DTB Story

I still own nothing…

Deep Rooted Final Chapter

Warning: For some reason, I may have overboard on the fight scene, and I hope its no problem for you guys… but I thinks its maybe just a smidge more than a tad bit gory, but I'll let you decide that!

-X-

Monica looked back at the man, straight into his dark black eyes as he unlocked the cell door. "What's going on?"

"I told you," he said, walking to a person that Monica just noticed. The security guard was tied and there was tape over his mouth. "I want to get rid of Hei and Kirihara… and I'm going to need your help." The man walked into the cell with the guard, depositing him in the corner as he grabbed a lock of Monica's blonde hair. She cringed. "It's alright, if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already." Monica remembered that night, when she had crashed onto his and Hei's exchange, it looked as if he was truly about to kill her, but why did he come help her now?

The man's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "I'd thought you'd want to kill Kirihara after everything that she's done to you. I mean if you can't even control your own puppets then what's the point of having the power?" Her hatred for Kirihara overcame the fear she was feeling from this man, as well as her wonderment of how he knew everything that had happened to her; she wanted to be of any help to him, so long as Kirihara would get what was coming to her.

"I'm in. I'll make sure that cop gets what's coming to her."

"I thought you'd say something like that." The man glowed blue and Monica watched in awe as the guard turned into her. "That should hold them up for an hour at least… enough for us to make our escape." The man turned to her and did the same to her, making her turn into the security guard.

"Wow…" said Monica as she admired the power this man had.

"Let's go."

Monica stopped at the edge of the bars, after the man had locked it back up. "What's your name?"

"All I know is that my number is CD645, but you can call me CD."

Misaki followed the man expertly, hiding behind passerbys whenever he had an urge to look behind him. She had been following him for quite a while now, wondering exactly what he was going to do. She had gotten a tip from her informant—now that she was freelance, she had to make due trusting the very people she put into jail—that the man, CD, was a very powerful contractor - powerful because his powers had never been seen before. CD645 walked up to a building and entered it after one more sweep of the perimeter. Kirihara stopped short of the door, looking at the sign above before entering.

The bar's counter was filled with drunken men, bellies hanging out of their dirty shirts, and women who obviously had no better place to be. Not seeing her man there, she searched the tables and found him close to the corner. A waitress was taking his order when she walked in and soon after she sat two tables away from him; the waitress came to her. It seemed she was on edge, like she hated her job. "What can I get you?" she said with a controlled voice.

"Just a Coke, please." When the waitress left, Kirihara brought her attention back to the man, only he wasn't there. She searched frantically for him, trying to keep a cool head. Behind her she heard the waitress talking to anther patron, but she couldn't make out what was being said.

"Umm, miss, this man here wants you to join him." The waitress glanced back at the man that was sitting just behind Kirihara, and that was when she knew. She nodded to the waitress, and stood up, sitting across the very man she was following.

"You've been following me for quite some time now. Is there something that you want?"

"I was informed that you were up to something and I believe I'm here to stop you."

The man laughed. "But Kiriahra, you were fired, remember? You don't have a job, so you shouldn't be out here on the field when you can't even protect yourself."

"Is that what you think?" said Kirihara with a sneer.

"Apparently, you've been out much too long…" Misaki felt someone scoot into her seat and her body stiffened.

"How are you Kirihara? How is Hei too?" asked Monica.

"What do you want?" the cop said to CD, knowing he was the one pulling the strings.

"It's simple really…" CD645 looked up as the waitress came back with the drinks, looking at Monica to see if she wanted one as well.

"No I'm okay." The waitress shrugged, and left the scene. CD rummaged through his pocket and produced a vile.

"Like I was saying Kirihara, it's quite simple. You have been a problem and we want you gone." He unscrewed the vile and dropped its contents into her Coke. "Drink."

"I'll have your ass in jail…" She was cautiously trying to pull her gun when Monica slapped her hands to the seat.

"Try it, and we'll kill everyone in this place," Monica sneered.

