-Taiki-
They were standing in the elevator, riding down in a tense silence, while Kakayuu's father examined Haruka's injuries.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Kakyuu asked Professor Takumi Abe, an older man of average height, a stern face and kind eyes.
"I had a feeling that my girl needs me and that it is probably best to take the lead here." He answered her calmly as he examined Haruka's ribs.
"Haruka has internal injuries but you need to be careful, her viral count is through the roof and…" Kakyuu started her report.
"Taiki gave me access to your office. I read your file on her." Professor Abe interjected while kept his calm.
"Is the operating theatre prepped?" Kakyuu asked Taiki urgently.
"Yes." Taiki answered promptly.
"Just start the surgery without me, I will scrub down and join you any minute. We have no time to lose." Kakyuu told her father.
"No. I am going to perform the surgery and you go and rest. You are only of use if you can perform in your top form, not like this." Takumi insisted.
"But dad, you will need assistance." Kakyuu protested.
"I brought my second best student with me." Takumi informed her in his unwavering calm.
"DAD, why did you not bring your best one?!" Kakyuu asked him shocked.
"Because she is already here and she needs rest" Takumi explained before he kissed his daughter on the forehead.
They arrived on the clinic floor and Kakashi pushed Haruka into the operating theatre with Taiki, where another doctor was already standing ready to prepare Haruka for surgery. Professor Abe swiftly scrubbed again before joining the waiting doctor and they started the surgery.
Taiki went quickly to the kitchen before he sat down on the couch, outside of the operating theatre, next to Kakyuu, who looked positively beat.
"Where is Kakashi?" He asked her.
"He said that he had to do something and that we have to keep him updated." Kakyuu told him tired. "I don't know how Haruka deals with these side effects of the booster." Kakyuu sighed, as he rested her head in her hands.
"She just does. Here take this, it helps with the nausea." Taiki passed her a cup of tea.
"What's in there?" Kakyuu asked curiously.
"Chamomile, mint and a bit of ginger. It usually helps Haruka when she overdosed on boosters." Taiki explained.
They sat silently, watching the two other men working on the other side of the glass panel.
"Is this how you feel when you have watch me treat Haruka?" Kakyuu asked him, after some time of contemplative and helpless silence, as she slowly sipped on the tea.
"Yes." Taiki confirmed.
"It sucks." Kakyuu stated slightly frustrated.
"Yes, it does." He agreed.
-Seiya-
They arrived back at the Tenoh tower and Hotaru swiftly rushed towards the elevator.
Riding in complete silence, everyone seemed to just focus on getting to the clinic floor without delay.
When they arrived, they found Kakyuu exhausted and asleep, leaning on Taiki's shoulder. Her hands and clothes were still covered in Haruka's blood and the tall brunette signalled to them to approach quietly.
"Is Kakyuu-nee hurt?" Hotaru whispered her question to Taiki with a concerned look on her face.
He shook his head and signalled for her to sit down next to him.
"Haruka-papa is at the moment not very well; she won't be able to play with you for a while. Do you want Seiya to drive you back to your uncle and aunt?" He whispered into the little girl's ear.
Hotaru shook her head sadly. "I want to be here for Haruka-papa." She insisted as she sat there, looking down on the floor.
"Hotaru-chan, where is your phone?" Seiya asked her and the little girl pointed at her teddy bear's belly.
"Taiki, you will call Hotaru as soon as she can see Haruka, right?" Seiya asked Taiki.
"Of course." Taiki confirmed.
"Good, now that we have that cleared, I need help with picking up dinner from Yamaguchi-obaa-san. Will you come with me, to help me, Hotaru-chan?" Seiya asked Hotaru. "Will you pick up dinner for Haruka with me?" Seiya added.
Hotaru looked like she would hesitate first but when Haruka's name fell, she nodded enthusiastically and moved towards him.
"You can stay here and wait, if you like, Michiru." Seiya informed the silent woman beside him, who had her gaze affixed to the happenings inside of the operating theatre.
She barely nodded before she sat down where Hotaru sat before.
Seiya picked Hotaru and her teddy bear up before he moved towards the elevators again and they took the elevator down to the carts that were connected to the Yamaguchi's.
-Kakyuu-
Kakyuu suddenly woke up again and was wide awake.
"How long did I sleep?" She asked Taiki, who was sitting next to her.
"About 45 minutes." He replied calmly.
"How many units of Haruka's banked blood is left?" She asked him as she looked into the operating theatre.
