After all the trouble the Millefiore Famiglia had caused, and they had caused quite a bit of it between trying to kill the Vongola and succeeding in killing the Arcobaleno, it could almost be considered strange that they would become so friendly with the Vongola, yet that was exactly what had happened. Of course Tsuna was still wary of the smiley Millefiore leader Byakuran, but who wasn't, and his Guardians didn't trust any of the Funeral Wreaths, both fake and real, as far as any of them could throw them, and admittedly Ryohei could throw most of them really far, but there wasn't any fighting anymore. No more attempts at destruction. And of course the Arcobaleno were alive again, so all in all bygones were bygones and things were good. Which was probably why a Millefiore officer had even gotten into the Vongola compound in the first place.
That day started at the Millefiore base with the usual chaos; Genkishi was being weird, Rasiel was being a brat, Shoichi was buried under an avalanche of paperwork, and Byakuran was missing. Which was not even close to uncommon; Byakuran oftentimes hid away when it came to paperwork or doing any real work, much like a child who didn't want to do his chores. But normally candy or marshmallows or most sweet foods could coax him out of hiding.
Shoichi was trying to climb out from under the paperwork, grabbing a handy box of Band-Aids from nearby once out so he could treat his multiple paper cuts, ending up by the end looking a five year old who got into the bandages, covering his hands and most of his face with them. He looked around with a nervous frown, noticing an underling going by; it was one he knew well as she was Byakuran's own assistant, which basically meant she only really listened to him and often gave him the sugary treats Shoichi himself tried to keep away from him, a occasionally quiet and spacey but sweet girl by the name of Tsukiakari. She was carrying something in her arms, a large box wrapped up in wrapping paper that had little pineapples and marshmallows all over it with a big bow on top; she seemed to be in a hurry.
He got to his feet and walked over to her, "Tsuki? Have you seen Byakuran-sama today?"
She looked at him, blinking at him then smiled, "No, Shoichi-kun, I haven't."
"Oh okay…so where are you going with that?" he asked pointing at the box.
"The Vongola compound; it's a certain friend of Byakuran," Tsuki answered then bowed her head slightly, "I really should hurry along and get it there quickly; bye-bi Shoichi-kun."
Shoichi nodded and watched her go off for another moment before sighing, running a hand through his hair, deciding he needed to go search himself for the marshmallow-lover. And he was sure it wouldn't be easy.
Meanwhile Mukuro Rokudo found himself in Kyoya Hibari's room, hiding out there since he knew no one would look for him there. Plus his presence seemed to be annoying the "carnivore" who sat on the other end of the room, glaring at him while he sipped his tea. Mukuro simply smirked back at Kyoya, amused by the annoyance exhibited on his face. He didn't actually want to be there either to tell the truth though; he did enjoy messing with the ex-prefect but he would prefer to be in his own room or doing something more interesting. But unfortunately it was his birthday, a day he did not see as a good thing as it brought up memories of scientists and experiments he would much rather forget about; everyone else in the mansion though did seem to want to celebrate though or at least shove gifts onto him. Everyone except for Kyoya of course who couldn't care less and hence the Mist hid there with his "enemy" and tried to wait the day out.
He sat against the wall, entertaining himself by playing with a paddle-ball that he, of course, had created out of mid-air, the sound ringing through the room and causing Kyoya to flinch a bit with each thump. Thump. Thump. Thump-thump-thump.
Finally after a few more minutes of that, a teacup came flying at Mukuro's head which he deftly dodged, smirking again, "Kufufufu, is something wrong, Kyoya?"
The other male growled and reached for his tonfas before a knock came at his door; both looked over and Kyoya spoke, "Come in."
The door opened and a girl with a box came in, smiling a bit, "Hello."
"Aw you're the assistant of the Millefiore's leader, aren't you?" Mukuro said, looking at her, "What brings you here?"
He saw the box and frowned some more, having a sense of what it was. The girl Tsuki smiled some more, "I'm under orders to bring this to you, Mukuro-kun."
She set the box down beside him and gave a respectful bow; he looked from the box to her then sighed a bit, "Alright, thank you Tsuki-chan."
Tsuki nodded and left the room, leaving Mukuro, Kyoya and the box all alone together; there was a moment of quiet before Mukuro picked up the box. It was oddly heavier than it looked and he shook it a bit but heard nothing inside. He stopped for a second then looked at Kyoya, "What do you think is inside it?"
"I don't give a damn; Leave my room already or I will bite you to death," the other male said and turned away.
"Oya, oya, you don't like having me around?" Mukuro asked, pretending to be hurt though he kept smirking; he got up anyway though, "I'll leave then; my room should be devoid of the others by now. Bye-bye Kyoya."
