Title: public displays of affection

Author: sllebswap

Characters/Pairing: Miura Haru and Belphegor

Type: One-Shot (Complete)

Genre: General/Romance/Humor

Word Count: 2503

Rating: T (Contains content not suitable for children)

Disclaimer: Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira-san.

Summary: TYL ficlet. Pre-relationship. Most people plant the seeds of love with bashful feelings of tenderness and care. He is more the kind to set the whole field on fire and then flood it for good measure, just for the chaos. Seeds? What seeds? Here; have the whole damn forest.

Chapter Last Revised on: 20/06/19

They had been dancing around each other for quite some time now, or rather, he had been lazily circling her for a while now, and she was determinedly ignoring his interest because she was never quite sure what he was really up to. Sometimes, he was almost…affectionate in his demeanor. Other times, he bullied her to the point where she was fuming and almost in tears, so needless to say, she was honestly quite underwhelmed as far as he was concerned.

"I think….maybe….Belphegor-san likes you," Kyoko cautiously shared her opinion over teatime one day, and the brunette had been so surprised by the comment that she nearly spewed her drink all over herself. Haru barely managed to save herself from the disgrace, and she gaped stupidly at her friend.

"Hahi?" she squawked in pitched surprise. "Kyoko-chan, don't even joke about that, desu!"

"I'm not," the other young woman replied thoughtfully, faintly apologetic at springing her observation on her friend.

"Belphegor-san always ignores everyone else but you-"

Haru scowled at the reminder. "That's because he always likes to mess with Haru, desu!" Just thinking about her last encounter with that annoying man had her fuming all over again. The idiot had decided to follow her all over Namimori that day and it wasn't even as if he had been one bit helpful. If anything, he had just basically gotten in the way of her errands, scared off all of her friends whom she was supposed to meet for lunch, dragged her all over town and also made her his lackey, chauffer and gopher in the process.

Of course, that also meant they ended up spending the whole day with each other and even had lunch and dinner together (which had also driven Haru up the wall because he was so ridiculously fussy with what he wanted to eat and kept changing his mind just to see her turn redder and redder as they walked in and out of restaurants until she was ready to leave him there and go home).

Kyoko wisely decided to drop the subject before Haru could get even more agitated, judging by the piqued expression growing on her face. Eventually, the two spent the rest of the afternoon indulging in delicious cake, catching up with each other and sharing stories, which made Haru feel a lot better by the time they parted ways.

Still, her friend's comment stuck in her mind, much to her aggravation. Kyoko-chan's words circled around her head despite her determination to ignore them.

He? Likes? Her? Haru scoffed incredulously. Maybe pigs would start flying sooner!

A few weeks later, the bane of her existence came sauntering into her life again, all lean-hipped and feline-like, and sporting his usual, devil may care, languid smirk.

Haru could feel her eyelid twitch at his very presence. Next, she looked left and right for somewhere to safely duck behind so that this evil might pass her unscathed. No such luck. She was the only one in the greenhouse and was thus sticking out like a sore thumb. Besides, he had already spotted her and was fast heading her way.

… Dammit.

Haru tried not to grimace.

"Hahi, what are you doing here?" she asked reluctantly when he neared.

"A Prince comes and goes wherever he pleases," he drawled, coming to a stop before her. She had to tip back her head a little to stare at him. She grumbled inwardly, bemoaning her lack of height.

He snickered, amused by her annoyance.

"I'm bored. Let's go play."

She just stared at him. And balked. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "Haru has work to do, and most importantly, why are you asking me to 'play?' Go bother Hayato and the others, desu!"

"They're unavailable; you make an adequate substitute."

Haru was baffled and offended at the same time, a special state of mind that prolonged exposure to the blond before her commonly resulted in.

She did not have long to gape at him, however. Her silence was taken as consent and he grabbed her by the wrist and started to pull her along. Stupefied by his domineering action, she dumbly stumbled after him until it occurred to her that he was dragging her away from work. Haru promptly snapped out of it and applied the brakes, yelping in protest.

"Hahi! Are you hard of hearing, desu? Haru just said that she's working now!"

He waved her indignation away nonchalantly. "You're just frolicking about in the garden," he pointed out. She glowered at him.

