How Far…?
Part VI
Minako awoke in the middle of the night. Expecting the warm, strong arms of Yaten to still be wrapped around her, she was extremely disappointed when she found them missing. Shifting suddenly to gain her bearings in the one room apartment she found that Yaten was no longer in the bed with her. Her head picked up to scan the room for any signs of him and that's when she saw him near his closet replacing his shirt. "What are you doing?"
"It's still early, I can sneak in and find Seiya's body." After tying his long silver hair back in his usual ponytail, leave the shorter pieces to hang along side his face, Yaten began to rummage through the various items on his dresser.
The painful memories of the previous day must have been reinstated in Minako's mind as the tears welled up in her eyes once more. The blond shook her head in an effort to hold them back, trying to put up a strong guise. "I'm coming with you." She stated bluntly.
"No." Yaten answered with the same curtness. "It will be easier if I go alone."
"I don't care, I'm coming with you. I want to see him one last time." The covers flew off the bed as Minako stood to dress herself to go out.
Yaten couldn't help but blush slightly at the sight of Minako dressing, but he quickly pushed that emotion aside and got back to his task at hand. "I don't care, you're not coming with me!" He shoved his badge and wallet into his pockets and picked up his keys.
"Oh yes I am. I remember what happened when you touched Usagi, I'm not going to let you go alone and risk that again." She stopped, slowing down her motions and coming up to look Yaten in the eye. "That was the first time I'd ever seen you shed a tear…"
Yaten studied her eyes for a moment, knowing what she said was true, but at the same time not wanting to admit it to himself. Without saying another word he turned swiftly on his heel and headed for the door… with Minako close behind him.
~@~@~@~
There were a handful of cars parked sporadically in the usually full parking lot when they arrived. Switching off the lights and taking his keys from the ignition Yaten took one more glance over at Minako. "Even if I tell you to stay here you're not going to do it are you?" Minako shook her head signaling that there was no way he was going to stop her from coming in. This sparked a smile to appear on the pale man's face. "Good, I can always trust you to be stubborn." Minako smiled back at the fact she had temporarily won this battle. Yaten leaned forward to kiss her lips one last time before exiting the car.
Long, quick strides brought the pair to the doors of the hospital. The usual hustle and bustle that went on during the busier hours of the day was silenced, and not a soul could be seen. With an air of determination, and a couple 'Mission Impossible' maneuvers, the two had managed to confiscate a freight elevator to bring them down to the depth of the building, down to the morgue.
Nothing had been spoken between the two since they had left the sanctity of the car. As the elevator doors opened they pinned themselves to the front sides of the car so they wouldn't be detected by a passerby. Still cloaked in their secrecy, Yaten made sure the coast was clear before motioning for Minako to follow him on his venture out. Yaten, having been down this route all too many times, was quite familiar with his surroundings.
Footsteps down at the far end of the hall signaled that they were not alone, most likely the coroner that was on duty. Thinking quickly, Yaten pulled Minako into a janitor's closet just across the hall from them, closed the door quickly and soundlessly behind them. Darkness flooded his senses, all he could feel in their confined space were the long, slender handles of what he believed to be mops and brooms and Minako's body pressed firmly up against his.
"Do you think they saw us?" Minako breathed in a whisper.
"No."
The silence surrounded them, and there was barely any noise filtering in from the hallway just passed the door. There was no telling how long they were going to be stuck in this closet like this, which only angered Yaten further. "You know, I'm not… I mean I don't…" Minako stuttered on her words, fumbling for just the right ones. "I'm alright if what happened between us last night was just a one time thing, I understand…"
"Not now!" Yaten hissed trying to silence her. In all actuality he had thought about that for a good portion of the night, lying beside the blond not being able to sleep as usual. What would things be like tomorrow between the two of them? Was she thinking that he needed her? Was she just using him the way he thought he was using her? At his words, he felt Minako's body immediately stiffen and felt a pang of guilt. No he wasn't using her, he had wanted that to happen, it was just terrible that it took the situation that happened to be the cause of it.
Wrapping his arm around her waist he held her tighter to himself as he kissed her forehead and whispered an apology. This single act alone seemed to suffice Minako and even through the darkness Yaten could sense her smile. The echoing of a door shutting sliced through the moment and brought their thinking back around to what they were doing. "Seiya…" Yaten whispered. "I'm coming."
