Heart of the Infiltrators

by MordinofSolus

Senran Kagura x Male Insert - Amidst a turn in the modern era, a young man is forcibly contracted to cure twenty shinobi of a mental ailment known as distortion, caused by the corrupted blood of Yōma. As time goes on, the long hidden societies of the world are forced to come out into the public spotlight when they are pitted against one another. ON HOLD UNTIL EARLY JULY

73. Chapter 73: Sore Touch (Hibari)

Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 73: Sore Touch (Hibari)

Yumi blinked a few times before her lower eyelids went up amusedly, "So, you really didn't plan any of that out?" before she resumed her prodding of the young man's neck with her finger.

Laying down on the bed within his apartment as both as both she and Miyabi gently rubbed their knuckles and scratched their nails against his throat, the young man replied, "Nope. I came in with a lesson, got annoyed by a severe case of density that could have rivaled the Earth's core, and fixed the problem while also taking a up a challenge to defend my honor."

Miyabi straightened her head ever so slightly, "You're adding a bit of narrative theatrics behind your motivations to that last one. I'm pretty sure you were just trying to show off."

The boy raised his head and a finger, "I take offense to that accusation but will not deny it."

Suddenly, Murasaki's hand found his forehead and leaned him back into her lap, "Hush. Let them do whatever it is they're doing."

As her hand proceeded to pleasantly rub him, the young man vented out a pleased groan from his throat and relaxed while Miyabi and Yumi continued to poke and prod at him. He would have remained comfortable if Bebeby didn't utter from the side of the bed, "Man-whore."

Letting his eyes dart over, the young man declared in a low tone, "You know who'd win the fight you're picking, bear."

"You're good for flying, zipping, and spazzing out when you want to dance… You are also scarcely helpful against Yōma," declared Bebeby before the top of her eyes somehow twisted aggressively, "But if you were to try and take me on, you'd wind up in the hospital."

"You dare insult the step-grandson of a Scot?"

Murasaki pulled Bebeby to her side with her free hand and proceeded to rub behind the bear's ears, "There's no need to argue, you two." When a strange inhuman purr began to emanate from beside her, the girl smiled merrily. Then an idea popped into her head and she guided Bebeby's hand over to the young man's hair.

After a brief moment of rubbing, the bear simply declared, "His hair is soft. If you discard the boy, take the scalp with you."

"Bebeby!" cried Murasaki at the brutality of the statement.

Letting out a breath and turning his eyes down to the two who were making a guinea pig of his throat, the young man asked, "So, it's been two nights. Feel like turning in the towel?"

Yumi's response was low and immediate, "No."

Miyabi explained immediately afterward, "If we're going to do anything with hickeys, we need to find your sensitive spots."

"And, again, the neck is pretty sensitive in general," retorted the young man.

"And, again," jeered Yumi, "we aim to go all out. Or did you forget that little counter-attack of yours last night?" As if to emphasize her point, she undid the top button of her shirt and pulled at her collar to unveil a red mark that rested right where the neck met the collarbone. Even still, the young man only stared. Yumi then shot a look a look over to Miyabi, who nodded and pulled at her shirt to reveal a mark on the side of her neck as well.

Not sure what to make of their display, the young man blinked and tilted his head, "I'm not computing this information the way you want me to."

"You found our spots, right?" declared Miyabi as she pumped her fists, "Never minding the fact that you made us let out those sounds and sent Homura into giggles…" before she pointed at the boy, "…we need to exact a right and proper vengeance upon you. Which requires us finding your sensitive spots."

Yumi turned her head over, "I don't know why you're framing this like a vengeance-based plan. I just want to hear him let out a cry of pleasure."

As Murasaki let out a sigh and covered her nose from the aura, Miyabi narrowed her eyes and stated, "Of course, that's what I'm going for too. I'm just framing it like a vengeance to add some-, I don't know, what do you call it…? Context? Plot? Some kind of roleplay atmosphere?"

Yumi shrugged, "I think I get what you're talking about," before her gaze turned much more serious, "Regardless, I don't see much point in it. If we're going to get sweet in the sheets, I say we just do it."

The young man blinked in the face of her terminology, not that she'd never been blatant in the past, and pressed his lips together before looking up to Murasaki.

"But why not include some fun play along with it?" asked Miyabi as she stood onto her knees. She then clasped her hands cheerily and spoke in a voice that mimicked the young man's, "Oh, honey you're back from work so early today!" and reverted back to her own voice, "Yes, a rough day indeed. But, heavens, my shoulders are so stiff now." Deepening her voice again, Miyabi shuffled her shoulders back in forth, "Well, my sweet, I know what may be able to help you relax." She butted her hip to one side, "Would you like your favorite dinner?" then rounded it to the other, "A bath and massage?" before finally straightening herself out and speaking lowly, "Or, perhaps, you'd – like – me?"

"If any of you ever heard me say any of those last lines, I'd expect you all to kill the imposter and find the real me," stated the young man.

