Epilogue – Sunadokei (Hourglass)
They held a wake for Yukimura, two days after his death. Niou and Yagyuu came, as expected, as did Jackal. Yukimura's immediate family had all predeceased him; Yanagi conveniently neglected to notify any of his more distant relatives, so as to avoid the awkward explanations that were bound to come up.
Jackal, the gentleman and the trickster had barely made themselves comfortable when the doorbell rang again. Everyone exchanged puzzled looks as Yanagi went to answer the door.
Fuji Syuusuke stood on the doorstep, wearing his customary smile and an appropriately sober kimono. A step behind him was Saeki, and on his arm was a very disgruntled-looking Yuuta. "Hello," he said brightly. "You're holding the wake, yes?"
"Indeed we are." The data master raised an eyebrow at Yuuta. "Why did you bring your brother, knowing that?"
"I'm not letting Yuuta out of my sight for the next six months at least," replied the petite brunette, as though it was a perfectly sensible explanation. To him, it probably was. "Where I go, he goes too. That holds for Saeki as well."
Feeling obliged, Yanagi let the Akasagi into the house. "How did you know?"
"About what – his death or when you were holding the wake?" Fuji's smile widened, almost imperceptibly.
"Both." The data master led Fuji and his entourage to the lounge, where the rest were gathered.
Kirihara glared at the Akasagi as the group entered the room. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, paying my respects, of course," answered Fuji. "It is a wake."
"How did you know?" demanded Marui sharply, which was unusual. The redhead was normally as fierce as pudding.
"I still have plenty of sources in the police," Fuji informed them all. "Inui received Sanada's body yesterday. As there was no congratulatory message of any sort, I assumed that Yukimura must have died too. It appears that I was right."
"What congratulatory message?" asked Niou, perking up.
Yanagi coughed. "Something private between Inui and myself."
"Oh? Do tell." The silver-haired trickster leaned back in his seat, taking a deep pull from his glass of vodka.
Fuji, who had taken a seat without invitation, grinned at the data master. "A wager?"
"No," denied Yanagi. "I wouldn't wager on something as important as this."
"Oh." Fuji looked sincerely disappointed. "I was so sure it was a wager."
"Not a wager… a competition?" suggested Niou, eyes sparkling. "Who would win – you and Yukimura, or him and Sanada?"
It was too close to the truth for Yanagi to deny without lying. He sighed.
"Bingo!" cheered the trickster. "I'm right, aren't I? You didn't deny it!"
"You are not wrong," conceded the data master. "I regret to say that neither side had a clear victory."
"So what happens now?" asked Fuji, sipping delicately from a flute of champagne that Saeki had poured for him. "Did Yukimura leave any instructions? I'm sure he must have known about you and Inui."
Yanagi drew himself up, affronted. "I am not so careless."
"You were careless enough, to let Yukimura die," Fuji reminded him, merciless. "But never mind. Let's just pretend that you have denied it with great vehemence and go on with our lives. I believe I am right in thinking that Yukimura left a will?"
"He did, but you came before Yanagi-san could read it for us," groused Kirihara.
Everyone looked at the data master, who didn't look very good after suffering Fuji's verbal blows. Yagyuu let out a resigned breath. "I'll be honored to read it in his place," he offered.
"Thanks, dear," said Niou, with a blindingly bright smile. Kirihara muttered unhappily while everyone else nodded assent.
Yagyuu took the paper from Yanagi's hands and looked over it. "It says here that he wants his body to be burned, and for the ashes to made chemically made into diamond," he informed everyone.
Marui blinked. "That's… kind of disgusting, no matter how you look at it."
"Better than being made into pencil lead," Niou pointed out, making the redhead grimace.
"It's a nice idea," Fuji said lightly. "To change the ugly shell of death for something beautiful and nearly everlasting. I like it. Did he say what kind of diamond – what kind of setting or piece?"
Yagyuu glanced back at the paper. "No, he did not specify… only that he wills it to Kirihara-kun."
Kirihara looked shocked. "B-but I can't! I'll lose it, or break it –"
"It's a diamond. It won't break," reminded Marui, overly patient. "And if it's Mura-san who says it, you'd better do it. Especially since it's his, well, last request."
"…Okay," agreed the curly-haired youth at last. "But I want Yanagi-san to take care of it for me."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," said Yanagi with a tiny smile.
