Chapter Four

A/N Dabble collection that I'm thinking of rewriting later on. There are a lot of time skips between so be warned. Besides that just enjoy~

Daily Nothings

"NATSU NII!"

Hibiki wasn't surprised when a large blur of silver and violet comes hurdling into him. Akihiko had been visiting him almost weekly after Hibiki realised that instead of going to see Akihiko, Akihiko could come to see him instead.

He liked to take Akihiko around Tokyo whenever he visited. It had been quite amusing, watching Akihiko marvel at the normal side of life. Kyo wasn't particularly happy with having their free time being interrupted by Akihiko but didn't complain much because he knew how close the two were.

The first time the two had met, Akihiko had hidden behind Hibiki's legs. It had taken a long time for Hibiki to coax his brother out from behind him but eventually, the younger Usami had given in when Kyo took out the teddy bear they'd prepared as a gift.

From then on, it had become some sort of habit for them to buy Akihiko a teddy bear, each time he came to stay. Soon, his room within their apartment was filled to the brim with the cuddly toys.

"You think we went overboard?"

"Hmm, maybe a little?"

Even now, after nearly two years of getting to know one another, Akihiko and Kyo had little more than a civil understanding between one another. It was mostly Akihiko who held a one-sided dislike to his brother's boyfriend while Kyo simply liked to tease the younger boy.

"It's like watching an angry kitten trying to claw at my ankles." Is what he said when Hibiki asked him why he kept teasing Akihiko.

Hibiki couldn't argue with this because it really was just as he said.

As soon as his 20th birthday came round, Hibiki took his inheritance back from the Usami clan. There was a lot of cash, and a fair bit of property missing but Hibiki had been expecting this. A lawyer, one with surprisingly no connections to the Usami clan, had been promptly hired to at least retrieve the property he had lost.

In the end, they came to an agreement that on the condition he kept his Usami connections Hibiki gained the majority of the Inohana family estate.

Hibiki had thought about moving back into his grandfather's Machiya but decided against it when he was reminded of Kyo's tendency to flee near his deadline.

Things became very stressed around the apartment whenever one of their deadlines came up. Kyo had it harder as the mangaka had frequent bouts of writer's block, so Hibiki did his best to keep his boyfriend's mental state in check whenever that time of the month came about.

But while Hibiki had a good grasp of what to do with Kyo, it was harder for him to cope when his own bout of creative block came crawling up on him. From experience, Hibiki knew when he needed to take a break, but even he needed the push to do so from time to time.

"Come on, you could use the break."

It wasn't often that Kyo said this so Hibiki was fairly surprised the first time he had. He'd laughed so much that Kyo had looked slightly offended by the time he'd stopped.

"You still pouting? I said I was sorry."

"Hmph."

Hibiki didn't usually smoke. He used to, but then Kyo had complained about the smell so he'd stopped. The only time he did smoke was when he went to visit his father and grandfather's graves.

He didn't like going much as the journey from Tokyo to Hokkaido wasn't something, he could stomach more than he already did. Kyo always made time to go with him when he did though.

Even when they were still in high school, Kyo had insisted on going with him. Some would think of this as quite a rude gesture but Hibiki had been glad to have someone with him.

The pain had dulled with time but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt. They had been the only family he'd had and the ones who taught him to love, to laugh, and to enjoy life as it was. Without them, Hibiki was sure he would have gone through the same spiral as Ren had. They'd given him the kick start he had needed and he was thankful. He only wished that he could have had the chance to repay them…

"Do you want to stay a little longer?"

"Nah, let's go before the snow starts to pile up."

"See you next year, tou-san, jii-san."

Kyo had gotten a new editor. Kirishima Zen was a fair deal harsher than his predecessor but Hibiki didn't think that this was a particularly bad thing. What he said was mostly always the truth after all.

Hibiki tried to help with the manuscripts when things got a little rough but normally, he was too busy with his own projects to do more than keep the entire team fed.

"I made sandwiches. Anyone hungry?"

Hibiki didn't bother to hide his amusement at the hands that shot up immediately after.

He was a little surprised when Zen suddenly clasped his hands in his when he went to give the younger brunette his portion but brushed off this behaviour as a joke when he heard what he said just seconds after.

"Inohana-san, please never leave this idiot."

"Hmm, that depends on what said idiot does."

"Huh?!"

Kyo had been putting the finishing touches on the last page when he froze in shock at his lover's answer. A look of betrayal flashed across his face but before it could set Hibiki plated a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"I'm kidding, you idiot."

Hibiki watched his lover's face turn a healthy shade of red and was about to dive in for another kiss when a rolled-up wad of paper was put in between them.

"Alright, let's keep the lovey-dovey business till after we finish this."

While Hibiki was rather disappointed, he couldn't argue with the editor's words so he took his leave. It was much later into the day, around about 4 in the morning, that Kyo managed to crawl into their shared bedroom.

The budding mangaka fell asleep as soon as he hit the mattress. Seeing this Hibiki couldn't help but chuckle as he tucked him into his blankets.

"Thanks for your hard work."