Thank you for all the amazing reviews! Then it's decided, I'll make the sequel, though it may take quite a long time since this story is still ongoing.

Oh, and as for assi: I am planning on making a love triangle, but not in the sequel. You'll see :)

Many thanks to Chrome Nagi Dokuro, assi, Rieyama Yuuko, xX. Masuchera .Xx, EternalWritersBlock, FloraFaveXNara-Wire, Spirit Kagome, brisies, AkiiAme-chan, Loved it lots, XxXStarxDustXxX, and Izaya415 for the supportive votes!

Enjoy!

"Just because her eyes don't weep, doesn't mean her heart doesn't. Just because a smile is always curved on her lips, doesn't mean there's always a light within her heart"

In one fine day, a mother was sitting on the dining table while sipping her green tea.

"It's quiet here without Tsu-kun. I wonder if they'll be okay" she sighed.

"Don't worry, mama. They will be" Bianchi replied as she sat across her.

"Ne, ne. Where's Tsuna? Lambo-san wants to play!" Lambo approached Nana like a curious and innocent kid.

"I'll play with you" Fuuta picked up Lambo and thus, they left the two women alone.

"Bianchi, do you think that our Tsu-kun has changed?"

"Definitely. He seems more mature"

"Of course, but he still can't beat his father!" Nana for some reason beamed cheerfully. Bianchi just looked at her with a smile, yet her thought was reminiscing Reborn's words.

…

"Look after mama?"

"Yeah. Ever since Tsuna got kidnapped, I'm afraid they'll do anything to get the information about the rings, even if they have to take anyone as hostage"

"Okay, I'll protect the kids and mama. Just be careful, Reborn. Kyoto is their base"

"I will, and so as Tsuna and the rest"

…

The 11th and 12th grades were in delight and joyous state inside a moving bus. They all seemed eager and lively. It was two days trip they had been long waiting for.

"Kyoko, be careful with that" the child hater said as her best friend was reaching her hands over the overhead compartment.

"It's okay, Hana"

Suddenly, the bus bumped into a crack on the pavement and Kyoko got bounced and fell, but Tsuna caught her on time.

"Are you okay?" their position at the moment was as if he was on top. She didn't know why, but her heartbeat thumped rapidly and she blushed. They were at still and froze.

"Wow, what is that?" one of the students stunned over what he saw outside.

"It must be from that earthquake!" a female student also spoke.

"Kyoko-chan?"

"I-I'm okay, Tsuna-kun" hearing that, Tsuna helped her to stand up. "Be more careful next time, okay?" he smiled and she nodded sheepishly. As he saw Haru was sitting alone with eyes closed behind Kyoko and Hana, he immediately approached her.

"She's sleeping" Kyoko said.

"With earphone?" he sat next to her seat and took her right side of earphone to hear what she was hearing, but then Haru opened her eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Before you want to dispute about me being here, I will say I'm fine" she said lazily as she leaned her head back to the seat, indicating that she was very sleepy.

"I know. You're strong and I admit that, but I want to watch over you along this trip. It's the least I can do after you saved me"

"Thank you"

"If you don't mind, can I sit here?"

"Sure, I don't mind" she replied as she looked outside the window. "Tsuna-san"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry… for everything I said yesterday" she spoke with her soft voice that soothed him and closed her eyes. Due to unable to withstand her head, her head fell onto Tsuna's shoulder and he blushed, but he couldn't possibly push her away, so he let her that way and then he removed the other earphone from her ear. He had to admit, he was also very pleased and happy.

No students noticed this, but at the moment, Tsuna and Haru looked like they were in peace—no, they were at peace. As Haru was slightly awake, she was kind of surprised that his head was on top of her head, clinging to each other. Her cheeks had gone red, blushing sheepishly, but she simply didn't want to let go of that moment. If she couldn't sacrifice her love, then she might as well accept it, but rather than telling her feelings, she'd prefer to keep it to herself. She blushed even more when she saw her hand interlocked with his larger hand. His grip was tight, but that didn't mean she wanted to let go. In fact, she continued her sleep as she tightened it more.

