From now on, I shall hit the review reply button since it's faster that way. (Nods head) How come I didn't even notice it before? I mean, it was right there….I must be blind. Oh well, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really encourages me to keep writing. Hugs and kisses to all my reviewers! Heh heh. I'm sure you guys are more interested in reading what happens next so I shall not babble any further. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nope, nothing's changed. I STILL don't own it. Will inform you if I do.
Scene 14-If tears could be returned to the sea, would the pain and sins be forgotten too?
Yuki was startled to hear shouting from the front door. He got up in irritation, "Must be one of his dumb friends again," and went out of the room, fully intending to glare whoever was at the front door to death.
Including Shuichi, of course.
At the sight that met his eyes however, Yuki froze in shock, all ideas of creatively painful and red death wiped off his mind. Miaka was standing at the doorway but he wasn't looking at her-his eyes were focused on the gun trained on Shuichi.
Yuki took a step forward and she shifted the gun on him instead, smirking, "Oh no, Yuki-sensei. I'd rather you stay where you are unless you want to see Shindou's brains being blown away. Then again, I might settle for shooting you instead. Either way is fine with me."
Having no choice, Yuki moved back. He was taking no risk with her-who knew what an already insane person with a fully loaded gun may be capable of doing once angered? Yuki spoke slowly and calmly, stalling for time, "Akino-san. What are you doing with that?"
Miaka merely laughed, "Isn't it obvious, Yuki-sensei? Someone is going to die in this house today."
"Put that thing down. You don't know what you're doing. Do you want to get into further trouble?"
At Yuki's words, Miaka gave an eerie smile, "Oh, I know what I'm doing all right. Further trouble? Me? Is that even possible?"
Miaka shook her head at the rhetorical question before Yuki could reply, "I know I have gone too far for any hope of redemption. No matter what happens now, I'm still a murderer. It's my fault my mother died. It's my fault Shindou's mother died. Who's mother am I going to kill next? Yours maybe?"
It was at this point Shuichi risked speaking up, "I've already told you. I'm not going to do anything. So put the gun down, please?"
She snarled at him, though her gun remained aimed at Yuki, "Shut up! You don't know anything about me. 'I'm not going to call the police?' That's the last thing I'm bothered with! It will never change the fact that I've taken lives! It's not going to take away the guilt I feel! The memory of it will always stay…"
Her eyes started filling up with tears as she whispered the last sentence in anguish, "It's never going to take away the pain and loneliness I feel …"
Miaka continued where she had trailed off after a pregnant pause, "I know what I've done and despite what you may think, I'm not crazy."
Her expression one of a broken person by now, she repeated, "I'm not crazy... Believe me. I did it all for love. I loved you so much, I was willing to do anything to get you to care for me."
Her eyes were fixed on Yuki, filled with longing and despair, "I should have known you would never love me. You only have eyes for Shindou. Why didn't I notice it earlier? I ruined my own life because of you. Now that I look back, all I see is how stupid and foolish I was."
As Yuki opened his mouth to speak, Miaka smiled sadly. A tear slid down from the corner of her eye and she lowered the gun, "I shouldn't exist. I bring nothing but pain and sorrow." She looked at Shuichi and said, "I'm sorry…for everything" before turning her gaze back to Yuki.
"I…don't want to do this anymore. "
Miaka slowly raised the gun again. And touched the cold metal to her forehead.
Shuichi let out a cry and Yuki started forward, exclaiming roughly "Stop that! Suicide is not the answer to your problems; it's running away!"
"I know. But Yuki-sensei, I'm a weak person. I don't have the courage to start over. There's no point. Nobody wants me; you don't. Even my biological father doesn't. I only wanted to say that the person I love most in this damned world is you."
They could only watch helplessly as she closed her eyes. As if in slow motion, her finger began pulling the trigger-and fired off empty air. Miaka blinked stupidly for a moment as the gun was suddenly snatched from her hands, in a daze.
