A/N: Just want to thank you all for helping me officially make Heartbreak Cure my most viewed fic! I mean, granted, it's got seventeen chapters so that plays a role. But it's still really cool to know that HC has gotten more views in five months than my weird Logan/Cat drabble has gotten in six years! Little victories, you know?
This chapter might be dialogue-heavy, and going by the ending it was one of the chapters I definitely edited before the hard drive crash, but... hey, another road trip! And if I recall correctly, it's the last one for a while. Enjoy!
[Chapter 17]: Our Strange Quartet
As it turned out, the vote was unanimous. Shiina promptly blew past the group and headed towards the stairs to pull a travel bag together. While she was gone, there'd been some more discussion about rides.
"Wait, so we're all going now?" Hinata had said. "I don't think we can fit in one car, Yurippe."
Yuri had scrunched up her face in thought, then turned to Yui with a sudden realization. "Hey, Yui, didn't you drive here?"
"Yeah. Hideki, you and Shiina can come with me!" She'd scrambled down the hallway and halfway up the staircase to yell for a confirmation from Shiina, who'd accepted the ride.
But then, Hinata wasn't the only one with sudden travel-related realizations.
"Nakamura, you seem to be forgetting that my car is an hour and a half's distance away right now," Ayato said, rubbing his temples. Honestly, they'd been all over the place in less than a week. "I'm not going home just to have to drive two hours and back to get it."
Yuri sighed, reading his mind. "I know. I imagine we're all sick of driving by now. That's partially why we're going to go get your car."
Kanade seemed to understand what she was getting at. "We're taking a break?"
"Right," said Yuri. "We'll go with Yukine and find out about this location spell. Maybe see if it works. Then I'm calling for a break Sunday night." She gave the group an authoritative once-over. "We'll reconvene the weekend after that, but this isn't the Afterlife. Some of us have work that we do need to take seriously."
"I guess," Hinata said, rolling his eyes.
Yuri had to cover up a grin, but once she'd composed herself, she touched Ayato's arm. "Come on. We'll take my car."
"You're driving him?" Hinata asked.
This time it was Yuri who rolled her eyes. "No, I'm going to let him have me in the backseat."
Hinata smacked himself in the forehead like he should have seen that coming, while Ayato snorted with laughter.
Then, of course, came Otonashi with his words of wisdom. "I thought you wanted to get to Mizuzaka quicker than that so you could help Yukine comfort Ryou."
Yuri frowned. "Yeah. You're right."
Hinata added helpfully, "Plus driving from Noroi to Mizuzaka tacks on two hours—"
"Not the way she drives," Ayato said, smirking. Yuri elbowed him in the side, but of course she had no cause to deny it.
"—and it'll be awkward, us getting there first without you," Hinata continued, gesturing to himself, Yui, and the Otonashis. "We don't know Ryou or Yukine that well."
"Shiina does," said Yui.
"Alright, then who is going to drive him back?" Yuri demanded, crossing her arms. "I was kind of looking forward to driving to Mizuzaka by myself. I need time alone with my thoughts."
"Then drive with the quiet ones." Hinata gestured to Otonashi and Kanade. "Shiina, Yui, and I can take Naoi."
Otonashi, done deliberating over whether or not he should be offended at being called "the quiet one," tilted his head at him thoughtfully. "Just the four of you?"
Hinata shrugged. "Yeah, it'll be fun. And then when we drop Naoi off, Shiina and Yui and I will have some time to catch up."
"Fine, whatever," said Yuri.
Satisfied, Hinata clapped a hand on Ayato's shoulder. "Naoi, good with you?"
The gesture had startled Ayato, who was too busy wondering if the frown on Yuri's face had been one of disappointment. He was too caught off guard to knock Hinata's hand off of him. "Yeah, sure."
And that had been that. Yukine had come downstairs with her book, Shiina with a bag. Otonashi and Kanade had left in Yuri's car, and Ayato had piled into Yui's car with the other three. Hinata multitasked driving and flirting with Yui, while Shiina sat in the back with him.
It wasn't that bad, riding along with Mr. and Mrs. Imbecile. They mainly shot playful dialogue back and forth between the two of them, him quietly observing like it was a ping pong tournament. Once in a while, Hinata would throw a flippant remark his way, and he was in a moderate enough mood to humor him.
Yui occasionally dragged Shiina into it; although she was perfectly content with Shiina's brief answers, she was also an opportunist. She pointed out cute animals on the sidewalks, and Ayato could see her side profile beaming with pride whenever she heard Shiina coo joyfully in the backseat.
Half an hour into the drive, the ninja actually emerged from her quiet cocoon and cast a glance at him.
"I'm sorry for accusing you earlier," she said, and Ayato regarded her with raised brows. It was one thing for Shiina to talk, but to get an apology out of her? Curious. "I can see I misjudged you."
