"Why didn't you listen to him?" Gokudera reprimanded her as soon as he entered the bedroom. Haru laid on the bed with her eyes fixated on the floor, seemingly lost in her trail of thoughts. Her eyebrows furrowed and closes her eyes.

"I'm tired, Gokudera-kun. Please, I just want to sleep."

"No, we will talk about this right now. Don't you see how much you're hurting him? He made a mistake and he regrets it. Why can't you find it in yourself to forgive him?"

Haru's eyes snapped up at him, mortified at his words. Her mouth agape and her eyebrows furrowed. She had just calmed herself but could feel the anger building inside her chest once again. She abruptly stood up and strode towards him.

"I'm hurting him? This is nothing compared to what he did to me, I had to raise a child alone!"

"That was your fault! You had the choice to tell Tsuna about it and you know damn well that he would've done everything to help you if only he knew, yet you chose not to tell him. Why?" The silver haired man sneered. "Was that some sort of retaliation? Are you fucking kidding me? Now you're preventing him from seeing your son, so what? So he would chase after you like you did back then—"

It didn't hurt, yet it completely stunned him. For all the years that they've been fighting, this was the first time Haru had ever slapped him. It didn't hurt, but seeing her cry did. He wanted to stop. He wanted to apologize for the things he'd said, realizing that he might've gotten too far. He wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he didn't. He couldn't. Gokudera began to leave, but stops halfway. He slightly turns his head to glance at her. Her face was buried in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. He took a breath, he needed to say one more thing.

"It was for your own sake why he left, that's all I have to say. If you want to know why, you should hear it from him directly."


Morning came but Gokudera didn't.

That night, Haru couldn't sleep. How could she after what Gokudera said? Tsuna had to leave for my sake? What did he mean by that? She figured she would ask Gokudera about it, but since their fight he hasn't gone home. He wouldn't return any of her calls or messages and her son had been asking her non-stop were his father had gone to, and each time she lied telling him that he had left for work and it was tentative when he'd be back. Although it wasn't entirely false, Gokudera might really be at work these past few days and he might've been staying at their base in Namimori. Nevertheless these were all just assumptions and the uncertainty is making her anxious.

Tuesday afternoon, the doorbell rang as Haru was busy cleaning in the kitchen. She hurried to the entrance, delighted that Gokudera finally decided to come home. She opens the door with a huge smile on her face but it soon fades away as the man she saw on the other side was not the person she expected to see.

"What are you doing here? Didn't I—"

"I'm not leaving until you hear my explanation " Tsuna stated. "Please…"

'It was for your own sake why he left, that's all I have to say. If you want to know why, you should hear it from him directly.'

Haru's thoughts was still a mess and was incapable of making a coherent decision, but her curiosity got the best of her and she hesitantly welcomed him inside. They settled in the living room and there he explained everything.

He stated his reasons for abandoning her unexpectedly while Haru remained silent, listening intently word by word. Her eyes downcast on the table as his words slowly sunk into her mind, gradually feeling guilt-ridden for blindly accusing him all these years.

"I didn't want to put your life in danger and that would be impossible if you continued to involve yourself with me. I realized from the day when you took the bullet for me that I wouldn't always be there to protect you, especially not when I'm still weak. My enemies would use that as an opportunity to get to me, that's why I had to leave you…" he explains, "Please Haru, believe me. I still lov—"

"That's enough," Haru smiles but she still avoided his gaze. She didn't want to hear what he meant to say next. She didn't want to get herself confused furthermore. "I'm sorry for not giving you the chance to explain. But I understand everything now." She gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Haru"

"But that doesn't mean that we'll go back to the way we were," She finally looks up at him. Her eyes staring straight into his. "What we had in the past is over. I'm not the Haru that used to mindlessly chase you around," she said with a short laugh. "And you're not the Tsuna that I…" she trails off her mood turning dim again. "Although I wouldn't deprive you of your right to see Sora," she cleared. "Still, I hope you would take things slowly"

It wasn't exactly the kind of reaction Tsuna was hoping to receive from her, but knowing that she had finally forgiven him even if just a bit was enough.

"Has Gokudera been staying at the mansion lately?" Haru sheepishly asks.

"Yes. I told him that he didn't really need to but you know Gokudera, you can't really change his mind when he decides on something." Tsuna lets out a laugh but stops as he saw the worried look on his face. "Is there something wrong?"

"Actually… we had a fight. After you left…" she trails off. "And I think he doesn't want to come home because he's still mad at me. It's reassuring to know that he really is in the mansion; that he's safe. But I still can't help but worry."

"I see," Tsuna felt an odd feeling arising in him, he had a feeling what it was but did not want to confirm it. He didn't want to complicate things buy making assumptions, so he decided to push his feelings aside. He took out his phone and called his right-hand man.

Moments after, Gokudera arrived and was surprised to see how casual Tsuna and Haru were acting as they conversed in the living room. As soon as his presence was noticed, Tsuna stood up and bid the two goodbye.

"You can stay for dinner if you'd like,"

The two men stared at her with eyes wide as saucers. She awkwardly stood with a light tint of red in her cheeks and her eyes looking up at them sheepishly. Tsuna smiled.

"As much as I want to, I can't. I'm sorry, I still have some meetings to attend to and reborn would kill me if I don't show up on time."

Haru slightly nodded. Tsuna took a step towards her and was about to wrap his arm around her but stops as he notice her flinch with an alarmed look on her reddened face. So instead he ruffled her hair affectionately. "Thank you, Haru."

Haru gave him a slight smile and the two watched him drive away, waving until he was finally out of sight before entering the house.

"He explained everything" he hears Haru mumble.

Gokudera turned but didn't say anything. She continues. "He said he left because he wanted to protect me from his enemies, from the predicament of being involved with the mafia" Haru looks up at him. "Is that true?"

"What do you think?" Gokudera replies, slithering his hands in his pocket as he leans on the wall beside her.

"I…" Haru trails off, "I don't know…" she sighs covering her face with her hands. "I just wish he told me." she mumbled into her hands but was clear enough for the silver haired man to understand.

"Told you what? That he's going to leave for your own sake?" Gokudera voiced, "And if he did? Do you think you would just go along with that?" he asked.

No. Haru answered in her mind. Haru wouldn't accept Tsuna's decision so hastily. She would still stay by his side even if it means having to go through all the danger with him. It sounds unwise but it was the truth. She also desired to be stronger in order for her to protect herself and her friends.

And if the time will come, she would be the one to protect him.

That was her resolve.

"I'm sorry, you know… that night,"

"That doesn't matter. You've settled things with Tsuna so let's just forget that night ever happened. So about you and boss" Gokudera stared at her, letting her ponder for a moment before finally saying, "are you going to give him a chance?"


Finally another update! Sorry this took so long, exams week just started and I barely get a wink of sleep because of my school work (I'm an architecture student, just so you know and sleeping isn't really in our vocabulary lol). I'll try uploading another chapter right after this one to make it up to you. Just a heads up, I've only gone over this story once, so there might be a few grammar mistakes or typographical errors. So please forgive me

To Hatake Kaisa, I'm grateful for your consistent support on this story. To be honest, I was inspired to finally continue this after reading your private message, it was like my trigger and I really want to thank you for that.

To Fairy Water, thank you for your review. I myself feel like the pacing is a bit slow and I'm working on that along with the tension. and your review doesn't sound too harsh at all and I really appreciate that cause I'm not too good at criticisms and tend to lose interest once someone harshly points out a flaw in my work.

To those that I forgot to mention, Thank you for all your support, you guys are the reason why I continue updating this story.

Just like always, REVIEW FAVORITE AND FOLLOW! :D