Roses are Red, Violets are Purple - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - A86

Oneshot

Summary: Alaude was a subtle guy.... maybe a little TOO subtle. Alaude x Haru / A86

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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Roses are Red, Violets are Purple

HappyFace1886

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The Guardian of the Cloud.

The loner who preferred to work alone and walked the path of their own choosing.

Alaude was the first Cloud Guardian of the Vongola, the man who would start a precedent that would not be matched until several generations later in the small country of Japan. His feats rivaled that of the Primo Vongola, including his fearsome power and awe-inspiring presence. It was a fact that Giotto acknowledged and respected. Still, he couldn’t help but openly gawk at the display before him.

“...what the hell is Alaude doing?” G sounded incredulous, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

Giotto couldn’t respond, feeling the urge to cover his face with his hand... though whether out of exasperation or amusement, he couldn’t decide just yet.

Miura Haru, their young time traveler from the future, had a look of pure confusion and nervousness by the fact that she was currently enveloped in the arms of the fearsome blonde. She was currently injured with bandages wrapped around her head and arms, but had still been deemed well enough to leave the sick bay. However, she could have sworn that she’d been simply talking to Giotto-sama about the incident that led to her injuries when, suddenly, arms had gently wrapped themselves around her and pulled her back until she was sitting on the lap of a warm, solid body.

She looked up to see piercing blue eyes staring down at her.

Hahi?!

Giotto gave in. He covered his face with his hand. Originally, he’d thought he’d been imagining things. After all, this was the first time Alaude had started behaving like this...

---

“Hahi?” Haru squeaked in surprise, her fingers tightening onto the blanket wrapped around her as the sound of a cup gently being laid on the table startled her out of her thoughts. Her hair was still soaking wet and Ugetsu-san had gone off to get her some spare clothes to change out of her current wet ones. She looked up to see an all too familiar face, despite the difference in coloration. She quickly began to wipe her tears away. “Hib-...I mean Alaude-san?”

“Tea,” he merely supplied in his usual monotonous tone of voice and stared at her for a moment longer before leaving.

Meanwhile, Giotto sat in front of Haru, having had a front row seat of the transaction. Even he was left speechless at what just happened.

---

Granted, Alaude wasn’t a cold, unfeeling monster. He just never went out of his way to comfort someone like that, especially when there were others who could do it instead. To others, it’d just seem like basic manners to provide a shivering young woman, who’d literally poofed into existence in the pouring rain and in tears, something hot to drink to warm herself up. Knuckle or even Lampo would have immediately served her the hot beverage, if they’d just been given the chance. Alaude would’ve known that they’d have done it and yet, he reacted first.

“Giotto, I’m not seeing things, right?” he felt his right-hand man nudging him insistently with his elbow.

“A-Alaude-san?” Haru squeaked when he leaned his cheek against her head, as though holding her like this was the most natural thing in the world.

---

Giotto’s eyes widened slightly and he stared as Alaude appeared before him in the middle of the public road. It was rare to bump into his Cloud Guardian like this since Alaude preferred to work alone and even rarely met up with him and the other Guardians when they needed to discuss matters concerning the Famiglia. Giotto spoke uncertainly. “Alaude?”

“The nearby lord of the lands has been going on threatening to punish those who are unable to pay for the unreasonable tax rates he’s imposed on the residents. The matter has been swiftly dealt with and the lord will likely retire in place with a new heir who is more considerate.” Alaude murmured nonchalantly.

“I... see?” Giotto couldn’t help, but end his words in a question. Alaude’s behavior was making no sense to him. If he’d settled the situation, why bother to even seek him out in person to explain what happened? Why not write a letter? Or leave him guessing, as Alaude was apt to do most of the time.

“Giotto-sama,” he turned around to see Haru leaving the tailor shop, wearing a fashionable blue dress with a matching colored hat on her head. The dress was obviously too stylish for everyday wear and based on Haru’s flushed complexion, she was well aware of this. “I-I told Piero-san that I only wanted something plain, b-but I don’t think he understood me!”

Giotto felt his face slightly flush at how the dress showed Haru’s bare arms while the edges of the shimmery risqué blue fabric stopped daringly right above her knees, showing off her smooth creamy legs. He’d heard that that sort of clothing was becoming popular with the current generation, but hadn’t expected to see it in such a small town as this. Not to mention, try as he might to block it from his mind, the dress suited Haru too well,  clinging to her lithe figure mesmerizingly... then there was that enthralling flush of her cheeks and how she’d shyly look away.

Before he could say anything, he felt Alaude move from beside him. Giotto could only stare as Alaude removed his coat and placed it around Haru’s shoulder. He then felt his jaw drop slightly when he heard Alaude murmuring about helping her with the tailor before placing a hand on her lower back, courteously guiding her back into the store.

...what just happened?

---

The signs were all there. Subtle, but there. It was just that no one ever thought to connect the dots because this was Alaude they were dealing with. Who knew what went through that man's mind?! His expressions rarely changed from between nonchalance and frightening vexation.

