The Scene
Hayato said something horrible to Haru, and for a moment he actually feared for her life. Will their hearts go on? (Not the best summary, I know. It is quite sappy xp)
Rating T (you know already it's because of Gokudera)
Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo hitman reborn! nor any of the characters mentioned in this story.
An: Well hello hello! This time I didn't take years to crawl out from underneath my rock to post a fic. (font face="Nimbus Mono L, monospace"span lang="zh-CN"￣∇￣/span/font) This one starts rather dark, but ends up with humor. I hope you like it. It turned out to be quite a rollercoater with everything. Ehe. As always, reads and rewiews are nice. Sorry in advance for possible grammar errors.
"Can't you just shut up already, baka onna!"
"Maybe I would, if I didn't have to constantly remind you that Haru is not stupid, Bakadera!"
They were at it again. This time the argument had started when Nana had brought the group some snacks and Tsuna had pondered out loud whether to have the strawberry or apple juice. This had prompted the two geniuses to present their own different opinions and had escalated into an argument.
Tsuna, sitting in between the two, had given up a few minutes ago and was trying to have a conversation with Takeshi, who was sitting across from him, by writing his words on the edge of a notebook paper and waiting for Takeshi to write his response.
"Tsk. Keep telling yourself that, Baka onna, but we all know better." Hayato said with irritation and leaned back.
"You are such a jerk, you know! Hahi, sometimes I wish I didn't know you!" Haru responded. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
Tsuna saw the shift in the behavior of the two and knew that this argument was coming to an end. Both sides felt equally drained and tired to continue. But Hayato had his last words.
"Trust me, the feeling is mutual. My life would be so much better if you didn't exist." He muttered, as if under his breath, but intentionally loud enough for Haru to hear him.
Tsuna sucked in a sharp breath and snapped to look at Hayato with horror upon hearing his words. "Gokudera-san!" He protested.
"That's a bit too hard, even from you." Takeshi disapproved as well.
Hayato looked a bit surprised by Tsunas reaction and then turned to scowl at Takeshi and hissed at him "Mind you own damn business." before turning to look at Haru.
Haru only stared at the floor to her right, a mostly blank expression on her face. He could see her eyes slightly more open than usually and she was biting the inside of her lower lip. Her nose twitched slightly and he knew at that moment that she was pissed.
So nothing new to Hayato.
"Apologize immediately!" Tsuna demanded, still looking at his friend in disbelief.
"What? Why?" Hayatos faced Tsuna full of disagreement and disbelief at his boss's words.
Takeshi had turned his attention towards Haru and he slowly and gently stretched a hand towards her. "Haru?" He asked quietly, but Haru reacted only when he slightly brushed her shoulder to get her attention.
Harus face whipped to look at Takeshi sitting to her left, placing a hand to her shoulder and looking at her with cautious eyes. Her ponytail bounced a little behind her as she shook her head. For a moment she had forgotten where she was.
"Hahi!? Oh... uh. It's nothing." She waved a hand in front of her and gave a shy smile, glancing at the clock.
"Oh, wouldn't you look at the time. I think I have to go." She said, brushed Takeshis hand off of her shoulder and packed her things in a flash.
"Haru, wait." Tsuna tried, but for the first time, he didn't catch Harus attention.
"I'll be going. Thanks for the snacks." She waved her hand, already stepping outside the room and heading downstairs.
"Haru!" Tsuna got up and went after her. Meanwhile Takeshi was glaring ice and daggers at Hayato, who returned the glare.
"What?" Hayato asked disrespectfully, to which Takeshi gritted his teeth.
"You crossed a line." He hissed and Hayato felt a very tiny crawl on his lower back. Hayato had seen Takeshi get mad, really mad. But he had never seen Takeshi this mad at him before. He didn't let his expression budge though and scoffed at the rain guardian instead.
"Crossed a line my ass. I already told you to mind your own damn business." Hayato growled and looked away.
"I usually do, but that was uncalled for! You can't say things like that!" Takeshi snapped.
Hayato turned to look at him and Takeshi saw a small twitch of alarm in his friends eyes, which was soon covered with defense and anger.
"I say what the hell I want, yakuyu baka!"
Before the two could launch themselves at each others throats, Tsuna stepped in the room. The two boys turned to look at him and Hayato felt how his stomach sank a little as he saw Taunas expression.
He couldn't read his boss' face at all.
"Gokudera-san, you need to apologize to Haru." Tsuna stated.
"What?" The storm guardian protested.
"No whats, no buts, no arguments! You will apologize to her." The flame behind Tsunas eyes awakened and left his friend no space for argument.
Hayato sighed. "As you wish, Juudaime."
