Thank you for reading, and enjoy the story as it winds down to its end. Actually, this is the second-to-last chapter. Enjoy! There was a few days when I was thinking about letting my friends reading these two chapters first and letting me know if the ending was ok, but i decided that i didn't want to change it. Even if you hate what happenes in the last chapter, you can always pretend the story ends how you want it to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Paranoia Agent… legal stuff…..yah. Story's mine, though.

"Just yesterday this mysterious assailant has attacked again. This time-"

The news castor's broadcast continued uninterrupted in several locations. Harumi Chono walked down the sidewalk with a plastic bag from a bookstore at her side. She looked normal. Her face didn't carry a look of fear and worry that it used to. She was indistinguishable among normal citizens.

She wore a blue denim coat with no sleeves that buttoned down the middle. She still had glasses, but now had jade earrings cut in a design similar to that of a sunflower. Her hair remained the same, and she wore a light blue dress that stopped above the ankles. Despite these changes, Harumi had the same air about her, and still carried, more or less, the same personality (Just the one). She stopped in front of a store broadcasting the news.

"This time the attacker barged right into-"

Taeko stared at the TV placed in front of her with her mother. The mother affectionately stroked the head of the daughter. Taeko still had her school uniform on, and her mother still wore her suit from her office job. Things worked out great, because they both came home at the same time.

All around them were otherwise pointless decorations that they had both deemed appropriate for the room. On top of a small ledge right below a painting were pictures. All of them were of recent memories of Taeko and her mother. Not a single picture of her father was seen.

"Barged right into the victim's apartment and-"

A group of students sat around Yuichi Tayra. No change had occurred in his status. All of them cared for him, wishing nothing more then for him to wake up so they could apologize for their behavior. The monitor beeped softly almost as part of the background. The TV blared above their heads.

"Apartment and struck her with what is-"

Yamiaka Owaki sat in silence between her two loving parents. They rubbed her hair, and held her tight as she stared intently at the ceiling.

"What is believed to be a metallic object. Right now, no witness-"

A woman sat on what looked like an expensive couch. She was holding a glass of wine that she occasionally took sips from. Her legs were crossed, and the elbow of the arm holding the glass was resting on the arm of the couch. From a view to the side, one could see the corner of pillow with the pattern of a rose on it.

Next to her sat a very spoiled looking who appeared to be her son. He slouched low on the couch holding a half-empty can of soda. His eyes were half closed, but he was far from tired. Behind them was a picture of a man who had hair graying around the edges, and none of it on top. Captioned on the bottom was 'Yoshina; Good for something only in death.'

"No witnesses have seen the attacker except for a mother and her two children, but they-"

A young woman sat in the middle of a sterile room. Several people sat around her in a semi-circle. The woman's hair was flat and lifeless. Her eyes had lines under them from the lack of sleep she had. She didn't know why, but Mari had decided to join this group to make sure her filthy habit of drugs didn't come back; ever since that night with the shadowed kid who attacked her. That was why she was so intent on the flashing images on the TV above her.

"But they won't give us much information. All that we have to-"

A gentle clicking sound filled her ears. Luggage made a rattling sound above her head as their metal fastenings banged against the rack that held them up. Tsukiko was staring intently out the window, or at least, she was, until a news broadcast covered in static came from a small radio held by another passenger on the train.

"All we have to report is that the assailants attacks are so far known to be random, and"

"Could you change the channel?" asked Tsukiko. The man stared at her. She blinked a few times before trying again. "Could you please find something else to listen to?" She tried to make her voice as polite as possible.

The man still stared, but finally switched to something else. Tsukiko leaned back in her seat, and closed her eyes. She was really tired, and was trying to go as far away from her home town as she could, which in turn caused for a long train ride.

Maybe some sleep would help her get her mind off things. She wasn't getting off until the last stop anyway, so it wasn't like she could sleep through it. Finally letting her mind slip into ease, she fell asleep.

A little to the left of her, someone had scribbled a small patch of letters in pen. A shame since the train looked to cost a lot of money.

FUTILE FREEDOM

A gentle clicking sound of heels on a smooth floor was the only noise. The heels belonged to a young nurse whose eyes were focused on a clipboard that she was carrying. She walked right past a room with a door open just a crack. A water fountain stuck out of the wall right next to the room. Above that was a name tag that was attached to a room number.

Mitsuhiro Maniwa.

The man inside the room sat in a small wheelchair The sun shone on his eyes as he stared out a window. He muttered only two words, but no one heard them.

"No...escape,"

A long distance away from the window, the train Tsukiko had been sleeping on fell silent after one final whistle blow. The conductor hollered that this was the last stop, and that, with the other noises of passengers awoke Tsukiko.

