As he neared the skyscraper, he could tell that she was here. It was characteristic of her to leave the basement door open. This time was no exception. Ryo heaved a sigh of relief, "So after all, she is here. Man, this girl always manages to find new ways of frightening me. God knows what she's done with my gun!" Ryo thought all this, and entered the worker's lift in the basement. Whenever he and Kaori came here, they would always take this lift, because she said that her legs would pain if they climbed up the stairs. So Ryo had no other option. Being inside the lift brought back so many memories to Ryo. All of them were perfectly fresh, seems like they happened only yesterday. Ryo gave a faint smile as the door of the lift opened at the topmost floor, but what he saw, made his heart pound a bit faster. Brood rushed to his cheeks, and his eyes widened. Kaori was lying on the floor. Her face was up, and her eyes were closed. "What happened to her? Did she use ….?" Ryo couldn't complete his sentence, he ran to her, but as he kneeled beside her, all was clear to him. She was just resting with her eyes closed, and she was murmuring something. Ryo read her lips "I am sorry Ryo. I know I am a mismatch for you. I can do nothing. I am the most horrible partner that a person like you can ever get, but what can I do about that? At times I am very rude to you, I know that. But it's all because I love you. I can't see you gazing at anyone else but me." Ryo was moved to the core, hearing the confession of this girl. He called her softly, "Kaori!" Kaori sat back up with wide eyes and a face reddened like an apple. "What are you doing here Ryo? Why are you here? How did you know I am here?" Ryo answered with a heavy voice "I didn't….. My heart told me that I would find you here. After all, I know you better than anyone else" and gave the Stallion-Of-Shinjuku smile. Suddenly Kaori jumped on her and hugged her tightly with her face dug deep in his chest. "Don't you dare try to part ways with me Ryo, Don't you ever. You hear me? I have live apart from you once, I won't be able to live again, and still if you insist…." Kaori finished her sentence and moved away from Ryo. He could see his favourite pistol in her right hand, and it was aimed straight at her head. Her eyes were still, and her face had an ample amount of confidence for the work she was doing. Ryo lunged towards her, and when she was in his reach, slapped her pistol-grabbed hand hard. The gun clattered on the floor and in a flash she and Ryo came closer in a tight embrace. The embrace deepened and after a moment deepened in a spine-tingling kiss. When they parted, both looked deeply into each other's eyes.
Kaori could almost read his mind through those deep-penetrating eyes of his, still she asked "Just why do you want me away from you Ryo? Why?" Ryo could say nothing, instead, he chose to remain silent. Kaori continued "I still remember the very first day when I saw you on the road, covered in blood and unconscious. I knew then and there, that you were not a murderer. You had an appearance that was different from theirs. Then when you could sit up, you suddenly ran away. I thought that you wouldn't return, and was happy in a way because I thought that you and the other murderers were the same, and perhaps you weren't worthy to be brought into the clinic. But when brother Hideyuki brought you in the dinner, after about a month of that incident, I came to know that you were an orphan. You were murmuring in your sleep. I heard it. And after brother died, and I was left alone, it was you who came to my rescue Ryo. It was always you who stood by my side. So then Why today? Why do you want me away? Why don't you allow me to be near you? There's no other place in this world I would prefer to than here, beside you Ryo. Don't push me away Ryo. Please don't." As she was talking, Ryo rose up and went towards the railing.
Ryo couldn't say a thing, he just kept listening to her. He was listening to her patiently again after about a year. Nothing much has changed. As she finished talking Ryo spoke "because I am afraid to lose you Kaori. I am afraid that I will have to live without you. For the past year I had had only this dream, that I might die anytime and see you in heaven and we shall live happily. It was then, that Falcon took me to you. I was overjoyed. Kaori, you don't have the slightest idea how bad the dream was! I don't wanna relive the days again. I just don't want to. And I am sure that the accident was intended for me, not you. Now that I am sure of, I can't let you be by my side and get hurt once more. I won't be able to watch it."
Kaori turned Ryo to face her and cupped his face in her hands, "Trust me Ryo, I am nowhere safe than here, with you. To tell you the truth, I woke up because of you. I had lost the hope to live. Then I felt a touch that I had been longing for a long time and I just wanted to see the person. I wanted to see you. That's the reason I could open my eyes, put an end to the never-ending sleep. It was all because of you. Now if you aren't there, then why did you wake me up Ryo?"
Ryo decided in his mind, that enough is enough. He wouldn't be able to live without her. He needed to tell her. He just blurted it out "I love you Kaori. I really love you." As soon as he did, he saw to his surprise that the facial expression of Kaori changed drastically. Instead of having a romantic expression, she had a fuming face "It was exactly the same words I told you then, before the incident, when you were busy looking at other girls. Now you're telling me this? But let bygones be bygones. I accept you, but I have one condition." Ryo blinked in awe at the girl who was always full of surprises for him. "You must promise me that you won't ever, I repeat…..EVER make me leave you! I won't be able to take that." Ryo smiled and both of them hugged. Both had tearful eyes but both of them were happy that they were finally together. "Care to take a walk to home?" Ryo asked Kaori who had her face buried in his chest in a tight embrace.