"No. No! I don't want you to apologize just because I told you to. I want you to understand the situation. You always do this; you hurt her, we tell you to apologize, which you do, but you never learn. You never mean it! And then you do the same thing all over again!" Tsuna lost his cool and started pacing back and forth in the room.
"She just left. Completely ignoring my question if she was okay. And there was something I couldn't quite catch on, even though she did smile rather convincingly as if nothing was wrong. Something was off, I just feel it. And she didn't even say she would come back again! She just... marched out without looking back." Tsuna sighed, stopped and lightly banged his head in the wall and leaned on it.
Seeing his boss act like this made Hayato feel nervous and he started to think his words through.
"Please leave, Gokudera-san." Tsuna then mumbled without looking at his friends.
Hayato felt a bang of hurt in his chest, but did as he was told and got up to gather his stuff without a word. Takeshi was about to follow suit when Tsuna continued, still facing the wall: "You don't have to go, Yamamoto-san. I would actually like for you to stay for a moment longer."
Takeshi sat back down and felt Hayatos glare at his back.
"I'll see you tomorow at class, Juudaime." Hayato said before leaving the room. To his disappointment Tsuna said nothing, only waved his hand, still leaning his face against the wall, so Hayato couldn't see his expression either.
The next day was draining. Takeshi kept glaring at Hayato and Tsuna was hardly talking to him because of what he had said yesterday.
On lunch break Hayato got into a fight with a few senior students for running his mouth.
The rest of the day he had to listen as Tsuna, Takeshi and Kyoko talked about not being able to contact Haru at all. Kyoko had heard of what Hayato had said the other day and was pissed at the storm guardian.
They also pressured him to apologize to her as soon as possible and told that they were worried. It wasn't like Haru to just ghost everyone like this.
When the school day ended, Hayato begun his search. He started by checking if Haru would follow her routine schedule today, but soon realized she didn't and started an aimless search. He wandered around the city, trying to go through a list of places Haru could be at, but with no luck.
Sun was already setting and Hayato thought he'd wasted a full day when he walked by a bridge. A figure by the railing caught his eye and he realized he had found Haru.
At first he stopped in his track, not believing his eyes. For hours had he looked for her with no luck. And now, when he was just about to give up for the day, she appeared before him.
It took him a second to recognize her, because she had cut her hair short and the wind was blowing it all over her face. However, Hayatos building feelings changed into horror as he looked at Haru closer. She was standing beside the railing.
On the wrong side.
And she was leaning forward above the fall, holding the railing only lightly.
Hayatos heart sank to his stomach as he dropped his backpack and took a shaky step onwards. "Haru." Her name escaped his lips as only a breath. Haru hadn't noticed him yet. She was too occupied staring into the setting sun.
She wasn't going to jump, was she. The thought sent shivers down his spine.
"Haru!" Hayato yelled and launched towards the bridge.
Haru noticed and turned to look at him surprised, slightly startled even.
"Gokudera-sa -AAAH!" Her foot slipped and she fell.
"NO!" Hayato let out. Haru managed to keep her grab on the railing with her other hand, but her legs were kicking only air, having nothing beneath them but water far below.
Haru let out a scream as her fingers started to slide on the slippery surface and Hayato took a spurt, not knowing if he could run any faster.
It all happened so fast. Harus fingers gave in one by one as she had nothing to grasp on. With each finger that slipped Hayato felt desperation rise and the time seemed to slow down.
This was all his fault. He had told her the world would be better without her. His world would be better. His words had driven her to distance herself from her friends. The result of his actions was displaying itself right before his eyes, and he didn't want that.
He didn't want any of this.
He wanted her alive.
He wanted her in his life.
The last finger slipped and Haru screamed as she felt gravity grasp on her. Hayato reached an arm, feeling sure he wouldn't make it in time. A desperate cry escaped his lips and his hand met another.
As soon as Hayato realized he had grabbed her, he wasted only a second to look into Harus eyes, he started pulling her up. Both were yelling incoherent words, grunting and gasping. Hayatos hands were sweating and Haru probably would have slipped from his grasp if she hadn't grabbed his wrist so hard her nails dug into his skin.
Hayato pulled her up and Haru managed to grab the railing with her free hand. When she felt she could pull with both her hands she managed to get her feet at the edge of the bridge. As soon as she stood up Hayato wrapped his other hand around her middle and pulled her, rather roughly, over the railing. Haru let out a yelp as her feet were pulled of the ground and she would probably get a bruise or two from the railing, but Hayato didn't care. He needed to get her to the same side with him, and he wouldn't stop before that.
