Title: Boy Over Flowers
Summary: White, black, grin, scowl, a marshmallow freak and a sarcastic genius. A single meeting between Hana and Byakuran triggers a launch of chaos: mafia, talking babies, dying will flames, sweets, and a not-so-clueless girl. AU-ish
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Chapter 1: Of Meetings
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A scowl found itself glued on one Kurokawa Hana's face. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for that orange bob of hair to come running out of the school gates.
Just an hour ago, one lovesick puppy who goes by the name of Gokudera Hayato ran by, demanding to know where 'Tenth' was. Hana was pretty sure he meant Sawada, though she had no idea what relationship there was between the title 'Tenth' and the name 'Sawada Tsunayoshi.' Then again, there wasn't much sense to the titles given to just about anything nowadays. Anyways, the idiot was running around Namimori, searching for Sawada. Her best friend, being Kyoko, immediately offered to help and Hana found herself dragged along in the search for the most infamous boy of Namimori Middle.
Ah, explanations.
Just about two years ago, Sawada, commonly known as Tsuna, and formerly known as Dame-Tsuna, was the most well known boy- though it wasn't in a positive way. His grades were in the toilet since day one, his athletic ability amounted to a big, fat '0', and he made a wonderful impression on his classmates the second he stepped into the classroom by tripping over air. By the end of the first day, the nickname 'Dame-Tsuna' was bestowed on the unfortunate boy.
Hana and the majority of the student population unsurprisingly fared better. Hana had a mature, slightly imposing aura around her even as a child which allowed her to live a life of peace and quiet, though it also drove many children away. She didn't really care though; she viewed them all as immature monkeys anyways. That was also one of the many reasons why her friendship with the school idol came as a surprise. Their odd friendship started years ago when they were back in elementary school.
Kyoko was a naturally cheerful child with a bright demeanor that attracted people all around her like ants to sweets. And Hana didn't use the term 'moths to a fire' because she knew most, if not all, the people attempting to come in close contact with Kyoko only came to her for their own purposes whether it'd be to use her to gain popularity or to satisfy their attraction. That was another factor that contributed to the building of their relationship. Neither of them cared about the use of one another as Kyoko was too oblivious to her popularity and Hana simply didn't give a damn.
Unlike popular belief, Hana wasn't the one who first approached Kyoko in an attempt to become friends. And Kyoko wasn't the one who approached Hana either, because back then, the bubbly girl was too occupied with her rambunctious bother. They met...through a project.
It was a simple drawing project: to draw something you're afraid of. It was an attempt to help the kids get over their fear or monsters and such. The project was supposed to help a child find another person who shared the same fear as them and then get over their fear together. Hana remembered expecting the 'Sasagawa girl' to say that she was afraid of bugs, monsters, or even boys, but Kyoko hadn't said anything of that sort. When Hana had asked what she was afraid of, she merely smiled and said, "I'm afraid of my brother leaving me alone."
Being afraid of bugs, monsters, boys, or the such wasn't something Hana could relate to. Loneliness was.
And so the two became friends.
But even though their relationship was strong, it unsurprisingly brought quite a few downsides. For one, Kyoko was kind. As in, genuinely kind to the point where she wouldn't mind trading places with Sawada if it would make Hana or her brother happy. That also meant that she was kind to nearly everyone she met, including strangers to nameless classmates to the infamous Dame-Tsuna. Being too kind also had its consequences, some of which that Hana had managed to prevent. Others, like the boys' developing crushes on Kyoko, Hana had no say in.
The most obvious of all of the boys was Sawada himself. Unfortunately for him, he was utterly hopeless at nearly everything he did and he was competing against nearly the whole school population for Kyoko's attention. That changed just a year ago when a baby appeared. Hana shuddered at the thought of that kid; she hated kids as they were, but she was most unsettled around the baby who called himself 'Reborn'. Anyways, after that baby started appearing around Sawada, he suddenly became friends with the delinquent transfer student, the baseball school idol, the school's boxing captain, and Kyoko herself. Hana also suspected that the feared Hibari Kyoya was a part of their group, but she was wise enough to keep her thoughts to herself.
Somehow, the odd combination of people miraculously became friends. And it wasn't the normal kind of 'friends', either.
