The Unlimited fanfiction: Irrational
Title: Irrational
Fandom: Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited: Hyoubu Kyousuke
Pairing: Hinomiya/Hyoubu
Rating: PG
He shoved the limiter back into Andy’s hand, as a silent way to say ‘We’ll meet again. And when we do, you’d better have it with you.’ Though the words weren’t uttered out loud, it didn’t require any ESP skill to read the meaning behind the gesture. Since the day their paths separated, Hyoubu Kyousuke had focused on preparing a new throne for his Queen; yet he had never really lost sight of the former agent either. No explicit orders had been given, but the members of P.A.N.D.R.A. closest to Hyoubu would regularly inform him of any news they had about Andy, usually quite informally. A conversation like the one which occurred on that morning wasn’t rare.
“Maaan, this is boring without Hinomiya.” Fujiura yawned loudly as he threw the cards he was holding on the floor liner’s deck. A sunray reflecting on the swimming pool nearby made him wince.
“You’re saying that because he is the only one you can win against.” Momiji retorted coolly, putting down her own cards on the table and stretching her arms with delight.
“Not to mention he is the only one you can tease without fear of retaliation.” Shirou added.
“Now you make him sound like a lame wet blanket.” Momotarou laughed, comfortably settled on the orange-haired esper.
“Andy is very nice and kind!” A small voice protested, surprising everyone. The cards which Yuugiri was still holding were partially hiding her face, but a pout could clearly be seen in her frowning eyes. The little girl was normally as shy as ever, but sometimes she wouldn’t hesitate to speak her mind, especially concerning Andy Hinomiya. Since the latter had left, she would often be seen gazing at the ocean from the deck of the new P.A.N.D.R.A. liner, as if waiting for someone to come back.
Momiji patted her head and ruffled her black locks with a small laugh.
“Don’t worry, Yuugiri, we were simply joking. Do you miss him?” After a second of hesitation, the girl nodded timidly. “See, Fujiura? At least she’s being honest.”
The orange-haired male snorted. “That guy’s just a lolicon. Yuugiri, you should forget about him.” he added with a false tone of warning.
“Where’s he now, by the way?” Momiji inquired.
“My guess is that he’s currently in the kingdom of Monarch to meet with Princess Sophie.” Shirou replied. “However, I don’t know if the information is accurate.”
“Oooh, is it about the rumour that the princess is calling for ambassadors for espers and normals?” Fujiura asked. “I find it weird that Hinomiya would agree to be one of them, though.”
“I think so too, but the rumour says that Princess Sophie has managed to find someone who would be an excellent ambassador for both the espers and the normals. That’s why I think there is a possibility for him to be there.”
Momiji shifted on her chair and looked behind her through her glasses.
“What do you think, Major?” she finally asked. “You haven’t said a word.”
The powerful esper was standing by the liner’s edge, his back leant against the guardrail and his arms crossed. He didn’t bulge from his spot.
“Who knows?” he merely said with an undecipherable smile before teleporting himself.
“No matter how many times, it’s kind of annoying when he does that.” Fujiura muttered as he stood up from his chair and picked up his cards. “Where did he run off to, this time?”
“Maybe the Major went to find Andy.” Yuugiri’s small voice rose again. She quickly lowered her eyes as Fujiura cocked an eyebrow at her. “He seems to like him enough.” she added, her voice hardly audible, as if she feared she was going to get scolded for saying something wrong.
This time, the orange-haired esper was definitely staring at her.
“Well, if our little Yuugiri says so, then it must be true.” Momiji declared happily as she patted the girl’s head once again. “After all, she’s pretty sharp when it comes to reading people.”
“Wait, what? Why the hell would the Major suddenly want to see Hinomiya? It’s been half a year since the guy left.” Fujiura protested. “That traitor just left even though we told him he could stay with us.”
“Is it disappointment I hear in your tone?” Shirou asked, a faint smirk on his lips.
“Wh-No! That guy could just drown and sink to the bottom of the ocean for all I care!”
“You’re acting like a kid again!” Momotarou teased him, pulling Fujiura’s hair. A second later, the poor flying hamster was thrown on the table by a furious Fujiura.
“Look at how sweet you are, caring for Hinomiya and all.” Momiji teased him even more. “Come on, why don’t you admit you kind of miss him as well?”
Fujiura rolled his eyes and raised both his arms in defeat. “You guys are a pain, you hear me? A pain!” he let out before leaving the table and striding back inside the liner, slamming the door behind him.
“He misses him.” Momiji and Shirou concluded in unison.
-
There used to be a time when Andy Hinomiya could boast about being the most rational man ever. It was during the time when he had come to realize that he was neither entirely esper nor entirely normal, and thus belonged to neither category. If he had been wise enough, he may have chosen to merge within the normal population, given that his esper power was not really visible, unless you counted heterochromia as a visible sign. Yet, that would have meant refusing to acknowledge a part of himself. It was something Andy had sworn to himself never to do. On the other hand, most espers had always looked down on him, for the exact same reason. Then, whose side was he supposed to take?
As a rational man, only one answer was possible: he would take his own side. He would follow his own values and walk his own path, regardless of whether it was normals or espers who would be found on that path. Following that logic, he had ended up working for normals to infiltrate a supposedly terrorist esper organization.
P.A.N.D.R.A.
They were supposed to be rebel espers whose goal was to demonstrate their superiority over the normals through violence. From that point of view, it was completely sensible for Andy to counter them. Therefore he had accepted the mission as an undercover agent.
It was then that his rationality had started swaying. His first encounter with Hyoubu had convinced him that the man was dangerous, but at the same time, a sort of excitement had begun filling Andy at the perspective of working with him. Then he had met the other members of P.A.N.D.R.A. and a hint of doubt had sprouted in him. How come alleged terrorists could act so much like normal human beings, laughing, arguing, teasing each other (especially Fujiura) and drinking together? And there was Yuugiri as well. There was no way such an adorable girl could be part of an illegal organization, even if her powers were indeed fearsome once awakened. It was obvious that Hyoubu and the others cared deeply for Yuugiri - the anger that had seized Hyoubu when he had retrieved the captive girl in the facility was proof of it. People who cared that much for others couldn’t be entirely evil, could they?
