Settling In [nsfw]

In a bit, the crisis might be revealed... The mysterious crisis, though it had something to do with Iyuki. Generally, most of Hibiki's not serious ones did though.

As he squeezed her though, she kissed his head again and tried not...not to smile too much. He was reassuring her again... or trying to. "I promised you not to do that as much... Sorry I'm...really bad at that..."

It had been especially hard there, but she couldn't have faltered. They...well Muika, had been counting on her. Hibiki hadn't cared but... She had had to smile for Muika. Even as her sweetheart's younger self had hurt her with words, she had...had had to keep it up. And she was thankful for the warning at least. Even if it had been meant to hurt her. "...Thanks. I never...would have known. He was...so nice to her. That bastard!"

Miyako squeaked at her mild fit of rage, closing her eyes and trying to pretend she hadn't swore. And luckily Hibiki was still relaxed, though... she had expected him not to answer really. It seemed he was in a mood to answer any and everything!

"...Hahaha!" Miyako was quite embarrassed, it was an obvious answer really. Obviously...in his room...alone... Yep... Super obvious... While her mind was on awkward questions though... and while he was speaking about things... "...Um...one more question... um... Did...you really... Um, let me rephrase... What...made you realize you liked me?"

"Mn..." She had promised...but... She'd felt she'd needed to be strong then, for Okura especially...

When it came to Seiya, Hibiki shook his head again; "He was deceptive... He'd been that way towards Okura since she got there... Single out a target...and then show that fake hope in light of all the bad..."

Fake smiles, hidden motives... He'd been grooming Okura from the start...

Hn? Was Miyako pretending she hadn't just cursed there...? She had gone silent almost immediately after her proclamation...

L-Laugh... His answer had been an obivous one, but... Hm...another question? He wasn't sure what it could be considering the last one, but...

...

T-That again...?

"...I can't...pinpoint that..." He'd explained this all during the first time he was drunk, but...damn it, he guessed his drunken words didn't hold much merit despite his honest state then... "But...gh...mn... Like I said...when I was...drunk that first time...

There were a lot of factors...that...that played into it...

Every time after...I got out it was always 'You can't do anything, you don't have powers.' when it came to protecting myself... I was thrown into this spiritual world bullshit...and then I was stuck hearing that...

It was belittling... I can...protect myself just fine...even before I developed abilities...

Hearing that...so often...made me...tch...s'like everything my life had been used for up until then...was useless... I can't protect myself? Then what have I spent my life doing up until then?

The...hollow that...came around after meeting you... I'd attacked it on impulse in a hostage situation... Plus, you didn't...it didn't sound like you were belittling me...back then...

You didn't...even after..."

Damn it, it was...more than just a bit difficult to say all of this. It was a miracle he was even managing right now. They were alone, he just had to keep...keep thinking that, plus...they'd talked a lot so...he could force this all out...it'd just take...tons and tons of effort...

"I know... I just... I still want to kick him really hard! O-Or dump ice buckets on his head. Or...lots of awful things." ...She really was...too innocent, that even after everything...the worst her mind and mouth could come up with was freaking that. Miyako turned bright red, but really she'd used up her swearing quota for the next month now...

Creepy bastard. She could...think that. Yes. Thinking it was fine...

Listening to Hibiki though, Miyako realized he had...misunderstood... what she was asking. However his words made her heart beat quite a bit more strongly as she blushed. "I always thought you were amazing... and... I still think you are. You protected us both just fine before you got your powers... And that stuff still helps you now. But...um...I wasn't asking that... I think... I get why you liked me... Just..."

"I meant...what... what...changed it all that night? Before...you... Didn't seem to notice me like that... And then I kissed you...and confessed and just...immediately you wanted me? I-I... was just wondering what happened... What...made you realize it...and...was it really...that strong that you...broke it off with her...immediately to be with me?" That.. that was the part Miyako was still unsure over. She...could understand the other things, those had been talked about. But that actual night...

