Cloud Watching Days

Summary: Series of connecting slice-of-life one-shots concerning our favorite couple, Haru and Hibari! Their moments in time together. Hibari x Haru / 1886

My lack of KHR knowledge might make some things untrue or some characters OOC!

I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Please forgive any mistakes, both character-wise and grammatically-wise. I don't have time to re-read or edit things.

01. The New Normal

HappyFace1886

Haru looked up from her textbooks when she heard the sound of the door opening. There were only three other people who had the key to her apartment. Herself, her parents, and... the chair screeched as she immediately rushed to the front door. Her parents wouldn't be here this late in the hour. That just left-!

"Kyoya," she breathed out at the sight of the taller man standing at the entryway.

"Haru," he greeted, a small teasing smile playing at his lips despite the blood splattered all over his clothes and face. In the past when they were in highschool, Haru had shrieked at the sight of Hibari entering into her room through the window looking like this, but now in the midst of college, she'd grown too accustomed to it. Instead, her eyes quickly scanned for any injuries and to her relief, there were none.

"You're back," she murmured softly before scowling with one hand on her hip. "What kind of mission was it this time? Or was there someone you needed to bite dead along the way?"

"Nothing of that sort," he said nonchalantly, intentionally omitting the fact that he'd simply cleaned up the streets near her apartment where some dirty hooligans were milling about. It wouldn't do to find out that they'd harassed Haru later on while he wasn't around.

Haru sighed. "Fine. Have you eaten dinner?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, clean yourself up. I have an exam tomorrow so don't even think about causing a ruckus like last time." She warned with narrowed eyes, but just as she was about to turn to go back to her room, a hand caught her by the arm and jerked her backwards. She stumbled with a yelp and landed backwards with her back pressed firmly against Hibari's chest, his arms wrapping themselves around her arms and chest.

"How sad," he murmured softly into her neck, his teasing predatory smile growing. "I've been gone for almost a week. You would think you'd have missed me during that time."

Haru immediately seemed to melt into his arms, the familiar warmth and touch relaxing her tensed muscles after hours of studying and work. She sighed and turned around, wrapping her arms tightly around Hibari's chest while pressing her cheek against him. "Of course I missed you."

But at the same time, she understood. He was the Cloud Guardian for a reason. Always on the move, never attached or trapped to anything except under the vast sky he'd freely move about under. And that was fine with her. She didn't mind that he traveled so frequently and was rarely around to spend time with her. There would be no fun dates, movie nights, or dreamy romantic moments with each other. It was little hair-raising, anyways, to think of Hibari as someone who'd indulge in something romantic like that. That wasn't the man she fell in love with.

Haru had prepared her heart since the moment she'd officially gotten involved with Hibari her freshman year of high school. In a way, all those dangerous moments she'd been forced into had made the transition easier than expected. She was preoccupied with school and laying the ground works for her future anyway.

Still... that didn't mean she didn't miss this.

Her arms around him tightened and she simply savored the moment with her eyes closed, completely missing how Hibari's sharp eyes softened slightly.

Haru released a small gasp of surprise when she suddenly felt him hook his arm under her leg, easily picking her up in his arms. She stared at him, confused, while he continued walking deeper into her apartment. He kicked the door to her room opened and placed her down on the bed before turning around to take off his blood splattered coat. Haru stared as he continued removing the majority of his dirtied clothing before he returned to the bed, pulling her down with him as the two sunk into the mattress covered with Haru's ridiculously soft blanket.

"I can barely see you underneath that," Hibari remarked with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall while Haru furrowed herself deeper under the overly thick, plushy covers. It was three in the morning and she'd just finished back to back exams. She'd endure Hibari's rude remarks on her blanket all night. She did not need to hear him complain about it while she tried to obtain what meager rest she could!

"'in em ouds." Came her muffled reply.

"..."

Haru's head popped out slightly before she sleepily repeated herself. "It's like sleeping in a cloud."

