Threefold

Chapter Two

---

“Dissolve and decay, there's nothing left for me
This fire's dying down, there's nothing left to see.”

-Hawthorne Heights

-Dissolve and Decay-

---

Maru was no longer aware of time while she was out there, running across the busy sidewalks in the hustle and bustle of New York City. But, eventually it grew cold, the sun sank down behind the skyscrapers, and the business men and women were replaced with a different kind of crowd. Maru no longer felt the suspicious eyes of the prim and proper on her back, but rather the lusty glances of the rats of the city.

There were voices all around her, but Maru didn't comprehend or care about a word they said. As she wandered through the now dark and chilled city, she was consumed by her mind, by her own self-pity and misery. Her brown eyes, normally bold and pensive, were now soft and soulfully sad, lost somewhere on the cement beneath her feet.

She didn't know where she was going. Nor did she care. Someone had told her once that things could always, always get worse, but Maru knew then that she had finally hit rock bottom. She was the lowest of the low, the most terrible of creatures. Sub-human.

The longer she roamed the streets, the more she thought, and the longer she thought, the more she remembered. In an amount of time immeasurable to her, the memory of every single ghastly deed she had ever committed came back to Maru. The weight of each and every one hit her like a sack of bricks.

She had killed mercilessly and without question. She had destroyed lives, of both those she knew and those that were complete strangers. Maru had taken the Grim Reaper's job into her own hands without considering the consequences or responsibilities. Her grandfather had once said that it was no human's right to take the life of another's. She had simply scoffed and continued to the next job.

What kind of being did that make her? To disregard the wisdom of an experienced elder, only to live from job to murderous job.

Walking across the cold, sullen sidewalk, Maru's eyes lifted and wandered to a newsstand nearby. Gary Ridgeway, the infamous Green River Killer, was on the cover of several magazines, accompanied by questions as to his impending punishment in big, bold letters.

Maru's body tensed as she thought of the unspeakable evils this man had committed, and then it turned to the coldest stone as she realized he didn't hold a candle to her.

"You gonna buy a magazine, lady, or you jes' gonna stare?" asked the booth tender with a thick New York accent.

Maru looked up, pale face set in a permanent glare, and walked away from the stand. Her body was still rigid, hands still clenched painfully tight, but she'd be damned if she wasted another moment speaking to someone she would have just as simply murdered.

She continued to wander aimlessly throughout New York City, still consumed by the memories of all of the crimes she'd committed.

She disgusted herself. She hated herself. She hated the way she had gone through life so miserably. She hated the way she had made a living out of killing. She hated that each and every homicide had been carried out for unknown, and most likely arbitrary, reasons. She hated that she had brought death to the one person she had ever truly loved, and the one person that had ever truly loved her in return.

But, most of all, Maru hated that she couldn't put the blame on anyone else. She had done this to herself. She had retrieved the gun from her father's office and destroyed him in a moment of supreme, passionate desperation. She had sought out an outlet to her anger that her grandfather's dojo could no longer provide, after her mother had died. She had killed once, and then twice, after realizing the thrill and awful satisfaction it could supply. Sure, Kobayashi had sought her out and hired her, but Maru had never rejected the offer, a mistake that she was now desperately regretting.

By what had to be more than a mere coincidence, Maru's eyes for once went into focus, and she realized that she was standing at the base of a very familiar building. But of course the structure was familiar; Maru had spent the majority of her young life walking in with empty hands, and out with a well-paying burden.

Maru's heart clenched inside of her chest, and she felt the beginnings of rain on her head. The few, meaningless drops soon turned into a light shower, which quickly became a near-torrential downpour. She was instantly soaked through to the bone, still standing lifelessly outside of Kobayashi's office building with cold and anxious eyes.

She wondered what to do then: to run or to stand there and gape at the daunting place, or to maybe go inside. Luckily, she didn't stand there long in the pouring rain before the decision was made for her. Within moments, Kobayashi walked out of an elevator inside, accompanied by two of his men: Jake and Shuin. Maru knew them all too well.

The threesome walked boldly, confidently out through the revolving door: Jake first, then Shuin, and then the boss himself.

They walked past Maru as if she didn't exist, as if the Aka no Ryuu's top assassin wasn't standing there in the cold with a look of utmost hatred on her pallid face. Even in her despaired state, Maru wasn't going to stand to be ignored.

"Kobayashi," she spoke loudly, in a voice that had grown harsh and raspy from tears and a dry throat. Maru no longer bothered with formalities or recognition of status. If she was going to hell, Kobayashi was going to be absolutely incinerated. She began walking towards him.

