I Want to be Your Superhero - Katekyo Hitman Reborn - 008627

Summary: Where Tsuna and Enma realize just how deep their affections have grown... 008627 / EnmaxHaruxTsuna

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.

---

I Want to be Your Superhero

HappyFace1886

---

Enma covered his face, stifling the groan of humiliation when he recounted the events that happened earlier during the day.

---

“You big bullies!” there was a furious shriek before a loud banging noise as metal met the heads of the thugs who’d been beating him up. Enma blearily looked up from the ground and felt his heart stop when he saw Haru clutching onto the garbage can lid, swinging it wildly at the ‘big bullies’ who began high-tailing it out of there with their hands clutching onto their sore heads.

By the time they were all gone, Haru was panting hard with trembling hands still tightly clutching onto the garbage lid. She sighed and then dropped her weapon of choice, sinking to her knees warily before slumping down. Vaguely, Enma could hear her whispering of ‘that was scary...’ before she turned to him with a brilliant smile.

“Are you okay, Enma-kun?”

---

Ahhh, he couldn’t believe she’d seen that! Not to mention, she was the one who rescued him! Of all people to come and save him, it had to be her!

This time, Enma couldn’t stop his groan as he buried his hands harder into his face. Nearby, the dog he and Haru adopted together came up and whined comfortingly. Unfortunately, even as he began to scratch the puppy behind its ears, nothing could stave off the feelings of humiliation. It was one thing when a friend or a member of his famiglia was helping him out. It was a completely other thing when the one girl he had a crush on, not to mention his first crush ever, was the one saving him from the bullies.

...he was so not cool.

Haru had even been scared herself, but she’d been so focused on helping him that she’d ignored her fear and lunged into the fray. Meanwhile, he’d stared stupidly at her from the floor and had been too astonished by the development that even while she’d been putting bandages on his face and cleaning his cuts, he’d only continued to stare dumbly at her. By the time he’d snapped out of it, Haru was bidding him farewell and telling him to let her know if the bullies came back and attacked him again.

She’d protect him.

His face reddened at this. While it was a nice feeling to know that she cared that much about it, it bruised his manly ego (or what meager manly ego he had) that he needed the girl he liked to protect him like this. Why was it that she was always the one making his heart flutter when he should be the one looking cool and saving her from dangerous situations!

Enma toyed with the ring on his finger. Of course, he could always use his flames to protect himself, but it never felt right to use such inhuman abilities against regular people... even if they were bullies.

Still, he wondered how it’d feel like to be the one rushing straight into danger, beating up the enemies like they were nothing, before gallantly rescuing Haru from the evil doers.

Enma felt his face erupt into a brilliant shade of maroon that matched his flaming red hair at the mere mental image of Haru gazing up at him with her big brown eyes. The awe that’d glimmer from those expressive brown orbs while she’d dreamily say his name before...

He stopped that train of thought, slapping himself hard on the cheeks.

From a ways away, Julie and Aoba, who’d been sent by Adelheid to collect Enma for dinner, stared as their leader continued slapping himself stupid.

“What’s with that idiot?”

Julie shrugged while snickering. “Dunno. Seems about normal to me.”

---

Tsuna eyed Enma with concern when he saw the red haired boy slumped over his desk, looking more miserable than normal. He was still unable to get used to how unlucky Enma was (he’d actually come to school with his jacket torn because a dog had actually ripped it apart in the morning!), but it was rare to see Enma so moody nowadays. After the whole fiasco with the inheritance of the Vongola title and him and Enma clearing up the history of their ancestors, Enma had lost most of the gloom that’d always hover over him. It wasn’t completely gone, understandably due to his losses from the past, but he’d smile more frequently than before.

Not to mention, after Haru came into the picture....

Tsuna shook his head wildly.

Argh, he still didn’t know what to make of that situation.

-

“Better hurry and make up your mind soon,” Enma stated softly while turning towards Haru’s direction. “Because I’m already one step ahead of you.”

-

How was he supposed to make up his mind anyways? He didn’t even understand how this choice came up in the first place! His emotions made no sense whatsoever! But at the same time, when he really thought about it, was this the reason why Reborn and Bianchi always teased him about Haru? They were more than aware of the fact that he actually liked K-Kyoko-chan, but was it because they could see something he couldn’t?

Tsuna rowdily ran his hand through his hair.

Ahhh, nothing made sense!

The surrounding classmates all pointedly tried to ignore how dame-Tsuna was acting weirder than usual along with the moody redhead that seemed to sinking deeper and deeper into depression by the second.

Yup, just another ordinary day at Namimori Junior High.

---

“Tsuna-kun!”

The brown haired boy tilted his head and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Kyoko running towards him. She waved at him and gave him a brilliant smile that melted him just a bit. “K-Kyoko-chan!”

“Could you please give Haru-chan this charm? She left it behind last time she came over to my place.” She said with a sweet smile, handing Tsuna a small phone strap of a yellow kitty that vaguely reminded Tsuna of Nuts. “She said that she’ll be playing with I-Pin-chan and Lambo-chan at the park today, so she’ll probably be swinging by your house later.”

“O-Of course,” Tsuna took in the charm and felt his insides turn to jelly when his fingers accidentally brushed against Kyoko’s hand. This was what it meant to like someone, right? To feel nervous and shy, wanting to impress them and show their good side... but did he ever feel jealous whenever Kyoko talked to another guy? Sure, he felt depressed and dejected... but it didn’t feel the same way as he did when he saw how Haru would always stick with Enma.

Or maybe what he felt for Haru really wasn’t because he liked her? Maybe it really was because he wasn’t used to her giving all of her attention to him?

...then why had he felt the need to interfere when Enma and Haru started getting closer? He’d never done that before with Kyoko. He’d just give up because he felt like he didn’t have a shot.

But with Haru...

“Tsuna-kun?” Kyoko asked inquisitively, tilting her head at him.

Tsuna’s face flushed because of how cute she appeared and shook his head. “It’s nothing! Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”

To fight for what he wanted, to go at it with a dying will. That was the lesson Reborn was always trying to impart on him. If it was truly important to him, he would try his best and these days, it felt as though he was actually giving it his all when it came to matters that meant something to him. Just like how he willingly went to inherit the title of Vongola because it was to uncover who’d hurt Yamamoto. Even though he was scared, because it was important, he’d gone through with it.

What did it mean if he was trying to apply that to the fact that he was actually confronting Enma about meeting Haru all the time?

Tsuna clutched onto the charm tightly.

---

“Hahi, Lambo-chan, be careful,” Haru squeaked, trying to get the young child to get off from the towering jungle gym. It’d be one thing if he was holding onto the bars, but right now, he was balancing himself at the very top!

“Lambo-sama is the king!” he crowed with a fist pumped up in the air. Lambo then pointed a finger at I-Pin. “Bow down to your king!”

I-Pin scowled and then threw a dumpling at him, which hit him square on the head. He cried out and tipped sideways, wobbling to and fro before falling off the side. Haru’s eyes widened as she lunged for him and barely caught him before he hit the ground. This wasn’t the first time this’d happened and so, Haru could only sigh in relief.

