Chapter 14

Trouble Leaves As Trouble Comes

Viper, for all the good they wrought, stayed true to their word. By the time Haru stepped foot within her home, after an hour of pacing the store and contemplating the plastic card burning a hole within her purse, she was relieved to find no smiling blondes prowling her house. Waiting to throw one or two insults her way. Only one grumpy child to swipe their card and treats in one and passively gripe about the loss of money the girl had wasted. Neither of the two commented on the blonde man to this day.

Thinking back on it, Haru wonders if she should have pressed Viper then and there. As with each passing day of the coming week the elusive child would disappear early in the morning only to return late into the night with a frown and more barking orders her way. Haru wants to question where the child is running off too every day. About why they come home in a plume just to walk her halls restlessly. As though waiting for something, prowling in wait for some sort of attack upon their territory.

Only, fear keeps her at bay. Fear of losing yet another to her prodding. To her silly whims and woes. She's already overstepped her boundary with two other oddly mature children with pacies wrapped around their neck, she'd hate to go for a third. Not that Viper would talk if uncomfortable, the child is a tight lipped one. Only really giving her hints and clues of their outings with short quips and complaints of others.

Some 'Varia' .

Whatever that could be. Viper hates them with every essence of their soul. Or at least hates how the group wastes their money at least. The blonde, Belgephor, is part of that group. Which, based on the boy's openness to stabbing probably means this group is not exactly a friendly group. Nor one an actual child should be a part of. Not that any normal grown adult should be a part of either...

Not that Haru plans to say anything on the topic. Tsuna's apparently a part of the mafia and Reborn is a...a hitman? That's what he was always saying right? Either way Haru's starting to get the picture. These people are dangerous, friendly to a point, but dangerous. She won't push to be a part of their 'games', as Yamamoto once put it, anymore. She got the hint.

A broken necklace and throbbing headache is enough to remind her to never do that again.

So yeah, Haru is willing to keep her curiosity at bay if it means she won't get hurt again. Viper can keep their secret outings to themselves. Reborn can keep his musings to himself. Heck! Tsuna is more than welcome to stay tight lipped on the actual danger he now lives within. Haru will respect that and keep to herself. She doesn't need friends who can't even trust her! Nope! No chasing people who won't even look back for little Haru!

…

Who is she kidding? Haru misses the weird group. She misses laughing about dumb jokes with Yamamoto and getting into harmless arguments with Gokudera. She misses Tsuna's dopey smile every time she jokingly claims him as her future husband. Heck! She even misses snarky Reborn and his pushiness.

It's only been what? A week? And she's already drowning in longing, in a feeling of forlorn that only the loss of a good friend can cause. She hasn't heard a word from the whole group since her huge blunder. Not even a hair in sight when she went to peak under the pretense of hanging with Kyoko- Which she did in fact do! They had a whole feast at the bakery that afternoon, with Haru having pocket change for once. No Reborn to spend on and all…

Apparently the boys haven't been in class for the past week. Sad news worries Haru. Had she been the cause? Had her stupidly getting caught caused this issue? She doesn't remember much from when she first woke from her slumber that day. Just the burning heat on her skin and Reborns rage, but she thinks Tsuna was hurt. She thinks she heard him cry out for her that day, voice cracking in pain.

The fear outspoken any and all outside sources hid her from the devastation away from her waking form. But here, safe in her home's four corners, Haru has had time to think on the whole escapade. To go over the horrible proceedings that led to her second-worst moment thus far. And yeah, past the angry yellow looming from Reborn, and her own manifestation of petrified orange was another grand orange. It, like Tsuna, kept a distance from her, only a distance away in worry and nothing more. As though scared that reaching out would do more harm than help.

There were others. Many others, that Haru's feeble mind can hardly bind to a mortal soul, their flashing flames new and emotions all over the place. A Massacre of flumes in the air, coloring the walls in their woes and fears. Noises like static scratching at the back of Haru's mind, begging to be heard. Well besides the horrifying slither of misty purple that belonged to that scary man. The one that forced her worst memory out of its recessive hiding. Cause that's what mists do right? They mess with your mind.

Viper may be tight-lipped but Haru got that much out of them. That mists are sort of like magicians, less sleight of hand and more harry potter esc magic. The whole mind escapee is proof of that. The fact that any person could simply peer into your mind with a simple flick of their wrist causes Haru unknown fear. All they needed was a violet swarm of flames within their lungs and boom, front row seats to little Haru's life.

Though part of Haru feels it was more than one boy than all mists. Viper for one is far more interested in money than people's innermost secrets...But then again Viper also knows a whole lot for someone so secluded. Chances are they have poked and prodded at one or two minds. Haru is just choosing to put her goodwill upon her somewhat friend and hope Viper has never been in her own mind. She doesn't know what she would do otherwise.

