getting_better

Petty old men, feisty teens, and a few skeptical adults is something he's more than capable of handling. Throw in the chances that they have psychic powers and the situation becomes easier AND harder at the same time. Won't be boring at least.

"Let him, then sit him down and give him a juice box and some string cheese." He paused for a moment, quickly profiling what age an old man would have to throw something classified as a tantrum, before continuing. "Actually that might work." A beat. "I peg him at....seventy...seventy five to eighty five years old?" Actually if she's a fugitive and she's with a guy like that, then he's probably either a fugitive too or something like that.

'Before the old man in a career where men die young' he suddenly remembers.

It's definitely going to be lively when they get back, that's for sure. It always is but would be doubly so with a new member to throw into the mix. For now though, Shiho is smiling at him as he so accurately profiles poor Hyoubu.

"Have I told you lately how much I love you? I think that pervert's been around since the dinosaurs though, he might be confused if you offer him juice in a box."

Or so she says. She'd never admit to being rather fond of and rather worried for that weird old terrorist.

He was a little confused by her response but -

"Not in the last sixteen to twenty four hours because - " He gestures to the outside. "Well, as long as the juice box shuts him - " And then it hits him, like a snowball to the face.

"PERVERT?????" Triggered. Now images of a dirty old man touching Shiho and Kaoru (mostly Shiho), lifting their skits, or asking them inappropriate questions like the color of their panties today or asking for kisses, race through his mind like an old slide show. Needless to say, it's making him a tad angry.

Screw if he's an old man, he'll tie him to his rocking chair. He's not afraid to disrespect his elders. No one harasses his fiancee, age be damned.

Shiho can't help but think that she loves him a lot, especially when he makes a very scary face. Ah, it really does make her nostalgic for home.

She should probably clear up that misunderstanding though before Hyoubu sees something and gets mad about it. A psychic fight where she could cheer for her fiancee was fun and all, but she'd probably get a long lecture about not letting Sam destroy things and spending their first day being forced to kneel on the ground in penance was no fun.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but Kaoru-chan is much more of a pervert than that old pervert."

Sorry not sorry best bud.

"I can handle him so you can just focus on me instead."

Right now he's thinking of all the horrible things he could do to an old man and categorizing them on a scale of bad to worse depending on what perverted thing said old fart did to his girl. His rage doesn't quite dissipate but he does calm down somewhat at her casual tone and assurance.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm sure you can but still..." He moves closer, arms wrapping around her waist in a loose embrace. Then much like earlier but with much much less anger but the same impact - "W-Wait, Kaoru is???" Now he wonders if his concern was directed at the wrong person.

Her husband is the worrying type, it seems! But Shiho leans into his embrace, snuggling into his chest even as her own tone is light and cheerful.

"She is, but again your job is to focus on me. I can protect myself, you know."

Also who knows what it would become if Kaoru and Sam started a no-holds-barred psychic battle on the Catastrophe!

The ship would live up to it's name if that were to happen. IF it were to happen. He wouldn't fight Kaoru, unless one of them was mind controlled - he doesn't know, he's assuming.

"I know you can, I'm just a bit surprised. I know Kaoru was a bit on the eccentric side, but...for you to say she's more perverted..." He guesses that knowledge is thanks to their history together.

'Young ladies now are-' he was thinking to himself which he quickly shut down, lest he feels his age. Or maybe feel older than his age. Now that was truly terrifying.

Psychic battles can easily take the form of life-or-death uno with them. Fights probably shouldn't break out when they were on the sea?

"You'll see soon enough, probably. But I shouldn't be talking about her while she's not here~"

Because Kaoru would get embarrassed and while she loves Sam, she's also not going to gossip about her friend while she's not here to defend herself!

This is one strange friendship, although to be fair the two of them aren't exactly your average girls.

"Well...okay. If you say so." Now that he thinks about it, he'd probably have get used to not having Shiho's attention and affection all the time. Kaoru and the rest of her friends would be around, probably eager to see her and she them, not to mention there's the whole being a fugitive thing.

"I suppose, when we get to your world, I'd have to meet your parents one day." He smiles. "I'm not gonna need a kevlar vest right?" Her dad is the commissioner and if he finds out that he did more than just think of doing something 'funny' with his daughter, he may just suddenly be on Tokyo's most wanted list. The top.

