Major Otter Trauma [nsfw]

Miyako woke up on the floor, a large kitten laying on her face. She had been...walking after the events with... them... and then darkness and then... Here...

Her eyes blearily opened to fuzz as she weakly lifted the fluffbutt off of her face. The kitten protested weakly, but just curled up on the floor instead, too tired from the trip through time and space to care much her bed had moved.

She felt drained, angry and upset and there were tears still falling from her eyes as she attempted to wipe them. Hibiki and Muika... the awful things that happened there... She hadn't seen any of it. But the marks were written on their actions and what the teenaged version of her boyfriend had said, as well as the blood he'd been covered in.

She held a hand to her mouth, trying to keep herself from feeling too nauseated and sick as she pushed herself up. This wasn't another time and place, she felt right again. Whole... this was home!

Hibiki's apartment lacked the major component though, Hibiki himself and she pushed herself up from the ground to stand weakly... Where was he? The bathroom door was open... what had they been doing before this? She couldn't...remember...

Stumbling to the door, she pulled it open rather quickly. Find...Hibiki...

What the hell was going on...? Those damn...bubbles everywhere, just what the hell were they doing!? People were going missing because of them, they...they sucked...energy from those with spiritual awareness...just...just what the hell!?

Miyako...Miyako was gone too, he'd tried calling...more than a few times, he'd tried...doing whatever the hell came to his mind to just...fix whatever the hell was going on but nothing worked!

Damn bubble in his apartment, he refrained from outright shooting at it, having felt Miyako's reiatsu... He wasn't sure what would have happened had he tried attacking it, so he wasn't going to take the risk.

He'd even gone looking for Okura and Osamoto to see if they knew what was up but neither of them could be found! Neither had answered their phones...

Now he was just sitting out on the ground in front of his apartment and leaning back against the door. He wasn't paying attention to anything anymore, he didn't know what to do...

The hell was he supposed to do...?

The hell was going on...?

Why'd it have to ta-gha!

Before Aito knew it he felt his back hit the ground as the door behind him was pulled open. His eyes had clamped shut as a groan escaped him. When he opened them though they'd widened, his expression shocked as he froze.

M...Miyako...

She was...right there...

...H...Huh...? W...Wh...What...?

Miyako fell back onto her butt, letting out a soft gasp as she was promptly surprised by Hibiki just...falling into the doorway.

She stared too, not having expected it and still in shock from her experience with whatever the hell it was... A sob wracked her body as tears poured down her cheeks, her hand reaching out almost fearfully as she moved to touch his head. "'Biki... Is that...really you?"

Even if she felt this was...the real world and no floating...was this really Hibiki? Was she home again...? He was staring at her in shock... was she...not...

The sob pulled him from his stunned state, and as Miyako fell back onto the floor he forced himself to turn over. He was still...

Miyako was here, she was...back, suddenly...back...

He... He hadn't left that door for awhile now, and...that bubble. It... It was gone? It was gone. Miyako and...and Regalia...both of 'em...

His eyes had only briefly looked for the bubble and had found the sleeping kitten before returning to Miyako. Was it...really him...?

He brought himself to sit up, shuffle a bit closer; his hands had clenched on the floor as he'd made himself move...before pushing himself forward.

It was...completely unlike him, just...going to embrace her like this but...but damn it! Those damn bubbles! What the hell had happened!? The hell had they done!?

He gave a small nod against her; it was him, no doubts about that...it was him...

"A...Ah..." Rather than his typical noise, this one held...a bit of weakness in it.

Stupid... Damn stupid bubbles...

Miyako pulled her hand back as Hibiki moved, flipping himself onto his front and holding himself up as she cried. What was she supposed to do... those things...that place... he was... he was here and things were fine but what had happened...

Why was she... she couldn't move herself at all, she wanted to just... hug him and hold him as she couldn't have in that place and... A startled sound escaped her as he moved forward and pulled her against him in an embrace that was odd...

Another sob shook her as he nodded and she buried herself in his hair and neck as she held him to her tightly. It was him... Even his sound...

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry... there was blood... I'm sorry... you both... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry..." It was all she could repeat over and over and over as she cried against him, sobbing and unable to speak at all.

Aito's hold tightened, becoming more secure as Miyako clung to him and began crying fully now before she began...apologizing? Wh...Why...?

