Work Text:
She had done everything perfectly. She wiped her existence from online, she withdrew from her internship and tossed her degree away, her apartment was bare and she was ready to disappear. Away from him, away from them. Like a ghost only alive in memory. Shiho pushed her now short hair out of her face as she looked down. The height this bridge had couldn’t deter her from her goal. If anything it was inviting. Her grip on the railing tightened as she remembered why she was here.
Jin, Akemi, Jin’s friends, the temptations they offered her. Her mind drifted to her sister. Akemi dying in the hands of a teenager, one she had only just met. She had been running away from Jin. Now she was dead all because Jin put a bullet in her back. Jin, the man she had onced loved. The man who had the audacity to take her in her own lab, and had the audacity to touch her when she despised him. Jin. Jin. JIN. It's all because of him. She should have never listened to his sweet talks and lies.
Shiho sighed and remembered how she cut her previously long hair into a bob in a fit of rage after what happened to Akemi. How she pondered the gun in her nightstand. She imagined putting a bullet in Jin’s head and then her own. All for Akemi, the only family she had left. Maybe she should’ve kept the gun and ended her own life with that. The gun was now at a dump somewhere, littered with her fingerprints. Shiho had thrown it away not wanting to be like the brute who killed her sister. Waiting around doing nothing was a death sentence, so she came out here, to end her life on her own terms and not his.
With a sharp intake of breath she climbed over the safety rail. Shiho grabbed tightly, now forced to look at the overflowing rushing river below. She steadied her breathing. In out, in and out. She put a foot forward when a large hand grabbed her arm. It was soft, not a harsh grip, but she could feel the callouses on her skin.
“Young Lady. I don’t think this is a good idea.” Shiho turned around to face the voice of the man who grabbed her.
He was a balding older man, short and portly. He had a bald spot with bushy grey hair cascading down the sides of his head and a mustache to match. Large glasses framed his concerned eyes. Shiho couldn’t respond.
“Why don’t you come over on this side and we can talk this out?” He coerced the grip on her arm tightening but still soft and kind.
“I...can’t I have to do this.” Shiho found herself saying. She wasn’t trying to convince him. The man didn’t know anything. She said it for herself.
“That is not true and I have a feeling you know it,” The man said.
“You don’t know me!” She cried and slipped forward a bit but the man's hold on her arm and her own horrendous survival instincts making her grab the handrailing saved her from falling. “You don’t know anything!”
“Then how about you tell me your name Miss? Im Hiroshi Agasa. I’m an inventor.” Agasa introduced himself, but his voice was panicked.
Shiho looked down then back again at Agasa. She didn’t know why he was helping. He just saw her on the bridge so why is trying to talk her out of this.
“You’re young you know.” Agasa’s voice cut through the fog in her mind like a knife. “Whatever it is you have done or what has happened to you. It can all be changed and you can live from this. You have a wonderful life young lady, you shouldn’t waste it in such a way.” The fog from her mind was blown away completely.
The tears started to fall before she could stop them. Everything that had built up inside of her was now pouring out. Shiho carefully turned around and Agasa helped her over the guard rail.
“Why? Why are you helping me? I don’t deserve any of this!” Shiho brought her hands to her face and sobbed. “I’ve done such horrible things and everything has been taken from me! All because of me and my mistakes!”
“Because Everyone deserves it!” Agasa’s hands held onto her shoulders and they grounded her. The man was just a bit taller than her so he looked into her eyes “Young lady you stepped away, you are here right in front of me living and breathing and there is no other reason I need to help you.”
“...Shiho. My name is Shiho Miyano.” She said through her sobs.
“It’s nice to meet you Shiho.” Agasa smiled and Shiho bent down into his chest and cried even harder. She cried and cried even harder until her knees gave out and she was clutching onto Agasa’s coat. Agasa did nothing but rub her back.
The next thing she realized is she was laying down. When had she fallen asleep? She sat up and realized she was on a fairly comfortable couch. She sat up holding onto the soft blanket that was draped over her. She was in a fairly modern western looking house. The couch she was on sat in a fairly open round room. There were stairs going up behind her as well as an open kitchen. In said kitchen was the man who saved her last night. Agasa, Shiho remembered. Agasa was making what looked like a western breakfast as she smelled Eggs and Bacon being cooked. The smell of bacon was overpowering, how much was he making? Didn’t he know that it was bad for his health, especially for a large man like himself?
“Ah! Shiho! You’re awake!” Agasa said from over the counter, He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans.
She gave him an odd look.
“Now now don't look at me like that...” He said with a sort of forced laugh.
“Is… this your house?” She asked him.
“Correct! You cried yourself til you fell asleep. I didn’t know where you lived so I brought you back here.” Agasa said genuinely. He walked over with a plate of eggs and two strips of bacon he handed it to her.
“Oh. I see…” Shiho took the plate from Agasa. She just stared at it.
“Well go on! Eat up! If you're worried I did something to it, I can assure you, I would never!” Agasa smiled at her.
She raised an eyebrow, but eventually took a bite of the food. It wasn’t anything mind boggling. He put simple salt and pepper on the eggs. However after taking a bite, she realized how hungry she was, but didn’t let it show.
Agasa gave another smile and sat in a large chair that was across from her and began to read the new paper. She was surprised he still read one but realized that made sense. She looked back down at her eggs and took another bite. A sudden wave of emotion came over her. It was complex and not one word could completely describe it.
“Why.” She said after a while.
“Why what?” Agasa asked back. She hesitated trying to find the words.
“Why… are you going through so much to help me?” She rephrased the same question she asked last night. She really couldn’t understand why a stranger, no less a man of Agasa’s age, would go out of his way to help her.
“I told you before. Everyone deserves help. And you, young lady, seemed to be in desperate need of kindness.” Agasa sounded concerned but his resolve was firm in his voice. “I helped because I saw you in trouble and I couldn’t just watch you jump. Now we’re friends and care for you Shiho. I know you’re going through a lot. And I want you to know you are welcome to stay and get as much rest as you would like.”
Shiho looked back down at her food. She was crying again. Her voice was caught in her throat but she managed to say two important words. “... Thank you.”