First Words:

Since the last Target, this story got 3 favorites and 7 followers! Thank you 8D Anyway, as you can see, I've finally uploaded this Target... Blame Undertale, not me. While I still have inspiration for this story, the fact that I hadn't been writing it (or anything KHR-related) in a while kind of made me a bit rusty when it comes to its writing style. Either way, I don't think that'll affect much, especially because I was almost done with the Target when I took a break from writing KHR (so I didn't have that much to write to begin with).

... Basically, yeah, blame Undertale for this, not me (and go play that game, it's great). Enjoy...? ^^

Target 8: Don't Over-do It! Haru as Only a Friend

At his office in the Vongola Headquarters, the Ninth was expecting someone.

Loudly and dramatically, the door was slammed open, though that failed to surprise the Ninth. "YOU GOT A MEMBER OF THE VARIA TO TUTOR MY SON?!" After all, the person he was expecting happened to be Iemitsu Sawada, Tsuna's father. He had a an exaggeratedly helpless expression on his face, completely unbefitting of a CEDEF leader: however, some would say that his eccentricities were his best qualities, like the Ninth.

"You've only heard of this now?" the Ninth asked, genuinely curious though still wearing a kind smile. "Perhaps rumors don't spread in the CEDEF as fast as they spread within the alliances..." Since the CEDEF considered itself separate from the Vongola, that was actually likely: despite that, they really only functioned like a more reclused Vongola alliance the Ninth could always count on, so there wasn't a big difference.

Iemitsu's eyes glittered in the light the sun provided through the windows, seemingly teary-eyed. "You know that's not the problem; they're the Varia...! Who knows what they could be planning with my little Tsuna...?!" It then struck him that for said Varia tutor to function better as a home tutor, he would have to stay in the Sawada residence, as in, live with Tsuna. And Nana. Having processed that, Iemitsu froze, actually disturbed. "And my lovely Nana... Oh God, I've got to go back to Japan; Nana could be in danger! Nanaaaa...!"

"Calm down, Iemitsu," the Ninth attempted to reassure him, seeing as he was actually breaking down at that point (instead of exageratting his reaction). "While I see why you are concerned for your family, I have tasked him, Mammon, to do this for a reason. Besides, I assure you the Varia would never do a reckless move such as harming Tsunayoshi-kun at this point in time." However, he wasn't guaranteeing Tsuna and Nana's safety, and he hadn't denied that the Varia could be plotting against him either: he would be lying if he were to do so, after all, and he did not want to lie to a long-standing friend such as Iemitsu.

As he had told others who had asked why he chose Mammon as Tsuna's home tutor, his choice was quite the gamble, so he could not assure his only heir's safety: that admittedly had his Guardians on edge as well, as they could barely understand the Ninth's thought process with such a plan. "Well, you're right there, but..." Iemitsu, having deemed the topic too serious to mess around with, decided he was better off cooling down, as even his wife could be in danger: when it came to such matters, Iemitsu would not joke around, and he was almost completely sure the Varia member sent to the Sawada residence had no intentions of actually teaching his son. "This is too risky, even for you: you cannot possibly believe that Varia member, Mammon or so you called him, will be well-behaved for that much longer, depending on what he's plotting."

"I would beg to differ," the Ninth said, "Xanxus... is not active any longer, and hasn't been for years: if they were so desperate, they would have already moved. Without Xanxus free from his ice, the Varia will never act, as there would be no worth in doing so." He had to utter the same words to his Guardians as well, as it seemed most were so paranoid they believed the Varia would immediately start killing everything the moment Mammon would be sent off to tutor Tsuna. However, the Ninth knew better: the Varia was not a foolish group; in fact, most were quite intelligent.

With that in mind, without its central piece, which was Xanxus, the Varia would not kill Tsuna seeing as that would only doom it further. "And what if they found a way to free him...?" Iemitsu questioned, a completely serious expression on his face as he did so. In his mind, it was because the Varia was not a foolish group that he was thinking of every possibility: no Varia member would accept a mission that would clearly go against their loyalties.

Even so, there was also the fact that if they were to refuse, they could be seen in an even more unfavorable light: after all, refusing such a mission would only further show to the Vongola how untrustworthy they were. "Trust me, if they are fine with sending one of their elite members to tutor the next Vongola boss, they have discovered no plan to free Xanxus." Mammon was the Varia's illusionist, and an illusionist was a fairly convenient asset for all sorts of missions: if the Varia had approved of him leaving, it either meant they wanted to go about their plans the hard way, or that they had no plan to begin with.

... For many reasons, the Ninth was certain it was the latter option. "I don't think it's that simple," Iemitsu asserted, unconvinced. It was practically his duty to make sure the Ninth was making the right decisions, so his doubts were perfectly justified. Even so, that didn't mean Iemitsu was not worried: in fact, more than out of it being his job, he was being more cautious because he was worried about the people closest to him, which was only natural.

"These are, of course, complicated matters," the Ninth responded, "However, that doesn't mean we can't phrase them in a simple manner: what I have done is truly risky, and the reprecussions are truly great. Even so, despite all of this, I find myself going through with it regardless because of simple things, like faith: I believe in your son, Iemitsu, and I think you should believe in him as well." Iemitsu's eyes widened, gazing at the Ninth's eyes, full of life despite his old age.

