Title: Gilmore of Secrets

Character(s)/Pairing: Miura Haru, Sawada Tsunayoshi, and everyone else. TsuHaru.

Rating: T+ (may become M later on)

Warnings: Mentions of violence, blood/gore, and mature sexual situations are apparent in this fanfiction. Viewer discretion is advised (A/N: Lol, I've always wanted to say that!).

Summary: She was a girl, bred from a house of abuse and secrets. Her will stronger than most, her skill extraordinary, but her family torn in twain. He was a boy, shy, timid, and awkward yet he had a such a unique destiny that was burdened on his shoulders. These two troubled youths meet on an unlikely night, the boy who was mesmerized by the girl's sadness, and the girl who was blinded by the boy's kindness.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, own(ed) the Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Series. If I did, Tsuna and Haru would've been together much sooner (harrumph)!

…

Capitolo Primo (Chapter One): Enchantment

…

"Haruna, dolcezza [1], come here." The sultry low, yet soothing timbre of a male voice soothed as he outstretched his hands towards his giggly daughter. He chuckled as she squealed under his arms, his long, limber fingers dancing across the small child's stomach.

"Papà [2]! That's cheating!" The girl, Caito Haruna-Ersilia, exclaimed as she pouted up at her father. She was little thing, shorter than what most five-year olds usually were—but that could've been due to her half-Japanese heritage. She had short, milk chocolate brown hair with equally chocolate brown eyes, and a large beaming, toothless smile as she stared up at her father. Her pink floral dress flounced as she giddily squirmed in her father's lap, the ruffles shimming, and her white slippers tapping against her each other excitedly.

Her father, Caito Lucio-Massimiliano, was a kindhearted, gentle man who loved his family very much. He had dark-black hair, dewy brown eyes, and a smile that was so warm that it felt like a silent fire blanketing you on a cold winter's night. He was slightly hefty, but not by much, and he wore a simple buttoned-up white shirt, with brown slacks and dark-brown loafers, with square glasses that sat firmly on his face.

He chuckled as he patted his princess's hair, his wedding bland glistening in the setting sun as they sat together on a rocking chair on their homely porch. "Scusa [3], Haru. Papà just wanted to have a little fun is all." He sighed as he stared at children screaming and playing along the cobblestoned streets of Matera, Italy. The adults admonishing them harshly in Italian if they got to rowdy, before talking amongst themselves once again as they began to put up their wares from a long day of selling and heckling.

"Papà, why do we have to leave? Why can't we stay at home?" Haru asked her father, as she played with her little feet solemnly. "I-Is it because Haru gets in a lot of trouble? Haru promises to stop if we can stay!"

Lucio regarded his daughter with a pitying look. She looked so sad, so distraught of leaving the place she called home, the place where she grew up, the only place she knew so well.

He shook his head as he ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'm so sorry Haruna, but we can't stay here anymore. While I would love it if you could stop getting into fights," at this he gave her a stern look. She had the decency of blushing in embarrassment, her little fingers brushing against the gauze situated on her cheek, "it is out of my control. It's not… it's not safe for us here anymore. So, we're going to live in the country where your mother was born, in Okinawa, Japan."

The girl's lip trembled as she fought back the tears in her eyes. "B-But wh-why?! Why is it n-not safe for us here?! H-Haru doesn't want to leave! H-Haru wants to stay home with her friends! Haru w-wants to eat Signore and Signora [4] Abelli's pasta and biscotti [5]!" She hiccupped before wailing into her father's chest. "H-Haru wants to stay… Haru wants to stay…"

It absolutely broke his heart to see his little girl so sad. He tightened his hold on his daughter to comfort her as she cried her little heart out. I'm sorry Haru… but it's for the best… if you had known… Lucio narrowed his eyes as he reminisced why they had to leave. Why he was so scared of losing both of his precious girls. The lives that he had ruined, the organizations he felled because of his knowledge…

The blood that was stained on his hands.

Lucio sucked in a deep breath, before letting out an equally deep sigh. Haru had fallen asleep in his arms, her face twisted in sadness as she held on tightly to his shirt. He kissed her forehead affectionately before hefting her up as he lumbered back into their house. "I don't want you to live the life that your Papà did, MiaPrincipessa [6] … I don't want that for you."

