AUTHOR'S NOTE: Not much to talk about this week. The story keeps on rolling ^_^

Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it ^_^

As always, KHR belongs to Akira Amano and I'm just hijacking the world because I wanted to see things go further ^_^

As a note, I am possibly looking for a beta reader for some of the future chapters of this fic (and future fics in this particular arc I'm painting). If you're interested, please let me know.

If you've time I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter ^_^

The next update will be around June 12th (3 days before my birthday *laughs*)

Thank you for coming this far, I hope to see you again next update ^_^

~ Yuki

Target 09-02: The Beginning of the Rainy Season

Cherry blossom season had ended with the final big storm front moving through and Haru's birthday had passed quietly. Kyoko had made her a cake and they'd had a small party to celebrate her fifteenth birthday, but most of Haru's attention was concentrated on nailing down where they were going to find the Trabuchet Family. They'd finally made it to the dry cleaners on Fourth and had found no evidence of a link to the Trabuchet activity, but they were keeping an eye on things.

The nightmares of the night she'd killed the Trabuchet man still came to her every night, but Haru had perfected the art of smiling so that no one realized what was really going on—or so she thought anyway. Gokudera started showing up at her doorstep in the mornings to walk with her to school, usually with a tea from one of the local shops for her and she wasn't quite sure what to think of it, but she was grateful for the company.

She'd managed to mostly avoid Tsuna since the verbal explosion at his parents' house, only seeing him in passing and usually moving the opposite direction of whatever way he was heading even if she'd initially planned on the same direction. What time she wasn't spending with Gokudera tracking the leads down on the Trabuchet was spent throwing herself into her studies and working with Kyoko and Chrome to make sure they got into Takanamori together. Akai had joined into the study groups as well though as far as Haru knew, the older girl had no intention of going through high school with them.

It was running into June when she and Gokudera got their first solid bite on a possible place for the Trabuchet Family headquarters. Using some of the things she'd been working on since her time with Dani, Haru managed to disguise both herself and Gokudera and found a house on the outskirts of Namimori proper where they spotted a couple people Haru and Gokudera recalled from the various attacks going in and out.

Gokudera glared at the house through his binoculars, conscious of Haru standing just in front of him with the tree between them and the house they were observing. "There's got to be a way to get in there and find out what the hell is going on," Gokudera growled and then pulled the binoculars away and glanced down at Haru. "And, no, you're not going to arrange for yourself to get captured so you can see what's going on in there."

Haru jumped at his words and glanced up at him. "I never said anything of the sort," she sniffed.

"I could hear your brain clicking from here," Gokudera said. "It's too dangerous and they're as likely to kill you as actually allow you to see anything.

"But—"

"No, Haru," Gokudera said firmly. "Let's go talk to Reborn-san and Judaime and we'll figure out what to do from there."

Haru stiffened at the mention of Tsuna and Gokudera sighed inwardly. "You're going to have to see him again at some point if you intend to remain within the Vongola Famiglia. Unless you've decided that you'll join the Hanatachi Clan instead?"

Haru blinked, she hadn't even thought of that, but as much as she liked Madame Cho and Akai, she didn't feel at home within the Hanatachi—not that the Vongola were much better at this point, but returning to her normal life wasn't really an option anymore. After that night, Haru found herself irrevocably changed and she didn't think she'd be able to go back to what she was before, even if the opportunity presented itself. "I—I don't know right now," Haru admitted quietly. "Let's take care of the Trabuchet first and then maybe I'll have some time to think without worrying that they're going to attack my father again."

She shuddered and one of Gokudera's arms automatically wrapped around her and he squeezed her against his chest lightly. "The Vongola won't allow it to happen again," he reassured her.

"Does that come with a guarantee?" Haru asked, forcing humor into her voice.

She felt Gokudera's chest rise and fall with a sigh. "Nothing comes with a guarantee in this world," he reluctantly stated, "and as much as the lie might make you feel temporarily better…"

"I'll still know it's a lie," Haru finished for him and lifted her own binoculars to her eyes to watch the person going into the front gate this time.

