Disclaimer: I do not own Kagerou Project/Mekakucity Actors!
Rating: T for toumei answer.
Pairing: Hibiya/Kagerou.
Okay, so. Here it is chapter eleven featuring super pretty cyber girl Ene. www
Hibiya woke up in a cold sweat. He found himself lying face up on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt around himself, and saw that he was still wearing his clothes. The clothes were dirty, and soaked in sweat, tears, and sun. The brunet shivered in disgust, longing for nothing more than a cold, refreshing shower.
But he wasn't in the mood to get up just this minute. With a stretch and a groan, Hibiya turned to his side, only to see the face of a certain cyber girl.
Now, of course, it wasn't Ene in the flesh (she didn't even have flesh) but it was her image that he saw. Ene was inside a tablet that Hibiya knew wasn't his. She was smiling, over-sized sleeves held behind her back.
Their relationship wasn't particularly strained nor was it particularly close. The blue program was probably neutral in all reality, but then again, Hibiya never really had alone time with her. As far as he was concerned, she never left her Master Shintaro's side. So, you can imagine how confused he was to see her first thing in the morning.
"Good morning, Ene..."
"Morning, Hibiya!" she greeted, smiling brightly. Ene giggled, before continuing. "Aren't you the least bit confused?"
The brunet blinked, and took a moment to fully awaken himself before conversing. He groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes and releasing an elongated yawn. "That's an understatement, really..."
Ene laughed again, and Hibiya was starting to get Kano-vibes from her. They both had an uncanny way of hooting and hollering like animals. "You're funny, Hibiya! But I guess since you were having a sentimental war with yourself yesterday," she waved her sleeves around, in a nit-picky fashion, "you'd be a little confused the morning after."
"I guess...but, you're pretty carefree, aren't you?" he mumbled, narrowing his gaze slightly. The program ignored this scrutiny.
"More or less so. But, anyways~ Little Sister and Red Shota brought you back after you had ran away. Of course, Master and I were searching vigorously for you as well, and we even shed tears upon the news you were delivered back to base, safe and sound as you should be!" All of this was melodramatic, and crying emoticons flashed in the background of the screen.
Ignoring her antics, he only sighed, a lock of brown hair stubbornly flying up from his breath. "So, where are the others?"
"Ah, you were sleeping so long that they decided to go out for errands! They left me in charge of you, so I made sure to dutifully keep an eye on you!"
"...so you watched me sleep?" his brown eyes were as solemn as his tone.
A pout appeared on the virus girl's face, and she flashed red all over the screen as an expression of disapproval. "No! I was only here for ten minutes. And I was kindly leaving you to rest, surfing the web like always. I'm not like my Master, gosh."
"Wait, Shintaro likes watching people sleep?"
A dark shadow was cast as Ene smiled wide. "He has a whole folder for sleeping fetishes. Don't get me started on his shotacon complex."
From that moment on, Hibiya knew that the being called 'Ene' was a dangerous person.
After the small talk he made with the girl, he plugged Ene into the Base's wires, giving her connection to all electronics in the building. He left her to her own devices-literally- as he went to go prepare himself for the shower.
Alone in his room, Hibiya could only think back to Momo and Kagerou, and the events that he assumed were prior to his awakening. How were they doing right now, going along with everyone else? They didn't seem angry last time, but maybe by being apart from him they would have time to lament. They probably had every right to, yet Hibiya couldn't help but feel a little hurt if they did.
"I'm so stupid," he muttered, playing with the fabric t-shirt he had chosen to wear after showering. For a moment, his brown eyes merely stared within the folds, until a loud blaring noise came from all speakers of the house.
"I don't hear the water running, Hibiya!" Ene screeched, making him scream out of instinctive response.
"Q-Quiet! Stop screaming at me!"
"Don't yell at me, little man! Keep it up, and your CD player will be corrupted in no time!" she threatened.
"I'm going, I'm going!" he replied, running to the shower. "And don't touch my CD player! It's the only electronic device I have!"
"That's another thing! You're in the big city now. Ditch this ancient stuff, and let's go shopping!"
"I can't hear you, now! I'm showering!"
And he slammed the door, breathing irritably. Talk about annoying. But he realized that now he was alone in the bathroom, he'd have nothing but the shower and his thoughts. Which, frankly, is a small remedy to what he's been suffering.
Turning to the shower, he reached out, twisting the knob that released the water flow. He turned the dial to the 'cold' side, and wasted no time peeling off the sticky and filthy clothes. Hibiya went inside the bathing machine.
In the shower, he let his thoughts meander. His mind was wandering off, and not even Konoha had walked depths that could match the boy's thoughts. And that was saying something. From Hiyori, to Momo, to Kagerou and back to Hiyori again, the brunet's mind was a hub of reoccurring thoughts and new ideas. Finally, a part of him realized that he couldn't stay in there forever.
Once he confirmed that his hair was washed and rinsed thoroughly, along with his body, he turned off the shower. His eyes watched water drops fall. Drip drop. And then, with a fluid movement, he opened the door and reached for the towel.
Drying himself, Hibiya slipped into a blue t-shirt and blue shorts, and hung the towel cleanly. The first thing he heard as he stepped into the hallway again was Ene's voice.
"Hibiya! Are you done yet? I'm bored~"
He sighed, and walked into the main room. On the TV screen was Ene, who was kicking her half-legs into the air. Shortly after, her head had turned, and she visibly cheered up at the presence of another person. "Took you long enough."
"Sorry," was all he supplied, and he sat on the leather couch across from her. "So."
"So."
"..."
"Let's play a game!"
"Okay, what kind of game?"
Ene thought long and hard. "Well, you're just an ignorant country boy, so I'll have to pick something that won't overstimulate your ignorance..."
"H-Hey!"
"Am I wrong?"
"Well, I guess I am out of the loop-"
"You don't even know what the loop is! I mean, who still has a CD player these days?" she straightened up, placing her hands on her hips. "Anyhow, do you want to play a game, or not?"
"You're the one who asked..." Hibiya huffed, and crossed his arms. "Yes, I'll play a game. What are we playing?" he repeated his previous question.
Her blue eyes lit up, and she presented a game title on the large TV. Hibiya wasn't sure how Ene worked exactly, but figured she had access to all technology beyond his comprehension. To be able to play games on a TV...
"This game is called-"
"Headphone Actor?" Hibiya finished, blinking at the flashing words. "How do you play?"
Ene smiled, and flailed her arms again. "It's easy! Normally, it's played with a toy gun, but we don't have any, so just use your fingers!" Her slender hand peeked from her sleeve, and she made a gun shape. "Like this!"
The brunet mirrored her movements, and held up his hand. "How will this work, though?"
"Just aim at the targets! If you beat me, you get a prize!"
"What kind of prize?"
She smiled at him again. He noticed something about Ene that moment she smiled at him for the umpteenth time. "I'll hack the system and get you an Mp3! Free of charge."
"And if I lose?"
"You have to call me Mistress."
His face felt warm, but he didn't know why. "What kind of penalty is that?!"
"Well, I always call Shintaro 'Master', but I want to know what it feels like to be on the other end." Ene fessed, lips pursed playfully.
"Why don't you just stop calling him 'Master', then?"
Her expression wasn't like usual, but she just winked at him. "Let's say it's a deal I made a long time ago."
"I'm confused."
"Ah, don't worry! Once you ripen, you'll get the idea."
He recoiled in disgust. "Don't say stuff like that. What kind of word choice is that, anyways?"
Hysterical giggles erupted from Ene. "Alright, alright! Ready to play?" She brought the screen to the gameplay, where in a destroyed city, there were countless enemies floating in the air. But Hibiya noticed they were far from terrifying. The enemies were cute, animal-esque creatures with funny faces. What kind of game is this?
Hibiya aimed his finger gun at the screen, and fired it like it was a real one. An enemy blew up instantaneously in front of his eyes. The brown hues widened in awe. "H-How...?"
"The future is now, Hibiya! See what you've been missing out on?" Ene winked, and shot her own pistols at her side of the screen. Her score started going up, and she got into the focus of the game, but gave him a lasting glance. "Good luck!"
He nodded, and started getting into the game. But what he thought about earlier still resurfaced. Ene's smile; and what he noticed about it.
Her smile seemed so empty, and so sad; he couldn't help but feel that there's much more to her than meets the eye.
Hours passed, and when an orange sun set in the horizon, the door to the Blindfold Gang's base opened. A majority of its members filed inside, carrying bags of all sorts and making lots of noise.
Even Kagerou was in the mix.
He was speaking to Momo and Shintaro, and they seemed to be having a contained debate about cell phone accessories.
"I still like the truck shaped one," Kagerou commented, spinning a chain around his finger.
"No way, the crane shaped one was obviously the better choice," Shintaro mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"I still can't believe you voluntarily left the base, big brother! Without Ene, at that."
"It wasn't voluntary," he scolded, dark eyes narrowing at his sister, "you of all people should know that."
Kagerou stepped in here, raising a brow at the older Kisaragi. "You're overreacting-"
"You dragged me out of bed!" Shintaro interrupted Kagerou, pointing an accusing finger at him.
He simply waved him off, Momo giggling at this little scene. "Details, details."
However, everyone eventually stopped, and stared at what lay before them.
On the TV screen, it looked as if a video game of some sort had just finished. One half of the screen said 'WINNER' and respectively 'LOSER' on the other half. A score was also there, and it read clearly: HIBIYA-100200, ENE-100199.
Headphone Actor. Kido visibly tensed up, but forced a small, genuine smile out. Shintaro's countenance worsened with what was obviously overwhelming nostalgia. Only Kano, who shared this memory with the other two, was smiling with ease.
"Guess the shota's good at games~" Kano pointed out, breaking the stupor everyone was in.
"Ene, too, who knew?" Shintaro mumbled, "although she probably let him win."
"Hey, Kido!" Seto called out, pointing to the couch.
On the couch, Hibiya was snoring away, and next to him was a tablet where Ene was 'sleeping', her image visibly asleep and snoring z's in the background of the tablet.
Between the both of them, was a newly packaged Mp3 player of sorts, although the box itself was opened. The Mp3, on the other hand, was out, but the earphones were connected to the tablet instead. This was probably so both Ene and Hibiya could hear the music. One of the earphones was still in Hibiya's ear.
"Cuties," Momo declared, ruffling Hibiya's hair. Kagerou swiped the Mp3, and looked a bit disappointed that it was still empty. He turned to Momo and Shintaro. "Oi, let's fill this up for them."
"Oooh I want to download all of my albums on there!"
A peaceful, friendly episode broke out, and benevolent laughter rang throughout the base.
Ultimately, once everyone dispersed, a largely genuine smile sat on Ene's face.
Too bad no one was there to see it.