Some of you will hate me for this chapter and some of you might love me. Either way, I had this done a while back and I was practically dying to bring it to you. As always, let me know what you think? Many thanks :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own KHR nor do I claim any rights to it or any of the characters you may recognise from the series. I am only responsible for the current character location, the OCs and the plot. Any resemblance to actual characters, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Haru sighed as she listened to the night sounds. It had been quite the day and she needed a breath of air. First Ryu had taken her aside and apologised to her in his own way – she thought. She supposed he was like Hibari in that way and let it go. The will had been read and Ryu got most of the property while the rest was divided amongst Hibari's uncles and aunts. She was glad the whole thing was over with, to be quite honest. In two days, she would be back home.

She walked over one of the bridges in the garden to the island with the one tree. She smiled as she sat on the bench and shut her eyes to listen to the calm of the crickets and the fish in the pond occasionally disturbing the surface of the water. Together with the sound of the wind blowing through the tree and the distant bamboo stick clacking occasionally on a rock somewhere in the garden, which didn't at all seem out of place, it was a near symphony. She loved the sound of nature.

"Am I intruding?" came a voice from her right. She opened her eyes and turned to meet Kenji's gentle gaze and easy smile. She smiled shook her head moving aside to give him space to sit beside her. He sat down and they spent a few moments in silence. She turned wanting to make some small talk since he was probably bored of just sitting there but she noticed his distracted look.

"Kenji-san?" she said getting his attention. He sighed and turned to face her. He looked undecided about something.

"Something has been bothering me these last few days and I... I know I haven't been the best person to you but I wonder if you could help me?"

"I will if I can. What's the problem?"

He looked up as if trying to gauge his words very carefully then he turned to her.

"Well, this is rather embarrassing but... well, there's this girl..." Haru's eyebrows shot up. He was asking her for advice on a girl? This was going to be interesting.

"Okay... How can I help?"

"Well, I need some advice. You see, I've had my eye on her for a while now, but I don't know if I should make a move or not. She's not like any of the other girls I've dated before... she's special."

She saw the gleam in his eyes and smiled. He must truly like this girl then. No wonder he was asking for advice. No doubt he didn't want to ruin things by doing it his way.

"Well, have you confessed to her yet?" He shook his head and gave her an apologetic look.

"I don't know how to do that. She doesn't seem to think of me the same way and I don't think she'll accept me if I did confess..." He covered his eyes with his hand and leaned back then sighed. He must have been really hung up over this girl, Haru thought.

"You must think I'm pretty pathetic to get this nervous because of just one girl..."

"No, I don't think you're pathetic. I think you should at least let her know how you feel. I mean you never know unless you try, right?" He shook his head and said nothing. She turned to face forward and leaned back against the back of the seat then she spoke again.

"My parents used to scare me a lot. I guess they still kind of do. When I was little and I visited my grandparents, I remember sitting with my grandmother. She gave me one of her special cinnamon cakes and some milk and gave me a bright smile. She told me that my father used to be very afraid to ask for things from her and my grandfather.

"She noticed this when he didn't ask if he could go on a class trip once and she overheard him telling his friends that they would probably have told him no. So she called him aside and said these words, and she repeated them to me exactly, or so she told me. She tapped my nose and said, 'Haru, if you don't ask, the answer will always be no.' Sometimes you just have to take the chance. If you don't tell her, someone else could come and steal her away from you."

Kenji opened his eyes and smiled up at the tree branches. Those were the same words he had told her when he had taken her down to the lake on their first day there.

"Yes, I suppose that could happen."

"So you're going to tell her?" she asked getting excited. He gave her a lopsided grin.

"I am." He turned to face her then put his hand on hers startling her slightly. She was even more surprised when he gently lay his hand on her cheek. Stunned thus far to immobility, she watched helplessly as he leaned in and very gently dropped a kiss on her lips. She pulled away immediately and her hand flew to cover her lips. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. His next statement answered all the questions she had in her head.

"I like you, Miura Haru."