At that time, Andy wasn’t yet fully convinced; he had a mission to carry out and he would not fail it. His resolve would not be shaken, even if he had come to enjoy hanging around the other espers, even if Yuugiri had come to attach herself to him, even if he had felt strangely happy when Hyoubu had congratulated him on that particular mission.
Even now, Andy couldn’t shake off the fascination he had for the esper. The man was intriguing on every level, and whenever Andy thought he was finally able to grasp a bit of his personality, he would turn out being very surprised. Hyoubu Kyousuke was everything but a rational man, and it was probably what intrigued Andy the most. According to Hyoubu, he had known about Andy’s real identity since the very beginning. In that case, the logical course of action would have been to keep him at bay and make sure he didn’t interfere with P.A.N.D.R.A.’s objectives. Yet Hyoubu had chosen to take him on all their missions and to treat him as part of the family. From what Momiji had said, the limiter around Andy’s neck was the proof that Hyoubu had even taken a liking to him. It was absurd. No one would take a liking to a person they knew to be the enemy. It was irrational.
And that irrationality was apparently contagious, for it hadn’t taken long for Hyoubu to switch side during the bombing of the liner. Even now he could still remember the dread that had seized him when he had seen Hyoubu fall into the ocean and a sea of flames. The sight of the esper being so vulnerable as he was holding the slender body tightly against him had triggered an indescribable feeling in him, and even now he couldn’t name it. A resolved had formed in his head back then: he would stay by Hyoubu’s side until the end, even if he had to face his anger first. The memory of the icy glare and the hardly repressed fury directed at him when Hyoubu had summoned him in his room was still vivid. When he had felt Hyoubu’s grip on his collar, Andy had thought that the esper was finally showing a logical reaction towards his enemy.
And yet, he had been proved wrong once again when he had found himself a few hours later driving a jeep with Hyoubu to go save Yuugiri together. Now that he thought about it, maybe Andy had offered his help because he knew beforehand that Hyoubu would be irrational enough to accept his help.
This was getting too complicated.
Andy stood up from the sofa of his fancy hotel room and walked to the closest mirror to readjust his tie and suit. He stared at his own reflection, and particularly at his left eye, which was now a darker black than his right eye where it should have been amber. Having lost the only sign that marked him as an esper, could he still be considered one? It had been the main argument he had presented to Princess Sophie when the latter had offered him to become an ambassador as part of her ambitious plan to reconcile the normals and the espers. Said princess quickly dismissed the light argument, stating that his personal experience was worth a hundred esper powers.
Andy hadn’t found anything to retort to that. The princess’ logic was flawless. And thus, as the very rational man he was, he had accepted the offer. Tonight Princess Sophie would hold the first official conference to present her plan to the world; hundreds of guests would attend, both espers and normals from countries worldwide, politicians, famous personalities and journalists. The event was currently the centre of everyone’s attention and the main topic of discussion on every TV and radio channel. Needless to say, the security around the hotel where the conference would be held was extremely tight as the risks of incidents were far from being non-existent. The diplomatic impact would be catastrophic should harm fall upon any of the participants; as a result, you could not walk even two metres without crossing path with a security agent. It was almost suffocating, but at least Andy had managed to obtain after arguing enough that he be left alone in his room.
His watch told him that the ceremony would begin in fifteen minutes. He sighed; he was definitely not cut for that kind of job, after all. He was a soldier first, not a diplomat or anything alike. ‘There must be something only I can do.’ Those had been the words he had told Hyoubu right before leaving P.A.N.D.R.A. and those were the very words which kept Andy going.
What would Hyoubu and the others say once they learnt about his new position? Or maybe they already knew. For some reason, Andy suspected that Hyoubu had somehow never let him out of his sight, to a certain extent. Perhaps he was flattering himself, but his last dialogue with the esper had convinced him that he wasn’t wrong. Moreover, he had given Andy back his limiter, stating that he would now become an honorary member. Andy had taken it as an implicit way to say they’d meet again, sooner or later.
For several days, Andy had weighted the probability for Hyoubu and the others to make an appearance tonight. After all, what better opportunity would there be for the most powerful esper of the most famous organization to show up than this conference? P.A.N.D.R.A. always liked to invite themselves to that kind of event, if only just to remind B.A.B.E.L. that they were watching. It wouldn’t be too surprising to spot them tonight as well, Andy mused. He actually even hoped for Hyoubu and his party to come. The realization had taken some time to make its way to the former agent’s mind, and the only excuse he could come up with was that it would be nice to see the little Yuugiri again. He wouldn’t mind saying hi to Momiji or Shirou either, and he definitely wanted to pay back Fujiura for a thing or two.
And then there was Hyoubu Kyousuke himself. Andy’s hand unconsciously moved to the limiter which still hung around his neck, not caring the slightest bit that it didn’t fit the fancy suit he was wearing. Several times he had tried to give it back to Hyoubu, none of them successfully. His fingers hovered over the hole in the centre of the limiter, reminder of the fact that the latter had saved his life. He could as well say it had been Hyoubu who had saved his life. ‘I never really thanked him for that. May try to do that if I see him.’ Then again, he was certain that the esper would shrug his thanks away with that usual smirk of his. That is, if Hyoubu even bothered to come. And assuming that he did, what else could Andy tell him? The question had been a hassle, and even now he still hadn’t found a proper answer. No matter how he looked at it, if they were to meet again, the last thing Andy could imagine was a casual conversation between two friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while.
Simply because they weren’t friends.
