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Hibiki woke up to a ray of sun streaming through the open window. She winced at the glare and covered her eyes. Ugh, my head.
Her senses slowly drew the world into focus around her. The soft chirping of birds outside. The plush, comfortable mattress beneath her. The marshmallow sheets nestling her in a cocoon of sleep. The soft rustling of the pillow under her head. Faint, fuzzy light illuminating the cracks in the hand covering her eyes. Judging by the angle of the sun’s rays, it was late morning. Probably the latest she’d slept in for a while.
Well, no wonder.
Hibiki yawned and stretched. She regretted doing so instantly; pain stabbed through her head like a lance.
“Aaaaaarmmgh.”
She dropped her arms, vision swimming. Hoo boy. That’s not a good sign.
“Hibiki?” Miku’s voice rang out from the kitchen. “Are you awake?”
Hibiki winced and covered her ears. Too loud. “Yeah. Good morning, Miku.”
There was a patter of footsteps, and Hibiki’s fiancé appeared barefoot in the doorway to their bedroom. Her wavy black hair was tied back in a man-bun, messy strands of her locks still tumbling past her face. She was wearing a cream-colored blouse and a velvety brown skirt, still slightly crinkled from the dryer. She leaned on the doorframe and smiled, just a tiny little upturned smile that beamed with more sunshine than could ever spill through the open window.
“Good morning, Hibiki.”
For a second, Hibiki was unable to respond. She simply stared, feeling her cheeks redden. You are unreasonably beautiful sometimes.
Noticing her expression, Miku frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yep!” Hibiki yelped, returning to her senses. “I’m okay, I’m-“
Another wave of nausea rolled over her and she gasped. “Ow. Okay, no. Not okay.”
Miku was by her side in an instant. “Take it easy. You were in rough shape last night.”
Last night. Hibiki pressed her palm to her forehead, trying to stem the throbbing. “Please tell me I didn’t throw up on you.”
“Just on the entrance rug.”
“What?!” Hibiki just about sat bolt upright. Vertigo instantly smacked her in the face; her arms slipped out from under her, and she collapsed back onto the bed. “Oooooooh god, mistake.”
“Hey, easy! Don’t hurt yourself!”
Hibiki moaned. “Remind me never to touch sake again.” The world was still spinning around her; she covered her eyes to quell the motion.
Miku giggled. “I always wondered what you’d look like drunk.”
“Shut up.”
“I did! I like discovering sides of you I’ve never seen before.”
Aaaaand Hibiki was blushing. Again. “You are far smoother than I deserve,” she mumbled.
The bedsprings shifted; Miku had sat down next to her. “Only because it’s your birthday. Consider it my present.”
That’s right. Her birthday. That was today now, wasn’t it? That’s why Genjirou had taken her out drinking last night: to celebrate her turning 20. Almost three years since they beat Shem-ha and seized the future with their own hands. Three years since they’d confessed their love to each other. Two years since they moved out of the Lydian dorms and found an apartment of their own. Less than a month since Miku proposed. And only another month at most before they officially tied the knot.
She was aware of how raw her face felt; It was like she’d been scrubbed with a steel wool pad. Miku must have spent so much time cleaning vomit off her. She felt her cheeks burn again. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Miku traced a finger down Hibiki’s jawline. “The rug’s replaceable.”
“Not just the rug,” Hibiki mumbled. Pieces of last night were coming back to her now, scattered details that formed a half-finished picture. One image in particular swam to the front of her mind; her lying on the ground, staring up at Miku’s anxious face. “I made you worry again.”
Miku’s finger paused on her jaw. “Only a little.”
She said it so casually, it was almost impossible to recognize how much those simple words were holding back. But even groggy as she was, Hibiki couldn’t ignore it. She’d heard this exact voice from Miku too many times before, back when they were still fighting with Song. The kind of relief that comes right at the end of a long operation, or a desperate rescue attempt, or one of far too many uncomfortably close shaves with death. The kind of relief that’s grown like a sick, wilted flower on the shrub of waiting, waiting, waiting, unable to do anything but fear.
