Title: U R A 10

Pairing: Spanner/Shouichi

Summary: With the knowledge of what happened in the future, Spanner finds himself entranced by a red-haired boy.

Notes: Until told otherwise, I'm going to assume Spanner is Italian.

I own nothing.

It's not like he remembered living through the events. It was more like reading a book and having a vague sense of deja vu, which he supposed made sense seeing as how he hadn't actually lived through that life, not yet. And he never would. Which was probably a very good thing, considering what a messed-up world that had been, and he wouldn't look forward to working under an evil megalomaniac who planned on taking over the world.

He was able to get inspired by the images of the future, filled with plans for robots and new tech. He could probably make something for that Vongola kid, for whenever he saw him. He wasn't sure how to reach him, but he didn't need to until he had something to give him, at least.

Then there was that man. Irie Shouichi. The adorable, handsome man with red hair and glasses and a smile that warmed Spanner's heart just thinking about it. He wasn't sure if their future counterparts had been together, though it didn't seem that way, but Spanner of the present was certainly interested. Not that he knew how to find him. The memories didn't reach much further back before his meeting with that Tsuna kid. He had talked to Shouichi before that, and Spanner started to worry that they only met through that Byakuran guy, and he'd never have a chance to meet him now.

He distracted himself with his robots, working on a machine to enter in his school's robotic competition. It was a calm process, and he enjoyed getting his hands deep into oily innards of gears, working on the contacts for the X Burner in between. He easily won first place at his school, and was selected to represent them in the International High School Robotics Competition. He smiled when he was told this, though he wasn't surprised. He was the best, and nobody else in his school had the same passion as him.

He paused for a moment, trying to place that feeling of deja vu, but then he was distracted by the announcement that the competition would be held in Japan. He was so pleased. Finally, he would be able to see the country he loved so much! He'd be able to drink some true green tea, and maybe he'd even be able to meet some of the people he knew in the future.

Maybe he could meet Shouichi.

He was put on the plane with his robot in the cargo bay and a chaperone dozing in the seat next to him. The venue was spacious and already filled with robots of all shapes and sizes, with a small card on a table next to them to show judges who built which robot, and what some of their functions were. Spanner sat on the shoulders of a smaller Mosca prototype as he directed it in using a modified Nintendo 64 controller. It might have been a bit of a grand entrance, but Spanner used it just to see over the tops of some of the taller robots in case he spotted anyone he recognized.

Once he had parked his robot, he hopped down and had a look around at the competition. It wasn't until he was he was three tables down and six across from his own table that he spotted a name he knew.

Irie Shouichi.

Spanner looked around, but the red-haired boy was nowhere to be seen. He sulked a little and unwrapped a lollipop, cramming it into his mouth with a little more force than necessary. He glanced at Shouichi's robot, a beautiful thing of elegance and strength that he was sure worked as good as it looked.

He looked around again, unwilling to move away from Shouichi's table in case he came back. Then he saw him. Even though he was ten years younger than the images Spanner saw him in, he was completely recognizable. He was near the bathrooms and nervously chatting with some girls, who seemed like they were barely containing in laughter. Spanner gave a small huff of annoyance and started walking towards them, picking up the conversation as he got closer.

"I'm only here to support my brother, okay?" the girl with the long black hair said.

"We're way too high up in the social order to go out with a geek like you," said the one with short brown hair.

"I-I-I was just a-asking, you don't..." Shouichi mumbled, his eyes cast down onto his shoes.

"Why don't you just make yourself a robot girlfriend? Then everybody can be happy," said Black Hair.

"I generally find that human companionship cannot be reproduced by a synthetic being," Spanner piped up, standing behind the girls and causing them to jump. Shouichi's head shot up and he gaped like a fish for a moment before a smile broke out on his face.

"Spanner!"

The man in question smiled at the other boy and walked between the girls who had gone silent and were a little flabbergasted at the sudden appearance of the blonde. He draped an arm over Shouichi's shoulders, though he had to reach up a bit due to how much shorter he was than Shouichi, and steered him away from the girls. He led Shouichi towards his table, while talking about his robot and how inspired he was by the visions of the future. He offered Shouichi a lollipop when he finished his, but the other boy declined, and Spanner kept the candy in his pocket for later.

After a while, they stopped talking and looked at each other. Shouichi smiled and tugged at a curl of Spanner's hair. "It's a little wilder than I remember."

"You're cuter than I remember," Spanner said before he could stop his mouth. But, well, it was the truth, and it was rather satisfying to see Shouichi flush pink.

"That's not what those girls think..." he mumbled, pulling his glasses away from his face and busying himself with cleaning the lenses on his sweater.

"What, you don't think you're cute?"

"I'm not," Shouichi insisted, and Spanner pursed his lips.

"Oh mio Dio..." Spanner muttered. "Così testardo."

"Huh?" Shouichi put his glasses back on and looked at him. Spanner blew a few stray hairs out of his eyes.

"I think you're cute. And you get very handsome in the future."

Shouichi blushed even harder and started tugging at a loose thread on the end of his sweater. "You really think so?"

Spanner looked at him and bit his lip, feeling awkward all of a sudden. There were all these feelings in his heart and he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to be feeling them yet. Did he care about Shouichi this much, or were these the feelings of his future self? Did it even matter? He wasn't sure, and he could feel his throat locking up, but Shouichi was looking at him through his lashes, waiting for an answer.

"Penso che ti voglia bene." he began at a mumble, not even noticing he was speaking Italian until he looked up and saw Shouichi's confused expression. Oh well, he supposed, it was a good chance to get it off his chest. "O ti sono voluto bene...o forse ti volevo sempre bene. Ma il punto è che sei bello ed incredibile ed io non posso aspettare fino a quando potremo incontrare il nuovo futuro con l'altro."

"Ummm..." Shouichi was speechless, and Spanner shuffled his feet and scratched his cheek. "I don't know that much Italian..."

"Sorry about that," Spanner said, switching back to Japanese. "It's my natural language, so I do that sometimes..."

"Oh... Well, um, what did you say?"

Spanner smiled at him. "Basically that you're amazing, both now and in the future, and that you shouldn't let some silly girls decide how you feel about yourself." Which was a good and true point, but not an exact translation. But Shouichi liked it, judging from the bright smile on his face.

"Thanks, Spanner. Your opinion is a lot more important than theirs, that's for sure."

Spanner smiled and exchanged contact information with Shouichi, telling him about the gear he had made for Tsuna and making plans to have him deliver it. He barely noticed when his robot won a prize, instead drinking in the feeling of Shouichi giving him a victory hug and a quick, hidden kiss on the cheek gone so fast the only proof it happened was the faint tingle in his skin and the dark blush on Shouichi's face.

On the ride back home, Spanner was busy looking through a large number of brochures for various colleges and universities that offered robotic engineering classes in Japan. He'd certainly go and visit Shouichi and the Vongola soon, but after he finished high school, he planned on being there for them twenty-four seven.

Maybe once that happened, he could confess to Shouichi in Japanese.

Translation

I used an online translator initially, but it's now been edited thanks to ykwyh26.

Oh mio Dio.- Oh my God.

Così testardo. - So stubborn.

Penso che ti voglia bene. O ti sono voluto bene...o forse ti volevo sempre bene. Ma il punto è che sei bello ed incredibile ed io non posso aspettare fino a quando potremo incontrare il nuovo futuro con l'altro. - I think that I love you. Or I loved you...or maybe I have always loved you. But the point is that you are beautiful and incredible and I can't wait until we can meet the new future with each other.