"Maybe six of twelve." Taiki said deep in thought.
"I am going in." Kakyuu said determined.
"I know; scrubs are ready for you in the showers." Taiki informed her evenly.
Just then, Kakyuu noticed Michiru sitting next to Taiki, with concern edged on her face.
"Nothing is lost yet." Kakyuu said reassuring before she went to the shower.
She cleaned up thoroughly, to be sure not to be carrying anything that could harm Haruka in her weakened state into the operating theatre and changed into the clothes that were laid out for her.
Standing opposite to her father she addressed the other doctor standing beside her.
"Chiba, move aside and concentrate on the blood supply and anaesthetics." She told him firmly.
He only nodded tired but grateful and stepped out of her way.
She looked onto the displays and noted that Haruka was still critically unstable.
"Dad, we only have six more units of blood left." She informed him.
Her father nodded calmly, but Kakyuu noticed the apprehension in his eyes as she wiped the sweat off his forehead.
-Michiru-
Haruka had been now in the surgery for over six hours and it didn't look like she was getting out any time soon. After Kakyuu had gone inside, the operation theatre seemed to have been even more industriously, when both father and daughter were busy stitching Haruka's ruptured vessels and injuries.
Michiru's thoughts kept circling back to the last conversations she had with Haruka and how Michiru, who was usually extremely observant, seemed to have missed the most important issue, that Haruka was in a critical condition this whole time. She thought back over and over again and wondered how she could have missed something so crucial and why Haruka hadn't told her. But then she remembered the tone of their last conversation. The cold bitterness and harshness that was exchanged between them with every word. Michiru realised that there was absolutely no reason for Haruka to share with her anything intimate to start off with. Haruka had distanced herself from Michiru before the violinist had even reached the surface of the blonde and now it might be too late to remedy that.
-Minako-
Setsuna had driven Minako, with all the collected evidence, to the Tenoh tower and had dropped her off.
It had been agreed on that, for now, everyone, except for Michiru and her, would return to their regular duties and that, officially, Michiru and Minako were on a classified mission with Kakashi.
Tired, she took the elevator and was briefly tempted to press the button for the clinic floor. She knew that there was nothing she could do for Haruka, but she needed to know how the blonde was fairing.
Giving into temptation, she pressed the button.
When she arrived, Michiru and Taiki were sitting silently in front of the operating theatre and were staring spellbound inside of it.
"How is she doing?" Minako asked them.
"Still unstable." Was Taiki's short answer. "What do you have there?" He asked her in return as he looked at her bag.
"The recordings of E2." Minako answered.
"So here you are. You better evaluate them fast. Maybe we find clues for the real mastermind behind this mess in there." Kakashi said calmly as he exited the elevator.
"I thought Ayumi pulled all the strings…." Minako replied hesitantly.
"There is no way she could have done all that on her own." Kakashi sated sternly. "Let's go to the viewing room now." Kakashi dragged her back to the elevators.
-Michiru-
Michiru had joined Kakashi and Minako, in going to the viewing room, since Taiki insisted that it would be the most efficient thing to do, if only he stayed back to take care of the three doctors needs, while all further resources would be spent on finding the source of this chaos.
Reaching the communal space, they encountered Seiya sitting with Yumi and Shinobu, one of her servants, sitting at the dining table with Hotaru deep asleep in Yumi's arms. It had been a long and stressful day for the little girl and exhaustion must have finally caught up with Hotaru.
"Seiya, set up the viewing room for me. There is material we need to go through." Kakashi instructed Seiya.
Seiya nodded and got up promptly to do as he was told. Minako followed him close behind.
"Yumi are you staying over?" Kakashi asked Yumi evenly.
"Yea, I think I will do that for tonight, for Hotaru. The Tomoe estate is still being cleaned anyway." Yumi replied as she caressed the sleeping girl's back.
"Have any sleeping quarters been prepared for you yet?" Kakashi asked further.
"Yes, Seiya and Yaten have made arrangements for us. I think we will retreat there as soon as I am sure Hotaru is deep enough asleep to move." Yumi informed him.
"Good." Kakashi nodded. "I wish you a good night then, in case that I don't get to see you again this evening." Kakashi ruffled Hotaru's hair before he went to the viewing room.
"Good night to you, too, Kakashi-ji" Yumi nodded.