Haru was in a very hard and ungraceful position when sliding over the railing and she didn't manage to support herself with her feet. Hayato could feel her shaking and his legs gave in under him. He fell sitting to the ground, still cradling Haru against his chest. Her breath was shaking, like was her whole body, and Hayato was pretty sure she was crying. He could barely breath himself, still in panic after everything that had happened just moments before. Hayato only stared into nothingness as he tried to hold Haru as tight as possible.
After a few seconds, however, his panic turned into rage. He grabbed Harus shoulders and pushed her away, so he could look at her.
"What the hell were you thinking, baka onna!" He yelled at her face. Haru only looked at him, like a deer in the headlights, tears falling down her face. "What the absolute fuck were you doing?! You idiot! Never do that again! NEVER! I might have said I wished you wouldn't exist but I didn't mean you should kill yourself for that!"
Hayatos voice broke down and tears burned the edges of his eyes. His jaw quivered as he tried to gasp for air. "You multi culmination of idiocy!"
Haru stared at him, still crying, but her face started to morph into confusion.
"What?" She gasped. Now it was Hayatos turn to look confused, plus annoyed.
"What do you mean 'what'? You heard me! Don't ever. Do! That! Again!" Hayato shaked Harus shoulders as he spoke.
"What the hell, Gokudera-san! I wasn't going to jump!" Haru screamed and Hayato stopped.
"What?"
"Don't 'what' me! You heard right! I wasn't going to jump, Bakadera! How desperate do you think I am?!" Haru told him.
Hayatos mouth hanged open for a moment before he, almost, managed to collect himself.
"But... Y-you... that railing... You... stood on the other side." He mumbled and waved his hand, pointing around at whatever he tried to make a sentence out of.
Haru sighed and face palmed. She had stopped crying at some point. "Yes, I did. I do that quite often. I do it for the view."
"For the VIEW!?" Hayato screamed.
"Yes, Bakadera! For the view! I feel like that moment in titanic when I lean in from the other side of the railing. It's a good mental image for my choreography." Haru looked at Hayato like it should have been obvious.
Hayato stopped to think for a moment, hanging his mouth still open and burrowing his eyebrows. "You know in Titanic the people don't go over the railing." He commented at Harus logic.
At any other given moment Haru would have probably teased Hayato for knowing any of the romantic moments from Titanic, but given the circumstances, she settled for rolling her eyes at him instead and scoffed.
They both sat on the ground in silence. Hayato leaned his head in his palm. Haru turned to look at the setting sun. It was almost fully behind the horizon and the sky was already more blue and purple than the crimson she had been looking at before.
"I'm sorry." Hayato then said. He didn't look at Haru, but she could hear that he ment it.
Haru turned to look at him and her thoughts went back. Tears started to burn her eyes again as fear of what could have happened flushed over her. She sucked in a sharp breath and tried to blink the tears away.
"I'm so sorry." Hayato whispered and Haru watched how he moved to roughly massaged his temples with both of his hands. His fingers messed his hair and his breaths were deep an shaky.
"I'm okay. Actually you saved me." Haru said quietly and placed a hand on Hayatos shoulder.
"Saved you?! I was sure I'd be the death of you!" Hayato snapped to look at Haru and she had never seen such vulnerability in his green eyes.
"Well, you were wrong. I'm alive. And without you I would have fallen. Or more likely, without you I probably wouldn't have fallen in the first place, because you startled me. But you came, I fell, and you were there for me. So, yes, you saved me this time." Haru tried to reason.
Hayato only sighed, shook his head and looked away.
Taking a better look at Hayatos face Haru pressed her lips together. Her hand wandered to his left cheek, which was sporting a big bruise, and he pulled away, wincing at her touch.
"You've been fighting."
It was more of a statement than a question, but Hayato responded anyway, annoyance lacing his voice. "That's not the point here, woman."
Haru took a deep breath and looked at Hayato silently for a moment.
"Who do you think you hurt more with your words?" She then asked, continuing when Hayato turned to look at her from the corner of his eye. "Me, or yourself?" She then leaned in closer and wrapped her arms around Hayatos neck.
He was warm but tense and she didn't want to let go. She needed this, needed him. Just this once. And she was pretty sure he needed this too.
It took a moment, but soon after Haru felt the shifting of Hayatos body against hers and his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. She sat on his lap and let her tears roll quietly.
"I'm sorry, Haru." Hayato whispered.
"I know." She answered just as quietly.
"Everyones worried sick. They miss you already."
"I know. I saw the messages."
"I missed you." His voice was barely audible.
Haru didn't say anything, just squeezed him tighter before pushing away a little. Haru gave Hayato a small smile. "Thank you."