"Well...he's dead now, so..." Hibiki answered; Miyako's...ideas weren't the nastiest, but that...was a good thing... Despite everything that was still the worst her mind could seemingly come up with. "Okura gave the okay to Aoi, the shinigami, and she took care of it...

She had...wanted to do it herself, that's what I remember, but after some things...I guess Osamoto, she just...couldn't anymore."

That's what he remembered, and maybe...maybe that reminder that he was gone would be good... Seiya had...done a lot of damage though...damage that couldn't really be undone...

M...Misunderstood... He'd misunderstood and said...all of that...

Gh...g...

Mn..g...h...

He was silent for a good few moments after that, not immediately answering her, not that...answering that was really all that easy...even he was still...

"It just...changed..." He attempted to start; "...I didn't know what it was...I felt...before, it was...to protect,...I guess...but it was more than that, just...didn't fully...realize or understand...

After that, with all the shock of it...it...really had me thinking, sorting through stuff...

I...care...but I couldn't have...I realized that that kind of...relationship life...it wasn't...it wasn't like I disliked it, but...it wasn't good for me...in the long run...

I can't just go off to Canada, no way in hell, I just had to sit around...wait for visits for...spending time...and despite it being...open, it wasn't...good for me to have...my own...I don't know...flings or whatever...going on too...not that I did... I was...just there sitting around...

With...with...how I am...gh...I can't just...wait around like that..." With how he was...it'd started to become obvious that he had...needed more than that...and as hard as it was to admit he needed the attention, needed the...the affection and love more than just what could be given through a call screen on a laptop or a short two day to a week visit...

When he'd realized that...it'd just gotten him thinking... It was... If he couldn't stay happy in that sort of relationship then it was best to just...not make it hard on all of them...

It sounded...selfish, but...and really, he didn't take the time he'd spent with Selena for granted either... He cared, he...really did, but...

"I remember...you telling me this... But...still... I'm glad she didn't... I'm glad...someone else did..." That shinigami... Miyako felt bad for being happy at his death but just, better that Muika hadn't done it too. Would...she have lived with herself? Least with the other doctors, there had been no...no personal feelings ever involved. They had messed up kidnapping her and Iyuki and paid a heavy price...

Those scars were more on her and Iyuki though, than these two. Seiya...caused them both a lot of turmoil... Maybe it was best...

Waiting patiently, Miyako refused to let go of Hibiki one bit as he continued to stay buried against her. Would he ever let her go? Probably not...but if this was how she died, it was the happiest death.

His words though were..confused and hesitant, unsure it seemed... And well she was dredging up the past but...it was... it seemed like a night for that. Listening to him only caused her to blush a bit though, her arms squeezing for a short moment before relaxing. That...had been...

"Its...kind of silly, to me. I-I mean thinking about it. That...whole time... I just...thought you thought of me as a kid...and...you didn't even know you liked me... And... I expected...you to just...turn me down or...tell me I was being ridiculous or... I-I was prepared for rejection. I really was... I just...finally wanted to tell you at least so I could...could move on.

I didn't... I thought you were okay with that, with her and your choices... I didn't know... I guess... I still feel guilty sometimes. That... I stole you from her...

I-It's hard to think that, o-or well I mean stop it... But...hearing you say this, that...it couldn't have made you happy... And hearing...you having to wait for...for your affections...for that long... I um...it upsets me that you...were missing it. And... I'm really...happy I get to be the one to give you all the affection and love you need..." Miyako spoke softly, not really sure how to respond entirely to his words. It was the most he'd ever spoken to her about it since that night... They generally just...pretended about the Selena stuff, ignored it and all... But it was important and had been important.

She was someone he still cared for... Even if it wasn't in the same way as before.

Something though stuck out... Miyako giggled softly. "...So you...admit your utter love of affection? And...why couldn't you do flings?"

"Mn...From the intel I gathered Okura's plans had been to strengthen her nerve up, strengthen herself up...kill Seiya, and...that was it...like...it, it..."