"Just, you see, it's so important," explained the younger male. "I don't dare take care of it myself. Yanagi-san probably has awesome security stuff like industrial-sized safes or something to keep it safe."
"How about setting it in a ring and wearing it on a chain around your neck?" suggested Jackal. "You won't lose it that way."
"That sounds good," approved Marui, "And it isn't as weird as a ring on your fingers, which would just look like a wedding ring."
Kirihara sputtered at the thought. "That's just sick."
"It certainly is," agreed Niou. "A wedding ring whose diamond is made from a person's ashes?"
Yuuta looked mildly green around the gills. His brother, noticing this, looked reproachfully at the others. "Enough of that. Yuuta's getting sick. What else is there?"
"I'm not sick," muttered Yuuta, but most didn't hear and those who did didn't believe him.
The gentleman looked at the paper again. "He wills this villa and the rest of his properties to Yanagi."
Nobody disputed that. Yanagi, looking happier, poured himself a glass of champagne. Niou took another swig of vodka.
Yagyuu glanced disapprovingly at his partner. "Please, Niou-kun, it's only noon. It is to my great regret to have to inform you that Yukimura wills all of his wines to you."
"Really? Great! I knew I could count on him to get his priorities straight," grinned the trickster, taking yet another deep pull just to irritate his partner.
Yagyuu ignored the silver-haired trickster's antics, instead proceeding on with the list. Yukimura willed his car to Jackal, his books to Yagyuu, and his money to Marui.
The redhead gaped like a fish. "Seriously?"
"'To buy a lifetime's worth of sweets, so that Jackal's burden would be lightened,'" qualified the bespectacled male, quoting from the paper.
The group dissolved into laughter.
Yanagi allowed himself to chuckle alongside them. After all, it had been a while since they had been able to laugh sincerely. Despite it being a wake, he was sure there was room for some lightheartedness. Yukimura would have preferred it this way.
Inui was not having an easy time. There was enough on his plate with the matter of Sergeant Tezuka and Officer Kaidoh's deaths, without adding the business of dealing with Sanada's body.
He didn't make his mood known in so many words, but he did arrange for the body to be buried like that of any other criminal who died in prison. He also took the time to send a missive to the Sanada family to notify them of Sanada Genichirou's death along with the notices of Tezuka and Kaidoh's deaths.
As expected, the press and the media immediately descended on the police headquarters, along with the outraged families of the recently deceased. Tezuka's clan, minor compared to Sanada's but still formidable, was outraged that their son had died for no apparent reason. Kaidoh's mother went into hysterics at the gate, and the ambulance had to be called to take her away. Meanwhile, the Sanada clan was staying aloof, pretending to be absolutely unaffected though rumors that Sanada Genichirou's mother was threatening suicide.
All in all, it was a most trying situation, especially when Inui was troubled over the outcome of his game with Yanagi. He was quite sure Yukimura too had died, as the other data master had been ignoring his attempts at contacting him since the day after Sanada was kidnapped. So the only question that remained was, who had died first?
Turning to his computer, he clicked the button that was the equivalent of a voice call for the umpteenth time. He wanted to clarify things with Yanagi, and if the other man was busy, then so be it. Inui would keep trying until he got through. After all, the bespectacled data master was known to be quite persevering.
Yanagi personally conducted the chemical process to turn Yukimura's ashes to diamond. The technology was known, but not easy and not cheap either. However, it being something like Yukimura's final request, Yanagi had no qualms whatsoever.
A few days later, he returned to the villa, a white gold ring with the diamond, brilliant-cut, set in it, Kirihara was not present, having accompanied Marui back to the city for a few days' jaunt.
The data master, absently fingering the smooth facets of the diamond, entered the house. His feet led him to Yukimura's study, the room where he had died.
Life, he reflected, was like an hourglass. Events took place, like each grain of sand trickling down, and they built up to a climax when the last, most important thing happened. Then everything turned upside down, and the whole cycle began again. Just as time turned, as life turned, as the world turned on its axis, spinning onwards into endless space.
Was it worth it? he asked of the absent blunette. Was it really what you wanted? Did you never falter, even at the last moment?
The study was as clean as it had been before Sanada's arrival, but somehow the polished furnishings and pristine glass still held a sort of vague memory of the bloody events that had taken place. Perhaps it was the too-new smell of lacquer, or the already-forming layer of dust that stood testimony to the fact that nobody dared disturb the immense, overbearing silence of the room. He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it was definitely there, a presence that was almost but not quite palpable.