"I know what you can do…"

"But you don't know what I can do." CD slouched in the booth, eyeing Kirihara, knowing full well she'd never risk innocent people. "Now," he said cockily holding up the drugged drink, "drink." Kirihara released her hold on the gun, and moved her arm shakily toward the Coke. In one gulp she downed the bitter tasting beverage and in seconds the drug started to work. Her vision became blurry and her muscles felt like rubber. She slouched in her seat much like CD had done, but this one was involuntary. The last thing Kirihara saw was CD's smirking face.

"Oh ho, looks like she's had too much to drink!"

The waitress had come back with the bill. "But she only had a Coke…"

"Oh young lady," he said with a smile, then face getting serious, "speak of this to no one." The woman felt a sort of feeling course through her as she saw his dark eyes. She stuttered, trying to say something, but CD got their first. With his smile back on he spoke, "I'll pay the bill and be on our way." The waitress watched as the duo carrying the sleeping woman, left the bar, hating her job even more.

Outside, inside of a stolen vehicle, Monica watched the cop breathe. "Why does she have to be alive? We could have given her poison, you know, to kill her right then and there."

"Yes, Monica, but what fun would that be? It's better to have your prey suffer before you try to put them out of their misery."

"What are you thinking…?" asked Monica, looking at the man. His throaty laugh filled the car as he turned the ignition and moved out onto the busy road.

Hei was back in the field. He had heard talk around his area, that there was an ex-cop looking for informants. All the contractors who had talked were either excited, or scared; they still believed she could be a threat to them. Hei smirked as they babbled away, knowing full well who this ex-cop was that could invoke fear into the contractors.

He was with his own informant getting details for a job, when someone walked up to them. The man was one they all—those in the contractor world—had known to be the one man who knew all things as they happened. He either had powers that let him know what he wanted to know, or he was just that good at snooping. He started speaking to both of them, a little too excited for his own good.

"Ihaveawesomenewsaboutthatcop!" he said as if they were one word.

"Calm down man," Hei's informant said, "speak slower."

"That ex-cop. I have information about her… for a price." His eyes grew small, and a sly smile took over. He looked at both of the men, waiting for one of them to cough up some money, but instead of cash, Hei grabbed him and threatened him.

"What do you know…?" He looked at Black Reaper's eyes. He was serious…

The man was released as soon as he started talking. "Her informant told her about a man, who was supposedly dangerous, and she went after him!"

"That's nothing," Hei spoke without thinking, "she always goes after dangerous contractors." Even though he hadn't seen her around, he was pretty sure she was still out trying to make Japan a better place.

"That's the thing!" The man outright screamed, "she never came back. I saw her myself going into a bar, and getting carried out by a man and a girl." Hei broke into thought, getting anxious. Carried out? The man was still speaking, but the next words made Hei's worry grow even more.

"… the girl was sort of young… and with that blonde hair… She looked like an angel compared to that man…"

"Blonde hair?" Only one person came into his mind. Monica. Now he was sure something was up; he knew she had been in the Juvenile Contractors facility…

"Oh yeah, one more thing. Did you know that there was an escape in the Juvenile Contractors facility? I thought that was way cool. I want whoever that person was on my team; escaping from there just proves how good they are.

"Or that they had help." Hei threw a wad of cash out to the man who had given him the information, forgetting about the info. his own informant was to give him. He had made it to the edge of the alley when the man called him back with one more piece of the information pie.

"If you want to know where he is, check the cop's house. I don't know why, but that's what I know."

Hei was at Kirihara's house in minutes, standing outside. He was deciding on what course of action to take. Usually he'd just go in and think of the details later, but if there was a mastermind behind it all, then he had to take things slow. He saw through the window, through what dim light was on her, that Misaki was inside, sitting on the couch with an ice cream cup in her hands. He walked up to the window, close to punching it open when he remembered Monica's power. How would he know if it's really her in there? He smirked to himself, punching open the window as he jumped in. Better to ask questions later.

CD looked at him, a smile huge on his features, but not as big as the smile that displayed itself on Monica's face though. She ran to Hei, as if they had been old friends, and tried to hug him, but his blade was already between them. Misaki looked at him, but never got up.

