Disclaimer: Don't own Reborn series.
Haru winced in pain as one of the man grabbed her from the chair and forced her to stand up. She knew what this means. She's going to die.
"Your man came," he said brusquely as he let her walk first.
Surprised, Haru tilted her head to look at him, to make sure he was serious. Then she looked ahead once more as fear and hope filled her heart. "Don't look so hopeful signorina, you don't know what fate awaits you the moment we step out of this room," he smirked.
"I'm going to die," she stated. "Your boss told me so."
"Yes. You are…in front of him…the way our previous mistress died in front of our previous boss. Revenge is sweet when done the same way…"
His words did not register in her mind when Haru remembered something. Today was his birthday. Had they known about it and decided to kill her on his birthday as a gift? A shudder ran down her spine. She remembered once what Yamamoto told her about Gokudera's mother. She died on his way to give him her gift on his birthday and that tragic event had scarred her husband at a young age.
Did these people decided on sweet torture? Eyes sharpening, Haru turned to the man who was following her. Earlier, she was prepared to die. After all, she does not want to live in loneliness anymore. Though she mentioned that she lived the five years of her life with contentment, it was only half-true. It would have been better if only she does not have to feel so lonely. Loneliness had always been her companion before she met Tsuna and the rest. Then, after he married Kyoko, that kind of feeling is returning back.
Besides, even when they were sent to the future, she never felt like she was part of their family. She was their friend but not a family. Kyoko is a different case since she is sister to one of the guardians. Even Bianchi. Even Ipin. For Haru, she was not related to anyone at the very least. She was merely an outsider who accidentally was involved in their different world.
She had been feeling that way and at one time, she decided to end her life, unable to deal with such loneliness and at the same time, heartache. That was when her husband found her. He said he was looking for her because he wanted something. A marriage. It was nothing personal. He just wanted to find a wife before Bianchi would toss him the woman of her choice.
Haru might have been reckless then because she suddenly agreed. But by marrying Tsuna's right-hand man, she started to feel that she is beginning to be a part of the family again. Call it insecurity, but she had always been insecure when it came to that matter. She wanted to be part of their circle so badly…not just a friend…but also as family.
That was her reason for suddenly agreeing to his proposal and so they got married after a month much to everyone's surprise. Needless to say, the marriage was never consummated in their five years of married life. That was the deal. They would simply have to play their roles as husband and wife in front of everyone else.
It was awkward at first but as time passed by, they became comfortable with each other's presence and the once cat and dog during the yesteryears had learned to rely on each other for company in moments when they needed someone to talk to. And their two years of marriage had extended to five years without them noticing.
Then…the change in the routine started when threats to Vongola had been suspected and the guardians were summoned every now and then by Reborn to do some jobs. And Gokudera had rarely come home. That was when Haru started feeling lonely once more. She thought that being married to him would mean an escape from such a boring and lonely life…it turned out that it would still lead there…it just happened later than sooner…
And that was why she was prepared to die. She does not want to feel those kinds of sickening feelings anymore. But upon realizing what her death might mean to someone about to celebrate his 27th birthday, she decided that she won't die yet. She'll escape if she had the chance. She does not want him to suffer another loss on his birthday.
"You look angry," the man commented upon noticing the sudden sharpness in her eyes.
Haru nodded. "I am. I am angry because you are trying to destroy a man who had rebuilt his life."
The man cackled in mockery. "As I have said…revenge is sweet. That is the way of the mafia."
Haru bit her lip. She just had to find any means of escape. She'll think of something later when she had the chance. Right now, she will just have to play along. If only this man would unbound her. Her movement is limited to the rope that tied her hands behind her back. As they continued to walk down the dark path, the handsome man stepped out from one of the room and smiled at her.
"Ah, Signorina…it would seem your assumption was incorrect. You see…he did come," he spoke and held her arm tightly. "Now…tell me something first…how powerful is your husband?"
At the question, Haru realized that perhaps they knew nothing about the rings and the power that came with it. if that is so, then this group is just an ordinary mafia which does not rely much on supernatural powers like most of the mafia she knew…
"Enough to defeat you all without a sweat," she answered as she raised her head, her eyes challenging him. "You see, Signore," she copied the way he called her. "My husband is the Storm Guardian of the Vongola family…and being that, he is the core that attacks relentlessly."
Not pleased with her answer, the man raised his hand and Haru tolerated the pain that came with it when he slapped her on her left cheek. "Don't start being so cheeky now, signorina. I'm not as kind as I showed you yesterday."
