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Dec. 2nd, 2009 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kat8chaTitle: Birthday Surprise
Author: Kat8Cha
Pairing: 10051
Rating: PG (...shocker)
Summary: Shouichi's at college, and good friends with a weird, touchy Italian who likes to give expensive presents. Surely he knows better than to think his birthday will pass unnoticed.
Shouichi hadn't been expecting much for his birthday. A phone call from his mother, a few well-wishes from friends on Facebook, maybe a package from home or an offer from friends to go out to dinner or for drinks. Spanner had sent him a text message that had woken Shouichi up, and Shouichi was sure that Spanner had just been going to bed when he sent it. Different time zones, and workaholic insomniacs did not mix. The type of quick, emotionally distant birthday greetings that were so typical of Americans was all Shouichi was expecting from his classmates, and that was only if one of them had noticed it on his Facebook and decided to comment on it. All in all Shouichi hadn't expected anything much from his day.
In his defense, he had only known Byakuran for a little less than a semester.
"Shou-chan~" Byakuran sing-songed Shouichi's name and plopped his elbows onto Shouichi's shoulders. Shouichi froze for half a second, but he had gotten used to Byakuran's touchy-feely habits. No one in the rec room even looked in their direction when Byakuran started to get handsy. Although everyone seemed to assume they were a couple which they weren't, but no one believed Shouichi. "What's Shou-chan working on?"
"My final paper for English class." Shouichi detested English 101 and English as a Second Language. The college made it mandatory for all foreign exchange students to go to the other, and Shouichi needed the other because it was a requirement. Shouichi preferred his math courses, but he did what he had to do. Byakuran's chilly hands pressed against Shouichi's cheeks and Byakuran's pointy chin dug into the top of Shouichi's head. Shouich'is fingers stilled on his keyboard. "Did you want something, Byakuran-san?"
"Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Shou-chan?" Byakuran's cold hands stole Shouichi's glasses and then Byakuran was sitting down on a chair across from Shouichi.
Shouichi was used to being reduced to partial blindness by Byakuran, he frowned at Byakuran's fuzzy face, noticing that the curved line of Byakuran's smile widened. "Asking me what, Byakuran-san?"
Byakuran unfolded the glasses and leaned over the table to slip them back on Shouichi's face, pressing Shouichi's laptop halfway closed. Shouichi removed his hands and closed his laptop entirely, since it was unlikely he would get anymore work done. The back of his hand brushed the soft cotton of Byakuran's shirt.
Byakuran had gotten exceptionally good at putting Shouichi's glasses back on. They did not even bump Shouichi's nose, or nearly poke his eye out, or miss his ear. Byakuran's eyes were right in front of Shouichi's face, crystal clear and dark-blue. Shouichi felt his face get hot and he swallowed before glancing away.
"Asking me what, Byakuran-san?"
Byakuran's fingers stroked the line of Shouichi's ear before he pulled back. "If you wanted something, of course! It's Shou-chan's birthday after all."
Shouichi blinked at Byakuran, but he supposed he should have expected Byakuran to know. It was hard to do much else other than blink with his face turning red and his throat attempting to swell shut out of embarrassment. "I. Thank you, Byakuran-san, but I really don't need anything."
"Nonsense." Byakuran drummed his fingers on the table. "Mmm, but I haven't had the time to plan anything good enough…" Byakuran slanted a look at Shouichi's face. Shouichi swallowed. It wasn't his fault he did not like to tell people about his birthday… Though Shouichi really had not wanted to tell Byakuran. Byakuran tended to be liberal with money and gifts and attention, and while he lavished it all on Shouichi anyway the last thing Shouichi wanted to do was appear like he was asking for more than Byakuran was giving him.
He wasn't sure he wanted to find out what extremes Byakuran would go to after that.
"Sorry, Byakuran-san?" Shouichi said, unsure.
Byakuran frowned slightly, but then his smile re-bloomed. "All is forgiven, Shou-chan!" Bykauran paused, and his face lit up like an idea had just occurred to him, but Shouichi knew from his mildly devious smile that Byakuran had been planning this. Perhaps from when he heard about Shouichi's birthday, maybe before. "I know! I'll take Shou-chan out to dinner tonight, and since he's not doing anything over Winter Break he can come stay at my place!"
Shouichi felt like his lungs were going to collapse. "Your place? Byakuran-san, you can't mean…"
Byakuran leaned back in the rigid plastic chair and propped his feet up on the lounge room's table. "Shou-chan's gonna spend the holidays with me~~~ ♥ You'll love my house, Shou-chan, I have some very impressive gardens I want to show you." Byakuran's eyes squinted shut when he smiled. "And I have a room picked out for you and everything!"
