Warning: A bit OOC here, but byakuran's going to go back to normal soon.
Memories Worlds Away | 10027 (?)
Blood on the ground, in his clothes, on his hands. The warm, sticky liquid dripped down as he lifted his hand to cup the face in front of him in a mockery of a lover's touch.
Brown eyes slowly lost their light as their owner stared at Byakuran with not hatred, not fury, but sadness and pity.
It made him furious.
Byakuran stabbed Sawada Tsunayoshi once again, mouth twisting into a snarl to ask–
Purple eyes snapped open, and a scowl immediately made its way onto Byakuran's face. The disturbing dreams had visited him once again. With an irritated sigh, the white haired teen forced himself out of bed. He couldn't afford to miss another class unless he wanted to fail the course his parents had so lovingly chosen for him. Of course, he could always try to do better in class. With all this knowledge in his head, he could, quite literally, ace any course he wanted. But he didn't.
Seriously, what was the point? Everything was just so… meaningless. He didn't have a purpose in this strange, flame-less world.
He felt so empty.
(He wanted to see those brown, brown eyes once again, even if they were narrowed in hatred and scorn. He just wanted those eyes on him because they made him feel like he mattered, made him feel alive–)
Byakuran closed his eyes and tried to shove the thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't bother trying to get them entirely out of his head. It wouldn't work.
He knew that from experience.
Byakuran walked through the campus, trying his best to keep to himself. He didn't want to look at other people, he didn't want to see them, he didn't want to see those images–
A tall male with spiky black hair and brown eyes walked past, a baseball bat strapped to his back and a wide smile on his face.
(Yamamoto Takeshi lay on the ground, sword broken and brown eyes blank. He was the best swordsman in the world, but he was no match for Genkishi, not without a box wea–)
Byakuran increased his walking pace. He needed to get some marshmallows from the campus supermarket. It was disgusting that he liked marshmallows as much as the other… as much as the man in the images did, but he couldn't deny that marshmallows helped push back the images. Sometimes he wondered if he really liked marshmallows, or if his like for the sugary treat was a characteristic of the man that was bleeding into him.
He wondered how much of him was still the Byakuran that belonged to this world, if there was anything left at all.
Tsuna was having an absolutely exhausting day. Firstly, he must have forgotten to set the alarm clock the night before because it didn't ring in the morning. When Tsuna woke up, it was already eleven o' clock in the morning. He had missed his first tutorial of the day, and was going to be late for his lecture.
Secondly, Gokudera Hayato ambushed him on the way to the lecture hall for some reason or another, causing him to be even later. He basically missed three-quarters of the lecture, and the lecturer reprimanded him in front of the entire cohort. The entire experience was horribly embarrassing.
Thirdly, work was extremely exhausting. Even more exhausting than usual. Gokudera had been there with his excessive stalking of the manager (seriously, Tsuna was beginning to form a theory that Gokudera had a crush on them or something. He didn't really like that theory) and it appeared that the strange blonde lookalike of his managed to find out where he worked, because Tsuna swore that he saw him lurking around the shop. After being suddenly kissed by the blonde, he couldn't really say that he wanted to meet him again anytime soon. Therefore, he decided to take the back exit out. This led him to encounter his manager, who politely requested him to try out a recipe concerning marshmallows. When he asked why, they only muttered something cryptic about dandelions and marshmallows but didn't elaborate.
Hence, Tsuna was now at the campus supermarket shopping for ingredients for strawberry s'mores tarts. It involved strawberries, marshmallows, and dark chocolate, so it should fit his manager's criteria, right?
Tsuna sped up when he saw that there was only one bag of marshmallows left on the shelf. He reached for it around the same time a white haired boy did, causing Tsuna to want to scream in frustration. He did not have time to have a petty fight over a bag of marshmallows! Whoever this white haired dude was, he would just have to deal because the marshmallows were his.
"Hands off the bag," Tsuna hissed. The white haired boy glared at him with purple eyes.
"I saw it first, you fluffy twig midget," he shot back. Tsuna saw red.
