Dolphin Under the Moon
By xxkoffeexx
Summary: It was like a moonlit rendezvous at the baseball field, except, not. YamaHaru.
Disclaimer: I don't own.
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As Yamamoto walked home one evening after a long day of baseball, he realized that his life quite literally revolved around the sport. He was always aware of his obsession, but recently he noticed a lot more calluses on his hands formed by swinging the bat countless times, and a whole lot of grass-stained clothes piled in his room.
Not to mention what happened that morning.
Reborn demanded a rigorous training session on the baseball field, and Tsuna was forced to come along. Gokudera made his appearance shortly after the Tenth arrived, and soon everybody else was on the field too.
Yamamoto grinned in anticipation. Anything to do with baseball and friends was all good in his mind.
After dodging, running, throwing, blocking, and doing whatever Reborn told him to do, Yamamoto overheard Haru, Kyoko and Bianchi chatting on the benches. He jogged by quickly behind them, not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation. He spied the stray ball and headed towards it.
"…Yamamoto-san is the captain, right?"
Well then.
"He's quite good," said Kyoko. "Our baseball team always wins against other schools."
"Hmph." Bianchi moodily crossed her legs, watching Reborn. "Sportsmen are too high maintenance. They live for nothing but sports and fame. If I were Yamamoto, I'd follow Reborn's footsteps and forget about baseball."
"Yamamoto-san cares about his friends. Haru thinks that is very important in a person."
He quirked a smile at Haru's firm tone, bending to pick up the ball.
"But sometimes…" Kyoko broke off, almost wistful. "Sometimes, I wish my brother wasn't so focused on boxing."
"Oh, Reborn is so wonderful," sighed Bianchi. "Look at his strength and beauty!"
"Do you think Yamamoto-san is married to baseball?" asked Haru.
Yamamoto almost fumbled with the baseball.
Bianchi laughed. "Good one. Women can never replace sports."
Kyoko remarked, "That would be lonely. To live for only one thing in life can be very sad."
Silently, Yamamoto withdrew from the benches.
If he did live for baseball, he thought, then was he lonely? Not really. Playing baseball made him happy. He loved baseball. And even if he did feel lonely later on, he would still have the diamond field as his companion and the bat as his comfort.
Maybe Haru was right. Maybe he was married to baseball.
Yamamoto sighed into the quiet evening air, the stars twinkling through the cloudless sky and the crescent moon glowing in the corner of darkness. He slowed down as he approached the baseball field that was occupied just that morning. It was empty now, of course, and the maintenance staff wouldn't clean it until the next… He came to a stop as he stared at the small figure standing alone on the field. Blinking away the confusion, he wondered who could be at the field at this time of night, and stepped closer. The figure was petite and short, and his sharp eyes made out the familiar girl's uniform and the hurried movements of her arms.
Biting back a curse, he broke into a jog and kept his eyes on her as he entered the field, his sports bag thumping silently against his body. She didn't seem to notice someone was approaching, so intent was she in staring at the dim ground.
"Haru," he said grimly, slowing down once he was close enough to see her shocked expression. "It's dangerous. Why are you out here alone?" Then he swallowed his next words. It was light enough to see the tear stains on her cheeks and the anxious puffiness of her eyes. "What's wrong Haru?"
"Yamamoto-san…" Her voice was hoarse from crying, and his stomach lurched unpleasantly. If something happened to her, if she was hurt, if she was scared… He stepped forward, and she suddenly hiccupped, "I'm sorry. I lost it! I don't know when or how, but I was always careful, I promise! I'm not that irresponsible, I still keep track of things. But when I went home I couldn't find it anywhere, and I even walked everywhere in town to see if I accidentally dropped it—"
She was babbling now, and he caught the hint of panic in her voice as she continued talking. He had never seen Haru like this, not even when they visited the future. To be honest, it hurt a lot more than he thought it would to see her distressed.
He stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders firmly, "Haru, calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me everything from the beginning. I'll listen." He smiled encouragingly at her when she glanced up in surprise.
With a deep breath, she told him.