Disappointment wracked Miyabi's body before her posture crumbled. Like a deflated balloon, her head waved through the air as she slowly turned to him, "…You'd never say anything like that…?"

Suddenly feeling guilty, the young man shrunk and stated quietly, "Well… if you ask ahead of time so that I can mentally prepare… it could be arranged…"

Just as Miyabi started to beam, Yumi stated, "That all sounds like a lot of needless dancing around." She then raised a finger into the air, "Why not just feed each other in the bath, of course you'd both be naked, and then follow what would naturally come after."

Miyabi's eyes sharpened and she turned defensively, "Because it's fun for us."

"Sex is fun," stated Yumi, her eyes meeting her challenger.

"Well, yes, but most people would say otherwise to your implications that there's no place for roleplay!"

"No, they wouldn't."

"Why do you think adult videos still have plots!?"

"They're needless! Most people just want the good part!"

"THE PLOT IS A PIECE OF THE GOOD PART!"

"YOU'RE DELUDING YOURSELF!"

"Do you guys watch adult videos or something?" asked the young man casually. Breaking off from their encounter with one another, Yumi and Miyabi sat side-by-side on the far end of the bed and jointly agreed to not meet the young man's eyes until they could hold the weight of their embarrassment. The boy quickly added aloud, "If that's your thing, you two don't need to be ashamed of it."

"It's not an active hobby," stated Miyabi quietly, "It's just study material."

Yumi added in the same tone of voice, "We can't be expected to try new things without such knowledge, after all."

As the atmosphere of embarrassment overtook all of the rising lustiness from earlier, Murasaki let out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I can breathe again." She then resumed her rubbing of the young man's head and asked, "So, if you don't mind me changing the topic, will Hibari be doing her correction soon?"

Closing his eyes as the pleasant petting resumed, the young man answered, "Tomorrow, actually."

"Want us to be there?"

Hearing a faint hint of alarm in the girl's question, the young man looked up to her and said, "Not that I wouldn't want you guys there but the whole process is based off of a trust between the two participants. If anyone other than the shinobi and infiltrator is in the room, there could be a risk of subconscious interference." Murasaki tilted her head off to the side, wondering how that would work, and the boy caught the confusion and elaborated further, "Let's say that you and I are in a room. We trust each well and good but, oh my goodness, Bebeby snuck into the room!"

"Perverts like you shouldn't be unsupervised," grumbled the bear.

The young man continued without acknowledging the jab, "Now, this isn't the best way to word it, seeing as minds are more complex than any of the highest-grade computers that will ever come into existence… but let's say that you see Bebeby and think to yourself…" After taking a moment to think, the young man pulled a page out of Miyabi's book and pitched up his voice to mimic Murasaki's voice, "Oh, Bebeby's here… Well, I suppose if anything goes wrong, it'll be nice to have them here." Dropping his impression, the young man states, "Again, not the best way to explain it but… in short… the risk of suspicion on the ritual is what could ruin the process."

"I see…" started Murasaki before she tilted her head and asked, "So, I should… ask Hibari if it's okay…?"

Not having the heart to argue against the girl, especially since her objective was most likely to protect him from any undue damage, the young man bounced his shoulders and said, "Ah… sure. Start there."

Breaking out from her shell of embarrassment, Yumi perked her head up and rounded it toward the two before asking, "Wait, quick question?"

The young man turned to her, "Quick answer."

"You and Murasaki haven't had sex yet, right?"

While the young man frankly answered, "Correct," without grievance, the mentioned girl briefly shuddered in surprise before burning red and doing her utmost to not meet the boy's eye. When he took notice of her bashful reaction, he quickly added, "Though, I have no problem with it, especially since there're enough cuddles to balance it out."

While Murasaki quickly let out a breath of relief, having feared that their lack of action would bring out some sort of resentment, Yumi tilted her head and asked, "Don't you want to?"

Whatever bit of relaxation that was on the purple-haired girl's face was immediately washed as she feared whatever answer that would come next for several reasons. Whether it be the insinuation that she would be holding out on him if he said yes or the potential lack of desire for her if he said no, Murasaki couldn't fathom a pleasant result either way and hoped that he would dodge the question… though, that would still leave unanswered anxiety. As her thoughts were moving fast enough to put lightspeed to shame, the young man answered in his persistently frank tone, "Of course, though I'm still happy enough with the cuddling. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen and we'll be fine."

Murasaki let out another breath of relief but her face twisted into fear again when Yumi asked, "Would you really be happy with that?"

Once again, her face relaxed with the young man's response, "Why wouldn't I be?" and she would be caught in the cycle of switching between dread and hope for the rest of the exchange.

"Well, you're pretty enthusiastic when we get down to it. Plus, Murasaki has mentioned for herself that you have some prevalent lust."

"First, that lust is a lie. I am a reasonable human being who dictates action with their head… that is, the one on top of my neck."

