CH. 119 - Lingering Effects

In Hikigaya’s room, he sits at his desk staring at a sheet of paper with some rough sketches on it. He stares blankly as if looking through the paper, with his pencil positioned right on the paper but not moving. After a moment, Shiori steps into his room, snapping him out of his daze. She makes her way behind him and lays herself on his back, her head next to his on his shoulder.

“What doin’?” She asks softly.

“Just… trying to sketch up some of your characters. Your descriptive words of their designs are always so inspiring. Although I’ve made a few adjustments.” He says playfully as Shiori rolls her eyes.

“Ha ha.” She laughs sarcastically as she gets up and falls back towards his bed. Hikigaya giggles a bit as he turns around to see her plop herself on his bed on her back. She gives him a blushy look as he makes his way to her. He places himself above her as she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a kiss. They kiss for a moment before he slides down a bit and kisses her neck gently. Shiori shivers a bit as her blushing intensifies.

“Hiki..gaya…” She whimpers as he smirks. He kisses her a bit more before slowly falling back to his knees on the floor, pulling her with him gently. On his knees, Shiori slides down onto his lap. He holds her tightly with his arms around her waist, still tucked into her neck, as she lays her arms around his neck. She smiles a bit as she runs her hands along his back.

“You okay?..” she asks in a whisper. Hikigaya doesn’t respond as Shiori’s look softens. “You thinking about her?..” she asks softly. Hikigaya nods a little before shaking his head, but then he nods again before turning his head and placing his forehead on her collarbone. He takes a shaky breath before Shiori runs her fingers through his hair. “Me too…” she says softly as Hikigaya’s breathing settles. He lifts his head gently as Shiori looks at him. He stares at her for a moment before blinking and looking down, running his hands under her sweater and along her back. He thinks as he does, feeling her body.

“How’re you feeling? Your body.” He asks gently. Shiori breathes in as she leans back and looks at herself.

“My right arm still hurts to move a little and my leg still aches sometimes. But my side…” she says before lifting her sweater revealing her painful scar. “I really messed up forcing my healing that fast. It hurts just to move sometimes. And the sharp pains in my stomach…” she expresses honestly with a hint of pain even lining her words. Hikigaya tilts his head a little as he looks at her scar with sad eyes. He then grabs her with his hands and gently lifts her a little so he can kiss her scar. Shiori lets him as she breathes in deeply, feeling him kissing her body. She blushes as he lowers her and carefully but firmly places his hand over her side.

“Hold on, hun.” He says as she holds her sweater up with one hand and holds his shirt with the other. Hikigaya focuses as he uses his powers on her. Shiori’s eyes widen as her scar seems to fade and heal just a bit, but what she notices more is the feeling of easing tension in her side. She lets her head fall to the side as she closes her eyes and sighs in relief, feeling the pain ease from her body. After a moment, Hikigaya lets go, shaking his hand out a bit with a hint of pain in his eyes, but they stay focused on her. Shiori exhales softly as she looks at herself again, noting her injury looking better than before. She lets her sweater fall as she looks at him.

“Thank you.” She says with a breathy tone. Hikigaya hums in response as an almost regretful look sits on his face. “When did you learn to do that?” She asks as Hikigaya looks at her with sad but determined eyes.

“I’m never gonna let someone I love get hurt again.” He says passionately. Shiori smiles warmly at him as her eyes shine. She pulls him in for a tight hug, holding him close to her soul.

“I love you so much.” She whispers in his ear as he holds her just as tightly.

“I love you too.” He says back, muffled by her embrace a little. After holding each other for a moment, she lets him go and stands up. Hikigaya gets up too and gets back in his desk chair as Shiori leans against his bed. “Why’d you come in here, anyway?” Hikigaya asks. Shiori smirks and raises an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t want me around? All you have to do is say so.” She teases as a vein pops on Hikigaya’s cheek.

“Don’t make me prove how much I want you…” he says through gritted teeth. Shiori blushes as she giggles before answering his question.

“No particular reason. I wanted to see you. I was actually wondering how you were feeling? Your body.” She says with a playful smile, copying what he said. “Most of the time you heal way better than I do.” She says. Hikigaya chuckles a little before he looks down with a subtly upset look.