"Boss, I have good news"

"What is it?"

"The Vongola is coming to Kyoto. Their school is conducting a school trip"

"Do you know where they're staying at?"

"No, but I have a better plan"

"Tell me"

"Wh… What is this?" Tsuna's and the others' mouth simply created a gap as they saw the sign on the inn they stayed at. The inn itself was quite large.

"Can they be blunter than this?" Tsuna disputed.

"Cool! I didn't know Vongola has their own inn" Yamamoto whistled.

"Neither do I!" Tsuna raised his voice, which made Haru giggled.

"All female students, please gather around to Suzuki-sensei and as for the males to me. Girls will be on the west wing and boys on the east wing" the teacher spoke through loudspeaker.

Thus, they carried their luggage to each room. Each room would be occupied by 3 or 4 students. As Tsuna entered his room, he was very surprised to see that Yamamoto and Gokudera were at the same room.

"Juudaime! It must be fate to be in the same room as you!" Gokudera's eyes were shimmering.

"How lucky we are, ne?" Yamamoto grinned.

"I don't think this is a coincidence" Tsuna said as he closed the door.

"10 points for you, Tsuna"

Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice. When they looked around, there was no one there, but the bamboo plant inside the room made a movement. It was one of Reborn's schemes of cosplaying as a bamboo plant.

"Ciaossu"

"Reborn, why are we placed in the same room?"

"Oh, so you didn't want to ask why I am here?"

"I can already figure it out" Tsuna replied.

"Very smart for Dame-Tsuna. Let me remind you that we're in an enemy's territory, the one that kidnapped you, Bramosia Family. This is also why all of you are arranged to stay at Vongola Inn. It's better that all of you stick together and to add the security, all of the employee here are Mafioso, technically your subordinates"

"About that… Reborn, can I have a private conversation with you?"

"Sure" Reborn took off his costume and went outside with Tsuna to the garden. They were sauntering at the night—well, more like Tsuna was sauntering since Reborn was sitting on his shoulder.

"I don't need protection" he crossed his arms while walking.

"Can't you see the situation? A family has already come to get you for that Mare ring. Your subordinates want to protect you. You're their boss"

"What are you saying? I'm not officially their boss" he stopped.

"Technically, you are, ever since you accepted the inheritance from ninth. He told you to continue your education until you graduate high school so that you won't feel troubled when doing both, remember?"

"Fine, I accept this. But regarding the room, what about Haru, Chrome, and Kyoko-chan?"

"They're also placed together with Kurokawa Hana. It's safer for them to be gathered together. And don't worry if something's happened. Haru and Chrome are there"

"Do you really have the heart to make her do that in her current condition? She's not fully healed yet!"

"You still haven't seen it, have you? You're still a brat, after all"

"What…?"

"It's Haru herself who asked that, she volunteered to do it"

"As long as she has the skill, she will use it to protect her friends without hesitation. She didn't care whether it would damage her body, all she cares about is her friends" Reborn spoke as the shadow of his fedora hat covered his eyes. "She's just like you" he added as he looked at Tsuna.

"She has the potential to be a great mafia wife. If she were to be a boss of a mafia family, her subordinates would surely love her like the way your guardians loves you"

"Stop joking about it! Haru can't be compared to that! She's not a mafia and never will!" he raised his voice that oddly silenced Reborn.

"S-Sorry, Reborn. I just…"

"Rest"

"Eh?"

"You have to wake early for tomorrow. No complains"

"Okay…" with curiosity on his mind, Tsuna left Reborn at the garden.

"Dame-Tsuna, you still don't realize it. The more you try to reach for her, the more she become distant and unreachable"

Reborn didn't mean it in small scale when he said they should alert themselves. He really thought of everything through. As the students got out and assembled with each group that had been given, again, they were assembled together with the girls, except for Ryohei since he was a 12th grade.

