Hibiya had been staying at the base for several weeks already when Seto realized, with a sudden jolt, that he'd never seen him laugh.

Once he'd realized it, it was hard not to take notice of Hibiya's typical reactions to things, which generally seemed to be a mixture of getting mad, yelling, or sulking. It wasn't much of an emotional range, not even for a twelve year old. Seto was fairly sure he could remember even Kido laughing and joking around sometimes as a kid, and prior to Hibiya, she had probably been the grumpiest person he'd ever known.

But Hibiya was in a class all his own really, when it came to grumpiness. Seto was amazed that his scowl wasn't permanently etched into his face by now, what with how often it appeared in a day. The only time he saw him without it was when Hibiya slept, although then his expression was far from peaceful, his sleep punctuated with mumbling and furrowed eyebrows. Seto figured that he must have a lot of nightmares.

He got plenty of chances to think about it, because Hibiya's bed at the moment was the threadbare couch in his room. He'd complained at length about being forced to sleep on the couch (On top of being kidnapped, he'd said, ignoring Seto's sixth or seventh mild protest that he wasn't kidnapped, really, no way.)

When Hibiya slept, he tossed and turned and sometimes even cried out, waking Seto from the usual nonsensical dreams about food or work or whatever had been on tv that night. By the time he was awake enough to realize what was going on, Hibiya had usually quieted down, and Seto would wait to see if he yelled again, blinking at the darkness and trying to make out the expression on the small boy's face.

He tried not to dwell on it in the morning, and it wasn't hard to forget Hibiya's vulnerability, not with his glare and his sharp retorts that made Momo rant and Konoha slink around the kitchen like a kicked puppy. Then Hibiya rounded on him, maybe sensing his gaze, and snapped, "What are you looking at?"

Seto gave a hasty laugh, throwing up his hands in defense. "Just thinkin'! Nothing interesting."

Hibiya humphed, but spun back around to grump at Momo again, and Seto let his hands fall, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

Watching Hibiya fight with Momo, the strength of their animosity struck him all over again. He didn't understand it. The way they fought reminded him a little of Kido and Kano, but even he had to admit that Kano could be provoking and that Kido overreacted. Prior to bringing Hibiya back to the base, Momo had been nothing but kind to any of them, and she usually was nice to Hibiya until he pushed her past the point of politeness.

It was almost like Hibiya didn't want anyone to get close to him.

Out of a sense of self-destructive curiosity, Seto took it upon himself to give it a try. That evening, he plopped down on the couch next to Hibiya with a noisy sigh, folding both arms behind his head. Hibiya barely looked up.

"Sooooo…" Seto began, waiting for Hibiya to glance over at him. When this failed, he shrugged and continued, not at all daunted. "Wanna hear a joke?"

"A what?" Hibiya looked up at him, disdain and ill temper clear in his face.

It was entirely possible that Hibiya was just rude. Seto wasn't good with people, and he never had been, but he did know that an animal was at its most dangerous when cornered and provoked. It's just, it was hard to be intimidated by Hibiya.

"Well, okay, two zebras and a kazoo walk into a bar— no, wait, maybe I shouldn't tell a joke about bars—"

"I know what a bar is," Hibiya grumbled, hunkering down on the couch cushions, and Seto felt like he was fast losing control of the situation.

"Uh, I mean of course you do, it's just cause you're young— two zebras and a kazoo walk into a barn, how's that?"

Hibiya scoffed, and Seto suddenly realized the punchline didn't make sense anymore if it was a barn instead of a bar. There was a long awkward pause. Then Hibiya levered himself off the couch, said, "You done?" and then wandered into the kitchen without waiting for an answer.

Seto stared at his hands. That had been his best joke. He couldn't top that.

…

He tried, throughout dinner, to make Hibiya at least chuckle, just in case the third time was the charm. Or the seventh. Eventually, though, he just had to give up and admit it wasn't working. He wasn't good with words the way Kano was, but he wasn't even sure this was his fault; Mary laughed well enough when he relayed some story from work, and even Shintaro snorted in ill-contained amusement.

It was his turn to do the dishes, and then Mary needed something fixed in her room, and somehow it ended up being dark outside by the time everything was all sorted out for the night. Seto crept into his room, unsure if Hibiya was already asleep or not.

A murmur made him freeze, but when his eyes adjusted to the dim light of his room, he saw the other boy was fast asleep on his little bed-couch. Well, Seto wasn't planning on waking him.

He tiptoed around the room, as quiet as possible as he got ready for bed. He did his best to ignore the mumbling noises from the direction of the couch, used to the sounds by now. He'd almost forgotten Hibiya was there when he turned towards the bathroom and a sudden loud crash made him jump in surprise.

It looked like Hibiya had fallen off the couch. With a wince of sympathy, Seto crossed to his side to help him up, only freezing when he saw the light from the hall reflecting off the tears on Hibiya's face.

Hibiya knew he'd seen too. He was still half asleep, but he was awake enough to contort his face into a snarl, dragging his knuckles across his cheeks to hide the tear streaks. "Shut up," he grumbled, voice thick with tears, although Seto hadn't said anything.

Seto knelt wordlessly to help him disentangle from the blankets, surprised by how Hibiya had managed to almost knot them around himself.

"Bit more than a usual nightmare, huh?" he asked, voice gentle, and Hibiya turned his head away sharply. Seto expected him to yell, but the other boy seemed to have expended the remainder of his energy.

He set the blanket aside, wrapping an arm around Hibiya's shoulders to help him up, and was shocked to find how much smaller and fragile Hibiya felt in his arms, compared to Kano or even Mary. Hibiya didn't even shrug his arm off, and let himself be helped back onto the couch, where he sat with his knees drawn up and an expression that was impossible to read.

Seto had been thinking of Hibiya as if he was the same as them, from the way he fought with Momo and the way he held everyone at arm's length. But Hibiya really was a kid. Seto couldn't even remember what he'd been doing when he was twelve. That was after he met Mary, right? But sometime before Mom died…

For Hibiya, whatever had put him in the hospital and resulted in the loss of his friend seemed to have affected him deeply. Seto didn't know all the details; he was hardly ever home anymore, and both Kido and Kano seemed to have things they didn't want to talk about at the moment. But he'd rather have heard it from Hibiya in the first place instead of finding out from an outside source.

"D'you wanna talk about it?" he asked, after a long pause, and Hibiya shook his head instantly. "Okay."

They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the ticking of the clock in the hall. Seto's knee began to ache and he switched to sitting crosslegged next to the couch. Finally, feeling awkward and restless, he broke the silence.

"Have you tried counting sheep before bed?" he blurted, and Hibiya gave a wild gasp of laughter at the ridiculousness of it all. It was then that Seto realized he was crying again, but he still counted it as a victory. Hibiya had laughed! Now they just had to try for a happy laugh.

Unable to contain his exuberance, he thumped Hibiya on the back and felt a twinge of guilt when he almost sent the smaller boy flying.

"You'll figure it out!" he promised.

Hibiya turned his head to afix him with a baleful glare, not even bothering to hide his tears this time. "I'll kill you if you tell everyone about this," he warned, and Seto only just managed to keep a straight face at the idea of someone as tiny as Hibiya even trying something like that.

"I won't," he promised instead, with a nod, and it seemed to satisfy Hibiya at least a little bit.