The bullet pierces Chisa"s right knee. Chisa screams. She could barely grasp what happened. Rie shoots her left knee. She gasps for air. The blood drizzles down to the floor. "Just kill me."
Rie presses her foot on the wound on her knee. "You will pay for each sin. I am going to send you to the same place where you will beg for death every day."
"What are you going to do?" Earlier, Morikawa threatened her once with such a place. Now, Rie is also talking about sending her to such place. Why didn"t Morikawa kill her quickly? Why is death not coming to her when she demands it to? She doesn"t want to go to that place. She has been the owner of such places once. She doesn"t want to go there as a plaything.
"Fear." Rie laughs and shakes her head. "Chisa, how can I let you die without letting you feel what it is like to be in that place? I won"t keep you alive for long, but I will make sure that you know what hopelessness feels like."
"Wait!" Chisa yells after her. "Kill me, Umezaki Rie. Get your revenge. Don"t let me live for another second. Rie!"
Rie doesn"t turn back. Two burly men enter the room after she leaves. It starts from this moment and it will end only when she wishes it to end. Chisa"s outcries stop when the door is closed.
Tsuchiya Tsumi is waiting for her. "She will be delivered there today. No one will ever know about her existence."
Rie gets into the car. "Kill her when she stops begging for death."
Tsuchiya Tsumi nods. "Though they didn"t find your corpse, they have a.s.sumed that you are already killed by the a.s.sa.s.sins. It seems like Takes.h.i.+ also thinks that you died since you are not among the survivors. Do you want to correct them?"
She has faked her death before. She thinks about her father. If Umezaki Rie is also dead, her father doesn"t have to be called the father of a cyber-criminal.
She can"t turn back. She chose this path. "Takeuchi Rie died two years ago. Umezaki Rie died today. I don"t have any name. It"s better this way."
She"s exhausted. Hating Chisa has taken everything from her. Takeuchi Rie was a victim. Umezaki Rie found her revenge. She"s not Takeuchi Rie who hid from the world. She"s not Umezaki Rie who wanted to show herself to the world once. She doesn"t know who or what she is.
Chisa found her end. She"s not happy. For a long time, she lived with only pain. If possible, she wants to wipe the past and start her life with an empty slate. There are some things that she can only wish for. Those things will never happen.
Tsuchiya tells her, "As a dark hacker, being nameless is a blessing."
Rie looks out of the window, feeling as if she"s leaving everything behind.
Kamiyama Hitomi. Takeuchi Seiji. Takeuchi Miwako. Has.h.i.+moto Chisa. Umezaki Yus.h.i.+ro. Kamiyama Kiyohira. She"s leaving them behind. In her future, these names cannot exist.
She made a deal with the dark hacker for her escape. She had to cross over the gray area and become one of the dark hackers.
She thought that she was lucky after the world hack series. It turned out that they were controlling the information flow. Tsuchiya Tsumi was sent by them to protect her from Chisa Has.h.i.+moto while a dark hacker worked under Chisa"s boss. They already thought of her as one of them since they found out that she was alive. They were going to do anything to bring her to their side. If she didn"t accept their goodwill, who knows what they would have done?
Then, someone like Kamiyama Kiyohira could go to any extent. He was always obsessed about putting her down. When she left, he chased her. When she denied, he pushed her. When she was there with him, he took everything away. He locked her in the room. He cut all the contact between her and the outside world. He told her that he loved her while seeing Has.h.i.+moto Chisa and filing the divorce. This was the surprise he planned for her. He thought that she would be mad.
She doesn"t have the energy to be mad.
Her first 8 years of life were a dream. Two years with no memories were another dream. She nearly fell into a third one that was created by Kiyohira.
She was planning to leave after meeting Kiyohira for one last time. She wanted to tell him that she knew what kind of surprise he planned for her.
The a.s.sa.s.sins arrived in his place. Takes.h.i.+ e got hurt while trying to save her from the a.s.sa.s.sin"s attack. Tsuchiya Tsumi saved her and Takes.h.i.+. She left him in the garden after Tsuchiya Tsumi told her that he would live.
If she was there when Kiyohira arrived, she wouldn"t have let him run into the fire. Despite the way he was, he still cared for his family.
Maybe he did love her once. But the human heart is terrifying. It can change anytime. Kamiyama Hitomi was a loving wife and a perfect mother until Takeuchi Seiji found out about her infidelity.
She doesn"t want to care about the past anymore. She wants to forgive everything and move on. She also wants to forgive herself for being the way she is. She wants to live for herself now.
"You are right. It"s a blessing to be a n.o.body," She replies to Tsuchiya Tsumi. "I want to change, Tsuchiya San. I want to find a new beginning."
In the new world, maybe she can change.
Tsuchiya Tsumi has heard about her past. Though she knows the truth regarding Kamiyama Kiyohira and Has.h.i.+moto Chisa, she isn"t allowed to reveal it to her. Looking into the mirror, she can see the weary eyes staring out of the window.
Even if she tells the truth to her, it"s already too late. The dark hackers will never leave her alone. Two years ago, Ren came to the Dark Hackers. But, his skills are nowhere close to Rie"s. He"s a member of the outer circle of the Dark Hackers. In reality, they have always wanted to bring Rie by hook or crook. Since she has decided to accept their goodwill, it worked out for the best.
She might find out the truth in the future. Tsumi wonders how she will react after finding out the truth. She has observed Rie for a month. To accept someone"s love, one needs to know and love oneself. Kamiyama Kiyohira"s love was exhausting for this woman who didn"t love herself. Right now, this woman needs a new beginning after the end of years of suffering.
"Rie Chan, it is a new beginning. It"s a different world, but it"s a world where you would be understood." Tsuchiya Tsumi is not lying to her. Rie has always belonged to this world. "Though, it doesn"t matter which world it is. Only you can build your happiness."
Rie"s heart still hurts. She hopes that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d is alive.