Work Text:
Yeah the summer sucks, but winter isn't much better.
Hibiya Amamiya kicks off his wet shoes and starts to shed his jacket layers by the closed front door inside his house, swiftly and sneakily grabbing something from a jacket pocket to bring to his pants pocket as he hung the jacket on a lopsided hook.
It was way too cold outside today. Sure, winter was much nicer than summer in the sense that there was no painful heatwaves and the farm's crops are too dead and covered in snow to give Hibiya much work to do, but his very old styled house also didn't have any heating, so the cold winter meant cold house. So, shedding his layers as he just did, only made him more cold, but his parents would probably throw him out into the snow with even LESS clothes if he brought his snowed up jacket any deeper into the house.
Regardless, having just arrived home, he briefly greets his parents and then heads up his creaking staircase to his room. A constant, annoying rumbling in his pants pocket causing an annoyed sigh to escape his lips.
Digging into that pocket and taking out the 'something'– his cellphone, yeah that's right he's FINALLY got his hands one (unbeknownst to his strict parents of course), he looks to see why it's vibrating constantly. He hadn't felt it vibrating on his way back home on the bus with all the layers he was wearing, but seeing the time-stamps on the aggressively high number of notifications told him that this thing had been vibrating for a long while.
And WOW it drained his battery pretty bad too. He only had 7% left. Struggling a bit with remembering how to even check what app these notifications all came from, he realized it was all from the same source.
A groupchat. The groupchat. Oh don't get him wrong, Hibiya is certainly overjoyed by the fact that he can finally be like those people he'd seen on his friend's TV: able to use a cellphone to contact people, able to use a cellphone to arrange meetings and hangouts, able to indulge in texting and chatting, and so on! A long sought after fantasy that he still can't believe he's finally able to live out. But that didn't mean he always wanted to... communicate with others. Not constantly. No, not nearly as constantly as these people, who were older than him yet somehow more spastic than people half his age would be after eating some candy, were.
Just wasting time thinking about how annoyingly active the groupchat was right now allowed for thirty new messages to be received. He wasn't sure if it was just delayed messages because of the shotty connection his rundown hick of a town got or if it was messages coming in genuinely because they were actively blasting the groupchat right now, but he did know for sure that he wanted some peace of mind. Slowly, but surely, tapping away at his phone, he muted the bustling groupchat.
He would worry about reading the messages later (or at least some of them, he wasn't sure he wanted to ever bother with the full novel-length inbox of unread messages he had from them). For now, he wasn't in the best of moods. He brought out his phone's charger, fumbling with the wires a bit before properly plugging the thing in. Leaving the phone to charge in peace on a table, his thoughts were back on him. Again, he wasn't in the best of moods right now, and being in his room wasn't good for his mood either. His eyes caught sight of it as usual whenever he was in here.
His Hiyori doll.
His amazing handiwork on its stitches would usually be a cause of great pride in Hibiya, but, ever since that fateful day in August, it only brings him sad memories. He can't bare to get rid of the doll, not when it's the only thing that's really left of her in this world. Or, more accurately, the only thing that's really left of her in this world that is also in Hibiya's possession. While the doll itself was made by him, of course, he did give to it the hair clip of hers he had found at the park. So this doll was not only capturing her likeness, but it also had something on it that really came from– really was touched by Hiyori herself.
He couldn't part with it no matter how much hurt it brought him.
Also he put time and effort into that doll! But tragically his true magnum opus that would have been a fully functioning Talking Hiyori will never be realized. It never can be. Ever.
Since she died on that fateful day in August.
Sure, he did too, he guesses. And not just figuratively either. But at least he was able to come back. It's something he finds himself thinking about far more often than he'd like. He thought he was going to be okay, learning to accept it and all that after the time he spent with the Mekakushi Dan. But after returning back home alone, it became a problem all over again. He realized their distractions weren't at the forefront of his everyday life anymore. Instead, it was the wave of distress that covered his entire community after the loss of such a popular young girl that was ever so present day-by-day. A constant reminder of just how sad this whole situation was.
He wasn't always burdened by it, of course. And with the Hiyori fanclub officially dissolving, it wasn't something discussed every second. That didn't change the fact that some people eyeballed him wherever he went in school though. He was certain that everybody was aware that he was on that city trip with Hiyori. She may not have told anyone, but information has ways of leaking. He knows of some rumors, too. After all, there was no body found. It's only natural some people hearing about that would be skeptical of the death and think that Hibiya did something horrendous to make Hiyori just disappear.
Though, the sheer passage of time and lack of information about the trip ever actually happening in the first place helped mitigate those rumors' relevancy. Hibiya wouldn't confirm nor deny things when, or if they came out. He just didn't want to talk about it. Luckily for him, he isn't exactly a popular kid in the first place. Even with the rumors, he's not someone that many people want to chew the fat with. And, after the months had passed, things mostly went back to normal. People moved on from the tragedy and from the conspiracy theories.
However, with winter break coming soon, people seemed to be hovering around the rumors now more than when they first came about. Classmates would make comments and jokes about mysteriously disappearing if they take a vacation on this upcoming break, hurr durr just like Hiyori. That type of stuff. It made the rumors relevant again and it was just plain annoying.
And it was a constant reminder that Hiyori really isn't around anymore.
“I'd give anything just to leave this stupid town.” Hibiya sighed out loud to himself. He hoped the discussions died out again soon or he'd lose his damned mind. He already wasn't a fan of his hometown, but at this point it's also just bad for his mental health to be here.
BZZZ BZZZ
“GAH!” Hibiya yelled. Forcibly ripped from his thoughts. What was that?
He looked towards his charging phone on the table. He damn well knew that he muted the groupchat, so whatever caused the thing to vibrate again must have been something else. He went over to check it out.
Turning on the phone's screen to look at his notifications, he saw it was a message, a direct message, from Momo. He figured she wasn't going to spam his phone like the groupchat was doing (hopefully), so he simply set the phone down and ignored it. He didn't want to socialize with anyone right now. He really just wanted to sleep. It was only afternoon, but he just wasn't in the mood to DO anything.
He briefly thought for a moment that maybe he should share his sullen thoughts with her. After all, she did help him out initially with his depression over Hiyori's disappearance. She had so kindly reached out a hand to him and dragged him, both literally and figuratively, into a brighter tomorrow. She was annoyingly persistent, but, while he'd never dare to say it out loud, he did appreciate it.
But she's also in the city along with everyone else in their friend group (or gang, as they call it). She can't exactly do anything to help him, he figured, and he didn't want to be venting to anyone in the first place. It was awkward to do that. So, yeah, he'd rather not.
It was the dead of night. Hibiya lied awake in bed wishing he can actually sleep. He had been trying to for quite some time now. He never managed to drift off to sleep, or even just take a nap. Instead, he was stuck awake with his constant train of thoughts. Then, after the disruption that was dinnertime, he found himself right back where he left off in his attempts to just SLEEP ALREADY.
He really wasted his entire day after school just lying in bed and thinking, hadn't he? He sighed to himself and grabbed his phone that he had hidden away in his pillowcase at some point after it had charged earlier.
2:00am, his phone read upon turning the screen on. Great! He had all this time trying to sleep and yet he's going to end up with practically no sleep before school. He tapped on the notification from Momo. He figured he might as well read and reply now while she's asleep.
Momo: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY HIBIYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you see thi plan???????
Hibiya blinked. What kind of text is this? He thought.
Oh right.
He felt himself perk up a bit upon remembering. He assumed she meant to type 'this plan' as it made sense, after all, 'this plan' was supposed to happen tomorrow (or today, rather, as it's 2am). He scrolled up a bit reading the messages about how Momo planned to visit him on Friday, about a week before Christmas. He realized he only really vaguely replied approving of the plan and then not messaging her much about it since. This plan they had set for a few weeks now.
Hibiya went to type his confirmation.
You: Yeah I saw it.
That's good enough. He thought. Now, having something to look forward to, he figured he'd actually be able to sleep.
