Hello again! Once more thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I still do not own any of these characters!
No Need For Kiyone and Mihoshi:
Chapter 3:
Kiyone sat down on the cold dark street in a state of shock and disbelief. "This can't be happening..." She murmured in denial. Yet it was happening. She had just literally witnessed her own life end in a flash before her eyes. And now her guide was telling her that things were going to get worse...?
"How could this get any worse?" She asked her guide in despair.
"This is but the first ripple in the pond, detective. Consider the lives of those around you..." The woman said as the orb glowed once more. They returned to the scene at the bank in time to see Mihoshi confronting a very pale and nervous young officer.
"And just what were you doing back there detective!" She demanded. "Someday you just may have a partner who is counting on you to be there!
"You had better hurry up and get it together lady because the bad guys don't give a damn if you're ready or not!"
"Y..Yes Ma'am!" The young officer stammered out.
Mihoshi let out a sigh and opened the driver's door of the rammed hovercar. She reached over and opened the other door for her partner, who dejectedly got in. For the first time ; however, Mihoshi let out a small smile. Strangely to Kiyone, it looked more like an expression that belonged on her own face, rather than that of her exuberant and carefree partner.
"I will say one thing." Mihoshi told her young partner. "I should have used Mitsuki's car for this..."
"Don't worry." Kiyone's companion said as Kiyone's eyes followed the battered hovercar as it pulled out. "Mihoshi can be rough sometimes, but she always remembers the patience you always had with her... She'll just tell her partner to go home and not to worry about it."
Patience? Kiyone thought shame faced as she considered how she had yelled at Mihoshi earlier. Yeah... I'm a real saint...
"Come. There is still much to see."
"Wait!" Kiyone said. "Wait..." She repeated as her guide lowered her staff and looked at her.
"Please... Who are you? Is there a name I can call you...?" Kiyone asked as she felt more alone now than she ever had before. "Please..."
Her guide's expression softened in sympathy. "Call me 'Trista' " She said in understanding.
"Now." She said. "You need to see where your partner's life has gone." Trista said as she raised her staff once more.
They appeared in a sparsely furnished, very spartan looking apartment. One thing that struck Kiyone was how bare it all looked.
"This is where Mihoshi lives now." Trista informed her.
"It's so empty in here." Kiyone commented. So barren... Where are her pictures...? The clutter...? That silly monkey clock she has...?
"In a very real sense, the Mihoshi you remember died with you on that street that night." Trista said. "She's never forgiven herself that she wasn't there when you needed her...
"Have you noticed...?" She continued. "There is only one picture in this apartment." Trista told her and pointed to Mihoshi's dresser. On it was a picture of Kiyone... Not Mihoshi and Kiyone, but just Kiyone.
"She came very close to quitting the Galaxy Police after you died, but she felt that if she ran away like that, it would be like betraying you all over again.
"On that night, she knew that you were right. She did need to study harder... But if she had been a better officer, she wouldn't have needed to be at the apartment that night. She would have been there for you... Or at least died there as well like she should have."
"That's crazy!" Kiyone exclaimed. "There's no way she could have known what was going to happen! I can't believe she could blame herself for that!"
"All she knows is that she wasn't there when you needed her and it's been destroying her bit by bit for three years now.
"You see... In her eyes, that carefree woman you remember is the one who was responsible for your death, so she's been doing her best to erase that person completely. This job is all she has now. In her mind, she knows that she can never be as good a cop as you were, but she has to keep going. So she goes out and pushes as hard as she can, fighting the battle because it's all she has. And she'll keep fighting until it destroys her completely.
Oh God! What have I done...? Kiyone cried in her mind.
To Be Continued: