Paradise (MikaYuu)

37

(Yuu)

Sometimes reality was a bitch. All I wanted was a weekend to process the things I've seen, just one weekend to separate my memories from his. But apparently that was too much to ask.

Krul Tepes, I remembered her all too well from the 40 minutes I knew her. Child - like, smug, and sarcastic.

Here she was, the woman who ran and left us all to face the wrath of her murderer of a son. For obvious reasons, I didn't really like her. But I had to assume the best of her in this life.

"So, you said you two met in a nightclub?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am," I smiled, "are you sure I can't get you anything to drink? Feel free to whatever you'd like."

"No, I'm fine. Just here to check on you," Krul offered a smile in return, "I'm surprised Mikaela was ever in a night club, he usually doesn't like those kinds of things."

"He said he was there for work." I said.

She snickered, "That's not possible, love. Mikaela hardly ever does field work personally. He was probably there for something else and just too embarrassed to admit it."

I was shocked, "That was another lie?"  The level of lies in our relationship was pathetic.

She spun around quickly and stared at me, "You already know about that? How? It hasn't been that long and you already know?"

"Yeah... I know quite a few nasty things about him. Some things that even he doesn't know that I know." I felt fear run through me as Krul's hands gripped my shoulders tightly.

Her eyes were wide and he face was contorted, it wasn't as kind as it was earlier, no, she looked equally scared, "You can never tell him that you know, please."

"He already knows about the lying," I stared back at her like a deer caught in headlights, "I-I -I'm working on getting him into therapy for it."

"What?" She was so animated, every action and reaction was like something straight out of a movie, she let me go and started to tap her finger her against her chin, "What's he playing at? This is highly unusual," Asher said I'm not special, Krul seemed to think otherwise. Or at least I thought she did until the next line, "He usually waits a few more months for that."

"Miss Tepes, if you don't mind me prying, if you know that Mikaela is.. well... the way he is, why haven't you done anything about it?" I asked, "He briefly mentioned that you two barely see each other." I was taking mental notes. Now that I knew Krul was still the mother in his life I had a good feeling I knew who the father was.

"Yes, I do my best to distance myself from him. I know he's dangerous," she offered me a look of pity, "I need to keep my distance. It's not because I don't love him, it's because he's not safe. I'm so pathetic when it comes to him and this is the best I can do. He's my son, Yuichiro, what else can I do but come in when he's not around and warn his partners? They usually listen to me, but I know you won't. You're exactly like the other 6, so sweet, so naive," The word fell off her tongue like venom, "but not dumb. At least I hope not dumb. However, I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you you'd end up dead, and yet you choose to stay."

"6? I thought there were only 2?" I questioned.

"Asher doesn't know everything, he's only been in Mikaela's life for 5 years," Krul gave this cocky look that fit her so well, "are you surprised that I knew it was Asher?"

"A little," I admitted, "but I don't think Asher will be able to help me much anymore." I offered her the same look of arrogance.

"Oh? I haven't heard that one before, how peculiar," Krul seemed satisfied with the conclusion she had come to in her head, "I really hope you survive. I can't stop him. After everything I put him through with my ex husband, the guilt I feel prevents me from doing anything. But you have done nothing wrong," little did she know just how wrong she was, "you are not the guilty one here."

I sighed, "First of all, what his father did is not your fault. Second, you need to understand that a lot of tragedy could've been prevented if you would've taken responsibility for your child back then, you claim to love but it seems more like you fear him. And lastly, I am not guilt free. No one connected to your son is guilt free. If there's one thing that's good, genuinely good, about Mikaela, it's that he doesn't make connections with good people. He doesn't taint honest to god good people."

"Yuu," Krul seemed to disregard everything I had said and was too focused on what she wanted to say, "I'm going to offer you a piece of advice, something other than just telling you to leave. Here's the best thing I can offer you right now: It's ok to fail," she pat my head a singular time, smile plastered on her face so wide it had to have hurt, "it's ok to back out. You want to try and fix Mikaela but Mikaela can't be fixed; he doesn't want to be fixed. The second things get too dangerous for you I want you to promise me you will back out."

"I'm not going to make that promise. I don't think I can keep it." I said.

Krul twirled around a piece of her long pink her, "I wish you would lie to me. I know I'm a bad parent, a bad person, for letting Mikaela be the problem of someone else. I wish you would lie to me so I can have the peace of mind that at least I tried."

"I don't expect you to do anything," I claimed, "I don't think this is going to work either, I just want to say my goodbyes. I want to make my peace so I can finally stop this viscous cycle."

"Don't you get it?" She growled out lowly. Her eyes, red as rubies and bright as blood, conveyed the most terrifying unspoken message I've ever received.

It was never going to stop.

And somehow, that message was all it took for this morbid sense of calm to overtake me. It finally felt like the air inside my lungs and outside my body were the same.