@arawche079: thanks for reading the whole thing!
@majimenaachan: yes namako will make an appearance in the last chapter. Don't worry, I will be starting a new fic with naachan in it. She's my oshi now, just second to Sae-chan
@sastio13: WOW I just noticed you're a Marikosama oshi...hehe, glad you spotted their cameos.
Hello everyone~ thanks for sticking around. It's the last chapter and I hope you enjoy Saeyuki's ending! I am glad I was able to write so much about new pairings/triangles and also the friendship between Saemako. In hindsight, I think Miki's character should be better written, the triangle was too lopsided towards Namako.
Anyway, I'm planning my next fic. Please let me know what Sae-pairing you want to see! I want to do something non-Saeyuki/Saeyaka this time. In the past I have tried Saeyui and Saemayu...I am willing to write SaeXanyone!
Thanks!!
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Chapter 13 - The Long Swim"Miyazawa Sae, reporting to duty from the Tokyo Metropolitan Special Investigations Unit."
A young man with tall frame and olive-tanned skin came into the crime investigation office at the Hiroshima Police headquarters. His good looks and confident smile exude a power that attracts both men and women's eyes in the room. Murmurs and even small gasps can be heard from some..."Sasuga....elite!"
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Five years have past since the day Sae and Yuki parted at the hospital. They haven't written or talked to each other a single time since then. Sometimes, people around Sae would wonder if that's it -- that the unlikely, illicit relationship is really over for good. Sae went on to university and for a while, even Mako thought that it's best not to mention Yuki's name again. However, one day in his senior year, he announced that he would be joining the police force.
"Sae, you...you still haven't gotten over with..." Mako stuttered in surprise. They're sitting in a cafe downtown, as they both went to separate universities and lived on campus.
"Yep..." Sae smiled and nodded like it's nothing.
"Have, have you found her?" Mako asks. The last time anything about Kashiwagi Yuki was mentioned, it's just a rumour of her sighting in Hiroshima. She doesn't even know if Yuki is still in the police or not.
"I heard...well, I heard things." Sae smiled calmly and put his cup back on the saucer. "Don't worry Mako-tin. I am well prepared this time."
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"Welcome, Miyazawa-kun!" A stocky old man in full suit greeted him and led him into the office.
"Chief inspector." Miyazawa saluted to his superior as the older man sat down.
"Well, relax my friend! We have a pretty familial atmosphere here, unlike those stuck up bastards up there at the capital. We don't waste time on formalities and politics here." He winks and gestures Sae to sit down. "We just get things done here!"
"It's a pleasure for me to be able to join the special investigations unit here. I understand that it is quite a hub for the international crime scene here. For instance...the famous 'white swan' case..."
"Ah...you heard of the 'white swan' haven't you, Miyazawa-kun? So eager to put yourself in the front lines already? Well, well, I have guessed that you are the ambitious type. So here's my welcome gift for you. Join the operation tonight!"
Sae is visibly shocked at such a callous decision.
"But Inspector, I haven't been briefed..."
"Nah nah...you be fine. We'll get things rolling right now." He stands up and pats him on the back like a father. "The best way to learn and get ahead is for someone to push you. There will be a transaction tonight at Port A according to our intel. You, you will help lead one of the teams and we will destroy them tonight. We are not going to capture anyone behind this; but it is crucial to stop the weapons from getting into the market. They are grade A war weapons. Securing the goods is our priority tonight."
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Wow, that was fast. Sae took a deep breath and thinks through the few hours of preparation and briefings that had led him to the stand-by spot behind a few large containers at the port. It's almost midnight. The quietness is reaching the eerie type that one experiences right before a storm. His teammates are shifting nervously and he can tell that it is not a simple operation. Blood will be shed tonight.
A beam of light shot through from miles away in the water, as a junk boat approaches and the throttling of the engines died down. Around ten men stepped out of the boat, followed by more people--perhaps another ten-- carrying large cargo boxes laboriously right into the heart of the warehouse. Miyazawa continues to wait outside. He and his team are just a fraction of the task force who had surrounded the whole warehouse already. They form the inner ring that will charge in once the evidence of the transaction is captured in footage. An outer ring of officers will ensure that the trap is airtight and that no one escapes even if they got out of the warehouse.
Then he saw her. The woman in a white suit and long ponytail, wearing a pair of stylish shades in the middle of the night. The woman whose reputation among the gangs have soared these past few years in meteoric speed, landing her the righthand man position in a prominent yakuza family. The woman nicknamed "white swan".
She and her gang of black suited entourage entered the warehouse too, and the trade is probably about to begin.