She heard the words but for some reason, they weren't making sense. Her other hand was trapped beneath his and her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. She was being confessed to by Hibari's uncle! It made absolutely no sense at all!

"I... I don't understand..."

"At first, I wanted to have you to make Kyoya-kun jealous. That was the only reason I pursued you. I don't normally go for girls as young as you are, Haru-chan. Generally, I try not to mix myself with them, but there's something about you I just can't understand."

Her startled gaze met his. What was going on? This was unreal! It was wrong on so many levels too! She had been there only five days and already she was being confessed to by this man who had known her at least that long! It was like something out of a bad soap opera.

"Haru-chan, I know you don't think much of me and you probably don't trust me when I say this, but it's true that I like you. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and I want to take you with me." When she didn't reply, he continued.

"Don't tell me now, but at least think about it. I'll do my very best to make you happy, I promise," he said then he got up and left Haru to her reeling thoughts.

Hibari hadn't confessed to her even though they had shared those steamy kisses before. When they were around Kenji, Hibari got very defensive, but that could also be explained very logically. It wasn't unnatural that he should feel defensive considering she was meant to be there for him. Still, it would definitely be nice to have something a little more.

But to have that with Kenji?

He was being sincere this time. It was the most honest he had been with her and there was no mistaking it. Even so, how could she just up and follow him to wherever it was he was going? Why would she even go?

He had at least given her time to think about it. What would she say then? What was she going to do?

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

Hibari found her sitting on the chair facing the window. She jumped a bit which was grounds to suspect that something had happened to her while she was out. He shut the door and leaned against it then crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes. She wanted to tell him something, he was sure. He didn't know if he would like it and judging by the expression on her face, he highly doubted it.

"I sat to talk with Kenji-san today," she started then took a deep breath. Those had to be the worst words he had ever heard in his life. Any statement that began like that was bound to displease him. What had that jerk done now? He didn't say anything and let her continue. He would judge for himself after she had finished.

"He confessed to me and asked me to leave with him tomorrow." She said no more and Hibari raised his face to hers.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know..." she whispered and clutched the fabric of the cushion in her lap. He saw the struggle and felt the stab of pain, but his facial expression didn't change. It was at times like these that he was glad his grandfather had been strict about this. Not that the old man had been heartless, but showing any expression to the enemy was a weakness. Hibari had simply applied it to everything else.

"If you wanted my opinion, I don't have one. You do what you want," he said and went to get his towel. She watched him quietly as he went to the bathroom and locked the door. The shower came on a moment later and Haru felt the acute disappointment.

He didn't care. Was she the only one feeling anything in this relationship? Was she the only one that felt the subtle hints of betrayal if she left with Kenji in the morning? Was this the long and short of their relationship?

She sobbed and covered her mouth.

She had known it for a while now. It had been on the edge of her consciousness that their relationship would never amount to much. Somehow, having that confirmed only hurt the more. She smiled even through her tears and wiped them away. She wouldn't let this faze her. She had a choice to make and whatever she chose now would affect a lot in her life.

The question now was, should she remain with the Vongola family and resign herself to forever watching him from the sidelines with her unrequited love and her now twice broken heart, or should she really go with Kenji and look forward to a new adventure? If she left, there was the chance that she would be very happy. If she stayed, there was the chance she would be utterly miserable.

She wished she didn't have to choose. She wished Kenji hadn't confessed to her. She wished he hadn't kissed her. She wished Hibari had been the one to show her the lake house first and the one to confess to her instead.

But it was all Kenji and now her emotions were a swirling mess and she had no idea what to do. She couldn't even say that she didn't feel anything for Kenji because after that kiss, that was definitely a lie. She felt her feelings wavering and she hated every last moment of it.

She could call Kyoko but she didn't want to bother her. Chrome had been sent on an assignment that very day and Yamamoto had to fill in for Hibari's scouting duty. I-pin had exams the next morning and Hana was out of the country on business. For once, she had absolutely nobody to talk to. She rose and went out into the garden trying to get her clashing feelings in order. She would have to think very carefully about her next step.

She had only one chance to get this right.