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.
When Yata made her way downstairs to raid the kitchen that night—for some reason she just couldn't live without a glass of cranberry juice—she wasn't as surprised as she should have been to find Eric sitting in the barroom in the dark. Though if she'd actually been expecting him she would have worn more than one of her black undershirts and a pair of boyshorts.
Eric was hunched over the bar, glaring at his reflection in its polished surface.
It crossed Yata's mind to wonder what Eric was doing here so late, but the bar was supposed to be a refuge, whether Kusanagi liked it or not, and Eric had just as much right to hang out at the bar during the off hours as she did, no matter the reason.
"There's a pillow and some sheets in the hall closet," Yata said.
Eric turned his glare on her. Yata returned the glare. If he started throwing knives at her, she would throw them right back. She might not be on Saru's level, but she could hit a guy at ten paces. Probably.
Then Eric blushed, and returned to glaring at the bar.
Yata remembered that she wasn't wearing a bra and it was cold enough in the bar that she had goose bumps.
Whatever, she wanted that cranberry juice. While she was digging around in the fridge, she grabbed a can of the soda that she'd seen Eric drinking before. Eric still had problems with going and getting his own food, and if Fujishima or Kamamoto didn't offer him anything while he was at the bar, he'd go without.
She dropped the soda on the bar in front of him, getting another glare, before she headed back upstairs with the jug of cranberry juice.
They had an hour before the bookstore was due to open. Yata was already up and dressed, not wanting a repeat of the night before. Kusanagi had seen enough of her walking around in her underwear, and though he hadn't complained she was pretty sure he'd like her to wear a robe when she wasn't fully dressed.
She'd noticed when she was getting dressed that her clothes weren't fitting quite right. Well, her white over shirts still fit fine, but they were a men's XL. The rest of her clothes felt too small around her hips and chest. So Yata ended up digging through some of the boxes she hadn't got around to unpacking, looking for something larger.
Most of her old clothes had the same problem, being either the same size, or a size or two smaller than the clothes she was wearing. It was disconcerting that even her sports bras felt too tight, she'd worn the same cup size since middle school.
Digging through another box, she found some of her spare beanies. Damn, why did she have so many? In frustration she began toss them all over her shoulder, hoping to get to the bottom of the box faster.
One of them caught her eye as it sailed into her bedside lamp.
It was a hand knitted beanie, blue with a crown of flames around the bottom. It was the only successful project from Tatara's three-week knitting obsession. He'd presented it to her on her eighteenth birthday, and she'd worn it for a few days to please him before the teasing from her fellow clansmen had gotten too bad and she'd stuffed it in the back of her sock drawer and forgotten about it.
If Tatara had minded, he didn't show it. Still, Yata wished that she'd just worn the hat for a little longer. The teasing hadn't been that bad. They'd just been joking that the hat made her and Shouhei look like a matching set.
Shouhei… Anna was still eyeing his hat, even if she promised to stop stealing it in exchange for those karate lessons. And she had been taking most of her fashion choices from Yata.
Well, Yata knew she wasn't going to wear it again. Might as well see if Anna wanted it.
"Misaki, this one."
A book was thrust in Yata's face, with a blue cloth hardcover and silver painted highlights. "Grimm's Fairy Tales?"
Anna nodded. "Can you read it to me?"
Yata looked down at her coffee and sighed. In the entire store, Anna had to pick up the one book that had given her nightmares as a child. Maybe if she avoided the story about the dismembered brides it wouldn't be too bad.
"Which story did you want to hear?" Yata asked.
Anna took the book and opened it. She flipped through the pages until she found the one she wanted. "This one," she said, handing the book back.
Yata glanced over it. It was short enough, and it wasn't Bluebeard. "There once lived a man and his wife who long wished for a child…" Anna laid her head on Yata's shoulder as she continued to read.
"… And when her tears touched his eyes they became clear again, and he could see with them as well as ever. Then he took her to his kingdom, where he was received with great joy, and there they lived long and happily."
Anna was curled against Yata's side, smiling, so Yata guessed she'd enjoyed the story.
There was a sticker on the book declaring it was from the bargain bin. It actually cost less than the coffee she'd bought. It wasn't going to hurt their finances, and if it made Anna smile it was worth the investment.
There wasn't too much of a line at the register, only three people in line ahead of them. They took their place at the end, Anna clinging to Yata with one hand, and clutching the book to her chest with the other, smiling happily.