As the father carried his beloved cargo back inside, he was not aware of the lone shadow that was cast upon their homely porch. Engulfing it in a dangerous, murky darkness.

…

Haru gasped as she shot up from her bed, her breath coming out in short, dry puffs as she breathed shakily. Her hands quaked and she growled at her weakness, clasping them together as she futilely got herself under control.

"A-A dream?" She whispered to no one but herself in the small, dark room. She jolted as she heard agitated groaning from behind her closed doors and the clanking and clattering of glass being upheaved and shoved. "No," she sighed as she flopped back into her bed, an arm draped over her eyes, "even worse. A memory."

It had been ten years, ten years, since she had last seen her hometown in Matera, Italy. Sure, her family and herself would visit Italy whenever they had a grace period from school and work, but they never returned to the historic cobblestone town of Matera. Whenever she would ask why they couldn't go back, her father would answer her vaguely with, "It's dangerous for us to go there now" or "We simply can't dear". Sometimes, Lucio would avoid her question altogether by diverting their conversation to something else.

Haru would purse her lips each time he did so, slightly hurt that he wouldn't confide in her, but would let it go in the end. After all, everything that her father did always had a good reason to it.

Caito—no, Miura Haru sighed as she slowly sat up before getting ready for the day. Her father had told her that they had to change their last names back to her mother's maiden surname. Haru realized that this was another anomaly that her father wouldn't up open to her about. She took it in stride, never questioning her father.

"But do we have to pretend anymore Papà? Now that you're…" Haru bit her lip as she held back the hot warmth pooling in her eyes. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't. Not since she promised him on that day.

On that day when they put him in the ground, ripping her heart in two as they did so.

Haru jumped as she heard a loud crash sound off in the kitchen. She huffed as she heard slurred curses and mumbling and unsteady clacks on the floors. Her mother had been drinking again. The fifteen-year old fixed her hair in her bathroom's mirror one last time, before slowly ambling down the stairs towards her inebriated parent. Hopefully she wouldn't be too punishing this morn.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, or Tsuna for short, squawked as he barely dodged a bullet that was aimed towards his head. His heart thundered in his chest as he stared in frightened shock of the bullet hole that was apparent on his bedroom wall. After regaining his wits, he glared at his assailant who was sitting leisurely on his small leather chair, drinking a cup of coffee as he grinned at the fifteen-year old with his gun lying innocently in his tiny lap.

"R-Reborn! You could've killed me!" Tsuna shouted as he rounded on the baby-like Italian hitman. Despite being a seemingly normal boy who attended Junior High like others his age, who was supposed to be worrying about trivial things such as: puberty, dreaded piles of homework, sports and activities, hanging out with friends and the like, Tsuna's life was vastly different than most.

He was entitled to become the Tenth-Generation Boss of the Vongola Mafia family.

He didn't know how or why he was destined to be the boss of a dangerous mafia, but somehow, he was. And the baby-like hitman, Reborn, whom was decked out in a sleek black suit and tie, shiny black loafers, and a stylish black fedora with an orange middle—was his mentor in teaching him the ways of the mafia.

"Hm, you're getting better at dodging, Dame-Tsuna," the hitman crooned nonchalantly, "but that reaction-time is not nearly fitting enough for a Vongola boss."

Tsuna sighed in irritation as he mused his wild hair even more. "Like I said before, I'm not gonna be in the mafia! I don't want to be the boss of the Vongola!" He heard his mother, Sawada Nana, call for him downstairs to have breakfast. "Nevermind this, I have a test today and your constant interfering made me stay up all night!"

Reborn hummed as he held his gun before watching it morph back into his chameleon companion, Leon. "Insuring that you are retaining the information efficiently is the job of a mentor after all."

"By trying to kill me at every tutoring session?!"

Said mentor chuckled. "I didn't say that my methods were standard, now did I?"

Tsuna sighed. He had absolutely no time for this.

It was too much to ask. It was always too much to ask, especially with someone as unstable as her mother. Miura Haru hissed in pain as she applied a little too much pressure on the lacerations on her ribs. Her mother, Miura Ume, had been overly dramatic this morning, screaming and shouting obscenities at her for not stocking the fridge of her usual alcoholic beverages last night. How was she to know that she would be back home earlier than usual? How was she to know that she would be even more ornery than usual? It wasn't her job to make it her sole mission of filling the drunkard's gullet with numb-inducing drinks. For one, she was underaged, but the woman seemed to forget every time through each beating, or she knew but ignored the problem in order to place the blame on someone for her forgetfulness.

