Have you guys read the latest chapter? What do you think about it? Personally, I'm really disappointed. I'm waiting for Haru to show up, but it has to be Kyoko that ruin everything. Geez, My level of hatred towards her has increased and my hope for Haru's appearance has cracked.

Even so, I'll keep hoping and waiting for Haru.

Don't mind me, I just want to share my disappointment.

"Juudaime!"

"Yo, Tsuna!"

The brunette turned around to see his friends greeted them with a smile. It was their first step towards high school.

"Hehe, high school feels liberating, ne?" Yamamoto said with a cheery grin as they walked.

"Idiot! It's the opposite! High school is full of preparation for college!" Gokudera disputed.

"I don't think we'll go to college after graduate. Anyway, we need to pick of the pace or we'll be late for the ceremony" Tsuna said.

Thus, the welcoming ceremony had begun and they weren't late for it. Hearing the welcoming speech from the principal, sitting like a good student, while Gokudera and Yamamoto were at their usual habits. As the ceremony had finished, they went outside.

"Tsuna-kun!" a girl with honey-colored hair waved at them with her brother.

"I hope we're in the same class again" the bright smile she gave made Tsuna blushed and nodded merrily.

"Boss, good morning" Chrome approached them.

"Ah, Chrome. Good morning"

"By the way, I think I just saw Hibari here. I thought that guy love Nami middle" Yamamoto voiced. "Hibari is one of us! He'll extremely like this school!" Ryohei screamed. "Oi, lawn-head! You're too loud!"

Tsuna looked up to them with a smile, glad that everything was normal. Even though every day was noisy and eventful, he was happy that it stayed the same, and everyone was at their usual self. In the first day of high school, he wished that everything would stay as it should be and if possible, this peace would last long and hoping that every day smile would always curve on each faces.

"Tsuna-san! Everyone!"

The cheerful Haru waved at them with her new uniform and approached them.

"Haru? What are you doing here?" Tsuna asked. "Well, Haru's ceremony had finished earlier, and since Haru's father bought a new camera, Haru was thinking to take the first shot with all of you"

"That sounds good, Haru-chan" Kyoko chirped. "Then, let's begin! Oh, excuse me! Can you take a picture of us?" Haru approached a student. "Sure" she agreed.

Yamamoto and Gokudera were behind Tsuna, Ryohei was standing behind Kyoko, on Tsuna's right and left were Haru and Kyoko, and Chrome was standing near Haru.

All of them had their smiles curved in their faces, including Haru. The first picture that was taken was the perfect resemblance of the peaceful days. At that picture, Haru's smile was the brightest, even brighter than the sun.

…

Brown eyes were slowly opened. With faint eyes as he raised his head, he just realized that he had been sleeping on his office desk.

A dream, huh

As he took a glance to a framed picture on his desk, he picked it up and gazed upon it musingly. That time, the warmth of friendship circled around him. He remembered it like it was just happened. It was the irreplaceable joyous and peaceful moment they shared with each other, the unshakable friendship. Then his stare diverted to Haru in that picture. And at that picture, she was smiling. Seeing her smile made him smile too.

But his smile grew weary and slowly faded away as a thought came to him. Now that he thought about it, that was the last day Haru smiled, the last day when she was truly happy with her friends. To think that the next day her smile was forever gone, he wished that if only he realized his true feelings sooner.

Even though he claimed that he began to love her in his first year, he never realized what painful days she had been through and never knew about her effort and her suffering one bit.

If only I realized it a year sooner, this would never happen.

Her suffering, her unspeakable pain…

It's my entire fault.

Hand reached inside his pocket and let out a red hair clip. "How am I supposed to ask for forgiveness… when she doesn't even remember me?"

"Ask who?" a familiar voice and figure stood in front of his desk, surprising Tsuna. "Gokudera-kun? Since when you're standing here?"

"Just now. I knocked the door, but you didn't seem to hear me. I—"

"Excuse me" Neve came in and interrupted Gokudera. "Here's the full report for yesterday, as I recall Xanxus burnt the report" she handed over pieces of written paper.

"Thanks. Ah, what were you going to say, Gokudera-kun?"

