Hey there!

This is my second KHR story. I hope you guys enjoy!

Title: True Colors
By: lunadeartemis
Paring: GokuHaru
Rating: PG (Swearing)
Summary: He calls her stupid like it's her name, but is that really what he means?

She can feel his stare bludgeoning her spine.

He's as relentless as always, acting offended when he's at fault for never giving her what she wants. Which, she in turn finds unreasonable: that he finds her expectations just as unreasonable.

"You know how I am," he says whenever she comes out and says what's bothering her, dismissing her. It makes her love corrode into something ugly, anger and loathing that drives between them like metal bars. She can see him and reach for him, but something will always be in the way.

His dumb ego.

The insults.

They are a part of him, but even after all this time he never notices when he drives too deep. He wounds her time and again, and tonight she can't say she can let it go. She can't affirm whether she wants to hold onto him or not. The bitterness, she feels, coats her love for him so that it is hard to put the two into separate feelings.

Does she love him, or does she hate him?

Haru is not sure anymore.

"Stupid woman," he mutters in her ear, taking her elbow as she tries to mingle away into the sea of suits and dresses that grace Vongola Decimo's birthday party. "You're avoiding me again."

She stops and regards him with cold balefulness, the chrome lining her eyes glinting like steel. It makes his breath catch, and he rolls his eyes to disguise his reverence. "You're embarrassing me, you know," he growls.

He's right. Two can play his hurtful game. He refuses to show her he loves her, so she suffices to do the same. By now, everybody has noticed that Miura Haru has been snubbing her boyfriend all night.

"I don't know what you mean," she answers, pulling away from him and continuing to walk on, noting how his cheeks have reddened and more than one person is murmuring about their wreck of a relationship.

His brow furrows and he moves to walk along with her, and uses his height and strength as leverage to maneuver her to a secluded balcony, despite her attempts to meander away.

She gives up, and stalks to the railing, planting her elbows on the stucco, gazing anywhere but at him. He comes up next to her, leaning back and pulling out a cigarette. He lights it and takes a long drag before exhaling. "Two weeks ago…" he begins, and her heart constricts. "I guess I should apologize. I didn't mean what I said, you should know that."

"Haru thinks that you expect too much," she replies, surprising him with her calm, colorless tone. She should be teary, shouting, red-faced, not expressionless like she is right now. He feels something foreboding expand in his chest, sending danger signals to his brain.

"Haru," he murmurs, throwing the cigarette down and grinding it under his foot.

"Haru thinks that she should be able to love you, and be loved back. But instead, Haru has to suck it up and understand that her boyfriend is a mean jerk. I have to swallow insults, and sort through them to find out what you really mean." She stares at him, glassy-eyed and lips quivering. "It isn't fair. You make me so sad, and I don't know if I can stand feeling like this anymore."

There's something stuck in his throat an all he can do is stare at her incredulously, his body heavy like his tongue. She straightens her spine and smiles at him bitterly, her lips stretching into a counterfeit smile to keep from sobbing, but the tears curving down the slope of her cheeks are not to be deterred.

"Haru has been thinking about this for a while. That it would be best to end this now, before we hurt each other anymore," she says, her shoulders quaking. "You don't have to worry about it being awkward either; I've decided to go back to Japan for a while."

He continues to stare, unable to process that the stupid woman is breaking up with him. She can't, can she? He's never analyzed what he should do in a situation like this, because in his mind he had already decided she was forever. So how can this be? How?

She is walking away now, and the box in the pocket of his slacks burns through the cloth against his skin.

"There he is!" exclaims Yamamoto as he pushes open the door to the Tenth's study. All the guardians and family are already there. The Tenth stands up from the red couch, and his wife rises with him. Kyoko san looks like she's about to burst from excitement, and the Tenth is smiling brightly, never one to hide what he is feeling.

Surrounding the pair are the sports freaks, the stupid cow, I-pin, and the Tenth's parents. Over by the window Hibari attempts to seclude himself, and close by at a small table sit his sister, who is holding Reborn, Futa, and Chrome.

He knows that the expression on his face will give everything away. There's no way he can hold back his sorrow, not when it's so fresh and stunning, still buzzing in his veins, shocking him with new waves of pain every time he breathes.

"T−Tenth," he gasps, standing before them all, feeling lost.

The boss is at his side in an instant. "Gokudera kun! What happened? Where's−" He trails off, looking for Haru, but the stupid woman isn't beside him. Nevermore will she be.

