““Bobu slipped a large pistol from a shoulder holster under his jacket. He leveled the gun at Tatsui’s face. “Don’t worry. You will not burn. You will not be purified. You are free.” He pulled the trigger. The gun roared, but Tatsui did not hear it. Or if he did, it was just an echo, a faint fragment of sound trapped in the mists at the edge of his consciousness. For Tatsui, there was only the growing darkness. For a brief second, he could see the lights of Shinjuku ... brilliant flickering stars, a map of heavenly pleasures on earth. Then, one by one, the stars went out.””
