Title: Happy New Year

Author: sllebswap

Characters/Pairing: Miura Haru and Belphegor

Type: One-Shot (Complete)

Genre: General/Romance/Humor

Word Count: 1898

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira-san.

Summary: TYL ficlet. Preestablished relationship. In which Haru is an affectionate drunk and Belphegor has opinions about it.

Chapter Last Revised on: 31/12/18

He was minding his own business when she floated over to his corner of the hall.

There was a soft glow on her face, a gentle rosy hue dusting her cheeks and her large chocolate brown eyes were shining like stars. She was dressed nicely too, in a knee length, bell-sleeved empire dress that complimented her waifish figure, with matching ballet flats.

She would never be considered classically beautiful or breathtakingly gorgeous, but there was something…gently magnetic about her features that made her stand out, all the same. She was pleasantly pretty, the way a stalk of wildflower simply was, and just as resilient.

All the women of the mafia were like that, up to a certain extent. Those who weren't strong enough tended not to survive long otherwise.

He remained silent as she drifted to a stop before him, tilting her head back so that she could look at him. She smiled, petal pink lips curving softly like a welcome-home embrace.

Pretty as a flower.

He slowly lifted his shadowed gaze from where it had lingered on the softness of her mouth to meet her bright eyes.

"Yes?" There was an indulgent purr in the decadent, silken quality of his voice, brought on by the warm, pleasant buzz of bourbon running languidly through his veins.

It was New Year's Eve. The annual end-of-year party in the Vongola Manor was in full swing, and the entire property was filled with merrymaking allies and friends of the most powerful Famiglia in the world. He had just arrived together with Squalo and Fran as the Varia representatives; it would be a cold day in hell before Xanxus would willingly attend such a thing, so his Commanders would have to do in his stead.

Not that it was much of a chore for any of the trio.

She beamed delightedly at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "You came, desu."

"Yes." She was asking the obvious, but then again, he didn't think that she was entirely in a lucid frame of mind at the moment. "And you're drunk."

Her lower lip turned out a hair in a little pout. "Am not," she denied with confused petulance. He was both reluctantly fascinated and entertained by this unusually coy side of her.

"No? You look drunk to me," he pointed out. She puffed out her cheeks.

"Am not," she insisted again, frowning at him. "Hahi, I'm very good at drinking!" she boasted.

"Really." His tone was dry.

She nodded. "Really!"

That trickle of amusement grew even more. He refrained from replying and took a sip from his glass instead, carefully eyeing the way she was swaying a bit. The corners of his lips threatened to lift up in a smirk.

Not drunk, my foot.

"…Belphegor?"

"What is it?"

"I just remembered something very important."

He gazed at her wordlessly over the rim of his drink.

She smirked back at him. It was weirdly adorable. Weird…because he was not accustomed to using that term to describe anyone.

"I just realized that…you put the 'ass' in 'assassin.' Hehe." She was very amused by her own joke, and her shoulders shook slightly with her mirth. It made all the sense to her!

He cocked his head slowly, with an air very much like an alert leopard focused stilly on a disoriented doe that had stumbled onto its path.

"…Are you trying to pick me up, woman?"

She blinked owlishly at him, her amusement fading a little at his deliberate question.

"Hahi…no?" She shook her head after mulling it through for beat or two. "I'm not. You're too heavy, I can't possibly pick you up," she pointed out logically.

He stared at her.

She was unaffected by the intensity of his gaze. She lifted her hand and gestured for him to come close. She smiled sweetly, so, so sweetly.

He was very sure he had never seen her look at him like that before, so beguiling.

…Adorable, his brain promptly concluded…again. In the very next instant, he was filled with the violent urge to kick something, hard, just to get rid of that stupidly nonsensical thought. Adorable? Adorable? What the hell.

"Bend down a little, Belphegor."

Increasingly bemused and nonplussed, he did as she requested, curious to know what she wanted to do. She tiptoed at the same time and brushed her lips against his cheek. It was a chaste, innocuous peck, but the mesmerizing warmth of those petal lips seared his skin.

"Happy new year," she breathed, and that subtly sweet scent that he had come to associate with her tantalized his nose. Just like that, something clenched in his gut, hard and primal and all pure instinct.

She withdrew just as quickly as she leaned in, before he could grab her. She beamed at him once more. Petted his hand like an affectionate grandma.

And while he was still wondering what the effing hell was going on, she had tottered off again.

He watched her with narrowed eyes as she wandered over to Fran next, the latter skulking in another corner, apathetically asocial as usual. He watched as she petted the green-haired teen on his froggy hat and exchange friendly words with the deadpan male, and then he watched as she smiled sweetly and gestured for the other Varia to come closer-

A burst of intense irritation filled him the moment he figured out what was going to happen next.

Oh, hell no.

He was moving even before he knew it, his empty glass shoved into the hands of some random, unsuspecting guest as he quickly stalked towards the pair. Before she could merrily deliver her Happy New Year message to his fellow Commander, he reached out and snatched her backwards, right into his arms. Haru yelped, tipping her head back until she bumped into his chest, visibly bewildered by her sudden position.

