The streets were surprisingly empty as I pounded the pavement. It took me a little while to find my way, but before long, I was on track with the gun still in my hand.

It was strange how the world was continuing even though my baby was dead.

The brothel looked no different. And yet, it was not as colourful as before.

I entered calmly. I could feel the wooden door handle as I turned it, but it felt so very far away.

No one rushed to greet me, but I could hear sobbing. This was in itself not unusual for the brothel, yet I knew who was crying. And I could guess why.

"Mai," a voice from my left said and caused me to turn. "I think we need to have a chat."

Igarashi had not noticed the gun in my hand. Perhaps if she had, she wouldn't have attempted to reason with me.

I raised the gun and fired.

She crumpled.

The sobbing had stopped abruptly. But I knew where Suzuki would be. I walked through to her room and stood in the doorway.

"I didn't expect you to return," she mumbled. "I'm sorry Mai. He moved. He moved so I missed. I never..."

She began crying again.

I had never seen her cry before. She had never cried after a kill before.

"You killed my baby," I whispered. I raised the gun yet again.

"Kill me," she begged. "I would never hurt an innocent child. What have I done?"

"Turn around," I ordered. She complied without hesitation. I grabbed a scarf and tied her hands together. Then to the bed post. I was in no way great at tying knots, but I hoped it would hold her long enough. "Stay here. I'm not done with you."

I left her room and barged into another, waving the gun at the client and scaring him away. The girl stared at me in fright.

"Put some clothes on, I'm getting you out."

I didn't wait to see if she understood but headed for the next room, and the next, and so on until I had them all.

Suzuki was exactly where I left her.

I untied her and pushed her in front of me. The crowd of girls were waiting with scared looks on their faces.

"Tell them to head outside. Tell them to follow us," I told Suzuki. She spoke out in what I presumed to be Thai and then in a weird sort of procession, we all headed out onto the street.

I didn't really know where I was heading now.

I wasn't sure how many rounds I had left, but fired a couple into the sky anyway. The girls flinched at the noise. Surely that would be enough to get the police to notice?

And sure enough, within minutes, our little parade was surrounded by police cars.

"Well isn't this familiar?" Houshou said as he entered the room, Ayako on his heels.

"Definitely Deja-vu," Ayako agreed.

I sat in the interrogation room and stared up at them both.

"We know what happened," Houshou said. Ayako moved around the table, bent down and hugged me. And finally, as she embraced me, I began to cry.

"What's going to happen now?"

"The woman you know as Igarashi is dead, but Naru will be fine."

I retracted a little at this.

"What?"

"Well, you punctured a lung, but the doctors have patched him up," Houshou explained. "He woke up from the surgery just before we came in."

"Oh."

"He wants to speak with you," Houshou went on. "Yasuhara has insisted he is present to prevent any… Injuries."

"I don't want to see him."

"Well, the offer is there."

"Am I going to gaol?" I didn't much mind if I was to be honest. What did I have to live for now?

"Yasuhara can pull some strings," Ayako said.

"Suzuki?"

"They offered her a nicer prison and no death penalty if she assisted the police," Houshou said. "She agreed to help."

"Good, I want her to suffer for a long time."

I hated the malice coming out of my mouth. I wasn't even sure whether I meant it or not. Aside from assassinating people, Suzuki wasn't a bad person. Kind of like Naru really. Well, the Naru I thought I knew.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," Ayako said.

"Let me guess, to a safe house?"

Houshou almost laughed.

"Just like old times."

I don't know what made me agree to the meeting. Perhaps I just wanted to find out the truth. If there was a truth.

The room we met in looked like something out of a film, where the parents were divorcing across a table with a lawyer to mediate.

"Hello Mai," Noll began. I nodded back. He was the one that wanted this, he could speak first. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."

Yasuhara was doing his best to pretend he wasn't there. I knew why he had to be in the room, but it was very awkward. Like having a parent watching a first date or something.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you sorry?" I asked. Like on so many days recently, my voice seemed far away. Everything felt rather far away.

"I…" He looked at Yasuhara for a moment. "Could we have a minute?"

"Mai, promise not to try anything?"

"Do you want to handcuff me to the chair?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not into that, just play nicely, okay? I'll wait outside."

I watched him go and waited for Naru to speak.

"When we ran away eight years or so ago, I never wanted to go back," he began. "But when you were caught, I had no choice. Yasuhara swore to keep you safe. Martin said that if I completed a job for him, one that they could use my insubordination as a cover for, then he would let me go. Naively, I believed him. No one told me you were pregnant. While in Japan on the job, I had Lin search for you. I believe that is why you were moved around so much during that time."

Was this the truth?

I just didn't know any more.

"I was injured on a raid of a smuggling ring. I was in a coma for three and a half years. When I woke, I underwent a lot of physio until I was permitted to leave. I killed Martin and returned to Japan with Lin. Lin found… I came to find you."

"Why? Why find me? It's been so long…" A slight frown graced my features.

"I was in a coma for over three years Mai; to me it's been barely a year since you were taken." He looked away from my face. "I hadn't given up hope that…" He trailed off, looking almost disgusted with himself for using the word 'hope'.

"That I'd still love you?" I prompted. He looked back into my eyes, but didn't say anything. "And that we'd run off again? I can't do it anymore. I spent four years on the run followed by six months in protective custody, followed by four years in a secret brothel. I don't even know how the world works anymore."

"Neither do I," he admitted. "A lot of things have changed since I woke up."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry you never met her properly," I whispered. "I know you were against the idea of having children but… She was wonderful. I know I'm biased but… She was so clever." I could feel tears rushing to my eyes. "She knew all of the hiragana and katakana. She loved reading. She'd read anything I put in front of her. I don't even remember being four years old, but I am sure I wasn't reading."

I could see pain in his eyes. Was it regret? Grief? Anger?

"Will you tell me more?" he asked quietly. "Currently, the image I have of her is… I want to know better things."

"I had a nightmare about it," I confessed suddenly. "I can't…" I looked away. Then stood up and walked to the window. "She was my reason for living you know? She was the only one I had…"

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. Naru was standing behind me. I didn't know whether to shrug the hand off or not. It was odd, being touched so gently after so long.

Even she had been boisterous. She had always jumped into my arms. Never soft. Not like this.

Part of me wanted to push him away. But another part of me wanted to fall into his arms and have someone take all the pain away. I didn't know if his embrace would do any of that. But it was a nice thought.

I turned and looked up into his eyes. They were the exact same colour as Himeko's.

I close my eyes and leant into his chest. I felt him wince a little from the contact and remembered I had shot him. I made to move away, but his arms pulled me closer. Tears sprung to my eyes and together, we sank to the floor. I sobbed into his shirt and wondered how I could ever be happy again.

"What do we do now?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know about you," I mumbled. "But I have to live. For Himeko."

Author's note: I think this made me sadder than Himeko's death. I feel rather empty right now.

Next chapter is the last.

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