"You know what date is today, right? Juudaime, you're the boss here and your mom said Chrome wants you in her birthday party. The meeting can be done at another day, so…"

"I'm the one who pointed out the date of the appointment, Gokudera-kun. It's an important meeting too. Even if I can send someone on my behalf, it can't be just anyone"

"I'll do it" Neve's voice startled them.

"Eh? Are you sure?" Tsuna blinked in surprise.

"It's your guardian's birthday and just because you're the boss, doesn't mean you have to overheat your head. Just give me the place and time; also I might need a letter from you as your proxy, just in case"

With that set, Tsuna made the letter and told her the place and time. After all of that, she walked towards the door.

"Why are you doing this?" Tsuna's questioned halted her. Then, she turned around a little. "Because I want to" she simply said so and left the office.

"By the way, what does the report says?" Gokudera asked.

"Hmm… it says here that the Mafioso have been defeated and warned. However, the boss is missing. It also says here that there's another group of family that after the Vongola gear, although it's just an assumption"

"Should we be in high alert, then?"

"It's Chrome's birthday today, so let's just take it easy and don't tell this to anyone yet"

"Then, I'll have your subordinates to guard every perimeter of this mansion. And it's best to warn Neve as well"

"Gokudera-kun"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind not to call her 'Neve', but 'Haru' instead? I mean, just when she's not around. Please give that message to everyone so they would do the same"

"But why? Even though she's Haru, she behaves not like the Haru we know"

"It's true that she's not like our Haru, but… even though she changed her name, she's still Haru. I know deep down, she's the Haru we know"

Gokudera's eyes widened in surprise, also seeing Tsuna's absolute eyes and there was a moment of silence. "Well, now that Sasagawa is out of the picture, you're the only one who knows her better. Okay, I'll do it and tell everyone, for you" he said and whirled around walking to the door.

Then, he continued to stare at the picture. When he remembered the aftermath of the picture, when Haru immediately clinging to his arm and Gokudera disputed over that, he was smiling of remembering that day. But then, the smile on his face slowly drifted away from his face as it was replaced by grievous.

"Tsu-kun?"

Hearing the soft motherly voice, he flinched and looked up. "M-Mom? What are you doing here?"

"I was just helping with Chrome-chan's birthday party. What's wrong?" she sat on a chair in front of his desk.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"You look very sad, Tsu-kun. What's bothering you? You can tell me anything"

"Thanks mom, but I'm okay" he gave a comfort smile.

She knew her son was lying. Even if it was just a glance, she was certain that she saw his mirthless face for a moment. "Okay, I trust you. But I'm curious about something"

"Eh? A-About what?"

"Who's this 'Neve'? I heard about that name, but I haven't seen her yet. Can you introduce me to her?"

Uh-oh

Tsuna had forgotten. He had made himself and his friends to keep quiet about Haru from his mother. He didn't want her to be burdened about it, but he also didn't want to lie to her like he did before, lies after lies he told his mother.

Nevertheless, Tsuna wasn't a kid anymore who only thought about protecting everyone regardless of what they thought about. He had to trust his mother and he knew he could build that trust. So, with his mind had set, he told everything about Haru to her and she listened to every detail intently.

"Okay, I understand. But Tsu-kun, are you sure she killed Kyoko-chan? Haru-chan isn't the girl who could do that"

"We all think the same, but she changed"

"Tsu-kun! That doesn't mean she's capable of killing!"

"C-Calm down, mom. We're trying to believe that. We're investigating her at the moment, so we can't jump to conclusion yet"

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry I lost my control" she said apologetically and he sighed in relief of being able to calm her. "Thank you for telling me" she said with a smile and then stood up. "Where are you going?" Tsuna asked. "You still have paperwork to sign and I still have to help preparing for the party"

"I'll help"

"No, no. You've helped me enough. You gave me trust and choose not to lie to me. That's why, work quickly so that you can go to the party, okay?" she beamed and he smiled back and nodded slightly.

