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The first time Hibana met Akitaru Ōbi, he had laughed at her.
It had been during a call-out, and the 5th Brigade – of which she was a newly promoted 1st Class Fire Officer – had just wrapped up dealing with a flame person, leaving the clean-up and assorted details to the lowly firefighters. She’d just demanded he lay across a puddle so she could walk across without getting her heels wet - at this point, she had already begun grinding her colleagues under her pointy little stilettos, and it had been a very long time since she’d gotten any reaction other than fearful obedience.
With sweat plastering his hair to his skull and streaks of soot covering his face, Akitaru had stared blankly at her before breaking into hoarse laughter. He’d then shaken his head and walked off, still chuckling, while she stared after him in a sort of stunned befuddlement. It didn’t take long for her shock to turn to anger, and Hibana vowed furiously that the next time would go very differently for the lowly, arrogant, ability-less worm that had dared to disobey her.
The second time they met he had been recently recruited as a Fire Officer, coming to the 5th via the rookie training system, and Hibana had taken vindictive, obvious pleasure in throwing around her rank as Company Commander, despite the fact the newbie was actually older than she was; ordering him to clean all the equipment, do inventory, and the cooking.
And Akitaru just…did it. He never responded to her more outrageous demands (winning a faint, very, very small sense of begrudging admiration), just continued on with whatever he’d been doing at the time. He didn’t complain, never disobeyed, and never lost that calm sort of cheerfulness that charmed everyone around him but just enraged her further.
It came to a head one night, long after their shift had ended. She’d finished up some paperwork and had been intending to head back to the barracks when she’d overheard a couple of the night-shift personnel laughing about how working out was a waste of time for an ability-less firefighter hack. There could only be one person they were speaking about, and Hibana felt the darkness inside her writhe in anticipation when she’d slipped into the weight room to find she and Akitaru were the only ones there.
He’d been doing one-arm push-ups, and didn’t even pause as the click-clack of her heels drew closer. She’d stopped by his head but he continued to ignore her, counting out push-ups under his breath with the steady dependency of a metronome.
It had pissed. Her. Off.
It wasn’t until she registered that Akitaru’s hand was wrapped around her ankle that Hibana realized she’d tried to impale her stiletto into his skull. She’d reflexively tried to tug it away, but his grip was an iron band and she couldn’t break free. A frisson of fear cut through her but she didn’t freeze, immediately whipping out her fan and sending a shower of false sparks at him (she didn’t like him, but she still had nightmares filled with the scent of burning flesh and could never bring herself to actually harm him), but he merely ducked his head, letting them fall across his shoulders.
The fear kicked up a notch, as Hibana was acutely aware that – Ignition abilities aside – there was no way she could adequately protect herself against someone the other Special Fire Officers mocked as a gorilla due to his physical strength.
Before the fear could fully form, Akitaru yanked. Her fan went flying and she landed on her ass hard enough it rattled all the way up through her spine and made her teeth click together painfully. Her breath left her in a rather inelegant whoof, and Hibana found herself eye-to-eye with a rather obviously irritated Akitaru (who was still holding her ankle in a rather implacable – and surprisingly warm – grip).
“That’s enough.”
Hibana froze, having never heard that tone from the former firefighter before. Still calm, but now as firm and unyielding as the Mother Superior had been back when still-innocent Hibana had been caught sneaking treats from the kitchen for the other novices.
Akitaru continued talking, disrupting her flashback, “You don’t like me, fine. But if you think I’m going to roll over and beg for mercy just because you flash cleavage and a great pair of legs at me, you’ve got another thing coming. I am a Special Fire Officer. My duty is to release flame people from their suffering and to save and comfort the living, regardless of anyone who gets in my way. Understood, Princess?”
Throughout his speech, Akitaru’s grip on her ankle had gotten tighter and tighter, to the point that by the time he finished speaking, Hibana was wincing.
He noticed, and quickly let go with a quiet ‘sorry.’ Off-kilter, Hibana could only stare at him as he kneeled expectantly in front of her, and she belatedly realized he was waiting for a reply to his statement.
I’m getting in your way?! How dare you?! To speak to me like that, you- you-
Her internal rant devolved into inarticulate angry gibbering, and she opened her mouth to blast the arrogant fuck a new one –
“You think I have great legs?” Was what she blurted out instead.
Dead silence.
Akitaru’s face lost the angry, determined expression it wore, to be replaced with one of utter shock as he slowly turned the colour of a ripe tomato, and Hibana froze in complete and utter mortification.
They traded wide-eyed glances, and forever after would argue over who cracked first, but the next thing Hibana knew they were both doubled over and laughing like lunatics.
By the time they managed to get themselves under control, things had shifted between them. When Ōbi had offered his hand to help her up, she barely hesitated before taking it. They’d walked out together in silence, only offering a simple ‘good night’ when they parted ways.
They never brought up the incident again. While Hibana still didn’t like Akitaru, and still couldn’t understand his reasons for being a special fire officer, she had to appreciate the balls it took to stand up against an Ignition ability user of her level. And if Hibana took to referring to him by his given name, well, people talked regardless of how much they actually knew.
Once Ōbi transferred out, they didn’t really come into contact with each other much. The odd time on a call-out, but usually their squads were too busy for more than a passing nod to each other. Hibana had quickly made Battalion Commander (too quickly, her detractors muttered), and was too preoccupied with her drive for revenge on those who’d killed her sisters to indulge in much of a social life. The next significant interaction they had was a coincidental crossing of paths at Headquarters, shortly after Ōbi himself had made Battalion Commander.
It wasn’t until after Shinra had punched some sense into her that she began spending more time around the 8th Brigade’s Battalion Commander (not exactly searching him out, but she had promised her help with their investigation, so it was inevitable that she’d have to see him). And when they’d suited up to brave the mysterious Nether, well, maybe she didn’t just worry about Shinra.
Not that she ever said anything to Ōbi.
Damn gorilla wasn’t worth that much consideration.