Chapter Fifteen
The Bowels: Part Two
The metal door grinded against the cement, forcing Akira to push harder against the door then anticipated. He held his gun out in front of him without even looking through the doorway, anticipating a sudden roar of a shotgun to greet him. Instead, there was the grinding metal noise, and then silence as the dark hall was revealed to them. Droplets of water reverberated off the walls in a slow rhythm. The already intense scent of putrification intensified as the door opened, assaulting the teens senses.
"Gah!" Akira covered his mouth. "Geez, that's awful!"
"This is hellish," Ann muttered. "I can hardly believe there are people in this world like Kamoshida."
"Well, there will be one less after we're done," said Ryuji darkly, his grip tightening on his pistol.
"Remember," Akira said, now breathing through his mouth, "he's got a shotgun. We may have him outnumbered but he can more than one of us at once. We're still outgunned here, Sakamoto."
"Then we just gotta be a hair faster than him and hit him somewhere it'll hurt."
"Your enthusiasm is… concerning, Ryuji," Akira replied.
"We're taking down a rabid dog, right?" Ryuji's jaw clenched, a flash of stress appearing on his face. "What this thing – not man, thing – has done is unacceptable, to put it very lightly. I'm ready to do what's needed."
"Just keep your mind on the mission itself," Akira looked back to him, "and get rid of those thoughts once you're done."
"Agreed."
Soon after, they came on another wooden door. The air was heavy, humid, and musky. There was a slight draft of cool breeze coming from under the door, which left the teens confused. Akira tried twisting the door handle but found it to be locked. "There goes the quiet approach," he remarked. "I'll just break it off."
"What if he hears us?" asked Ann.
"We're gonna stay behind the walls until we know for sure." They positioned themselves appropriately, and Akira kicked the knob off the door. Slowly, the door swung open away from them, with no shotgun blast to greet them. Akira peered around the doorway tepidly, anticipating the need to dart away so as not get his face blown off. Instead, he saw no man waiting for them, but a chamber similar to that of Kasumi's. Its contents, however, were repulsive and vile.
A woman's nude body was restrained in a wooden chair, tied up in leather straps and slumped over. Three cameras and related equipment, such as wires and light fixtures, were around the woman's body, focused directly on her. Similar tools and debased items to that of Kasumi's chamber were strewn about around her, some of which even having an almost moist sheen to them when in direct lighting.
"Good god," Akira muttered.
"Is she…?" Ann began to question, but trailed off as if already processing the answer.
Akira walked up to the woman, allowing him to get a better look at her body. Bruises, scars, even burn marks marred her skin to the point that there were more dark and discolored areas than normal areas. Her chest was still, not rising nor falling. Akira lightly pushed against her face to see it better, revealing even more egregious injuries all across her face. Her lower lip was split, her eyes dark and bruised. Dried spit, blood, and vomit spilled from her mouth and down to her collarbone. Akira recoiled away slowly without taking his eyes off her.
"This is so fucked," he whispered. "This is what nearly happened to Kasumi."
"Feeling a little more confident in how I feel now?" asked Ryuji, looking down on the desecrated body.
"That might be one way to put it."
A terrified scream interrupted them, followed by a gunshot and the sound of many heavy, metallic items falling to the floor. The cacophony came from about twelve meters in front of them, and the group readied their guns reflexively. "Dammit!" Ryuji swore. "This animal's still whackin' people!"
"Now or never," said Ann from behind them, and then rushed to their front. "C'mon, guys!"
With not but three pistols and the power of will, they charged through the unlocked door opposite them and found themselves in a storage area. Camera equipment and props lined the walls and were scattered about the floors, many of which were broken apart into sharp pieces. At the other end of the large storage room, there was a collapsed shelf of heavy looking camera gear, and poking out from underneath the pile of electronics was a man, bloodied and barely breathing. Rushing over to him, the gang noticed a pool of blood starting to seep out from under his body.
