A very late Christmas fic for my recipient, Nakamura Misheru from . I'm so sorry for the appalling lateness. Life caught up with me and whacked me over the head and it was hard to make time to finish it. I also apologise that I couldn't hit the word count target and I hope that the characters are- you know, in character- because I haven't watched Katekyo in a while and a good chunk has been erased from my memory. I still hope you enjoy it, though! Belated Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Christmas Eve could be spent in a better way, Mukuro thought coolly as he stood under the light of one lone streetlamp and idly watched the snowflakes fall from the sky. Around him, it was pitch black, like the moon couldn't be bothered to switch on that night and there was total silence. It was peaceful, it was pleasing, it was acceptable, but it was also not- because he had not left Tsunayoshi's house just to wait in the cold like a forsaken, weak girl or something or other. No, he certainly hadn't- and he could already feel strongly- somewhat foreignly- his ire, irritation and anger rising as another second of his life ticked by infinitely slowly without Byakuran appearing.
He squashed some snow underfoot just because he was feeling vindictive and his mouth ticked up into a displeased sneer on its own accord. That bastard. That monumental bastard. When he arrives, I'm going to show him what happens to the people who displease me, he thought unhappily.
He watched the snow a bit more, for a second or two, before he decided to check up on the party he had left, via his mind link with dear Chrome. The instant that decision was made, his powers activated and he felt suddenly weightless, like a ghost. The next, he was leaving his body and being spirited away to where Chrome was. It barely took a second to adjust to the out-of-body experience but by the second lazy blink, he was already in a cheerful, warm, homey house. He was leaning against the doorframe, in the manner he had been leaning against the street lamp a moment ago, and at his left side was a beaming Chrome- who, of course, already felt his presence at the start and barely batted a lash at the feel of him making a tangible link with her body. Instead, she squealed- mentally- and spirit Chrome leaned towards Mukuro with a ready hug.
Unlike how he would have reacted a year ago, when he was unused to such shows of affection and the only people who had ever come close to hugging him were doing it under the premise of asphyxiation, he allowed it and it warmed him up a bit- even though he knew he was technically a spirit at the moment and wouldn't be able to register any bodily sensations. He even hugged her back- just because it was near Christmas and, alright, the air of festivity at Sky's house was getting to him.
However, when Chrome drew back, she registered something in Mukuro's gaze that he himself didn't know he was displaying and her expression became one of concern.
"Mukuro-sama?" She said, and she started forward a jot before she remembered herself and stilled, hand partially outstretched, gaze questioning," Are you alright?"
He scoffed dismissively. "Of course," he said imperiously- and, really he was; Chrome should not have the business of having that look of politely averted incredulity. Yes, he knew he was outside when his Family was indoors; that he was alone when everyone else was together. It most decidedly did NOT transmit that he was feeling jealous of Chrome as he witnessed the interactions she was having at the moment with their mutual friends- her body was still moving even though he and her consciousness were now sharing the same head space- No, he was not.
Of course, there was still the sour thought in his head that kept saying that they could also have been interactions he could also be having if he hadn't been drawn out by Byakuran being difficult and demanding his presence outside. But he blocked that out as well.
He swept his multi-hued gaze over the colorful assembly just to have something to do- he was not avoiding Chrome's eyes.
After years without a decent Christmas, at the care of the ever sadistic Estraneo Family and then those long years in prison where he couldn't even think of the holiday, it was unfamiliar to him the hype over one day of the year. So what if it was the 25th of December? There was also the 25th of March or April or September, and also another 364 days of the year besides that one day. He didn't understand it, really, why Tsunayoshi got so much more excitable during the day before it, and Hayato even stopped reacting to his milder insults in the spirit of this Christmas. It was bothersome also, the way the house of Nana had changed drastically as the day approached. A Christmas tree erected; flashy baubles hung on its branches; gaudy tinsel gleefully thrown on the roof outside- courtesy of the crybaby-cow; and socks, for crying out loud, perplexingly pinned on the walls.