"No you don't understand, you creepy dandelion! I desperately need to try out this new recipe!" Tsuna shrieked. 'And I am not a midget, you overgrown titan!' he added in his head.
"No you don't understand you creepy dandelion! I desperately need to try out this new recipe!" the boy yelled back and Byakuran paused for a second to actually look at him.
Brown hair, petite stature, wide brown eyes filled with a slightly crazed look in them, and Byakuran could almost, almost, swear that they flashed orange for a fraction of a second.
(Orange bled into brown as a vibrant flame ignited on his forehead. "Byakuran," the boy spoke. "I will not forgive you.")
Byakuran recognized the boy. He'd recognize Sawada Tsunayoshi anywhere.
His grip on the bag loosened and Tsunayoshi managed to rip it out of his grasp with a triumphant yell, shoving it into his shopping basket. He turned back to Byakuran, about to say something, when he suddenly paused. He must have seen something in Byakuran's face because concern overtook Tsunayoshi's features and he stepped towards Byakuran.
"Um, are you alright?" he asked hesitantly. "Did you really want the marshmallows that much?"
Byakuran snapped out of his daze and shoved his hands into his pockets, scowling. "No," he replied brusquely. He didn't need pity from this person, this ghost from the images in his head. In fact, he didn't need to be anywhere around him at all. The new shipment of marshmallows would be coming tomorrow anyway. Byakuran could wait another day. He turned to leave but found himself unable to take another step for Tsunayoshi had wrapped his fingers around Byakuran's wrist in a surprisingly firm grip.
"Hey, I need someone to sample my cooking. You're going to be that person," Tsunayoshi requested – no, he demanded – with a strange look in his eyes. And did his eyes flash orange? It must be Byakuran's mind playing tricks on him. Flames didn't exist in this world, after all.
Without any input from Byakuran, Tsunayoshi started dragging the white haired boy into the dorm room, shoving Byakuran in one of the chairs and moving to the kitchen to make whatever thing he wanted Byakuran to sample. Byakuran couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the situation. Was Tsunayoshi always this way? No, perhaps it was only in this world. It was a little ironic, seeing the little brunet shine so much, hold himself so confidently, even though he didn't have the defining factor that made him who he was: his beautifully pure sky flames. Byakuran, on the other hand–
Wait, what was Tsunayoshi doing with a blow torch?!
Tsuna – who had insisted that Byakuran call him by that nickname – was actually really good company. The food he made, strawberry s'mores tarts, Tsuna said, was also rather delicious. As Byakuran ate the food, they began to become comfortable in each other's presence.
To Byakuran's horror, the urge to tease Tsuna rose up in him. He wanted to see Tsuna flush red in anger and embarrassment, his brown eyes fill with unshed tears, his… his…
(His pure white dress shirt stain with the crimson liquid of his–)
NO. Byakuran gritted his teeth. He refused. He absolutely refused to be like him.
"Byakuran?" Tsuna's voice broke through the haze of thought and brought Byakuran back to earth. For the first time since he was seven, the intrusive, invasive thoughts completely left his head. Instead, Byakuran's every thought was focused on the brunette in front of him.
Obsession, something whispered in his mind. He didn't hear it.
"I'm not insane!" The words were out of his mouth before he knew it.
I'm not insane!" eight year old Byakuran insisted. The psychiatrist smiled at him indulgingly, clearly not taking his words seriously. Byakuran turned desperately to his parents but they didn't look at him.
"Can you fix him?" At those words, Byakuran wanted to vomit. He wasn't crazy. He didn't need any fixing. Why couldn't anyone see that?
"I never said you were," Tsuna replied him. His tone gave nothing away. "Regardless, is the food nice?" A moment passed as Byakuran processed Tsuna's question, a bit off-kilter from the sudden change in topic. He then nodded slowly and Tsuna beamed.
"Awesome. You're welcome to come over any time to eat my stuff, then!" Tsuna picked up the plate and made to move back into the kitchen. Byakuran's hand immediately shot out to catch the brunette's wrist.
"Why?" he asked. Tsuna blinked, and then he smiled.