And unfortunately, Haru was the only other person she could take out her frustrations seeing as she was within reach.

The girl sighed. This beating was a bit more excessive than usual. It took a lot of begging and pleading with the nurse to keep her situation under wraps from the entire school. She and the principal were the only two souls who knew about her abusive predicament. Multiple times they offered to put her mother behind bars, often preaching how unhealthy and dangerous it was to be around the "troubled" woman. But, as always, she responded with:

"She's the only family I have left…" Haru chuckled weakly to herself as she stared at her refection. Her school's uniformed shirt lying on the ground as she stared at her bloody wounds. Scrapes and bruises from when her mother had beat her with the empty bottles of alcohol, and three long gashes that twisted around her torso starting from the middle of her abdomen to the edges of her lower back.

A horrid and gruesome result from the same bottle that Ume had broken upon Haru's body, before continuing her abusive on-slot by running her daughter through with the edges of the lethal glass.

Hatred and disgust ran through her body as she stared at the new scars, despising the person whom had made them so callously. She let out a long breath before her boiling hatred and disgust were redirected from the beast of the woman that was her mother, to herself. Hatred at herself for allowing this to happen, for allowing her to do this to her. And disgust for staying with the woman, disgust in herself knowing that she could've ousted herself many times in the past.

But she just… couldn't.

No matter the pain, no matter the beatings, no matter the abuse verbally or otherwise, Haru just couldn't bring herself to leave her mother. She often fed the faculty and on some rare occasions the authorities her routine script of "She's the only family I have left", "This is a problem that can easily be fixed with time", or even "She doesn't know what she's doing, she just needs help". Each time those words were spouted from her mouth, she felt hollower and hollower as she explained herself and her mother's actions. Even if they lacked bite or pity overtime, she knew deep down in her heart of hearts, that these statements were true. No matter how much she wanted to hate the woman, no matter how much she wanted to leave her, even the times where she wanted to hurt her back… Haru just couldn't.

Because Haru loved her mother, with all her heart.

Said girl sighed again, she had been doing that a lot today, because she sucked in a breath and metaphorically "dug in her heels" as she continued to gently yet quickly apply rudimentary first aid to her battered body. She had to be in time for fifth period. After all, she was an honor student at the prestigious Fukinawa All-Girls Private School in Seto, Japan. There were roles that must be fulfilled no matter the circumstance, even pitying ones such as hers.

"And as we see here in this next example, the use of literary devices is quite apparent in the paragraph as…" The teacher droned on as they wrote on the board their lecture to a class of barely-listening teenagers. Sawada Tsunayoshi was no exception.

It was the closing in on the end of May, and summer was approaching soon. Of course, the only things on the boredom-zombified teenagers' minds were summer break and the prospects of what it has to offer. Tsuna daydreamed on how he would get the school idol's and his longtime crush, Sasagawa Kyoko, to bestow even a little amount of attention on him and chance him with a little of her time.

He shyly glanced in her direction. There she was sitting pristinely—in his eyes—in her chair as she chatted and giggled with her best friend, Kurokawa Hana, about girly things and what was the latest fashion. Kyoko had a small, slender build with golden brown hair—almost blonde—with bright golden eyes. She wore the Namimori Junior High uniform which consisted of a white formal shirt, a dark sweatervest with a red bowtie, a gray skirt, and brown shoes. Her black knee-high socks stuck out notably as she menially swung one leg back and forth.

He sighed as he stared at her. She was simply perfect in his eyes. Her charming personality, her happy and peaceful aura, not to mention her cute looks that ensnared everyone's attention. He had fallen for her, and he had fallen hard. He'd hope one day to work up the courage to confess, but know his unlucky streak it would be a long time before it ever happened.

Especially with certain issues popping up left and right… He thought bitterly as he glared at something from across the room. It was his chibi mentor Reborn, whom was sitting amusedly in the inner window of the classroom (A/N: You guys know those windows that they have that's like connected to the door? Yeah, those), leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee as he swirled a spoon around in a slow manner.