They went to the shrine and the amazing sights of Kyoto. Everyone was having good time together. Tsuna brought a camera and took pictures of many, from Gokudera and Yamamoto to the girls. While the girls were together and Yamamoto and Gokudera were talking about things, Tsuna was looking at the pictures he took. A picture caught his attention and it was the picture of Haru, Kyoko, Chrome, and Hana.

At that picture, he was mainly smiling at Haru. She seemed embarrassed as Kyoko and Chrome suddenly clinging to her to be taken a picture. Then, when he looked at outside the picture, she was seen alone with earphone on her ears, hearing music. Seeing the opportunity, he took her picture. Not just that time, he used any advantage he had to take a shot of Haru.

But at the last shot as she was seen holding a kitten that passed by, Tsuna directed the camera to her and she caught him doing so. This one picture was the one he cherished the most. In that picture, Haru was smiling very sincerely and sweet as she held onto the adorable kitten, like an adorable duo. To him, it was even sweeter than even the king of sweetness, sugar.

They went out from morning until twilight. It was a tiresome day, but it was worth it. Tsuna kept smiling at the pictures in his room until Yamamoto and Gokudera called him.

"Tsuna. Gokudera and I are about to go a dip to the hot spring. Wanna come?"

"Sure" Tsuna brought a towel and left it hanging on his shoulder as they walked to the spot.

"Boss!" Tsuna looked behind as he heard Chrome's voice. "Chrome? What is it?"

"Have you seen Haru-chan?"

"We've been looking for her everywhere, but she's not here! I'm worried if she's outside" Kyoko said.

Tsuna's eyes bulged in fear, remembering her injuries. He hastily handed over his towel to Yamamoto and scampered to find her.

"Tsuna, wait! We'll come with you!"

"No, it's okay! Don't tell Reborn about this, okay?" he shouted.

"Tsuna-kun…"

Kyoko watched him running, but her heart seemed unsteady for some reason. She blushed as she saw his figure running away from her. She finally realized what her feelings was and like any other girls, she decided to make a move.

Tsuna kept on searching for her with worried and vexing feelings. He swore he would kill himself if something bad happened to her. As he was running, he spotted Haru was at the riverbank near the inn. She was settling down on the grass as she faced the river, alone. Tsuna approached her and tapped her shoulder, but as she looked back, again she put such sorrowful face.

"Haru…"

Tsuna wanted to comfort her and say something that would bring her smile, but his hyper intuition whispered to him that there was nothing that could bring her sincere smile. He could see the loneliness she felt as he saw her alone, but didn't dare to ask why she felt lonely when her friends were always there for her. He decided to sit next to her, if it could at least feel she wasn't alone.

"If you ever have any thoughts in your mind, will you tell everything about it?" Haru asked. He was surprised by her question, but he remained cool.

"It depends. Maybe I will, but the inner voice inside of me say that I shouldn't"

"I see…"

"But, I wouldn't want to give up on my inner voice, because inner voice sometimes doesn't know what we need. It's just a voice below our conscious that sometimes contradict to what we need"

"What if it wasn't your inner voice that told you not to? What would you do?"

"I would still tell about what I feel"

"Why?"

"Because I believe in my friends and anyone in my life. Of course, I don't simply tell it to random person. It has to be someone I trust the most and someone really close to me, because I know I can trust my heart to whomever I choose"

"…Thank you for your answer, Tsuna-san" she stared at the river with grievous and teary eyes. All of the sudden, he could tell that the constant smiles that curved on her lips before the current evening were a camouflage to hide this real expression of hers.

"I… I think you should go back. Everyone must be worried about you"

"Why?"

"Just… go back" she averted her face from him. He cupped her cheek to make her turn to him, but she slapped his hand.

"Go away…"

"Haru, look at me"

"I said go away!" she yelled and he had no choice but to force her to look at him, tilting her head towards him.

Haru's brown eyes were shedding tears and it looked painful than before. There were a lot of strange things that happened to her, but this was the strangest part. She couldn't have no reason for her behavior, there had to be a reason, he thought.

"Don't come near me, just… stay away" she lowered her head while Tsuna held both her hands. "I... I don't want to hurt you"

"Haru"

"Stay away from me!" she screamed.