"She left me, Tenth. She told me it was over." He looks at his boss desperately, finding a little bit of solace in the disbelief that overtakes his features. Someone else also can't believe this is happening. "I didn't even get to propose."

Yamamoto is clapping a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, and Ryohei is shouting about how this can't be extremely happening. He glances up to see Kyoko san looking devastated and near tears. But she's not looking at him, instead she's typing furiously, fingers blurring over the keypad of her cell.

Tsuna's mother envelops him in a hug, confusion on her face, but clearly she means to comfort him. He finds himself sagging in her arms, unable to sustain himself too well.

"I went too far, Tenth," he attempts to explain. "I never noticed how I hurt her. I never thought she could−" It hadn't been plausible. How could she go when the thought of ever being without her had never crossed his mind? Haru was constant. She was supposed to love him always. But now she was gone.

"Haru chan says she's going to be gone for a while. She says not to worry," says Kyoko san, already typing. Another crease dimples over her brow. "She just blocked my phone…my message was sent back."

The Tenth pulls out his phone, as does seemingly everyone else in the room with a handheld, and he is led to the red sofa where he falls onto the velvet like a sock puppet. No one is able to get a hold of her.

Gokudera Hayato closes his eyes and sees her face. He sees her in his mind's eye as his vision last drank the sight of her, drowning in tears, leaving him before he could say or do anything to stop her.

"We'll find her, Gokudera kun," the Tenth assures, but he's not sure that it will make a difference.

"It's nice of you to come and visit me, Tsuna san," she says brightly, leading him from the elevators to the restaurant in the hotel he surprised her in. She was in her room, surrounded by her three laptops as she worked on a system for Giannini from an inconspicuous hotel in Sicily. It took one of his investigative teams to find out that she had never left Italy in the first place.

She had been surprised when he was the one behind the knock on her door. Her eyes had immediately scanned behind him, no doubt looking for his right-hand man.

"I'm alone, Haru," he told her, smiling sadly at the state his friends were in. "Can I come in?"

She returned his pained smile and invited him downstairs, where they currently walk into a small restaurant and are seated in a secluded corner for privacy.

"I'm sorry, Tsuna san. I must have worried you and Kyoko chan. But I just had to get away for a while." She doesn't say his name.

"I understand," he appeases her, taking her hand over the table. Her lips curve serenely and he notices her hair is a little shorter. "You cut it again." She blushes a little and nods. "You always do when you change something. Last time you cut it because you decided to give up on me. Have you given up on Gokudera kun completely, then?"

She jumps a little, startled by his bluntness, and her bangs fall over her eyes. "That was the intention," she says, biting her lip to keep the tremors at bay.

He clutches harder and she looks up. "He's a big mess right now, Haru. From what he's told me, from how I know you two, he never though you two could ever fall apart. None of us did." Her eyes narrow and he shakes his head. "I know he's taken you for granted, but I really do think he can be better. Haru, he loves you. You know that."

She is still for a moment, and then sighs. "Haru loves him too, but I can't …" she trails off, a sob breaking from deep in her throat. "I don't want to cry everyday anymore. I don't want to be told I'm stupid like it's my name. I don't want him to think I'm furniture. He can't walk all over me and expect me to love him like always. It's not fair. Deep inside he's still that mean teenage boy he was when we first met, and I've overlooked it because deep down we made a connection that led to loving each other. But lately that was getting impossible to uphold."

Tsuna gets up and pulls her into his arms, taking the strength of her sorrow into his body as her tears soak his suit and the crying that shook her body made him tremble too.

"Haru," he murmurs into her hair. "It will be okay. I will help you through this. I will help you both. Count on it."

When she wakes up the next day Gokudera Hayato is lying next to her.

From the furniture and the general décor she can tell they're at Vongola mansion, in the east wing that's scheme is green and silver. She's always liked this part of the place because the green is so similar to Hayato kun's eyes.

She sits up in bed, trying to remember how she got here, but is unable to recall anything after her little crying episode in Tsuna san's arms. She cringes, and looks over at him.

He's completely sprawled over his side of the bed, legs haphazard and arms thrown back across the pillow and his chest. He's wearing his usual suit with the red shirt underneath, rings on his fingers, and the earrings she gave him as a present the year they started dating, for his birthday. Her heart clenches when she notices that despite his clean appearance there are heavy rings under his eyes and his mouth, always soft in his sleep, is curved like he is having a nightmare.