The man was breathing sharply and shallowly, almost hyperventilating but could not be taking in much air. As blood poured from his mouth and nose, he looked up to them with reddened eyes. His expression was… scared, pleading, and pained. "H-he…" the man spoke in a harsh rasp, "is… he-here…" His head tilted to its side, and his labored breathing ceased. Akira and Ann both simultaneously realized that this was the first time either of them had watched a person expire. Both their guts churned at the realization, and the image.
A low, conniving laugh pulled Akira's attention away from the corpse slowly. To their right, out from behind a wall, emerged Suguru Kamoshida, holding his shotgun at his side. A spatter of blood was on his face, though he did not seem to notice as he smiled at them a wide, almost snake-like grin.
He spoke in a concerningly smooth and natural tone. "Welcome to the dungeons, kids. Did you like your previews of our upcoming films?"
"You mean those girls in the freezer?" Ryuji snarled. "And the body we found in the other room?"
"No, I mean the idiot under the shelf behind ya, of course I mean the girls! God, how did someone as stupid as you ever even get into high school?"
"Say that again, asshole!" Ryuji readied his gun.
"Whoa, whoa, kid! Put your gun away!" Kamoshida smirked. "No one else has to die here, you know? I've got a little proposition for you, one that's mutually beneficial for all parties."
"Uh uh!" Ann interjected. "No, no way, nada, not a chance! You don't get to negotiate and monologue like some super villain! You get to pay for your crimes, and we get to walk away!" Ann readied her pistol as well, gritting her teeth and white knuckling her gun. "That's how this is gonna go down. You die, we walk. Now, let's get this over with."
"If only you had shown this much fire back in high school, Takamaki," Kamoshida taunted with a casual tone. "I always liked it when girls fought back a little."
"Even when it's three on one, you still can't get your mind out of the gutter. You're just a pig who needs to be put to the slaughter."
"Face it, asshole," Akira, standing in line with his friends, raised his gun with them, "your time is up." Three young adults stared down their adversary. They did not blink; they did not move. Time around them seemed to freeze. Kamoshida appeared unphased by the situation he was in, looking back at them with a blank stare, which only made the three teens more enraged.
"Any last words?" asked Ryuji.
"If I may," Kamoshida nodded. His hand tightened around his shotgun. "Give unto Caesar," their fingers tightened on the triggers, "that which is Caesar's."
Kamoshida dove to his side while pressing down on the shotgun's trigger. However, the teens reflexes took over, and even though the roar of gunshot rang out through the small room, to them, every sound was distant, faded, as if traveling through a great body of water. Akira's reflexes proved slightly faster than his friends', and his shot went off first. The bullet travelled through the air, and while he was aiming originally for Kamoshida's head, the sudden dive through off his calculations. Instead, the bullet managed to imbed itself into their enemy's right knuckle, sending his hand backward away from them a fraction of a second before Kamoshda pulled the trigger. The pellets went well to the teen's left, missing them entirely.
Kamoshida disappeared behind the wall, yelping in pain as he dropped his shotgun. Blood began to pour out of the new hole in his hand, trying to move it as little as possible as a severe burning sensation shot up his arm. The shotgun lay on the ground beside him, and he picked it up with his left hand. "How can he aim like that?" Kamoshida muttered, glowering at his bloodied hand. "Lucky bastard."
The teens tried to corner their mark, but a warning shot stopped them in their tracks. No one was hit, but they were scared by the shot. Kamoshida ran away once again, through a large, rectangular opening about ten feet wide. Blood trailed off his hand and onto the floor, leaving red spots in his wake. Akira and his companions rushed behind him, taking cover behind any walls they came across for a moment to make sure they were not being shot at.
"Shit!" Ryuji exclaimed. "Even when he's injured, he's still quick!"
They soon cornered their mark once again at the end of the hall, passing another door on their way. Kamoshida was slumped over with his back turned them, breathing laboriously as he clutched his hand. His shotgun lay on the floor next to him, caked in blood.
"Here we are again," Akira muttered. "Finally gonna let us finish this?"
Kamoshida breathed out heavily before turning back to look at his pursuers. His eyes were wide, almost feral. Akira got a good look at his hand as well. It was pale under the blood stains, and the flow seemed to be abating. He surmised there likely was not much blood left in his hand by this point.