Michiru noticed their familiarity and lack of the usual formalities, as she went ahead of Kakashi into the viewing room and wondered how intertwined Kakashi and Haruka were with the underworld.
Inside, Minako passed Seiya the recordings as he started to turn on their equipment.
"There is fresh Udon with Pork Katsu in the kitchen." Seiya informed them while he waited for the system to boot.
"I am not hungry." Minako told him.
"Our last meals were this morning when the sun rose, look outside, the sun is setting. I have already eaten with the others and I feel much better now. You might not feel hungry, but your body needs fuel to function. I still need a minute here anyway. Get some food and make Kakashi-ji a bowl, too. Besides his involuntary nap, he hasn't eaten or slept properly in the last three days." Seiya said evenly.
"How do you know that Seiya?" Michiru asked him.
"I was keeping an eye on him for Haruka during his stay at the Onsen." Seiya explained.
Minako and Michiru gave in as Kakashi entered the room and went to the kitchen to get food, for themselves as well as some for Kakashi, before they re-joined Kakashi and Seiya in the media room.
"The recording is over six hours long. I hope Haruka didn't get her ass handed to her the whole six hours." Seiya noted.
"Well, we will see." Kakashi said, as he appreciatively nodded to Minako, as she handed him the bowl with the hot food and chopsticks.
They all sat back and watched Haruka being carried in by Ayumi alone.
"Never realised that twerp was that strong." Seiya said impressed.
"She made a new muscle strength improving serum which hasn't been tested on humans though." Kakashi said between slurping his Udon.
"If you ask me, that stuff works miracles. I remember Haruka always whining when she had to work with her, how she had to pick up too much slack on top of her usual load." Seiya remembered.
The unconscious Haruka was chained to the chair by her feet and her hands were chained behind her back and the chair's back rest by Ayumi before she sat down opposite to the blonde.
It took Haruka a couple of minutes to regain her consciousness but when she did, she seemed to have not lost the edge of her friskiness.
At the mention of SpongeBob and baby oil, Seiya laughed and even Kakashi had to chuckle.
Minako just shook her head. "Even in the face of death, Haruka can't refrain from making innuendos." Minako sighed.
"Well, that will make the next six hours pass a lot faster than the other boring interrogation videos that the agency uses as training material." Seiya chuckled.
Suddenly Haruka got struck hard across the face and blood was trickling down her lip.
Michiru nearly dropped her chopsticks as anger flared within her.
The whole room went quiet and listened closely to what the two were talking about.
"Not so smart Ayumi, I probably already have a concussion and you as a medic should know that THAT won't help jogging my memory." Haruka had said with an absolute arrogant and unapologetic smirk plastered across her face, that it surprised no one that Ayumi was pissed at Haruka.
"You know, Haruka, I have been watching you for a long time. You have always been a hopeless skirt chaser and no girl in the agency was safe from your advances. All except me." Ayumi had said bitterly through gritted teeth.
"Yep, that sounds like something Haruka would do." Minako sighed.
"Well, Haruka has standards and if you don't meet them, then so be it. How is it her fault that Ayumi was not her type? As you can see, psycho is a hard type to like." Seiya jumped to Haruka's defence. "It is not as if she ignored Ayumi's entire existence." Seiya shrugged.
"Are you telling me that this was all because of some grudge from days long past?" Michiru said incredulously.
"Hell have no fury like a woman scorned." Seiya smirked.
They watched Haruka antagonising Ayumi further until the little woman lifted a table and slammed it against the concrete wall.
"If that is how strong she was; I don't want to know what sort of concussion Haruka suffered from that slap." Seiya commented with a cringe.
After a further exchange of words and death threats, Ayumi left the room, leaving Haruka alone, who seemingly did nothing but to stretch herself the best she could, to get comfortable in her chair.
"Why isn't she trying to escape?" Minako wondered.
"She needed to get her bearings first. Escape, without knowing where from and where to, is pointless." Kakashi pointed out.
Ayumi came back, still angry and screaming allegations of abandoning her on their last mission.
"You and your brother always prided yourself to leave no one behind. Guess what, you killed your brother and you left me behind!" Ayumi screamed at Haruka.