The pile of paperwork felt like a never-ending piece of paper and he was really tired of it. He was stressed out and in jeopardy of needing refreshment. If he could, he would tear those stressful papers in the name of releasing stress and pleasure. Knowing he shouldn't, he sighed deeply and stood up from his chair, heading towards the kitchen to drink tea.

"Sorry to intrude" he took a peek inside.

"What are you doing here, Decimo? It's rare for you to come here" a butler asked.

"I just want to make myself a tea"

"Oh, then why didn't you call for me?" he let out a cup and then a pot of tea. But, Tsuna intruded his action. "I can do it myself"

"It's okay, they'll understand. Your future is yours to decide, not them" Tsuna diverted his eyes to 2 maids who were comforting their fellow maid.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked the butler.

"She's having issue with her parents. She just knows that they're always fighting at each other about her future without her notice and that's saddened her"

As the tea poured down into the cup, Tsuna blankly stared at the pouring tea musingly, remembering of someone with the same problem as her.

…

The dawn after the ceremony

Tsuna was walking alone with eyes on the road. Then, he spotted a familiar red hair clip on the ground and picked it up. Knowing it was Haru's, he took it back to her. But when he rang the doorbell, there was no answer.

"What is it, young man?" two old housewives approached him. "I want to get this back to Haru. Is she at home?"

"She should be. Her parents were the ones who have left. The door shouldn't be locked, so you can get inside"

"Eh? You mean they did it again?" the other housewife asked. "I heard it earlier. Poor Haru-chan. don't they get tired of fighting every day? They're really a horrible parents" the housewives walked away as they chat, leaving Tsuna in confused state.

When he reached the door knob, it wasn't locked, just the old lady said. He went to the living room and knocked her room, but it was a dead silence. When he went to the dining room, he spotted her was sitting while looking at the window. He didn't know what went wrong, because all he could see was her back.

"Haru, are you alright?"

Hearing that voice, she flinched. "Tsu-Tsuna-san? What are you doing here?" her voice was rather quivery and she didn't look back. "You dropped your hair clip, but what's wrong? Your voice is…"

"Haru's fine, don't worry" she said while rubbing her eyes. "I've heard it from your neighbor. You can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone, so tell me. Do your parents fight every day?"

Hearing his words, she flinched but stayed in silence. But then, she turned around 90 degrees and stared at him with teary eyes. There was faint bloodshot color under her eyes, indicating that she was just crying.

"S-Sorry, I shouldn't dip myself into your family business. You don't have to say it if you can't"

She shook her head and said "It's not that. It's just… you're very nice, Tsuna-san"

"Eh?"

"Haru can tell through your reflection on the window, that you're really concerned about Haru. Thank you for that. It makes Haru feel better" the way she spoke, the way tear stuck on her eyes, it was very subtle for a cheerful girl like Haru. He had once seen her tears, but it wasn't like this. It wasn't as painful as this. Her eyes, her tears showed more of her sadness that he believed she never spoke to anyone. Something wasn't right for sure, he thought.

"Haru's parents are very strict about Haru's future. While Haru's father wants Haru to be like him, mother wants Haru to be a writer like her. Because of Haru, they fight every day, throw things, and yell at each other"

"What… since when…" Tsuna was at loss of words hearing it.

"It starts before Haru met you. Of course, Haru doesn't mind it. Haru's used to it. They still love me and very close to me. There are many happy moments with them, too"

The word "used to it" just made him felt worse. She might have said she was happy enough, she could use her usual mask to hide her true face, but her tears spoke the truth, that she wasn't all that happy.

"What about your friends in Midori middle school? Did they know about this?" he asked. She twitched over that question and reverted to her previous sitting position, facing the window again. "They all hate Haru, every one of them… so much that Haru almost planned to kill herself. There's no change in high school. Everything stays the same"

Tsuna's face expressed a heavy shock and he was more worried about her. Being with shattering family, school that hates her, friends that never existed, why wouldn't she think about suicide?