At least, Andy had never seen their relationship like that. Among all the members of P.A.N.D.R.A., Hyoubu was the only one whom Andy could never really figure out. As a comparison, Fujiura could - maybe - be called a friend. Yuugiri was like a younger sister while Momiji and Shirou could do as colleagues. But Hyoubu belonged to none of the above categories. Andy wasn’t even certain of how close they were; at times the esper would rely completely on him, trusting him with his life, yet he could also feel distant and in a world of his own.
Andy let out a noise of irritation. Here he was again, plunged into useless considerations about Hyoubu. Almost six months had passed and not a single day had seen him not thinking about the esper, much to Andy’s annoyance. Luckily enough Yuugiri wasn’t around to try her telepathy on him, or she may have noticed his obsession over the major. ‘No, not an obsession. Just a particular interest. Wait. That didn’t sound any better. Oh, screw it.’ This was getting nowhere.
Someone knocked at his door.
“Mr Hinomiya? The ceremony will begin soon. Princess Sophie requires your presence downstairs.” A voice came from the other side.
“Coming.” Andy finished adjusting his tie before sighing one last time and exiting the room. A groom was waiting for him to lead him to the hotel lobby. In spite of the two security agents following him, Andy had still preferred to keep his own gun on him, just in case. Better too cautious than not enough.
-
Several dozens of large crystal chandeliers were casting light on the huge lobby where a few hundreds of people were standing, chatting and enjoying the gourmet food prepared and set on round tables. Cameras kept flashing, especially at the princess who was receiving congratulations from various countries representatives for the remarkable conference she had just given.
Not so far away, a glass of wine in one hand, Andy couldn’t help but admire the ease with which the princess expressed herself and the natural aura she had to draw people to her. Hyoubu had a similar aura, Andy thought, and yet at the same time it was different. While Princess Sophie used her smiles, eloquence and kindness to appeal to the masses, Hyoubu merely displayed power and self-confidence - some would have called it arrogance. Andy would be lying if he said he hadn’t been attracted to Hyoubu’s natural display of leadership. ‘And here I go again.’ His attempts at dismissing Hyoubu from his thoughts rarely proved successful, much to his irritation. ‘I’m not getting obsessed over him. I’m not.’
His eyes scanned the whole lobby for the hundredth time, and there wasn’t even a sign of any P.A.N.D.R.A. member. Was he disappointed? Maybe. He had been certain that they would show up tonight. Hadn’t Hyoubu made a silent promise to meet again? Or had Andy completely misunderstood him? No, even if he was wrong, Hyoubu would never miss such an opportunity to at least meet with Princess Sophie again.
“We meet again, Andy Hinomiya.” A voice interrupted his thoughts. For a tenth of a second, his hopes got high but his brain was quicker than that and had already identified the voice as not belonging to Hyoubu.
“Minamoto and Sakaki of B.A.B.E.L.” he stated to the both men standing in front of him. “To what do I owe you the pleasure?”
“Come on, you make it sound like we’re still enemies or something.” Sakaki pouted. Apparently the tanned man was still as childish as ever. “We were just asking for news.”
“How are you enjoying your new role as an ambassador?” Minamoto asked kindly.
Andy shrugged. “I already told the princess she shouldn’t expect me to solve matters between espers and normals with diplomacy.”
“You certainly seem more capable of using your gun rather than words.” Sakaki sneered, eyeing at Andy’s jacket as if he could see the firearm underneath. “By the way, I’d have expected your pals to pay a visit. Didn’t the princess invite them?”
“She didn’t.” Andy replied. “She said they’d invite themselves.”
“Now that totally sounds like our Hyoubu, right Minamoto?”
“If that’s the case, then he’s late.” The other B.A.B.E.L. agent replied. “Unless he has been hiding here since the beginning. Didn’t you keep in touch with him?” he asked Andy.
The latter shrugged again. “Not really. I left P.A.N.D.R.A. quite some time ago.”
“You sound like you don’t care about them anymore.” Sakaki frowned.
The words took Andy off guard. “I...” he started, though he was inwardly struggling for words. “Let’s say they’re not the kind of people you’d ask news from everyday.”
“Too bad. We could have done with some spying on them again.” Sakaki sighed dramatically.
“I don’t remember ever working as your spy.” Andy retorted dryly.
“He was simply joking.” Minamoto intervened quickly with an apologetic tone. “Sakaki, I keep telling you to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing interesting to say.” he scolded the other man who rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we’ll be taking our leave now. There are a few things we need to discuss with the princess and it looks like you have a few people waiting to talk to you as well.”
Indeed, as soon as the two B.A.B.E.L agents left, several journalists approached Andy, apparently eager to have an interview with the newly appointed ambassador. The latter sighed mentally, preparing himself for the avalanche of questions to come.
The evening was going to be long.
-
At 11.43 pm, Andy literally crashed on the bed of his hotel room with a fine headache to keep him company. Hyoubu and the others had not showed up in the end, which added to his frustration.
“I swear this is the last time I attend events like that.” he muttered to himself, his forearm covering his eyes, though his rational side kept repeating to him that it was for the greater good and a brighter future of cooperation between espers and normals.
‘Weren’t you going to watch our future unfold?’ Hyoubu’s voice rang in his head.
Well, screw it. For now the only thing he was going to do was shower and sleep.
“When you said there was certainly something that only you could do, I didn’t imagine this.” Hyoubu’s voice spoke again in his head.
“Oh, shut up already.” Andy muttered again. Great, now he was having an imaginary dialogue with himself.
Wait...
“You’d deserve a blame for talking to me like that, Hinomiya.”
Okay. Now this sounded way too realistic to be merely in his head. Andy slowly removed his arm from his eyes and opened them, only to see a very familiar black-clad figure standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and an ever smug expression on his face.
“H-Hyoubu!” he exclaimed as he hurriedly got on his feet. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Just greeting the new ambassador, as P.A.N.D.R.A.’s leader.” The silver-haired esper replied casually, as if the situation was completely normal.