"Well, you were right that it wouldn't have been the first time," he muttered. Remembering the attempted obliteration made him feel like dirt. In the Afterlife, he'd let Yuri sweep it under the rug, but now he wished he truly was a separate person so he could teach his Afterlife self one of his old rooftop lessons. Pulling her hair and controlling her like that… it wasn't the man he wanted to be.
Shiina wasn't fazed.
"That doesn't mean you would do it again," she said, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "I remember you from the baseball game eight years ago. Hinata's second foul ball. You protected her."
Ayato felt himself smile at the memory. "Of course. You're the girl who wore a scarf in June."
"I don't sweat," she said severely. "And don't change the subject."
In the seat in front of her, Yui grinned back at them, looking suspiciously cheeky.
"Speaking of baseball," she said sweetly, "Naoi—"
Ayato's eyebrows shot all the way up his forehead. "Why, Strawberry Shortcake! You know my name now?"
Yui wasn't deterred either.
"I picked up on it!" she said cheerfully, and twisted around more fully in her seat. "So, Naoi. You know how Shiina had to save me from a baseball to the face again today?"
Only a girl who'd agreed to marry Hinata would say something like that with such a sunny smile.
"Yes?" Ayato said tentatively.
"Well, it was because I got distracted by something in the bleachers," she continued, grin broadening so much he could see her sharp little eyeteeth. "And I was wondering, Naoi… what was with that almost kiss between you and Yurippe back there?"
"WHAT?!"
Hinata braked hard enough for his tires to screech almost as loud as he did. Ayato paled considerably, and not because of the whiplash. But Hinata must have gotten it a second time when he jerked his head around to gawk at him. Apparently sending a horrified glare through the rearview mirror wasn't enough.
"What almost kiss?!" Hinata demanded.
"NOTHING!" Ayato hadn't meant his voice to sound so shrill. He winced; he sounded just like Yuri in denial mode. "It was nothing, damn it!"
Yui giggled evilly.
"Hinakins, their faces were this close!" she said, taking Hinata's chin and tilting it towards her. She leaned in until their lips were mere centimeters apart, noses almost brushing. Any closer and her abnormally long lashes could very well be tickling his cheeks. Hinata's eyes flicked to her mouth.
"This close," said Hinata, breathless, "is not nothing."
Ayato snarled very much. "Will you just drive, you jackass?!"
They were at a stop sign on a ghost of a road, but he'd be damned if he sat in the backseat and watched Hinata and Yui neck like a couple of kids at a drive-in movie theater. Making a fool out of him in the process. Damn it. He should have taken a train.
Shiina smirked at him sympathetically, but didn't seem as nauseated by their PDA. All the same, she harrumphed her satisfaction when the car got going again.
"Fine, but you have to tell me everything," said Hinata, coasting down the road. Then he grimaced as an afterthought. "No wait, don't, I don't care—crap, I do care—what the hell happened?!"
"I said nothing happened!" Ayato shot back. When he heard the words come out of his mouth, he cringed and slumped back in his seat. There he went again, sounding exactly like Yuri.
"This is so stupid," said Shiina.
He gestured grandly at her, grateful to have an ally – and some attention away from him. "Thank you!" he said emphatically. Then, to Hinata and Yui, "See? Shiina gets it."
Shiina closed her eyes, unimpressed. "I meant your denial."
Yui and Hinata laughed triumphantly in the front seat. Ayato sunk even lower. He couldn't wait to get to Noroi. But in the meantime, these idiots wanted an answer.
"I…" He glowered out the window, refusing to catch any of their gazes. "She tried on her old ring. I was feeling sentimental. I… I didn't realize I was… until she accused me of trying to hypnotize her."
He laughed then, bitterly.
"She's only known me for three days. Of course she wouldn't trust me."
Hinata went quiet, staring straight ahead down the road. The silence made Ayato want to groan and smack his head with his fists. Apparently his pathetic self-deprecation and moping could silence even the mouthiest of his friends.
It was just… Shiina's accusation had hit a sore spot. He'd never even thought of using hypnotism on Yuri in this life, not until she brought it up back in Noroi. She'd assumed it was his strategy beforehand and shot it down point blank. Then at the baseball field, she'd thought he was trying to do it anyway, without her consent. It made him feel… vile.
It made him feel like his father.
He'd stared slack-jawed at Yuri, astonished that she could think he would do such a thing to her – that he would ever harm her in body or in mind. Only for Shiina to remind him within the hour that he'd once seized her by the hair and done precisely that.
Maybe she was right not to want her memories back. He wasn't worth it.
"Alright, come on," said Hinata, wrinkling his forehead at him through the mirror. "Did you or did you not try to kiss her?"
Ayato sighed heavily in resignation.
"I did not try to kiss her," he said defensively, frowning out the window. "I wasn't thinking about it, didn't even know what I was doing. It was just an old impulse."
