A Mentor's Hand (文豪ストレイドッグス)

17

"So," Kiyo whispered, "here we are."

She leaned over her chair, resting her arms on it. Before her lay Mai, silently sleeping. Her hands rested peacefully over her chest. The heart monitor was steadily beaping.

"I remember, when we were kids, and we used to sleep in the same bed and pile our blankets 'cause it was so cold at night." She brushed a lock of Mai's hair off her cheek, watching the strands fall apart.

"You'd get up in the middle of the night. You'd pace, and hold your head like it hurt. You never said anything about it, though." Kiyo shivered, pulling her jacket closer.  "I think I know why now..." she whispered, trailing off, her thoughts astray.

"You couldn't remember. They were playing with us the whole time; stringing us along like puppets." Kiyo's hand shook, cold and angered. She brought it to her lap.

"I wonder... if my strings are cut, or are they just slack, waiting to be picked up again? Are we free, or just floating aimlessly?" A single tear fell down her face. "Mai, are you listening?"

Mai didn't move. Kiyo wandered her mind for awhile, struggling to think in a straight line.

"The sun that day... was beautiful. Everything was beautiful.

"Except for you Mai, 'cause you died. There might not have been a real us, but if there was a real you, then it disappeared that day. Dissipated like smoke."

Kiyo stood up, shoving her chair aside. She could feel the beat of her heart, but it was like she was miles away. Her words were her own, but she didn't feel them.

"So who ever this is... this person in front of me... is a joke. Mai became me when I died, in that accident."

Wait, what?

No no no... Kiyo is alive and well don't you know that? She's breathing fine!

"Ya..."

Kiyo's hand crept down to her blade. She grabbed the handle, and pulled it out. The blade glowed from the hospital lights.

"You may bleed, Mai, but your heart has vanished. To be set free from your strings..." Kiyo glanced at Mai's sleeping eyes, and imagined them alive with that childlike look. But that was so long ago... and this was the present.

"You said, that part of you was me. That ability of yours... is you're spirit inside of me." Kiyo raised her blade, feeling the wooden handle.

"Then it only makes sense that you would like to escape this world, and perhaps we can connect from above... I would like that, I think." Kiyo trailed off again. She talked about nonsensical and pointless things for a couple minutes.

"You're always gonna be with me, so I'll keep moving forward, I think."

She brought the blade down cleanly. It sliced through Mai's flesh, staining her bandages and gown in dark red blood. The monitor stopped beaping, though an alarm was probably going wild in some poor underground doctor's office.

Kiyo still had much to say, but she suddenly wanted to leave. Besides, this body hadn't been Mai to begin with.

Flicking her blade like one might at the end of an Iaido kata with their sword¹, Kiyo left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

The halls were empty, eerily silent. Her footsteps echoed through the long corridors as she walked through them. Her mind was blank, gracefully peaceful.

When she exited the hospital and made it to the general area of the mafia's underground system, the low buzz and quick shuffling of peoples feet on their way to individual missions filled the silence. Occasionally people would rush by her, paying no mind whatsoever.

Once on the main street, Kiyo stopped in a cafe. Sitting down on one of the many tables, she let the smell of coffee surround her.

"... Aren't you supposed to be in school, miss?" A waitress said.

Crap. Kiyo had forgotten. "Oh, no. I'm homeschooling," she said smoothly. The waitress looked at her through the corner of her eye, but only proceeded to ask for her order. Kiyo got a coffee, with cream, of course.

She looked at the window, vaguely enjoying the view of people walking past. A chair was pulled away across from her, and a man sat down in it. Her wore a doctor's scrub, and was accompanied by a little girl.

"Kiyo," Mori greeted, folding his hands in front of himself. She was too tired to be surprised. "Hello, Mori-sensei." Kiyo sipped her coffee. "Would you like an order?"

"Oh, sure," Mori replied, sitting back in his chair. Kiyo waited for him to order. "So ehat brings you to grace me with your presence?" Kiyo asked. Mori's dark purple eyes peirced the air before him. "Oh, just wanting some tea," he said wistfully.

"Well, then I am blessed with your free time. Would little Elise-chan like a chair, too?" The girl in question looked furious at being left out out. "Nah," Mori smiled, recievimg dagger eyes from Elise.

He was served Gyokuro, an expensive yet sweet tea. "So I am guessing that it was you who visited Mai?" Mori said after sipping lightly. Kiyo tightened her grip on the cup, her blood running cold. How?

"There is nothing that happens withought my knowledge, Kiyo-chan.

"I didn't kill her," Kiyo whispered. "She was already dead. She's been dead for years." Mori didn't say anything, except he put his finger silently to his mouth, reminding her of their current location.

"I see," Mori said after awhile. He stood up, putting some money down on the table. "In any case, I hope you continue to progress with Michi no Ken."

"Of course, Boss," Kiyo replied. Mori left, floundering after his... daughter?

¹[A/N] Iaido is a japanese sword art, and part of training involves kata, which means form. At the end of the kata, they "flick" (it's a very particualr movement) their blade to get most of any (theoretical) blood off, and also check to make sure that the katana wasn't damaged, as the swords easily break.

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