Uncovered secrets and emotions running high... Woo-wee this is going to be a hot one! Just a point to note. Since feelings have been running high through this entire fanfic, I think they will dictate how long, or not this story becomes. Right now, I would say we are nearing the end with maybe two more chappies to go but please enjoy and let me know what you think? Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own KHR or any of the characters in this fanfic. I am only responsible for the plot.

It had been a week since the party and Hibari's outrageous question. Haru was still steaming about that, but she simply chose not to think about him. When they met in the hallways, she would simply walk past him without sparing him another glance. He had chosen this for her. She was merely obliging him.

Then Kusakabe had called her away wanting to speak with her. The boss' mood had lifted infinitely since the party, but it wouldn't last long if Haru kept going in the direction she was. Hibari seemed to have come to terms with it, had cancelled his trip to Italy even, after Kusakabe had already planned for his things to be moved there permanently. No, this momentary calm wouldn't last very long. He explained what had happened with his boss and what part she had to play in the grand scheme of things. She listened quietly, but still looked sceptical.

"You must be wrong," she said softly to Kusakabe as she turned away from him, "He doesn't love me. He can't..." she whispered.

"I'm not wrong. I've been watching him. He's not the same... Miura-san. I don't know what is bothering him, but he's been like this exactly four months, two weeks and five days." She gasped lightly.

"That's the exact amount of time you have been dating Yamamoto Takeshi. Do you know what that means?" he said trying for one last time to make her see sense.

"It means he's having trouble with his decision. That's no concern of mine. He hurt me once and I'm not about to make that mistake again..." she said and went to the door. She went out into the hallway and shut the door quietly, her thoughts in turmoil. She went to her room slowly. When she was inside, she leaned against the door and locked it, her hands shaking.

"... exactly four months, two weeks and five days..." he had said. She gripped her collar willing the threatening tears away. The precision of that span of time was alarming. Yamamoto had been keeping count of the days they had been together and just that morning, he had mentioned it. They had been together for exactly four months, two weeks and five days...

Hibari had been upset that she had chosen another. Why hadn't he said anything? Why in the name of all that was holy didn't he tell her before? Now it was far too late, but she could feel her resolve cracking in the face of this new discovery. Her hands balled into fists. She couldn't allow him to rattle her that much. Not any more. He couldn't love her. It was impossible. Kusakabe had been wrong and she would prove it too, if only for her own peace of mind. He was in his office right now.

She would prove that he didn't love her, at the expense of her pride.

Taking her keys, she stormed out of the mansion. She was going to end this once and for all.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

She looked like a maddened banshee. She had stormed into his office and demanded to speak to him in private. When the door was locked safely behind him, he turned to walk back to his desk trying to ignore how appealing she looked. No matter what she was in, whether the newest fashions or sweatpants and an old t-shirt, she always seemed to appeal to him.

The sunlight streamed on her dark brown hair, now cut short and held out of her face with a hairpin in the shape of a butterfly. Her angry glare drew his eyes to her face. She was fighting back tears and winning by the looks of it. Her face was flushed and her hands were fisted. She was clearly there for war.

"What is this about?" he asked wary of her expression. Before he could blink, she was in front of him pulling him down to her level by his tie. Her lips met his in a fierce kiss. He had expected a confrontation but not this. His surprise lasted only a moment before familiarity and his restrained passion took over. His arms went around her and crushed her to him. She squeaked. He had always loved it when she did that. He groaned and deepened the kiss. Her sweet soft lips yielded and her timid little tongue met his, his tongue meeting hers in the primal passionate dance they had known once long ago.

She sobbed and pulled away from him looking angrily into his eyes.

"Why?" she whispered, angry tears falling down her face. He blinked.

"Why?" she repeated loudly, "Why did you leave me? What could you have been thinking, you stupid man!" she said and thumped his chest with her fists. He held her hands to stop her. She growled at him unwittingly reminding him of Tsuna's box weapon.

"Do you have any idea...? No, of course not! How would you know? Heavens forbid that the great and mighty Hibari should fall prey to feeling and affection!" she screamed and tried to wrest her hands from his firm grasp. He supposed he deserved that.

"Haru," he said trying to get her to calm down.