"Yeah," Gokudera agreed and released her and stepped away.

Haru suddenly gasped. "Why is Emri here?"

"Huh?" Gokudera frowned.

Haru offered her binoculars even though he had his own and he took them. "She's still in her Midori Junior High uniform," Haru said. "It's Emri, my friend."

"Maybe we're wrong about what this place is?" Gokudera offered.

"I'm going to have to talk to her to find out," she said.

"We've got what we can for now," Gokudera said. "I'll get in touch with Judaime and Reborn-san and set up a meeting."

"Okay."

"Haru!"

Haru glanced up in surprise and saw Emri waving at her from the door of the cake shop and waved back. "Hi Emri," she said.

She hadn't figured out how to nail the other girl down and get some answers to what she'd seen at the house with Gokudera the day before yesterday. They hadn't gone back to do any more looking around because Reborn advised against doing anything until they could meet as a Famiglia and discuss the next course of action.

She continued on her way and heard footsteps running after her and was startled to see Emri running towards her. "What kind of greeting is that, we haven't talked in forever?" Emri demanded.

"I didn't realize you wanted to talk anymore," Haru said. "You haven't said anything to me at school since three weeks into the year."

"Yeah, about that…I'm sorry," Emri said. "It's just when I went to the study group with the other girls it felt like they were so much closer to you than I was and couldn't deal with it anymore. I've known you since elementary and all of the sudden those girls were closer to you than I was, you know?"

Something in her little speech felt off, but Haru decided to let it ride for a little while, if nothing else maybe if she were to spend time with Emri again, she'd get more answers.

"Where are you headed now?" Emri asked.

"To the library to do some research on the paper that's due next week," Haru replied.

"Ooh…your topic is similar to mine; want to do the research together?" Emri asked hopefully. "I'm horrible at putting things together after the research is done and you're always so good at it…"

"Why not?" Haru smiled and led the way to the library.

They settled in one of the study rooms with piles of books on the various aspects of cultural growth during the Edo Period. They talked idly in between pages and Haru let herself relax a little bit, remembering she'd always had fun with Emri when they'd worked on projects together. They giggled through part of their studies and Haru was glad for the study room being mostly sound-proofed and keeping the librarian's glare from hitting them when they got a little too loud.

Haru's phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her purse and switched off the alarm and then started gathering her papers together. Emri looked at her in question. "Important text?" she asked.

Haru shook her head. "No, an alarm. I have to take care of some things before I head home, so I have to head out."

"What kind of things?" Emri asked.

"I've got to pick up some groceries for dinner and some snacks for the study group tonight, it's my turn," Haru said.

"Can you cancel the study group?" Emri asked. "This project is due soon and we always worked so well together. The exams aren't for a long time still."

Haru shook her head. "No, I can't," she said.

It was so fleeting, Haru wondered if she'd imagined the narrowing of Emri's eyes before she smiled. "Oh, too bad, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" she asked.

"Probably back here again for some more research. I have to get a few more details to make the required page length," Haru replied.

"Want to meet up with me here again?" Emri asked.

"Akagi-san was going to come with me tomorrow, but if you don't mind…" Haru said.

"Who is that girl anyway?" Emri asked. "She suddenly transferred in and you guys are best friends."

"She's a friend I met a while ago," Haru said.

"I see," Emri said, "well, if I'm not imposing I would like to join you."

"I don't mind at all," Haru smiled and finished putting her stuff away. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Of course," Emri smiled and put her things in her own bag.

They exited the study room, discussing a few more points that they may want to research for each project and headed for the exit. Haru moved to walk away from Emri and her friend caught her arm. "Hmm?" Haru asked.

Emri seemed to struggle with something for a moment and then released Haru's arm. "Nothing," she said. "You might want to be careful of the company you keep, there's rumors going around about those Namimori Middle students that could cause you problems."

Haru watched Emri dart off into the people walking along the sidewalk and frowned for a moment before turning and heading towards Take Sushi.

"What the hell's up with her?"