“Whatever he was doing wasn’t normal. It really messed me up..” he admits, running his hand across his chest, causing Shiori to look sad for her boyfriend. “If I focus, I can function just fine, but if I don’t… it gets… hard.” He says, being honest with her as he rubs his left shoulder. He slowly blinks as he stops. “It’ll probably get better with time but for now.. shit just sucks.” He says. Shiori then steps closer to him and gently holds his face in her hands.

“And these scars…” she says softly, running her thumb across the new scar running across the bridge of his nose and the other across his cheek. Hikigaya wants to pull away but can’t bring himself to pull from her calming touch.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when someone that strong attacks. I can usually heal scars just like anything else, but if it’s too much.. there’s nothing I can do.” He explains. Shiori curls the corner of her mouth with a sad but understanding look before Hikigaya shakes his head a little and smiles at her. “Sorry, I don’t need to explain my powers to you. I’m sure you know all about them already.” He says, trying to be happy. Shiori smiles softly.

“True, but there are things I don’t know. I like when you tell me things about yourself.” She says warmly as Hikigaya smiles in return.

“Yeah, me too. Speaking of which, how’s your book going? You haven’t told me about it in a while.” He says as Shiori turns and leans against his bed once again.

“Well, I think I finally finished the final draft of my book.” She says. Hikigaya looks surprised as she says that so casually.

“That’s great. Right?” He asks with a smile. Shiori nods a little before chuckling and smiling awkwardly.

“Yeahhhh, I guess but I kinda blew my chance with Conarc Editing. So now my book is just.. another in a sea of pages.” She says softly. Hikigaya thinks for a moment before getting an idea.

“Well, if you want, you could always submit it to one of those, like, competition things?” He offers. Shiori looks at him surprised. 

“You mean like the ‘Autumn’s Coziest’ contests and stuff?” She asks. Hikigaya perks up with a smile as he points at her.

“Yes! Exactly, those. Although, I doubt there’d be any autumn themed ones right now…” He says, putting his hand on his chin in thought as Shiori rolls her eyes again with a loving smile.

“You’re so dumb. That was just an example.” She says softly. Hikigaya blushes in embarrassment as he rubs the back of his head with an awkward giggle. Shiori then begins thinking about the idea. “Hm… I guess that could be worth a shot. But with how many other stories there’ll be, I’d need a cover to make it stand out.” She says. Hikigaya quickly waves the idea off.

“Oh, we’ll figure that out later. In the meantime, why don’t we find a good contest to enter that’ll get you that recognition you’ve worked so hard for. And who knows, maybe I can get mom to pull a few strings..?” He offers playfully as Shiori gets a frustrated look.

“No, no, no! How many times am I gonna have to tell you, and your mom? I don’t want to cheat my way to the top. I’m taking her writing advice and mentorship and that’s it, nothing more.” She says adamantly. Hikigaya crosses his arms with a smug smile.

“Alright, alright, I’m just saying.” He then offers his hand with a soft smile. “Let’s get to work.” He says warmly. Shiori blushes a bit before taking his hand with a gentle smile.

“Right.” She says softly. They then spend some time searching online for different contests from different platforms, getting mixed reactions on them, before coming to one that looks appealing. 

“ ‘Come and join us at Mattpad’s Spring of Ink and Love. Enter the contest for a chance to win and become a Mattpad original!’ That sounds pretty good. Your book is primarily romance, isn’t it?” Hikigaya reads before turning and asking her. Shiori stares at the contest page over his shoulder as she answers.

“Among other things, but yeah. Works for me, not that my chances are great anyway, but still.” She says doubtfully, crossing her arms as she stands up.

“Don’t say that! You’re gonna be number one!” Hikigaya says to her with an assertive smile. Shiori looks unsure but appreciative of the support.

“Well, once I get everything in order, I’ll be sure to submit it.” She says as Hikigaya nods. Shiori then walks away, leaving his room and heading downstairs. He watches her leave before hearing Riku whine.

“Heyyy! What the- AHHH!” he screams as she messes with her little brother. Hikigaya smiles as he listens to them before snapping his head back towards his desk with an inspired look in his eyes. He quickly grabs his pencil and puts it to paper, instantly getting to work. Hours go by as he falls asleep at his desk before waking back up, shaking it off, and continuing to work, his station of pencils and colors scattered around him.

