Fighting had never been his forte; he'd been a good student for most of his life, and even when he did have his moments of anger, he'd never really use punches and kicks to solve his problems. His life had been an ordinary, mundane one for the most part; perhaps the gods wanted to make up for the lack of action and excitement in his eighteen years of living by making him member number eight of the Blindfold Gang.
It used to be Hiyori's position — he heard about this from Momo, who quietly told him that she wasn't really supposed to tell him about it. The others were quite worried about his wellbeing, even though he's been feeling nothing but numb these past few days, so they kept quiet about anything that had to do with Hiyori Asahina.
Hibiya wasn't really big on crying. Every sad movie he's watched, whether it be Grave of the Fireflies or The Girl in the Sun, he'd been busy comforting a bawling Hiyori instead. Her tears stained his shirt as she allowed him to put his arm around her, mini sobs wracking her body as she stared firmly at the screen. He normally didn't really cry much, but every time he returned to his apartment, every time he walked around Tokyo, every time he was given any reminder that she truly existed but not anymore, god, it fucking hurt.
To distract himself from falling back into grief, he made himself useful at the base of the Blindfold Gang. His apartment held too many memories, so Kido allowed him to stay at the large mansion they all lived at. Besides, he was told that his life would be in danger if he was found by Kuroha's men, so it would be a smarter decision to stay somewhere he'd be safe at.
He didn't see all the members on a daily basis — rather, he was surprised at how rare it was to see everyone in the same place. He barely ever saw Momo; it must be difficult to be a celebrity. The only people who always stayed at home were Shintaro, Ene, and Marry. Shintaro spent almost all his time in his room, but occasionally, he'd play video games with Ene in the living room, leading to much yelling and endless arguments.
Hibiya himself had been wondering what kind of jobs he'd have to do as part of this mysterious organization, but he was soon tasked with what seemed to be the impossible. Leader seemed to quickly realize that he had no experience with fighting of any sort, and so he gained himself two new mentors.
He'd already been acquainted with Konoha on the day he was brought to the gang. It was easy to notice that Konoha wasn't much of a talker, as any attempt at conversation made by Hibiya ended in awkward silence. Momo did mention that Konoha suffers from amnesia, so Hibiya was understanding towards Konoha's quiet nature.
Ene, however, was an entirely different existence. Although she was confined to a wheelchair, she was wild and carefree, roaming around the house casually all the time. She was loud, talkative, and almost annoying — she seemed to take a liking to tormenting Shintaro, and both her and Kano liked to play around and keep the atmosphere lively. But when encountering Konoha, she seemed to become more subdued, and something in her melancholic gaze told Hibiya that their story was not so simple.
Hibiya was told that Ene was an expert in weaponry and Konoha had mastered hand-to-hand combat, so his schooling was in their hands. The basement of the Blindfold Gang had a training room, filed with shelves of weaponry, a shooting range, and a fighting ring. The last time Hibiya saw this many weapons was probably in some shooting game he saw Shintaro and Ene play a few days ago, but seeing such an array in real life made him a little nervous.
"I've never touched a weapon before in my entire life," Hibiya said to the two before his first lesson.
"Don't worry about it," Ene said, laughing. "Everyone starts somewhere. Don't be too afraid; you'll get the hang of it eventually."
"Have you killed someone before?"
Ene paused, thinking carefully about how to answer. "I have," she said slowly. "But not without reason. We take out the bad guys; we try not to harm anyone who is innocent."
"I see," Hibiya said, looking around the room once again. He remembered how Momo was excitedly telling him about how everyone had their own specialties when it came to fighting, just like something out of a shonen anime. Kido had a prized katana that had been passed down through her lineage, and both Seto and Kano preferred using handguns. Although Marry never really left the house, she used two daggers to fight when it became necessary. Momo used all types of poison, and she showed Hibiya her proudest secret: the poison needles she hid under her nails. Shintaro was, according to Momo, 'weak as shit,' but he handled bombs well. Before Ene had become confined to a wheelchair, she was skilled with all types of guns, and Konoha was an expert in hand-to-hand combat.
The movies made fighting seem so easy, and Hibiya quickly realized that it was definitely not the case. Ene wasn't really the best at teaching, since all she really did was give him some firearms and told him: "practice." Konoha was a little better, teaching him some basic techniques before he fought him one-on-one himself.
"I'll use fifty percent of my strength," said Konoha as he stepped into the ring. "Just try to hit me once without getting blocked and you win."
