Chapter 3

After about an hour of laying there with her eyes closed, Haru became refreshed. She was able to sort things out and felt like her burden has lifted. Despite feeling a bit heavy, she knew she had to get up and move on. Nothing good would come from hoping for the impossible. It would just separate her from both Tsuna and Kyoko. She had to accept the fact that there are times in life when things don't end up the way she wants them to. She stood up, looked at the sky for a short while and walked back to the classroom.

As Haru slid the classroom door open, she stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. It was Tsuna and Kyoko, showing their love for each other through kissing in the empty room. They immediately backed away from each other when they saw her by the door. She couldn't blame them. They were madly in love with each other, and who would expect anyone to enter the room at this late in the afternoon?

"O-oh my! I-I'm sorry, I left my bag and… I didn't mean to intrude." Haru apologized, stuttering in her words.

Just when she was close to recovering from how hurt she was, they just had to be there and shove the truth right into her face. At that moment, she realized what she was missing out. She missed out on the fact that Tsuna and Kyoko were already more than friends, and she would seem like a stranger to them at times like this. She could no longer look at Tsuna and Kyoko the way they used to.

She could no longer hug Tsuna and talk to him like she usually does. She had no space in Tsuna's heart. Kyoko was there by his side to replace her. She could only admire him, there could be nothing more than that. She could only see him being happy beside Kyoko. They were both happy while she could just sadly look at them from afar. It was as if she was being thrown out, she was all alone. It was something that wounded her deeply. She tried hard not to burst into tears in front of them.

'Don't…' She told herself. 'Don't break down just yet.'

Silence filled the room. Kyoko didn't know what to tell Haru, and Tsuna was afraid of making her cry. They were both aware of how much they've hurt her, but they had no idea on what to do. Tears started welling up in Haru's eyes again. She felt like she couldn't restrain those tears any longer. She was hopeless. She thought of just running through the door and leaving her bag there when a sudden yell broke the silence in the room.

"Jyuudaime!" A towel suddenly hit Haru on the face. "I'm sorry if this girl suddenly bothered you and Sasagawa."

"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna said in surprise.

"The baseball-idiot and I were running an errand for Reborn-san until I realized I left something here in the classroom. I was going to wait until the both of you left the room, but this pesky girl rashly came in." Gokudera hurriedly walked towards his seat to grab his notebook from under the table along with Haru's bag on her seat.

"I shall walk this stupid girl home now, and I'll come by later." He grabbed Haru's hand and left the room right away. The door closed with a loud slam.

Haru was already crying as they walked through the hall way. Tears freely ran down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them off with the towel, but they just kept falling.

"Your towel smells bad desu." She remarked as she continued to dry her tears.

"Look, I don't want you to burden my boss with your stupidity. Stop crying already." Gokudera ordered as he gripped her hand tighter and speeded through the halls.

He had to make sure they got out of there as soon as possible to avoid running into Hibari or any disciplinary committee member and cause a fight. He has an urgent mission from Reborn, and he can't afford to waste any more time.

"Gokudera-san, why don't you just leave me alone?" Haru yelled. "You don't even like me! Why are you doing this to me?"

"What am I doing to you?" Gokudera asked indifferently. "I saved you from doing something stupid, and now you're yelling at me. You should thank me, woman!" He snapped.

Haru fell silent. She didn't want to thank such a person. Gokudera was too much of a jerk for a savior. She didn't even have the energy to argue with him right now. She was tired, frustrated and heartbroken. She struggled to keep up with his pace as they walked towards the school entrance. Haru looked up as soon as Gokudera let go of her hand. She saw Yamamoto, who was probably waiting for Gokudera, by a cherry blossom tree.

"Yoh, Gokudera! The kid told me not to start the mission without you!" He approached Gokudera with a smile and got surprised to see Haru by his side.

"Oh, are you two dating?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Of course we're not!" Gokudera immediately replied.

"Hey, isn't that the towel you used to wipe your sweat during P.E?" Yamamoto asked.

Haru felt disgusted. She squealed and threw the towel away.

"Oi, you stupid woman! Why'd you throw away my towel?" Gokudera yelled.

"Why won't I? You used it to wipe your sweat!" She snapped.

"Didn't you know that already? You told me a while ago that my towel smelled, I thought you didn't mind." Gokudera snapped back at her.

"That was because I was too depressed to even throw it away." She growled.

"Now now," Yamamoto tried to pacify the two. "Gokudera if you continue to waste your time on this argument, Hibari might come and beat them up for us. We shouldn't take our chances and just leave the job to him."

"Hahi? What's the matter desu?" Haru asked.

"It's none of your business, stupid woman." Gokudera yelled.

"Nah, it won't hurt to tell her." Yamamoto paused to let Gokudera explain, but he didn't look like he planned on doing such a thing.

"Well, let me explain instead." Yamamoto started. "You see, there have been a lot of Mafiosos trying to harm Tsuna lately. The kid spotted some of them at the district. He says they might interrupt the special training he planned for Tsuna, so he wants us to beat them up and make them go away."

Haru sweat dropped. "I see."

'How dangerous desu.' She thought.