Until he noticed the immediate new message pop up on his screen.
Momo: Oh that's great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And you're okay with all thatt right?
Hibiya was dumbfounded. Why was she still awake?? He really didn't want to be talking to anyone right now, but now he's stuck with a new question to answer. Is he okay with her visiting? Of course he is! It's a nice distraction. She couldn't possibly have been so dumb that she forgot he already agreed to the visit in the first place.
Though knowing her abysmal grades, she actually could be that dumb. Honestly, how did she even get accepted into a high school?
You: Yes.
Immediately he sees the ...'s of her current typing. Oh boy, he's stuck in a live conversation! Hopefully his half-assed replies will get her to cut it short. He could always just mute her, or the phone itself, and just go to sleep anyway, but another part of him really did want to talk to someone. He really, whether he wanted to admit it or not, did need something like this to get him away from the thoughts that had been bringing him down.
Momo: Great!
With a one word reply like that the conversation was sure to be done.
Momo: Why are you up at 2am anyway?? Are you okay???
Dammit.
No, quite frankly, he wasn't okay. Did he want to tell her that? No. She's already set to drain his social battery when she visits, why on earth would he want to tire himself out now with sad feelings or whatever. He already decided to not talk about his problems and he's sticking to it. Whatever nonsense that is to come from her visit will hopefully be enough, just as it was back then, to make him feel less... well, less like shit.
Momo is... an interesting person to say the least. She's annoying and dumb, but her heart is in the right place. She really does want to help him. She really does consider him her friend. She makes every effort to include him in anything that the Mekakushi Dan does whenever she can. He's the only one of them who doesn't live in the city, and so when his trip in the city was over, he was the only one who had to leave them (aside from the dearly departed).
Prior to him heading back home, Momo and Shintaro, though the latter reluctantly, helped Hibiya get his own cellphone allowing him to keep in touch with them with calls and texts and whatnot. Sure it's a contract under Shintaro's name, but who cares! It's a cellphone. Then, once every month or so, Momo would make time in her schedule to come visit Hibiya's boring-ass town. Sometimes she came by herself, other times she brought Kido or dragged along Shintaro. Hell, for his birthday, she even dragged along the whole group to celebrate with him! Even Seto, always busy with his trillions of jobs, was there.
It was nice and made him feel included. These weirdo old people really were his friends, it'd make him think. And, honestly, after all she's done for him, he felt he understood why Hiyori was such a big fan of Momo.
It's a pretty bitter dramatic irony that Hibiya is the one who got to meet, and even befriend, the very idol Hiyori wanted to go to the city for in the first place though.
Momo: No really do you wanna talk about it? We can call if you want
Oh he was a little too lost in thought for a moment there. He quickly went to type a reply before Momo, God forbid, tries to call him.
You: Why are you up at 2am? Aren't people your age usually asleep at this time?
Momo: I'M NOT THAT OLD
You: Could've fooled me granny
Momo: ruuuuuuuude
Momo: You sure your okay? Nobodys heard from you all day
You: *you're
Momo: I'm going to punt you
Letting a smirk overtake his face, Hibiya watched as the ...'s appeared in the chat once more, waiting for the next message to arrive.
Momo: oh yeah we should probably both sleep though since I'm gonna be over there today! Need to have energy!!!!!!!
Momo: And I will in fact punt you
Right. They should get sleep. The good news is that means the conversation is finished, at least.
You: Good night.
Having sent the final message, he stuffed his phone back into his pillowcase and rested his head properly. Closing his eyes, he finally drifted off to sleep.
Not a very long one though due to the need to be up for school. Today was going to be a painful day, but Momo wasn't free this weekend, so a Friday was the best she could do. So, on just barely 4 hours of sleep, Hibiya went to school knowing that he would not be allowed to nap afterwards.
After a usual needlessly long day of obnoxious classes, Hibiya exited his school and right away saw a figure in a thick round pink jacket, with the hood up, and ridiculously poofy and aggressively orange pants standing way too close and way too suspiciously to not be a red flag to any parents picking their kids up from the damn elementary school he went to.
If her goal, given her hood being up and her usual state of being, was to avoid attention, she was failing. And it wasn't even the fault of her powers, she just looked too out of place here to NOT draw attention. He didn't even need to see her face to know that the identity of the suspicious figure was Momo. So he began to approach her.
And with just how bulky and round her jacket was...
“You seriously look like a fat cow.” He said once he was near her.
“I DO NOT! I thought I told you to cut that stuff out!”
Hibiya had a smug look on his face while Momo struggled through her complaints. He sort of felt bad given how much she did seem to have an issue with the word 'fat', but she was the one who came dressed like that. Though, that coat definitely had to be warm with how much material was clearly used to make it. Maybe she was onto something when she chose to wear it.
“Alright alright, sorry. Anyway, we should probably, uh, get away from here.” He looked around at people passing by, giving them glances. Really, Momo's jacket was the roundest thing he'd ever seen and her pants looked straight out of a western 80's teen movie. She may know how to control her powers now, but her sense of style is still painfully off-kilter.
“Alright then, hm where should we go first?” Momo pondered out loud. Hibiya was standing right next to her, but it was crystal clear from the way that she was staring at the sky in thought that she was really just pondering the question for herself.
“I don't care just go already!”
“But we need to pick a place first and— hey! Ah! Quit pushing me, you brat!”
“Just gooOOOAAAHHH!!” Hibiya, losing his footing on the ice, slid. Trying to catch himself before he fell, he grabbed the back of Momo's jacket; however, he was sliding forwards, so that did nothing in preventing him from slamming his face directly into Momo's back. The force of his impact causing her to lose her own balance and, because of the damn ice still at their feet, she also found herself sliding. Having nothing to stop her as she slipped and lost balance, she fell to the ground and Hibiya, who was still grabbing her jacket, was pulled down with her.
“Ow!” both yelled in unison as their bodies impacted the ground. More eyes were on them. Hibiya could feel the embarrassment taking him over. He quickly shot up, trying to get back on his feet. He was unable to stop from slipping at each attempt, and only made a more embarrassing scene as he kept falling back to the ground, never able to stay put on his own two feet.
Momo, on the other hand, slid herself away from the pure ice that was that particular spot in the pavement. Having a slightly less slippery ground now under her, she managed to stand up without falling back down. Hibiya saw this and immediately lunged himself towards her, latching onto her leg.
“Gah! What are you a gremlin?!” Momo shouted, kicking the leg Hibiya was latched onto.
“Whoa chill! I'm just trying to get up.” He said, “Quit kicking!”
He used her now still leg to steady himself as he, finally, got a good enough footing to lift himself up off the ground and stand, stationary, on his own two feet.
“Okay then. Maybe we should go ice skating! Come on!” Momo grabbed Hibiya's hand and dragged him along.
They were finally away from the school and finally away from all the passing people who stared, but their status as an accidental street-performing comedy duo wasn't over yet since Momo, shortly after beginning to drag Hibiya around, found a new patch of ice to slip on and the earlier scene repeated once more in a different location.
...
The moon shined brightly, cutting through the cloudy skies above. Its sheer light intensity couldn't be hidden by the clouds themselves nor all the snow falling from them. It was a bright full moon.
Whenever Hibiya spent a day with Momo, there was always a full moon to end it with, he realized. Every single time. The first time it happened back in August, it was surely a coincidence since they had only really just met at the time when she decided to drag him around and help him out. How could she have planned that out? But it's like she's been purposely choosing to visit only on full moon days ever since, because every time she visited him in the countryside, the day would once again end with a full moon. What's up with that? What is Momo a werewolf or something? Is this a conscious decision??
Hibiya glanced at Momo next to him on the bench. She seemed spaced out. He followed her gaze to some random spot in the snow. She was blankly staring at nothing in particular, it seemed. They both had to be tired by now, as it had gotten late. They were both very much awake at 2am, after all, and having to wake up for school that very morning despite that would naturally cause them to tire out like this.