It's definitely strange, but it's very precious to Shiho all the same. After all, if Kaoru can love her despite her terrible personality, she can definitely love her best friend despite her strangeness!

Besides, in the grand scheme of things, Kaoru wasn't even the strangest one so he'd have a lot to learn and she's already decided to be there as much as she can. He might not have all her attention and affection, but at the same time he'll get attention and affection she'd never show to anyone else.

"You won't need it. Papa is actually really reasonable despite how he might look."

Also Shiho would be extremely angry at her dad if he threatened her fiance. Even if she herself can't help but blush a little as she thinks about it. They'd definitely have to keep what they'd already done a secret.

"Well, if you say so." He still thinks he should be prepared. He has seen all the overprotective habits of one mister Kimura when it came to his teenage daughter and still sincerely believes that to be the standard of dads to their daughters.

He took one more look around their apartment, smiling but a touch of melancholy in his eyes. "I guess this is it, huh?" It was more than just moving out, for him it was more. It was leaving behind his world and heading in a future filled with more uncertainty than even Prismatica could offer. It was scary and anxiety inducing, or at least it would be if Shiho wasn't there to hold him together.

"W-....We'll be okay, right?" He asks, smiling but still a touch anxious and afraid but excited for tomorrow.4

The overprotective ones he really has to worry about are probably Kaoru and Aoi, honestly. Her dad would never be able to beat her best friends to Sam if he ever did something to make Shiho cry.

She sees the apartment through his eyes, their beginnings, their memories as well as his worries for the future and in reply she gently leans into him, holding him together to the best of her ability.

"...Yeah."

A hand comes up to touch his cheek as she smiles up at him with bright eyes, "...I can't promise that nothing will be scary, and that we won't have ups and downs but I can promise that I'll be there and that we'll get through it together. Okay?"

He put a hand a top hers, leaning into her palm with a soft sigh and finding the small comfort her touch brings. There is no promise that things won't be difficult, there is no certainty that it'll be smooth sailing from here, but her words and promise were more than enough for him.

"And that's all I'll ever need." He's never believed in gods or divine beings of any kind, but he can't help but wonder if Shiho suddenly appearing on his path was the work of a god and if he'll ever get the chance to thank them.

Shiho moves her hand just enough to link their fingers together.

"Good." She doesn't really believe in divine beings either, all she really believes in is herself and her friends. And now, in him, too. Smiling she leans in to kiss him again, "...Take care of me, okay? The future Mister Sannomiya-Mercer."

He holds her hand tightly, his chest swelling with so much love and happiness that he could just burst at the seam.

Her kiss is sweet, gentle and warm. This is, truly, peace.

"Yeah. Now and forevermore. This small life, will give everything to make you happy."

Shiho knows there's definitely going to be a lot of paperwork, convincing PANDRA to take him in, convincing Hyoubu not to be a giant brat about it all, getting him situated in her world, the two of them starting on a new life together that would hopefully result in something like what they had in that vision of 10 years into the future.

And hey, without whatever Prismatica had done to their bodies here... maybe that would one day mean some little Sannomiya-Mercers running around. She smiles and kisses him again.

"And me too... I will give everything to make you happy too. Through sickness and through health, with every beat of my heart."

Is she all but giving him wedding vows right now? Yes, yes she is.

"Hey, hey, save some of that for the ceremony!"

He says with a chuckle and a gleeful smile. Between the two of them, he can't tell who's more eager to marry.

He knows there's going to be many challenges when they arrive but he's more than willing to face all of then head-on for her, bratty old men included. Nothing will stop him from giving her a life greater than that fantasy, especially if that life meant the one thing missing from that dream comes true - the one thing that would have made it perfect. A child.

He picks up the bags, smiling eagerly. "Shall we? I'm sure you're dying to see Kaoru."

Shiho laughs, tucking herself closer to him, "That won't be for a while yet though?"

But she likes the idea of a better life even than what they'd been shown in a dream. This one would be real. Her grip on his arm tightens a tiny bit as he holds onto the bags.

"That, too. But there's also Aoi-chan, you know. And I'm also dying to introduce you to them as my fiancee."

There was going to be a lot of explaining to do and probably interviews with Shiho's family, all four of them from her biological one, to her PANDRA one, to Minamoto, to her BABEL family when they finally stopped being brainwashed.

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