Things had gotten better over the years. Miku’s nightmares had become less frequent, Hibiki’s dark thoughts quieter. But every once in a while, there’d come a moment where they might as well be teenagers again, fighting battles they were in no way ready to fight.
Hibiki looked up. Miku was still gazing at her, perched on the edge of the bed like a blackbird on its favorite feeder. Her turquoise eyes were bright in the sunlight, almost sparkling with sentiment. But Hibiki knew the shifts and pathways of Miku’s face like the roads of her home town. She could tell exactly what was hiding behind the faintest touch of sadness in her smile.
Clearly, drastic action needed to be taken.
“Alright,” Hibiki said, “get over here.”
“Eh?” Miku’s smile broke into confusion. “What does that- eep!”
And with then, Hibiki had grabbed Miku around the waist and yanked her down onto the bed with her. She bounced against the mattress.
“Hibiki!” Miku yelped, blushing like a tomato. “Wh-what are you-“
“That’s for being so cute.” Hibiki rolled over and straddled Miku. “And this is for taking such good care of me!”
“W-w-wait!” Miku was flailing her arms wildly. “I still haven’t showered! I smell awful!”
The flustered expression on her face only made Hibiki grin wider. “That’s alright. I like discovering sides of you I’ve never seen before.”
“Hibikiiiii!”
But Hibiki had already pounced. She buried her face in Miku’s collar and kissed her neck. She tasted the salty tang of sweat. Delicious.
“Noooooooo!” Miku writhed under her, but Hibiki wrapped an arm around her torso to hold her in place. Oh no, you’re not getting away from me this time.
Hibiki kept kissing Miku. She planted kisses moving up, up, up, past her neck, past her chin, missing her mouth completely and dancing across her cheek. She nipped and nibbled along the way, teasing Miku’s skin with her teeth. Miku kicked her legs out and made a sound somewhere between laughing and wailing. Her resistance was rapidly crumbling.
Time for the kill.
Hibiki slithered into position, and before Miku could prepare for what was about to happen, Hibiki kissed her full on the lips. She felt Miku stiffen under her, then, as if on instinct, arch her back upward, pushing into Hibiki’s kiss. She grabbed onto Hibiki’s shoulders and held her like a lifeline. Her lips parted. It was like she was trying to drink Hibiki, like she was stranded in the desert and Hibiki was the first water she’d found in days.
Hibiki was all too happy to slake her thirst.
They fell together in a tangle of limbs and sweat, kissing fiercely. Hibiki felt Miku against her, hungry and trembling, her body seeming to pull Hibiki in. She felt the tickle of Miku’s curls on her forehead, caressing her cheeks, tangling with her own hair in messy clumps. She slid a knee between Miku’s legs, pressed it up against where they met. Miku let out a moan and wrapped her arms around Hibiki, pulling her closer. Her breath was coming in short, desperate gasps, almost like she was begging Hibiki to keep up the attack.
Hibiki obliged. She bit Miku’s bottom lip and peppered it with kisses. She slid a hand up Miku’s blouse, dancing and weaving like a spider. It travelled up, up, up, sliding between fabric and skin until it curled around the rise of her bra.
“H-Hibiki…”
Miku’s whimper was a lightning bolt through Hibiki’s veins. She crept her fingers under Miku’s bra, first one finger, then two, then three, until the whole of her hand enveloped Miku’s bare breast. It was mochi in her grasp, supple and tender and yielding, welcoming her as surely as Miku welcomed her home every day. She pinched the nipple, rolled it between her fingers. Miku bucked upward in response. She ground against Hibiki’s knee. Hibiki ground against her. The lightning inside her crackled in ecstasy.
