A/N: I'm going to apologize in advance for Yamamoto's OOCness. He seems kind of... well, kind of... kind of like a douchebag. It's mostly about him wooing Gokudera. I originally wrote this because I had an idea for a scene where he interacts with Haru and she says how she feels about all this, but I've decided to have that happen later ;)

And this is a "pre-sequel" because it goes from before and after the first chapter.

I was tired of it. Absolutely fed up. They looked like two children playing house, pretending. Something in me had snapped. If she wasn't going to grow up, then at least he had to.

"Are you in love with Haru?" I asked, already knowing the answer to that question.

I had put up with this long enough. I let them date each other, I let them move in together, and I even let them take care of a kid. There was only one more step they could take and I wasn't going to let that happen.

"What kind of question is that?" He asked with a shaky voice.

Wow, this was getting annoying. "Just say it. Are you or aren't you?" I tried my best to keep my frustration concealed.

"Why should I tell you?" He retorted.

That was it. That was the last straw. Playtime was over. And I could only think of one way to wake him up.

It was a gentle, deep kiss and with it, I could feel his naivety falling away. When I pulled back I could see in his eyes that he wanted more.

There was only him. And me. And that day. And that kiss. That last straw.

"Hayato," I said. My voice can only pronounce his name as though it was the sweetest sound I could ever articulate. "I can undeniably say that I am in love with you."

"But…" He stammered. "B-But Haru…"

Damn. I forgot that she existed for only a second. I wanted to forget longer, so I did the only thing any reasonable person would do. I kissed him until that girl was erased from our memories.

But then she had to open the door and stand there and stare at us. I didn't know what to do when she started crying. Initially I felt bad. Horrible for making a girl cry, but I knew this was for the best. I was releasing them from their illusions. Removing the smoke from their eyes. Haru wasn't crying because the person she loved was with someone else, but because the person she was pretending to love had moved on and she was left alone.

"Haru…!" Hayato shouted as though reminding himself who she was and what she was supposed to mean to him.

I had pretty much figured these two out… or so I thought. I barely predicted that Haru would storm over and slap me. I guessed that she would be mad, but I didn't expect her to show her anger towards me.

"Get out." She growled.

Should I hold my ground or just leave? I had taken some time to make this selection of action as soon as I spotted her in the doorway. I stood, gave Hayato a peck on the cheek, and then walked out the door without my rhythm faltering or being disturbed.

"Yamamoto," Hayato said with a depressed tone that nearly broke my heart. "I need to talk to you."

We were in the headquarters. I was on my way to speak to Ryohei about which of us was going to go on the mission to America. It was an essential concern, but Hayato sounded like he needed me, so that issue would have to wait.

"What is it, Hayato?" I asked casually, faking that I didn't know what he wanted to speak about.

"It's just…" He bit his lip and looked away from me. If he started crying, I wouldn't have been able to take it. I would have had to tackle him right there and love him until I was satisfied. "It's just…" He continued. "I was wondering if what you said before… did you mean it?"

He was too cute. He made me think of a little kid writing a note reading, "Do you like me? Check Yes or No."

I laughed and put a hand on his shoulder, understatedly saying, "Obviously."

"Gah!" He gasped, eyes wide with bewilderment and jaw dropped.

"Why is it so surprising?" I asked. How I enjoy seeing his reactions to my examinations, despite me knowing everything he's going to say.

"B-Because we're both men!" He whispered, adorably upset. I really wanted to hug him, so I did.

"What does that matter?" I asked while frozen in our embracing position. His arms hung limp at his sides.

"Stop it!" he shouted, I could feel the heat of his face on my chest. "This is aggravating! What if someone sees?"

"So," I said as I took away my arms from around him. "If no one could see us, you wouldn't mind doing things like that with me?"

"Ah! Don't twist my words…"

"You're so unbelievably cute, Hayato."

"Don't say stuff like that."

"I really love you."

"Stop!" He hollered, pushing me away. Shit. I had gone too far. I didn't know that I was seriously pissing him off.

