22 Want to die, duncehead?

kiyohira lets go of her when she swallows down the food. her body is frozen in her seat. her face becomes ghastly pale. she closes her eyes and fists her hands.

is she going to punch him? he won't be surprised anymore if she suddenly tries to punch him.

however, she manages to surprise him anyway.

takeuchi rie throws up on his fine shoes. poor kiyohira didn't even get the chance to step away from her. she grabs her clothes and continues to vomit. the strong stench nearly drives him to throw up too. when she no longer throw up, she starts to cough violently.

"woman, are you doing this on purpose?" he roars. she lets him go suddenly and slips from the chair. she covers her face with her arms.

"mr kamiyama, is she okay?" the manager appears, looking shocked by the view. the woman looks like she is being bullied by kamiyama kiyohira.

kiyohira takes a deep breath. this woman has been crossing her limits. he is done with her. when he reaches for her hand, he sees her shaking.

"don't hurt me." her voice is barely a whisper. "i will do it. please don't hurt me."

kiyohira clicks his tongue. "is it another act to make people believe that i am hurting you?"

she hides under the table and yells, "i told you that i would do it."

what the hell? kiyohira can feel gazes on him. he calls the nearest waiter over and asks him to prepare a room for him. his clothes are drenched with her vomit. she isn't anything better. he needs to settle things down with her. he can already guess that this scene tonight will make things worse for him.

"woman, come out." he leans down and grabs her arms. she resists violently. he forces her to come out. she still covers her eyes with her arm.

"you are making a scene." he scowls at her. "this will make things worse for us."

"don't hurt me," she pleads.

"woman, you.." he ceases when he sees blood coming out of her mouth. what's going on with her? how did she get hurt? did he hurt her when he forced her to eat?

"it wasn't me. i didn't tell them. i will never tell. it hurts too much..."

"look at me." he pulls her arms away from her. she shakes her head violently and struggles to be free. she looks like she is in pain.

"i won't hurt you," he tells her. "stop acting this way."

her body suddenly becomes motionless.

***

why i am in the hospital?

i stare at the window with half-open eyes. i don't remember having an accident. did i get sick again? i hate hospitals.

"you are finally awake." his voice nearly jolts me out of the bed. what the...? i am astonished to see kamiyama sitting next to my bed. he has a haunted and exhausted look on his face. his tie is loose. his hair is rumbled. his polished and clean personality is nowhere to be seen.

what happened to him? he should be in the hospital bed instead of me.

"what are you doing here?" i ask him. i am disgusted to see dried vomit on his clothes. did this man drink and vomit on himself? "what happened to you?"

"you..." he closes his mouth and takes a deep breath. he looks at me and asks me calmly, "how are you feeling now? does it still hurt?"

i blink my eyes. "what hurts?"

"your body, you mentally challenged woman!" he spats out the words in anger. that's more like him.

"i am fine." i look at the iv line. "but, why i am here? i clearly remember that i -" it starts to come back to me. i was with him on a rooftop. we were talking about condoms. then, he...

"you remember now?" he furrows his brows.

"did i say something last night?" i look at him uneasily. he shouldn't find it out. "did i do something wrong?"

"you don't remember?" he stands up and points at me. "you don't remember how you brought me to this state? i asked you to eat properly and take care of yourself. are you a kid? who eats five bowls of ramen in one go? you threw up until you vomited blood. on. me."

did he find out? i purse my lips.

"that's not the end. you even blamed me for hurting you." his face gets harder with each passing second. "woman, when did i hurt you? it's you who have been using physical violence against me."

fuck! i am doomed.

"you did try to hurt me." i try to make a distance between him and me, but the iv line doesn't allow me to. "you nearly punched me at my house."

"i wasn't going to punch you." he grabs the collar of my shirt. "i punched the wall. not you. i won't ever hurt a woman."

"you displayed violence anyway." i bite his hand. he lets of my collar and looks at me with a baffled expression. i strip off the annoying iv line and climbs off the bed. his expression becomes worse when he sees blood in my arm.

"why do you want to die, duncehead?"

duncehead? he can't even cuss to save his life. "yes, fucker. i want to die. now, disappear from my sight. i would rather die at this moment than see you."

i press on my wound to stop the blood. tch! everything is going wrong because of him.

"takeuchi rie, get back on the bed at this instant." he tries to seize me. i duck down and run to the door. i get out of the room and lock the room behind me.

"takeuchi, don't test me." he snarls with fury. he is going to break the door. but, this one is stronger than the one at my house. i stick my tongue out to him before i run away.

***

kiyohira is now sure. this woman is deranged. she needs to get treatment. her actions do not make sense to him at all.

with one kick, he breaks the door. earlier, he didn't do that because she was standing on the other side. she would have been hurt if he did that. he sees her running away without shoes. now, he has to chase this woman and bring her back to get treatment.

"mr kamiyama, why are you running?" doctor hayashi stops him from his pursuit. "what happened to your hand? it's bleeding."

"i am chasing your patient." kiyohira shouts at him and pursues the mad woman. his bleeding hand is forgotten. she nearly runs into another patient, but she stops suddenly and changes her track. he wonders how can someone this weak and small run that fast. she looks like she is running for her life.

"stop!" he yells. but, she isn't the type to listen. she turns left around the corridor. when he arrives there, he can't see her anywhere. where did she hide?

"mr kamiyama!" the doctor finally catches up to him. "the patient...where is she?"

he glowers at him. "how would i know? close down the exits. she must not leave this hospital."

"we will do that." the doctor doesn't understand what's going on. normally, only those who cannot make payment run away like this. mr kamiyama has already paid for her treatment. but, who is she anyway? is she his friend? he peers at the enraged kamiyama. she is probably his lover. they must be having a lover's quarrel. he nods in understanding. lovers do crazy things when they are in love. this is quite romantic. mr kamiyama is so worried about her that he doesn't care about his bleeding hand. his love is deep for her. he must help mr kamiyama make up with his woman.

"hey woman, what are you doing?" kiyohira turns around when he hears the old woman's yelling. he also sees her running around the corner. he lets out an exasperated sigh. then, he cracks his knuckles. this woman needs to be taught a lesson.