{ 5 hours later }
"How is she?"
"Stable, I'm not leaving her alone, though," Hinasuke said, leaning against the doorframe.
"Yeah, okay."
He looked over his shoulder, "Yoshi."
Yoshida stopped by the living room door, "Yeah?"
"We'll be there for her. She'll be okay."
Hinasuke could quite see it, but he could tell from his hesitation that he was trying his best not to get emotional.
Eventually, Yoshida had to go back to their apartment, something about how his assignments were pending, but Hinasuke knew his roommate better than that. Odds were, he was going to sit in his room in the dark with nothing but an old song playing on repeat for hours.
It was his way of coping. Hina didn't judge.
His sights were set on the sleeping mess in front of him. Even in sleep she seemed exhausted, like the world couldn't allow her a moments rest.
"Don't worry, Aki. From now on, I'll be there for you. Me and Yoshida. We'll protect you, I swear it."
{ 6 years ago }
"I'm heading out."
"Oh, Hina, sweetie, could you give this to your little sister? She forgot her lunch again."
Young Hinasuke sighed as he took the pink lunchbox and crammed it into his bag, "Fine."
The walk to school was always so boring to him. He'd been loving this sort of repetitive lifestyle.
Wake up.
Walk to school.
Halfway there meet Yoshida and start arguing over the dumbest of things.
School.
Then back home again and repeat the whole process.
He was a first year in Kiyoto Middle School now. His parents, Hiroshi and Fiona Hashibira, were the kind of people who didn't really showcase their wealth.
His father, Hiroshi, was a scientist. Key word 'was' because the old man simply couldn't keep up with the new generation of Scientists, though Hinasuke was never really into that.
His mother, on the other hand, was an artist, and quite possibly one of the best artists in the country. In her youth, some of her paintings sold for more than half a million yen to some rich family, a big achievement for a self taught artist.
Even his little sister, younger than him by 3 years, was showing signs to be a good artist, much like their mother.
Hinasuke however was a different case...
"Congratulations. Your son is a Half Hybrid."
"Half..." Hina muttered beneath his breath, the scarf keeping him warm, "...what does that mean?"
For the most part, the world itself was still trying to figure that out too. Having surfaced only a few hundred thousand years or so, individuals with unique abilities had shaped the way the world evolved.
Essentials.
At least, that's what they called those people.
People with the ability to create energy. Not just manipulate it.
They'd been there for a much longer time, but only got discovered a few hundred thousand years prior their supposed extinction.
At least that's what they'd been taught at school.
Who knows what the truth really was.
The wind blew past again.
Sometimes it was as if even the weather was trying to contamplate life with him.
But not today, not when the blondie running towards him, screaming his name at the top of his lungs was hurdling snowballs at him.
"HINAA!!! PICK UP THE PACE YOU OLD MAN!!"
A snowball slipped past and hit his cheek.
He groaned a little, "Ow."
The idiot next to him only grinned as he wrapped his arm around him again, "C'mon! We gotta get to school early! I heard there's a new transfer student coming in!"
Hinasuke sighed as he glared at him, half annoyed, "You always get excited over the simplest of stuff."
"How can you not?!" Yoshida laughed, "Who knows! Maybe this new student might finally be someone worth knowing!"
Hinasuke however didn't seem to share his hype, if anything the redhead just ignored and walked ahead of him.
{ The Present. }
Hinasuke smiled a little as he sat next to Akira, his eyes softning in that certain way that only she could get him to.
"Remember the first time we met, Aki?" He whispered, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. He chuckled lowly, a sound so human for someone who wasn't, "You were so nervous that the other girls in class made fun of you because the teacher called your name wrong," he paused, "...you wanted to cry. Looking back at you then, it's probably because of how weak you seemed that made me wanna protect you..." his eyes softened a little, "It's also the reason that made me love you..."
{ 2 years ago }
The glass window shattered into shards as a man got thrown out the building, falling directly atop a parked car. Hinasuke burst through the window, boots sinking deep into the man's chest.
The people around took out their phones. Some called for authorities whilst others just watched as the redhead pummelled the defenseless man into another building, the wall collapsing upon impact.
"HOW DARE YOU HIT HER, HUH?! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" Hinasuke screamed, forming a transparent shade of green gauntlets around his hands. He walked on the street, each step slow, purposeful, deliberate. The cars barely avoided him as his figure didn't flinch at the speeding vehicles.
He grabbed the man by the neck, his massive energy based gloves wrapping around the man's neck as he lifted him effortlessly.
He wanted to kill him.
He probably was if it wasn't for the blondie that stopped him with a simple grasp on the shoulder.
His glowing emerald eyes met Yoshida's, half blazing with anger, half bloodlusted.
Yet...
It all vanished the moment those hazel eyes locked onto his.
"Let him go. You've done enough..."
He looked at the man, his face pale with lack of oxygen, then mechanically, let the man sprawl onto the ground, barely breathing.
"He hit Akira—"
"—I know," Yoshida said coldly, his eyes sliding down to the unconscious body on the floor, "He'll get what's coming to him, but not from you."
"Yoshida, he—"
"—Leave him be, Hina," he interjected, turning around to walk back into the dorm room apartments.
{ Present Day }
Hinasuke chuckled softly, his voice gentle still, "Y'know? If it wasn't for Yoshi, I was probably gonna kill that bastard..."
Akira shifted slightly, muttering something incoherent.
Hinasuke's heart clenched a little. He leaned in, mouth just shy of her forehead, but then he leaned back, "Dammit," he muttered, "...you just had to make things harder for me that day, huh, Aki?"
{ Last Year: 3 August. }
"Hey, Akashi, let's say I wanna get Akira something, what do you think she'd like?"
Akashi smiled, that same damn smile that knew a lot more than he let on, "Well, am I to assume that it's supposed to be super special or just special?"
Hinasuke groaned, "What the hell do you think? It's her birthday tomorrow..."
Akashi chuckled, "I get it, Hina, really, I do." He leaned against the counter, arms folded, "Well if you were to ask me, anything from the heart should do..."
"The heart, huh?"
"Mhm. Nothing beats a gift that's got love in it..."
"Man, Akira was right. You are corny." Hina muttered, taking a bag of chips into his room.
However the next day...
When they were alone.
"I love you..."
...
That day was the day things changed between them:
"I'm sorry, Hina, but...I don't see you that way...At least...not yet."
{ The Present }
"'Not yet...' I still think about it, y'know? About that last bit."
She moaned beneath her breath a little, her lip quivering before she shifted again.
Hinasuke sighed, getting up before he stood by the door again, "Doesn't matter... either way. Love me back or not, I'm never gonna leave your side, Akira."
"I promise."