Chapter 4

Haru woke up in her room the next morning. She winced as her eyes met the sunlight that got through her windows. She was fully awakened when the door opened and revealed her mother entering the room. Her mother looked at her with a smile.

"Good morning." Her mother greeted.

"Good morning." She lazily replied.

"Say Haru, who was that handsome young man that brought you here last night?"

"Hahi?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What does he look like desu?"

"He had silver hair, green eyes and a cool demeanor." Her mother replied with an excited look on her face.

Haru realized who her mother was referring to. She then remembered what had happened yesterday, how she almost got into big trouble, how she was saved and how she was carried by Gokudera. Gokudera, the last person she ever thought would help her, carried her in his arms as she held on to him tightly. She remembered the way he talked to her, that baffling feeling of warmth and… safety. She turned deep red as she thought of that moment.

Her mother caught her expression and slyly grinned.

"Was it your boyfriend?" She asked teasingly.

"Hahi? N-no, of course not! He's just a friend, that's all." Haru replied with her face still tinted red.

'Why did he save me?' She thought.

"Well, you better get going or you'll be late for school." Her mother said then left.

Haru immediately got up and readied herself for school.

When Haru arrived at the classroom, she saw Gokudera cheerfully talking to Tsuna. A blush crept into her cheeks when she realized that Gokudera was the first person her eyes caught. She tried to shrug it off and quickly went to her seat. Kyoko approached her with a smile.

"Good morning Haru-chan." Kyoko greeted.

"Good morning desu." Haru greeted back.

"So, how was your goukon?" Kyoko asked.

Haru's spirit dropped when she remembered the incident with the guy named Takano. She tried to look normal as she didn't want Kyoko to get worried.

"Ughh… It was fine desu." She lied.

"Did you find someone you liked?" Kyoko asked once more.

"Sadly, that's a no. I didn't find anyone cool or good-looking. Maybe my standards are too high." She faked a smile.

"I see." Kyoko smiled at her statement. "That's good actually."

Kyoko went back to her seat as the teacher came in. Gokudera also sat on his seat. He yawned and went into his usual sleeping position. Haru started scribbling something on a sheet of paper. When she was done, she folded and passed it on to Gokudera. Hearing a soft thud on his desk, Gokudera's eyes fluttered open and noticed the paper. He opened it and saw that it was from Haru. He glanced at her. She was looking at the teacher and seemed to be concentrating on the lesson, so he just read it.

Thank you, Gokudera-san. =)

-Haru

Gokudera then scribbled something on the paper. He flicked the paper with his finger, and it landed on Haru's desk. Haru got surprised by the flying paper. She glanced at Gokudera and saw that he was back to his sleeping position. She opened it.

You have a knack of doing reckless things, don't you? Stupid woman.

-Gokudera

Haru got pissed with his reply and was about to crumple it when she noticed the post script at the edge of the paper. It made her smile.

P.S. You don't have to force yourself to like someone else. These things take time. And it wasn't really a problem.

'Tsundere?' She thought and laughed.

The teacher noticed Haru laughing and called her attention.

"What's so funny Miura-san?" He asked sternly.

Haru jumped. "Ah! Sorry sir, I was just wondering how an octopus could write something contrary to its feelings." She smiled awkwardly at the teacher.

The class looked at her questioningly.

"Octopus?" They murmured. "What does she mean by octopus?"

The teacher got angry.

"Silence!" He snapped. "Miura, answer the tenth question!"

"Hahi?" She complained.

"Six hundred eighty" Gokudera mumbled.

Haru secretly glanced at Gokudera. She was surprised with the fact that he knew the answer without even looking at the question. Maybe he did, but that was quite fast considering that it was algebra. Maybe he was a genius after all.

"Six hundred eighty" She told the teacher.

"Good." The teacher said. "Please do bear in mind that I would no longer tolerate laughing in my class next time."

"Yes, sir." She said and sat down immediately.

Haru then looked at Gokudera. He was looking at her with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Are you calling me an octopus, stupid woman?" He asked in vexation.

"Why do you keep calling me 'stupid woman', ahodera?" She snapped.

"You even admitted it yesterday." He arrogantly said.

Haru then blushed as she remembered it again, Gokudera holding her in his arms.

"Do you have a fever or something?" Gokudera asked indifferently.

"No, it's nothing desu." She looked away.

"Fine, if you say so." Gokudera said coolly.

"Umm…. Hey Gokudera-san, can you go with me after school?" Haru asked.

"Ughh… Alright…" He answered.

"Thank you." Haru turned to him and smiled gratefully.

Gokudera was taken aback by her smile. He started to turn deep red. He covered his mouth and turned away to act like he was about to sleep again.

'Crap, what just happened?' He thought. 'Why is it beating fast?'

