Nowaki stared at Nagasaki before slowly stepping back and leaving him to slump against the wall, panting throatily.

"Wha-" Nowaki began. Nagasaki glared at him as he held his neck and coughed.

"You… you caused every second of misery in my life," he snarled. Nowaki furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean? It was just a little figh-"

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS!" Nagasaki screamed, reaching to his side and lobbing a bottle of bleach at Nowaki's head. Nowaki deflected it with a sweep of his arm and held up his crowbar defensively. Nagasaki panted, slouching slightly as he gripped his heavily bleeding leg. Blood seeped out from between his fingertips, and blood drops pattered to the floor.

"You-"

"After we fought, you have no idea what happened. I was already on bad terms with my parents," Nagasaki hissed. "Then, they heard that I had gotten into a fight… they beat me, yelled at me… and then they left me to die alone. I grew up eating garbage and anything I could catch. And then… and then! Someone found me… took me in… raised me… but they forced me to… forced me to do… things… with him."

Nowaki shook his head, confused. Nagasaki laughed grimly, holding his head as tears filled his eyes and ran down his blood-speckled face.

"I got out as soon as I could. And then I found the love of my life, a beautiful, beautiful woman. Kiyomi-chan… sweet, sweet Kiyomi-chan. We got married and had a baby. But do you know what happened?" Nagasaki asked, trembling. He burst into fresh tears. "THEY FUCKING DIED!"

Nowaki winced at the sound of pure agony in Nagasaki's voice.

"Do you know how they died? Somehow, they had both been infected with AIDS and had died because of pneumonia. I got myself checked, and I was positive for AIDS. And it was all from that fucking faggot who raped me. It's because you faggots exist that I'm like this! YOU PEOPLE RUINED EVERYTHING!"

"AIDS can be passed on by both men and women, gay or straight!" Nowaki shouted. "I have nothing to do with that! Hiro-san and Fuyumi have nothing to do with it!"

"IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT KIYOMI IS DEAD!" Nagasaki roared. He pointed at Nowaki accusingly. Nowaki opened his mouth to protest, but Nagasaki launched himself at him and they both plummeted to the ground. Nowaki's crowbar went spinning across the cement floor, out of his reach. Nagasaki straddled his hips and wrapped his fingers around Nowaki's neck. "Ever heard of the chaos theory? Just because of that one phrase I said, you went crazy for no reason. And you caused my downfall. And now, I'm going to kill your family, just like you killed mine."

Nowaki let out a choked cry, thrashing and trying to get Nagasaki off of him. Nagasaki kept strangling Nowaki with one hand, and with the other, he yanked off his shirt and pressed it to his bleeding thigh. It instantly soaked through, turning the white shirt scarlet.

"You will suffer, just like I have suffered all of these years," Nagasaki snarled. He released Nowaki's neck, only to grab his bottom teeth and wrench his mouth open. He lifted his blood-soaked shirt and hovered it over Nowaki's mouth. Nowaki's eyes widened and he desperately tried to wrench his head away, but Nagasaki held it tighter. He clenched his fist around the shirt, and a torrent of blood flooded into Nowaki's mouth, quickly overflowing. Nowaki choked, his body convulsing as the salty, metallic substance filled his nasal cavity and forced him to sputter.

Nagasaki released him and slipped off of him, allowing Nowaki to roll onto his side. He coughed violently, retching onto the floor. A moment later, fingers knotted into his hair and dragged him across the blood-soaked floor.

"You'll be infected with AIDS," Nagasaki hissed, thrusting Nowaki up against the wall and slamming his face into the hard surface. "And your precious family will abandon you. Just like everyone else. You're going to be abandoned. Again."

Nowaki's eyes widened, and an insane rage coursed through his body. He shoved Nagasaki away from him and sent him sprawling to the floor. Before Nagasaki could react, Nowaki shot to his feet and pulled his pistol from the straps on his hips. With four rapid-fire shots, he shot a bullet into each of Nagasaki's limbs, earning shrieks of anguish. Nagasaki lied on the floor, twitching and convulsing, as Nowaki aimed straight at Nagasaki's head. His finger toyed with the trigger.

"I'll see you in hell, you sick bastard," Nowaki snarled through gritted teeth. Nagasaki gave him a maniacal smile and held still so Nowaki had the perfect shot.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, however, the Bluetooth in his ear rang. Frustrated, Nowaki reached up to answer the call, expecting Emiko.