She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she used her other hand to pick up her travel case. The platform was nothing too fancy. Just the average loading dock and benches decorated the environment with an occasional potted plant. As Tsukiko walked, something caught her eye. Or, more accurately, someone.

A young girl was standing with her back to Tsukiko. Her black hair was held tied up into two braids. She had a tank-top on with short white shorts. The girl wore a pair of white flip-flops the same color of her shorts. Both arms seemed to be holding something tightly to her chest.

Tsukiko took a step closer. There was something about this girl that interested her. Why was she drawn to her? There was just something so familiar. Tsukiko was startled when the girl finally turned around. Horrified, was a more accurate word.

The girl was holding a sketchbook. She clutched it tightly, and her right hand was holding a pencil while the forearm helped support the book. None of that made a difference to Tsukiko. She was too busy looking at the girl's face.

It was small and cute, and seemed to be afraid of something. Almost like she was dreading the fact that Tsukiko had seen her. Her mouth was open a little, and her eyes were wide and sparkled.

She looked exactly like Tsukiko did when she was her age.

A couple of people walked by, and when they finally left to reveal the spot where the girl was, she was gone. Tsukiko blinked a few times, and then held a hand up to her face. She had to be imagining things.

Jack laughed as he drank in the small bar. Just recently, he'd had a small fight with his wife and needed some time to himself. He had come home after a hard night at work and all she did was complain about how he was never at home. Excuse the hell out of him for bringing in some money!

The drink that was clutched firmly in his hand began to have less liquid rather quickly. As the liquid level went down, the grip on his drink loosened. It came to the point when the glass finally dropped and shattered, and the bar keep through him out. Damn, now he'd have to listen to that woman when he got home. Oh well, it might be funny.

A few minutes after she had walked out of the train station, Tsukiko realized that she was thirsty. Across the street was a small convenience store. It was a store named after the city, so odds were that it wasn't a popular chain. She crossed the street, rubbing her head, and thought she'd need to buy some aspirin. Her head was hurting.

She pushed open the door and felt the temperature drop a few degrees. A middle-aged man was working the counter, but was reading a news paper at the current moment. The store seemed empty excluding her.

She walked towards the back wall where the refrigerated area was. She stared at her reflection in the clear glass, and then pried open the door. She grabbed a drink that didn't sound too bad, and closed the door. She closed her eyes, and took a sip of the drink now clutched firmly in her grip.

Tsukiko turned around, and opened her eyes, and let out a short gasp as she saw the strange little girl standing in front of her. Why was she here? What was she doing? She held out her sketch book, as if handing it to Tsukiko.

Tsukiko reached a hand towards it, but grasped air as the girl took back her book. She still had the same expression on her face, as though upset over something. The girl turned and ran out of the store.

Tsukiko stared as she took a right and disappeared out of view. Tsukiko walked up to the counter, and looked at the man behind the counter.

"Excuse me," started Tsukiko. The man looked up from a corner of the paper. "Who was that little girl?" The man stared for a second.

" 'Fraid you're gonna have to be a little more specific then that," said the man politely, smiling a little.

"Well," started Tsukiko. "She has pigtails, and wide eyes," Tsukiko kept the tone of her voice the same as she talked.

"Oh!" said the man. "You must mean Janie. She comes around here a lot with her parents. Sometimes they just send her in by herself," Tsukiko sighed. The man stared, puzzled. "Why?"

"Oh," said Tsukiko, a little embarrassed that she had sighed so loudly. "Nothing important," she dropped some money on the counter for the drink, and walked out of the store. At least now she knew she wasn't crazy. It was just coincidence that she looked like she did. Tsukiko walked out of the store, and pulled out her cell phone to call a cab.

The man behind the counter watched Tsukiko walk out of view, and then went back to his paper. Strange people…

The bell attached to the door jingled.

"Oh," said the man. "Janie! I was just thinkin' about you. So what'll it be?"

A girl of about seven walked up to the counter. She had wide eyes, and wore a tank-top. She smiled with a smile that was missing a few teeth, and her blonde hair glowed in the sunlight.

Jack walked down the dark alley way. Why was life so hard on him? All those attacks around this city were making his wife edgy, his boss just fired him for being late again, and even more, his wife was threatening a divorce. Now he was going to come home drunk. Wow she was going to like that. He really needed a way out.

His world was spinning and he felt like throwing up. Everything was going wrong and he couldn't even make the right choice to avoid the bar. Five times this week, he'd gone there. He had a drinking problem, and his life was shattering because of it. He really needed someone to help him!

Agentle sound filled the air, like wheels on cement.