A couple days later, Shiori sits at her laptop at the kitchen counter with a look as if debating in deep thought.

“I’m no good at this stuff..” she groans as she slumps backward, hanging her head over the back of the chair. Her father then steps behind her, looking down at her.

“What’s going on?” Takanou asks. Shiori sits up as she sighs, looking at her screen.

“I’m trying to come up with a cover for my book to submit it into this contest, but I just.. I don’t know.” She expresses her dilemma. “These cover generators are just crappy generic slop and I’m not good at editing pictures to make something look good..” she says. Takanou stares at her screen for a moment, rubbing his chin. 

“Hmmm… Nope, I’ve got nothing. We usually pay people for our covers haha!” He says with a laugh. Shiori droops a bit.

“Thanks, papa… Have you even read my story..?” she asks, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

“Not a bit.” He says casually as Shiori grits her teeth. “But your mom has told me all about it, same with Asami.” He says, looking at her. Shiori sighs as she stares back at her screen. “Why don’t you go ask Hikigaya to whip you up something? He’s quite the talented artist if I do say so myself.” Takanou offers. Shiori gets a soft, embarrassed look.

“No, I can’t do that… He’s already done so much for me and I’ve… done nothing for him… I can handle the rest on my own.” She says, focusing the best she can. Takanou gives her a soft, fatherly look.

“If he loves you, there is no such thing as on your own.” Takanou says. He rubs her head as she smiles a bit before walking away. A few moments after that, Hikigaya comes flying down the stairs with an excited but tired look.

“Hey, hey! Shiori, look!” He basically shouts. He lifts up a sheet of paper to her with a big smile as Shiori looks at it, confused. After a moment, her eyes widen as a slight blush spreads across her face.

“Hiki.. you didn’t..” she whispers.

“I did. I told you not to worry about it, remember?” He smiles as the cover of her story sits before her in full rendered detail and color. Tears well up in her eyes as she tries to stop herself from crying. Hikigaya looks confused and puts the cover down gently. “H-hey. You okay? What’s wrong?” He gently puts his hands on her shoulders as she whimpers.

“N-nothing… I just… I love you so much!” She says as she cries out. Hikigaya smiles before pulling her in for a hug, placing her crying face against his chest. 

“You’re so silly…” He says softly. After a moment of tears and emotions, she sniffles as she stops herself from crying any more. She looks at the cover with a big smile.

“I love it!” She says happily as Hikigaya lets out a sigh of relief.

“Phew. I’m glad, cause it would’ve been pretty embarrassing if you hated it..” Hikigaya says under his breath. Shiori then gets up excitedly and grabs the cover art.

“I’m gonna go screen it right now! Then I can upload my book to the contest!” She says excitedly. Riku then runs into the house from the backyard.

“Hey, wait! Hikigaya! I need you!” He calls out. They look at him confused.

“What’s up, little man?” Hikigaya asks.

“I need you to train me!” Riku shouts. Hikigaya sweat drops a bit.

“What?.” Hikigaya mumbles.

“Yeah! You’re big and strong, I want to be like you! That way I can handle any power I unlock with no problem!” Riku says excitedly. Takanou steps up next to Riku with an awkward smile.

“He’s been really excited ever since he told us he had powers like his sister. It’d mean a lot to me if you could train him. Just to help him control them better.” Takanou says, obviously a bit awkward asking for his help. Shiori looks at them and steps up a bit.

“Papa, Riku, Hikigaya’s really tired right now, I don’t think-”

“No, it’s okay.” He says, cutting her off, thinking for a moment. Shiori looks at him surprised.

“You sure?” She asks with a concerned look. Hikigaya shrugs with a side smile.

“Yeah~, it’s not a problem. How can I say no to training such a little man.” Hikigaya teases. Riku pouts a bit at his teasing before Hikigaya looks back at Shiori with a soft smile. “I could always sleep later.” He says before kissing her on the cheek and approaching the young boy.

Shiori blushes and smiles at him, watching them step into the backyard and hearing her little brother shouting at him about the little man comment. Her look then shifts to one of concern as she notes the tiredness in his eyes but then she looks at the art in her hand and decides to not let it eat at her much and continue what she was doing. Not long after, Shiori gets her book in order, cover and all, and submits it to Mattpad for the contest.