Are you there? he inquired of the empty air. Do you regret it?
Somehow, he felt Yukimura's answer in his bones. Yukimura did not regret his death. He had accomplished what he had wanted to do. He had died knowing that he had done all he could, said all he needed to say. And just as he'd expected, Sanada too had died, as planned.
Everything was right.
Yet Yanagi felt that something was missing, or not quite complete.
Almost as if in answer to his unspoken query, his cell phone beeped a message alert. The data master flipped it open.
[We still do not know who won. Since both died, the winner will be the one who died second. Who was it?]
Inui. The brunette sighed inwardly. His old friend could be rather obsessive about things at times.
{Yukimura died first.}
[I see. That means I won. Sorry for your loss.]
{You're not at all sorry.}
[I try to be polite and not gloat.]
{It's nothing to gloat over. This game was worthless as a gauge.}
[Oh? That sounds 93 percent like a sore loser.]
{I am merely stating a fact. I complied with your request for this to be a competition as a simple form of amusement. When I agreed to this game, I already knew that Yukimura was going to die by Sanada's hand.}
[The fact that this was a competition between you and I still stands.]
{I do not dispute that. However, I believe I am right in saying that Yukimura's death has affected me a lot more than Sanada's death has affected you.}
[Your point being?]
{Our emotional investments in this game, if you will, were quite different. It cannot be seen as a true competition. Especially as the end was a foregone conclusion. As it was, I thought it was quite enjoyable seeing your try to pull Sanada back from a sure-lose situation into a winning one.}
[If it was a sure-lose situation, then your foregone conclusion does not tally.]
{Sanada died in disgrace. Yukimura died in peace. If we look at it in that light, then Yukimura and I have won.}
There was a pause in the messages. Yanagi allowed himself a small smile. At this point, he really didn't care if he won or lost… though it would, of course, be nice if he did win.
At last, another message came. [Very well. This game does not count. We shall have to hold another competition.]
Yanagi's smile broadened. {Certainly.}
The room was empty and seemed to yawn like a cavern with silence and death, but the garden outside was bright and bursting with life. Flowers rioted, made even more boisterous after the hard rain of about a week before. Insects buzzed, adding the dimension of sound to the already overpowering visual display. Against this, the bleak room with its painful memories seemed less bleak, less painful.
Rain reduced the world to shades of dull grey, but that only made the colors that bloomed in its wake seem even brighter. Rain turned the world dark, but formed rainbows as it moved away. Rain was the world's lifeblood, something that is of utmost importance but also something to be feared. Rain was the Sun's tears, washing the world's sins away and bringing a brighter, more beautiful tomorrow.
A/N: And this is the end. I feel rather sad that it's all over now, actually. Hopefully you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. ^^ It's darker than anything I've written before, and I like to think that it's not too bad for a first try in the multichapter-hurt/comfort/angst/romance genres.
I hope this is an appropriate ending for this fic – it was harder writing this ending than the climax in the previous chapter where they were killing each other O.o probably because I was trying to tie in the idea of the rain again as well as tie up the loose ends I could find. Also, I hope you are overall satisfied with this fic in spite of the strange pairings (FujiXKirihara and Thrill Pair was not planned when I began writing! .). Please let me know what you think =)
If anyone thinks I should write an alternative ending where Sanada and Yukimura resolve their differences, do inform me and I'll think about writing it =D
Please Review! I'd love to hear your final opinions!
~ceru-chan
P.S. These are the translated lyrics of Sunadokei. I feel they are oddly appropriate to this fic, with several parallels that I could spot at a glance. It's not really necessary to the fic but I thought it'd be nice to add here.
Sunadokei
The soundless goodbye
Was blurred by pain
When you turned your back
Tears suddenly spilled overThen I searched for you
In a maze I can't escapeHow much pain can one heart bear?
The hourglass falters
On the last grain of sandI believed in our meeting
And in the love I felt
I don't need anything else
I thought that was everythingFor some reason the more I love you
The more I hurt you, and you hurt meHow much easier would it be if I could forget?
The hourglass falters
On the last grain of sand, but...How much pain can one heart bear?
The hourglass falters
On the last grain of sand, but...How much easier would it be if I could forget?
The hourglass falters
On the last grain of sandIt's always faltering
Once again, thanks very much for reading and reviewing!