Happiness
by Tabris

legal disclaimer: Kiyone, Mihoshi, the Yagami, and anything I may have 
missed
are property of AIC and Pioneer. I am making no money for this whatsoever. 
So
please, for the love of God, don't sue me.


  It was the end of a typical week for Kiyone and Mihoshi. They fired from 
three jobs, and
they almost finished with patrol duty. There was an uneasy silence between 
the two.
  "Kiyone?" Mihoshi said in an quiet, cautious tone.
  "Yes?" Kiyone said, after a short pause.
  "Is something wrong?"
  That was it. Kiyone was at the breaking point. The months of disgrace and 
humiliation began
to manifest itself. Kiyone's body started to tremble.
  "Wrong?" she said, her voice starting to quiver. "I'll tell what's wrong."
  Suddenly, it all exploded in Mihoshi's face.
  "For my entire life, I worked as hard as I could to make something of 
myself! I worked
four part-time jobs just to put myself through the academy, only getting a 
few hours sleep
every night! I put up with constant hazings, harassment, and fatigue to get 
to the head
of the class! But you....you just merrily skip through your fucking life 
without a goddamn
care in the world, and you actually graduate! You never worked nearly has 
hard as I have for
anything, and yet your diploma is practical given to you! And as if that 
wasn't a big
enough insult, all my hard work and potential is being wasted....no, 
destroyed! I'm stuck
in some backwater part of the galaxy, patrolling a nearly empty part of 
space where next
to nothing ever goes on, working and quitting multiple jobs every week, and 
worst of all,
I'm stuck with a clumsy, dim witted, irresonsible bitch like you! I...I HATE 
YOU, MIHOSHI!"
  Mihoshi just sat there, absolutely motionless, absorbing every emotional 
blow. Normally,
she would have ran off crying. But she just sat there, in total shock. Then, 
tears slowly
started to form in her eyes.
  Kiyone came to her senses, and became aware of what just happened. Mihoshi 
was staring
at her with misty eyes. She had never seen Mihoshi like this. Never once, in 
all the times
she yelled at her, had she reacted like this. Then again, she never yelled 
at her like that.
Kiyone was consumed with guilt and fear. She desprately wanted to hold her, 
and comfort her.
She wanted to make everything she said go away. But she knew it was too 
late. The words had
painfully burned themselves into the minds and hearts of the two young 
women.
  Mihoshi's tears started slide down her face. She gave a small sniffle. Her 
body shook as
she tried, in vain, to control herself. Seconds later, she ran crying out of 
the Yagami's
cockpit and to her room. Kiyone wanted to follow her, but she decided it was 
best to give
Mihoshi some space.
  A few hours had passed. Kiyone remembered the rent was due in a couple 
days, but that
hardly bothered her right now. She hoped things would smooth out by the time 
they reached home.
  "Maybe we can stop by the karaoke bar...." she thought hopefully. She 
quickly shot that idea
down. She doubted it would be that easy to make things up to Mihoshi.
Then again, she would have to start somewhere. And if wasn't as if they were 
that low on money.
After the karaoke bar, they could still afford to pay rent, if just barely. 
With a deep breath,
Kiyone readied herself.
  "Mihoshi?"
  Kiyone cautiously opened the door. Mihoshi was peacefully sleeping. She 
should have guessed.
  "I'll let her rest."
  As she stepped out, she notice a open book. It somehow stuck out among 
everything else that
littered the floor. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a diary.
  "A diary? I never knew Mihoshi had a diary."
  As Kiyone picked it up, something crossed her mind.
  "I really shouldn't...." she thought, looking at the book. "But still, I'm 
wonder...."
  Taking a quick glance back at Mihoshi, she looked back at the diary.
  "Well, I'm worried about her, so....maybe I should take a quick look. Just 
to make sure I
haven't scarred her for life or anything." She managed to justify away her 
guilt. She turned
it to the page it was opened to, yesterday's entry.
  Kiyone laughed to herself. It was just a collection of typical things 
Mihoshi would say.
Though one thing caught her eye. The last sentence said, "Maybe tomorrow 
I'll tell Kiyone
how I feel about her.".
  "How I feel about her?"
  The words echoed inside her head. What did she mean by that? As she 
thought about it, she
began to feel strange, uneasy.
  "Does she...."
  She dismissed her feelings. She just felt guilty about what she said. She 
started to put
the diary down, but lingering thoughts and temptation gnawed at her. She 
peeked inside the
diary and, sure enough, Mihoshi had written an entry for today.
  "I'm sorry, Kiyone." it started.
  Her heart sunk. After all the terrible things she said, she still blamed 
herself. It
re-enforced her guilt, but strengthened her resolve to make things up to 
her.
  The entry continued.
  "She said it. She finally said it. I knew she hated me, but I've always 
been too afraid to
face that. She always yells at me, saying I'm clumsy, I'm stupid. She's 
right. No matter
how hard I try, I always fail. Bur despite how much she hate me, she's acts 
so nice. She always
quits a job if I get fired. And she always takes me to the karaoke bar, even 
when we can't
afford it. She's such a good person.I want to be like her so much. But more 
importantly, I want
to make her happy. She's so strong and smart. She deserves better than this. 
I can't stand to
see like this. And I know just how to make things up to her. This way, 
she'll be happy. She'll
get that promotion she's wanted, and she won't be stuck with me as a 
partner. I only wish I
had the courage to tell her I love her."
  The diary dropped out of Kiyone's hands. A few tears were beginning to 
make their way down
her cheeks.
  "She.....she loves me?"
  She had never been so confused in her life. She had always felt close to 
Mihoshi. She always
thought she was cute, but.....was she in love with her? Kiyone had always 
concentrated on her
career, not her love life. Now that she thought about it, she didn't really 
know what she felt.
But then something in her mind went off.
  "This way, she'll be....Oh no!"
  She had just now realized that Mihoshi wasn't breathing. In her hand, she 
weakly grasped a
small bottle of some anti-depressant.
  "No....oh God no...."
  It was all so unreal. Mihoshi, normally so happy and full of life, just 
lied there. A limp,
lifeless doll. A pale shadow of her former self.
  "Please....please wake up, Mihoshi...."
  Silence.
  "Please. I'll never yell at you again."
  Silence.
  "We can go to the karaoke bar."
  Silence.
  "We can do whatever you want. Just....please....WAKE UP!"
  There was no reaction. Kiyone cried over her fallen partner. It was the 
first time in her life
she allowed she allowed herself to cry. She never allowed herself to give in 
to weakness, but
this....this was too much.
  "Mihoshi...." she said weakly, "I'm not happy. I don't want a promotion or 
a new partner."
  She grabbed Mihoshi, in once last desprate chance to make her listen.
  "Mihoshi, you make me happy. I don't hate you. I....I love you."
  She embraced her partner, hoping she would hug her like she did so many 
times before.
  But she didn't. There was nothing but the painful sound of silence.


  The End

Author's notes: There are a couple morals to this story. First, you don't 
know what you have
until it's gone. And second, once the moment's gone, it's gone. There are no 
second chances.

On somewhat of a side note, though I don't know any exact satistics, the 
suicide rates
among police officers and gay youths are very high. Doesn't really have 
anything to do with the
story, but it does give you something to think about. If I haven't depressed 
you enough, that is.