Yata felt a shiver of unease just before she recognized the man standing in front of them. She'd never seen him out of his uniform, but his presence was unmistakable. Yata fought the urge to make a hasty retreat because, if she ran, that would surely draw his attention.
She did not want Reisi Munakata to notice just who was standing behind him.
Anna was staring up at her curiously, no doubt sensing the quick shift in her mood. Luckily her hands were full, so she couldn't use her beads right now to see just what was going on in Yata's head.
This man had killed Mikoto.
No, that wasn't right. If Mikoto hadn't wanted to die, he would still be here. The Blue King was just the weapon he'd used to end it. That knowledge–and the anger it brought with it—was of no help to Yata and the state of absolute terror the Blue King's presence evoked in her.
Just as Yata was beginning to think that they would get through the line without attracting the Blue King's attention, the man in question turned. Maybe he sensed Yata's inner turmoil, maybe she made a noise, but he turned and saw them.
For a moment, he stared blankly. Anna could pass for a little boy, especially with her long hair hidden under her new flame crowned beanie. Yata's hair, for once uncovered, was hanging loosely around her shoulders. Together, they looked nothing like Homra's princess and the Red King's vanguard.
Recognition flickered in his eyes and he took a step back, as though in fear. That was a stupid idea. What could the pair of them do to a King of the Dresden Slate?
The sudden movement jostled the Blue King's purchases, and the item on top of the pile in his arms fell to the floor. On reflex, Yata bent down to pick it up. It was a puzzle, and she recognized picture on the box from a videogame Saru had played for a month in middle school before getting bored with it.
Her heart froze in her chest. She doubted the Blue King was a fan of MMOs, they were time consuming and he wouldn't have that kind of free time. She wondered if the Blue King saw the same thing she did looking at that picturew. Did the beautifully embossed gold lion mean the same thing to him as it did to her?
The Blue King reached out and took the puzzle from her frozen fingers. She noted the wariness on his face distantly. There was something wrong with her eyes. They were going blurry around the edges. She blinked to clear them, and felt the warmth trickling down her cheeks.
No. Not here. Not in front of this man.
Yata turned and ran, dragging Anna behind her.
When she finally calmed down, Yata found herself curled up on the bathroom floor with Anna clutched to her chest.
Anna was rubbing her back, murmuring soothing words. It was almost enough to make Yata break down again. She was supposed to be taking care of Anna, not the other way around. God, what was she doing?
Yata took a deep breath and shifted Anna off of her lap. She rubbed her face to wipe away the remaining tears.
"Misaki?" Anna asked.
"I'm good now," Yata said. First thing she needed to do was get off this floor. The second thing, she decided after getting a look at herself in the mirror, was to wash her face. Her face was a splash of red splotches, and her eyes looked almost gold in contrast to the bloodshot red surrounding her irises.
Yata wet a paper towel and began pressing it to her face, drawing out some of the heat. There was nothing she could do for her eyes, but her bangs could hide them if needed. She brushed her hair forward, allowing it to obscure some of her face. Her breathing had evened out, there were no more telltale stuttering breaths.
Yata nodded to her image in the mirror and turned to Anna. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Anna replied, taking Yata's hand. "Are you okay too?"
Yata gave a strained grin. "I'll be fine."
Re-entering the main part of the store, Yata did a quick visual scan of the area. The Blue King was nowhere to be seen. Yata didn't know what she'd been expecting, the Blue King to wait around to ambush them? He had better things to do, she was sure.
"Where's your book?"
Anna blinked up at her. "I dropped it."
Yata tried to remember the path she took in her mad dash to the restroom, in the hopes that she could retrace it to find the book. After a minute she gave up and decided to go dig through the bargain bin to find another copy.
"Ma'am?"
Yata stopped digging through the bin. The store clerk looked nervous, standing behind her clutching a shopping bag in his hands.
"The gentleman that just left said these were for you," the man held out the bag.
Yata took it automatically, and then glanced inside. It was the copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, along with a copy of Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland for some reason. There was a sales receipt tucked inside the front cover of Grimm's.
She was tempted to chase the Blue King down and throw the books at his head, but the look on Anna's face stopped her. It wasn't a happy look, but there was something there that Yata hadn't seen since before Tatara died.
Yata decided to let it slide. This time anyway.
AN: Anna and Mikoto were reading one of the Lewis Carroll books at a bookstore in the Memory of Red manga when they ran into Munakata buying about twenty or so 1000 piece puzzles. So yeah.