AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've hit a little bit of a writer's block over the past few days with what I'm working on (don't worry Oncoming Storm is done, it's the followup that's being a pain), so I decided to play with something else for a little bit and since there is a distinctive lack of 8086 (Yamamoto & Haru) love and so I've decided to try and add a little more to it and this story just kind of popped into my head and since I was already on updating Oncoming Storm, I decided I'd toss this one up as well.

This is the first in what promises to be a series of 8086 drabbles because, while 5986 is still my favorite pairing, there's just something really sweet about Yamamoto and Haru (that and I'll take pretty much any excuse to write Haru stories for some odd reason *laughs*).

Thank you for taking the time to read (and review if you can).

Goldfish

Haru was missing.

Yamamoto was the first to notice that the brunette had somehow slipped away as they were moving down the aisles looking at the various festival booths. He glanced and saw Tsuna wrapped up in Kyoko as always and Gokudera was busy trying to show off his talents for the Judaime with one of the games, promising Tsuna he'd win the grand prize for him. They'd all come to the festival together, but Ryohei had managed to get himself lost fairly early on and they hadn't found him yet.

Brown eyes ran over the crowd and he thought he saw a familiar form slipping in between the booths for scooping goldfish and the noh masks. He went to inform the others he'd be right back, but they weren't really paying attention. He scowled a bit and then moved away from the group himself, his eyes on the dark space between the two tents.

Yamamoto's footsteps were silent as he slipped between the two booths and heard a soft sobbing from a bit deeper in. He moved over the ground and, as he suspected, found Haru huddled miserably in the shadows cast by the canvas walls.

"Haru."

"Hahi!"

Haru jumped up at the sound of his voice and whirled around, the toe of her sandal catching in a clump of grass. Yamamoto's quick reflexes allowed him to catch her before she humiliated herself by falling face first into the dirt. "Hey," he said quietly. "You shouldn't wander away like that…"

Haru scrubbed her sleeve across her eyes and glared up at him. "Haru is fine. They won't care," she stated. "They're wrapped in their own world, I can't…"

Yamamoto reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief and handed it to her. "You did know about what was going on before you agreed to come," he pointed out.

Haru took the handkerchief and glared up at him. "If you just came to rub it in, Haru doesn't need you here."

"Maa, maa…Haru…" Yamamoto trailed off and sighed. "I didn't come here to rub it in. I was just worried when you disappeared like that."

"S-sorry," Haru mumbled and used the scrap of cloth to wipe her eyes and then took a deep, trembling breath. "I thought I could handle it, seeing those two together like that. They've been going out for two months now…"

A smile quirked Yamamoto's lips, Haru had dropped the third person reference in her speech just like she always did when she dropped her guard. "It's okay to cry," Yamamoto told her.

Haru shook her head fiercely. "No, I should be over it. I knew the second I saw him look at Kyoko-chan I didn't have a chance," she said. "I knew that it would always be one-sided, but I kept fooling myself that some of those smiles really were just for me. Two months should be more than enough time for me to be able to watch them without my heart shattering. I don't want anyone to see me like this!"

Yamamoto reached out and touched her cheek lightly, his thumb brushing away another tear that made its way down her face. "That isn't the face of someone whose heart isn't shattered," he said. "Here, I won't look…"

He reached out and drew her against him and she stiffened for just long enough for his arms to loosen to let her go before he felt her hands wrap in the material of his t-shirt and then the tears came. Yamamoto tightened his arms around her fractionally as the slender girl sobbed against his chest. He didn't understand most of what she was saying between the sobs that wracked her, but he figured it was something along the lines of how it's not fair and why couldn't Tsuna-san notice her instead of Kyoko?

Haru finally drew back and blew her nose into his handkerchief. "Haru's sorry, your shirt is all wet and…"

"Don't worry about it," Yamamoto said. "Feel a little bit better?"

Haru hesitated and then nodded slowly. "A little bit, but…"

"You don't want to go back to them right now?" he guessed.

Her head inclined a little and he nodded. "You don't have to go back, I'll stay with you," Yamamoto volunteered. "That way you can still see the Festival. You were pretty excited about it earlier."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Haru asked in a tiny voice.

He shook his head. "I don't mind at all, I was getting tired of being ignored too," he said.

She managed a smile and Yamamoto led her to the public restrooms so she could go wash the tear tracks from her face though her eyes would be red and puffy the rest of the night. She emerged a few minutes later and they headed back into the crowd of festival goers and Yamamoto chatted with her about everything but Tsuna and Kyoko.

They stopped off at a booth where you had to knock the bottles down with a baseball and Yamamoto paid the money for the tries and managed to knock all three targets down in quick succession. His reward was a huge bear which he foisted off on Haru saying that he didn't have room for such things at home and she'd giggled and buried her face in its fur for a long moment after thanking him. They continued through the festival, Haru using the bear's lap as a seat when they paused for chicken yakitori while Yamamoto leaned casually against one of the poles. Stopping by the goldfish booth, Haru shoved the bear into Yamamoto's arms and informed him that it was her turn to get a prize. He chuckled as she shoved the sleeves of her jacket up and accepted the net and watched as she got three goldfish in succession before the paper net broke and she beamed up at him as the proprietor handed her the bags—she'd requested one of the fish be put in a separate bag.

With a flourish she presented the goldfish to Yamamoto. "You might not have room for the bear, but surely you have room for a goldfish, right?" she asked him.

He laughed. "I can probably find room for that," he said and accepted the bag and handed Haru the bear again.

They left the festival before the end and Yamamoto had taken the chance to send a text to Tsuna to let him know that Haru hadn't been feeling well and he escorted her home. They stopped at the gate leading into Haru's house and she glanced up at him. "Haru's sorry she pulled you away from the festival so soon…" she said.

"Don't be," he said.

"Do you want to come in for some tea and soba?" she asked. "I made some earlier for Father and I'm sure there's plenty left."

Yamamoto hesitated for a moment and then nodded and she led the way in. She hurried upstairs to put the bear in her room and then dug out some old goldfish bowls she'd gotten when she was younger and had held other goldfish she'd won in the past, there was even some of the chemicals to balance the water out. She filled the bowl and set it up; putting the two goldfish she was keeping into the bowl on the table next to her bed. She grabbed the extra bowl and the chemicals and found Yamamoto still standing in the genkan.

"Come in already," she said. "Haru's already invited you."

"Sorry," Yamamoto chuckled and slipped his shoes off and put his ever-present bat bag down on the floor as well.

"If you don't have a bowl for your fish, I have one here you can take," Haru said. "And these drops will balance the pH in the water so that it's a proper living environment for a fish. Father never let Haru have any pets except for goldfish even though Haru wanted a puppy, so I have extra. Please take it?"

Yamamoto accepted the bowl with a smile and set it and the goldfish she'd gotten him on the table.

"Make yourself at home," Haru smiled. "I'll make some tea."

Yamamoto did as he was bid and Haru returned a while later with a laden tray. She set it down and served everything before settling at the table next to him.

The silence that fell between them as they ate became a little heavy and Yamamoto wondered if he should find reason to leave.

"Thank you."

The words were voiced suddenly and Yamamoto nearly dropped his chopsticks. "For what?" he asked.

Haru turned to him and gave him a tremulous smile. "For tonight," she said. "I'm sorry I was such a bother…"

"It didn't bother me at all," Yamamoto assured her, "and I got a goldfish out of the bargain. So we're even."

Haru giggled.