The First meeting

Roppi hated public transportation. There were so many humans all pressed close together. Disgusting. But Izaya refused to get a car- Roppi was half convinced that it was just because he took sadistic pleasure in making Roppi suffer- and so Roppi was forced to choose whether or not to walk or take the train everyday. There was no contest really. the streets were just as packed at this time of the morning. Also it took forever to walk from his apartment into Ikebukero and if there was anything Roppi hated more then humans it would be waking up even earlier in the mornings.

"Achoo!" sneezed the tall blond standing next to him.

"Bless you…" muttered Roppi instinctually and then cursed himself. Blessing someone after they sneezed was a western custom, one that this stranger probably wasn't even familiar with-

"Thank you." beamed the blond haired man at him and Roppi was taken aback to find that this person had red eyes just like him that shone brightly behind round glasses.

"Don't mention it…" muttered Roppi turning away and ignoring the stranger again.

They spent the rest of the ride into town in silence.

The Second

Roppi had been pretending to be reading on the train so that no one would talk to him. The dark aura he exuded usually did the job just fine, but there was always idiots in the world who needed a little extra hint.

"Achoo!" sneezed someone right behind him startling him so much he drooped his book.

"Bless you…" he muttered distractedly as he picked up his book sparing the person in question a glance realizing that it was the same man from before.

"Thanks." replied the man earnestly.

"hmm…" said Roppi warily as it looked like the blond was going to say something. Quickly Roppi opened his book to shut off further conversation.

"You don't like people much, do you?" commented the blond man shyly.

"Hah?" said Roppi startled looking up sharply. How could he have possibly known that?

"You've been reading that book upside down for quite some time." said the man with a nervous laugh.

"I see." said Roppi feeling his face heat up as he turned the book the right way up. He heard the man next to him suck in a sharp breath.

"What?" demanded Roppi glaring at him.

"Y-you're really cute." he stammered out before realizing what he said and turning crimson, "Uh- erm- I mean-"

"…whatever…" said Roppi raising his book this time to cover his face to cover the heat that he could feel spread to the tips of his ears. There were several comebacks that he could have given such as 'I am a man in case you didn't notice' and 'Are you trying to pick a fight?' or even 'you're right, I don't fucking like people talking to me, especially idiots like you.' But not only would those response prolong the unwanted human interaction, they would probably have this odd blond man-child in tears.

Therefore Roppi tried to ignore him and thanked the heavens that his stop came quickly.

The Third

"Achoo!"

"Bless you." Roppi said before he could stop himself and knocked his head against the train window. He cursed Izaya who had been the one to hammer the stupid habit into him- "but Rooooppiiii! You have to shower blessings upon my soul when I sneeze! That's what the humans do in western countries." "Fuck you Izaya, we live in Japan." "…For every time you forget to bless me I arrange for you to get stuck in a room full of humans~" "Would wouldn't-" "Achoo~!" "…Bless you, you fucking shit-head."- but moving past the horrific memories that fallowed the few times he had forgotten to 'bless' his fucking cousin, there was now a bespeckled idiot starring at him with tearful eyes.

Well shit.

"T-thank you! I was so worried you hated me after yesterday!" he said looking so happy he could cry.

"…no more than any other human." muttered Roppi averting his eyes. He hated all humans, but he had learned from watching his annoying cousin's reaction when talking about his "monster" that if he made an exception to any human that would make them "special" even if it was supposed to be "hate". That was already a privilege this over emotional human did not deserve.

"I am so glad!" he smiled and Roppi stared…. he had quite a cute crying face for a human. Roppi quickly cursed himself.

"Tch." he muttered turning away red faced. He could see the blond blink at him in confusion and Roppi couldn't stand it anymore. He got off at the next station even though his exit wasn't for another 4 stops and simply walked the rest of the way to work even though it made him late.

He wondered if running away from the man on the train made him "special" but the Roppi comforted himself that he would fled no matter what human looked at him like that.

The blond was nothing to him, really.

