Aaaaaaand another month goes by until the next chapter. I'd give you a ton of excuses but their not worth the wasted breath to say them. So here's the next chapter for you to enjoy and unfortunately, it's a short one. My notes are at the end of the chapter.

One big thanks to my Beta Reader: Princess_one99five and a huge thanks to everyone who's read the story and those who have reviewed it.

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Blood- Second Year of High School (June)

It was an unspoken rule between all that no matter how bad things got, they would make sure the girls would always remain safe.

Today, Gokudera broke that rule.

He was on his way to the local bookstore to purchase his favorite magazine when he ran into Haru at the shopping district. It was her monthly "Haru Appreciation Day" and she was on her way to the cake shop to pick out cakes for Kyoko and herself. As soon as she saw him, she waved and ran up to him, her face full of cheer and excitement. He remained somewhat indifferent; for once not overly annoyed that she was there.

"Where are you going?" she asked when she caught up to him.

"Where does it look like?"

By the time he noticed that something wasn't right, it was too late. Before he could react, the entire shopping center became eerily quiet as if time stood still. A bright yellow beam shot between them and into the building that they were in front of. Gokudera barely had time to register what was going on before the wall exploded, sending the two of them flying.

He landed hard, knocking all the wind out of his system. It took him a moment to take a deep enough breath to move but it was horribly painful. He felt he might have broken a rib or two. Managing to sit himself up, he was able to look around. There was debris everywhere but where was the enemy?

Where was Haru?

A surge of energy rushed through his body as Gokudera forced himself to stand up and search for her. Almost by intuition he swung around and saw her body crumpled up several feet away.

He felt something squeeze him internally as he ran over to her. "Ha-Haru!"

There was no response.

And even as he kneeled next to her, calling out her name, there was still nothing. He was almost afraid to touch her, like she would crumble as soon as he laid his fingers on her scratched back. He forced himself to get over it and managed to gently turn her over and see that she was much the worse for wear. There were scratches and cuts everywhere, including two really bad ones on Haru's forehead and forearm, which was most likely broken. Her clothes were becoming incarnadine from the blood that escaped from her wounds.

Is she still breathing? Who did this? Will she be okay? What will the Tenth say?

The thoughts raced through his head as Gokudera just sat there in shock. He didn't even notice Yamamoto run up to him, much less hear any of the questions that he was asking.

He couldn't let this go. He had to find the person who was responsible for this. Yamamoto would make sure she would be okay, since he obviously couldn't be trusted with protecting her. Gokudera would make them suffer. No one got away with hurting the family.

"Oi, Gokudera!" Yamamoto called out, as he pressed a cloth to Haru's forehead.

"Take care of her," the Storm Guardian finally replied, his ring glowing dangerously. He would repay whoever did this to her one thousand times over and over again.

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Can I fangasim just a little and say that pissed Gokudera is sexy as all hell! That ends my little bit of fangirling XD

On a more serious note, the story is taking a little bit more of a turn. My timeline shifted several times until it finally stopped here. I actually had a couple of more innocent chapters planned but threw them out the window because it just wasn't going to work with what I wanted to accomplish. Next chapter will be more interesting…hopefully 3