The words were muttered, but Haru knew who it was before she turned to see Gokudera fall into step beside her. "She wanted me to cancel my plans tonight and study with her," Haru said. "I thought about it, but the meeting isn't something I should miss and I did make plans to do some studying with Kyoko-chan and Chrome for the Takanamori High entrance exam."

"Would you mind if Judaime and I joined you tonight?" Gokudera asked.

Haru's hand clenched around the school bag she held and she fought off the immediate urge to say no. It was hard enough going to this meeting knowing Tsuna was going to be there and she still hadn't come entirely to terms with her emotions regarding the Tenth. "I'll ask Kyoko-chan after the meeting if she'd mind," Haru finally said.

Gokudera noticed the white-knuckled grip on the handle and was a breath from retracting the statement before Haru responded. He wasn't sure what made him ask, but he knew that the situation between Haru and Tsuna would have to be resolved sooner rather than later. He just wasn't sure how to go about it.

They arrived at Take Sushi and were greeted by Yamamoto and Chrome who were already settled at one of the tables. Gokudera and Haru settled in and Ryohei was the next to arrive followed a few minutes later by Tsuna and Reborn. They settled in their seats and Yamamoto's father set some platters in front of them and said he was going to go watch some TV while they met. Take Sushi was closed on Mondays, so it was the perfect time for the group to meet.

Tsuna met Haru's eyes and the brunette looked down at the notes she'd extracted from her bag and he sighed softly. He didn't think he'd ever miss the overly cheery 'Tsuna-san' she usually greeted him with, but the silence was something else entirely. "Did you find anything, Gokudera, Haru?"

"We think we have narrowed down the location of the Trabuchet Family to this place right here," Gokudera said pointing to the map that they'd spread on the table with a printed picture of the house taped to it. "Both Haru and I have seen people we remember from the attacks going in and out of the house and there are a lot of foreigners there. We didn't get close enough to check any of the defenses because we didn't want to risk a confrontation."

"Things have been too quiet lately," Reborn said. "They're likely planning a major offensive and we can't be sure where and when it's going to happen."

"The only lead we have right now that hasn't tried to kill us yet is Emri," Haru said quietly.

"Who?" Tsuna asked blankly.

"A girl I've known since I was in elementary school," Haru replied. "She's one of the locals we've seen going in and out of the house. Though we only saw her once, so it may have been a coincidence. I'm meeting with her to study again tomorrow, I'll see if I can get some information."

"Haru…you don't have to—" Tsuna began.

Haru took a deep breath—she needed this to stop now. "Judaime," she interrupted him. "I'm afraid after everything that has happened over the past several weeks, you are going to have to accept me as you have Yamamoto, Gokudera, Sasagawa-san, and Chrome-chan."

She looked down at her hands and she could still imagine the blood on them, but she fought off the shudder and continued, "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten tangled up in this. Maybe I should have never taken Dani's offer to be my tutor, but I did, and this is where we are now. I know you don't like it and I know you will never accept me as your wife, but the last time I checked we were still friends, yes? And more than that, I am Vongola, by your own words."

Tsuna's hands clenched together on the table and this time it was his gaze that dropped to the tabletop. It was very strange to hear Haru refer to him with Gokudera's usual form of address.

"Just like everyone else here, I have a unique set of talents to bring to the Vongola," Haru said quietly. "I'd like to utilize them and keep my family and friends safe—especially my father and Kyoko-chan."

Tsuna looked at Reborn for guidance, but the former Arcobaleno gave him an enigmatic look that said that he was going to have to deal with this on his own. He ran his hand through his unruly hair and took a deep breath. "All right, we need to get some more information about that house. Haru, you said that you have access to resources I don't, right?"

"Yes," Haru said.

"Can you utilize any of those resources to gather more surveillance from the house?" Tsuna said. "I'd rather neither you nor Gokudera go near it right now, they've already targeted you two enough."

"I will go talk to them and to Nakayama-san and see what I can get put together," Haru said.

"We need to know the number of people, how many of them can use Dying Will Flames, and what kind of defenses and security they have," Tsuna said. "Until then, we will carry on like we have been. If possible, I want this situation resolved by the end of the rainy season."