"Where is Kirihara?" he asked after figuring that that woman on the couch wasn't her, that it was just a puppet created by Monica.

"Oh you still think about her?" pouted Monica, "you were right, CD."

"Where is she?" Hei repeated. His eyes looked from CD to Monica. It was hard to see CD from where he stood.

"You don't need to know Hei," started Monica, "I'm pretty sure I can be a great replacement…" Hei moved to CD now, grabbing him by the shirt collar. His eyes were a bit atypical to Hei, especially since they seemed slightly arrogant. As Hei pulled CD closer to him, he recalled something. "You were my…"

Monica had moved to the back room, and she walked out holding someone by the hand. "Here, Hei, here's Misaki… if you can get her." Hei released his grip on CD, doubtful about turning his back on what was supposed to be one of the most dangerous contractors out there. The man still continued to sit in the chair, looking at Hei with those same eyes again. Hei, with one final look back, ran after Monica. She was pulling Misaki into a run, to a dead end no less.

"Hand her over." Monica looked at her choices. Her hand was still around Misaki's, but when she saw Hei's outline, she let go, pushing the woman forward, and running back to the original locale.

"Thanks…" Kirihara said slowly. Hei watched her. There was something… "We have to get back at them. We… we…" Kirihara fell to the ground as exhaustion covered her. That was the Kirihara he remembered.

"You need to get some rest. We'll deal with them another time." He picked the ex-officer up and made his way to his hideout.

Monica ran back to the house, and sat on the couch across from CD. She had a plate of sweets in her hand, and she was laughing. "How did you like that?" CD's face was in a frown. "I know you can't talk, but it was great for me."

Hei had already removed his mask and his Black Reaper outfit, getting himself comfortable in his house. No matter how much he moved around, he couldn't get over the fact that something was off. He turned behind him, and found Misaki eating a bowl of ramen. He returned his vision back to the TV and tried to play it off. It wasn't because she was here; she'd never invoked this kind of danger before, no matter how much she had truly tried to kill him. Kirihara had started to speak to him, but he didn't bother turning around.

"Hei, what would you do…" As she spoke, her voice got deeper, "if I wasn't who you thought I was!" Her voice finally stopped changing and Hei turned around to see a man in her place.

Monica watched as CD's appearance started to change. His short dark blue hair getting replaced with long brown hair, his rigid dark features turning to soft, womanly ones. Monica smiled as Kirihara returned to her original self. "The party's just getting started."

CD grabbed the kitchen knife and threw it at BK201. He dodged, making the knife slice through the television set instead. Hei glowed blue, jumping forward with his own blade in his hand before he ran his electricity through it, swinging voraciously, as he tried to attack the man.

Hei ducked, as CD's hands came close to his face, but fell as the rug slipped from under him. His blade slid underneath the furniture. CD laughed and jumped onto the other side of the couch, crouching close to Hei. He picked up the knife that was thrown at the TV and placed it next to those infamous collar bones.

"I could kill you if I wanted, but I don't think I will." He punched Hei in the face, making blood leak from his nose. "You'd better make sure Monica didn't kill that cop," he practically laughed as he ran through the door.

Monica watched Kirihara sit there. She hadn't been able to move when Hei was here. The most she could do was stare at his eyes; the drug was still pretty strong then, but now an hour something later, she was able to feel her muscles, though not fully free of the drugs effects. She wriggled around, trying to get her hands from behind her back. They were tied tightly, but that didn't stop her from trying to break free. The ropes burned her wrists as she struggled against them; they were going to be hard to break free from.

Monica was still laughing. "You can't break free. I hope CD didn't kill Hei before I had a chance to get to him. I'm going to ask him if he could turn me into you; I bet he'd look at me if I was in your body." She smiled at the fantasy. "You have it good you know…" There was a thump on the door, and the door broke to the floor. Hei walked in over the mess.

"What the hell?" Misaki yelled, "stop breaking all of my things! I'm already out of a job… how do you expect me to pay for all this?" Now Hei was sure that it really was Kirihara. Monica, jumped out behind him, and into the night to find CD. There was no way she was going to fight Hei again… at least not by herself.

