Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The drip of water from the leaky faucet sounded constant, as if counting down the seconds of Shinichiro Ito's destruction. He sat in the corner of his small apartment, his back leaning against the peeling paint of the wall. His sunken eyes stared blankly at the room. The musty, fishy odor of piles of trash-empty beer bottles, fast food wrappers, and dirty clothes-controlled the air.

On the stained wall, a small photograph hung crookedly. Shinichiro's face looked younger in the photo, standing with a wide smile next to a beautiful woman in a simple white dress. Akiko Nakamura.

His hand trembled as he reached for a nearby, but empty, beer bottle. He swore under his breath, "Tch, shit."

"I don't need this..." he muttered, though his hand kept searching for another bottle that might be left. There weren't any. Just him, solitude, and silence.

His eyes returned to the photo on the wall. Akiko's smile seemed to mock him, reminding him of the life he once had. The perfect life-a wife who loved him, a stable job as a teacher, and the respect of the neighborhood.

"YOU ALWAYS SUPPORTED ME, DID YOU?!" he snapped suddenly. His voice echoed in the empty apartment. He chuckled, a bitter, desperate laugh. "Look at me now, Akiko. Loser! HAH!"

With a sudden movement, he threw the empty bottle in his hand towards the wall. BRUK! The bottle struck her wedding photo, knocking the frame to the floor. The sound of shattering glass could be heard breaking the silence.

Shinichiro got up with heavy steps, his body slightly unsteady. He looked down at the photo that was now scattered on the floor with the broken glass. Blood ran thinly down his fingers as he picked up the photo, but he didn't care. He swept the broken glass from Akiko's face, cleaning the imaginary stain from the picture.

"It's all my fault," his voice was low, almost a whisper. "But... you're wrong too. Why didn't you leave? Why did you stay, Akiko? You knew I was broken."

His hands trembled, holding the photo tightly. Memories slowly invaded his mind. The flashes of Akiko's scarred and frightened face, the night he lost control, and the small face of the young girl who continued to haunt him... they rose like a storm in his head.

He fell back to the floor, the photo slipping from his hand. His body bent over, his breathing heavy, and he stared straight ahead, at the ceiling. His eyes felt hot, but no tears came out. He was too empty to cry.

"I'm tired..." he sighed softly. "I can't take it anymore. But I can't run away. I... I can't..."

Shinichiro closed his eyes, but the voices in his head kept calling out to him. Voices from the past.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The leaky faucet continued to sound, counting the time that was approaching the limit of his consciousness. In the corner of his eye, he saw the shadow of something that wasn't there. Or perhaps, it was just his mind that had cracked.

He knew something darker was waiting for him. Something he couldn't escape.

"Maybe, this is the punishment for everything I did..."

Tanaka's May Terror and the Unraveling of His Life

Shinichiro sat on the floor, clutching his head that was throbbing from too much thought. Among the sounds of dripping water, a more familiar sound suddenly rang out: ding!

New message.

His tired eyes turned to his cell phone lying on the small table. He knew who had sent the message. No one else cared about her, except him. The one who had always haunted his life.

With trembling hands, Shinichiro grabbed the phone and opened the message. The sender's name took his breath away: Mei Tanaka.

"Sensei, you remember me, right? I won't let you forget me."

Shinichiro's throat went dry. He slammed his cell phone to the floor, but the screen stayed on, showing the message that continued to haunt his mind. Mei, the girl he once thought was just an ordinary schoolgirl, had now turned into an endless nightmare.

He remembered the first time he met Mei. She was smart, sweet, and always smiling. But behind that smile, there was something dark. She approached Shinichiro not out of admiration, not out of respect. No, it was more than that.

"She knows everything," Shinichiro muttered in a trembling voice. Mei knew his secret. Secrets that should have been buried.

He remembered Mei's first threat:

"If you don't do what I ask, I'll make sure the world knows who you really are."

At first, Shinichiro tried to ignore her threats. But Mei always had a way of making him listen-from text messages, to photos he shouldn't have, to showing up in front of his house in the middle of the night.

The fear made him give up. He got in touch with Mei. He knew it was wrong, but Mei's terror didn't stop. She kept demanding more and more, controlling him more and more.

And that night, when Akiko tried to stop him, everything went dark. Shinichiro couldn't help himself. His hand shot up, not to protect, but to hurt.

"Stop! You don't know what she's doing to me!" he yelled at Akiko at that moment. But Akiko just cried, terrified. Her scarred face was still vivid in his mind.

Shinichiro closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the image. But Mei's voice kept echoing in his head:

"You're mine, Sensei. I won't let you go."

His cell phone rang again. Another message from Mei. It was shorter this time, but it hit like a knife.

"I know what you did to that little girl. People know too. Just wait."

Shinichiro gasped. He held his head with both hands, his body trembling violently. How did Mei know about that? How could she know?

"No way... No way she knows!" he muttered loudly. But deep in his heart, he knew Mei always knew everything.

In the corner of his eye, the small television in his apartment was on, playing the news about him. Her face appeared on the screen, with a headline that made his body weak:

"Former Teacher Involved in Abuse Scandal. New Evidence Reveals Old Case."

Shinichiro got up from the floor, his eyes blank. "It's over... My life is over."

Shinichiro's Final Decision

I sat on the floor, staring at my cell phone lying near the broken bottle. The name was still on the screen: Mei Tanaka. Even in the gloomy silence of my apartment, she was still here, haunting me.

Her last message continues to play in my head. "I know what you did to that little girl. People know too. Just wait."

How does she know? Why does she know?

I rubbed my face roughly, trying to get rid of the thought. But her image never left. Her face, her smile, her little laugh... everything was like poison. I tried to take a deep breath, but the air in this room felt too heavy, too thick.

My head throbbed violently, and I knew I couldn't last much longer. All of this was already too much. I'd lost everything: my job, my wife, my reputation... myself.

I stood up, a little unsteadily, and stepped into the kitchen. The drawer opened with a single tug, revealing the rope I'd been saving for the past few days. My hands trembled as I touched it. This rope would be the end of it all.

"Enough," I whispered, almost silently. "I don't want to go on like this."

I dragged a chair from the corner of the room and placed it in the center of the apartment. The wooden beams on the ceiling looked fragile, but they were strong enough to hold my weight, right? I didn't care anymore.

As I tied the rope to the beam, my mind was filled with the faces that kept haunting me. Akiko... I'm sorry. I knew you would never do it, but I still hoped. I'm too weak to be the husband you deserve.

And Mei... I hate you. But maybe I deserve it. All this. All this destruction.

I stood on the chair, looping the rope around my neck. I pulled it tight, feeling the rough fibers against my skin. My breath is getting shorter, my chest tight, but there's a strange calmness in it. This was the end I deserved.

I close my eyes.

"Sorry..." I whispered. "For everything."

I kicked the chair.

BRUK!

My body fell, but... not the way I imagined. Instead of a sense of calm that came, I slammed into the floor hard. I coughed, choking, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

The beam... the beam broke.

"SHIT!" I hit the floor with my fist, feeling the blood flowing from my scraped elbow. "WHY?! I can't even do DEATH right?!"

I sprawled on the floor, my breathing heavy, my body aching. It felt like being humiliated by the world for the last time. I stared at the cracked ceiling above my head, trying to find a reason why I was still here. But there wasn't one.

Only emptiness.

I closed my eyes, my body feeling cold. But in the darkness, I heard something. A small, quiet, but clear voice... someone calling my name.

"Shinichiro..."