Hibari snorted derisively. Women and their unusual needs. However, he paused at her next words.

"They remind me of you..."

"What class are you studying for now?" he murmured, his arms wrapped around her while she had her cheek placed against his firm chest. His fingers began to run up and down her bare arm, his gaze hooded as he listened to the soft thrum of her heartbeat.

"Just one of the advanced computer science classes Verde-san demanded I take," she grumbled slightly. The now half-grown Arcobaleno scientist agreed he'd take her under his wing, only if she was able to complete the demands he set. Meaning, he was the reason why she was undergoing the Spartan academic conquest and taking two times the amount of classes than her fellow peers. This wasn't even counting the occasional brutal tutoring by Verde himself.

"Are you prepared for the exam?"

"Of course," she said almost haughtily. If there was one thing she'd never let anyone insult her for, it was her intellect. She'd worked far too hard for people to walk all over her over that.

Hibari smirked.

"Have you met Tsuna-san and the others recently?"

There was a pause in the movement of his fingers. "No."

"Kyoya is lying," Haru teased, knowing he didn't like talking about his fellow Guardians, and nuzzled her face into his chest, feeling her eyelids getting heavy. It really had been too long since they'd last just quietly stayed in the bed like this. Whenever Hibari was out in his missions or patrols or whatnot, she'd always toss and turn for what felt like hours before she got any rest and in the morning, it didn't feel like she got any proper sleep at all. She could never sleep contently without him by her side. Haru then frowned. "You still smell like blood."

"Shall we take a bath then?"

"...don't you mean you?" she replied dryly.

"I have no problem with my scent." Hibari replied nonchalantly and then felt Haru prod him on the stomach. He held her closer in retaliation, smothering her with the smell and causing her to squawk in indignation.

"Kyoya!"

"Now you'll smell like blood as well."

"Kyoya!" she chided again before she sighed in exasperation. There was no changing with this man. Still, it made her smile that he was back. She closed her eyes and savored his warmth, the traces of his powerful yet familiar cloud flames brushing gently against her skin. Even while he relaxed, his flames seemed to emit off of his skin, and while others would flinch at the dominating sensation, it merely comforted Haru that he was here. Her lips moved softly, almost reverently, as she spoke quietly only for his ears to hear. "Welcome home..."

An amused, indulgent smirk grew on his face and he pressed his lips against her head, protectively holding her closer to him. "I'm home."

::owari::

AN: And so begins a new series! Granted, this will be very low, low priority. I'll probably write for this series if I get stuck with Ambigram and Genesis. No worries, I'm working on Ambigram as we speak! Hopefully that'll be updated soon. :)

The premise of this new series is basically a slice-of-life style of Hibari and Haru who get together, as stated above, somewhere around highschool. How it happens and the moments in their lives are explored in this series... but very slowly. Haha! I guess, in a way, this is to calm my nerves when I need to a break from writing stuff that requires heavy, tense scenes. Also, just to let you guys know, it won't be chronological order and no main plot. Just pieces of their life together.

Anywho, in this chapter, Haru is working hard to become someone useful for the Vongola while Hibari is floating along like the cloud he is. xD but he still has a home he occasionally, and most frequently, floats back to. I could imagine the two catching up like this in their own quiet way, teasing and prodding each other while content with just being with each other.

Hope they're not too OOC! :) Their current personalities are based on them maturing... hence the lack of energy and the usual crazy, haha. Hibari's personality is based on the more calmer and cooler TYL-Hibari. There isn't enough screen time for TYL-Haru for me to base on, so I just went with how near the end of the series, she's more stern with Tsuna and not blindly accepting things as she did in the beginning of the series.

AN 2: Literally copied word for word from my blog! There's more Cloud Watching Days on my blog for anyone interested! Got a bit of writer's block, so decided to make a post on ff to advertise! xD The link is in my profile page!