Hei walked over to Kirihara and cut her ropes, letting her free. "Damn, what happened when you went back with that man?"

"I'll get him back." Kirihara saw that there was some hate in that stare.

"So he got the better of you too?" He didn't feel like explainigng to her that it was his buyer who had caused all this; the same buyer who was about to beat his ass had he decided to that first night. Kirihara stood up, wobbling at the sudden blood flow, and blushed as Hei caught her. "Why's he doing this? What's the point?"

"I think I know why."

"What do you mean?" asked Kiriahra, standing on her own now.

"He's doing it to see how far he can go, because it's fun… at least that's what I know about him."

"Hmmm… well then we need to stop him." She was able to make it up and down the stairs with no problem, but the moment she stepped outside of the door, gun in hand, she collapsed. "I guess that drug is still working."

"You need to sit down."

"I don't need your help Hei. I've go this."

"That's why I heard you got carried off by those two at the bar."

"Only because they threatened the innocents. If it wasn't for that, I would've immobilized him already."

"You're too soft Kirihara."

"Like you're one to talk. The incident with Li wasn't too far away remember. I recall you having a soft side for both him and Monica." She smiled seeing how it disturbed him to be seen as soft.

"That may be so but I'm not the one requiring the help of a contractor to even stand. Do I make you that nervous?"

"Don't flatter yourself…" Hei helped her back up to the couch and together they decided on what to do about CD.

"When we find him, leave him to me."

"The moment he's gone, you better watch your back. I'm coming after you next."

"You just can't get enough of me can you?" smirked Hei.

Monica walked quietly into the alley, watching the other contractors behind her. "Did you see CD anywhere?" she asked a contractor she had met some time ago. The man pointed to the door and she moved over there quickly. "CD!" she spoke. He was sitting in the chair, a bunch of other homeless contractors sitting around him. "Where were you?"

"How did it go?"

"I don't know; I left as soon as Hei arrived."

"They must be planning their revenge by now. I can't wait until they come after us."

"Wait, you want them to come after us? We are going to win right?"

"We'll just have to see Monica. We'll just have to see." His throaty laughter filled the small alley and they all looked at him. Monica was pretty sure she'd do better if she left him now—he was crazy—but her own pride, and the revenge she wanted to get on Kirihara, fought her common sense. Monica sat down next to CD, at the legs of his chair. A mouse crawled up to her unknowingly, and she screamed, her outline turning blue. The small mouse had become split into two.

"Then can I at least have Kirihara dead?" Monica spoke, after a while.

"Whatever you want my dear."

Monica looked at the mouse, smiling to herself as she realized something. The mouse was multiplied again, and again, and again; her smile grew big. "Then let's make them suffer!"

CD smiled and extended his hand; a man came forward. "You, make sure to tell anybody who comes in contact with Hei that we will be waiting." Hei's informant was wide-eyed, but he was pretty sure that Hei would want to know about this.

Misaki ran out into the night well before Hei had a chance to stop the car. She jumped over the downed garbage cans and made it to a man who was sitting on the ground. When he heard the rapid footsteps, he jumped up to his feet trying to escape the ex-officer, but he was too slow. Misaki grabbed him from the back and dropped him to the wet ground. "Why were you trying to run?"

"Anybody'd run if they saw you running like that…" Hei interjected.

"Answer me," Kirihara asked ignoring Hei.

"It's the truth, I just saw you running."

"Everybody knows I'm an ex-cop… now tell me the truth."

"Okay okay. I heard that someone wanted to meet you guys. They said they'd be waiting." Kirihara looked at the man below her and then at Hei.

"You think he's telling the truth?" 'I could kill you if I wanted, but I don't think I will.' Hei nodded, remembering CD's words. "Get going then." Misaki barely got off of the man before he started to run. "Where do you think they are?"

"It doesn't matter, because they'll be most happy to greet us."