“Why didn’t you attend the conference? And where are the others?” Andy urged him.
“Who said I didn’t attend? And the others preferred to watch the conference on TV. Apparently they get bored as quickly as you. This said, I must say you defended yourself pretty well on the interviews.”
Andy let out a noise of annoyance. “Don’t mention them. I’d rather leave the useless talk to the princess. But anyway, why didn’t you show up down there? The princess was expecting you.”
Hyoubu dismissed the last remark with a gesture of his hand. “I’ll talk to her later. For now I’m simply checking on the future of the world, and it doesn’t seem very bright.” He smirked at Andy. The latter scowled.
“I’m a soldier first. But I’ll do everything I can if this can bring normals and espers together.”
“Bring normals and espers together, hm?”
The piercing gaze Hyoubu gave him made him frown and look away uncomfortably. Well, Hyoubu’s mere presence in his room this late at night made him feel uncomfortable.
“A-Anyway, you still didn’t tell me the reason of your presence here.” he changed the topic. “You could have talked to me down there, you know? It’s not really polite to teleport into other people’s rooms like that.” he said as he directed his eyes at Hyoubu again, but the latter was there no more. Before he even had time to blink, the esper was right next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder and another holding the limiter around his neck. Andy had never liked it when Hyoubu kept teleporting like that - the last time he had done so had seen him falling in a swimming pool - but this time more than usual. The reason to it was probably because Hyoubu’s face was awfully close to his and he had to gulp to fight the urge to jump aside.
“I noticed you were still carrying this around.” The esper said, his fingers hovering over the limiter. Andy cursed himself when he realized that his cheeks were warming up and the pace of his heartbeats had increased.
“You did say to always keep it with me.” he replied, trying to control his voice.
“So I did. I didn’t expect you to wear it though.” Hyoubu tilted his head a bit closer, and Andy felt a few strands of hair brushing against his cheek.
“I-It’s a matter of habit, I suppose. But you still haven’t replied my question.” The brown-haired man tried to shift away a little, but Hyoubu’s grip on his shoulder suddenly tightened, as if to prevent him from moving.
“I think I already replied that question, didn’t I? I wanted to check on the new ambassador.” Hyoubu’s fingers trailed up Andy’s chest from the limiter to his chin, making him gulp once again. Now this was definitely beyond Hyoubu’s usual level of queerness.
“H-Hyoubu, what exactly are you-”
“As for why I didn’t choose to meet you down there, well, there are several reasons.” The esper continued, completely ignoring the fact that Andy had frozen on the spot, but very well aware of the deep shade of red on the man’s cheeks and the heavy pounding against his chest. “First, there were too many journalists around you. I tend to dislike journalists. And second...” Andy shivered as Hyoubu’s voice suddenly turned lower and he whispered at his ear: “It would have been indecent to do this with so many people around.”
When Hyoubu forced Andy’s face to turn to his, the ambassador found himself unable to ask for more details. How could he have, with his lips sealed by Hyoubu’s? His eyes were opened wide and the shock seemed to have put his brain on hold. The kiss was short, and when Hyoubu pulled back, Andy finally found it in him to step back and stare at the man who was now displaying a rather satisfied expression on his face. He opened his mouth, yet words were having troubles passing his lips.
“Wh-What... What was that for?” he finally managed to ask, still flushed and slightly panicked. The feeling of Hyoubu’s lips on his was still present, leaving a strange yet warm sensation.
“Congratulations on bringing your first esper and normal together.” Hyoubu stated simply.
“My... what?” the other man inquired, now genuinely confused.
“Well, considering that you lost your power, you are technically a normal now.” Then, seeing that he wasn’t likely to get a coherent answer out of Andy, he sighed and went on: “You asked what for? No reason, really. It is said that matters of the heart cannot be explained, isn’t it?”
The words made Andy blink once, then twice. Then a short laugh escaped his throat. “Right.” It was how Hyoubu Kyousuke was, plain and simple. He was an irrational being, as such there was no use trying to find a reason behind his actions. It was at that moment that he decided that casting away logic and rationality could sometimes not be that bad. And as if to prove his point, his hand gripped Hyoubu’s collar and pulled the smirking esper to him.
The night was going to be long.
-
When Andy cracked an eye open, the first thing he noticed was a tickling yet warm feeling on his bare chest. The second thing he noticed was a familiar silver-haired male gazing at him, lying next to him with his head resting on one hand and supporting himself with one elbow. The bed sheet hardly concealed his naked self and his free hand was drawing circles on Andy’s abs.
“Sleeping beauty has woken up.” Hyoubu teased, making Andy frown.
“Don’t make me sound like I’m the princess here, Hyoubu.” he snapped back with a sleepy tone.
“I’ll admit that you do make a good prince.” The esper smirked as Andy scowled, blushing slightly upon remembering the events of the night.
“Whatever.” the latter mumbled.
“Now, now. An ambassador should be more convincing than that.”
“I told you, I’m a soldier first.”
He almost shivered when Hyoubu’s pale fingers started moving up his chest, slowly, teasingly, only to rest on the limiter that was still attached to Andy’s neck. The damn esper had insisted that he kept it on, even after all their clothes had been discarded. He had given up on trying to find a rational reason to it.
“Well, soldier, your duty must be calling you now.” Hyoubu replied as he sat up abruptly and got out of the bed. “I’ll be borrowing your shower.” He added before heading for the bathroom.
Andy didn’t move from his spot. Instead he stared at the blank ceiling, his fingers laced under his head, trying to collect his thoughts about what had occurred on that night. It had happened suddenly, without much warning on either side, and yet it had hardly surprised him. After all, anything involving Hyoubu was doomed to be unexpected. He shut his eyes.
“And by the way, Andy,” Hyoubu spoke again, and the other man almost jumped at hearing him call his first name, “It’s ‘Kyousuke’ for you.”
Again, Andy wasn’t surprised.