"I… I guess the jig really is up then," Kamoshida growled.
"And why's that?" Ann pressed him. "You got a shotgun right there, why aren't you lighting us up?"
Kamoshida began licking his hand, the thick blood congealing on his mouth and face in a macabre image. "I-I didn't want to kill you, Takamaki! Why the hell would I? All of this shit I'm doing was for you!"
"You what!?" Ann shouted, holding her gun tighter in her hand. Her teeth were bared and her eyes fiery as she took one confident step forward, as if she were a predator backing down her prey.
Kamoshida breathed heavily as he removed his hand from his mouth. The image was sickening, looking like a vampire or zombie. His pupils were wide, his eyes darting about and seeming slightly unfocused, like a rabid animal. "You were to be… my magnum opus, Ann. I have spent fucking months looking for you, tracking you, studying you and waiting for the right time to bring you to my castle. And then when we found out you were coming to this shithole that is Kamurocho with little Suzui Shiho herself. My two biggest missed opportunities, all alone in one of the seediest red-light districts in Tokyo? Well, I considered myself truly blessed."
Ann looked away, down to her side. She lowered her gun slightly as her face was wrought with disgust, though strangely no perceptible sign of fear. As her gaze then turned upward to the ceiling, she let out a laugh that Akira found chilling.
"And I thought you were a monster back in high school," she began. "I didn't know you were truly this sick. Those girls that you killed, they were for pornos, right? You get off on maiming and killing the innocent."
"You say that like I'm the only one, baby –" Kamoshida was cut off by a gunshot, and a new hole in the ground at his feet.
Ann glowered at him disdainfully, gun rising from being pointed at the ground to aimed directly into his eyes. "Do not call me that ever again."
Kamoshida smacked his lips dismissively, as if having a gun pointed at him by a woman scorned was only a minor nuisance to him. "I can't say I'm surprised by this," he remarked. "You always were so closed minded. You know, there's a natural order to this world; a food chain of sorts."
"Great," Akira rolled his eyes, "he's gonna monologue for us."
"If you just knew your place back then, Takamaki, I probably would have let you off easy! None of this tracking and stalking shit, had you just done what you were told. That dipshit in the other room didn't know that either, and that's why I shot him. Caught him trying to steal my hard earned money 'cuz he thought we were up shit creek. Got what was coming to him, and so should you."
"You wanted to do horrible, unspeakable things to me! I was just protecting myself and my friend from you! There is no food chain in this world! There is no natural order that gives you the right to take advantage of anyone!"
"I am one of the greatest athletes on Earth, you ungrateful bitch! How much did I do for you and Shiho in high school in exchange for a couple phone calls!? I got Shiho in the starting position on volleyball, gave you connections for your modeling career. You would not be where you are today WITHOUT ME!" Kamoshida was growing more manic by the second, baring his teeth as he shouted down Ann. "Remember that Kishima guy from Shujin Heights magazine? You would never have met him if not for me! He's the one that really kickstarted your career, isn't he!? If it weren't for me being so fucking generous with someone as beneath me as you, you would still be nothing but a prime example of the dumb, ditzy blond barely making it through school!"
In a flash, Ann pinned Kamoshida's injured hand to the wall behind him, snapping three bones and making him howl in agony. Tears welling in her eyes, Ann sneered at him, saying, "You think you're so far above everyone, but you're just as human as us, just as weak. That pain and your screams are all the evidence you need." She kicked his hand again, crushing two more bones and leaving bloody stains on the wall.
Ryuij grabbed Kamoshida's shirt collar after Ann retracted her foot. He slammed their adversary's head into the wall and kicked the shotgun away from them, just in case. "And don't think Ann's the only one getting her licks in, you bastard! If I could, I'd bring every person you ever hurt down here and let them all beat you to a bloody pulp! But since it's just us…" Ryuji whirled into a roundhouse kick and put all his bodyweight into the side of Kamoshida's knee, instantly breaking it. The man fell to the floor with a scream.