She hadn't done anything wrong...

It was those damn-

B...Blood?

"Y...You hurt?" He attempted to look down at her from his current spot, though that was a bit impossible considering their proximity. He didn't...feel blood.

You both...?

"...What happened...?" One hand moved up to her head, his fingers moving somewhat against her hair as some small gesture in hopes of...of helping...

If Miyako was in any frame of mind to notice that Hibiki was holding her tightly, that he was obviously worried... it would have made her happier. But she couldn't, she couldn't stop the crying and the sobbing and the holding him as the fear she'd felt before and the horrific thoughts... Her head shook against him, hoping he could tell that she was telling him she was unhurt for now before trying to breath and calm herself.

Her hands clutched at his clothing tightly, not wanting him to pull away at all as she did finally get some semblance of control. The tears didn't stop at least and he would definitely have a large wet spot in his hair and neck and shirt... Trying to speak just caused more choked sobs to escape her though, so it took a few tries before she could get out. "M-Muika...I...bell's viper... I was there... I saw you... both... You were...there was so much blood...and she...was little..."

H...Huh?

Bell's... What the hell had that bubble done!? What... She saw... Okura and him, but...she was little, lots of blood... Gh...

Just... What... What the hell!?

"What happened? Gh..." Just what the hell was he supposed to think!? Bell's Viper!? That damn bubble!

With some focus, forced but focus nonetheless, he stood, taking Miyako with him as he lifted her up. He made sure the door was shut before heading to the bed. Better than the damn floor, but...

Bell's... Just what the hell, damn it!?

"What... What happened...?"

"Y-You were a brat..." Miyako clung to him tightly, not letting go one bit and wouldn't have fallen even if he let go of her body. There was no possible way to remove the young woman right now from Hibiki even if someone wished to. She still had no idea what had happened to her or why...but what she had seen...

Her words at least caused a little giggle to escape her as she clung to him and allowed him to move them to the bed. There was better than anywhere else... softer...she could cuddle up to him...

"I-I...there was... I just...was floating and...I found Muika in a room. She was alone...and..." Miyako tried to start at the beginning, stuttering and unsure what had happened so unable to explain it. "Regalia was with...was with me..."

The more she spoke though, the more strength returned to her, though her voice was a bit raspy from sobbing so strongly. "She wanted...to go...somewhere else... and I talked..with Muika but... I was a ghost... I just floated and went through things...and I was telling Muika stuff... W-Well no...first...I..."

"First I saw you...you were...a teenager... and...and you had so much blood...you were rubbing it... it was.... all over you... I've never...n-never seen that much in my life..." The strength left her voice as she whimpered, clinging to Hibiki and continuing. "You couldn't see me at first... Only Regalia..."

H...Hah?

Brat...?

Aito blinked, though obviously his own worry hadn't faded yet in the slightest as he settled back against the bed with Miyako. She giggled, but...

As she explained the situation, what she'd...she'd seen... This all...started to feel pretty...familiar to him. In the past well... That...

She'd found Okura, and...she'd also seen him cover...

W...Wait...

This was...

"That stupid superhero stu-...a...ah... You didn't here that..." Aito muttered, catching himself as the memories started to become...well...more clear in his mind. Miyako had... How though!? That didn't make any damn sense!

How the hell could she have...

Ghost... That...

Those damn bubbles...

Those damn bubbles did this! Of all... Why there!? Why then!? He'd just gotten done gutting a kid at that point in time and then Miyako and Regalia had just... How the hell...

"M...Mn..." His tone was...apologetic even, he just... well he hadn't known who the hell she was or what the hell was going on, but... "You...You made it back..."

She'd seen a lot of...of blood, but...

"You...You made it back..."

...Stupid superhero...

...

Miyako's sobbing started up more as Hibiki said that, her hands letting him go and moving to his front to push him away a bit. "Wasn't stupid! She was...I knew it was the bad place! She needed happy things... superhero stories are good for making something happy... bad things...different things are good in them! It wasn't stupid... it made her so happy Hibiki! You take that back! She smiled for me..."

Her eyes filled with tears, she pulled her head away and glared up at him as her hands began to wipe tears away again. "I-I did make it... b-but you have to take that back..."

