DGA: Back in Action

DGA Season 2 epilogue chapter, featuring Akio and Hikaru. Canon.
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“The hell is that noise?”

Hikaru spoke out loud in her outrage, despite Tekina being out for lunch with Takeshi and her neighbour in the hospital bed not being the most stunning conversationalist at the moment... though Hikaru had taken to reading aloud to the poor guy every night before bed. The sound coming from beyond the door was enough to snap the cooped up bookworm into an annoyed rage, accentuated by the days on end stuck in this hospital bed and hospital gown driving her up the wall. She was ready to leave, she was healthy... but Tekina wanted to play it safe. Well, today's the day she gets up and moves about, a good day... one she doesn't want spoiled by the muffled sounds of annoying trumpets.

To Hikaru's dismay, the trumpet sounds become considerably less muffled, when the door is kicked open and in steps Akemi, the usual suspect in cases such as these. What, is she showing her practice off to Raiden while he sleeps? With the quality of her playing right now, her friend may just pop up out of his coma to smack that thing out of her hands. Raiden has suffered plenty in the past, but everyone has their limit.

Hikaru is shocked when Akemi's chipper march makes it's way towards Hikaru's bed... with a certain buffoon following her into the room, holding a big bouquet of flowers.

“Akio... why?” Hikaru asks, shutting her book closed with a grunt.

Akio smirks as he presents the flowers to Hikaru. “Come on, you know what today is. You're able to get up and out of here, and I have an entire day planned for me and my best gal!”

“Your only gal,” Hikaru corrects. “I hope.”

Akio chuckles. “Come on babe, you know there's nothing I'm more scared of, in this world or the other, than you being angry with me.”

Hikaru gives a small smile before turning to Akemi. “Nice work... how long have you been practising that?”

“Two days!” Akemi beams proudly.

“Well, better keep practising,” Hikaru notes with a supportive smile. “Why didn't you play your sax for this? Didn't you master that?”

Akemi pauses in thought. “Akio said that I'm supposed to play that later, when you two are-”

“HAHA, NICE WORK KIDDO!” Akio yells as he pats the happy Akemi's head, a nervous bead of sweat running down his forehead. “But let's not give out spoilers, okay?”

Hikaru stares at Akio, an unimpressed half-smirk on her face, before letting out a yawn. “So, my brave and noble prince has come to rescue me from this tower, huh? Just like in the book I was reading. Of course, the Prince then had his head smashed by the ogre and the princess threw herself from the tower in grief...”

“The hell kind of book is that?” Akio raises his eyebrow. “Ain't those stories supposed to have happy endings?”

“Not anymore,” Hikaru replies. “These days, everyone wants to be sad and avoid all those worn out cliches... but now, I'm starting to miss them. I long for that simple dumb story I've read a million times with a nice happy ending.”

“You've been in here so long, you're getting angry at books,” Akio laughs. “Looks like I came at the right time. Let's get you out of here, and on an awesome date where all that tensions gonna melt away and all that's gonna be left is that gooey part of your heart reserved for the world's strongest human and your high-school hunk!”

“Your humility knows no bounds, Akio. It's why I fell for you.”

“Oh, that's nice!” Akemi smiles as she hugs into her trumpet, not picking up on an ounce of sarcasm.

“I'm sure you've got a whole bunch of those lined up for me,” Akio laughs. “But you gotta spread them out through the day, babe. Now come on.”

“Hold your horses,” Hikaru replies. “I'm not even dressed yet.”

“Then get changed!” Akio replies. “Don't worry, I won't peek.”

“A true gentleman,” Hikaru sighs, as she pulls the blankets from herself and rises from the side of her bed. She drops her hospital gown and reaches for the set of clothes left for her the night prior. Taking her time as the throws her leg into her tights, followed by her shorts and a nice loose t-shirt, she's happy to make the knucklehead wait.

“There... done,” Hikaru states as she turns around... to see a saucer-eyed Akemi staring right back at her. “You... you were supposed to look away,” Hikaru mutters, blushing with slight embarrassment.

“I was?” Akemi asks. “Oops!”

Akio spins around and gives a wink. “I'm sure Akemi liked what she saw.”

Akemi replies with an enthusiastic thumbs-up, while a mortified Hikaru places her head in her hands, realising that this is going to be a long day.

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“Must have been lonely, cooped up in that room most days,” Akio states, walking through the small town of Dakugeto, Hikaru's arm linked with his.

Hikaru shrugs. “Wasn't too bad, a lot of silence to read. Besides, I get everyone's been running around like headless chickens the last couple of days, but I still had enough visitors. You, Satomi, my brother, Akemi... I definitely wasn't bored with that kind of company. What really gets to me is the fact that we're apparently famous now...”

“Yeah, turns out fighting an all-powerful demon god in the middle of one of the countries most populated cities would get the academy noticed, who knew?” Akio laughs.

“I'm sure you're gonna enjoy the limelight,” Hikaru smirks. “Try not to get caught up with a bunch of groupies.”

