Tsukushi stared at him with wide eyes. She was clutching the phone in her hand as a way to avoid trembling in front of him.
"Hang up the phone."
Tsukushi was about to tell him no, but he pointed the gun at her. She hung up the phone after a moment. "That's a good girl."
Tsukushi stared at Dominic. He had nicked his head on counter that the phone was on. He was bleeding out of his leg as well. She crouched down to help him, but she heard, "Leave him." Dominic was knocked out.
"He needs help," whispered Tsukushi. "I can't leave him."
"I don't think you understand the situation you are in. I know that you're just stalling for time. I know you better than you know yourself. I know that you're thinking of a way out of this."
Tsukushi straightened up as she looked him straight in the eye. "I'm obviously not that smart. I didn't realize it was you. I should have known," she muttered.
"You don't seem that afraid of me. Just as I expected."
"You seem to know me pretty well. Ryan. Why don't you just just tell me what you expect me to do?"
"You're still stalling for time," said Ryan as he smiled. "I really didn't want it to come to this. I really didn't."
Tsukushi took a deep breath. "You'll have to tell me what it is. It's apparent that I don't know you that well."
"Enough. Your brother and friend will be home any minute. I have no qualms about killing anyone. You know that. You will come with me now," said Ryan in very calm voice.
It was the calmness in his voice that sent an involuntary chill down her spine. She gave a tight nod. She understood perfectly what he meant. Ryan was going to kill Susumu and Kin-san, if she didn't comply with him. She walked towards him. She had to will herself to keep going.
He's a cold blooded murderer. He killed my parents. He's going to kill everyone else, if I don't go with him, thought Tsukushi. She turned her head to take once last glance at Dominic. She could see that he was barely breathing. He shot Dominic. He's been around this entire time. He knows him. And he shot him without a second thought.
He wasn't wearing his glasses. No one knew that he wore fake lenses, so he didn't really even need glasses. They were part of his persona of Ryan McCormick, the diligent worker. The way he was right now was his true self. Ryan reached out and placed his hand on her cheek, but Tsukushi pulled back away from him. "Don't touch me."
"Don't be afraid, love. I wouldn't hurt you," he said softly. "I will protect you from this world."
Tsukushi stared at him. He gave her a gentle smile. It was his normal smile, not the smile that first greeted her when he came through the door. "Now. Let's go. I know that you don't want want anyone else to get hurt."
He knew her so well that she could only surrender for the time being. They walked out of the apartment. Ryan closed the door behind him. Tsukushi went along with him as they went to hail a cab. She didn't want to get away from the apartment. She wanted to yell out for help, but Ryan knew her all too well. "If you call out for help, I'll shoot the first person who comes here."
Tskushi didn't do anything else, but follow him. The cab driver asked where to go. Ryan hid his gun just before the cab came up. However, it was within his reach at any time. She sat next to him in the cab with his arm around her shoulders. He told the driver where to go. Tsukushi looked out the window.
She looked at the lights outside wondering what was happening. The rain had started falling. People were running for cover as the drops fell. Tsukushi kept her hands on her lap as Ryan kept his arm around her shoulders. The cab driver noticed how tense she was, but he didn't say anything. It wasn't any of his business what a gaijin was doing with a pretty Japanese girl like her.
"Stop here," ordered Ryan as he tossed some money at the cab driver. It was more than enough yen for the cab ride, but before the driver could give him change, Ryan shut the door. They were in front of the amphitheater. Tsukushi realized that now was the perfect time to make a break for it. She pulled her arm free and gave a swift round house kick that surprised him.
There was no place to run other than inside, so she took the closest door. She was running for her life.
*
Susumu was shaking off the rain off his jacket. He couldn't believe the sudden down pour. He thought about how much it rained when his parents had died. He was starting to hate the rain. It was always a sign that something bad was happening. He sighed as he entered the building. Someone had their door opened while going out to dump some trash. The television was on.
He would have ignored it, but he could hear the news, "Actress and singer Ringo Arisu of Gaia Records has been reported missing. Her whereabouts are unknown. This news comes as an added shock because of the recent cancellation of her Tokyo debut concert..."