Seeing her chaotic state, he couldn't hold it much longer. To her surprise, his lips suddenly crashed to her and then he pinned her on the ground. He was kissing her, whether he realized his action or not. The kiss felt warm, wet, and tingling, the feelings she was afraid to feel from him, but she couldn't struggle. He was completely taking control of the situation.

It was a relentless and unstoppable kiss as Tsuna kissed every part of her lips. Then, as Haru's mouth opened up a bit, he used that timing to slide in his tongue inside her mouth. Tongue and tongue were dancing in wet and he completely dominated her, as if he was eating her and enjoyed it. Haru was blushing even more as she tasted the saliva that entered her mouth. He literally licked every part inside and didn't stop at that. From tongue licking, he was back to kissing her lips. It tasted sweet in his lips and tongue.

After few minutes of it, he finally peeled away his lips from hers, but their faces were still close to each other. After staring at each other for a while, he got up and went back to sitting position, followed by Haru.

"…Why?" she spoke in low voice.

"You're making me crazy, Haru" he simply replied and then stood up while stretching his hand to her. "Let's go back"

She nodded silently and accepted his hand, but as she was standing up, she abruptly fell on one foot.

"O-Ow…" she groaned in pain while her hand touched her ankle.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"No. I just remembered that I hurt my ankle on the way here"

"How can that happen?"

"I… I must've… no, I was being too careless" she hung her head low.

To her surprise, Tsuna picked her up and carried her piggy-back style. "Ts-Tsuna-san!" she struggled with a blush.

"Shush, don't say a word"

And thus, Tsuna walked back with the blushing Haru on back. Didn't know why, she felt calm and at ease as it was seen all over her face. It was really a pleasant feelings and moment that no one could intervene. She hesitated at first, but later on with closed eyes and blush on her face, her arms circled around his neck, hugging him with everything she got and didn't let go. He just smiled at the thought. He didn't mind if he got choked a little—well, not like he got choked. Her strength at the time was weak yet gentle.

As they were back safely, Kyoko immediately hugged her best friend. "I'm glad you're okay, Haru-chan!"

"I'm sorry" she hesitatingly hugged her back.

And then, Kyoko and Tsuna exited the girls' room.

"Thank you for bringing her here"

"It's okay. Just don't let her off your sight again, okay?" he was about to go back to his room, but she grabbed his hand. "I need to tell you something, Tsuna-kun. Would you come with me to the garden?"

"Okay" despite the curiosity, he conceded and let her took him. The two were sauntering around the stunning garden, it was just the two of them there.

"Ne, Tsuna-kun. I'm not good with words, so I just state my point now"

"The truth is, I… just have my first love"

"Really? Who's the lucky guy?"

"You" she faced him.

"Eh?" he blinked and gobsmacked.

"I… I like you, Tsuna-kun. And it just happened so quickly" she said sheepishly, lowering her head. Tsuna was taken aback by her confession. He just stood and didn't say a word while a shadow casted over his face.

"Haru-chan, where are you going? You're supposed to stay here. What about your ankle?"

"Thanks to the ointment you gave me, I'm pretty much okay. I'm not feeling very well, I mean I'm constantly feeling this painful and hot heartbeat, but I just want to take a walk. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I won't go outside" she reassured.

"Oh, okay then. Don't push yourself. You're not fully healed yet"

"Thank you, Chrome-chan" with that said, she closed the door.

"Tsuna-kun?"

"I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan. I can't return your feelings"

"B-But I thought you like me since middle school"

"Of course. You were my sunshine, my light, my everything, and the reason I keep fighting, but I left that in the past"

"If you don't like me, then why are you always at my side? Are you playing with my feelings?"

There was a pause. If he told her the truth, she would feel hurt. But even so, he knew he had to.

