[A/N: I have no ownership on the Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I often don't like this kind of plot but after thinking about it, it does sound like something that could happen to these two. Fair warning, may be OOC.]
Gokudera took another swing from his drink. He was staying at Tsuna's side despite the latter's protest. They were attending a party in the Cavallogne family on their semester break. He didn't want to attend but he had to keep an eye on Tsuna. He eyed the table on the other side of the room where the refreshments lay. He kept his eyes from drifting to the brunette dancing with the rest.
Four months passed since then. He had done his part in leaving Miura alone but apparently, she seemed to have changed her mind the weeks after. It was little things at first, she would make sure to ask him as well when she offered to do something for the group or invite them to somewhere. She never bothered before seeing as he went whenever Tsuna did.
Often she would try to talk to him. He was surprised to know that she wasn't as stupid as she seemed. She knew of relevant topics. Months after, she didn't hesitate to verbally spar with him when they had different opinions. There were times that she confused confused him with her fluctuating moods. She always found excuses when he hinted on wanting to talk about them.
He was tired of this. He didn't want to deal with her until she made up her mind. Constantly having to watch his steps were tiring enough. It wasn't like him. Now that he thought about it, why did he feel obliged to tolerate her when she was like this? It was better to ignore her.
He found that his eyes unwillingly lay on the brunette again. She was dancing with his sister. 'She should be fine,' he thought. He kept his worry at the back of his mind.
"How about you try this one Haru-chan?"
Haru received the drink with a thanks. She watched as Bianchi watched her expectantly when she took a sip. It felt like flowers were blooming in her mouth. It was delicious. She drank once more, a hand to her face as she savored it.
"I had a feeling it was your type," Bianchi said with an amused smile. She found Haru looking curiously at the carefully arranged drinks.
"Mm~ this one's my new fave," Haru said with her eyes closed.
Bianchi let out a soft laughter. She was fond of the girl. She did think something was going on between her brother and Haru. She Haru enough to know she wasn't the type to play with someone's heart. She hoped they can settle this soon. They've danced around this for awhile. She wondered when it started.
"Bianchi-san," she heard a gentle voice call out to her. She turned and found the celebrant right there.
"Dino-san," she nodded to him. "Congratulations," she greeted warmly.
"Hello Dino-san!," Haru greeted warmly as well.
"How are you Haru-chan?," he asked.
"Never better. Congratulations by the way!"
"Thank you both!," he have them a warm smile. They talked for a bit and she found that he was better at handling himself when he was alone. He blushed when they recalled his past performance. They continued before he reached a hand out to Bianchi. Haru smiled knowingly.
"May I borrow Bianchi-san for a dance?"
"Yes! I'm sure she would love that as well," Haru replied enthusiastically, giving the older woman a teasing smile. Bianchi sent her a pointed look before she gave him her consent as well.
"Save a dance for me as well Haru-chan," he requested to which she accepted.
"Of course!"
Haru had her fair share of dances for the night and took a break. She acquainted herself with the refreshments table with the help of Bianchi, who she shared her most recent dance with.
'More for me,' she thought as she grabbed two more glasses of the drink. She didn't know how much time has passed but she was fairly tipsy when Dino came back to ask her for a dance.
He laughed when she saw her state and graciously led her throughout the dance. When they had finished, he told her to rest even though she insisted on dancing some more.
"Well if she wants to dance, I'm up for it! Let's go Haru-chan!," Ryohei enthusiastically offered which Haru returned in fervor. Dino released a sigh before he gently guided her to the energetic man.
"Be careful now Haru-chan," he said gently.
"Don't worry. You can leave her to me! You ready Haru?" Ryohei asked and she nodded, a hand strongly clasped with his.
"Ready captain!," she said with a grin.
Ryohei let out a loud laugh before he guided her in the dance.
"That's what I'm talking about!"
"Onward!"
Gokudera placed a palm to his face. He was relieved she had been guided with trusted people but she was clearly overdoing it. She kept dancing and drinking. Much to their dismay, a few mafiaso followed and before long, the banquet went full on in energy. This was far from their civilized party awhile ago.
He looked at Ryohei who strongly held on his title as the strongest arm wrestler of the night. He turned to look at the brunette who was most likely drunk. He saw several glasses on her designated table. His worry went up when he saw a few men try to approach her.
"Hayato," he heard Tsuna call out.
"Can you take Haru back to her room?" He heard him request. He eyed Takeshi who heard him as well. The swordsman gave him a nod, assuring him that he will guard Tsuna.
"I'll take her back," Gokudera replied.
"Hey there miss."
Haru heard someone call out. She finished her glass before she looked at the man. She couldn't see his face clearly, her vision a bit clouded but knew he had other people with him too.
"Would you like to dance?"
"Sorry... bit out r-right now," Haru slurred and let out a hiccup.
"Are you alright miss?"
Haru was about to answer when she felt a warm coat on her person. She looked to the side and saw what she could make out as Gokudera. She would know that hair and scent anywhere. She berated herself for keeping close attention to anything about him.
"I'll take it from here," she heard him say. "Have a good evening gentlemen."
"Gokudera?" she called out but only felt her next glass snatched away.
"Hey!"
He ignored her and told the men some excuse before they went away.
"What the-" she started.
"I'm taking you back. Tenth's orders," he said briefly as he helped her stand up.
"Tsuna? But I haven't danced with him yet. Wait! I haven't danced with you too," she whined.
He raised a brow at that.
"Next time," he said as he placed a hand on her waist to stabilize her. "You can't even walk properly."
