Mikoto's Legacy
Summary: Munakata is introspective and Yata is starting to think she needs a new job.
"Take care of my girls."
The man had been bleeding out; not even able to support his own weight anymore, just hanging limp in Munakata's arms. The snow at their feet was stained a deep red by the ever-growing pool of Suoh's blood.
"Take care of them."
Mikoto Suoh had no right to ask anything of him. A final request muttered with his last breath or not, he had no obligation to Suoh.
Munakata would honor it anyway.
The girls in question were clearly, and in the latter part unfortunately, Anna Kushina and Misaki Yata. Anna, a powerful strain, was already under Scepter 4's watch. Mikoto knew that, and accepted it as additional protection for the child he cared for as a daughter.
Munakata could not do the same for Misaki Yata. The woman was volatile, and any guard he placed on her would surely be discovered and summarily immolated. He valued his clansmen more than that.
Under normal circumstances, Munakata would have Fushimi assess the situation and suggest an appropriate course of action. However, he doubted Suoh would have considered giving Fushimi carte blanche to spy on Misaki Yata to be in the spirit of looking out for her.
There was a perrinial stack of reports on his desk, detailing the current situation with the Red Clan in the month since Suoh's death. They were calmer now, with Tatara Totsuka avenged, and listless with Suoh dead. There was a minor incident about two weeks ago involving Misaki Yata and his own men, that thankfully didn't end in bloodshed.
… Well, no blood spilt by Misaki Yata. They'd had to replace the carpeting after Fushimi's talk with his subordinates.
Which brought up another problem. Why did Suoh specify Misaki Yata along with Anna Kushina? Suoh had never shown himself to be anymore protective of Misaki Yata than the rest of his clansmen. Less protective really, she was his vanguard, leading his clansman into what ever battle they deemed necessary. He couldn't afford to show her favoritism and expect his men to follow her orders in battle. That hadn't changed before his death. Misaki Yata had been leading the offensive at Askinaka, and on that first night she'd been guarding a large section of the campus by herself. He'd felt her eyes boring into him as he'd passed through on his way to meet with Suoh, seen her glaring down at him from the roof of one of the school buildings.
But then again…hadn't Suoh been protective of Misaki Yata? Not in battle no, but other times. There had been incidents, now that Munakata thought about it. He'd had a meeting with an angry Suoh not long after Fushimi joined the Blue Clan. He'd expected their conversation to be about Munakata purposely recruiting one of Suoh's clansmen away from him. But instead Suoh demanded that he keep Fushimi in line and away from Misaki Yata. A month later, two of his men needed an extended stay in Scepter 4's burn unit, Suoh was occupying one of the cells under headquarters, and for the first time Fushimi's mask of apathy had shattered.
What had Suoh's vanguard meant to him?
A week ago, Awashima had reported a strange exchange at the Homra Bar, between Izumo Kusanagi and another red clansmen. The clansman— Yo Chitose, described by Fushimi as a lecherous ass and by less bias sources as something of a playboy— had implied some sort of relationship between Suoh and Misaki Yata. This in itself didn't mean anything. His own clansmen seemed to think he was engaged in a romantic relationship with either Awashima or Fushimi, depending on the day. But Izumo Kusanagi's reaction raised suspicion.
Kusanagi was Suoh's childhood friend and the only person after Tatara Totsuka died who might have had any idea what was going on in Suoh's head. If there were a relationship, then he would know about it. Would he feel the need to hide this information from the Blue clan? Why?
The obvious answer was that they wouldn't want the information getting back to Fushimi. If such a relationship existed and Fushimi became aware of it, his reaction would be unpredictable. He knew about Fushimi's jealousy of the Red King, he'd tried to play off it to recruit him. Fushimi had seen through the attempt, but had accepted his offer anyway.
Was there any other reason to hide the relationship? Enemies of the Red King had targeted the people he cared for before. There were attempts on Tatara Totsuka's life long before the Colorless King ended it.
With the Red King dead, his clansmen would be weakened. Not all the lingering resentment would be quenched simply because Suoh was dead. A lover left behind could bear the brunt of that resentment. Add that onto the enemies Misaki Yata had made on her own…
Munakata decided he would need to confer with Awashima. She could bring a fresh perspective on the situation, and Fushimi couldn't intimidate her into giving him information. Between the two of them, they should be able to determine the best course of action.
