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Sanzu was annoyed. The most useless missions were always assigned to him ... and Ran Haitani. Nor could he stay with the other brother who at least avoided teasing him and was a more pleasant company. No, instead he was supposed to be with Ran Haitani, according to their superiors.
Most of these missions were for Koko to care about relationships and to secure secret information from his distributors. Sanzu suspected they wanted to keep him a little away from the gory missions, perhaps because of some mess he had made in the previous month's missions when he could still deal with the bloodshed with Rindou and Mochi.
"We're here," mumbled Ran before drawing a puff of a cigarette and letting it out, right in Haru's face.
The pink-haired boy growled nervously. "You couldn't smoke on the other side, could you? You, bast-"
"I'll leave you directly in front of the pub that Koko pointed out to me," Rin said, interrupting an ugly expletive that obviously wouldn't have unnerved Ran. No, when Haru got angry Ran was amused, and seeing his damn cheeky grin which someone found charming - and Haru didn't know how- the younger one got even more nervous. It was a vicious circle.
Rin did not understand why Mikey and Koko sent them on a mission together. According to Kakucho they wanted to educate Haru, and teach him to control himself but Rin was a little against that theory; the pink-haired boy only got more nervous because of Ran.
Surely Rindou had disciplined himself under his big brother, but Haruchiyo was not the kind of person who seemed to benefit from the military effects of his brother's authoritarian and caring presence; in fact, if possible he became even more angry and undisciplined. The only thing that controlled him was that "relegation" to more diplomatic and tactical duties, where did not know how to behave and was bound to follow Ran and stand by his directives relying on his advice. So what had in mind Koko, who has always considered himself a smart type, huh?
The two boys got out of the car into the night and approached the pub. A big man stopped them at the entrance.
"We are Mr. Nara's guests," Ran pointed out. Haru kept his head bowed behind him, fakely quiet.
"I'm sorry but you'll have to visit him another time," muttered the big guy. "Don't you know what day it is?"
Ran and Haru cast a glance at each other. They hadn't been told anything at all.
"Damn, it's Valentine's Day," exclaimed the security officer, "it's a couples-only pub tonight."
Sanzu was shocked, not knowing what to say or what to think. Ran, on the other hand, was more ready, as always, and came up with an immediate plan.
"Are you homophobic?" he asked, shocking everyone outside that renowned pub under the bitter cold of a winter evening. "You didn't think we were a couple?"
Before Haruchiyo could protest, Ran pulled the smaller one against his chest. Haru crashed against Ran's pecs and, at first, he had no idea how to react. Later, however, he thought it would be nice to kick him and prevent him from having children. Heaven forbid that they should become like him, the poor things, ready to infest the world with Haitani genes. But in the end, he was forced to wave the white flag; if he failed that mission, Koko would go crazy, probably threatening them while saying that he won't bail them out by letting them go to jail. Mr. Nara was their most important outside associate, a wealthy corrupt magnate.
"Sorry, my mistake. Your names?"
"Ran Haitani and Sanzu Haruchiyo."
It took a second to check and the big guy stepped outside to let them in. But then something happened that almost drove Sanzu crazy; Ran Haitani, yeah that Ran Haitani, slapped him soundly on the butt.
"You first, my beloved pink princess."
He was going to stab him, in front of everyone, right there. Haru remembered he had a knife in the back pocket of his pants; he could have pulled it out and ... Hell, no he couldn't. Mikey would have been angry with him because, unfortunately, that Haitani there was considered crucial in the Bonten leadership.
"All right, you big idiot bastard of my heart." He said this with a forced smile, gritting his teeth.
After that, they come in, and the guard manager gave them a dazed look.
Crossing the corridor, a few steps from the main hall, Ran gently entwined their fingers and squeezed them tightly. Sanzu who had never held hands with anyone, perhaps only with his brother Takeomi but that had been years ago now, reacted by gritting his teeth. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, all things considered, but the problem was that it was Ran Haitani, Mr. Irritating Haitani, the one who had slapped him hard on the buttock just moments before.
