Chapter Text
Okay, so he didn’t think this through.
Like, at all.
Alright, so he liked to consider himself a pretty smart person- probably smarter than average(if the Mekakushidan was the pinnacle of average, which he, to be frank, he didn’t think was right).
Sure, he’s no Shintaro (and, again, why the heck would he want to turn out like him), but at least he has something.
But now he feels all of his perceived intelligence wash away, the door in front of him reducing him to nothing more than a quaking mess.
Because, for the second time that night- he stood outside someone’s door, and he’d rather die than have to walk in on Kano again(He really didn’t need to know that Kano didn’t wear pajamas to bed, but that’s a traumatizing story for another day).
So, hoping he got it right this time- and hoping that he didn’t die of embarrassment, he reached towards the door.
“Momo?” His said, voice quiet as he knocked on her door. “You up?”
No response.
He frowns, lifting his hand to knock again.
Nah, I shouldn’t wake her up for something as stupid as this. He shrugs, stepping away from the door.
Why her of all people? He didn’t really know.
Objectively, Kido (Danchou? He still didn’t really know what to call her) would’ve been the best to ask about this. But, considering he barely knew her- considering that he barely knew anyone, he came to Momo.
He came to her even though she was annoying- Even though his arm still hurt from being dragged around all day. Even though she was, well, Momo? If that made sense? He didn’t really know- but Momo herself was a different kind of person, one he couldn’t quite pinpoint the motive of.
But maybe it was because she had promised to be there for him- she was one of the first person to believe him and try to help, even if she wasn’t the best at it.
It was stupid to hope for. He didn’t know why he had thought it was a good idea in the first place. He had met these people yesterday; it was dumb to have put any sort of faith in them and-
“Hello?” He’s broken out of his thoughts when he hears her muffled voice from the other side of the door, “Who is it?”
Uh oh..
“Uh, it’s me.” He hated the way his voice shook when he said those words, cursing himself for the way he couldn’t even talk right. He wasn’t even eye to eye with her yet!
“Hibiya?” He hears the sound of blankets rustling, as if she was sitting up, “Come in.”
The creak of the door opening was far too loud, in his opinion. It might just be the fact that that was the only other sound other than the blood rushing in his ears, and the fact that he’s trying too hard to focus on anything other on the way his stomach seemed to heave.
“Is everything okay?”
She’s sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. Even though it was the middle of the night, she still had her hair up in that little ponytail.. thing. He didn’t get what girls called those things.
But the feeling in his stomach wasn’t the feeling he felt when he saw Hiyori (He knew damn well that that was outright infatuation). This was a feeling of nervousness, the kind that came from fear of rejection, the kind that came with the tightness in your stomach and throat that just won’t seem to ease.
“...Can I sleep with you?”
Well, the words came out easier than expected. Kudos to him! Even though he felt like dying at her surprised look, he did it! He’ll die in peace knowing that he wasn’t that much of a coward!
“What?”
Oh, he was expecting a straight up rejection. Now he’s going to have to explain everything. Fantastic. He can already feel the angels of the previous Hiyori fan club members coming down to take him to heaven for the second time that week.
Really though, never in a million years would Hibiya have thought that it could come to this.
That he, the Hibiya Amamiya, the legend and martyr of the Hiyori fanclub, was standing outside another girl’s room.
No, scratch that, that he was standing in the doorway of another girls room, stuttering while she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
“I-it doesn’t have to be on the bed or anything!” He said, a little too loudly, suddenly finding interest in the tacky hardwood floor “I just- I don’t want to be alone.”
Great, real smooth.
Oh god, he wanted to die on the spot. He could have at least sounded a lot less desperate about it. Now there was no way in hell that she would let him in. He’ll be left to the dogs again.
That sucks, considering that this might as well be his last night alive.
“Fine, get in.”
The response was near automatic, and all he could do was blink incredulously as she shrugged, pushing one of her pillows over to the other side of the bed.
“I- wait, what?”
He had to do a double take.
Okay so, after being assigned to the couch alongside Shintaro and Konoha, and after LOUDLY complaining that it wasn’t fair that some of the girls got their own rooms when he had to share with ‘the losers’ (his head still hurts from when Shintaro threw a pillow at him for that), he really didn’t know what to do.
