I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't run from him anymore. I couldn't run from what he had done to me. I had to confront him, and maybe kill him.

I made my way slowly down the street toward the old apartment building. I knew he would be there now, because he was always there at this time. He was always there, drunk.

The hall was dark and deserted. I sensed that there had been slight movement there not so long ago though. I remembered vividly what had happened exactly a year ago, so I remembered which apartment was his. I reached it and stole myself for the confrontation.

"Let me go!" I jumped away from the door at the voice of a young boy. I heard a crash and fast footsteps. Then nothing but slight breathing. "Mr. Kitazowa?"

A suppressed memory flashed in my mind. I was suddenly in the past, back a year. I had muttered those same words. I had been the terrified child cornered by a drunk. I knew what would happen next.

I gripped the doorknob and took a deep breath. I didn't have much time. I swung the door open as fast as I could. I hoped that it would distract the evil man inside. I didn't quite know what I would do next.

"Yuki Kitazowa!" I heard myself yell.

I registered what I was seeing. The man who had ruined my life, and a boy about my age. Yuki had the kid pinned against the wall. Both of them were surprised, but the kid was also very terrified.

Then Yuki smiled and turned to me slightly. "I didn't think you'd ever come back." He said in a calm and surprisingly smooth voice.

I knew I had the advantage since he was drunk, but I was still scared. I had no idea what to do. Memories were flashing rapidly in my mind, so I couldn't think straight. I took a step into the apartment, not very steadily.

There were footsteps behind me. "What are you doing?" It was a somehow familiar voice. I spun to see two big men in the doorway.

More images. These weren't of Yuki. I remembered three men from that night. These were the other two. Since they were in the doorway, I was beginning to feel trapped. I had a feeling like Déjà vu.

One of the men smiled at me. "So the kid came back." He looked at the kid that Yuki was still cornering. "Two, huh?" He stepped toward me and grabbed me around the neck, pulling me to him. "It's ten together, not each."

I couldn't bear it any longer. In the past year I had dealt with my anger and trauma by taking self defence and martial arts classes. I put them to use to get away from the men. I heard a snap as his arm broke.

"Rotten kid!" The other one yelled, reaching for a gun. I remembered how he had threatened me with the gun last time, holding it to my chest.

I sent a kick at his hand to knock the gun away. Then I jumped at him and got my arms around his neck. I started strangling him. I waited until he dropped unconscious.

I heard a terrified scream from behind me. I turned to see Yuki holding a knife to the kid's throat. Since he was drunk, Yuki didn't have much control and a small bit of blood was already appearing.

I didn't know what to do. I got the feeling that I had made a big mistake. I decided to just give up, if just to get the kid out of mortal danger. I raised my arms and took a step toward Yuki. "Let him go." I said, in the same weak voice I had always used before.

He fell for it, letting the kid go. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the kid ran behind me. The other men were still blocking the door, so he couldn't get away properly.

I continued walking to him. I had to get close to get my revenge. I was about an arm's length from him when he reached out for me. I grabbed his hand and swung around to his back.

I tried to grip him around the neck like I did to the other man, but he was swaying and he was too tall. I slipped on the wine that he had spilt on the floor. All I saw was his back rising above me, my arms still around his neck.

A terrible snapping sounded around the apartment.

I had slipped between his legs and was now facing the door. I spun around to see what had happened. I almost fainted in fright.

Yuki was lying on his back in the red wine, making it look like he was bleeding. I stared down at his shoulders. I couldn't see his head. I had snapped his neck and bent his head back. It was now resting under his shoulder blades.

The room around me grew darker. I thought it was my eyes playing a trick on me due to the sight before me. Then I heard the bang, and a crash behind me.

I jolted up and spun around. The man with a broken arm was lying dead behind me, a knife in his good hand. Beyond him was the kid. He was holding the gun that the other man had dropped. The gun was smoking.

Before I could say anything, the kid dropped the gun to the floor. He looked even more scared. He fell to the floor and started crying.

I ran to his side and knelt beside him. I couldn't think of much to say, so I just sat there staring at him. I finally decided to say something, even if it sounded blunt and heartless to him. "He would have killed me." I muttered, making the kid look up. "You saved my life. Thank you."

The kid erupted into another round of sobs. This time he fell on my shoulder. "I killed him!" He howled.

I couldn't hold back my own tears as well. I wasn't crying completely from grief. Most of my tears came from terror and relief that I was alive. There was only a small part of me who cried for the loss of someone I had known.

We stayed there for a while, until our tears were spent. Then I stood and helped him up. I tried my best to smile at him. "My name's Yumi Tanio." I said to him, trying to make things more natural. "You?"

Before he could answer, there were more footsteps in the hall. A boy came running in, followed by police officers. "Eiri?!" The boy called, worried.

The officers were looking around the apartment in shock. Then one of them looked right at us. "What happened here?" He said in a stern voice that made me flinch.

I pushed Eiri toward his friend. "Get out of here, I'll take care of things." I whispered to him. I made sure that both of them were out of the room before I turned my attention to the officers.

Then I told them what had happened. I began with my unreported incident last year. I told everything just as it had happened, ignoring the tears that started streaming down my face again. When I got the two deaths, I left out the fact that Eiri had been the one to shoot the man, instead portraying him as the victim who would have been killed.