(Untitled)

[naoto_rennt]

It's all my fault

-- Soda... Yosuke... Even Ikehata-san, an-and Kumada-san-- Manaka Hideo...

If it weren't for me, if I hadn't been there

N-Naruse-san... I-- [he scrapes his throat, obviously rough with tears] ...I should-- I finally... [there's a click that sounds like a gun. But it could be something else, of course.]

I'm so--sorry.

Comments

[angelic_lawyer]

It's a little late for a simple apology, Detective.

[naoto_rennt]

That's not [A door opens, footsteps sound hollow through the hallway, and Naoto scrapes his throat before he can hiccup]

It never would have been enough. For my sins...

[angelic_lawyer]

Of course. After such an amount of time pretending they didn't exist.

[naoto_rennt]

I never--

That's not--

[his voice is just a whisper now, and the footsteps have stopped] I never stopped thinking about it. Every d-day, hour.

[angelic_lawyer]

That didn't stop you from hiding the truth, did it? From shying away from should have been admitted and facing up to your punishment.

[naoto_rennt]

I tried to find you-- [there's a dull thump, like if someone suddenly leans against a wall]

You-- your name... You were gone. I thought you were-- dead. Like. Like everyone else.

[angelic_lawyer]

So the dead should be forgotten and the sins of the living automatically absolved?

[naoto_rennt]

...N-n-no.

You're right. [the shuffle of clothes as he presumably stands upright again, and there's a knock on Naruse's door, resounding through the communicator.]

[angelic_lawyer]

(The communicator's left to one side for a moment, and he walks over to the door, opening it and studying Serizawa for a few moments, choosing to remain silent.)

[naoto_rennt]

Naoto's trembling, his eyes aimed at the floor as he stands in the doorway.

"I don't-- I can't--" He's stuttering, and it angers him because he should be able to talk-- in just these last few moments, he should be able to speak clearly, let Naruse know what's what.

The last few moments.

His hand shakes so bad the gun falls to the floor.

((I'm assuming he's too out of it to remember the whole revival thing.))

[angelic_lawyer]

After Serizawa's half formed sentences and stuttering, Naruse's attention inevitably falls on the gun, bending down to carefully pick it up, holding it back out towards Serizawa, a softly taunting smile present on his face.

"Is this your intent, Serizawa? To kill me?"

[naoto_rennt]

"A-after all you've done--"

There's a change in him, and instead of the sadness pressing him down he feels angry, he feels hatred, and he reaches out to grab the gun, breathing hard. The tears that had been welling up in his eyes promptly disappear, and his anger is practically palpable.

His mouth twists and twitches as he aims the gun at Naruse. He doesn't seem to realise he's still standing in a hallway.

[angelic_lawyer]

"Everyone has to account for their sins".

Allowing Serizawa to take the gun, he stands there almost expectantly, just waiting. This was what it came down to, his perfect revenge for the stolen lives of Hideo, his mother and, in a roundabout way, himself. Everything had been planned so for the perfect retribution, for the perfect ending.

[naoto_rennt]

His arms shake as he slowly raises the gun, tears brimming in his eyes once more. He breathes in shakily, the motion extending all the way to the tips of his fingers.

And he sets his gun to Naruse's stomach, his chest, his forehead.

It doesn't feel right-- Through all his anger, all of this, he knows that this is what both of them deserve, that a bullet is the only way for either of them--

But he keeps trembling, anger and grief holding him back. Just one twitch of the finger.

[angelic_lawyer]

Naruse's expression, almost reflecting a vague sort of amusement and contentment, fades into one of slight confusion and impatience as Serizawa hesitates. Lifting his head to one side, his brow creases in a small frown.

"Why are you hesitating? Isn't this what I deserve?" He asks, attempting to ignore the various emotions he was feeling and project the same façade as he always has. "For you to kill me, it's only fitting, isn't it? After everything that you've done--" he pauses for a brief moment. "And that I've done, there's only one way this can end".

[naoto_rennt]

"Only--" He bites the inside of his cheek after Naruse has spoken, and the tears finally spill.

"After what I've-- Your brother, your mother-- What I did, that's--" He slowly starts to lift the gun again, and the only reason it doesn't fall from his trembling hands is that he's holding the weapon so tightly.