You Heard Me

Nitsuki sat dazed on Tachibana's futon, her back slouched and her gaze fixed on the wall ahead. It had only been fifteen minutes or so since she'd arrived here, and the events that had led up to this point were a bit of a blur.

She remembered holding him. She remembered his concern and confusion, and then the overwhelming guilt that washed over her as they drove back home.

And now, here she was. Sitting alone in her parent's old room with nothing but the ticking of the wall clock and the distant sounds of falling rain outside to accompany her. The weather was fitting for the current atmosphere. She didn't mind the solitude; the quiet was a welcome respite from the turmoil raging inside her.

The words of those women still rang in her head, burrowing into her like a parasite that refused to leave.

Tachibana had asked if she was okay. She'd said she was fine at first until he persisted. After that, she couldn't help herself, she just… spilled. She told him everything that she'd heard and how it was all her fault that he'd become a target of their ire.

From there, things had gotten a bit awkward. Neither knew what to do, nor what to say. Then, he'd simply held her hand and suggested that they try talking about it some more after she'd had the chance to rest and clear her head.

She sniffled. She'd been crying quietly up until now.

"Damn it."

She wiped her eyes roughly and took several deep breaths, trying to steady herself.

The entire ride back, she'd been peering into various futures to check on their situation, to see if there was any action she could do to fix this. But the result was always the same.

It was too late. The damage had been done.

While nobody in Hoshimura besides Koji was aware that the two of them were officially a couple, the town had already started drawing their own conclusions. It was only a matter of time before things got even worse.

The sound of the door opening caught her attention. "Is it alright if I come in?"

She slowly turned toward the doorway. There stood Tachibana, two steaming mugs of tea in hands.

"Usually someone asks that before opening the door, you know?" she joked dryly, trying to talk through her congested nose.

He chuckled as he walked over to her, placing the mugs on the nearby chabudai. "I made some green tea for the both of us," he said, taking a seat beside her. "Hopefully, it'll help calm your nerves a little."

"Here's hoping. Thanks."

Nitsuki picked up her mug and sipped. The tea was bitter, although she couldn't be bothered to put any sugar in it now. She wasn't in the mood to have a sweetened tongue.

After she'd finished sampling the drink, Tachibana sighed. "So, Nia, let's talk about before."

"…Yeah," she said quietly. She might've spilled, but she'd done a horrible job actually explaining things to him. That was what she got for letting her emotions get the better of her.

"Sorry about that, my mind was all over the place."

"You don't have to apologize." He gave one of his patented derp-ass smiles, although a bit more muted than normal. "We're in this together, right? So just breathe and try to relax. Tell me everything that's on your mind."

Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile back. Here he was, getting dragged through the mud with her, yet he was still trying to cheer her up and support her.

Honestly, it made her feel both horrible and blessed at the same time, horrible in that she was the cause of his problems and blessed in the sense that this man would always be there for her despite it all—that had been the only other takeaway she'd gotten from her visions.

No matter what future she'd glimpsed, Tachibana didn't leave her. He'd always be there, supporting and encouraging her, and doing everything in his power to make her happy and safe.

She really didn't deserve him.

"…I guess I should start from the beginning." She took another sip of tea to steel her nerves and then told him everything.

***

"…and then you came," Nitsuki finished.

She looked down at her mug. The once-steaming tea was gone. The conversation had taken longer than she'd expected.

Tachibana was silent for a moment, his expression pensive. He looked so different from usual. "So, that's what happened?"

"Yup." She sighed, setting the empty cup down. "That was a lot. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm glad you told me," he said, giving a nod. "But…" He hesitated for a moment. "I have to admit, I don't really get why you were so worried about me. I know this is serious, but I'll be fine."

Nitsuki's heart dropped. "Are you kidding me? You're not fine, and neither am I. We're going to be ostracized, ridiculed, and maybe even harassed. People are going to look down on you and say horrible things behind your back, and they'll probably try to sabotage our relationship. And it's all my fault."

Tachibana shook his head. "No, it's not."

…Typical Tachibana.

"But it is," she insisted, her voice cracking a little. "They're only treating you like this because of me."

She shuddered as the guilt engulfed her. She hated herself for dragging him into this mess. And for what? So she could feel better about herself? So she could indulge in a fantasy that she could maybe somewhat live like a normal woman? What kind of selfish, deluded person was she to—

Suddenly, she felt him pull her close.

"Hey."

His embrace was gentle, firm, and very warm. Nitsuki's pulse raced at the touch.

For a split second, she thought about pulling away. This wasn't the time to be cuddling, not while she was busy feeling like a terrible person. She needed to feel bad, damn it! To stew in self-hatred and wallow in misery! That was how she'd atone for her sins!

But then, she looked up at him, and her body betrayed her. He looked so kind, so caring, so… loving. She couldn't bring herself to reject him, not when he held her so tenderly.