The three turned around slowly, lazily, unalarmed, and cast disinterested glances in Maru's direction. Jake and Shuin's hands went instinctively to the guns Maru knew they were hiding inside their jackets, but Kobayashi only raised his eyebrows in a humored gesture, opening a black umbrella above his head.

"Matsumoto-san, I didn't see you there." He spoke in elegant Japanese, a polite smile claiming his lips. "How have you been?"

Maru's body froze at the sound of his calm, collected voice, and for a moment her lungs felt empty. She didn't respond to the casual question.

"Don't worry, there's no need to answer," Kobayashi continued, gentle smile widening into a wicked grin. "Though, I do wonder... What compelled you to attempt to eliminate yourself the other day? I don't believe that was included in the assignment."

A shudder swept over Maru's entire body, and she felt her heart pound with anguish and humiliation. Still, she said nothing. She had made such a display of catching Kobayashi's attention, and now she stood wordlessly before him. In all truth, she hadn't had any idea of what she planned to do or say to him in the first place.

He walked closer to her then, slowly, idly, while his henchmen followed cautiously at a distance. Kobayashi still grinned maliciously, and his eyes burned like the devil's. "But, tell me, did you kiss his lips before you killed him?" He took another step closer, and Maru felt her knees buckle. The cold rain was beginning to take its toll.

Kobayashi continued. "Did you look into his eyes as you shoot him in the head? I've always been a bit of a romantic myself..." He began to circle Maru like a vulture, staring her down as she stood in place, shivering.

"Aha!" he exclaimed suddenly, and Maru's heart leapt. "I know why you're here. You want your payment! Of course, silly me..." He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and retrieved a thick wad of fifty-dollar bills.

"I've made this sum quite a bit larger than previous payments," he said, still holding the wad of cash in his hands. "To make up for any... inconveniences the job might have caused you."

"It's funny," he carried on, eyes rolling in thought. "Mr. Cedar said he always knew I'd be the death of him..." He paused. "Shame, he didn't realize it would be the woman he loved." At that, he tossed Maru's payment on the wet ground before her. "I always thought him to be a more perceptive person than that."

Kobayashi, without caution or doubt, then turned his back on Maru, walking gracefully to the Cadillac waiting for him at the street. He didn't bother to look back at the broken girl behind him as the car sped off.

Maru fell to her knees the instant the black Cadillac had disappeared around the corner, her body shivering from the cold of the rain, her heart breaking from the cold of her own self. But she didn't cry, and she didn't scream. She had exhausted herself, and her body had finally buckled under the pressure. And she didn't plan on pulling herself back together any time soon.

The rain continued to pour, and still she sat there. She, Maru Matsumoto, one of the greatest assassins New York had ever known (or never known, rather) sat motionlessly on the cold, hard ground, eyes unwavering as they stared at the pavement. The bundle of money still lay in front of her, a sickening reminder of the life she had chosen for herself.

Kobayashi had never seen her as a business partner, and not even a human being. She was a commodity. A device. He didn't see the pain she endured: the emotion, the hardships, the life within her... She was as human to him as the wad of money he had thrown before her.

After a long moment, Maru rose slowly to her feet. She bent down to pick up the cluster of bills and then walked away from the horrid place, knowing that she now carried her exact worth in her very hands.

Later into the night, Maru embarked into the empty silence of her apartment, dripping wet, and still quivering from the cold. The door closed behind her as she walked in, slipping off her shoes by mere instinct and kicking them to the side of the entranceway.

And, well... she was there.

Maru retreated to the loneliness of her room, tossing her pay on the bedside table before gently seating herself on the bed. She stared blankly ahead, lips slightly parted, and eyes dull and unfocused as if in a stupor. What was she supposed to do then...?

Shaking Maru from her melancholy daze, the phone began to ring quite shrilly. With each tone she flinched, but she didn't move to silence the device. Eventually it silenced itself, but then a familiar, irritating voice piped in through the answering machine.

"Hello, Ms. Matsumoto, it's Dr. Hart... I was just calling to confirm our appointment tomorrow for ten o' clock in the morning... We look forward to seeing you."

Click.

Long after the message had ceased, Maru continued to sit on her bed, emotionlessly, lifelessly. What else was there for her to do...?

That in mind, the girl pivoted on the bed and laid herself down, eyes still wide and empty. The cold, lonely silence consumed her, numbed her, and within moments, she closed her eyes and slept.

There was truly nothing more she could do.