"You there! It's not very graceful to splatter bits of your brains all over someone else's porch."
As Miaka instinctly moved away from the heavily accented voice, Yuki swiveled around to stare at the speaker in surprise. He never even heard anyone approaching. Not that he resented avoiding getting a dead body on his porch but still…
A man with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail stood there, ignoring all three stunned people as he inspected Miaka's gun critically. The tall blond man shook his head mournfully as he fixed his piercing eyes on Miaka, " I cannot believe you."
"Why a M16? Why? Use a Magnum! It's so much more elegant. See?"
The blond man took out another gun. Caressing it almost lovingly, he crooned at it, "See this baby here? She's mine! All mine!"
Yuki felt another throbbing headache coming up as the stranger's serious tone broke into a passionate rant.
Shuichi continued staring in stupefied silence at the blond man, "Okaaaaaay…Let's see. First that girl shows up and all but threatens to blast herself to the great beyond. Then, a weird guy just waltzes up from nowhere and merrily starts giving prep talk on the sexiness of gun barrels as if he sees people about to riddle their head with bullets everyday. More like, why does he even have a gun?"
He absentmindedly wondered if there was something in the instant noodles he had for lunch. After all, that was the only reasonable reason he could come up with for this completely stupid and utterly ridiculous turn of events.
"….and if you polish it in the right direction, it might be generous enough to purr at you. Of course, you have to really strain your ears and…"
Miaka expression was priceless, her mouth agape. He-llo? She was trying to kill herself dramatically here. How tactless.
Yuki stared at the man incredulously as he continued rambling, irritation canceling out his shock fast, "Not to interrupt your truly enlightening speech but who the hell are you?"
At Yuki's curt demand, the man stopped talking immediately and he glanced at Yuki. Smirking inwardly as he met icy gold eyes, "Good, Looks like the tension's completely gone," he discreetly slid both guns in his trench pocket, away from Miaka. He took on a professional tone, "My name is K. Inspector K."
K flipped his id out and continued speaking smoothly as Yuki inspected the card suspiciously, "I'm here to bring a certain Shindou Shuichi to the police station."
XXX
Half an hour later, Shuichi sat in a room, staring at the charred item in front of him with a wooden expression. He wasn't really sure he wanted to know its contents.
Flashback.
"M-me…?"
Shuichi paled further and swallowed hard when K nodded.
Yuki coolly asked, "And why does he have to go there? Shuichi hasn't done anything wrong."
K smiled at them, attempting to ease their apprehension, "Mr. Ue-"
"Yuki."
"Sorry?"
"I said, it's Yuki. Don't call me with that old fool's name."
K nodded, "Okay then. Mr. Yuki, please do not misunderstand. We're not accusing Mr. Shindou of doing anything wrong. It's just that there's something we think Mr. Shindou should see. Of course, you're most welcome to accompany him. You too, young lady."
Miaka only nodded dejectedly. This was it. Good-bye freedom. Hello prison bars.
End flashback.
"Almost everything was burnt but we managed to salvage that. Some of the parts are gone though there's enough left to serve as solid evidence. Well Mr.Shindou, are you ready?"
Shindou concentrated on the table as K looked at him expectantly from across the table. On either side of him sat Yuki and Miaka. Both looked troubled-though for different reasons.
Shuichi focused on the item. A tape. Did he really want to know what it contained? He could walk away from it right now and be happy in his ignorance but still…it was a message from his mother. His beloved mother.
His now dead mother.
Making his decision, Shuichi took a deep breath and met K's questioning eyes with a steady gaze, "I'm ready."
Nodding, K pushed his chair back and stood up. Shuichi watched as K popped the tape into some sort of recording device and waited.
…ichi, please understand…
Shuichi started as his mother's voice filled the room and stared at the machine, mystified.