After hearing her story, he was silent for a moment, before saying slowly, "So basically, you lost this charm that your parents gave you when you were little. And it's very important to you. And you came here at night, all alone, to search for… a keychain. Alone."
She nodded.
"At night."
"Yes."
He sighed, wondering how to tell her what he was going to say next. "Haru… that's kind of stupid."
As he expected, she immediately flared up. "It's not stupid! That charm is Haru's life! Haru's everything! My parents got it handmade especially for my birthday, and I promised to cherish it…" She trailed off and her eyes watered. "But now I lost it. It's all my fault. My parents will hate me!"
Yamamoto was patient. He learned to be patient when serving customers at his father's restaurant, and he learned to be patient with the new baseball players on his team. Now he was being patient with Haru's naïve blindness.
"Hey, Haru, do your parents love you?"
She balked at his question, wondering if he got hit in the head by a baseball or two. "Of course they love me!"
He nodded. "Good. Then they won't hate you for anything you do."
"But they trusted me to keep that charm safe—"
"And maybe they'll be upset," he agreed, his dark eyes gazing patiently at her. "But don't you think they will be more upset if they found out you were searching for it by yourself, in the dark? Do you think they'll be happy that you exposed yourself to danger, just to look for an object? That keychain is not more important than you, Haru." His words had begun to speed up with impatience, fueled by the inward worry and anger he felt towards her foolishness. Then he took a deep breath and said gently, "I was worried when I saw you here. How much more worried do you think your parents would be?"
He let this sink in. Haru was a smart girl; a little forgetful and carried away by her emotions sometimes, but she knew what she had to do. And he could tell by the sagging of her shoulders that she realized the truth of his words.
"I guess… I guess you're right," she sniffled, smiling at him. "Haru was stupid. The charm isn't that… important. Haru will go home now. Thank you, Yamamoto-san."
Now he felt a prick of guilt. Clearly the keychain was very important to her. After all, it was so important that Haru didn't even think of the consequences of searching for it in the dark. Yamamoto thought for only a second before deciding.
"What does the keychain look like?"
Haru blinked. Then she slowly broke into a smile as she said hopefully, "It's very cute! It's a small, blue dolphin made out of glass, and it hangs on this black silk chain with a small metal clasp."
"Dolphin, huh?"
She nodded, her ponytail bouncing as she began scanning the ground for the charm again. "Dolphins symbolize harmony and communication, among other things. They live in communities and are great at communicating with one another. Humans learn how to harmonize with each other through dolphins. If people could learn to communicate and understand each other, there would be no conflict or wars." She bent down to peer at a patch of grass by the edge of the field, not noticing Yamamoto watching her. "Dolphins are peaceful within their community. My parents wanted me to become a peaceful person, just like the dolphins."
Yamamoto mulled over her words, surprised by the significance of the keychain. "Peace," he said after a moment, "would be nice."
"If only we were all dolphins," agreed Haru.
He hid a smirk. "Don't dolphins also fight? They attack sharks."
She frowned. "Only when the sharks are threatening them."
"If you're a dolphin, you can't make costumes anymore Haru," he teased. She stood up and lifted her chin at him.
"Of course Haru could! There are plenty of seaweed and seashells and jellyfish to put together an outfit." He chuckled and she huffed, "It's a wonderful idea! Haru once designed a sea-costume for a school play. It was made out of clams and dried seaweed…"
They stayed at the field for half an hour, slowly combing the area for the blue dolphin while they chatted lightheartedly. When Yamamoto finally spotted the charm, which was half-buried in a patch of sand near the benches, Haru felt almost disappointed. The charm had not seemed so important to her as it did an hour ago, and she enjoyed the time she spent with Yamamoto, laughing and teasing about random things under the moonlight. She wanted to spend more time with him, talk with him, laugh with him…
"Thank you so much," she said as he dropped the keychain in her hand. They watched as the blue dolphin sparkled prettily under the stars, and for a moment they shared a deep connection, a contented peace that was witnessed by none but the moon.
