A/n: This is a multi-chapter fic btw ! idk if I said it before. I know the kagepro community's pretty dead on here but ! all comments/favourites/follows are very much appreciated!
Great job, Shintaro, you made a fool out of yourself in front of two preteens, Shintaro thought as he wiped vomit off the side of his mouth. Really, this whole trip was no better than the amusement park the Mekakushidan had gone to the summer before. Why the hell did they even have roller coasters at a waterpark in the first place? Why the hell did those roller coasters have to be so damn vomit-inducing?
To be fair, Hibiya also looked quite a bit worse for the wear, though Shintaro knew that the kid still had the nerve to laugh at him about his predicament.
No wonder Momo gets so frustrated with him, Shintaro thought before heaving into the trash can once again. Poor trash can. It never stood a chance, did it?
"I don't get why you guys are all disheveled already. We've only been on one ride!" Hiyori huffed, hands on her hips, "That one wasn't even one of the scarier ones!"
"I'm doing fine!" Hibiya quickly reassured her, though Shintaro knew that Hibiya looked like more of a mess than he usually did.
"Tell me that after not spending a whole ride screaming at the top of your lungs," Hiyori responded, rolling her eyes and turning away from Hibiya with a 'hmph!', "maybe then you won't seem so pathetic."
Hibiya pouted at her words as Shintaro lifted himself with shaky arms from the top of the garbage can. The way that Hiyori spoke to Hibiya reminded Shintaro of the way that Ene spoke to him, though, nowadays, they had gotten along a little bit better, if only because Ayano was there to intervene. Troubled friendships aside, he was kinda glad, no, really glad that everyone got to come back. They got to hang out again in the ways they did when they were in high school, they got to laugh and yell at each other while playing video games, they got to do the things that Shintaro never would've thought possible because, wow, they're actually back.
Hibiya and Hiyori must feel the same way because, even though Hiyori chided the brown-haired boy a little too often, she was quick to grab his hand when she started dragging them on all the waterpark rides. Even if the hand holding was on the pretense that Hibiya was too slow to be alone, Shintaro saw the way that Hiyori glanced at the Hibiya out of the corner of her eyes in an unnecessary and, frankly, " gross-in-the-lovesick-sense" way. Perhaps it would appear sweet to anyone else, but not to Shintaro. He by no means liked getting involved in the love lives of anyone.
(But sometimes he had no choice. Now was one of those times).
He snapped out of his daze at the sound of a sigh, only to look up and see Hiyori staring straight at him.
"Are you feeling any better?" Hiyori's compassion wasn't expected, though it was appreciated. But again, it was unexpected, so all Shintaro could do was offer a pathetic "Huh?" In response.
Hiyori frowned and glanced over to Hibiya, who shrugged while trying to move his damp hair out of his eyes.
"Seriously? You guys are so lame," Hiyori sighed, wringing the water out of her hair. "I guess I'll just have to give you two a moment to compose yourselves."
"Wait, where are you going?" Hiyori hadn't even turned to move before Hibiya reached out, his hand stopping just before her wrist.
Hiyori stared at Hibiya for a moment as if challenging him to get any closer. Shintaro didn't know what kind of challenge it was, whether it was one where she'd smack him if he did get closer or one where she wouldn't let go if he grabbed her hand. He also didn't know why he was so invested in this. Well, anything was better than being invested in the bile that was rising in his throat once again.
Hibiya didn't get any closer though, seemingly torn between invading her space and holding her hand and never letting go. Hiyori rolled her eyes after a second of inaction.
"Look, you guys need a minute, so I'm going to the bathroom to get some of the chlorine out of my hair. You have no idea how much it can damage it," she scoffed, wringing her hair out with her hands again, "besides, you both seem like you need a break anyway, so be glad that I'm giving you one. I'll be back soon."
Hiyori turned around to leave, but at the sound of footsteps behind her, she snapped her head back towards Hibiya, who was the one who had taken a step towards her, "and no, you don't need to follow me. I'll be fine."
There was an odd sort of intensity to her last words that made Shintaro wonder if she was trying to convince not just Hibiya that, but herself as well. But all the same, Hiyori was quick to retreat in the direction of the women's bathrooms, and that's how Shintaro found himself sitting on a bench with a sulking preteen.
"I'm not even trying to be creepy!" Hibiya complained, slumping on the bench with a disgruntled look on his face, "I just want to, y'know, make sure she's… accompanied and stuff."
"'Accompanied?'" Shintaro couldn't help but snicker, "You sound like a stalker."
"I don't mean it like that! At least, not anymore," Hibiya sighed, eyes downcast and now fixated on the tile floors.