"You deserved it." Haruka said unapologetically. "You were the worst spotter in entire history of the agency. You didn't even notice me sneaking up on you and knocking you out. What was the point of having you around when you were just a damn burden on all of us the whole time? I rejected you the first three times you applied to our training program and I would reject you another 100 times again, even if you were the last agent I had to work with. I only ever took you along the first time around because you were the only medic available and even though you weren't even actively involved in the mission, you caused us extra hassle by getting caught and us having to rescue your sorry ass. Haruto insisted taking you along that second time, only because you wanted to come along as his fiancé. And? What did you do? NOTHING, except getting in the way. What did taking you along get us into besides being prematurely detected and having to deviate from the original plan? Absolutely nothing. That is why I had to kill my brother. He had to learn the consequences of his choices and I am glad you got to see it all as long as it got you off my back." Haruka had said coldly and without hesitation.
Michiru held her breath at that news. 'Did Haruka really do that just to make a point?' she thought to herself.
"So you value those three monkeys, who are your new lackeys now, more than your own brother, your own flesh and blood? You killed your brother just to get them out of that black OP?" Ayumi had screamed at Haruka bewildered.
"Yes." Had the blonde's firm and curt answer been.
Seiya was awfully quiet. His usual nonchalant demeanour was gone and he was gritting his teeth.
Ayumi was seen to be leaving the room again and Minako took the opportunity to ask Seiya the questions that were also burning on Michiru's mind.
"Did Haruka really leave Ayumi behind?" Minako asked him timidly.
"Technically she didn't, she called me to pick her up at an agreed spot, which I did." Kakashi answered for Seiya.
"And did Haruka really kill Haruto?" Minako asked even more timid as if she was scared to learn the answer to it.
Michiru knew the answer to it and now she also knew the true reason. And it made her sick to her stomach.
She watched Seiya closely and he just nodded silently without averting his eyes from the screen, keeping his gaze affixed on Haruka.
"Seiya, don't you want to explain them the truth?" Kakashi asked him.
"What is there to explain? Ayumi was a pain and a burden. And to complete the mission successfully and get out alive, we needed to get rid of her without her asking too many questions." He elaborated indifferent.
"I meant about the real reason why Haruka was there in the first place." Kakashi said evenly.
"Shouldn't you do that? Your predecessor made the call after all." Seiya responded coldly.
"Haruka and Haruto were on an unsanctioned mission, to get the boys out after the organisation they infiltrated got tipped off by an anonymous source of their presence." Kakashi explained. "Haruka had pleaded with my predecessor to let them go but he insisted that it wasn't worth the time and effort and that he would not use any resources on a hopeless rescue mission." Kakashi continued.
"Why would they go in without permission and backup? That would lead to disciplinary actions." Michiru asked.
"Because a Tenoh leaves no one behind." Minako said quietly.
Just in that moment Taiki entered the viewing room.
-Kakyuu-
Finally, Haruka was stabilised and completely stitched up.
Exhausted Kakyuu washed her hands and changed out of her blood and sweat soaked scrubs into fresh ones.
Her father had already taken Haruka into the special climate controlled recovery room and was taking the first shift in watching Haruka during the next four hours. Tired but unable to sleep, thanks to the booster shot, she decided to go to the roof to enjoy the cool night air.
When she arrived, someone else was already up there standing at the glass railing, looking over Tokyo.
"It is strange to see you in something else than a Kimono or a Yukata." Kakyuu commented as she walked up to the other person and stood next her.
"It is hard to fly a helicopter in those, besides, I only wear them for tea ceremonies and for Haruka." Yumi chuckled.
"For Haruka?" Kakyuu was surprised. "She doesn't strike me like someone who gives much thought to traditional clothing." Kakyuu chuckled.
"She doesn't, but she enjoys opening presents." Yumi smirked.
"Oh, of course. Now I will never be able to look at those clothes the same way anymore." Kakyuu shook her head laughing.
"Speaking of Haruka, how is she?" Yumi asked evenly.
"Stable, for now anyway. I take it you brought my father here." Kakyuu answered.
"I might have." Yumi answered noncommittally.
"How did you know where find us?" Kakyuu asked Yumi, as she watched Tokyo's skyline by night.
"The same way I knew that you wouldn't have enough time to get back by car and that you might need your father's help." Yumi stated evenly.
Kakyuu didn't dare to think what ways and how many of them were used to procure the relevant information and considering Yumi's calm, there would be no point in looking for answers, since there will be no evidence found anyway.
"I knew I could count on you when it comes to Haruka." Kakyuu chuckled. "Where is your usual shadow?" Kakyuu noted as they stood alone on the roof.
"Shinobu is looking after Hotaru while she is sleeping." Yumi explained and Kakyuu nodded.