…anymore. It's better this way. You can finally free yourself and be happy, away from everything. I'm sorry for being such a weak mother. I hate myself so much-I can't even protect my precious baby boy, my everything…
…lying. He's no good. If you ever see him again, run. Run as fast as you can…
…happy you found someone. Now, I won't have to worry about you because even when I'm dead, there's someone to take care of you…
…don't cry for me. Forgive your foolish mother. Shuichi, I love you…
Tears were silently flowing down Shuichi's cheeks as the tape whirred to an end. Without saying anything, Yuki simply took his hand, comforting him in his own way. K motioned for a stunned Miaka to follow him out, giving them privacy.
As the door clicked shut, Yuki raided his pocket and produced a tissue. Shuichi gratefully accepted the offered tissue and dried his tears, "Yuki…"
"Yes?"
"Mother was going to kill herself?"
"Yes."
"It wouldn't have mattered whether the house had been burnt down or not-she would have died anyway?"
"Yes."
Fresh sobs escaped Shuichi's shaking frame, "I'm glad…Mother didn't die against her will. She's in peace now, after all her suffering. Is it wrong for me to feel that way?"
Yuki only pulled Shuichi closer.
"It's not wrong, Shuichi…it's not."
XXX
"Although the damage has been done, her sentence will be less severe than what it usually is considering we have proof Shindou Nanri was going to commit suicide anyway and also because your daughter is below eighteen years of age."
K watched the couple in front of him as the woman burst into tears, her husband patting her back comfortingly. Beside them, Miaka hung her head in shame. Whether the girl realized it or not, her foster parents loved her very much. Barely ten minutes had passed after he called them and they were already at the police station, anxiously demanding if Miaka was all right.
"We're going to have to keep Ms.Miaka in custody-unless, of course, you are willing to vouch for her?"
Miaka cringed at that. Why was he even asking that? After everything she had done, they were definitely going to disown her. At that thought, she felt a hard lump in her throat. She didn't want to lose them-how come she never realized how much she loved them before? She cast her eyes down, willing herself not to cry.
"Of course we will! Did you even have to ask?"
Miaka's head shot up at her father's crisp voice and stared at him in shock, "Yo-you will? Don't you hate me now? I'm mean and hateful and I'm a criminal. I'm not even related to you by blood!"
Her foster father gave her a warm smile, "That doesn't matter. Miaka, we raised you. You're our daughter and nothing would ever change that."
Brushing her tears away, her foster mother attempted to grin, managed a small one and added in "Don't you worry, Miaka! We'll take care of everything. You just take a break from school and rest."
"Father….Mother…."
As Miaka started crying, K smiled to himself at the touching scene and made an unnoticed exit, feeling happy that a case had been solved.
XXX
Yuki twitched as he eyed the commotion going on in his living room. How did this happen?
People could be found strewn all over the room, playing 'let's get to know one another." They were chattering away happily, occasionally giving in to frighteningly loud roars of laugher. He wondered if the neighbors were going to call the police-the noise level was that high.
"Forget that." Yuki glared at the oblivious blond man who was having a 'serious' conversation with Tohma. Police was already here.
"K-san, why did you decide to join the police?"
"Well Mr. Seguchi, it was my father's wish. He was a brilliant cop, couldn't stand any injustice and was a strong believer that every criminal, no matter what they had done, had some good in them. He died courageously, trying to arrest some armed robbers. When I heard his dying message was that I replace him, I decided to follow his footsteps in becoming an upholder of peace and law."
"Wow, really?"
"Actually, no. My old man runs a fishing supplies shop in America. I just wanted a reason to carry a gun. A legal one anyway."
Yep. A real serious conversation. Too bad it lacked intelligence.
He winced as he heard crashing followed by screaming from the kitchen. Maybe he should have warned Shuichi that Mika couldn't tell the difference between a whisk and a frying pan. Then again, it was Shuichi's idea. "Play nice, kids."