She gets up, resisting the urge to touch him. Finding her shoes at the front of the bed she slips her feet into them and heads for the door. Hand on the knob, she stops when she hears him.

"You're here," he says, and it's the hopelessness in his tone that floors her. Gokudera Hayato is a confident man, but the man whose voice resounds in her mind is someone else. She turns her head despite herself and sees him staring at her in pain, hope, longing, so many things at once that she thinks they'll both shatter again.

"Hayato kun, go back to sleep," she manages to choke out. "You look awful."

He looks like he can't decide whether to get up or to stay down. She realizes that he doesn't want to make the wrong move, to have her flee if he reaches for her.

"You don't look so good yourself, Haru," he says.

"Well, I've definitely been better. For instance, I don't even know how I got here. But I'm guessing Tsuna san had something to do with it." It's forced, but she has to work something out, has to salvage something between them. If not their love, then at least their friendship, even a small part would be enough, she thinks.

"Come here, with me," he asks, extending his hand, but she shakes her head and turns the knob. She opens the door as he springs up from the bed, calling her, and the next thing she sees is Lambo kun, holding a purple sphere in his hand and a determined look on his face.

"30 minutes, Haru nee," he says, and then the world explodes in a noisy amethyst cloud.

At first he's not sure if she's real.

Through half-lidded eyes he watches her put on her shoes, her newly short hair falling like a sheet of rain against her cheeks by the momentum this provokes. He feels oddly sedated by her presence. It grants him the sensation of being on painkillers: peace he hasn't had in the weeks that she's been gone.

When she approaches the door he automatically calls to her, his body acting instinctively to keep her from inciting the pain her absence had roused. "You're here," he manages to rasp out, gratefully catching her attention.

She turns, and he thinks they match. Their dark circles are almost identical in their depth. She looks at him as if she would like nothing better than to rush headlong into his arms. But she restrains herself and tells him to go back to sleep, citing his appearance to goad him into letting her go.

It's not going to happen. He's going to restrain her by force if necessary. She's going to listen to him explain how he's going to change from now on, and accept him back. She's going to take his ring, his name….she's opening the door, and he jumps up, desperation taking over his feet with clumsy hands.

He trips over the sheets trailing off the bed, and as he struggles to right himself he hears Lambo at the door.

"30 minutes, Haru nee," he says resolutely and as he looks up an explosion of purple and time-traveling proportions envelops the room.

They're holding a study session at the Tenth's house. Midterm exams are nearly upon them, and with the Byakuran mess having put them behind the scores will determine both Yamamoto and the Tenth's semester grades. Understandably, the boy is freaking out, and as expected Yamamoto is taking things in stride, as if it were all one big joke.

It's pissing him off.

But more than the baseball idiot, the damn costume freak grates on his nerves at a higher level. She's explaining everything all wrong, and the Tenth looks more confused by the second. He's just decided to intervene before she breaks out some sort of costume when she suddenly disappears behind a loud cloud of purple smoke.

The Tenth jumps up, looking for the stupid cow and Yamamoto's waving his arms around, trying to clear the air.

"That stupid cow," he hisses. "Where are you?" he demands, expecting to see older Lambo stepping out of the leftover wisps of smoke. He backtracks when instead a young woman stumbles forward. Yamamoto, closest to her, catches her by the shoulders.

She regains her footing and straightens with his help, and as she does something in his mind clicks.

The stupid woman is gone. There's another stupid woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to her: Stupid cow was going to get it later.

She blinks at them and pushes a strand of her short hair behind her ear. "Hahi. Why am I in the past?"

The Tenth visibly pales, and pulls him close. "Gokudera kun, what if she doesn't know about the ten years bazooka? Could she be from a parallel world where she's not involved?"

He doesn't think that's likely, since she's assuaged where she is. "She knows this is the past, Tenth." This makes him relax, until a look of worry rags his features. Gokudera stares for a moment, watching her thank Yamamoto, and takes in the serious demeanor glinting in the idiot's eyes before realizing that something is wrong.

She smiles at them, but it's nothing like the stupid smiles she was shooting at the Tenth just a few moments ago. Her lips, despite her beaming, don't quite turn up. There are circles under her eyes, and there's none of the ridiculously luminescent fervor she usually has behind them. She pushes her arms back, stretching her spine, but when she lowers them her shoulders still contract into her body. This is what he imagines sadness personified looks like.