That afternoon, Gokudera and Haru had a walk in town together. It felt awkward walking together. Usually they would fight at times like this, but now they were eerily silent. Haru glanced at Gokudera and saw that he was glancing at her as well. They both looked away immediately.

'This is really awkward.' They thought in unison.

Gokudera broke the silence. "Where are we going anyways?"

"Ughh… We're going to a salon desu." Haru answered.

"Salon? Why are you taking me to a salon?" He asked grimly.

"Well I wanted to have a haircut, but Kyoko-chan and Chrome-chan are both busy desu. Since you're the only one who's not busy, I might as well take you with me right?" She asked.

Gokudera sighed. "Fine, where is this salon anyways?"

"Here desu." Haru said as she stopped in front of a glass door.

She pushed it open, and the scent of shampoos along with other hair products welcomed them. As they walked inside the salon, Gokudera was stunned to see a familiar face.

"Eh! Lussuria from Varia?" He exclaimed.

"Hi!" Lussuria greeted.

Gokudera's jaw almost dropped to the ground. What the hell was a Varia member doing in a salon? Suddenly, he heard annoying laughter fill the room.

"Ushishishishi"

Gokudera turned around and saw that it was his enemy from the Vongola ring match, Belphegor. He was using knives to cut a customer's hair. (A.N.: Kids, do not try this at home. When cutting a person's hair, please use scissors.)

"Why if it isn't the hurricane bomb." Belphegor said.

He was still cutting the costumer's hair, not looking at it this time. He held one of his knives up, and it sharply gleamed under the fluorescent. "You want a haircut?"

"Why would I want a haircut from you?" Gokudera exclaimed. "Why are you even here? Don't you have people to assassinate?"

"My,my, Sawada's storm guardian, we're on vacation right now." Lussuria calmly said.

"This is what you call vacation?" Gokudera sweatdropped.

Haru approached Lussuria. "Luss-chan, can you please give me a haircut?"

"Luss-chan?" Gokudera repeated in shock.

"Sure my dear!" Lussuria replied and led Haru to a chair in front of a huge mirror.

'Is this girl mad? She's getting her hair cut by a trained assassin!' He thought.

As Lussuria asked Haru on what kind of haircut she wanted, Gokudera glanced at Bel. He just finished styling the hair of his customer. The customer now had the same eyeless hairstyle as he did.

"What the?" Gokudera remarked.

The customer looked pleased with her new haircut. She paid Bel and left with a blissful smile on her face. When Gokudera looked outside, he had the biggest surprise of his life. The stores across the road were out of the ordinary. There was an electronic store. His jaw dropped once again to see Levi fixing televisions.

'This must be some sort of nightmare I'm having. I have to cut down on the midnight snacks.' He thought.

Beside the electronic store was a fish shop. There, he saw Squalo chopping fish while Mammon received all the cash. Along the sidewalk, there was Gola Mosca holding a signage for a famous toy store. There were Varia members almost everywhere. He wanted to bang his head on the wall to wake up from the damn nightmare.

'What do these people think of vacation, vacation from killing people?' He thought.

"Alright, it's done!" Lussuria turned the chair and revealed Haru's new haircut.

Even if it was done quite fast, the haircut was actually good and professional looking (unexpectedly). Haru's hair was cut short. It was now barely below her ears. Unlike her old haircut, this one made people focus on her face. It placed emphasis on her beautiful eyes and bright smile.

Gokudera was captivated by the sight of Haru. To him, she looked more mature and… beautiful. He covered his mouth once more to prevent people from seeing him blush.

"Ushishishi" Bel laughed. "Hurricane-kun here is blushing."

"No I'm not, you knife bastard!" Gokudera denied.

Haru approached Gokudera and asked, "What do you think desu?"

He looked away. "It… It's different du'h."

"Are, Tsundere?" Lussuria teased.

"Shut up!" Gokudera snapped.

Haru paid Lussuria and smiled. "Thanks Luss-chan."

"You're welcome Haru-chan." Lussuria said as he received the cash. "Just come back when you want another haircut. I'll give you a discount when I'm around." He winked.

"Yeah yeah, come on." Gokudera grabbed Haru's hand and dragged her out of the salon.

Lussuria sighed as he watched them leave. "Youth"

"He's quite dishonest, isn't he?" Bel added while cutting the hair of another customer.

"They're quite cute though." Lussuria smiled and went back to business.

Haru and Gokudera walked through town in silence. Haru looked at Gokudera's hand which held hers tightly. He didn't look at her and just went straight ahead. Haru smiled inwardly and held his hand in return. Gokudera noticed her grip on his hand but didn't look at her. He was scared that if he did, he might heat up even more.

'Damn it. This stupid woman is trying to drive me crazy.' He thought.