"But impulses can be controlled," Shiina countered. "Yui said you two divorced six months ago. Yukine and I ended our relationship just over a month ago, and I think you'll remember that I did not mindlessly almost kiss her."
Ayato scoffed. "We don't know what you two did together when you were upstairs for so long."
In the front seat, both Hinata and Yui frowned and exchanged glances.
"How about we change the subject?" said Hinata.
"Yes, let's."
Ayato was all too happy to comply, letting Hinata and Yui steer the conversation towards… whatever they were talking about now. They had Shiina's attention more than his, and he tuned in and out while they rambled to her about whether or not they should get a cat or dog as a practice kid. Thank God, he thought between internal shudders, there won't be a tiny Hinata or Yui toddling around just yet.
After roughly another half an hour of that, plus some discussion of who they'd find next (he didn't give a damn as long as it wasn't Noda), Hinata dropped him off at Yuri's early, according to the clock in Yui's car. The former got out of the car and helped him put his things in the trunk; Ayato figured the act of altruism was just an excuse to harass him further. To his amusement, he wasn't wrong.
"Well, lover boy—"
"Hinata, your wife is right there," Ayato said, giving him a scandalized side-glance.
His friend rolled his eyes at first, but surprisingly, he shook his head and a grin broke out on his face.
"Smartass," he quipped, aggressively mussing his hair. Ayato flinched away and pretended to glare at him. "I was going to say, do you want us to wait so you can follow us back? I know Yui and Kanade were the ones with the directions."
"No, thanks." Ayato shoved the trunk shut, then leaned against it, staring out over the street. "I've already driven home and back. I know the way."
"Right, when you stormed out." Hinata nodded, remembering. "So, you're okay driving back by yourself."
"Without your dulcet tones in my ear? I don't know how I'll be able to focus on the road."
Hinata laughed, looking fondly over his shoulder at the women in the car. Yui had claimed the driver's seat, since it was her car anyway, and Shiina was lounging unsafely in the back now that she had the leg room. In all honesty, Ayato hadn't minded riding with the three of them. Still, it was going to be nice to have time alone with his thoughts without a certain oaf breaking into them with a dumb comment about reincarnating into animals.
No, Ayato was not a stag in a past life. Although he could buy into the idea of Hinata being a dog.
"Whatever," Hinata said. "I was just thinking. Yurippe was the one who offered you a ride first, wasn't she?"
"…I guess." He moved off the trunk and wandered around to the driver's side of his car.
"So, she would've been fine, being alone with you in the car for an hour." Hinata shrugged, giving him a meaningful look. "Kind of sounds like she trusts you. She's starting to."
"Right." Ayato slid into the driver's seat and slammed the car door shut, a barrier between him and Mr. Words of Wisdom.
Who did he think he was? Otonashi? Besides, he remembered what she'd said. She was looking forward to driving to Mizuzaka alone after she dropped him off. Her giving him a ride would've mostly been a means to an end.
Once he started the engine, Hinata tapped on the window annoyingly until he gave in and rolled it down.
"I know Yurippe. Give her time."
"Got it."
Hinata frowned, gripping the edge of the door. He certainly had a bold amount of trust in Ayato to not roll the window back up and crush his fingers. But he looked annoyed with the short answers.
"Are you…" He was squinting at him, his forehead pinched in thought. Oh no. Not that look. The card-reading look. "I mean, do you…?"
Having no watch to glance for sass's sake, Ayato just stared back at him darkly, narrowing his eyes and trying to subtly carry the threat of hypnotism. Not only did he know the look, he knew what the question was. And he told Hinata, silently, that he did not want to know the answer.
The buffoon, full of surprises, got the message.
"Alright, I get it," he said, putting up his hands in surrender and backing away. "We'll see you back at your house." Then he looked briefly over his shoulder, and back at him with a grin and raised eyebrow. "Unless you're up for a drag race."
"Dumbass," Ayato said with a scoff. When Hinata didn't back down, his mouth twitched slightly. "Rain check."
Hinata looked happy. He threw him a lazy wave before making his way back to Yui's car and dropping into the passenger seat next to her. Ayato let the engine run for a few seconds, watching them disappear down the road. He almost wondered if Hinata said stupid things simply to cheer him up, or if it was just mere coincidence stemming from natural idiocy.
"Rain check" indeed, he thought to himself, shaking his head as he put the car in gear and followed after them.
With the weather as it was these days, he might as well have said "when pigs fly."
A/N: Though I'm sure you all love watching Hinata and Naoi stumble awkwardly into a friendship as much as I do, I must cut it short here. More Battlefront bonding ahead! And Yuri returns to Mizuzaka...
Preview:
"No, I came back for you!"
"You never want to hear about my love problems!"
"I'm not listening! I'm not listening!"
"I'll do whatever it takes to bring back her memories."
"Did… you do that?"
[Chapter 18]: Ryou's Crisis.