The sound got louder and louder. It made Jack's head hurt. Why was that noise in the air? All he did was ask for help! Why did this skating sound appear? Unless…

Unless this was the attacker. It was after hours, and Jack was walking alone down a dark street. He was going to be attacked by that kid, and he was too wasted to run. Jack looked behind him and-

-And saw a teenager on a skateboard. He zoomed by, and Jack laughed a little, before continuing to walk home.

Tsukiko pushed open the front door to the hotel she was going to be staying at. The bag on her shoulder was starting to feel too heavy already. Her shoes made a clacking noise on the smooth marble floor. A few feet ahead of her was a desk with a teenage girl holding her head in her hands.

As she approached the desk, Tsukiko's head started to hurt again. Then she realized what she'd done. Damn. She forgot to buy aspirin. She scolded herself for such a stupid mistake, and then went to talk to the woman.

"Excuse me," began Tsukiko, and the woman looked up. "I called ahead. My name is Tsukiko Sagi."

The girl just stared for a while, and then got off of the desk she was laying on. She began typing on a computer that must have been located just out of view. Tsukiko noticed a pile of papers that the woman had been lying on. She looked to be around her mid-twenties and the paper she saw confirmed such.

It was a card full of grades that appeared to be from a college. Most of them were very low. Next to that was a picture of her and what looked like a boyfriend ripped in half. Tsukiko's head throbbed harder. She let out a little gasp.

"Are you all right?" asked the woman at the computer. When Tsukiko looked at her, she noticed the things on the papers were showing in her face. Tsukiko responded politely that she was fine, and the woman gave her a small key. "Second floor, room 207. She smiled, and then went back to lying on the desk.

Tsukiko thanked her, and then began to walk away. As she left, what was obviously a higher up in the hotel approached the woman. He began saying something, and looked angry. Tsukiko didn't have time to notice the girl's reaction as the elevator doors closed.

Tsukiko didn't feel right taking the elevator only to the second floor, but she had too much stuff to carry up those flights of stairs. Not to mention her head was killing her.

A few yards to the left of the elevator was her room, which opened with a click as she turned the key. She dropped her stuff down onto the floor, and fell into her bed. It was late, and her head was killing her. She'd decide what she was going to do in the morning.

A familiar sound awoke Tsukiko from a sound sleep. It was the sound of rollerblades coming from outside her room. This meant that he had followed her. Unless of course a kid thought it was fun to roller blade inside a hotel at two in the morning. That slim hope was destroyed by a clanging sound on her door. The noise sounded like a baseball player hitting the ball with an aluminum bat.

Tsukiko was silent, and then she heard nothing, which could only mean that someone else in the hotel was his victim, and he was just saying hi. Tsukiko wished she could ignore it, but something told her to follow him.

When she opened the door, she saw him smiling in the elevator, and that was all before the doors closed. The number above symbolized that he was going down. Tsukiko ran towards the stairs at the end of the hall. She head to get their. She had to see why he was still here.

She pushed open the right of the set of doors, and began running down the steps. Halfway down, she heard a scream. When Tsukiko finally pushed open the last door, she wished she hadn't.

Tsukiko caught a glimpse of the girl from earlier running, and then saw Little Slugger bring the bat down. Then everything was quiet again. Tsukiko took a few steps towards the attacker, and he smiled.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Tsukiko. His smile grew as he skated towards her. He was near her in one glide. "Is it because I came here?"

Little Slugger nodded, and then raised his bat.

"Stop!" Tsukiko said, her voice holding a more affirmative tone then she thought it would. To her surprise, he did. "You left. You shouldn't be back! I don't need you anymore!"

Little slugger nodded again, as if saying "Yes you do," and then turned around and pushed open the front door to the hotel.

Tsukiko ran up the steps of the hotel. She had to go back. One person seemed to know a lot about why Little Slugger was back, and what Tsukiko would have to do. She had to get to Maniwa.

The flight of steps seemed endless, and when Tsukiko finally reached the top, she was winded. She kept up a jog to reach her room quicker, and fumbled with the key. When it finally went into the lock, she smiled a little, and then felt her stomach plummet as she saw that the door was already open.

She pushed it open, and noticed that no one was there. Maybe she'd jus left it open in her rush downstairs?

Tsukiko changed, and then grabbed her suitcase from the corner next to the TV. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and turned around to leave. That was when she saw her again. The little girl from the train station and convenience store. What was she doing here?

"Janie?" asked Tsukiko. She still wasn't certain that was her name. For a while, she got no response, and when the girl finally did speak, it had nothing to do with the question asked of her.

"There's no point in trying to escape. You have to go back to the city,"

Okay! Next is the final chapter in this story. Everything finally ends. All the confusing parts will make sense and even more confusing parts will be introduced. Thank you for reading, and please review!