That was what he'd gathered when he'd still been her tracker...

"Guess you can thank Osamoto that she's still around..." He wasn't sure of the entire situation, considering he wasn't her tracker anymore, and had been doing a half assed job later on, doing just enough to get by safely...but he felt Osamoto had played a big part in it all...considering how set Okura had seemed in her goals at first...

He didn't know entirely though, it was just an assumption on his part...

S-Silly...? Silly that he'd...reciprocated her feelings...

He hadn't...thought of her as a kid, innocent, but...not a kid, really... He hadn't known then...he'd felt the way he had, but...he'd realized...eventually...

"I...had...thought I was okay with it all at first too, but...when I thought more...on it..." It just...wasn't... He wouldn't have been happy like that...in the long run...

Gh!?

So he...admitted to...liking affection...

"S...So what...?" He mumbled, though it wasn't like he could just deny his way out of this one...

As for...the open relationship stuff...

"The...open...relationship side of things was more...one-sided...really... Not that I cared about, or even really thought of having flings, but... Don't...think badly of her for that..." Wow, something like that coming out of his mouth? Him telling Miyako not to think badly of someone...he was almost laughable right now...

"...No!" Miyako jolted, hearing that from Hibiki right now was not anything she'd expected at all. Muika's...plan had been that!? She shuddered, shaking her head before clinging to Hibiki more, unable to accept that. "Yuki-nii... No...Muika..."

Muika...had wanted to die that badly? That just...trying to murder that...creepy bastard, was the only thing worth living for? Brave...Leader...no...

Miyako teared up, fighting the urge to cry and losing at the thought of not having Muika around. She...they had been a bit apart lately, she wanted to fix that...but Muika... Trying to imagine Yuki-nii alone too was...impossible. How...She was glad they had met and something...something had changed... Miyako decided then to ask Muika herself, about all of this. They should...

That thought hurt a lot, though. Not having Muika around...

It was this bit of upsetness that caused her to not react as strongly as she had before to his words about not being able to live that life. She giggled, weakly, but she did feel amusement at that thought. "...Before I thought, it made sense that you had something like that. Now though... I can...can really see how you'd felt so lonely. No so whats, I really like that you like it. Its...its sweet. I'm just...happy you can admit it to me? I guess is why I'm... why I had to comment."

As he explained more though, this time he got a real laugh from her. She squeezed him again briefly, the topic of conversation letting her focus on that and not the thought of losing Muika."I can understand her not wanting to share you. So... I can't think badly of her. I'm...I'm not sharing you."


Even if that last part had come out in a partial pout, Miyako continue with a bit of awe. It was weird, seeing him talk about or even show...show obvious caring for someone else. Even if it had been her former rival, the young woman felt only really happy for Hibiki. He was being so open right now. It was good... "...You really do care for her a ton, and like her a lot. She's really really special to you... Even now. I think you are just the same to her, so... I can't think badly of her even if I wanted to."

Hibiki kept a hold of Miyako as his words hit her, nudging his head against her some as she clung to him. That...That had been Okura's plan...this wasn't something he could fully explain to her though, that was up to Okura...

He could explain further, explain why Okura probably had those plans of hers originally...why she thought about finishing it that way, but...they would all just be assumptions he'd gotten from reading her file when he'd been tracking her.

Only Okura could explain to Miyako in full...

It wasn't his place to.

N...No so whats...? S-Sweet...

"A-Ah..." He was...admitting it now, to Miyako...j-just Miyako...

S-She could understand Selena not...wanting to share him...A-Ah...? W-Well...whatever, so long as she...understood... She couldn't think badly of her because of that, which was...good...

"You don't have to share me..." He answered, though it came out a mumble.

He...cared...yes, that wouldn't change; he would...always care, and he knew that.