After around five more minutes of silence, he heard a voice sound from his radio headphone:
"Charge charge!"
He and his team sprung into action. Their order is to capture everyone in this rarely large-scale firearms smuggling deal.
Entering the warehouse, he hears a series of shots and the sound of crates and boxes falling over, echoing all the way from the far end of the storage. The sounds are spreading towards this direction, but his view are obfuscated by the mountains of boxes scattered around them, all in disarray.
"Damn!" He narrowly jumped away from a pile of boxes that were shot over by the force of a machine gun. Adjusting his position, he can see that a group of three or four black suited men fighting off another gang, presumably, undercover cops that have revealed their identities.
"Go, Yonekura!" Two of his teammates advanced forward to assist the cops. Sae fired a shot and hit one of the guys while he was distracted by the team, but his gun got kicked off at the same time. Looking up, he saw another man pointing his gun at him, but he was quick to spring upwards with a side kick, hitting him on his wrist and deflecting his shot. A square punch on his face disoriented the yakuza while Sae tried to twist his wrist to disarm him, but the guy fends him off with a counter punch on his stomach, quickly adjusting himself backwards to a position that Sae can't reach easily.
The man smirks at the unarmed officer, but he barely has time to pull the trigger before a voice shouts from behind.
"I will take care of this one, hurry, they got those missiles!" The man looked briefly and rushed off towards the entrance, seeing that Sae is in pointblank range of the owner of the voice who made the command.
"White Swan..." Sae utters. The barrel of the gun points squarely between his eyes, but he could still trace it to the contours of the owner who fixes her gaze on him. She is looking at him...deep into his eyes, so deep that it seems to have pierced through him. Souuuda! Sae takes a breath as he finally sees through what's going on.
"Yes, that's me..." She replies slowly as she notices the change of his expression. "Now duck!" He crouches at the same time the shot is fired. A man yells in agony, and Sae turned around, realising that it was Odagiri, the ultimate buyer of those weapons. It wasn't in the intel that he would appear tonight. Usually in exchanges like these, the gang leader will not appear himself as it is too risky.
"White Swan! What are you doing?" The fallen man clutches his bleeding thigh as he looks damningly at the woman who approaches him and kneels down calmly.
"You are arrested." White Swan clicks the handcuffs around the guy's hands, pulling his collar up and asks, "Where is your suitcase?"
"Huh...so you are from the police...is that why you insisted on meeting face to face for the trade? Too bad you caught me a tad bit late." He laughs loudly and Sae came over to give him a punch in the face. "Where is it?" He demands.
"You two are too late. The data is down in the ocean by now..." The man smirks as he licks the blood seeping out of the corner of his lips.
"Yuki!" Sae shot his look back at the white-suited cop, as she yanks the handcuffed gang leader off and holds her hand up to stop Sae's advances.
"Don't come with me, stay here." She commands and turns towards the side exit, running to the dock.
"Fat chance!" Sae hisses and follows her out. The others are still fighting in the other side and the dock was dark and deserted. Yuki looks around, trying to find any trace of the suitcase.
"Look!" Sae pointed to a little boat about a hundred feet away. A man has tied something on the suitcase and raised them above his head.
"Don't toss!" The man looks sideways and found the two cops, then did exactly what they told him not to. Yuki and Sae both fired two shots but they missed the man and the object plunge right into it.
"Bugger that!" Sae reached for his phone and dialled for assistance from the search and recovery team, but the next thing he knew, Yuki herself has dived into the ocean.
"You won't be able to get it, it's too dark and it's sinking fast!" Sae called out but Yuki is already swimming towards the boat. Without much choice Sae dove and followed. Meanwhile the man on the boat rows away as quickly as he can. He sees them approaching the spot fast and dishes out his pistol.
"Go die, you stupid cops!" He fired a few shots and ran out of bullets, but Yuki has stopped on her path, clutching her arm.
"Yuki!" Sae caught up and held onto her. He saw blood seeping up from a wound that has opened up on her arm. However, she tries to struggle off him and dive down from the spot.
"No, Yuki, I've called back up. Now come back up with me!"
"The suitcase contains evidence of the 908B transactions. We can prosecute Hamada Holdings with this information. If we wait for back up, the data will be damaged beyond repair. Without that, all I've been doing these past three years will go to waste." She said and elbows him right on the stomach to free herself.
"No!"
She dove down in the water and Sae took a deep breath, kicking his legs upwards to follow her.
The water must be deep here, Sae thought as he goes further down, already losing sight of Yuki in the darkness. He kept popping his ears to get the pressure building up equalised, and it becomes evident that they will probably not reach the bottom. However, he finally grabbed hold of Yuki's legs and pulled her up, wrapping her around with his arms. He felt something hard between their bodies and realised she has succeeded in retrieving the suitcase, but it is sinking them further downwards....and Yuki's body is feeling soft and motionless in his arms.