“Pfft, why would I need groupies?” Akio replies. “My charm and good looks and general hunkiness managed to land me the greatest girl in the world already.”

Hikaru shakes her head. “Wow, even when you're complimenting me you still find time to big yourself up.”

“I have a talent, I know,” Akio chuckles.

“How did your uncle put up with your boasting during that summer in the mountains?”

“He didn't,” Akio replies. “Usually he'd just hit me... we're finally getting Naoaki's memorial service off the ground tomorrow.”

“Oh...” Hikaru mutters. “You gonna say anything? A eulogy, or...”

Akio shrugs his shoulders as he stares off into the distance. “I don't know. My memories of the guy are far from fond... and how the hell am I supposed Naoaki of all people? What could I do that would honour his memory?”

“Wrestle a bear to death at the podium?” Hikaru suggests.

“Heh, that oughtta do it...” Akio smiles.

It's then that Hikaru and Akio notice them... the small gaggle of teenage girls staring at the pair and whispering among themselves? A classic rumour mill, or something else?

The two don't have much time to wonder as the bravest of the girls leads the march towards the dating couple.

“Uh oh, here come your groupies,” Hikaru mutters.

Akio smirks. “I'll be sure to let them down gently.”

“You two attend Dark Gate, right?” the leader of the girls asks, in an eager, almost accusatory tone.

“Even the normal people are calling it Dark Gate now, huh?” Hikaru whispers, bemused at the concept.

“We sure do,” Akio winks. “And judging by the pen and paper you're holding, I think I can take a wild guess at what you want. Don't worry ladies, Akio Naito is more than happy to sign whatever you-”

“So that means you know Reiji Yasukawa, right?” the girl asks.

A long silence follows. The girls stay frozen in anticipation, as Hikaru can hear nothing but the crunching of the snowy ground in the distance as Akio collects himself, finally formulating a reply.

“Who the hell is Reiji Yasukawa?”

“What do you mean?” the girl asks indignantly. “He lead the defence at the Shooting Star building in Kingudoro on New Years. Geez, do you even go to that school?”

The girls walk off, disappointed, as Akio stays frozen in shock.

“We know Reiji,” Hikaru mutters. “He's our classmate and our friend. No, he's not a transfer student.”

More silence from Akio.

And more.

And more.

“... Let's just get lunch,” he speaks through gritted teeth.

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As the pair dig into their food, curled up in a small corner of the sushi restaurant, Hikaru looks over at the embarrassed and ashamed Akio. She places her chopsticks by her side and speaks.

“So... they had no idea who you were. Guess the trappings of fame aren't going to affect you like I thought.”

Akio looks down and shakes his head. “Well babe, I should have figured you wouldn't pull any punches. Give me five minutes to recover from the greatest scar of my life-”

“-That's your biggest scar? Over your many ACTUAL scars?”

“Then after that five minutes, you can unload with all the teasing you want, okay babe?”

Hikaru pauses, before looking Akio dead in the eyes. “Akio... I'm not going to tease you over that.”

“Huh? Why not, you've probably got a ton of oneliners rattling around in that head of yours.”

“Yeah...” Hikaru admits with a smile. “But... the reason they didn't recognise you is because you weren't involved in that big fight... and the reason you weren't involved there is because... you were saving me. Thank you.”

Akio shrugs. “Well... considering how great you've been to me and how... not great I was to you... it was about time I finally did something good for you.”

“... Akio, that's far from the first time you've helped me.”

“Babe, you don't have to lie-”

“No, I mean it,” Hikaru states in a matter-of-fact tone. “Sure, we had our rough time lately... but I didn't just stick with you because you've got a nice set of abs. You... really helped me mature in a way I never thought I would. I mean... look at me and Satomi. We were the best of friends, and even after our falling out I still wanted us to be the best of friends... that only thing that held me back there was my stupid pride. I was too proud to just admit that I wanted my friend back... but you came along, and you taught me a valuable lesson.”

“And what's that?” Akio asks.

“You showed me the ugly side of pride.”

“Hey!”

“AND... this is the more important part, despite having a bigger ego than the sun, despite being the proudest guy I ever met... you were still able to throw that aside all the time to admit that you cared about me. You would tell me when you were scared, even though you wanted to look cool... because you realised that when it came down to it, pride wasn't worth losing anything for. It let me see past my stubborn self and move on from the past.”

“Babe...”

“That's how I fell in love with you, Akio... and I don't think I ever explained that until now,” Hikaru
admits. “Sorry.”

Akio stares at Hikaru, a wide smile appearing on his face. “It's okay... I guess you've still got a lot of pride to get past to admit stuff like that.”

“Hey!”

Akio chuckles. “I swear babe, your ego's gonna get classified as a planet!”

“Now you're just gonna tease me?” Hikaru gives a small laugh. “After I opened my heart up like that?”

“Yep,” Akio replies. “It's why you love me after all.”

“Dammit... it is,” Hikaru blushes. “Hey, Akio...”

“What is it, babe?”

“Do... do you still think Akemi's willing to play her saxophone later?”

“You read my mind.”

END