...Shintaro didn't like that look. The sadness in the younger boy's gaze made something twinge in his chest. Maybe it's his big brother instinct or something, but it's still a feeling he didn't like... Because that feeling meant that he had to do something about it.
("Helping out is the right thing to do! Some people just need a little nudge to cheer up. So promise me you'll try, okay?" Ayano tells him whenever someone's upset, and after so many years of being miserable without her, it's hard for him to argue with that, even if cheering people up makes his life difficult).
God, he wished he had one of his sodas. He needed a drink if he had to deal with these two preteens. He didn't want to do this at all.
(But Ayano's words of "Promise me you'll try?" Echo through his mind, and he realized something. Emotional support was far from his forte, but he wanted to help - he really did. He wanted to help even if he didn't know how to show it other than teasing the two kids).
Shintaro Kisaragi sometimes succumbed to spontaneous moments of bravery and stupidity. Not stupidity on an intellectual scale - on a social one. Those times often overlapped. Now was one of those times.
"Not anymore?" Shintaro asked, cursing himself for getting involved, "did you stalk her or something?"
Hibiya cringed but didn't immediately deny it like he usually did when someone accused him of something. Shintaro wasn't sure what to think of that, considering that it probably meant that he probably did stalk her at some point.
"...Yeah, I was creepy," Hibiya admitted, sulking even more, "I'm trying to change though! I don't... stalk her anymore. I even threw the doll and the photos away!"
Shintaro wished he hadn't heard half of what Hibiya said. Dolls? Stalking? Photos? Yikes. This kid had it bad. Really bad.
"It's hard to leave her alone though," Hibiya muttered, wrapping his arms around himself, "I just... don't want something to happen to her when I'm not there to protect her."
Choosing to ignore the doll part, Shintaro supposed that he could understand what Hibiya was saying. Granted, he didn't get to see them outside of their city visits, but they always seemed to be rather close.
"You're shockingly open about this," Shintaro commented, a little surprised. When the Mekakushidan first met Hibiya, the kid absolutely refused to open up to them. It took a manhunt, a lot of crying, and a couple of slaps from Momo to make him open up to them then.
Yet, here Hibiya was now: opening up to him of all people. A horrible decision, really.
"And you're shockingly bad at this," Hibiya shot back, whipping his head around and glaring at him, "aren't you supposed to have experience or something? Because you're older?"
Ah, so that's why.
You're asking the wrong guy, Shintaro thought. But he would never admit that to Hibiya of all people, so he simply shrugged, leaving Hibiya with nothing to work off of. Hibiya huffed at Shintaro's lack of a response, sinking lower onto the bench.
"Ugh! She's so far out of my league too," Hibiya groaned, and Shintaro realized that this had definitely turned into a relationship conversation, "I don't even know why I try."
"I'm sure that isn't true," Shintaro leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his neck craned down so he could face the younger boy, "she hangs out with you and drags you around the city."
"Yeah, to carry her bags and to get into waterparks apparently," Hibiya whined, and Shintaro couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Hibiya carrying a mountain load of shopping bags while Hiyori skipped on ahead. It was too easy to imagine for it NOT to be a little true.
That probably wasn't the right reaction to have because Hibiya immediately elbowed him HARD in his side. Shintaro shot a glare at the younger boy, but the heartbroken look on Hibiya's face stopped him from getting payback for it. That didn't stop him from rubbing his side though. Ow, that hurt...
"Well, she's still hanging out with you even if you weren't the one who got her into the water park," Shintaro pointed out, wincing a little as he rubbed at his side. Hibiya's distraught look at his words made him realize that probably wasn't the best thing to say.
"Ugh, don't remind me about that!" Hibiya whined, tugging at his damp hair, "stupid water park with its stupid age requirement rules!"
Shintaro agreed with that statement. If it weren't for those damn rules, he wouldn't have had to be their chaperone. He'd probably still be hanging out by the kiddie pool, free from the other Mekakushidan members. Getting splashed by a little water from the kiddy pool sounded much more appealing than having to deal with this.
Hibiya looked at him expectantly, as if expecting Shintaro to say something encouraging in response. However, Shintaro, ever the eloquent relationship therapist he is, couldn't think of anything to respond with other than "That's rough, buddy."
The look Hibiya sent him when he said those words would've been a lot more threatening if he didn't still look like a drowned puppy, and Shintaro didn't even bother trying to hide his shit-eating grin.
"Really? That's all you have to say?" Hibiya asked incredulously, staring at Shintaro in disbelief, "actually, You're like, 19, And you don't have a girlfriend. I don't know why I even bothered asking."