"I don't know if I should be thankful or offended," Hibiya said as he did the same.
"Trust me, kid," Ene said from the sidelines. "You do not want to fight this guy. Honestly, make it thirty percent."
"Use your full effort," Konoha said, getting into a defensive position. "Really try to hurt me. Imagine I'm Kuroha."
"Ready, losers? Three, two, one, begin."
Hibiya charged towards Konoha at full speed and swung his fist with all his might, but Konoha was faster. He seemed to disappear in front of Hibiya's eyes in a flash, and within seconds, he was behind him. He aimed a chop at Hibiya's neck, and that alone was enough to make Hibiya fall to the ground.
"Shit, Konoha, I said thirty percent," Ene yelled. "You didn't break the kid, did you?"
"That was thirty percent," Konoha replied, confused.
"That was thirty percent?" Hibiya yelled incredulously. "What the fuck, man?"
"Sorry," Konoha said, offering a hand. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Hibiya said, sighing as he got back up. "Seriously, how the fuck do you do this?"
"I don't know," said Konoha. "I just… do it."
"Forget that I asked," Hibiya sighed. "Let's continue."
For a whole two weeks, he couldn't even get remotely close to landing one blow on Konoha. Hibiya was beginning to think that it was impossible and that he was simply too weak, but Ene and Momo reassured him that it was hard for even them to fight against Konoha. Practice at the shooting range, however, went better than he expected; he always knew that he had excellent vision, but he never expected it to be used in this way.
He needed to be quicker, stronger, to be able to protect not just himself, but the people he loved. If he had run a little faster, become a little stronger, would he have been able to save her?
When he punched Konoha for the first time, he was surprised at how much more used to Konoha's movement patterns he had become since the first time he started training. Konoha didn't look injured at all, but the usual emotionless look on his face was replaced with a proud smile.
"Good job, Hibiya," he said.
"Thanks," Hibiya said, struggling to catch his breath. "What now?"
"Well, you're pretty solid on your shooting skills, thanks to your godly eyesight, so I guess with a little more practice, you're good to go," said Ene. "You're a natural, aren't you?"
"Am I?" Hibiya echoed.
Ene gave him a reassuring smile. "Welcome to the team, kiddo."
Now that he was more accustomed to Konoha's strength, it was clear that Konoha used more of his strength when fighting against Hibiya. On the first day Konoha upped his strength, Hibiya left the training room with a bloody nose and bruises on his arms and his face. Konoha kept apologizing, and Hibiya really would stay to practice more, but his cheek wouldn't stop bleeding and Ene's yelling was this close to driving him insane, so he headed upstairs to find Ayano.
He hadn't really spoken to her before, and he was a little nervous. She was Hiyori's niece that had gone missing two years ago, and he had many questions about what exactly happened. As soon as she showed up in front of her room, she gave a little yelp of surprise and quickly sat him down in front of her desk.
"Seriously, Konoha needs to learn to control his strength," Ayano said, sighing as she rummaged in her drawers for bandaids and antibiotic ointments. "You look completely battered!
"I can't believe that this is far from his full strength," Hibiya said, laughing. "It's crazy. I can't imagine being enemies with this guy."
"I don't think anyone would want to," Ayano laughed as she carefully cleaned the wounds on Hibiya's face and arms. "I'm definitely not a fighter myself."
"For my whole life, I didn't think I'd have to be a fighter. Trust me, joining a secret organization really wasn't part of my plan for adulthood."
"It definitely wasn't mine either! Ah, my younger self would've never thought something like this would happen. I've been a superhero nerd for all my life, but I didn't think things would play out this way."
"How did the gang come together, anyways? I haven't heard the origin story from Momo yet."
"Well, it is a long story," Ayano said, smiling. "But if you have time, I can tell you."
"Please do."
"It all started from two years ago, when my parents were killed. They didn't leave behind much, but out of their belongings, I found a bunch of files on their research. It was research on a certain criminal, codenamed 'Kuroha,' who had killed a bunch of people in the past, including my siblings' families. I never really questioned why my parents adopted three kids out of nowhere, but now, it all made sense. I quickly realized that my parents were killed because they knew too much, and that I would probably be targeted if he knew that I was still alive.
"Shintaro and I were classmates in high school, and Ene and Konoha were our upperclassmen. We soon found out that Ene and Konoha were kidnapped by Kuroha, and after we successfully saved them, we realized that we had to do something about all this. We formed the Blindfold Gang as a way to keep ourselves safe and track down Kuroha, but he's… very smart. We've had our close encounters with him, but he's always been able to slip away — perhaps fate really is on the side of evil."
