Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 43

           Hayato called her a few days later, with two important news:

          The first was that a new mission was established to kill Mineko Shimizu. That mission was once again being left to the Division 1 Alpha 5 task force. They'd also given explicit orders not to involve family unless it was approved of by the Team Captain.

          The second piece of news was that he and Araya Sosa would be visiting her sometime that week to talk to her. Him coming made her a bit more nervous than she thought it would. He was her childhood best friend, closer than Hayato, closer than Mineko was him. She hadn't seen him in three years since she'd been discharged, and she hadn't heard from him in almost a year. Communication difficulties resulted in him only being able to text her once a year from a burner phone that he was still alive and kicking. She wondered how much he'd changed in that time, she wondered how much she had changed. 

             She was also a bit nervous because of a certain blonde that had basically decided to live with her full time at this point. She knew Araya was extremely protective of the people he was close to and didn't mind being an asshole to strangers- especially ones he didn't approve of. When she thought about it, Keigo wasn't much better either. Though he would never admit it, he got jealous of Hayato despite him being married, and he'd also been a jerk to the kid at the photography studio when he was flirting with her. One of two things could happen when they met; either they would get along splendidly or immediately hate each other. Mariko sighed realizing the chances of them getting along would be slim.

           She couldn't really worry about that though. If they didn't get along well they would just have to suck it up for the duration of Araya and Hayato's visit. She knew they were coming to talk to her for one of two reasons: 1) to reinstate her as an agent temporarily or 2) tell her that she was no longer an agent and did not have the clearance to know about this mission and schedule a memory wipe appointment. Honestly, Mariko didn't know which option was worse.

           Seeing as he was living with her, Keigo had been informed that Mariko would be having guests over. At first, he was happy to get the opportunity to meet Mariko's friends, the happiness disappeared when he heard it was Hayato and someone named Araya Sosa- both males. At least he recognized the name, he'd seen it on Mariko's emergency contacts list when he'd added himself to it. He was also the only one of her contacts who didn't show up when the hospital had called. He was extremely curious about what kind of connection the two had, but no matter how many times he asked about what their relationship was like, she refused to answer him. She wouldn't even tell him why they were suddenly coming to visit when he was apparently very busy at the military.

          Whatever the reason was though had her very apprehensive. In a way, it was a good and a bad thing. Obvious it was a bad thing because she was nervous and uncomfortable, but it was also kind of a good thing- for him anyway. Whenever Mariko was feeling antsy, she would gravitate towards him and be a bit more attached to him than usual.

            They'd just finished dinner and were now watching a movie. Being the cuddly and affection seeking person he was, he'd placed his head in his lap and asked for head scratches.

            Surprisingly, she'd complied and had begun to run her hands through his hair.

           His current situation was pretty damn good: he'd just eaten his favorite food and now had his head in his crush's lap, watching his favorite movie together as she played with his hair.

            "Why don't I just stay forever," he joked blissfully. He'd expected her to tell him that she refused to live with a slob like him- or something along those lines, but her answer had shocked him completely.

             "You'd be paying half the utilities and rent though," she told him. She wasn't looking at him when she answered, she had been distracted by her phone dinging with a message from Sakura; it wasn't important, just a meme.

             "Fuck- wait really?" he asked.

            She looked down at him for a moment before leaning back into the couch. "You've got a key. You're practically here all the time and you've basically claimed the guest bedroom as yours anyway. The only difference is that all your clothes would be at my place and I'd be paying half as much in living expenses as I am now," she explained.

           "You're serious," he stated, not believing her. "You seriously want to live with me? I don't mean tolerate it, I mean you want me to live here."

            Mariko thought for a moment. "Do I want to live with him?" she asked herself. She hadn't entertained the idea of living together before if she was being honest. She was thinking about it now though, and the more she thought about it, the more she was on board with it. He was her best friend after all, she already wanted to be around him all the time; he was usually the best part of her day. She wouldn't even dream of admitting it, but the couple nights a week he stayed at his apartment she actually missed him. She always had trouble sleeping those nights, it was like something was wrong with the apartment. Whether she'd realized it or not, Keigo had become a part of her concept of home. "Yeah, I want to live with you," she decided.

            The male's eyes widened in shock. He wasn't dreaming, right? Her expression told him she wasn't. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face even if he wanted to. It seemed surreal, that there was someone who wanted to live with him. He was absolutely elated.

            She smiled down at his obviously happy expression, "cute," she thought. "Did that make you happy?" she asked a hint of playfulness in her voice.

           His face went red at his obviousness, but he was so damn happy. "Fuck... yeah I'm happy Chickee," he said, turning to hide his face in her stomach.

            She giggled, her heart fluttering a bit at his answer. "Good, me too."

          " Jesus Christ," he thought his heart hammering in his chest as he felt his face heat up.