Purgatory

Rated: Heavy PG-13 to R for violence and harsh language.

Genre(s): Action/Suspense.

Author's Notes: Thanks to ChibiUmiChica, Luffy V'shile, :), and RoxyAngel489 for reviewing! It means a lot to me, guys! ::Passes out a generous ration of cookies to each person.:: Love to you all! And as always, please review!

She couldn't believe it. This was supposed to have been a normal day, filled with her friends and the man she loved and trusted above all in the world. Why did her past have to catch up with her now, of all times? She couldn't believe the tightening hands around her throat. She couldn't believe this was happening. Yoshioka—her ex-English teacher—had her pinned against the moist ground with his long fingers wrapped around the pale skin just below her neck, cutting off all oxygen to her lungs; to her brain, which was now jumbled with thoughts of remorse and, above all, utter confusion.

"You ruined me!" Yoshioka wailed, like a little kid who had lost his mother in a crowded store. "You ruined my life! You insufferable bitch..." His enraged rant continued on and on, tears streaming down his cheeks. The pungent smell of alcohol lingered in Kira's nostrils. Despite the fact that she was being strangled to death, most likely the stench Yoshioka was giving off would have been enough to keep her from breathing otherwise.

I'm going to die... Is there anything I can... do...? Kira thought desperately, blue irises darting from side to side. Her abdomen was screaming in pain; Yoshioka had stabbed her before going for her throat. The assailant's knife lay about a meter away, covered with her own blood—no, that was too far. Her legs were pinned, as were her arms. She was stuck, utterly and completely stuck.

Everything suddenly became very dark as Kira's eyes began to close, the leering face of Yoshioka above her slowly fading away until it was a far-off speck. She saw something move in her peripheral vision, but before she could make heads or tails of what it was, she fell unconscious...

"Dammit, where is she...?" Rei mumbled beneath his breath, wiping the bit of dirt and grime that had accumulated from his brow. "What in hell could have possessed her to run off like that?"

When he had left the bathroom, Harumi and Tetsuya told him that Kira had turned pale and ran off into the rain before they had had a chance to stop her. Rei just sprinted off after her without another word. Kira, you moron...

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden, muffled choking noise coming from beyond the bushes to his left. He did a double take, and realized that the sound was very familiar. In one flying leap, he passed through into a very cramped clearing, and felt his heart plummet. Kira was held beneath the knees of an obviously deranged man, face blue, eyes shut. She put up no resistance. Both arms were limp at her sides, a small pool of blood accumulating beneath her.

With a yell of rage, Rei tackled the man in a reckless maneuver, anger and fear taking over his entire being.

Yoshioka let out a gasp as the wind was knocked from him. Rei took a handful of his shirt in one hand and with the other punched him across the face with all his might.

"What the fuck are you trying to do!?" The blonde shouted, voice reverberating madly against the trees above. He socked him again and against until the ex-English teacher's face was a pulpy mess. Yoshioka's nose was long broken, and Rei showed no sign of letting up. Suddenly another strong body slammed against Rei much in the same manner as he had originally tackled Yoshioka—only it was Tetsuya this time.

"Are you trying to kill that guy, Rei?!"

"Get off of me, Tetsuya!" He opened his mouth to say something more but was cut off by a sudden sputtering cough. It was Kira. Harumi knelt by her side, but the shorthaired girl didn't block Rei's view of the Kira. Long bruises ran around the circumference of her neck, sure indicators of her near-strangulation. Her head lolled to the side as she struggled between consciousness and not, her hair falling into her face.

"Call an ambulance!" Rei cried as he dashed to his fallen wife, forgetting about Yoshioka for the time being. He cradled her in his arms baby-style as Harumi flipped open her cell phone.

The hospital waiting room was cold and sterile, the only sounds the murmur of people, the muffled sobbing of an elderly woman in the corner, and the droning buzz of the overhead lighting. Rei found himself clenching Kira's windbreaker that had been tossed aside by her attacker as he hunched over in a straight-backed plastic chair. Harumi and Tetsuya had been there with him up until about fifteen minutes ago, but he had finally persuaded them to head home, calming their worries with a promise to call them frequently with updates on Kira's condition.

The ambulance had reached the park within minutes, but Rei had practically convinced himself that they were never going to come in his desperation. Kira was white as death and completely unresponsive. She'd hung limply in his grasp.

Rei massaged his temples. This was all a nightmare. It had to be. Some ghost from their past was coming back to haunt them, and that didn't happen to people in real life, did it?

A nurse suddenly brushed past him, gesturing to someone behind her. When she spoke, it was in such a sweet voice that it would have made Satan himself cringe.

"Come on now, hon, let's go give these flowers to those poor, poor bed-ridden patrons, shall we?" She piped, and Rei found it like driving forks into his temples.

A petite girl with shoulder-length hair caught up with the overly energetic nurse, and Rei swiveled around to size her up. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu come over him. She's so familiar.

"Hai, Hamazaki-sempai," the girl whispered in a voice that was definitely not that of a female.

Kami-sama... is that really...? Rei's aqua irises widened in disbelief. For the girl was not a girl at all. It was Masao, the person who had, a year ago from yesterday, nearly put Rei's life to a premature end. How ironic it was to see him here now, most likely visiting from the rehabilitation center. Of all days...

Masao's gaze came to rest upon Rei, who immediately tensed. Yet Masao seemed completely unaware that he had known Rei in the past, much less the wrong-doings he had done against him, and handed him a single red rose.

"Don't worry," he smiled in a genuine manner. "Your loved one will be okay."

Then Masao hurried off to catch the nurse, Hamazaki, who had already gone on ahead. Rei stared at his retreating back for a long time, and then looked down at the rose he had been handed.

"Ow!" He exclaimed as he cut the pad of his thumb on one of the flower's thorns. The thin stream of blood trickled down his hand. He sucked on it in annoyance, cursing under his breath.

Fuck. Masao finds some way to hurt me even when he mean to, Rei thought.

Despite himself, he found his mind wandering to musings of Kira, wondering how she was, wishing that he'd be updated on her condition. A wave of emotion flooded him at once—memories of being in the hospital on multiple occasions—his brother's death, and post-Masao, rage towards the drunkard's onslaught against his wife, but mostly utter desperation towards her current conditions.



Rei was honestly starting to believe he would explode right when he felt a tap on his shoulder. This time, it was a very apathetic-seeming doctor, clipboard in hand and graying hair combed-over.  "Mr. Rei Kashino?"

"H-Hai, that's me... my wife... how is she?"

"Come see for yourself, sir," the doctor ushered him down the bleak, off-white corridor, and towards the ICU.

A/N: Yup, another cliffhanger. I also apologize for the short chapter and long updating time. (Meh, what else is new? -.-) Not my best work, but not my worst, either. Anyways, please review! I'll love you forever. =D