What make us to be ourselves 2

Coby sneezed and started coughing so much that Shoichi had to bring her a glass of water to drink.

"Maybe I will just stay with you." He said for a countless time today, adjusting the blanket on her bed. The girl snorted.

"Like hell you will!" she yelled, irritated by his overprotectiveness. "Sho-chan, it's just a cold! And besides, you are going out tonight."

They were arguing about that for more than two days now and she had enough of it for the time being. Even though his looking after her was helplessly cute.

"I'm not sure I should." Shoichi sighed yet again, taking now empty glass from her hand and sitting in the leg of her bed.  She rolled her eyes at him.

"If you don't, how should I know? Look, make up your mind, would you? In one minute you say you're going, in another that you're not! You're worse than me sometimes, Sho-chan!"

"It's not that easy!" he answered, burying his hands in his hair, combing through it with desperation. Feeling that they were getting at it yet again, Coby resigned from being reprimanding, trying to light his spirits instead. Changing her position on the bed, she forced him to lie with her, with sure movements taking his hands and putting them around herself.

"You know that normally it would be very ambiguous situation, don't you?" he asked, a little calmer, feeling her small hands stroking his back in soothing circles. The only answer was a giggle that made her tremble and Shoichi had to laugh too, as her hair was tickling his nose.

Yesterday, the two of them had fiery snow fight and as a result, Coby was bedridden with an awful flu, high temperature making her weak and not very conscious during the day. In the evening however, she regained a little of her usual wit and the problem about party with Gesso resurfaced from under other worries Sho-chan was storing in his head.

When the time came to start preparing, they still weren't agreed as for what to do.

"You can always say I called and asked you to stay with me." Coby said, when he was wondering how to make Byakuran leave him alone. "but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go. Maybe it will be fun?"

Shoichi just nodded, wallowing in self-doubts on the nearby armchair. Even though he had the clothes to change in with himself when he came to see her, he was still as messy as ever. Working on some game, he said. Oh well, that didn't mean she couldn't take care of him, as a woman should do with a man.

"Don't move yet, Sho-chan!" she yelled. He obediently stilled.

"Listen Coby, I'm not sure…" Shoichi began, squirming uncomfortably on his chair, but she cut him off.

"No more of that, Sho-chan. You're going and basta." She said, combing his unruly hair with so many strange brushes, that he wasn't aware that existed for hair!

When Byakuran gave Shoichi a call that he was waiting outside the dorms, Coby had to force her redhead into his jacket and push outside, just in the door reminding him that if he didn't like it, he always could give her a call and come back. As he looked a little relieved, remembering that, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and closed the door behind him quickly. She noticed some guy coming closer on the corridor and she wasn't even dressed properly.

Listening to their greeting, Byakuran's enthusiastic and Sho-chan's a little shaky, through the barrier of the door, Coby laughed quietly to herself. Feeling a little dizzy from fever again, she took from her dressing-gown's pocket Shoichi's cell phone and threw it up in the air, with mischievous grin.

"You can always call, Sho-chan." Catching it, she went back to bed.

But she couldn't know, how much trouble that little prank caused.
/
Byakuran ran through the corridors of the dorms, trying to remember where had he met Shoichi some hours ago today. He was quite sure it was somewhere around here, but all doors looked the same and he didn't remember the number of the proper room. Being so focused on his Shoichi, he didn't notice anything else and only the fact that he lost redhead now, was the reason he was going desperately around, looking for him.

At this hour, there was no one to ask, no one to talk to and Byakuran cursed mentally. Between the Christmas and the New Year's, the dorms were nearly empty, especially the part the international students, like Shoichi, lived in. But, it should be somewhere around here…

Panting from running, he tried knocking the door in the middle, but there was no answer. Supporting his hands on his knees, he was thinking in slight panic what to do now, in his mind going through all places Shoichi could be in, when he heard some soft rustling behind the door he had just knocked on. In the same moment he quickly straighten up, the door opened.

Seeing some blonde girl in a dressing-gown, Byakuran nearly jumped and kissed her in grateful attempt. She looked as if she had just woke up, what wasn't so strange on 2 am, but she might have known something…

"Forgive me for interrupting your sleep, miss." He said, beaming his characteristic smile at her.

