Mikoto's Legacy
Summary: Genderswap. As his Sword of Damocles continues to deteriorate Mikoto thinks on what he wants to leave behind besides a giant crater. To this end he asks his loyal vanguard to perform one last service for him.
Lieutenant Awashima had the overwhelming urge to just lie back in her chair and groan. Only the fact that she had a pair of her subordinates standing at attention in front of her desk stopped her.
"Let me get this straight. You two went on an unauthorized lunch break to a café all of two blocks from headquarters. At this café you came across two members of Homra, a group against whom all previous warrants have been cancelled in light of their king's death, and by our king's orders, we are not to engage unless there is an immediate threat to civilian life. With this in mind, you attempted to antagonize them into an altercation."
The men seemed to shrink in on themselves.
"Only after you successfully enraged them did you realize that part of this twosome was Yatagarasu, who even before the Red King's death all operatives had standing orders not to engage without either Captain Munakata or myself present."
One of the men, she couldn't remember his name and she was pretty sure he had only been with Scepter 4 for a few months, began sweating.
"Then, we were only saved what was sure to be a highly destructive and likely one-sided battle in the middle of a crowded restaurant by the intervention of Rikio Kamamoto who had to put himself in between you and your no doubt fiery demise, and then convinced Yatagarasu to walk away without any bloodshed?"
The pair of them flinched.
"I'll take that as a yes. And am I also to understand that had an out of uniform agent not been present, witnessing the event, neither of you would have felt the need to report this encounter?"
"Normally we report to Mr. Fushimi, ma'am," one of them, not the sweaty one, began.
"And you'd rather not experience firsthand how it feels to be perforated with superheated knives, I know. However, it's generally accepted among our ranks that on matters pertaining to Yatagarasu, you report directly to me. Now, would you explain why you thought I didn't need to know about this incident?"
Neither of them said a word.
"I'm going to assume that my source was correct when they told me that you purposely provoked this altercation under the assumption that with the Red King's death his clansmen's powers would be marginalized, despite the knowledge that several senior members of our ranks were clansmen to the previous Blue King and still maintain the powers he granted them, and that your failure to make a proper report was an attempt to hide your overwhelming stupidity."
Still silence.
Seri sighed. It wasn't a groan. It was a sigh. "Get out of my office. And stay out of Fushimi's way for a few days. Also, Yatagarasu has a long memory. Keep that in mind."
The tables at the bar were pushed against the wall and the chairs stacked on top of them, leaving the floor clear for what Yata guessed were karate lessons.
Bandou was showing Anna some basic kata's, occasionally correcting her form. Anna had thankfully taken off her newly acquired skate shoes, instead going barefoot. Somebody had done Anna's hair in a messy braid, and Yata noticed that Shouhei had his hat back.
"San-chan said he'd only teach her if she returned my hat," Shouhei said, patting his head happily.
Yata didn't want to know. She continued through the room and up the stairs to her new bedroom. Kusanagi had grudgingly given up his study when Yata made it clear she wasn't going to use Mikoto's bedroom ever again, and the guys had moved everything in earlier. Almost everything was still boxed up, but someone had put sheets on the bed and digging through an open box yielded a blanket. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders and curled up on the bed.
Yata meant only to rest her eyes, but the next time she opened them, her window was dark and the bar was quiet. She checked her watch and found that she'd been asleep for almost six hours.
Maybe she was getting sick.
Raising a hand to her forehead, Yata noted that she was a little warm, but no more than usual for when she'd just woken up.
She had a flash of memory, someone else's hand on her face, in an almost maternal gesture. Had someone been in here while she slept? The door had been wide open when she'd first lain down, but it was closed now.
She didn't have time to wonder who might have come in to check on her. Her bedroom door creaked open and Anna stuck her head inside. "Misaki?"
"Yeah?" Yata asked, noting the use of her given name. Anna hadn't used it much since before Totsuka died.
Anna took a few steps into the room. Her hair was still in that sloppy braid from earlier, though it had gotten even messier, and she was wearing a plain white shirt that Yata knew wasn't her's. "Can I stay in here tonight?"
"You have a nightmare?" Yata asked.
Anna shook her head, and then climbed onto the bed. "I don't want to be alone."
With Anna closer, Yata could smell the faint odor of Mikoto's cigarettes. The shirt had been formfitting on Mikoto, but on Anna it hung down to her knees.
Yata hadn't given any thought to what Kusanagi had done with Mikoto's things. She knew that they had been packed up, because his old room had been bare of anything that had marked it as Mikoto's. The ashtray on the bedside table, previously full of old cigarettes and a handful of pocket change, was sitting in the dish drainer in the kitchen, spotless. The ornate jewelry box, gifted by Mr. Totsuka on Mikoto's last birthday, was gone from its spot on his dresser. The clothes that had littered the floor had been removed as well.
"Come here," Yata said, lifting the blanket to let Anna crawl under and join her. Once Anna was curled against her side Yata wrapped an arm around her in a loose hug. They lay in silence for a while.
"Misaki," Anna began, "are your parents still alive?"