“Lambo-chan,” she chided softly from the ground, “please stop doing dangerous things.”

He sniffled nosily in her arms and she patted his back gently, leaning backwards to look at I-Pin upside down.

“I-Pin-chan, that was dangerous. Don’t do that again.”

The little girl puffed up her face, but nodded in understanding. The stupid cow was just so annoying though! Haru giggled and sat back up, Lambo cradled on her lap. She ushered for I-Pin to come forward and had both kids settled on her legs.

“So, what shall we play today?”

“I don’t know, oneesan, what shall we play today?” a shadow crept over the three and Haru felt a chill go down her spine. Clutching onto the kids protectively, she nearly lost her balance as she quickly spun around while jumping to her feet. “I was thinking maybe a little game of tag? Hide and seek sounds like fun too. And once I find all of yah, maybe a little stab here and a little stab there.”

“W-Who are you people?” Haru stammered at the sight of the 3 men in front of her. All three of them wore strange masks that made their mouths and eyes appear hollow along with a furry hat that resembled one of those Russian fur hats that Haru had seen in her fashion books. While they towered over Haru, the one who spoke was the shortest and had a dangling earring of an arrow on his left ear

“Neh, neh, oneesan, won’t you play with us too?” the one with the earring continued to inquire.

“Hide and seek is so boring. We can play master and slave!” Lambo crowed excitedly, wiggling around Haru’s tight grip. She cried out when he actually pulled himself free, approaching the three men with his arm authoritatively outstretched. “Lambo-sama will be the master and you all can be Lambo-sama’s slaves!”

“Lambo-chan!” Haru yelled, screaming when Lambo was quite literally kicked in the face, sending him careening in the air. She watched in horror as he shot over her and into the bushes behind her. “How could you? He’s just a kid! No! I-Pin-chan!”

The young girl also wiggled herself out of Haru’s grip and approached the three men, already getting into one of her martial art poses. Before Haru could say another word, I-Pin was already on the move. She shot out a fist and, to Haru’s surprise, the man with the earring twitched and staggered to the side. However, the other two were on the move as well, skidding to I-Pin’s sides with hands poised for the kill.

I-Pin shot her fist towards one of the men and spun to aim another attack towards the second, but the two men, anticipating her movements, avoided the shots. One of them grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up into the air, while another whipped out a sharp knife.

“Gyoza-Kempo. Disgusting technique,” the man with the earring grunted, shaking his head. He then snarled to his men. “We just need the girl, the brats don’t matter.”

“Wait!” Haru yelled when she saw one of the men about to slice through I-Pin’s jugular, blood already being slightly drawn as knife made contact with her skin. “If it’s just me that you want, then leave the kids alone!”

“What makes you think you have a say in anything?” one of the masked men demanded.

“B-B-Because,” Haru scrambled to think of an idea. “If it’s me that you want, I’ll get in your way if you try to hurt I-Pin-chan!”

“Like we care what happens to y-.”

“Actually, we do.” The man with the earring interrupted one of his men, shoving him away before he could touch Haru. “We need the girl alive... preferably in one piece. After all, it’ll make our revenge all the more sweeter if the fool gets to see the girl getting cut to pieces right before his eyes.”

Haru shuddered at how the man could utter such cruel words so casually. I-Pin began to quickly protest in Chinese. The man holding onto her roughly threw her down and Haru leaped towards her, catching her before the she hit the ground. Haru cuddled I-Pin close, checking on the wound to make sure it wasn’t too deep. I-Pin pushed Haru’s hand away, continuing her frantic words. Though she didn’t understand what the little girl was saying, Haru gave I-Pin a reassuring smile and placed a hand on her head. “I’ll be fine. I’m counting on you to get help.”

“Yes, go get help, little Gyoza-Kempo user,” the man with the earring drawled. “Bring the boy whom we seek vengeance over...”

“Hahi!” Haru shrieked as she was roughly grabbed by the arm, forced to stand up while I-Pin tumbled onto the ground.

From behind the mask, the man with the earring’s eyes narrowed and I-Pin instinctively took a step back. "Tell the brat we have the girl. We already left him a little calling card so he should be aware of our presence by now. If he fails to find her, that little gift will be child's play compared to what we plan to do to his little girlfriend. You have until sundown.”

---

Enma let out a low whistle as he clumsily slid down the small slope. He pulled out the small box filled with dog treats from his backpack and shook it a little, knowing Aka-chan would come stampeding from his hiding place once he heard the biscuits rolling around. A few seconds passed and not a sound could be heard.

“Aka-chan?” Enma called out with a frown, shaking the box a little harder as he jumped off the end of the slope and to the ground. He looked around for the little puppy and began heading towards Aka-chan’s hiding place. “Where are you?”

Was Haru here already? No, even if Haru was playing with Aka-chan, the little pup would have squirmed away in favor of the treats. Haru would have always made an appearance as well... unless she was trying to surprise him again by hiding somewhere. He would have smiled at that thought if not for the familiar nauseating smell that reached him.

The box slipped from his fingers, landing with a crunch onto the ground. Enma’s hands shook as he ran towards the source of the smell, almost tripping over his own feet as his eyes immediately noticed the gruesome scenery.

There was blood everywhere. The little puppy lying still on the ground as knives surrounded it in some sort of derisive ritual. Enma took a step back, tremors of horror running through his body. What happened? Did... Did some sick, twisted person get a hold of Aka-chan? No, even if there were some crazy people out there, Aka-chan was smart. There was a reason why the puppy had been able to survive for so long on its own. Haru had also taught Aka-chan tricks and had marveled over how quickly the puppy caught on to everything. Aka-chan would have known better than to approach some sociopath.

The intricate details of the knives caught Enma’s eyes and he then felt fury ignite within him. During the time when he and his Famiglia had been preparing for their vengeance against the Vongola, they’d studied hard on some of the intel concerning the more powerful families. Be it weapons, relationships, and history, Enma, even with his less than desirable recall skills, had made sure to at least remember those details. And there was only one Famiglia that had such insignias etched onto the blade of the knife.

Enma threw off his jacket and carefully wrapped Aka-chan in there, grimacing at the feel of the sticky blood on his fingers. The puppy was still alive... barely. He’d have to hurry if he wanted to save them. It also wouldn’t do if Haru-chan came here later on and found what happened to Aka-chan.

Carrying Aka-chan with one hand, he reached into his pocket for his phone and dialed Adelheid’s number. “We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I think one of the assassins that attacked us before the inheritance ceremony for the Vongola are here for revenge,” he said as he activated his flames, flying up into the air so that he could quickly get to his house.

“...so they’ve come.” Adelheid murmured. Though they’d never mentioned it out loud to Tsuna and the others in fear of them overreacting, the Shimon Famgilia had prepared themselves for being attacked in the near future as retribution for their actions at the Vongola Ceremony. Even if the Vongola themselves have forgiven them, those who’s pride had been injured during the attack wouldn’t forget. “How did you find out? Did they attack you?”

