The first time she hears about Hibari Kyoya- hears, from another person's mouth, not just reading the kanji on her thigh with her fingertips tracing each stroke- is when she's ten. Elementary school will soon come to an end, and she's just as alone as when she first started attending from her spot by the window. Lunch time, and her thoughts are on how to make a nicer and better outfit for some of the school plays. At least, that's where her thoughts are until- "Have you heard about Nami Middle? Eeee, Hibari Kyoya is so scary!"

Haru freezes.

Across the room, gossiping in high voices, the small group of girls continues. "What happened, what happened? Doesn't he go to Namimori elementary?"

"Yeah, but it looks like he's going to go to Nami Middle next year, so he went there and beat up a bunch of upperclassmen!"

"What!?"

"Why?!"

"I don't know, but my friend's brother said that he said something about the school needing to be presentable when he got there!"

"Aaaaaah, I don't wanna go to Nami Middle!"

Over by the window, heart in her throat, Haru silently agrees. She doesn't want to go to Nami Middle either, but it's not because she's scared of getting beaten up. That's not what she's scared of at all.

There's still a couple of school years to pass by, which only means she has more time to prepare. Desperately, frantically, Haru researches all of the viable middle schools in the area. It's a relief that even the ones with high standards are ones she knows she can get into; her grades haven't faltered from being top class for years now. Soon, she settles on one in particular: Midori. Tough to get into, full of the best and brightest, and, the best part, it's an all girls school. A wide grin spreads across her face when she reads that particular bit of information. An all girls school means there's no way or reason for a guy like Hibari Kyoya to take a look into it, especially with what she's heard of him being consistently territorial. When the time comes, Haru gladly takes the test for Midori and passes it just like she knew she would. All the while, she keeps an ear out for just what her soulmate is up to as his reign of terror kicks off in full force.

From that point on, she hears Hibari's name again and again even when she's not looking for it. As she first surmised, besides a few choice areas such as brief visits to summer festivals and other things, Hibari sticks to his preferred territory and route. Honestly, it's almost a little interesting. With only what she hears, Hibari seems less like a person and more like a guardian beast heard about in fairy tales: demanding tribute and obedience, too horrifically powerful and scary for anyone to do anything about but fantastic to have on your side against outside parties. People even say his name in hushed terrified respect.

And then she realizes she's getting interested and smacks her cheeks so hard that she leaves marks.

No, no! This is exactly the kind of thing she told herself she wouldn't do! That's the promise she made to herself. Still, how dangerous. Clearly she needs to speed up her True Romance (tm) plan. To combat her interest in her soulmate's almost mythical status, then what's necessary is a fitting counter. If Hibari Kyoya is a horrifying beast straight out of folklore, the opposite would be a "Prince Charming": brave and dashing and selfless...





His name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, and Haru has decided he's exactly what she needs.

Okay, so, he's not completely a Prince Charming. Tsuna-kun is a little mousy and a little clumsy and also there's the thing about him going to be a mafia boss... But Haru won't let little details like that get in her way. Besides, he has a lot of good qualities, too! Haru has determined that his best qualities are his eyes, big and brown and warm, and he's always so concerned about everyone. Even people like Gokudera, who are foul mouthed jerks who smoke too much. (He smokes! He's only thirteen!) It's... nice, to have someone concerned about her. Who'd risk his life for her, even, despite having the opportunity to save himself.

Clearly he just needs a little polishing up. She can work with that! It'll give her plenty of time to become the perfect mafia wife.

And if in the meantime he's surrounded by an ever growing group of friends, or Yamamoto is always in his space with his fingers toying Tsuna's collar, or how Tsuna himself keeps glancing purposefully to Kyoko... Well. She always knew this would be tough. She doesn't let it get her down. It's fine! She's fine. One day, she'll win Tsuna over and prove that soul bonds aren't necessary. She'll escape the lonely curse of her mother's absence.

Besides, not everything is bad about it! Tsuna's friends are her friends.

...This, unfortunately, includes Gokudera, and Haru doesn't hide anything as she pouts at him from across the table of the McDonald's they're currently seated at. "I was hoping Tsuna-kun would arrive early too so that we could have some alone time as a couple..."