"You had that slight inflection in your voice when you lied at the start there. You know you have some lustiness to you, though I'll clear your second statement as the truth."

"Whatever you say. As for my-, what, enthusiasm? Of course, I'd get enthusiastic. It's fun and it feels good. But I don't consider it a necessity-, why the hell am I explaining myself to convince you guys. If you can tell when I'm lying and being truthful, you should be able to tell that I'm being wholeheartedly serious when I say that I'm fine without sex."

"Ah, touché… but is that only because you have an outlet in the form of myself and others?"

Unable to take the ridiculous exchange any longer, Miyabi let out a loud groan, "Make it stop already…!" before eying the other three people in the room. She pointed to Yumi, "Drop the matter. He and Murasaki are fine with it. Also, you know that it's the other way around and he's more of an outlet for us than anything," then over to Murasaki, "I heavily recommend in partaking sex but I won't pressure you. If nothing else, stop making that frightened face when questions like these arise. He said he's fine with you. Believe it," and finally over to the young man, "And you need to be open and honest about your lust. As reserved as you are, you match up to Yumi and I when it comes down to getting in bed. Also, if you could point out where the sensitive spots on your neck are, that'd be absolutely fantastic!"

The three accused parties blinked their eyes at the flurry of words they'd been hit with before they slumped their heads off to the side, not entirely sure where or how they went wrong. Regardless, the night would continue with Murasaki continuing to hold the young man's head in her lap while Miyabi and Yumi resumed their poking and prodding. In the end, no sensitive spots were found.

May 17 – "Even if it hurts, speak of how you feel when you need to before it festers."

Reading the text message from Murasaki and it's expressed laments that Hibari wasn't approving her to come to the correction, the young man texted back his assurances while also suppressing his merriment to the potential complication that had been evaded. Even still, that didn't entirely negate the anxious anticipation that a correction brought.

Sitting on the couch of his apartment and giving Chomubach a pleasant scratching on her back, the young man looked at all of the texts that he'd received from Hibari overnight. There were several thanks and minor updates that detailed how she and Yagyū went about their night, which mostly boiled down to late-night movies and a snack binge that ended with Ikaruga dragging them both back to their beds since they had severe stomach aches. After having offered his condolences on the mishap, the young man then confirmed with her that she was due for her correction appointment at noon.

So, he waited comfortably on the couch and flipped through cartoons like Captain Abyss-Seeker and sitcoms like A Mildly Confused Plastic Surgery. Admittedly, for the latter, he and even Chomubach could only raise their eyes in confusion at some of the show's more outlandish humor.

"Doctor, doctor!" cried one of the characters, "You've botched the surgery yet again!"

"How so? Is their… scalp ill?"

"Sir, this is serious! Their face is coming apart! THEY ARE GOING TO DIE!"

"He must be drunk. Sounds like he's in need of curing that… ale, man-t."

"Doctor, enough with the puns! They'll flatline any second!"

"Well, if you look out this window, you could say… 'There's a farm, I see…' Ha?"

"…Doctor, why are you…"

"I am dangerously unqualified for this job."

The young man was not surprised to see that the show did not make it past its first season.

When noon rolled around and Hibari didn't show up, the boy sent her a text to check up and the immediate response that he received was that she was just leaving with Yagyū. While he did need to vent a bit of frustration from his nostril that he'd have to wait through another extended period of time, depending on the Sunday traffic, and that his fear of another observer was realized, he didn't let himself become too bothered. If nothing else, he could just burn the time with some stretches and hope that Hibari's subconscious wouldn't think what he feared it'd think.

Starting out simply enough, the young man bent his legs and lowered himself down enough before twisting around his limbs until he either got a satisfactory crack from the joints or until they started to burn. In the case of the latter, he'd hold his position for a time while taking deep breaths and eventually releasing the strain.

At one point or another, he looked up to find that Chomubach was standing up on her hind legs and doing a weird imitation of his outward-armed position. Locking his eyes onto the cat in a mock-challenge, the young man balanced on one foot and arced his arms like a Mantis, "Woo-yaa…" and watched as the cat struggled on one leg while raising her front paws into the air. Immediately after she finally achieved her pose, the young man lowered himself down while planting the front of his feet onto the floor and spread his knees from one another. As he began to circle his flattened hands in the air, "Whoo~oo~oo~oo…" Chomubach did the same movements. In one final act of entertainment for himself, the young man did a karate chop through the air, "He-yah!" and, in appropriate fashion, the cat proceeded by launching herself from the table and latching onto his shoulder. While the boy let out a long hiss of pain as the nails hooked into him, Chomubach ascended to the top of his head and stood proudly as the victor of the encounter.

"Mer."

Right then, having come from the window like everyone else, Hibari and Yagyū popped out of the young man's bedroom with the former beaming, "He-llo~!"

Chomubach arced her head around to face her, "Mer!"

Reaching up to pluck the cat from his head while his shoulder burned fiercely, the young man politely offered, "Hello," through grinding teeth.

Yagyū was quick to point out, "You have a small dribble of blood running down your arm. Down to the elbow, specifically."

While Hibari let out a quick squeak, the young man arced his head around and blinked at the small stream of red before eying Chomubach inexpressively, "Naughty." For some reason, despite being a prideful cat that would more often than not spit on any rebuke she received, there was something icy about his stare that frightened her to her core. After reminding himself that cats were inherently loveable jerks, the young man offered Chomubach to the new arrivals, "Could one of you hold her for a second? I'm going to go bandage myself up quick."

With a disciplinary finger prodding the cat's head, Hibari said, "Naughty, naughty," before holding her and getting distracted by the fluffiness of Chomubach's fur.

Needless to say, the young man was not surprised when he found both her and Yagyū coddling the cat once he came back into the room with his arm treated. Ready to get straight down to business, he cleared his throat and gestured off to the couch, "Well, if you two are ready for the correction, you can take a seat over there, Hibari… or, if you'd like to trade places with Yagyū, we can go with that too. So long as we get another correction out of the way and clear the slowing ticking timebomb of distortion out, we can go either way… Is-, is anyone gonna cut me off or respond? No?" There was a long pause before the young man fully realized that neither of them were listening since they were completely enraptured by petting Chomubach.

"Look at her little cat lip! It really is like a sideways number three!"

"It's amazing how black her fur is but you can still make out little tufts of hair."

Not terribly amused by being ignored, the young man gave his shoulders a roll before stating to himself, "Well, I've always wanted to do this at some point anyway." He then turned around to the kitchen to retrieve a pair of frying pans.

His intention was to slam them together like one would with cymbals but he was horridly disappointed when he heard Hibari call, "Is everything alright? You're taking a while."

Drooping his head slightly and pulling his hand away from the drawer where the kitchen tools were held, the young man called back, "Just… checking around for spiders. I don't want any unnecessary interruptions in what we're doing."

As he returned to the shinobi, he found Hibari and Yagyū muttering amongst one another before the former turned to him and stated, "We both agree that was a lie. What're you hiding?"

Shuddering slightly, the young man pressed on, "I was going to get something from kitchen while you two were talking."

Yagyū's expression didn't change, "Are you not even good with lies of omission?"

Rotating his head as far away as possible to avoid eye contact, the young man explained fully, "I was going to get some frying pans and make a loud noise to get your attention since you guys were busy. It would be loud, cartoonish, and highly unnecessary… and also immature… Apologies."

Bobbing her head once, Hibari turned to Yagyū and said, "Sounds like what Katsuragi did a couple of weeks ago, doesn't it?"

The other girl nodded, "Yup, though I thought that was a bit further back. I think the latest incident was her flaunting around her own correction by walking through the house in her underwear… or was it because she was getting dirty with Asuka, Ayame, and everyone else?"

Hibari shrugged, "I don't know. Both could have happened at any point, really," before she turned to the young man, "Anyways, never minding whatever weird prank that you had in mind, shall we start a correction?"

Clapping his hands together in mock merriment, especially since his previous intentions were completely forgiven, he quickly answered, "I'm ready whenever you are."

Stretching her arms out into the air until her shoulders cracked and then bouncing back and forth on her feet a few times, Hibari let out an, "Omph!" through her teeth, "Alright, I'm pumped and ready!" She then pointed at the young man, "Alright, doc-," before she dropped her posture, "-oh, Katsuragi said I should refer to you as doc. She said it'd make the experience a bit cheerier and more uplifting."

Without missing a beat, the young man raised a finger, "Aside from doc, I also go by other names. Such as but not limited to: tor, nurse, coach, potato, couch potato, and only on very specific occasions will I go by the letter Q."

Pressing her lips together, "Phft…" Hibari gave her hand a flap and said, "Okay, okay… I already figured Katsuragi was joking." After giving her hands another anticipatory clench, she turned to Yagyū, who was holding Chomubach and sticking her thumb into the air, and looked back to say, "Whenever you're ready, doc." Approaching slowly and making sure that his every movement was as predictable as possible to prevent any form of alarm, the young man nodded to Hibari and rested his hand against her forehead. Yagyū watched in anticipation, the grazes her fingers were offering to Chomubach becoming slightly more intense. But between the faith she had in Hibari and even in the young man, she held her posture and awaited the result.

Once he was done after the initiation process went on much longer than usual, the young man stepped back and looked Hibari warily while muttering, "…Give it a second to manifest… Be patient…" At the very moment the girl's eyes opened with her upper eyelids lowered sharply, the young man made a slow and cautious advance over to her to finish the process.

But just as he reached his hand back out to her forehead to finish the process, Hibari smacked it away and hissed at him in a low tone, "Don't touch me, freak."

