Mikoto's Legacy

Summary: Genderswap. As his Sword of Damocles continues to deteriorate Mikoto thinks about what he wants to leave behind besides a giant crater. To this end, he asks his loyal vanguard to perform one last service for him.

AN: So, according to my limited research, the legal age of adulthood in Japan is…complicated right now, with the voting age being 18 but the age of majority is 20. I'm not sure if a 19-year-old would legally be allowed take custody of a child. Since they're debating a law change, I'm going to say in this universe the age of majority is 18 so that Yata can legally petition the courts for custody.

Yata fiddled with her knee length skirt. She hated these things. After she graduated and no longer needed to wear her uniform skirts she'd promptly held a marshmallow roast in the bar's fireplace as she burned her high school uniforms. The guys had looked on in confusion, not realizing she'd still been in school, and Chitose had lamented the fact he'd never got to see her in her uniform.

Kusanagi had insisted that she wear the damn thing. She needed to look respectable at the hearing. At least he hadn't objected when she slid some shorts on under the skirt. He'd approved, saying that at least she wouldn't flash the judge.

At least he knew better than to try and get her to wear heels. Her balance might be fantastic after years of skateboarding, but she always fell over every three steps when she attempted to walk in heels.

"Breathe," Kusanagi murmured in her ear.

"I am," Yata growled back.

At least she didn't have to wear a tie. Kusanagi had struggled with his for most of the morning before Anna had taken pity on him and tied it for him. How Kusanagi got through school without learning to put on a necktie, Yata wasn't entirely sure. She'd tied her's every day, along with Saru's.

She'd been in front of a judge before, plenty of times. Just never with so much on the line. She would never admit it but Kusanagi's arm, which he'd looped through her's, was the only thing keeping her on her feet at the moment. Well that and Anna's hand holding on to hers in a death grip. She couldn't break down in front of her again.

He shouldn't be here. Misaki didn't react well to his presence. If she spotted him her in the gallery, it wouldn't be good.

Saruhiko Fushimi wondered if this courtroom was fireproof.

Misaki entered the courtroom on Kusanagi's arm, and Fushimi's hands itched for his knives. He only had his ceramics though, because even his Scepter 4 ID couldn't get him through the metal detector with his usual arsenal. Luckily the courthouse hadn't got around to installing x-ray machines, or he wouldn't even have those.

Taking in Misaki's appearance, Fushimi's breath caught. She was always beautiful, but in the months since he saw her last she'd grown even more lovely to him. Her sharp angles seemed softer, and she had let her hair grow out longer than it had been in years. The last time her hair had reached below her shoulders, they had still been in middle school and had never heard of Mikoto Suoh.

"Is anyone sitting here, Fushimi?"

Fushimi tore his eyes away from his Misaki to glare at his king. "Why are you here?" he growled.

"I would ask the same of you, but someone hacked my personal calendar the other day."

"If it were me, you wouldn't know it had been hacked," Fushimi grumbled. He had looked at the Captain's calendar, but hacking was unnecessary when he had the Captain's username and password.

Munakata settled into the seat next to Fushimi. "Suoh forwarded a copy of his will to me. His wishes regarding Anna Kushina were specific."

Fushimi's hands clenched. "And?"

"And I see no problem with allowing Misaki Yata to maintain custody of Anna Kushina."

It put more responsibility on Misaki that she shouldn't have to shoulder. But she would, because Mikoto Suoh asked her to. Fucking Suoh.

"You could have just sent Awashima if you thought a visible Scepter 4 presence was necessary," Fushimi remarked.

Munakata nodded. "I sent her to speak with the judge yesterday."

Something in his king's face struck Fushimi as off. "So there will be no problems?"

Munakata frowned. "Not on this front." His eyes were scanning the gallery for something.

Fushimi left him to it, turning back to the proceedings. The judge was questioning Misaki about her finances. He thought about his sizeable savings and wondered if he could find some way to get her to accept his assistance. Maybe he could forge a death certificate and use intermediaries to convince her that she had an inheritance from some distant relative. Her father? No, knowing his luck Misaki's father would choose that moment to re-enter his daughter's life. And Misaki was even less likely to accept money from her father than from him.