So she didn't move; she just let herself melt against his chest as his arms held her tight and close. Her breathing hitched as the tears threatened to flow once again. This was too much. She didn't deserve this. She deserved to suffer alone. She—

His voice cut through her thoughts. "Nia?"

She sniffled. "What?"

He pulled back a little, his hand brushing her cheek. Then, without any warning at all, he pressed his lips to hers. It was quick and chaste, but the effect was immediate.

Her mind went blank, and her entire body trembled as she tried to process what had just happened.

'Eh he, that was nice.' Was all that her brain could muster.

He pulled away, giving her a soft smile. "Nia, you're smart, you're pretty, and you're the funniest, most hard-working woman I know. You're the most wonderful girlfriend a guy could ever hope to have."

Nia's heart thumped hard in her chest. She wanted to say something, anything, but her throat refused to cooperate. All that escaped in response to the sudden compliment barrage was a small squeak and a quiet, bashful whine.

"So please… don't blame yourself for something you can't control." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, his lips lingering on her skin for a few moments before pulling away. His eyes were sincere, which only made the whole situation that much more embarrassing for her.

"Tachibana, I—" She tried to say, but he cut her off with another peck on her cheek.

Damn, he was very kissy today, wasn't he?

"I don't care what others think about me, and I don't care if they treat me poorly or not. Even if I did, I wouldn't be too concerned about those two's opinions. They've never been the brightest of people anyway."

She wanted to argue, but she couldn't form any words, especially once the last part of his statement caught up to her.

Was Tachibana actually being mean to someone besides Koji? Not even Inoue got that kind of treatment!

"What did you do to the real Tachibana?" she finally managed to say.

"Hm? Something wrong?"

She smirked. "Nothing, just… I didn't expect those words from Mr. 'I-treat-everyone-with-love-and-respect'."

He suddenly turned sheepish. "Ah! Um, I wasn't trying to be mean, it was just an… observation."

"Care to elaborate?"

He fidgeted as he continued. "Well, aside from them gossiping like middle schoolers, they called me gay for dating you right? I'm pretty sure I don't fit that bill considering I've always liked women."

Nitsuki blinked, her heart skipping a beat. "Uh, I mean… you're right, but—"

"Plus, even if I were gay, what's so bad about it anyway? It's not like it's wrong. Love is love. I'd still be the same lovable me regardless of whether or not I liked men's chests as opposed to yours. And I like your chest… like, a lot." He paused. "Erm, sorry, that was a little weird, wasn't it?"

Her face flushed bright red as her lips pursed together. "You're such an idiot," she said, trying to stifle her laughter. "And did you really just refer to yourself as loveable? I mean, you are, but…" She trailed off.

He flushed even redder before coughing and recomposing himself. "Well, erm… I just mean, I think I'd have to be pretty lovable in order to land someone as wonderful as you~"

*puff*

Nitsuki suddenly dug her face into the futon like an ostrich, her entire body radiating heat.

"Ah, Nia?! Are you okay?!"

"I hate you so much," she mumbled into the futon, her voice muffled. "You and your stupid compliments…"

A faint smile crept onto his face. "I mean, if it helps, you're also very beautiful and funny and…"

She halfheartedly smacked him in the shoulder with the futon's pillow. She didn't want to hear any more compliments from him right now. Anymore and she'd devolve into a mushy mess of whimpers.

He laughed softly and then wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her close again. They stayed like that for a while, cuddling in comfortable silence. The sound of the rain outside had stopped.

"…When did you get this smooth?" she finally muttered, turning to look at him. "Just a week ago, we were both stumbling all over the place, trying not to die of embarrassment."

He put on his best 'confident' face. "What can I say? Your cuteness inspires me to step it up. Especially since my guilty pleasure is seeing you flustered like this."

She stared at him incredulously. Unbelievable.

"Damn flirt," she mumbled, her cheeks still burning. "Well, you're still an idiot, but I guess that worked. I feel a little better now." Her heart was still pounding, and the guilt was far from gone, but it wasn't nearly as intense.

"That's good to hear," he said, giving her a gentle pat. "But really, I don't care about those women or whatever they say. What's important is that you and I are together."

She recomposed herself and leaned against his shoulder. "You know, it's not going to be just them."

"I know."

"And you're aware that you're going to have a harder time just existing in this town, right?"

"I am."

"And you're okay with that?"

He paused, taking a moment to think.

"Sort of, if anything though, this incident's opened my eyes to how much of a bubble I'd been living in. I'd always thought that the townspeople were mostly just ignorant—that they simply didn't know any better—but, throwing around a word like that so casually and without remorse… It's going to take some time for me to come to terms with how much of a dunce I've been."

His expression turned sullen.

"Maybe you were right. Maybe some of these people are just cruel."

Nitsuki frowned. She didn't like seeing him upset. She knew it was hypocritical of her, but while she'd always known the town to be full of assholes, she didn't want him to see them in that light and poison his worldview completely.