Susumu stopped moving all at once. His eyes widened in horror. He took off running up the stairs to his apartment to find the door unlocked. He opened and saw someone bleeding on the floor. His breathing was sallow. Susumu ran to him and turned him over. He immediately recognized him. "What happened?" asked Susumu.
"He's got her. He took her. I couldn't stop him," answered Dominic with a labored breath. "Never mind me. He's got her."
"Who's got who? My sister? Where's my sister?" demanded Susumu. He realized that the reason why there was so much blood on the floor was because of the gunshot wound on Dominic's leg. The blood from the back of his head wasn't that much. Susumu stood up and went to go grab a towel. He applied pressure to the gunshot wound to stop the bleeding.
"Never mind me. Go and find your sister. He's going to kill her," gasped Dominic as he pulled back from Susumu. "He was here. Less than ten minutes ago. You have to find her before it's too late."
Susumu's eyes widened again. He stood up and went to call the police and the hospital for help. The door was opened again as Kin-san walked. "Have you heard the news? Your sister's missing--" he started. He stopped when he saw Dominic. "What happened here?"
Susumu tossed the cordless phone to Kin-san, who deftly caught it. "Call the hospital and the police. Also apply pressure to the wound on his leg. It should slow down the bleeding."
"Where are you going?" demanded Kin-san.
"I'm going to go and look for my sister," replied Susumu.
*
Tsukushi ran in the darkness. She had to get away from him before she could even think of calling for help. She had to put some distance between him and her to protect the people she loved and cared for the most. She didn't care if it cost her life. She ran as fast as she could. She could hear his footsteps, but she couldn't tell how close he was to her.
"Come on, love. You know that you can't win. I won. I have you where I want you," said Ryan.
"You will never have me!" screamed Tsukushi as she continued running. She didn't know where she was exactly. The amphitheater was like a maze. It was dark and cold. Her skin was wet from the rain. She couldn't stop running.
BANG!
Tsukushi not only heard the shot. She felt it as well. At first it was a hot sensation, followed by a numbing pain. She looked down at space between her collar bone and right shoulder. Even in the darkness, she could tell that wasn't a simple graze. Her breathing must have quickened at that moment.
"A wounded animal is always easier to catch," said Ryan with a laugh.
Tsukushi took off her shoes, realizing it was the way he could hear her. She took them off with her left hand and tossed them aside. Not having them made it harder to run, but it was worth it, if she could buy herself some time. She ran again, but it wasn't the lack of shoes that slowed her down. It was the numbing pain from the gunshot wound. Tsukushi had never experienced this kind of physical pain before. She realized in horror as she tried to flex her fingers that she couldn't move them.
She didn't have time to worry about it. She could hear Ryan's approaching footsteps. She gritted her teeth because of the pain she was in. She held her breath as she waited for him. He must have found the shoes because he said, "Very clever. I should have expected that out of you. I keep making the same mistake that everyone does. I keep underestimating you, love. But, I think you're making the same mistake with me."
Tsukushi had no choice. She was going to have to crawl. It was going to be painful with an open gunshot wound that was causing her to lose feeling in her right arm. Her pride spoke up again with something in English: "I would rather die on my feet than on my knees." She shook it off. She wasn't going to die like this.
Ryan was looking at drops of blood on the floor. He looked at the shoes and saw some blood on that. He didn't mean to shot her. He couldn't see that well in the darkness. He touched the blood for a moment. It was dark red under the slight light in the room. It was devoid of oxygen. He could follow the trail of blood.
Tsukushi was smart enough to apply a lot of pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding, even though it made the pain even worse. She kept her mouth shut as she struggled to fight off the fear she was experiencing. She couldn't feel her arm. She couldn't crawl anymore. She was going to have to risk getting shot again. It was a risk worth taking otherwise she was going to have to wait to bleed to death.
Tsukushi stood up and made a run for it. She was quick that Ryan didn't even have time to react. She kept running, but soon enough she could hear the sounds of him coming after her. It was like that nightmare she had had before. Except it was worse than she could have possibly ever imagine. She ran for the backstage area, but found that there were many places to hide.