"Come on baseball-idiot!" Gokudera yelled. "We won't have anyone left to beat up when Hibari comes."

"Now now, you were the one who showed up late you know." Yamamoto smiled at Gokudera and turned to Haru. "See ya later Haru." He waved and left with Gokudera.

"Bye Yamamoto-san." She waved at them and walked her path home.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were comforting her." Yamamoto teased.

"Shut up." Gokudera said in annoyance. "Why would I waste my time trying to mend a broken heart? I was trying to stop her from burdening jyuudaime." He said and turned away.

"Oh my, could it be that Gokudera is a tsundere?" Yamamoto grinned.

"I said shut up, you baseball-idiot!" He barked.

Haru felt better the next day. She came to school with a smile on her face. Even if she experienced having her heart broken (for the first time), she knew she had to stay strong. She couldn't just fall every time she experiences failures in her life, she had to move on. That same morning, Kyoko approached her to apologize.

"I'm really sorry, Haru-chan." She said as tears brimmed in her eyes.

Haru couldn't stand seeing her friend cry. She loved both Tsuna and Kyoko. Yesterday, she came to realize that if she truly loved them, she would want to make both of them happy. She couldn't be truly happy with Tsuna if she sees Kyoko sad. Tsuna was just not meant for her, and she had to look for someone else. She had to look for someone she could love unconditionally, someone she could love without restrictions.

"It's alright Kyoko-chan." She forced a smile. "I want both of you to be happy. Do your best okay?"

Haru also apologized about the way she acted towards Kyoko. They hugged each other. They were finally in good terms. Chrome also visited their class that day to chat with them. She was happy to see Kyoko and Haru as friends again.

Haru was really glad to have her friends with her. She felt her energy come back. She tried to tease Tsuna and Kyoko. She even teased Chrome when she noticed her secretly looking at Hibari. They smiled and laughed like nothing happened. They were back to how they used to be.

They were having quite a lively conversation when one of the girls from their class approached Haru.

"Umm Haru-san, do you want to come with us to a goukon (group blind date)?" The girl asked.

"Goukon?" Haru repeated.

"Yeah, a friend of mine from Higashi High invited his friends, and we're lacking one more girl. Do you want to come?" She asked.

Haru gave it some thinking and agreed. Kyoko looked worriedly at Haru.

"Are you sure, Haru-chan?" Kyoko asked.

"Yeah. It's unfair how you guys have your love lives." She pouted. "I should find mine as well."

Chrome and Kyoko smiled at her.

"Alright." They said in unison.

When class finally ended, Haru walked with her girl classmates to the karaoke bar where they were supposed to meet up. They met with some boys from Higashi High, but none of them caught Haru's attention. Introductions were made, and they got into a karaoke room that the guys already paid for earlier.

Inside the karaoke room, Haru saw how some of them already got along. She just looked at their smiling faces and how they talked cheerfully like they've been friends for a long time. People offered her the microphone, but she didn't feel like singing at all. One of the guys, whose name was Takano, tried to talk to her and get on her good side, but it seemed like she wasn't feeling it today for some odd reason.

Later on, Takano asked her if she wanted to leave. She gladly said yes. She really wanted to get out of the karaoke room. They both gave their excuses to leave. The group allowed them to leave, seeing how they weren't doing anything in the room. As they went out, the guy held her hand and dragged her.

"Uhh um… Takano-san, where are we going?" She asked.

"There." Takano smiled as he pointed a motel near the district.

"Hahi?" Haru said in surprise. "Uhh no, I don't want to."

She tried to free her hand, but his grip was too strong.

"Let me go!" She struggled to get away from him. "I said let me go!"

Takano fell on the floor all of a sudden. It seemed like someone punched him from the back. Haru was too horrified of what happened, she was shaking and her knees fell weak. She sat on the floor staring wide-eyed. She looked at the person who punched Takano. To her surprise, it was a familiar face. It was a face she never thought she'd be happy to see.

"Goku…dera…san." She stuttered.

Gokudera sighed and picked her up from the ground. He carried her in his arms and walked. She was still shaking while she held on to him tightly.

"Thank you, Gokudera-san." She said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Were you really that desperate to look for someone else?" He asked in annoyance.

Haru didn't answer him. She looked down and hid her face. Gokudera just sighed.

"If you wanted to pick someone to love, you should have picked someone as good-looking as I am." He bragged.

"You're too conceited." She said.

"Or at least pick someone as kind as jyuudaime, not some lecher who just wants to sleep with you." He said.

"You're right," She cried once more. "I am stupid."

Gokudera let out another sigh. People looked at them with different faces. Girls around them chatted about how lucky Haru was to be carried by such a hot guy. Little children thought of a prince holding his princess. Old people babbled about how the youth nowadays could be too frank about their feelings.

"Gokudera-san, people are staring…" Haru's voice faltered, and her eyes closed.

She obliviously fell asleep in Gokudera's arms. It has been a really long day for her and she barely got some sleep yesterday. She was thinking too much on how she would apologize to Kyoko. She deserved some rest and peace of mind after everything that happened. Gokudera, who noticed her fall asleep, just kept on walking.

"What a troublesome girl." He muttered.