"Sa-wa-da-san!" The teacher clipped in a stern tone, jolting the boy away from his staring contest with the hitman. When he chanced a glance (A/N: Lol, XD) back, Reborn was already gone.

"H-Hai, sensei?!" He yelped as he stood up ramrod straight, addressing the adult in a terrified manner. However, he stood up too quickly and his chair fell back and clattered nosily behind him. All chatter in the room gradually died out as all eyes turned towards him. Great…

"Since you seem to find the windows so riveting, would you mind recanting us the oxymoron that was explained on page two-hundred ninety-seven that told the abstract details of the windows in the poem?" The teacher asked, already knowing the outcome of this scolding.

Tsuna frantically picked up his textbook, clumsily causing more this to fall from his desk, and hurriedly flipped through the pages while his classmates snickered. He felt his cheeks warm in humiliation at the public execution, before further reddening as he told the teacher that he had no idea what she was talking about.

The disgruntled woman sighed, pushing up her glasses at him before resuming the lecture. It was a silent command: "Sit down, you've done quite enough, boy". He sat down without another word, eyes closed as he took in the quiet taunts and jeers thrown his way.

"There he goes again."

"Will he ever learn?"

"That's Dame-Tsuna for you. Always a complete loser."

He tightened his hands on his knees for a moment, before he sighed. He risked a peek at his crush and was further embarrassed as she gave him a pitying look. He didn't want her to look at him this way! Now she would think he was a screw-up and a total loser! Well, even more of a screw-up and loser than usual.

He sighed again, he noticed that he had been doing that a lot lately, today was just not his day.

Today was just not her day. Haru grunted as she was tossed back against a wall, her aggressors jeering at her as she fell unto her ass ungracefully. She stared at all of them balefully, spitting out a wad of blood as she wiped the corner of her mouth. It was afterschool and she had just finished her martial arts club activities when she heard shouting not too far from the school gates. Against her better judgement, she quickly made her way over to the noise only to see a group of girls, delinquents by the look of it, surrounding two helpless girls while being armed to the teeth with weapons.

They were demanding the girls to hand over some money, when they frightfully refused, the thugs used intimidation for them to "reconsider".

For all intents and purposes, Haru would've and should've ignored this confrontation. It had nothing to do with her, those girls had simply got caught up at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, once she saw how frightened and scared they were, quaking in their boots as they gave up their change; she was reminded of how she used to be, when her mother first started to take up the habit of drinking.

Something in her snapped. And it all happened in an instant once she threw the first punch.

Now here she was, laying bruised and beaten as the thuggish girls towered over her, looking smug and triumphant. She, however, wasn't the only one to be beaten in their little spat. A few of the delinquents were holding parts of their bodies in pain, most likely from where she had struck them, and some where holding onto others for support.

And yet here they were, trying to be all scary just because she had run out of steam. Like the fight was completely one-sided from the get-go. She would've laughed if she wasn't in so much pain.

She must have chuckled or something since the leader of the group snarled at her before kicking her harshly in the face. Haru hissed as her face snapped to the side in pain. She was going to feel that in the morning. Granted, she was going to feel everything but still.

"What's so funny bitch?!" The leader growled as she dug the heel of her shoe into Haru's chest. The battered—even more battered—girl groaned in pain she felt the uncomfortable pressure on her sternum. "'Cause I see nuthin' here worth laughing about!"

Haru chuckled weakly as she slowly brought one hand up and grip her offender's ankle. Her grip turned punishing in an instant and satisfaction lit up in her chocolate eyes as the girl yelped in pain. "I don't know actually. Maybe it's the fact that you all look so smug, despite you're all going to keel over in a moment." She looked up at the sky for a moment. The sun would be setting soon. "Or maybe it's the fact that I have no idea how I'm going to come up with a story convincing enough for my mother. But, all's their own, ne?"

The girls all shouted and yelled demeaningly at her. She shrugged it off. They were all words she's heard before anyway. She shoved the leader back and watch as she fell taking a few others down with her. Haru got up as quick as she could just as they began to raise their weapons at her.

She was going to be a little late getting home, but it was a Thursday. And despite the beating that she got this morning, her mother wouldn't be back until the morning tomorrow. A result of not having any alcohol at home made her mother go to the nearest bar which was miles away from their house.