For one, each of the people that was dubbed 'Sawada's group' sported injuries after periods of time. They also told obvious lies- why would they be participating in a sumo wrestling competition when one focused only on boxing, another preferred baseball, and the rest preferred a nice and easy life? Hana wasn't surprised when her classmates accepted these explanations without questions. Despite the fact that Namimori Middle had a good public image, its students were never considered bright. Hana vaguely remembered when a blonde baby came to stay at Kyoko's house, and how the older Sasagawa disappeared off at night, only to return injured the next day. She also thought it was oddly coincidental when the 'bodyguards' hired stationed at each corner of the school on the following days. However, that was all in the past.
Recently, though, Kyoko had been more involved with Sawada's group, more often seen with a girl from Midori Middle School. Hana wasn't really shocked when Kyoko offered to help in the search for Sawada without a second thought, but Kyoko's genuine worry for the boy threw her off for a moment.
An hour later, Hana found herself waiting by the school gates alone. She had refused to go searching, however she did promise to keep an eye out for the short brunette. Instead, she opted to wait for Kyoko who was searching for Sawada around the school. Hana personally thought that the school would be the first place Gokudera would search for Sawada and had voiced her thoughts, but Kyoko insisted that there was a (very small) possibility that the troublesome boy was still around. Hana doubted that.
"Hey, Kurokawa!"
Her head jerked up, face automatically composing. The boy who called her was strangely familiar. His hair was like a combination between Yamamoto's and Gokudera's hair: a pitch black, defying-gravity kind of hair. His eyes were rather small, and his eyebrows seemed to be permanently furrowed.
"Did you need something?" she inquired, staring coldly at the boy in the kendo uniform.
"Yeah," he replied without much hesitation as she expected, "Stop the stupid delinquent and baseball nut from coming around disrupting our practice."
She raised one of her eyebrows. "And how do you expect me to do that?"
He scowled again, making another distant memory flash through her head once more. "You're friends with Kyoko, and she's Dame-Tsuna's crush. If she told him to do something, he'd do it in a second, and that includes keeping his loyal dogs under a leash.
Despite his short and confusing explanation, Hana easily connected the dots. Most likely, Gokudera and Yamamoto had been going around the school asking for Tsuna, and bothering quite a lot of people in the process. And somehow, he'd thought that she'd be able to ask Kyoko, who'd ask Sawada, who'd ask his friends to keep at bay. Impossible.
She had been a witness of Sawada's futile attempts to find some peace in his life.
"..." Oh. Now she remembered. The boy was once Kyoko's short-term unofficial boyfriend from a year back. Mochida Kensuke, or more known as the-crazy-kendo-captain was in front of her, asking her for a favor when they had barely conversed for more than a minute in their lifetime. She felt herself stiffen, remembering his mistreatment of Kyoko, no matter how unintentional it may be. Coming back to the world, Hana quickly replied exactly what she thought, "Impossible."
Instead of an outburst or some kind of protest, Mochida merely scoffed and sighed in resignation. "Thought so. Shouldn't have even asked..." Then why did you?
He then turned and started to walk away without another word but suddenly stopped. "...I saw Kyoko somewhere with a few other girls around the gym."
"Hmm..." She paused for a moment, wondering why he even cared to mention that, before paling at the implications of his words. Her head whipped around before spotting back of the kendo captain. She stared at his distancing back for a moment before running towards the school's gym.
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The gym door was mercilessly slammed open. Hana stomped over to the girls surrounding her obvious friend ignoring the way they jolted fearfully. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be doing anything, but their ashamed, I-got-caught-with-the-cookie-jar faces hinted at what would've happened if she had not appeared.
"Ah, Hana! What are you doing here?" Kyoko asked, her trademark innocent smile appearing on her face.
Hana temporary ignored the ginger head in favor of staring down at the unwelcome students. Five other females dressed in the required uniform shuffled nervously under her scrunching glare. Her eyes narrowed a bit more, and finally, one of the groupies got the hint. She exchanged glances with the others before trying to inconspicuously motion towards the exit. She was obviously the leader since the other four immediately shuffled towards the door, not even offering another word in their haste to get away. Just as the last one was about to exit, Hana called out.
"Come around again and you'll be getting more than a punch to your precious faces."
The girl shrieked in fear before running out the door.
Kyoko blinked twice before she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner. "What's wrong, Hana?"
The girl in question slightly grimaced before waving her friend's concern off. "You should be more worried about yourself." Do you even know that you're the most popular- and therefore the object of envy- of the school?
"Eh?"
"That aside, did you find that troublesome monkey yet?"
