in order to save kuro and himself, shiro has to kill the first assassin dragon by tipping gasoline and setting it alight, burning him alive. the second assassin butterfly pursues shiro and stabs him with a samurai sword. shiro is then sent to the hospital. the police, who have been watching both snake and the two youngsters, decide to take shiro into protective custody "for his own good", while kuro watches shiro go knowing he would be too hard to look after while being hunted. kuro later falls into a depressive state.