Recoiling from the sudden aggression, the young man absentmindedly continued to extend his hand. In response, Hibari slammed her foot straight up so that the end of her shoes connected perfectly with his crotch, creating the same sickening pop that Murasaki had some time before. With his face going pale green and his teeth pressed together, the young man collapsed onto his side while his thighs pressed together involuntarily to defend the source of his anguish as he let out a noiseless plea.

Quickly setting down Chomubach, who ran to the aid of the young man, Yagyū rapidly approached Hibari and reminded herself of what Asuka and the others had explained from their own experiences. At that stage, only a harsh and prevalent piece of her best friend was there at the moment and, just as it was for several others, it was likely to resist against the correctional process.

Even with that process in mind, Yagyū couldn't help but stop dead in her tracks when Hibari turned a sharp eye over to her, "Coming after me too, overcoddling lecher?"

Pressing her lips together and reminding herself, again, of the process at hand, the girl shook her head and stated, "You need to hold still and let this process be finished. You're not completely yourself."

Hibari spat on the floor and said, "Tell yourself that, if you want… pervert with a sister complex…"

With a different flash through her eyes that Yagyū had never aimed at the girl before, one that reflected true and genuine anger, she spoke frankly, "Hibari… don't bring up what I think you're going to bring up…"

"The fact that I'm only a replacement for Nozomi, incestuous pervert?" came the fierce jab. Hibari took another step forward, "You, a shameless peeping-tammy, have been thinking it all this time, haven't you? I've noticed the similarities between her and I, between the pictures you've shown me and how you've described her."

With her breath turning shaky, Yagyū lowered her head slightly as her teeth began to grind together. But instead of the anger that had threatened to make its first ever display to her target, tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as the pain of the accusations began to sink their jagged teeth in. She was prepared for the lashing and she was prepared to physically fight, if there was a need, especially after hearing of the encounter between Imu and Miyabi during the latter's correction… but she was not at all prepared for how personal the remarks would make themselves to be. Worst of all, despite thinking she was ready, Yagyū just couldn't handle the fact that it was Hibari who was saying such things. Even though she knew it could happen, there was nothing in the world that could make her ready to be the target of the girl's ridicule.

As the two stood off from one another, with Hibari adopting a combat pose to fight, "Shall I give you something you deserve, would-be pedophile?" Yagyū couldn't will herself to move quick enough to respond.

But just as the pink-haired girl reeled her fist in for the first strike, Chomubach leaped from the floor and pounced onto her arced back. As she moved to quickly swat the feline away, she felt the claws slightly dig in as the cat then leapt up onto her hair. Slightly spinning her body as she tried to remove her attacker, Hibari's eyes then found that the young man had launched himself up clumsily and was coming right at her. She reeled a punch at him, which grinded hard into the side of his cheek, but his body continued its propulsion while he raised his arms up. Upon realizing the move that he was going for, Hibari attempted to pull away in a panic but was far too late. The crook of his arm went into the base of her neck while the rest of his body pushed just underneath her arm on the opposite side. Summoning all of the force that he could manage with a relentless pain searing through his lower half, he then pulled her down with him as Chomubach jumped away and they crashed into the floor while he tried to reach his one free hand to her head.

As Hibari began to madly shake herself around and about, reaching over and punching her one able hand into the young man's back and head, he looked up to Yagyū and called, "Hold her!" After taking another punch that nailed him right in the side of the eye, he found that the girl still hadn't moved and called as loudly as he could manage, "Hold her down! She needs you, here and now!"

Taking a moment to blink and push past the words that had been thrown at her before, Yagyū hurriedly launched herself downward and connected her hands down into Hibari's shoulders and pinned them into the ground. Using the opportunity quickly, the young man lightened his hold and managed to press his free hand onto the girl's head and waited until she went lax before releasing her and rolling away while blowing out of his mouth.

While Yagyū held her position over Hibari, staring down into the girl's blank but aware face, the young man let out a long groan as he crunched his body over to try and lighten the persisting pain that continued to haunt him. When he managed to sit himself up, he looked over and offered a quick, "Thank you," to both Chomubach and the remaining shinobi.

The cat let out a proud but respectful, "Mer," before she moved over from her position on the floor to cuddle against the side of Hibari's stomach.

On the other hand, Yagyū remained quiet. Her face had recomposed its features to express as little as possible, though the silence and slightest downward curl to her lips spoke more than enough on how she was. Before those emotions could fester, the young man quickly stated, "She wasn't all there when she said those things. You know that, right?"

"Yeah…" nodded Yagyū, "…it still-, it just…"

"It must still hurt to hear, right?" asked the young man. When he received a small nod in return, he took a quick moment to exhale and stated plainly, "It probably won't provide much comfort but she'll be hurting from what she said too." Upon realizing how that could sound like a threat, the young man quickly stated, "Because she loves you, that is. Keep that last part in mind above all else."

"I know," remarked Yagyū quietly.

