You stared at Takeo with wide eyes. He just smiled, as he looked at you with an expecting gaze. After a while of silence between you two, Takeo frowned at you.

"Well?" He asked. You gulped, as he furrowed his eyebrows in irritation. "Say something." He ordered. You flinched at his agitated and stern tone.

"I-I uh..." You said, looking down to avoid his gaze. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes and his gaze immediately softened. He grabbed your chin with his thumb and index finger, pulling your head up to face him.

"It's alright. You don't need to answer right away. I kind of figured you would be in shock." He said as he put on a small smile. "I'm sorry for snapping at you." He let go of your chin and placed his hand on the top of your head, stroking it in an affectionate manner. "But aren't you excited? You won't have to worry about being killed ever again! No one is going to hurt you, ever again. You can be happy, now!"

"No!" You screamed. Takeo jumped at your outburst, visibly surprised. You calmed your heavy breathing, before looking up at him with adrenaline fueled confidence. "Takeo, I don't want any of this! If you haven't noticed, you were the one threatening from the start! You drugged me and locked me up in a damn apartment, for God's sake!" Takeo furrowed his eyebrows together, as he thought over your words, his expression becoming more and more hurt.

"(Y/N), please try to understand. I'm doing this to protect you. Back in the city, you had threats constantly hanging above your head. But here, you can be safe. You won't ever need to worry about anything and I'll always be here to protect you." He tried to reason with you. "Please understand, I'm doing this because I love you."

"You barely even know me!" You shouted back.

"That's not true. I know a lot about you. I know that you're compassionate and kind. I know that you have this ability to make someone feel better just by being with them. And I also know that you see good in everyone, whether you like it or not. You must have seen good in me, since you didn't scream or yell or anything when I told you about my parents." Takeo replied with a small smile. But soon after it appeared, the smile was replaced by a dark frown. "But what I don't understand, is how you saw the goodness in him." He said, looking over at his former friend with hatred. "He's a liar. He abandons those who he says he cares about. He is an obstacle. An obstacle that needs to be dealt with." The clanking of metal caught your attention. Finally, you noticed the handgun gripped in his palm. Aki stared at the brunette, with wide eyes.

"T-Takeo...?" He stuttered. Takeo just smirked. He raised the gun as panic started to swell up inside you.

"Aki, you made my life a living hell when you left. Before that, I actually had hope that I could start over. Have a friend. But you took that away from me. You crushed the last amount of hope I had for that." He looked towards you with a small, loving smile. "(Y/N) gave me a new hope, though. She made me feel something other than sadness and anger, for the first time in a long time." His smile fell, as he looked back at the blonde. "And I refuse to let you take my last piece of hope away." He finished, getting ready to fire the weapon.

"Takeo! Please, stop this! Don't kill him!" You begged, trying to break the male out of his anger induced actions. The male only sighed as he glanced at you. He closed his eyes and directed his gaze back to Aki.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N). This has to be done, in order for me...for us to be happy." He said. "Goodbye, Akihiko." The bang of the gun echoed off of the basement walls. You watched with wide eyes, as the world seemed to slow down, making you watch as the bullet went straight through Aki's forehead. A split second of silence filled the basement, as the now-dead blonde's head fell limply forward. Blood flowed from the bullet hole, down his cheek, collecting at his chin, before falling in drops, onto the floor. Tears glided down your cheeks as you stared at Aki's lifeless body. Takeo let the gun fall to his side and turned towards you with a neutral expression. His gaze turned to one of sympathy, as he watched you silently cry over his victim. He placed his hand on your head and stroked your hair. He hugged you tightly, albeit awkwardly due to your restraints, as he tried to comfort you. You were too shocked to give him any regard. "Shhh...it'll be okay. Don't worry. It's over now. Stop crying..." He whispered words of comfort as you started to sob.

"Let me go!" You shouted as you tried to swivel out of his hold. He rubbed circles on your back, trying to calm you down.

"Stop struggling. Everything will be alright, just calm down." He said. You continued to sob, ignoring his words as you stared at Aki. Takeo smiled slightly, noticing your halted struggles. "Hey..." He said suddenly. "Do you remember how, when I kidnapped you, instead of killing you, I decided not to?" He asked. "At first, I didn't know why I couldn't kill you. But..." Takeo rested his forehead against yours as he held you tightly in his embrace. He ran his fingers through your hair as he closed his eyes to fully savor the feeling of you being so close. He sighed contently as he opened his eyes to gaze into yours. His eyes held no sense of rationalization. They were dull. Dead. Deranged. He buried his face in your hair and inhaled. He breathed out and kissed the top of your head.

"I know now, why I couldn't kill you...it was because...