The one thing that would never wither with age was definitely his convictions, and that would always be proved every time Iemitsu would visit him: he could almost see flames in his eyes, somehow complimenting the kind, reliable smile on the Ninth's face. It was a dignified, wonderful sight, no matter how many times Iemitsu would lay eyes on it. Beyond that, he found his faith in Tsuna something to ponder about: why would he claim to have faith in Tsuna, rather than Mammon, the one he had sent? The Ninth hadn't just come up with everything out of a whim, even if said plan was undoubtedly risky.

... While he still held worry within him, Iemitsu also felt the need to witness what the Ninth was attempting to accomplish. "I believe him just fine; I always did," Iemitsu countered with a smile, "After all, he's my son! If he takes after me, he can do anything!"

. . .

As strange as it was, Mammon had started approving of Tsuna's friendships. "And that's how you do it! Did you follow that or is there a need for me to explain it all over again?" Haru asked, peeking at Yamamoto's somewhat scribbled notebook and Tsuna's completely blank one.

Yamamoto chuckled. "You're really smart, Haru! I think I got that; you just do what's in here, right?" Yamamoto pointed at a formula and an explanation for how to apply it in his textbook, a carefree smile on his face. For him, figuring out every exercise was actually fun, but he definitely preferred sports to that (particularly baseball). Either way, Yamamoto didn't struggle much despite his grades, only having low scores from not paying attention in classes.

"I, I didn't..." Tsuna muttered, looking somewhat helpless. Glancing at the textbook and skimming through the part Yamamoto had pointed at, Tsuna found himself even more confused. This is really hard... Tsuna then glanced at Mammon, who was sitting on Tsuna's bed as if it were his while doing his favorite pastime: counting his money.

Needless to say Mammon had been working (even) less than usual after Haru decided she would help. Now I'm starting to get why he approved of Haru so much... While Tsuna wasn't the best at anything school-related, he could at least tell Mammon never wanted to tutor him: from that, it was fairly easy to assume he was just using Haru. Tsuna looked down at his blank notebook while Haru pretended to almost faint in panic. "Hahi?! What didn't you understand specifically?! I can go over that again!"

With a saddened expression, Tsuna looked back at Haru who was standing up unlike him and Yamamoto. "Uh..." It really hadn't been Haru's fault he couldn't understand; it was his own. After all, Tsuna hadn't understood any explanation properly since Elementary school, meaning that he probably lacked the basic knowledge to solve anything in Middle school: how he had even passed those years before was more out of pity (and sheer effort to have any test he scored over fourty by the end of the year) than anything. "I'm sorry..."

Despite his vague answer, Haru had gotten exactly the meaning of what he was trying to say. "Hahii... Everything again?" It had happened more than once, so Tsuna couldn't help but feel even more guilty over the fact that Haru had to deal with someone as No-Good as him. It wasn't like he didn't know anything related to Math: the bare basics, at least, Tsuna was capable of doing and understanding; if anything, he was glad for that. Straightening up with a determined expression, Haru stated, "I'll do my best this time! I'll definitely get you to understand everything, no matter what!" With those words, Haru managed to confidently smile, wanting to lighten up the mood of the room and her own; she knew feeling down wasn't worth it.

"Y-you don't have to over-do it, you know?" Tsuna hadn't given much thought to those words, having instead taken note of a certain 'strain' in Haru's actions: despite still acting in an energetic fashion, Haru was somewhat tired, Tsuna noted.

Haru immediately shook her head disapprovingly. "Don't worry about me; I'm 100% okay!" She hopped and twirled around as if to show just how well she was feeling, looking cheerful as she did so. "Besides, I've agreed to do this to make up for my mistakes, so that's exactly what I'll do!"

Admittedly, Tsuna was still unconvinced. However, above all, he just didn't want to trouble Haru in such a way: really, Mammon was supposed to be the one tutoring him, not Haru. Not only that, but no one had told Haru that she needed to do such a thing but Mammon, and he would surely never let her think that she had already done enough work. Due to the fact that Haru was clearly being used and over-worked by Mammon, Tsuna couldn't help but give her a saddened look. "But, it's not like you actually have to always teach me," Tsuna countered, glancing at Mammon, "Mammon is around too."

Mammon, who had been simply minding his own business, stored his money in his pocket in reaction to being referred to, staring at Tsuna with an apathetic expression. "We shouldn't trouble Mammon-san with these kinds of things!" Haru pouted, her arms crossed. Tutoring me is his job...! Tsuna thought, yet despite the protest, he still felt immensely guilty for her current situation.

"Exactly," Mammon said, having picked up on Tsuna's obvious negativity towards his plans. "Haru offered to help: whether she's over-doing it or not is none of your business." He knew Tsuna would be against him, being the idealistic kid he was, but Mammon wasn't just going to stop exploiting Haru because of Tsuna's feelings towards the situation. The fact that Haru was so hard-working and naive was truly helping him out: rather than having to bother with Yamamoto and Tsuna constantly, Haru would be doing most of the talking, allowing for him to pass his time doing much more enjoyable activities.

With that in mind, Mammon had no intentions of letting Haru go. "As expected of Mammon-san: such cool words!" He's just using you... Tsuna thought, finding the fact that Haru happened to admire Mammon somewhat to be depressing, especially when Mammon didn't care about her in the slightest. "Though, I am being useful, right? I'm surely not tired or anything, so...!"

