Yay, more fluff! So this is the Triangulum addition, haha.

Found

There was something wrong in this new world.

She knew this after immediately stepping into the JP's building, after seeing the strange clock in the corner and the strange different feeling it had and the fact that there was a very obvious woman standing in front of them, and while their looks were similar this was not him. And if he was missing... then something was wrong. Horribly... wrong.

Hibiki wasn't the best at voicing this herself, so she looked at her best friend who kindly did it for her.

"Yamato! Are you... Are you... you're... Ahhh, you're not in, uh... drag, are you?"

She closed her eyes and burst into a small round of giggles as the very obvious woman standing in front of them made this strange grunt sound. "Yamoto? Ahh... Please enlighten me as to who you're speaking of."

"Um." Daichi coughed. "You?" Oh, poor Daichi.

"No?" When Hibiki reopened her eyes she was met with a scowl worryingly similar to Yamato's smirk if but reversed. "My name is Miyako Hotsuin, and I am chief of JP's."

Hibiki blushed a little angrily. "You're not," she muttered.

Miyako tilted her head and frowned somewhat more. It didn't intimidate the civilian in front of her and she dropped her expression. "I am."

"No." Hibiki shook her head. "You're not."

Daichi eventually stepped in front of his best friend and went, "No, uhhhh... well, obviously we're not getting anywhere with this though I must say, Miyako-chan, wow! You are cute!"

From beside them, Io winced.

"Er, um! That's not what I meant to sssaaayy..." Daichi winced then too. "I mean, ahh, Miyako-chan, y'see... Yamato Hotsuin's supposed to be chief of JP's... He looks exactly like you, but, y'know, he's not a girl. Also he's... well. He's, uhhhh... different from you."

They learned rather quickly that this "Miyako-chan" of theirs did not take kindly to talented personnel or highly skilled civilians. She preferred to shoulder all weights on her own...

and she did not know of a Yamato Hotsuin.

Or of a "Saiduq" for that matter, who had also gone off and disappeared.

There were many wrong things with this new world of theirs.

Hibiki retreated toward a much more... deadly mood as this set in. On one side... she was devastated. For another... anger—anger at Miyako for not being him, for taking his place. Finally there was... hope. Denial, really, stubbornly clinging to her heart that he couldn't be gone, now could he? That wasn't right. It... It just wasn't. She didn't need to explain herself... it felt wrong.

Miyako-chan took some getting used to. Especially after she called Hibiki and the others more or less expendable and allowed them to take refuge in the JP's quarters, but they were to no extent allowed to fight the new Septentriones... or as they were so called, the Triangulum.

At some point the silvery-haired girl made her way for Hibiki. Curious, merely. "Why was this Yamato of yours so important to you?"

"He merely... is." She didn't get along very well with Miyako.

"But may I know why? You search actively so for him, surely as much as your other friends... and while they display their concerns openly... none of them go so far as to refuse all contact with other humans. You must certainly be overworking yourself."

Hibiki narrowed your eyes. "None of your importance." It was irritating enough to look into a face so like his and only for those violet eyes to belong to a completely different person, her thoughts calculating and thoughtful like his but much more... emotionless. Where he took pride in his work, and was pleased when successful, she appeared uninterested in the lives of individual human beings. And she grew angry with them when they tried to assist her.

She wasn't very good with powerlessness. Neither of them were, it seemed. Standing up, Hibiki pulled her hood over her head and walked off to go pester somebody else, anyone else. Miyako was... annoying.

Even without the new JP's chief's grace, the lot of them managed to scrounge what information they could, and whenever they ran into one of the Triangulum there wasn't much of a reason not to defeat them, especially in times of danger, which was most every time they met one. Once they found Ronaldo, which took longer than the majority of the others, as his job as a detective had him moving constantly in search of ways to help others, it was not long after that they left JP's and took over the Nagoya branch for themselves, he in tow.

It was funny. In their first world, Ronaldo spent the majority of his time post-apocalypse attempting to overtake that branch, and there it was, and there it happened.

Eventually, finally, they met Arcturus, a foe who proved too powerful for their combined strength—and it was not long after that Fumi found—via hacking—a possible entrance to the Akasha Stratum. Where they fought Polaris. Where they won... where everything had changed and then Yamato... disappeared. And it was obvious: he had to be there. But of course.

The whole situation made Hibiki a little overly giddy. And scared, and nervous and anxious and hopeful and it hurt again, her heart, it almost couldn't take the thought of whatever it was she had coming.

Lots of hope.

Fighting, breaking in, entering. Fighting again. Demons summoned, demons returned, death, death.

It had only been days and yet... somehow it didn't feel real. Stepping up the glassy stairs that led to where all memory of the world was stored. Where they killed Polaris an entire world ago. Seeing his face, the violet eyes, his ridiculous and medal-spangled trench coat about him as he turned back to those memories... and lifted a hand... and then it all came to a halt when he saw her.

"Hibiki?"

The smile hurt when it returned. So did her heart. So did a lot of things. She was so panicked and hasty when she saw him she tripped up the steps and kept running, jumping right back up and going toward him... holding him tightly to her.

"I found you."

He paused. His breath was on her face. He seemed to be having trouble with words, when eventually, with a little laugh that drew out into a lovely sigh, he murmured, "Yes, you have."