"No, you don't get to do this to me! You left me! You broke my heart! I was going to start over again and it was going just fine... How could you do this to me, you wicked evil man!" she sobbed again and covered her eyes with her palms. He pulled her to him not knowing what else to do. She sobbed and wept. She had every right to be angry with him. Her curses were welcome. He deserved every last one. He had caused those tears again. They reminded him of the ones he had made her cry the night he had sent her away.

"Kyo-kun, please... Please don't go..."

His hold on her tightened. He had made her cry more than once. His sorry existence should have been extinguished long ago. She should be happy. She shouldn't have heard about his turmoil. She should have moved on with Yamamoto by her side. The only thing he had to do for that to happen was to let her go. If he did that, she could be happy.

He kissed her temple willing his arms to open and release her again. He kissed her forehead making the promise again to let go soon. He kissed her nose and sighed with the sheer effort such a simple act required. His arms wouldn't open yet...

One last kiss then he would let go. One last taste and he wouldn't need any more. One more and he could leave her be. One more to remember her by and she could be free to love whomever she wished...

Her lips met his as they brushed together, and he wished that it was him she chose.

She sighed and pulled his face to her. The kiss she gave him then was much more gentle and innocent, reminiscent of the first ones she had shared with him shyly glancing at him, silently flirting with him, gently calling to him and daring him to have her... She always seemed to put everything she felt into that one small action. His arms held her fast. Hers circled his neck and went up into his hair. He never imagined he would feel this sensation again in his lifetime.

This kiss was like water to a man dying of thirst. It was infinitely better than the heated one they had just experienced. It felt right this time. She drugged all his senses. The sweet scent of vanilla filled him with nostalgia of happy mornings spent with her, the feeling akin to that of being drunk on very heady wine. His hungry mouth plundered hers again and again reminding him of stolen kisses while the others unwittingly went on with their mundane tasks. His restless hands familiarised themselves once more with the body they had known so well...

"I love you."

He heard the whispered words through the haze of the passion blazing in him, thinking perhaps he was waking from a dream, dreading that he might be, but she was there in his arms. He kissed her cheek and her neck then rested his chin on her shoulder after dropping a kiss there as well.

She sobbed and gripped his shoulders tighter. She didn't want him to let go. She should, but she couldn't. He wasn't sure he could either.

"Why did you leave me?" she whispered near his ear. He heard the brokenness in her voice. He felt the pain he had made her go through. He had been wrong in thinking they were ill-suited. They weren't so different after all. He touched her shortened hair, sorry for the loss, but not quite upset at the change in her. She seemed stronger than before and he wouldn't want to change that in her for all the world.

"Because..." he began, weighing his words carefully, "because you scare me."

She gasped. She didn't dare move. She couldn't have heard him right. Any moment, she would wake up and find herself in her bed where Yamamoto held her gently in his embrace. She dreaded that moment; when all this emotion would be revealed to be only an enigma, a figment of her imagination... the moment never came.

"I... I scare you?" she asked pulling away to look into his eyes. He saw the confusion and sighed. She blinked. It must have taken a monumental effort to admit that to her. He felt a weight lift off him with the confession. She was the only one he would ever admit it to.

"You scare me because..." he said meeting her gaze seriously, "because I love you."

He wasn't lying. She shook her head incredulously. He had broken her heart because he was afraid of her? He was afraid of her? The glint in his eyes was clear.

He wanted her. He had never stopped wanting her.

He had never really stopped loving her. Tetsuya hadn't lied to her.

She refused to believe it. He had been afraid of her and so had put her through all that... all this time? Her anger returned with a vengeance. The sudden resounding crack was unexpected. Both of them fairly started at the sound. An angry red mark formed on his left cheek. Her hand stung as she glared at him. Not able to stand there another moment, she pushed past him. She went straight for the door and didn't turn around once. She wouldn't. For the life of her, she couldn't.

"You scare me... because I love you."

Haru went outside the building and kept walking leaving her car, forgotten in the parking lot. She needed to see Kyoko. Her resolve was broken and her heart was sore once more. Her hand stung from slapping the dense man that was turning her life upside down at his every whim. Her new life was slipping through her fingers and her lips, God help her, were still tingling from his kisses... Why did she keep doing this to herself?

Hibari watched her leave and shut his eyes. He should have known she would be upset and supposed that, in part, he had expected it. He had brought this on himself. It would have been better for him to have said nothing. Yes, and that had worked out perfectly for him so far, he thought sarcastically. He was being selfish, he knew. She wanted him, that much he now understood... but where should they go from here?