Ryan pursued her until he was backstage. He knew the place much better than she did. "I do know the amphitheater better than you do. How do you think I know that? I was the one who picked out all the places you had be in. It was all me. You've just been walking straight into a well made web. You've been playing by my rules in my world."
"Why did you do all of this?!" demanded Tsukushi as her breathing became labored.
"Why? Why did I do all of this? Why...it was all for you, my love. I saw how you were before. You didn't look like you were really happy. I blame you for all this," said Ryan, trying to listen for where her voice was coming from.
Tsukushi didn't know how to respond to that. It was obvious that Ryan was insane. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. There was no way she could reason with him. Her body was starting to feel cold due to the blood loss. She could barely feel her fingertips. Her arm felt like dead weight on her body.
"You see...I have never encountered anyone like you. You're just like me. You have a mask. You like to show the world that you're invulnerable. But, you also do that in your private life as well. I know your weakness. It took me a while to learn it. You are really an enigma. There is a lot more depth to you than even you realize sometimes, isn't there?"
Tsukushi struggled to move a bit without making any sound. Perhaps, if she let Ryan talk, she could get out alive. Her feet were feeling a bit cold, despite the socks, but she knew it had to be the blood loss. She was starting to get dizzy now.
"You do know me," she admitted. "But you don't know everything about me. You did all this. I was so stupid. It was so obvious. You threw me off by saving me at the television station."
"I know that the only way you can feel vulnerable is when someone close to you gets hurt. I know how much you felt when your mother and father died. I could see it every time I looked at you. As for that incident at the television, that was just a coincidence. I know now what it takes to hurt you. I've broken you."
I've broken you.
Ryan's words rang through Tsukushi's head. It made something in her come alive. Something that overcame her pain. She stood up even straighter. "Come into the light, you fucking bastard," she said in a low, dangerous tone.
She walked towards the stage. There was some light shining on it. Ryan smiled to himself. It was exactly what he had wanted. He walked into the light, pointing the gun straight at her. He had no idea how severe the gunshot wound was. He gasped when he saw her. He had hit her right side. She was right handed.
"Y-your arm--"
"Who do you think is responsible for this?!" snapped Tsukushi.
Ryan's horrified looked contorted back into the cold expression with the same spark of madness as before. He responded, "If you only did what I told you to do, this wouldn't have happened. Now, you should just play along. You don't want to get hurt more, do you?"
"You should know by now that I am beyond physical pain," said Tsukushi. "You haven't broken me. You never will you evil son of a bitch. I have come up against people more powerful than you. You don't know what my name really means. I'm a weed. No matter how many times I get stomped on, I always survive. You never had a chance!"
Ryan stepped away from her. His face changed expression again. The spark of madness seemed to glow even brighter. "YOU'RE WRONG! YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE WORTHY OF THE GAME! I WON!"
"No. I won. You never broke me. You can't. That's why it's come down to this," whispered Tsukushi calmly. "You won't ever win. You can kill me now. But...as you have said I am not afraid of death."
"T-then, I'll just keep going. I can just kill you now," he muttered. His madness was more apparent. He was no longer capable of separating his personas. He was breaking apart.
Tsukushi softly laughed at him. She shook her head. "But that wouldn't accomplished anything, would it? You might as well kill yourself, if you're going to kill me," she suggested. It was the only way out. Wasn't it? Tsukushi closed her eyes for a moment. If she were dead, then everyone else was safe. It was a sacrifice that she was willing to make. Her parents had already paid the price without any choice. She wasn't sure if Dominic was even alive.
Ryan step forward once more. The look on his face showed that he was at a loss. "What am I supposed to do?" he whispered. "What am I supposed to do?"
"It's over. You can still stop. There is no need for you to go any further. I won't let you hurt anyone else," said Tsukushi.
Ryan looked at her with a glare. "If I can't have you...no one else will!" he roared.
BANG!
