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.
Silent
Melodies
HappyFace1886
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.
“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.
::owari::