After waking up in a cold sweat, his scream just barely drowned out by the pillows, everything was too stifling for him. Maybe it was because Konoha had an arm draped across him, or maybe because Shintaro really REALLY needed to shower, but he couldn’t handle being there - not when he was like this.
“I said get in,” She slid over, holding up the covers of the bed, “I don’t mind.”
She found the way he snapped his head up kinda funny. He looked like one of those fish you could win in those festival games- the kind where their eyes bulged out of their head.
She had never ended up winning one of them, but that’s besides the point.
He didn’t move, as if glued to the doorway. Did he think this through? Not quite. Did he think that he would get this far? Absolutely not.
So, even though he had come in there with a purpose, he didn’t quite know what to do after he, well, achieved it?
He would compare it to a video game, but he still wasn’t quite sure how those things work. Jeez, if Kano or Shintaro knew just how inept he was on stuff like that, he’d never hear the end of it.
She looked at him expectantly, arm getting a little tired from holding up the blanket for so long.
Was this a little weird? Yeah.
Has she ever been one to judge? No way.
“Well? You coming or not?” She laughed to herself when she saw him snap to attention, shaking his head as if shaking his immobilizing thoughts away.
“Really?”
She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at how hopeful he sounded, as if he hadn’t really believed that she’d say yes- or if he probably thought this was another one of Kano’s illusion things. That guy really didn’t know when to quit.
Was she really not that reliable? I mean, she understood that she only met the kid a few days ago, and the majority of the time they spent together was chasing each other around or running from paparazzi, but damn- she really meant it when she said she wanted to help! Not just him, but everyone in the gang.
“It won’t happen at all if I have to say ‘yes’ again,” she dropped the blanket down, moving over to the other side of the bed, leaving enough room for another person, “come on.”
From where she had moved, she was now facing the wall across from the door- so her back was turned to him.
She could hear his hesitant footsteps and the faint sound of the door clicking shut.
She’s reminded of the times she did this with Shintaro after waking up with some sort of nightmare, or when she was too scared of the monsters underneath her bed to be able to properly sleep.
She had always found a way to get into Shintaro’s room, shaking his arm until he woke up. Shintaro had absolutely hated it and pretended that he didn’t care, but he always let her in, whispering “Monsters don’t exist, you idiot,” while in reality he was wrapping an arm around her shivering body.
Looking back, it was kind of stupid that she thought he could protect her from the monsters- him being a scrawny 8 year old at the time (He’s even scrawnier now!). But she couldn’t help but smile fondly at the memory.
She feels Hibiya sit next to her, stopping for a moment, as if still in disbelief, before laying down once and for all.
The silence is kind of awkward- no, it's really awkward. But she didn’t really mind it. She was really tired, so even though she would normally be chatting, she really wanted to go to sleep.
She shifted a little, trying to get a little more comfortable while taking up as little space as possible. She’s the type of person that sleeps all sprawled out. She doesn’t know how Shintaro put up with it when they were younger.
“You really are a cow! There’s no space over here!”
Her eyes snapped open as she heard his comment, regretting everything. She was tempted to kick the little rat out once and for all. He’s lucky that there was some kindness left in her heart and that the laws of this land prevented her from injuring him, so she didn’t shove him off the bed like she wanted to.
“You’re the one who wanted to be here in the first place! So don’t complain!”
She shifted over a little more, to the point where she was approaching the edge of the bed. No, she wasn’t going to give up her pride, not for the sake of her bed and definitely not because of a 12 year old boy.
“You’re just afraid of the truth!”
Well, so much for the ‘not injuring’ thing.
He yelped as he was cut off by a sharp kick to the side, meeting nothing other than her glare in the darkness.
“Any more of that, and you’ll end up on the floor,” she huffed, sliding her leg back over to her side of the bed. “Don’t test me.”
Even with her back turned to him, she could imagine him pouting and rubbing his side, which he most definitely was doing. That kick hurt!
But he wasn’t going to give up the fight that easily. No- Hibiya Amamiya had a reputation to maintain. He hadn’t backed down all the times Hiyori brushed him off. Didn’t back down all the times Hiyori made him carry his stuff. Didn’t back down even when Hiyori liked Konoha.. So he sure as hell wasn’t going to back down now.
