I've wanted to contribute to the HibaHaru fandom for a while now! :D These two are just so cute that I couldn't resist. More of friendship than anything else.

Set into the future! ^^

Read on and enjoy! :)

For someone who acted so cold, he was unbelievably warm.

Her heart fell and shattered into tiny indefinable pieces on the floor. And no one knew about it but her.

Tsuna's warm laughter reached her ears and the laughter that usually sent her into a happy mess did nothing but leave a cold and empty feeling in her.

Kyoko said yes.

Haru forced a smile on her face as she went over to hug her ecstatic best friend. The guardians then approached one by one and clapped Tsuna on the back. Gokudera pushed her out of the way to congratulate - quite loudly - his precious Tenth and his chosen. It was an action that would normally start a banter between them, but that day was anything but normal, and Haru was anything but energetic.

The brunette just wanted to disappear.

Haru retreated into the back, near the doorway so she could escape easily if Tsuna ever felt the need to prove to everyone that he loved Kyoko via kissing. Haru turned her head away from the happy scene and opted to stare at the snow falling outside.

She wanted to be happy for her friend, she really did. But at the same time she couldn't help the selfish thoughts that plagued her. After all, she - Not Kyoko or Chrome, but her, Haru - loved him first. Didn't that at least give her some sort of advantage? She supposed not, judging by the diamond ring on Kyoko's finger.

Idly, Haru wondered if Tsuna was moving too fast. After all, Kyoko wasn't his girlfriend yet, but then her thoughts caught up to her and she almost laughed out loud. They were in the Mafia. There was no such thing as 'too fast'. Not if they could die in a few hours if ever a fight broke out.

A warm hand on her shoulder broke her out of her reverie. It was fleeting, gone as soon as it had come but Haru could still feel the warmth that seeped into her own through the short contact. It told her that she wasn't completely alone. That someone noticed her; noticed her pain. She thought it was Yamamoto.

Haru slowly turned her head to smile at him only to freeze as her chocolate eyes met Hibari's sharp grey ones.

She had grown distant, she knew, but could they really blame her? She was a good actress, but she couldn't be a good actress all the time.

Haru needed time to grieve.

And she mused, in the back of her mind, that she was grieving over something for months now that was never hers to lose in the first place.

Haru could barely believe herself when she ran straight into the Cloud guardian's arms. Later, she would try to convince herself that it was a split-second decision. She would rationalize with herself that she had chosen Hibari simply because of his unquestionable strength. But right then, she didn't care about anything else but his warm grip around her as he carried her out of harm's way. She ignored Tsuna's wide eyes and confused look - she was sure that there was hurt in there somewhere - at her decision for choosing Hibari over him.

"Stupid herbivore," Hibari had muttered as he put her down. Haru wanted to protest that it was not her fault that she was abducted but her throat suddenly constricted and all she could do was nod. "I'm going back," he announced and was already walking away before Haru could even reply.

"Hibari-san... Hibari-san doesn't need to go back." She didn't know what made her say those words but she knew that she needed Hibari to stay; even if it was only for her own sanity. "Tsuna-san can handle those guys by himself."

Hibari turned back and regarded her with silent eyes and just when Haru was about to snap, he spoke. "They won't get you here." Was that meant to reassure her?

"I- Haru knows." She spoke so softly that Hibari almost couldn't hear her, and if he were anyone else, he might have leaned in. A tense, heavy silence stretched on between them when Hibari didn't reply. The skylark was about to walk away again but Haru's almost desperate tone had him halting on his tracks. "You don't need to leave. Tsu-"

"That's my fight," Hibari hissed and stalked over to stand before her. "Or it was until you decided to run to me."

"W-what?"

"You were supposed to go flee with Sawada while I disposed of the famiglia," he informed her flatly, less than displeased that he didn't get a chance to fight and complete his job. Haru listened on with wide eyes. "But since you decided that I was better at running away than Sawada, I had to no choice but to take you out of there before the fight broke out."

"Haru is- Haru went to you because..." Why had she ran to him? Since when did she think of him as more capable of ensuring her protection than Tsuna? Haru shook her head in a desperate and futile attempt to gather her jumbled mess of thoughts together.

Hibari leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Why?" They both ignored the obvious shiver that traveled down her spine and took a step back to give her more space.

After a moment of silence, Haru looked up resolutely and bravely met Hibari's eyes. "Haru doesn't know."

Haru blinked and tilted her head when Hibari's lips quirked as if holding back a smile.

"Hn. I see." And then he turned and left her all alone in the room. And somehow, she wasn't as scared as before.

Just after he left, Kyoko came barging in and instantly fell to her knees when she saw Haru's unharmed state. "You're okay," she breathed while tears sprung out of her eyes. "You're okay. You're really okay."

Haru walked over to her hysterical friend and pulled Kyoko to her while the other girl clung to her as if she might disappear at any moment. "I'm really okay."

And it was all thanks to a certain cloud guardian.