"Haru is gathering ingredients because Haru's doing research! Haru only makes it look easy because she's awesome, desu!" she retorted hotly. She also tried to tug her arm free, only to find that it was firmly grasped by him. He was not hurting her, but she wasn't going anywhere without him, either. She paused and stared at their linked appendages again, nonplussed and bewildered. When did they get comfortable with each other enough to the point of this?

Unbidden, Kyoto-chan's comment the last time floated to the surface of her mind, all over again. Haru started to feel uncomfortably warm.

Belphegor snorted, not even seemingly aware that he was causing her no end of confusion.

"Miss Awesome, you've been chosen to accompany this Prince today. You're most welcome for the honor."

Hassled to the point of aggravation, she exclaimed, harried and trying to scare him off. "H-Hahi, why do you keep bothering Haru? Do you like Haru or something?"

He paused at her question.

Turned his head to stare at her.

…And then, a slow smile spread over his face, until he was grinning like an insidious Cheshire cat. "Oh," he purred. "Did you finally notice?"

She, who had been ready to be cantankerous and argumentative, froze, not expecting that response, of all things. She was more expecting him to backpedal in distaste at her accusation and accuse her of wishful thinking or harboring fantasies after his idiotic princely self or something of that sort, not….not this! Whatever this was! The brunette was so stunned she gaped at him in shock.

"Hahi?!" she squeaked.

He cocked his head at her gobsmacked demeanor. It was a rather unflattering expression, but comical all the same. And that was how it had all started. She was animated and amusing to mess with whenever the Varia had to come over to Namimori for the occasional meeting, and after a while, his interest at her cheerful, hectic randomness just snowballed from there…which was also a bit strange, because she wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

She was also really oblivious, too. He had been putting out some rather obvious signs but she was either not registering them at all or plain ignoring them completely…which was something new for him as well. Regardless, she was in for a surprise if she assumed that he would give up easily.

"You must be joking," she blurted out at last.

"And if I'm not?" he enquired airily, and she goggled at him. He lifted a sardonic brow, not that she could see his expression. "Problem?"

"Yes!" she immediately squawked. There was indeed a problem. A very huge problem! "Why would you even like Haru? No-Never mind that, you need to stop liking Haru! Unlike Haru this instant! This makes no sense at all?!"

She could not believe that she was arguing with him over this, and the way he was looking at her at the moment also suggested that he thought her daft for what she had just demanded. Haru did not care; she was still stuck in shock. What did he mean by that? He was always aggravating her to no end, this guy…!

She was flustered, and tried to tug her hand free again. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't letting her go anywhere. He started to stride forward again and pulled her along.

"Come." He dragged her around the corner of the glasshouse, where they promptly disappeared from the sight of the general public. She was unceremoniously backed up against the wall and then he placed his arm along the side of her head, effectively hemming her in.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. She still looked a bit shell-shocked. What on earth is going on. Is this…the legendary…kabedon?

"I'm going to prove something," Belphegor announced, casual as you please. "Respond as you see fit."

Without further ado, he lowered his head and kissed her.

It wasn't a mere, chaste, awkward bumping of mouths, over and done with as quickly as it had begun.

No.

Lean, aristocratic fingers gripped her jaw and tilted her face upwards; he pressed in firmly at the same time, boldly claiming her lips for his own. Her pupils dilated; his entirety filled her vision. His scent; wild, dizzying sharpness of petrichor, destabilized air just before a violent storm, inundated her nose. His barely contained, eclectic energy; the fine hairs on her arms and back of her neck prickled in stark, sizzling awareness.

Her mind went blank, overcome by the candor of his unhesitating possession.

He nipped at her lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but she jerked all the same, pulling back only for him to follow after her, pushing her flat against the wall and pinning her, his raspy tongue swiping at her soft mouth again for more of her taste. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs at the tickling, chaotic sensation. Her insides felt like they were becoming static, woozy and fluttery like a hurricane of butterflies emerging from their chrysalises and struggling to burst right out of her.

He took advantage of her momentary disorientation to drive his point further, his action becoming more deliberate, slow, emphatic. He could have been forceful, but instinct told him that she would not yield easily if he picked that path to breach her defenses.

And he wanted her willing. Oh, he most definitely wanted her willing.

He wanted her unfurling and quivering and unsteady for him. He wanted her squirming with heat and needy and frantic. He wanted her begging for the violence he lusted to unleash on her.