She has passed out, and probably drowning trying to retrieve this. He tries to feel the suitcase with his spare hand and found something lead like tied around in a heavy knot. It will be impossible to untie it in this situation, yet with the weight like this bearing them down. He felt his head going dizzy as he kicks his feet frantically upwards. Or is he kicking downwards now?
I...must...get out of here with you, Yuki. Sae thought. However, his body feels numb and paralysed, and he knew that he has run out of breath as the kicking becomes more laborious. The surrounding water seems to get icier, freezing his nerves as he resists the urge to close his eyes.
Yuki...
Somehow the icy feeling began to turn subtly to something else as his eyelids completely shuts down. The water and the weight around him seem to dissipate like magic and suddenly he felt heated up by an aura that removes all the restraints on him. The warmth felt surreal... where am I?
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Sae blinks and finds himself in an apartment living room, standing in the middle. Yuki and the suitcase...and the water...they're all gone.
He adjusts his vision and found himself staring at Mako, who's reading a book in the bed, with Nana sleeping in her arm. He realises that he's in their home.
"Mako!" He calls out, but his voice sounds hollow and the girl didn't seem to notice him.
"Why, why am I here? Am I dead?" He cries out. Just then, he notices an old man, who casually walks up to the bed and strokes Mako's hair calmly, but like Sae, he didn't stir the girls beside him one bit.
"We're in a different dimension." He finally turns around and smile at Sae.
"You're....you're the man who gave us funny drinks!!" Sae exclaims as he recalls the episode at the park that resulted in their body-swapping.
The man looks at him with a bright smile. "It seems that you need some help here..."
"Am...am I dead?" Sae asks, walking towards him and wondering why he ended up in Mako's room. He hasn't seen his friend for more than a year as she is now in Kyoto, studying at a university. In fact, he has never been to her apartment. It couldn't be a dream, right? Everything around him felt so real, except himself.
"Well, there are times when you need help, and a good place to seek them will be from your best friend."
"You mean...Makotin?" He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Your power is running out. You are drowning with your lover. I offer you a chance now to swap bodies with Mako-chan."
"What...wait?! Why are you doing this..." Sae clutches his head. "Who are you? Why did you do those things to us in the first place? And now...are you asking me to trade her life for mine?"
"No no..." The man stands up and chuckles at Sae's thoughts. "Look carefully at me. Don't you recognise me?"
Sae releases his clutch and tries to calm down, looking straight at the man's eyes. Deep in his orbs he sees a vision of himself as a boy, carrying little Mako on his back as she focusses her attention on some treasure that she cradles carefully in her tiny hands.
~~~"Is it okay?" The little boy asks.
~~~"Its wings are hurt..." The girl sobs as she pats the bird in her palm.
~~~"We will heal it, don't worry, Makotin!"
"You are...Nocchi-chan?" Sae blinks out of the vision and looks at the man again in disbelief. All his memories about saving a bird with Mako when they're four and five came back to his mind vividly. At that time, Mako's dad was still alive and he helped them out, cleaning the bird's wound, teaching the kids how to take care of it. They never kept it in a cage, and one day, the wound seemed to have healed and the bird flew away.
"I had to leave to find my wife, but I was forever grateful towards you kids. However, when I found her, she had already died in the trap that we tried to escape....which was why I was injured in the first place. I think...I think that's why I couldn't reincarnate after I died. I roam in the area until I met another soul who couldn't put his past down-- Kojima Ryuchi."
"Ojichan?" Sae gasps at the name of Mako's dad.
"Because he died in an accident, he couldn't just leave the world in peace. We got to know each other as we watch on you guys. Seeing how well you took care of each other, he finally put his mind at ease and was ready to go. I promised him to look after you two as he departed this world."
"Nocchi..." Sae sobs at the the story and how he misses his Ojisan, who was father to them both. He remembers the bird that they took care of together, and the reason why Mako named it Nocchi...it was short for Inochi--Life. That was their most precious childhood memory.
"Saechan, I love you both a lot too for saving my life. But as an animal spirit, there's little that I can do because I can't create energy, I can only alter things that I have connections to, which are Mako and you. I made your bodies swap when I saw that you were too dishonest with your feelings, hoping that you could somehow made each other grow stronger. I am glad it works."
"So that's why it happened to us...usually at the wrong times...haha." Sae let out a laugh and looks again at the Mako in her bed, who is looking more and more troubled, putting her book down and looking out to the window.
