Minako was openly gaping at him. She thought she might actually be in shock, but she sincerely hoped that she was just exaggerating. But it didn’t change the fact that her mouth was hanging open and that she felt her exhausted eyes begin to well up with tears again.
She shut her eyes furiously. The last thing she wanted to do was cry. “God, you just had to make things difficult, didn’t you?”
Logan turned around, his fire reacting immediately. “I’m just telling you the truth.”
“You love me?” Minako asked, her voice breaking. “Damn it, Logan! Don’t you know what that does? Don’t you know what that means?” She shook her head, her blonde hair flying around her head. “No, you can’t. You can’t mean that. You have to take it back.”
Logan glared, maybe a bit insulted. “I’m not taking it back.”
“You have to!” Minako insisted.
“Why?” Logan asked, his jaw clenching. “Because you know that you’re not going to choose me and now I’ve made it harder?”
“No!” Minako shouted, clenching both of her fists. “That’s not what I mean at all!”
“Then what do you mean?” Logan demanded, the veins on his temples bulging.
“It screws everything up!” Minako maintained. “Any man I’ve ever loved has wound up dead or insane or with another woman or… Love is tragedy. Don’t you see that? Love is catastrophe!”
Logan laughed mirthlessly, shaking his head. “That’s perfect.”
Minako couldn’t see what he could find to laugh about at that moment, even if it was ironically. “What is?”
“Lilly and I were tragic,” Logan repeated. “Veronica and I were epic. And you and I are catastrophic. How very fitting.”
Minako scowled at him, her cheeks coloring. “Don’t make jokes! You said something serious, and now you have to own up to it!”
“No, you have to own up to it,” Logan countered, his eyes flashing. “I love you, Mina. And you have to face that.”
Minako shook her head, still refusing to believe. “You don’t love me. You just want me to fix you because I’m the only one who gives a big enough damn about you to want to! I’m the only one willing, so you’ll say you love me to make me stay. That’s all you mean.”
“No, it isn’t,” Logan snapped. “But if you care enough to want to help me, what does that say about you?”
Minako found herself staring at him again, her lips parted in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what he was accusing her of, although there wasn’t anything terribly offensive about claiming that she loved him in most situations. But still, she couldn’t believe it.
She also couldn’t believe it when she crossed over to him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him so thoroughly that she pushed him against a wall. She kissed him until she thought her lips might bleed, and even then she didn’t want to stop. He was the one that broke it off, apparently wanting an explanation.
“What does this mean?” Logan asked, smoothing at her hair with palms and resting his forehead on hers.
“I don’t know,” Minako admitted, her voice quiet. “Maybe it means that… it’s not over. And that… redemption has stories to tell.”
Logan chuckled and drew her closer. “I still love you even with the psychological bullshit.”
She didn’t answer him. She just kissed him again, refusing to think about Takehiko or whether or not she loved Logan or if she would ever go back to Tokyo or if she could even stay in California. Besides, she knew that there was an adage she couldn’t repeat correctly about actions and words, and she thought that staying by Logan’s side and kissing him until it became painful was answer enough for all of them.
It wasn’t really the end of the story. But she acted like it was.