It was devastatingly effective. Haru's knees threatened to buckle. She felt like she was close to hyperventilating, perpetually breathless. He was stealing all of her air. She could not think at all, because it seemed like 90% of her brain cells had gone into stasis and the remaining 10% was raptly hyperfocused on the sinful sensation of his mouth glued to hers, languidly sucking at her flesh, white teeth nibbling, sensual, erotic, devouring-

Sensory overload.

It was all too much. She had never been subjected to this sort of relentless hunger before, in all of her life on this earth. She whined in distress, eyes squeezed shut, dizzying vertigo as if her world had just been ripped off of its axis and then tipped onto its side.

Belphegor licked his lips slowly as he pulled back reluctantly. She was delightful. Tantalizing so. Sundrenched wildflowers in a soft, verdant meadow, the delicate, teasing hint of untamed sweetness so light and maddening, he greedily wanted to have more.

This…she was much better than he had originally expected.

His veiled gaze was turbulent, almost feral-tinged as he stared at her in sharp wonder…good thing she could not see how much trouble she was in, now.

He made himself release her, one finger at a time. Much to his rising amusement, she swayed forward precariously once he let her go, still caught in this gravitation, before catching herself. Still so dazed, it was almost as if she was thunderstruck with disbelief that it could be so good between them.

They stared at each other.

"I believe-" His voice was low, rough, almost hypnotic in quality. She focused on him slowly. "-I've proven my point. Or would you require a more…explicit demonstration?"

Haru's eyes widened, and then she frantically slapped her hand over her mouth, rosy red and sensitive swollen and still haunted by the ghost of that kiss. She wasn't going to forget it for a long time to come, that much she knew. She turned a bright, furious pink. Her brain was coming back online again and promptly found a lot of issues to be upset about.

"Hahi!" she screeched softly, and her voice tremored tellingly. "N-No! Haru will not accept this ki- this! It's impossible! Haru does not even like you, desu!"

Belphegor shrugged uncaringly at her accusation. "I'm a Prince; handsome, rich, and dangerously good at what I do. You'll find something to like eventually, I'm sure."

His arrogance was so overwhelming, it nearly blew her backwards. She gave him a flabbergasted stare, so wholly unimpressed before she realized that she had bigger fish to fry. Her hand still clamped safely over her mouth, she pointed at him accusingly.

"You kissed Haru without her permission! Give Haru her innocence back, you-you blackguard! Knave! Miscreant!"

He could not help it; he was grinning. Blackguard? Knave? Miscreant? She was being comically strange, as usual. And give her innocence back? Had she never been kissed before?

"I did preface that I intended to prove a point…which I did. Without a doubt," he pointed out deliberately, which only made her turn a shade darker in mortification.

"It proves nothing, because Haru was surprised and kissed against her will!"

"You kissed back, though," he retorted silkily, and her mouth opened furiously to retort only to snap shut fruitlessly because he was right, damn him.

"Haru still does not like you," she spluttered, but it was hard for her emotions to translate properly because she still had her hand over her mouth and everything she said was muffled. "You bully Haru and make Haru upset all the time. You're messing with Haru again!"

"And I'll keep doing it too, 'coz you're pretty funny when you're pissed off."

Her temple throbbed at his smug audacity. There was no difference to his behavior at all and she did not even know why she bothered to be surprised. And how come it also sounded more and more like he was planning to stick around? That forbidding feeling of doom encroached upon Haru. The brunette shook her head and started to sidle away, although she wasn't very subtle about it. He did not stop her, only continued to watch her with that infernal devilish expression on his face.

"Haru." The slow, slow way he purred her name for the very first time made her shiver, and she stared at him, eyes wide. He smiled.

"The more you struggle, the more fun this is for me, you know that, right?"

[ Afterwards, he spirits her (protesting) away to TakeSushi for lunch and it slowly begins to dawn on her that they (may or may not) have been going on (many) dates all this time. She has an existential crisis just as Tsuyoshi pops up from behind the counter and greets the 'lovebirds.' She glares murder at him like this is all his fault. He cackles. ]

::owari::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

Okay, all I wanted to do was read up on some gardening articles but my brain took a hard right and decided that it needed some BelHaru nownownownow so this was what happened. No context, but at least now I can peacefully go back to my 'kokedama basics 101' research.

Anyway, Belphegor is an eternal 6-year-old when it comes to the things (and people) he likes and I think it shows, lol.

Hope you guys enjoyed~!

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

-sllebswap