It was an eventful day, Hibiya thought. The slipping and sliding (and falling) aside, they had managed to do a lot of mindless activities:
They went skating! (they were not at an ice rink, Momo simply found a small frozen pond and had them sliding around on it. Something Hibiya was initially against.)
They went shopping! (of the window variety, as there's nothing of note to buy out in the boonies. Momo did almost buy the ugliest hat Hibiya had ever seen until he dragged her out of the store for her own good.)
They went out to eat! (THREE whole times! All with varying reactions. They had a street vendor assume they were siblings, a restaurant waiter that assumed they were on a romantic date, and a fast food cashier that assumed Momo was Hibiya's aunt (her reaction to that was, of course, priceless!))
They built a snowman! (It was really a snowwoman. She had boobs. Big ones. Momo was the one who put them there. Alas, she was nippleless though. Er, the snowwoman was the nippleless one, to be specific. Presumably the only one here who is nippleless, though Hibiya has no proof on nipple statuses for anyone other than himself.)
And, finally, they had a snowball fight! (Which ended about five minute ago! They had to make a truce after the fight lead to guerrilla warfare tactics and tragically ended the life of their beloved snowwoman (may she rest in peace))
All the activities managed to be... well, fun. Their recently ended snowball fight took all that remained of their energy right out of them, though. With the full moon shining on them and new blankets of snow slowly forming over the former battlefield, Hibiya found himself at ease. Even though there was now a silence between the two of them on the bench, it wasn't a painful one. He wasn't fighting with depressing thoughts at the moment (aside from the snowwoman's fate), instead, he was just thinking over just how exhausting today was and how glad he is that he doesn't have to go to school tomorrow.
Though that comforting silence was very much becoming an awkward silence each time Hibiya glanced to Momo. She was still staring out at nothing. At first he figured it was tiredness, which was why he wasn't bothering to say or do anything, but the look on her face made it seem deeper than that. She was lost in thought, not just spacing out, but actually thinking. Like, using her brain.
“Momo?” Hibiya asked. He got no response.
Wow, she must be thinking hard! That's weird. Hibiya didn't like it. He reached a hand out to tug at her jacket hoping it would get her attention.
“...Momo?” He asked again.
“Hm?” Momo looked at Hibiya's hand, then she shot up and looked him in the eyes. “Sorry, what?”
“What're you thinking about? You've just been staring at nothing and you, like, you just looked, I dunno, lost in thought?”
“Oh yeah, sorry I'm just starting to think it's a little weird.” Momo lifelessly chuckled.
“What is?”
“What?”
“What's a little weird?” Hibiya asked in a demanding tone. This was weird. She seemed to be avoiding talking about whatever was on her mind right now. Hypocritical of her to do, given she always tells him to tell her what's on his mind. It should work the other way around too!
When she didn't answer, he started to get more annoyed.
“Hey, if something's bothering you just tell me. You don't only have to help me, y'know. I can help you too.”
“Well, aha...” Momo was laughing painfully awkwardly. She abruptly stopped, cleared her throat, and then began speaking about what was obviously a new topic.
“Oh! You should probably have this.” She dug her hand into a jacket pocket, then brought her hand out, clutching something within. Hibiya opened up his hand to accept whatever it was. Once he felt something drop into his hand, he brought it closer to his face to inspect it.
“An eraser?” he asked, completely confused. While he was distracted staring at the random soda-shaped eraser in his hand, he felt something pull at his head. It was quick, but it was still a little painful.
Almost like a hair getting pulled.
He looked to Momo who, conspicuously trying to be inconspicuous, began shuffling both her hands into her pockets ever so obviously putting something in one.
Did she just pull a strand of hair off his head?
Did she just pull a strand of hair off his head and pocket it away???
Disturbed, Hibiya continued to stare at Momo.
WHAT THE HELL?
Taking a sample of a person's hair is weird. Even by Momo standards it's freakin' weird. Given her former idol status, she should know how weird it is for a person to grab somebody's hair and store it. It's the type of thing obsessive fans do. Something she's definitely had happen to her before. They grab your hair, they sniff it. The obsessive fans think it gets them closer to the object of their affection or whatever. Might even sell it to other obsessive fans for big money if they're not too busy enjoying it for themselves.
Hibiya actually knows it better than anyone else. He literally did that shit to Hiyori. The hair clip isn't the only thing from Hiyori that he included in that doll...
So there's no hiding how weird this is and Hibiya can't help but freak out about it. Is this karma? Is it because he has done this to someone that he is now having it done to him? And by someone who most definitely had it done to her, no less? He knows it's weird, but when it's Hiyori it's not weird, okay? He's just some countryside loser boy. Why take his hair??? It has zero value! Oh he can practically see the former members of the now defunct Hiyori fanclub flying down from above, pointing and laughing at his discomfort in their naked forms. They were against him from the start, weren't they? All of them were. They can't all bond over Hiyori when she's gone. So they'll bond over Hibiya's pain and suffering.
“Red bean soda.” Momo randomly said.
“What?” Snapped out of his stupor, Hibiya, eyes still on Momo but now actually focused on her and not lost in his own thoughts, opened his mouth wide.
“Wait, I shouldn't. I... don't want to know. I seriously don't want to know. I'm not going to ask. Nope. I can't. It's too weird.” Hibiya thought, closing his mouth.
“The eraser.” Momo awkwardly smiled, definitely sensing Hibiya's discomfort but choosing to continue on, “It's a red bean soda eraser! It's from a special pack I got a while back. It might make things easier for you if you hold onto that.”
SHE'S NOT EVEN GOING TO ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT SHE DID!
Granted, she did try to be inconspicuous about it. It was bad, but the attempt was made. Regardless, she should just stop pretending she managed to do this without him noticing! Stop trying to save face here! At least then she can explain herself and, maybe, make this situation less weird and awkward and downright disturbing!
“Uh... sure.” Hibiya seriously didn't even want to keep this conversation going anymore. Sure, it had nothing to do with the strand of his hair that's now in one of Momo's pockets, but the eraser was such a bad diversion from that topic that, honestly, they might as well just be talking about the hair directly. It would have the same effect. The same emotions tied to it. She could be sniffing it right now in front of him, telling him all about the shampoo he used, and it would be no different from the conversation they're having about the eraser. The only reason he is holding this eraser was so she could get his hair. It was so OBVIOUS.
And that just made it worse because why would she do that? Given why he did it to Hiyori... he only had one theory as to why Momo would do this. He kept pushing the thought away because it was too weird to him, but there really is only one thing he can think of.
She was obsessed with him.
Hopelessly in love with him.
Oh he did not like that thought at all. Momo was a weird one, but she had gained his respect after what she did for him. But after what she just did to him, she may very well have lost his respect and trust. Were her intentions not as pure as she claimed? Did she not help him to help him, but instead help him to help herself?
But he doesn't want to lose a friend either. As weird and awkward as this is, he doesn't want to lose someone else he cares about.
Maybe he's overthinking it. Maybe it's not like that. Momo's weird, so maybe her reasons for nabbing a bit of his hair is for something completely incomprehensible to a normal boy like him. Yeah, maybe it's not obsessive fan behavior in this case.
Hopefully.
“Hibiyaaaaaaaa?” Momo droned.
“Ack! What? What do you want?” Hibiya can tell Momo was trying to get his attention for a while now. Oof, the tables have turned. Now he's the one lost in thought here.
Wait just a damn second.............
Did she pull his hair so that he'd stop trying to help her with whatever was bothering her earlier?
HER UNDERHANDED TACTICS CAN ONLY WORK FOR SO LONG!
“Hold on, you.” Hibiya stuck a finger to Momo's temple, confusing her enough to prevent her from responding to his earlier question.
“You're not getting out of this. What was it you found...” He blanked for a moment on what exactly it was she said about whatever she was lost in thought about. Oh right, she said it was weird didn't she?
“I found something?” Momo asked. Hibiya shook his head.