Hei and Misaki walked down the streets, staying close to the darkness of the alleys. They weren't sure exactly where the two were going to come from, but they were on their guard none the less. Many times they were startled, both of them releasing their weapons, and standing in defense. The last time, they looked at each other and Kirihara laughed. "They have us like fools. We need to take some action, get them to where we are…"

Hei pushed Kirihara out of the way as a red mustang came barreling into her path. It missed, hitting the brick building beside her, and catching fire. CD had rolled onto the street way before the car hit the apartment wall, and he was already galloping toward Hei, a machete in his hand.

Kirihara saw him, and she was angry that Hei had to be the one to save her. Her gun was already in her hand. Her glasses were fogged with both dust and what mist that was spouting from where she had jumped. She aimed her gun, almost blindly, but no matter what, she couldn't get a good lock on CD; yeah she could've taken off her glasses, but that would be a disaster waiting to happen. "Stop moving damn it!" she yelled. Her finger was closing on the trigger. It was going to be luck of the draw. If she hit CD then kudos to her, but if not, Hei'd be in trouble. Her eyes moved to both men once again, her trying with all her might to hit the right one.

Monica was creeping quietly next to her. "Don't forget about me." Kirihara gasped, turning the gun to Monica, accidently pulling the trigger. Both of them were surprised.

"Actually trying to kill me?"

"Not exactly," replied Kirihara. Monica walked closer to her. She was different to Misaki, somewhat less peppy then she had been only hours ago. Something was going to happen.

"I hope you know that this is it." Monica said, still walking closer to the cop. The sounds around them seemed to have silenced, but then… "You can't escape them." Hundreds and hundreds of rats had surrounded the woman and girl.

"What is this?" questioned Kirihara, holding her gun out.

"I got to thinking…" a rat walked up to the officer, then another; they were shot. "Why waste my time on humans, especially if they can be easily manipulated by feelings. They both remembered about Li. "If I could control a beast then why not? They are smaller, and they can't betray you."

"Isn't it too much strain on your body?"

"Stop acting as if you care. Now destroy her." The rats all stared at the one female victim as they advanced forward. They stepped uniformly together, and then they started to run when she did, Misaki had no choice in the matter. They were rats; they could, in many numbers, eat a person clean, and bring disease. She had climbed onto the fire escape, and she looked down at the swarm as she started to bring out her other guns. She brought both of her automatics to her hands and started to spray.

The sight was horrid. Tiny bits of blood flew out from the first rat, a small red mist, but then as they congregated closer to each other, the mist grew bigger, redder, more chaotic. Beside her, Kirihara heard small clinking noises. She gasped as grey, white, and black rats climbed the metal balcony and surrounded her. She kicked some of them, earning a few unwanted visitors clinging to her. They gnawed at her shoes and at her clothes, and by the time she climbed up to the next floor, there were holes in them. She had no time to rest, they followed her up the next floor and the one after that… soon enough she had to climb all the way to the roof.

Hei's eyes followed the horde of rats back to Monica, wondering if she had uncovered a new set of powers, while his body had to deal with the murdering attempts of CD645. He had gotten his blade between the two of them, parrying each of the blows exactly at the right moment. CD's strikes were unplanned, but they were strong. He wondered why this man had been branded the most dangerous contractor out there. Hei was pretty sure that he himself was one of the most dangerous.

CD laughed a crazed laugh as he pushed Hei back toward the flaming mustang. Hei tried to avoid it, trying dearly to get to another path, but he was pinned between the car and CD. Hei hadn't said a word all this time, but he looked back at the machine. It would blow at any minute, any sort of aggravation could set it off, but when he looked to CD again, he knew why he was the most dangerous. He wasn't afraid.

CD smiled as Hei shifted uncomfortably from the car, getting nowhere. He had seen a small bucket filled with water lying around someone's steps, under a window – probably planning on washing their car, but never got around to it. CD took the bucket and positioned it next to the flaming car.

"I'll blow all of you to hell." The water was lifted slowly above the man's shoulders. He positioned it slightly and watched as one drop of water created a small bit of the fire to blaze up in a roar. "Now imagine what'll happen if I throw this whole bucket in the fire." When CD looked up to the dark sky looming above them, he closed his eyes for maybe just a fraction of a second… Hei took that fraction.