Shouichi frowned and placed his folded hands on top of his sleeping laptop. Byakuran looked really cheerful about this. "Byakuran-san, I'm not sure about that… next week is finals, and then the holidays…"
Byakuran dropped his feet from the lounge table and mirrored Shouichi's pose, sans laptop. "Shou-chan doesn't have a flight booked for home." Byakuran's voice dropped the playfulness down a notch and added a serious undertone. Byakuran's face stayed plastic frozen in a clown's smile. Shouichi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was always weird when Byakuran did stuff like this. "I'd know! And Shou-chan can't be planning to stay here, because the college is going to kick everyone out to shut down for a little while."
Shouichi frowned at Byakuran. He had not booked a flight home because it was expensive, and his parents and sister were busy with family during the winter season. Christmas was not a big thing in Japan, except for lovers, but Shouichi's family did celebrate New Years. Shouichi's sister had just been married the past year and would be spending time with her husband anyway, and Shouichi hated being alone with his parents. He did not really have any friends in Namimori, and Spanner would be sticking it out across the country. Shouichi had planned to look for somewhere to be while the college closed down, a motel for a week or crashing with one of his older classmates (from the advanced classes he had tested into) at their apartments.
Would that be any worse than going to Italy with Byakuran?
"It's agreed then." Byakuran always seemed to take silence as assent. Shouichi was half tempted to say no… but really, when was he going to get the chance again? Especially if he turned it down now… Shouichi wanted to see what Byakuran's house was like anyway. And what did Bykauran mean he had a room picked out for him? "After finals finish we'll be leaving on a jet plane~" Byakuran hummed the tune to himself.
"Ah!" Shouichi blinked. "Byakuran-san, I don’t' have a ticket…"
"I do." Byakuran reached into his coat and slid it across the table. Shouichi stared at the printed piece of paper. "First class! Right next to me." The chair made a skittering-scraping sound as Byakuran pushed out of it, like the bars of a prison slamming shut. "I just knew Shou-chan would agree!"
And then Byakuran was gone, leaving Shouichi frowning at the airplane ticket and wondering if this was the right choice.
Even if he was crushing on the strange handsy Italian.
Even if he was pretty sure his feelings were returned.
"...it's not like he expects anything back." Shouichi muttered before he pocketed the plane ticket and flipped his laptop open. He still had a paper to finish.
Author: Kat8Cha
Pairing: 10051
Rating: PG (...shocker)
Summary: Shouichi's at college, and good friends with a weird, touchy Italian who likes to give expensive presents. Surely he knows better than to think his birthday will pass unnoticed.
Shouichi hadn't been expecting much for his birthday. A phone call from his mother, a few well-wishes from friends on Facebook, maybe a package from home or an offer from friends to go out to dinner or for drinks. Spanner had sent him a text message that had woken Shouichi up, and Shouichi was sure that Spanner had just been going to bed when he sent it. Different time zones, and workaholic insomniacs did not mix. The type of quick, emotionally distant birthday greetings that were so typical of Americans was all Shouichi was expecting from his classmates, and that was only if one of them had noticed it on his Facebook and decided to comment on it. All in all Shouichi hadn't expected anything much from his day.
In his defense, he had only known Byakuran for a little less than a semester.
"Shou-chan~" Byakuran sing-songed Shouichi's name and plopped his elbows onto Shouichi's shoulders. Shouichi froze for half a second, but he had gotten used to Byakuran's touchy-feely habits. No one in the rec room even looked in their direction when Byakuran started to get handsy. Although everyone seemed to assume they were a couple which they weren't, but no one believed Shouichi. "What's Shou-chan working on?"
"My final paper for English class." Shouichi detested English 101 and English as a Second Language. The college made it mandatory for all foreign exchange students to go to the other, and Shouichi needed the other because it was a requirement. Shouichi preferred his math courses, but he did what he had to do. Byakuran's chilly hands pressed against Shouichi's cheeks and Byakuran's pointy chin dug into the top of Shouichi's head. Shouich'is fingers stilled on his keyboard. "Did you want something, Byakuran-san?"
"Shouldn’t I be asking you that, Shou-chan?" Byakuran's cold hands stole Shouichi's glasses and then Byakuran was sitting down on a chair across from Shouichi.
Shouichi was used to being reduced to partial blindness by Byakuran, he frowned at Byakuran's fuzzy face, noticing that the curved line of Byakuran's smile widened. "Asking me what, Byakuran-san?"
Byakuran unfolded the glasses and leaned over the table to slip them back on Shouichi's face, pressing Shouichi's laptop halfway closed. Shouichi removed his hands and closed his laptop entirely, since it was unlikely he would get anymore work done. The back of his hand brushed the soft cotton of Byakuran's shirt.
