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Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Any characters and/or familiar plots in this fan fiction belong to Akira Amano. Anything unfamiliar with the audience belongs to me.
Chapter 9, Omake
Age: 12
"Lately…" I jumped at the sudden contact of Shiro's hand on mine, the spoon clattering noiselessly onto the white tablecloth. "Haru-chan...has been wearing a sad expression on her face…" The fifteen year old boy ran his fingers along my palm and up my wrist before retreating and simply clutching my fingers. The movement has been slow enough for his words to properly process in my mind, and by then, I was running my thumb over his knuckles to keep me grounded.
I was suddenly very, very cold, and Shiro's warmth was very, very comforting...
"Sorry. I wasn't aware…" A sad expression...? I was surprised at the idea, and yet...not entirely.
"How's everything going over here?" I had been vaguely aware of the waitress approaching, but it was still a surprise to see her here—so suddenly—in front of us. Her eyes flickered to our joint hands on top of the table before quickly turning away to our faces.
A nervous tick.
I immediately felt self conscious and tried to pull away, but Shiro's grip held firm. I tried to catch his eye, feeling an uncomfortable heat crawl up my neck at the attention, but he was already smiling at her. It was charming smile that made him confident and handsome and reminded me of his high class raising all over again. "We're fine, thank you."
"Ah…" She turned to me, a blush on her cheeks, to find me smiling politely at her. She turned a little redder and mumbled a, "Just let me know if you need anything," before walking away with a too quick stride.
I relaxed with a sigh—
"Are you embarrassed?"
—only to turn back to the frowning Shiro across from me. I was surprised at his voice and facial expression and words he just uttered.
"Embarrased?" I echoed, blinking, "Not really. You know I don't like the attention."
And he knew. We knew each other that well. But I didn't understand why he suddenly looked away from me just then, redirecting his gaze to the snow piling along the outdoor patio's heater.
"Shiro?" I asked tentatively. His expression… it was scaring me. It was one I haven't seen before.
He turned back to me, blank face fading to a familiar grin. The change was a relief to me, because I was able to recognize this Shiro, and yet... "I'm full. Wanna go, Haru-chan? You still wanna stop by the library right?"
"Yeah…" I answered after a shaky sigh, standing and grabbing my things. "We're splitting the bill, this time." I reminded forcefully, almost an after thought.
He grinned, "Hai hai," he said, leaning forward to loop my scarf around my neck.
"Shiro—" I frowned, already reading his mind.
He looked at me, "Maybe just this once…?" He mumbled, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
I scowled at him, playfully punching him in the gut. He gave a dramatic 'oof,' and his warmth breath reminded me of the tiramisu* dessert we just shared. "We're splitting the bill." I repeated, making him grin widely and repeat, "Hai, hai," over and over again.
"Drink."
I wanted to. I really did.
For some strange reason, even though I hadn't felt the ache of hunger or thirst or even sleep since being here, just standing in front of this river had my throat parched and tongue dry.
The others were already crowding around the firm bank, hands dipping into the water and scooping the clear liquid into their mouths.
I felt an ache settle inside my throat I wanted to get rid of, so with slightly desperate elbowing I knelt in between a middle aged man and less than ten year old girl.
My fingers slid along the surface easily, the liquid smooth and clear and smelling of petrichor and coffee and milk tea and mint and my mother's familiar scent and everything I loved all at once.
I brought my cupped hand to my lips and—
A scream stopped me from drinking.
It wasn't uncommon to hear screams when away from the Elysian Fields, but this scream...was it...the scream of a child...?
The sound made my brain itch. It made me so uncomfortable and protective and the cackling laughter of the Erinyes* wasn't helping because—
That sounds like Bola.
That sounds like Lupe.
Is that… Ma…?
"Get up."
I jumped, startled out of my wits and eyes moving away from the faint, faint shadows along the horizon. Cerberus's* growls and howls and barks were faint enough to be considered background noise now that I wasn't paying attention, but…
That scream…
"Let's get this over with." The nineteen year old boy who had been escorting our group of souls waved his hand in an arc. Immediately, I felt my core tighten and a sudden dizziness made the world spin. Black butterflies began to fly around the black winged male in lovely patterns, and… was I among the fray…?
Again, he waved his hand in an arc, and then there was the deep deep groan of wood and a bright light that made everything warm warm war—
"Do you...remember anything about how...you've come to be this way…?" Aria asked, the words coming out slowly and hesitantly.
I assumed she spoke of my reincarnation, if you could even call it that.
In all honesty, I don't know what this was. Miura Haru had been her own person until she was five and, in the simplest of terms, I had taken over her soul, body, and mind. Even then, possession, wasn't the right word, since Miura Haru had become a part of me, or was it—that I had become a part of her...?
"No." I answered honestly, running my hand through Yuni's hair slowly. I watched the dark green strands filter through my fingers, and my little girl's deep sigh had me look up at Aria again. "Does it even matter?" I muttered, slightly annoyed at the ignorance I had of the topic, "I'm here now. If anything, when I die, I'll just be reborn again." It seems that souls can be recycled too, if my existence had anything to say about it.
"With your memories again?" Aria asked, slowly placing her teacup on the lonely saucer on top of the coffee table. "If it was that simple," she said, straightening, "then wouldn't everyone remember their past lives?"
Thump thump. She's right.
And, now that I thought about it, that was the scary part.
Why did I remember my past life? Was—is there—something wrong with me? Only me? Was it only me? Or were there others? Others like me? Others who remembered? Was it possible? Then I wasn't alone? Really? I wasn't—the only—strange or weird or odd or bizarre or unusual or outlandish—wait.
What-ifs. These are what-ifs.
So...
That means...that right now...at this very moment...as far as I was concerned...I was the only one this way.
I...was different.
