She was seeing things. She had to be seeing things. She had to be dreaming her the glass on the floor the mark on her neck and the man at the door who could see the mark on her neck and who had heard Logan, fucking Logan, who couldn’t keep his hands to himself or keep his mouth shut when he was at the door.
Minako shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and trying very hard to blink him away. But he was still standing there, still seeming very together and very in control, but she could tell that he was hurt. She didn’t know if anyone else would have been able to see it (probably Mamoru would), but she could see it and she felt tears pricking at her eyes. She wanted to turn away because she didn’t want him to see her cry. But she didn’t want Logan to see either, and that only made her want to cry more.
“What are you doing here?” Minako asked, walking away from the door with her palm over her eyes. She felt Logan reach for her, but she didn’t know if she could bear that, so she moved away. “How are you here?”
She heard the door close when she reached down for the tissue box she kept handy for sad movies and rows with Logan. She knew that he’d closed the door behind him, and she would have been furious with his assuming he was invited in if it wasn’t him.
“I was sent,” he said honestly.
“But you didn’t object,” Minako said, almost bitter.
He didn’t deny it. “They probably thought they were doing both of us a favor.”
Minako wanted very much to scream, but Logan started talking, and for some reason, it calmed her. “Mina, is this who I think it is?”
He looked over at Logan, raising his eyebrow a bit. “She mentioned me?”
“You’re all she talks about,” Logan drawled, moving over to Minako in a very territorial move. He walked up behind her and put an arm around her waist. She felt torn between pulling away and burying her face in Logan’s chest. “She did mention that you were dead.”
He stared at them for a minute, and it made Minako reached for another tissue. “I got better,” he said, joking a bit.
“I’ve heard that before,” Logan said quietly, glancing down at Minako. Then Logan looked up asked, “What’s your name?”
“Takehiko,” he responded, bending a bit at the waist.
Minako looked up, staring at him for a moment. She almost questioned him for a moment, but she couldn’t get into too much detail with Logan standing there attempting to meld the two of them together. It would bring up to many questions that she had never planned on allowing him to ask. Besides, it would have been stupid to ask him about his name. Of course he wouldn’t go by that any more. Too many memories.
Before Logan could ask about how both of them had managed to make death a temporary state of mind, Minako broke in. “How did you know where to find me?”
“I didn’t,” Takehiko admitted. “But Ami’s known for some time.”
Minako shut her eyes, clenching her jaw. Of course Ami knew where she was. She should have realized that. No amount of aliases could throw that girl off if she really wanted to find Minako. Apparently she had and kept the information to herself. “And she told you?”
Takehiko nodded. “She thought I should know.”
Now Minako did pull away from Logan. She would have very much liked a drink right then, but she’d removed all alcohol from the house when Logan started living with her. She had to pace to circumvent her frustration and keep her from punching something. “How presumptuous of her.”
“She thought she was doing the right thing,” Takehiko said, trying to soothe her in that way that she often found infuriating until it actually started to work.
“Well, she thought wrong,” Minako snapped. “And please feel free to tell her that I said so.”
“She was worried,” Takehiko told her.
“If she was so worried, she should have come herself,” Minako said plainly.
Takehiko narrowed his eyes. “She knew you didn’t want to see her.”
“I don’t want to see any of you,” Minako retorted, pausing a bit when she saw a look pass across his face. “And you are one of them, you know.”
Takehiko glanced down for a moment, but it was so quick that she almost missed it. “You know that isn’t entirely true.”
“You’re his…” she trailed off, not wanting to use the word ‘guardian.’ “Friend,” she decided finally. It was true at any rate. “His closest. Of course you’re one of them.”
Takehiko smiled wryly. “It still isn’t the same.”
“Yeah,” Logan cut in, sounding annoyed at being kept out of the conversation or maybe just being kept in the dark. He did have an annoying tendency to take everything too personally. “As I recall you were a bit of asshole towards the end there.”
Minako flinched. “Logan--"
“Exactly how much does he know?” Takehiko asked, raising an eyebrow.
“About a smidgen more than jack shit,” Logan responded, his tone and posture reeking of hostility. He looked back at her, and it took her a moment to realize he was directing it at her. She’d just assumed he would blame Takehiko because he was probably the most innocent out of all of them, and she felt like an idiot for being that presumptuous.
Minako sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Logan, if you could hold off on being a jackass for about two minutes--"
“It’s a permanent condition. Not something I can turn off,” Logan retorted. “I would just like to know what in the blue hell is going on here?”
“It’s complicated,” Minako muttered.
“If I had a shot every time I heard that excuse, I’d have to have my stomach pumped,” Logan snapped.
“Well, it is complicated,” Minako said, her teeth beginning to grind together. “Not everyone feels the need to work out their issues in every conversation,” Minako pronounced, referring to the earlier Brigadoon story.
Logan laughed a bit. “At least I bother to work them out vertically.”
Minako gaped at Logan for a moment, trying to figure out what to say to that when she saw Takehiko moving out of the corner of her eyes. She looked over to see Takehiko glaring murderously at Logan’s back, shifting a bit as if contemplating whether or not to pounce. Thankfully, all he did was speak, his tone deceptively cool. “Maybe you should calm down, Logan.”
“Maybe you should get the fuck out,” Logan said, his voice rising right alongside his temper as he turned around.
Minako stalked forward, steeling herself to deal with Logan’s usual volatile behavior. “Logan, leave him out of it,” she warned.