Not at all convinced by the lackluster response, the young man ordered, "Look at me," and waited until she did so. Once he was sure that she was completely listening, he said, "She loves you and it's as plain as day." He gestured down to Hibari, "At the very moment she wakes up, I'm going to bet that she starts wailing and apologizing to you left and right. In between, she'll be telling you that she loves you herself."

Yagyū's jaw briefly went slack before it tightened again and she nodded, "I know."

Fully convinced, the young man returned the gesture with a nod of his own and then craned his head over to connect his forehead into Hibari's. By the time he had an afterthought to remind Yagyū to keep him and the girl connected, the world had already gone bright all around him.

Working quickly, the young man had managed to sift through Hibari's memories and found an environment that was suitable for her. Strangely enough, as the area around him came into shape, he didn't find that her happy place was anywhere that he would have guessed. Rather than the house where the rest of the Hanzō elite lived or some kind of childhood home, the young man was standing in the middle of an empty city street. All around were simple but brightly shining signs and advertisement for all sorts of restaurants, stores, theaters, and arcades. Then Hibari finally materialized before him and, in spite of his curiosities, he summoned his focus and approached the girl instead.

For the moment, she was staring blankly ahead while sitting on a street curb, not at all registering where she was and more stuck in her thoughts. Hibari's hands slowly went up to the sides of her hair and gently ruffled through, as though she were trying to wake herself up, before her hands clenched down and pulled hard as she let out a mortified, "NO!" She then stood from the curb and paced back and forth in a panic, "NO! No, no, no, no, no!" before falling onto her knees and rubbing her eyes aggressively, "YAGYŪ! I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! I DIDN'T MEAN ANY OF THAT!" When she heard the young man's footsteps, she looked up to him and practically walked over on her knees, "AND YOU! I'M SO SORRY! I SWEAR-, I DIDN'T KNOW-, I WASN'T IN CONTROL!"

Crouching himself down to gently grab the girl's elbows, the boy responded, "Yagyū and I know, don't worry," and started to pull her up, "You weren't in control of yourself there and we won't hold it against you."

Shivering again as her words of aggression replayed in her mind, Hibari asked in a shaky voice, "Both of you know…? Everything is fine…?"

"Everything is fine," assured the young man as he continued to pull the girl up until she finally gave in and stood onto her feet. When she continued to give him a wide-eyed look, he went further, "As shaken up as Yagyū was, she knows how you feel."

Hibari still had trouble keeping her eyes on his, "But… I still hurt her then…?"

Moving one of his hands to her shoulder and giving a firm squeeze, the young man answered gently, "It won't be anything that an apology and maybe a few proclamations of love won't fix."

"It's fixable?"

"Easily."

Letting out a long breath of relief, Hibari relaxed for a moment before a darker look fell upon her face, "Well, I'm glad it's… I'm glad there won't be any damage-, save for my kick. Sorry again about that."

"Don't worry."

The girl continued, "But… still, it's-, because I said those things, that means I… actually did feel that way about the both of you… somewhere inside of me… right?"

"Right," answered the young man, keeping his expression unreadable. He inhaled and thought the situation over before he stated frankly, "Speaking honestly, I was a bit surprised to see that your distorted aspect was resentment. Though, if you were to be suppressing or repressing something, that would probably be a good guess…"

Hibari shrunk and thought the revelation over, "That's what it was…" and closed her eyes. When she them opened again, her voice held no sign of the cheer that was typical for her, "Speaking honestly, I probably should have known that. It's not as though I'm… as upbeat or cheery as I make myself out to be…"

Raising his brows, the young man asked, "You're not saying that it's all a façade, are you? If so, I'll call you out on that lie right now."

With a slow shake of her head and a dismissive wave of her hand, Hibari said, "Of course it's not all a façade, don't be stupid." She walked off to the curb and took a seat again before looking up to all of the glowing signs all around her. As she did so, she absently spoke, "I'm cheery, I love sweets, and I love to be with my friends… But there's also so much that I hate in this world." As if to emphasize her point, she looked at the young man, "I hate it when Yagyū and Haruka fight over coddling me, I hate it when Katsuragi gets overly aggressive in her groping…" Hibari then began to clench her hands in self-ashamed anger, "I hate it when Ikaruga tries to dictate my schedule, I hate Ayame when she bloats the price of cute clothes or music that I want to buy from her shop, I hate Asuka when she flaunts around her relationship with you and Homura… I actually hate you when you give off some know-it-all aura that makes it seem like you hold yourself above the rest of us… I also hate myself whenever I feel like I've come up short in a fight." She then lowered her head shamefully, "I also hate being a shinobi…" and pointed to her face, "…and I hate these eyes…"

The young man made a slow but steady approach before he sat himself down beside her, not taking anything personal with the jab against him and the others. He made a quiet note that there was only shame leaking out of Hibari's voice and that it bared none of the anger that she must have felt with all of that hatred, most likely because he still had the aspect of her personality. Still, instead of pressing to the end of the correction, he asked, "What do you hate about your eyes?"