"What for?"
"For your apology." Haru hugged Hayato again and felt how he returned the gesture.
Someone rode a bike to the bridge and rang a bell at them. The person also told them to get a room as he passed by. Haru felt how Hayatos hand left her back for a moment, probably to show the guy an internationally rude hand gesture, but neither of them said anything. They just sat there, both relieved for various reasons, but mostly because Haru was still alive.
Hayato walked Haru home. The sky was dark and first stars had lit up already. They walked in silence and waved their goodbyes at Harus gate.
Hayato dragged his feet back to his apartment and as soon as he closed the door he leaned his back against it and slid to the floor. All the emotions Hayato had felt during the day came upon him like waves and he just stared at the dark room in front of him in silence as he felt how salty tears blurred his vision. He pondered on Harus question from earlier. Who did he truly hurt with his words?
Hayato ended up falling asleep on the floor and woke up late next day. He looked at the time and decided it would do him no good to go to school anymore, so he skipped the day and headed to Tsunas place in the afternoon when he knew all classes were over.
Upon arriving, he noticed two pairs of shoes that were not Tsunas. A pair of big, blue sneakers, and a pair of green ballerinas.
"Ah, Gokudera-san. The others are upstairs." Nana smiled and greeted him. Hayato nodded at the woman respectfully while taking his shoes off, and as he climbed the stairs he heard laughter from Tsunas room.
He opened the door and walked in, seeing Tsuna, Takeshi and Haru, sitting around a small table. He felt how a small smile quirked at the edge of his lips.
"Gokudera-san~!" Haru beamed and waved at him. "I was just telling the others how dramatic you were yesterday."
The smile died.
"What?!" He screamed.
"Oh, don't be shy. It was rather sweet, really." She mussed and grinned at him. "But you give yourself way too much credit! As if I'd break down just 'cause you say something stupid while on a bad mood. Though, bad mood is your daily mood. Anyway, I mean, yes, it did hurt, but I'm not that fragile. Don't say that to anyone else tho. Ever. Not everyone will take it as lightly as I did."
Hayato only gaped at the girl, unable to say a word in between her rambling.
"And then you were all cute about it." She pressed her palm to her cheek and grinned, before turning to look at Takeshi, as if sharing the greatest gossip of all times: "And he even walked me home."
Takeshi burst into laughter and Tsuna smiled at Hayato, who was still in horror of it all.
"What the fuck, woman?" He yelled at Haru with slightly higher pitch than usual. Haru only turned to look at him with a scolding face.
"Language, Gokudera-san." She said.
"Language my ass! I asked, what the fuck!" Hayato kept yelling and stepped closer.
"Shouldn't you be the one to know. You were there yesterday, hello!"
Hayato sat down on the opposite side of the table and stared at Haru. "You know what, I take it all back. Go jump off a bridge." He said.
Haru rolled her eyes playfully and snorted. "Like I said, it was supposed to be like in titanic."
"Mhmm. And you know what happens at the end of it right? The ship sinks and they all die. Go do your titanic."
Tsuna and Takeshi shared a cautious glance between nervous laughs, but Harus laughter eased them.
"Come on, Gokudera-san. You know it's a love story. And you played your part very convincingly. I miss you, I need you." Haru teased and used intentionally horrible and dramatic italian accent.
Takeshi couldn't hold it anymore and he fell to his side from laughter. Tsuna had trouble keeping his face to a polite smile and he saw how a blush crept up Hayatos neck towards his ears.
The other side of Hayatos face twitched. "Never mind, I'll push you from that bridge myself."
Haru only laughed and joined Takeshi on the floor. Tsuna let out a laughter as well when he saw Hayatos eyes light with amusement. The corner of Hayatos mouth twitched with a smile when he looked at Haru, who was still laughing and rolling on the floor.
"I need you." Takeshi tried to mimic Harus accent between laughs, which earned him a whack in the arm from Hayato.
Haru hadn't actually told Tsuna and Takeshi anything. She had come over and they had sat there only a while, hearing about Harus gymnastic race she had had the day before, which had been why she hadn't answered their messages. She had forgotten to mention it. Haru also apologized for her sudden leaving the other day, she had almost forgotten her appointment with a hairdresser.
Then they had heard the door downstairs open and close, and Nana greeting Hayato. Harus eyes had lit up with mischief and she had quickly said: "whatever happens, laugh like I would have told you the funniest story you've ever heard in your life." And just when Haru had tickled Takeshi to get him really laughing, Hayato had opened the
Truthfully, watching Hayatos reactions and listening to Harus random rambling had been enough to humor the two, and laughing didn't even need to be faked.
