Although it was rush hour in New York, it took them only 30 minutes to reach the city center or to be more precise Bryant Park in Manhattan where the Public Library was located nearby. Luckily they had a motorcycle and could squeeze through all the traffic jams easily so that they reached their destination rather quickly. That and Sing apparently wanted to break the world record for the fastest motorcycle ride from JFK to Manhattan.

But shortly before arriving at the public library there was a huge crowd and a roadblock as well as several police cars and an ambulance that prevented them from getting any closer. They got off and went through the crowd to see what was happening. Sing was supporting Eiji who could barely walk and lost his balance several times and the huge crowd wasn't really helping him.

When they finally reached the front and could see what was happening, they saw him, leaning against the wall with a clearly visible gunshot wound in his chest and vacant eyes staring up at them.

Fortunately it wasn't Ash but Lao, still holding a knife in his right hand dripping with blood. He had obviously been shot from a point-blank range.

Sing was utterly shocked seeing him like that. Lao had always been like a big brother for him, like family. Still Sing couldn't believe that idiot had really done that, only because he had challenged Ash to a duel both of them weren't even serious about. But how could Lao even...? And had it really been Ash who...?

"Sing! Look, over there!" Eiji interrupted his thoughts, motioning in a direction next to Lao where Ash's revolver was lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh, fuck! So it was really Ash shooting Lao!", Sing said, clearly shocked at the hard evidence lying in front of him.

"Well, it is his weapon, I'd recognize it anywhere.", answered Eiji, voice trembling, obviously terrified.

"But how did Lao get so close to Ash? Even if he managed to stage a surprise attack, Ash is way out of his league. There's no way he could get this close to Ash. So how did he manage to even injure him?", Sing wondered, speaking more to himself, apparently lost in thought.

Suddenly Eiji felt panic welling up inside of him. Sing was right. How could Lao get so close to Ash? And how could Ash even get injured by that bastard at all? Why hadn't he seen him coming? What could have happened that he was so distracted... click...and it suddenly dawned on Eiji what had really taken place here... No...! Was it possible that...? There was no way...It couldn't be ...

The only time Ash had ever been distracted had always been when he was with ... him...!

And then he realized with a start what must really have happened! Oh, shit! His letter! Had Ash been reading his letter? And that's why he had been distracted?! That would explain why Lao had managed to get this close to him. Eiji couldn't think of any other way. But was it really true? He couldn't believe it! That meant it had all been his own fault then! He had possibly caused Ash's death himself with his damn letter! No, that couldn't be! Hurting Ash was the last thing he wanted to do! And now he was the reason why Ash would die, if he wasn't dead already!! How could he have done that to him? He'll never forgive himself for that, ever! But it all made sense! It explained everything!

Eiji had frozen up without warning, panicking as the truth hit him with such force that he suddenly couldn't breathe...he sank to his knees in utter desperation, gasping and crying, hands covering his face as an endless river of tears was flowing down underneath.

"Eiji, look at me! You have to breathe!" Sing grabbed him by his shoulders, desperate to get through to him and to get Eiji to finally notice him. Since that didn't work at all, Sing shook him as hard as he could. At last that got a reaction. He finally looked up at Sing. But he still looked through him as if he were invisible, his eyes were unfocused and vacant, similar to Lao's dead eyes before. He knew another method that'd get a reaction out of him for sure, however.

"Eiji, we have to save Ash!" As expected Eiji came back out of his stupor when hearing Ash's name and really noticed Sing for the first time. After a while he finally stopped shaking and began breathing normally.

"It's all my fault..." Eiji said, still sobbing.

"Eiji, I don't know why this is your fault and I honestly don't care at this moment, but maybe we can still save Ash!", replied Sing, trying so sound calmer for Eiji than he actually was while at the same time looking for clues at the scene of the crime that could help them finding Ash.

"There, Eiji! Do you see the drops of blood leading away from here? Only Ash could walk away with a wound like that."

"You don't mean... ", Eiji whispered, his eyes lighting up with a shimmer of hope.

"Yes, I do. I mean, he's Ash, right?" said Sing, smirking. "He probably left and went somewhere else.

That means he could still be alive. We just have to find him."

Sing then forced Eiji to focus by gripping his shoulders again and looking directly into his eyes. "Eiji, I need you to think. Where would Ash have gone? You knew him best. Would he go to someone? What about the public library? Where would he go to seek medical attention or help?"

He wouldn't, Eiji thought. Believing that Eiji was finally safe and gone, Eiji doubted he would get medical attention. He'd think he deserved this fate after killing so many people and committing so many crimes. It wasn't true, of course, but Eiji knew that was how Ash would see it, no matter how hard Eiji had tried to convince him otherwise.

That's why the public library was their best option. It has always been like a sanctuary for Ash, a perfect, dreamlike world of peace far away from all the violence in his real world... And it was only 5 minutes away from here. They would look there first.

"Let's go to the public library first. I'm sure he would go there. It's the only place close enough to reach while injured.", he said, his face radiating determination and strength Sing hadn't seen in a while.

Since Eiji could barely walk and Sing could see that the exhaustion was already getting to him, Sing convinced him to ride the motorbike there. Because of the roadblock they had to take a small detour but it was still faster than walking, especially considering the state Eiji was in.

They parked in front of the entrance and walked inside, all the way through the large entrance hall until they saw the reading room with rows of ancient-looking tables only equipped with lamps and enough space for books or a computer. Eiji stumbled forward as fast as he could manage to the place where Ash normally sat. As usual he saw him sitting at a row of tables where no one else was sitting, all alone as it had always been. He instantly recognized him, his head lying on the table as if asleep, having a peaceful expression on his face. He immediately rushed over to his side, frantic that it would already be too late to save him. But when he saw what he was sleeping on, he suddenly stumbled backwards. Luckily Sing caught him at the last moment. Eiji was so dumbfounded he couldn't believe his eyes. Ash's head was resting on his wrinkled letter, the pages looked as if they were read over and over again and Ash's tears and blood were mixed in with Eiji's messy handwriting. There were also dried tears on Ash's face although his expression looked totally peaceful as if he had finally found the perfect world and the freedom he had always been looking for. That's why Eiji hesitated just for an instant when seeing him like that. For a short moment the thought occurred to him that he should leave him like that since he was looking so at peace with the world for once. But then Eiji remembered all those precious moments he spent with him and his promise that he'd stay by his side forever. That made him finally wake up from his daze and he finally managed to look for Ash's wound and checked his pulse with trembling hands. Relief flushed over his face when he found a weak but steady pulse but Ash had already lost a lot of blood and looked as ashen-faced as his name would imply. When checking Ash's wounds, he noticed that his sweater and his coat were covered in blood that was slowly dripping on the floor under his table. Luckily while Eiji was spacing out, Sing had already told the librarian what had happened an had her call an ambulance.

"Sing, come over and help me!", Eiji urgently called out to him, desperation clearly visible on his face. "I can't move him on my own. We have to put him on the table and apply pressure to his wound. We have to stop the bleeding or he won't make it."

The only reason Eiji hadn't passed out already was Ash's serious condition and his adrenaline rush caused by his constant fear and worry for his friend. So Sing rushed over and helped his panicking friend put an unconscious Ash on the table and while Sing applied constant pressure to his wound, Eiji called Max. After being yelled at for several minutes, he finally managed to explain to him what had happened to Ash, the pain and fear clearly audible to Max in his trembling voice. Max didn't hesitate for one second and called in a few favors to get Ash taken to a private hospital where people wouldn't ask too many questions. He told Eiji to meet him and Ibe there and promised him he'd take care of the situation and that Ash would be all right.