title: the first impressions
characters: Irie Shouichi, Byakuran, mentions of Tsuna
rating: K+
summary: This is definitely not the best first impression Shouichi has of Byakuran of his time. During the Arcobaleno Representative Arc. 10051.
notes: This was supposed to be a casual oneshot within 1,000 - 2,000 words. Somehow it ended up almost 3,000 words. I ramble a lot.
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The first time they meet in this world is not the most pleasant one.
For Irie Shouichi, at least, it is not.
There's, after all, nothing pleasant about getting woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of your window sliding open, followed by a clattering sound of someone hopping into the room, at which point you're already desperately trying to reach for your glasses and calm your galloping heart and wondering what the hell you have ever done to deserve this.
Then you sort of think about karma and think that it might be out to get every Irie Shouichi in existence for fucking up all worlds in existence.
That, at least, is how the 15-year-old Irie Shouichi reacts to the eerie sounds in his room, nearly stumbling from his futon as he frantically pushes glasses up his nose a bit too hard against the top of the ridge of his nose.
Then he reaches blindly for the switch to turn on the lights because it's pitch dark and he can only make out a vague outline of something (someone) moving inside the room, which only enhances his efforts to reach the switch.
It's not his hand that reaches the switch first, though.
As the lights flicker on, Shouichi blinks and tries to adjust his eyes to the sudden change from almost pitch black to sudden brightness. His heart goes pitter-patter in his chest, too, anxiety filling him as he turns his head slowly to where the other light switch in the room is located – next to the window.
And there...
"Shou-chan~!"
There stands Byakuran, the man who he has seen in that dream that is not quite a dream and also coincidentally the man whose future self has tried to take over and destroy the world.
So, it's only natural that Shouichi would scream.
Which he almost does – almost, because Byakuran floats through the air with the swiftness and grace of an angel. That metaphor has never quite suited him, however, and the red-haired teen grimaces both at the simile and the hand that now covers his mouth.
"Now, now, we don't want to wake your parents up, do we~?" Byakuran's voice chirps all too cheerfully for a person that has just broken into someone's house.
Then again, Shouichi shouldn't be surprised – this is Byakuran, after all, the man who seems to be incapable of feeling shame or regret for his actions.
Shouichi would say something, but there's a hand covering his mouth, so he merely settles for a disgruntled, tired glare that is perhaps a tad fearful. Hell, you'd be scared too if Hitler appeared in front of you, right? Even if it'd be Hitler's innocent younger self, you'd still instinctively flinch away because you know him at his worst.
And Shouichi knows Byakuran at his worst – he remembers every feeble heartbeat in his chest during Choice, during his futile attempt at beating Byakuran in that game.
He nearly shrinks against his futon when Byakuran's purple eyes leer at him, something close to priceless entertainment flickering in the warm hues.
Shouichi inches back; Byakuran follows.
"This is the first time seeing you in real life, Shou-chan~," Byakuran announces cheerfully as his eyelids slide closed and lips curl into a pleasant smile as his fingers press on Shouichi's cheeks.
More irritated than fearful, Shouichi swats the hand away from his face, hissing, "What are you even doing here, Byakuran-san? I heard the Vongola were-"
"-keeping me locked, yes~," Byakuran finishes his sentence for him as he flops down onto the futon next to the would-be and will-be engineer. Byakuran tilts his head as he brings the hand that had formerly covered Shouichi's face closer, purple eyes opening to peer at it in curiosity Shouichi couldn't – wouldn't – understand.
Shouichi's stomach complains by churning loudly, and he clutches at it tightly as he eyes Byakuran warily, fearfully. It's the guy whose 25-or-something-year-old self had done so much bad for the world. Of course he wouldn't feel not worried by it – not to mention that the same guy has broken into Shouichi's room, doubling his worries effectively.
And now this... 15-or-16-year-old is sitting next to him, purple eyes bright under the fluorescent light of the redhead's room, those eyes staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. Anything.
Shouichi opens his mouth before closing it, an unintelligible whine wheezing out from his throat. There's not much one can say when their slightly psychopathic would-be friend/enemy just pops out of nowhere and hops into their room.
"I escaped, you see," Byakuran elaborates when it becomes clear that Shouichi won't take the initiative in this conversation.
"And you came to J-japan because...?" Shouichi questions, sucking on his lower lip warily as he stares at the face that is nostalgic and unfamiliar at the same time. Younger than the one that haunts his nightmares.
Oh, his stomach is starting to hurt because this finally proves that nothing has been a dream – though his talks with Spanner have already proven that – and he forces himself to look away from Byakuran. Thoughts of what he should do bombard his mind, intricate plans on how to make Byakuran go away dance behinds his open eyelids.
Byakuran's hand reaches out for Shouichi again, but this time Shouichi's reflexes work and he manages to backpadela to the edge of his futon, barely out of Byakuran's reach.
Byakuran frowns, hand hanging in the empty space between them for a moment before he reluctantly pulls it back.
"Shou-chan." The names comes out so easily, without even an ounce of awkwardness, that it makes Shouichi wonder if this is just another dream.. "Won't you-" Byakuran's lips halt as purple eyes slide down. The movement reveals a weakness Shouichi knows his own future self has never seen before, and he takes a stupefied moment to marvel this.
Hesitance has never been one of Byakuran's vices, and to see it on the face of the to-be dictator of all the parallel worlds is just plain strange.
"Won't I what?" Shouichi asks as he rediscovers his courage to talk. He knows that this Byakuran has been under Vongola's surveillance, and that Tsuna-kun and others would know if something is wrong, but then again, he is yet to see Tsuna-kun in this era.
Byakuran nearly sighs, a disappointed pout on his lips as he stays still on Shouichi's futon. "Never mind, never mind~!" A cheerful expression replaces the near solemn one on his face, and suddenly he breaks the unwritten law of personal space again.
"Isn't it funny how we already know each other even though we never met in this lifetime?"
Even if Byakuran says it so jokingly, there seems to be something serious hidden underneath that voice, that tone, and Shouichi doesn't know how to react.
His heart is drumming too hard in his chest, his breathing uneven. He doesn't know how to deal with this like his future self probably would. Should he call the police? That'd be the most logical thing to do when someone breaks into your house, after all.
"Byakuran-san..." he murmurs before flushing, warmth climbing up his cheekbones and something nasty recoiling and coiling within him. Byakuran is there, with him. "Why are you here?" he asks hoarsely and frowns at Byakuran, confused and afraid, stomach already in pain.
Logically, he knows this Byakuran has done nothing awful to the world, nothing more than any other mafia boss has done – bloodshed follows them, always, and they are just as much the cause as the means – but telling that to his fragile heart and oversensitive stomach is easier said than done.
He knows that this Byakuran hasn't done anything – but the possibilities are there, and he can see that from the lines of Byakuran's face, from the curvy, mischievous smile that is not entirely honest.
"Why?" Byakuran blinks. "Isn't it natural that I'd come meet my best friend of this time~?"
"We're not-" Shouichi starts to deny heatedly, but Byakuran presses a finger over his lips before he can finish his sentence.
"Shou-chan, we're best buds, nee~?"
"What are-"
"It's not like Shou-chan is petty enough to blame me for what my future self did, riiiiight~?"
Suddenly it feels like he is being blackmailed into friendship that he's not sure he wants. Then again, if he's correct, that's precisely what happened with their future selves, too.
Shouichi frowns again, even though he feels like he might throw up the contents of his stomach soon, he's just that nauseous right now.
"You have something planned," he accuses, eyebrows further knitting together on his face. "Byakuran-san." The name fits his lips unnaturally well, and it's disconcertingly easy to call Byakuran that, as if they have been friends forever.