But more of it, if there was anything that didn't drive him crazy about Ran Haitani's personality, it was that the latter reminded him a little too much of his older brother; so, Ran had control freaks, just like Takeomi, and was bound to a very conservative view of the world. Moreover, he was one of those types who cared about being treated "fairly," and Haruchiyo did not care how his behavior affected others' perceptions, so Ran also tended to be critical of him.
They were also personality traits that Haru did not have but somehow he would have wanted that confidence and mastery of control, so at the same time, he felt a bit attracted to them unfairly. It must have been the brother issues.
"Let me go or I'll bite that hand off."
"No way, we lied to some very dangerous men and we're only armed with a knife and a gun, they are many more. We took a risk, okay? My fault, but now we have to play this card right."
"Know that it will not please me," muttered Sanzu. He stood a little while waiting for a response that reciprocated that sentence ... but nothing came. "And I know it won't please you either." Still nothing. He turned to look at Ran as they entered the hall, and to his surprise saw that he was smiling. Was the asshole still amused? Absurd, truly absurd.
The hall was not that crowded, but there were at least fifteen couples besides the two of them. It was decorated in red, gold, and white, with heart-shaped balloons and banners here and there. All in all very romantic and very classic, and it made Sanzu feel terribly out of place; he had always hated those places, he didn't think they were places meant for a guy like him, always alone.
At first, he thought the others would realize it too, seeing him there, seeing him and Ran together. But when he looked at those couples he was surprised to notice that they seemed more focused on his scars than on the two of them together.
He was used to the ugly looks strangers directed at his face, precisely at his mouth. Yet he expected them to have any odd or doubtful reaction while they were looking at him and Ran hand in hand. Quite the contrary, a couple very close to the front door smiled at them, and Ran reciprocated with a cordial nod.
Haru, through it all, was shocked. Did no one find them suspicious, or out of place?
His gaze ran down to the hand he was holding and, to his surprise, he noticed that they were naturally tied together as if they were used to being that way. Ran's hand was long, tapered, and beautiful. He held his hand with delicate firmness, without letting go but without squeezing too tightly as if he were holding something precious.
Mr. Nara walked toward them with open arms, greeting them gracefully. "Ran Haitani and Sanzu Haruchiyo, right? I didn't think they would let members of Bonten in, I also forgot to warn them that today was a special night," he noted in his usual peaceful tone.
"Never mind," laughed Ran, "we remembered well that it was Valentine's Day, so I came here together with my better half, who coincidentally -and he was careful to point out the word coincidentally- is a member of my gang."
Mr. Nara looked at them from head to toe with a hint of doubt in his eyes, but something seemed to convince him because he finally smiled at them both and motioned them to take a seat where there was a free table.
Sanzu did not expect what happened once they were near the table, which was that Ran went behind him and moved his chair to help him to sit down. When Sanzu was seated he gave a strong push and made sure to pull him over to the table, just like a gentleman.
"Are you comfortable, my love?"
Sanzu turned a bewildered gaze on his fake boyfriend. There was no need to be so corny, was there? They only had to pretend to be together, and practically everyone had already - strangely - believed it. Yet Ran was having fun, and he didn't even find it strange to joke around like that, to make innuendos, even sexual ones.
"I'm comfortable ... thank you very much, dear," he forced himself to answer mechanically.
Then Ran sat down next to him and several glances returned to stare at those of their partners, or the dinner menu. The older Haitani gave Mr. Nara a small smile as if to say that it was all right and that he approved of the table chosen for them.
A waitress came to serve them, asking what kind of drinks they wanted, whether they liked wine and more. "Can I help you choose the menu?"
"My love is not that greedy but he can choose what he wants, I'm paying for it anyway," Ran Haitani rushed to say, turning a half-smile to Haru.
Ah yes, was that so?
Haru found the perfect pretext for revenge, it was time to act and not only because he had received a pat on the butt but also to make him pay for being so insufferable and a control freak.
