To the End.

Chapter Eighteen

"Can you explain what happened?"

Shioko sat across a table from a policeman, looking at him tiredly. It had taken a while for the police to arrive at her destination where she sat in Kazuki's car while he laid dead in the road. She stared at his lifeless body, her hands trembling in her lap. She'd just killed a man who was a murderer himself. Was she going to get in trouble, or was she just defending herself? In the moments she snapped, she didn't think twice about the consequences. In that moment, all that mattered was getting Kazuki to stop, even if it meant for good.

"From the beginning?" What she meant was, from when they first met? As the policeman nodded, she began the long story of how the two of them had met while she was working. Knowing details were wanted, she gave as many as she possibly could, from the color of Kazuki's shirt to the expressions on his face. Any detail she could remember, she mentioned. She knew she was being recorded for the records, and she also knew the police still needed as much information on Kazuki as possible, even if it was clear that he had been guilty.

"He seemed so normal." She looked down at her hands, pulling the sleeve of her shirt over one. "I wouldn't have guessed that he was like that." How could she politely describe what he was? Even if he'd tried to kill her, even if he had succeeded in killing many other women, she still didn't want to be rude.

The news of Kazuki Takemura rang out through Japan. Most people called him a monster, deserving of the end he had met. Someone horrible enough to kill innocent women didn't deserve to continue living. Other's believed he shouldn't have been killed. Instead, he deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars where he'd be able to suffer for what he did. No one knew the details like Shioko did. If she hadn't killed him when she had, she would be just like the others --her body parts probably cut into pieces and spread around prefectures in an attempt to not be found.

In the end, Kazuki got what was coming to him. He'd chosen the wrong victim when he decided to pursue Shioko. She was small and annoying, but she was much stronger than he could have guessed. 

Because his death was ruled as self-defense, Shioko didn't have to serve time behind bars. Everyone working the case agreed that she had no other option. If Kazuki would have been merely knocked out, there was the chance he could have woken up and gotten to her before the police had shown up. His crimes were so horrible that no one cared what happened to him, and the police were just glad his killing spree had come to an end.

Shioko went back to her normal life in Osaka, although much more cautious. Everyone always said something horrible such as almost being murdered wouldn't happen to them. The truth was, it didn't matter who a person was. Everyone could be at risk of something terrible happening to them. No one was special. No one was really safe. She lived as if someone was always there to get her, too afraid to continue on in oblivion like she previously had. 

Even if Kazuki was gone, the game wasn't over just yet.

a/n - This chapter is short, but it's also the last chapter. I've decided to work on a second book for this story. It'll be out soon, but in the meantime, you guys can take a guess on who the protagonist is.