Silent Melodies - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - 8086

Summary: A war was brewing and no one was safe. 8086 / YamamotoxHaru

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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Silent Melodies

HappyFace1886

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14 year old Yamamoto Takeshi hummed a silent tune to himself on his walk back home. Having spent the majority of the afternoon with the baseball club, evening had already set in. The streets were empty, but he wasn’t worried. The nights were generally safe here anyways and if anything, he had his trusty baseball bat and the baseball he was currently tossing up and down.

His feet came to a halt when he saw a figure standing in front of the entrance to his home.

A customer? The restaurant was built connected to his house, after all, so it wouldn’t be unusual to assume so. Not to mention, it wasn’t that late. People came and went around his hour.

The figure looked to be a woman. She had a small slim built and her hair seemed to come to her shoulders. The lady was staring upward at his home and wasn’t moving an inch.

“Hello,” he called out pleasantly, lifting a hand up for a small wave. Takeshi grinned at the lady and walked closer so that she could see him under the street lamp. “Are you here for the restaurant?”

His eyes caught how her shoulders tensed and how her eyes widened a bit. Now that he had a closer look, her eyes seemed a bit puffy with a slight redness that indicated that she had been crying. Frowning a bit, he took a step closer and raised both hands to show that he wasn’t a threatening figure.

“Are you okay, miss? Do you need me to fetch an officer?”

“...Takeshi...” she murmured so softly that he would have missed it if it wasn’t for the fact that it was his name.

“I... uh... do you know me?” he asked hesitantly.

The lady looked like she was about to say something, but instead shook her head. She clasped her hands behind her and the gesture was so familiar that an image popped into his mind.

Large doe-like brown eyes stared at him cheerfully, her hands clasped shyly behind her as she leaned forward with the mischievous smile on her face. It was the smile she made whenever she was about to tease him or when she thought of a prank to play on Gokudera and wanted him to help her.

“...Haru?” he breathed out subconsciously.

The lady froze and took a step back, her eyes widening further.

“W-Wait, are you Haru?” Yamamoto’s eyes widened before he chuckled. “Haha, no wait, are you her older sister? You look older than Haru so... no wait, not that I mean you look old. You just look a lot like how Haru would look like if she was older. Um, I’m Yamamoto Takeshi, a friend of hers.”

The older woman didn’t respond, staring at Yamamoto’s face with an odd look in her eyes.

“Wait, is Haru okay?” he asked when he remembered the grim look on her face, the tears that appeared to have spilled out of her eyes. “Is that why you’re here? Because you’re looking for her?”

The lady stared a moment longer before she gave him a small smile before shaking her head, speaking softly in a hoarse voice that stung him inside. She even sounded like Haru... “No, Haru is safe. She’s fine...”

Then without warning, she reached out and pulled him in for a hug. Yamamoto froze in surprise, wondering what this development was for, but when he felt her slender form shuddering against him, he abandoned those thoughts in favor of holding her back. It was a little odd, holding someone he wasn’t familiar with, but he found himself compelled to do so... not to mention, she looked so much like Haru...

“I’m sorry Takeshi,” he heard her whisper. “I’m so sorry...”

He looked at her, puzzled. “Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry I’m not strong enough... I’m sorry that I can’t do anything for you when you need someone the most.”

Now thoroughly concerned, Yamamoto gently grasped the lady by the arms and pushed her away to arms length. There were tears trailing down her eyes and she looked so achingly close to Haru. Without thinking, his hand reached out in order to cup the side of her face, brushing the tears away with his thumb.

His heart was skipping a beat and for some reason, it hurt to see her like this. It wasn’t like the feeling of sympathy he had when a friend was hurt or in pain. It was as though Haru was the one crying in front of him and he wanted to hold her close, to somehow make the tears falling from her eyes to stop.

“Are you-,” the question he had been about to ask was forced to a startled stop as a cloud of smoke suddenly erupted right before him. He was about to let out a yelp when a smaller figure came falling forward towards him from the center of the smoke. Yamamoto instinctively grabbed onto the figure and looked down in surprise. “Haru?”

He looked around in confusion. Where did the older girl go? Where did Haru come from?

Yamamoto stared down at the slumbering girl and saw her smiling sleepily to herself, murmuring something about Haru appreciation day and how there were so many mountains of pastries that she would need everyone’s help in devouring it all. There was nothing on her that resembled the lady from before, no glazed eyes haunted with sorrow, no despair that burdened her shoulders.

His fingers trailed down the side of her face and he smiled softly when she giggled in her sleep.

