All these Japanese honorifics.
Disclaimer: I do not own KHR or its characters.
His sister makes fun of him from his bed as he tries on a striped grey suit. It's an old suit from when he graduated from college, but thankfully, he's stopped growing since then. In addition to that, he remembers how to put on a tie.
"You look like a stiff old businessman," his sister jeers as he ties the red strip of fabric around the collar of his shirt.
"Good. I need to look like one for this fancy restaurant," Shouichi replies, not missing a beat. He's done his research on the address on the slip of paper that Byakuran handed to him. It's a restaurant from a chain of restaurants owned by an associate of the Gesso group. Judging from the prices on the menu and the long list of celebrities that have dined there, he'll never live it down if he embarrasses himself.
"Are you going on a date?" The question catches him off-guard and he splutters for an adequate denial.
Too late. "MOM, SHOUICHI'S GOT A GIRLFRIEND!" His sister's shrill voice rattles through the house and has Shouichi covering his ears to prevent them from splitting.
"It's a business meeting," Shouichi says with a sigh, fixing his tie. He flinched earlier from the screaming and as a result, the tie got dragged out.
"I call bull. Your 'business' only gets business from little kids," his sister retorts, twirling a lock of her hair and looking quite smug. The redhead ignores his sister, though her barbed comments do chip away at what little self-confidence he has. However, the conversation distracts him from his confusion over the whole premise of the meeting. What time is he supposed to meet the other man? What would happen if he accidentally misses the meeting? Why such a fancy restaurant?
The questions swirl around his mind in the deafening silence and send a dull ache to his stomach.
He plops down on the bed, hoping that some rest will relieve some of the stomach pain. His sister frowns at him and demands to know when he's going to leave.
He proceeds to kick her out of his room. She's a distraction, but, even after two decades, he has a low tolerance for her nagging and teasing. Being his family member, she knows his weak points all too well. In a sincere voice, she'll say that she only makes fun of him so he can get used to it. And then, with a snide undertone, she'll add that he'll be experiencing a lot of it in his life.
A car horn sounds outside. Shouichi buries his head in his hands with a soft sigh. When he thinks too hard, the reality sets in. He has no idea where he's taking his business, and he has no idea if there will be room for him in the world of respectable adults.
All he knows is that, even now, his fingers itch to play a guitar.
"Shou-chan!" a sickly sweet voice calls from the door. Shouichi quickly drops his hands onto the bed and scrambles to his feet, trying to make up for having been caught with his head in his hands.
Byakuran leans against the doorway with that strange smirk on his pale face. A cursory glance over the man's white vest and black collared shirt tells Shouichi that he made the right choice by deciding to wear a suit. The momentary feeling of relief is gone, and then he's wondering what in the world the man is doing in his home.
"What are you doing here, Byakuran-san?" Shouichi demands.
"I let him in, of course!" his sister appears at Byakuran's side, clinging to the intruder's arm.
"Don't just let in strangers!" Shouichi exclaims, going to the window and looking outside. He has a niggling suspicion about something, and his suspicion is confirmed when he sees a car parked in front of the house.
He's being picked up. By a man. With an expensive car.
"I'm not a stranger. I'm your real estate agent!" Byakuran chimes.
Shouichi turns back to glare at the madman.. His sister isn't hanging onto the man's arm anymore; she's probably minding her own business like she should be.
Yet again, Shouichi lets out a sigh. He brushes past Byakuran and puts on a calm face. "Whatever, let's just go." And get this over with.
But he doesn't add that last part.
A glance behind him tells him that the eccentric man is trailing after him. The carefree way the man slings his white tux over his shoulder unnerves Shouichi, but fills him with admiration. He wishes he could give off that aura of being secure in his every action, that he knows that every action he makes is right.
Instead, Shouichi ducks his head, keeps his eyes on his dragging feet all the way to the car as Byakuran trails behind him, brimming with self-confidence.
"Do we have to take this car?" He intended for his question to sound practical, but it comes out sounding like a whine. A blue-haired man in a fancier suit than his own holds the door of the car open for him. Shouichi doesn't like the glint of the blue-haired man's eyes.
"Of course! It's far away, after all!" Byakuran answers cheerfully. "You go in first, Shou-chan!"
He does, gladly. People are starting to stop and stare, and his stomach is starting to churn in that familiar painful way.
Byakuran slides smoothly into the seat next to him and gives him a huge grin as the car door slams shut. To the white-haired man, they might as well have been going on a field trip.
"Is Shou-chan angry?" Byakuran inquires, accidentally brushing his shoulder against Shouichi's as he stretches, cat-like, and reclines in his seat. The car starts up and the engine is the quietest he's ever heard.
Shouichi pulls his seatbelt into place, staring blankly at the Gesso logo decorated on it.
"No I'm not angry. Just be more practical next time, Byakuran-san," he says, tearing his gaze off of the disconcerting logo. He stares outside instead, the view of various buildings and people a familiar and calming sight.
"Practical how?" Byakuran asks, his voice taking on that sickly sweet quality yet again.
"If you have common sense, you should know!"
"I guess I don't! Shou-chan should teach me some then."
Shouichi finds himself cracking up a bit. "You're like a kid! Common sense can't be taught." Byakuran simply hums in amusement.
By the time they arrive at the restaurant, Shouichi has his head in his hands again from sheer exasperation. It's tiring dealing with the other man's eccentric, and often immature, mannerisms. However, Shouichi finds that he doesn't mind so much.
It almost makes him forget that they're only supposed to discuss Shouichi's housing problem.
"Ah, we're here! Look, Shou-chan, isn't it such a nice place?" Byakuran asks excitedly as he gestures with wild abandon at the restaurant. There are lights at the foot of the building which send strips of golden light up its walls. It's a very bright place with large windows that give a clear view of the people dining inside. It's a nice sight, but it makes Shouichi's stomach do its acrobatic tricks again. He wrings his hands, wondering just how expensive the food will be.
"W-we don't have to get food, do we? We're just discussing business," Shouichi says, making one last attempt to keep himself from going broke.
The smile Byakuran gives him is more blinding than the restaurant itself, and many times more daunting.
"How naive, Shou-chan!" Byakuran laughs, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder as if they were old friends. Shouichi swears that the man's eyes have a strange predatory quality to them.
"Did you really think we'd only be discussing business?"