“Is this better?” Tristan asked, once he'd guided a very wobbly Hibiki outside into the rather cold and damp October night. Although still a little pale, Hibiki nodded.
“I'm sorry, I didn't realise you’d had so much?” His apology was immediately waved away. Before Hibiki could respond any further, two large, Japanese men came running out of the pub. Tristan looked on a little surprised as they jogged straight towards them.
「Is everything alright, Yukimura-sama?」Hideki asked, while Kazuya stared Tristan down. Hibiki just blew a raspberry and shooed them both away like they were stray cats begging for treats. Kazuya seemed opposed to it, but Hideki just tapped him on the shoulder and took him with a few yards away to the other side of the entrance. Once there, Kazuya lit up a smoke, sharing a few inaudible words with Hideki who shrugged.
As he looked at the two men, Tristan heard familiar giggling beside him, and felt a light thud against his shoulder.
“You really had too much didn't you?” He asked, a bit concerned, perhaps feeling guilty as well, since he'd been in part responsible. Hibiki just nodded and very carefully and deliberately typed a response through his dizziness.

'Parents will be mad.’

“I'm sorry, will you be fine though?”
Hibiki let out a soft groan and made another spinning gesture with his hand. Tristan could feel his weight shift, whenever he tried to stand up without much success.

'Can I tell a sevret?’

Hibiki looked up at him with a drunken, mischievous grin, as every drop of alcohol had set in with its full weight. Cautiously curious, Tristan nodded, and Hibiki set to a frustrated and dazed bout of typing.

'I'm not allowed to drink. Only 17.’

“What?” Tristan said, feeling rather irresponsible that he hadn't caught on, even if he knew it wasn't his fault, and it wasn't a huge law to break. Hibiki just devolved into giggles and nodded at his surprised response.
“When are you going to be eighteen?” Tristan asked, hoping the answer would be a few days so he could feel a bit better about it.

‘11-6’

“Next year?!” He had to do his best not to say it so loud everyone could hear, but Hibiki looked up at him confused and shook his head, holding up his phone again as if that would make it any clearer. Tristan frowned slightly.
“November… sixth? So next month?” He asked, and he felt a little relieved when Hibiki nodded against his arm. “You're really young.” Immediately he was answered with a loud huff, and had a middle finger raised towards him. Somewhat taken aback, he mumbled a quiet 'sorry’ back. Only for Hibiki to nod and type rather frustrated.

'Too young for fun. No booze, no driving, no porn. Only studying.’

“What's wrong with that? I don't do any of that…” Tristan said back, and Hibiki immediately looked up surprised.
“I don't drink, and I don't have a driver's license yet.” He was careful to avoid that one other topic mentioned, since he felt that out on the street with a drunk teenager leaning against him wasn't the best place for that discussion. Hibiki thought otherwise.

'No porn?’

Tristan tried not to blush, but to no avail.
“I'd rather not talk about that here.” He ignored Hibiki looking up at him with a wide, impish grin.

‘I bet your into something dirty.’

Before Tristan could respond, Hibiki got another giggling fit, clearly finding the whole thing hilarious. Resigning to his fate, Tristan took the moment to check the time. Seeing it was still thirty minutes before Hibiki's alleged ride would show up, he looked around for a place that wasn't standing out on the busy pavement.
“There's a small park past that alley, if you'd like to wait somewhere quieter?” Although he figured that with how drunk Hibiki was quiet would be nice for him too, he personally wanted an excuse to get away from the crowd, since he'd spent the past three hours surrounded by noise. Hibiki nodded, and he helped him walk in a straight line toward that park.

On more than one occasion Tristan had to catch Hibiki, as he veered off a bit too heavily. It was always followed by heavy giggles, and a few times Hibiki leant against him for support perhaps a bit too close for comfort. Finally Tristan managed to drop Hibiki down onto a green park bench under a pale white park lantern. The air here was even cooler than it had been outside the pub, and a soft white mist started to obscured the vision from about thirty yards onwards. Certainly it was more quiet and private – if it weren't for two distinct, large figures that had followed and now hung around an old stone wall that marked the entrance to the park. One was smoking a cigarette.
Tristan leant in to Hibiki, and held up a hand to whisper at him without being seen.
“Those aren't your cousins, are they?”
He saw Hibiki blink a little surprised, looking at him a bit puzzled before nodding slightly.
“They don't look anything like you, and you're wearing a Cartier watch.” He pointed out the expensive, brand new watch.
Hibiki immediately looked at the watch around his wrist and sighed, fumbling with it a little before taking it off and putting it in his pocket.
“I didn't mean anything with that, sorry…” Tristan said quickly as he saw Hibiki put the watch away a bit agitated, afraid he'd offended him in some way. Instead Hibiki just shook his head and leant against the wooden back of the bench, staring up into the misty nothingness as he tried to clear his head with the cool air.
“It's nothing, there are plenty of rich people here.” Tristan said, aware that he couldn't even place himself as anything but solid middle class. Silence fell for a little while as Hibiki typed.