“No, they...” Enma hesitated. “Don’t get angry. I have a puppy I’ve been taking care of and they attacked him instead. They left their weapons behind intentionally so that I’d know it was them.”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m on my way home. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Good. We’ll talk more when you’re here. Be safe, Enma.”

“You too.” He murmured before turning off his phone and shoving into his pocket. They’d have to be discrete when handling the situation or else Tsuna would hear about this. The last thing he wanted was to drag Tsuna into this, especially since he knew Tsuna would vehemently defend him from the attackers. But... this wasn’t Tsuna’s battle. Despite their friendship and reaffirmed alliance between the two Famiglias, Enma didn’t want Tsuna to shoulder his burdens.

Holding Aka-chan closer to his chest, Enma concentrated his flames. He’d be home in a few minutes and it would be best if he at least knew the location of the enemy. Due to his inexperience, he wasn’t the most skilled at this, but he’d noticed overtime that he was particularly sensitive to the earth, which made sense since his abilities were of the Earth.

If he focused hard enough, he could actually feel the particular unique presences of all those within the nearby vicinity. The technique was more advanced than simply sensing the flames of a nearby presence and gave him a biggee radius in finding people. It also gave him a pounding headache, especially when he tried to expand the scope to the entire city, since it was hard for the brain to comprehend such enormous information, but if he tried hard enough, maybe he could differentiate the attackers from everyone else. They wouldn’t be too far away, anyhow, if they wanted him to find them.

He skidded to a stop in mid-air, knowing if he did this while moving, he’d crash into something or fall.

The moment he linked his senses to his flames, Enma thought his head was going to split apart and he almost fell from the sky. No, focus on those with more intense flames. Isolate the information so that he wasn’t blinded by all the presences. The weaker ones belonged to civilians. He had to be careful not to get confused with the Vongola Guardian’s flames as well... along with the powerful flames that indicated the presence of those like Reborn.

Search for more hostile flames. Unfamiliar ones... ones that weren’t here before today...

His senses pulled him towards the direction of a more isolated park behind Namimori’s shrine.

Three flames... sinister and dark... ones heavily stained with blood and reminded him of the violent presence of the Varia. And... And a weaker, delicate one.

Enma’s felt his breath caught on his throat.

Vibrant and warm, it was a nurturing presence he’d grown accustomed to and even sought after these past few weeks. Sometimes when he’d practice trying the location technique with his dying flames of the earth, he’d intentionally seek hers out to marvel at how sweet and mesmerizing her presence was... and then he’d get out of it and smack himself for being such a stalker.

His hold around Aka-chan tightened and his expression darkened, the flames around him intensifying in an ominous manner.

Those bastards!

---

Tsuna sat on the floor of his bedroom, staring hard at the phone strap. For some reason, his mind was racing as to what he was going to do when Haru came to drop off the kids. How was he supposed to approach her? Actually, how did he even normally behave around her anyways? Ever since he became conscious of his conflicting feelings towards Haru, he wasn’t sure how to act towards her.

This still didn’t make sense to him! But why was he always trying so hard to say he felt nothing towards her? If he thought about it rationally, why did he try so hard to cling to his affection towards Kyoko while always vehemently denying Haru before even giving her a chance?

He was getting a headache from this all over again.

“Dame-Tsuna.”

“Wah! Reborn!” Tsuna yelled, nearly falling to the side at the sudden appearance of his infant tutor. “What are you doing here?”

“What’s this?” Reborn ignored him in favor of picking up the phone strap. “This looks like Haru’s. Are you stealing her stuff now that you’re aware of your feeling towards her?”

“Give that back!” Tsuna tried to snatch the charm away, but Reborn easily leaped away from his flailing grasp and used the back of Tsuna’s head as a springboard to jump over him. The future Decimo of the Vongola ended up flying forward, crashing into his bed. “Ow!”

“It’s about time you opened your eyes.”

Tsuna, rubbing his swore face, whipped his head towards the door. “Bianchi-san?”

There was a playful smile on Bianchi’s face as she took the phone strap from Reborn. “I was wondering how long it’d take for you to realize your feeling towards Haru-chan.”

“I don’t feel anything like that towards Haru!” Tsuna yelped, his face turning beet red. To his mortification, he could also feel his heart racing in his chest and right now, he wasn’t sure if it was due to embarrassment or... or... something else! “You two know I don’t think of her in that way!”

“But then why did you get jealous when you saw Haru-chan always hanging out with Enma-kun?” Bianchi continued, her eyes positively glowing with delight at this development. “I heard you actually tagged along with them because it bothered you so much how Haru-chan was always with Enma-kun and not you.”

“I-I-I was just worried!”

“About Enma-kun or about Haru-chan?” she continued with an arched eyebrow while Tsuna continued to choke on his words.

“And now we find you hugging and petting something that belongs to Haru,” Reborn tutted while Bianchi sighed with exaggerated disappointment. “How creepy.”

“I was doing no such thing!”

“Before you know it, he’s going to have a shrine built in his closet for Haru-chan and all her belongings that he stole from her,” Bianchi said while shaking her head. “The phone strap is just the beginning.”

“Kyoko-chan asked me to return it to Haru!” he yelled desperately and then shifted his eyes, stammering out his next words. “B-Besides... you two know that I like K-K-ah!”

He was interrupted when Bianchi actually smacked him up the head. With widened eyes, he clutched onto his sore head to look up at the older woman. The menacing look on her face was something he hadn’t seen aimed at him for a long time and reminded him of the time when he’d first met her.

“It’s about time you take love seriously,” Bianchi spoke icily. Over the passing time, she’d come to care for both girls and had grown protective over them, especially since it’d been part of her job to make sure they were safe and away from danger whenever something nasty came about. Him being all wishy-washy was really starting to piss her off. “Stop being afraid of your own feelings. Emotions change over the time, whether it’s a maturing love or a developing love. Stop thinking that you can only feel one way and not another. Love and affection comes in all form, you idiot. Even admiration can be a form of love... but who you love, who you stand as an equal and want to walk towards your future with... don’t mistaken the two with each other.”

Tsuna looked startled by her words. It wasn’t... It wasn’t as though he was intentionally being indecisive, but it wasn’t as though he could switch his feelings overnight. His face would always burn at the mere sound of Kyoko-chan’s name... still, it would be a lie if he didn’t say that his heart clenched at the memory of Haru blushing when Enma held her hand.

“I...”

“Oh dear, I-Pin-chan, you’re bleeding!” from downstairs, the three heard Tsuna’s mom cry out in concern.

Tsuna immediately scrambled to his feet, rushing down the stairs to where he found his mom kneeling in front of I-Pin, an unconscious and obviously beaten Lambo behind her. Ever since all the attacks he and his friends had endured, he’d become a bit more sensitive when it came to reacting towards danger. He paled when he saw the blood soaking through his mom’s kitchen towel as she pressed onto I-Pin’s neck.

“I-Pin-chan, what happened? And what happened to Lambo?”