"Look at them," she cracked before turning to him with tears starting to stream down her face. In spite of the puffiness, he still saw the peculiar cross-like pupils that stood out as a bright pink in the center. After another couple of seconds, she faced the street again and said, "They're a brand. They serve to remind me everyday that I have the mark of Kagan, a power that has run through my family for generations…"

The young man didn't turn away from her, "What kind of power?"

"Hypnosis," answered Hibari as she clenched her jaw, "More specifically, it has the power to attract people to me. From all I know, the older generations of my family used it as a means to attract vassals and fighters to them…"

Putting a couple of wires together in his mind, the young man made a small noise of thought and asked, "I think I understand. But, just as a thought that's occurred to me, you haven't gone thinking that all of your friends are under that spell, right?"

"I had that thought some time ago," stated Hibari, "but everyone else managed to convince me otherwise." She gave her head a few slow shakes before pressing on, "No, I think that I have the Kagan's power under control. At this point, it only serves to remind me of what I have to be… and what I can't do…"

"What you can't do?" asked the young man.

"When I was younger, all I wanted to do was open a shop and sell sweets," rumbled Hibari. Finally, with one grand sniff, a few sobs and hiccups forced their way out, "I love that idea so much! When I was younger, I'd spend so much time on the family computer and just watch videos on how different kinds of candies and chocolates are made! I'd look up all the different deserts that are sold and exchanged all over the world! I thought to myself that I could be a part of that web!" As she rambled on, she continuously tried to stem the flow of tears running down her cheeks by grazing an arm over her face but was repeatedly thwarted by the streams' determination to keep going, "Candies are so wonderful and I wanted other people to feel as happy as I was when I popped something as simple as a mint into my mouth!"

Resting a hand onto her back and rubbing her with his thumb, the young man listened until she was done talking and waited as she continued to let it all out. After a few seconds, she hunched herself over her stomach and buried her face into her legs as she continued to let out all sorts of muffled sounds that put all of the welled up hurt on display. Through it all, the young man bided his time and waited with the bomb that he wanted to drop on her. It was only when she fell silent and only remained quivering in her spot that he could bring himself to say it.

"You can still do that." After a few seconds, Hibari arced her shoulders to peek an eye out from her legs to stare at him. When he thought that she didn't hear him, the young man said it again, "You can still do that. Opening a store and selling sweets, that is."

Hibari shook her head and said, "No… I have a duty and responsibility as a shinobi." She pointed to her face, "I'm the inheritor of the Kagan… so that'll make me the head of the family… Between over ten brothers and sisters, all of whom are so skilled that they dwarf me in power… all of them will be looking to me for leadership and guidance… No, I need to be a shinobi."

"What does that have to do with not being able to run a candy store?" asked the young man. When Hibari fully sat up with her brows twisted in confusion, he spoke frankly, "Is it not possible to balance out the two? To pull what some heroes do in comic books? By day, you run a shop… by night, you're a… secret shinobi savior of salvation?" He then rubbed his chin in thought and briefly looked away, "Though…" before facing her again, "…is being the holder of that power-, of Kagan or whatever you called it a voluntary deal or… how does that work?"

"It's-, genes is how I think it works," said Hibari.

"So, involuntary," murmured the young man before he then asked, "And, again, you said you hated being a shinobi?" When she nodded, the young man stated frankly, "Then here's my suggestion: explain your desire to your family and whatever necessary authorities then stop being a shinobi." He then rubbed his forehead and mumbled, "Though, I don't know if shinobi powers are taught or if those are also inherent…" before shrugging, "If that's the case, then graduate as a shinobi and become as minor league as you can be. Run a candy shop and live the dream."

At first, Hibari sputtered blankly, "…Shinobi powers are mostly taught… though some, like the Kagan, are hereditary…" before she shook her head and was about to speak before she was cut off by the young man remarking to himself.

"Ah, it's mostly same as infiltrators and dignitaries then… though, we have nothing inherent like the Kagan to worry about…"

"Never mind that," cried Hibari as she swatted the top of his head, "I can't just give up being a shinobi."

"Why not?" answered the boy straightly.

"Because I have a duty and responsibility!"

"Which you never wanted in the first place. I may be biased by my own experiences but that sounds like a load of crap to me."

"There's never been a case of a shinobi simply quitting or anything like that."

"Then become as minor league as you can be. Call in sick to missions, make excuses until the people calling on you get the point or something. Or, better yet, be the first shinobi to get out of the program. Go live your actual dream, one way or another."

Covering her face after their brief back-and-forth, Hibari stated, "Holy-, you are impossible."

The young man stuck up a hand, "High-five."

Fiddling back and forth with her fingers, Hibari sucked in some air and said, "It's not that simple-," before she was interrupted.

