Disclaimer:
Let's just skip the giant disclaimer you can find in Chapter 1!
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FS
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x. ENCOUNTER in VENICE x.
(new version)
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He kills with total cruel efficiency
Leaves no traces
His evil past is still a mystery
So evasive
Behind his smiling face
There beats a heart of steel
As sharp as any blade
Don't let it touch you
("Moriarty", from Holmes Sweet Holmes, by John Debney (score) and Carol Mendelsohn (lyrics))
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After Chopin…
(Saturday, November 3rd 20xx, from different points of view)
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After Chopin, they played Mozart and Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Schubert, a little bit of Ginastera and even the dreaded Liszt Mazeppa (Haruka was still studying this one). They did a four-handed improvisation which sounded like Bach had just discovered jazz—always a delightful combination. There were no talks of "Charade" again, no talks of The Starry Night (she sensed he wouldn't be able to tell her about this, and she wasn't interested in breaking their rapport now). There were no talks of Odango or Michiru either, even though Haruka briefly thought back to the moment when she caught Seiya in Michiru's dressing room—when she failed to interpret Michiru's playful grin and, instead of shaking Seiya's outstretched hand, tried to punch him. They had both been in a state of shock—Haruka because she hadn't expected Seiya to be able to react, Seiya because (in order not to wreck Michiru's dressing room, as Haruka only realized in retrospect) he had caught Haruka's fist instead of evading the blow and directing it to the mirror behind him. They both had been caught off-guard, and Haruka knew that, just as she had discovered Seiya's weak spot at this moment, Seiya had discovered hers.
Haruka's anger and hurt pride had caused her to underestimate her opponent and to overextend, to attack Seiya when one lucky move of his could have dealt a devastating blow to her. Seiya's decision had revealed a softness she hadn't expected from Anokata's child—an instinctive decision to choose kindness over his own safety, which ended with him absorbing the blow he could have evaded easily. Haruka knew that kindness wasn't always the best choice in all situations. (Jean had warned her of inappropriate kindness, knowing she could become susceptible to it until it became a weakness.) Spontaneous fits of kindness only look good in novels and films. I've made this mistake and am responsible for what happened to your mother. If we had just eliminated all the crows when we still had a chance, she would never have died. In almost all situations in real life, inappropriate kindness towards an opponent will end up killing you!
Right now, her tentative friendship with Seiya almost made Haruka weak—the flip side of this was that it had softened Seiya as well. He seemed truly happy to spend time with her, and Haruka suspected that her company might have helped him get through what would have been a miserable night.
"We have so much in common—I think you're more similar to me than Yaten or Taiki is," he sleepily remarked at dawn, while they were waiting for Michiru to fetch Haruka and him with the Ferrari, as Michiru, who had been worried about Haruka's spontaneous overnight trip, had forbidden Haruka "to drive around on the bike after a sleepless night". (Michiru had claimed that she was only worried about Haruka's safety, but Haruka wondered whether Michiru just wanted to make sure that Haruka's companion was Seiya and not a pretty girl she had picked up somewhere.) "We both love music, fighting, sports; and we've both been struggling with the show business, the celebrity cult, the burnouts…"
Seiya was standing in front of the large mirror now while Haruka was putting on her coat, as she expected the morning dew to be too much for her suit to handle. Afterwards, she idly watched him turn his head in different ways to copy her postures, alter his hairstyle to match her fringe with a side parting, and move his hands and fingers in an imitation of her habitual gestures. "We can look so similar as well, a dye or a wig will suffice to fool someone who doesn't know us," he murmured, half to her and half to himself, transfixed in his new enthusiasm for copying her.
"We don't even have to act much!" he exclaimed in awe when she, going along with the joke, dimmed the light and joined him at the mirror to copy his trademark Three-Lights'-lead-singer gesture, which consisted of holding a rose to his chest and then tossing it with a flick of the wrist while extending the arm. "With a few adjustments," she acknowledged while he completed her thoughts, "we can copy each other perfectly." He had slipped into her voice while transforming into her so thoroughly that, for a brief moment, Haruka could no longer distinguish her mirror image from his in the dim light. "It's almost creepy," she said, and he agreed. "I can be you—and you can be me!"
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Michiru, for her part…
(Saturday, November 3rd 20xx, from different points of view)
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Michiru, for her part, was certainly crept out by the amiable mood and the warm glow she hadn't expected when she fetched them from the studio, and Haruka had to put on a strict face when she reminded Seiya once again that, under no circumstances, he was to encourage hime-chan's unfortunate crush on him. "You don't have children, so you probably won't get this: but this is very, very different from any other type of love—if you hurt my princess in any shape or form, whether knowingly or unknowingly, I'm going to hunt you down and make sure that you won't be able to enjoy even one single minute of the rest of your miserable life, that is, what remains of it after I'm done with you."
Sleep-deprivation had begun to cloud her thoughts and dull her speech, but he got it, anyway.
"I know, I know," he sighed, waving at her as he walked towards his hotel, probably thinking to himself that she had returned to being a pompous ass. "And you, take care of Michiru-sama." He winked at them with a smile promising mischief. "There is no need to flirt with pretty girls at nightclubs when one has such a woman at home."
"Which girls, which nightclubs?" Michiru murmured threateningly, and Haruka only stroked her girlfriend's hair as she watched Seiya stroll past the hotel's terrace. How free and unattached he looked, as singers always looked when they had no instrument or sheet music to carry—but also how lonely and aimless, as though he had lost his life's purpose. Haruka wondered how much this would change when the Organization went down—when his parents' lives were at stake and he had to defend himself and his brothers. And yet… there was no one to protect anymore, no true weak spot in their group now that Kakyuu-san would never wake up. Haruka, on the other hand, had hime-chan to consider.