Akira watched on with a fixated interest, his eyes moving between his friends and their enemy. Though, he began to think that perhaps victim would be a more apt term here. The balance of power seemed to have changed significantly enough to warrant a different classification. Kamoshida appeared to have given up, now reduced to gasps and incoherent mumbling as he reeled around on the floor.
It took a much more feminine cry from well behind him to bring him back to the real world.
Akira turned around inquisitively, drawn to the cries of a woman from somewhere behind them. Ryuji was busy too stomping on Kamoshida's nearly broken leg to notice, but Ann did a moment later. She grabbed his shirt, even hitting him on the shoulder to gain his attention.
"Ryuji!" she screamed into his ear.
The blond man turned to her, eyes frenzied and animalistic. She was taken aback a moment, frightened by the lack of cognition on her old friend's face, but he seemed to regain some of his senses after a moment. "What?" he snarled.
"Someone just screamed… A woman…" Ann muttered. Akira was still peering down the hall toward the sound of the scream when he heard it again, and then another in a different, but still female voice.
Ryuji took a moment to make sense of what was happening, then looked down at Kamoshida. Their enemy was barely conscious now, breathing shallowly and gazing blankly into space. Ryuji almost felt pity for him, much to his shock. "What was that?"
Kamoshida chuckled in his throat, concluding in spitting up a few drops of hot blood. "More backup plans," he muttered.
Ryuji wasted no time in grabbing the shotgun and storming off toward the sound of the screams. Ann and Akira followed close behind, leaving their victim alone, slumped on the floor and whimpering from the pain. For a moment, that is. As they made their way down the hall, a hoarse and vile cackle followed them, reverberating off the walls in a way entirely eerie and disturbing. Akira felt a chill run up his spine at the rough and evil noise, followed by labored and scratchy coughing.
This is hell. This is total hell.
Walking down the hall, they soon came the other metal door they had passed while pursuing Kamoshida. It had appeared innocuous in the chaos of that moment, but another cry for help from behind the door indicated otherwise. Finding out the door was locked, Akira shot the handle on the door to open it; panicked screams were their reward as the door swung open. A chilling scene was revealed to them: a cage door, rusted and filthy, barring the teens from four young women, with only two of them standing on their feet.
They wore rags barely able to cover their womanly areas, and these pitiful rags were covered in sick looking stains and dirty. The two standing women recoiled in fear as Akira and his companions entered the room, hiding their bruised and thinning faces from the two young men. As they whimpered and mumbled to themselves, they appeared to be so terrified that they did not notice the blond young woman accompanying them.
The other two captives laid on the floor, one of them hiding her face and the other seemingly unconscious on the ground. Apart from a few ratty blankets on the floor underneath to them, the cage was completely empty.
"Whoa, whoa, hey," Akira said calmly, extending out his hands after putting away his gun. "We're not here to hurt you, we're getting you out of here." The women shook their heads, not believing a word he was saying. Akira knelt down to look at the women closer to eye level, anticipating how it may make him appear less threatening. "We will rescue you, I promise. We beat your captor, you're all safe now."
"…the gunshots?" one woman asked in a weak, hoarse whisper. "Were the gunshots from you?"
"Yeah, we're saving everyone here," Akira nodded, offering a slight smile. "You'll all be out of here before you know it, promise."
The women then inched forward, seemingly trusting the teens a little more. Akira nodded silently, affirming their trust. "Wh-who are you?"
"They are heroes," whispered another woman, seemingly the youngest of the group. "They are heroes who came to save us…"
"Is that true?" asked another. "Are you really heroes?"
Akira looked back to his friends pensively. He certainly had never been in any situation remotely like this, and was only doing what the balance between adrenaline and logic was telling him to do. Ryuji gave him a confident nod, a hint of a smirk sneaking to his lips. Ann's confidence manifested in a strong glare, determination written across her face as clear as day. Akira nodded before turning back to the women. "We are," he agreed. "We're the heroes, and we're gonna get you all out of here safe and sound. We got friends up top who can come and get you, we just gotta tell them where you are."
