Him!

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, closing the door quickly before rushing to him, pulling him close to her chest so that she could hug him. Goodness, he was really cold and that was saying something since she had just come from outside where it was snowing. It was too cold outside for baths so they would have to drink something warm and then sleep.

Haru released him to tend to the fire in order to liven it up to boil some water. Before she could even take a step away, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her backwards. She felt a face bury into her back.

“G-Giotto-sama?” she stammered out. “We have to get you warmed up or else you’ll get sick.”

She felt him shake his head. “I’m already warmed up.”

“Hahi?” she squeaked when he suddenly pulled her further until she was on his lap. She couldn’t see his face as he had buried it into her neck and so, confused and flustered, she squirmed a little bit internally. “Giotto-sama?”

“As long as Haru is here,” he murmured. “I’ll always be warm.”

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::tsuzuku::

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Chapter 19                                                     Chapter 21