"Sorry…" I murmured, attempting to repent for my deeds. "…Hey, Hayato…" I did my best to mimic the appearance of a dejected puppy, there was no way he could be cruel to me that way. "Do you love me too?" I asked after a pause that I made sure was just long enough.

He gave me a look that had the answer within it, but everything else was clouding it: Haru, Lambo, work, society. I couldn't find the yes or the no.

The word "Retreat!" flashed through my mind. I asked a second simpler follow-up question, "Do you like me, Hayato?"

His whole body grew red then he turned away and sprinted off. There was my delightful answer.

"HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY, LAMBO!" we all bellowed merrily. Tons of people were there all the way from Tsuna to a few lowly subordinates. Hibari clearly didn't end up showing up and sent Kusakabe instead. Probably because he hates kids (which is weird since he's a principal) and crowds, so going to a kid's crowded birthday party sounded like his worst nightmare.

The first thing Lambo did was run up and hug Tsuna's Mama. He failed at trying to hide that he was bawling like the Crybaby Lambo he is.

When he pulled away from her and his gaze scanned all the people, he flushed red.

"Haha! You look like a tomato, Lambo!" I called out. Everyone laughed.

"Extremely perfect since you're Italian, right?" Ryohei chuckled. This made Lambo color even more and us laugh even more.

Distracted by the jokes and teasing, we almost didn't witness when Haru brought in the three tier cow-print cake. We cheered and sung Happy Birthday, then I picked Lambo up in order to help him reach the single tall candle at the top of the cake. When he blew it out, I set him down, and I-Pin blurted out, "What did you wish for?"

"He can't tell you!" Haru giggled.

I-Pin pouted, "Will you please tell me what it was when it comes true, Lambo?"

I think Lambo was going to say something to that, but Bianchi busted into the room with bottles from the wine cellar and Tsuna was carrying pots of pasta.

"Now let's party!" Bianchi shouted. This was returned with several hoots and hollers.

"Whoo hoo!"

"Yeah!"

"I want Pasta all'uovo!"

Lambo was really happy. It warmed my heart to see him smiling so hard and so much. I could tell it made Hayato and Haru feel better too. They started whispering things to each other and tittering like they were really close. It bugged me so much I wanted pull Hayato into a lip-lock right there and paralyze everybody with shock. I controlled myself and resisted this notion, alternatively choosing to ask for Hayato to talk to me on the balcony.

I could feel Haru's suspicious eyes on us as we made our way out the room.

"What is it?" Hayato asked warily.

"Nothing, really. I just couldn't stand seeing you next to her for one more minute." I said dispassionately.

"That's so stupid! I'm going back!" He took a step toward the exit to the balcony, but I grabbed onto his arm and gave him the puppy look again.

"Wait," I entreated. "Stay with me just a bit longer."

He gulped and gave into my appeal. "Fine." He sighed. I smiled and glanced up.

"It's already this late." I noted.

"Time flies by when you're having fun." He said. We both stared at the evening sky while leaning against the balcony railing.

"And what fun it is having everyone together again without any work to get in the way."

"Ah, work… it feels like the whole lot's getting more complicated. It was so much easier when we were kids."

"Really? I feel like it's all much simpler now."

"But when we were younger our whole lives were ahead of us and so little of our past affected us. Now, all we have to deal with is mistakes while trying to fix the future. It's more… muddy now. Like each aspect of life is clogging up and blending together."

Hearing that hurt. I didn't know he felt that way, that he felt that his life was ill.

"Hayato…" I mumbled. I put my hands on his hips and pulled him to me, so that his body was against mine. Slowly I put our lips in a soft kiss and he returned it. I thoroughly believe that I will forever have this moment committed to memory. I felt lighter, like we would both float away. And stronger, like I could lift the whole planet. And smarter, like I had gained all the information of the world. I just felt… better.

When we broke from each other, I knew that if I didn't say it now, it might never get through to him.

