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Byakuran smiles like a cat seeing prey, waiting to pounce.
Kyouko smiles back sweetly and thinks, this is a game I can win.
Byakuran chuckles, offering her a marshmallow.
She takes it and tears a chunk of it off with her teeth.
As a little demonstration.
Her smile never wavers.
He laughs at her and calls her cute, like it's an insult, a condescension.
But it's too late.
She has seen the spark of interest in his eyes before before he hid it behind only half affected boredom.
His cold aloofness is an act, Kyouko is sure.
She gambles on it.
With her life and everything and everyone she loves.
If she can find what motivates him, if she can reach into his chest.
There must be more than what he shows.
Something she can use.
And if she can't use it to crush him, destroy his ambition, then she might be able to twist what she finds to her advantage.
Wrap him around her little finger with whatever kind of leash necessary.
People like her.
They don't swear unending, undying (hah!) loyalty like to her, like they do for Tsuna-kun, but they like her.
Sometimes, that's enough of a foothold to work with.
She has handled Hana since kindergarten, this is not so different.
He's more dangerous than prickly maybe but he's also a boy; he wants to be entertained and admired.
Kyouko has smiled and looked cute and later pretty all throughout her life.
She never had a boyfriend at her side and that wasn't because she had no suitors.
Boys follow her, not the other way around.
This will be a fine game.
She leans forward and steals one of his marshmallows right from under his nose and watches him.
He goes very still for the span of a breath, face frozen in a lazy smirk that probably charms a lot of people.
He relaxes his body very deliberately and gradually, keeping eye contact with her.
It's weird and kind of funny, if you like watching the mind game version of a striptease.
Kyouko finds it interesting.
He's not like other boys
(The other boys always get freaked out or scared.)
At least she knows he knows now.
Why play with an opponent who has no idea you're even playing a game?
That's boring.
Winning just means Kyouko will keep everything she loves.
She wonders what he wants to get out of winning and if they can come to an agreement even if she soundly trashes him.
She takes a sip of her tea just as he does.
They grin at each other, involuntarily, giddy and giggly, and she sees the excitement mirrored in his expression.
He's not like other boys but Kyouko is not like other girls either.
She thinks Byakuran understands that better now.
A bit unfortunately she finds that she likes Byakuran already.
That has never stopped her from getting what she wants before.
She knows that and Byakuran knows that too.