"You'll be alright, all of you," Ann interjected. Her hands were folded in front of her, as if pleading to the women to truly believe her, to hand on every word she said. "That man can't hurt you anymore. I know what he's like as well, I'm a victim too. But we took care of him, my friends and I." She paused, looking away with a pained expression before returning her gaze to the captives. Her eyes were misty, her voice shaking, but she exuded a quiet yet iron-clad resolve. "We did it for all our sakes."
The women all paused for a moment, then bowed their heads to the best of their ability, uttering thanks and gratitude amid quiet sobs and tears. Akira stood to his feet, a newfound peace about himself as he thought on the situation. "What now?" he asked his friends. "Check on the animal one more time before we call it a day?"
"Definitely," said Ann. "I think I have one more thing to say to him before he… expires."
"And I can't wait to watch that," Ryuji added confidently.
They reassured the captives once more that help was on the way before walking back to Kamoshida. They found him sprawled out on the ground, having tried to crawl away but only making it about six feet. A thin trail of blood followed him on the floor as he breathed heavily, his torso heaving slowly with each breath. "Ah," he wheezed, "finally back? Find what you were looking for?"
"Just more victims to deprive you of," said Ann. "We're done here, I just wanted to say something more to you."
"Aren't you going to kill me."
With Akira and Ryuji fully expecting a resolute yes from Ann especially, they were taken back when, after a long silence, she slowly muttered, "No."
"Wait, what?" Ryuji asked.
"You're not going to do it?" asked Akira.
"No, I don't think I will."
Kamoshida let out another wheezing cackle. "So weak, so stupid, even when given your just revenge on a silver platter."
"You even think that killing you would be just then?"
Kamoshida laughed more heartily, but not like that of a maniacal villain. He guffawed as if the blond woman had said a genuinely hilarious joke. "I am a goddamn sadist, Ann! You know that better than most of the idiots in this fucking town! When you've seen and done as much as I have, being an Olympian god among man and all, you just end up getting desensitized to the common tastes and tendencies you reveled in not too long ago." Kamoshida rolled over on the floor, looking up to the ceiling blankly. "I made a point of tasting every pleasure known to man. After all, I fucking deserved it. I've devoted my whole life to rising above anyone else, and when I finally got to the peak of that Mount Olympus, I was going to enjoy every indulgence I possibly could. And then, in only a few years, I did. I drank and smoked and fucked my way around the entire world before being forced into rehab by my agent. Going back to that shithole Shujin Academy that I was an alumni of, teaching all you miserable and worthless students the basics of volleyball 'cuz you couldn't fucking learn anything else!? That was all a mandate, again, by my fucking agent!"
Kamoshida smiled bloodily as he attempted to laugh once more, before choking on his own blood and spitting it into the air. "You fucking animal," Ann muttered.
"There was one thing I got out of it though," he sneered at the girl. Ann took a nervous step back, with the boys taking a defensive step forward. "I met you, Angel-eyes."
"Don't CALL ME THAT!" Ann pointed her gun at Kamoshida once again, and neither boys did anything to stop her. "Do not call me that EVER AGAIN, you bastard! You're a rapist, a murderer! And I want nothing more than to wipe your miserable existence from the Earth, but…" she trailed off, her hand shaking ever so slightly. "But I won't. I won't do it. I will do everything in my power to be as different from you as possible. I wanted my revenge, and seeing you like this, knowing the kind of men that are going to take you away, I got it. I have my revenge."
"Ann," Akira asked, "are you sure?"
"That's it then?" Kamoshida interrupted. "Is it too much? Is it too fucking difficult for you to do it? Is it too hard for you, Angel-eyes? Would it be too hard? Is Shiho not fucking worth it!?"
"NO! GOD ALMIGHTY… no." Ann exhaled, quickly sighing. "It'd be too damn easy." She paused again. "Every night, I've laid awake in bed thinking through every detail of how I'd want to subject him to every form or torture I could possibly think of. And then, after I'd made him feel every bit of pain he's ever inflicted on anyone else, I'd end him, and walk away."
While Akira and Ryuji attempted to find a suitable reaction to such words, Kamoshida only smirked up at her. "Aw, so you do still think about me," he said in a voice almost friendly.