How... Showy, odd, distasteful. His mortal enemy, Hibari, had even taken the liberty of putting a tiny Santa hat on his bird- though it was reassuring that he never donned on one himself.
He- they all, actually- Chrome, Hibari, Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto, Ken, Chikusa, Reborn, Gokudera, Sasagawa, Lambo- were in the living room.
Sasagawa was ribbing Hibari on, being his loud self as always and shouting about being, 'Extreme,'
Yamamoto, likewise, was bothering Gokudera and having fun with it, it looked.
Reborn and Lambo were fighting again with Tsunayoshi trying to act as their mediator.
Ken and Chikusa were having a normal-looking conversation (even though it was more like Chikusa talking and Ken grunting at whatever he said in agreement or disagreement), perfectly at ease with the racket around them, a bubble of sanity in a sea of insanity.
And Chrome had been in the midst of standing up to leave the room to get a drink when Mukuro had dropped in.
Scratchy, grating, repetitive, boring Christmas music blared out of the TV and finger foods littered the table everywhere and everyone was wearing at least one Christmassy-looking article- be it repulsive Christmas sweaters, appalling Christmas socks, or imbecilic Christmas hats.
It was tedious on the eyes, it gave him a headache the size of Kokuyo Land, it grated his ears horrifically-
And yet, it made him melt (very, very) slightly- especially at the sight of his two minions wearing clip-on Santa hats in their hair as they chatted on.
He cursed Byakuran all the more for being disgustingly irresponsible and being untimely.
"Oh," an enlightened voice suddenly cut into his ill thoughts and he looked to the side where he realized that Chrome had been watching him watching them. There was a new knowledgable spark in her similarly-colored eyes.
"Byakuran's not arrived yet?" She asked.
"No," Mukuro just said coldly. "He has not."
She hummed. Then, carefully, she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry," she said earnestly," He'll come. After all, he likes you."
Mukuro turned away at the dreaded 'L' word.
"Tch."
Chrome continued, ignoring the warning," Besides, we'll still be here however long it takes for him to arrive. Boss'll welcome you any time."
"Hmm..."
When Mukuro's tight-lipped silence and Chrome's earnestness became too heavy, he decided that he would be going then- maybe wait a few more seconds before he made his way back to Tsunayoshi's. He could feel frostbite biting at his real toes at the moment, and he admitted that it hadn't been wise of him to leave his body at such a vulnerable place.
He leaned forward to give Chrome a reluctant parting hug - Christmas getting to him again- and was slightly glad that she let the matter go unresolved- Because, yes, he knew that Tsunayoshi would always, always be willing to give him a home, and that Byakuran had been acting strange around him- stranger even for him- ever since coming back from the future, but he wasn't ready to face such sentimental things yet and he was content at the moment to ignore the world selfishly.
He smirked playfully at Chrome, more genuinely than he had before but still harboring the warning that the subject was closed, before he was gone from the warm room and he felt cold air biting at his closed eyelids and freezing his lips.
He opened his eyes and expelled a puff of unimpressed air that condensed quickly in front of him when he realized that he wasn't alone and that light purple eyes, bright and cheery in the darkness were eyeing him.
Mukuro pushed off from the lamp pole with a scoff and took on a formidable pose, arms crossed, brow ticked in offense, eyes narrowed so they looked like slits of solid blue and red.
Byakuran, facing him, sauntered into view, light illuminating his playful smirk- he'd ignore that it was slightly apologetic as well. His white hair glinted silver.
"Byakuran," he greeted disdainfully," Do you think I enjoy waiting?"
To his annoyance, Byakuran only shrugged and hummed.
"Sorry Mukuro," he apologized lightly," I was held up with my team. I tried my best to get here on time, though."
"But your best wasn't enough," Mukuro drawled.