"Noo, please don't go back to sounds. I-I'm so happy with you telling me all that's on your mind right now!" Miyako almost pulled away, her worry over Hibiki clamming up again forcing her hold to loosen as if she could force him to give her more words through less holding. She couldn't, wouldn't, think on Muika right now. If she did, there would be phone calls and immediate rushing over to their nearby apartment for hugs and nuzzles. Waking her friend up for that wasn't right so she instead...stored it all away as usual.

Hibiki's mumbled reply got a giggle, Miyako calming a bit more from it and she decided to admit something she might not have otherwise. If he was sharing things, deepest darkest things... She would too. "I know...I'm glad I don't have to... But I almost...I almost, if you would have said that...I might have taken you up on it back then. Th-The sharing."

"Its silly how oblivious you were to my feeling till that point!" Miyako giggled more, teasing Hibiki more than anything right now about his inability to know those things. "At least...you can when its just the girls at the cafe."

"D-Didn't meant to..." Hibiki answered; he'd used sounds just because he didn't know what else to say! He was...still using words now...so... She would get more words...

Plus there was still more to talk about...he'd sort of promised...gh...

Miyako's words shocked him though, and he froze for a moment before shaking his head; "I wouldn't....wouldn't have asked that of you..."

No way...

He couldn't have done something like that to her...hadn't wanted to do something like that to her...

S-Silly...

Mn...

"'kaay..." Miyako was still worried over Hibiki not talking again, this was too nice for the moment for her to want him to stop. It was keeping her distracted from the minor nerves she experienced from time to time. The dark wasn't scary entirely due to the Bell's Viper, just... the being alone part and the years of assumptions over monsters causing that sort of reaction she thought.

She'd shocked him though and that made her smile and let out a short laugh. "Mhm. I know... You think you are such a bad person, but you are really really very kind."

"...Can you believe you're a hero now? Even if you weren't before, I think, I really think you've become one." Miyako nuzzled his head, waiting for him to speak up about his crisis but not wanting to broach the subject. He would in due time, it was his way.

That...hero stuff again? Something like that...it still wasn't really the easiest to really...visualize... Him? A hero? The thought, the idea itself had almost been...laughable at first, but...Miyako was serious.

"Mn...You're...serious about that hero stuff..." It wasn't a question, an...observation, he guessed... Well, that was his excuse anyway.

Miyako seemed to be waiting on him to speak more too, ah...still...had that promise he'd made to talk about...earlier...

"The...other thing...when you were complimenting...the nicknames I threw at Osamoto to fuck with him...s'just...the way I mess with him..." God damn it...gh... "Ever since...w'found out about the family thing...I've been doing it more..."

Just the insight into that... The insight into thinking he might...do that...as a way of...being...family...and not thinking badly...

"Because I know how much you hate yourself. Or...maybe dislike instead. I'm not sure if its strong enough for hate." Miyako kissed the top of Hibiki's head before nuzzling. "But you see all the bad parts, not really any of the good ones it seems like. And a lot of your good parts and qualities are...well really hero like! So... I can't help but think it, especially since you save and protect me all the time. You and Muika, you two are really cool. But I think you are a tiiiny bit cooler..."

"I'm biased though. Muika didn't run at a hollow with a pipe to save me~" Maybe she was going overboard again, but seriously reminding him every other day was something she was almost set on doing by now.

She was shocked into silence for a moment though as Hibiki...finally...finally explained... his crisis. Okay, it was too much for the otter to handle. He had seriously not known!? Not until right now it seemed! Giggles welled up, strong giggles as she hugged Hibiki a bit more for a moment. "Y-You didn't realize it was that? You are cute! So cute! And completely silly! I figured it was, you've...you've been way more open to him now that you know it and that messing around seemed really...really tame and not meanly intended. Family...even if you don't realize it, it's beginning to mean a lot to you."

"..." Hero-like...huh? M-Miyako was biased, yeah... She was...biased when it came to...to it all, he clung to that statement despite her using it as a comparison between himself and Okura rather than the hero stuff all together.