"Ever since your first body swapping, you both share an inseparable bond. She can sense that you are in pain. Sae-chan, I have to be honest with you, you need help. I can't save you because I can't create energy, but I can't guarantee that Mako will be safe if you swapped bodies now..."
"There's no way I will put Mako into danger..." Sae bites his lips and looks away.
"Why don't we trust her? She's stronger than you think...She saved Yuki's life once." The old mans now looks back at Mako and smile lovingly.
She's now put down the book, with her hand grasping her chest, panting. Nana stirred awake at Mako's tremors and sat up immediately.
"Mako, what's wrong?" She strokes her back and holds her hand.
"I sense something terrible about to happen...but I don't know what's going on..." She looks at Nana in teary eyes. "It's...it's Sae!" She jumps out of bed and paces back and forth.
"Last time, when he got shot in a robbery case, I felt the same way too....except, this feeling is much stronger now."
Sae shakes his hand, unable to withhold his tears anymore.
"O...how I wish he'll be safe! What can I do now?"
"Calm down Mako, maybe it's just a panic attack. Let's call him." She dishes out the phone and dials a number.
"He's..." Mako slumps onto the floor. "He's dying. How I wish I can save him!"
Nocchi looks back at Sae and said, "You know she's willing to give her life for you. But it's your choice."
Sae knows that he has no time to lose, and it's not just him, but Yuki's and Mako's lives in his hands right now. He walks towards Mako and crouches beside the panicking girl. He has decided.
"Nocchi-san, I need to refuse this time. I must be strong enough to protect Yuki. It's enough that I can see Makotin like this, to get strength from her."
"Mako," He said softly, "All you need to do, is to wish me good luck." He placed his hand on hers, and the girl seemed to have noticed something too, but she jolted and looked up, and seeing nothing.
Her lips tremble hesitantly, but with a pause, she said, "Stay strong, Sae."
The man smiles back at the girl who can't see him. At the same time, he sees a light bursting between their hands and spreading out, blinding his eyes again.
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The next thing he knew, he's back in the water again, and his vision became clear despite being in dark waters. He saw himself in a near distance and realised that his soul is still outside his body. The Sae in front of him have his eyes closed, slowly loosing grip of the passed out Yuki. She's slipping from his arms.
"Yuki!" He shouted and heard his voice muffled in the water. Just as he thinks everything is about to end, he blinks and his eyes suddenly shot open and gripped tightly onto Yuki. He choked a bit and wriggles, disoriented by the surroundings as he is back to his body again. But driven by instincts, he began to crawl upwards with all his might.
Come on, Sae, he said to himself. All these years of training, all these years of waiting..and...everything Yuki did for both of them, the dangers she had to go through going undercover in the complicated underworld...they all have to mean something. Sae feels a scorching pain in his lungs, like his chest is about to collapse any second. However, he saw a faint tint of light wavering on what looks to be the water's surface. Yatta!! He uses all the strength he has to drive them out of the water. He had to go up to stay alive. Yuki...you must hang on.
With a final splash, their heads pop out of the water and a torch quickly shown on the source of this sound.
"Hurry, it's Kashiwagi and Miyazawa!!"
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*one month later
"Kashiwagi has what?!" Sae slammed his desk phone down and left the office upon this surprised news.
Rushing to the hospital, he sees her sitting calmly at the front lobby, with her bags and everything packed.
"Yuki!" Sae rushed towards her and crouches down. "They said you have quit your job!"
"Yes, that's right." She smiles warmly at the officer and patted his head. "Don't worry, I have everything planned out already."
"Why didn't you talk to me about it?" Sae's expressions relaxed after it seems that she's not going to run away again. "Is it because of the injury?" He looks at her bandaged arm. After the white swan operation, both of them spent some time recovering in the hospital, but Yuki was shot in the arm and so he reported back to duty first.
"No, it's not like that. 'White swan' was always going to be my last operation."
"All these years, I've been trying to catch up to you. Ever since that I learned of your transfer here, I made up my mind that I will become a police officer so we can be together." Sae sat beside her and started sighing. "But I guess I never understood what you wanted."
"Saechan," Yuki took his hand and looks into his eyes. "We are together now. And we will be together no matter what." She leans in and kisses him directly, surprising the flustered man. Her lips feel the same as he last kissed her a long time ago. He have waited so long, and worked so hard to break the barrier of their relationship...but why? Why is she quitting now?
He breaks off the kiss and said sadly, "But you are leaving me again..."
"Who says so?" The ex-cop gave a huge reaction that was almost comical.
"HEY~~~YUKI-SAN!!" A loud voice rings all across the hallway, and both of them turn their heads.