"Hey, I don't have a girlfriend by choice!" Shintaro shot back, though he knew that his own predicament was by no means by choice.
"Please," Hibiya scoffed, slouching against the back of the bench, "Even when Ayano's right there, you're not doing anything! It's sad to watch! You literally tiptoe around her like you haven't even seen a girl or dealt with relationship stuff before!"
"Of course I've dealt with those things before!" Shintaro spluttered, knowing that he was probably digging his own grave by falling for Hibiya's taunts. It was true though - he had dealt with those things before. Things didn't end up very well back then, but they have a second chance now, right? Even if looking at her made him lose his cool, forget how to talk properly, and make him desperately wish that he had agreed to walk her home that humid August day.
(...He hadn't gotten to the relationship part of things though. There are things that he and Ayano still needed to figure out for themselves. He needs to learn how to love the world he lived in, and she needs to learn how to live in the world she loved).
"Then why don't you have a girlfriend?" Hibiya teased. Slowly and surely, the sad expression on Hibiya's face turned to a more familiar and cheeky expression. It was an expression that suited him more. The kid really didn't deserve to be sad when he could be having fun.. or whatever this banter was to him. Shintaro mentally sighed at this observation. Momo must really be rubbing off on him.
If his dignity caused the kid to smile a bit more, maybe it'd be worth it. That didn't mean that he had to add more fuel to Hibiya's fire though.
Shintaro said nothing and glared at Hibiya. Hibiya didn't falter against Shintaro's glare, instead opting to stare back with an equally dark glare in a challenge. They did this for a few minutes, and Shintaro was reminded about all the times that he and Momo had the same kind of stare-off. He had yet to win one of those, but losing to Momo is different than losing to a 13-year-old who looked like he had just run through a car wash. Shintaro had to win this.
..But such conviction was for naught, for a bunch of screams made Shintaro look away and lose their little staring contest. About 50 feet away from them, a bunch of kids were launched out of a tunnel at speeds that Shintaro thought couldn't be legal. Swimming tubes and people went flying, and Shintaro vaguely wondered how no one had called in about that being a safety concern. He really didn't understand why people enjoyed rides like that so much. Sure, the rides are supposed to be thrill-inducing, but the only thing he ever got from them was an upset stomach.
...Wait a minute.
"Hiyori likes the more intense rides, right?" Shintaro asked Hibiya, the beginnings of a plan forming in his head.
Hibiya ceased his death glare, now blinking owlishly at Shintaro's sudden question, "Uh, yeah. She especially likes the ones that have more twists and stuff. What about it?"
"Look at that one," Shintaro nodded towards the ride, which was appropriately named "The Cannonball". "Do you think that she would like that one?"
"Probably," Hibiya shrugged, "Why? Are you trying to make fun of me after the last ride or something?"
"Look, I'm just saying that, if you manage to go on that one with her and hold through, maybe it'd impress her," Shintaro suggested, watching as another batch of kids were dunked into the pool, "she did seem pretty disappointed about the last one."
Hibiya sighed, and Shintaro wondered if he was thinking about how disappointed Hiyori looked about the outcome of the last ride. Knowing Hibiya, the kid probably had the whole scene imprinted deep enough into his memory that it rivaled Shintaro's own. Really, the kid had a habit of looking at nothing but the negative side of things.
..Shintaro tried not to think about the fact that he wasn't much different.
"So if I stay strong throughout that ride, she'll think I'm cool?" Hibiya asked, his eyebrows furrowed and expression thoughtful.
Shintaro shrugged, "Sure. You can't really go wrong with it."
Unless Hibiya couldn't swim or something (which probably isn't the case, considering this is a waterpark and why would someone who can't swim go to a waterpark), the ride didn't seem all that bad. Water rides were a lot tamer in comparison to the above-water rollercoaster that they just went on, right? That's how it was when he went to waterparks as a kid. Granted, society did up and manage to rebuild his side of town in two years, so who knows how much waterparks had changed... but really, what are the chances of it being that different?
"Okay, I'll do that and show her that I can handle it!" Hibiya smiled, more confident now that they had a plan.
Shintaro smiled at Hibiya's enthusiasm. Before he knew it, he reached out and ruffled Hibiya's hair - something he hadn't done to someone else since he and Momo were kids. Hibiya wrinkled his nose at the contact but didn't pull away. Shintaro almost didn't realize he was smiling.
"..yeah, that's the spirit. You'll do great, kid."
At Hibiya's grin, Shintaro supposed that maybe, just maybe, getting involved in the love lives of other people just might be worth it.