Michiru, who seemed to sense what was going on, grabbed Haruka's hand. I'm here, I'm with you, she seemed to say, but she didn't know that to Haruka, it wasn't a relief. Love was an additional burden, although Haruka had to admit that the motivation boost made a difference. Giving in to nostalgia, she wondered whether this was the last time she had met Seiya like this, in a casual setting, without the "business" part. The next time, things might change, and they would have to face each other as opponents again like they did in the beginning—this time with deadly weapons and deadly consequences.
Haruka knew that, when push came to shove, she would shoot, and he would shoot. But she didn't know who of them would win this time—she wasn't going to underestimate him again by declaring herself victorious.
Michiru put it succinctly into one sentence as she started the engine, proving her uncanny ability to help Haruka whenever Haruka felt lost: "You two are so similar, but the difference matters: you have so much to live and to fight for now while he has nothing to lose."
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Life never dealt…
(Saturday, November 3rd 20xx, from different points of view)
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Life never dealt one the cards one had expected, or at least Haruka's life seldom did Haruka this favour. Two and a half years later, as Haruka stood at her floor-to-ceiling window and stared out at the waves outside, Haruka pondered on the irony that she was seriously considering asking her enemies for help now that her allies had let her down.
A storm was brewing, the weather forecast had said. Haruka, who was wise enough to estimate what she could do and what she couldn't do, knew that she would be of no use to Haibara-san in her present mental condition—with or without the storm. Now that her initial anger had subsided, Haruka had to admit that at least Haibara-san hadn't let her down—the girl couldn't have foreseen that someone would slow down Gin and another someone would free Vodka from that cabin, thus setting two domino pieces in motion which would wreck all their plans. Haruka's nerves had already been on edge when she received Haibara-san's signal that she was able to talk. But what Haibara-san had to say when they could finally catch up only troubled Haruka even more…
I think he is injured as well although he has been hiding it. It looks like he has pulled a muscle. Besides, he told me he would be searching the galley for cookies or something else for us to snack on. Haibara-san had chuckled. Can you imagine that anyone can worry about food of all things in our situation?
Cookies, you mean biscuits? Haruka had echoed in disbelief. Have you just mentioned cookies, in the galley?
It had taken Haibara-san much too long to comprehend what Haruka meant, and the gasp and the small groan Haibara-san involuntarily gave when she tried to move reminded Haruka that the girl was injured and still in a mental fog and in pain. I'm going to stop him, Haibara-san had said, and the signal on the other line informed Haruka that their talk was over although she could still hear the sounds on Haibara-san's side, as the girl had left the microphone on.
A good detective could do plenty of damage in the time Hattori Heiji had had—he had been away for much too long! Haruka was certain that he must have discovered the "cookie box" in the galley and might already be studying its contents. Only a few minutes (and a deactivated transmitter) later, her greatest fears proved well-founded: The real Pandora's Box had been activated, the identity of the Anokata-to-be had been sent to all the highest codename members, as well as the identity of the person who was in the possession of Pandora's Box now.
All their plans were in shambles. Hattori Heiji was as good as dead unless he was pardoned by "the Boss" and accepted into the Organization. Haruka knew she could no longer save the detective as planned—but if she reacted swiftly enough, she could still save the girl.
Michiru wasn't even in the country—there was no way Haruka would have destroyed her partner's career for her schemes. Rei-chan would solve the problems if she were in the vicinity—the girl had the right mindset and the skills for the rescue mission ahead. Alas, the young miko was half a country away—bringing her here would cost Haruka more time than the rescue mission itself was allowed to take. Haruka rapidly went through the mental list of all the friends and allies she could send. Ami-chan was the only one in the immediate vicinity—she and her father were studying plein air painting at the nearby village (as the prolific portraitist and urban sketcher wanted to teach his daughter at least a little of his skills if she had already chosen his ex-wife's profession).
Ami-chan was much too thoughtful, much too slow, much too indecisive for the job… Her mind, while extremely quick, wasn't able to handle violence at all. Haruka needed someone who could react swiftly and daringly in the face of danger, who didn't let any unexpected incidents hamper their actions. She needed help from a friend who was unwaveringly ruthless against an opponent but was also kind enough, who wouldn't kill an opponent too quickly when it wasn't necessary but would still prioritize saving an ally.
Gin and the FBI were going to arrive at the ship soon, and Haruka needed someone like herself to deal with this—Haruka herself was useless in the middle of the sea. It had to be a person whose hand wouldn't tremble at a memory unlike Haruka's hand undeniably would… And thus, despite thinking that it was most twisted to ask for his help now that she had chosen the opposite side and acted according to it, Haruka dealt Seiya's number.
Seiya and his brothers, too, must have been watching Pandora's Box. Even if their parents had kept them out of this, Taiki must have hacked the Organization's accounts already. Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki were likely to be hiding in the vicinity of the Werewolf Cliff, ready to strike the moment they were needed. They were the best choice, the obvious choice to handle this—and yet to Haruka, they were the most unfortunate, the most dangerous choice as well.
Whatever—Haruka thought in frustration—sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do even if it kills you. She couldn't let Haibara-san die—her conscience wouldn't allow it. Hence she was going to handle this like the Aborigines would handle one of their Australian bush fires: If all the water you had thrown at it wasn't enough to put it out, you could only fight fire with fire.
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