route_1065 | Who will be there for you?

Entry tags:

Who will be there for you?

Who:

yattagarasu and OPEN
Where: The fringes of Azalea Town, but not too far out
When: Friday, September 10th, evening-ish (forward-dated because I won't be here tomorrow and I only remembered this date not too long ago!)
Summary: Kay goes to pay respects to the deceased in the only way she can. AS USUAL, action or prose is fine with me, whatever sails your boat.
Rating: PG-13 at most, probably
Log:

The drizzle was continuous, but not anything deterring, and most of her Pokémon were snug in their capsules with the promise to let Flapper out later and Prise curled in a little ball on her bed. He was too young to be much of a night owl, so she'd let him sleep in her room with Byrne keeping an eye on him. As loyal as the Murkrow was, he wasn't fond of staying out in the rain, light or not. And Kay... had other things to accomplish.

She hadn't forgotten. Sure, there were other things to deal with, but she hadn't forgotten one simple fact looming over her for the entire week, one she hadn't mentioned to anybody. Even Kay couldn't stay 100% cheerful in the face of loss, and to blithely remark on it had seemed pointless. Her friends would just worry. So she'd paid a visit to the Pokémart earlier on with the excuse of buying more supplies-- which she had, but she'd additionally found a package of chocolate Swiss Rolls. They weren't her old favorites, but they'd do. Azalea also had quite a few patches of flowers that she'd made use of to form a small bouquet, and with that, she had everything.

The soft, light patter of the drizzle was the only sound as the girl quietly made her way past the houses and small buildings. There weren't too many people outdoors right now, something she appreciated, and it wasn't long before she'd reached the outskirts, close to Route 33.

There wasn't a grave, a first-- but she'd expected that. Instead, Kay knelt down and placed the crude bouquet on the ground, backing up a few steps once one half of the package of Swiss Rolls had joined it. She stared at the ground for a few moments, then spoke quietly.

"Hi, Dad."

No response.

"Sorry I couldn't get away sooner, traffic was a mess." It was habit more than anything to joke, but Kay cleared her throat a few seconds later. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? And maybe you're wondering why I'm not at your grave like I usually am, but the thing is, I can't be at your grave right now. Your daughter's literally become a world traveler! A lot's changed in a year, but you know me, I couldn't just skip your anniversary in a different world! Even if it's... three months earlier than it would be back home. Maybe they'll let Uncle Badd out to come see you, at least."

She rocked back on her heels, already tuning out the drizzle and the damp chill of the evening in favor of amiably addressing the air. "You know... it took me seven years, but I found your killer. I learned a lot, maybe more than I wanted to, but we took care of the people responsible for your death, and they can't do that to anyone else any more. So I really hope you'll be able to rest in peace now. Mr. Edgeworth, Gummy, they helped me solve everything, and I owe them a lot. Not that I think Mr. Edgeworth's too happy about me following in your footsteps, but there's no way I'd let your work go unfinished! As for me..."

Kay trailed off, then smiled reminiscently. "I've met a lot of people here and made new friends. There's Byrne; he's a Murkrow, but he's the best partner anyone could have asked for. And the rest of the team, too. And Johan and Kaito and Juudai and Crow-- I think you'd like them! They're all amazing guys, and they've been looking out for me, even when I tell them they don't have to. Johan, especially, and if you were here, it would've been great if you could have used your Prosecutor Powers to make him sleep like a normal person! And there's people like Snow and Mr. Wright and Maya and Trucy and Uncle Smokey... Batty and Sora and Heather and Beat and Konata..." She laughed under her breath. "It feels kind of like a family here. Even with Mr. Edgeworth, and he's not even from my year!"

Silence reigned. She scuffed a foot in the mud and lowered her head.

"... I'm okay. I never wanted you to leave, and I didn't think you ever would, but it wasn't your choice, was it? I just never got the chance to say goodbye. I still think about that every day. But honestly? I know you wouldn't want me moping, and I'm sure you're still looking out for me, just like a hero would. And I'm not alone here. So, if anything, if I became even slightly like someone you could be proud of as a father, then that's good enough for me." She closed her eyes briefly, uttering only one sentence before she fell silent.

"Happy Anniversary, Dad."

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He froze instantly as she turned, his expression mirroring that of a deer caught in headlights. After all, if he had been right that he was intruding, worried or not, he'd be in the wrong, and-- ... He let out a breath after a few moments, realizing Kay was waving him over. At the very least, that meant she wasn't upset with him. Not that she ever really had been before, but...

While he normally might be much better at being able to tell how she would feel and react, he mused as he jogged over, this was... completely new territory for him, so he should be prepared for anything. Though from the looks of things, Kay was still Kay, odd smile aside (though it was still a smile, which meant she was still Kay) so... hopefully there was nothing to worry about after all. As long as Kay could be okay, that was all that mattered to him right now anyway.

