She'd searched the whole day for him. She'd run everywhere and hadn't stopped for so much as a good break. She was running on adrenaline and anxiousness. It was a somewhat welcome feeling.
She'd found him long after dark, balancing on a bridge, an empty bottle of liquor smashed on the ground. His balance was poor and he didn't seem to care.
"Logan?" she asked cautiously.
He looked over his shoulder, surprised to see her. He laughed, shaking his head. "Come to talk me down, ma cherie?" He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Won't work."
"Logan, we can talk about this," Minako offered, swallowing on an empty stomach and feeling like she might throw up. "There's no reason to do this."
"Is there a reason not to?" he asked, looking pained. "You said I can't kill myself properly. I figured, why not go the way of dear old mummy?"
Minako paused, trying to comprehend. Then she remembered. "Lynn. Your mother. She--"
"Jumped off a bridge," he finished, nodding. "They never found a body, but I saw a tape that got the whole thing on film. Stupid kid still hasn't shown it to anyone. But it's how I know she's gone."
Minako stared, starting to wonder if maybe he did have the monopoly on tragedy. "Look, Logan," she began, walking forward as slowly as she could, hoping he was too inebriated to notice. "You're drunk. I know you don't really want to do this."
He shrugged and sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Maybe. Maybe not. It's not the first time I danced on a bridge."
"You're pissed," she offered. "I get it. Logan, I had no right to--"
"No, it's not about you," Logan scoffed, his laughter sounding like sobs. "Its me. I just..." he paused, looking up and trailing off. "I loved her. You know?"
Minako paused, wondering if she really did know. Then she realized that she did know, and wondered how she could have been so stupid. "Logan... I lost someone too. I loved him, but... He did some horrible, horrible things, and... When he died, I tried to concentrate on that, but I couldn't. I still loved him, no matter how much I told myself not to. And maybe I still do, I... I don't know."
Logan stared at her. "You know?" he asked, his voice quiet, broken.
She nodded, her throat starting to close up.
He swayed on the edge, burying his fingers in his hair. "If you know, then why... why did you--"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I guess... You reminded me. I try not to think about him too much, and… there you were. And you couldn’t get past your… Lilly, and it reminded me.”
Logan looked up, leaning back. “I just want her back.”
Minako’s eyes softened. “I know.”
“She was… everything,” Logan said, throwing his arms out to try and encompass the word with a gesture. “And now she’s nothing, and…”
Minako wet her lips, walking forward quickly while his back was turned. “Logan, you don’t have to do this.”
“Didn’t you say that already?”
“Well, it clearly bears repeating,” she said, a little prickly. “Come home with me, Logan. We can try this again. I can… I can try to help you. I think I know how this time.”
“I won’t remind you of your dead boyfriend?” Logan asked.
Minako opened her mouth to correct him. Boyfriend really didn’t seem like the right term. Still, she knew that it was hardly the time. “No more than I remind you of Lilly.”
“So, what…” he asked, still swaying and making her nervous. “We try not to destroy each other? That’s how we survive?”
She shrugged. “Better than doing it ourselves.”
Logan looked a long way down, as if still contemplating.
“Get down, Logan,” she said firmly.
He took a deep breath, and she knew he’d made his decision. She was fully prepared to leap forward and drag him back up if she had to, but it turned out not to be necessary. He fell back, making her dodge forward and almost catch him before his head hit the pavement. He remained limp for a moment, before his arms wrapped around her. He was already crying. She held him, wondering if she was going to start crying herself, and wondering who it would be for. She decided it was best not to analyze.
"Minako," she said suddenly, stroking his hair as he wept into her shoulder.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"My name," she whispered, surprised at herself and terrified that anyone other than the two of them could hear her. "It's Minako."