Fandom: Zettai Karen Children: The Unlimited: Hyoubu Kyousuke
Pairing: Hinomiya/Hyoubu
Rating: PG
He shoved the limiter back into Andy’s hand, as a silent way to say ‘We’ll meet again. And when we do, you’d better have it with you.’ Though the words weren’t uttered out loud, it didn’t require any ESP skill to read the meaning behind the gesture. Since the day their paths separated, Hyoubu Kyousuke had focused on preparing a new throne for his Queen; yet he had never really lost sight of the former agent either. No explicit orders had been given, but the members of P.A.N.D.R.A. closest to Hyoubu would regularly inform him of any news they had about Andy, usually quite informally. A conversation like the one which occurred on that morning wasn’t rare.
“Maaan, this is boring without Hinomiya.” Fujiura yawned loudly as he threw the cards he was holding on the floor liner’s deck. A sunray reflecting on the swimming pool nearby made him wince.
“You’re saying that because he is the only one you can win against.” Momiji retorted coolly, putting down her own cards on the table and stretching her arms with delight.
“Not to mention he is the only one you can tease without fear of retaliation.” Shirou added.
“Now you make him sound like a lame wet blanket.” Momotarou laughed, comfortably settled on the orange-haired esper.
“Andy is very nice and kind!” A small voice protested, surprising everyone. The cards which Yuugiri was still holding were partially hiding her face, but a pout could clearly be seen in her frowning eyes. The little girl was normally as shy as ever, but sometimes she wouldn’t hesitate to speak her mind, especially concerning Andy Hinomiya. Since the latter had left, she would often be seen gazing at the ocean from the deck of the new P.A.N.D.R.A. liner, as if waiting for someone to come back.
Momiji patted her head and ruffled her black locks with a small laugh.
“Don’t worry, Yuugiri, we were simply joking. Do you miss him?” After a second of hesitation, the girl nodded timidly. “See, Fujiura? At least she’s being honest.”
The orange-haired male snorted. “That guy’s just a lolicon. Yuugiri, you should forget about him.” he added with a false tone of warning.
“Where’s he now, by the way?” Momiji inquired.
“My guess is that he’s currently in the kingdom of Monarch to meet with Princess Sophie.” Shirou replied. “However, I don’t know if the information is accurate.”
“Oooh, is it about the rumour that the princess is calling for ambassadors for espers and normals?” Fujiura asked. “I find it weird that Hinomiya would agree to be one of them, though.”
“I think so too, but the rumour says that Princess Sophie has managed to find someone who would be an excellent ambassador for both the espers and the normals. That’s why I think there is a possibility for him to be there.”
Momiji shifted on her chair and looked behind her through her glasses.
“What do you think, Major?” she finally asked. “You haven’t said a word.”
The powerful esper was standing by the liner’s edge, his back leant against the guardrail and his arms crossed. He didn’t bulge from his spot.
“Who knows?” he merely said with an undecipherable smile before teleporting himself.
“No matter how many times, it’s kind of annoying when he does that.” Fujiura muttered as he stood up from his chair and picked up his cards. “Where did he run off to, this time?”
“Maybe the Major went to find Andy.” Yuugiri’s small voice rose again. She quickly lowered her eyes as Fujiura cocked an eyebrow at her. “He seems to like him enough.” she added, her voice hardly audible, as if she feared she was going to get scolded for saying something wrong.
This time, the orange-haired esper was definitely staring at her.
“Well, if our little Yuugiri says so, then it must be true.” Momiji declared happily as she patted the girl’s head once again. “After all, she’s pretty sharp when it comes to reading people.”
“Wait, what? Why the hell would the Major suddenly want to see Hinomiya? It’s been half a year since the guy left.” Fujiura protested. “That traitor just left even though we told him he could stay with us.”
“Is it disappointment I hear in your tone?” Shirou asked, a faint smirk on his lips.
“Wh-No! That guy could just drown and sink to the bottom of the ocean for all I care!”
“You’re acting like a kid again!” Momotarou teased him, pulling Fujiura’s hair. A second later, the poor flying hamster was thrown on the table by a furious Fujiura.
“Look at how sweet you are, caring for Hinomiya and all.” Momiji teased him even more. “Come on, why don’t you admit you kind of miss him as well?”
Fujiura rolled his eyes and raised both his arms in defeat. “You guys are a pain, you hear me? A pain!” he let out before leaving the table and striding back inside the liner, slamming the door behind him.
“He misses him.” Momiji and Shirou concluded in unison.
-
There used to be a time when Andy Hinomiya could boast about being the most rational man ever. It was during the time when he had come to realize that he was neither entirely esper nor entirely normal, and thus belonged to neither category. If he had been wise enough, he may have chosen to merge within the normal population, given that his esper power was not really visible, unless you counted heterochromia as a visible sign. Yet, that would have meant refusing to acknowledge a part of himself. It was something Andy had sworn to himself never to do. On the other hand, most espers had always looked down on him, for the exact same reason. Then, whose side was he supposed to take?
As a rational man, only one answer was possible: he would take his own side. He would follow his own values and walk his own path, regardless of whether it was normals or espers who would be found on that path. Following that logic, he had ended up working for normals to infiltrate a supposedly terrorist esper organization.
P.A.N.D.R.A.
They were supposed to be rebel espers whose goal was to demonstrate their superiority over the normals through violence. From that point of view, it was completely sensible for Andy to counter them. Therefore he had accepted the mission as an undercover agent.
It was then that his rationality had started swaying. His first encounter with Hyoubu had convinced him that the man was dangerous, but at the same time, a sort of excitement had begun filling Andy at the perspective of working with him. Then he had met the other members of P.A.N.D.R.A. and a hint of doubt had sprouted in him. How come alleged terrorists could act so much like normal human beings, laughing, arguing, teasing each other (especially Fujiura) and drinking together? And there was Yuugiri as well. There was no way such an adorable girl could be part of an illegal organization, even if her powers were indeed fearsome once awakened. It was obvious that Hyoubu and the others cared deeply for Yuugiri - the anger that had seized Hyoubu when he had retrieved the captive girl in the facility was proof of it. People who cared that much for others couldn’t be entirely evil, could they?