Slowly and cautiously the detective opened the door to peer out into the unknown. All activity had ceased in the hallway and as he looked further down he could see through the window to the autopsy room that it was empty. Taking hold of Minako's hand, he led her out of the small, cramped closet and down towards their destination.
Having only been brought in last night, Yaten was sure that Seiya's body would still be waiting for examination… and he was right. A chill went up his spine as he walked across the cold room towards his former best friend. This feeling didn't come from the cold that surrounded him, but instead from the threads of ice he felt growing and coursing through his veins.
"You may not want to see this." Yaten warned Minako as he took a look back at her. She was biting her lip and waiting anxiously for the unveiling.
"No this is why I came… to say goodbye." Minako said, appearing as though she was fighting to keep the tears from coming once again.
Yaten turned around placing his hand on the sheet that concealed Seiya's body beneath it, he saw no reason to argue with her. Drawing in a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do, he slowly ripped back the sheet from the raven-haired man's face.
There, laid out on the stretcher, cleansed of the blood that had coated his body only hours ago, was Seiya. His face held the structure of being at peace, almost serene. His long ebony tresses were undone from their clasp and snaked their way down under his torso. He was so pale, his lips had become an unsightly shade of blue, and their extreme lack of pigment was only enhanced more by the dark locks of hair that fell over his forehead.
"Yaten?" Minako asked, her voice quivering slightly on the syllables.
"I'm fine." He answered her in a short tone, never once taking his eyes away from the body before him. "I'm fine." He repeated, more for himself than for Minako standing behind him. His thoughts were rushed and broken by the soft sobs he heard coming from his partner and he knew he had to get her out of here.
Not taking time to dwell on the moment or shock any longer, he brought his hand up over the almost pristine white forehead of Seiya. With vengeance on his mind he brought his palm down to rest of the flesh of his friend and instantly the image appeared in his head, swirled with the echoes of his mind.
His vision, clouded in around the edges with white light showed him something that he could not have foreseen, something that he could definitely not have expected. There, in a white gown, stood Usagi holding a handgun. The agonizing memories that Yaten knew were Seiya's last, screamed out in pain in his mind. Thoughts of Usagi, they were all thoughts of Usagi. The love he had felt for Usagi flooding out into Yaten's mind, the pain and misery that he had been living with from day to day added it's weight on top of the pain that Yaten already felt.
The emotions overwhelmed him once again and he could not take the agony that was torturing him any longer. Trying with all he had left in his will, Yaten ripped his hand away from Seiya's face only to find the same salty tears stinging his face once more, just as they had when he had touched Usagi.
"No…" Yaten muttered to himself. There were so many things going through his head that it was hard for him to sift through them. Usagi had killed Seiya? No, how could she?
"Yaten?"
Seiya loved Usagi? Why hadn't he ever seen this?
"Yaten?"
Usagi killed Seiya?
"Yaten!" Minako shook him trying her best to bring him back to reality. "What happened, what did you see?"
The silver-haired man's posture straightened and he looked upon Minako with wide eyes. "I saw Usagi."
"Nani?" Minako seemed just as astonished as he had been, the confusion settling in all around them.
"I saw Usagi, she shot Seiya."
"But she couldn't… I mean, it's just impossible… isn't it?"
The two stood in silence, looking back over Seiya's body laying peacefully still. No one would have suspected the torment and anguish that flowed through his mind before he died, and now Yaten doubted that he was ever going to be able to forget it. Their revere was broken shortly by the sound of the door opening. They were unaware of their surroundings at the time and had irresponsibly forgotten that they weren't supposed to be there.
"Detective Kou!" The coroner exclaimed as he entered the room to find Yaten in deep thought and a blond woman beside him weeping. "What are you doing here?"
Yaten's head snapped up, not caring any more about his 'secret mission', he looked the coroner in the face. "I was just leaving."
The coroner smiled at him briefly. "I was warned to keep an eye out for you, to not let you near your friend's body." The man stopped and closed his eyes taking in a breath. "Through all these years and as long as I've known you, I'm happy to say that I didn't see you here today."
Yaten nodded his head thankfully at the man who had just inadvertently saved his ass, and led Minako away.
~@~@~@~
Gomen about the shortness of the chapters, but as you can see it has been helping me to get them out quicker to you!! ^_^