"Well," Byakuran tuts, "that is for me to know and you to find out?"
"My future self always did hate it when you were like this."
"You mean when my future self acted like this." Byakuran grins; Shouichi sighs. It's three am, and he can't deal with this right now. He can't deal with futures that do not exist anymore – he can't deal with this person that should be locked up – he can't deal with the feelings that claw at his heart.
What feelings?
Byakuran snickers some more.
It's always like this – Byakuran laughing at Shouichi's expense. At least, in that dream, it had been like that, and that thought makes Shouichi's lips curl down even more before he flings a pillow at Byakuran's face because he can't stand seeing that laughing face.
"Stop laughing at me!" he demands, voice cracking at the end because of puberty, at which Byakuran laughs more, this time his voice muffled by the pillow that has hit him on the face.
The pillow slides down as quickly as it had hit Byakuran, and those oddly warm eyes are looking at him again, very smiley-like.
Shouichi suppresses the urge to scream, and instead glares at Byakuran, who merely stares back at him with all the amusement in the world.
"But Shou-chan is all cute with that ridiculous bedhair of his and the way he's glaring at me so sleepily!" This time, Byakuran reaches out again, quickly enough to not give Shouichi any time to react, and his fingers squeeze Shouichi's cheeks. "Your baby cheeks are different from what I remember, though!"
"Baby cheeks?" Shouichi repeats dully, his voice distorted as Byakuran's fingers hold his cheeks firmly. He winces, and this time he makes an effort to slap Byakuran's fingers away from his face. Cold fingers – but of course, Byakuran has just come in after floating about in the cold of the night.
"Baby cheeks," Byakuran confirms and pouts when his fingers are swatted away so violently. "Ah, don't shy away, Shou-chan! I wasn't going to do anything weird, you know~."
The way you say that makes me suspect you even more, you know, Shouichi thinks nervously as he wraps his arms around his churning stomach. Ah, why did this have to happen now? Why couldn't Byakuran give him at least a few days to prepare for his arrival or something?
"Aaa..." Shouichi groans as his posture sinks like a Titanic that just met the iceburg and had a rocky affair with the blocks of ice. "Can't you tell me why you came here?"
"Well," Byakuran tilts his head, "it's not much of a secret, so I guess it's all right~."
And with that, Byakuran tells him all about the Arcobaleno representative battles, tells him all about how Uni has chosen him as her representative along with his Wreaths and Gamma and few others – Shouichi listens to all of this attentively, though a few yawns escape his mouth here and there.
Three am is not the most suitable time to deal with new information about upcoming challenges, it really isn't. It's like he has been woken up by his physics teacher to be informed about how they have a pop quiz the next day – and as much as Shouichi would usually look forward to those, getting pumped up or stressed out at three in the morning simply isn't possible.
"I see," Shouichi says after he has digested the information Byakuran so graciously allowed him to know. Now a little more awake, Shouichi looks up at Byakuran, stomachache forgotten.
"So, Uni-san is-"
"Alive," Byakuran confirms cheerfully. Shouichi idly takes notices of how light reflects from the metal spikes on Byakuran's collar, but he makes no comment on Byakuran's sense of fashion. It must be a punk phase – just like Shouichi has his lifelong nerdy phase going on.
Byakuran's now sitting cross-legged on the futon, a little too comfortably to Shouichi's mind, and Shouichi doesn't even mind how their knees bump against one another with the smallest of shifts one of them makes every now and then. He's too tired and too focused on other things right now.
"Does it mean that Tsuna-kun and others, as well-"
"Well, I'd be surprised if Reborn-kun didn't choose him as his representative~ After all, Tsunayoshi-kun is fairly strong. I should know, haha~."
"Ah." Shouichi makes a sound in his throat, an agreeable one, as he closes his eyes for a moment, his back meeting the hard wall behind him. "That's true." He's too tired to even make a comment on Byakuran's allusion to his future self's defeat.