"Yuuchan, it's the hospital! You are alarming everybody!" A tall woman beside the guy who shouted took off her large brimmed hat, revealing her stunning silky brown hair.
"Haruna and Yukio?" Sae's jaws dropped at their presence. Although Yukio was convicted in the end, the evidence of manipulation and blackmailing from Kojima Shingo, as well as Yukio's status as a minor made his sentence quite light in the end. He moved to Kagoshima with Haruna two years ago, and that was the last time Sae saw his good friend.
"Hey, thanks for coming to pick me up." Yuki winked at them. Sae rubbed his eyes to make sure he's looking at the Yuki he once thought he knew. She's become...frivolous?
"What's up with ALL of you?" Sae jumped up from his seat and slap his own face, making sure it's not a dream.
"We're business partners now." Haruna laughs and walk towards Yuki, taking her bag.
"What?"
"Come with us and see, Saepo!" Yukio slaps his arm round the taller guy and smirk. He checks up his friend again, who's wearing a Hawaiian shirt and growing stubbles on his sunburnt face.
"You look ridiculous." Sae smiled and said. In a good way, he thought.
"Aloha!" He simply grins and waves at his friend.
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They came to a building ten minutes drive away. Going up a storey, a makeshift sign was slabbed on the glass paned door.
"French Kiss Detective Agency?" Sae's jaw drops.
"As the owner," Yuki pushes the door open to a well furnished office. "I welcome you to my new business."
"This is.." He walks in and sees how the desks are neatly arranged on one side, while there's another corner with an indoor basketball hoop, couches and all things that look familiar to him.
"We spent some time decorating it exactly the way you wanted." Haruna sees that Sae is staring at the corner in awe and pats on his back.
"Yes, I remember..." He turns back to Yuki in amazement. "The conversation we had about my future when I was still in high school. I said I can't see myself in an office, and we started talking about how it'll be like if we becomes owners of our own...well it was a lawyer's firm back then, wasn't it?" He laughs at his daydreaming back then.
"We're heading out to grab some food, I'll leave you guys to take care of my office in the meantime." Yukio left with Haruna, sensing that Sae must have a lot to ask Yuki in private.
"What's this all about?" Now that they are left alone, Sae got straight to the point.
"I want us to have a future together, Sae. And I know this future won't happen unless I quit. But just as I was about to leave Tokyo five years ago, the chief inspector offered me to go undercover again, in return for ten times more the salary of an ordinary policeman. Then I remember the time when we talked about having our business so that we don't have to care about what others say. He also offered to fight for the lowest sentence for Yukio, so he didn't have to go to jail. I thought it was a pretty good deal, so I took it."
"I thought you really quit, but then I found out where you are, and decided to become someone like you, strong and capable. I wanted to fight by your side, so I became an officer..."
"You know," Yuki sighed and sat down on one of the bean bags. "That wasn't what I thought you'd do...nor was you finding out that I'm actually White Swan in my plan either."
"Well, it all worked for the best. Now I knew why you insisted on retrieving that suitcase." Sae sat beside her and popped a can of beer he took from the fridge beside them. "I am sorry you had to go through so much alone. I found your file six months ago, and I read everything."
"Those are nothing compared to what I can do to start a new life here. I have connections with the officers and the gangsters now. We're already getting offers and cases as we speak...And most importantly, Yukio can work happily here without having to care about his past. These are all the things I considered when decided on the detective business. I...I don't want you to feel bad for your friend anymore..."
"Sorry Yuki. I knew it was your job...I guess I was just scared that you never loved me. But you know what? It doesn't matter now as long as I love you. I will quit my job today."
"No, I'm now conflicted, Sae-chan." Yuki resumes her formerly serious look the first time today. "I never thought you'd join the police, and do so well in it. I feel bad to make you quit, that's why I didn't tell you about this."
"Yuki, the whole point of me becoming a policeman, is so that we can be equals-- not officer and citizen, teacher and student anymore. I won't hesitate to follow you anywhere you go." He leans in and hugs her tightly. "I certainly won't let go of you this time."
"Sae," She pushes him away gently so she can kiss his forehead. "We will build our future together here then. Yukio will be a detective too and Haruna-san says she'll be...our accountant."
"What, no! We'll go bankrupt with her getting in charge of finance!" Sae jumps up again in shock.
"Well, you don't have a choice."
"Why?"
"Because," Yuki stands up and a dark aura illuminates her eyes. "I am your boss now."
Topic: Where My Heart Is (Saeyuki and NanaMakoMiki) - FINAL [Saeyuki Ending] (Read 24365 times)