Yuki groaned inwardly as Hiro started fiddling with his half-eaten piece of chewy jelly. Apparently, he really had nothing more beneficial to do- he started pulling the jelly sideways before rolling it into a pink rubbery ball and throwing it up in the air. He caught it as it fell and threw it up again.
And again.
And again.
Really, this was all Shuichi's fault.
He had looked so glum in the police station that Yuki had suggested he celebrate the fact that the circumstances regarding his mother's death had been clarified. Yuki wished he had just given Shuichi ice cream instead.
Anything other than this.
Shuichi decided to invite his friends over for dinner and getting the green light to go ahead from Yuki, had started ringing people up.
How was Yuki supposed to know that by a 'few people', Shuichi had meant Hiro, Ryuichi, Tohma, Mika and Tatsuha? Since when was Yuki's family friends anyway?
Having done that, and completed wrapping up any unfinished business at the police station, K had sent them back to their house.
He was cursed-that was the only excuse Yuki would forgive for things happening the way it did.
When they arrived home, Ryuichi and Hiro were already waiting for them. It turned out K was some distant relative of Ryuichi's. Shuichi, bless his little pink head, had instantly invited him to dinner as well. Evidently, Shuichi was an avid believer of 'your friends are my friends'.
Yuki was going to send whoever who said that to an early grave.
When Ryuichi and Tatsuha attempted playing football with his empty crystal fishbowl, Yuki turned heel and fled to the safety of the toilet before he gave in to the maddening urge to snatch K's Magnum and actually use it. He didn't want holes in his clean white walls.
Splat!
Okay, fine. He didn't want holes in what used to be his clean white walls. Which was now decorated with a pink blob. Thank you very much, Mr. Look-at-me-I'm-a-rocket-scientist- Hiroshi.
"Dinner's ready!"
Yuki decided to believe God existed.
XXX
"If Yuki's not going to school then neither am I."
Yuki rolled his eyes at Shuichi's adamant statement and put his fork down, "You have to go, brat. You're a student."
"And you're a teacher!"
"Not anymore."
"Why, what a coincidence! Neither am I."
"…"
Everybody watched as the duo glared at each other from the opposite end of the table and decided it was safer to just pretend they didn't see any sparks flying in a nonromantic way. Almost everybody anyway-Tohma tried.
"Uh, guys…"
He was promptly ignored by Yuki, "Next you'll be telling me you want to smoke, drink and drive!"
"That's not what I-hey, wait! Drive?"
"Over my dead body."
"That can be easily arranged."
Again, everybody tried ignoring the sparks-which were rapidly evolving into ominous crackling. Again, Tohma tried.
"Guys!"
Intervention: rejected.
"You're impossible!"
"And you're a full grown man who refuses to go to school and would probably would refuse to sleep in the dark too if it wasn't for his purple and green stuffed dinosaur!"
"What has-"
"Will the both of you kindly stop squabbling at the dinner table like five year olds and shut up before I make you two stand in a corner without any dinner?" Mika glowered at them intimidatingly, "Dark, separate corners."
As the entire table fell into astounded silence, Tohma sighed inwardly, "Well, I tried to warn them…"
Mika brightened up and smiled cheerfully round the table, pointedly ignoring Yuki and Shuichi who were now, in her eyes, disgraced. "Come up, eat up! What are you waiting for? The food is getting cold."
Hiro, K and Ryuichi quickly resumed shoving food down their throats, shivering a little. She may be sweet now, but they had seen her dark side and confirmed something they were happier off not knowing-Mika was one hundred and twenty percent related to Yuki.
Yep, no doubt about it.
Satisfied, Mika fixed her eyes on Shuichi's face and smiled sweetly, "Purple and green dinosaur?"
"Her name is Patchy-Poo."
"…"
"…"
"Patchy…Poo…?"
"…."
"…."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!"
Ta-dah! As many of you requested, K has made his appearance. LOL. Hope you liked the chapter-you know what to do if you do! Heh heh. Ja!