When she agreed to start making deliveries to the Blues' part of town, Yata had been expecting her first problem to be caused by someone from Scepter 4. If she were really unlucky, maybe she'd run into Saru, or the Blue King, or, if the world hated her, both at the same time.
Now, standing in the doorway of some anonymous hotel room staring the equally gob smacked Black Dog in the face, Yata decided that she may have been too optimistic.
Yatogami made no move to attack, but the tiny cat clinging to his shoulder was hissing and taking swipes with its claws at the air in-between them. If Kusanagi had been correct, the cat was actually the Silver King's first clansman, a powerful strain.
… Who had witnessed Yata's repeated attempts on her king's life… fuck.
Yata sighed. "Package for…" she looked at her list, "Nekozawa."
In an instant a grasping teenage girl replaced the yowling cat.
"MINE!"
Yata was somewhat sketchy on what happened next, but somehow she found herself sprawled on her back with the girl— who was, as Yata was now painfully aware, naked—straddling her waist and clutching the package to her bare chest.
"Neko," Yatogami choked out, utterly horrified judging by his expression.
Yata, determinedly ignoring the heaving breasts in her face, held up her clipboard. "Sign please."
"My apologies for Neko's behavior. She gets excited," Yatogami said, handing her a cup of tea.
Yata did her best not to grimace. She really didn't like tea, but if neither of the Silver Clansmen were trying to kill her she owed it to them to be polite. It was the least she could do after targeting their king.
The Silver clansmen had a couple chairs set up against the far wall of their room, meaning she didn't have sit on one of the beds.
Yatogami seemed to have an entire kitchen tucked away in his briefcase, as every time Yata turned away he seemed to magically produce some new utensil or cooking ingredient. He was using a hotplate he had set up in the corner to cook something that smelled delicious.
"It's fine," Yata replied.
"You are no longer our enemy, and she should remember her manners," Yatogami insisted.
Neko was ignoring them, busy fiddling with her new cell phone. "Meow! Kurosuke, what's Kukuri's number?"
Yatogami sighed. "We have company, Neko. Be sociable."
A blast of music came from the phone, causing Neko to cackle dementedly. Yatogami pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered a quiet 'nevermind'.
When the food was ready, Yatogami offered her a bowl. She found that it contained stir-fried vegetables and tofu. Yata hid her disappointment. She didn't like chanpuru. To be polite she took a bite. Her eyes widened as the delicious flavor exploded across her tongue. Hesitantly, she nibbled at another piece. The taste remained amazing. Yata threw caution to the wind and began devouring her share with gusto.
"Seconds!" Neko cried holding out her bowl.
"Not until our guest is finished," Yatogami replied.
Yata paused in her eating when she felt something brush her against her side. Looking down, she found the strain cat rubbing against her. Neko stared up at her with begging eyes. Yata hesitated a moment, before the memory of chasing Neko and her king through the streets with murderous intent pushes to the forefront of her thoughts. Yata plucked a bit of tofu from her bowl and offered it to Neko. The cat strain happily dug in and devoured it. Apparently satisfied with the extra bit of food, the Neko curled up in Yata's lap and began to purr contentedly. Yata didn't need to look to know that Yatogami's face had gone red again, either from embarrassment or anger.
"So," Yata began, desperately trying to think of a safe topic to break the awkward silence with.
"Indeed," Yatogami replied.
Yata looked around the room, noting that it looked lived in, as if the Silvers had been staying here for a while. "You guys are living here?"
Yatogami nodded. "The Gold king is having our headquarters at the Askinaka Island School repaired. In the mean time he's providing us with reasonable accommodations."
"Ah," Yata murmured in reply. She thought that Kusanagi had mentioned that the Gold and Silver Kings had been close friends during the Second World War.
Yata felt something pressing against her stomach. Looking down she found Neko patting her belly with one tiny paw, a bemused expression on her feline face.
Yatogami's face, which had finally returned to it's normal hue, reddened again. He turned away. "I'll make you some tea."
While he was busy with the kettle, Yata rubbed her belly where Neko had been patting. It wasn't visible, not through her shirt, but she could feel a firm bump just below her belly button.
Yata took a fortifying breath and finally allowed the dots to connect in her mind. She would need to make a stop on the way home.
AN: Munakata is way-overthinking the whole Mikoto/Yata thing. Problem is, other people are too. I kind of wish I had set the Mikoto/Yata thing up as a tragic romance, but at the time I started this fic I was pretty certain that Mikoto/Tatara was canon (still am actually) and wasn't in the right headspace to write romantic Mikoto/Yata.