The Fourth

This time, determined to avoid any incidents with cute- ahem stupid- blonds, Roppi took an earlier train the usual and sat in the very back corner. Not that Roppi would admit that he was going to such lengths to avoid the blond. That would make him far too much of an important part of Roppi's life to be tolerable.

"Achoo!"

"Bless you,"

Shit… you've got to be kidding me…

"It's you again! I didn't think I'd see you today since I needed to go into work early!" smiled the blond plopping down into the seat next to him so Roppi had no where to run.

"Lucky me…" groaned Roppi quietly.

"So we see each other everyday, I suppose I should introduce myself! My name is Tsukishima Heiwajima. Please take care of me!" said the blond formally with a smile and a little bow.

"Nice to meet you, Hachiimenroppi Orihara…" muttered Roppi unwillingly.

"Hachi- Hachiren- um… could you say that again?" he asked looking embarrassed.

"Just… call me Roppi, everybody does." sighed Roppi. Oh the curse of having an odd name…

"Alright the Roppi-kun! Then you can call me Tsuki!" beamed the blond excitedly.

"…Sure…" said Roppi cautiously not really liking the familiarity, it kind of made it feel like-

"Wow, now it kinda feels like we've known each other forever…" commented Tsuki in awe.

"Yeah…" agreed Roppi not liking it one bit.

The Fifth

"Hey Roppi-kun! How are you toda- Achoo!" sneezed Tsuki the next time they met on the train.

"Bless you…" sighed Roppi in exasperation, "Do you always sneeze this much or is it only when I am around?"

"Always," admitted Tsuki flushing cutely, "My family is always bugging me to bundle up more but… I am really forgetful! I don't usually remember till I am on the train and by that time I am already so cold-!"

"I get it- geez… I suppose it's good to know you're always kind of ditzy and it's not just to annoy me." sighed Roppi.

"I would never intentionally annoy you Roppi-kun!" said Tsuki earnestly.

"…Yeah, I am figuring that out." commented Roppi dryly. And what an irritating discovery that was! Tsuki's endearing personality made him a rather difficult person to hate, at least for the raven haired man. Ah, but Roppi was nothing if not stubborn when it came to hating humans so he wasn't all that concerned.

"But it kind of makes me happy." smiled Tsuki to himself.

"What does?" asked Roppi not really following his train of thought.

"When Roppi-kun blesses me," said Tsuki beaming, "I've never had someone do that for me before! It sort of makes me feel cared about, you know?"

"It's just a habit." said Roppi hurriedly feeling a strange fluttery mixture of pleasure at his acknowledgment and mortification at that pleasure.

"It's a nice habit. You know, I'd seen you on this train before and I always wondered about you," mused Tsuki leaning back in his seat while Roppi lowered his gaze, he had never noticed Tsuki after all, but then he tried not to play to much attention to the humans around him, "I wanted to talk to you, but you were always wearing such a grumpy expression so I was scarred."

"I don't like humans." grumbled Roppi defensively.

"I know," smiled Tsuki, "But even so, Roppi-kun is a very kind person, isn't he?"

"Hah?" asked Roppi aghast, he had been called many things in his life- usually around the lines of cold, soulless, or freak- but 'kind' had certainly never been one of them, "You hit your head of something kid?"

"You might not show it in the same way most people do, but Roppi-kun is a good person." Tsuki insisted.

You can't say that! You don't even know me! Roppi wanted to protest, but he worried that the blond might take that as some sort of invitation.

"You're crazy…" was all Roppi said instead glaring at the window. Tsuki simply smiled softly and proceeded to sit with him and a strangely comfortable silence for the rest of the train ride.

The Sixth

This time the now familiar little sneeze came when Roppi was half asleep waiting for the train home from work late one night.

"Achoo!"

"May God fucking bless you Tsuki," growled Roppi without even turning around as he sighed in exasperation, "Why the fuck aren't you wearing warmer cloths?"

"Roppi-kun!" Tsuki greeted him seeming disproportionately happy to see the grumpy raven as always.

"Answer the fucking question." Roppi shot back in annoyance finally glancing over at the blond who stood with his arms crossed and his face flushed from the cold.

