DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN

Growing up, kids were taught to not trust strangers. They were dangerous beings with unknown intentions. What stupid adults didn't realize was that everyone they've ever met was a stranger at some point. It didn't matter if they were a friend of a friend or in a professional occupation like teachers or cashiers. They have no true base in the person's mind meaning they were a dangerous stranger.

First impressions were important in that case. The only reason why people develop a relationship with people is because of what they think about when they first meet. People trust doctors with their lives because they aren't dressed like a beggar in an alleyway. Those same people don't trust people on the streets because they aren't clean and loud. It was all in hierarchy that created superiority and inferiority complexes.

That's what Hayato always thought. As far back as he could remember, he's been at the bottom. Everyone else was an enemy that was trying to use him as a stepping stone. If he didn't let anyone into his life, there was no chance for a stranger to take advantage of him. It was a lonely life he lived with only his family but it was safe.

When a Ricco woman suddenly approached him, he knew from the way she presented herself that she was dangerous. He originally thought she was a figment of his imagination. All she did was stare at him as if she was the one caught off guard. He couldn't ignore her. Even if he could, her mere presence would stick with him.

"Gokudera Hayato?" It scared him that she knew his name. It scared him that she was so different from him. The way she spoke, down to the way she looked, she was in a completely different world than him. Two very familiar words suddenly became overpowering to him. The way she put weight on it scared him.

Out of habit, he responded back to her. He doesn't remember what exactly he said but he remembers what she said. 'How would you feel about working with the Vongola?'

So she was a part of the Vongola. That made a lot of sense. It also put the barrier he needed to justify to distance himself from her. It didn't matter anymore what he thought of her. Being a Vongola member said enough for him.

It was strange to think that someone like her could exist. She was so unapologetic about herself. It made him intimated that he truly knew nothing about the world outside Povero. Here was a woman standing in front of him that knew his name and had more than he will ever amount to. And yet all he could focus on was why him. Why was she here in the dirty city when she could go anywhere she wanted?

He knew she was forbidden. Like a free bag of money sitting out in the open. It was all bait that anyone would be stupid to take. He didn't want to admit it to her until he found out who she was but he knew that he wouldn't be able to escape her. Whatever she wanted, she would get. He knew that resistance was futile against a girl like her. Still he tried to run.

Her first impression was terrible. It left him confused, angry, weak and most importantly, it made him curious. And that's what added to his other emotions. In reality, he didn't need her job offer. His sister said that they could have figured something out. They did have a few savings, friends, two working adults that could find jobs that no one else could do. They didn't actually know the severity of their mom's condition that any sort of treatment would have been okay. Rest was the main concern at the time. Instead, he went to the hotel to meet the woman again.

That was the first time he met the dangerous stranger known as Miura Haru and it was all he needed.

Hayato held onto the box containing the Storm given ring. This allowed him to continue his mission. Not that he wanted to take out whoever the traitor was. It was another option though. He could support his mother without Haru. Without Haru though? That's the hard decision.

He sighed as he opened the door to his hotel, surprised to see that the lights were on. Uri was given food as well. "What the-?"

"Oh you're back? Poor Uri was left here all day so I thought I would feed her." Haru came out from around the corner with the kitten's water bowl.

"W-what are you doing here?" He swore in his head at him stuttering.

"Why are you so surprised? I let myself in a bunch of times. Though I suppose, I didn't realize you would be out all day. I know I gave you the day off but I wanted to check up on you. You know after seeing how you reacted yesterday." He forgot with all the revelations today that his mission only took place yesterday. It felt like so long ago that he thought taking a life was going to change everything.

"Ah well I'm actually doing okay. Thanks. I guess."

"Are you okay? You seem very jittery. Did something happen today? Don't tell me that you ran into more Varia members. It's not like Natsuki-chan to not keep her word. Should I contact her tonight?"

"No! I mean- I didn't. It's- It's nothing. Just a long day." She sat down next to Uri on the floor.

"I see. Want to talk about it?" No, he didn't. He couldn't tell her that he was accusing her of poisoning his mom. That her boyfriend came to tell him this. He just wanted to talk to her.