Hei threw his electrified blade into the car, amplifying the electricity as it flowed to CD. The bucket of water fell completely onto the gas fire, and Hei was already gone by the time the explosion occurred. The explosion engulfed the contractor. His scream was heard back to Hei as he made it to the roof to help Kirihara.

Monica saw the gruesome scene before her. She was irked that everything was falling apart. CD645 was supposed to be her advantage, but he died, burned to a crisp in front of her. She screamed to the night, running up to the roof to confront her nemesis.

By the time Hei reached Kirihara, she was already having trouble keeping the rodents at bay. They seemed to have multiplied even more. Both of the guns in her hands had started to run out of bullets. She had a couple rounds left, but even if she had more, it'd only delay the inevitable. They were on the edge, Monica, right before them.

"This is it, kill them… kill them all!" She looked crazed. Kirihara looked at what would be the means to her death, noticing that some of them had split, and started to attack each other. She tapped Hei on the shoulder.

"Look." He saw where she was looking. "We may have a chance, so long as we last long enough." Monica stood watching her minions as they scurried forward rapidly. They climbed on one another, to get to the two before them. The wave of rats was small—it had only reached their feet—but in moments they were already knee deep in the creatures. Hei pulled Misaki toward him, hugging her close, as he directed his electricity to the rats. They fell in heaps, but came back twice as much every time. If this kept up, they'd be goners.

The car fire had died down to just a mere candle light when people started to approach it. "I saw the whole thing… there was a guy here…" said a civilian. He walked up closer to it, trying to find the body of the man that he had seen burn up. "I'm sure of it." The car was charred, metal still hot and deadly. As the civilian moved closer, he saw a hand sticking from the rubble. "Here he is!" The man didn't want to just grab him; he knew he was supposed to wait for the police, but he had always wanted to know what a burned person had looked like. He carefully replaced the searing metal in front of him, and saw full the man that was burned.

His skin was charred, and was that bone? All of the hair on his scalp was gone and one of his eyes were possibly gone. The man who had wanted to look for the body turned and retched; this increased the curiosity of the other onlookers who in turn did the same as him. It was just too horrible. Amongst the crowd, was one who didn't puke. He had seen this many times before, being a doctor and all. The doctor told the people to calm down, and he went over to the body below the rubble. He touched the extended arm, trying to see if the burns were truly as bad as they looked, when it twitched.

The man screamed and took a step back. The arm twitched again, and then the whole arm turned and helped push the rest of CD's body. The crowd was gone in less than seconds, as if they had seen a dead body come back to life. CD looked up to the roof and saw Hei; his smile grew wide, earning a crack in his skin, the pieces floating away in the wind.

The charred man was standing under Monica. She was still on the roof, commanding her army when CD pulled her to his level. "What the hell?" she said instinctively. Moments later, she was back on the roof, neither of the heroes noticing that she was gone. A loud and shrill scream made all of them turn around.

CD was alive, and he was going after them.

Hei let out his surprise, actually gasping out loud and pulling Kirihara's gun from her hands. The rats would have to wait; CD had to be put down. He aimed the gun at the man, surprised even after all that he went through, how badly burned he looked, that he was able to run like that. With no hesitation whatsoever, he shot. The bullets showered the man as he fell into the pool of rats. Only the pool wasn't so much of a pool anymore; most of them had disappeared! As if they had known something, as soon as the CD got shot, the rats went wild. Their control seemed lost, and all wanted to know why.

Most of the vermin stayed, continuing to attack one another, others still on their way to the two on the ledge now, and more stopped to snack at the man… now turning girl! Monica's blonde hair was splayed over the ground, rats moving about the golden locks. Hei looked at the gun in disgust. Misaki tried to calm him as he threw it at the other Monica, who was turning to the real CD645.