"You don't already know?" Yata mused.
"You don't think about them often. At least not when I'm around," Anna said.
"My father might still be alive," Yata admitted. "But my mother died when I was around your age."
Anna didn't say anything for a while. "I miss my parents still. They've been gone for years, but it still hurts. Now Mikoto is gone too, and it hurts even worse."
There was nothing Yata could say to that. Not that she knew to say anyway. What did you say? Yata missed Mikoto too, she missed her mother, and she even missed her father though she knew she should hate him. Saying any of that out loud, though, it wouldn't stop Anna from hurting. So she just held Anna tighter until they both drifted off to sleep.
Seri Awashima ignored the looks she got when she walked through the door of Homra. Logically, she knew this was enemy territory; but she had faith in Kusanagi's open invitation to keep his clansmen from causing problems when she dropped by out of uniform. Even Mikoto Suoh had ceded to Kusanagi's authority within the bar.
Kusanagi wasn't in the barroom when she arrived, but one of the quieter members of Homra peeled off from the group and disappeared through a door in the back of the room. Seri took a seat at the bar and waited.
"Ah, Seri, I take it you want your usual?" Kusanagi arrived with a smile.
"Just four scoops of red bean paste today," she replied. From behind her she heard someone mutter, "Seriously?" She ignored them and took her drink when Kusanagi offered it.
"So, what brings you here so early in the morning?" Kusanagi asked.
Seri didn't consider nine am to be early, but had long ago accepted that the Red clan kept different hours than she did. "I'm sure you were informed of the incident yesterday."
There was some loud mutterings from the group assembled on the other side of the bar. Seri could see Rikio Kamamoto running a hand over his face from the corner of her eye. She would need to express her gratitude for his intervention yesterday.
"More of a non-incident if I understood the situation correctly from Kamamoto," Kusanagi said.
"Yatagarasu didn't give a report as well?"
Kusanagi chuckled. "Yata's not one for reports. And even if she were, she hasn't come out of her room since she got back yesterday. She and Anna are catching up on their sleep."
"For over fourteen hours?" Seri asked.
"It's been a rough few weeks since Mikoto died," Kusanagi shrugged. He kindly didn't point out her king had been the one who killed him. While Kusanagi assured her that the Red Clan understood that the moment the Sword had begun to fall, Munakata'd had no choice, Seri would rather not be around while subject was fresh on their minds. Their understanding of Munakata's position might be enough to keep them from actively seeking vengeance—as evidenced by the lack of assassination attempts by Yatagarasu— but she had no illusions about the possibility of a true peace between their clans.
"As you know, there was an incident yesterday between two members of Scepter4 and Yatagarasu—"
"And me," Kamamoto interrupted.
Seri and Kusanagi stared him down until he looked away. Kamamoto's loyalty was commendable but, had he been alone yesterday, there wouldn't even have been the threat of a confrontation.
"While this incident did not escalate to violence, that's almost never the case when Yatagarasu is involved."
"Seri, Yata was provoked, got mad, but walked away when all was said and done. Like I said, it was a non-incident."
"A non-incident? Izumo—" there was a slight stir behind her at the use of his given name, "this was in the middle of a crowded restaurant. If Yatagarasu had stayed true to her history, this could have been a disaster."
"Yata is aware of the potential for casualties. She doesn't use her powers anywhere near her max around civilians. You'll notice that when we're in populated areas she uses that damn bat of her's, not her flames. I won't deny that Yata has no problem brawling in public, but if it had come down to a real fight yesterday it would have been fists, or maybe her board, that would have been swinging, and I can guarantee you the fight would have been moved outside after the first few punches. Trust me, I've replaced more than a few windows she's gone through."
"Izumo—"
Kusanagi held up a hand. "Yata's gonna be starting work in a few days. She'll be busy and on her best behavior because she needs to keep this job. If you can keep your men from deliberately antagonizing her we shouldn't have any problems."
Seri set her empty glass down on the bar. "Considering what happened last night, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Last night?"
Seri contemplated asking Kusanagi for another drink. "The agents from yesterday are on leave as of this morning. Unofficially they've been moved to the southern offices so that Fushimi has time to cool off."
"Still doesn't like anyone else going near Yata, huh?" Kusanagi winced, eyes flickering toward the bulletin board on the wall nearby. She'd noticed the board on previous visits to the bar, and knew it had been set up and maintained by Tatara Totsuka. It was covered with pictures of various members of Homra. There were no pictures of Fushimi, which made sense due to the nature of his defection.
Seri wondered what about Kusanagi's reaction. In the past he'd seemed amused by Fushimi's obsession with Yatagarasu, as long as Fushimi kept his distance. Why the change?
"And you're complaining that I can't keep Yata in line," Kusanagi muttered.
"You can have him back if you want," Seri replied dryly.
"No thank you. It's been almost calm around here since he left. Nobody's threatened tear out my eyes in months."
"Eyes?" Seri asked.
"Let's just say we've all seen more of Yata than we ever wanted too, and Fushimi has never forgiven us."