"I have a sweet tooth tonight," he said, avoiding staring too long at the frown that had just shadowed Ran's face and glancing at the menu open in front of them, "I am craving five prawn crackers, spring rolls, Italian entrée that is perhaps spaghetti with meatballs, roast pork as the main course with a side of grilled vegetables and baked potatoes, the crab with a side of mixed salad, an eighteen-piece set of sushi ..."
Ran's laughter sounded thunderous but also embarrassed, and Sanzu smiled victoriously; this time he had won. If Ran Haitani wanted to be the perfect boyfriend, he could not back down.
"My love ... come on, you'll get fat like that."
"But I know you'll love me anyway," Haru affirmed, turning to look at him and reaching out a hand to adjust Ran's collar with extreme ease.
"I'm just worried about your flat ass, you know how much I like it the way it is."
What a jerk. The waitress had stood still looking at them, a little amused a little awkward, like someone who happens to be in the way of a conversation between lovebirds.
"It's not nice to point out other people's faults, you know?"
Only then did Ran seem to realize that Haruchiyo also had some very common insecurities, the thing was that before he would never have thought they might be on the physical, and instead - His look was almost offended, somehow ... he made him tender.
"No, I like it and I don't think it's a flaw," he exclaimed sincerely, under the confused gaze of the maid. Ran gave her a nod, adding in a mock confidential tone, "I'd bite it all night long."
Unexpectedly Haru felt strange and his stomach warmed pleasantly, but he was also embarrassed, so he found himself blushing like a little girl. That damn Ran Haitani became more and more intrusive and unbearable as time passed.
"If you'd like," the woman intervened, "there's a special service dedicated to the evening's couples," she pointed to the menu card placed in front of them.
Ran saw that it still cost a lot, but decided to accept.
"All right, only the best for my princess," he concluded, before taking the menu and handing it to the waitress. "I would add the best red wine you have and some fortune cookies before dessert."
Oh. So Ran Haitani can also be a gentleman, Haru thought. Well not only an asshole. Or was he simply pretending because of their mission? He wouldn't blame him ... He wasn't exactly worthy of all that attention and being treated like a boyfriend, or at least that was what he thought.
"Well, well," said one man, taking the microphone and stepping onto a stand in front of the couples. This time he spoke into the receiver. "Why don't we start sweetening this evening with a pinch of cotton candy ... or a handful of chili?"
A couple of couples giggled while Mr. Nara nodded to the one in charge of the entertainment, and that man told a younger boy to dim the lights. As it was done, a small spotlight began to roam over those who were enjoying that evening. One couple gestured, praying the entertainer not to disturb them, while everyone else stood still. The light passed a couple and stopped on Sanzu and Ran.
Then Haruchiyo was almost determined to scream; why couldn't they let him have a second, just one second to pull himself together and get a couple of ideas in order, geez? But no, instead now they had to do something sweet or worse yet spicy.
"Let's start with you", he said in his voice high and throaty, "tell me four things you love about your partner."
How was one to get out of there? By now Haru was determined to jump to his feet and look for an escape route that not even on the most desperate missions had he needed so badly. He was going to do it, get up, and ...
Before he could escape, Ran laid a large warm hand on his smaller, cooler one. It was kind but Haruchiyo felt his pulse quicken instead of calming. Still, he trusted Ran and did not move, because he felt it was right.
Then Ran began to speak; "His eyelashes ... The growl he makes when he gets angry ... His soul strength," he listed, as he looked intently at the pinkette straight into his eyes. Sanzu remained dumbfounded the whole time looking at him, and Ran had to realize that his speech had become too serious, which is why he gave a smirk and winked at him, before adding, "I find him to be very fiery and aggressive; I'm a colder type, but his fire lights me up in bed."
IDIOT. Haruchiyo leaned his face against the top of his shoulder, hating to death the red heat he sensed on his cheeks.
"Very hot, we even got some pepper," the guy exclaimed before he raised the microphone in the air victoriously and dragged a few couples with him into excited applause. "Now it's the other guy's turn."