"Um I- do you think we can take my mom out of the hospital?"

"Was that where you were all day? Take her out of the hospital though? Hmmm." She thought about it. His mom was the key to all of this. There was no way she was going to let her go that easily. "Sure."

"I under- wait what? You're okay with it?"

"I don't see why not. If the doctors and your sister are okay with it, you have a right to bring her home. In addition, I did receive the payment from yesterday's mission. If you'd like I can give your portion in advance to give her the resources she needs before she gets released. You may want to discuss that with your sister too."

"You're taking this very well." He said cautiously. This is not how it was supposed to go. Wasn't this going to put a hole in her plan?

"I shouldn't be? She's important to you. I can't control what you do with her. As long as everything gets checked out then go ahead. Is that all you had to ask?"

"Y-yeah."

She giggled innocently. "You don't have to be so afraid of asking me something simple like that. Even if it was more serious of a serious topic, its not like I can really force you to continue this way. I told you before that your debt can be paid off in a different way."

Haru gave him permission to release his mom from the hospital. There was nothing that would keep them together if it wasn't for him to continue. Granted he still had his debt and she mentioned that her doctors' had to approve of it but she barely showed any concern for it. If she did poison his mom, she would have done everything in her power to keep him from finding out until they were done. Did that mean she didn't poison his kom? That made it possibly worse because it meant someone else targeted her. And Haru still knew without telling him.

Hayato could look at her, see that she was the same Mafioso he knew without thinking about her suspicious past behaviour. It was like every bad thing he thought of her today disappeared the longer she played with the kitten. He knew better than to second guess her but he couldn't help it. Roughly 3 months he never felt she had something to hide from him. There was a constant reminder at the back of his mind that told him she was who he knew her as. A dangerous person that says hid more than she spoke.

"Well now that I see that you're okay, there's nothing more for me to do here. Talk to your sister about your mom and we'll go from there. I should be getting back home now." Haru got up to leave. He nodded despite wanting to talk to her more.

Before she could get to the door, they jumped at a sudden flash of light. Soon followed by the sound of a booming thunder and rain pelting against the window. Walking over m, she saw that the weather had taken a turn for the worst to become a full blown storm. She sighed at the luck. Driving back home in this kind of weather would be such a hassle.

"Looks like you have to stay the night." Hayato said beside her.

"Eh? Why?" He blinked a few times until face palming himself.

"Right. You have a car to drive. You wouldn't have to walk through this." Back in Povero, weather like this meant staying put inside. Outside, people didn't have any form of protection. In Ricco, this weather meant just be safe when adventuring out. There were cars, more secure buildings and overall had many assistances in the infrastructure to make it pretty safe outside.

"My, how bold of you to invite a girl to stay the night-desu. Did you do that a lot back home?"

"N-I did not! I was just concerned about you going out during a storm! Besides I know that you would beat me up if I implied that. Your boyfriend won't be happy to hear that you stayed in a room overnight with a man either."

"Ah Takeshi..." The corner of her lips raised and dropped fast. She skipped back to the couch to distract herself with Uri. "You don't have to worry about him. We broke up yesterday."

Takeshi didn't mention that to Hayato today. There were more pressing matters but a quick mention would have been good to know. Just to know fact. He spent the whole day with him and not one mention. Kind of rude so to say.

"Oh. What happen?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"He just came over yesterday night and told me. I accepted it and it was over." Last night? But he came to Hayato last night. It must have been before he came over.

He scanned over Haru. She wasn't in any way distraught by her relationship coming to a sudden end. Or she was putting up a really good act. Neither would be surprising to see from the woman. Takeshi wasn't even that affected when they were together today. He was the one to break up with her after all. They both needed to be tough in order to survive their jobs. Even if it meant sucking in their emotions for others not to see. If Hayato never mentioned anything, there was no way to see that information on his own.

"I'm glad that you aren't coming here to whine in my ear. When my sister went through a break up all she did for a week was get mad or sad to the extremes. I never knew how to deal with her crying. That's why-" His words got caught seeing her hand slow down.