"Then… why did Hiyori have to die?"
Ayano was silent, her hand that held a bandaid faltering above one of Hibiya's wounds. "Kuroha is a very careful man. Hiyori-chan's my mother's sister, so he felt the need to get rid of her for his motives. I don't know the specifics of what happened that day, either, but we noticed that Hiyori was being strange a few days prior, and moments before the crash happened, her location disappeared from our tracking map, so we sent Shuuya and Konoha to check up on her. We thought we had prepared ourselves for the worst, but really, we're just as shocked as you were at the time."
"It still doesn't feel real," Hibiya said. "I don't think I've truly accepted any of this yet."
"It takes a while," Ayano said sympathetically. "And nobody will blame you if you're not ready yet. We only hope that you'll do things at your own pace, and that you won't push yourself too much."
"I've heard about you from Hiyori before," Hibiya admitted. "She spoke very highly of you and said that you were very sweet and kind. She wanted me to meet you, too; I didn't think we'd meet like this, though."
"I'm honored that she thinks that way," Ayano said softly. "She only stayed at my house for a short year before my parents died, but we got along very well. Tsubomi, Kousuke, and Shuuya had moved out by then, but I stayed home because my college was very close by. She was like another younger sister, you know; I'd try to help her with schoolwork, but I'm an idiot so I couldn't do much, and we'd just end up laughing at ourselves."
"It's a little upsetting that she never mentioned me to any of you, though," said Hibiya, laughing. "Even if it was for her to keep me safe. But maybe I wasn't as important to her as she was to me."
"Actually…" Ayano fidgeted with her sleeve. "She only stopped mentioning you after she found out about Kuroha. I've known about you for a while now, since Hiyori's told me a lot about you. She always talked about how you were someone who would stay beside her no matter what, someone who saw her at her worst and her best and loved her regardless. Someone she really loved."
That idiot… He didn't know Hiyori ever spoke so highly of him; she certainly never showed that side to him. God, it was beyond cruel for her to haunt him, even when she's dead, but she did it anyway, like the sweet little devil she was. She took up all his daydreams and nightmares, never leaving his mind, clinging onto his last strand of sanity. Even after he thanked Ayano for treating his wounds and returned to his room, he could see Hiyori Asahina's smile as he closed his eyes and let the darkness consume him.
The prelude of a familiar song blasted throughout the house, causing Hibiya to furrow his eyebrows at the sudden sound. Out of curiosity, he walked to the living room, where Music Station was playing on the television at full volume. Marry was sitting on the couch, eyes fixated on the screen; she barely even noticed Hibiya walking into the room. When their eyes met, Hibiya made an awkward attempt to wave, and Marry waved back at him.
"Do you want to join?" she asked.
It wasn't like he had anything better to do, so Hibiya sat down next to her. Turning his attention back to the television screen, he soon realized that the song was something he heard everywhere, whether it be in shopping centers, on television, or from Hiyori's humming:
Kisaragi Attention by Momo Kisaragi.
How could he forget? Momo's iconic song rose to the top of the charts the day it was released, and Hiyori would not stop talking about it. She played it on repeat for at least two weeks, and even after that, she would listen to it over and over again. In all the public places he went that played music, this song would be one of the top hits, and it seemed like the entire world was obsessed with Momo Kisaragi.
He's seen Momo's performances before; hell, he even sat in the VIP section that one time with Hiyori when they went to her concert. But seeing her on television felt different, somehow, and he had to admit, she really shone as bright as the stars.
"Do you like Momo's songs?" Hibiya asked, knowing it was a pathetic attempt at conversation. He wasn't really good with introverts, as he was a bit of an awkward kid himself, and Marry clearly found it hard to warm up to people, so he braced himself for the worst.
"I do!" Marry exclaimed, to his utter surprise, eyes shining with excitement. "Isn't Momo-chan super pretty? She looks so good on stage!"
"She does," Hibiya admitted. "I've seen her perform live before. It's really impressive."
"You have? I'm not really allowed to go outside, so I'm super envious!"
"Not allowed to go outside?" Hibiya echoed. "Why?"
"Well, the outside world is dangerous," said Marry, sighing. "And fighting is scary. I'm directly targeted, so it'd be better for everyone if I just stayed out of the way. Have you gone on your first mission yet?"
"Not yet. I haven't heard anything about it yet, because I've just been sharpening my skills with Ene and Konoha."