Haru smiled. She was saved for now. And as she watched the thugs charge at her enraged, she got ready for round two.

She deserved to blow off a little steam, didn't she?

Tsuna sighed as he flopped on his bed and buried his head into his pillow. It was a tortuous and humiliating day at school. After that little mishap in class today, the news spread like wildfire across Namimori Junior High earning him even more humiliation, if that was even possible. He didn't even understand why that particular accident was so gossip-worthy anyway. Tsuna was sure that others have had moments where they were caught daydreaming or not paying attention. Maybe it was because he was the school's fuck-up-boy, Dame-Tsuna, that it was treated with such interest and spite.

The brunette sighed again. Life wasn't fair, that much he knew, but sometimes he thought that life got a kick out of making his life complete hell. "It's already bad enough that I'm treated like a complete and utter loser," he grumbled into the pillow before turning his head towards his window, "but now I've got an insane baby-hitman teaching me the ways of the mafia. I'll never have a normal life at this rate, not to mention Kyoko-chan…"

Ah, let's not forget about the charming Kyoko.

His sweetheart ever since he first entered Namimori. She was so kind, gentle, and soft, and ever-present deity with the patience of a saintly goddess that she became the apple of the eye for almost every hot-blooded male in the school, including his own. Yet, of all of their interactions together he either stuttered incoherently, or she never seemed to take his words and mannerisms seriously. It was infuriating, but he still liked her all the same.

"I wonder what she thinks of me," he sighed as he turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "I wonder if she'll ever think of me like I do of her, then maybe…" He draped an arm over his eyes trailing off in his speech. He was tired, emotionally and mentally to continue his train of thought. He had a gut feeling that if he continued, he would feel significantly depressed.

I'll think about it tomorrow maybe… He thought as he yawed. Right now, he would take a nap.

XXX

"Wh-what?!" Tsuna squawked as he stared, mouth agape, at his mother. He had just woken up, not even ten minutes ago, from his much-needed nap when his mother arrived from the supermarket. She excitedly called him downstairs, brimming with enthusiasm to tell him of her news.

"Hai, Tsuna! We're going to visit your grandmother in Seto! Isn't that exciting?!" Nana cheered as she started to squeal excitedly. "It's been so long since we've last seen mother! Oh, I do hope she's doing alright what with her bad hip and all…" And Tsuna watched his mother ramble on as she fretted and squirm around the room with his mouth agape.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see his grandmother, he did want to see how her health was doing these past months, but he felt like the timing was all wrong. This summer was supposed to be the summer where he and Kyoko grew closer to one another. Where they would hang out more, learn more about each other, and eventually d-date…

He blushed at his thought before it washed away with a sigh as he saw his mother squeal over what sundress she would wear to go visit his grandmother's. She always made a big fuss whenever they went over to Seto, his grandmother being his father's mom, and each trip she made it her mission to impress her mother-in-law in some way—even though the elder woman loved Nana to pieces.

"There go my plans of spending time with Kyoko-chan…" He mumbled depressingly, letting the thunderous clouds roll in over his head. "I wonder when will I ever catch a break…"

"Heh. As if you ever had a chance with that indecisive attitude of yours, Dame-Tsuna." A familiar, snarky, babified voice mocked. Tsuna snapped up and whirled around to see his mafia-instructor sitting comfortably at the kotatsu [7] table drinking his Oolong Tea.

"R-Reborn! Wh-When did you get here?! And what do you mean by my indecisive attitude?!" Tsuna shouted accusingly at the hitman. The professional only gave him his picturesque baby-smirk before resuming to drink his tea, completely ignoring his protégé. "Fine then! I never asked for your opinion anyway!" The boy stomped up the stairs, thoroughly irritated by the downward turn of events.

He seriously needed a break.

She seriously needed a break.

Haru let out a string of curses as she applied some healing ointment onto the new purpling bruises on her body, curtesy of those wanna-be delinquent chicks. She had just gotten out of martial arts club when she decided to pick a fight with those girls. She was already sporting bruises, but now her bruises had bruises!

"If it gets any worse than this—!" She hissed as she accidently scrapped her nail against an open wound on the underside of her rib. Blood slowly started to peruse out of the cut, much to the girl's irritation. "Might have to go to the hospital." She sighed.