The sentence rang with a world of meaning, an echo of what he said those times he defeated Byakuran when they had been in battle so long ago. It spoke of the past hostility between them, of Mukuro's cruelty in the past and Byakuran's indifference. It spoke of the- whatever that was between the two of them right now, after everything had cooled and been resolved and the promise of maybe something else in the future. It was a rather intense emotion, and Mukuro guessed that maybe Christmas was special because it was a time of fragile beginnings.
Still, in true Mukuro fashion, he scoffed after the sentence and turned on his heel. Snow crunched noisily in the expectant silence- and Byakuran looked abruptly dumbfounded as Mukuro turned away.
"Hey, wait!" He exclaimed- Mukuro heard his voice in his ear and he just continued walking away. He was nothing to him; turning away now would be nothing he'd regret in the future- he tried to convince himself.
A hand, annoyingly, caught his arm and he snarled at the unexpected contact.
"Let go of me," he said coolly, composed, like a king cobra about to strike, fangs exposed threateningly. His red eye flashed and started to shift.
"Byakuran-!"
But he lost his composure as he turned around and saw that Byakuran was looking the most pleading a man his type could ever look. It was surreal how the man, who hid behind the playfulness and levity a heart of cold ice and apathy, could look so beseeching. It was in his tight-lipped mouth and suddenly strained eyes.
"Wait," Byakuran said. And-
He did.
He stilled in his departure and bit back the numerous curses and threats to his person if Byakuran dared to ever touch him again- that was reserved for Family and Family only.
Snow continued falling and the light kept on shining and Mukuro was silently fuming while Byakuran hummed and hawwed with something he was shuffling behind his back.
Just as he was about to snap, call it quits for the night, return to Tsunayoshi's infinitely warmer house and leave this (disappointment) waste of his time behind, a wristlet was suddenly shoved under his nose and Mukuro's nose wrinkled in distaste at the chunky black band with metallic spikes around the circumference so close to his face.
He grabbed Byakuran's hand- it was cold too- and was in the midst of pushing it away even as his lip curled in derision to say," And the purpose of this little trinket is-?"
Byakuran, whose face had started closing off as Mukuro none-too-gently shoved the token away, bit out- and the words made Mukuro pause and regard the trinket in a new light.
"It's for you," he explained, voice starting to grow as cold and apathetic as the ice that was falling," I got it for you."
"Oh."
It was a simple thing- metallic spikes on the outside alternating with red, blue, red blue then repeat. It looked hard and dangerous but, when Mukuro slipped his hand through the bracelet, he found that it was snug and comfortable and warm. It fit him like a glove.
He carefully met Byakuran's shuttered eyes and said," Why?"
Byakuran shrugged. "It's Christmas," he explained shortly," I wanted to get you something. I got it just now." (The "That's why I was late," hung unspoken in the air.)
Mukuro stared. He 'Tch'ed. Then he decided that the ridiculousness of Christmas was pardonable just for that one instance of Byakuran slowly giving him a hopeful smile behind that icy exterior.
He extended his hand, shook it out, and watched the light from the lamp glint off the spikes appreciatively so that they looked beautiful and dangerous.
"It's... Acceptable."
Byakuran, the idiot that he was, whooped and took it as his queue to dart forward to hook an arm around his waist. He smirked impishly and said," Let's go, baby."
He just barely dodged the materialized trident that Mukuro almost speared him with. Red and blue eyes flared in disdain. "Don't push it."
Unfortunately, like the insane psycho he was- they both were- Byakuran only laughed at the murderous action.
"Do you want to go to Tsunayoshi's place?" Mukuro asked as they started walking away.
Byakuran shrugged, then entwined their hands together- Mukuro grudgingly allowed it- for the same reason Chrome had been able to hug him; it was Christmas. "I'm fine with anything," he said lazily.
Mukuro thought of the company at home, the comfort even his minions were exhibiting. He imagined Byakuran sitting beside him on a seat, maybe beside Ken and Chikusa and Chrome. He admitted that it looked good in his thoughts.