How she would feel knowing someone she's spent begrudging years with had been devouring her innermost thoughts, using them against her in some scheme for their own wants. Selfishly abusing the holes in her heart for their own devious plan...Or perhaps simply using her own troubles to help push her to act a certain way. Be a certain way.

Haru would rather turn a blind eye, feign trust than even take a moment to think upon those repercussions. She and Viper may not be close, or any form of friendly, but she's spent many a year with the child. Viper's being there during some of Haru's most horrid moments had humored her in many ways over these past years. The two were slowly bridging a gap, just starting to understand one another...For all of that to be faked. Just a ripple of mist in her head whispering false promises.

Haru...She doesn't know how she would handle such truths. So she does what any child does when scared. She feigns ignorance. Turns the other cheek and smiles brightly as usual. As long as she doesn't admit a problem then there is no said issue.

Viper...Viper is her friend, even if they are not hers. They are a form of safety that Haru is not yet ready to part from. A thin blanket upon her soul that covers her from the reality she has made a habit to ignore. Maybe now she is starting to notice things, see things for what they really are. That does not mean she is ready to acknowledge them for what they are. To acknowledge what Viper may or may not have done for her.

There's a fear that bubbles up her throat, that tingles her fingers and blurs the edge of her eyes when she stops to think. To use her now clear head. A sort of clarity within her that once fizzled to and fro with only parts and pieces to hold onto. A heaviness in her chest with each breath of understanding she takes.

Then it just disappears with one look from Viper, of their mist laying gently upon her shoulders. A soft promise of safety.

So yes, Haru will happily ignore all that Viper is and what their mist may have done within her mind. She makes a moot point to instead focus all her ire on the weird-eyed man who had rudely brought up her oldest and crudest memories. She acknowledges that mist flames CAN explore one's mind but compels herself to believe only one has done such a heavy deed.

Haru is a ditz after all. Her head is just too far up in the sky to be thinking anything else. Without Momo to tie her down there just isn't any room for fine thinking. She can only smile as Viper grumbles about some battle, about some other mist they must fight. Complaints of wasted money and lacks profit going in one ear and out the other as Haru giggles on. She ignores the gentle prodding at the cusp of her mind and lets the dizzy fray melt her sides as all her latest worries begin to swim away.

All while Haru looks the other way.

It was late when Hana heard the knock on her door. Scratch that, it was far past late. The girl groaned, eyes glaring at the illuminated numbers of her clock. Who, in their right mind, goes berserk on someone's door at two in the morning. Whomever they were was lucky Hana's parents were heavy sleepers. Hana sadly was not so lucky, and with tired steps made her way to the front door with a grumpy look on her face.

A bat sat heavily next to the front door, one Hana had placed there when the accursed monkeys started showing up in the hospital in a flume. The metal bat, while not the best of weapons, made her feel safe at night. The knowledge that no said monkey would be jumping her or her family. Not to say those idiots were attacking random people. Whatever delinquents had started this turf war seemed mostly preoccupied with beating any and all juveniles within that demon's group.

That, and apparently Tsunayoshi. Or so Kyoko had noted lightly one day upon lunch. Something about a rant Haru had gone off about, all of which somehow or another ended with Tsunayoshi. Said boy mysteriously disappeared from school the next day and has yet to pop up again. As had his ridiculous click of monkeys, Kyoko's brother included.

Ryohei, all brawn, and no brain seem to have joined in on whatever troublesome predicament Tsunayoshi has found himself within and while Hana could care less what the oaf does, Kyoko does. Kyoko, bleeding heart and all, has been stressed over her brother's long days out. He comes home unmarked and energized yet Kyoko swears something is up. Hana doesn't disagree of course, if any she's just as suspicious.

The monkeys are up to something. This peace, the sudden silence after endless days of ridiculous antics, is just the calm before the storm.

There's that knocking again, erratic as ever. Like whoever is on the other side will die if ignored. Hana can't help but roll her eyes at the insistence of the other. How annoying. Bat held tightly in one hand she slowly unclasps the door and turns the knob. Lifting her bat at the ready just as a flock of orange meets her vision and a blob of mass bounds atop her own. Squeezing her in a tight hug and flinging them both to the ground.

"Hana!" The blob croaks between tears. Hana blinks down at the blob and takes in Kyoko's teary-eyed face.

"Kyoko? What are you doing out so late?" She starts, dropping the bat to instead gently grab her friend's shoulder and coax her away for a better look. She's immediately set off by Kyoko's puffy eyes and blotchy red face. Kyoko doesn't cry often, and even less often does she go red-eyed from the tears. Something is amiss. "Are you ok?" Hana asks upon seeing her broken friend, worry now painting her form.