At that time, Andy wasn’t yet fully convinced; he had a mission to carry out and he would not fail it. His resolve would not be shaken, even if he had come to enjoy hanging around the other espers, even if Yuugiri had come to attach herself to him, even if he had felt strangely happy when Hyoubu had congratulated him on that particular mission.
Even now, Andy couldn’t shake off the fascination he had for the esper. The man was intriguing on every level, and whenever Andy thought he was finally able to grasp a bit of his personality, he would turn out being very surprised. Hyoubu Kyousuke was everything but a rational man, and it was probably what intrigued Andy the most. According to Hyoubu, he had known about Andy’s real identity since the very beginning. In that case, the logical course of action would have been to keep him at bay and make sure he didn’t interfere with P.A.N.D.R.A.’s objectives. Yet Hyoubu had chosen to take him on all their missions and to treat him as part of the family. From what Momiji had said, the limiter around Andy’s neck was the proof that Hyoubu had even taken a liking to him. It was absurd. No one would take a liking to a person they knew to be the enemy. It was irrational.
And that irrationality was apparently contagious, for it hadn’t taken long for Hyoubu to switch side during the bombing of the liner. Even now he could still remember the dread that had seized him when he had seen Hyoubu fall into the ocean and a sea of flames. The sight of the esper being so vulnerable as he was holding the slender body tightly against him had triggered an indescribable feeling in him, and even now he couldn’t name it. A resolved had formed in his head back then: he would stay by Hyoubu’s side until the end, even if he had to face his anger first. The memory of the icy glare and the hardly repressed fury directed at him when Hyoubu had summoned him in his room was still vivid. When he had felt Hyoubu’s grip on his collar, Andy had thought that the esper was finally showing a logical reaction towards his enemy.
And yet, he had been proved wrong once again when he had found himself a few hours later driving a jeep with Hyoubu to go save Yuugiri together. Now that he thought about it, maybe Andy had offered his help because he knew beforehand that Hyoubu would be irrational enough to accept his help.
This was getting too complicated.
Andy stood up from the sofa of his fancy hotel room and walked to the closest mirror to readjust his tie and suit. He stared at his own reflection, and particularly at his left eye, which was now a darker black than his right eye where it should have been amber. Having lost the only sign that marked him as an esper, could he still be considered one? It had been the main argument he had presented to Princess Sophie when the latter had offered him to become an ambassador as part of her ambitious plan to reconcile the normals and the espers. Said princess quickly dismissed the light argument, stating that his personal experience was worth a hundred esper powers.
Andy hadn’t found anything to retort to that. The princess’ logic was flawless. And thus, as the very rational man he was, he had accepted the offer. Tonight Princess Sophie would hold the first official conference to present her plan to the world; hundreds of guests would attend, both espers and normals from countries worldwide, politicians, famous personalities and journalists. The event was currently the centre of everyone’s attention and the main topic of discussion on every TV and radio channel. Needless to say, the security around the hotel where the conference would be held was extremely tight as the risks of incidents were far from being non-existent. The diplomatic impact would be catastrophic should harm fall upon any of the participants; as a result, you could not walk even two metres without crossing path with a security agent. It was almost suffocating, but at least Andy had managed to obtain after arguing enough that he be left alone in his room.
His watch told him that the ceremony would begin in fifteen minutes. He sighed; he was definitely not cut for that kind of job, after all. He was a soldier first, not a diplomat or anything alike. ‘There must be something only I can do.’ Those had been the words he had told Hyoubu right before leaving P.A.N.D.R.A. and those were the very words which kept Andy going.
What would Hyoubu and the others say once they learnt about his new position? Or maybe they already knew. For some reason, Andy suspected that Hyoubu had somehow never let him out of his sight, to a certain extent. Perhaps he was flattering himself, but his last dialogue with the esper had convinced him that he wasn’t wrong. Moreover, he had given Andy back his limiter, stating that he would now become an honorary member. Andy had taken it as an implicit way to say they’d meet again, sooner or later.
For several days, Andy had weighted the probability for Hyoubu and the others to make an appearance tonight. After all, what better opportunity would there be for the most powerful esper of the most famous organization to show up than this conference? P.A.N.D.R.A. always liked to invite themselves to that kind of event, if only just to remind B.A.B.E.L. that they were watching. It wouldn’t be too surprising to spot them tonight as well, Andy mused. He actually even hoped for Hyoubu and his party to come. The realization had taken some time to make its way to the former agent’s mind, and the only excuse he could come up with was that it would be nice to see the little Yuugiri again. He wouldn’t mind saying hi to Momiji or Shirou either, and he definitely wanted to pay back Fujiura for a thing or two.
And then there was Hyoubu Kyousuke himself. Andy’s hand unconsciously moved to the limiter which still hung around his neck, not caring the slightest bit that it didn’t fit the fancy suit he was wearing. Several times he had tried to give it back to Hyoubu, none of them successfully. His fingers hovered over the hole in the centre of the limiter, reminder of the fact that the latter had saved his life. He could as well say it had been Hyoubu who had saved his life. ‘I never really thanked him for that. May try to do that if I see him.’ Then again, he was certain that the esper would shrug his thanks away with that usual smirk of his. That is, if Hyoubu even bothered to come. And assuming that he did, what else could Andy tell him? The question had been a hassle, and even now he still hadn’t found a proper answer. No matter how he looked at it, if they were to meet again, the last thing Andy could imagine was a casual conversation between two friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while.
Simply because they weren’t friends.