"...D-Do you...remember that...?" Wait if he said...that that meant...

"It...It was just a random comment from remembering!" Aito replied quickly, "Didn't...didn't mean it now..."

He'd just been remembering how he'd felt at the time when that had actually happened! He was remembering! That was just one of the first things that'd popped into his mind and he'd just idiotically blurted out!

"I...I remember...Didn't at first, but...when you described it..." It'd taken a bit, and a bit more information but everything gradually came back to him. Why the hell had that damn bubble... Why'd she have to see...

Hearing was one thing, but...

Miyako sniffled as Hibiki took back his comment, staring at him intently as if wondering if he'd try to say more things that teen Hibiki had seemed to... Which reminded her... She reached up and swatted his head rather firmly for her, wincing as it hurt her hand.

Still she nodded slowly, trying not to think about...him...covered in blood as she...looked at him now...

A hand went to her mouth and she shut her eyes tightly, tears leaking again. So much... Muika... "...D-Did...he...do as...you said...he was... To her..."

She had to know...she had to know...

"Gh-!" Not having expected Miyako to just...swat him, he gave a small noise. It hadn't been super hard, but it'd been firm for her standards. W...What? He'd taken it back!

...Whatever... Didn't have time to worry about that...

He was quiet, just holding her to him as she continued to cry, or as she attempted to supress her crying as she spoke.

...That...

He let out a breath, "Ah..."

She was expecting an answer, even if was the one she didn't want to hear. She wanted the truth as nasty as it was...

"...I said I would swat you. I did. You didn't listen." Miyako's voice was quiet again and she looked at the bedding. Hibiki was still holding her to him, with no end in sight to it. He wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon was he? It...wasn't a problem really. She wanted to be held close to him...

At his sound she stared and tilted her head. "...?"

What...did that sound mean... yes...? ...

Miyako hoped against hope for the first time...that she was wrong...entirely wrong...

"...What happened...don't use sounds... speak to me..." She was shaking strongly, her hand clutching his shirt in front now...

"M...n... She broke out after he did it, from what I know she almost lost a fight, he intervened...then it happened. After that she managed to escape, lost a few doctors in the chaos but...that's not really a loss...

She was around...seventeen, I think...maybe sixteen, but...pretty sure seventeen..." Aito explained, though he was only saying what he knew or almost absolutely knew, he wasn't going to go and feed Miyako false information...

"After that, I got assigned to work under Seiya...as Okura's tracker. Okura managed to kill a few of the doctors, as I said...and a few other kids managed to escape...so there was a price...is still probably among the surviving crew...on her head.

Normally, they would have recaptured, and executed her, but Seiya's influential...he had say over it. It was my job to track her down...

Well...Seiya's dead now, and obviously no one got turned in...but...yeah...he did..."

She hadn't understood his answer...apparently, so he gave her the truth. She was shaking, and he knew damn well this wasn't the answer she wanted, but...

His hold on her was secure, it couldn't possibly become anymore secure without hurting her which...he wasn't going to do, of course.

Miyako buried herself against him and shook strongly as she heard that. As she finally heard Hibiki explain things, explain it much more than he ever had before. It'd all be vague...vague words and explanations. Anything she'd been told was heavily watered down...

Hibiki had been her tracker, tasked with bringing Muika back after...after she was raped by that awful man... She'd killed people to do it too...

He'd had to work under that sick freak and listen to him... But now Seiya was dead...

"Did...you...? Did it...happen to you too?" He'd said when he was younger that he'd not but... had it...since...? She kept seeing him covered in blood... trying to wipe it off...no matter what else was going on...

Muika... Muika needed... lots of love the next time she saw her...

Aito shook his head at Miyako's question; "Too violent...I'd been a pain their asses since day one..." He repeated his words from back then, as they still held true. He'd been way too much of a pain for any of those bastards to even get the idea in their heads.

Nothing like that had happened to him, he'd just worked under Seiya afterwards...

"I tracked her for awhile...never did anything but bug her though... Reported back to Seiya after that and was sent out again after a day or so to gather more information...

I guess my...lousy job had Seiya seeking other trackers, others on the inside, and some out...I doubt half of 'em are still alive... Osamoto survived, obviously... From what I know he didn't know what the hell he was getting himself into...though you already know that much."