"I guess crying would have been a more normal reaction." A lot of training went into not showing her emotions. Takeshi was the same when he found out about Haru at the hospital. He didn't show it but Hayato knew he was upset.

"Why did you come today?"

"I told you it was to check up-"

"No. You weren't." Haru didn't have to look at him to know he was serious.

"How rude Gokudera-san. Can't I be concerned over you? That was your first mission and you were ruffled up a bit afterwards."

"That's true but I can tell that there's more. You broke up with your boyfriend yesterday night with no explanation, no warning, and he seemed like a great dude. I remember that picture you showed me. You didn't look like you hated him. To say that you didn't feel anything is a lie. And this isn't something you need to lie about to me. Not to anyone that cares about you."

She bit the inside of her cheek. It wasn't until he finished that she realized that her cheeks were automatically trying to smile while explaining everything. No one has ever told her that she didn't need to lie to them. No one ever saw through her act and felt the need to tell her. "Are you okay?"

"I..." She struggled with trying to voice out her feelings. "He- I- we didn't love each other."

"But?"

"But he was still a good guy. He understood my work life. He never made me feel unsafe. It was opposite from that. He took really good care of me. When we started dating he made it clear that we didn't have to rush anything. I didn't hate him but I didn't love him." Hayato carefully sat next to her. It wasn't until he held out a napkin to her that she realized that she was crying.

She graciously took it to wipe away the tears. The thing about crying though is that once she started, it was hard to stop. She could feel Uri kindly rubbing her head against her stomach in concern. Her owner not saying anything.

"I never let Takeshi into my life. Whenever I told people that he's my bo- was my boyfriend, they called me lucky. I never understood that. I didn't let him get close to me to understand how well he treated me. I don't even know why I'm crying when I don't deserve to."

She wasn't in love with her ex-boyfriend. She at least thought that when they broke up it would have been a mutual understanding. That he would explain why to her. They built their relationship off of trust. It may have been because of their job but they trusted each other. To suddenly call it off, after prying into her past, was close to betrayal. And she knew that it was her fault.

"You deserve to cry." Hayato awkwardly tried to avoid looking at her shaking body.

He took her quick gasp as a sign that she heard him clearly. "Well I mean, you can not- not cry. If the baseball freak came here and said that what are you gonna do? Suck the water back into your eyes? Stupid woman."

She let out a weak laugh. Using the napkin he gave her, she wiped away her tears; sniffling her nose a little. "I suppose you're right. Thanks."

He studied her as she kept tapping her face with the already soaked napkin. There were a lot of sides to her. Strong and independent like when they first met. There was that time she showed that she liked to eat cakes and play with costumes. For their training she was worried for him. Not only that one time. He could remember multiple times she subtly watched over him.

The one in front of him was nothing that he's seen from her. That wasn't right. Thinking back, she was always guarded. He thought that it was because of who he was. He was nothing more than a stranger. Turns out it was because of who she was. Haru crying was normal. Without tears, she was always showing herself to him.

"Why did you come here? You could have gone to your friends for support. I'm not the type to console people." He asked when she seemed a bit more calm.

"My job isn't open to have a lot of free time for friends."

"What about the bride?"

She shook her head. "Kyoko-chan is busy with all the wedding preparations. I can't bother her with this. It'll only worry her."

"What about family?" That was the biggest difference between them. Hayato had a loving mother and sister he would do anything for. Now even having Uri join that. Haru has the Vongola.

"My mom died when I was young. I'm an only child too."

"And dad?"

"Killed by the Cloud guardian and Decimo." She waited for him to judge her. It sounded crazy for her to join the group that killed her only remaining family. A boy raised so lovingly wouldn't understand.

Haru froze when he placed a hand on her head. She turned her head, finding that she focused in on his eyes. He didn't look away from her. His hand remaining on her head told her she wasn't alone.

"I don't know the conditions but if you still joined the Vongola then there had to have been a reason. Good work."

"What's with that? You hate the Vongola. You've only known me for a few months. So why is it you that is saying all of that?" Uri meowed loudly when Haru suddenly hugged her tight. The kitten squirmed out of her grasp to launch herself towards her owner's face.