Tasting her own blood, Haru cocked her head to face the man once more and she gave him a mocking smile. "You're afraid now that you've heard about his prowess."
Another slap and Haru's sight became slightly blurry at the impact of the hit. "I have no reason to fear him. He came alone. Against all of us, he stood no chance and you and him will die together. After that, the revenge of my family is over." He turned to his man. "Make sure you kill her when I give the signal. As of now, I shall go and greet our guest."
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His knuckles were white as he clenched his fists so tightly while he remained outside the warehouse. So this was where that incident took place, where the root of this problem had started. But Hayato does not care about what happened here before. That was then and this is now. The Berlussoni family had sure made a very huge mistake.
They should have just minded their own business. Yet they did not. And they chose to kidnap his wife and plan on doing the same thing that happened to that woman who died here years ago. A very huge mistake. He will have to show them that.
Setting his helmet, he started walking towards the place as a handsome man appeared from the door with a crooked smile. That smile reminded him of Byakuran and Gokudera could not help the feeling of wanting to send the man to hell already. Just looking at him made him remember Byakuran and his men.
"Signore, I must say I'm impressed. You managed to track us so easily," the man spoke lightly.
"An eye for an eye eh?" Gokudera remarked, his silver eyes were deadly. "You better make sure you did nothing to her."
"Or?"
This time, the silver-haired smirked. "You wouldn't want to know."
The man chuckled. "You and your wife seem to have that uncanny ability to say something so cheeky while forgetting that I have the upper hand here."
"Tell me something," Gokudera started, ignoring the man's remark. "Are you doing this to avenge the previous mistress of this family?"
The man frowned. He was told that only this man's father and his men knew of what happened here. He was told that his children never knew about it. Yet this son knew.
"So you know," he spoke carefully. "And you also know the price that came with being a mafia leader's son."
Gokudera moved his hand. "Ah. A son shall bear the father's sin. That is the way of the mafia. I was told that a hundred times when I was a kid."
The man's hand moved and a few moments later, another man emerged from the door, his one hand holding a barely conscious Haru. At the sight of the blood that trickled his wife's, Gokudera's eyes flashed fury. His eyes had counted ten men already who were scattered everywhere to make sure he is surrounded.
His lips curved cruelly. "You just did a very huge mistake," he said darkly as his right hand punched into one of the boxes that were connected to each other and strapped around his waist. "And I'll make you pay for it."
"Don't even start making a false move," the man warned and Gokudera's eyes turned into slits as the man holding his wife pointed his gun at her temple. "You may be a powerful man with supernatural powers but are you going to take the risk?"
The man smiled with satisfaction. "My name is Gil, the 30th head of the Berlussoni family and upon the death of the previous head, he had requested that his wife's death be avenged," he turned his eyes from him to Haru. "She looked like a nice woman and I feel sorry that her life would be wasted for the likes of you."
"At some other times, I might have liked her. She seemed pretty nice," he mulled as if forgetting that he was simply playing with Gokudera. "And I learned something interesting from her. So you both married for different reasons eh?"
Gokudera's head was slightly bowed down since a while ago, his right hand clenched tightly. Gil continued talking. "She even mentioned something about you not coming to her since you're busy with some bullshit stuffs. And yet you came…"
At that time, Gil had no idea how the implications of his words had struck Gokudera like a lightning. "So you – "
Gokudera's eyes were screaming murder when he raised his head and this time, he managed to successfully release someone. The man turned on his heel and signaled his men to open fire. He had no doubt that they would make out of that shootout alive. "Uri," he said to the cat which growled menacingly as he stepped in front of Hayato, his eyes focused on the woman who was trying her best to remain conscious. "Make that man pay," he said. "Protect my wife."
At other times, Uri and Gokudera would have fought pointlessly like they always do when they were young. The cat always defies his master after all. But at that moment, the Uri that came out was actually the mature one. And although he was merely a part of the Cambio System, he understood that this woman was the one who always fed him food, impossible as it may sound.
Taking advantage of the surprised look on the faces of the men surrounding them, Gokudera had launched his own attack and knocked them unconscious in a matter of minutes. Turning to his wife, he found Uri carrying her at its back. He went near them and spoke.
"Hey," he called to his wife.
Haru raised her head and smiled reluctantly. It was ironic that she remembered it now. He always came at unexpected times and saved her from trouble.
"You alright?" he asked, unsure of how to talk to her.
"Y-Yeah," she sounded weak. Gokudera looked around. Most of the men outside were knocked out and honestly, he does not want to dirty his hands by going after Gil. What matters now is that his wife is safe. Nodding his head, he offered his hand and Haru blinked as she stared at it with question, before finally taking his hand and he helped her down from Uri's back.