Sanzu wished he could have mixed up with the chair, become one, and disappeared forever. He was not inclined to speak romantically, he had long felt that romantic relationships could not be for him, not that he had ever been interested in mushy things but he had always felt that sphere as a gift that was precluded to him. It was only for others. While he had always felt different from them all.
"He looks too much like my brother," he mumbled, after a few seconds of silence. He found the courage to look at Ran and, only in the short time that ran during a blink of an eye, did the purple-haired boy look disappointed for a moment. Not that Haru should have cared if he disappointed Mr. Haitani's feelings. Still, perhaps he could find something better to list, at least try. The other had said some not-unpleasant things about him. "His voice ... His intelligence and manner ... His charisma," Sanzu struggled to list. He was a little awkward; he stumbled a couple of times over his words while he can't stop watching at the table.
It was all true though, right? Ran had a beautiful deep and warm voice; when he was not shouting he could make it sound as smooth as silk. He was undoubtedly intelligent or he would not have been in charge of that kind of mission, although he was unconcerned about other people's feelings, if they were not people he cared about. There was a thing to list as well. Yet he must have forgotten something ...
"The hands," he exclaimed instinctively. Without a doubt, they were better than his voice. He had also seen them just before, as a hand was intertwined with his own; it strange that they had not come to his mind immediately. However, it was too shallow; something more powerful was necessary. He needed to beat Ran Haitani in his own game. "The loyalty and care he has for those he cares about," he concluded, displaying a victorious little smile.
It was less victorious to look up at the room and notice that he was being stared at by everyone, especially Ran, who had a half-smug, half-surprised expression on his slapping face. Oh no ... he had listed more than four things, distracted as he was.
Haruchiyo became furious and thrust his hips toward the older man, growling at him, but when he noticed his smile, he remembered that Ran had listed that trait among the traits he appreciated about him so Haru went back to his seat kinda embarrassed.
God, what a night ... That night he was going to kill the jerk who who was supposed to entertain them but is only sending him to the mental hospital.
Fortunately, the rest of that evening went more quietly; they began serving the dishes, and the young man in charge of entertaining the guests began to focus on Mr. Nara, his wife, and the rest of those people, so Haruchiyo was relieved and he decided that perhaps he would not kill the poor man. In return, he and Ran gorged themselves on all the food they were served, and Haru was grateful for the food so at least they did not have to take the subject of what they had said earlier.
"Doesn't the evening seem too slow again?"
He again, again with the damn microphone.
"No," Sanzu muttered to himself, before biting into the last remnants of the chicken leg that was left.
"So ... everyone on the dance floor, I don't want to see a couple not dancing."
Haruchiyo almost couldn't believe his ears; dancing? He didn't even know how to dance, and there was no way he couldn't spend an evening in peace without being disturbed.
"Let's go, my love," Ran said. He had gotten up together with Mr. Nara, only while the magnate was already in the middle of the dance floor with his wife, the older Haitani was waiting for Haruchiyo to accept the hand he had extended. The pinkette did not seem to give nods of assent but, when every other guest was away, he leaned toward the older.
"I don't know how to dance."
Ran smiled. "I'll lead you, come on get up ... We have to keep acting."
Acting, he said. Haruchiyo felt a little foolish, sure that was what it was all about.
When he didn't mention getting up he was taken by Ran's hand and led to the dance floor against his own will, a will he was forced to seek and find because it was now too late to back out. Of course, it would not have been difficult to pull out the knife and stab the idiot on the stage so he will not come up with new stupid ideas, yet once again he was forced to stop himself because Ran Haitani forced him to do so; in the blink of an eye, he must have sensed what he was thinking because he had taken his right hand and forced Sanzu to press closer against him.
Haruchiyo wondered if that was how girls felt at those traditional festivals when it was time for dances and they held on to the person who was with them. He had never even been to a festival. But now Ran Haitani had put an arm around his waist, and gently lifted one of his hands, and he was only a palm away from him. Just the arrogant, irritating Ran Haitani. They were so close they shared the same air, the older's breath crashing against Sanzu's lips ... and strangely Haruchiyo didn't feel like he wanted to bit Ran to the point of ripping away the convinced smirk.