"Oh, don't worry, you're doing great," Mammon reassured, a smirk on his face, "Keep it up." While his illusion had definitely looked towards her, Mammon hadn't actually bothered: if Tsuna had said she was over-doing it, she probably was. However, Mammon didn't want Tsuna to foil his plans in such a way, so he made use of his influence over her. He was aware that Haru had a certain degree of respect for him out of the events concerning her misunderstadings: from that, he could practically have her do whatever he wanted, though for the time being, he just wanted her to teach for him. "If anything, you should hurry up because you don't have much time left here and they haven't finished their homework yet."

Haru flinched, surprised. "Hahii, you're right! I'll get to that right away!" While Mammon had perceived that Tsuna was getting sick of Mammon's manipulation, Tsuna had been able to see through that as well, so he couldn't help but sigh dejectedly. How can I make Mammon stop...? Tsuna glanced at Yamamoto, who was staring at Haru curiously. In his head, he found the fact that Tsuna had brought up Haru over-exerting herself strange to begin with: he hadn't even noticed it. However, he noted, Mammon had started acting much more distant to him ever since Haru had appeared, practically taking his place: he liked Mammon, so he found that somewhat unfortunate.

Well, both Tsuna and Yamamoto figured, regardless, they still had to finish what they were doing. Even so, while Yamamoto reached for his pencil, Tsuna started staring at Mammon with a grim expression on his face, already seeing that things wouldn't go well if this kept up...

. . .

As the teacher practically dropped the test sheet on his table and quickly moved on, Tsuna curiously looked through it.

... He immediately stopped at the upper right corner of the paper, where the number '62' was written in red. I... I actually got a good grade...! Soon enough, Tsuna was staring at the number in awe, not even bothering to check the rest. This is the first time... In Middle school, Tsuna had never gotten such a good score, finding everything too hard to pick up on.

However, Tsuna's gaze turned blank. It was all thanks to Mammon's cheating though... Due to that, despite the fact that he had gotten such good grades (in his standards), he could not feel much pride in them. While he had become able to understand slightly more than before, Tsuna doubted that would be enough for achieving a score over 30. To make things worse, because of his guilt over Haru being manipulated by Mammon, Tsuna hadn't been able to concentrate at all lately, feeling mostly anxiety over seeing her in his room again to teach him.

That was Mammon's job, not hers: helping Tsuna was one thing, but basically replacing Mammon was a completely different matter. Tsuna glanced towards the window, having a feeling Mammon was nearby: if only he could tell him what he thought of his actions right then and now, but he was in the middle of classes, left only to focus on the teacher who was beginning to correct the test and to gaze at how much he was still No-Good from the fake test score he had received.

The awe of it had completely disappeared; if anything, Tsuna felt depressed. He felt no pride from his cheating, and he couldn't even feel pride in his improvement, all stemming from Mammon's manipulation. I didn't agree to this...

He could not even bring himself to look towards Kyoko or Yamamoto, who had been curiously staring at him due to his sudden disposition...

. . .

Ever since Haru had entered his life, she had started accompanying Tsuna quite often. On this particular day, Haru was walking with Tsuna and Yamamoto to school, having claimed that her own school was close enough to theirs to do so. For the most part, Haru just wanted to go with them, as she hadn't gotten any friends in her school: she wasn't close to anyone there, at least not to the extent of even hanging out with them. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Mammon-san's baby brother at all lately; did something happen?"

"Huh...?!" Tsuna immediately uttered, reminding himself of the fact that Haru had a strange desire to befriend Mammon. Naturally, so he wouldn't have to deal with her, Mammon would always put up the illusion of Tsuna's home tutor whenever she was around, so the aforementioned tutor's 'little brother' had not been seen in the slightest by anyone but Tsuna. "He..." What should I say, what should I say...?! He wished Mammon were around to lie for him but Mammon happened to be invisible at the time, though definitely following him.

Unfortunately, Tsuna had no idea of this. "H-he came back to his parents!" Tsuna improvised, seemingly panicked. "Since, you know, he actually lives with his parents abroad, a-and all that...!" Lying never did come naturally to Tsuna: it just sat better with him to say the truth, though he was also aware that sometimes, a white lie was necessary.

"Really?" Yamamoto questioned in a carefree manner. "I didn't know that; I thought he lived around here." After all, in his mind, Mammon was Tsuna's assistant, and Tsuna wouldn't want to get an assistant that would have to be abroad for the most part. With that, Yamamoto immediately assumed that Mammon being Tsuna's assistant was nothing more than some game.

Although Tsuna felt quite nervous at first, the lie he had told was actually fairly convincing, especially due to how obvious it was that Mammon was not Japanese (if the name wasn't good enough to guess that). Even so, the mere fact that he had lied was enough to put him slightly on edge, as he said, "W-well, he doesn't." More than to confirm such a fact to Yamamoto, Tsuna had uttered that to reassure he hadn't made a mistake somewhere that would make them suspect him.

"Hahii?! So he's not in Japan right now?!" Meanwhile, Haru was staring at Tsuna in shock, almost as if someone had stabbed her in the chest. Figuratively, they had, at least in Haru's perspective: that had not been something Mammon told her about. Why didn't he...? There was no discernible reason as to why Mammon wouldn't mention his little brother to Haru, especially since she was so obviously eager to see and befriend him again.