And too tired to take notice of how Byakuran discreetly inches closer to him, little by little.
"Hey, Shou-chan," Byakuran's words are cheerful and happy, and the underlying tone of curious intent goes unnoticed by the mentally and physically drained Shouichi, who merely makes a 'hnn?' sound in response.
Byakuran grins – this is why he has come during the middle of the night instead of waiting until the morning would come. Shou-chan is just too gullible when he has just been woken up~.
He briefly considers the chances of this being too drastic – it is the first time they meet in this world, after all – but he shrugs that thought off. He has memories from times before, and he knows Shouichi better than Shouichi knows himself – so it shouldn't matter if he steals something small like this, right?
"Save your anger for the enxt time we meet, okay?" Byakuran quips before leaning in to steal a kiss from his will-be friend, and it's not one of those quick, accidental ones either, oh no. It's a deep, lingering one that steals Shouichi's breath right away from him.
Shouichi has no time to react, either, even though the lips move against his insistently, but not demandingly, and slender fingers have risen to stroke at Shouichi's pale cheeks as Byakuran tilts their heads, sucking in Shouichi's breath from the poor ginger.
Shouichi barely realizes what's going on. His mind is pleasantly blank as Byakuran's lips ravish his, taking Shouichi's kiss virginity, but at this moment, the 15-year-old to-be engineer doesn't seem to realize it.
Byakuran grins, smiles, smirks as he pulls away, breathing a bit heavily and with the taste of Shou-chan on his lips. Hazel nut, if he's not too wrong.
The story on his part is not too complicated – sure, he is here in Japan for Uni-chan and for her sake, for her wish – as he acts impulsively on his whims for most part.
And Shou-chan has been his tonight's whim.
Sure enough, Byakuran has been wanting to see Shou-chan ever since he got his memories of the future – among with Tsunayoshi-kun, of course, that curious little brunet who somehow beat him up – but that desire itself shouldn't have been enough to have him kiss the poor ginger.
Shou-chan's face turns scarlet red as the realization of what just happened starts to dawn on him, and Byakuran observes with fickle amusement as Shou-chan's eyes widen further and those wet, glistening lips part as the surprise finally grips the poor ginger more firmly.
"T-that-" Shou-chan makes an attempt to stutter something intelligible out. It's adorable. Cute. Byakuran wants to coo and he would if he weren't so sure that it would make Shou-chan throw another pillow at his face in frustration and effectively hide that cute face from Byakuran's view.
Byakuran is pleased with the rosy colour that tkes over the awful pallid shade on Shou-chan's cheels, and he mentally pats himself on the back – for he has made Shou-chan blush for the first time in this time period, and that will surely lead to great things later on~!
That, and...
"Oops, was that your first kiss, Shou-chan?" Byakuran's eyes widen in mock surprise just as his lips stretch into a wider smile that screams of satisfaction.
Shou-chan looks delightfully flustered at those words, and those small hands move, predictably, to grap the other pillow within their reach, aiming the pillow at Byakuran's head, only for the pillow to meet the empty space where Byakuran has been until the last few seconds.
"Shou-chan always gets his feathers ruffled so easily~," Byakuran sing-songs airily as he floats through the air, his small wings flapping audibly. "Hey, let's meet again while I'm still in Japan, Shou-chan," Byakuran continues with a chortle and a curious tilt of his head as Shou-chan looks up at him with furrowed brows and angry flush tainting his cheeks.
"I don't-"
Byakuran tuts. "Never say never, Shou-chan," he chastises and wags a finger at his most beloved friend (will-be most beloved, because who is he to fight destiny?) before flying out of the room with a few strong flaps of his wings, his departure followed by a string of mutters from Shou-chan.
And that is how Irie Shouichi and Byakuran Gesso of this time period meet for the first time – and it certainly won't be last, no matter how much Shouichi wishes it to be otherwise.