She really didn't want that to happen because she knew she would ever go to the hospital for her injuries. They would question her, tell the authorities, the authorities would tell her mom, and there'll be a whole new spectrum of colors on her body that she really didn't want right now. Not saying that she ever wanted the current ones either…

"But if it ever came down to that," she whispered to herself, wincing as she picked up her phone from her counter, "then I'll have to give them a call." She took another long glance at her wounds before she scrolled through her contacts on her touch-screen. She came across four numbers that were under her "favorites".

She hesitated as she stared at their names. This was a pretty bad one this time… should she…?

Silence rained over the encampment that was her room. A room filled with strewn about textbooks, papers, and pencils. She barely had anything girly or remotely decorative since she never considered this place home. Not since…

Another sigh. She has been doing that a lot lately.

She took one last look at the contacts before she switched off her phone. She was fine. This wasn't as bad. She would be ok, like she always was.

There is no need to call them. There is no need to call anyone.

She was ok.

Tsuna looked nervously out the window of the bus as it drove over the steep and narrow paths of the mountains, their destination Seto only another hour away. His mother told him that it had been a few years since he had last visited the quiet village by the sea, which explained why he barely remembered driving over death-defying cliff sides in an oversized tankard of a bus. His grandmother on his father's side, Sawada Izumi was her name, mostly visited Tsuna and Nana back in Namimori.

He squeaked when he felt the bus jump. "K-Kaasan… we're up pretty high," he stuttered as he looked out the window, "it feels like we're gonna fall off!" Nana just chuckled as she diverted her attention from her magazine to her son.

"Well Seto is surrounded by mountains dear, it only makes sense that we have to go through them in order to get there." Nana ruffled her son's hair, much to his dismay, before resuming her reading.

Despite his reluctance with the so-called "road", Tsuna was content to a degree. He was happy that he'll get to see his grandmother after seven months, but he was still sad that he couldn't spend some quality time with Kyoko. However, the best thing out of this trip was…

No Reborn! Tsuna allowed himself a small smile as a tear ran down his cheek, a fist clenched in victory. No Reborn means no more shootings, no more popping out of ridiculous places, no more "training", and no more mafia! He sighed in satisfaction as he sunk in his seat in relaxation. Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all…

"My my Dame-Tsuna, you must be thinking of something quite satisfying in order for you to have such a grin on your face."

…He spoke too soon.

Like a demon possessed, Tsuna whirled around so fast that his bones in his neck popped and his eyes grew bloodshot as he stared at his demon-like mentor from hell. "R-Reborn! Wh-Wh-Wh—!"

"Tsu-kun, I invited Reborn-san to come along with us on our family getaway. He said that he's never been to Seto before and I thought that it would be nice if we showed him around. Now you can keep up with your studies and have fun! Isn't that great!" Nana smiled excitedly at the two.

Tsuna loved his mother with all his heart. She gave birth to him, she cared and loved him, she provided a roof over his head, she gave him clothes, she cooked for him, and she encouraged him when he most needed it. She really was the MVP mother.

…But sometimes Tsuna thought that she was out to get him…sometimes.

In…

A breath.

Out…

An exhale.

Haru breathed steadily as she slowly yet fluidly moved into her next position. She felt he muscles, tendons, and bones work as one as they shifted into their next pose.

In…

A breath.

Out…

An exhale.

She went through the motions at her preferred pace. She never accelerated, she never slowed down. She was neutral. A pace that was ideal for her. A pace that made her spirit, mind, and body one.

She heard her heartbeat as she extended her leg far out and crouched near the ground. Her left arm lowering near her left leg, her right lifted in the air as her hand curled. She heard it beat steadily—never accelerating, never slowing.

Lub Dub. Lub Dub. Lub Dub.

A perfectly stable beat for her perfectly stable motions.

Haru breathed in as she slowly retracted her limbs into herself as she stood. She crossed her arms out in front of her and paused. She heard the happenings of nature and the meandering of the people as she listened before she tucked her arms to her sides and let out an exhale.

Her morning Tai Chi practices were done.