"E-Ehe... Hey, Kay," he started as he arrived to stand directly across from her, now fully able to see what she had been speaking to earlier behind her.

The Swiss Rolls and the flowers were definitely in plain view, an offering for a grave that wasn't there, but Kay had done her best with what limited supplies she had. Spirits could probably see and hear you anyway, or so she hoped; surely her father's ghost wouldn't be restricted solely to his own world if his living daughter was no longer in it.

"Hey," she returned the greeting with a brighter smile, giving the flowers a glance before looking back at Johan. She'd thought she'd feel a little more awkward around him after that talk with Kaito, but she'd been able to act the same-- more or less. She certainly didn't seem awkward now. "I wasn't out that long, was I?"

"Huh?" Johan held up his hands and shook them a bit, before giving his head a firm shake no. "You reminded me that I wanted to get supplies too, but when I got to the store I saw you, so..."

Johan held out his hands to his wides, laughing meekly, finding himself almost unable to meet her eyes - though for the moment, he was doing rather amiably - though a sneaking thought came sneaking into his mind as he forced another chuckle out. This was something she would have kept to herself, had he not found her, wasn't it?

Not that it was his business, not in any way at all, so...

"So here we are," he said finally, motioning to the ground as if that would give some greater explanation than he could.

Kay's answering smile was a rueful one. He'd found her out yet again, and though she hadn't taken as many steps in order not to rouse suspicion or concern, she should have known that Johan would have found out, whether he'd been intending to or not. She'd only stayed silent not to worry her friends, but he was here already, and Kay didn't feel like fumbling for excuses. This was perfectly normal, and she'd been doing it faithfully for seven years, so saw no reason to be ashamed of it now.

But she'd probably been silent for longer than was comfortable, so she shifted slightly and imitated Johan's early motion. "I always visit his grave on the day he died," she said by way of explanation. "But I had to improvise this year, and I'd just attract attention if I did it in town." She didn't mind attracting attention, but there were times when she preferred not to.

"... I see." Immediately, after hearing it out of her mouth, Johan felt even more guilty for spying on her. Not that he'd meant to spy on her, but he'd still done it all the same, regardless of his initial (and, in his mind, now irrelevant intentions) and what kind of partner would he be to not feel even a little wrong doing that?

Still, that didn't matter right now, what matter was Kay, and he realized now that he'd been being to quiet now.

"I guess that makes sense," he said quietly after a few more moments' pause, glancing back to what Kay had left behind for him. "I bet he appreciates that a lot, even if you couldn't get there."

"I hope so!" Kay's smile was back to its usual brightness levels, though it took her a minute to call it forth. "I think the Swiss Roll might get a little wet, but that was our tradition... I'm just lucky they sell stuff like that here."

She gave the offerings another glance then, spontaneously, she once again spoke-- but not to Johan this time. "Dad, this is Johan... you know, the one I've told you about? He's been helping me out, so you don't have to worry about what you left behind anymore."

Johan just nodded quietly, inwardly glad that she was brightening up again, but then, for a completely different reason than before, he once more took on the look of a deer caught in headlights as Kay began introducing him. He quickly raised an arm out towards the offerings, a few more shaky laughs escaping him.

"It's nice to meet you, sir! I've heard a lot about you...!" he started, a bit like a fish out of water for a moment - he was used to being able to see the spirits he was talking to, but after a moment he adjusted to the idea of it and continued with his greeting. Coughing, and shooting Kay a quick glance, he figured 'Why not?' and went for it. "I guess I should thank you first, for having such a great daughter-- I don't know where I'd be without her, ehehe. Probably back in Olivine somewhere."

He paused, collecting his thoughts. Truthfully, like many of the people Kay had told him of, he really had thought about what he might say if he could meet the man he'd heard about, on multiple occasions no less, but suddenly he was finding himself unable to reach out for any of those topics. So instead, he went for his heart for guidance.

"... Really, thank you for Kay. I know it's a strange thing to say, coming from a person you've never met, but... I really can't thank you, or her, enough," Johan shook his head. He could only wonder what Kay herself thought of what he was saying, but should her father be visiting her, as he very likely was, he didn't want to miss his chance to express this. Speaking of Kay, though... "And she's right, you don't have to worry... I promise you that I'll keep her as safe as I would myself, even safer, in fact! Because we're partners. And I'm here for her no matter what, so you don't--" When he said that, he nodded to the offering, or to be more precise, the space above it, and turned back to Kay. "No matter what."

Truthfully, Kay hadn't been expecting Johan to do any of... what he'd just done, since not too many people would go along with a girl talking to thin air. But then, she supposed he'd done that with his spirits for who knew how long, so maybe she should have expected it from him.