He didn’t understand what had happened just seconds ago, but he did know one thing for sure... he never wanted to see Haru or even someone who looked like Haru to make such a face again.

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“Haru,” the 24 year old woman’s head shot up, startled to see the tall figure standing in her doorway. She paled slightly and took a step back, looking around to see if there was a form of escape nearby. “Haru.”

“I-I’m sorry Takeshi,” she stammered, stilling unable to look him in the eyes. “I-I know I shouldn’t have a-and I would have gotten in trouble if I’d done something to change the past, but I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing when you’re hurting like this! A-And anyways I didn’t succeed so-.”

A large hand roughly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forward. There was a small ‘oomph’ from her as she found her face pressed against a solid chest, an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and a hand pressing against the small of her back. She felt his face buried into her hair and could smell the subtle scent of rainwater.

“Don’t disappear like that on me again.” Yamamoto murmured against her hair, his hold around her tightening as though he was trying to reaffirm that she was actually here and this wasn’t all just a dream.

“I’m sorry...” she whispered and she hated herself for having to say it. He was the one hurting and yet, she was the one being comforted. She could hear how hard his heart was pounding in his chest, how scared he must’ve been to have heard that she hadn’t been seen for so many hours. It had taken a long time to carefully execute her plan on stealing the bazooka to go back in time. Haru raised her arms and held him back tightly, squeezing him against her as hard as she could, to somehow absorb all the pain into her so that he wouldn’t be hurting anymore.

“Don’t be,” Yamamoto closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her safe and tucked under his arms. “It’s okay, Haru.”

“It is not okay,” Haru pulled away and couldn’t stop herself from crying all over again. Gods, she was becoming such a cry baby. Still, she couldn’t stop, especially when she saw that look on his face. “You can hide it from Gokudera-kun and even Tsuna-san, but you can’t hide it from me! Takeshi, your father just died! Stop hiding it from everyone! From me!”

“...there’s nothing more to say.”

“There may be nothing to say, but that doesn’t hide the fact that you’re hurting, Takeshi.” She reached out and cupped her hands, remembering the bittersweet memories of just seconds ago, when the younger Takeshi had reached out to cup her face in an attempt to console her. Takeshi always had such a sunny disposition... but this one, this calm and serene one was not the one she remembered and loved. And she as frightened, terrified, that she would lose him at this rate. “Please... you don’t need to hide anything from me.”

“It’s fine Haru-.”

“It is not fine!” this time she was yelling and she couldn’t help it, her words emphasized with how she slapped her hands against his chest. Haru grabbed onto his collar and pulled him forward so that they were eye-to-eye, so that he couldn’t turn away from the smoldering brown orbs drowning in tears. “Operation Typhoon.”

He remained silent.

“Do you think I’m an idiot? I’m no longer the little girl who had no idea what kind of world she was actually getting herself involved in. I know about almost all the missions being handed out to the Famiglia operatives and we all know that Operation Typhoon is basically a suicide mission into enemy headquarters. You’re setting yourself up to get killed.”

“I won’t die.” His brown eyes locked onto hers and normally, people would back down when they saw how serious the normally laid-back Guardian was. However, Haru wasn’t just anyone. And Takeshi was too important for her to pull back. “I need-.”

“Vengeance?” she finished his sentence with a low hiss. “Revenge? Do you think any of that will bring you solace? You’re just setting yourself to be hurt all over again.”

“Don’t talk about what you don’t understand.” This time he spoke harshly and she almost flinched. Instead, she spoke calmly in a soothing voice.

“Then tell me,” Haru said. “Tell me so I’ll understand. Tell me so that you don’t have to go through this alone. Let me be your partner... let me be your support.”

Yamamoto grabbed her hand, the one that held the side of his face. Her hand felt so small within his grasp, so fragile and weak. They had been at war for so long that the mere thought of losing her was too much. His father had been so strong, so strong that Yamamoto believed that he would never be able to defeat him. And yet in the end....

“I can’t lose you too.” His voice was rough as he tried to keep his emotions at bay.

“And you won’t,” she said firmly. “So please... don’t turn you back to me. Promise me you won’t.”

His eyes softened and he pulled her closer, pressing his lips hard against her temple, as though trying to leave a mark of sorts that would hopefully keep her away from harm’s way. The war was taking its toll on everyone and sacrifices were being made left and right. However, that didn’t mean he was alone. There was no need for him to feel alone.

He had his friends.

He had his Famiglia.

He had her.

Things would get better.

They had to.

“I promise.”

One week later, Sawada Tsunayoshi was gunned down.

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::owari::

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