The little girl’s face lit up when she saw Tsuna and began to speak in rapid Chinese. Tsuna felt his mind aching at the unfamiliar language, unable understand a single word she was saying.

“She said that she was attacked by three assassins,” Reborn translated as he landed on Tsuna’s shoulder, speaking quietly enough so that Nana wouldn’t hear.

“What?” Tsuna yelled in horror. “Is that why Lambo looks like that too?”

I-Pin hesitated, looking a little sheepish, and mumbled something.

“Sort of,” Reborn supplied. “They kicked the stupid cow, but most of it was because I-Pin had dragged him home.”

I-Pin then quickly shook her head, pushing Nana away and ignoring her protests. She grabbed onto Tsuna’s shirt, speaking even more frantically before. Even without understanding what she was saying, he could tell how frightened she was.

Reborn, on the other hand, looked grim. “Apparently Haru was with them.”

“What?” Tsuna yelled out in horror again before being promptly smacked on the head by Reborn.

“Calm down, you idiot.” He chided while Bianchi took Nana’s hand, guiding her towards the kitchen while whispering some excuse into her ear. The blood was actually ketchup after I-Pin had messily eaten her afternoon snack. “This is no time to panic. Haru’s been kidnapped by the assassins. I-Pin, do you happen to know who these people are?”

I-Pin hesitated and shook her head, her horrible eyesight contributing to her poor memory of all the details, but she still explained about the features she remembered, particularly the slight accent in their voices. Their faces may have been covered by some weird blurry mush, but it was noticeable that the men weren’t Japanese.

“Is that all we have to go on?” Tsuna looked about ready to go into a full blown panic. That definitely wasn’t going to be of much help, especially since Japan seemed to be running rampant with foreigners due to his connection with the mafia. Shit, why was this happening again and why was Haru, of all people, dragged into this?

“Apparently they’re here for revenge,” Reborn ignored Tsuna in favor of continuing his translation of I-Pin’s words. “And they’ve already made another move towards their target. Have you noticed anything unusual around you lately?”

“N-Nothing,” Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of something that was even more out of the ordinary from his unusual life. He then quickly shook his head. “I haven’t met any weird strangers or people trying to kill me these days... actually, it’s been a while since I was attacked by anyone. What are we going to do?  I-Pin, where was the park Haru was kidnapped in?”

“Calm down-.”

“How can I calm down when Haru’s been kidnapped? She’s... She’s always getting dragged into stuff like this because of her connection to me. I mean, with Kyoko-chan, Ryohei-niisan is her big brother, so she’ll probably get dragged into things one way or another, but she’ll at least have him to watch over her when we’re away from her, but with Haru... she's completely innocent from this!” Tsuna aggressively ran his hand through his hair, his fingers clutching onto a fistful of hair while sky flames quietly started hissing on his shoulders. It was always like this. She was always getting into trouble because of him. “We don’t even know where to start looking.”

This time, Reborn slapped Tsuna hard on the face, the impact being enough to cause the young teen to fall onto the floor. Reborn jumped onto Tsuna’s chest, causing him to fall flat onto the ground. “We’ll start from where you suggested. The park. Now calm down. Panicking or getting angry will get us nowhere. We’ll also get Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei to help out. Chrome will come if we tell her that it’s Haru who’s in danger. Hibari will also be interested if we tell him that there are powerful assassins who are disrupting the discipline of Namimori.”

Tsuna stared blankly at Reborn, feeling a bit calmer now that a more concrete plan was laid out for him. He then hesitantly spoke. “R-Right... that’s a good idea.”

“And Tsuna.”

“Y-Yeah?” he slowly got off the floor as Reborn jumped off of him. The dangerous toddler looked at him seriously before poking him sharply on the forehead, dispelling the slight flickering of a flame in the middle of his temple.

“Don’t lose your temper like that if we find her and you see that they’ve done something to her.”

---

“Don’t do anything stupid, Enma,” Adelheid warned as she followed Enma out of the house. Rauji was currently inside, using his mountain flames to encourage the healing process of the little pup’s body. She roughly grabbed Enma by the shoulder and turned him around. “Enma!”

Adelheid was startled out of whatever else she was going to say when she saw the fury in his eyes. Enma was never one to be easily angered. Even when it came to their plan to deal with the Vongola in the beginning, he’d been the one who strived for peace with Tsuna at first. He would rather settle things peacefully before allowing things to get violent. It was also why he never retaliated against his bullies.

“...Enma...”

“...if she... if she gets hurt because of me,” Enma turned away from Adelheid so that she couldn’t see the expression on his face. Still, the way he spoke was so chillingly quiet, almost reminiscent to the time when he’d lost control of himself. “I’ll never forgive them. I won’t forgive any of them.”

“I’m coming with you.” She couldn’t leave him alone while he was like this, especially not like this. Her mind replayed the memory of how he’d nearly lost his mind, regardless of how he’d only gotten to that point because of Daemon Spade. Who knows what sort of lingering influence that vengeance had on Enma?

“No,” Enma said firmly and it stunned Adelheid once more. Though she acted as the leader of the Shimon Famiglia, it was a known fact that when it came down to it, everyone would defer to Enma's final decisions. However, it was extremely rare for him to behave in such a way. “You stay here. There might be more of them.”

“You’re not going to go after them all by yourself, are you?” she narrowed her eyes. “Use us, Enma. We’re your Guardians, not people who need to be protected by you! Enma!”

Her words were ignored as he took flight, his flames shooting out stronger than ever as he zipped into the air. He refused to allow another causality because of him. Even if Adelheid and the other Guardians were strong, he would deal with this himself. Somehow.

Besides, with Haru waiting for him, he couldn’t afford to lose.

---

“Bored... so bored...” the masked man with the earring droned, toying with his knife in his hand. Without warning, he then threw it towards Haru, who was tied and sitting in the middle of the forest. She yelped as it missed her face by an inch, becoming embedded in the tree behind her instead. “Lover boy is taking too long.”

“L-L-Lover boy?” Haru stammered. “Who are you talking about? What do you want with me?”

“Shut up,” the other masked men snarled and she flinched, pressing herself harder against the tree. “You’re only in one piece because Alexei-sama deemed it so.”

“A-Alexei-sama?” Haru echoed at the unfamiliar name. Definitely not Japanese. “Wait, are you bad people after Tsuna-san as well?”

After the whole revelation about the Vongola and the incidents in the future, Haru didn’t think she’d be surprised about anything anymore. Then these weirdos came and kidnapped her, saying ‘lover boy’ will save her. D-Did... Did they think she was going out with Tsuna?!

While the thought briefly made her a bit ecstatic, another bigger part of her was concerned. Even though she played the oblivious card at times, she knew the one Tsuna-san really liked was Kyoko-chan... the thought of Kyoko-chan being in her place frightened her. No, for her friend’s safety, she wouldn’t say a word about the truth.

To Haru’s surprise, the man with the earring, Alexei, laughed.

“The young Vongola?” he snickered. “No, it has nothing to do with him. Or... well, it has partly to do with him, but he’s not the one that we’re after. Once we’ve obtained our vengeance for our fallen brethren, perhaps the Vongola will realize our worth... and understand what a mistake it was to forgive such an enemy.”

“I... I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t,” Alexei sneered from behind the mask. He stood up from his place and sauntered towards her, leaning forward as he wrapped his fingers around his knife while almost laughing at how she pathetically recoiled at his nearness. “I’m growing really bored by this development. So why don’t we play a little game? It might be in your best interest to accept. After all, it might just be your means of escape.”

---

“Have you found her?” Tsuna asked as he landed between Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Chrome, his flames deactivating as he dropped to the ground. Hibari was probably off doing this own thing and so, it was unlikely that he’d join them. The expressions on all four of them were grim.

“Nothing.” Gokudera roughly stuffed his hands into his pockets, a heavy scowl on his face. “Stupid woman. Getting herself kidnapped of all things!”

“Let’s not start blaming her now,” Yamamoto said, trying to sound lighthearted, but the severity in his eyes belied his true feelings. “I’ve been sending Kojirou and Jirou to search for Haru, but no sign of her so far. Jirou can’t even pick up a scent.”

“Of course not! We’re dealing with professional assassins. As if they’d be stupid enough to leave behind something they can be tracked with.” Gokudera grunted. “But the thing that’s irritating me is why they’re making it so hard to find them when they want us to. They left I-Pin and the stupid cow alive for that.”

“A test of our skills?” Ryohei’s eyes seemed to light up. “We’ll beat it to the extreme! There are still some areas I haven’t checked out! I’m going to head there right now!”

“Wait, oniisan-!”

“Let him go, Tsuna,” Yamamoto chuckled and shook his head. “He’s probably all fired up since he knows Kyoko-chan will be worried if she discovers that Haru-chan’s been kidnapped. Not to mention, he’s probably antsy about how if Haru-chan was targeted, Kyoko-chan might be next.”

“Right,” Tsuna deflated a little. They were getting nowhere with this and the sun was quickly getting lower and lower. In a few meager hours, the sun will have set and then Haru will... Haru will...

“We’ll find her, boss,” Chrome whispered reassuringly, placing a hand on Tsuna’s shoulder.

“Of course we’ll find her,” Gokudera said cheerfully when he saw the worry on Tsuna’s face. “I swear it as your right-hand, Decimo. That stupid woman will be fine.”

“They’re right, so don’t worry so much.” Yamamoto clapped a hand on Tsuna’s shoulder. “Senpai’s also right. We still have a lot of places we haven’t checked yet.”

“R-Right...” Tsuna relented when, from the corner of his eye, he saw someone rushing down the streets. He turned his head, his eyes widening when he saw who it was rushing down the streets with concern emanating from her face. “Is that... Adelheid-san?”

---

“Run, run, run, as fast as you can.” Alexei sang as he strolled through the forest-like park. He was so smart, suggesting to play a little game of ‘hide and seek’ with the girl. Now he had something to amuse himself with while he waited for the brat and if he was lucky, by the time the brat got here, the girl would be screaming and writhing in pain on the floor. The sun was now completely down, after all, and the darkness had settled in. He’d been kind enough to even warn the brat that the girl would be harmed if he didn’t hurry. Alexei tilted his head towards his compatriots. “Feel free to join in.”

“Not me,” the tallest one grunted one while the other one walked up to Alexei.

“What happens if I find the girl first?”

“Whatever you want,” Alexei said with a chuckle. “Just don’t kill her. We need her alive if we want to torment that brat.”

There was a shrug in response. “Sounds good to me.”

The tallest one rolled his eyes behind his mask, leaning against a tree while the other two ran amongst the trees. Knowing them as well as he did, Alexei-sama will probably draw out the game as long as possible, psychologically tormenting the girl with fear until she was beyond repair. The other one would attempt to physically tear her limb from limb with the knife. It was possible to keep someone alive while doing that, after all. He wasn’t sure which one was the worst fate.

Well, whatever. Not his business.

“Really, how long are we going to waste time waiting for the stupid kid,” he grunted in boredom when he heard a small thud a few feet behind him. He turned around in time to see a punch aimed at his face. The strength behind it was staggering and he was sent flying. The assassin tried to recover, spinning around to land on his feet. Before he could even touch the ground, he felt an invisible force wrap around him. He was able to see a glowing figure a ways away and a clenched fist with the palm-side up. The fist then suddenly flipped itself, the palm-side now facing down, and the assassin felt his body hurtling to the ground.

What the-!

Enma walked towards the assassin, intensifying the gravitational field with each step. The assassin cried out in pain, the force crushing his bones into the ground as the earth gave away beneath him.

“Y-You-.” The assassin struggled to speak, but it was difficult to even breathe.

“Shut up,” Enma’s voice was cold and sounded distant even in his ears. This was one of the assassins who hurt Aka-chan and kidnapped Haru. He gritted his teeth. They hurt Aka-chan and kidnapped Haru to get to him. Again. Someone, someone innocent from everything, was getting dragged into this mess because of him. It was like with Mami all over again. Another person would be tortured horrendously and murdered in the blink of an eye right before him... but Enma wasn’t weak anymore.

He wasn’t helpless.

It was one thing if it was someone like Tsuna who got dragged into his affairs. Granted, Enma wouldn’t have been happy about that either, but at least Tsuna could defend himself. Haru... Haru couldn’t. She’d be completely defenseless and at their mercy.

He needed to eliminate the bastard before him.

He needed to get rid of him.

All those bloodthirsty maniacs that wanted to hurt the people precious to him needed to be gone.

He tilted his head towards the direction where he knew the other two had gone. There was no need for him to use his earth flames to detect their location. It’ll just be a waste of time and give him a headache. He’d find them on his own and bring them back to where the first assassin was pinned to the ground... and then he’ll make an example out of them so that no one will try to hurt the people he cared about again.

With that grim thought, he leaped into the air and flew into the darkness.

---

“Haru was kidnapped because of the Shimon Famiglia?” Tsuna gawked at Adelheid who was looking away, her clenched hand pressed tightly to her chest. “Wait, I don’t understand. Why would they kidnap Haru? And why would anyone want to attack you?”

“For vengeance,” Adelheid said grimly. “As you remember, during the inheritance of the Vongola rings, some of the families were attacked by us. Even if you all have forgiven us, others in the mafia world don’t forgive and forget so easily. Enma didn’t want you involved in any of this, so it was ordered to be kept a secret.”

Tsuna looked shaken by the information. He considered Enma a close friend, but what sort of burdens was he carrying that he didn’t know about? Enma had told him about the nightmares he had about his siblings and all the hardship the Shimon Famiglia endured due to being a ‘weak’ family. It had been hard to listen to, but Tsuna had sworn to himself that he’d find a way to make it better for Enma and his family. The Nono had also promised that as well, stating that it was a travesty what Enma and the Shimon had endured for so many years.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Adelheid said sharply when she saw the all too familiar look on his face. This boy was simply too similar to Enma, always trying to shoulder all the burden by himself. “It was Enma’s decision and one we all agreed with.”

“But why Haru?” Yamamoto interjected.

“...I’m not quite sure either. I presume it’s because those two have been spending more time together. If the assassins were watching Enma’s movements, it wouldn’t be surprising if they’d seen the two together and decided she’d be the perfect bait.” Adelheid then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. I need to find Enma. He shouldn’t be doing this alone.”

“You know where he... no, where they’re both at.” Tsuna looked at Adelheid and the girl’s eyes widened when she saw the flames burst around him. “Where are they?”

---

Enma settled onto the ground, the flames on his gauntlets dimming as he tried to blend in within the darkness. His natural senses picked up the presence of flame users. The other two assassins were probably close.

Good. He hadn’t seen Haru when he’d attacked the first one. Perhaps the other two knew. Once he got a hold of them, he’d force the answers out of them. Professional assassins were hardier than regular people, but it wouldn’t matter.

The dark expression on his face turned more severe.

One way or another, he’d get them to talk.

“Hahi, Enma-kun, is that you?” the sound of a light, feminine voice snapped him out of his anger and he yelped when arms wrapped themselves around his waist, roughly pulling him backwards into the shadows until he was lying down. He felt a warm, soft body behind him and couldn’t find it in him to struggle when he heard a familiar voice whisper in his ear. “Don’t make a sound Enma-kun. Those jerks will find us if you do.”

“H-Haru?” Relief rushed through him. Thank goodness, she was safe! He almost reached out to wrap his arms around her tightly, to hold her close to make sure it wasn’t all just a dream, when his face flushed and he stiffened at the realization that he was literally lying on top of her with her arms wrapped around him from behind.

“Hahi, Enma-kun, why are you here?” she instinctively held onto him tightly, both for comfort and out of panic. Meanwhile, Enma felt the blush on his face intensifying. “It’s dangerous here!”

“Is that you I hear, little girl? I’d have thought you’d known better than to talk while being hunted...” from a distance, a voice could be heard.

Haru’s eyes widened at the voice of one of her kidnappers and she covered Enma’s mouth with her hand, quietly shuffling around until she was now top of him. She looked over her shoulders warily, waiting to see the shadow of her enemy, oblivious to the fact that she was now lying on top of Enma, nearly straddling him by the waist when she’d slightly sit up to peer behind her. Haru had no idea why Enma was here, but she couldn’t let him get hurt because he got entangled in... whatever reason why she was here! She still didn’t really understand why she’d been taken in the first place. If not because of Tsuna, then who?!

Enma thought he was going to pass out from the sheer absurdity of it all. Haru was... Haru was on top of him. One minute, he’d been nearly blinded by his anger, and the next, the girl he’d been so anxiously worried about was literally sitting on top of him... p-pressing herself against him! Oh god, she felt so soft and smelled so nice too. It made him want to... wait, focus! Focus! He was here for a reason! Before he could pull her hand away from his mouth, she spoke first.

“Don’t worry,” she murmured quietly with such fierce determination that it left him speechless. “I’ll protect you.”

He couldn’t help but stare at her. Again, she was trying to protect him. Again, she was trying to comfort him. He could feel how her hand was trembling with fear, but she was still willing to put herself in harm’s way so that he’d be safe. It made his eyes soften as he slowly reached up to wrap his hand around her wrist. Haru looked at him in surprise as Enma slowly pulled her hand away.

...what was he doing?

He stared at her small hand, remembering how she’d held tightly onto the garbage can when she’d been protecting him from the bullies. And even now, her only concern was to protect him. Even though this was all his fault, she was focused on making sure he was safe and didn't feel scared.

Vengeance.

Hatred.

It was never about protecting anyone. If anything, it was all about him. It was to protect himself, to show that he could defeat his enemies so that they could never hurt him again.

Revenge... that was a word he needed to throw away. It had been what driven him for so long, but Tsuna had made it vanish. Or at least he thought he did. But the moment someone dear to him was about to be hurt because of him, it was as though all those horrible thoughts and feelings had come surging out of him, as if it had been waiting and lurking inside of him until the right moment.

But was that the type of person he wanted to be?

“No,” he murmured, staring into her eyes.

The warmth from her hand... the warmth she exuded from her very being... that was one of the things that made him fall so hard for her. She was so sweet and comforting. It made it easy for him to relax and for once, forget about all the terrors that chased after him. She was a reminder to him of what it was that he wanted to fight for. Not the past that could never be recovered, but the future, the brilliant bright future, of happiness and warmth.

“I’ll protect you...” Enma’s voice was gentle, but there was no doubt about the intense honesty in his voice. “This time and the next.”

Haru’s eyes widened when Enma then leaned forward and shyly brushed his lips against hers. The touch left as quickly as it came and he then sat up with her in his arms, holding her protectively against him. He held her a bit longer, savoring the fact that she was safe, before depositing her gently on the ground.

“Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“...E-Enma?” still stunned by the turn of events, her chocolate brown eyes followed as he left the hidden area underneath the fallen tree. The delayed blush bloomed on her face and a trembling hand reached up to touch her lips. She ended up sitting stupidly on the ground a lot longer than she’d wish to admit before looking back towards where he’d walked out, her face filled with panic and worry.

What did he mean about protecting her? Those were crazy and dangerous assassins out there! Granted, she’d listened to Enma’s unbelievable story, but she’d also witnessed how he’d been mercilessly bullied by those mean seniors! She knew Enma was being honest and trusted his words. Still, she couldn’t imagine him beating up the dangerous people like that!

W-What if he got hurt? What if he ended up injured because it was three against one? The odds were against him and she’d seen how fast they were when they tried to attack I-pin-chan!

“W-Wait, Enma!” Mind made up, Haru leaped to her feet and rushed out from her hiding spot. However, before she could make it far, she felt a hand grab her by the nape and shove her harshly onto the ground. She cried out in pain as her face dug into the pebbles on the ground, but still blearily forced her eyes to look behind her.

Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the ominous wooden mask and the arrow earring glowing under the moonlight.

Alexei tauntingly crooned. “Found you.”

Haru shrieked when he pulled away and kicked her on the shoulder, flipping her around so that she was on her back. Adrenaline made it easy to ignore the pain as she scrambled to sit up and crawl away until her back ended up slamming against a nearby tree. Her entire body was shivering with fear and she could feel the tears gathering in her eyes. There was a threatening pressure all around her, one that someone as sheltered as her would never understand was the suffocating heaviness that came with the bloodlust of a killer.

“Now... what shall I do with you?” Alexei laughed behind his mask. “I’ve been so bored throughout this entire mission and look, the sun is even down! Guess lover boy doesn’t care about you as much as I thought. Hm... though I was pretty sure I was right. That look in his eyes... yes... I’m sure he cares about you a lot. Perhaps he’s just too inept to actually find the location. How unfortunate.”