Besides, one of the supposed advantages of helping Mammon out was that perhaps Mammon's little brother could approve of her: if he wasn't around, what was the point? Unless... It can't be...! "Seems like it," Yamamoto said, giving Haru a sympathetic smile. While he wasn't very perceptive, he had at least been able to tell Haru really wanted to be friends with Mammon's little brother. "Well, don't worry too much about it!" To further lift her spirits, Yamamoto grinned. "It's not like he's gone forever; you'll see him again eventually!"

"Y-yeah!" Although Tsuna found it unlikely Mammon would ever show himself to Haru (in his real form), he did not at all want to see Haru sad. It was already terrible that she was being used and manipulated by Mammon, so having her in low spirits because of him would be even worse. Besides, he thought Haru was a good person: while certainly quirky, Haru never had any ill intent in her actions, and Tsuna could see that. Due to that, he could only feel guiltier for still letting Mammon's scheme go on. "He visits from time to time, you know!"

However, to improve Haru's mood, he did have to dig a deeper hole on the situation he wanted to stop. Was that truly worth it? Even if it wasn't, Tsuna had no choice: he couldn't just tell Haru the truth, as it was too unbelievable to be taken seriously. "R-really...?" Haru uttered, giving Tsuna quite the hopeful look; Tsuna's guilt weighed him down further. Meanwhile, Haru started smiling cheerfully, immediately retracting her initial suspicions of Mammon. "Thank goodness! You truly scared me there, Tsuna-san! Well, I'll just patiently wait for his return then; I look forward to it already!"

Tsuna chuckled nervously in an attempt to conceal his true feelings on the matter. "G-great...!" He glanced at Yamamoto, wanting to avoid the purely innocent glint in Haru's eyes. Afterwards, for a few seconds, Yamamoto gave him a look that merely indicated curiosity, but waved Tsuna's strange behavior off as just his imagination and smiled.

"Speaking of that, why do you even like Mammon's little brother that much in the first place?" Yamamoto asked, slightly changing the topic. It did still involve Mammon but Tsuna would at least not have to lie about anything else, which did somewhat clear his consciousness.

As Tsuna watched Haru's demeanor turn proud, he stared at her blankly, already bracing himself for something nonsensical. "That would be obvious! Babies such as him possess not only the heart and purity of angels, but also the ultimate form of cuteness! There is no way I wouldn't want to befriend someone that adorable!" Tsuna cringed. If only you actually knew him...

'Adorable' was the last word Tsuna would use to describe Mammon, especially when past trauma like tentacles would surge in his mind... While Tsuna was thinking something along those lines, Yamamoto chuckled. "That's pretty amazing, I gotta give you that! But I honestly think the whole cloak style makes him look cool instead of cute, just saying."

"More like mysterious," Tsuna argued, "I never know what he's thinking." Even then, Tsuna could sort of see the coolness Yamamoto was talking about, but having to deal with Mammon every day made him unable to completely agree. Besides, the fact that Mammon was so mysterious and hard to figure out was truly one of the things he thought most when it came to him, so he found a need to let that worry out.

After all, it seemed like Tsuna had a fairly good perception, but it somehow didn't work as well with Mammon. "That's precisely why he is so cute! Not being able to see what's underneath that hood makes it much, much better!" Haru almost seemed like she was stating an undeniable fact, though in a much more excitable manner. Even though it was one of her quirks, Tsuna found himself smiling at that: her child-like energy and proud determination were uplifting qualities, even if laced with strange traits.

It was a different kind of warmth, one that Yamamoto did not possess, but didn't need to in the first place: his was of carefree cheerfulness and reliable loyalty, which still made Tsuna's day a much better one. If anything, Tsuna, with a wondrous expression, could only liken these two types of 'warmth' with two different kinds of flames, burning with the same strength yet not in the same manner. "Guess you have a point," Yamamoto said, resigning fairly quickly to Haru's perspective with a carefree smile, seeing merit in it. "Still doesn't mean he isn't kinda cool though."

"Yes, yes, absolutely!" Haru also found merit in Yamamoto's perspective, so she nodded cheerfully in response to his words. "However...!" She turned to Tsuna immediately after saying that, pouting at him. "Tsuna-san, you have yet to confirm Mammon Junior-chan's undeniable cuteness in the same manner! It isn't like you disagree, right?"

Startled, Tsuna flinched before he resisted the urge to cringe at hearing 'Mammon Junior' actually being uttered by someone. Seeing he was being requested for approval in something he didn't actually agree with, Tsuna appeared visibly nervous. "Um..." He could see from Haru's perspective somewhat, but with Mammon's overall attitude, he could not bring himself to think of Mammon in any adorable light. "Could we just stop talking about this...?"

At the connotations behind those words, Haru gasped, while Yamamoto chuckled. Tsuna had been expecting those reactions, in a way, so he still kept the same nervous yet slightly troubled expression on his face as he stared at them. Even though Haru seemed shocked, Tsuna could actually detect no pressure from her, at least not the one Haru was succumbing to from having to tutor him every day. Instead, Haru seemed to actually have her energy, her gestures carrying a 'light' presence to them that Tsuna found himself happy to be able to discern.

... Before he knew it, Tsuna was smiling. Eventually, unable to stop that urge due to having finally relaxed from his own negativity, Tsuna started chuckling with Yamamoto. They might've had different reasons for doing so, but said reasons were genuine, making Haru only stare on confusedly. "Hahii?" Haru pouted, unable to figure out what had just happened. "Geez, why are you both laughing...?!" Haru had tried to rationalize Tsuna and Yamamoto's actions for a while, she truly did.