Cigarette clenched between his teeth, Gokudera bristles like a threatened cat and slams his hands down along the cheap plastic table. All around them, people jerk and look over at them, but he doesn't seem to care much. "Are you still going on about that!? As the Tenth's right hand, I won't accept some random girl like you as his soulmate!"

Times like this make Haru glad she hasn't told anyone about the lack of bond connecting her and Tsuna, although she has a feeling Reborn-san is well aware. He's very observant for a baby. For now, she just puffs herself up in the face of Gokudera's indignant accusation. "Like you can talk about worrying for Tsuna-un!" she snaps back. "Always smoking like that around him, you're going to give him cancer from secondhand smoke!"

A bullet couldn't pierce through him better. In half a second, Haru watches as Gokudera goes through almost all of the five stages of grief before he crashes straight into depression and sinks his face into his hands. Faintly, she can hear his mutterings filter between his fingers. "Would never.... Need it for the dynamite... Never forgive myself... Tenth I'm so sorry..." Leaving him to his misery, Haru giggles and thrusts her fists in the air victoriously. Gokudera is foul mouthed and has a fouler temper, but sometimes it's too easy to win over him. Maybe it's a little too mean, but, really, he falls right into traps sometimes. It's his own fault. If he ever learns to be a little nicer to a cute girl like herself-

The inside of her thigh burns.

At the same time, through the gaps of his fingers, Gokudera's eyes narrow and he straightens up with a growl. "Hibari."

Haru is already sitting, which is a good thing in a way. It means she doesn't collapse into her seat. What she does do is sink further into it, trying to hide even the tip of her hair. Suddenly, the world is cold as ice to her skin and she can only imagine how pale she's become. The only exception is the name on her thigh, humming with a warmth that goes straight down to her very bones. "Hibari?" she echoes, her voice strangled.

"Tch, that bastard is always causing trouble for the Tenth- I won't let him get away with what he did the first time we met!" Typical Gokudera, he's already half out of his seat, glaring outside the window. Haru hopes she's low enough not to be seen. He passes her a strange look, and she can almost see the interrogative question literally forming on the tip of his tongue. The good news is that something happens outside that earns his attention again. The bad news- "Is he coming in here for a fight? I'll show him-"

In a heartbeat, Haru is out of her seat, across the restaurant, and ducking into the restroom. For good measure, she even holes up in one of the stalls and backs up against the wall with her chest heaving. Nestled behind her ribs, Haru's heart is slamming itself against the bones. When her hands press over it, she swears she can feel it trying to leap out. "Hieee, what a close call," she squeaks to herself to the sound of small explosions and shattering furniture and screams. All of it makes her ears ache, and yet she feels a thousand kilometers away. It's not like she doesn't know the school Tsuna and the others go to. She's more than aware. Yet she'd thought that was the only connection her soulmate and her friends could possibly have. Not something that would make for a brawl! Maybe Tsuna was a bad choice....

Immediately, she shakes her head sharply. No! She's spent all this time with them, she's not going to lose the friends she's made and her chance at beating her own soul bond. All she has to do is be extra careful.

That means she literally counts out the seconds in her head when things finally quiet down and the name on her skin cools, giving it three minutes before she peeks her head out from the restroom. The McDonald's is a disaster. Tables have been upturned, all the other customers have fled the building, and the workers are peeking up from behind their counter. There's blood.

Most of it seems to be Gokudera's.

While Haru carefully picks her way through all the debris, he shoves his way out of the pile of plastic chairs swearing in Italian. She can tell it's swearing, because what else would he say with such angry venom? Eventually, he shifts back into Japanese mid-rant. "Bastard! I'll show him one day!"

"Is it going to always involve messes like this, Gokudera-kun?" she asks, looking around as McDonald's employees start to shuffle out now that the danger has passed. "Because I think you should probably do it far away from civilization if that's how it's going to be."

"Idiot, that's not my fault!"

"Hiiiee, don't call me an idiot! You're the one that was using dynamite in a tiny restaurant!"

"And you ran away at the first sound of his name! Some 'mafia wife' you are!"