"If I act as if I still like you, everyone, even Haru will think that way. Haru… she can't get involved with me. I'm a mafia boss and she's just an ordinary person, at least… that's what I thought at first. I can't let her fight for me. She's been doing this harsh training for a year without my notice. She had been hiding every part of her life since that day"

He stopped for a moment and then said "I'm sorry I used you, Kyoko-chan, but this is for Haru's sake. You can slap me if you want. I know I've been a jerk to you"

"How could I slap a boss of mafia?" she chuckled, hiding her pain inside. "I understand what you're doing. I would do the same for Haru-chan. I mean, I have onii-chan to protect me, but she doesn't have anyone. Though I think she has someone who's always trying to protect her now" she looked at Tsuna with a forced smile.

"Thank you for telling me, Tsuna-kun. So, are you going to confess to her?"

"Someday"

"I see, then—" as she was about to speak, he suddenly embraced her.

"I'm truly sorry"

Anyone who didn't know the complete story would think that they were hugging in a romantic way, the same goes for Haru. She came and saw the scene in a bad time. She felt another painful heartbeat again, both due to the previous heartbeat she felt and the beat of sadness and despair seeing the two. She felt broken and shattered, so she left them and walked aimlessly.

After she left, Tsuna let go and walked away from Kyoko.

"Good luck, Tsuna-kun" she smiled while tears rolling down through her cheeks.

"Kyoko?" a familiar voice was heard behind her. "What happened? Are you crying?"

"No, I'm just sleepy" she wiped away her tears with a smile.

"If you say so. Anyway, do you want to go with me outside to the convenience store?"

"Eh? I thought we're not allowed to"

"Don't worry. If anything happens, your brother here will protect you to the extreme" he patted her head and she nodded slightly.

As the sky painted with dark blue of the night, one girl was walking aimlessly with empty looks on her face. Then, she unconsciously went to a dark alleyway and four young men saw her and approached her.

"Hey, pretty. What are you doing here alone?" one of them said, but she didn't respond.

"Hey, are you deaf or something?" the second man spoke. "Well, that'll do. We need a companion here. And you—" at the time when he slightly touched her hair, in an instant, she clutched his neck firmly and pinned him on the wall.

"O-Oi, what are you doing?" the men suddenly lost their calm and she stared at them with the very same eyes. In a blink of an eye, the dark alley painted in red.

"See, Kyoko? Nothing's happened to us" the boxer said as they arrived at the store. As they were about to go inside, Kyoko stopped seeing something red in the alleyway next to the store. Her curiosity led her to look, unseen by Ryohei.

Kyoko's eyes turned to fear as she saw a group of corpse and Haru was kneeling on both knee. She hastily approached her and tried to shake her.

"Haru-chan, are you alright? Say something!" she kept on calling, but it was futile. Haru at the moment was like dead from the inside.

"Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru"

Kyoko hastily looked back, but before she could do a thing, they had been taken away.

"Kyoko? Where are you?" Ryohei got out and saw a note on the ground, saying it was meant for Tsuna. As he read it, his face changed to myriad of anger and sweat.

Everything went dark both for the girls. Kyoko knew they were kidnapped because she knew she was blindfolded and tied up on a chair.

"Now then, all that's left is to wait for Vongola decimo" an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Who… are you?" Kyoko voiced softly.

"Bramosia boss, as for my name, it's classified. Don't worry your pretty little head. We don't do anything to you"

She could hear several footsteps coming towards her and then some whisper. Then, she heard one footstep was getting far away from the room.

"So… which one of you that killed Hiro?" one of them asked.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Kyoko asked back.

"Answer me!"

"I don't know anything about it!" Kyoko yelled.

Kyoko's voice annoyed him and thus he grasped her neck. "Don't talk to me with that tone. You're a hostage here. You should be quieter like your friend here"

"Hey, is she breathing? She didn't move or flinch" as the other Mafioso approached Haru, neither would know that it led them to their demise.

Suddenly, Kyoko heard screams and something just splattered to her. She was worried and panicked, but she couldn't do anything about it. 30 seconds later, all went silent.

Haru stared at their corpse with eyes that resembled emptiness, it wasn't sinister, just empty. She stared at Kyoko who seemed confused and anxious. Unsure why, Haru loosened Kyoko's rope, but didn't completely let her go.