"Let's go – "
A gunshot was heard and before he knew it, Haru fell right in his arms. Surprised, Gokudera turned to where that gunshot came from as his hands held Haru. Gil was aiming his gun at them with a cruel smile.
"I must say I'm surprised you guys hold powers such as this…but I supposed you are not immune to guns as well," he said and eyed Haru. Gokudera could feel the warm liquid in his hand. "An eye for an eye."
"Bastard," Gokudera cursed as his one hand moved and launched his attack. Surprised at the dynamites around him, Gil lowered his gun as he ran away from his spot to avoid getting hit from the blast. Gokudera took that moment to lay Haru down beside Uri which shielded the woman with his body.
Gokudera took heavy steps as he aimed his weapon towards Gil. "You just dug your own grave, Gil," he said and a series of attacks followed, his aim not missing his target as Gil was hit several times. He almost fell on his knee when he felt something hit his shoulder and that was when he realized there are more men around than earlier. So he kept some of his men hidden eh?
Making sure that Gil is dead on the ground, Gokudera turned his attention to the others who were firing at him. Good thing he had some speed as well as his C.I.A. system, he could avoid them and block the attacks at the same time. He never tried using it against bullet but it seemed successful.
"Out of the way you bastards!" he screamed in fury as his eyes caught sight of his wife being protected by Uri. As he loaded his weapon with another set of dynamites, he was surprised to see the enemies fall one by one. That was when he realized that Yamamoto and some other guardians were all gathered now and took care of the small fries.
"You could have called us," Tsuna commented. It's real funny how everyone had matured after so many years. Tsuna had come to embrace his life as the tenth boss of the Vongola family and thus had started acting in a mature way.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he held his shoulder and went straight to Uri. The cat mewled before he returned to the box as Gokudera fell on his knee and held Haru as he checked on her vital signs. There is still a heartbeat. He sighed in relief.
"Haru!" Tsuna exclaimed in surprise when they finally saw her as Uri removed his body as shield earlier.
As if hearing her name, Haru opened her eyes and smiled a little at Tsuna. "T-Tsuna-kun…"
"You're going to be alright," the Judaime spoke reassuringly.
She only moved her head in an effort to nod but she had already passed out. For a moment, Gokudera remained frozen on his spot as he held her. Cursing inside, he carried his wife as he felt something inside his chest. It was something he never felt before. Pain. Yamamoto stepped forward.
"I'll carry her."
Gokudera nodded absentmindedly and watched as Yamamoto led the way. Tsuna turned back when he noticed that Gokudera did not budge from his spot. Ryohei and Yamamoto were already a good distance away.
"Gokudera-kun?" he asked in worry.
Coming to his senses, Gokudera blinked before he sighed. "Judaime, can I ask you a favor?"
Said man smiled. "Of course. What can I do?"
"Stay by her side. Just this one, I beg you," he said and bowed a little to show his respect. Puzzled, Tsuna looked at him with confusion.
"Huh?"
"Every one knew except you and your wife…Haru loves you," he revealed much to Tsuna's shock as he stared at Gokudera dumbfounded. Haru loves him?
"G-Gokudera…"
"Just this once please…just show her you also cared about her," Gokudera continued.
"But…shouldn't you be the one doing that? You're her husband," he pointed out after recovering from his shock. If that was the case, how come Haru ended up married to Gokudera? Pained eyes met Tsuna and somehow, Tsuna felt sorry. He had never seen this pained look from his right-hand man. Gokudera had always managed to put a calm face in front of him.
"Right now…she needs you…" he whispered before straightening up. "I'll be following later. I just have to clean this up."
"Gokudera?"
"I just need to finish what was started here…to do something my father was unable to do before," he spoke with his back turned from him. He could not show his face to him now. Not in this state where he felt so helpless knowing he could not do anything for Haru now. He saw that look in her eyes when Tsuna called. There was joy in there. It was a look he never was able to elicit from her. And inside, it hurts.
Still reluctant to leave him alone, Tsuna could only nod his head. "A-Alright then."
When left alone, Gokudera moved towards Gil. He studied the form of the man. Everything happened in a short time yet it cost the lives of many. He never thought he could kill a powerless man out of fury. He just did. It made him almost like a murderer. When he came here earlier, it was all with the intention of just getting his wife back without meaning to kill anyone.
But Gil hurt his wife. Then he shot her. It was something that almost drove him mad a while ago. How he managed to keep his sanity in that short moment was still something that he wondered. He thought he was going to lose himself there and would turn out to become a mass murderer by killing Gil and his men.
"It was all pointless Gil. This revenge of yours…we both should not have carried this weight," he muttered, feeling regret. "You should have just let the old man pass away with his foiled plan."
He sat on the ground now, not minding his wound. "Damn…" he cursed. He is so confused now. He was feeling sorry for the man who shot his wife. He wondered if Gil did this out of duty.
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Haru stirred then a few minutes later, she opened her eyes. The first sight that greeted her was the worried face of Kyouko.
"Haru," the other woman smiled in glee when she finally woke up. "I'm so glad you're awake."
Feeling a bit groggy, Haru screwed her eyes shut for a while before reopening them. That was the time she realized that Kyouko was not the only one in the room. There are others too. "We thought you still want to sleep," Ryohei commented and smiled warmly. "Welcome back."
"huh?"
"You've been asleep for three days now. You had us all worried," I-Pin said. That was the time that she remembered everything that transpired. The last she could remember was losing consciousness in the arms of her husband. Speaking of which, she could not find him around. "W-Where's Gokudera?" she asked in wonder.
The other guardians shared a look before Ryohei cleared his throat. "He…went on a mission. Yamamoto accompanied him."
Disappointment crossed her eyes. "Oh."
"Do you want to eat something, Haru?" Tsuna asked and Haru looked at him with wonder. Strange, but before she got married, she always had to look away whenever he talked to her so that she could drive away the pain. Even when she was married with Gokudera, she always tried her best to stay away from Tsuna because just by looking at him reminded her of her heartache. And yet now…
She shook her head. "No…."
Sighing, Tsuna turned to everyone. "Guys…uhm…I'd like to talk to her for a moment…in private."
Bianchi gave Tsuna a knowing look before turning to her sister-in-law. She wondered if Haru never loved her brother one bit in the five years that they lived together. She walked towards Haru and kissed the top of her forehead. Despite that, she still loved Haru as her sister-in-law. "I'm glad you're safe already."
Feeling the warmth from a family member, Haru's eyes watered but she held back her tears. She was wrong. She was never alone. She was deep in her thought that she had not realized she was left alone with Tsuna who studied her carefully.
"So…uhm, Gokudera…told me…something," he began and Haru's head snapped as she looked at him. What did her husband tell him? As far as she could remember, she never told him about her feelings. That was something she never told anyone.
"What about?'
"He mentioned…that you love me…" Tsuna swallowed, finding the situation awkward. He had been giving that a serious thought ever since Gokudera revealed that to him. And that was when he realized why she always distanced herself whenever he is around. Perhaps to avoid getting more hurt.
Wide-eyed, Haru stared at him with her jaw slackened. How did he know? How did Gokudera know about it? She was always so careful about it. She had guarded her feelings well when they grew up especially when she realized that Tsuna was in love with Kyouko. Face flushed from embarrassment, she looked away.
"I want you to know that I'm thankful for it," Tsuna continued when he noticed that she is not going to say anything. "You're a nice woman Haru. I love you too…but you understand that – "
"I know. I understood that already," she cut him off in a steady voice. She smiled at him. "You really don't have to say anything to make me feel better. I had always known about it. I just denied myself the truth."
Tsuna smiled and remembered the pained look from Gokudera. Could it be that he…? He shook his head. "You should get better so that there is someone who would call Gokudera back from this mission. He insisted on going to France to observe another potential threat. He does not look well when he insisted on it so Yamamoto volunteered to accompany him."
Haru felt the worry rising inside her chest. "Is the job…dangerous?"
"Not at all…it's just that…with his condition, he might end up seriously hurt."
"Condition?"
"Hmm…he's a good man."
Not understanding where this conversation will lead, Haru only nodded. No one can argue with that. Gokudera, despite his cocky attitude, is indeed a good man. She would not deny that because he was always there when she needed help. It was him who taught her how to be strong. "He is."
This time, Tsuna smiled. "Take care of him Haru. You might not know since he never showed you…but he does care for you," he stated and remembered what Yamamoto had mentioned once.
Still not sure why he was saying those, Haru only nodded her head. Of course she knew that he cared. He might have always been subtle about it but she always knew in her heart. He would give her advices when she needed one though he does it rudely. Then, he would always save her from trouble. Many times she found herself trapped in a corner with bullies around her. Then he always popped out. Of course he cared.
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By the way, I'd like to thank those who left me a review as well as those who corrected my misspelled names of the characters: Miichiya, x-MinRi-x, ZiaLiaLis, chaomi, dr. kitten and SunChildRay. Thanks and take care.