Right, so this chapter is way overdue and I apologise profusely to all my fans. I will warn you that Bedmates is probably soon ending and I just wanted you guys to be ready for it. I will do my best to make maybe five or so more chappies, but after that, it will be time to end it. Moving on from the really bad news, I think I may have crossed some boundary with Hibari and made him OOC again... Or maybe I'm being paranoid? Please 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 or locations depicted in this fan fiction story that you may recognise from the anime/manga. I am only responsible for the plot and the one OC and nothing else.

Haru waited for Hibari to return to the room so she could thank him properly for the ring. She had been looking at it all day and couldn't hide her smile even as she looked at it for what had to be the millionth time that day. Eventually, however, her eyes slid shut and she fell fast asleep. She hadn't heard him come in, but she had woken up in the middle of the night. His warmth surrounded her as usual and she was going to turn to face him when she noticed his hand entwined in hers. She felt her face grow hot but she wasn't upset about it.

She had raised their hands to her lips and kissed his then whispered her thanks. She had been just about to replace their hands when Hibari's grip had tightened around her fingers. Haru had gasped in her usual way and then remained very still.

"Hmm, why are your ears all red?" he'd whispered and the kissed her there. Haru jumped swiftly out of the bed blushing furiously and covering her face and clutching the front of her gown. She had never really gotten used to that.

"Something wrong?" he asked leaning his head on his palm again. He looked entirely too smug. Haru crossed her arms despite her red face and looked away.

"Of course something is wrong! When you scare Haru like that what do you expect her to do? You can't just sneak up on Haru how you please desu!" Hibari raised a brow. He hadn't heard that in a while.

"Oh, and who was kissing my hand just now?" he said getting up from the bed.

"I... I wasn't. Haru was … just... chasing away a mosquito. Yes, that's it. Haru was chasing a mosquito from off Hibari's hand. You should be thanking me for it not scaring Haru like that." Hibari caught her hand in his as soon as he got to her. She had been so busy trying to come up with an excuse that she hadn't been able to retreat.

"Hahi!"

"Then let me thank Haru," he said gently and kissed her cheek with deliberate slowness. She turned even redder and her hands turned to clutch the front of his shirt. He bent to her ear and spoke again.

"Did you want to thank me too?" he asked very pleased with the fact that she still clutched his shirt front. Haru took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Th... Thank you for the ring, Hibari-san." Hibari smiled and lifted her hand to kiss it.

"It's three in the morning and Haru has interrupted my sleep," he said letting go of her with a pat on her head. He turned and walked back to the bed then got in and lay down. Haru giggled. She couldn't help it. Before Hibari turned to look at her with his usual mild amusement, Haru dived into the bed and under the covers. A moment later, Hibari replaced his hand and went to sleep. With a sleepy smile, Haru did the same.

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

"Do you ever hold back? I'm still bruising from yesterday," said Kenji as he lowered himself into the armchair in the corner of Hibari's office. He let out a sigh of relief. Hibari said nothing to that quip and went right on working.

"You know, maybe I'll go spend more time with her. I do still have to steal her away from you – even if it costs me all of my ribs. Thankfully, you only bruised them yesterday..."

He glanced at Hibari and saw that he had turned to glare at him then chuckled.

"But maybe I'll give them a chance to heal before I pursue her again."

"Stay away from Haru," said Hibari finally in no polite terms.

"Why, because you put that rock on her finger? That is an impressive one I'll admit. When exactly did you propose though?"

"That's none of your business."

"Eh? You won't let me know even if that's a big part of the reason I'm here? Come on now. What if I told the lawyers that you're lying about being engaged and had you shipped off to Kyoto? I would get more time to spend with Haru-chan, nee?"

Hibari's hand paused on the paper and he leaned his head against his palm. He took one look at his smirking uncle and then chuckled.

"You really think I would give her up so easily?" he said slowly. Kenji smiled and rose from his seat.