He walked out and after some time of trying to avoid notice, he made it to his room, opening the door and slipping inside, closing the door. As he expected it was empty of Ken or Chikusa or anyone else who might be trying to find him to wish him a "happy" birthday. He set the present on the bed and stared for a second before starting to remove the paper, a bit bothered by the pineapples all over it. What he found was under it though was much weirder; of all things it was a jack-in-the-box. It had a crank on one side, and the other three sides were decorated: the front had the Vongola rings designs on it, the right side had the Mare rings, and the back had the Arcobaleno pacifiers drawn on it. The top had a pineapple, another pineapple and Mukuro twitched a bit. One part of him wanted to destroy the offending box, such a weird thing, and another part wanted to know why in the world he would be given such a childish thing. And a third part got control on his hand and started turning the crank; instead of the usual music it played something else "Ran, ran, ran, ran ran ran…" Of course, it just had to be Byakuran's weird little song; Mukuro sighed to himself but kept going. It was the final turn and it was at the climax of the song the top opened…
And something large and white came flying out, grabbing onto Mukuro and making him fall to the ground with a startled yelp. The thing of white grinned at him, though really it always grinned. Always.
"Happy birthday, Muku-chan~!" the thing said though it really wasn't much of a "thing". It was a person; a white haired person with a big smile, his eye closed.
"Byakuran," Mukuro said and looked at the box, "You were in a jack-in-the-box? Or should I call it a Byakuran-in-a-box?"
Byakuran opened his eyes, pleased by the sound of that but didn't let Mukuro go from what could best be considered a tackle-hug, "That's a wonderful way to put it. A Byakuran-in-a-box. A Byaku-in-a-box…hm, that sounds better, it's shorter."
He hugged Mukuro a bit tighter and Mukuro sighed, forced to sue his illusions to get free of this admittedly uncomfortable situation. Not unwelcome of course but just uncomfortable; he stood over Byakuran who was now hugging a large marshmallow, Mukuro's arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, "It would seem your Mist officers are getting better."
Byakuran sat up and bit into the marshmallow happily, "I ask Tsuki to get Naruki to help her and Genkishi with it."
Mukuro tried to imagine Tsuki working together with the Mist Fake Funeral Wreath and the ninja girl from the Varia: an odd image to say the least. It was then he noticed Byakuran wasn't wearing his usual White Spell uniform. Instead he was wearing a pure white version of what seemed to be…the Kokuyo uniform. Mukuro actually felt speechless for a moment, trying to understand why the strange albino would be wearing that and why he would do something like seemingly bleach the Kokuyo uniform like that.
Byakuran seemed to notice and grinned some more, getting up, "Like it? I did it myself."
"You….turned the uniform white," Mukuro said to him.
The Millefiore leader nodded, pleased with himself, "Yup, I wasn't sure I'd look good in it otherwise. I heard you really like school uniforms after all so I wanted to wear one for you. Do you like it?"
He stepped closer to Mukuro when he said the last part, the innocent sweetness of his grin turning into something different; his light purple eyes stared into Mukuro's mismatched eyes and Mukuro looked back in return before smirking once more, "Kufufufu, perhaps…"
Byakuran chuckled a bit, seemingly as amused, and gave the Mist Guardian a peck on the lips; before it could be anything more the door was forced open and Tsuna fell in, Gokudera right on top of him and Yamamoto standing behind them.
"Ow, ow, ow, s-s-orry, we-" Tsuna stopped and looked up to see Mukuro and Byakuran standing there, close enough to kiss. The Vongola boss went multiple shades of red and Gokudera got up, rubbing his head a bit, "Juudaime?'
"Hih! We're sorry!" Tsuna yelled and ran out, confusing Gokudera quite a bit and causing him run after him, "Juudaime! What's wrong? Was it something I did?"
Yamamoto smiled, "Sorry about this, bye Mukuro, Byakuran."
He followed after his friends, laughing a bit at the "game" of chase he was now involved in. Another moment of silence then Byakuran spoke, "Aw Tsuna looked so cute embarrassed like that."
Mukuro looked at him with a small frown before kissing the albino passionately on the lips, "Kufufu, don't call the Vongola cute."
"Or what?" Byakuran questioned only to get kissed again. Not that he minded; he returned it happily enough and the door closed again, leaving them to their privacy.
Back at the Millefiore base…
"When will he be back?" Naruki asked, bored with sitting around in Byakuran's office with Genkishi.
Tsuki walked in and Genkishi nearly jumped, going over to her, "Where is he?"
"With Mukuro-kun I suspect," Tsuki said with a smile.
"So it went well?" Naruki asked throwing a kunai in the air and catching it.
Tsuki nodded and Genkishi huffed, a bit annoyed, "I don't see what Byakuran-sama sees in that man…"
"He's cuter than you and a better illusionist than you and he's not a moron like you; should I go on?" Naruki said with a grin, earning a glare from the swordsman illusionist.
Tsuki chuckled and sat down, hands on her lap, "I think it's sweet. Anyway all we can do is wait now until he gets back; it should be another few hours, if we go by last time."
Naruki chuckled, dodging Genkishi's attacks, "They really are a cute couple."
Vene: Yay! The fanfiction, it is complete! ^w^
Nihon: This is dedicated to two people on Deviantart Vene has befriended.
Vene*nods* Panda likes ByakuxMuku now ^w^ It's cute.