"Maybe… or maybe not," she replied. "People can still surprise you in ways that aren't always bad. I mean, Hasegawa's a nosy gossip, but she was nice enough to give me a discount today, and she treats me somewhat normal. There are nuances to people that you can't just ignore or generalize. So… I'm not gonna say being optimistic is bad, but I do wish you would be a bit more realistic. It'll make life easier for you in the long run."

He sighed. "Maybe so… Alright then. From now on, As long as I'm with you, I'm happy. And if some of the town doesn't approve, well, screw them! I don't care what they think!"

He smiled brightly, and Nitsuki couldn't help but return it. Her heart fluttered at his words, her chest feeling lighter than ever before.

She snuggled closer to him and let out a contented sigh.

"…Maybe I'm a bad influence on you after all."

He snorted. "Eh, well, I have been finding it harder to resist the urge to swear lately as well as some… other urges." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before realizing just how that sounded. "Ack! That wasn't supposed to sound so lewd—I meant hugging and cuddling! Not the, uh… you know…"

She smirked, finally finding a weakness to exploit. "Hm? Are you saying you're not interested~?"

Tachibana blushed furiously. "W-well… erm… I-I mean… that is to say…" He cleared his throat before suddenly tilting her chin up to look at him. "I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't mind going further~" he whispered huskily.

Her heart immediately seized up before rampaging like crazy.

Shit. She was in danger. Danger she wanted.

She let out an awkward, nervous laugh. "Ehe, uh, well… I suppose that's good to hear."

He rapidly nodded his head. "Yup yup, definitely good."

"…"

"…"

The air hung heavy between them. Neither one of them had any idea where they should go from there, and it was clear that both were way out of their element.

Tachibana broke the silence. "Nia, there's uh, some stuff I want to talk to you about at some point later since we've cleared the air. Is that cool with you?"

Her mind blanked, her heart rate skyrocketing to dangerous levels.

Oh no. She had a feeling she knew what he was talking about, but she didn't know if she was ready to talk about it.

He exhaled. "Okay, so not super embarrassing stuff first, I have this overwhelming urge to do something about our situation here. Like, I want to talk about how we can make Hoshimura safer or at the very least more accepting. I have an idea in the back of my mind, but I need to figure things out."

She blinked. Oh, that's what he wanted to talk about. Thank God.

"Okay, yeah, we can discuss that. So, what exactly—"

His finger clumsily pressed against her lips. "Shhh, my love. Let's… not get ahead of ourselves. We can discuss that later. For now, I just want to, erm, enjoy your company." He chuckled nervously.

Her heart skipped another beat, and a small, involuntary whimper escaped her lips.

The sound wasn't lost on him, and he suddenly found himself unable to maintain eye contact. "S-sorry. That was a little forward. I'll uh, stop now."

"No, it's fine. It's just…" She bit her lip. "What did you have in mind?"

"…Want to take a bath together?"

Nitsuki's brain short-circuited as her mind immediately went to places it shouldn't go.

Crap. Red Alert. Red Alert. Abort. Abort—

Tachibana immediately began backpedaling as he realized what he'd just said. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I meant like—like—like a friendly bath, not anything more than that! I'm so sorry, I don't know why my mouth said that—"

"The hell is a friendly bath?! What, is that where we're friends in a bathtub or something?! How does that even work?! The same way 'dating friends' does?!" Nitsuki snapped as her embarrassment overrode her brain-to-mouth filter.

"I-I don't know! Erm, never mind! Why don't we just forget about this whole thing? Pretend that it never happened—"

She launched and wrapped herself around him, burying her burning face into his chest. "Coward!"

Tachibana paused, his entire body tensing up. "E-eh?!"

CRAP! What was she doing?! Okay, no it was fine. All she needed to do was play it off cool, say that she'd misspoke, and then go hide in her room forever and die of shame. Easy peasy.

She took a deep breath and prepared her lie. 

"…You heard me."

SHIT!

Stupid monkey brain! Why did it betray her at every opportunity!?

Tachibana's expression changed from shock to confusion, then to concern, before finally settling on a look of pure determination.

"Nia," he breathed, his voice suddenly sounding a lot deeper than it usually did. It sent shivers down her spine. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him. "Are you sure?"

YES! Wait, NO! No. No. No. NO—

"…Yes."

DAMN IT!

Nitsuki fervently cursed herself yet giggled in glee as Tachibana scooped her up bridal style and carried her to the bathroom. Her arms wrapped around his neck, clinging to him tightly.

"Brain! Explanation! Now!" she internally screamed.

Eh he, this is nice.

"Damn it, you horny bastard! We are not doing this! We are NOT doing this!" she internally protested.

Eh he, this is nice. (2)

In that moment, Nitsuki Amano learned a very important lesson:

Her brain was a traitorous bitch.