The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon with homework. At the end of it Hayato walked Haru home again, this time because Tsuna had asked him to.
It was mostly comfortable silence between the two. Both of them took glances at each other from the corner of their eyes, many things running through their minds.
Haru decided to put an end to it.
"Have you really seen titanic?" She asked, to which Hayato scoffed.
"No, don't be stupid. It's in the bottom of the ocean." He said sarcastically.
Haru huffed. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. Though I am a bit surprised. I was sure that octopus-head of yours would have given you the ability to breathe underwater."
Hayato shot a glare at her. "Har har." He said, faking a laugh. Haru only grinned at him.
"But honestly. Have you seen it?" Haru now asked, with genuine curiosity.
Hayato took a deep breath, weighing his options, before turning to her. "Yes. Yes I have." He said slowly, mentally prepared for teasing. He wasn't prepared for Haru to continue the conversation.
"What's your favorite moment?" She asked.
"Huh?" He had no clue what she was onto.
"Your favorite moment? In the movie? As you probably guessed, I love that railing scene." Haru smiled and started humming My Heart Will Go On for a moment, before coming to a halt, slight shock upon realization on her face.
"No, wait." She said. "Don't say it's the car scene. Please don't be like that and say it's the car scene! Or that "draw me like one of your french ladies" just because there's a naked woman." Haru turned to look at Hayato with pleading and horror in her eyes.
Hayato let out a laugh. "No, it's neither of those." He said with a smile.
"Oh thank god." Haru breathed out and fell into pace with him again.
"So what is it then?" She continued.
"I don't have a favorite scene in it." Hayato answered, amusement playing on his face.
"How come?"
"It's a sappy love story. I only watched it once because Bianchi forced me to."
"I don't believe you."
"Whatever."
"I'm gonna find out."
"Sure."
"I'm gonna make you watch it again if I have to."
"I'd like to see you try."
"Why can't you just tell me?" Haru asked and placed her hands on her hips.
"I already told you, I don't have a favorite scene." He pressed on.
"Everyone has a favorite scene in it. Well, everyone who has seen it, anyway."
"Will you shut up, if I name a scene?" Hayato stopped to look at Haru.
Haru met his gaze and shook her shoulders nonchalantly. "Maybe." She answered.
"Good. It's the car scene." Hayato said with a plank face and turned to keep walking.
Harus face scrunched in disgust. "You perv!" She said and ran after Hayato. "You can't say that! You already said it wasn't your favorite."
"And you said you would shut up if I named a scene."
"I said maybe."
Hayato rolled his eyes.
The conversation went on until they were at Harus fence and even then Haru refused to go in before Hayato would name a scene. He only rolled his eyes at her for the hundredth time, turned on his heels and waved a hand before walking away.
"Gokudera-san, wait!" Haru yelled after him.
"I'm not naming a scene, woman." Hayato responded without turning back.
"Not that, Bakadera!"
Hayato stopped and turned to look around his shoulder as he felt a tug on the back of his shirt.
"I wanted to thank you." Haru said sheepishly.
"What for?" Hayato turned to fully face her.
"You know, for yesterday. Thanks for not letting me fall. I'm not that good a swimmer." she said and smiled a little.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't be leaning over bridge railings then. You know, they exist for a reason." Hayato said this with a blank expression, but gave into a smile as Haru laughed. "But, yeah. Don't worry about it." He brushed Harus shoulder, as if having tried to place a hand on it and then deciding not to after all.
Hayato turned around to leave and waved a hand at Haru before the moment would turn awkward.
They didn't talk about the matter after that. However, after a few years, Haru had found Hayato from behind a piano, playing some classical piece. She had requested him to play something for her, anything, as long as he played it from beginning, because she wanted to hear the full song.
Hayato had thought for a moment, trying the keys a little before glancing at Haru and a crooked smile stretched to his face. She only smiled at him expectantly, but that smile melted into bewilderment after he started playing and Haru recognized the song.
He kept on playing and Harus face mirrored her feelings without a filter. She was astonished, happy, taken and exited, before settling to look at Hayato with soft eyes and smile till the end of the song.
"It seems you do have a favorite scene after all." Haru smirked at him, leaning in the piano, resting her jaw to her hand.
Hayato raised an eyebrow and returned her smirk. "It seems I do."
"Play it again." she told him.
"Why?" Hayato asked a little confused.
Haru walked over to stand on Hayatos side. She flashed him a smile when she noticed the way he was looking at her and placed a hand softly on his shoulder. Hayato on the other hand realized how he had grown to like Harus genuine smile.
"I want to sing along this time."
And they both broke into smiles.