Kyoko's face suddenly turned helpless, a gloomy aura surrounding her. Well, that answered her question. Sighing, Hana took Kyoko out of the silent gym and towards the exit of the school. She stated that Kyoko should go home before walking towards her own house, allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts.
Where in the world are you, Sawada?
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"Hana," a voice called. It wasn't loud by any means, but it echoed throughout the silent house. Hana finished the last bits of her homework before rising from her chair. Her room was plain with light mahogany walls, decorated by a single picture: a painting of the Namimori riverbed. It was an austere room where everything was perfectly in place. Though she liked peace and quiet, the 'feeling' of her house was a dull, quiet one that expressed neither sadness nor happiness. "Hana."
"I'm coming," she replied, heading down the wooden staircase. Her mother was cooking some kind of soup in the kitchen, barely even offering her daughter a smile. "Do you need anything?"
Though she usually wouldn't bother with formalities, she respected adults to an extent. That included her parents as well, even if they didn't get along well like a normal family would. Her mother was in her late thirties, a serious business woman who was an expert in her field of work. In fact, every person in their small family was a genius in their own rights. Both of her parents were high-ranking office workers, though they were mostly at work two-thirds of the time, considering one was a secretary and the other a translator. The family of six (which included her uncle from her father's side and his own family) interacted once in a while. Hana suspected that her cousin was coming over for a visit especially since his early graduation took place merely a week ago. What the woman said next only confirmed her assumptions.
"Your cousin is coming over for a visit," the woman replied evenly, eyes locked onto Hana's. It was one of the rule she taught the girl: always look at the person you're speaking in the eye. It'd be disrespectful if you didn't. "Would you mind picking him up from Namimori train station?"
"When will he be coming?" Hana asked. She didn't need to accept the 'request'; she knew it was an order. Though her annoyance was skillfully kept off her face, she couldn't help the venomous thoughts from surfacing her mind. Her cousin- a serene boy with black hair and hazel eyes- was twenty-one and was fully capable of taking care of himself.
"Today," her mother replied promptly before turning back to the cooking pot. "He'll be there in an hour."
Hana frowned at the short notice but threw on her school jacket, not bothering to change into another outfit, and walked out the door.
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The wind was picking up and the sky was mixture of orange, pink, and purple. It was past six and the sky was darkening as she strolled down the sidewalk. The train station was about two miles away from her house, so Hana was sure she'd be there when her cousin arrived.
Kurokawa Satoshi was a simple, every-day bookworm type of student. He inherited his father's hair and his mother's eyes, though it was usually covered by thick glasses since his eyesight was damaged from his late-night readings over the years. He was aiming to become a businessman and was heading towards his goal rather smoothly. He had apparently completed his studies in America a few months early, according to her mother. Though their relationship wasn't bad, they were anything but close. In fact, the whole family was like that: quiet, slightly cold, and distant.
Hana glanced up to find herself in front of Namimori train station. The airport was about an hour drive away, so Satoshi would've most likely taken a taxi. Hana wondered why she was even sent to pick him up when he could easily ride all the way home. Her displeasure must have shown since the other people at the station avoided coming near her. She briskly walked over to one of the entrance, waiting off to the side. Satoshi's train probably wasn't going to appear for about another twenty minutes, so she did what she did best: people-watching.
She was a naturally observant child. Though she wasn't exactly considered a female-Sherlock, Hana could notice more things that people around her age wouldn't take notice of (not that it was a huge accomplishment, considering the people around her.) It really came in help when she needed to find and refrain some of the more jealous girls from bullying Kyoko. She took notice of small things like how people reacted to one another, or how they acted when they were planning something.
However, she couldn't figure out everyone she came across; that was a given. Hana wouldn't admit it, but she couldn't understand her best friend as well as people thought she could.
Kyoko cared for close friends to faceless classmates and strangers. She was intelligent, but she seemed so naïve at times that even got Hana fooled repeatedly. She may be a bit obvious to the boys who have crushes on her, but she wasn't so stupid that she couldn't tell when another person hated her. One moment, the ginger was kind, and the next, she could be polite in a closed-off way.
Then there was Sawada. One day, he was looked down by even the worse of the worse students around him, and the next thing she knew, the most popular students were fighting for his attention.
People were complicated in their own way, Hana acknowledged, though that didn't do anything to stop her habit.
She was brought out of her musings when a familiar face came into her view.
