I like to try and space out new girl chapters as much as I can, but this one is ready to go. Soooo here ya go!
Hapi kinda reminds me of Fie from Trails of Cold Steel. Which I've been playing recently. Soooo I ended up falling in love with Hapi during a play through. Which brings us to this!
I've also noticed that there is a significant lack of Hapi x Byleth fanfics out there. At least from my search on both here and on AO3. So allow me to fill that void myself!
Enjoy!
He was strange.
Granted they were all strange, but one had to be if they thought living underground was normal.
Not that she had much of a choice however.
But he was a lot more strange than anyone else she'd met, and that was saying something. Never smiled, barely seemed to breathe, would always stare off into space. Heck, there was even a rumor floating around that he didn't even have a heart.
What she found the most strange however, was that he kept coming down into Abyss. Despite her and the rest of the Ashen Wolves telling him that this place was dangerous, he kept coming down to see them; wandering around without a care in the world when just last week two guys stabbed each other during a fight in the bar.
Speaking of the Professor, there he was; walking down the stairs and greeting the Abysskeeper before wandering out into the plaza. Sometimes Hapi wondered if he was doing this on purpose because he wanted her to sigh. She figured she should hurry up and go talk to him, that's all he mainly did down here anyway; and the sooner he finished talking to everyone the sooner he could leave before he got himself in trouble.
"Hey Chatterbox, still ignoring my warnings I see." She stopped in front of him, staring into his deadpanned gaze as he looked back at her. Byleth titled his head slightly at Hapi's greeting.
"Chatterbox?"
Hapi nodded. "Yep. It's my nickname for you, I try and give everyone nicknames. It's easier to remember them that way."
"I see..." Byleth straightened his head as he continued to stare at her. "What does it mean?"
"What does it mean?" Hapi repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Byleth nodded. "Yes."
"Uh...Well it means someone who talks a lot."
Byleth looked away for a second before returning his gaze back to her. "Do I...Talk a lot?"
Hapi shook her head. "No, if anything it'd be the opposite. I just call you that because it's ironic, kinda like how I call Yuri Yuribird even though he's not a bird; or Constance Coco despite the fact she is obviously not a cup of hot chocolate. I don't mean anything bad by it."
"I see..." Byleth glanced away for a second, appearing to be in thought before returning his attention back to her. "Then...What's your nickname?"
"What's my nickname?"
"Yes."
"I uh...Don't really have a nickname for myself."
"Why not?"
"Because nicknames aren't really something you give to yourself." Hapi explained.
Yep. Strange. This Professor the church recently hired was very, very strange. It's almost as if he didn't know anything about social interaction, he kinda reminded her of a child in that sense.
"How about...Hapi-Cat?"
Hapi's eyes widened, what did he just call her?
"Uh...No..."
"Why not?"
That was a good question. It's not like she hated being given a nickname, and if she had to admit that was a pretty good nickname.
"Can't say I'm a fan of it is all."
"I see...I'll try and think of a better one then."
"I'd rather you not give me one at all..."
The Professor went to go say something before a haughty voice called out to him. The two of them turning to see Constance running up to them.
"Ah, Professor! There you are! You said you were going to help me with my experiments."
"Sorry, I got caught up talking to Hapi."
Constance turned her attention to her red-headed friend. "Hapi my dear, do you mind if I steal the Professor away from you for a bit?"
Hapi shook her head. "Nope, go right ahead."
Constance beamed, turning to the Professor and grabbing his hand before dragging him off to her room.
It made her a little jealous if she had to admit...
Hapi-Cat...
She repeated that nickname the Professor randomly gave her over and over in her mind. It was cute, and almost seemed to fit her current situation.
It was currently in the middle of the afternoon, yet Hapi was still in bed. Lazing about as the day flew by her. Everyone else had already gotten up, and Constance had chided her for always laying in bed all day. But she didn't have anything planned, and as far as she was concerned neither did Chatterbox. Which was just fine with her.
A knock on the door caused her to groan in annoyance, it was probably Yuri or Constance; back to get on to her again. She pulled the covers further up, turning away to face the wall.
Another knock, they were persistent. She didn't move and waited to see if they would go away. They didn't, the third knocking finally causing her to throw the covers off and stand up. Lazily walking off to the door and opening it, being met with the Professor. His gaze still as plain as usual.
"Chatterbox? I thought we weren't doing anything today."
Byleth shook his head. "We aren't, I was just wondering if you wanted to have some tea together."
"Tea?"
Byleth nodded.
"Ya know I don't know the first thing when it comes to tea, right?"
"Neither do I. I just drink it."
Well, he isn't wrong. Hapi never really got the whole 'Tea Etiquette' thing, despite the many lessons Constance gave her none of it ever stuck; which is why she tries to avoid having tea with Constance.
"Why do you wanna have tea with me anyway?" Hapi asked, curious as to why this Professor was suddenly interested in spending the afternoon with her.
"I wanted to know more about you."
Figures, anyone would be curious about her. A girl that can summon monsters with just a simple sigh? Yep. That's pretty strange alright. No doubt the Church had overheard that she was now apart of Chatterbox's class, and wanted him to keep an eye on her. She didn't want to think something so negative, but Chatterbox was affiliated with the Church...
"I'm really not much of a tea time partner...Ya know, cause of the whole monster thing."
"I've heard about that, I'm sorry."
That irked her, she didn't know why or how, but it just did.
"You're 'sorry'?" Hapi furrowed her brows.