"I can!," she roughly slapped his arm away and tried walking only to fall. She felt an arm wrap around quickly, catching her.
"Damn it woman!"
"Gokudera?"
"What?"
"You smell good," he heard her slur before she buried her face on his chest. He felt himself fluster before he pushed her away gently, still holding her up. "Stop it."
She didn't reply, only kept a hand to her mouth. When he saw her hunch her back, he hurriedly led her outside just in time for her to throw up. He helped hold her hair up while she threw up on the garden. He had some explaining to do on her part to Dino. He hoped the latter would be lenient about it.
Haru heard him curse at her for drinking too much. She held a hand up and he stopped. "What now?" he demanded.
"N-noisy," he heard her mutter. When she was about to drink from the nearby fountain, he pulled her away.
"Don't drink shitty water!," he scolded. He could her Dino's offended gasp in his head but brushed it off.
He saw her stubbornly try again. "Damn it woman!"
He hurriedly dragged her up to stand. When she tried to resist, he flung her on his shoulder. He walked briskly to her room, cursing the distance. He felt her heave before she threw up again. He inwardly made a disgusted noise when he felt something wet trailing on the back of his shirt and his pants.
"Fuck!" he cursed. He slammed the door to her room open before he put her in her bathroom. She immediately went to the toilet and vomited again. He grabbed a nearby tie and pulled her hair together. He waited her to finish and guided her to bed. He went to flush the toilet before going back to check on her. He found her on her bed sleeping.
'Fucking hell,' he cursed in his mind. He went to his room to wash the vomit off and changed out the soiled clothes.
When he came back, she was busy occupying herself with the sink. She was gargling something. He went to her side quickly when she sounded like she choked. He patted her back gently, helping her ease in her heaves. When she turned back to look at him, he laughed at her overall look. Her makeup was a mess.
He heard her groan, her hands covering her ears. "Too loud," she whined.
"Serves you right. Learn to control yourself next time," he berated with his arms crossed.
She looked at her reflection and laughed as well. He caught her when she was about to collapse by the sink. "Such a handful" he muttered. He helped her back to her bed. He sat by the side, breathing a deep breath. He didn't think he would be babysitting this late. He rubbed his hand on his face.
"Gokudera-san..."
He turned to her. "You're still awake?"
"Hm... was resting eyes- me... my eyes," she muttered her eyes looking distractedly at him.
He hated how easily he could focus on her eyes despite the distracting mess of makeup on her face.
"Just sleep already. I need to get back to the Tenth," he said as he looked back at his wristwatch to check the time.
"Stay," she started. He heard a rustle before he felt her hand on his. "V-We talk."
"Now you want to talk?"
She nodded, her hand tugging his closer. "Don't leave."
He found everything she said ironic. He stopped himself from expecting anything. He knew this pattern well. She was going to either forget or regret the next day. She talked to him about random things. He swore this was a waste of time but he listened anyway.
"And that's why godzilla is better than any other giant monster," she summarized. He felt his headache grow stronger.
"Woman even if it was, we won't be alive to witness it finish when we're in the middle of it's fight. We're in the damn pacific," he growled. He had enough nonsense. He admit that he had an interest in these but it wasn't exactly the time.
"But the kaijuu!-"
They kept up with her random ass arguments. It went from monsters to nuclear war to aliens. 'This was ridiculous,' he thought. He didn't know why he tried to argue with a drunk woman. He had to get back. He was gone for too long already. The woman had the audacity to yawn when he was spending the limited amount of patience he had to tolerate her.
"I need to get back," he said abruptly. He turned to stand but she grabbed his wrist.
"What now woman?!" he asked irritably especially when she didn't answer. He shook her hand off before he stood up. He was by the door when she answered in a low voice.
"I didn't regret it."
He turned back to her but found her cuddled up in the covers apparently asleep. He rubbed his neck and released a sigh.
Hayato walked back to his room to quickly check that his appearance was acceptable before he returned to the event. He had to take a bath because of Miura. He wondered where this new brand of patience came from. He begrudgingly admitted that Takeshi was right on letting some things flow through. It wasn't like him but he found that it did make things easier to deal with when he didn't react to everything with heightened judgement. There were some times when he couldn't help it. After all, he was himself.
He thought back to her reckless performance tonight and it was easy for a frown to cross his face. They were never going to let her drink like that again. It was dangerous and the damn woman couldn't even hold her alcohol well. He would stop her personally if he had to. He felt anger rise in him when he thought of how what happened to the both of them could happen to her but with another man.
He stopped in his tracks and shook his thoughts away. He made sure her room was secure when he left. Besides, she was smarter than she seemed albeit naive. They really need to talk about what happened. He was tempted to tell her off now.
He arrived back in the event room and swiftly returned to Tsuna's side. The latter had been conversing with other influential figures in the Mafia. He distanced himself for their privacy but with enough proximity to jump in to protect him. He accepted the glass Takeshi handed him.
"How is she?" the rain guardian asked in a low voice, his tone not his worry.
"Sleeping. She drank too much," he sniffed the drink before he took a sip from the glass.
"Did she throw up on you?" Takeshi asked eyeing the change of clothes.
Hayato merely nodded. He ignored the chuckle of his companion and focused on the Tenth.
"Good to know you two are getting along," Takeshi remarked.
Hayato grunted. Not in the mood to talk.
"I don't know what going on with you two but I hope you'll make up soon. It's hurting you both to leave this unsettled," Takeshi patted the man's back before leaving him alone to brood.