"Did something happen?" she asked, yawning, at the same time finishing tying her robe in the middle. Having achieved that, she leaned on the frame of the open door and watched him lazily. That pose, that wavy, fair hair and her elegant voice, everything rang a bell in Byakuran's worried mind, even if he still didn't know about what.

The girl raised her hand to stifle another yawn.

"Are you by any chance, Byakuran Gesso?" she asked, startling him. He was aware that whole campus knew who he was, but he had never thought his fame would help him in such situation. More so not with unknown female student…

A glint of silver on her wrist made his mind click in recall.

"And you are Shoichi-kun's gir-, I mean, friend?" when she nodded, he didn't let her say anything, right away jumping on the chance "do you know where he is now?"

The girl blinked in surprise. "I thought he was supposed to be with you, Gesso-san."

Byakuran moaned inwardly hearing such an answer, but he kept the smile on his face. The girl looked sick, ah yes, it seemed that Shoichi said something about her being not well…

"We were together but I somehow made him upset and he ran off somewhere." He said with a sigh, hanging his head low in repentance. Scratching on his nape, he laughed quietly, as if embarrassed that he involved her in some private issues of him and Shoichi.

"What did you do?" the girl's voice made him twitch in surprise. Looking quickly up, he was amazed, how much she changed in a blink of an eye. She was no more lazily leaning on the frame, she straightened up, her eyes were narrowed and watched him with suspicion. Her voice was sharp, without any traces of previous sleepiness.

"I said something he misunderstood and that…"

"What did you do, Gesso-san?" the girl didn't let him end his sentence, uncrossing her hands. He didn't know why, but it somehow made him shiver.

Not knowing exactly why, he stepped closer to her and, whispering with broken voice, he confessed everything that changed a pleasant evening into messed up race of guilt. The girl didn't laugh or ask for more as he expected her to; she was just nodding from time to time, as if her worst suspicions were met. Surprisingly enough, he felt better after doing that, even if she was still looking at him with that strict expression of a teacher in her eyes.

"So please, if you see him, tell him I'd like to talk with him. To explain myself." He finished miserably. Looking at him must have been quite suggestive how sincere he was, because she finally relaxed, her features not so sharp anymore.

"I will. If he wants to talk with you, that is."

"Thank you. It was a pleasure to finally meet you…" with a surprise, Byakuran realized that he didn't remember her name. Quite sure that Shoichi mentioned it more than once, he thought it would come to him when he wanted to address her, but even so there was nothing, darkness, emptiness!

"Coby." The girl smiled faintly, seeing his distress. It seemed to amuse her, not offend and Byakuran sighed with relief in his mind. Nodding politely he turned on his heels to walk away, when another thought hit him and he looked back at the girl again.

"Excuse me, but from what name is…"

"It seems that I haven't introduced myself properly yet" she smiled with some irony, but her eyes were gentle now "I'm Cobra Cavallone. It's nice to meet you, signore Byakuran Gesso."

Turning around and leaving stunned man outside, she closed the door behind herself as an undisputable  goodbye. She stayed there for a minute, waiting for the sound of his steps to fade, before sighing heavily and walking hesitantly to the kitchen. Coby prepared the tea; going in the room with the cups, she turned on the light and sat by the table. She sighed again.

"He is gone. You may come out now."  

Shoichi peeked outside the blanket he was covered with, finally getting his head out of the safe hideout of under the duvet. His face was pale, contracted and wet from tears.

"That's what I get for trying to be a normal guy" he said, his voice thick and irritated, when he violently wiped the tears off of his face with his arm, his glasses long gone in the layers of blanket. Coby looked at him tiredly, supporting her head on her hand. She waited.

"I wonder why did I even consider going ANYWHERE with him! As much as a womanizer as he is, what I was there for?! For him to win the bet, who cares about me!"

"Sho-chan, you are not making sense." Coby reminded him gently, handing over a cup with steaming tea. The boy ignored her and went on.

"It was all set up! I should have known, it was too good to be true… but even so, I don't get it!" Shoichi messed his already messy hair even more, ruffling through the strands with both hands, his tea cup between his knees, forgotten. "Why was he so nice to me… ow, ow, ow, my stomach hurts…"

Coby looked at him with raised eyebrow, staying still even though every tear that angered Sho-chan shed, made her heart grieve. Finally, not being able to bear it, she sat on the bed near him, hugging him closely and letting him wet her pyjamas and dressing-gown as much as he wanted. Knowing full well that the crying will end eventually and rather quickly, Coby was already preparing for mad Sho-chan, a state that seemed quite impossible for those who didn't know Sho-chan enough. But she did and she did well.