He doesn't understand. Didn't they save the Tenth? The future should be fine now. There's no reason for her to be looking like that.

She clears her throat and looks at her watch. "It seems that Lambo kun used a new type of bomb on me," she says, her voice forced into an airy quality. "He managed to tell me I'd be here for 30 minutes." She sighs. "He should have warned me."

Yamamoto laughs. "So that's why you suddenly appeared here even when Lambo didn't send this time's Haru to the past?"

She nods. "Right. She's taken my place in the future. Instead of me having switched with my future I've switched with my past self." She sighs again and rubs the side of her head. A flash of platinum catches his eye. She's wearing three bands of intricately ornate punk earrings on her left ear, each inlaid with tiny jewels. It floors him because it strikes him as something that he himself would like, and yet she's the one wearing them on both ears.

He swallows. They make her look cool.

In fact, she's not dressed all cutesy like she does in the present.

He fights to keep him mouth under control, holding himself from gaping at the tight black slacks encasing her legs. She's wearing a form-fitting black vest, and flying un-tucked is a purple dress-shirt. It covers up to the tops of her thighs, but he can see the steel of a chain hanging from her pocket. The first three buttons are undone and he can see the delicate structure of her collarbone, and the rope of another chain trailing into something he doesn't even want to continue imagining.

"Why are you dressed like that?" he demands incredulously, and from the corner of his eye he sees the Tenth nod adamantly. He's not the only one that's stumped by this older stupid woman.

Yamamoto laughs when she blushes slightly. "Now, now. It makes her look tough, and really cool," he complements, which for some reason really grates on him.

She laughs too, that dumb insincere laugh she's picked up somewhere between their fight with Byakuran and now. To his surprise she looks at him somewhat wistfully. "This once influenced me more than I should have allowed," she confesses, and something finally shines behind her eyes. It was soft, and sad, and made heat crawl up his neck. What the heck? It's because of him that she's cool? A sense of pride blooms in his chest.

The Tenth, flustered, suddenly invites her to sit down and she accepts, taking her seat on the cushion she was sitting on before. They all follow suit and she smiles, picking up her notes. She glances at her watch. "20 minutes left," she announces. They all stare, and he can feel the Tenth's nervousness dissipate in the stead of seriousness.

"I don't understand, Haru. I thought we fixed things in the future," he declares. This makes her eyes widen.

"Oh! You did. Definitely!" she assuages, holding her palms up as if to physically stop him from jumping to conclusions. She smiles at him somewhat adoringly, and this small parallel to the girl they know seems to comfort the Tenth.

"Actually," she says. "In the future that I come from things went a little bit differently. For instance, Tsuna san did not die." This shocks them.

"What?" he demands. "Then how…"

She nods seriously. "When you defeated Byakuran all of us received the memories of all the battles you underwent. We were a little shocked, because you see, while the Tsuna san in our world hadn't died, it had been in his plans to do so." She grins at them. "You could say we were the next world that Byakuran was going to take over. Consider us thankful; you saved us all that strife."

The Tenth is smiling, and Yamamoto laughs. "You're welcome, Haru."

"So then that wasn't you?" asks the Tenth. "I saw Haru from then years later. But that was her from a different parallel world?" The Haru in front of them nods. "Yes. I don't know much about her, but form your memories I could tell she was different from me."

"Like how you dress," says Yamamoto, and she grins again before tugging on the chain around her neck. Locked into it are two rings. His eyes grow wide and peripherally he sees the Tenth's do the same in horror.

"I don't−why?" he demands. "Why do you have those?"

She looks sorry. "Don't worry too much; Haru doesn't use them a lot. They're just for precaution." She smiles at him solemnly. "In my world I work with the scientist Verde. I am his connection to Vongola, if you must know. A such, I know a lot of things that people would pay quite a bit to be privy to, understand?" The Tenth looks more horrified than ever.

"Then you−you?"

She sighs loudly. "Honestly, Tsuna san. Don't even think that any of us will leave your side." She winks. "Besides, Vongola under you isn't a family full of crime. You've restored the Vongola as it used to be, with its roots in that vigilante group it began as."

He's sure now, that he will never look at her the same way again. If she was going to be like this when she grew up, loyal, cool, and obviously intelligent, then maybe he could stop seeing her as stupid. He breaks out of his train of thought when Yamamoto suddenly laughs.