"Of course, it's not simple," came the boy's frank voice as he lowered his arm, "It won't ever be simple, easy, or anything even remotely appealing." He then raised a finger, "But it's not about the process of getting there so much as what lays at the end," before he then shrugged and dropped it, "Of course, that's how I view it. I won't force you to go after it…" He locked his eyes fiercely onto hers, "But I won't tolerate you thinking that it's some kind of impossible option. If you want to tell the concept of being a shinobi to shove it and go open a candy shop, that's not something beyond reach." He then broke his gaze from her and said, "It's a life choice so… just take some time to think it over. No need to dwell on it here and now."

Hibari stared at him before looking downward. Her head fell forward and then craned backward. She leaned left and right before finally asking, "What about the fight with Shin? If I back out, won't everyone else be in trouble?"

"Someone whose heart isn't in the fight is more likely to make a mistake than anyone else," said the young man, "Beyond that, it's a battle against an unknown entity. If there's a chance you don't think you can take it and will just buckle under the pressure, it'd probably be best to sit the battle out."

Hibari stared down at him, as though she couldn't understand any of the logic or thoughts that he was throwing out, "What kind of coward would I have to be to not take part in such a battle?"

The young man raised his hand, "You'd have to be a coward like me." While the girl recoiled from the inadvertent insult, he nonchalantly blew it off and continued, "It's simple. I don't think I'd be of any value in the battle which would make my contribution and eventual, not possible, death all for nothing. I wouldn't be saving anyone and I wouldn't be in the middle of some heroic act. No, I'd just be some aimless bystander trying to make himself useful before getting killed by, with my luck, some random bit of rock and debris." When Hibari could bring herself to look at him again, he said, "Again, there's no need to decide these things now. It'd be best to decide before the battle starts to get near but you still have time."

Hibari exhaled and nodded her head, "I suppose I do…" before she stared up at the streets around her. To see all of the flashing signs and activities reminded her of all the casual outings that she and her friends had gone on time and again. From gripping each other's arms while watching a horror movie at the theater to competing against one another at the arcade, each of those activities were something that normal people did. They were activities that they could do, even if they weren't shinobi… which, if the young man had anything to say about it, was an option that was apparently open to her.

Letting out a breath, Hibari rubbed her head and said, "Well, I suppose we should finish the correctional thing then…" before she looked down dejectedly, "…which will require me to take back my… resentment…?"

"Yup," nodded the young man before he extended his hand to her.

She looked at it for a long moment, neither advancing or retreating, before she asked him, "Is there… anyway I can… not take it back or, at least, tone it down?"

"It's a part of who you are, Hibari," stated the young man before he raised his other hand to his chest, "It's also a part of me and everyone else. We all have it and other negative thoughts and emotions. It's what makes us human."

Not entirely convinced but still trusting that he knew whatever it was that he was talking about, Hibari slowly reached out her hand to his and clasped on. Figuring that their time in her head was over, the young man ended the correction and the world began to fall apart into light all around him as the girl became whole again. Yet, before they were gone, he did hear Hibari say as a smile crept onto her face, "Thank you for… making that option known to me… even if it doesn't seem possible."

A mind at peace and a heart's yearning beginning to bud…

With the correction of resentment bringing kindness to a pained heart, you have saved a young woman from a fate of reclusive hatred.

For this, she looks to you and sees the young man who has endured through physical and mental punishment in order to save her. From this, respect is born. And from this respect, the seeds of a love to come will blossom.

The first thing that the young man noticed on regaining awareness was the fact that his and Hibari's heads were still connected. He pulled himself up and felt a steady hand release the back of his neck and turned to find that Yagyū was sitting nearby. Upon blinking at her and making his confusion known, she answered simply, "I remember you and everyone else saying that your foreheads had to stay together."

Grateful that he didn't need to deal with suffocation in addition to the continuing pain stemming from his groin, the young man nodded his thanks and pulled himself back before waving his hand toward Hibari, "Brace yourself. Once she's up, she'll be excited to see you."

As predicted, once the pink-haired girl blinked herself back into reality, she looked up to Yagyū and immediately began to tear up. As the words of what she said before in her resentful state rang through both of their minds, she pounced and tackled her best friend and newly made girlfriend down to hug her arms around her neck, "I'M SO SORRY, YAGYŪ!" After planting a quick kiss on the side of the girl's cheek, she began to loudly cycle through her words, "I LOVE YOU! I'M SORRY! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! I LOVE YOU!"

In the meantime, Yagyū was reciprocating the embrace with a tight hold around the girl's waist and was gently whispering, "I know you didn't mean it. I love you too, Hibari. I always will!"

Hearing the rise of volume in Yagyū's voice toward the end, the young man let out a sigh of relief that all was turning out well and laid onto his side while Chomubach came over and rested beside his face to offer her own congratulations. The day was won, however rough the battle was. So, rather than ruin the moment by making a joke or remark about his soreness, he remained silent and allowed the two girls to have their sweet moment until they would both eventually take notice of him again and offer to get an ice pack. It would take some time, especially with how happy they were to be coming together again, but the young man was content to be patient if it meant they kept smiling the way they were.