After an inordinate amount of time, Anna was allowed to speak about what she wanted, which, no surprise, was to stay with Misaki. Anna was wearing one of her red dresses, which was a change. By all reports—meaning he'd hounded Akiyama for the information— Anna had been dressing more like Misaki lately. Dressing Anna in her old clothes was probably Kusanagi's idea. Make the girl look as well cared for as possible.

Kusanagi and Misaki were still standing close together, though they were no longer arm-in-arm. Again, his fingers itched for his knives. The three of them made a disturbingly domestic picture. Maybe if he didn't know them, he would mistake them for a young couple and their child. It was part of the show, he told himself, they were trying to put forth a particular image to help their case. Misaki wasn't a single, nineteen-year-old woman of questionable financial stability, but a young woman who, with the aid of her partner, was stepping forward to care for her dearly departed friend's daughter. At least that was what he had to tell himself to keep the jealousy at bay. Maybe he should have gone to her after Suoh died. Would being her second choice have been so bad? At least compared to watching her from afar?

The hearing was wrapping up. The judge was about to give his ruling. As Munakata indicated, the judge ruled in favor of Misaki, awarding her custody of Anna. Kusanagi wrapped his arm around Misaki shoulders while Anna threw her arms around them both. Kusanagi and Misaki walked out of the courtroom with Anna between them, probably off to fill out some paperwork and then head back to the bar to celebrate.

"What are you looking for," Fushimi snapped.

Munakata's surreptitious observation of the gallery had continued throughout the hearing and only stopped as a new couple arrived to begin their hearing.

"I'm looking for anyone who might look displeased at the outcome of Anna Kushina's custody hearing," Munakata responded.

A new cold chill went down Fushimi's spine, unrelated to his previous emotional turmoil. "Anna's only living relative doesn't remember that she exists. Who else would have an interest in whether Misaki gets custody of her or not?"

"I have some suspicions. Awashima wasn't the first person to pay the judge a visit about Anna Kushina's case."

"I don't suppose members of Homra tried to lean on him to favor Misaki as the guardian?" Fushimi asked.

Munakata shook his head. "The men that tried to 'lean on' the judge were of the opinion that he should deny Misaki Yata's petition for custody. Is there anyone in Homra that would do that?"

"Not against Suoh's wishes," Fushimi replied. "Gold clansmen then?"

"No. The Gold Clan has greater pull than we do. Since the judge bowed to our wishes, I would say the Gold Clan is not involved."

"Did they put forward an alternative for Anna's care?" Fushimi asked.

"No, just that she would fair better in the foster system than she would with a delinquent who had the law not changed two years ago, would be considered a minor."

Not to mention she would be more vulnerable to those who might want to use her for their own ends that didn't relish the idea of going through the entire Red Clan to do it. What had Misaki gotten herself into?

The group celebrating the success of the custody case wasn't as large as the one that had gathered for Mikoto's wake. The more peripheral members of the clan were not in attendance. Neither was Fujishima, and Eric's glare increased in intensity whenever he was questioned about Fujishima's absence. Eventually, Kusanagi took pity on him and put a stop to the questions.

Another change from Mikoto's wake was that Yata had stuck to tea from the beginning with no prompting. Kusanagi was pleased Yata wasn't hitting his stock of excellent German imported beer, firstly because it was expensive and secondly because she wasn't legally allowed to drink for another ten months, but she'd even turned down the celebratory champagne he'd offered her. Maybe she was maturing and no longer cared to drink. He'd known plenty of people who had given up alcohol as soon as they reached legal age.

Anna had changed back into her casual wear, which now consisted of one of Mikoto's old shirts and a pair of baggy shorts that he'd bought her last week since the previous pair were far too loose. She was bouncing between Yata and Eric, attempting to pay them both equal attention. Kusanagi had a feeling Anna knew more about what was going on with Eric and Fujishima than the rest of them did. Yata told him that she caught Eric sleeping in the barroom a few times recently and Eric had been more sullen than usual.

But those were problems for another night, Kusanagi thought to himself. Tonight they would savor this victory and the weight it took off their shoulders. Tomorrow was another day.

AN: Legal drinking ages are fun. Bonus fact: despite the national age for purchasing and consuming alcohol being 21, my home state has a loophole that allows people under 21 to drink in private residences with the supervision of someone of legal age.