He was just connecting dots for her at this point...wanting to reassure her that...things were okay now. Even if...she'd seen all of that...and was finding all of this stuff out...

"Okura's been out for...over two years now, me...recently..." It hadn't really been that long since he'd made his escape with Selena's help. Not long at all...

Again though...things were okay now...

"...Th-They can't make you go back? Either of you?" She had to be sure, she was trying to be all strong now and okay but... hearing all of this wasn't okay. It hurt her, it hurt her badly deep inside...Miyako would smile it off, but knowing this...

Knowing and seeing it...

"S-So you didn't hurt her more...?" He...had hurt her lots...before this point...and even if she cared for him, Muika was her friend...

At least the bigger picture was becoming clear... "...they branded you...they...branded..."

Even if she had healed him... they had... She hadn't before this point allowed herself to think about any of this, she hadn't...but the connecting of the dots and the whole story coming out was destroying all her ability to keep that blessed innocent and ignorance intact...

"I had my own agenda...Instead of actually....tracking her half the time I just took the time to walk around the city." Aito replied before shaking his head, "No, they can't make us go back... Besides, even if they can fight...we're still stronger."

The doctors were trained to subdue subjects that fought back, could disable them if necessary...but Okura and him...they were beyond those levels now. The staff had their strength, but that didn't account for spiritual bullshit.

He hadn't expected Miyako to just start talking about the brands...but...yeah, they had.

"Ah..."

Miyako was reasonably and obviously still... She needed more comfort and reassurance...

"Osamoto's family and Selena already dealt with most of the bases...there's probably still a few, but...most are gone now. I don't know what Okura did, but I think she has someone she knows that went off taking out some of the adults... and she gave the okay to take out Seiya as well...she didn't personally do it."

The organization was disappearing, it would just...take a little more time...

"...You coulda got punished..." Miyako murmured, pulling back again so she could look at his face and listen to him. Hibiki was reassuring her and her shaking slowed as he kept speaking. Stronger...they were strong enough to fight...

And Iyuki's family and Selena and someone else were making sure the organization was...caput...gotten rid of...

Miyako finally smiled again, a very tiny one as she stared up at Hibiki, her head resting on the pillow near his and she gave him a small nod. "Okay... just be careful... I don't...don't want to lose you."

The blood... all of that...was pushed aside for now as she attempted to let all that reassurance flow through her.

"Don't worry about that... I can stop 'em..." Aito let out a breath as Miyako seemed to relax some; he could have gotten punished, yeah...but he was doing his job just enough to not let that happen. He had still be getting information...

There were probably still targets on his and Okura's head, Okura's especially considering her stunt, but...s'not like they had the power to get them now.

"I'll be careful though...mn..." If he'd been physically capable, he would have turned his head at her comment that followed her request of being careful...though he'd be turning his head straight into the pillow.

Any of 'em decided to show their faces they'd get a damn bullet through their skull. He wasn't taking any chances...

Miyako rubbed her eyes, all red rimmed and puffy from her tears and her nose just as much as well... but she nodded and accepted his words. He could protect himself, he could... She smiled bravely again and tried to force a laugh out but it just fell flat. "Sorry, sorry I know you're strong! I trust you to keep yourself safe."

He seemed flustered by her response and it was such a normal, happy thing that she found herself laughing softly for real. This was the Hibiki she knew...

Even if he'd...been through all of that...and had done...miserable things...she didn't need to take it all in at once.

"M...Mn..." One of his usually sounds made their way past his lips as Miyako began laughing, not knowing how to properly react other than awkwardly.

She was...better now, for the most part...

It looked like his reassurances had worked, he hoped so anyway. Even with her having calmed down, his hold didn't loosen nor did he make any move to separate them. It looked like he was in it for the long run on lying here.

"You're safe now... I'm sorry I couldn't help you more...either of you..." Miyako whispered softly, moving her head closer to his and almost kissing him. But she wanted to speak first, so she kept them just barely touching. Her heart...was so heavy from this but she'd bounce back!

It'd be okay...she'd just...stuff the...trauma away... Deal with it bit by bit...

At least he was still holding her... Which was a shock in and of itself, causing her to blink for a few moments before speaking still against his lips. "'Biki? You haven't let go of me..."