Enjoy!
Revised: 11/21/13
Chapter 2
8 Days Until Departure for Merone Base in Namimori, Japan
12 boxes down….approximately 30 more. Shoichi Irie gave a frustrated grunt as he sealed the cardboard box securely. He had been packing for his relocation to his home country for what felt like ages. Although he didn't have much in the area of personal items, he did have all his lab equipment and research to move with him. Pushing his glasses to his forehead, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Earlier this morning Byakuran had sent some low ranking Millefiore member to Shoichi's office right when the redhead had finally gotten into a kind of rhythm in his packing, just to announce that Byakuran wanted Shoichi's presence later tonight. Of course he does. When does he ever not want something. This annoyed him to no end so he had told the messenger he was busy and to get out. He had then turned back to his packing and was surprised when he looked back up to see the messenger still there. "What do you want now?" He barked trying to sound as intimidating as his position would lead on. The messenger rung his hands together nervously. "Bya-Byakuran-sama said you would say that and told me not to leave until you agreed to come…" he trailed off. Shoichi narrowed his eyes at the messenger, who had suddenly found the white carpet very interesting. He should have known Byakuran would do something like this. Byakuran probably wanted to just waste his "most trusted" subordinate's time and see his get ticked off. He wasn't sure if he should throttle his superior and yell at him or chastise himself for thinking Byakuran would be that east to ignore. Shoichi had then given a sigh of defeat and agreed to show up later.
Truthfully, Shoichi was glad to have a break from packing, even if it was just to entertain Byakuran on a whim. He made his way down the white hallways toward Byakuran's office. The all-white décor really got old. And it must be extremely difficult to keep this place spotless. Shoichi's thin frame gave a slight shudder as he thought of why his boss liked this particular color. It was sometimes easy to forget how dangerous Byakuran was. He walked on the edge, constantly teetering towards insanity. And what was truly frightening was that this man on the edge held the world in the palm of his hand.
It's why my hand has been forced and I have had to take on this role.
His hand was only a few inches from the door, poised to knock, when a hooded figure opened the door from the other side. It realized Shoichi's presence at the last possible moment as the two figures were poised to collide. The exiting guest's eyes widened when he saw Shoichi, then his eyes narrowed into an infuriated glare. The person quickly exited the room, roughly shoving past the redhead. Shoichi caught a glimpse of turquoise hair and the heavily mad up face of what was obviously a man (he knew it was a man thanks to the guy's muscled shoulder that had pushed past his). He turned to look at the strange man, but couldn't find him anywhere in sight.
"Ahh, Sho-chan you came!" Shoichi turned back towards the room and quickly stepped in, shutting the door behind him. "I thought you wouldn't come." Shoichi waited until he sat down to give the pouting man a cold look. "It wasn't like I had much of a choice" his voice as equally as cold as his eyes. Byakuran continued to pout but his eyes shone with amusement. "But Sho-chan I just really wanted to see you. You are leaving me to go to Japan soon." Byakuran whined. "I am leaving on your orders, Byakuran-san." Shoichi muttered, but his face had softened at his superior's words, and his voice was no longer cold. He sat on the couch, and closed his eyes, relishing in the comfort of the couch. It had been hours since he had last sat down and given himself a break.
"Ne, Sho-chan you look exhausted." Hot breathe, sweet-smelling from all the treats, fanned Shoichi's face. What the fuck! Green eyes flew open behind glasses and were met by purple eyes only a few inches away. Shoichi resisted the response of bolting upright in shock. He stayed totally still for a few moments, his heart slowly descending from the spike it had just gone through. After the surprise wore off a bit, not that the confusion or shock had, he couldn't help the light dust of pink the appeared on his cheeks. Byakuran smirked at his effect on his Shou-chan. The hammering in his chest caused Shoichi's thinking to stop for a few moments, but when he regained rational thought he quickly shoved Byakuran away. Byakuran reacted like he had been expecting this and was not thrown the least of balance by the other's action. The older male plopped down lazily in the seat across from the other, smirk still intact. His eyes never left the blushing redhead on the couch.
Shoichi felt…flustered. Yes, that is how he would describe it. Byakuran's eyes were boring into his and he wasn't sure why but he couldn't look away from the intense lilac eyes. His face was burning right now, and he hated how Byakuran had gotten such a reaction out of him. He couldn't concentrate on his flushed face because his whole body felt overheated. With all the willpower he could muster, he dragged his gaze away from Byakuran's. Looking out the window behind the white haired man, Shoichi tried to regain control over himself. Why the hell did I react like that?...well he is a creepy, bipolar psycho who likes killing people…so anyone would be..uhh..flustered. Yeah ,that was a completely normal reaction. It was simply a knee-jerk reaction to such a dangerous person, a person whom I have known for years and have been much closer with on occasion. Dammit, stop.
He cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked up to see Byakuran giving him an amused look. The redhead tugged at the white collar of his uniform, feeling uncomfortable and still slightly overheated. "Sho-chan you should rest. You look kind of red. It's probably from overworking yourself." Shoichi noted that Byakuran didn't look or sound concerned in the least, only amused. His eye twitched. Byakuran knew very well that the flush adorning his face was not born from strenuous labor. Bastard. I'm flushed because you..well..did what you did. You invaded my personal space! Green eyes glared at the older male in response. The glare turned suspicious when Byakuran got up and stepped toward the couch. When the older male leaned in, the other leaned back, eyeing his boss suspiciously. Byakuran tried leaning in again, but, again, Shoichi pressed farther back, maintaining a good amount of space between the two. Shouichi could have sworn he saw annoyance flash in those purple eyes, but couldn't be sure because his face, like always, was in a mask of happiness. It sent a trickle of fear through Shoichi.
Shoichi really didn't want to make Byakuran mad. Even if Shoichi was the closest person to Byakuran, if Byakuran lost it Shoichi was in probably the same amount of trouble as anyone else. There was no telling what Byakuran could do, and that scared Shouichi.
Before he could even decide on what course of action to take, Byakuran had leaned toward him and had unbuttoned the white Millefiore coat, exposing the blue t-shirt the redhead always wore underneath. It happened so quickly Shoichi didn't even see Byakuran lean in or unbutton his coat. When he blinked the boss of the Millefiore had his hands on the bottom of his unbuttoned coat, so it wasn't hard for the redhead to guess what happened. "What the hell!" Shoichi yelled as he slapped Byakuran's hands away harshly. Shoichi stood up and walked past Byakuran, giving him a withering glare. "I have work to do. I don't have time to sit here and waste away my time with you." He snapped as he walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Shoichi forced himself to walk down the hallway at a normal pace. He always let Byakuran get him and have control over him, and this pissed Shoichi off to no end. He felt extremely perturbed and almost considered stalking back there to give Byakuran and good talking to, which would be more like him ranting at and chastising Byakuran. Fear was also present, fear for having displeased Byakuran directly. He had done things like this innumerable times and he always got away with it, never once was Shoichi treated like any other subordinate would have been treated in his situation. Yet every time he defied him there was a tiny part of him that feared that time would be the one when Byakuran would snap.
When he got back to his room he slammed the door and laid on his couch since his bed was covered in boxes. All his late hours and lack of sleep hit him like a ton of bricks the moment his head hit the cushion. He thought over the incident with Byakuran. He did overreact a bit. He decided to apologize when he woke up. Byakuran just acted so weird sometimes. It's not like this was a first either. Byakuran and he have shared some other close, borderline intimate moments, but that was over. It absolutely had to be. But Byakuran confused him. Even with Byakuran's weird mood swings though, Shoichi should apologize. After all he cared for the white haired mafia boss. He was Shoichi's closest friend, and it would be a lie if he said otherwise. No one had ever gotten as close to him as Byakuran had. He also cared for everyone in the world who was in danger because of Byakuran. It was because of these emotions that Shoichi was determined to save the world from Byakuran and save Byakuran himself. Shoichi thought over his and the Tsuna's plan before falling into a deep, much needed sleep.
4 Days until the transfer to Merone Base in Namimori, Japan
Iris's laughter rang out in the cafeteria. Shoichi knew she was sitting three tables to the left of the line he was in. And he was purposefully not looking in that direction so as to avoid her, her goons, and the creepy old guy that wore a turban. He tapped his foot impatiently, feeling extremely annoyed with no one in particular due to the slow moving line. He wanted his usual soda and a bagel, so he could retreat back to his room and do some major planning and strategizing regarding his and Tsuna's plan. Byakuran wasn't at the base so he could sit in his room undisturbed and really think things out.