“I meant. Just... uh, what was it you found weird. Y'know? That.” Hibiya recovered, reeling his hand back.
“Oh.” Momo deflated immediately, “Just forget about it, don't worry about it.”
Oh my God was this what it was like dealing with him? He hated being on the helping end. This was seriously going nowhere. Y'know what, next time he has a problem he'll be more honest about it, because now he's seeing the hoops Momo has to jump through just to get him to talk.
“If you don't wanna talk about it, fine. Whatever.” He said, giving up.
“It's not that I don't want to talk about it,” Momo laughed, more genuinely this time, “it's just that there's nothing to talk about.”
“Wait, were you just trying to think of what to talk about?”
“Uh, no. It's just...” Momo sighed, “honestly I don't know why he asked me to do this, now that I think about it. It's weird.”
“Who's 'he'?” asked Hibiya, “You're doing something 'weird' for someone?”
“Ah.” Momo's face started to flush, “Wait forget about everything I'm saying right now, none of it's important! Ididntagreetoanythingforgetit.”
Ah, now Hibiya understands.
She's got a buyer for the hair doesn't she?
“Then don't do it!” Hibiya snapped, frustrated at the thought of his creepily stolen hair being creepily sold to some... creep.
Wait hold up... she said 'he' didn't she? So this buyer is male? Damn, Hibiya can't get any girl's attention apparently. Though, he supposes, it's at least easing his worry that Momo was getting his hair for her own personal reasons. Though... what reasons does this other guy have for wanting his hair? Why did Momo agree to this? Does she still have some ulterior motive here? Perhaps wanting to impress this mystery man who is obsessed with Hibiya? Why is he obsessed with Hibiya? Why does he want his hair?
Hmm... actually... she said the eraser she gave him was 'special' and that it would be 'easier' if Hibiya had it.
Is this some sort of exchange? Eraser for hair? Well, she already has the eraser. Was that a down payment for this hair deal? Did she feel bad selling out Hibiya's hair and gave him a piece of her blood money to make it 'easier' for her to continue on her end of the deal? She said she got it a while ago... was she procrastinating on this because she started to realize how weird it was after all? Then ultimately decided to finally do it anyway?
Utterly defeated by the never ending questions Hibiya's anxious mind is producing, he lets out an audible snort thinking “So that's it, huh? I'm a commodity to be traded?”
At some point between Hibiya's loud suggestion and his panic-filled thoughts, Momo had stood up. She was waving a hand in front of his face, he realized. She looked like she was doing so for a while, too.
“Heyyy? Anybody in there? The train's coming soon, but you haven't responded to a word I've said!”
He's really good at getting lost in thought today, isn't he?
“What? Sorry.” Hibiya sighed, half mumbling, “Just... listen, just don't do anything stupid.”
“Too late,” Momo bowed her head in defeat, “I'm already trying to talk to you.”
“Hey!”
“Well anyway,” Momo laughed as she sat back down on the bench, “The train should be here in the next half hour, so all I was trying to say was are you ready?”
“Ready for... what? Um, all I'm going to do is head back home after.”
“No not that, I just meant about next week!”
“...Next week?”
Momo looked shocked. Hibiya was unsure what about this was shocking. Nothing is going on next week, after all.
“Yeah. Christmas? Did you forget?”
Oh.
“No, I didn't forget.”
Yes he did forget, but he'll be damned to admit that.
Though, in his defense, his family doesn't really celebrate Christmas nor do anything particularly special on that day. They really just sit at home and... do what they do any other winter day. To them, it's just a normal day. The only thing special about it is that Christmas Eve marks the start of winter break. Otherwise, nothing special at all.
“Oh good I was worried for a second! But if you're ready, then it'll all be great!” Momo cheered.
“Yeah, whatever.” Hibiya responded. Though he does agree it will be great and he certainly is ready for it. He won't have to worry about dealing with the other kids and their rumors anymore, and can finally start to relax again. Maybe he won't be feeling so down anymore once break actually starts. After break, people would want to talk about what they did over break rather than joke about disappearances and such. So life should get better. Hopefully. Please.
“Oh I should probably get going now.” Momo states as she begins to stand back up, “I hope you had as much fun as I did!”
“Yeah, um... I'll see you next time.” Hibiya said, prompting Momo to start ruffling his hair. He puffed out his cheeks a little and halfheartedly raised his hands to push hers off his head.
“Yup! And don't lose my eraser!” Momo replied, still ruffling his hair. He continued to push at her until she stopped.
Momo smiled wide with a toothy grin, then turned away and began to head over to the train station waving her last goodbyes which Hibiya returned. Now that she left, he remembered the conversation from last night.
Momo did not, in fact, punt Hibiya.
Recognizing that fact, Hibiya turned around and trekked through the snow and ice to head back to his house.
Along the way, he couldn't stop overthinking this whole hair thing. Momo still claimed the eraser as 'hers' so clearly this wasn't just some gift for him. So, Hibiya thinks, maybe she isn't giving it to him out of guilt for what she's doing. Was there really something to this? Some exchange? He couldn't pinpoint an answer to this and that was more worrisome to him than anything.
All he could really do, though, is hope that the next time he sees Momo she's not going to pull this shit again. He's not sure his heart can handle that stress. Not to mention the fact that it would imply more people willing to exchange things for his hair exist out there. Or that Momo is really taking it for herself. Either way, it's a disgusting thought.
Once Hibiya got home, he quickly readied himself for bed and was out like a damn light.
It was Christmas Eve. Hibiya was finally free from school. Finally able to breathe. The first time he was finally able to just wake up at his own time and relax.
Sometime that night, he got a new message.
Momo: HIBIYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was around 8pm, so not nearly as late as the last time he replied to a message containing his name in all caps with a bunch of exclamation points. Not to mention there's no school tomorrow and Hibiya's mood, while could be better, isn't that bad currently. First full day of break, after all. So if replying to this leads to live conversation, he's fine with it.
You: MOMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Momo: youre one exclamation point short :/
You: Why are you counting??
Momo: Because it's important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! accurate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You: k.
Momo: Don't k me
Momo: Anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!! You excited about tomorrow?
Accompanying her message was an image of a grotesque roach with a party hat and a poorly drawn on smiley face. Suffice it to say, Hibiya did not ask for such an image to be sent.
You: ???????????
You: Why did you send that?
Momo: It's to emphasize the excitement!!!
You: Yes sorry you're right how could I not have noticed before.
Momo: Yeah so are you EXCITED?
You: About Christmas?
Momo: YEAH! I can summarize anything about it here if you need me to!
“What the hell is she talking about?” Hibiya thinks. He highly doubts she knows enough about Christmas to be able to summarize it for him. He also doesn't understand why she's so excited for it, but to each their own. Maybe if his family celebrated it, it would be a little more exciting to him too. It's pretty clear that, to her, it's something big. He wonders if Shintaro gets this excited about Christmas, too.
You: No it's fine. I got it.
Momo: GREAT!!!!!!!
After that, the conversation pretty much derailed into idle chitchat about nothing in particular (and that grotesque roach picture appeared a second time at some point in the conversation) until about 10pm where they both agreed to try and get some sleep.
It was Christmas morning now. Hibiya would have happily slept in, but a constant thud against his window had woken him up.
Groggily, Hibiya got up out of bed and looked out his window. Or, at least, tried to. It was hard to see beyond the snow that covered the glass. It wasn't hard to figure out what was causing the thuds he heard. Especially when another thud sounded out and more snow showed up on the other side of the glass as it shook a little.
Somebody was throwing snowballs at his window.
He, right away, knew it would be foolish to move up the pane of the window. Not just because it would let the cold winter air into his already cold house, but also because that would just invite a snowball inside. Unfortunately, he couldn't see beyond the snow on the window, so, therefore, he would have to step outside to figure out who was pelting his window with snowballs.