Giotto peered between his fingers at the couple before him, Haru still flustered and speechless with Alaude intentionally looking oblivious to the gobsmacked looks around him.

Really, one would actually think this was out of behavior for Alaude, but if he thought about it, it was actually very fitting.

The Cloud Guardian was one that could not be contained. He moved freely and behaved as he wished. Even when approaching another, he would move at a tempo of his own... and would have the subtlety of a cat stalking it's prey. Meaning unless one could read Alaude’s mind, no one was going to know what the hell he was doing.

---

“Alaude?” Giotto looked in surprise at the sight of him walking down the hallways. Last he’d heard, Alaude was working on a case in England. He’d actually already been gone for a few weeks and it wasn’t unusual to not hear from him from months on end.

Alaude slightly turned towards Giotto in acknowledgement and two-toned eyes immediately zeroed in on what was in Alaude’s arms... or more specifically who was in Alaude’s arm.

“Is that Haru?” Giotto asked incredulously, openly staring at the slumbering woman being carefully cradled by the normally distant Cloud Guardian. Concern then immediately rose up. Alaude wouldn’t be holding her like that if something hadn’t happened. “Is she okay?”

“I found her asleep in the courtyard,” he replied simply.

Taken aback by the lackluster response, Giotto found himself speechless again.

“I’m taking her to her room,” Alaude continued nonchalantly, as though this was just normal, everyday behavior for him. He lifted Haru up higher, being careful not to awaken her from her slumber. Her head, originally resting against Alaude’s chest, was now pressed against the column of his neck. Haru murmured something incoherently before snuggling into Alaude’s neck, sighing softly in her sleep.

Again, Giotto felt his jaw slacken while Alaude gave him a brief nod, turning to leave with the slumbering woman in his arms.

...nothing made sense anymore...

---

...that should’ve been an obvious sign. Alaude hated being touched and he didn’t like touching others unless necessary. The fact that he’d taken into consideration of the fact that Haru had fallen asleep out in the open, vulnerable to all sorts of attack, should have been a obvious clue as to what was going on in Alaude’s head.

But because this was Alaude they were talking about and because it wasn’t completely unreasonable to think that, what with Alaude’s form of justice, he wouldn’t lend a hand in protecting a vulnerable woman who was forcibly sent to a era that was not her own... even if he could have just as easily notified a guard or had simply woken her up so that she could go to her room on her own.

...seeing this, Alaude’s behavior from a few hours ago really made a lot of sense now.

---

Giotto raised a hand in order to block part of the sheer amount of flames emitting off of the blonde haired man in front of him. Beside him, he could feel his fellow Guardian’s doing the same thing. Alaude waited but a moment before lunging for the foolish men who were the culprits behind the kidnapping.

“What’s wrong with Alaude?” Knuckle raised his voice in order to be heard over the loud screams of terror. “I haven’t seen him like this since he was a kid!”

“Shouldn’t we stop him?” Lambo asked, trembling while hiding behind G as he stared in morbid horror at the amount of blood that was being splattered everywhere. “I-I know these guys are the bad guys, but this feel like we’re the ones in the wrong!”

Still, Giotto and the Guardians didn’t move an inch as Alaude continued his slaughter, knowing that the moment they took a single step, there was a large possibility of that overflowing bloodlust to be aimed towards them.

---

Everyone had just assumed that Alaude’s anger had been from the fact that the bastards who’d taken Haru had interfered with his sense of justice. It wasn’t too much of a farfetched idea since Alaude had a habit of appearing out of nowhere and executing swift righteousness on the fools that dared to disrupt the tranquility of his territories.

But now...

Giotto managed to smother his quiet chuckle while shaking his head.

“Hahi, I don’t understand!”

Alaude really needed to work on his flirting skills.

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::owari::

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AU: ...yeah... this came up when I was trying to write a more 'serious' A86. I finally have some messy, steamy A86 written up (gosh, actually sacrificed sleep and wrote it on my phone right when it was bedtime, haha), but it needs to be cleaned a bit. Also, struggling a bit with Genesis. I have an idea of where I want it to go. Getting it down in writing is the challenge this time because it's coming out all weird.

Basically, in this oneshot, Alaude has been courting Haru this entire time, but because he’s so gosh-darn subtle about it and it’ll be out of character for him to show someone 'normal' affection, no one really noticed. Him hugging her like this in the end is because he's relieved that she's okay and is sort of reassuring himself by holding her.

Also, I know my title sucks. It's a struggle trying to think of one. @__@ This was me trying to be clever by showing how serious Alaude is with him correcting people that violets are not blue, but purple (just like how he's so bad at showing his affections in this oneshot), even though people are just saying those lines to be romantic... the thing is, both roses and violets can be of different color than just 'red' or 'blue'. xD So that's not really right either.

God, I need sleep. No more sleep deprived nights for me! ...unless a good fanfic idea pops up... argh... OTL curse you smart phone and typing capabilities!