"We have to go Hei," spoke Misaki, trying to get the cable he held in his belt. He knew she was right. He extended the cable out, and attached it to another building across the way. She was waiting for him to get closer to the ledge, when Hei removed his belt, wrapping it around her, and then pushing her off the roof. The real rats that had been hanging around her, fell to the ground with loud thumps, as she screamed for Hei to come back.

Hei ran to CD, feeling that it was his fault Monica had died. CD was standing there, in full view, wide open. Hei leaped over to his side, placing a hand around his neck. "This is the end I believe," CD spoke calmly, "I can no longer enjoy watching you guys suffer, but I at least I had fun. Here's one last parting gift."

Hei waited not a second longer before he both squeezed CD's throat, and electrocuted him. CD fell to the floor, next to the scurrying rodents, as they hid behind Monica's body as Hei walked over to the ledge again.

He looked at the floor below him, the long drop to the ground, thinking of CD's final words. 'Here's one last parting gift.' What could that mean? Behind Hei, he heard a small cough that made him look back in repulsion. He figured out what CD's game was.

Hei walked down, face covered by the darkness surrounding them all. Monica was getting up. Her eyes were lifeless to Hei, obviously she's able to be controlled, and CD wanted to make Hei suffer once more before everything was all over… he must have known that Hei hated killing kids. The gun that he used to kill the girl before was still lying there, in all its destructive glory. Monica-zombie walked slowly to Hei. She stared at him with those comatose eyes, those dead, sad eyes. The man in black hadn't gone to meet her, but instead waited until she was close enough to kill her.

As she neared him, his blade was ready for her, hidden in his cloak to strike, but the closer he came to her, the more he realized killing someone a second time is even harder than the first. He closed his eyes as he felt her cold hands touch him, and that's when he stabbed her straight in the heart. She stumbled back slightly, and took the blade from her heart, going back for him again.

Kirihara waited, watching the roof to see if Hei was going to be around anytime soon. Figuring that she was alone, she released herself and jumped to the landing under her, quickly going back to the top of the building Hei just pushed her off.

Hei's face was a look of disbelief, and he knew what he had to do. He was dealing with inner turmoil as he went to the gun that was still on the floor. Monica had sauntered over to him, and Hei had to close his eyes again. The gun was raised above his head, and quickly brought down to her unsuspecting skull. The crunch was sickening, and the girl hit the floor, splattering blood around the point of impact.

Kirihara ran forward. She had to stop to listen; there was a distinct CRUNCH which caused her to run even faster.

Hei saw Monica rise again and that feeling overtook him again. He had to finish it… no matter what this time. He raised the gun back up, and brought it down, over, and over, and over…

Misaki got to the roof as repeated thumping sounds were heard. She saw Hei, and gasped. She ran to the man, pulling the gun away from him as he tried to hit the mutilated corpse again. "You can stop now Hei. It's alright." Hei glanced at the body shaking his head slightly as Misaki took him away.

Kirihara had wanted to know why Hei had beaten the girl's body up in the manner that he did, but she felt that whatever reason it was for the best. Even though, she had wanted to at least cheer him up. "Hei… are you okay?"

He looked at her spitefully. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"That girl… it wasn't your…" He was already up and to the door as she said this sentence. He turned to her.

"I had to survive… and that's it." It was true. From an early age all Hei had known was survival. If anything was deep rooted, it was definitely that. He stepped out into the much inviting cold leaving Kirihara behind.

"Hei," she said stopping him in his tracks. "I told you you're next…" She ran to him, turning him toward her door. "I'm not letting you go this time." Hei couldn't help but smile. It seemed another thing was deep rooted, and it had something to do with a certain ex-cop.

A/N: I have some 'splaining to do for some things:

1. I loved writing the fight scene.

2. With CD let's just say that the reason he said 'get rid of' it was so Monica could go along, but he just wanted to have fun like he said many a times.

3. The rat thing was from a movie I remembered about. It's called Killer Rats, and back when I was younger, that junk was scary. :)

4. The part with Monica was a quick thinking thing, and I liked how it turned out, but I hope it wasn't too much…

5. I had to end it with a bit of romance, because I wanted to and because I could!

I think that's it for the 'splanation, so hope you enjoyed :P