Haru jolted as she heard sparse clapping and turned around to see an elderly couple and a few other people clapping. She felt her cheeks heat up but she respectfully placed her fist in her palm before she bowed to them. She always did this on her mornings off from school. Come out at six A.M. and go running, start her katas [8] from seven-thirty to nine-forty-five, before finishing off with her cooldown by doing Tai Chi from nine-fifty to ten-thirty.

It was her normal routine (on school days she wakes up at four to go running before cooling down at six. She practices her katas at school in her martial arts club).

As she packed up her yoga mat—that she practices Tai Chi on—into her duffle-bag, she was approached by the elderly couple.

"Ara ara [9], I don't think I've seen a young one so avidly passionate about Tai Chi before. Right, dear?" The older woman gushed.

"Hai," the man nodded while he rested on his cane. "It is good to see that there are some youngsters keeping this tradition alive. Tell me, what made you take up Tai Chi child?"

Haru, slightly embarrassed at the attention, fiddled with a strand of her hair before she answered them. "…I… just like how it makes me feel I guess. It's quite…refreshing." She bowed to them. "I'm sorry if my explanation is vague."

The woman waved her away. "Not at all dearie. If you like how it makes you feel, then that's a fine answer indeed."

"Sō sō [10]," the man nodded as he patted his back, "well you just keep it up girlie. I'm sure good fortune will be granted to you soon." The elderly couple bowed to her before they left.

"Good fortune huh…?" Haru muttered under her breath as she stared after them. She smiled a bitter smile as she huffed. "Kamisama knows that I need that…but so far, no one has answered my prayers…" Before she could wallow in self-pity and self-destruction, she heard her phone ring. She blinked before she took it out and looked at the caller ID.

Haru chuckled as a genuine smile crossed her face. "It's about time for me to go to work huh? By her insistent calling, I assume that I'm late." Her smile then waned into a nervous one as she rubbed the back of her head. "…Hope she isn't too mad…" The teen then quickly ran off as she answered her phone, keeping it a few inches away from her phone as a woman screamed at her on the other line.

XXX

"We've got an order at table number twelve! A green herbal pasta with mochi tea!"

"On it!"

Haru quickly took the order that she was currently on, and apologized to the couple briefly before she hurriedly scrambled to the kitchen to pick up the next order. Her hair was tied up into a loose bun—strands of hair falling on her face from running back and forth—and she wore a fitting black blouse with matching slacks with a green half-apron tied firmly around her torso. During the weekends, and some days when she was called in, Haru would work at the Italian restaurant called Mama Mia's (ironically) as a part-time job.

She didn't know whether it was some cruel twist of fate that she would work at an Italian business in all places—in Japan nonetheless—or whether she was subconsciously homesick of Matera, Italy. But, regardless, she needed the money since her mother would blow hers on alcohol, and this was the only place that would hire her knowing that she was a highschool student.

Haru burst through the kitchen flaps to see three people working frantically in the kitchen. The first was a moderately tall (6"0) and slender man with scrappy, short dark brown hair, big circular glasses, and a bright smile upon his face. He was easy on the eyes with his long, beautiful lashes, had a handsomely angular face and a beauty mole under his left eye. This was Fumio Kobayashi, the head chef of Mama Mia's and the husband of the matron of the establishment. The other two where assistant cooks that she chatted with on occasions (A/N: They're fodder, they don't matter).

"Haru-chan," he said kindly as he wiped some flour on his white, buttoned-up Chef top, his black slacks fitted snuggly against his legs, as well as his black, red-rimmed half apron against his hips. "The order is already up on the counter, ready for the customer." He chuckled, "Mia-chan's being a slave-driver huh?"

Mia, or Miazaki Kobayashi, is the wife of Fumio and the head matron and owner of Mama Mia's. She was a business-savvy woman with a no-nonsense attitude, and was quite aggressive when she wanted things done. However, despite her rough personality, she is can also be kind, taking in people with "unsavory" histories and protecting them. Nevertheless, Miazaki has been known to fly off-the-handle, and only Fumio can calm her down. Maybe this was the reason that Fumio was and is such a good match for her.

Haru sighed as she grabbed the two giant platters and balanced them perfectly on her small hands, before she regaled Fumio with a deadpanned look. "I think you know the answer to that question. She is your wife after all."

"Haru!"

"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear." Haru grumbled while the head chef just laughed.