When another thud sounded out, he made his decision, grabbed his phone and shoved it in his pants (Not a pocket. Just straight up in his pants, as his pajama pants do not have pockets), then stomped down the creaky stairs.
“We're not going anywhere.” Came the stern voice of Hibiya's father.
A little shocked by this outburst, Hibiya looked to his father. He was on the phone and his mother was sitting nearby, nodding to him.
Relieved that this was not about him, Hibiya walked over to the front door.
“I'm gonna go outside and check on something real quick.” He turned and said.
“Mhm.” His father waved him off, still engrossed in his phone conversation. “She's right here. Just ask her.”
Hibiya saw him give the phone to his mother. It seems like this back and forth was going on for a while. He shrugged it off, put on his coat and shoes, and left the house.
Running to where he knows his window is from outside, he saw a person he was shocked to see.
“Oh there you are! You took forever!” the person called out.
“Huh? Momo? Um, what are you doing here? You were just here last week!” Hibiya exclaimed.
“Yeah and?” Momo laughed, “I thought you were ready for this, y'know? Ready for the plan?”
Was this why she was so excited about Christmas? Because she was planning to visit again? Then why even bother with last week? It's literally only been a single week, she could have held off on last week and just do her visit today! While he feels he's already hit his Momo quota for the time being, he's admittedly not really too bothered by her showing up out of the blue like this since he didn't have any other plans anyway; however, the way she's talking is bothering him. It seemed like she expected him to know about this second December visit.
“Whoa what?” Hibiya shot out, “You never said anything about this!”
“I see. I figured as much... but that'll make this way more fun.” She jovially said, “Merry Christmas, Hibiya!”
Before he can say anything– before he can even ask about why she was throwing snowballs at his window, she ran off.
“Hey wait!” Hibiya called out to her as he began running. Somehow she was already out of sight.
Though that makes sense given that, while Momo has low stamina, she is quite the strong sprinter. Even taking into consideration that fact, though, the way she disappeared here felt a little too... strange.
“Momo!” Hibiya yelled. She didn't answer. Hibiya continued running in the direction he saw her go, when something peculiar caught his eye.
Something he had hoped he'd never see again.
A black cat.
He stopped in his tracks, and reeled back in shock. His heart pounded at his throat. The hell is that cat doing here? It disturbed him to his very core. No, there's no way this has anything to do with what happened on that awful day. It's not August 15th anymore. There's no more Clearing Eyes. Nobody's trying to get these kids killed anymore. He's not trapped in the Daze. He's not stuck in that loop. All of it is done. All of it had to be done.
Right?
Hibiya couldn't believe himself, frozen at the sight of some cat. He hadn't really realized how badly seeing a small, furry creature would affect him, but he couldn't control his now racing thoughts and rapid breath.
It was winter, most stray cats are trying to find warm shelter. They wouldn't just be out in the open like this one is. Not to mention Momo... she had just run by this direction. Hibiya was sure of it. He was so sure of it...
Memories of a truck barreling down the road, smashing into a frail body as red, bright red, splatters everywhere from it flash through his mind.
“You...” Hibiya choked out, tears streaming down his face. He hadn't realized he started crying.
He also hadn't realized the black cat was gone now.
Hibiya, wiping the tears from his face, looked around, but the cat was nowhere to be found. He looked down at the tracks in the snow. There were shoe prints ahead and paw prints circling about. Following the paw prints, they lead back in the direction Hibiya had run from. This proved that the cat was real, and that alone disturbed him. What else disturbed him was that the shoe prints ahead seemingly just... stopped at a tree up ahead.
Hibiya walked up to it and examined it. There was nobody on the tree, and no more tracks around it from any direction. It had to have been Momo's footprints in the snow, because she ran in this direction. Hibiya saw her. But somehow her tracks end at this tree, and she is nowhere to be found on it.
Looking off to the left of the tree, Hibiya realizes the sidewalk and road are right down this hill.
A road.
That black cat.
The end of these footprints.
Hibiya shudders. He's glad there doesn't seem to be any red staining the road near this tree, but he can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, something bad had happened.
He immediately digs into his pants for his phone. Right as he does so, it vibrates. Checking whatever notification just popped up, he sees it's a message from Momo.
Okay good so she isn't dead right now good. This is a relief. She's okay, yes. No trucks hit her.
Hibiya opened up their chat.
Momo: HIIIIIIIBIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
You: What?
You: Are you okay?
You: Where did you go??
You: Where are you?
Momo: Slow down let me type!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Momo: so first off I have no idea where I am
You: ???
You: Are you oky?????
You: okay??????????????
Momo: second yeah I'm fine but its kind of cramped in heree
Momo: slow down Hibiya your messages are blinding
You: What do you mean??
You: Why don't you know where you are?
Momo: It's dark in here and this screen is extremely bright
Momo: Like really dark I cant see a thing besidess the phone
You: whats going on???? Are you okay?
Momo: Youve asked that a bunch yeah I'm fine just cramed
Momo: cramped
Momo: I'm okay
You: Why is it cramped and dark?
Momo: There's not a lot of room here so I hope you dont mind having to squeeze
Momo: Idk its smaller than it looks
Hibiya was many things. Panicked, concerned, scared, and confused. Everything Momo was telling him wasn't exactly helpful either. She claims she's okay, but, wherever she is, it's cramped and dark. Considering how her tracks just disappeared at this tree that isn't too far from the road, he's starting to think she's been shoved into the trunk of a car or something.
You: Where are you
You: Where is this cramped and dark space? Are you inside of somewhere?
Momo: Oh yeah
Momo: I'm in the trunk sorry I should have said that earlier!!!!!!!
Momo: You can tour the places you see with your power right?
Momo: so you should probably move away from the trunk to see where the car is
Yup that confirms his suspicions. Okay so she's been kidnapped! Cool!
WHY IS SHE BEING SO CALM ABOUT IT?
Hibiya feels the urge to chuck his phone away with how annoyed he is. She legitimately just ran to this tree and gets shoved into a car trunk and decides to calmly message Hibiya about it? That girl is not right in the head at all.
Not to mention what she said at the end there... she wants him to find her? Why not just call the police if you have access to your phone?! Hibiya is completely flabbergasted. He's just a 12 year old boy, he's not going to be able to save her from a kidnapper just by using his Focusing Eyes to find her. Every single day he finds more and more ways to be amazed by Momo's stupidity.
Oh and what was with that comment about 'I hope you dont mind having to squeeze'? He needs to get some clarification.
You: Momo.
You: Are you being kidnapped?
Momo: lol my brother put it like that too
Momo: honestly yeah
Okay.
Yeah.
Hibiya's not even sure what to think at that.
You: And am I also a target for this kidnapping?
Momo: I love the way your wording it
Momo: yes we are targets!!!!!!!!!!!
Hibiya doesn't have the energy to correct Momo's incorrect usage of 'your', but he's honestly more angered by the fact that Momo is apparently just okay with being kidnapped. Not to mention her comment about him having to squeeze implies he isn't just a target, but that he's actually going to be a victim like her.
Does she really not have faith that he'll be able to evade this kidnapper?
Or..................
Hibiya can't stop thinking about last week. The hair. The theoretical deal is starting to feel more real and that's terrifying. Is she purposely trying to lure him to get captured?
No, he wants to have faith in her at least somewhat. After all, she was also a target. She's the one currently in a cramped, dark trunk. Why lure him to get captured by someone who already captured her? If anything, it's probably just a shitty joke about how the kidnapper wants to kidnap Hibiya. So she's joking saying that, should he be captured, he'd better be okay squeezing in there with her. Right?
Did he explain the joke right?
Or is this not a joke?
Momo: anyway find us!!!!!!!!!!
Momo: Honestly I cant deal with this phone being so bright I'm going to go blind
Momo: starting to get a headache I'm gonna take a nap
Hibiya is still unable to understand her reaction to this, but whatever. Since he doesn't trust her dumb ass to do it, he's going to take it upon himself to call the police.