"Hana." Her cousin's voice was slightly deeper than she remembered it to be, which had began to resemble her father's voice. Satoshi looked the same as always with his perfectly neat hair and glasses perched on his nose. The only noticeable difference that she spotted was his the new frame of his glasses. His clothes weren't wrinkled in the slightest, and he didn't offer a pat or any kind warm gesture- not that she expected him to. Neither of them were smiling as they greeted each other, keeping a respectful distance from one another as they turned towards the exit.
"Oh."
"What is it?" Hana asked, briefly looking at her cousin's neutral face.
"I forgot something; do you mind waiting for me?"
Her lips twitched down in displeasure before saying, "I'll be outside the entrance."
Satoshi nodded before turning and walking back towards the train. He must have been really tired to actually forget something. He rarely held anyone back, for he too had the impatience of the Kurokawas.
"Hmm. A Namimori student?"
Hana stiffened before spinning around to face...a boy. A odd-looking purple-eyed boy, but a boy nonetheless.
He had white hair that was a mixture between spikes and fluff. She would've thought that he had just woken up if it wasn't for the calculating gleam in his eyes and his tidy appearance. Hana openly observed him as he was doing the same, taking in the cheerful grin, slanted eyes, and white suitcase that had been trailing behind him. He was tall and looked to be a few year older than her, perhaps around sixteen or seventeen.
"I'm sixteen if you're wondering~" Hana looked up sharply, but he didn't react to her scowl. She doubted that she was really that easy to read. "Now, now, a girl like you shouldn't frown so much; you'll get wrinkles!"
"A boy with a pedophilic smile like you shouldn't be saying anything," she snapped, crossing her arms. It was a habit and most of the school knew that when she did that, she was annoyed. Unfortunately, the boy ignored her blatant dislike and stepped closer.
"Ow, my poor heart," he moaned in exaggerated fake-pain, clutching his shirt dramatically. If his tone didn't throw her off, his holier-than-thou smirk did.
Who are you trying to fool?
"Keep that up and you'll win the Oscar Award in a heartbeat," she muttered, sarcasm lacing her words. He responded by chuckling.
"Nice to know that you're confident in my abilities, Flower-chan."
Her eyebrows furrowed and she wondered if it was just a mere coincidence that he guessed her name so accurately. She contemplated asking him about that. Instead, she settled on, "Don't call me that." The boy smiled and was about to reply to her demand, though a scream stopped him before he could even start.
"Where are you, boy!?" A shrill voice yelled something in an unrecognizable language. The white-haired boy glanced behind him, but he made no move to leave. Though she didn't understand what the words meant, she suspected that the foreigner woman was calling for the stranger in front of her.
Instead of a farewell, he asked, "So, what's your name, Flower-chan?"
"It's common courtesy to introduce yourself first before asking for another's name," Hana replied without skipping a beat. She honestly had no interest in the weirdo in front of her, but she refused to give out her name so easily like an idiot, especially if the person asking had just ignored what she said a second ago.
To her surprise, the boy didn't back down or even get offended. He stared at her for a moment before shaking. She stared at him in bemusement as chuckles erupted from him. Soon enough, his chuckles became laughter. Hana was aware of the confused stares directed at the couple but her eyes didn't leave the crazy male in front of her. The woman who she suspected was formerly calling him came into view but was rudely ignored by the recovering boy.
"Well, Flower-chan," he began as soon as he could talk properly, though his amusement was still evident, "my name is Shiro Ran."
She bristled at his comment, half wondering if that was even his real name.
"It's Kurokawa Hana to you."
Hana decided, as Shiro turned to leave and smiled his closed-eye smile, that she didn't really like the look in his eyes at all- no matter how much it reminded her of her parents.
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End of Chapter 1: Of Meetings
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Italics: Emphasis, sometimes thoughts
Bolded: Another language, most likely Italian
Underline: Speaking through electronics
A/N: This story is going to start out pretty slow, so bear with me. Since Hana doesn't appear often, I'm characterizing the way I think she'd be like. I'll try to keep the characters as canon as possible (though that might be impossible, considering the way I'm planning the story...), though I'll make my own assumption for some parts (like Byakuran's age and original name [thank you, Google Translate.]) Anyways, I'd like criticism, advice, and just your thoughts. Fair warning: I don't really care about flames, but I dislike it when people spam me.
And thanks to Prideful for bearing with my writing and being my unofficial beta.
Now, here's a question to attempt to interact with my reader(s):
Do you think there was ever going to be a story featuring these two (Hana&Byakuran) as the main characters?