"Will you be staying long?" Kakyuu asked.
"No, I will be returning by sunrise. I still have to look after my tea house." Yumi said distantly.
"Want to come down and see her before you go?" Kakyuu suggested.
"Yes." Yumi accepted the offer.
They stood in contemplative silence until the first light revealed itself on the horizon before they silently went to the elevator and down to the clinic.
Kakyuu watched Yumi standing unreadable at the glass panel of the window to Haruka's room. Pain and relief could be seen reflected in her eyes, yet nothing in her demeanour and body language gave away any of the emotions that went through the other woman's mind.
"I think I will visit her tonight again, if that is alright with you." Yumi said quietly.
"Please do." Kakyuu nodded.
-Taiki-
Kakyuu had sent Taiki to fetch Seiya and to send him down to the clinic, to assist her father during his first shift of watching Haruka. As much as he reassured them that all the sensors would alarm them if Haruka's condition would change, the Abes were old school in their care and that is what made them so good in their field. They only trusted their own observations and mainly relied on their experience and accumulated knowledge.
When he entered the viewing room the atmosphere seemed tense and Seiya just nodded at his instructions before left without further comment.
Taiki took his spot and continued the playing the recording that Seiya had paused the moment he entered. He watched how Ayumi was entering the interrogation room and threatened Haruka with the killing of Hotaru.
"So you are planning to kill the last remnants of Haruto's legacy? Is it because he was never really keen on touching you or is it because it has finally dawned on you that he was only with you out of pity." Haruka had sneered at Ayumi's threat. Taiki observed how Haruka's trademark, self-congratulatory smirk spread across her face as she noticed the shock on Ayumi's face that she couldn't hide.
Haruka continued her taunt: "Do you know why he settled for you? Because you kissed the ground on which he walked and he felt sorry for you. At least I said what I thought about you straight out. To me you were, and still are, only a weak, spineless and unstable human being but to him you were a charity case, a pity f..."
Before the blonde could finish her sentence, Ayumi had jumped her throat and was strangling her.
"Don't you dare to finish that word." Ayumi had said, while gritting her teeth.
"..uck. Go ahead, kill me now and ruin your whole revenge. You are so easy to read." Haruka had grinned brazenly.
Frustrated Ayumi had let go of the blonde and let Haruka catch her breath. Taiki noticed that Haruka had managed to free her feet by lifting the chair out of the chains when Ayumi had jumped her.
"Haruto was never like you." Ayumi had tried to regain her composure. "You will never be half the man Haruto was." Ayumi had persisted.
"Why would I want to be a man or him or even just half of him when I am happy to be myself." Haruka smirked.
"You have no proof that Hotaru is Haruto's child." Ayumi had argued.
"You sure about that?" Haruka had planted the seed of doubt. "Have you seen her smile? You know how much Haruto always wanted kids or wasn't he planning any with you?" Haruka had taunted Ayumi who left on the sound of her watch.
"Why does Haruka keep provoking Ayumi?" Minako asked Kakashi.
"To keep control over the conversation. Look, so far she has distracted Ayumi well enough to free her feet and is probably working on her hands. Also keeping Ayumi off balance will make her slip up and that can only be of an advantage for Haruka." Kakashi explained.
Kakyuu joined them in the viewing room with a big bowl of steaming Udon soup and a big pork katsu.
"What's the movie?" She asked as she sat down next to Taiki at the table and started to eat.
"E2, the 'Haruka is trying to get killed' edition." Taiki informed her dryly.
"So the usual. Please do not let me hold you back." Kakyuu waved for them to continue watching.
They watched to the bitter end where Haruka had revealed the truth.
Everyone was quiet when Taiki stopped the recording just when Haruka had freed herself and Kakashi got up and went outside to make a phone call.
"Did you know all of that Kakyuu?" Michiru asked the doctor.