Haru could barely process what the man was saying, her brain screaming at her to run. She needed to escape. But how? Somehow, instinctively, she knew that even if she did try to run away, he’d catch her. He wouldn’t kill her immediately. The way he’d play around with his knives spoke loads on his personality. No, he’d torture her slowly... and he’d enjoy it.

He took a step forward and she flinched, pressing herself harder against the tree.

She whimpered in fear and pain when he roughly grabbed her by the hair, jerking it upward before letting his knife swing. Haru shrieked, clenching her eyes shut when she saw the gleaming metal move. Suddenly her head felt so light and free from the man’s grip. When she opened her eyes, she saw locks of brown hair floating in front of her.

“Hm... I wonder how much affection lover boy will have towards you after I’m done with you,” Alexei leaned towards her, the edge of his knife brushing against her cheek. “Should I start with your face? Or maybe underneath your clothes? After all, it’ll be a nice and lasting secret between us until you two get more intimate together... hm, then again, I guess there’s no point in giving you injuries that’ll scar since I’m going to kill you right now.”

The way he spoke so casually scared her out of her mind. Closing her eyes again, she could feel herself preparing to scream, to automatically call out for the name of the person that’ll save her. “-!”

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on her!” twin voices shouted and Haru’s eyes flung open, her tears flying into the air, as she looked up in time to see orange and red flames entwined together as two fists ended up punching both cheeks of Alexei’s face. There was a sickening crunch as the bones in Alexei’s face seemed to cave under the pressure before he was sent hurtling into the air.

“Y-You two,” Haru stammered, looking up at the brilliant figures of the two boys before her. Both of them were glowing with flames that surrounded them, the fire in the middle of their foreheads burning the brightest. She couldn’t help but watch in awe. “E-Enma-kun, y-you’re glowing like T-Tsuna-san.”

“Haru,” Enma rushed and kneeled before her, taking her trembling hands into his own. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry I was so late. Why did you follow me? I told you to wai-.”

Without a word, she leaped into his arms, a strangled sob escaping her while she wrapped her arms around his neck. She shuddered hard, letting out all her tears while she cried loudly into his chest. Enma froze at the abruptness before he looked bitterly at the ground, the regret clear on his face.

Tsuna stared at how hard Haru was clinging onto Enma and couldn’t help but falter. He’d seen red when he saw the assassin threatening Haru with the knife and had reacted without even thinking. But... this bitterness that was welling up inside of him as he saw Haru relying on Enma for comfort... he didn’t like it.

“Haru...” Tsuna began quietly, only to yelp when Haru abruptly grabbed his arm and jerked him forward as well, hugging both boys with her cheeks pressed against theirs.

“Scared,” she whispered. “I was so scared.”

“I’m sorry.” Enma murmured with his hand reaching out to settle on her lower back, a poor attempt to provide some comfort over this situation.

“No, it’s not your fault,” Tsuna protested immediately, aghast that he would even think that. “It’s mine. I should have... I should have been more aware of these things.”

“No, it’s not your fault.” Enma shot back. “This is my burden. I have to deal with it on my own.”

“No-.”

“Be quiet!” Haru shouted so loudly that it caused momentary deafness in their ears. “It’s not anyone’s fault but that crazy guy with the knife! S-So stop fighting. I... I...” the rest of the words was lost as Haru released another loud wail, her hot tears staining all three of their faces.

“H-Haru, it’s okay. We’re here now.” Tsuna reached out to wrap a comforting around her as well. “You’re safe.”

“A-And my hair,” she didn’t really care about her hair, but right now, she was blubbering and believed she had a right to do so after the traumatic event she just faced. “He chopped off all of my hair!”

“No, no, you look fine! He didn’t cut everything,” Enma protested quickly.

“Decimo!” from afar, Tsuna heard Gokudera’s voice. He tried to crane his neck in that direction, but found it impossible with Haru’s iron grip. “What the-? Stupid woman, let go of hi-!”

Gokudera’s words were drowned out by the loud crying and the silver haired boy found himself abruptly coming to a halt at her frantic sobs. That sounded much worse compared to when they were trapped in the future.

“Enma!”

“I-I’m fine, Adel.” Enma managed to say with a weak wave, also unable to turn around to greet his Guardian due to Haru’s hold onto him.

Adelheid looked at Enma with widened eyes before her expression transformed to that of pure with relief, the desperate worry she'd felt fading away. The way he spoke seemed so normal again. The venomous anger from before had all but evaporated. If she was a weaker woman, the relief of it all would have made Adelheid collapse to her knees, but instead, her eyes softened. Thank goodness.

“Looks like we made it in time then,” Yamamoto said with a smile. “Ryohei-senpai went to check on the third assassin, but Chrome and I saw the other two while we were coming here. I think you two got rid of them all.”

Tsuna briefly met Enma’s eyes as the two held Haru back and despite Haru’s tears, the two managed to bear a small smile. Yeah, Haru was safe now.

That was all that mattered.

---

Tsuna’s legs wobbled as he carefully carried Haru up the stairs to her room. He could hear Gokudera and Yamamoto both trying to reassure Haru’s dad downstairs, about how her haircut had been just an accident and the shock of it had made her faint. It was a reasonable explanation, especially when they factored in the fact that Haru had been with the kids earlier. Just an accidental prank that’d gone too far.

He nudged the door to what Haru’s dad had told him was her room and staggered over to her bed, nearly falling down with her as he carefully tried to place her down on it. While stronger than before he’d met his crazy tutor Reborn, his innate clumsiness was apparently impossible to beat out of him. Tsuna sighed in relief and carefully rearranged her limbs so that she was lying comfortably on the bed, nearly collapsing on the floor when he was done.

Chrome had left after seeing Haru was safe and Ryohei had decided to leave for home, wanting to check on Kyoko to make sure that she was safe as well. Normally, in the past, Tsuna would have wanted to know as well, to maybe even tag along with Ryohei to make sure Kyoko-chan wasn’t scared... but this time, he found that he didn’t want to leave Haru alone.

The way she’d cried and the fear she’d shown had made his heart clenched so tightly. Not to mention Enma...

---

“We should go check on the rest of our Famiglia,” Adelheid stated, placing a hand gently on Enma’s shoulders. “These assassins may have been taken out, but we don’t know if there are others still lurking out there.”

Enma stared at where Haru was leaning against Tsuna as they sat on a nearby park bench. She’d cried herself to sleep and it’d almost been impossible to pry her fingers off of both boys. His fists tightened at how she’d been dragged into this mess all because she had been so friendly with him these past few weeks. And yet, he couldn’t find himself to regret any of it. He regretted allowing her to be put in such a dangerous situation. He regretted not being so cautious when he was very much aware of the fact that he was a possible target from other families. But regretting to know her? To have become familiar with her kindness and acceptance of him?

No... he couldn’t find himself regretting that at all.

“Enma?” Tsuna questioned, noticing his gaze.

Enma slowly reached out and pressed the tips of his fingers on Haru’s cheeks, strands of her hair violently cut off from her head brushing against his knuckles. He could still remember the softness of her lips and the look of shock in her eyes. Blushing slighty, he smiled ruefully as he pulled away. “I’m counting on you to keep her safe, Tsuna.”