Her idea of him using his powers to find her isn't bad, of course. If he does, he can find out what the car looks like. Maybe even see the kidnapper. These details will help the police greatly. He's not one to just sit idly by if he can help it. His powers are useful for situations like these.
Not that they happen often (thankfully).
Hibiya isn't one to trust the police's capabilities very much. They usually don't take him seriously and they were zero help with the Hiyori situation. But, then again, her situation is supernatural. What with that Kagerou Daze and all that. But this? This is just an ordinary kidnapping from what he can tell. This is something the police should be able to handle. He definitely doesn't trust them to do it themselves, but, with his powers, he'll help them and make sure that Momo is saved.
He remembered the eraser she had given him. Just how long was she aware she was a target? Did she give it to him in case she was captured? To help him find her? Well, regardless, he doesn't have it with him. But he doesn't need it. He's gotten a good grasp of his powers. If he can just focus... he can figure out where she is.
He just needs...
to focus...
“HRRRRRRGGGHHHH” Hibiya grunts, planting his feet firmly and tensing his muscles. With all of his energy, he forces all his thoughts to be on where she is. Focusing on her.
“There!” Hibiya can see... total darkness. He knows his eyes are open and he felt them grow warmer. They're definitely red right now. His power had to be activated. She said the trunk was dark, so this darkness could very well be it. He attempts to navigate his view in the trunk. Shifting around to see if he can find somewhere that isn't total darkness.
It took a bit of fighting, and practically caused Hibiya a headache, but he managed to move his view out of the darkness and into the seats of the car. They were packed with boxes and buckets. There was no room for anything else on those seats. Even the shotgun seat had stuff on it– crates that were fastened in place by the seat-belt.
Shifting his view to see the driver– the damned kidnapper, left Hibiya annoyed. The person, seemingly male based off build and stature, was wearing a black sweatshirt with a neon green work jacket draped on top. He had on a hard hat and, worst of all, was wearing a neon green neck gaiter and dark tinted, black-rimmed sunglasses. Why this man was fully wearing his gear all while in the car was beyond Hibiya, but, the point is, no matter what angle he tries to get, he can't see the guy's face!
Well then, guess it's not going to be that easy.
Hibiya navigated the car more and moved his view to the outside of it. The car was white and very rounded. He was unsure what type of car it was, but it wasn't all that big. He moved around to get a look at the license plate. It looked normal. It looked real.
This should be enough information.
Hibiya blinked away the view, his eyes going back to their normal color, and stared off at the road. There weren't many cars driving by on it, so it's unlikely any witnesses saw the kidnapping. Hibiya Amamiya was the only one who can help track this bastard down.
He takes out his phone, calls the police, and reports to them his findings.
...
Throughout the phone call, Hibiya stayed using his powers to see the kidnapper's car, which was currently in traffic. He claimed to the operator on the other end that he had had a fairly good view of the car from where he was when the kidnapping occurred and described the car in as much detail as he could. The operator assured Hibiya that police were dispatched to the area and that they would be sure to catch the guy. With that, Hibiya relaxed a bit and the call ended. He then put his phone into his jacket pocket instead of in his pants (simply because it was easier).
Hibiya hoped his information was helpful enough, but of course Hibiya wasn't going to just stop watch. He was still using his powers to watch the car as it continued to travel, watching the outside of it so he could see the scenery it was passing by. He noticed the car's movements got more rushed and more sporadic. Traffic was already starting to be halted due to the presence of police cars and this car was likely reacting to that. It was taking back routes around it which Hibiya hoped would allow the police to rush it.
Then he saw something strange.
The car was driving on more familiar road. Much more familiar. Weirder yet is when he eventually saw a tree come into view as he shifted his angle. He stayed looking to the snowy hills that the car was passing by until he saw a person. A small person. Likely a kid.
The car stopped moving. Was the kidnapper about to nab another person? Hibiya tried his best to get a good view of the kid, but the car was still a bit away from...
wait a second that kid's entire outfit looks way too familiar...
Shit is he seeing himself?
Quickly blinking away his powers, Hibiya looks to the road and, sure enough, sees the kidnapper's car parked there.
But worse is he sees the kidnapper sprinting towards him.
“GAH!” Hibiya yells. He immediately tries to run, but trips over himself in panic and falls right into the snow.
Oh great going, Hibiya! You'd be the first to die in a horror movie if kids didn't usually get a free pass to live in movies.
The kidnapper straight up grabs Hibiya off the ground with both hands and carries him, bridal style, as he sprints back to the car. Strangely enough, he was muttering an apology and saying how he was in such a rush. Opening up the trunk of the car– oh hey look it's Momo– the kidnapper shoves Hibiya into the trunk and then slams it shut.
The sound of an engine whirring is heard, and Hibiya is sure that car is back on the road.
“Hey! Move your butt off my face.”
“Move your face off my butt.”
Hibiya can feel an uncomfortable hand uncomfortably grabbing way too close to his rear end, pushing at him. He didn't have the freedom nor space to move horizontally, as his arms were already being pressed by the sides of the trunk from there, and he didn't have much freedom to move up with his forehead only having about a centimeter of space between it and the ceiling of the trunk. At best, he had room to spread or close his legs, but that wasn't going to help anybody. Meanwhile, the pushing was only really lifting his lower body upward, likely to get his butt off of Momo's face as she had previously complained. It was about as helpful as you'd expect, and was really only hurting the boy.
“Ow! You're taking up all the space, cow!”
“Just move your butt!”
“I can't! Hey! Cut that out— GAH! Stop! You're crushing my—”
THUD
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
“I CAN BARELY BREATHE! MOVE YOUR BUTT!”
“IT HURTS I CAN'T MOVE THEY'RE CRUSHING I CAN'T MOVE I CAN'T MOVE NO STOP MOVING ME UP STOP THEY'RE CRUSHING STOP STOP I CAN'T!”
“Wait oh. Fine just. Hold on... Okay is this better?”
“I'M IN SO MUCH PAIN.”
“Aheh uh, if it means anything, I'm not comfortable either...”
“I'M GOING TO CRY.” Hibiya, tears free falling down his face at an alarming speed, was wishing for death at this point. Being pushed into the ceiling of the trunk by Momo's terrifyingly powerful force practically flattened every part of his body. Every. Single. Part.
Yeah this trunk is very cramped. Hibiya and Momo are just going to have to be stuck in their uncomfortable positions, packed in like sardines. They had no way of shifting themselves to not be crushed within walls and each other as their bodies were already pressing the sides of the trunk– all six sides. If they were tetris blocks, their suffering would have ended because they would have cleared their line and disappeared.
Sadly they are not tetris blocks.
They are two human beings stuffed in the dark, cramped trunk of some dude's car.
Momo's taller frame was practically balled up like a sleeping dog's with her upper half twisted in order to fit while Hibiya's smaller self was lying on top like a human blanket, head craned up just a little bit by the wall it was resting on. In and of itself, his position was much less uncomfortable than Momo's, but he was the one that was way too close to the ceiling which meant that every movement from Momo and every bump from the car sent his forehead slamming into it. He was only a little lucky that the slight craning of his head kept his nose away from the ceiling, but he was sure to have a huge bump on his forehead by the end of this ride.
“My arm is going to give!”
“Just let go then! Before you crush all of me against the ceiling again!”
“Yeah, well, I can't breathe when you're on my face like that!”
“Then don't.”
THUD
“GAH! CHILL OUT WITH THAT!”
“That wasn't me, we just hit a bump.”
“ARGH! My head is throbbing! Why do I have to be the one on top? —wait. Nevermind you'd probably crush me to death if we swapped.”
“...I can crush you to death right now actually.”
“W-WAIT! Please don't. I can't handle that again.” Hibiya pleaded when he felt Momo slowly pushing his lower half upward again. His forehead slamming against the ceiling is one thing, but... that is something he does not want a repeat of again.