"I do," Ann nodded. "Every day, every night, I think about the disgusting animal you really are. And now, I can finally realize all those thoughts and desires." She shook her head, her face wrought with disgust. "But I won't. Because if I did, it would be something you and I have in common, and the fact that we walk the same Earth is more than enough. I won't become anything remotely like you." Ann turned around on her heel, clenching and unclenching her fist as she put her gun away. "I've taken everything from you, and you will die, just not by my hands. That's enough for me."
Ann walked back to the prison cell, leaving her friends behind in an awkward situation. Kamoshida had not moved, and most of the bleeding seemed to be slowing. Ryuji tightened his grip on the pistol once more, then turned toward Ann's direction. "I'm going to help her get the girls out and check on Kasumi," he said. "You can come if you want, or you can make sure this filth doesn't die on us before we can hand him over to Iwai. Your call."
"You sure you don't need anything else?"
Ryuji looked between the two men, then shook his head with a sneer. "He's not worth it anymore. He took my leg, I took his. He's dead anyway. I don't need his worthless blood on my hands."
Akira nodded, then sat against the wall next to him. "I'll be here. Make sure Ann and the others are okay."
"Thank you." They exchanged nods, and Ryuji left.
Akira looked back down at Kamoshida, listening to the distant relieved cries of the women he had captured. He still held the gun in his hand, but his mind was mostly blank. Perhaps he was in shock again, he did not know. All he knew was that their mission seemed to be over, and to be a relative success.
"You have strange friends," Kamoshida muttered.
"Shut up," said Akira.
Ignoring him, Kamoshida continued, "I don't remember you at Shujin. Have you three known each other a while?"
"I said shut up."
"They must really like you, or at least respect you, to let you come on this personal vendetta with them. But then they can't even finish the job? How fucked up is that? Beating a man broken and bleeding and saying 'fuck it', then leaving him on the floor in a bloody mess."
"It's a lot better than you deserve, asshole. You should have been thanking them, worshipping them for showing you mercy after what you've done."
"But look at me. You three are completely unharmed, and I'm bleeding in places I didn't know I could bleed from. I'm the victim here, ain't I?"
"Do you ever stop talking? And no, you absolutely are not."
"You don't know anything about me or the world, kid. Nothing at all." Kamoshida turned to face him, smiling a vile and bloody grin that made Akira's skin crawl. "But I'm a nice guy, so I'll enlighten you."
Meanwhile…
It took only a strong kick from Ryuji to break the padlock on the cell, freeing the captives. The two women who had been laying on the floor of the citadel were expectedly injured, one only having a sprained ankle and able to walk with assistance, the other possessing a broken leg and was thus carried away by Ryuji. They reached the previous floor slowly, helping the women along every step of the way when they finally reunited with Kasumi. Nervously clutching Akira's knife close to her chest, she then beamed when she saw two of her three saviors walking toward her.
"You're okay!" she cried out, rushing over to them before slowing down upon realizing Akira was not present. "Where's Akira? Is he okay?" she asked frantically.
Ryuji immediately realized he did not have the time to effectively explain the previous events to her, so he decided to summarize. "He's fine, he's just… bringing up the rear. Making sure everything is taken care of, you know?"
"What else needs to be taken care of? Is he really okay?"
"He's fine, I promise," Ann replied for Ryuji. "But we're more concerned about if you're okay, Kasumi. Did anything happen while we were gone?"
As they helped the ladies up the stairs toward the entrance hall, Kasumi shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Nothing else happened after Akira left. He did give me this knife, just in case though. He seems like a very sweet man." A weak smile came to Kasumi's voice as she looked down at the ornate dagger.
"He's a real hero," Ryuji nodded. "Helped us save these women too. We're gonna take you all up to meet with our guys so they can get you all safely the hell out of here."
Kasumi considered pressing the matter on who these "guys" may be, but given the nature of their weapons and their ability to track down Kamoshida, she already had a suspicion that they were referring to yakuza. However, were they deceiving her in regards to their intentions, they were going to extreme and frankly ridiculous lengths to do so. Ryuji, Ann, and Akira all seemed so kind; she simply had to trust them. The alternative would be no better if it truly was an overly elaborate trap.