*
Susumu ran outside in the rain. He realized that none of his neighbors in the complex didn't see anything. He looked across the street at the other apartments. There was a chance that someone had seen the direction that Tsukushi had gone. Susumu didn't know what was going on. He was out in the middle of the rain looking for her.
Something was wrong. There was blood already on his clothes that was washing off. He couldn't understand. He started knocking on doors, but no one could give him any answers. Just before the police and the ambulance came, Kin-san had ran out to talk to him. He told him that Dominic managed to say something. He said McCormick. Kin-san didn't know what it meant. He had never met him before.
However, Susumu knew who he was. He told Kin-san to go with Dominic and to try and reach Gaia Records. The police took a statement and went to go look for Ryan McCormick. Susumu knew that the police didn't have a chance of finding them in time. He had to find a way to his sister. He had to stop and think.
Under the rain, he thought of where he had seen Ryan McCormick. He had seen the Englishman on and off throughout the course of months. He always seemed to be watching Tsukushi, but Susumu didn't make much of it. Susumu went through a list in his mind. Would he go to Gaia? No. He took Tsukushi with him. Would he go back to his apartment? I don't even know where it is. No. That's the first place the police are going to. I would have heard something by now. Where? Where would they go? It would have to be someplace not to far away from here...but where?
Susumu thought about where he had seen Ryan McCormick. A thought came to him. He realized where he had seen Ryan McCormick the most. It was at the ampitheater. Susumu hung out more at Kin-san during those weeks because it was closer to the amphitheater. The cold rain splashed on his shoulders as he ran back to the apartment. He quickly dialed for a cab.
The cab couldn't come soon enough. As soon as Susumu go into it, he ordered the cab driver to take him to the amphitheater. The driver told him that there wasn't anything going on in the theater. Susumu didn't listen to him as he got out of the cab. The rain had gotten worse. He shook it off as he tried to find a way inside.
The rain had washed away the tracks that Tsukushi and Ryan had made earlier. Susumu had only taken one entrance in and out of the theater. It was due to all the security checks. Susumu had no choice, but to take one of the backstage entrances. Susumu kept his ears open. It was quiet, but there came the sound of voices. It sounded like the voices were echoing off the acoustics. Susumu couldn't make out what they were saying. In the darkness, he had to follow their voices, but the echoing was throwing him off.
Susumu nearly tripped on something. It was a shoe. A running shoe. Susumu touched it and realized that there was blood. He looked a little more and saw that there was a small pool of dark red blood. He didn't have to guess whose blood it was.
BANG!
Susumu froze when he heard the shot. After a moment, he started to move. He followed the sound of the shot. He kept going until he was running around the outer corridor. He went through the double doors and stopped. He walked forward little by little.
Ryan was standing over Tsukushi. He didn't seem to notice that Susumu was in the auditorium. He looked like he was in shock as he looked at Tsukushi. She was lying on the stage. Susumu couldn't tell that she was bleeding a lot. He could hear how swallow her breathing was as if she were gasping for air.
"I didn't want it to come to this. Look what you made me do. Look!" shouted Ryan, his voice echoing because of the acoustics.
Tsukushi felt it when the bullet entered her abdomen. It was even worse than the pain in her shoulder. The force of shot caused her to crumble to the floor. She could feel her body go weaker and colder as the blood drained out of her. Her breathing was getting hard; there wasn't enough air in the room. The light seemed to dim.
Ryan walked up to where she had landed. He hovered over her with the gun. His eyes no longer held the madness in them. Tsukushi stared at him as she closed her eyes. "You were right, love. It's over," he muttered as he as pointed it at her for a final shot. "We'll be together like this. Just you and me without anyone else in the world. You can go back to your parents now. You should thank me. I was the one who made that possible. It was me. You'll be with them soon."
He had his finger on the trigger and he pulled it, but Susumu had knocked into him before he had a chance to fire. They struggled for the gun. Susumu didn't care that the safety was off. He had to fight for his sister's life. Tsukushi was barely conscious of what was happening. She could hear the sounds of struggling.