Byakuran had gotten exceptionally good at putting Shouichi's glasses back on. They did not even bump Shouichi's nose, or nearly poke his eye out, or miss his ear. Byakuran's eyes were right in front of Shouichi's face, crystal clear and dark-blue. Shouichi felt his face get hot and he swallowed before glancing away.
"Asking me what, Byakuran-san?"
Byakuran's fingers stroked the line of Shouichi's ear before he pulled back. "If you wanted something, of course! It's Shou-chan's birthday after all."
Shouichi blinked at Byakuran, but he supposed he should have expected Byakuran to know. It was hard to do much else other than blink with his face turning red and his throat attempting to swell shut out of embarrassment. "I. Thank you, Byakuran-san, but I really don't need anything."
"Nonsense." Byakuran drummed his fingers on the table. "Mmm, but I haven't had the time to plan anything good enough…" Byakuran slanted a look at Shouichi's face. Shouichi swallowed. It wasn't his fault he did not like to tell people about his birthday… Though Shouichi really had not wanted to tell Byakuran. Byakuran tended to be liberal with money and gifts and attention, and while he lavished it all on Shouichi anyway the last thing Shouichi wanted to do was appear like he was asking for more than Byakuran was giving him.
He wasn't sure he wanted to find out what extremes Byakuran would go to after that.
"Sorry, Byakuran-san?" Shouichi said, unsure.
Byakuran frowned slightly, but then his smile re-bloomed. "All is forgiven, Shou-chan!" Bykauran paused, and his face lit up like an idea had just occurred to him, but Shouichi knew from his mildly devious smile that Byakuran had been planning this. Perhaps from when he heard about Shouichi's birthday, maybe before. "I know! I'll take Shou-chan out to dinner tonight, and since he's not doing anything over Winter Break he can come stay at my place!"
Shouichi felt like his lungs were going to collapse. "Your place? Byakuran-san, you can't mean…"
Byakuran leaned back in the rigid plastic chair and propped his feet up on the lounge room's table. "Shou-chan's gonna spend the holidays with me~~~ ♥ You'll love my house, Shou-chan, I have some very impressive gardens I want to show you." Byakuran's eyes squinted shut when he smiled. "And I have a room picked out for you and everything!"
Shouichi frowned and placed his folded hands on top of his sleeping laptop. Byakuran looked really cheerful about this. "Byakuran-san, I'm not sure about that… next week is finals, and then the holidays…"
Byakuran dropped his feet from the lounge table and mirrored Shouichi's pose, sans laptop. "Shou-chan doesn't have a flight booked for home." Byakuran's voice dropped the playfulness down a notch and added a serious undertone. Byakuran's face stayed plastic frozen in a clown's smile. Shouichi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was always weird when Byakuran did stuff like this. "I'd know! And Shou-chan can't be planning to stay here, because the college is going to kick everyone out to shut down for a little while."
Shouichi frowned at Byakuran. He had not booked a flight home because it was expensive, and his parents and sister were busy with family during the winter season. Christmas was not a big thing in Japan, except for lovers, but Shouichi's family did celebrate New Years. Shouichi's sister had just been married the past year and would be spending time with her husband anyway, and Shouichi hated being alone with his parents. He did not really have any friends in Namimori, and Spanner would be sticking it out across the country. Shouichi had planned to look for somewhere to be while the college closed down, a motel for a week or crashing with one of his older classmates (from the advanced classes he had tested into) at their apartments.
Would that be any worse than going to Italy with Byakuran?
"It's agreed then." Byakuran always seemed to take silence as assent. Shouichi was half tempted to say no… but really, when was he going to get the chance again? Especially if he turned it down now… Shouichi wanted to see what Byakuran's house was like anyway. And what did Bykauran mean he had a room picked out for him? "After finals finish we'll be leaving on a jet plane~" Byakuran hummed the tune to himself.
"Ah!" Shouichi blinked. "Byakuran-san, I don’t' have a ticket…"
"I do." Byakuran reached into his coat and slid it across the table. Shouichi stared at the printed piece of paper. "First class! Right next to me." The chair made a skittering-scraping sound as Byakuran pushed out of it, like the bars of a prison slamming shut. "I just knew Shou-chan would agree!"
And then Byakuran was gone, leaving Shouichi frowning at the airplane ticket and wondering if this was the right choice.
Even if he was crushing on the strange handsy Italian.
Even if he was pretty sure his feelings were returned.
"...it's not like he expects anything back." Shouichi muttered before he pocketed the plane ticket and flipped his laptop open. He still had a paper to finish.