But nothing like that happened. The tears ceased, but Shoichi didn't move from Coby's arms, staying still and quiet for such a long time she thought he fell asleep. Hearing finally his voice, suddenly very cool and matter-of-fact, made her shiver from its strangeness…
/
Shoichi was tired. His head hurt, the music was too loud and thumping like a group of elephants on the savannah, making his heart go wild with every change of the DJ. After they got here, Byakuran got immediately sucked into the crowd, greeting everyone and with everyone at the same time. The villa that party was organised in, was a property of one of Gesso's friends and it was situated near the University's campus; it was the reason why Shoichi agreed so easily to take part in the event. The thought that in any moment he could go out and join Coby, was strangely reassuring.

Looking miserably into the glass he was holding, Shoichi wondered what was that that he had just drank. The glass was empty now, however, it still smelled with something sweet. He couldn't believe anything non-alcoholic like a juice to be on such a party, so he decided it must have been one of those colourful drinks that were being distributed on small tables, scattered all over the place. Shoichi clicked his tongue; it didn't taste half bad. Maybe he should take another one? Nah, maybe not. It was late after midnight and he thought it to be the best time to leave unnoticed.

He turned around to find his way through dancing crowd, when the world swirled in a mini-typhoon of colours. Whoa! What WAS in that drink? He didn't know he got that drunk in such a short amount of time! Shoichi felt that his knees went weak all of the sudden and he had a strong urge to get a breath of a fresh air, so strong that even if stumbling and tripping, he directed his unsure steps to the balcony entrance in the next room.

It was the end of the December, the weather was cold and snowy and yet, he felt incredibly good, standing outside in his short-sleeved t-shirt of 'animal tamer', when wind was going through his hair. The stuffiness of rooms was overwhelming him and any minute more there and he would go insane. Sniffing the air that smelled like rain and smoke, Shoichi ignored a soft rustling from behind him.

"You will catch a cold, Shoichi-kun." He heard a gentle voice in his ear, along with a fuzzy softness of his own jacket falling on his trembling shoulders. He didn't notice he was so cold, but right now, he was too drunk to actually care. A snowflake fell on his nose and Shoich made a cross-eye to see how it melted on his skin.

"There is something calming in winter, don't you think Byakuran-san?" he asked, out of the blue, but albino didn't seem to be much concerned about that.

"After such a party, everything is calming, Shoichi-kun." He answered, pointing behind himself. Supporting himself on the balustrade, he started to play with buttons of redhead's hood.

Not knowing what the other meant, Shoichi leaned with his back on the balustrade as well, looking up and closing his eyes when snowflakes were falling straight into his eyes even despite his glasses. He felt a chill running down his spine, so he tightened his jacket, hiding his naked arms in the sleeves. Only when the warmth of another body drew near, did he twitch.

"Are you cold, Shoichi-kun?" merely a whisper, but made Shoichi shiver, when Byakuran's warm breath fanned his face. It smelled pleasantly of some alcohol and apples, meaning that Gesso was at least as drunk as he was… don't knowing why, that thought made him laugh.

He tried to turn around, but he discovered he couldn't. Byakuran's arms were restricting him from both sides, supported on the balustrade, imprisoning him in the cage made of Italian's body. Not that he minded, that seemed funny enough too and was funny until he looked up, straight into the other's eyes.

The music was drumming in his ears, but his heart was jumping no more. Instead, it froze for a moment, a moment that lasted eternity when a pair of violet eyes captured his. He didn't even know if he was breathing during that time, probably not, judging from the way he had to draw in a breath when Byakuran lowered his face, to hide it in the crook of Shoichi's neck.

"Shoichi-kun…" he felt Byakuran's lips on his neck, not exactly touching, but still quite there and he started to panic. Not knowing what to do, to push him away or to pull closer, Shoichi did neither. Just stayed still in confused, shy silence.

"Shoichi-kun…" again! That whisper, that provoking voice calling his name! Byakuran's nose touched his neck and a place behind his ear, as if searching for something, the touch so light like butterfly's wings… and music, music drumming again…!

