Summary: Theirs may not be the perfect romance, but it's good enough for him.

SkyGem: I know, I know what you guys are thinking. SkyGem writing romance? Has hell frozen over? I've been thinking about this for a while now though, and I'm glad I finally got a chance to do it. It's totally different from what I usually write though, so I sure do hope it comes out alright.

The first time Hayato saw Sawada Tsunayoshi, they were at a party hosted by Hayato's classmates, the Rokudo twins.

And the boy with the burnt orange waistcoat and the black skinny jeans and the lace-up boots was so different, Hayato found himself wondering for hours afterwards how their worlds could have aligned for even the briefest of moments.

Hayato didn't speak to him that first night.

Mostly, he observed the boy around his own interactions with the few other people at the party that he could actually stand spending any amount of time with.

Despite being so undeniably strange, the boy seemed to draw people to him like moths to an open flame.

He was friendly, with a charming smile that could melt the coldest of hearts, and when Hayato saw him talking to the twins at one point during the night, he could tell both the elder and the younger Rokudo were absolutely smitten with him.

It was actually during his conversation with the twins when Hayato made eye contact with him for the first and last time that night.

They locked gazes for what seemed like eons, but was in fact probably just a few seconds, and Hayato felt all the breath leave his body. In those seconds, he thought he might have seen something like a kindred spirit.

But then Mukuro had claimed his attention back and he had turned away, and his and Hayato's worlds were once again separate.

Hayato didn't look at him again for the rest of the night.

The next time Hayato saw Sawada Tsunayoshi was approximately a month after that party at the Rokudos' residence, and he had all but forgotten about the boy with molten chocolate eyes.

He was standing behind the cash register at his part time job, cranky and counting down the minutes until the end of the shift, when the bell over the door rang, and he looked up to see the strange boy walk in, hair brushed back neatly, and wearing an expensive suit that looked tailor made to fit the contours of his body.

Evidently, the boy had remembered Hayato as well.

"You're a friend of Mukuro and Chrome's, aren't you?" he asked in slightly accented Italian, smiling crookedly as he approached the register. "I saw you at the party last month."

"I have some classes with them, and we run in a few of the same social circles," Hayato replied with a shrug, and the boy's eyes seemed to light up in interest.

"So you go to the same school as them?" he asked, leaning forward and looking more excited than he had any right to be, considering they were talking about Hayato's shitty school, of all things.

"Uh…duh?" replied Hayato, raising an eyebrow and looking strangely at the boy.

Catching the look, the boy's face immediately turned bright red and he backed away a bit.

"Sorry," he replied, laughing self-consciously at himself. "I don't really get to meet their school friends very often, so…"

Hayato frowned in confusion, opening his mouth to ask a question, when the bell over the door rang again and his co-worker walked in with a cheerful greeting.

Returning the greeting, Hayato turned surprised eyes on the clock, surprised to find that the last ten minutes of his shift had flown by while he was talking to this strange boy.

"My shift's over," he said, turning back to the guy as his co-worker went into the back to put her things away. "But if you don't have anywhere else to be, would you like to grab a coffee?"

To be honest, Hayato had no clue where those words had come from; it's not like he was usually a very social person. Quite the opposite in fact. But with the way the kid grinned wide at his invitation, he couldn't really bring himself to regret his words.

A few minutes later found Hayato on the other side of the counter, back in his casual clothes with his uniform in a drawstring bag slung over one shoulder.

The kid was waiting patiently, hands neatly in front of him and looking around at the store curiously.

It wasn't until they were walking out the door that it occurred to Hayato to ask, "What did you go in there to buy, anyways?"

The kid smiled sheepishly at the question.

"Nothing," he said, looking away. "I was on my way home when I saw you through the window and recognized you from the twins' party. I regretted not talking to you back then, so I decided to change that."

Even though he was still looking away, his neck and the tips of his ears were pink, and Hayato could tell he was blushing.

He felt his own face grow hot as he wondered if this could count as flirting.

SkyGem: Can you tell Hayato's never had a boyfriend/girlfriend before? He's such a dork. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this short little chapter! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought! Kudos to anyone who can guess what this fic is based on XD

P.S. I'd so appreciate it if y'all could take a few moments to send a lil extra love my way. Today's been really difficult for me, and some kind words from all my lovely readers would go a long way to helping improve my mood. If y'all want to know what's going on in my life, feel free to shoot me an ask on tumblr. My url is skygemspeaks.