author's note: There is a Spiral Alive reference in this chapter, so if you don't understand the "first favor" to Kiyotaka I mention, that might be why. If you have read Spiral Alive and missed it, look again, closely - someone very familiar makes her first appearance in that series. :)


heroes and thieves
chapter three - my best (part II)


She's given a lot of thought to Yuizaki Hiyono over the last two years.

Kiyotaka had caught wind of her reputation when she was fourteen. As Yui, she was an almost permanent ward of the state, rejected from no less than three foster homes for bad behavior. Most children who were sent back to the orphanage had been caught stealing, or attempted to harm their foster parents and siblings. But her crime was always hacking. With a laptop at her disposal and nothing better to do, she'd developed programming skills that could make even the most experienced developer feel inferior.

The detective had arrived at the orphanage in Kansai one evening, unannounced, and asked politely to see her skills. She'd shown him a few things - but nothing that would get her in trouble - and after twenty minutes, he'd asked her age. "Yui-chan," he'd said gently, upon her response, "I'd like to ask you for a favor for now. But in a few years, I will have a job for you."

That first favor - to appear as a fortune teller in the vicinity of those she later recognized as Blade Children - led to several more. He'd given her a few hundred yen for each instance, along with a cell phone on which he could contact her. At first he only requested her assistance once every two or three months, but as she grew and her skills continued to develop, the favors came in every week. She only realized later, much later, that some of the research and hacking jobs she'd taken on helped his cases or aided the police in some manner.

And as promised, when she turned eighteen, Kiyotaka had arrived to assign her a job. "Today," he'd said, a sunny smile on his handsome face, "you'll be taking the train back with me. We're going to give you a new name, and then we're going to enroll you in Tsukiomi Gakuen."

Yui, who also happened to be a high school dropout, had stared at him as if he had two heads. She'd debated saying no. But then he'd offered her a monthly pension and her own apartment, and she'd really had no choice.

It took a full year of school and living alone in Tokyo until she learned that she - now Yuizaki Hiyono - had one very simple job: get close to Kiyotaka's younger brother, Ayumu, and support him in his efforts. That was all. And yet, that simple job had become so complex, so dangerous, so... important, by the end.

And when it came time to finish it, she'd been shocked to realize that she didn't want to.

She leans against the back wall of the hospital elevator as the doors close, shutting her eyes and rehearsing the lines again. Narumi-san, there is something I want to tell you. And it's very important. Although Kiyotaka-san gave me the name Yuizaki Hiyono, I was never acting. Everything that I did to support you was from my heart. So, moving forward, I'd like you to understand that I have always been honest -

The elevator slowly comes to a stop on a lower floor, and Yui opens her eyes. When the doors slide apart, she is just as surprised to see Narumi Madoka as the detective is to see her.

"Oh!" The blonde straightens, absently brushing off the front of her blouse and skirt, as if she's worried some stray crumb or thread might offend the older woman. "M - Madoka-oneesan, it's been ... a while."

"What a nice surprise." Madoka's smile is surprisingly warm, and she steps into the elevator, glancing at the panel on the right side. "Going up?"

"Y - yes."

"To Ayumu's room, right?" The doors shut, and that's when Yui notices Madoka carrying a paper cup of coffee with a lid, a purse slung over her opposite arm with a small paper bag peeking out of the top. "I just stopped for breakfast. It's a beautiful day, isn't it? Far too nice to be stuck at a desk solving petty crimes."

"Y - yes, the sunshine was very ... pretty this morning."

"I thought I'd give myself the day off and clean Ayumu's room. He keeps his area neat, but the places that he can't reach, well..." Madoka sighs and shakes her head as the elevator makes its way up again, slowing its ascent as it comes close to the selected floor. "It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't kick out the cleaning staff every time they make an appearance. He's so picky about who comes in his room."

"Narumi-san is?" The side of Yui's mouth turns up in a smile. "That isn't so surprising."

"He's not exactly a favorite patient here. Say, you heard about Hizumi, right?" The older woman turns her head to look down at the blonde, one navy eyebrow arched. "Ayumu's been asking to visit his grave. But it's a little too far from the hospital, and he's not well enough to go outside right now anyway. If you have a chance, could you put some flowers on it?"

"Oh... of course, Madoka-oneesan." Yui smiles. "If you can give me the location, I'll pay Hizumi-kun's grave a visit. I was meaning to anyway. I have a feeling I should thank him, after all."

"I've been thanking him a lot." The elevator doors have opened, and both women proceed into the hallway, walking in the direction of Ayumu's room. "The research performed on his body was invaluable. I know there's been other research and testing done outside of that - at least, that's what Kiyotaka-san told me - but there's now some hope that we can slow or even stop the deterioration of his left side. And in the best case scenario, there may be a chance to reverse some of the damage." There's a long pause, their silence broken only by the sound of nurses speaking in hushed tones at a nearby station; when the older woman speaks again, it's after a long sip of her coffee. "I suppose we'll know the kinds of odds he's facing once he's out of surgery today - "

Yui nearly trips over her own two feet, and barely manages to continue walking. "Wh - what? Su - surgery?!"

"He didn't tell you?" Madoka only raises one eyebrow, because maybe it's not really a surprise, to her, that he didn't. "On his arm. They're trying to repair some of the nerve damage, something involving cells and injections and... ah, it's way too complicated for me. Kiyotaka-san understood it, though."

"Axons," she says, softly, and before the older woman can ask she forces a smile and nods. "That's ... it's okay. I'll come back in a few days. But please, Madoka-oneesan, if you could pass Narumi-san a message from me, I - "

"You can tell him yourself," Madoka interrupts, and her smile isn't forced, "tomorrow. He'll be allowed visitors in the morning."

Yui opens her mouth, closes it, then sighs. "That Narumi-san," she murmurs, "telling me to come back and see him today... if he knew he was having surgery, then..."

"Well, maybe he just forgot. Or maybe he wanted to make sure you watered his flowers." Madoka grins, sliding open the door to Ayumu's room - and sure enough it is empty, quiet and dark thanks to the curtains having been pulled shut, but even in the dim light Yui can see her yellow daffodils blooming in their vase on the table. "But I'll take care of them, Hiyono-chan. I'm sure you have more important things to - " She stops, suddenly, looking back at the blonde. "I'm sorry," she says, more quietly than before, "I just realized - I don't really know your name, do I?"

And the younger woman speaks without thinking, smiling, because it's the first time in two years that anyone has called her by that name, and all at once she's remembered just how good it felt to have it. "For now," she says, turning on one heel to leave, "Hiyono is fine."