“Fine... Auntie.”
Another sharp kick (it’s only been a few days, but Kido has taught her well).
Not worth it.. He thought, rubbing his aching side once more.
She took his pained whimper and the followed silence as her victory. That should be the end of the nicknames for the time being!
As he stared at the other side of the wall, he clutched his pillow closer to his chest. All jokes aside, he couldn’t help but feel oddly comforted by the presence of another person, even though all they were doing was teasing each other.
The sound of the cicadas faded into the background, their dull, ringing cry sounding like a sort of white noise.
It’s strange- in a way, he supposed that they were the same as those cicadas; never destined to make it past summer, their beaten up bodies cast aside and waiting for the earth and time to reclaim them once again.
The cicadas- they were trying to make their voices heard, making the best of their only summer- doing their best to live without thinking of the impending doom of the next day.
“...Do you really think that we could die tomorrow?”
His voice is quiet as he whispers those words, yet oddly stable.
It’s not the voice of someone who had no clue about this type of thing- about the impending doom that tomorrow was bound to bring. It’s the voice of someone who has seen some serious shit.
“I mean,” Momo feels him shrug from the other side of the bed, “I’ve died before. The worst that can happen is that I don’t come back this time,”
It might have been too long for her to remember it clearly, but she does remember it- the day she died.
“I’m going to become the best at swimming so I can finally be better than Onii-Chan at something!”
Then, well, there was no other way that she could word it. She drowned, and she took her dad with her.
She closed her eyes tight at the thought, exhaling heavily out of her nose as she felt the familiar heat of the tears that started to build up under her eyelids. No, she couldn’t think of that now. Not when someone needed her.
Again, she didn’t remember much besides her fear as she sank further and further down, and the bubbles that escaped her lips as she screamed for someone, anyone to come and save her.
But there was one thing she knew she had wanted when she closed her eyes for what she thought was to be the final time.
"I want to live."
And, surprisingly, she did.
Well, she wouldn’t exactly call it living, given that she’s spent most of her life either performing or running away from her fans. But, hey! She was alive. That’s all that mattered to her.
Now she’s here, stuck in this secret base with a bunch of people she barely knew.
And, strangely, she finds that wouldn’t change any of it for the world.
But, with evil lingering on the horizon, she can’t help but feel a little scared- even though she’s never really shown it.
She glances behind her, and she sees him looking down at his hands. She didn’t quite know what he went through when it came down to all this but...
The look in his eyes was dark- haunted. He has seen far too much.
He knew that this was it, that that very thing: the concepts of dying so soon and not being able to come back was the reason he came to her in the first place.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to let his tears out. Not now- not here. He doesn’t know why this bothered him so much- he’d died before! Hundreds, no, thousands of times! If it meant that everything would be okay- that she would be okay, then it was worth it, right?
“But, ugh! I want to come back- even if it’s only one more time,” he sighs, “for Hiy-“
He stops himself before he finishes, and she feels the way he seems to tremble next to her.
He was afraid. There was no point to saying it was anything else, because it was that fear that prevented him from telling her the truth. He feared what she’d do, of what she’d say. He feared hurting her more than he already had. It's the very same fear that landed him here in the first place.
And it's all for the very same girl.
It’s a name she’s heard him yell many times before, considering that he’s literally RUN AWAY several times because of well, the girl that he was talking about.
It’s far too obvious.
“..For Hiyori?” She whispers, heart clenching painfully as she thought of the little girl that she had never gotten the chance to meet.
It wasn’t fair - NONE of this was fair. Why them? They were just little kids. They didn’t deserve this - none of them did. And now, they’re all stuck in this mess, all of them on the precipice between life and death.
She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t- not now, not here.
“Yeah,” she hears him whisper, just as quiet, “for Hiyori.”
She feels the sob before she hears it, the way he trembled beside her, as if trying hard not to let anything slip.
He pressed his face into his pillow, curling his hands into fists and clutching the material tightly in his fingers.
“Ugh!”
She turns around to face him, messing up the covers in her attempt to do so.
He was curled up in a ball, looking much smaller than he usually did- the pillow clutched to his chest and face seeming almost as big as he.