"Seriously, if she incorporated that into a strip show, she wouldn't need that delivery job." Seri was pretty sure that Yo Chitose was the one who spoke. Her suspicion was confirmed when Kamamoto elbowed him in the stomach, growling, "She's our sister!"
"Your sister, maybe," Chitose muttered back.
"Who's sister?"
Seri stiffened, though she tried not to let it show. She knew coming here today that there was a chance that she would run into Yatagarasu but she'd relaxed when Kusanagi told her Yatagarasu was resting. Now faced with the woman herself, face pale and hair sleep tussled, Seri felt a chill run down her spine.
Yatagarasu's hazel— almost amber— eyes were alert and focused, much like the Red King's had been when he walked through countless layers of security and her own elite team with ease. She'd almost met her end twice in recent months, at the hands of Suoh and Yatagarasu respectively. She may trust Kusanagi's assurance of her safety in his bar, but that didn't mean she was going to let her guard down.
"I can get you an audition at the club by tonight. I swear they'll pay you double what that delivery place is offering."
Yatagarasu's gaze flickered to Chitose. "Why would I want to be a stripper? Much less at a place you hang out at?"
"I'd be more concerned with his obsession with seeing Yata strip,"Masaomi Dewa grumbled, casting a dark look at his fellow clansman.
"Like none of you have ever thought about it," Chitose said, defensively. "At least Mikoto—"
Glass shattered and fell to the floor in so many tiny pieces. Chitose seemed to have Homra's infamous durability—which was probably a necessity when handling the Red King's flames—as he didn't seem to have any cuts or scratches despite having one of Kusanagi's fine wine glasses shatter against his face.
Seri tried to process what she'd just seen. Yatagarasu breaking things and assaulting her fellow clan members was to be expected, as it was fairly common. But Izumo was not Yatagarasu. She couldn't deny however, that is was the glass Izumo had just been cleaning that was now in pieces on the floor, and that it was Izumo's arm that was still outstretched. She'd never seen Izumo angry. Irritated, yes, but never with the rage that his fellow clansmen seemed achieve effortlessly. Not like he was now.
In an instant that anger was gone, replaced with weariness. He brought his hand up to push aside his glasses and rub his eyes. Pulling his hand away he stared at it in surprise.
"Sorry Seri, but we're all a little on edge still. It's been a rough few weeks." Izumo's smile was back, but it was clearly strained and insincere.
"The hell?" Chitose muttered as Dewa pulled him back into his chair and shoved a bowl of food at him.
Yatagarasu's eyes were flickering between Izumo and Chitose. Seri wondered if the other woman was as confused as she was.
"I promised to bring Anna up some food. Any breakfast left?" Yatagarasu turned to Izumo.
"I set aside some plates for you two. They're in the kitchen by the stove," Izumo said.
Yatagarasu nodded and disappeared into the backroom that Seri assumed was the kitchen. Izumo watched her go with a look on his face that Seri couldn't decipher. She wasn't sure she liked that.
She remembered something Izumo said earlier, and the meaning finally sunk in. "Yatagarasu is living here?"
Izumo grimaced. "Define 'living here'?"
Seri's eyes narrowed. "You said she'd been in her room since yesterday. Her room upstairs, above your bar?"
The men at the table behind her scrambled to their feet. She heard mumbles about 'lover's quarrel' as the door opened and hurried footsteps as they all fled.
Izumo flicked to the corner behind her. "Eric?" he asked.
Seri saw the quiet man who'd gone off to fetch Izumo when she arrived sitting on the couch staring morosely at the door.
"Waiting for Kousuke."
Izumo grimaced.
"Well?" Seri asked.
Izumo took a breath. "Mikoto left Yata his rooms. And as it turns out, Yata's been living next to a brothel, so she's going to stay here until we can work things out and get her back on her feet."
Seri raised her eyebrow.
"You know how we are, Seri. We aren't just colleagues, we're family. We take care of each other. Yata needs help, so I'm going to help her.
"Mikoto's gone. I don't know what's going to happen to Homra now. We held together to see Mikoto put to rest. I have no idea what everyone is going to do now that that's done. I'm not going to stop anyone who wants to leave." On the couch Eric flinched. "But I'm going to look after Mikoto's daughter, and if she needs it, I take care of Yata as well."
At that moment, Yatagarasu emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of food. There was a blush on her cheeks but her head was held high. Seri watched in fascination as Yatagarasu nodded to Kusanagi before heading up the stairs.
"I think she heard you," Eric said.
"I noticed that," Izumo replied.
She wouldn't make any headway with Izumo today, Seri decided, not on the subjected of Yatagarasu. "I believe I've said everything I came to say," she said, rising from her chair and slinging her purse over her shoulder.
Izumo nodded. "Like I said, Yata's going to be on her best behavior from here on out. She knows what we need from her. She's never let us down before."
Surprisingly, that did reassure her a little. If she'd learned one thing from Fushimi's gripes about Homra, it was that Yatagarasu held her loyalty to her clan above all else.
AN: Since this isn't really an angst piece, the grief they're all going through is only going to be glossed over. There will be hints but it's not the focus.