'I don't want to be judged like that.’

“I'm sorry.” Tristan apologised again, afraid he'd done something wrong by pointing out the secret in plain sight. Perhaps I should've played along? 

Once more Hibiki shook his head, this time leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees as he took a while typing and correcting his words.

‘Appearance is everything, and money buys appearance. In my family you have to show it, flaunt it, breathe it. I don't want to be judged for money, but for who I am. All anyone ever sees is the bodyguards and the brand names, but it says nothing about me.’

“I didn't mean it like that, you're obviously a nice person. But I, noticed?”
Hibiki smiled genuinely – albeit fuzzy from the alcohol. He laid one finger against his lips, asking Tristan not to tell.
“I won’t say a thing.” He smiled back. “And I’m sure the rest wouldn’t mind either way? They seemed fond of you.”
Hibiki grinned, and pointed up at himself, before typing again.

‘Cant not like this.’

A soft chuckle escaped Tristan, before he shook his head still smiling.
“You’ve got charm.”

For a little while a silence fell, broken occasionally by Hibiki’s soft giggles over seemingly thin air.
“Hey?” Hibiki immediately looked up at him and smiled. “Why are you so happy?” Tristan asked, genuinely curious as to where the bubbliness came from.
At first Hibiki shrugged, giggling again, but then he set to typing and his expression turned a little more serious.

‘Because I met you.’

Tristan looked at him a bit surprised, not sure whether he should be flattered, or concerned that Hibiki really was too drunk to think straight. He decided to smile it off.
“I’m not special enough to warrant that.”
But Hibiki shook his head, not willing to hear Tristan downplay himself.

‘You include me, even if I can’t talk. I thought I’ll be lonely, but now I have friends. Thats special right?’

“Is it really that bad?” Tristan asked, as he watched Hibiki pull his legs up onto the bench and hold them with one arm. He shrugged a little as an answer.

‘People are nice, but easy to get isolated.’

“Well, I hope you had fun tonight. I don't mind being friends.” Tristan said with a wide, sympathetic smile. Hibiki smiled back, nodding along happily and enthusiastic.
For a short moment he tried to type out something on his phone, but then appeared to get frustrated. With an annoyed puff, Hibiki grabbed his phone from his knees, and put his legs down again – only to go in for a hug. It surprised Tristan a little, and although he stiffened up, he didn't pull away. The first thing he noticed was the warmth and weight. The sensation of clothes pressed against him and shifting each time Hibiki shifted. There was the distinct warm smell of alcohol, which he didn't quite like as it reminded him how unpredictable it could make people. His heartbeat thumped loudly, confused by the whole situation. It overwhelmed him.
Is it really that bad… are you just drunk? Should I hug back? Say something? Er… what about them… in his confusion he looked up towards where the two large men had been, and he still saw them there, simply watching. He could feel his blood rush to his cheeks as he had no clue what to do or what they would think. And then Hibiki let go again, after what couldn't have been more than seconds, but had felt like centuries.
He looked down at him expecting to find answers, but instead he was met with the sight of a very happy, Japanese student. How did I even get in this situation? Unable to utter a word, he just watched as Hibiki let out what had to be the thousandth drunken, bubbly giggle of that night. Somehow, now he could see it in clear light right before him he came to a realisation he wasn't sure he wanted to have. Fuck, that's cute… 

Once more he felt the blood rush to his cheeks, but for different reasons. Part of him felt bad for even feeling such a way, wondering if Hibiki wasn't just putting up an act – but his more rational, forgiving side figured that nobody could genuinely fake such happiness all evening long. Are you really that happy to be my friend?

A soft buzz of Hibiki's phone was his saving grace, just as he'd been about to say something. Instead Hibiki checked his phone, read the message written in Japanese, and smiled. He got up and pointed at the road, not wasting time on typing out a response as he figured Tristan would be able to get his intent.
“Did your ride home arrive?” Tristan asked as he stood up and walked along, ready to make sure Hibiki wouldn't accidentally stumble into a hedge.
“Wait, are your parents picking you up?” He asked quickly realising that if that were the case, he'd have to explain to some rich Japanese family why their son was drunk. Instead Hibiki shook his head; something he immediately regretted, and Tristan had to grab his shoulders as he felt the world spin every which way. Still it made Tristan feel a little relieved he wouldn't have to deal with angry parents.
As they passed Kazuya and Hideki, he tried his best not to make eye contact. Instead he pretended that they didn't exist, in the hopes that they would pretend they had never seen him or that moment. Of course he was aware that was idle hope, but it felt better not to be directly confronted with whatever their judgement would be.