At least, Andy had never seen their relationship like that. Among all the members of P.A.N.D.R.A., Hyoubu was the only one whom Andy could never really figure out. As a comparison, Fujiura could - maybe - be called a friend. Yuugiri was like a younger sister while Momiji and Shirou could do as colleagues. But Hyoubu belonged to none of the above categories. Andy wasn’t even certain of how close they were; at times the esper would rely completely on him, trusting him with his life, yet he could also feel distant and in a world of his own.
Andy let out a noise of irritation. Here he was again, plunged into useless considerations about Hyoubu. Almost six months had passed and not a single day had seen him not thinking about the esper, much to Andy’s annoyance. Luckily enough Yuugiri wasn’t around to try her telepathy on him, or she may have noticed his obsession over the major. ‘No, not an obsession. Just a particular interest. Wait. That didn’t sound any better. Oh, screw it.’ This was getting nowhere.
Someone knocked at his door.
“Mr Hinomiya? The ceremony will begin soon. Princess Sophie requires your presence downstairs.” A voice came from the other side.
“Coming.” Andy finished adjusting his tie before sighing one last time and exiting the room. A groom was waiting for him to lead him to the hotel lobby. In spite of the two security agents following him, Andy had still preferred to keep his own gun on him, just in case. Better too cautious than not enough.
-
Several dozens of large crystal chandeliers were casting light on the huge lobby where a few hundreds of people were standing, chatting and enjoying the gourmet food prepared and set on round tables. Cameras kept flashing, especially at the princess who was receiving congratulations from various countries representatives for the remarkable conference she had just given.
Not so far away, a glass of wine in one hand, Andy couldn’t help but admire the ease with which the princess expressed herself and the natural aura she had to draw people to her. Hyoubu had a similar aura, Andy thought, and yet at the same time it was different. While Princess Sophie used her smiles, eloquence and kindness to appeal to the masses, Hyoubu merely displayed power and self-confidence - some would have called it arrogance. Andy would be lying if he said he hadn’t been attracted to Hyoubu’s natural display of leadership. ‘And here I go again.’ His attempts at dismissing Hyoubu from his thoughts rarely proved successful, much to his irritation. ‘I’m not getting obsessed over him. I’m not.’
His eyes scanned the whole lobby for the hundredth time, and there wasn’t even a sign of any P.A.N.D.R.A. member. Was he disappointed? Maybe. He had been certain that they would show up tonight. Hadn’t Hyoubu made a silent promise to meet again? Or had Andy completely misunderstood him? No, even if he was wrong, Hyoubu would never miss such an opportunity to at least meet with Princess Sophie again.
“We meet again, Andy Hinomiya.” A voice interrupted his thoughts. For a tenth of a second, his hopes got high but his brain was quicker than that and had already identified the voice as not belonging to Hyoubu.
“Minamoto and Sakaki of B.A.B.E.L.” he stated to the both men standing in front of him. “To what do I owe you the pleasure?”
“Come on, you make it sound like we’re still enemies or something.” Sakaki pouted. Apparently the tanned man was still as childish as ever. “We were just asking for news.”
“How are you enjoying your new role as an ambassador?” Minamoto asked kindly.
Andy shrugged. “I already told the princess she shouldn’t expect me to solve matters between espers and normals with diplomacy.”
“You certainly seem more capable of using your gun rather than words.” Sakaki sneered, eyeing at Andy’s jacket as if he could see the firearm underneath. “By the way, I’d have expected your pals to pay a visit. Didn’t the princess invite them?”
“She didn’t.” Andy replied. “She said they’d invite themselves.”
“Now that totally sounds like our Hyoubu, right Minamoto?”
“If that’s the case, then he’s late.” The other B.A.B.E.L. agent replied. “Unless he has been hiding here since the beginning. Didn’t you keep in touch with him?” he asked Andy.
The latter shrugged again. “Not really. I left P.A.N.D.R.A. quite some time ago.”
“You sound like you don’t care about them anymore.” Sakaki frowned.
The words took Andy off guard. “I...” he started, though he was inwardly struggling for words. “Let’s say they’re not the kind of people you’d ask news from everyday.”
“Too bad. We could have done with some spying on them again.” Sakaki sighed dramatically.
“I don’t remember ever working as your spy.” Andy retorted dryly.
“He was simply joking.” Minamoto intervened quickly with an apologetic tone. “Sakaki, I keep telling you to keep your mouth shut if you have nothing interesting to say.” he scolded the other man who rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we’ll be taking our leave now. There are a few things we need to discuss with the princess and it looks like you have a few people waiting to talk to you as well.”
Indeed, as soon as the two B.A.B.E.L agents left, several journalists approached Andy, apparently eager to have an interview with the newly appointed ambassador. The latter sighed mentally, preparing himself for the avalanche of questions to come.
The evening was going to be long.
-
At 11.43 pm, Andy literally crashed on the bed of his hotel room with a fine headache to keep him company. Hyoubu and the others had not showed up in the end, which added to his frustration.
“I swear this is the last time I attend events like that.” he muttered to himself, his forearm covering his eyes, though his rational side kept repeating to him that it was for the greater good and a brighter future of cooperation between espers and normals.
‘Weren’t you going to watch our future unfold?’ Hyoubu’s voice rang in his head.
Well, screw it. For now the only thing he was going to do was shower and sleep.
“When you said there was certainly something that only you could do, I didn’t imagine this.” Hyoubu’s voice spoke again in his head.
“Oh, shut up already.” Andy muttered again. Great, now he was having an imaginary dialogue with himself.
Wait...
“You’d deserve a blame for talking to me like that, Hinomiya.”
Okay. Now this sounded way too realistic to be merely in his head. Andy slowly removed his arm from his eyes and opened them, only to see a very familiar black-clad figure standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and an ever smug expression on his face.
“H-Hyoubu!” he exclaimed as he hurriedly got on his feet. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Just greeting the new ambassador, as P.A.N.D.R.A.’s leader.” The silver-haired esper replied casually, as if the situation was completely normal.