“Of course he’ll do that!” Gokudera snapped. As if his chosen sky would do anything less than that! Not to mention, it grated on his nerves that Yamamoto was snickering behind him.

However, Tsuna could only stare at Enma, giving him a brief nod. He didn’t need his hyper intuition to know that that touch hadn’t been a simple caress of reassurance. It meant something more, something even deeper than the casual crush he could have had towards Haru.

---

Something had happened during the moment Haru had been kidnapped. What, Tsuna didn’t know.

He turned to where Haru was slumbering, the tear stains still vividly apparent on her cheeks. Her hair had been haphazardly chopped, leaving parts of it longer than the rest. The forcibly shorn portions were very short, probably akin to the hairstyle Haru would adopt if the future from the alternate future with the evil Byakuran was to come true. It was a definite different look...

His face flushed when he realized where his thoughts were heading towards. Despite the sudden change in hair style, he actually still found her to be cute. Wait, why was he even thinking like that? He never thought about her in that manner!

At least until before Enma came into the picture.

Tsuna sighed, his shoulders slumping. He peeked at where Haru was sleeping and hesitantly lifted his arms, reaching out towards the same cheek where Enma had brushed his fingers. His heart thundered when he felt how soft her cheek was, only for his gaze to slightly darken when he felt the dampness from her tears.

The rage that had welled up within him when he’d seen Haru terrified and pinned against that tree... it’d been different from the time when he and Kyoko-chan had been attacked in the future. Back then, he’d been desperate to protect Kyoko-chan from the powerful enemy. He’d wanted to protect her smile, to keep her away from the danger and harm she hated so much. But earlier with Haru, he had been furious that someone had even tried to do something like this to her.

The feelings that’d erupted within him... it’d been so violent.

If Enma hadn’t been there... if Haru hadn’t taken precedence... what would have happened if he’d actually encountered one of the assassins by himself?

Tsuna shook his head wildly. He didn’t even want to consider what would have happened. A part of him, a part he was trying to desperately ignore right now, had an inkling of what he’d do and it wasn’t pretty. He could also remember Reborn’s warning of how he needed to control his temper even if he saw something he wouldn’t like.

His eyes widened when he realized that he was now pressing the palm of his hand on her face and immediately pulled back, clutching onto the wrist of the offending hand. What was he doing?! Haru wasn’t even awake! No, wait, he wouldn’t have done it even if she was awake! Why was it always like this with her? He could never predict his own actions around her and it... it drove him nuts.

Tsuna groaned quietly to himself as he settled back down on the floor.

-

“It’s about time you take love seriously,” Bianchi spoke icily. “Stop being afraid of your own feelings. Emotions change over the time, whether it’s a maturing love or a developing love. Stop thinking that you can only feel one way and not another. Love and affection comes in all form, you idiot. Even admiration can be a form of love... but who you love, who you stand as an equal and want to walk towards your future with... don’t mistaken the two with each other.”

-

He could still hear the steel in Bianchi’s voice as she lectured him.

Admiration...

Was that what he actually felt towards Kyoko-chan? She was the first girl who’d ever spoken to him, which caused her to snatch his heart away from him. He’d become immediately smitten by how she wasn’t repulsed by his pathetic reputation and actually believed in him. It also didn’t hurt that she was actually really cute and popular too. But... did that mean Haru would have stolen his heart from him as well if she’d been the first one to meet him? If Reborn had come just a bit earlier and Haru had approached him first because of seeing a ‘cute little baby’, would he have been taken by her first?

Why was he clinging so hard to his feelings towards Kyoko-chan?

He wanted... He wanted Kyoko-chan’s respect. He wanted her to look at him in awe and admiration... just as he looked at towards her. However, a part of him felt as though that day would never come. He’d put her in such a high pedestal that she’d always be just a goal he was chasing after, but there was nothing wrong with that. It just made him want to become a better person, to become someone like her.

But to actually... love someone. To find a partner in life to walk hand in hand with towards the future... was Kyoko-chan the one he was looking for? Was he trying to become a better person for her or for her respect?

With Haru... he already had her respect, but at the same time, she expected highly from him as well. She believed in him, probably even more than he ever believed in himself. In the future, the future Haru had believed that Tsuna would come to save them, even though the future him was technically ‘dead’. And sometimes, while hearing stuff like that brought forth an impossible and frightening pressure that he hated, it also pushed him to try and live up to those expectations because that was how much she believed in him.

“En... ma-kun...” a soft murmur brought him out of his thoughts and he saw that Haru was clutching onto the bedsheets, tears gathering in the corner of her closed eyes. “...come back...”

Tsuna quickly stood up and crawled closer to her. A nightmare? Enma had asked earlier as to why she’d followed him instead of having waited for him. Was she remembering the time they’d been separated? He tentatively grabbed her hand, holding it tightly to provide at least some form of comfort from her dreams.

“H-Haru?” he spoke uncertainly and felt her hand clutching onto his tightly.

“Enma-kun...”

Hearing her cry for Enma aggravated him, but he shoved his own selfish jealousy away and focused on the fact that she was actually having a nightmare about being kidnapped by a crazy assassin. Tsuna gritted his teeth. His worst fear was actually becoming reality. One of the things he’d always worried about was his friends getting into trouble because of his ridiculous mafia connections and while, technically, this was due to a bout concerning the Shimon Famiglia, he couldn’t forget how the assassins had basically attacked the Shimon under the Vongola’s name, even if they’d behaved independently.

In the future, Bianchi had shielded the girls from the more gruesome part of the danger. In the present time, he’d tried his best to make sure they weren’t dragged into another crazy battle... but this, no one could have ever foreseen.

“I’m so sorry Haru.” his words were tinged heavily with remorse and bitterness. He couldn’t allow something like this to happen again. They’d been so lucky that he and Enma had gotten to Haru in time. If they’d been even a minute late... flames flickered on his shoulders while his brown eyes became colder, resembling the moments when his hyper intuition would be active. “I won’t let anyone hurt you like that again.”

For once, Tsuna blocked all of his worries and doubts. Whether it was liking Kyoko-chan or liking Haru, right now, he didn’t listen to any of it. Instead, he allowed his instincts to guide him, to do what it was that he truly wanted.

He slowly lifted their joined hands together and pressed his lips against her knuckles, making a vow only for their ears to hear.

“I promise.”

---

::owari::

---

AN: Oh geez. This ended up being A LOT longer than intended. 

Haha, this is so hard. Can't Haru just have both of them? xD I can't do this!

Also, I basically fast-forwarded the scene where Tsuna found Haru cute near the end of the series. Well, he never said ‘cute’ per se (that was actually Bianchi), but he did say that he was flustered because of how intensely she was staring at him with her beautiful, alluring brown eyes... ahem... I might have taken some liberties right there as to how he might have described them...

Hope you guys enjoyed this very, very long post. xD Happy holidays!

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