"But…" her voice snapped him out of his thought. "Haru was afraid of dying, so Haru decided one day to decide whether to live or die. That one day…" she started shaking and made him even more worried and discomposure. "Y-You don't have to say it! That one day must've been really bad…"

She was surprised hearing that and looked at him again while shook her head. "On the contrary, Haru felt relieved. That one day was the day when Haru met Reborn-chan and you. It was like a miracle, a hope to live, and because of you, Haru made new friends, Gokudera-san, Kyoko-chan, Chrome-chan. For the first time, Haru feels alive. You changed everything, Tsuna-san" she said with a smile.

"I… did?" he said with a blush.

Then, she stood up and handed over the picture from the ceremony. "Keep it"

"But this is yours"

"You're the one who brought everyone to Haru's life. You deserve it. And take that hair clip too. That hair clip is a part of Haru's past before our meeting. Haru wants to throw it away, but you can keep it if you want" she balled his hand that contained the hair clip.

He nodded and said "I'll take care of it"

"Thank you for everything" she smiled sweetly, which made him blush.

…

"Decimo! The cup!"

"Eh, what?" Tsuna immediately snapped and just realized that the cup was already full. "Ah! I-I'm sorry!" he hastily lifted the pot and be given a rag. Then, the butler took over.

After apologizing to the butler, he went back to his office with the tea, meeting his worst enemy, the paperwork. But knowing that he should finish it quickly, he put his stress aside.

It took him one hour to finish the rest and when he did, he put his head on the desk while looking at the picture. In that picture, he knew that she was smiling sincerely. "Come to think of it, we're the first friends she ever made"

As he visualized her smile as her hands touched his and giving her gratitude, suddenly, he snapped. He just noticed that her smile that time wasn't a sincere smile. It was a mere mask to hide her tears. The smile on that photo was really the last sincere smile, he thought.

"Haru…"

He lifted his head and stared at the picture grievously. Her name was supposed to bring about warmth and tranquility, like the spring itself. Instead, what inside her heart was contrast to those. And the current Haru was like the winter.

All of the sudden, Tsuna felt a sudden pain from his old scar and abruptly stood up. With heavy breath as he clutched his chest, he resisted to the agonizing pain. His body dropped of unable to stand and eventually, everything went black and he swooned.

…

Flash of snow appeared as the raining snow covered the soil. One woman was standing rather in far distance. In moving and zooming motion, as it became closer to her, the woman turned around and before her face was seen, Tsuna was like experiencing a battle on his own body.

As his vision was blurring while fighting with the woman, he thought that he saw that black-haired woman smiling rather eerie, like she craved for his life, rapidly thrust her blade towards him and then whispered something unusual in his ear.

The second her blade was aiming for him for a deadly attack, he could feel his hand just stabbed her like it was real, that it pierced her straight through. The blood from her stomach that painted his bare hand felt warm and so real.

Her scent, mingled with the snow that was tainted with her blood, choking his breath. With that, she smiled and whispered one simple sentence which stuck inside his mind.

Then, her profile, the visual of the bloody Christmas began to darken away, but a second before it went to a complete dark, he finally saw the woman's face, along with her mysterious smile that expressed unnatural relief.

...

He woke up on a sofa, opening his eyes in abrupt manner and immediately rose up with face that described unspeakable shock and terrified, grasping his forehead. That woman…

"What's with the long face, Tsuna?" he startled as he heard his father's voice and when he looked across the sofa he was on, Reborn and Iemitsu were there.

"Dad, Reborn… what are you doing here? I though you guys are busy with work"

"We're here for Chrome's birthday and to report you before that, but when we found you…"

"I get it, dad. Thanks. Anyway, what time is it?"

"4:30 pm. You still have time to prepare yourself" Reborn answered.

"Mm, I know. But there's nothing wrong with getting prepared early" he stood up, but his father stood in his way, putting solemn face. "What did you dream about?" his questioned twitched Tsuna. The way he spoke and his voice were seemingly very serious.

"It's just a dream" he walked around him and headed for the door. "Who did you see?" Reborn's question halted him. But he remained silent as he faced the door. "There's no point for you to hide it, Tsuna. Hibari has taken his first move ever since he saw Haru. It's only a matter of time until we get the details from him" he added, but Tsuna still wouldn't answer.

