heroes and thieves
chapter four - my best (part III)


She waits until the afternoon to visit him. The sky is clouding over and it looks like rain is on the way, but her mood is no less sunny.

"Hello, Narumi-san!"

He grunts in response. She crosses the room to his bed, glancing once at the daffodils on his bedside table. There's a chair beside him and she settles into it, crossing her legs and smoothing out her messy hair. "How was your surgery?" she asks.

"Fine."

"Any complications?"

"No." He isn't looking at her; his left arm, covered mostly in bandages and attached to an IV, lies still by his side, and his right hand holds a book that his nose is nearly buried in. "Except for neesan lecturing me this morning."

"Oh?" She smiles. "Because you forgot to tell me about your surgery?"

"I didn't forget." She sees him frown. "You would have been worked up over it. I didn't see any reason to say anything."

"Hmm. So… you were trying to keep me from worrying?"

"... something like that."

"Well, thank you." He glances her way - finally - and she brightens her smile. "I'm glad you are recovering now. Do you know what will happen after this?"

"Hn." His gaze shifts to his left arm. "I'll start physical therapy in a few days. And there will be steroids and medications administered to support the surgery." His eyes move back to his book. "If I respond well to treatment, I may regain some movement."

"That's wonderful!"

"If you can call taking fifteen pills a day wonderful."

She falters, her lips parting, and can't quite keep the smile from leaving her mouth. He notices her change in expression, glancing at her again for barely a second. "Don't get your hopes up," he says. "Even with all the research my brother's put in, and the tests conducted on Hizumi's body, it will be difficult to reverse the degeneration."

"Don't you…" She purses her lips. "Don't you want to… fight, Narumi-san?"

"Ah." He flips a page with his thumb, repositioning the book in his hand. "I've fought enough. I set an example so that the Blade Children could defeat their curse. The probability of my survival past age twenty is less than five percent. And the quality of life I would have even with that chance - "

"But don't you want to fight for that?" Her voice is unsteady. "Not for the Blade Children, anymore, but - don't you want to live?"

He sighs. "This is why I didn't want to tell you."

"Narumi-san, please - "

"I know everyone wants me to defy the odds." He turns his head to meet her eyes with his own, speaking slowly and clearly. "But I can't fight forever. If my body gives up, I want to die in peace."

She feels her hands begin to tremble, and curls her fingers until freshly painted nails dig into her palms. "You're right." she says. "Many people care about Narumi-san, and want him to live a long and happy life. We want you to defy the odds - that much is true. But if you don't want to fight, for yourself, then…" She stares down at her knees. "... then … we can't force you. But I've never known Narumi-san to face such improbable odds and simply give up. I would expect that from anyone else, but not you…"

"Is that why you came back here?" She hears him snort. "To give me a pep talk?"

"I - "

"You've always been something like my personal cheerleader. But that kind of devotion ends with your contract to my brother. If it's dissolved, you can stop pretending to care."

Her head snaps up; anger swells up in her chest, and she draws in a sharp breath, raising her voice. "Pretending?"

He calmly flips another page in his book. "Even two years later, you're still playing a part. I thought that time away would have snapped you out of it."

She stands so quickly that she nearly knocks over the chair; it teeters dangerously on its back legs before settling back down, wood smacking hard on glossy tile. "I never - "

"Don't lie to me," he interrupts, "anymore." His voice is firm, dark, completely unlike him. "And if you plan on going on going on another life-saving mission to Europe, or making some kind of scientific career for yourself out of my disease, you might as well stay away from me from now on."

She stares at him, mouth open, for nearly a minute. The anger gradually chills and dies, dropping low into her stomach. When she finally realizes that he has no intention of speaking to her again, she slowly - reluctantly - turns and walks to the door. And behind her, she hears Ayumu flip another page, the low hum of the IV machine the only other noise in his room, and that's how she leaves it, leaves him - quiet, cold, and alone.


Since childhood, Yui has been a calm, collected, positive person. She rarely raises her voice, even in times of stress or anger. Even so, it's hard for her not to scream into her phone when Kiyotaka answers her call.

"What did you tell him?!"

The detective is quiet for only a few seconds - but that's too long, to her. "We... should talk, Yui."