She kept an eye on him as he spoke, her gaze occasionally transferring from him to the offerings, and for a moment, it felt as though Byrne Faraday was actually there, listening to Johan just as intently as she was. The thought was enough to make her smile, softer than it had ever been on the anniversary of her father's death. But she'd never had company before, and not anyone else who spoke to her father.

And she'd never heard anyone thank someone for her. Without even thinking, she reached for Johan's hand, unable to muster a joking comment after a remark like that. She could tell he was being absolutely sincere.

"Thank you," she said at last, meaning it for more than just one thing, but not sure how to clarify that. For being there, for saying things like that, for being her partner... so much more than that, but she just squeezed his hand a little.

Johan was a bit taken aback by his hand suddenly being taken by Kay's, but he didn't mind - it helped, if anything, and he returned her squeeze and offered a comforting smile at her. He was slighly taken aback at her thanking him, but despite the sudden urge to question it or crack something, instead he only nodded and moved a bit closer. Just a bit closer, but it was more than enough at that moment.

He got the message.

"Any time. And I do mean any time, day or night, rain or shine, so..." Johan paused, shooting a glance back to the offerings, then turning back to Kay, that sneaking thought he'd had earlier coming back to mind. He gave her hand a squeeze again and then, after looking over at where Byrne, the first Byrne, was presumably watching from, one more time, he looked back to Kay. "If your father here doesn't mind, I'd like you to promise both of us something."

"Me?" The remark caught Kay off-guard, and she glanced at him. Confusion warred with curiosity, as well as a vague look of reminiscence. Any promises made between her and her father had been in that notebook she'd kept as a little girl, but one between her, her father, and Johan? That wasn't something she'd ever considered, for obvious reasons.

Curiosity won the fight, earning Johan an inquisitive smile after a moment. "I can't exactly promise you anything if you don't tell me what it is first." Part of her admitted to feeling some sense of strangeness over having a conversation while her father presumably watched over them, but she'd felt his presence before when she knew she was following the same path he was. She was positive that Byrne would have been present if he could have, whether he was actually there or not. As his daughter, she chose to believe that he was.

"Hmm... Well, make that two promises, actually," Johan corrected himself after a moment's thought, giving Kay a quick grin as she smiled at him. She'd looked a little out of it for a moment, and now that she was "here"... He nodded to himself, deciding that, if there was any way to really at least get the subject out there, this would be one of the better ways to go about it. That in mind, he turned back to Kay and held up a single finger.

"Here's the first promise: 'I promise not to keep things from my partner or friends, for better or worse, just because I'm afraid I might worry them'," he stopped there, not quite to let her respond yet, but to take a breath. There was one last thing he had to say in regards to that promise. "... I know you're more used to being alone, and I know you're just looking out for us, that's how you are, but-- You aren't alone, Kay. And we're all here for you. Even if something ever happened, and we all got separated, I'd still be there for you even then," He paused, then turned his head slightly - as if he was addressing both Kay and her father. "You can trust that I'll be there. We all will."

"Two--" Kay began, but quieted a few seconds later to hear Johan out. He wasn't being too direly serious if he was grinning, something that served to relax her and dispel any suspicious thoughts she might have been gathering.

... Which she wasn't. This was Johan, after all, who couldn't have lied his way out of a paper bag (a saying she'd heard before but hadn't quite ever understood). Even the first promise he proposed failed to surprise her, especially after the talk they'd had. But it was true, wasn't it? As much as she hated to admit it, she had almost given up, and had to renew her determination through... a hallucination, but her first coherent realization after that and a giant bat freeing her was Johan diving for her. And her first thought had been a very simple I'm glad I held on, even more so when she realized that she had an entire rescue party.

"I know," she reminded him now. "You were there... the entire time, you've been there, so I'm not about to start doubting that now. So..." She paused to remember the words, then added, "I promise not to keep things from my partner or friends." A pause. "... For better or worse." And another, quieter. "... Just because I'm afraid I might worry them." It was fair enough. She hated wearing false smiles and cheer as it was, especially around people she knew cared for her.

With each addition Kay spoke of Johan's promise, his eyes grew that much brighter and his smile that much warmer. He couldn't help it, not with everything that had happened that had finally led up this this point. The fact that she'd gone along with it helped, but he didn't doubt she was going to not go along with it in the first place; still, hearing it out of her mouth made him brighten up all the same.

"Now it's my turn-- And no, this isn't your second promise," Johan gave Kay a flash of a grin, before turning to where Byrne was standing - or floating, maybe, he supposed with this kind of spirit it could go either way - to... well, he couldn't look him in the eye, sadly, but he did something of an attempt to towards the air before turning back to Kay.

"I promise to always be there for you," Johan's grin becoming mischievous, he added: "Even if you don't want me there. I promise to be there and not doubt you for a second, even if everyone else in the world does... which they won't, because you've got some great friends who feel exactly the same way that I do." His grin going back to the smile he'd had a few moments before, he moved just a bit closer and finish. "I promise to be the best partner I can be."

