Aftermath
1,252 words • Character Study An insight of Hibari's thoughts after that day. Contains spoilers for current story arc
Hibari was young. He was even younger when he lost his family. It was so sudden and unexpected, it completely flipped his world upside down. Suddenly, he had all these new responsibilities and things to worry about. He had no choice but to grow up quickly and bury his childish self away lest society consume him.
Hibari worked hard. Unsurprisingly, many people looked down on him for his young age. They sympathized with him and his situation, but at the end of the day, they did not have any expectations for him. Hibari didn't want that. Or rather, his pride wouldn't allow it. He studied and worked to the point of exhaustion so that nobody could ever think of him as anything less. His peers called him boring and dull, but he didn't care. Even if he wanted nothing more than to just rest after everything he's been through, he knew that he had no time for leisure.
Thanks to his efforts, he was able to secure a spot at the International Toxient Countermeasure Agency.
He had heard of Akamune Mei. The age difference between them wasn't by much, yet Akamune had already accomplished a lot by himself, and Hibari thought that the young man was amazing. Hibari looked up to and respected Akamune, so when the opportunity arose for him to work underneath the researcher, he immediately jumped at the chance.
Needless to say, when Hibari first started working at the Tokyo Branch, he had mixed feelings. He held a disdain for toxients, so the fact that Akamune gave them freedom to walk around and such was something he couldn't wrap his mind around. Even so, he was rational and capable of putting his own personal feelings aside for work. But more than that, Hibari trusted the branch chief.
In all honesty, Hibari never expected to get so close to the dokubutsu danshi. He still had his reservations about toxients in general, but after spending more time with the ones at the Tokyo Branch, he realized that the dokubutsu danshi weren't as bad as he first made them out to be.
An was cute. He had a kindness and innocence to him that put Hibari's heart and mind at ease. He had a healing kind of presence that seemed to almost always make Hibari feel better.
Hibari felt a certain kinship with Hemlock. Conversations with him were always stimulating, and it was a comfort being able to talk with someone who held a relatively similar mindset about certain matters.
Cyan was fun to tease. Hibari didn't like his attitude, especially towards Akamune whom he believed that the dokubutsu danshi should be grateful for. But even so, Cyan's reactions whenever he poked fun at him were very amusing.
Ergot was... Well, Hibari didn't spend too much time with Ergot, but the way he was able to act as a mediator whenever the others got into trouble was quite admirable in the supporter's eyes. Ergot's caring nature towards the others reminded Hibari a bit of his own family, and it often left him melancholic.
Dion and his alcoholism was a bit troubling, but after learning the truth of his circumstances, Hibari couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him. The dokubutsu danshi's love and commitment towards his family was something that Hibari fully acknowledged.
C.B. was a bit of a pain to deal with. He caused trouble almost everywhere he went, and Hibari hated having to clean up after his messes. Still, the dokubutsu danshi in question was undeniably strong, and Hibari admitted that he was a reliable ally to have on the battlefield when out fighting against Voids.
Hibari didn't expect to get along with Chain. He thought that their personalities would clash, but they actually bounced off of each other's jokes quite well. Not only that, but despite his antics, Chain was awfully perceptive and showed his care for those around him in his own way which Hibari appreciated.
Hibari wouldn't necessarily say that he was friends with the dokubutsu danshi, but he would agree that he saw them in a bit more of a positive light after all those PR videos they filmed together. He was reluctant to participate at first, but because Akamune had requested it of him with such a pleading look in his eyes, the supporter decided to go along with it. He never would have thought that he would one day be bantering with toxients with a sense of lighthearted ease.
That's why Hibari didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that one of these dokubutsu danshi that he had come to personally know could be capable of murdering the branch chief.
The branch had been thrown into absolute chaos since that day. Everything had fallen onto Hibari's shoulders, and he struggled to keep himself afloat. The atmosphere in the branch was tense, but the dokubutsu danshi still expressed their concern over his well-being. To be honest, that... upset him.
He didn't know what to feel. Evidence pointed to one of the dokubutsu danshi having been the one to kill Akamune. If that was true, then Hibari didn't want to continue with this friendly relationship that they had going on. Despite being in the middle of their own way of mourning and grieving, they all tried to comfort him in their own way, but Hibari wished they didn't do that. It would make hating them all the more easier if they just left him alone rather than treat him as they did before.
When Chain made that deal with HQ, stating that one of the conditions was to have Hibari be the one to do the questioning, the supporter didn't know what to think. Why him? Why did Chain single him out? When Hibari heard of it, his first reaction was anger and frustration. He already had enough on his plate. He couldn't take any more than this.
He was only 17.
What could a 17-year-old like him do? How could he possibly take up the huge mantle that Akamune left behind? There was no way he could do the same things that the researcher he held in high esteem did. Even now, it took all of Hibari's effort just to keep the branch that Akamune built with immense love and care from falling apart.
Hibari's desk was riddled with several notes and documents. The supporter tried to go through each one, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. As he organized through the different papers, Hibari paused at a particular note. It was a small sheet with Akamune's handwriting. It contained some brainstorming ideas for PR videos that the branch chief wrote in haste. It must have gotten mixed in with everything else.
Hibari's vision blurred. He buried his face in his hands, unable to keep up his facade a second longer. The tension that had been the only thing keeping him going for days slowly left him as his body shook, and quiet sobs filled the room.
Hibari didn't want to lose anybody else. He had grown to love the Tokyo Branch and everybody in it. His mind and heart were at odds with each other. His heart cried at the idea of having to suspect the dokubutsu danshi, but a voice in his head kept trying to convince him that it was only natural to do so. Had he forgotten what happened to his family and who was responsible for it?
"Branch Chief, please... tell me... What am I supposed to do...?"
A/N: I kind of want to write similar pieces for the other dokubutsu danshi (i.e. their reactions to the Branch Chief's death), but it would end up being very funny/ ironic if one of them was actually the murderer.
Personally, I'm of the belief that they're all innocent. If anything, I'm actually still in denial that the Branch Chief is dead and think that he faked his own death or something.