A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I wanted the final chapter to be absolutely perfect. Yes, this is the final chapter.

-- If I Go To Hell, Will You Come With Me? --

Yumi woke up disoriented. It was dark - the middle of the night. She was sitting up rather than lying down, and she seemed to be leaning against something very - unnaturally - warm.

"Are you awake?" a low rough voice drawled, the arm that had been draped casually across her shoulders falling away.

And the previous evening's events all came rushing back to her.

Her body shivered at the sudden loss of his warmth and she moved to lean against him again. Shishio allowed it. He was surprised - maybe even confused - by her reaction, and watched curiously as she drifted back to sleep. She seemed to trust him, at least. Even if she wasn't attracted to him. Well, most women (or perhaps even all women) wouldn't be attracted to a man who looked like he did now.

Wait. Following the path his thoughts were currently taking... Do I want her to be attracted me? he wondered incredulously. He would admit that he was fascinated by this woman's strange actions and reactions, but that was only because she didn't adhere to the normal code of expected female behavior... right?

He sighed, pushing the thought to the back of his mind, and settled into a restless sleep.

Morning came and went. Shishio and Sojiro both woke early but were at a loss as for what to do. (Once Sojiro was up, Shishio moved Yumi to the bed.) Should they just leave? No. The red light district was still slow and sleepy at this time of day but the rest of the town would be waking up and going about their business, and Shishio was still a fugitive from the police - although they had mostly given up on finding him at this point in time.

But honestly, he wasn't afraid of being caught by the police. He was just making excuses to stay a little while longer.

It was noon before Yumi woke, and late afternoon by the time she'd made herself presentable and the three of them ventured out of her room into the central area of the brothel house.

When Shishio went to leave, the timid "companion" from the night before (he still couldn't remeber the girl's name) insisted that he at least stay long enough to have a meal before he left - since he never got his money's worth from her.

Around this time, customers began to trickle in. The timid girl was called away to do business before Shishio's food was served, and it was Yumi who ended up waiting on him instead. Not that either of them were particularly displeased with this turn of events.

She was sitting quietly beside him while Shishio and Sojiro ate, when a rather unpleasant-looking but very obviously rich man barged in and demanded her companionship.

"I'm sorry," Yumi replied lightly, with a pleasant smile. "But I'm already sold for the night." After saying so, she leaned against Shishio's side and laid her head on his shoulder, making it obvious who she had been sold to. The other man eyed Shishio with distaste, but left without making anything out of it. Once he was gone, Yumi moved a respecatable distance away from Shishio again.

"Why would you do that?" Shishio asked, regarding her curiously. "Lie, I mean?" he clarified. "You are under no obligation to take care of me and I was planning on leaving before nightfall anyway... And even though we both know I didn't get my money's worth last night, I can't afford you." He stopped speaking abruptly as the answer occurred to him. She obviously doesn't enjoy being a whore, and my presence here provided a convenient excuse for her to turn the customer down. Out loud he said, "If you hate this life so much, why don't you run away?"

"To where?" she asked bitterly. "Back to my family, the ones that sold me in the first place? To the streets, where I would likely end up only being able to do the same thing I'm doing here, but in less comfort and with no assurance that I'll live to see the next day?"

"Why don't you run away... with me?"

And for some reason that she didn't understand at the time, she accepted.

It would be quite awhile yet before she figured out that she'd fallen in love.

-end-

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