Hayato screamed, falling off the couch. Haru's tears were replaced with the sound of her laughing. This was meant to be a serious conversation. Anyone normal would have stuck to the mood out of curtsy. To comfort her was nothing special to him because he was a genuine person that shared his thoughts.

The sound of thunder put a pause to her laughter and Uri's regular tantrum. She glanced out the large window. The rain was still heavily coming down with no sign of stopping. Inside this room, Haru was protected from the mess that was going on. She didn't want to leave.

She stretched her arms above her head, letting out a fake yawn. "You know what? I'll take up your offer to stay. Driving in this weather is dangerous anyways."

He stopped fighting the kitten. "You will?"

"Yep!" She helped him untangle Uri from his hair. "One night shouldn't hurt. Poor Uri is left here all the time. Haru can't imagine the torture she's been through."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding Gokudera-san. You're not too bad to be around." He spotted the shy smile on her face when she turned away to go to the bathroom.

"Tch. Whatever." He mumbled to himself. It was hard to argue against that kind of smile.

They didn't speak much about the whole incident. Over dinner they talked about the randomest of things to fill the empty space. It made them forget everything that went on outside. They only chose to settle for the night when they noticed how late it had gotten. It was a long day for the two of them. As much as they wanted to continue to live in ignorance, the day had ended. They had to turn off the lights and accept that it was time to sleep.

Afterwards the two settled on Haru and Uri getting the bed and Hayato the couch. He insisted on it since he knew that his sister would yell at him for not being a gentleman. It was still better than anything that he had at Povero. Sometimes even sleeping on the big bed was uncomfortable because of how luxurious it was.

For a little while, they both laid in silence. They could hear beyond the rain drops that the other was still awake. There was an elephant in the room. Hayato wanted to ask about the poison. Haru wanted to tell him everything. But with a perfect ending to the night like this, the last thing they wanted was to talk about the reality.

"Hey woman." Hayato whispered.

"Yes?"

He paused. "I hate you."

"I deserve that."

"Why do you think you deserve it?"

She paused too. "Because you have good instincts. If you think I'm a terrible person then there's a reason. I already know I'm not as perfect as I try to be."

He didn't like how quiet she spoke. This wasn't the same woman he met. And despite everything they went through, that fire inside her being snuffed out wasn't what he wanted. To him, Haru was different. That was the only word he thought fitted her. He liked that she was different.

"I don't think you're a terrible person." She chuckled.

"Thanks." He turned over to not face her direction.

"Good night."

"Good night." The two exchanged those phrases like nothing. That they weren't killers tied together by a string of lies.

After some time Hayato found that he couldn't sleep. For obvious reasons. He moved to sit up. Haru didn't move from her spot which meant he didn't wake her up. Deciding to test his luck a little, he got up for a glass of water.

It didn't help him calm down. He was sharing a room as the woman he loathed the most. She took too much. He could kill her here. No training she went through could protect herself in this position against a bomb. One stick was all it took. It's all it ever took.

The only sound taking up the room was the raindrops violently hitting the windows. Still he remained in his spot. Squatting next to her bedside, he could only stare at her face. He could remember all the times they've shared. The incredibly short amount of time. Each time she faced him head on. It was not a lot but it gave him a lot of information about who she was.

She was a woman that hid everything she could to protect herself. She struck fear into people because she was full of it. She didn't trust herself to take out the traitor. Her weapons never could cause irreversible damage. At the same time she didn't let him fall that time in training. She didn't bat an eye at death in front of her nor her boyfriend breaking up with her. The question was if she even recognized what she was supposed to feel in that situation. A twisted mind that has the right intentions.

Right now she was harmless. A stray kitten she helped save slept soundless on her. Her hair down with no makeup to cover up how tired she looked. Defenseless in a room with a man that she didn't fully know herself. He was someone she trusted for some unknown reason.

"I hate you." He whispered to not wake her. In front of him wasn't a monster he wanted to believe. It was a human girl that was perceived to be everything she forced herself to be. What others forced her to be for their sakes. Everything revealed today and talking to her directly, he couldn't imagine what her goal was. But he knew who she was. The once stranger let him see the parts of her that no one else got to.