“Why didn’t you attend the conference? And where are the others?” Andy urged him.
“Who said I didn’t attend? And the others preferred to watch the conference on TV. Apparently they get bored as quickly as you. This said, I must say you defended yourself pretty well on the interviews.”
Andy let out a noise of annoyance. “Don’t mention them. I’d rather leave the useless talk to the princess. But anyway, why didn’t you show up down there? The princess was expecting you.”
Hyoubu dismissed the last remark with a gesture of his hand. “I’ll talk to her later. For now I’m simply checking on the future of the world, and it doesn’t seem very bright.” He smirked at Andy. The latter scowled.
“I’m a soldier first. But I’ll do everything I can if this can bring normals and espers together.”
“Bring normals and espers together, hm?”
The piercing gaze Hyoubu gave him made him frown and look away uncomfortably. Well, Hyoubu’s mere presence in his room this late at night made him feel uncomfortable.
“A-Anyway, you still didn’t tell me the reason of your presence here.” he changed the topic. “You could have talked to me down there, you know? It’s not really polite to teleport into other people’s rooms like that.” he said as he directed his eyes at Hyoubu again, but the latter was there no more. Before he even had time to blink, the esper was right next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder and another holding the limiter around his neck. Andy had never liked it when Hyoubu kept teleporting like that - the last time he had done so had seen him falling in a swimming pool - but this time more than usual. The reason to it was probably because Hyoubu’s face was awfully close to his and he had to gulp to fight the urge to jump aside.
“I noticed you were still carrying this around.” The esper said, his fingers hovering over the limiter. Andy cursed himself when he realized that his cheeks were warming up and the pace of his heartbeats had increased.
“You did say to always keep it with me.” he replied, trying to control his voice.
“So I did. I didn’t expect you to wear it though.” Hyoubu tilted his head a bit closer, and Andy felt a few strands of hair brushing against his cheek.
“I-It’s a matter of habit, I suppose. But you still haven’t replied my question.” The brown-haired man tried to shift away a little, but Hyoubu’s grip on his shoulder suddenly tightened, as if to prevent him from moving.
“I think I already replied that question, didn’t I? I wanted to check on the new ambassador.” Hyoubu’s fingers trailed up Andy’s chest from the limiter to his chin, making him gulp once again. Now this was definitely beyond Hyoubu’s usual level of queerness.
“H-Hyoubu, what exactly are you-”
“As for why I didn’t choose to meet you down there, well, there are several reasons.” The esper continued, completely ignoring the fact that Andy had frozen on the spot, but very well aware of the deep shade of red on the man’s cheeks and the heavy pounding against his chest. “First, there were too many journalists around you. I tend to dislike journalists. And second...” Andy shivered as Hyoubu’s voice suddenly turned lower and he whispered at his ear: “It would have been indecent to do this with so many people around.”
When Hyoubu forced Andy’s face to turn to his, the ambassador found himself unable to ask for more details. How could he have, with his lips sealed by Hyoubu’s? His eyes were opened wide and the shock seemed to have put his brain on hold. The kiss was short, and when Hyoubu pulled back, Andy finally found it in him to step back and stare at the man who was now displaying a rather satisfied expression on his face. He opened his mouth, yet words were having troubles passing his lips.
“Wh-What... What was that for?” he finally managed to ask, still flushed and slightly panicked. The feeling of Hyoubu’s lips on his was still present, leaving a strange yet warm sensation.
“Congratulations on bringing your first esper and normal together.” Hyoubu stated simply.
“My... what?” the other man inquired, now genuinely confused.
“Well, considering that you lost your power, you are technically a normal now.” Then, seeing that he wasn’t likely to get a coherent answer out of Andy, he sighed and went on: “You asked what for? No reason, really. It is said that matters of the heart cannot be explained, isn’t it?”
The words made Andy blink once, then twice. Then a short laugh escaped his throat. “Right.” It was how Hyoubu Kyousuke was, plain and simple. He was an irrational being, as such there was no use trying to find a reason behind his actions. It was at that moment that he decided that casting away logic and rationality could sometimes not be that bad. And as if to prove his point, his hand gripped Hyoubu’s collar and pulled the smirking esper to him.
The night was going to be long.
-
When Andy cracked an eye open, the first thing he noticed was a tickling yet warm feeling on his bare chest. The second thing he noticed was a familiar silver-haired male gazing at him, lying next to him with his head resting on one hand and supporting himself with one elbow. The bed sheet hardly concealed his naked self and his free hand was drawing circles on Andy’s abs.
“Sleeping beauty has woken up.” Hyoubu teased, making Andy frown.
“Don’t make me sound like I’m the princess here, Hyoubu.” he snapped back with a sleepy tone.
“I’ll admit that you do make a good prince.” The esper smirked as Andy scowled, blushing slightly upon remembering the events of the night.
“Whatever.” the latter mumbled.
“Now, now. An ambassador should be more convincing than that.”
“I told you, I’m a soldier first.”
He almost shivered when Hyoubu’s pale fingers started moving up his chest, slowly, teasingly, only to rest on the limiter that was still attached to Andy’s neck. The damn esper had insisted that he kept it on, even after all their clothes had been discarded. He had given up on trying to find a rational reason to it.
“Well, soldier, your duty must be calling you now.” Hyoubu replied as he sat up abruptly and got out of the bed. “I’ll be borrowing your shower.” He added before heading for the bathroom.
Andy didn’t move from his spot. Instead he stared at the blank ceiling, his fingers laced under his head, trying to collect his thoughts about what had occurred on that night. It had happened suddenly, without much warning on either side, and yet it had hardly surprised him. After all, anything involving Hyoubu was doomed to be unexpected. He shut his eyes.
“And by the way, Andy,” Hyoubu spoke again, and the other man almost jumped at hearing him call his first name, “It’s ‘Kyousuke’ for you.”
Again, Andy wasn’t surprised.