Time passed and Hibiya's forehead felt more impacts as it did so. The two cramped kidnapping victims idly chitchatted about nothing in particular here and there. They couldn't really do anything other than stay silent or just talk. Hibiya hoped that the police were on their trail, because the fact that the car still wasn't pulled over in spite of how much time had passed was really getting on his nerves. How useless can they be? Or is this driver just THAT good at evading capture? He wanted to view the car more with his power to see where they were heading, but it was hard to focus here.
“Ugh! How much longer is this ride?”
“Ride? We're being KIDNAPPED! Why is that... like, why's it not registering in your head?”
“I mean, you're not wrong? On technicality. But it's not like we're actually in danger! You're acting like we're actually getting kidnapped by some bad guy!”
“WHAT?”
“Aside from the cramped space we're in and how my other arm is asleep, this isn't as bad as the REAL thing... I think.”
“You're way too calm, Momo! That itself is freaking me out, y'know? Like, are you planning something?”
“Planning what?”
“You know! Like, planning something with... this. Just all THIS!”
“Huh? You mean like something other than the Christmas party?”
“The what?”
Just then Hibiya heard the sound of a door slamming outside. He realized the car itself was quieter. Had it stopped? Were they parked? Was the sound he had just heard the sound of the car door? Before Hibiya could question anything more, the trunk opened up. The blinding light of the outside had Hibiya shutting his eyes in pain. He couldn't see who had opened the trunk, but he could only assume it was the kidnapper and that they had arrived at their destination.
“Sorry, that was probably a really uncomfortable ride. You guys need help out?”
Without waiting for an answer, Hibiya could feel himself being pulled out of the trunk and placed down on the ground on his wobbling two feet. He slowly tried squinting his eyes open to see. With that, he saw a glimpse of the kidnapper now helping Momo out of the trunk.
“Okay I'll see you guys in a few hours! I gotta go to work like right now! That was way more traffic than I was expecting. I really hope I'm not going to be late.”
Hibiya, eyes still adjusting, barely saw as the kidnapper ran to the front of the car, hopped in, and drove off.
“You two want to come in?” Said a voice practically out of nowhere.
Hibiya's eyes, now finally fully adjusted, was able to see who this new voice belonged to.
“Hey Boss! How's the order coming in?” Momo chirped.
“It's... going to take them a while with how much we ordered, but we'll be able to have a traditional Christmas.”
It was Kido. Hibiya felt like he understood what was going on. Like he actually understood. And to think he was genuinely fearful for his life this whole time. These people are all idiots. The least they could do was warn him!
“So I was kidnapped for a party?” He sighed. To be honest, it was mostly out of relief that nothing bad was actually happening. Just like Momo had said.
“That sums it up.” Kido nodded, heading into the hideout. She gestured for the other two to follow.
It was still morning and the only people in the hideout now were Kido, Mary (though she was in her room at the moment), Momo, and Hibiya. There were Christmas lights strung about and a moderately sized tree decorated with a bunch of little chicken ornaments. There was also a large statue looking thing covered in a white sheet near the dining table.
“My parents are going to kill me if they find out I went to the city like this!” exclaimed Hibiya.
“They shouldn't be able to figure it out,” Kido responded, “we have that all covered, remember?”
“What am I SUPPOSED to remember? Nobody told me anything about this!”
Kido stared at Hibiya with a confused look in her eyes. Then Momo spoke up.
“Huh? But you said you were okay with the plan!”
“When did I ever say that?”
“Last week!”
“Hibiya, did you ever see the groupchat?” Kido asked suddenly.
Hibiya was startled by her intense stare. What did she mean by that? Of course he saw it! He knows it exists. Though, now that she mentioned it... he hadn't heard from the groupchat in quite a while.
Oh wait.
The groupchat was never unmuted was it?
“I... I think I had it muted this whole time actually.” Hibiya sheepishly replied.
“WHAT?” Momo shouted.
“You should probably have a look through it. We had everything planned out in there about a week ago.” Kido explained.
Hibiya dug out his phone from his coat's pocket and went into the messaging app. He looked at the groupchat which still had the muted symbol. Preparing himself for the worst, he tapped onto it.
“So this all happened a week ago?” Hibiya asked, wanting to confirm.
“Yeah,” Momo said, “it was all on the day before I visited you!”
Hibiya nodded and scrolled through the excessive amounts of unread chat messages until he reached the beginning of the messages from that day. He scrolled around a bit until he saw what was obviously the beginnings of this nonsensical plan of theirs that he unwittingly agreed to.
Momo: Guys I feel bad Hibiya wont be able to spend Christmas with us :(
Momo: He should enjoy the party too!!!!!!!!!
Haruka: We can always bring the party to him!
Momo: But then we won't have the decorations :( or the traditional food!!!!!!!!
Shintaro: What traditional food are you on about?
Kano: what if we kidnap him ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡
Shinatro: We can't just kidnap a kid.
Kano: lol
Ene: We don't even have the tools to pull off a proper kidnapping!
Shintaro: What do you mean “proper kidnapping”????
Kano: @Seto
Seto: I was pinged?
Kano: You have that work car still right?
Seto: Yes I do!
Ene: I see I see. Now we just need blindfolds, a gag, and some rope.
Seto: I have those too!
Shintaro: WE DON'T NEED THEM
Kano: we could use them tho
Ene: We can tie master up.
Ene: wait no he'd probably be into that
Shintaro: I am hurt by the assumption.
Kano: so we go to hibiya lol
Kano: and just kidnap him
Momo: Okay so we just send Seto to bring Hibiya! Perfect!
Ene: Doesn't he have suuuper strict parents? They probably wouldn't just let him go.
Ene: I can get into their phone and try to distract them.
Shintaro: You can distract them until he gets kidnapped and then what? They'll figure out their son went missing and then we'll all be in trouble.
Kano: ye but we get 2 party <3
Momo: wait actually
Momo: I think I have a plan
Shintaro: I have a bad feeling I know exactly what she's planning.
Kano: u typing a novel ?
Ene: Hurry up we are waiting!!!!!!!!!!!
Kano: type type type type type
Kido: What is this I saw in the chat about kidnapping?
Momo: Okay so Ene can keep Hibiya's parents busy for a while on the line while Hibiya sneaks out and Kano sneaks in. Then Kano can disguise himself as Hibiya and take his place while using his ability to also make Hibiya seem sick so that they would expect him to want to stay sleeping in his room and leave him alone. Then Seto can drive to Hibiya and take him back to the hideout. Then Kano can set up something in the bed with a phone so that way it can look like a person is under the covers and Ene can occasionally keep watch to make sure Hibiya's parents stay away from the room so that they won't n
Ene: won't n?
Momo: they won't notice that it's not really Hibiya under the covers. Then Kano can come back to the hideout since the lookout can be done by Ene at the phone in the bed. Then after the party Seto can sneak Hibiya back in while Ene calls his parents and distracts them again (sorry I reached the character limit in the first message)
Kido: What is all this?
Ene: Okay so distract the parents, sneak Hibiya out, keep the parents from checking the bedroom, and Seto works as a getaway driver. Got it.
Seto: I'm actually currently working as a construction worker!
Kano: I seeeeeeeeeee I like this plan but one suggestion
Momo: What?
Kano: check dm
Shintaro: Yeah this is pretty much what I thought it would be.
Shintaro: Though you added extra steps.
Kido: Was there a more efficient version?
Shintaro: Yes.
Momo: Do share.
Shintaro: I will not.
Kano: aw babygirl y not? (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)
Shintaro: wtf?
Ene: Okay so we have a plan! So when are we doing this?
Momo: Christmas day of course!
Seto: We'll have to do it in the morning before my job then. There's gonna be a lot of stuff in the car so unfortunately I can only fit people in the trunk. Is that okay?
Shintaro: Can this plan be any less shady?
Momo: It sounds okay to me!
Shintaro: This is literally kidnapping. Right down to shoving the poor kid in the trunk.
Kido: We should make sure Hibiya sees all this and see if he's okay with it. Otherwise we shouldn't do anything he'd be uncomfortable with.