"Kusakabe is endangering his life for this information. No one should've taken this duty, it's too risky and you know the danger of investigating her from nearsighted"

"Judging from this topic, you already know, so why are you asking me?" Tsuna turned around a bit.

"Is it hurt to answer?" as Reborn said that, he fell in silence with face that covered with shadow.

"Sorry, Reborn. This is something only I should know" he stated his point and walked away from them. Seeing him behaving that way, Reborn looked at Iemitsu and he shook his head to Reborn. "I think he won't stop acting strange as long as this matter is still on his mind. What should we do next, Reborn?"

"If he wants to deal with it himself, then maybe it's best to keep it that way. This is his problem between him and Haru. We have no rights to interfere. Though maybe we can help him from the shadow, if necessary"

"Yeah, I like the idea. But somehow, my instinct tells me we can't do anything about it"

At the party hall

"Happy birthday, Chrome!"

Confetti were spread all of over the air at the birthday girl. All guardians (except for Hibari, that is) gathered in this particular special day for this shy girl. "Thank you, everyone" she said with a happy blush.

"I thought Mukuro will be here. Where's he?" Yamamoto questioned. "M-Mukuro-sama said he has something special in mind after this party" she answered sheepishly, but the boys altogether gave question mark.

While all chattering nullified the silence in the hall, only one spot remained in silence and that was Tsuna. He couldn't stop thinking about the dreadful dream. The realness was the one that disturbed him and distraught him. But it wasn't as disturbing as her smile, her words. He lamented about her smile and words as he stared at the crown that circled around Chrome.

"Decimo" one of his subordinates snapped him out of his thought. "What?"

"You have a letter" he handed over a piece of written paper and then walked away.

Meet me at the forest outside the mansion. I have something important to tell you. Don't take anyone with you.

Neve.

The content of the letter held his breath in surprise. It couldn't be possible for Haru to send it. She was at London.

"Wait" Tsuna called and the man stopped. "When did you get this?"

"Just now"

"Just… okay, thanks" the man nodded and left. "What's wrong, juudaime?" Gokudera approached him. "I just need a fresh air. I'll be back" he said and then left the hall.

Like the content had said, he walked outside to the forest without anyone's notice. But he didn't know for sure at exactly where he supposed to meet her. As he was looking around searching, he heard a rustle from a bush and headed straight there.

"Neve! Where are you?" he voiced, but there was no answer. Suddenly as he was turning his head around, he spotted a figure walked by towards the tree and ran to it. A bad feeling just struck him as he was running towards the footstep, but he couldn't turn back. He needed to know.

He ran until he couldn't hear another step. He was sure he just heard the footstep stopped here. That bewildered him. To his surprise, he heard a footstep from behind and slowly turned around. But before he could do a thing to protect himself, a vicious attack had occurred.

Elsewhere at London, a mansion of Dati Family had been sprayed and tainted with blood. Corpses were scattered all over the floor and the place was dark. Then, a silhouette of light breached in from the open door along with pair of foot walked inside but then stopped before stepping onto a corpse.

She stared at those poor soulless bodies indifferently with void and narrow eyes, like she didn't care about them at all. With coolly attitude, she whirled around to the door and left them in untouched condition. Then, she dialed Vel's number.

"Vel, I've checked their work. They did it, all were killed. Have they contacted you?"

"No. This is why I don't like the Sicario Family. What if they did something else behind our back?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, I'll contact you again later" she hung up the phone.

~#~#~#~

A dark brown eye widened in unspeakable way as she saw Tsuna on his bed in unconscious state with bandages all over his body.

"What happened to him?" with shadow hid partial of her face, she asked Reborn who was sitting next to his bed. "He was attacked during Chrome's birthday at the forest"

"…Why would he go outside during the party?"

"This is why" he handed over a letter and she was surprised when she saw her name was written. "He didn't bring his gloves. The enemy must've known that. And they left their family mark on his body" he continued.

"Who did this? Who sent this letter?" there was a demand tone coming out from her mouth.

"Sicario Family"

Right after she heard that name, she snapped. There was a myriad of uncontrolled rage flowing through her blood vessel as her clenched hands were trembling. And with shadow casted over her face, she walked out of the room.

Review, please!