It was then that soft music started and Ran began to move so Haruchiyo forced himself to keep dancing with him; one foot, after another, then back to the pace of before. It wasn't that hard to not make a mistake, not with Ran holding their hips so close together, so Sanzu just had to lean on him and follow his movements.
Again he looked around expecting to see someone laughing at them, but instead, everyone continued to dance with extreme indifference, only a couple consisting of two other men noticed his gaze and gave them a friendly gaze.
"Are you done worrying about the others?"
Ran's low voice interrupted his stream of consciousness, but Haru did not respond. All that was so strange and normal, it wasn't much like him but he couldn't say he was uncomfortable either.
Ran could move well, as he had handled all that evening well. His stability compared to Sanzu's instability once almost bothered him, perhaps because everyone needed a Ran and not a Haruchiyo. But that attention, that security, all dedicated to him was new and comfortable. Still Haru could not understand why being the center of Ran Haitani's attention was not bothering him.
Could that be what had irritated him in the past? The fact that that attention was never directed at him? That he was too busy behind Mikey to build a good relationship with other people, while Ran Haitani was watching out for his brother and Kakucho, making sure they eat properly during a mission, and that no one hurt them. Haru had not had such a caring friend since Mucho, not a brother nor a father, or even more so a lover.
"And now let's perform THE crucial step of this dance altogether," said the entertainment boy, "drop your partner into a casqué and kiss them."
My goodness. One of Haruchiyo's hands ran to the dagger but Ran was quicker; he flipped the pinkette that went half down, held from the ground only by the older boy's arms, and then he felt two lips rest gently on him.
Sanzu had never been kissed. Or rather, he had exchanged small kisses with Mucho but nothing serious.
But Ran Haitani had intensified the kiss, digging deep inside him, making him feel his tongue on his palate as a shiver went through his body. He held Sanzu firmly against his body and kissed him with great passion. The kiss was ... hungry while Ran didn't give Haru time to breathe, but at the same time it managed to take him out of his mind. Ran's lips were thin but soft as they interlocked perfectly with Sanzu's, playing with them and teasing them sometimes with shorter kisses, and than with some clamps brutally directed at his lower lip. Otherwise, Haru lacked the proper means of judgment, but he could swear that Ran Haitani knew just HOW to kiss a person. And his belly was very warm, to the point that he was experiencing a pleasant ecstatic sensation that washed over him before being released as electricity into his body. He was just a simple boy in the arms of another man, those arms that were keeping him warm while he could't help to feel the caring. It was an experience the only one of his kind.
"Someone separates them or pushes them into a room," Mr. Nara burst out laughing, "we understand that you love each other but PAUSE."
The music had stopped, Haru realized as he abruptly pulled away from Ran, releasing a thin layer of saliva that united them.
"I'd say a great end to the evening," proclaimed Ran, returning to his upright position, perfectly quiet and orderly, with Haru beside him all disheveled and confused. "I hope we will meet again and that you will still want to spend evenings with us Mr. Nara, after all, you are our best customer."
Mr. Nara burst out laughing again. "I know it well and thank you for being with us, your genuine and original love brightened this evening. We will talk business as soon as possible, perhaps with Koko."
There were more greetings and exchanges of cordiality, what was usually said to say goodbye.
"Shall we go home, Princess?" asked Ran, as he extended a long, white hand to Haruchiyo.
The boy, dazed as he was, took a little while to understand what was happening and what he was saying to him but when he understood he took that warm hand and followed Ran out into the chill of the evening.
Rindou was waiting for them in the limousine and seemed a little confused to see them leave the club hand in hand.
When they got inside, Ran smiled contentedly and they suddenly separated, positioning themselves on two different seats.
"You know what I say? That it needs to be done again."
Sanzu huffed at Ran's words and pressed his face against the window, disguising his face to them.