When the redhead had woken up from his much needed thirteen hour sleep a few days ago, he had immediately gone to apologize to Byakuran. Upon arriving at his office and knocking on the door for about five minutes (and steadily getting more and more annoyed), a women had passed him in the hall and stopped to tell him Byakuran had left late last night and wouldn't be back for a while. He was slightly disappointed and annoyed at this news. Byakuran almost always informed him when he was leaving. He ignored the small pang he felt at having been neglected. He wasn't Byakuran's parent. His absence was helpful in the large picture anyways. He would now have time to think about his plans.
Another peal of Iris's annoying laughter echoed in the cafeteria. How could one woman be so annoying and evil at the same time? He knew full well of what she had done to create her goons and how she treated them. Frankly, it disgusted Shouichi. Black Spell, White Spell, he couldn't care less which side was supposedly better, they both had some pretty twisted people. He'd never forget how Turban Top (Shoichi never could remember his name) killed his own nephew to get his boxes. The guy had literally left his nephew in pieces. Of course Byakuran hadn't punished him for it. The Millefiore boss had actually seemed amused by the whole thing, even delighted. At least when he saw how disgusted his Sho-chan was, he gave a slight reprimand to the creepy old geezer. Shoichi had actually felt some hope for his Byakuran when Byakuran began his reprimanding, but his hope was quickly squashed when Byakuran reprimanded him not for killing his own flesh and blood but for not cleaning up his mess. Turban Top still attacked Millefiore members and took their boxes for some purpose unknown to the redhead, and Byakuran did nothing to stop him. Shoichi wasn't sure if he didn't care at all or if he found the whole thing amusing, and his heart couldn't decide which of the two it found more abhorrent.
After paying for his bagel and soda Shoichi quickly grabbed his stuff and made for the exit. "…and then I had my pets kill the gullible doctors. Brutally of course!" He heard Iris's voice as he passed their table. She always told that story. She is so proud of herself. She truly is a horrid woman. The redhead rushed back to his room and continued his brainstorm. How could he let a women like that come to be one of the sub rulers of the world? She was the worst of the worst. Then a small voice in Shoichi's head asked him what that made, Byakuran, the man who ruled over her and knowingly let her lead a life like she did? Byakuran…he's not the same. He's different. He's not a heartless monster. He cares for me and I…it doesn't matter. Feelings are of no help now.
En route to Namimori, Japan
The pink-haired girls looked at each other anxiously. "Irie-sama are you sure there is nothing we can do for you?" one of them asked as they both stared at the redhead curled in the fetal position and clutching his stomach. "I'm fine really. I told you. My stomach just hurts when I get nervous." He answered. Now that wasn't a lie. What he said was the truth. He just felt slightly guilty because the reason he was so nervous was because he was so close to Japan, and that is when the plan would go into action, the plan to betray and defeat Byakuran. Also, heights bothered him slightly. It wasn't a phobia. That was impossible he had told himself on multiple occasions. He just wasn't a big fan of being in high places.
His stomach gave an odd gurgle. "Ugh." The redhead and new leader of the Merone base gave a frustrated and pained groan. He wished he could have said some kind of goodbye or something to Byakuran. Even though he doesn't know it, I most likely won't see him again in person. And if I do I'll be with the Vongola. His heart lurched painfully as the image rose unwanted into his head. Byakuran's face was morphed into a hurt expression that made Shoichi want to rethink everything. But he couldn't; he had to stay strong. For what who could possibly defeat Byakuran if him and Tsuna didn't.
He had tried to contact Byakuran when the man had returned two days before today, but Byakuran had some lackey come and tell Shoichi, each time, that he was too busy. It felt like he was being avoided, but that just seemed out of the question since Byakuran seemed to always like having him around. And Shoichi would never admit to anyone even himself but he had been hurt that he was snubbed repeatedly like Byakuran did to pretty much everyone else except Shoichi. Shoichi knew he shouldn't feel as upset as he did. After all, he was in the process of betraying Byakuran and hurting him more than anyone ever had or will. He was sure he was Byakuran's most important person, and here he was "lying in bed with the enemy" as they say. It was would feel a million times worse when he saw the anger and hurt and sadness and absolute fury in Byakuran's eyes when he saw his betrayal. He hoped he wouldn't have to see that look, even if that meant dying.
The Cervellos gave each other a look. Now their boss was staring straight ahead of him looking depressed. Then his stomach gave another strange noise, and he grabbed the material of his jacket in his fists. "Ow, ow, ow!"
No, Shouichi isn't literally in bed with Tsuna. It's just a phrase. We all know ByakuranxShoichi is where it is at. No one else is even in the picture.
Leave some advice, comments, and dare I suggest…compliments, eh?