Miazaki Kobayashi stormed through the kitchen flaps before focusing her sharp gaze on their only waitress. Mia was a portly woman, with smooth and long black hair that was tied in a tight bun, she wore red glossy lipstick that downturned with her frown, and it looked as if she was perpetually blushing all the time. She wore a dark-blue, above-the-knee dress with long puffy-sleeves, adorned with wide-neck and white trimming, and a white collar. She also wore a white—full-bodied—apron, a small orange bow underneath the collar of her dress, black leggings, and short brown ankle-boots.

Also, Miazaki Kobayashi was a tall woman standing in at 6"3. Towering her husband by three inches (A/N: Kinda referenced Miazaki from "Mia Grand" from the anime DanMachi. If ya haven't seen it, I would recommend that you watch it. It's good shit.)

Haru cringed as she made eye-contact with the most-of-the-times terrifyingly tall woman. "K-Konnichiwa Mia-san…" She mumbled nervously at the fuming woman.

"Don't you "konnichiwa" me Haru! We have a full-house today and three more orders on the way!" For emphasis, Miazaki waved three sheets of notebook papers in the air haphazardly, "And don't think I didn't see your little flop out there with the customers! You should know better than to mix up orders, you've worked here long enough! Like I always say—!"

"A mix up with an order of food could lead to a mix up with the order of one's life, I know, I know…" Haru grumbled in irritation, her arms getting tired from holding up the tantamount of food on her giant plates.

Miazaki was about to scold her behavior again until she caught a look from her husband. He gestured for her to tone it down with his hands before pointing at their little waitress. Miazaki looked at him, and then the teen before sighing. She marched up behind Haru, grabbed her shoulders before giving her a little push outside the kitchen. "Well, like I said, we're busy and we don't have all day to listen to me fuss. Chop chop! We've got bellies to fill and time's a-wastin'!" Mia grinned at her favorite employee as she put her hands on her hips.

Haru blinked as she was pushed before she returned a smile back at Mia, scurrying off to tend to the customers. Miazaki could be a hardass, but she meant well and genuinely cared for Haru. That's all that really mattered to her.

Unlike someone I know… The brunette frowned a little at the thought before she shook her head. No need to think depressing thoughts… This is the time for me to clear my head through hard labor… With her thoughts pushed far in the back of her subconscious, she gave her signature hospitality smile before taking the next order.

Capitolo Due: Ambrosia

I know that the ending is a little lackluster, but it was kinda dragging on and I do have plans for it further down the line. Don't judge.

So, if you haven't noticed, yes, I am writing a Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Fanfiction. I have been getting into the anime, even though it is a little out of date, and it's a bop tbh. I fell in love with Tsunayoshi, Reborn, and most importantly Haru (I don't like Kyoko… she's too… cheery) and I love how such a relatively innocent protagonist is being tainted by the horrific undertones of the mafia underworld. Makes my brain thirsty for this shit.

So, if you haven't seen my other story, the Bendy and the Ink Machine one, and if you haven't read my disclaimer at the bottom, then what the fuck are you doing? Jk, but seriously.

Read my shit.

Anyway, news. AGAIN. As I said, I am mainly going to focus on BATIM and maybe this story mostly on my page, so all of my Naruto fanfics are on hiatus. And yes, that means that The Lost Clan of Whirlpool will be on hiatus too. HOWEVER, I will make it my mission to finish the last/next chapter that I'm working on since I'm halfway done with it.

Keyword: "try".

So yeah, that's it. Oh, and I changed my name as well. Tried to go for something spacey since my head's always in the stars or something. Guess that means I'll have to come up with a new catchphrase huh? And I'll have to call you guys something else too…

Give me your thoughts on what you guys wanna be called in the comments. The most popular one gets an imaginary cookie~!

…

Dolcezza [1]—sweetie

Papà [2]—dad, daddy

Scusa [3]—sorry

Signore, Signora [4]—mister, missus

Biscotti [5]—small, crisp rectangular twice-baked cookies typically containing nuts, and made originally in Italy.

Mia Principessa [6]—My Princess

kotatsu [7]— a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits.

katas [8] –a system of individual training exercises for practitioners of karate and other martial arts.

Ara ara [9] –the saying of "Well well" or ""Oh me, oh my" in Japanese.

Sō sō [10] –the saying of "that's right" or "it is so" in Japanese.