"That must be difficult."
"It really was," Hibiya said, thinking back to all the times he got punched. "But you gotta do what you gotta do."
"I think Leader has a job for you coming up," Marry said. "I heard her talking about it with Momo-chan earlier today."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I don't know the specifics, so I can't really say much, but good luck! I'll be cheering for you!"
It turns out Marry was right; in a few hours, Kido told Hibiya that he would have work to do this evening. She didn't give him many details, only that he was to attend a gala with Momo, and quickly shoved him in Seto's care because she had other work to take care of.
"I have a suit for you," said Seto, who just returned from his part time job. "You need to look good for an event like that, don't you?"
Hibiya inspected the suit that was now his; it was made from a smooth, grey fabric that, clearly, was more expensive than both of his kidneys. Running a hand over the cloth and taking a closer look, he realized that it seemed tailor made, with his name stitched inside the jacket.
"How did you guys get my measurements?" Hibiya asked, taking the suit from him.
Seto laughed a little awkwardly. "Well, you see, we have… connections, which gives us access to a lot of things. Like your medical records as well as a receipt of a previous fitting you had at a tailor shop that included your measurements, among many others."
Hibiya did a double take at his words. Biting back an outburst of "isn't that an invasion of privacy?" upon realizing that they were literally a scary secret organization who probably had access to everything, he only laughed and left the room to get changed.
"Looking sharp," Seto said as Hibiya returned to the room.
"I've never really worn a suit that actually fits me before," Hibiya said, fidgeting with the tie. "Do I want to know how much this costs? Actually, just tell me how many digits the price is."
"Four."
"Christ," Hibiya jumped; the suit immediately felt uncomfortable. "How am I going to pay this back? I only have two kidneys; I don't think I can sell any more."
"Don't worry about that," Seto laughed. "You're fine. Think of it as a welcoming present; a good suit is definitely a necessity, and you can't cheap your way out of it, either. A nice tailored suit is a man's second layer of skin, and you can't get any better than this. I just hope it fits well."
"Dude. This is, like, actually just a second layer of skin. It fits perfectly."
"That's good to hear," Seto laughed. "Well, I'm also here to tell you exactly what you have to do tonight. There's a gala at the Ritz-Carlton tonight, and we're there for a specific target. His name is Ginzo Sakagami, and he's a corrupt CEO of a large technology corporation: overworking staff, underpaying workers, taking all the money earned and using it for his own benefits such as drinking and gambling… you know, just the usual. He funds a large portion of Kuroha's experiments and recruitments, and cutting off that route would put Kuroha in a bad position, which makes him vulnerable enough for us to do something."
"Sounds like a shit dude."
"Yeah, you're right. That's why we need to take him down. Momo will handle most of the job; we just need you there to help her just in case something happens, and besides, this is a good experience for you, too."
"I understand," Hibiya said. "I hope everything goes smoothly."
"Don't worry. I believe in you, Hibiya-kun; you have the abilities within you to protect others, and I can see it in your eyes."
Hibiya smiled to himself. "Have you been told that you'd be a great motivational speaker?"
"All the time," said Seto, grinning. "Now, Momo should be ready by now. You should go check up on her."
The two left the room, and after giving a final wave to Seto as he returned to his own room, Hibiya knocked on the door of Momo's room. Upon hearing a cheerful "come in," Hibiya opened the door.
The room was messier than he expected; CDs, notebooks, and clothes were scattered across the floor, and there was barely any space for him to step on. Amidst the mess stood Momo in the most stunning dress he had ever seen. The cut of the dress accentuated her curves greatly, and the neckline showcased more skin than Hibiya expected.
Momo tossed her neat blonde curls over her shoulder as she fixed the last pearl earring and stepped over towards him. "How do I look?" She grinned, spinning around to show him her full outfit.
"Like a true celebrity," Hibiya said after overcoming his initial embarrassment. "So, when are we leaving?"
"Right now, actually," she said, grabbing a pair of Jimmy Choos from her closet. "I assume Seto-san has told you about the plan for tonight?"
"Yeah. Corrupt CEO deserves to die."
"Bingo," she said as they walked down the stairs. "Don't be too nervous; it shouldn't be too difficult, you know. Trust me."
"Of course," said Hibiya as they stopped at the entrance and put on their shoes. Outside, a chauffeur waited with a Porsche, and as they sped off towards their destination, Hibiya let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.
The curtain rises for Hibiya Amamiya's first mission as number eight of the Blindfold Gang.