However, with the fun mood of the situation, and the fact that she herself wasn't actually angry, Haru ended up giggling as well.

. . .

For possibly the first time in her life, Haru felt greatly apprehensive about her test score. She had always been academically gifted, so she would never doubt herself when it came to how good she would do on her tests: usually, without much effort, Haru would keep up with Midori Middle School's high standards. Besides, even when times did seem somewhat rough, Haru could always count on her father... for Math, of course.

However, the test she was going to receive was a History test. As the teacher approached Haru's desk, she tensed further, biting her lip to prevent any more weakness than that to appear from her. Not only was Midori Middle School demanding when it came to grades, it also happened to want its students with the best possible attitudes, Haru included. Due to that, school was not the best place to let her eccentricities out though, even then, other students would pick up on how different she was from them right away and she'd get ostracized, so it was a useless effort.

With time, Haru had realized that, making her stop pretending to be completely normal. Even so, she hadn't given up on keeping proper behavior while around school staff or within classrooms, which entailed being as polite as possible and not showing any weakness: with that in mind, nothing much had changed. Haru decided to look down at the table when the teacher reached her, seeing only a hand and a paper, one that she immediately recognized as her test sheet. "Haru Miura... I have no idea as to what caused this, but you must deal with it at once."

To her horror, '62' was written on the upper right corner. Hahii, I knew it...! It was just as she imagined: her score was abysmal, in Midori Middle School standards. Haru could hear her classmates whisper among themselves but she tuned them out, knowing their words would only hurt her further. She did not want to cry inside a classroom: that would be unbecoming of her. Not only that, but she would trouble others with said emotions, which was just as unacceptable.

Haru thought back on why she had been able to predict her grade so easily: the first thing that popped to mind was, to her dismay, Mammon, Tsuna and Yamamoto. Admittedly, while constantly focusing on coming up with new methods for Tsuna and Yamamoto to learn knowledge she had already gone over a long time ago in her own school made her forget the newer things she had learned, and it wasn't like she had much time to study either due to that. In other words, Haru's own promises and favors had turned against her.

Needless to say it hurt. Her chest hurt from the guilt of not having been good enough to both be able to tutor Tsuna properly for Mammon and keep up with her classes at the same time. It hurt her from the sadness she would feel when having to show her father that kind of test score, especially since she had been able to get in the school not out of possessing connections or wealth, but out of sheer academical prowess; she knew he would be greatly disappointed in her. It hurt her... because that could imply she would have to separate herself from Tsuna, Yamamoto, Mammon, or basically the only people she had recently gotten on friendly terms with.

She did not want to leave them, and she certainly didn't want to do so while still having to compensate for her mistakes: she had told Tsuna and everyone she would be of use to them, and she did not want to see them disappointed as well. Holding back tears, Haru faced the teacher, wanting to outweight the sadness she felt with the determination to do much better than before.

... It wasn't working.

. . .

"Strange," Mammon muttered, "That girl isn't here yet." By 'that girl', Mammon naturally meant Haru, who truly had yet to arrive. Yamamoto, having baseball practice, was unable to come over to Tsuna's house too, making Mammon be alone with Tsuna. "Do you know anything about this?"

Immediately, Mammon assumed Tsuna was at fault for the simple reason that he was against having Haru tutor him from the beginning. Tsuna had, in many instances, interfered with Mammon's plans, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had done so with this one. However, with a surprised expression, Tsuna shook his head. "Not at all! Was she supposed to be here?" While the answer to that question was obvious, Tsuna had the underlying hope that perhaps Haru had freed herself from Mammon's clutches, which was somewhat unlikely.

"Of course she was," Mammon responded, "She's been here almost every day, hasn't she?" While Tsuna's reaction had been enough for Mammon to know he actually hadn't done anything, it still mildly displeased Mammon that Tsuna wouldn't assume things that were obvious. If she isn't here, then... Something must have happened, Mammon figured.

It was unfortunate, as Mammon did not want to bother with Haru's problems, whatever they happened to be. Hopefully she would recover from them on her own and she would come crawling back to the Sawada residence, though Mammon had started taking the worst case scenario into account as well. "Well, she's not supposed to," Tsuna countered, assuming a more serious expression from the implications of Mammon's words. "Instead of using Haru, how about you actually do your job?"

"Hmph, who are you to complain?" Mammon smirked. "If anything, shouldn't you be happy you've got a friend of yours teaching you? For someone so stupidly simple-minded like you, something like that should definitely be motivating you to learn."

"Seeing Haru suffer because of you doesn't make me happy at all, let alone motivate me!" Tsuna shouted whilst standing from the seat he had taken near the table, gazing at Mammon with sorrowful eyes. "Just... stop, Mammon. Stop this..."

Despite the clear emotion displayed by Tsuna, Mammon found himself completely unfazed. He already saw it coming: Mammon's previous words were nothing but taunts rather than truthful arguments. Even if he did decide to go out of his way to tell Tsuna the benefits of what he was doing, Mammon knew he wouldn't be understood, though he didn't particularly find a need to be understood either way. Besides, Mammon would not be moved by simple emotional responses, especially Tsuna's. "You wish," Mammon said, "I'm not about to do something as wasteful as that just because you don't like it. Or what? What will you do if I don't stop? Somehow, I doubt even you have an answer to that."