"Sho-chan…" Byakuran's lips were warm and gentle, when he caressed Shoichi's own. Unconsciously, redhead surrendered to the feeling, clenching his hands on Byakuran's jacket not to fall down, this way only pulling him closer and closer still. It somehow felt right; after all that time, after wanting, missing, feeling something strange, it felt like salvation, like resolution to all his problems…  

Byakuran tasted like whisky with apple juice.

When the kiss ended, Shoichi hid his burning face in the other's jacket, feeling suddenly very unsure and confused. The panic was rising in him again fast, but before he decided if he should run away or disappear for the rest of his life, Byakuran hugged him closer and tighter.

"Sho-chan, Sho-chan, Sho-chan…" he chanted like a mantra, with so much warmth in his voice that Shoichi shivered. It was a strange feeling, being called in such a way that no one other than Cobra did until now. He sighed mentally. They both hated their names; hers was causing bad connotations and his was lame, according to Shoichi himself. So then, while still kids and friends, they created a nicknames, promising to call each other like that. Sho-chan and Coby.  

Byakuran kissed his forehead, singing his name over and over, then moved to his cheek and down again, to taste his lips…

"Hey, look at that! Gesso is snogging his new victim!"

"Woohoo, who would have thought it will be that fast? The last one was two days ago, wasn't she…"

"And hey, it's that redhead from Physics…!"

Byakuran turned half-around, growling at the people standing there to shut the fuck up and leave them alone, but Shoichi tensed in his arms. He heard the others clearly and the conclusion was persistently fighting its way through his clouded mind. Having reached his brain, it yelled so loud and straight-forward, that Shoichi had to hug his head with his arms, for it not to explode.

"Sho-chan? You alright?" the voice from above him made him stand up straight and threw the person away as far as he could. The drumming of the music made his heart speed up, adrenaline rushing through his veins, screaming: 'run! run, damnit!'.
"Don't fucking touch me." He barked, not caring how hurt Byakuran looked, now seeing how deceptive his looks were. Not looking back, he walked fast to the exit, stumbling only once and even that only because of the crowd. He knew that Byakuran was shouting after him to wait, but he didn't want to hear that. Actually running, once he got outside, Shoichi couldn't see clearly in the rain that was falling down… rain? No, he was crying…

Cursing for his eyes that made him look like a heartbroken teenage girl, Shoichi started to sob even more, taking all short-cuts he was aware of, to get to the dorms as fast as possible. Somewhere along the way, he must have lost Byakuran, because he couldn't hear anything like steps behind him anymore, but he didn't care. Now, the only thing that he had in mind was to get to Coby and yell so much that he would wake up the whole campus.

His stomach started to hurt.
/
The Christmas break was over and the dorms were again full of people, coming back from their homes. The campus yet again was filled with students of all specializations and fields, making it loud, lively and simply, calmingly familiar.

Even so, Byakuran was in vain waiting for Shoichi to appear.

He was leaning on the pillar at the entrance of the Physics and Astronomy Department, waiting for… he actually didn't know what or who for. That blonde girl didn't contact him and didn't even answer when he called her. Not that he expected her to, but still, it was somehow annoying. Sighing, he decided it was a high time for him to get going if he wants to make it on time for the other half of the lecture that he actually escaped from, but when he turned around just to go into different corridor, he was stopped in his tracks.

The blonde from that day, Coby was it?, stood before him, with her fair head cocked to the side. She looked quite pretty in her fine linen blouse and long skirt in colours of the earth and Byakuran noticed with pleasure that all guys present in the hall were looking at the both of them; at him with envy and at her with interest. He watched her with his usual happy-go-lucky smile, when another feature of her looks made him twitch.

Oh fuck. A hair ribbon.

The one Shoichi gave her for Christmas.

"I think you want to invite me for a coffee, seniore Gesso." He heard her saying, her voice low, but clear and proud. Byakuran blinked.

"I do?"

"Of course." She looked at him with these sharp, green eyes of a mermaid.

"What for, signorina Cavallone?" he asked, interested against himself. Coby looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"We have to talk." She answered, turning on her heels and going straight to the café, not once looking behind to check if he was following her. Byakuran felt a shiver running down his spine; it seemed that even if he missed one lecture, he was going to get another one. And this seemed to be far more important than philosophy of Aristotle that he escaped from.