“Hibiya-“
From where she reached out to him, he swatted her hand away- just like he did a few days ago.
So much for character development, she thought ruefully, rubbing her hand.
“What’re you going to do? Tell me to stop?” He looked up, one eye glaring up at her from where his face was buried in the pillow, “Because I really don’t want to be in this situation! I don’t want to see anyone die!”
His voice was drowned out by another sob, and she could only just make out his words.
“...Not again.”
She’s honestly at a loss for words, never expecting to be in a situation like this on today of all days.
But, she gets it. She remembers being the same way after her dad died- trying so desperately to keep both herself and her family together even though she knew that everything was her fault.
“Hibiya...”
He lifts his head up from the pillow for a second, and oh jeez- he was a mess.
“What?!” She doesn’t blame him for snapping at her. Hell, she even expected it. But that didn’t stop the thin layer of irritation that began to build up inside her.
Couldn’t he see that she was genuinely trying to help? Well, he must’ve if he came to her of all people- but still! Shutting her out and snapping at her won’t help anything.
“Hey, listen to me,” she reaches out to cup his face between her hands, her eyes meeting his own, “you’re not alone with this, okay?”
She didn’t need to use her ability to know that all of his attention was on her, but she was kind of glad he didn’t smack her away this time.
“We’re going to save her: you, me, and all the other people in this building.” Her eyes burned, not because of her ability, but because of the tears threatening to spill over her eyelids. “And sure, the thought of fighting this ‘Clearing Eyes’ guy is scary,” It really was. But if defeating him meant that they could finally live their own lives instead of being someone’s stupid little puppet, then so be it. “But we’re going to do it together, got it?”
She smiles as he looks up at her, eyes wide, once again looking like one of those bug-eyed fish, “Plus, we have my brother on our side! His plan will get us out of this in no time!”
He looks down for a moment after she stops talking, pillow still clutched to his chest. He was thinking again and honestly, he did remind her a lot of her brother- both smart, but in incredibly irritating ways
“Well,” she looks back at him, slightly relieved (and terrified) when she saw a small smirk on his face, even though he was still wiping at his eyes, “that makes me wonder where all that intelligence went for you.”
“HEY!”
Instead of kicking him, Momo pinched his baby cheeks and watched his nose scrunch up in response, but he didn’t snap at her again.
All in all, he was still a little kid. Hell, teenagers or not- they were all kids. This shouldn’t be happening, but it is. As much as she wanted it to stop, it wasn’t going to stop without a fight.
And that’s exactly what she’s going to give it. Not just for herself- but for everyone who somehow managed to get stuck in this whole mess.
He shifts over, looking up towards the ceiling- as if he’s thinking. He was no longer shaking, but a few tears still rolled down his cheeks.
At this point, they were probably angry tears- the kind that came with regret.
And honestly? She felt the same way. This talk aside, she really did regret the fact that she hadn’t helped him sooner- that all of them had to go through this- and that they all had to die in order for them to even be able to meet like this.
And now, it might’ve all been for nothing.
“What a day,” she huffed, changing the topic as she grabbed her pillow and shoved it underneath her head, “so much happened!”
He looks over at her, but, to her surprise, he nods instead of shutting her down.
“I learned how to control my power, you learned you had a power, I learned that my brother actually can make friends,” she chuckled at that, rolling her eyes at how much of a loser her brother was, “I learned Kido is a great cook! It’s wild!”
She didn’t quite know how the whole ‘resetting time’ thing that Kido had talked about worked, but she can’t shake the unease in her stomach at the prospect that this might not actually be the first time that she learned about this.
“I learned something too, I guess,” he piped up, sounding a lot better then before, “I really don’t like cats.”
Shaking away her unsettled thoughts, she laughs, finding that odd. When did he meet a cat? Did it scratch him and embarrass him in front of Hiyori or something?
“Have you seen Kano transform into one yet? It’s crazy.”
She’s still kind of mad at him for it. She had been wandering through the hideout, minding her own business, when she found a black cat.
Yeah, sure, she probably should’ve been more suspicious about it, given no one in the Dan had told her that they owned a cat- but hey, she loved animals, and that cat was cute as hell.