"Of course I knew about Haruto; We were neighbours since they moved in with Kakashi. I am, after all, the one who grew up with them and the one who did both transplants. Haruto had always been weak because he couldn't make the antibodies that he needed to protect his system and the blood cells that he needed to even function properly, but their parents had banked a lot of blood for emergencies and for the first couple of years after the twin's parents' deaths, that Haruka and Haruto stayed with Kakashi, my father would make sure that Haruto would get adequate transfusions to live a normal life. We looked for matches for a bone marrow transplant and it turned out that none other than Haruka's was viable, but because Haruka was so young and Haruto was so weak we needed to wait until he would have the strength to cope with the operation and the recovery. In the meantime, Haruka would provide him with transfusions after the reserves had run dry. That is why she took boosters so regularly. She needed to produce enough blood for two. To be able to join the agency both had to proof a perfect bill of health, therefore they had to hide anything that might give them away. Those were the hard years, at the beginning of the agent training. The side effects of the boosters, forced Haruka having to stay over with my father at the clinic a lot more often than intended, during our first couple of months of training to become agents. But there was no other way of life for them. They were determined to live on their own terms and the agency provided that for them. Many people misunderstood Haruka's absences after curfew, but the philandering image everyone had of her actually only helped for others not to question it too much and Kakashi made sure that all her punishments would consist of solitary confinement, for her to catch up on sleep and rest. The first attempt of a transplant failed due to an infection that Haruto caught right after the procedure and now I know why the second one hadn't work as we hoped either." Kakyuu said bitterly. "For years Haruka had blamed herself for failing to give Haruto what he needed. She thought that she might have gotten sick before the transplant, but the symptoms might have stayed dormant due to the regular booster shots. We thought she might have caught something new on her previous missions that might have affected her bone marrow, that caused Haruto's rapid demise. In the end it wasn't even her fault. On the day she picked the guys up from their busted OP, I was the one who came to pick up Haruto's body. I was in the middle of an experiment at the University when she called me and I dropped everything to come to the rendezvous spot which we agreed on. I remembered Haruka did her best to preserve his face and how peaceful he looked. If it weren't for the gaping hole on the back of his neck and the entry wound hat his throat, he would have looked like as if he was peacefully asleep." Kakyuu recalled as she thought back. "But you had no choice, did you Taiki?" She turned to Taiki.
Taiki shook his head as he recollected the memories that he had shut away in the back of his mind. "We were caught between a rock and a hard place. It was our first mission after completing their harsh training regime, without any form of support, and we managed to work our way up from the bottom in the new criminal organisation, that was wiping out the competition like swatting flies, but then suddenly someone got wind that there were traitors among their midst. It was like a witch hunt and every possible exit strategy was quickly cut off for us. It was then when our captains came to rescue us. Haruto was already extremely weak but no one could hold him back from having his sister's back in battle. In the end when all immediate adversaries were cleared the pain was too much and he begged Haruka to let him go and join their parents. After that Haruka sacrificed herself as the supposed mole, so that we could escape death. Ayumi might have thought that Haruka had left her behind, while the truth is, that Haruka saved her life by holding Ayumi back. We were separated after that and Haruka spent three months in Siberia while the three of us eliminated the masterminds in that organisation and reaped the imaginary laurels for that, because no one gets praised for black Ops. Haruka managed to escape on her own and re-joined us right after the elimination, but none of us ever returned to the agency. We were there for them when they needed us, but no one came for us when we needed them." Taiki said bitterly.
-Michiru-
The next day, Kakyuu was hunched over the sink in the clinic's laboratory as Michiru approached her.
"What are you doing there, Kakyuu?" Michiru asked her as she came closer.
"I am cleaning Haruka's tie. I took it off her on the helicopter and I just remembered that I still had it in my pocket." Kakyuu explained as she, ever so gently, massaged the dried blood out of the delicate silk under very cold water.
Michiru recognised the tie to be the one Haruka had been wearing the first time they had met.
It was a simple graphite coloured tie, nothing particular remarkable on the first look, but when you looked closer, the patterns that it shimmered were delicate and yet distinct.
"Wouldn't it be better to bring it to the dry cleaner?" Michiru suggested.
"Haruka would not forgive me if I gave this to anyone. It's her favourite tie." Kakyuu chuckled.
"How come, of all her ties, this one is her favourite?" Michiru asked surprised.
"It is her first tie, she ever got as a gift from Haruto after their parents' passing. So there is no way I would be forgiven if anything happened to it." Kakyuu sighed.
Once she was done she patted it dry on a clean towel and sealed it in a plastic bag, before she took it with her to the clean room.
Michiru had volunteered to watch Haruka with Kakyuu for the next six hours before they would change shifts with Ami and Makoto who had come on Kakashi's request, with all of Ayumi's research just a couple of hours earlier and were going through it slowly right now.
Officially both were holed up in the laboratories under the guise of a bio-hazard spill and were quarantined. Due to the risk of contaminating the rest of the agency, the whole laboratory floor was quarantined along with them and the two of them were smuggled out with all the material by Kakashi and Setsuna.