"Wh-Who's that?" Kyoko started to tremble as Haru kept staring at her. After loosen it a bit, she neglected her and left her alone in the room full of corpse.

The base of Bramosia slowly painted with the blood of the Mafioso. All were killed brutally and ruthlessly. Haru kept on obliterating everything in her way until she arrived at a wide garden. There was quite a number of skillful Mafioso protecting their boss. But, no matter how much number of mafioso he sent to protect himself, he wouldn't survive to see the next sunrise.

She used her multiple chains to cut all the Mafioso into pieces without having to move from her spot, until all that's left was the boss. She walked approaching him and his knees were trembling over the fear and thus, he fell on ground.

"C-C-Come on, an innocent girl like you willing to kill? You have to carry those nasty sins all alone" he put somewhat fierce looks, but his body was trembling.

However, his remark changed her expression. Her eyes had met the world and she regained her conscious. The bewildered looks marred her face. An image of Tsuna's smiling face suddenly appeared on her head, it was a smile of kindness and warmth. The smile that gave her the light she needed.

"If it's for Tsuna-san, then I…" Haru clenched her fist of her thoughts. It was true she wanted to protect Tsuna and everyone, but part of her didn't want to commit sins by taking lives. It was the thing she hated the most. After briefly clenching her fists in trembling motion, she began loosening it and hung her head down.

"All this time I've been living inside a hole. I was lonely and shut my heart from everyone... but…"

"I hate being unable to protect him more than I hate taking lives. I want to be someone that can protect him"

"You don't want to bear those sins, trust me. Not a single Mafioso could bear the sins of taking lives. We just do it because it's our job, but you can escape from that" the man still in alert mode.

"If protecting all that's precious to him means I have to carry those sins… then I don't mind bearing it"

"You've said the words"

Another heartbeat started to attack her. It felt much hotter, more painful, yet somehow liberating. She kept groaning in pain and that scared the boss even more. She got down two knees as she gripped her chest firmly. After the quite long groaning, she silenced.

The silence made even the boss realizing the danger more. All of the sudden, he shuddered of hearing an eerie chuckle from her, and by then, chains started strangling him and lifted him above the air.

"Pathetic way to show your position. You have brought harm to his peaceful day and I cannot forgive you for it" she lifted her word above, ready for a deadly attack.

"W-Wait! No, please!"

"Arrivederci"

Without mercy, without any sense of humanity she slashed his body into two. It was unsure who did all of the brutal killing, since there was no sign of vicious and sinister looks in her eyes. It was more like an emotionless killing machine. Out of the blue, she stabbed her bandaged stomach and dropped the sword along with her body.

At the same time, Kyoko's rope finally let loose and she hastily opened the blindfold. She was disgusted and as if about to puke at the sight of many corpse, but she was also worried about her best friend. However, she couldn't stand the sight of the dead bodies outside and she had to bear with that to find Haru.

As she went to the garden, there she was lying on ground with blood on her stomach. Her eyes grew tremblingly, too much of a sight for her. When she saw a sword near her, she picked it up faintheartedly.

"Kyoko…-chan?"

She instantly looked back as she saw Tsuna, her brother, and the others were standing in shock. Tsuna focused more on Kyoko, but as he saw Haru, he immediately rushed towards her.

"Yamamoto, Gokudera. You know what to do" Reborn signaled. They had no choice but to handcuff Kyoko's wrists and took her away.

"Onii-chan, I didn't do this! Please!" Kyoko was pleading for her brother, but Ryohei stiffened and froze. He couldn't do anything for her.

Meanwhile, Tsuna's face turned to fear and myriad of worries as he found the stab was precisely at her wounded stomach. He was panicking and losing his calm. He couldn't afford to lose her, it was even harder for him if she died in his arms. All who watched Tsuna's eyes widened and quivering stiffened.

"Haru, hang in there! Stay with me!"

"…Haru? Haru?" his voice turned low and face turned pale.

"Haru!"