Chapter Eighteen: You have asked me, and I have said nothing

A/N 8/22/10: Hello all. Sorry for the delay. This chapter had frustrated me very much, and I have rewritten it many times, and yet I am still not satisfied. I am pleased that I was able to incorporate some of the imagery that I wanted to, but I'm still not too happy with it. However, I really wanted to upload this because many of you thought that the last chapter, Interlude was the last one. It's actually more of a marker of the transition of the story, and the change of the relationship between Pai and Retasu.

I'm becoming irritated with this story because I realize that some of the pieces of the story don't coincide with earlier chapters, since I'm stupid and I never write out a timeline before I start a story. I always start from scratch, so I have to think out every chapter as I'm writing it. In addition, I have to deal with my very poor writing in the beginning of the story, and some of the plot twists that I had planned no longer work. x_x I hate myself.

Anyway, I hope to update more frequently in the future, but I might not be able to. I also apologize to everyone who I've never responded to. I just want you all to know that I read every single one of the reviews that I get, but due to the fact that I live in the middle of the woods with no internet access, I cannot spare enough time to respond to you all when I'm in town. I'm really sorry about this, and I'll try to respond more in the future.

With love, Zenaga the Sea Serpent

Retasu watched him, every time a girl went into his apartment. She watched him, seeing everything that he did to each and every girl spread out on the bed where she had her first time with him. She saw each and every bead of sweat dripping down his back as he reached a climax, and then sent every girl away. She saw every single time he turned to her, and then looked away, ignoring her tears.

She watched as Pai ran his fingers along the body of the girl he was currently enjoying, causing her to moan. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Kurogawa-senpai." Retasu said. He looked at her briefly, and then returned to what he was doing. "Stop it." She growled. However, he simple ignored her and continued pleasuring the girl underneath him. "Stop it, Kurogawa-senpai." She said more loudly. Still no response.

"I know you can hear me!" She cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I just want to talk to you!" He still ignored her. "I know that you think I'll just go quietly into the night, but I won't!" She yelled, wiping her tears away.

"What's wrong?" the girl underneath Retasu's lost love asked, noticing that Pai had stopped. Relief swept over Retasu as she waited for Pai to send the girl away. Alas, that moment never came, because he started up again, more ferociously this time. Retasu froze and stared at him, her fists clenched.

"Fine! You've forced my hand!" She yelled as she stormed over to the bed, ripping the sheet from the bed. The girl screamed as she was pulled off the bed by Retasu and wrapped up in the sheet, being strangled by the enraged phantom. The girl kept screaming as Retasu curled her body around the girl, covering her mouth.

"Stop it, Retasu! I'll talk to you, just let her go!" He yelled as Retasu glared back at him. She grudgingly released the girl and allowed her to untangle herself from the sheet, sobbing. The girl stared up at Pai as Retasu stood up behind her.

"Kurogawa-senpai… what's going on…?" The girl sobbed, her eyes wide. "What just happened to me?" She hiccupped. Pai said nothing, but simply stared at Retasu, his eyes wide with rage.

"You should leave. Now." He growled. The girl drew back, frightened. Obediently, she stood up and got her clothes on, exiting the room without a word. Pai and Retasu stood staring at each other for a few minutes until Pai bent down, pulled on his clothes and sat down on his bed.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" He growled, rubbing his temples, his eyes shut.

"I need you." She said plainly, unmoving. Pai let out a cynical laugh as he glared up at her, clenching his hands in rage.

"I hear those words every day. I'm tired of them." He hissed angrily. Retasu looked at him blankly, saying nothing. "You so frequently beg for my attention, and yet you have nothing to say." He stood up, walking towards the door. Tears began to roll down her pink cheeks again as Pai left, slamming the door behind him. After a moment, she followed him, not even bothering to open the door. She simply walked through it, following him into the kitchen.

"Kurogawa-senpai…" She began, Pai looking over his shoulder at her. "Why are you so cold?" He said nothing, but simply stared out the kitchen window. "Do you not care about me anymore?" Pai shook his head, cradling it his in his palms.

"I'm going crazy." He said quietly, still shaking his head. "Retasu is not standing in my kitchen. She's at the hospital, in a coma."

"Do you even care about me anymore?"

"At the hospital…"

"I still love you, more than anything."

"Drowned in the pool…"

Retasu paused, staring at him blankly.

"Do you want to know who wanted to kill me?"

Pai whipped around, wide eyed.

"You know?"

"Of course."

"Who did it?"

"There's one who has the evidence, but she won't want to tell you."

Pai paused to look at her for a moment before he exited the kitchen, making his way to the bathroom. As he entered the small, green room made for the purpose of cleansing, he stared at himself in the toothpaste-splattered mirror. He touched the bags under his eyes, pondering Retasu's death.

Why would anyone kill her? He thought as he moved his hand down to the hickey on his neck. Grabbing a washcloth, he turned on the sink to wash his face. Not bothering to shut of the water, he pressed the cool washcloth to his face. As he removed the cloth, he stared in alarm at the other figure that had appeared in the mirror. "Retasu," he began nervously as he set down the washcloth on the counter. "What are you doing with that?"

Retasu looked blankly at the hooked knife that she cradled in her hand. Pai stood, motionlessly staring at her through the reflection as she made her way towards him. Very gently, she slid the knife up until it pressed gently against his neck. Not daring to speak, he watched her very carefully.

"I love you, Kurogawa-senpai." She said plainly as she pressed the knife into his neck, puncturing the skin. Pai tried not to flinch as he watched his own blood slowly seep from his neck. After Retasu quietly watched him bleed for a minute or so, she slowly pulled the knife away from him, setting it down on the counter. Although he had been through much worse pain, Pai certainly didn't enjoy the painful throbbing sensation. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she turned him towards her, away from the mirror. He stared at her blankly, attempting to mask his fear.

"I love you, Kurogawa-senpai." She repeated, pulling away the knife she observed the trickle of blood flowing down his neck. "I don't understand why you would leave me." He watched as her emotionless expression shifted to one of sadness. "I thought you loved me." Slowly, Pai put his hands on her shoulders, wanting to pull her closer.

"You're not real." He growled as she stared up at him, her eyes wide in shock. Pai frowned. "Well, you're real, but you're not really standing in front of me. This is all in my head." Placing her hands on his shoulders as well, she frowned, tears forming in her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She hissed, her grip tightening. "How do I know that you're not lying to try to get me to leave? How do I know that you're not pretending to be crazy so that I'll go away?" Pai stared down at her, his gaze steady.

"You're in a coma. This is all in my head." He said, his voice not wavering. Retasu's expression disappeared as she moved her hands down to his chest.

"Let's see if this is in your head." She growled as she shoved him backwards. Pai cried out as he tried to regain his balance, but his feet slipped on the pool of water that had formed at his feet from the overflowing sink. As he crashed into the mirror behind him, the glass shattered, falling all around him as he fell to the ground, his head throbbing.

His vision becoming spotted, he looked up at Retasu, who was staring blankly at him. His vision started to go black as he watched her turn and exit the room Why? Why, Retasu? And then, everything went black.

The next time that Pai awoke, he was lying in a hospital bed.