Kakyuu and Michiru changed into special clothes and walked through the decontamination gate.
Haruka's immune system was still very preoccupied with Ayumi's virus so that they did not want to risk further burden on her system by carrying in any additional stressors.
Inside Kakyuu's father greeted them.
"Haruka is still stable, no changes. The dialysis is doing its work but, as you know, it will take time." He said gently and Kakyuu nodded.
"I have made you your favourite food in the kitchen and put out a Yukata ready for you, in case you want to use the Sento here." Kakyuu informed him in return.
"Don't worry. Taiki here has been taking good care of me." Her father smiled. "You two rest well. I don't think much will change in the next couple of hours." Takumi Abe assured them.
After both men had left the room, Kakyuu offered Michiru first pick on the beds that were provided for them.
"I am not tired." Michiru said honestly.
"It will still be very long shift so resting will be the most sensible thing to do." Kakyuu explained as she took the bed that was closer to Haruka and adjusted the pillow and the blanket.
Michiru gave in and sat down on the free bed.
The beeping noises of the machines filled the room as Haruka lay there, still unconscious and bandaged all over.
Kakyuu stepped up to Haruka's bed and put the tie next to her.
"Here, I brought you your lucky charm, all clean and nice again." Kakyuu said gently.
"Has Haruka always been so reckless?" Michiru asked Kakyuu as she leaned back against the wall.
"It really depends on your definition of reckless. She has always tried to seize the moment and to milk it for all its worth." Kakyuu chuckled. "I guess when you are so close to the edge of death, all the time and from such a young age, you develop a certain sense of appreciation of everything that you have and are surrounded with in a given moment." Kakyuu hypothesised.
"I guess so." Michiru pondered. "When I first met her, I thought she was the most troublesome and yet carefree human being that I have ever encountered." Michiru chuckled.
"Yea she covers up her true thoughts well and filters out only the good things for you to see and share with her. It takes time for her to open up. We've grown up together and even I don't always know what is going on in that blonde head of hers." Kakyuu snickered as she returned to her bed.
"Was it hard though, growing up with both of them?" Michiru asked curiously.
"Actually not at all. Until I met them, I was the only child in the whole building and so it was pretty lonely, with my parents spending most of their time at work. Once they were there, Haruka had immediately invited me to join the dynamic duo and we became the terrible trio, as the neighbours would call us when we rushed through the hallways. But we always enjoyed being the three musketeers and going on all the small adventures kids could find around the neighbourhood. Haruka would charge ahead while Haruto would always stop her before things got too dangerous. It was always fun with the of both of them. Haruka was like the force that drove us to explore life, while Haruto was the voice of reason that joined the ride. Kakashi-ji would always have his hands full to get them out of trouble when he got home from work." Kakyuu chuckled as she reminisced. "What was your childhood like?" Kakyuu asked in return.
"Mine was probably a lot less eventful than yours. My father travelled a lot for work, so my best friend and constant companion was my violin, besides my mother. Though I got to see the world, travel most of the globe and study at the best schools around." Michiru summarised.
"That is pretty amazing if you ask me." Kakyuu said as she looked up to the ceiling. "Exploring different countries, cultures and dealing with so many languages." Kakyuu listed the advantages.
"Yes, those aspects were a lot of fun." Michiru replied with a hint of melancholy.
Four hours had passed before Kakyuu had dozed off, after they had exchanged a fair amount of childhood anecdotes, many funny and light hearted. Kakyuu had been up and working hard since the surgery and had not had a chance to relax until now, so it was only understandable to Michiru that the tiredness that Kakyuu must be experiencing, had to catch up with her eventually.
Michiru got up quietly and walked over to Haruka.
The blonde was still connected to the respirator and dialysis machine. The numbers had barely improved but were stable. Her heart was beating regular and the beeping monitor gave off a hypnotic sense of calm. This steadiness, at least, gave hope.
There were so many things Michiru wanted to tell Haruka, so many thoughts she wanted to share with the blonde, so many questions she wanted to ask her and at the same time was too afraid of the answers she might receive.
She was standing so close to Haruka right now and yet she felt so far away from her, wondering if she ever really knew anything about the blonde. But the tightness in her chest told her that her heart yearned to see Haruka's arrogant and mischievous smirk again, to hear the blonde's husky whispers once more and to feel her warm and gentle touch yet again.