"I am. I sort of know what you're going through..."
Now she was glaring, how insensitive could this guy get? How could he possibly know what she was going through?
"Oh do you? So do you have to watch how you breathe every second of your life?"
The Professor's eyes widened. "No I-"
"Then don't try and compare yourself to me for my sake, the last thing I need is pity from some church lapdog. I've gotten plenty of that already and look where I ended up."
The Professor didn't say anything, a sad look on his face.
"Sorry Chatterbox, I'm not in the mood for tea right now. Go ask someone else." And with that, she slammed the door on him. Walking back to her bed and throwing herself on it, wrapping herself back up in the covers as she stared at the ceiling.
Why did she do that? What had gotten into her? Now she had this weight on her chest that made her terrible.
Fuck.
She really wished she could sigh right now...
It had been a few days since Hapi had seen the Professor, and with each passing day she felt even more terrible. She refused to leave her room, even missing out on a few clean-up battles the Professor and the rest of his class went out on.
She told herself that she'd try and stay away from anything that would make her sigh, yet here she was causing trouble for both the Professor and herself. She can be such an idiot sometimes...She pulled herself out of bed, figuring a walk around Abyss may somewhat clear her head.
Or just make her want to sigh, at this point she didn't really care.
As she entered the Plaza she heard someone shout from near the entrance.
"W-What are you doing here!?"
She whipped her head to the source of the commotion, seeing the Professor and another denizen of the Abyss. The man was on the ground, a look of terror on his face as he stared at the Professor. A few others noticed the commotion and were now watching.
Byleth leaned down, holding out his hand to the man. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was goin-"
"Get away from me! You Demon!"
Hapi's eyes widened, Demon? That was not a word someone used lightly, even down in Abyss. Monster or freak yeah, but demon?
Byleth had froze, standing back up and letting his arm fall loosely to his side, a look of resignation on his usually plain face.
"Hey, what's going on?" The Abysskeeper had approached the two, the man on the ground scrambled to his feet, pointing at the Professor.
"T-That's the Ashen Demon! He slaughtered my old group I used to run with!"
The Abysskeeper raised an eyebrow at the man. By now more people had begun watching, a large crowd having formed around the Professor; talking among themselves.
"The Ashen Demon? That's him?"
"He really does have a scary gaze..."
"I hear he's incapable of empathy, or any emotion."
"They say his blood is ice cold."
"Really? I've heard he doesn't even bleed..."
The Professor had his head held low, Hapi could see the words were getting to him. Which was surprising, she didn't think anything could faze the man...She needed to do something, but what could she do? Everyone else was scared of her as well...
"Alright, what's up with all this commotion?"
Everyone turned towards the smooth voice, Yuri pushing past the crowd and standing in front of the Professor, facing the man who was on the ground earlier.
"Y-Yuri! That's the Ashen Demon I told you about!"
Yuri had his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow at the man. "And?"
"H-He's a monster!"
"So? You really believe all those stories?"
"I-I've seen it myself! He's a demon!"
Yuri glared at the man. "I suggest you watch your tongue around my friend, unless you want me to cut it out."
The man cowered. "N-No...I'll stop..." The man fled, Yuri turning towards the crowd.
"Alright everyone listen up, this charming man here is my Professor, and in turn my friend. So if you have a problem with him then I suggest you divert your complaints to me." He looked around at everyone. "So? Lets hear them then!"
No one said anything, looking around at each other before slowly dispersing until it was just Yuri and the Professor left.
"That's what I thought." Yuri turned towards the Professor. "Sorry about that, that nickname of yours carries some weight down here. I honestly never would've taken you the Ashen Demon either...You seem too soft." Yuri grinned, Byleth offering his own.
"Thank you, Yuri. I'm sorry for the trouble."
Yuri shook his head. "Oh it's no big deal my friend, been meaning to put my foot down around here anyway."
Meanwhile, Hapi had been watching the whole thing. Turns out she was wrong, her and the Professor were a lot more alike then she thought...Figures she'd jump to conclusions so quickly...
She really was an idiot...
There was a knock at the door.
When Byleth opened it he was surprised to see Hapi, staring up at him with her dead-panned eyes.
"Yo. Can I come in?"
Byleth nodded, stepping aside so Hapi could enter, looking around his room before taking a seat on his bed. Byleth took a seat at his desk chair, facing her.
The two sat in silence for a bit before Hapi finally spoke up.
"Um...Sorry about the other day..."
Byleth tilted his head. "Sorry for what?"
"Ya know...Snapping at you, I just jumped to conclusions."
"Oh, you don't need to be sorry about that." Byleth looked towards the ground. "I was partly at fault too."
"Nah, it was all my fault."
"I thin-"
"Nooope. All my fault."
Byleth sighed before nodding his head. "Fine, it's your fault."
"Good. Now that I got the apology done, mind if I crash in your room?"
"What's wrong with your room?"
"Nothing, I just don't want any of the Church guards catching me on my way back. It was hard enough getting here unnoticed."
Byleth scratched the back of his head. "I think you should-"
"Cool. Thanks." Hapi fell back on his bed, passing out almost instantly. Byleth sighed.
She really was like a cat...
In case you haven't noticed, I have a habit of bringing up Byleth's Ashen Demon title. I just find it to be interesting since it adds a lot of back story to his character.
Hope you enjoyed this more dialogue centric story. Not a whole lot of action going on it, I guess its a support convo in a way.
Anyway.
Until next time!