Who would care about me that much to fight for me? Tsukushi moved her head and saw for herself. Her eyes widened a bit. She opened her mouth, but her voice was gone. The pain was intensifying with every moment. She wanted Susumu not to fight him. Not to put his life on the line for her. She wasn't worth it.
Susumu and Ryan struggled for control of the gun. They wrestled. Ryan was surprisingly strong. Susumu was younger and more athletic than him. Ryan got him with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, but Susumu caught himself before he could fall. He swiped below his knees. Ryan was surprised by this. He didn't have time to block him. He tumbled back. The gun slipped out of his hand and slid. Susumu quickly grabbed it.
Ryan got to his feet. Susumu pulled away from him with the gun in his hand. He was now under the shadows. Susumu's eyes were colder than they had ever been. The hatred boiled inside him as he locked gazes with Ryan. Pure fury raged in his blood. He understood now. He looked at Ryan.
"Let me explain," pleaded Ryan as he stepped away from.
"I don't need any explanations," whispered Susumu as he held the gun up. He pointed it straight at Ryan's head.
Tsukushi was struggling for air. She couldn't let him do it. Not even after all the things that Ryan had done. Her eyes filled with tears. No. Susumu. No. Stop it! Don't to it! She screamed in her head.
Susumu didn't know what came over him at that moment. It was like he was in a trance. It seemed like all logic in his brain stopped functioning. His finger moved on its own.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Ryan's body fell with a sickening thud. Susumu stood there still clutching the gun. His finger still moving even though the bullets were gone.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
His breathing was calm. He didn't feel anything. He was trapped in a trance.
"Stop--" gasped Tsukushi finally, even though it was too late. She was gasping for air. Her vision was growing darker, but she couldn't close her eyes.
Susumu's attention was snapped back to the present moment. He ran to his sister. He was amazed at how much blood she had in her body. She was lying in a pool of her own blood. She looked at him with wide eyes. "It hurts," she murmured.
She didn't have her cell phone with her, and Susumu cursed himself for not bring his. He walked over to Ryan who was laying flat on his back. There were three gunshot wounds on his body. He had one bullet in his eye, one his chest, and the final bullet was in his stomach. Susumu searched through his pockets and dug out a cell phone. He walked back to Tsukushi and took off his jacket.
He supported her back and wrapped it around it. He dialed for help.
"Emergence Services. How may I assist you?"
"I need help. My sister's been shot," replied Susumu as he put his arm behind Tsukushi's neck to support her head. "She's bleeding a lot. Please. I need help."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the Tokyo Amphitheater."
"Please stay on the line--"
Susumu hung up the phone. He had to free up his other hand. He pressed his hands against the wounds to slow down the bleeding. "Aneue," he whispered. "It's going to be all right. It's going to be all right. Everything's going to be fine."
Tsukushi stared up at him. She struggled to keep her eyes open and focused on him. Her vision blurred. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she struggled for air.
"It's all right. Everything's fine now," whispered Susumu as he gently pressed his lips against her hair. "Aneue. Don't leave me."
Tsukushi couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," she whispered as she smiled at him gently. She lifted her hand pressed it against his cheek.
"Stop talking, Aneue," said Susumu. "Just close your eyes. I'll be here. You're not alone anymore."
It was so simple to do that. Tsukushi surrendered to the darkness. Susumu kept his hands pressed against the wounds. His hands were coated in her blood as his eyes filled with tears.
"It's over. Nothing can hurt you now."
AN: Ha! Some of you were smart and clever enough to guess correctly. Congrats! I am proud of you. But, did any of you predict this as the ending of this chapter? The title was taken from an Evanescence song called "The Last Day." The last line contains a double meaning. It either means that thing with the stalker is over or that she's dead. What to do...what to do.
Also, the term "aneue" is the endearment term for older sister. It's not the very formal oneesan that Susumu's been calling her the whole time. It shows that the distance between them has closed.
Go to ayane.blurty.com for more info and an explanation of how the gunshot wounds ended up. Any guesses on what happens next?
Disclaimer: I don't own Hana Yori Dango.