Logan whirled back, looking as though he had somehow been betrayed. “Oh, are you protecting him now?”
“He hardly needs it,” Minako responded without pausing to think about what she was saying.
Logan rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up. She could tell he was getting more agitated as his gestures became more theatrical. “Oh, wonderful. Your psychological bullshit again.”
Minako glared, moving even closer as she spoke. “I am merely pointing out that if you’re going to be pissed at me, be pissed at me. Don’t drag other people into it. Especially not when you don’t know what they’re capable of.”
Logan snorted derisively, although she could see him glance back at Takehiko as if he did sense something about the other man to briefly give him pause. “What’s he going to do? Kill me?”
“Only if it becomes a necessity,” Takehiko said coolly.
Predictably, Logan immediately turned back around to Takehiko, though Minako couldn’t say for certain if he was going to throw a punch or just another insult. She moved between them before Logan could make things worse for himself, grabbing his arms to keep him from swinging. She wished she had a third one available for his mouth. “Logan, believe me when I say that you really want to stop being an idiot right about now. And I’m protecting you now, so calm down.”
“Maybe I don’t want that anymore,” Logan snapped.
“If that’s true, then you don’t know what’s good for you,” Minako countered, her blue eyes flashing dangerously.
“Oh, and you do?” Logan asked, almost laughing at her.
“You have made that infinitely clear on multiple occasions,” Minako informed him. “I think I have a list somewhere.”
Logan glared at her, slowly letting the extent of his hostility show through. “You’ve been keeping track of your little project, have you?”
Minako bristled, very much wanting to push him. She somehow restrained herself from doing that, but she couldn’t help but tighten her grip on his arms. “You’re the one who sat outside my door. You asked for my help.”
“And you were all too happy to try and fix the little broken boy, right?” Logan seethed.
“I’m sorry, are you getting angry with me for trying to help you now?” Minako asked, getting very close to yelling at him. “Wow, that makes sense on… no levels whatsoever!”
“I was hung over and very stupid that day,” Logan growled. “I would have been better off if I hadn’t come here.”
Minako scowled, and this time, she did push him back. “You would be dead if you hadn’t come here.”
“I almost died because I came here!” Logan shouted. “Or have you forgotten?”
Minako shut her eyes, her hands clenching into fists. He just had to bring that night up didn’t he? She hadn’t wanted to talk about that fight, hadn’t even wanted to think about it. But she should have known that he was merely keeping his mouth shut long enough to use it against her to hurt her. They were both very good at that.
“Of course I haven’t,” Minako said slowly, trying very hard to keep herself in check. Takehiko was watching, and he was the last person she wanted to lose it in front of. Then again, Logan might not give her a choice. “But don’t you dare blame that on me. That was your choice. I didn’t shove the vodka down your throat. I didn’t put you that bridge. That was you. I was the only one who gave a big enough damn to talk you down.”
“Yeah, and thanks for the fuck in the alley afterwards,” Logan said darkly.
That did it.
Minako could not remember the last time she had been infuriated beyond the point of speaking. Then again, she also wouldn’t remember deciding on how to respond half an hour later, so maybe her memory wasn’t something to hold in very high esteem.
She screamed wordlessly and flung herself forward to tear his eyes out or choke him or something along those lines. She only screamed louder when Takehiko grabbed her around the waist, thrashing and kicking like a mad woman. She clawed at his arms to try and get him to let her go. She wasn’t used to being overpowered, not anymore, and that also made the situation a bit worse.
Logan had backed away the moment he saw her move, and he was frozen in place when he saw Minako’s reaction. She could see him staring, his mouth hanging open. He wasn’t used to her losing control, and it seemed to frighten him.
She was glad of that.
“If I were you, I would leave,” Takehiko said, his voice infuriatingly steady.
Logan looked up, probably wanting to yell at him for his suggestion, but he couldn’t very well ignore Minako’s reaction. He stared at both of them for a few minutes more, until Takehiko continued.
“I can only do this for so long, you know,” Takehiko added. “She is wearing heels.”
For whatever reason, that seemed to be enough for Logan. He shook his head and bolted, not even pausing at the door to give her one last glance. He shut the door behind him, and even over her yelling, Minako could hear him thumping down the stairs just like last time.
“Let go of me!” Minako yelled, still trying to twist away. This was humiliating, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She often found she had that problem.
“I would like to, but I can’t until I’m sure you’re not going to kill him,” Takehiko said, straining a bit.
Minako threw her weight forward so that she could at least get her feet back on the ground. “You didn’t seem so adverse to the idea.”
“I said if it was necessary,” Takehiko reminded her.
“You have a fucked up idea of what necessary is,” Minako said, her voice cracking.
Takehiko apparently decided it was best not to argue that point with her at the moment. “I’m not going to let you hurt him.”
“Why not?!” Minako raged. “You should want to hurt him! You’re supposed to feel something! You--"
“I do,” Takehiko said softly. “You know I do. And that’s why I can’t let you go.”
Finally, Minako stilled just as quickly as she had snapped. She bent at the waist, her hair spilling over her shoulders. She was very quiet, and she felt as if even her heart had stopped at his words. She hung prone for a moment, her eyes wide and staring at the ground. He let her go once he was certain that she wasn’t trying to trick him, but she didn’t move away. She turned right back around, tears she had been trying to restrain suddenly pouring down her face. She buried his face in his chest, her entire body wracked with sobs, and trying desperately to make everything go away.
But she couldn’t do that because it was real.