You want to know what isn’t cute as hell though? The second she reached down to pet it, she somehow found herself petting a grown ass man- Kano, that smug, blond bastard who grinned at her as she jumped away.
Not funny, didn’t laugh.
“He can do that?” Hibiya scrunched up his nose, “How?”
She shrugged. She honestly didn’t know how all these abilities worked aside from the whole ‘you gain a power through death’ thing. She wished she did though- so she could actually figure out why she was given ‘Drawing Eyes’ of all things. It was annoying! She just wanted to go to the store without being mobbed! Is that too much to ask?
“I don’t really know how his ability works, but I think it’s based off of if he is able to picture what he’s transforming into, like scent, looks, and all that." It was an honest guess, but, for once she actually thought it might be correct.
At that, Hibiya nodded, as if thinking it over. So yeah, she must’ve done something right!
Take that, Mr.Tateyama! I’m actually learning!
“So his familiarity with the subject?”
At his words, her ego deflated. There was literally no reason to word it that way and make her feel like an idiot. Just when she was feeling smart too.
“You’re 12. Stop trying to sound smart.” She really didn’t need this right now. She was still recovering from her really low test score. At least her Napoleon doodle got her two points...
“Again, you’re just jealous of how inept you are!”
She tried her best to pretend she knew what inept meant, but, given the smug look he gave her, she doesn't think she likes it very much.
She brought her hand up to shove him once again, but stopped when she heard him snort, laughter bubbling past his lips.
She smiled softly, reaching out to ruffle his hair instead, ignoring his grunt of distain at that.
He was like a little brother, in a way- the type that you would’ve hated to have if you actually were related, but the kind you cared for because, either way, you were stuck with them.
“Wait, so that means that he sniffed a cat?” He scrunched his nose up in disgust, pushing his hair back up from where she had smushed it down. “That’s gross!”
“Oh god, I hope not,” She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the giggles from spilling from her lips, But, knowing him, that was probably the first thing he did, “I can imagine it now! Him crouching down to sniff some random cat in the middle of an alleyway! Poor thing.”
Hibiya laughed a little at that, his eyes brightening a little bit.
“I mean, as long as it isn’t a black cat, I’ll feel bad for it.”
She left out the fact that the cat Kano had, in fact, turned into a black cat.
She didn’t know what a black cat had done to him, or if it was even related to this whole ‘daze’ thing, but she really didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“Thanks, Momo.”
The comment was muffled and rushed, as if he didn’t really want her to hear it.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you?”
Were her ears pulling a Kano? Were they deceiving her? Could it be that he, Hibiya Amamiya, the little rat, was thanking her?
He huffed, glaring at her from where he clutched the pillow, “I know that you heard me.”
“Did I really though?”
He furrowed his eyebrows, “I said thank you, got it?” Kind words aside, he still stuck his tongue out at her, “Please don’t make me say it again.”
“Is that gratitude I hear?” She teased, her happiness quite clearly shown in her smile, “Finally! The bratty 12 year old is appreciating my hard work!”
He huffed as she poked his cheek yet again, but he couldn’t contain his own small smile.
“But yeah, you’re welcome!~”
In the background, the cry of the cicadas continued to ring out, the tiny little bugs still alive despite their impending doom.
She glanced over to the little clock above the door, squinting to make out the numbers the hands had settled on. Yikes! It was late.
“It’s late,” She ruffled his hair once more, smiling when he swatted her hand away (but gentler! So there was character development!) from him again, “try to get some sleep, okay?”
It was at this point when she realized how tired he looked, and it was probably because of how eagerly he nodded his head at her suggestion.
She vaguely remembered him saying something about living on a farm, so she wouldn’t be surprised if he had to go to sleep early and then wake up early each day for the fields and stuff.
Haha, country boy.
She rolled over to face the wall again, and he did the same, lying so they were back to back.
“There’s one more thing,” he huffed out, breaking the silence and, once again, stopping her from going to sleep.
“What?” She cracked open an eye and listened. But man, she was tired.
From next to her, he was still, eyes closed, arms folded underneath his head.
Even like that, he still had that smug aura around him that made her want to smack him.
“Summer SUCKS.”
Smug aura or not, for once, she couldn’t bring herself to disagree with him.