Beautiful Disasters- Hawks x OC

Chapter 41

Mariko spent the rest of her day at her apartment. Sakura had left a little while after the call, a bit surprised and embarrassed that Hawks saw her a hungover mess. Keigo had stayed until dinner but hadn't spent the night because he had a night patrol. She was grateful she wouldn't have to explain her whereabouts to him; although she had told him about the possibility of Mineko being alive, she hadn't mentioned she was going to the graveyard. She had a feeling he wouldn't be keen on her leaving the apartment at 3 a.m. to desecrate a villain's grave.

Hayato was already waiting for her when she arrived.

"Ready?" he asked, shouldering a large duffle bag that undoubtedly held the shovels they were going to use to dig up the casket.

Mariko nodded and took the key card he'd been given to swipe it. The light at the electronic lock clicked to green and the electric gate pulled back automatically. "let's go," she said walking inside.

It took a while to find her grave, neither one of them visited it and it was partially hidden by a tree.

"Here," he said, handing her a shovel. They wasted no time and started to dig. They only had until sunrise to get this done.

They worked silently, something Mariko had, strangely enough, become unaccustomed to. She blamed Keigo's incessant chatter, but she found herself opening her mouth to speak several times only to remember it wasn't the place for small talk. After all, it'd be a bit inappropriate to ask how your daughter is doing while you're both digging up your ex-best friend's coffin.

The silence was broken when Hayato's shovel hit something hard. "I think I got it," he told her, moving the dirt away to reveal a smooth slab of wood.

"Let's hurry," she said, quickly working to move the rest of the dirt away.

Once the top of the coffin was completely exposed, Hayato jumped down into the hole to pull the lid off.

The sight made the blood drain from her face.

"Shit," Hayato cursed. "We need to inform the others," he told her.

"Yeah," she answered numbly.

The coffin was empty.

As soon as they had covered the casket up again, Hayato left for HQ. This was something that needed to reported immediately and had to pass through as few mouths as possible. "Don't mention this to anyone," he instructed. "stay inside until I call you."

Mariko shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe we missed this. If Baisho was the one who did this she's been loose for years Hayato. She could be anywhere by now. She could be doing anything."

The blonde placed a and on her shoulder. "It's not your fault. You did everything you could," he assured her.

She nodded even though she didn't believe him. She could've always done more.

Mariko practically stumbled home after they parted ways. She was so out of it, she almost didn't notice Keigo leaning against her front door. "What are you doing here? It's five in the morning," she asked.

He'd gotten back at around 4 a.m. and was surprised to find that the brunette hadn't been home. He'd sent her messages and called her, but she hadn't answered any of them. "I got back, and you weren't here. Something happened," he said. He wasn't asking, he knew something was wrong, and he knew it had something to do with the news Hayato had given her the previous morning. He already had a slight distaste for the man, but he was starting to like him even less now.

She opened her mouth, a lie sitting on the tip of her tongue. She closed it though and swallowed the words. "Yeah. It's bad. It's really bad Keigo," she admitted.

The blonde nodded understandingly and pushed himself off of her door to unlock it. "Let's talk about it inside," he said.

Mariko shook her head though.

He wanted to protest. He really thought he'd earned her trust again. Had he been wrong? Or was she just trying to run away again?

"I can't," she told him, her voice weak. She didn't know what the consequences of telling him would be. She didn't know the situation; she couldn't involve him in this yet. Not until she got word from Hayato.

Something in her tone made him believe her this time. Staring down at her, he realized she was trembling. Not with the onset of a panic attack. She was shaking with fear. He realized it was the first time he'd ever seen her truly afraid. He silently pulled the brunette into his arms, squeezing her as he felt her tremble. "Everything'll turn out okay. You'll see," he told her.

She returned the hug, burying her face in his chest. Her eyes stung with tears as the reality settled in. She couldn't cry though. She'd cry after Mineko Shimizu was dead for good.