Kyoko starts to shake her head before stopping to think. "I'm fine..." the red-head starts as Hana leads her out of the dank hallway and up to her room. Hana makes no point to push for more, instead, plopping the girl down on her bed and wrapping a few blankets around her pale form.

The two then sit in silence as Kyoko tries to figure out her words. Hana has no reason to push her friend, nor would she ever want to. Kyoko is a soft-hearted person, sometimes processing situations takes her longer than most. While many would put that all up to Kyoko being a bit dim or slow-minded Hana would argue that Kyoko is anything but. It's not that Kyoko does not understand the situation but that she's unsure how to go about it. How to feel about it.

As such Hana has learned to give her friend time to accumulate her answer before prodding. Especially when said issue she's going over may have left her this distraught. Finally, Kyoko lifts her face, weepy eyes finding Hana's own. "My brother...He's fighting again." Hana quirks a brow at that in question. Confused about why the captain of the boxing club fighting would be a problem.

"In secret," Kyoko adds with wide eyes.

"Ah…" Hana adds in thought. Sure a boxing match leaves Kyoko stressed as can be for her brother's safety, but to secretly go off to fight...Why did Hana get the feeling this has something to do with Tsunayoshi. She swears as of late so many problems have been appearing all tied to the troublesome boy. "And you happened to catch this fight I'm assuming?"

"Mhm...I-he's usually home late in the afternoon with his new friend, um Colonello I think? But he never came home last night...I-I got worried so I went out to look for him." Hana gives a sharp glare at that, though makes no comment. Colonello...That's the kid staying at Kyoko's isn't it? The foreign kid who runs around in camo, and what Hana is worried may be a real gun strapped upon his back. What the hell is Ryohei and the kid doing out so late?

Shuffling slightly into a better position Hana prods her friend to continue. "There was noise by the school, like shouting...It kinda sounded like Ryohei so I went to look." Adds Kyoko, she quiets at this with a frown. Eyes cast down in thought.

"He was in a cage with another, an older man. There was a crowd around him, I didn't know most of them, but I saw Tsuna and his friends-ah Colenello was there too! And Ryohei! He was bruised all over and barely standing...I tried to stop him, to question him. He wouldn't tell me anything, and neither would anyone else...They all just looked at me... like-like I was the weird one and this was normal! I-" Kyoko shakes her head at that, lips tight in a tremble. "I shouldn't have, but I stayed...I thought it was one of his boxing matches. You know how he is about them right?"

Hana smiles lightly at that "You mean how he brutishly harasses every breathing person to join his club?" She adds snidely, Kyoko giggles lightly to that before nodding.

"Mmm, I was upset he would fight behind my back, but he asked me to trust him, so I did...And-and he won." Her lips clench tight at this, eyes gazing up at Hana with blank eyes.

"That's good right?" Hana questions with a furl of her brow. Watching as Kyoko turns slowly from her to gaze out the window. "End of the fight, end of the story."

"That's what I thought, till I heard it. A loud bang. Then the other man was down and-and-I" Kyoko's crying again, this time heavily, heaving into herself, hands prodding her chest in rapid beat. "I ran as fast as I could, I was just so scared. I didn't even think about Ryohei or the others. I just wanted to be away from whoever shot the gun." Hana is quick to move from her spot on the ground, embracing the smaller girl with a gentle shush.

"You're ok Kyoko, You're safe here." She gently murmured as Kyoko slowly calmed from her desperate breaths. "Ryohei is fine too, dumb as he can be, I know he's smart enough to get out of whatever that was," Hana adds when Kyoko's breathing starts to calm. Kyoko nods dumbly at that. Eyes blankly to the side. Hana says nothing for the rest. No reassuring words for the crew of boys that roam their very class. Instead, she rocks her friend and coos for her own safety.

Call her heartless, call her prejudice. Hana can hardly care what those stupid boys do in their off time. They chose that life for themselves after all. If they want to play delinquent, so be it. Her only problem is that they allowed an innocent life such as Kyoko within their dumb games. That Tsunayoshi with his crush and all would allow Kyoko near such dangers, that he would just sit by and let such things happen.

Honestly, she had thought lowly of the group beforehand, now? Now she's disgusted by them. Leave it to a group of monkeys to blindly lead innocent people right to the danger. They must have thought they could handle the damage. Only these sorts of things don't just hurt physically, but mentally too.

Kyoko would probably never forget this moment, and would be haunted by it day and night. Just as she still fears her brother being hurt again even after all these years. Fears she will be the reason for his wounds, for his pain.