"Hayato, I love you." I said as ardently as possible.

"Yamamoto…" He said so faintly that my name drifted away. "I think I love you too."

And that was good enough. I was in the running. I wasn't out of the game yet. He was close to being mine, just with a little more effort, then him and I could be united.

"I want to make you happy." I told him. "I want to clear off the muck so that you can see perfectly, so that your life isn't so congested. I'll make you remember what a genuine bliss feels like."

He cuddled closer to me and I didn't want the day to end.

But with the news I heard the next day, I'm glad it did.

"Yamamoto… humanity is sick, right?" He moaned into the phone. I said nothing. "Like… ailing. I feel nauseous. Does each person on Earth feel like that? Hey… She's gone, you know? She left. She's at Kyoko's and… th-this house is too big. We got a really big house for some reason. Did we know I was going to feel this sick when she left? Did we know the house would feel this big? I think… I think Lambo's crying. I feel queasy, Yamamoto. Real dizzy. Help me."

That was all he needed to say. I was there.

Not too long after that, I was a regular visitor to that house. When I would stay over until morning, I would sleep where Haru once slept. I left them breakfast like she once did. I also would go grocery shopping with Lambo when he was being agreeable. I bet he was glad that he didn't always have to make his own breakfast, iron his own clothes, or pack his own lunch so often anymore. Household chores aren't exactly something a spoiled brat is used to.

Four months passed by since Haru abandoned Hayato and Lambo. Okay, so "abandon" is a bit of exaggeration, but she rarely went to see them (less than once a month) and I was there practically every day. In the morning, Hayato and I would leave for work and when we returned in the evenings, we would sleep in the same bed (Okay, sometimes we would sleep). On week-ends, we would usually hang out and go on dates. We ended that after we came back one day to see a bunch of furniture in Hayato's room shot up by Lambo's new pistol (Tsuna's Papa had got it for him for his birthday). Some stuff was ripped up and some of it had paint smeared on it. Basically, it was wrecked.

Hayato got angry, but realized why Lambo did this and forgave him. I realized that geography-wise, it was going to be hard for me and Lambo to share Hayato, so I proposed the idea that I move in with them. Hayato said that he was unsure of doing so because of how Lambo might react to the situation. In the end, I got what I wanted and transported some of my stuff into the mansion while getting rid of the crap that Haru had left behind like the table in Library (though the least used room, a vital place to show off to others) and the sofa in the den. She also preferred to have the piano in the den, but I had it moved into the Bonus (or Entertainment) room.

Hayato was right about that Lambo the thing. In plainest terms, the kid didn't like me. Going in depth, he would tell me how much he hated my cooking, he would continuously ignore me, he called me 'ulterior motive,' he criticized every part of my life possible, he rolled a hand grenade into the Study while I was getting some papers in there, he put lipstick marks on my dress shirts then left them lying around (this little trick did get me in trouble one or two times), he pushed I-Pin into a closet with me then screamed, "Broccoli Monster!" He covered my side of the bed in tomato sauce, he even (purposely) spilled Penne alla Vodka all over the seats of my Ferrari. I forgave him for all of this.

But eventually, Hayato talked to him and the kid seemed to not mind me. He doesn't complain about my cooking as much and now he calls me 'another family.' A favored nickname.

I never recognized how hard raising a kid could be. While juggling work, Lambo still asks for tons of stuff, advice, help with his homework, and then there's bringing him to the hospital every time he attacks Reborn, planning his visits to see Tsuna's Mama, and dealing with his teenage mood swings.

Since that time, Lambo's been more compliant and I've come to understand him more. Hayato's glad to see me getting along with him so well. Haru called me and left me a message saying that she wants to speak with me. Oh, and Ryohei was the one who ended up going on that mission to America. Lucky.

Don't worry, Bianchi poisoned neither the wine nor the pasta at Lambo's party. Next chapter is just a short that I thought was kind of cute. This fic is fun to write =D

And sorry again, for Yamamoto's OOCness. x3