"You seemed lonely," Tsuna replied simply. Byakuran's grip slackened and Tsuna took this chance to put the plate in the sink.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Tsuna asked. Byakuran made a sound of agreement, still a bit dazed.
The thoughts and images stayed away and, for the first time since the incident that happened when he was seven, Byakuran began to remember the person he was before everything went to hell.
Accident
Byakuran, 7 years old
"Damn it!" a voice snarled. Byakuran was distracted from his book just as something strange dropped onto the floor beside him, landing with a loud 'clack'. The little white haired boy had decided to move to the emergency staircase to sit and read his book in silence while his parents were in their meeting.
"Oh man, you've done it now," an amused voice spoke. "Can't believe that you dropped Sepira's stone-thing just like that."
Stone-thing? It must be the item that had landed beside Byakuran.
Its appearance was similar to that of a jack in the game knucklebones, but with rounder ends. It was a strange object. Ever the curious child, Byakuran reached out to pick it up and–
A searing pain shot through his head and Byakuran immediately withdrew his hand away from the object. The shape of the item didn't look as strange anymore, though, and had a hint of familiarity to it.
Giglio Nero, White Spell, Black Spell, Millefiore, Yuni, Mare Rings.
Byakuran clutched his head and grit his teeth. He was barely aware of a presence diagonally behind him as they bended down to pick up the item.
"Here's the stone-thing," Byakuran heard them say. It was the voice of the second person. The first person sighed.
"It's been, what, a few thousand years now and you still call them stone-things? When are you going to–" He seemed to have caught notice of Byakuran. "Damn, the kid touched it, didn't he?"
"What was your first clue?"
The second person crouched down next to Byakuran, but Byakuran didn't bother with them. He had a splitting headache, and was unable to focusing on anything but staying awake. A moment passed before the person made a noise of annoyance. "Help the dandelion human, fo…" Byakuran faded out for a bit. "… sake."
The first person growled lowly. "Why should I bother with a human? Seriously," he snorted derisively. Byakuran felt the atmosphere turn cold.
"Because it's what Sepira would do," the second person said quietly. Another moment passed. Byakuran suddenly felt a hand on his head and saw a strange indigo light from his peripheral vision. He tried to turn around to see what it was, to see who these people were, but the second person had a strong grip and Byakuran couldn't move. The hand soon left Byakuran's head and the first person sighed.
"You really have a soft spot for these humans, don't you?" Byakuran's headache was gone by now, but he found himself drifting off into unconsciousness. He fought to stay awake, wanting to listen to the strange conversation between the two people.
"Haha, no. I just find them funny."
"Honestly … already wanting to start a … is already bad enough. Must you adopt that human girl as well?"
"Hey. She makes a good cup of coffee and since Kawahi… creepy Wonomichi kid, why can't I have her? At least she doesn't go hohoho and hehehe for no reason. And besides…"
Byakuran closed his eyes as the world around him faded away.
Author's note
ayyyyyy you probably can make some connections because of this chapter. It's kind of plottish. We'll go back to beautiful crack things next chapter, probably. There's some foreshadowing about a person here too (coughgiottocough)
And to clear up: gokudera doesn't have a crush on the manager. It's obvious, but just in case. (he likes tsuna obv)
Special thanks to
HikariNoTenshi-San for giving me the idea of a grumpy Byakuran with other Byakuran memories! Thank you, this chapter would never exist without your amazing help!
Hweianime for always putting up with me and my weird ideas and helping me refine them into gems!
(Sawda Tsunayoshi for existing for all of us coughtototurecough)
Reviews
hikaru He must pay special attention to his sideburns then. Makes sure he curls one hair. Just one strand. And if someone were to propose to Tsuna? I have no idea, actually! I can't really see him with just one person. (If anyone will actually work up the courage to propose to Tsuna, it'd be Haru first. Just sayin). Maybe Giotto? And Tsuna would be so confused because Giotto would be stuttering so much and then babbling in Italian which he wouldn't understand. And then Tsuna would think that this was just one of the many trinkets Giotto gets for him and just takes it? Haha.
I'll try to reply to the other reviews, but it'll take some time. I have exams literally around the corner (coming Monday) and I'm gonna die.