Obviously, it's a dumb fear as Kyoko, unlike all the monkeys surrounding her, is smart and doesn't go out looking for trouble. The same cannot be said for the daft monkey leading this barrage. One little old Tsunayoshi. Clumsy, dumb, Tsunayoshi. Who, for the past months has been nothing but rotten luck. Hana for the life of her cannot see what both Kyoko and Haru see in the oaf. Kyoko says he's funny while Haru has always gone off about his kindness. The bright light that halos around his skin and other phony stuff.

It's why the girl follows him blindly, puppy love has her in his tight grasp. Wherever the small mousy boy may be, Haru's peppy self will be right behind. Which means... Hana's mind has a starting point for this dumb puzzle. Haru may be the type to follow others without a second thought but she does notice things. Maybe from sheer luck or simply being in the right spot at the right time. Either way, If Tsunayoshi has been up to no good, Haru would know.

Now to just wrangle the airhead.

"H-he's dead, I saw it, an-and I did nothing…" Kyoko mumbles, pulling Hana from her thoughts, with a soft sigh she pulls her friend in closer. Farther into her embrace and away from whatever pain may have come from the outside. That's right, first, calm Kyoko down, then find the airhead. With that in mind Hana straps in for a long night.

Something told her she wouldn't be sleeping that night.

Reborn stares blankly at the mug before him. The mug is a simple one, with no silly sunflowers or colorful lizards. Just a simple white mug. Just as all of Nana's mugs are. Plain white. The man can't explain why, but the lack of childish caricatures on his mug troubles him. As does the coffee within the mug. A nice blend for a simple coffee pot if he were honest.

Yet part of him misses the strong taste of high-grade coffee in a silly chameleon cup. "That's your cup! Cause it has a little Leon on it!" She'd said upon their second meeting within her home. She hadn't questioned where he had come from, though her eyes glanced once at the open window. Instead, she had gone along with his greetings, played along with his request for coffee.

Just as she would later when he complained that the quality was crap. Harassing her to instead buy a better machine, better beans, better everything. Just so he would be happy.

And she did.

She would sigh at her wallet, of which Reborn knew she had little money, much less enough to spend on his whims and her own, before giving it all up for him. Reborn thought her a pushover at the time. How else do you explain someone so easy to handle? He had yet to even use physical force. Even Skull needed a little reminding once in a while.

Yet here was Haru all dazzling smiles and happy giggles, welcoming each and every one of Reborns whims just so.

He had noticed the oddities of it. Of course, he had. She had mist draped all over her form, right from the start. At first, he had assumed SHE was a mist, only what mist is so open? That and the flame was one he knew, one he learned to distrust. One who only works for their own set of greedy needs.

And the Haru's have no money, not a cent to their name.

How dumb he was. Of course, they had no money. Viper would be sure of that. Would be sure to pluck them dry just as they did with any other willing customer. 'Willing' to an extent of course. You either pay the pretty penny or say goodbye to the pretty sky.

Cause that's what she is...Of course, it was. It was so obvious. So in his face. Reborn felt like a fool, to have been unaware for so long just for droves of the pure sky in the middle of a battle. Said battle he had sworn to stay out of.

Reborn will give credit where it belongs, Vipers use of flames to hide Haru's own was ingenious. A plan he highly doubts Viper thought up all on their own. Oh no, that necklace Haru wore spoke of another, even more annoying, bastard of a man.

Verde.

It would seem a visit was in need. Though Reborn hates dealing with the scientist if it's for the safety of his sk-friend then it's only right. Whatever Verde did to hide Haru is now obviously broken. Her flames stick to every surface they can within the small town. Had Reborn not already been harmonized, forcefully he might add, he would have followed her flames like a dumb sky drunk flame.

As he is though he keeps his distance for both of their safety. Instead, he humors Viper's guarding form within her home. The mist is oddly protective for someone who is also just as tied up as he. Which can only mean her flames are stronger than he first speculated. He needs to get in touch with Verde fast. The sooner they fix that necklace the sooner Haru will be safe. Before someone unbonded comes poking around and notices the little sky.

Reborn would hate to have to kill in front of the girl…

I'm so sorry for how late this chapter was! I had a really hard time getting into the groove after my summer course. And then I got addicted to FF14, bought a house in the game, and everything… I managed to write a somewhat cognitive chapter though!

Basically just getting the ball rolling, was planning to have it already rolling by now but that felt a bit too rushed… So instead this got split up into three people's thoughts. Reborn kinda just popped into my head so here he is lol.

It's probably obvious by now, but when I write I kinda just wing it, there's little if any planning as I go chapter to chapter. There is an end goal but that's about it. So things probably have a weird shift via each writing but I can't help it, I thrive on chaos.

Hopefully the next chapter comes out soon but no promises cause, once again, I'm a mess and live off chaos.

Thanks for listening to my Ted-Talk!