What surprised him the most about Haru? It wasn't any of those traits. It wasn't that she poisoned his mom. It was that Hayato was falling for her. Falling hard for the one who put him in the worst place ever.

"Repeat to me once more what exactly happened." The man flinched hearing his boss' stressed voice for the first time in a long time. The five others in the school's baseball pit didn't dare say anything.

"I'm sorry! Takeshi and I were playing a few rounds when the rain started. We took shelter in the shed and wanted to take our top layer of clothes off to dry. That's when I dropped one of my notes on our plan... He fully saw it. I panicked and attacked."

His boss let out a loud sigh. "Just show us where he is."

The entire family was led back to the school's shed. None of them were thrown off by the gruesome scene in front of them. Takeshi, their good friend, was lying unconscious in a pool of his own red blood. His breathing was too shallow. Any normal person would have been dead the moment they got hit. Let alone the time it took for his family to arrive. That's not to say that the right hand man wasn't grasping on for dear life. Literally. His attacker really wasn't holding back against him. Anything to protect his family's plans.

Rather than being concerned about his condition, they worried that this was too big of a mess to clean up. Attacking the Vongola Rain guardian right before their coup d'etat was too risky. When hearing the news that Tsuna had moved up the wedding date, they became concerned that they knew. However, they still continued with their plan because the Vongola hadn't acted yet. If they knew their family was traitorous, they would have died by now. Not the case as seen with Takeshi fully trusting his old friend enough to step away from his only means of defense.

"Maybe we should postpone the attack? The wedding has too many people watching. Now with Takeshi out of commission they are going to hike up everything tenfold."

"No." Their boss crouched down with his hands burying into his hair. "I will not allow Tsuna to get away with his actions any longer. His wedding is our last chance to get our revenge."

They all silently nodded. They couldn't go against their boss's decision. They all had the same goal in mind. To ruin Sawada Tsunayoshi's life. It may be harder now but they were determined. Takeshi was only a minor incident. There was no reason to let this stop them.

"We were lucky that no one was here. The rain will help in covering up any tracks. Clean up the mess and tend to his injuries. We're after Tsuna. Not his guardians who don't know anything. We'll deal with the cameras and any other records of you two ever interacting. Listen, he was with us the entire night. Maybe he talked to Yamamoto-san for a few minutes when he was out on his walk but they separated when the rain started. Understand?"

"Yes boss."

He turned to the member that attacked the Rain guardian. "You stay hidden until the wedding day. I don't want to risk you doing anything more to ruin our plan."

"I'm sorry I let you all down." The boss stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen. It's not entirely your fault. He was in the way and you acted in a way to protect us. I understand that. Yamamoto-san out of the picture can work in our favour too. One less guardian to worry about. It's only 4 days to Don't beat yourself up."

He smiled at his boss' kind words. They were all too stressed from all that was going on but they would never blame him for his honest mistake. Their boss was to be a show of how they should behave. In a time of panic and unknown feelings, he was the one grounded point for them to rely on. For one of the youngest in the group, there was no one else they could ask to be their leader. He represented their repression and determination to fight.

"You heard him. Let's get to cleaning before sunrise." The stronger members were fast to act with the further instruction from their right hand woman.

The boss turned to another member that didn't help with taking care of Takeshi. "I know that the two of you were going to work together but you understand, right? Should someone else help you?"

"It's no problem kid. Leave Hayato-kun to me. It'll be nice to have such a cute boy to myself."

"That's nice to hear. I'll leave that up to you then. You don't like handling cases like this so you can head back home." He pointed back at the member watching the clean up process. "Bring him along with you too so that he isn't alone."

"Yep yep!" The member gestured for the attacker to follow her back to their home.

Their boss stared at Takeshi's body being carefully picked up. Still dripping in his blood. It did make him a bit guilty seeing that. Their only goal was Decimo. It was necessary to remove any obstacles though. As long as Takeshi stood in their way, he was eventually going to suffer this fate.

The boss dipped the toe of his sneakers into the blood that fell to the floor, smearing it. He hated spilt blood.