"Gokudera looks like he really admires you, Haru," he snickers, and she tilts her head to stare at him with a surprised, but pleased expression. He can't stop himself, the instinct is still there, and he runs his mouth before he can bite his tongue.

"What the hell are you talking about baseball idiot, she's still the stupid woman," he bites out, and her delighted face falls. He sees the sadness come back like a shadow, and his stomach falls in tandem.

"G−Gokudera kun," the Tenth chastises, shooting her apologetic looks. But she shakes her head and shrugs it off. He wonders if he's still such an asshole in the future for her to swallow his rudeness like that.

"T−Then I still don't understand," the Tenth suddenly presses, breaking the awkward moment. "If the world is fine, then why are you so sad?"

Her head shoots up, as if his words ran up her veins in electric rivets. "Tsuna san?"

"Please tell us, maybe…maybe we can help," he says resolutely, and she smiles forlornly, but not before he catches her eyes flash in his direction. Immediately, he's suspicious.

"What?" he demands. "Did I do something to you?" She pales like the tenth did, but waves him off.

"Don't be silly," she assures him. "Haru is just sad because she broke up with her boyfriend. It's not a problem I should be discussing with boys, especially when you're so young," she finishes laughingly.

The Tenth's face flushes, and Yamamoto looks away, his ears a little red. He isn't deterred.

"What'd he do to you?" he demands, and she looks at him coolly.

"Haru was just tired of the way he treated her," she answers equally cold.

"Like how?" he presses, his scowl deepening. It was as if her hostility was suddenly directed at him. He felt the nagging suspicion again, that he might have been involved with her sadness.

Haru shrugs. "Haru though she could overlook his attitude because she loved him, but when she really thought about it better she decided that she wanted someone like Tsuna san again," she said condescendingly. "There was no point in continuing, especially when he was about to propose too."

They all fall silent, the Tenth blushing furiously, and the feeling that he's missing something surges. What it is dangles invisibly before him and he frowns.

Just then, the Tenth's mom calls him, asking him for help with the groceries. He jumps up, startled, and looks at the door and at Haru multiple times before Yamamoto stands up too and offers to help. "We'll be back soon," says the Tenth. "We still have five minutes, right?"

She nods and stands up. "But just in case," she says, and steps up to pull the boy into a hug. He blushes, but returns it. "Haru will be fine, because in my future Tsuna san is as good a friend then as he is now." She smiles as she pulls away and the Tenth grins before dashing down the stairs.

She smirks at the baseball idiot and smacks his shoulder playfully, surprising him. "Don't look at me like that, Takeshi kun. You're my favorite sparring partner. You help me out a lot too." He's blushing at the familiarity, but laughs and heads off before his face turns any redder.

They're alone, and it's the way she stands, stiff and nervous that suddenly makes him realize what it was that that was bothering him. She may have changed, but her feelings are still plain for him despite her efforts. He breathes in deeply, trying to process the thought of it. It's only the second realization, that it doesn't have to end the same way for him, that calms him down.

"So," he growls as she takes her seat again, attempting to sound level-headed. "It looks like you gave up on us in your future."

Her mouth falls open and she stares at him with open shock. It lasts for a few moments, with her sputtering and trying unsuccessfully to form words and denials, but in the end she stops, breathes deeply, exhales harshly, and then pins him with a resolutely irritated look. "Smartass," she grumbles.

He sneers. "What made you break it off?"

She returns his expression. "Deep down you never changed," she sneers back. "You still call me stupid woman, you lie to me all the time about your guardian duties, even though that information is available to Haru, and never want me to involve myself in anything that doesn't have to do with waiting for you. And then, when you do come back, all you do is get in the way of my work, call me names, and ignore me in your tantrums. Haru is tired of it! I will not take your shit anymore!" she declares, pointing an accusing finger at him.

He scoffs. "I guess there wasn't anything good about us, after all. Why were we together then? I can't see it."

She blinks and her hand lowers. "It's complicated. Haru fell in love with you because of many things."

"Oh?" He's curious.

"You do have good traits," she admits, although with the air that such things were not worth much. He glares, and this makes her lips quirk a little. "Haru's always admired your loyalty. And you can be very kind when you want to." She stops to think. "We started to get along because of things I can't bring up, but in the end we realized that we had more in common than we though." She shoots him a haughty look. "There were things that Haru taught you too, and you came begging for me to help you," she grins, and he laughs sarcastically.