Had Kay been any more aware of things beyond her father's death anniversary and her present company, she might have thought that Johan having a "turn" made this feel more like the exchanging of vows then a promise made. But sadly, she didn't even consider this, watching her friend with attentive green eyes and a solemn expression-- made difficult with all of the grinning he was doing, but somehow she managed.

The weight of what he was promising hadn't eluded her. What he was promising... was what the original Yatagarasu had needed in order to keep from collapsing. Complete and utter support. Unwavering trust. What made partners different from friends was that, with friends, there weren't too many opportunities where you had to trust them with everything. There wasn't much working together-- not in that sense, anyway. But with what Johan was saying, he'd already been there. He'd never doubted her, even when she had doubted herself. And as far as she was concerned...

It was Kay's turn to smile warmly, even as she ducked her head in an uncharacteristically sheepish gesture. I'm in good hands, Dad.

"You're keeping good on it already," she assured him.

The implications of what they were doing, or what an onlooker might think they were doing, went completely over Johan's head - what mattered to him at that moment was just Kay and her father, and this promise that they were making. So he just offered a bright smile in return to Kay's, chuckling just a little as she ducked her head away. That was different.

"You think so?" Johan shook his head, and had the moment been any other, he probably would have borrow Juudai's catchphrase, or at least his victory pose. Instead, he just kept on smiling. "Just you wait."

Kay wasn't the best at waiting, but she nodded obediently-- just this once, since they both knew Kay was only obedient when she felt like doing so (or when Crow or Mr. Edgeworth or Smoker gave her the LOOK). There were some things worth waiting for, as she'd already learned. But he'd said something else, hadn't he?

"What is the second one, anyway?" They'd covered... pretty much everything, or so she'd thought. Admittedly, her thoughts weren't entirely focused on just one thing at the moment, but she was trying.

"-- Right!" Johan's eyes brightened, and had he not been holding Kay's hand, he might have snapped his fingers as he recalled that he'd had one more promise for her to make - one perhaps not quite as serious or as important as the first one, but a promise to make all the same. Laughing just a little, he glanced back at Byrne one more time before turning back to Kay, shifting slightly. "It's not as huge, so I'm sure you'll be glad to agree, but..."

He paused. Her nod from a moment ago, one he was well aware was one that came rarely, was still fresh in his mind. He knew this one didn't need another one, but-- Maybe because it was just for the two of them that he had to pause. Ah well, now was the time, Johan. So...

"Promise me that, no matter what happens, you and I will stay together and we keep smiling all the way to the end." Another pause, and he nodded and offered a smile. "We started that way, after all, no sense in changing a good thing."

Now that gave her pause, which Kay hadn't expected at all. Even with Gummy and Mr. Edgeworth, she'd stayed with them because she'd needed their help, but after that, they'd gone their separate ways. Not that she wasn't absurdly fond of both of them, and she knew she'd see them again, but staying together was different.

And here was Johan, from what was probably a different world... but Juudai was from there, too, wasn't he? And he'd been to different worlds, so it was actually plausible. Even if things were just as long as they were in this world... they'd gone through a lot, but they could still smile and laugh together, something not too many people could claim.

"That..." Kay looked at the offerings with a bittersweet smile, then met her friend's gaze. "... is a promise I'd be honored to make. I did say you were stuck with me, after all."

The change in Kay's expression didn't go over Johan's head, but he could understand why. In hindsight, perhaps, with his concern over the first one, he'd given this second promise too little credit? ... Well, too little credit or too much credit, it was a promise he wanted to keep with her all the same, and he supposed that was really the main thing that mattered at the end of it all.

He smiled at her as she replied to him, nodding at her pointing out that truth of theirs. Like he'd said, and like she'd just reminded him, they really had been together - and stuck together - from the beginning. And Johan didn't regret a single moment of it.

"I haven't forgotten. I don't think I'd rather be stuck with anyone else," Johan nodded at this, and though a few people did come to mind, namely Juudai, of course... He decided, really, who else would he rather be stuck to than his partner? "It's been my honor all this time."

There was something odd and somewhat amusing, Kay reflected, about the majority of their serious and meaningful conversations cropping up at the most random times. Dates, sprawled on the grass, recovery visits, on her father's death anniversary... well, some of those were understandable. She wasn't a believer in "there's a time and place for everything"-- not entirely. If there was something that needed to be said or done, she did it immediately.

Kind of like now, when - increasingly damp as she was - she reached for Johan's other hand, holding both of his larger ones in hers. There was water dripping off the tips of her bangs, but she could ignore that. It wasn't anything like the storms she'd been in before. "Then consider this an officially sealed promise," she informed him. "That means I'd better see at least one smile from you every day."

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Who will be there for you?

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