Unlocked (Ida x female reader)

Chapter 11

The next week passes slowly and I don't even bother to check my email for jobs. I still haven't heard from Martac and I'm just trying to give him the time off he has earned ten times over.

Tensei pulls up in a van, parking in a handicap spot and rolls down the ramp that unfolds from the side door.

"Really? You wanted to meet here?" He says, already angry "you want to rub this in my face?"

"You really don't think that much of me, do you?" I reply tiredly. I've gotten very little sleep since we last spoke.

"You said you needed to talk. So talk."

"Not here. Come on." I turn, hoping he follows. After a minute or so, I turn back, seeing him messing with some lever on his wheelchair. I walk back over to him. "What's the issue?"

"The stupid lock gets stuck. My other one is in for yearly maintenance."

"Here" I lean down and tap the lock, it springs open and I take the handlebars and wheel him to the newly paved path.

"What is this?" He sounds cautious as I wheel him up to a seldomly visited grave.

"I called the grounds keepers last week and made a generous donation to get this path made quickly. You can come visit anytime now." I explain letting go of the wheelchair so he can lock the wheels.

"Thank you for doing this" the skepticism has left his voice and it's gone soft. Almost like I remember it being before Mitch got sick.

"I did it for my brother. Wheather or not we ended up on different sides of the law doesn't diminish the fact that everyone deserves to say goodbye and the good people that have passed deserve people who will visit and remember them."

We fall into a comfortable silence while we reflect. The hot weather has finally given way to a cool breeze that rustles through a nearby tree. We watch a small family walk tearily away from a burial service before I finally speak.

"You were right, you know. My parents did tell you to stay away"

"Did you find out why?" He asks. There's no anger. Not here. Only curiosity remains.

"They told me that they didn't want a hero around while their son was dying and their criminal daughter could have been arrested."

"Oh." Another silence follows. "I wouldn't have arrested you until after you buried him and said your goodbyes. And maybe even not then. I did owe you, after all."

"Can we just talk about him? Some days he doesn't even feel real" grief washes over me but I keep my eyes dry. I won't cry in front of Tensei.

"Your parents don't?" He seems genuinely surprised.

"No. They even got rid of all traces of him before I had a chance to take a single memento. All I have left is this" I produce the locket from under my shirt, holding it as far away from me as the chain will allow.

"What's in it?"

"I don't know. I never worked up the courage to open it. It feels like the final goodbye and I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Every time I think about the two of you, one day always comes to mind." He starts, staring off into the distance "it was high school and you were sick, and like he always did, he was skipping class to take care of you. I didn't get it at the time. I have a little brother, but wouldn't dream of skipping class just because he had the sniffles. But Mitch....Mitch would drop anything if you needed something.

"I brought him his assignments so he wouldn't get behind and when he answered the door, he looked so stricken. I got him to calm down enough to tell me that your fever hadn't broken all day and that he was going to take you to the hospital, but he couldn't get ahold of your parents and he was freaking out. He took me to where you slept, which was his own bed because he knew his was softer and he had more pillows to prop you up.