"As if, woman. I would never grovel to you."

Her lips lift again, and he finds he likes this. With the earrings, her face looks more attractive, and coupled with the smile she's actually not bad to look at. Not that he'll tell her.

"I decided I liked you, and you decided you liked me. We tried dating, and we've never been apart since." Her eyes deadpan again, and he feels irritated by that. "I suppose maybe it just became routine to be together, in spite of everything."

They're silent, and he sees her checking her watch. "Two minutes," she says softly, and a sudden wave of panic hits him.

"Wait!" he demands. "Does he love you? He does, right? He was going to propose. I would never marry someone I didn't love."

She stares at him, eyes riddled with pain. "Yes, but−"

"But what? I bet you're just being stupid and twisting everything out of proportion."

She glares. "There's nothing stupid about feeling sad all the time."

He pounds his fists on the table and leans over, anger coursing through his body. "Then tell him stupid! If he's anything like me then he doesn't mean half the shit he says."

He's hit home, her face shows it.

"Like now, when I call you stupid I just say it because I'm too much of an ass to acknowledge that you're smart. I bet he does that, right?"

She nods reluctantly.

"And he intervenes with your work? If that were me I would be worried too. If I cared about you half as much as I do the Tenth then I'd want to know about everything you were doing. If he lies, or doesn't tell you stuff it's because he doesn't want to burden you. I don't tell the Tenth about things that will worry him. If−if he ignores you it's because he doesn't know how to approach you. So how about you stop moping and meet my stupid future self halfway, huh?" he shouts.

Her expression is that of blatant recognition, as if he's slapped sense into her, and it satisfies him. His future self will have a chance to fix things. He's still not sure how they got together in the first place, and he's definitely positive that it won't be happening in this world, but still, the guy deserves another shot.

She stands up suddenly and pulls him into a hug. The scent of vanilla floods his nose, and her hair tickles his cheeks since her face is pressed against his. She's only a little taller than he is.

"Thank you, Hayato," she says, pulling away, and he can only watch her dumbfounded and numbed by the charge of their contact and the magnetic lull of her eyes, suddenly shooting off that light that he's familiar with through the wetness pooling in them.

"S-stupid woman," he manages to stutter before she giggles, and then she's gone, smoke and a noise like a bomb reverberating through the room. The girl in front of him is smaller, confused, and hopping around like a headless chicken.

"Hahi! What happened? Was Haru abducted by aliens?"

His face colors and he throws his arms up, shouting. "Why the heck would they abduct you?" he demands.

She giggles and stares at him with a look that's clearly considering his intelligence. "I can't believe you said that, Gokudera san. There's definitely no such thing as aliens."

He feels a vein pop in his forehead. Things in common, yeah right. She laughs and he thinks that they're definitely not going to happen in this world.

There she is, his girl ten years into the future. He swallows hard, wondering if by some miracle they might have mended things between them. She might have the answers, unless she's from a different time stream. The possibilities are endless, so he clings to the scraps of hope he's been surviving on for the past few weeks.

The smoke clears slowly, and he sees her silhouette fall forward into Lambo's outstretched arms as the debris of it dissipates. It's almost like he's watching a movie, the way he feels so detached from what's going on in front of him.

The slip of a girl, really, did she get smaller, looks up. A confused hahi escapes her lips before her eyes widen exponentially and she shrieks, arms flailing, catching Lambo's face a few times in the process and knocking him to the ground. She wastes no time and pounces him, gripping him in a headlock so tight he's sure Lambo will never breathe the same way again.

"You're that pervert that Haru's seen running around!" she declares. "Haru's going to call the po-po…" she trails off, catching sight of him. Her clutch slackens and Lambo makes a desperate bid for freedom, scuttling away from her backwards into the room.

His breath is caught in his throat again. This isn't his girl from the future, but the one from the past. She's in her school uniform, hair pulled up in a ponytail, and gazing at him in disbelief.

Well hell, he's the one that can't believe what's going on.

"That's quite the grip, Haru nee," Lambo chokes out, getting back on his feet. "I'd forgotten how scary you were back then."

Her eyes flit back on the idiot, frowning and analyzing. It only takes a few seconds, and then she's gaping. "L-Lambo chan?" she gasps.

The cow grins at her. "We're in the future, Haru nee. In this time I generally go by Lambo sama."