That made it better. But what really made it better was after he met Miyako too, and when she called him "Brother" he scorned her, this girl he didn't even know who had somehow taken over his old position.

It wasn't until he returned that they beat Arcturus. Wasn't until he returned that she could feel her mood lift again. He made things better. He made her... feel better. Somehow. And yet it was because of him that she had hurt at all... It made her smile slightly.

He began to show where she went. To seek her out. To find her, and then to tell her little things sometimes, or just to hold her, just to... see her. He had such an abundance of free time after losing his position to Miyako that eventually he took to seeing her almost... wholly. They talked about things... about the Akasha Stratum, about the fate of the world, about the end of the world all over again.

That she was thankful... he was okay. That some tiny, tiny part of her she'd tried to ignore had been terrified... terrified of the possibility of where he was and why he was gone... why he had been gone for only three or so days but those three or so days were so... long.

He agreed, quietly. That made it better too.

They had a habit of trust, the two of them. And understanding. Hibiki found that important... well. Really she just found him important. So important.

He stayed unwaveringly by her in the first day of his return alone.

She'd watched him, asked him softly, "Why is this?" She smiled as she said it, and he mirrored her.

There was a contentedness upon him she hadn't seen much of before. It... suited Yamato. And it made him feel that much warmer the less amount of steps that were between them.

"Who are you to tell me I cannot spend time around the person I care about more than any other?"

Oh... oh. She blushed and lost her sight on him for a moment. Teasing her.

"I'm not." The giggle burst out and she almost regretted it, though the look on his face in turn was simply charming. "I'm just asking why me."

And then it was his turn to laugh. Slowly... gently... warmly. Oh, goodness, her face had to be a mess at this point. And this, she had thought, silently pondering the state of her emotional self, was a reaction; well, she had something in store whence he took her hand and turned her, slowly, toward him.

The violet eyes were very... kind, upon her. "There simply is no better choice." He leaned in close. Their foreheads bumped gently. "It has to be you."

It didn't take very long for everyone else to see it coming. But most noticeably so was Miyako.

"Ah," she murmured when she caught their hands entwined. "So that is why." She smirked toward her "brother", and said to him, "Yamato. When did this girl become the recipient of your affection?"

He didn't deny the implication. "Some time ago now." He watched Hibiki curiously as her gaze strayed for the solid floor, her face shadowed. Was she... embarrassed? How amusing.

"Really. And how did you become hers?" The focus shifted. Hibiki didn't want to say anything so she refrained, a bit of a smirk toying on her lips.

He formed a little smile, watching her. "It certainly didn't hurt when I stayed in the Akasha Stratum and restored her... indisposition. You did hear about her strange malfunctioning when she came too close to one of the Triangulum? I am satisfied to say that I ensured she would not be lost. For were her data to fully corrupt... well it would be quite the shame if she weren't here today."

"Yes... Yes." Miyako dipped her head. "She was rather angry with me when we first met, for I was in your place. She was... dissatisfied with me." Soft laugh. It sounded... a little sad.

"She means much to me," was his response. "I mean much to her. That is all there is." He shook his head, his small grin not quite leaving. "There are others as well. It wouldn't... be the same... without the people I am thankful to call friends. I admit that there were times in the original world where I wasn't as warmhearted as I am now. I appreciate the change."

Eventually they came to a conclusion of what to do with their world now that it was nearly destroyed. Yamato, of course, as he had done in their first world, led again. Helped plan a way to keep them all... safe.

He took her somewhere later. Not all that far from anyone else, but private enough to give them a space on their own.

"Yamato... what will you do now that your place has been filled?" Now that he's changed..? She could feel his warmth beside her... and it made her head spin just so.

A soft laugh. "That's what I came to tell you. I was thinking..." His eyes wandered as he spoke, as if he found it difficult to word it the way he needed to. "I was always so passionate about the world I grew up in, the world that I was given the power to save as a Hotsuin. If there was anything I wanted... it was to travel. I thought it might be..." He looked off. "...fun."

It sounded silly, hearing such a cute little word come out of his lips, in that warm, formal voice of his.

If anyone deserved to rest... The question had become what hadn't he done, because there weren't a lot of things Yamato Hotsuin hadn't saved in his life.

But... oh, she couldn't help it... he had been saved too, hadn't he? Said so himself to his "sister". Smiling irresistibly, she whispered, "You're not going alone... are you?"

"That's why you're here now." He managed to look into her again. His silvery hair shadowed one eye and gave the other one a glow as he smiled slowly. "I... I wanted to, ah, ask... um..." He lost his nerve again.

Oh, why pick now to become so bashful?

Giggling, she murmured, "Yes please," and then he started to laugh. First quietly, then raising his voice, he looked up and he smiled.

"Yes please indeed." After a quiet moment he took her in and held her again... and there was such a peace upon his face. "Hibiki... Will you be with me?"

Her ridiculous smile... she felt it hot on her face... and it made him laugh again, just quietly, when she looked at him.

"Mmmh..." she nodded slowly, pressing herself against him. "I... I—I mean..." Ah, no wonder he couldn't say it earlier. She struggled to nod again. "Yeah... Yes, ah... I want that."

He pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Which makes both of us."