"I..." Tsuna's hands shook out of sheer stress, frustration, anger for his friend. He could barely articulate his answer properly, especially in light of the fact that Mammon was right: what would Tsuna do if he didn't stop? Tsuna never gave that much thought. In his mind, Mammon would stop manipulating Haru after his protests, as his actions were far too cruel for Tsuna to even conceive Mammon continuing with them. However, he had been too naive and, as he thought about it, someone like Mammon would never change his mind like that: at the very least, he knew Mammon well enough to comprehend that. "I—"

Before Tsuna could think of something, and before Mammon could witness Tsuna stutter an awfully foolish response, both heard the sound of the front door being opened. Immediately, both knew what that meant:

Haru...!

That girl...

Tsuna and Mammon faced the door, practically awaiting her arrival and putting their argument to an end. From the sudden quiet tension, different from the previous one, Tsuna gulped. Meanwhile, Mammon had already placed the illusion of the young man that was supposedly Tsuna's home tutor, staring at the door with narrowed eyes.

At the precise moment Tsuna saw the door knob turning, he flinced, but the moment the door actually opened and showed Haru entering the room, Tsuna's eyes widened in shock. "H-Haru...!" he shouted, absolutely worried for her. While Haru had a smile on her face, it was so strained Tsuna could not bear to gaze at it for too long without having a stinging pain in his chest. Not only that, but her eyes were also practically dead, distant, as if truly focused on nothing or without the energy to do so...

Tsuna glanced at Mammon, whose expression had not changed since he heard the front door. "Hahii...?" Haru reacted with a somewhat surprised and confused expression, the actual emotions shown not being strong enough to truly convey that. "Is anything wrong, Tsuna-san?" Despite asking that question, as if she did not actually want an answer, Haru continued speaking before Tsuna could even open his mouth, "Ah, it's because I'm late, isn't it?" Haru 'smiled cheerfully'. "If that's the case, there is no need to worry! I simply had business to take care of after school; I do happen to be in the Gymnastics club, after all!"

That's a lie, Tsuna immediately thought, a helpess expression on his face, That's a lie...! "Haru, i-if you're tired, you can just—"

Shocking Tsuna further, Haru cut him off, saying, "Tired...? Me, Haru, tired? Don't be ridiculous, Tsuna-san! I'm just fine! I told you there was no need to worry!" Haru...

"You heard her," Mammon added, smirking. Tsuna could not even describe the sadness, the pain he felt when seeing that Mammon was actually amused at situation, simply because things weren't going like Tsuna would've wanted to. "If she says she's fine, you shouldn't force your baseless worrying on her."

"B-baseless..." Tsuna repeated, incredulous. After all, Tsuna had many reasons for thinking the way he did so having Mammon dismiss them, even if it was clearly on purpose, hurt him in many ways.

Mammon knew that, so he was still fairly amused. To him, the whole situation was good payback for Tsuna's attitude towards his plans, especially since he had gotten in his way so many times. Meanwhile, Haru seemed blissfully unaware of Tsuna's emotions, simply moving towards him 'energetically'. "Now that this has been taken care of, let's start from where we left off, alright...?" The kind smile she currently had; before, it was... genuine. "Basically, we were—"

"STOP!" Now, it was but a mask, defiled in everything that made it what it truly was: a smile. "Stop, stop, stop, Haru! This isn't right, and you know that!" Tsuna used to like that smile— He still did, actually. But not like this... Not when Haru was using it in such a way, without her true energetic, childish, determined flare. If before, she shone like a flame, then now, said flame was slowly being extinguished. "Having you over-working like this for no good reason, troubling you like this... It all just has to stop already!"

At Tsuna's outburst, Haru showed herself truly shocked, his loud words having actually been processed by her; however, she remained silent. Meanwhile, Mammon was no longer smirking, instead pondering on the fact that Tsuna was lashing out in such a manner. I didn't think he'd grow enough of a backbone to scream like that... Of course, only to be used in futile things like this. Seeing Haru actually showing her emotions, Tsuna continued speaking, "So, Haru, don't tutor me for Mammon; you've already done enough! Just... if you're busy, or tired, or even sad, don't do any of this. Even if you aren't, you don't have to do anything either." From mental images Tsuna was seeing, he smiled. "Instead, you can just c-come over and... uh, have fun! I-I hope..."

Nervously, Tsuna glanced to the side. He hadn't realized how much he had actually said, and how heavy his words truly were before, but as he thought them over, he found himself embarrassed at how much he had spoken from only his emotions: usually, Tsuna wouldn't even have the courage to shout in such a manner. However, when it came to Haru, especially when she was in such a state, Tsuna could not help but do that for her sake. "I've... done enough?" Haru questioned, keeping a bewieldered demeanor. "Does, does that mean... I was useful? I was good enough? I can still be your friend...?"

"O-of course!" Tsuna immediately responded, finding Haru's questions so emotionally painful that he found himself stammering. "You've done way more than just 'enough'; you've been coming her almost every day! If anything, I'm only not progressing that much because I'm just that terrible..." Tsuna scratched his head nervously, feeling slight bitterness at the fact that he acknowledged his faults. While he already held his lack of talent at anything as common sense, he had recently made some effort to improve himself, so it did put him in a bad mood to think of how that could all be worthless.