And...I didn't know if that was a good thing or not…
"Haru-chan…"
"What is it?" I mumbled through a breath, vision blurry. Why…
"I'm very happy...that I was able to meet you, you know." She said quietly, voice somehow loud in the suddenly too small room. "Because of you… I am able to keep Yuni away from the mafia, if only for a little while." I didn't look at her. I didn't want to. I knew that I would cry if I did. "Because of you… Yuni is able to experience the love of a mother," Flinch. "that… I can't give her, right now…"
My head hurt from how fast I looked up.
Aria smiled at the look on my face, my rapid heartbeat increasing tenfold at the curve of her lips. She didn't mean… "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" She laughed, looking sad. So sad. "I know...that you are more of a mother than I could ever—"
"No!" I interrupted, horrified and sick and nauseous at what she was implying. "I...am not Yuni's mother. I love Yuni. I do. I love her as if she were my own, but!" The tears in my eyes were so annoying at this point. I didn't like the way they made my face screw up and mucus leak out of my nose—"I'll never be her mother, Aria. I'm...just her Madrina. That's it. I'm...just her godmother. I'll never be able to take that position away from you Aria… I...don't have the ability to replace that corner in her heart."
I leaned forward, heated and passionate and intense— "You, Aria, are Yuni's mother. Do. Not. Doubt. That."
Tears, like small diamonds that reflected the light, silently ran down the mafia boss's cheeks. She smiled, looking beautiful and radiant and happy.
"Thank you, Haru." She breathed, standing and walking around the coffee table, "thank you," she took a seat to my right, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around me, "thank you," she cried into my collarbone, and I cried against her hair.
What I said was true. I would never be able to be Yuni's mother.
But that didn't mean I didn't want to.
Because I wanted Yuni all to myself. I wanted to be the one she called Mama, and the one she asked questions about and worry over and be curious about and look similar too and love no matter what because we were connected by blood but—
I wasn't.
I wasn't, yet Yuni still loved me, and I love her even more for that.
But it wasn't the same.
And I am such a horrible person to even feel this way.
I hated that I was so human.
I hated it.
Omake: Just a Little Reasoning (Or Maybe None at All)
Aria de' Giglio Nero had been daydreaming in a coffee shop, trying to organize the mess of all the images in her head, when she first took notice.
A young boy, of eight or nine or maybe even ten years of age, had paused in his stroll with his mother to pick up an empty coffee cup near the sidewalk's edge. He threw it into the nearest trash can easily, and it wasn't any of this that had caught her attention really, it was just another common occurrence but—
What caught her attention was that the child's mother had to initiate the hand holding in the first place.
At first she thought that something must be wrong with the child emotionally, then she became worried that her child would be the same way and placed a hand over her baby bump protectively. Then she silently berated herself for thinking such a thing since it isn't her business, anything could be at play here—
The child caught her attention again.
He had paused in the middle of the sidewalk, his mother gently pulling at his arm and most likely calling his name—he released her hand and walked towards an old woman with a walker with more determination than should befall his age, and—placing one hand over her's and another along the inside of her elbow—helped her hobble across the street with surprising patience and gentleness.
It was then, when the child was finally facing her, that she realized it wasn't a he at all, but a she.
And after this realization came the full view of her eyes, and that was when images of still water and a rushing river and a screaming child and cold hands and a baby with dark green hair and her eyes and the child with dark dark orbs in front of her holding her child's hand because it was her child it was her baby the small little creature growing inside of her holding this strange strange girl's hand with too dark windows into her soul and black butterflies following her everywhere that—
"Mel…" The girl with a beautiful past and basic present and grim future was— "It's Mel—no," Aria de' Giglio Nero corrected herself, blinking the pictures behind her eyelids and managing to find a form of sense over the water in her lungs and pain in chest so strong it was spreading to her fingertips and toes— "It's Miura Haru, now.
"Miura Haru…."
Glossary
tiramisu—a popular coffee-flavored Italian dessert
Erinyes—also known as the Furies, were three subterranean female deities in charge of punishing souls in the underworld
Cerberus—multi-headed (usually three) dog in charge of guarding the entrance of the Greek underworld, so the dead cannot escape and the living cannot enter
Thanks to:
10th Squad 3rd Seat (it broke mine too D:), Deer-Shifter (here's more Shiro!), Flaming Belladonna (thanks a lot! here's some more Shiro!), Dustflame (hahaha, maybe? i don't know. i honestly haven't thought of it. that'd be an interesting omake though, should i go for it?), xenocanaan (here you go! thanks for waiting!), Allykrau (hope you're okay! D: thanks for waiting!), Kieriu (thanks! i've been waiting for someone to get that! haha!), InfinityRabbit (thanks a lot! the pairing still isn't decided, i'll put up a poll when all the characters show up), cascoli (yes, he is), meyinet (thanks a lot! here's some more Shiro!), DulcetOwl (thanks a lot! i appreciate your time. their relationship is vague for a reason: a pairing hasn't been decided yet, that's why XD but the relationship between Aria and Yuni and Haru was expanded on a bit here, did this chapter help? thanks a lot for being here!)
A special of your choice to the reviewer who can guess which river Alice was about to drink from!
Same to the reviewer who can guess who that nineteen year old black winged male was!
GUYS WE'VE REACHED 100 REVIEWS, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?, GET READY FOR A SPECIAL NEXT CHAPTER THAT'S WHAT!
Shiro is a surprisingly popular character, I didn't expect that O.O, since he's Byakuran and all...
Sorry for the late update guys, I AM NOT GOING ON HIATUS.
PLEASE REVIEW~! WE HAVE SO MANY MORE FOLLOWERS AND FAVORITES NOW!
COME ON! MAKE YOURSELVES KNOWN!
—prince