He...protected her cause he wanted to...

H-Hah!? Didn't realize... W-What she'd already guessed!? C-Cute... S-Silly...? S-So he was being more open, he'd just... Well of course he hadn't noticed it himself until now! F-Family...was becoming important to him...mn...

It was weird...

"s'werid..."

"...Whatever you are thinking, stop it. Its wrong." Miyako sensed the unacceptance of her words in Hibiki's pure silence, biting the top of his head as best she could. However that plan backfired, his hair getting into her mouth and causing her to bleeeeh all over as she attempted to pull it from her mouth.

"Aaah! I regret my liiife!" Her mouth worked as she attempted to pull all the hair out, bleghing over how gross that was.

After her minor, catlike freakout over hair in her mouth, Miyako nuzzled his head with her mouth firmly closed and listened for his reply. Weird...?

"I bet it is, having all these people you can rely on and open up to... But...you have lots of family now. Iyuki and all them... A-And...floofbutt..." Turning red, she continued. "...And me too."

W-Whatever...gh-!?

Had just just tried to bite him!? He didn't really mind the biting part, but on his head, where there was hair!? Miyako hadn't thought that through, had she? Now she had hair in her mouth and...

Well, they needed baths anyway so he could wash any spit that caught up in there out...

Weird though...the family stuff... Definitely weird... Could he really just open up, despite that though? He had opened up some but... It was weird... He'd just popped up one day, out of nowhere, and suddenly he was family?

He'd been reassured before, but...overall it felt...awkward...

He hardly remembered much of anything from back then, what little time he had known of them... Then he comes back and he was...still family, welcomed...

"Mn...yeah...s'just...weird...awkward..."

"They seem happy to have you though. His family seems... Mm, very open and stuff, happy and loving. So even if you feel a bit awkward, I think that's normal and I don't think they mind." Miyako was definitely not bringing up the pictures she had on her phone, sent by Iyuki's mother and father to her of Hibiki as a child. There were definitely a few it seemed...

She was also ignoring the fact that she'd just accidentally ate some of Hibiki's hair and spit it back out, that had totally not happened. Miyako would let it drop, for now, the hero stuff... Since she was positive Hibiki would deeefinitely do something to stop her or tease her if she tried.

"It'll take time... Maybe a lot? But um... You are happy with it, right?" As long... as he was happy with it...nothing else mattered. If Hibiki found comfort from them, happiness... "I mean, its pretty embarrassing seeing those pictures of you in boxes. I felt second hand embarrassment myself."

...It wasn't like she could resist teasing him a ton about this.

"A-Ah..." Happy to have him... It was... He guessed that was another aspect he found weird, though not bad... They were happy to have him, had...accepted him just like that... It'd seemed...easier than he'd expected...not that he'd wanted trouble...

Things had worked out to the best circumstances then...

He gave a small nod; it would definitely take time...probably a lot, just like everything else with him, but... "Ah..." It wasn't bad, he wasn't...unhappy...and was relieved things had gone so easily...so...

"Gh-!" T-Those damn pictures...

Looks like...he was back to sounds.

Well, Miyako sighed softly, least he had held out for as long as he had.

She had that at least...

Smiling a bit, she nuzzled his head before replying to his words. "It'll...hurt you, when they send all that stuff. Promise me, if I'm at school or work and you get it... Promise me you won't be alone. I don't want you to have to go through that pain...without me here."

Hibiki would need her, that was for sure. He couldn't handle that all alone.

"Mn...I won't be..." When all that stuff came... He wasn't even sure how he'd react, even if he tried to predict it there was...no way of knowing how he'd react when he was actually faced with it... Hurt... It would hurt...probably...

He...would let Miyako know when it came...and not be alone when it came to looking through it...

Yeah...

"Good..." He promise so Miyako would hold Hibiki to that. It... no matter what else, what he'd said that day on the bubble stuck with her. He'd lost too much to bare losing her... And to have all that loss tossed into his face with pictures and all sorts of things that would...be a large reminder?