Haru sniffs. "You can't expect everyone to carry around dynamite, Gokudera-kun," she says sulkily, hiding the truth. It's not exactly a lie, anyway... "Does he really hate you so much to come in here?"

A thoughtful look flickers across his face as he wipes the blood from his nose before it falls into a scoff. "That freak muttered something about tea, but who knows what goes on in his head. He'll pick a fight just because he can."

"Like you, Gokudera-kun?"

Before their argument can continue, there's a shout of surprise at the entrance that either of them could recognize in their sleep. It's Tsuna, along with Yamamoto and Kyoko, all of them staring at the level of damage that's been left by Hurricane Hibari. Haru and Gokudera eagerly swarm him, her giggling as she greets Kyoko and his loud apologies filling the air. Surrounded by the warmth of her friends and their laughter, Haru tries to put the incident mostly out of her mind. She's fine. It's fine. While a close call, she still managed to avoid her soulmate.

Now she just has to do that for the rest of her life, and she's golden.





There's a strange smell around Sawada and his lot.

It didn't used to be there, not at the start. Kyoya would know. His fighting style often means getting up close and personal with his opponents, exactly how he prefers. Nothing beats the sensation of his tonfa colliding with flesh or the look of fear in the eyes of someone who's realized just how much of a mistake they've made going against him. When he'd fought against Sawada Tsunayoshi, Gokudera Hayato, and Yamamoto Takeshi, they'd all smelled a certain way.

Gokudera Hayato - cigarette smoke, gunpowder, nitroglycerin, desperation and pride.

Yamamoto Takeshi - wood oil, earth and dust, sweat, nervous awareness.

Sawada Tsunayoshi - remnants of smells, lingering attachments that stick to him, grape candy and cigarettes and earth and steamed buns. Also cowardice. That was nothing new, although the sudden change from fear to regretful will had been. He'd be lying if he said it wasn't more than a little interesting.

Yet amidst all those scents, the soft and pleasant smell of tea had never been apparent. Now? Now there's always a half chance outside the school that he'll catch a whiff of it and following it always leads him straight back to Sawada or one of his associates. It's hard to say what about it attracts his attention initially. Perhaps it's the familiarity of it. After all, he knows the exact kind of tea is. It's the same kind as his parents make from the thriving garden that the servants take care of religiously. Camellia Japonica - beautiful but odorless, save for the leaves he'd watch his parents pick together on good days when there wasn't the smell of blood hanging around either of them and business had gone well. Steeped, the leaves had carried a heavenly aroma that filled the room they sat in together as he was walked through the perfect way to make the tea. It had made him feel special, adult when he'd still been young.

It's that exact same scent. Exactly.

Yet eventually, it's not only familiarity and curiosity that drives him. Whatever is responsible always seems to evade his grasp, his sight even, like the rustling of a rabbit that dives into its hole just before the fox can burst through the forest brush. He's not used to failure in any sense- not his grades, his family, his Disciplinary Committee, his fights. This is new. On some level, it should be more than a little annoying.

Instead, every time he catches a hint of that scent, a sharp feral grin curves along his face and he takes off in search of it, every bit the eager hunting hound.

"Nothing again, Chairman?" Tetsuya asks when he storms back to the Disciplinary Committee office, tea and snacks already set out on his desk. His initial response is merely a huff as he takes his seat, his body's almost endless stamina sated for the time being.

"I was obstructed by some pests forming a group," he answers more in depth, although still succinct, after he's had a sip from his tea. Tetsuya knows him. It doesn't need to be said that he got utterly distracted by a group of delinquents. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, considering his Committee's own habits. The true crime was, of course, that they weren't his delinquents and thus had to be disposed off by their better.

That and, of course, grouping in his presence. Unacceptable.

Tetsuya doesn't question it. He never does, which is one of his best qualities in Kyoya's opinion. Instead, he just nods. "I'm sure you'll track down the source of the scent eventually, Chairman." He ducks his head, smiling for some reason, but Kyoya doesn't bother to concern himself with it. There's food to not waste, and a nap coming soon after.

Still. Tetsuya is right.

He'll track down the owner of that scent eventually.