"E-Eh?"

Fran's bored teal green eyes met his aggravated veiled ones. Still, there was no change of expression in the Mist Flame Wielder; the older Varia Commander was usually either pissed or crazy three quarters of the time, anyway.

"Bel senpai," the teen intoned. "Haru-san was about to tell me something."

"Not anymore, she isn't, fucking froggy," he snapped irritably, his fingers tightening slightly even more on Haru's shoulders. His gaze shifted back to the tipsy young woman in his arms. His lips tipped downwards in a scowl.

"You're coming with me."

Without another word, he turned and pulled her out of the banquet hall. Haru's eyes widened and she stumbled clumsily after him, almost tripping on her own two feet.

"Hahi! W-wait!"

Unfortunately for the brunette, Belphegor did not stop until they arrived in a secluded alcove, and he tugged her into it. She was promptly backed against a wall, and he was still staring hard at her.

"What," he started in a dangerous drawl, "do you think you're doing?"

She blinked at him, as if surprised by his proximity.

"…What do you think you're doing?" she echoed back slowly. His brow twitched.

"That's my line!" he growled with exasperation. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing…?" She was perplexed by his demanding question.

They were going absolutely nowhere, that was what. And it was driving him nuts. He looked increasingly livid.

"You! Going around, kissing unsuspecting people!" he barked. "You were gonna kiss the damn frog too, weren't you?"

And damn if he didn't sound pissed off at the recollection all over again, in a jealous sort of way.

She stared at him with intense interest, but Belphegor was beyond giving any fucks at the moment. This woman was terribly overfriendly as always-

"Actually, how many other people have you kissed today, you better come clean now and give up all of their names-"

"Only one, desu," she interrupted before he could gather steam and go on a rant. Her hand reached up, her fingers gently petting his cheek where her lips had touched earlier. "Only one."

She leaned in and kissed his jawline, and then the corner of his lips, still curled downwards in an annoyed glower. Her hands cradled the sides of his head and drew him downwards, and she kissed him some more, peppering the rest of his face with her brand of sweet, tender affection until he eventually got the point.

He took over quickly then, impatient, nipping her lower lip in punishment, making her squeak, before he sealed his mouth possessively over hers and kissed the holy hell out of her. Her knees went weak at the onslaught of his scorching, ferocious ardor, but he had her pinned so firmly between himself and the wall there was nowhere for her to retreat. His arm locked taut around her waist, his fingers digging into her rear, touching her boldly, laying his claim. His mouth slanted against hers again and again, prying her lips apart, pushing his tongue into her to seek its mate. She tasted like mulled wine and cider, warm and heady and he could not seem to get enough.

She squirmed against him, gasping when he nipped her again, her eyes going foggy at the sharp bite of lust that seemed to seize her every time he put his hands on her.

"Bel-" she mumbled against his mouth, an increasing restlessness inhabiting her, nibbling and sucking and kissing him back with all the frantic passion she could muster. Her heart was beating so hard in the cage of her chest, she thought that she was going to explode. Her hands gripped the collar of his jacket, clutching him close. It was a while before they finally parted for air, both panting hard.

"S-Stupid," she half-scolded, half-stuttered once she caught her breath back, tugging at his mint gold hair and drawing a disgruntled, grumpy growl out of him. "All my kisses are yours."

His response was to drag her over to the unoccupied bench at the corner and pull her down beside him. She plopped unceremoniously onto his side, exhausted from the day long festivities and happy to finally rest for a while. She hadn't been sure that she would actually get to see him this evening; he had been running a spate of missions for Varia that entire month and she hadn't seen hide or hair of him for weeks already. It was getting to the point where even she was starting to wonder if she actually had a boyfriend still.

"I want to crawl between your bare thighs, sink deep into you and then pass out for a week," he muttered back crossly and without preamble. Very romantic, he was.

His blatant, unapologetic desire of her made her shiver with anticipation. He had never left her guessing when it came to this…thing between them. He was never hesitant, or shy, or nervous when it came to what he wanted, and he always made it clear enough that he wanted her. Sometimes she wondered why that was so, but mostly she liked that he was so…physically demonstrative. Sometimes violently, viscerally so…but they were slowly working on that.

"I love you too," she mumbled unthinkingly back, pressing her face into the sleeve of his Varia jacket.

He paused. Swiveled his head and looked down at her. She wasn't paying him any heed, her eyes closed, sleepy now.

"…What did you just say?"

"Mm. Happy new year?"

"That wasn't what you said!"

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

Happy new year to all! I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that there are still quite a few BelHaru fans lurking around (yay!)! I'm happy to be contributing to this rarepair again, hehe. Thanks for the welcome-backs, all of ya!

This drabble was a response to a prompt that SwedishFanFictionLover had requested…though I think I might have ended up mixing two of the prompts up somehow – sorry about that! Hope you enjoyed, all the same!

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Am still accepting prompts! Hit me up on tumblr and send some over if you have any~

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Your reviews make me update faster; so please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-sllebswap