That's quite enough. "You moron," he interjects irritably, before he can spout out any more nonsense. "No one calls you that. Now what the heck did you do? Why is Haru from the past here?"

Lambo glances at him in a bored sort of way. "I used a special bomb on her. It's all part of Vongola's plan. Don't worry; she'll be back in 30 minutes."

He feels himself falling deeper in incredulity. "Tenth came up with this? Are you freaking kidding me?"

The stupid cow's lips break into a sly grin. "He did. He said that he believes sending Haru nee to the past will remind her of why she fell in love with you in the first place." He shrugs. "I don't see how that could be, but he insisted…"

There's a flood of ice water cascading into his belly. This can't be happening. "You idiot cow!" he seethes. "We weren't together yet ten years ago!"

The stupid shit shrugs again. "Boss's orders. Can't do nothing but obey. Besides, the Haru nee from the past will be able to tell you exactly why you fail in the future, I think." With that said he sashays back to the door, tugs the girl into the room after a quick hug she doesn't return, and shuts the door behind him, but nor before reminding him that they have 27 minutes.

Whenever she thinks about the future a sort of foreboding and frightened feeling expands in her chest. It reminds her of their experiences with destroyed worlds, bloodshed, and loss. She knows that in the end Tsuna san and the others managed to set things right again, but the feeling doesn't go away when the word future pops up.

And now she's there again, having fast-forwarded ten years from her own time, having to face the fact that the pervert she sometimes sees is none other than Lambo chan. That somehow, her future self falls for Gokudera Hayato. Gokudera Hayato who is looking at her in a way she's not comfortable with at all.

His brow is scrunched up like usual, but not in the standard angry look. Instead, the man, and boy did he turn into a man her mind reels before she can stop the though from forming, looks apprehensive, as if he's a little afraid of her. She thinks that's a little much, she's the one that has to face that Tsuna san is not going to be her intended.

A minute passes, and they're still both silent. It's asif he were waiting for her to react. It's too bad for him she's stuck where she is, back supported by the wall, and with no intention of moving. Stupor is strong. Haru is strong; she has to be to get out of this unscathed by any of whatever it is that's happened between the her of this world and the Gokudera of it.

"Haru," he finally says, and she notes his voice is deeper.

And her name, he called her by her name! Oh, well in this time they're…familiar. She supposes it's only natural.

He takes a step towards her, and it is then that her muscles unfreeze.

"Wait!" she shouts, holding out the palms of her hands. "I−Haru needs some time to think about what you and Lambo chan were saying." She tries to sound composed, but the words come out all high-pitched and squeaky. She feels her cheeks burn red.

He stops moving like she asks, nods in acquiescence, and moves back to sit at the foot of the bed. The messy, unmade bed that she can't think about right now, because he's looking at her all weird again, as if he's concerned, and it's freaking her out, and making her blush a little more intensely.

It's all rather surreal, because Haru may be impulsive, but not stupid. She finds it too strange and unbelievable that she and Gokudera could have grown up to be together, not the way they get along. Unless…it hits her! She understands. Straightening her spine she marches towards him and claps her hands to her hips.

"Haru is in a parallel world!" she tells him vehemently. "Because there's no possible reason why I would be with someone as mean and rude as Gokudera san!"

She expects him to understand, to accept that she is not the girl from his past, but another version of her from another world. In this existence of his he must have been different, and that's why things ended up like they did. Her hands fall to her sides when he does nod, but his head shoulders fall forward, as does his head, as if she's beaten him into submission.

"You're right," he murmurs in that deep voice of his. "Not in your world and not in mine. You're right."

Her throat constricts, perhaps she said too much? "Are you sure you're Gokudera san?" she asks tentatively, her hand rising to touch his shoulder, but falling when his eyes glance up and she realizes that she went too far indeed.

Her gaze falls to her shoes, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I spoke to you as if you where the Gokudera san that I know. But you seem nice enough, so I'm sorry." She smiles widely, hoping he'll cheer up. "I bet the me from this world fell for you because you're…umm, great!"

"Not that you would know," he points out, a little smile dawning on the edge of his lips and her own turns wider, glad that he's pulled himself out from whatever chasm she'd hurled him into. He straightens up and looks at her in a way which tells her he's considering her against the woman that he knows.

"You're exactly like how she used to be," he tells her.

And she is.

With her bright eyes and expression unmarred by worry. He realizes that he hasn't seen her like this in a long time. He feels dread expand when it also hits him that this will all change for her soon.