"F-forgot." said Tsuki averting his gaze guiltily.

"Tch, one of these days you're going to 'forget' to keep breathing and wined up dead on the roadside." Roppi lectured him angrily as they boarded the train.

"Roppi is worried about me…" said Tsuki in awe looking stupidly happy.

"Am not!" Roppi snapped feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.

"…Thank you for worrying about me." smiled Tsuki softly seeming to see right though him. And damn it all, he was starting to get worried about the blond! There were warnings all over town about temperature drops and chances for snow storms. The stupid idiot really would probably freeze to death.

"Damn it all…" he muttered out loud as they neared the end of the track after a long ride of brooding on Roppi's part.

"Roppi-kun…?" asked Tsuki cautiously.

"…" Roppi whirled around and stared at him hard. At his too thin jacket that didn't even cover his bare neck. At blond's blue-ish lips and sniffley nose.

"You oka- Achoo!" sneezed Tsuki pitifully.

"Bless you! Now fucking take it!" Roppi yelled attracting several startled looks and making Tsuki nearly jump out of his skin as Roppi harshly snatched off his own scarf and threw it in the surprised boy's face, "You're not freezing to death over something so stupid!"

"Roppi…" said Tsuki clutching the scarf to his chest as his eyes filled with tears of gratitude. Roppi could have died of embarrassment. His whole face was beat red up to his ears. It was a good thing the doors pinged open when they did because he was sure there must be a limit to how many dumb ways he could humiliate himself in one night.

Without waiting a second longer he dashed out of the train and out of the station. He could hear Tsuki calling out his name and the sound of clumsy foot falls trying to keep up with him so Roppi ducked into a side ally for a while and hid for a while until he managed to calm his wildly beating heart a fraction. Cautiously leaving keeping an eye out for any tall blonds blundering about, Roppi quietly left his hiding place and took a different route home.

The Seventh

"Achoo!" sneezed Roppi shivering on the train the next day.

"Bless you!" Roppi froze at the familiar voice and felt his cheeks heating up at the memory of the previous night, "Oh no! Roppi-kun, please tell me you're not sick because you lent me your scarf?!"

"No Tsuki, I am not like you…." sighed Roppi reluctantly turning to face worried man, his heart fluttering as he saw that he was indeed wearing his scarf today, "Sometimes people just need to sneeze."

"Oh, I am glad." smiled Tsuki shyly from behind his glasses, "Um… I should probably give you your scarf back, shouldn't I?"

"…Keep it." said Roppi managed feeling strangely embarrassed. And besides, how could he ever take it back when the only thing he would be able to think of when he saw it was the cute blond?

"You sure? It's very nice." said Tsuki uncertainly.

"Yes," said Roppi firmly, "You're the one in danger of freezing to death left and right."

"I'll wear it everyday." promised Tsuki fingering the cloth around his neck fondly.

"…You'd better." huffed Roppi, though it lacked any real venom.

"Will you…?" began Tsuki worriedly toying with the edges of the scarf, "Will you still talk to me if I am not sneezing from the cold?"

"Huh?" said Roppi intelligently taken slightly off guard.

"I… um… really like talking to Roppi-kun and… um…" said Tsuki awkwardly scratching his head.

"Of course I'll still talk to you!" Roppi blurted out before he could stop himself. He felt his face got red again, something that was becoming a far too common occurrence around Tsuki.

"You will?!" asked Tsuki looking like he might cry.

"Yeah sure, whatever…" said Roppi trying to save the remnants of his dignity.

"And.. um… if you want," said Tsuki getting nervous all over again before shoving a card into Roppi's face, "Here's my number, if you, you know, want to talk sometime when we're not on the train."

Roppi looked down at the carefully printed number and then back up at Tsuki's worried face and then back down again. Feeling like butterflies might explode from his stomach- for some odd reason that he was unwilling to examine- Roppi hesitantly accepted the card.

"Sure, whatever. I'll call you sometime." promised Roppi with a light blush.

Tsuki beamed.