~*~
Mystery Club
Chapter 13: When the Clock Strikes 13
Epilogue by: Myth
Started by Epsilon
~*~

Mitsurugi Taro sat virtually alone in the spartan bedroom, looking into the 
face of a girl who was physically, but not mentally, there. Koine, his 
friend who he thought for so long to be dead. Koine, who he had left behind. 
Koine, who would not awaken for years... if ever. Koine, the girl he had 
betrayed.

      Mitsurugi sat silently as he stared into the comatose girl's face. She 
reminded him of Setsuna. Not a lot, but there were vague traces of her in 
Koine's face. Their personalities. That was what was the same. They were 
both so lively, so eager to help, so faithful. That was what got Koine her 
fate. He swore that he would never let the same happen to Setsuna. Never.

      "You okay, Mitsu-chan?" Ibuki called from the doorway. He had been 
like this ever since he had regained consciousness. She was, for once, 
slightly worried about the guy.

      "Don't call me Mitsu-chan. Please leave me alone," he answered.

      Ibuki shrugged. Good old Mitsu-chan, always rolls with the punches, 
always says the line. She turned, after allowing herself one last look at 
the figure, and walked away.

      Walking to a table where Lyss and Proffessor Mirumoto sat, Ibuki 
crouched down with her elbows on the tabletop. "Well?" Mirumoto inquired.

      Ibuki shrugged and smiled a little. "He's not drooling on himself."

      Mirumoto quirked his eyebrow at her and attempted to say something but 
was cut off as Setsuna entered the room, slamming the door. "Is he awake?" 
she asked to no one in particular.

      "Yes, he's--" Mirumoto started but failed to finish as she had already 
begun to move towards the room Mitsurugi occupied. The professor followed 
her with his eyes.

      "Old pervert," Ibuki snorted.

      Setsuna stopped in the doorway. She looked at Mitsurugi's back, then 
at the girl in the bed and rested her shoulder on the doorframe. "Setsuna?" 
Mitsurugi asked quietly.

      "Yes?" Setsuna replied.

      "Come here. Please," Mitsurugi said without turning.

      Slowly, Setsuna entered the room, walking towards Mitsurugi. Not 
really knowing what to expect, she stopped behind his chair and put her hand 
on his shoulder. His hand reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her 
around to his front. Mitsurugi had moved to avoid awkward tripping over him 
or Koine's bed. "M-mitsurugi!" Setsuna exclaimed in surprise as he hugged 
her waist with one arm and rested his head on her shoulder.

      After a few moments of silence, Mitsurugi said, "Don't leave me 
Setsuna. Don't leave me."

      Setsuna recovered from her initial shock and slowly, she began to 
stroke his hair. "Can I ask you something?"

      "...Go ahead."

      "Do you remember what you told me? Before you passed out?"

      "What did I say?" he asked as he released her from his hold.

      "Oh," Setsuna said, slowly stepping back from him. "Nothing. 
Nevermind." She scolded herself for even bringing it up. How could he even 
think about liking her? How could that have even crossed her mind. He must 
have been delirious when he had said that he wanted to ask her out. She must 
have been delirious to have even thought it was true.

      Setsuna, head hung low, began to walk out of the room as Mitsurugi 
quickly said, "Oh yeah, Setsuna. I forgot to tell you something."

      "Yes?" Setsuna asked. She turned and was surprised to find Mitsurugi 
directly in front of her.

      "I promise to protect you. Always and forever."

      Mitsurugi slowly tipped Setsuna's chin upward with his index finger 
and pressed his lips against hers. Setsuna's eyes widened in surprise as 
Mitsurugi's lips parted. Her eyes widened even more when she found herself 
doing the same. Her mind raced. What was she doing? What was he doing!

      Rousing her from her thoughts, Mitsurugi put his working arm around 
her as his tongue danced against hers. With a mixture of fear and disbelief, 
Setsuna broke his kiss and his embrace and took a step back, her eyes wide. 
They stood in silence for a few moments. Setsuna broke the silence, "Wh-what 
was that?!"

      Mitsurugi smirked at her in reply.

      Blushing, Setsuna turned her back and began to walk out of the room 
again.

      "...Setsuna?"

      "What?" she replied, not turning so that she could hide her burning 
cheeks.

      "Would you like to see a movie with me tonight?"

      Still slightly unbelieving, Setsuna smiled.

~*~

      "I can't believe I let her go," Akuma said, his face devoid of any 
emotion. His hands gripped the edge of the messy futon that he sat on, his 
eyes burning a hole through the wall behind Junko.

      The kitsune fidgeted.

      "Why does Mitsurugi deserve her? I know it was the right thing... but 
why?! She could have been mine! Mine! Imagine. Akuma with a girl. Oh the 
thought..."

      Akuma felt a hand touch his shoulder. Junko was sitting next to him, 
resting one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his shoulder. She 
felt really stupid doing this. Imagine! A trickster, a kitsune, professing 
her feelings to someone else and not trying to trick them! A BAKU 
nonetheless! Taking a deep breath, she decided that it wasn't the time for 
tricks. That was past. Now it was about her and Akuma. It was about her 
emotions.

      "Akuma, listen. It was a really good thing you did, letting her go and 
all," Junko trailed off. She was no good at this feelings crap.

      Akuma sat staring forward, his gaze seemingly attached to the wall. 
"How would you know how I'm feeling? Have you ever been in love?"

      "Maybe I have," Junko replied without missing a beat.

      Akuma looked at her. "What?"

      "Just because I'm a kitsune doesn't mean I don't have emotions. Maybe 
I have been in love," she said as she sat back on the futon, her back 
resting against the wall. "You never know."

      After a few moments of silence, Akuma inquired, "Who?"

      "What do you care?"

      Akuma looked directly into her eyes. "For a while now, I've had a 
little bit of a thing for... this may be unbelievable, but you. I mean, I 
really liked Setsuna but," Akuma trailed off, his eyes leaving Junko's.

      Junko sweatdropped. That was unexpected. She was the one who was 
supposed to be professing feelings! Not him! Searching for words, Junko 
placed a hand on his cheek. "The answer to your question is... you," she 
said as she lightly pressed her lips against his. Akuma, slightly surprised 
at the move, opened his eyes in surprise.

      That was highly unexpected.

~*~

      In the rubble of the destroyed remains of the Dairoba Corporation 
building, some stones moved in the moonlight.

      A pale white hand scratched at the bare concrete with its nails, 
leaving deep lacerations in the otherwise smooth surface. Another hand 
managed to push a rock away from itself. A large amount of dust and small 
pebbles were blown away with a cough from their resting place. The dust 
resettled in the stillness of the twilight. A mass of flowing black hair 
covered something that could best be described as humanoid. Its white gown 
was covered in dry blood that seemed to have been spilled from a gaping 
chest wound. A ribcage expanded and compressed, over and over, seemingly 
gasping for breath. A pale white hand moved towards the hair and moved it, 
exposing a pale white face to the cold light of the moon. The face, twisted 
in agony, slowly became more neutral till it was almost calm, almost serene. 
Then, the woman opened her eyes.

      Her evil yellow eyes, slitted like a cat's.

~*~

Author's notes: And so ends Mystery Club. 13 parts. Rather fitting, ne? ^.~ 
Well, I hope I created an OK epilogue. I hope everyone enjoyed the series as 
much as I did. And so, for now, we lay MC to rest.

Thanks to Brett and Triskele for pre-reading and stuff. Flames, loveletters, 
and Canadian kilted yaksman go to genxwolf@hotmail.com

~Myth