And then, at last, the lighting burst. Miku threw back her head and let out a guttural cry. She slammed her legs closed around Hibiki’s invading knee and convulsed. She heaved like a stormy sea, rising and crashing like waves, holding onto Hibiki for dear life. And Hibiki held onto her, feeling every shake and spasm like a jolt through her own body. She let it overwhelm her, let it defeat her, let it bring her to her knees just as surely as she had done to Miku. Conquest and surrender at the same time. Chaos. Jubilation. Joy.
At last the seas calmed, and the two collapsed. Miku’s face was flushed a deep red, and her chest heaving from the effort of breathing. A thin trail of drool lingered from where her and Hibiki’s lips had met. Her skirt was bunched up around her thighs, courtesy of Hibiki’s knee. Gazing at her, Hibiki was seized with the urge to dive right back in. But a twinge of nausea made her think better of it; she still wasn’t fully recovered. If she threw up on Miku now, she would never forgive herself.
“That… was… amazing,” Miku managed to wheeze out.
Hibiki grinned. “I have my moments.” Now that it was over, she could feel her own muscles start to scream with exhaustion. That was way too much physical activity for someone with a hangover. She suspected she’d be paying for it all day.
Worth it.
Miku placed a hand on her chest, calming her breathing. “But isn’t this… backwards?”
“Eh?”
Miku blushed, if possible, even deeper. “I-I mean,” she stammered, “today’s your birthday, so I should be d-doing that kind of stuff to you. It should be a present for you, not me.”
“This is a present for me, silly.”
“Huh?”
Hibiki took a long breath. The room still felt a little fuzzy around her, like it was painted with a brush two sizes too thick. But Miku was lying right next to her, sketched in meticulous detail. In a world of wooziness and imprecision, she was solidity. She was home. And she was looking at Hibiki with puzzled, bashful eyes, eyes that could still take her breath away no matter how many times she saw them.
God, if only words were enough to describe how beautiful you are.
“I’m sorry for making you so worried last night,” she said. “But you took such good care of me anyway. So today, nothing would make me happier than if you let me take care of you.”
Miku blinked in surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.” Hibiki rested a hand on Miku’s bare thigh. “It’s the least I can do for my incredible fiancée.”
For a second, Miku merely stared at her, hair still sticky with sweat. And then, miraculously, she smiled, a pure smile free of sadness. “Oh, Hibiki,” she said, “you never cease to amaze me.”
Seeing her smile, Hibiki felt ten pounds lighter. “Right back at you.”
And they kissed again. Not desperate and hungry like before, but soft and kind. A kiss that spoke in promises and self-evident truths, that could paint over even the darkest nights with the sun’s comforting rays. Hibiki had become quite accustomed to the language of kisses ever since she and Miku started officially going out, and yet she was still astounded by how perfectly they could fill the spaces words weren’t able to reach. Humanity’s ability to connect was truly something remarkable.
When they broke apart, Miku was positively beaming. “Breakfast is waiting on the table. You hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Good. Because I made your favorite.” Miku sat up, wiping her forehead off. “Though, I might need to shower again first.”
Hibiki glanced down at herself; her pajamas were soaked with sweat. She grinned sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
A wry smile crept over Miku’s face. “Weeeell, as long as you’re taking care of me today, what say we shower together?”
Hibiki licked her lips. “It would be my pleasure, milady,” she purred.
Miku stifled a giggle. “Alright, you.”
If she was being honest, Hibiki could have easily spent the whole day in bed, just drinking in Miku’s presence. But that would be lazy even for her. Besides, why stay confined to bed when there was a whole world they could share together?
At last, she put her feet on the floor and stood up. Her head gave an angry little throb, but mercifully, she held her balance. Miku stood up beside her, brushing her skirt back down. They cut an amusing picture, Hibiki mused silently, these two disheveled lovebirds reeling from intoxication of multiple kinds. She was certain there would be many more days like this ahead, days of imperfection and sloppiness and a million foolish little mistakes. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Miku took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Happy birthday, Hibiki.”
Hibiki squeezed her hand back. “Thank you, Miku.”
And as they headed off to shower together, Hibiki was certain this was going to be the best birthday she’d ever had.