They did not need to wait long when a tall man in a grey cap and long coat appeared at the top of the stairs, accompanied by three well dressed and dangerous looking men. Kasumi was the first to notice and reflexively yelped as she hid behind Ann. The other women had similar reactions, but Ryuji quickly assured them that there was nothing wrong.
"They're with us," he said in a soft tone. "Their leader is Iwai, the guy who led us here in the first place. We're all going to get you to safety."
"He's right," said Ann, patting Kasumi on the shoulder. "We're going to get you all medical attention, after getting you as far away from here as we can."
Iwai descended the stairs first, holding his hands out in a sign of peace. "I may look a bit rough, but I'm not gonna hurt you one bit," he said slowly. "We're all just glad we were able to save you all. Boys," he called back to his men, "escort the women to the cars, and have the medical supplies at the ready. Give 'em whatever they ask for."
"Yes, sir," the tallest one nodded. The three yakuza quickly sprang into action, leading the captives away with a surprising deftness and sense of caring that betrayed their hardened exterior. The women were reluctant at first, but grew to trust them quickly as the men were already offering bandages while helping the girls who could not walk as well. Iwai nodded toward them as they ascended the stairs, pleased with their display.
Kasumi, however, elected to stay at Ann's side. The blond did not have the heart to object, instead putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Well," Iwai began, turning toward the teens, "color me impressed, kids. You saved those girls and came out with only a few scratches, except for the fact that we're missing one of you."
"He's still down there with Kamoshida," Ann replied. "We incapacitated him, but… I decided that I didn't need to kill him. I've done all I need, and there's no way he can escape now. We wanted to leave the rest, uh, to you guys."
Iwai nodded noncommittedly. "If that's what you feel, I can oblige. You down with this too, Sakamoto?"
"Hell yeah. I don't need that animal's blood on my hands. But don't think we let him off easily, Iwai. He's pretty badly fucked up down there. Akira's just watching him to make sure he doesn't try anything stupid while we were getting those women out of there."
"I can't wait to hear that story," Iwai smirked. "Now, why don't we get that boy back –"
A gunshot, faint but distinct, rang out from down the hall, cutting Iwai off. The teens looked toward the far doorway in shock, Ann's face riddled with it to the greatest degree. "Akira…?" she gasped.
"What the hell?" Ryuji glowered.
"Oh no…" Kasumi covered her mouth.
Iwai put his hand to his gun holster, taking the lead immediately. "Stay here, all of you," he commanded.
"No way!" argued Ann, stomping her foot on the floor. "We're going with you, and there's no two ways about it!"
"I'll go too!" Kasumi added resolutely. "I'm done just waiting around for others!"
Ryuji brushed past them, pulling out his gun once more. "We ain't got time to argue this shit, c'mon!"
As they all ran toward the stairs, another gunshot rang out. Then another, and another. Then seven more in rapid succession as they nearly sprinted down the stairs and the following hallway. Kasumi said a silent prayer, Ann's breath became short, and Ryuji felt like he could explode with his rage at the thought of Akira being in danger. Or worse.
"Akira!" Ann called out as they returned to where they had left Kamoshida. "Akira, where are you!?"
They rounded the corner, finally back at the dark hall. They stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing the image before them.
Akira, holding his gun out in front of him and clicking away at the trigger, was standing over a body, bloody and riddled with holes. Its face was so covered in blood that it took them a moment to realize it was Kamoshida. Two holes poured forth rivers of blood from his forehead, and many more permeated his torso. It was… grisly, abhorrent. Kasumi repressed a new need to vomit, covering her mouth both for the sake of her gag reflex and to suppress a scream.
Akira slowly turned around toward them, revealing himself covered in blood all over his face and body, but he appeared unharmed. His eyes were dazed, his face contorted in a glare. He said nothing, barely visibly responding to his friends' appearance, before his expression softened from one of rage to that of abject horror, while still appearing unfocused and clouded. Their friend appeared… ghastly.
Kamoshida was dead. Murdered brutally, by Akira Kurusu.