No matter what else, he'd hurt in some way to be reminded. Whatever else happened or whatever else he felt, it would hurt him. Hibiki was...well when he wasn't using the 'Aito' part of him to protect himself, he felt so much and so strongly.

"...They named you ironically, but... I still like it. Those, awful people. Aito is still a pretty name, even if Hibiki is you." Thinking that outloud, Miyako yawned a bit. She had class in the morning, whenever that was... But really what did it matter to her right now? Baths...could come later too.

Named him ironically...? Aito...a-ah...

"I guess..." Aito... He wasn't... He guessed it was ironic, considering the meaning of that name, how it was written... It wasn't ever meant to be seen as a name, but...in a way there was no getting by it...that's what it had been.

He'd had to use it to address himself outside of that place... Numbers didn't work out here...

He was...Hibiki though... That's who he really was...

Miyako was getting tired, understandably... After their activities...plus their nap earlier had been a drunken black out...not really good rest... It was night now, and they were alone in their own home...and finally able to rest.

He hadn't...really gotten any good rest the past couple of days... There was the drunken black out sleep, but he'd kept awake for the most part when those two had been here...

Speaking of which...

"Either I...make Osamoto help clean the couch, or we just make a new one later...toss that one..." Those two had tainted it...

Miyako smiled again and moved as if to turn onto her back. She wanted to pull him over with her, getting into a nicer sleeping position than they were in for now. He...was still buried against her, not wanting to move it seemed.

Hibiki was more sure than ever who he was, she was just...had just been making a comment. Though... She should feed him more kompeito at some point, he liked it even if it had the kinkiest explanation ever.

They should both sleep soon though, there wasn't any reason to be up much longer. Though, in the morning it'd be a hurried shower instead of a long bath together. Siiigh. Did he have to work tomorrow too? She wasn't sure... Least she was distracted by the talk of the couch though.

"...If they have room, lets just give it to them." Miyako murmured, trying not to be amused as sleepiness started to set in. "I'll make a cooler couch, a perfect couch for you instead. Yuki-nii is too anal retentive to be able to really clean it with you. I bet you'd just get pushed aside."

What even were those two, Ritsu seemed like a flirt but serious towards Jirou and Jirou just accepted everything ever? Weird... Still though, it... wasn't in her to be upset over that. "I mean... I can't be upset... Ritsu was dying before... so its nice to see them happy. I-If...its happy? I dunno."

He was Hibiki now...he was sure of it, he didn't need to...worry about himself when it came to that... He was Hibiki; Hibiki Ikehara was still around...still alive...

As Miyako moved, or attempted to, Hibiki moved with her so that they'd both be comfortable now that they planned on getting to sleep soon. He was still unwilling to release his hold around her, but it wasn't like that was unusual when it came to sleeping anyway...mn...

Nn...

Give it to them?

"Fine..." Might as well, wasn't like they could just burn it... Tch, they got free furniture out of them... Damn shits...

When it came to Osamoto...probably. He would probably end up pushed aside when it came to cleaning, plus...there was probably no cleaning that couch anyway, not really...

Miyako couldn't be upset with them...fine... He couldn't exactly tell if they had happiness or not, but whatever. They were content to say the least...

Miyako sighed in happiness, enjoying the new position much better. It was normal, a regular routine thing and it were simple pleasures like this that she took comfort in. Her arms loosened their hold on his head, her hand moving down so it could play with his hair while the other slid down his arm and attempted to pull it out from around her.

She wanted to hold his hand, even if it looked a bit silly... He'd just be holding another part of her! And his other arm could easily keep her to him.

With Hibiki's agreement though, she giggled softly. "'Kaay. You... you goof."

Such a grumpy sourpuss. Still though, how the hell had those two ended up doing that on the couch? She...really wanted her drunken memories back, maybe tomorrow she'd see about getting them with her powers. Maybe there was some sort of clue in there.