"Tsuna-san..." Haru reacted in awe. Afterwards, to Tsuna's surprise, Haru pouted indignantly. "You're not terrible at all! You're just... intellectually challenged!" That isn't very flattering...! However, Tsuna let that slide, happy at the fact that Haru was acting more like herself again. "But even so, you're a very, very nice person, and I'm glad I got to be your friend! Please have some confidence in yourself!"

... While Tsuna had managed a small smile, somewhat moved by Haru's genuine words telling him that he should have confidence in himself as if he had that much worth, those emotions were immediately interrupted by Mammon; Tsuna had not even been allowed any response. "Tsuna might be satisfied with your efforts, but that doesn't mean I am."

"M-Mammon!" Tsuna shouted, a shocked yet frustrated tone in his voice. He's still going on with this?!

Mammon smirked. "Didn't you want my brother's approval, Haru?"

"Hahii?!" Haru uttered, reminding herself of said detail. Besides, it seemed like Mammon, at least, did not consider her efforts already enough to forgive her; that fact alone saddened her greatly. "I..."

Tsuna's eyes narrowed in anger. He knew what Mammon was intending to do, and this time, he wasn't going to let him go through with it. "You don't even have a brother! Knock it off, Mammon!"

"What?!" Despite Tsuna's words being directed at Mammon, the first one to react was Haru. What is he talking about...?!

Regardless, Tsuna continued speaking, "Besides, no matter how much she tries, she'll never get your approval because you don't actually mean it, right?! Just show your true form and end this already!"

"T-Tsuna-san, what do you mean...?" Haru questioned, unsure whether to believe the connotations behind Tsuna's words. After all, he seemed to be hinting at the preposterous idea that Mammon was not who he seemed to be...

"You shouldn't joke around too much, Tsuna," Mammon merely responds, still smirking. "You're confusing her." While Tsuna could tell Haru the truth, he couldn't force Mammon to dispel his illusion, so he had no way to prove his claims. In other words, no matter what he would try, Mammon would end up victorious, as expected.

Tsuna stared at Mammon in awe of how heartless he could be, unsure of what to say. "Mammon, you..."

Seeing a disheartened Tsuna, Haru still found herself unsure of what to think of the situation. "Wait, so that was all a joke, right?"

"What else would it have been?" Mammon countered, making Haru feel slightly relieved: with Tsuna looking so serious, Haru had almost thought he wasn't joking despite his ridiculous words. "As I was saying, you haven't done enough yet, Haru. You're going to have to keep teaching Tsuna for a long time until you get any sort of approval from my brother: at least, until Tsuna can get a good grade, you've got to be here almost every day." It was all going according to Mammon's plan. All of it.

Tsuna looked down at the floor of his room, helpless. He'll make her suffer again, he'll make her look lifeless again...! I can't... I can't just... Though tears threatened to fall from his eyes, Tsuna faced Mammon with a determined expression. If I'm supposed to be her friend, I can't just let this happen! Despite that, Mammon showed himself unfazed. He knew Tsuna would act that way: he always did. In fact, throughout this situation, Tsuna had only acted like that. "E-even if you get Haru to tutor me every day, Mammon..." However, that didn't mean Tsuna was going to give up.

"... I r-refuse to learn from anyone but you!" While Haru widened her eyes in suprise from the unexpected statement, Mammon simply gave Tsuna a skeptic look. From such reactions, Tsuna steeled his determination further, knowing that he couldn't afford to be sad if he wanted to get through to Mammon. "No, I swear I'll only accept you as my tutor! So, e-even if you try to manipulate Haru, it won't bring you any benefits at all! And I mean it, Mammon! The only thing Haru is to me is a friend!"

"T-Tsuna-san..." Haru was no longer relieved or sure of what was even going on between Mammon and Tsuna. From ridiculous statements to convicted assertions, Haru found herself in awe of Tsuna's attitude, as he would usually not display such a strong will to others. Not only that, but the implications of his words were still strange... However, rather than focusing on that, Haru was smiling at the fact that Tsuna truly considered her, above all, a friend.

Meanwhile, Mammon was frowning deeply. He's really done it this time... Mammon thought, annoyed. Tsuna was legitimately threatening Mammon's plans with his sudden promise: after all, if he were to refuse to learn from anyone else but Mammon, there would be no point to having Haru around; Tsuna wouldn't learn either way. Besides, since Haru heard that too, she would most likely refuse to tutor him as well on the basis that it would go against Tsuna's wishes. "Hmph..."

... Reluctantly, Mammon admitted defeat. "Fine," Mammon said. Both Haru and Tsuna's expressions brightened in reaction to his words, Haru having been released of a burden she thought she was going to have to carry for a long time and Tsuna seeing his spur-of-the-moment tactic actually working. "If you really don't want any convenient situations, suit yourself. Besides, it was only a matter of time before Haru would break down, so it's not like she could be of any use for long."

"B-but it's not like your brother will disapprove of me now, right...?" Somehow unable to pick up on the utterly cruel meaning behind Mammon's words (involving him manipulating her), Haru asked that, a restless expression on her face.

While Mammon did not feel like even sparing her a glance, he faced Haru regardless. "Of course not." If he had still been wanting to look reliable in Haru's eyes, he would have said more than that, but he was now frowning, showing himself somewhat annoyed by her question. "Now, if you're only planning on wasting our time, leave; Tsuna has homework to do."