"Kinda bad timing," Nowaki said irritably. There was silence on the other line.

"Nowaki?"

Nowaki's eyes bugged out, and he dove at Nagasaki. He straddled his chest and clapped his hand over his enemy's mouth. He pressed the barrel of the gun against the center of his forehead.

"Hi, Hiro-san. Sorry, I just got to an intense part of my movie, and I didn't even know who was calling. I didn't mean to snap," Nowaki said. Nagasaki's eyes widened when he heard the name 'Hiro-san', and he screamed against Nowaki's hand.

"Mmmph!"

"Oh, I see. Well, that's fine. What movie are you watching?"

"I don't really know, Hiro-san…" Nowaki trailed off, giving Nagasaki a warning look and twisting the barrel of the gun on his forehead. "I was just switching the channel and I saw it. Right now, some guy is about to blow another guy's brains out for hurting his family."

Nagasaki quieted slightly, looking up at the weapon trained on his forehead.

"Ha, that sounds pretty gory. I thought you didn't like action movies that much."

"I don't. I can't wait to see the end of this one, though," Nowaki hissed. Nagasaki jolted as Nowaki tapped the barrel of the gun on his forehead.

"MMMPH!" he screamed.

"I think I can hear it."

"Yeah, his screams are about to get louder," Nowaki growled. There was a short silence.

"Nowaki, are you okay? You sound kind of strained."

"Oh… I just had an argument with a colleague over the phone. I've got to head in to work very soon, but I don't want to miss the end of this movie," Nowaki said. "Sorry, I'm just a little stressed."

"Stressed…? Well, the reason I called you is because I'm at the grocery store right now and didn't bring my camera… so instead, I thought you would want to hear this."

Nowaki blinked in confusion for a moment as he heard a bit of rustling. A second later, a sweet, high-pitched baby laugh filled his ears. Nowaki's eyes widened.

"…Is that Fuyumi?" he rasped, loosening the pressure of the barrel of the gun on Nagasaki's head. Nagasaki sighed in relief.

"Yeah… Shinobu and I shook a box of Cheez-Its and she just started laughing her ass off. We don't know why! But it's so cute, Nowaki. I can't wait to talk with you on video chat! When will you be off of work, do you know?"

Nowaki frowned, his eyelids lowering.

"I might not be out of work for a long, long time, Hiro-san," Nowaki said, his voice gravelly with emotion. He repositioned the gun on Nagasaki's forehead. Hiroki was silent.

"Nowaki…? Are you sure nothing's wrong?" Hiroki asked quietly.

"Nothing's wrong, Hiro-san. I love you so much. Tell Fuyumi I love her very much, too," Nowaki said, shutting his eyes briefly.

"Uh… I will. And I love you, too."

Nowaki's face contorted.

"Say it one more time," he rasped.

"Um… I love you."

"Thanks, Hiro-san," Nowaki murmured. Put Fuyumi on the phone real quick for me. There was a pause, then Nowaki heard Fuyumi coo. Nowaki smiled. "Byebye, Fuyumi. Daddy loves you."

Fuyumi squealed in recognition, then babbled incoherently. Her voice faded and there was a rustling sound again.

"Nowaki? You still there?" Hiroki asked.

"Yes," Nowaki responded. "I have to go to work, now. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Bye, Nowaki."

There was a soft clicking sound as Hiroki hung up. Nowaki drew a shaky breath and tensed his finger to pull the trigger. He looked down at Nagasaki, who stared blankly back up at him.

"I wasn't going to… but for all you've done… I just can't stop myself," Nowaki whispered.

Bam.

Nowaki's gaze snapped up as he heard the door slam open, and he released the trigger. Emiko sprinted in with two men at her side.

"Don't, Kusama!" Emiko shouted. Nowaki blinked, realizing what he was doing. He obediently dropped his weapon and raised his hands in surrender. Emiko rushed to his side, and Nowaki shakily slid off of Nagasaki. Emiko aimed her gun at him. She shouted her next words; "This is the Japanese CIA! You are hereby placed und'a arrest for murder! Ya' have the right to remain silent!"

Nagasaki didn't respond. Emiko slowly lowered her weapon and reached out to press her index and middle finger against Nagasaki's neck. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at Nowaki, who stared back at her.

"He's dead."