"Haru is sorry," she apologizes again, her face falling, and he laughs.

"Don't worry about it," he assures her as she clasps her hands together and looks at him shyly.

"Haru just finds it strange that Gokudera san could like Haru, when we are always fighting," she explains. "Haru didn't mean to hurt your feelings…do Gokudera san and the future Haru still fight?"

He can't help but smile a bit. "Don't tell me that you don't enjoy our fights," he teases. "I remember you confessed to me once, that you used to look forward to them." He ignores the second half of what she asked.

She blushes. "Hahi! Gokudera san! Haru does not enjoy fighting. Haru is a lady."

Mirth bubbles in his belly and he throws back his head and laughs loudly. "I haven't heard that one in a while," he says when she glares at him, hands at her hips again.

"What's so funny?" she demands, and he chuckles.

"It's just that at one point you told everyone that being a lady was overrated. This was all while you went incognito as a man for an infiltration mission for…" he trails off at the wide expansion of her eyes. He's definitely said too much.

"H-Haru is part of Vongola?" she whispers, fervor alighting the brown of her irises. He nods reluctantly, but then remembers the failsafe built into the Bovino bombs. She won't remember anything when she goes back to her own time.

Her lips split into a smile. "Haru won't be useless in the future!" she exclaims. 'I'm so glad!"

His eyes narrow. "You're not useless, stupid woman," he chides, and her enthusiasm falls short. His stomach drops. This conversation has suddenly taken a too-familiar turn.

She composes herself and glares sternly at him. "Haru is not a stupid woman, Gokudera san. Please don't tell me you still call Haru that…even when you and her…"

She frowns more deeply and shakes her head vehemently when red covers his cheeks. "It seems I never got out of the habit," he confesses. "It's the reason Haru and I are…separated at the moment."

She makes a tutting noise. "Gokudera san needs to control his mouth," she tells him. "How else will Haru know you love her, when I know Gokudera san is a very closed-off person? It's part of your personality. Haru understands."

He stares at her incredulously. "Even then you knew me that well, huh? But what about her? If she knows that about me, then why can't she just get it?"

She hits him across the head, a slap to the temple that doesn't hurt him at all, but startles him. "What the heck was that for?" he demands.

"Don't be ridiculous, Gokudera san!" she exclaims. "Being together involves partnership. That means Gokudera san has to try harder. That means Haru has to try harder too. You have to be nicer, and she has to meet you halfway!"

He stares open-mouthed. "How the heck do you know all this?"

She grins. "Haru is a lady. All ladies should know these things."

He snorts, not able to help himself, but smiles at her. "I see." He takes her hand, and she blushes but doesn't take it back. "I am in your gratitude, Haru. I think I know what to do now."

She beams at him. "That's wonderful! Now Gokudera san won't be sad, right?"

"Hopefully," he murmurs, and then glances at his watch. "We have two minutes," he tells her. He stares at her face, and again that pang of dread engulfs him. "You know, we started getting closer right around this time. It was because something happened to you, and I decided to help you against my better judgment." She blinks.

"What was it that happened?"

"You won't remember, even if I told you," he says sadly, and she bites her lip. Her look of preoccupation dissipates, however, and she grins at him.

"But if Gokudera san will be there for Haru, then I'm sure I'll be alright." His mouth opens to say something, but before he can a loud explosion bangs in front of him, and she is gone, the warmth from her hand disappearing as she is hurled back into the past. A second later, however, it is replaced.

The hand is a little bigger, but just as warm. The cloud of purple smoke dwindles and their fingers lace. His Haru is standing before him, smiling in the way that the girl from ten years previously also smiled. It had been a long time since she had looked at him like that.

"Haru has decided to forgive you. What's more, I'll meet you halfway. Haru has realized, after all, that she is a stupid woman just as you are a stupid man. We need each other for balance, so that we are not stupid alone. If that makes any sense?"

He stares at her, bewildered, but then lets a smile form on his lips. He stands and pulls her towards him, engulfing her in his arms. "Not at all, but then again we are both stupid Mafiosi, logic is overrated."

She laughs and he buries his face in her neck, his eyes closing in the glint of steel her earrings reflect.

"I'm here for you, so everything will be fine," he tells her. Ten years in the past, Haru will soon be wearing the same bands in her ears, and his past self will be there for her just as she predicted, just as he always would be.

Thank you for reading!

3