Momo: I'll dm him!
Momo: He said he's okay with it!
Shintaro: So we're just going to start kidnapping people now?
Momo: IT'S CONSENSUAL!
Kano: I <3 consent ʚ(*´꒳`*)ɞ
What the Hell? So these people really did plan out all of this huh? Hibiya was nothing short of shocked. He missed out on a lot of important conversation apparently. He would have been a lot less terrified had he known this was all planned out!
“Momo. When you messaged me about 'this plan' I thought you meant our plan! Like, your visit last week!” groaned Hibiya.
“That's why I said the and not this!” Momo stated matter-of-factly.
“Well, actually you typed 'thi'”
“I did?”
“Honestly, even if you didn't have the typo I wouldn't have known you were talking about a plan to smuggle me into the city for a Christmas party.”
Kido sighed at that.
“Well nothing more we can do about it now. We'll just stick to the plan for now and make sure you're back home safely and undetected after the party.”
Hibiya didn't really know what a 'traditional Christmas party' would consist of, but he's pretty certain it was nothing like this.
There were buckets– no, barrels of fried chicken. Everywhere.
“KENTUCKY CHRISTMAS!” Shouted everyone in unison (sans Hibiya (and Seto, as he was not back yet)).
Momo was dressed up in a chicken suit dancing and prancing around holding a full party barrel of fried chicken. Not just any fried chicken though, of course.
It was all Kentucky Fried Chicken.
And that statue that was covered with a white sheet before? Well once the party started, the sheet was pulled off to reveal a full-sized statue of Colonel Sanders dressed up like Santa Claus.
The absurd levels of fried chicken in the hideout made Hibiya wonder if their party was going to involve more than just the Mekakushi Dan, but with Haruka here emptying barrels all by himself, he started to understand that the amount of food was a precautionary measure that did need to be taken.
Hibiya didn't have anything against KFC, well, actually, he had never actually tried it before today. It was good fried chicken, he'll say. But still, he was just confused about why this Christmas party needed to be KFC themed in the first place. This didn't seem right to him, but apparently, according to the others, it's true that 'Christmas means Kentucky' or whatever.
Neither Kido nor Shintaro denied it either. Though Shintaro could have just been convinced by the amount of cola that was also ordered alongside the party barrels of fried chicken. Kido, on the other hand, wouldn't have been swayed so easily. So her not denying it made him feel like he was out of the loop on what Christmas was all about.
“Hey, you want a piece?”
Hibiya turned to see Shintaro holding out one of the smaller buckets. There was one fried chicken leg left in it.
“Uh, sure... um, thanks.” Hibiya said, taking the leg. He hadn't been indulging in the KFC as much as the others were (Haruka especially) due to his shock over... well, over everything. But, hey, it's a party. He'll eat the food. KFC is literally all the food they have here anyway, so he doesn't have much of a choice on what to eat either.
“So, ah.” Shintaro cleared his throat, “Momo told me about how you actually didn't know about the plan.”
“Nope. I had no idea.”
“Consensual kidnapping my ass.”
Just then a knock on the door was heard.
“Oh it must be Seto!” Mary cheered, rushing to the door. Though when she opened it, her mood quickly deflated.
There were two cops standing at the door.
“Ah... hey guys.” Seto croaked, awkwardly sandwiched between the two cops.
“We have reports that this man is a kidnapper.” one cop said.
Oh... whoops.
After a lengthy discussion with the cops explaining how Momo was not, in fact, forced into Seto's trunk against her will and that Hibiya had misunderstood the situation (while, also, making absolutely sure to not mention that he also ended up in that trunk at some point), the cops eventually believed them, left, and dropped it.
“AHAHAHA! OH MAN! THIS IS HILARIOUS!” Kano roared through tears and laughter.
“You called the police on Seto?!” Momo shouted in disbelief.
“Oh come on! I thought you were being kidnapped! What was I supposed to do?” Hibiya defended.
“Next time make sure you actually have consent.” Shintaro mused, earning a growl from Momo.
“HAAAAH! Like, no lie, I figured he didn't actually agree! But, man, it was so funny seeing him react to it like that! My sides, like, lifted! I had to practically guide him into doing what we needed him to do!” Kano chuckled, clutching his side.
“You know. I read through the chat earlier about this whole plan but...” Hibiya began, gaining the attention of everybody in the room, “well, I think I understand the stuff that happened that was just Kano messing with me, but...”
Now was the perfect time to ask.
“Momo, why did you grab a hair from me last week?”
Momo's face completely flushed. All eyes were on her. Did it have anything to do with the plan? Hibiya needed to know. All of his worries over the past week needed to finally be resolved. He needed his answer. WHY DID SHE PLUCK OUT A HAIR FROM HIS HEAD?!
“I uh...” Momo stammered, “Kano asked me to.”
Kano's eyes widened.
“I was wondering about that too. I thought it was weird asking me to grab a hair, but he was so insistent on it in our DM's and then I agreed and then I... well I had to at that point! He also told me to go in the trunk too!”
“Hey that helped Hibiya find the car faster. You're welcome.”
“The hair. Why did you need my hair?” Hibiya was practically begging for an answer to that. He's not going to let these people ignore the most important question of all.
“Oh wasn't that to sniff it?” Mary asked, “I saw you sniffing something a couple times.”
It was to what?
“T-that! Ah!” Kano panicked.
“YOU WANTED TO SNIFF HIBIYA'S HAIR?!” The others yelled, shock and horror present in their voices. Kido punched Kano right in the gut after that.
“Ah n-no, well. Yes, technically.” Kano coughed.
“You're disgusting.” Kido said, readying her fist for another punch. Hibiya was internally rooting for her to do so at least three more times.
“No but I swear it was for a reason!” Kano put up his hands in defense, “Like, I just... well you know how my powers work remember? I, like, need to know everything about the person I'm transforming into! Like how they look, how they sound, how they... smell.”
“Then you sniffed Momo, too?” Hibiya stared straight into Kano's panic-filled eyes.
“I what?”
“You what?”
“You SNIFFED me?!”
“N-no I have no need to sniff you!” Kano screeched, “I, like... well... I just, like, know what you smell like. 'Cause you're here a lot.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Kido squinted her eyes, analyzing what Kano was saying.
“Just because I'm here a lot doesn't mean you can just start sniffing me!” Momo pouted.
“No! You just... you get used to people's, like, smells y'know? You're around a lot, so I didn't, like, need to do anything to just know your smell. I needed Hibiya's hair 'cause, like, I'm not around him much! Like, I rarely interacted with him before he went back to his town!”
Kido nodded in understanding. Seemingly. Her face still had a look of disgust to it, but she seemed to get what he meant. Hibiya, too, was starting to understand as well. It made sense, after all. Hibiya isn't around Kano enough for him to more naturally figure out his scent in the way he likely did with Momo and the others, but since he needed to turn into Hibiya for this plan to work, he had to learn that scent as soon as he could. So he used his hair.
“So you sniff me... casually?” Momo asked.
Kano facepalmed.
Everybody else understood what Kano meant at this point except for Momo. Being as... slow as she is, it took about three rounds of explanation before she finally understood that Kano was not sniffing her every time she visited (most likely).
Though, now at ease with all his questions answered (even figuring out that the eraser (which Momo will have to get back next time she visits since Hibiya didn't bring it with him) was, in fact, just meant to potentially help Hibiya find Momo in Seto's car), Hibiya could feel a smile tugging on his face.
He hadn't even realized it, but he was really enjoying himself at this Christmas party. Sure, it was a wild ride to get here and it was a wild ride to simply be here, but it was fun. Undoubtedly fun. These friends of his are stupid as shit for their crazy, convoluted ideas, but they were just fun people to be around. He finds that he couldn't really be feeling down when in their presence, which was nice.
Enjoying barrels of KFC together, the Mekakushi Dan had a joyful Christmas.
And Hibiya was truly thankful that they kidnapped him.