He offered to walk her home, since he was heading in her direction anyways, and so they walked together. Yamamoto stayed on her left side, near the road, and did not move away when her shoulder occasionally bumped his arm.
"Yamamoto-san," she suddenly said, "what were you doing at the baseball field?" It occurred to her that he was staying out late just like herself.
"I was at the batting cage, practicing my swings." He glanced at her, noticing her shiver slightly. "Are you cold? I can give you my jacket if you want."
She shook her head, "I'm not that cold."
There was a short silence.
"You really like baseball," she commented, clasping the keychain in her hand. "Do you practice every single day?"
"Basically, yeah," he shrugged. "You can say that I'm married to baseball."
To his amusement, she squeaked and almost dropped the dolphin. She didn't know that he'd heard her conversation that morning, and it made her embarrassment all the more funny to him.
"What's the matter Haru?" he queried all too innocently when she didn't respond.
She turned a little red and her voice was higher than usual. "Nothing. Actually, it is kind of cold. Maybe Haru should run home to get warmer." She sped up as she talked, but Yamamoto easily matched her stride with his longer legs, stifling a smile.
"Do you want my jacket? It'll keep you warm," he offered again. She refused, trying to speed up subtly. "Of course, it's kind of smelly since I wear it during practice. After all, baseball is my life. I've been practically engaged to baseball since I was a kid." He turned his head and grinned at her, and she avoided his eyes. "Sportsmen are high maintenance, don't you think? All we ever think about is sports and fame." He was quoting Bianchi word for word, and Haru was staring at him in gradual realization and horror as he continued. "Women can never replace sports, I heard, which is why sportsmen are lonely for the rest of their lives—"
"Haru gets it," she interrupted hastily, definitely blushing. "Hahi! It's really cold! Haru wants to run now—" In her fluster, Haru tripped over a crevice in the sidewalk. Yamamoto quickly grabbed for her, his arms circling her shoulder and waist, and balanced her carefully.
"Running in the dark is not a good idea," he told her gently. He slid his arm fully around her shoulders, pulling her slightly closer to his body. "Besides, this should be warm enough. Right?"
"Y-yes—um—" Haru was at a loss for words, but she didn't move from his semi-embrace.
"We're like dolphins," he added thoughtfully, looking up at the moon. It was quite bright for being so tiny. "Drawing warmth from each other in order to survive."
"Yamamoto-san," Haru managed to break out of her daze, "That's humans. Dolphins live underwater."
"Haha! Same thing, same thing."
"Besides," she continued mischievously, the twinkle back in her eyes again, "dolphins are not married to baseball."
"Neither are people."
It took a moment for that to sink in. Something in his tone of voice and the look in his eyes made her duck her head, suddenly shyer than she was all evening since she was with him. Haru let herself be pressed a little more into Yamamoto's side, feeling the warmth from his body and his hand on her shoulder soak into her skin like sunlight.
He was tall, strong and friendly, and she never saw anybody smile as much as he did. No wonder Tsuna liked being around him all the time. Being with Yamamoto was pleasant and peaceful, and she felt…
She breathed in, took a whiff of his scent, and became calm. Her fingers tightened around the dolphin charm, grateful that she'd lost it. Because, while it was important before, it had a new level of significance now.
Her arm slowly reached up and wrapped around his back, bringing their torsos closer than before. It was more comfortable, she reasoned, and he was her friend. Her gesture didn't have to mean anything.
But when he tightened his hold on her shoulders in response, she smiled.
The moon beamed.
END
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A/N: Whoa there, YamaHaru, that was a lot of fluff to take in one sitting. My heart was beating pleasantly for this happy couple, and I was urging on Yamamoto: come on, do something! And he did. And Haru! I was so proud of that girl in the end… then again, I AM writing this. Eh.
Haru's reference to herself fluctuates depending on her mood, I think. In my opinion. And she only said 'hahi' once, so maybe she's a bit OOC?
Anyways, the POVs are sort of all over the place, and I really typed this all in one sitting, so… there might be lots of mistakes. Either way, I hope it was a good read. Thanks for reading (and reviewing).