"H-Hahii...!" Haru reacted, already startled with Mammon's sudden blunt(er) attitude. Bowing three times in a row, Haru exclaimed, "I'm sorry!"

... Meanwhile, Tsuna could only stare at Mammon blankly. I guess now that Mammon can't use Haru, he won't hold back on her at all, huh... Tsuna thought back on the last few weeks, when Haru was tutoring him.

Not that he ever held back that much to begin with...

. . .

Things were looking great for Tsuna... but not for Mammon.

The number of annoyances Mammon had to deal with increased by one, with Haru now just a friend of Tsuna's and nothing useful. In general, like the troublesome and annoying person she was to Mammon, Haru would go to Tsuna's house a few days per week to hang out with Tsuna and Yamamoto, and would stick around while Mammon was tutoring Tsuna too.

This day was no different, as in Tsuna's room were gathered Haru and Yamamoto, Tsuna's current friends. A few months back, Tsuna would not have believed he could ever gain anything even remotely close to a friend, but now that it had happened, he could not have felt any happier.

Even if he was No-Good, he was at least having fun. Tsuna smiled at that thought as he saw Yamamoto putting down his pen. "Done!" he said with a cheerful smile and handed over his exercise sheet to a somewhat annoyed Mammon.

"Hahii?! Yamamoto-san, that was faster than usual!" Haru remarked in awe, having been observing both Tsuna and Yamamoto for a while. She had already finished her own homework, which she could do well enough at Tsuna's house while everyone else was busy. Even if she hadn't gotten anything to do, she would have simply observed them anyway, as the times Haru wouldn't come around were only when she had Gymnastics club practice, very complicated schoolwork or a test was coming up. Due to that, Haru wasn't as pressured as before, and found her time with Yamamoto and Tsuna more enjoyable.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I guess I've been getting the hang of this," he responded in a carefree manner, displaying no pride for his accomplishments. Meanwhile, Tsuna was still trying hard to finish the last exercise, which Mammon couldn't help but look at in disdain while holding Yamamoto's exercise sheet in one of his tiny hands.

"... Looks like you got it right," Mammon said, displeased, "But it still doesn't change the fact that you're an idiot."

Even if that was an expected answer, Tsuna found himself shouting out, "Mammon!"

"Hahii! Mammon-san is so cold...!" While it was expected to everyone else, Haru was not as used to Mammon (at his worst, that is) as Yamamoto and Tsuna were, so she would still react in such a manner, surprised.

However, rather than unfazed, Yamamoto's smile was somehow wider after Mammon's response. "Harsh as always! You know, while Haru was helping you out, you were pretty distant so I'd barely hear you say a word, let alone that kind of stuff. Now that Haru's backed out of it, everything's a lot more fun since we're all together like this!"

"It's fun to you, but not to me," Mammon countered.

... The fact that Yamamoto chuckled from that made Mammon practically throw the paper at him, which didn't hit Yamamoto at all. "See? Before, you'd be so distant you wouldn't even say that, and Haru's not busy teaching Tsuna anymore so it's all way better than before. I'm glad everything's turned out like this!"

Tsuna, who had been listening to the conversation more than he was actually finishing his exercise, couldn't help but smile at Yamamoto's words. Ever since he had made that promise to Mammon, he had been diligently upholding it to the point of not even accepting help for any minor thing from either Yamamoto or Haru, and only relayed his doubts to Mammon. That, in turn, served to annoy Mammon further, but Tsuna had decided it was better than seeing his friends sad again.

... With that in mind, Tsuna couldn't agree more with Yamamoto's words. "Stop spacing out and finish that already."

Tsuna flinched. "S-sorry, Mammon!"

Author's Notes:

And so, this Target is finally over! Phew, it sure took a whole lot of time to end, even though it wasn't even that bad to begin with. If anything, I liked that it cemented the friendship between Haru, Tsuna and Yamamoto, especially since I want that to be a thing before introducing even more characters. I mean, I could just introduce everyone but this is the Daily Life arc, so I gotta make the most of it and develop the relationships between the characters as well.

With that in mind, I think I practically jump at any opportunity to have something happen between Tsuna and Mammon in this story, it's pretty amazing. I mean, Tsuna promised Mammon he wouldn't be taught by anyone else and Mammon... still doesn't like Tsuna, but that'd be too much to ask for now ^^' If anything, to be honest, I kind of feel like Mammon is as much of a protagonist as he is an antagonist to the story, which kind of freaks me out. Like, he's basically the source of conflict in every Target XD

Also, Iemitsu: I got reminded of him because of a review and just had to write a scene of him reacting to this whole ordeal as well. Seriously, everyone's doubting the Ninth, but it seems like he has everything under control...? I guess we'll have to see how well everything plans out and just what exactly the Ninth's plan is eventually, huh? It's also great how much Tsuna and Haru are just friends since Haru didn't fall in love with Tsuna: it's a change that I'll probably never fully accept, but love anyway.

Yamamoto's so much fun to write though: somehow, he's also really compatible with everyone, like Tsuna ^^ Anyway, with this Target, you've probably noticed the amount of headcanons I've used: I mean, you never really know how Haru's school life is, but since she's a more important character now, I had to portray it in the most plausible way I could think of. Basically, there will be many headcanons, so I hope you can deal with that.

... Well, if you're here, I guess you were already prepared for them due to this story's nature. Whatever the case, look forward to the next Target? I'm pretty sure someone will be introduced there!