It all started that moment Mai had been scared, horribly, desperately scared and in need of comfort. It started with tears and a smile.
They had been rowing into a cave that housed a shrine, that was supposedly cursed, though no actual proof had been found.
As the S.P.R team rowed in, suddenly Mai had begun hallucinating, that every one was killed, and the others heard her screams mingle with the ones that came from deep within the cave.
She had searched for a hand to hold after she had woken up, and Takigawa, being Takigawa, had been sitting next to her while she hallucinated, had been wrapping her in his arms to prevent her from hurting herself, trying to calm her as she sobbed uncontrollably.
She searched for a hand, and found his; a smooth, warm and comforting hand that closed around hers automatically, and suddenly the tears stopped; he looked at her, a warm blush spreading to his face as did hers, and he smiled; a genuine smile, as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs, as he would in a few weeks, only it would be under less than favourable circumstances.
Then, at the high school where accidents were regular occurances, Naru told them he had to kill all of the students who accidentally participated in the murder curse.
Mai had been shocked at first, and then overrun with hatred and sorrow, and Takigawa had to restrain her, wrap his arms around her once again, making sure she didn't attack the other man.
He had to carry her out later, as she rushed back in and tried to persuade the Chinese assistant to stop, tried to get him to spare unnecessary lives- but Naru instructed the monk to remove her, to stop distracting Lin.
He chased her down the hallway as she tore from his grasp, and managed to jump over a railing in front of her, and she willingly barrelled into his arms, and he gently lowered her to the ground as she sobbed in his arms, he cleared her tears away and cupped both her cheeks with his hands, and she held one of them as tears dripped on her skirt. He wrapped his large frame around her, until the sobs subsided into small gasps of air, and he smiled, so she did back, warmed by her sunlight.
Takigawa had been laying in those white sheets, pure and clean like his soul, though the bandages were soaked with red pain, the remainder of taking on a god.
She had been the last to come in, and he saw her eyes filled with pain he knew he had inadvertently caused.
She sat down next to him, gently holding his gaze as he took her hand.
It was a farewell gesture, trying to tell her that they couldn't keep on doing this.
Tears ran down both their faces, as they agreed to the decision, knowing that it would end so much longing and trouble.
They shared their first and last kiss.
Longing, anger, love, fear, hate, all swirled into a single embrace that both remembered.
It ended, that moment Mai had been scared, horribly, desperately scared and in need of comfort. It ended with tears and a smile.