K: Midnight: Epilogue: How We Wanted Us To Be
December 20, 2012
We strolled into his room, Mikoto and I, the pair of us exactly how we wanted us to be. Finally, I thought.
"I'm tired," he mumbled out. I couldn't have agreed more. Vengeance always had a way of wearing people out. Of all the time I spent with Mikoto, with Homra, that one truth had stuck with me the longest.
Mikoto sauntered over to the bathroom. Probably for the best, I remember thinking. He's filthy and could use a shower. Though I'm surprised he has the motivation for it.
On his way, he plucked the cigarette from behind his ear and set it on the desk, but stopped as he discerned the gentle click of a lighter, the bursting of a flame, and the hollow snap of the lid. I heard him shuffle back to look at me, no doubt shocked to see me smoking that same cigarette while staring out the window.
I peered around my shoulder, meeting his surprise with kind of mild amusement. Still he wasn't used to seeing me parading as an adult just yet. I found this rather funny.
"Really, Mikoto,” I said chidingly. “It's not like you were the only indulgence I was missing out on.”
I think that was the first time I could actually see Mikoto's smile ー his mild, brooding, passive grin that wasn't necessarily a smile so much as a slightly upward curl of the left side of his lip. Either way, it was his and it suited him perfectly. Further still, I knew that he'd been saving it for me.
Then came his iconic "Hmph" that was his bustling laugh, at which, he turned again and vanished into the bathroom.
A moment later, I could hear the water running – not that it was anything out-of-the-ordinary but that somehow I was saddened by it. I think because I knew that there was something I could do about it then. But instead, I just stood there, partaking in what was no doubt the greatest cigarette I had ever had, yet nevertheless wracked with the knowledge that what I should have been doing was something even greater.
Sacrilegiously, I scrunched the half-smoked cigarette into the ash tray and made my way the bathroom.
The mixture of steam and Mikoto's natural heat gave way to a nearly incoherent scene, so I knew he had no way of knowing I was there. Slowly, I undressed and tiptoed over to him. The air was thickly weighted like a blanket, warm, lovely, wrapping me inside.
I could see him then, blurred and hazy, through the glass. His hand was drawn against the wall, his face brought low. His eyes were closed in something of a frown.
Cautiously, I touched the door and slid it open just, glancing down, suddenly shy.
"...Mikoto?" I said, peering up to find him staring with a sort of awe and wonderment at me. I'd never seen him give me such a look. I suppose it's how I'd always hoped he'd look at me, and yet I was surprised that it was actually happening.
Unconsciously, I turned my face away from him, stepped inside, and moved to close the door. As I did, he caught me by the arm and pulled me fully in, pressing me against the wall and him against me, both of us silent, breathing heavily. Still, his frown remained, an earnestness pronounced among his features that conveyed to me how serious he was.
Lacing his warm fingers into mine, tightening his grip on me, I saw his stare was stronger than before.
"Can you understand how much I've wanted this?" He asked.
I searched his face and saw it in his eyes. "Yes," I nodded
"Tell me," he said, water streaming down his face. “Tell me, I want to hear it.”
I looked at him – or rather, through him. His hand drew up trace the outline of my jaw. "Because..” I said.
His hand closed in, cupping my face. Tightening. Pulling me in.
My heart was beating faster than I ever thought was possible. “Because I’ve wanted it just as badly,” I breathed.
Amidst the streaming water and the steam, I clearly saw a tear begin to form itself and slip out from the corner of his eye. Drawing near, he dipped his face to mine and softly caught his breath. "Anna," he said low to me, "I love you," and knelt in close to kiss me.
(Previously // Chapter Ten: Midnight)
(K:Midnight is an Eso Niko Fan Fiction series based on the anime/manga series K, written by GoRa and produced by GoHands. All fan fiction works written by Eso Niko are categorized as ‘unofficial fan fiction,’ and are in no way affiliated to GoRa and GoHands.)