"Ah, you've gotten scary again. You really need to learn to relax nephew-mine. Haru-chan won't stick around long enough for you to get her to the altar if you keep that up, nee?" He chuckled and walked out of the room. He really did need to lie down. The Vongola mansion didn't seem to be a very favourable place for that though. He should have stayed in bed but Ryu had promised him hell if he didn't do what he was meant to do properly and when Ryu mentioned hell, he meant it. He touched his ribs which had started to smart.

He smirked to himself thinking about Haru and that one time he had confessed to her.

"Honestly, for just one girl..." he muttered to himself. A moment later, he turned and walked down the hall heading for the exit. As he passed the main hall, he heard laughter coming from inside. Haru was there laughing with Kyoko and Chrome. All three were taken – their spouses had made no mistake about that.

Haru smiled and lifted a bolt of material for Kyoko to examine. She looked as if this was where she belonged. He sighed and leaned against the wall beside the door. She had haunted him for a while now. Her easy smile and pure heart had taken him completely by surprise and before he knew it, she had taken over his heart as well. He smiled listening to the excitement in her voice. She was truly a very special person, he thought to himself.

"Ah, you were here today too?" came a friendly voice from his side. Kenji looked up to see the smiling Vongola guardian. It was just as well. Any of the others would have ripped his head off. They really didn't take teasing very well.

"You're not going to get angry at me?" he asked turning.

"Why should I? You're pretty interesting." More laughter came from the room and Kenji looked towards the open doorway. Yamamoto, whose senses always seemed to be keen when it came to this sort of thing, noticed at once how much Kenji's expression softened at the sound of Haru's voice. It was way too obvious.

"She's beautiful, nee?"

Kenji looked up at him with mild surprise and then chuckled.

"You picked up on that?" he asked to which Yamamoto nodded and leaned on the wall beside him.

"She's always been rather innocent and sweet. One moment she's yelling at you and the next she's concerned about you. She's a little silly and too clever for her own good sometimes..."

"Of course."

"But she's also loyal and dedicated. You can't try to take her away from her goal and if you do, you end up getting hurt yourself." Kenji sighed. He'd known that already. Taking Haru away from Hibari was not going to happen. He had prepared himself to meet her but he hadn't expected to be so blown away by her the next time they met.

"You speak as if you've had experience," he commented. Yamamoto simply laughed and shook his head.

"I've seen it happen before. Haru doesn't give up on someone she's set her heart on," he said and laid a hand on Kenji's shoulder, "so it's better to just make your peace with it."

Kenji watched him go down the corridor in silence.

"Make my peace with it..." he muttered then smiled and walked towards the exit. That was easier, he supposed and it would stop this sadistic craze he had been on since the first time he'd kissed her. It would be easier, but since when had he backed down from a challenge? He smirked again and walked to his car. He wouldn't back down just yet.

Not yet.

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

Later that day, Haru sat in her room gushing over the fact that Hibari had given her a ring. She hadn't been able to stop staring at it for the better part of the last two days. It seemed so unreal! On top of that, her graduation ceremony was in a few days. After that, she was going to see if she could find a job in town. Already one of the companies affiliated with the Vongola had offered her a splendid job with amazing pay.

She had decided not to pick it though. She wanted to try it on her own first. It would be no fun if she let everyone help her with everything. Besides, she wanted to be able to show Hibari that she wasn't a useless herbivore. She laughed at that thought. When had she begun referring to herself as an herbivore?

She looked back down at her work before deciding that she was getting nowhere fast. She was just too excited to pay attention to anything. Maybe she should stop by Hibari's office to let him know about the graduation... maybe after she calmed down a little. Hibari was a very busy man after all. Or would he know already? It seemed to be the hot topic of the house. Still, she wanted to personally invite him. She sighed again and went over to her bed to hug her teddies. How many good things were going to happen to her now?

She shut her eyes thanking whatever star it was that was shining down on her in that moment.

A/N: I really didn't like that last bit. It seemed a little too by the way but I wanted to put it there since it contributes in part to the rest of the story. I would still like to honestly know your opinions so please review and thank you for reading! Next update soon! :3