Maragi's arcade of madness.

Max separated from everybody else, he sat down by the school sidewalk that connected the hallway to the grassy field. The flowers felt surreal as if he was standing next to his own grave. His eyes explored the school grounds, his feet were planted on where he had sat. His urge to cough, the painful experience, it was starting to hit him again.

His mouth was covered by his hands, he coughed yet to his surprise, no blood. The relief was cut short by a second wave, he looked at his hands with pure sorrow. Fate was sealed, there was no more escaping the sickness, from here it can only get worse. He stood up after spitting on the grass with his bloodied saliva.

The dying man was walking, revisiting the old areas he had laid in. Watching the chairs, imagining Yuki and Dairue sitting alongside them. They were there, yet the memories were slowly fading from his mind, the times they ran along the field and ate together. Visions were running around his mind as the xylophone played around and danced.

The music danced around his head, he started running around the garden, imagining he was being chased by his two closest friends. Their eyes interlocked with the stone chairs, the feeling of the wind hitting him with his childhood nostalgia. The happiness of losing time, the joy of letting go of his most precious memories.

Jumping up and down on the stone benches, nearly trampling the weeds that grew from the pebbles below. Earthworms, wriggling in the dirt, seeking to feed off the filthy leaves that decayed with no trace.

"Sometimes I wish, even for a minute of my life, I could relive the first time I sat here. No use for that anymore, it's equally tiring to relive those things as much as they sound nice to experience again.."

He cradled his thoughts and kept running around, Yuki saw him at his lowest, yet she could only stare as he ran around the tables. Yuki grabbed her kite, a string filled with paper banners, and ran around to chase him. She smiled, and he smiled back, never realizing that it was real. They continued around to wander, her kite flying as she ran by, both tired, yet still relentlessly chasing.

Dairue caught notice of their fun game, he joined them without a word. Sneaking in, Max is still savoring and drowning in his own fogged mind, clouded by delusions of the safer past. Failing to realize the memories were coming true, he ran, they ran, all together like they used to. Reliving the moments of their child-like wonders, as Max ran in his imagination, disconnected from them.

"Max! Are you not tired yet?! I am!" Yuki shouted from the other bench as she tried to tie her shoelaces together.

"Huh?! Wait, what?! You're here- how? How did I not know…?" in shock at his imagination coming true, Max could only look in disbelief. For a short while, he thought his mind was truly capable of projecting thoughts into reality, yet feeling equally pleasant to know she was there.

"You good? Haha, man's not present with us right neeeeow!" Dairue sat down on the bench, catching his breath to keep up with running.

"You okay?! Why were you running around alone? Hehehe! " Yuki asked with her curious eyes, eyebrows raised, giggling at Max's confusing actions. Her bubbly laugh, one she pulled straight out of her childhood, gave both the boys a smile.

Max simply hugged them both without hesitation, regardless of whether Soran was watching or not.

"I missed you guys..." tears slowly dripping down, for once, the boy's tears were of joy.

"We can tell, a little on the tighter end, Max, but it's okay." Dairue and Yuki wrapped their arms around him, tucking his head in their shoulders, holding on for a few seconds longer.

The three decided to return to their group to commence the plan they had, the two groups combined to form their final walk home together. The guards were instructed to bow to every student who leaves, concern continued to grow over the truth of why everything began to stop operation.

Leaving the gate behind without ever knowing when they'll return, they all separated after a few.

What is the sickness that Max is suffering from? What is the plan that the group is commencing? Why did everything begin to stop operation and what is the truth behind it? decided to call it a day and make one final decision on whether they tag along with the rest of the group or not. Soran stalked alongside and dragged Max for a quick conversation, Yasu was intentionally following both of them yet noticed her and decided his turn back.

"Hey…" her eyes, like a hollow mine, were clean, the sunrise was visible through her pupils.

Max pulls out the recording of what she said the day prior.

"I seeee~, well… I was planning on giving you my entire attention today. Well, you were not worth my time anyway… See you, Honomura, Rexymax.." Soran walked away, grabbing her bag and putting her hand on her little sister's back.

"W-Wait... Am I?! Hehe... I am free! I am free!" his eyes lit up, unable to contain the burst of energy, he jumped over and over again. Other students ridiculed his morals, her friends ridiculed his deceitful form of love. As much as all had a judgment on his true intent, he celebrated his newfound freedom.

The excited one ran towards Yasu and told him of the news. Yasu could only nod yes to what he had done, the year they were together felt like a pool of never-ending toxicity. As the students walked by in a slow march toward their destination, Max admired the surroundings. The streets were finally filled with people again, gazing at the electric poles going by.

The trees wiped the falling flora of leaves, some had fallen on their bags, the boy was entangled in its beauty. The sun rays crossed between the branches, the light, the warmth of the sun as they left the shadow of the school. Somebody finally spoke about where to go, the person that had organized the trip, Maragi, had decided to use the arcade to have fun.

"We goin' to the arcade, I said so, I'll pay for the cards too." Maragi, in a commanding tone, had demonstrated her authoritarian figure.

"Which arcade? There's two nearby." her friend, Niko, a tall lady, the eldest of the group, asked which street has better fitted for their enjoyment.

"Which one is bigger?" Maragi asked as she leaned into Niko.

"Iiiiiiiii don't know, but they said the one in street 3 was big ye?" Mari answered uncertainly, treating her answer as another question to their confusion.

"Oooooh, why don't we ask the boys to check??" Maragi suggested the idea of letting the three goofballs, to roam the streets and see which one was much more expansive.

"They'll get tired before they even get there." Yuki implied, knowing how stubborn the three idiots are, when it came to being told around.

"Waaait~... Where the fuck are they?!, find them!" Maragi shifted moods in a snap, not letting her day get ruined by a bunch of imbeciles trying to run from their trip.

"Hey, Max! Yasu! We caught you guys already!!" trying to tell them they've been caught, the two still keep walking away from her.

"Motherfuckers, hey! Get back here!" rambling as she nearly toppled over a small crack in the sidewalk tiles.

Max and Yasu pretend not to hear her calls and decide to march in the direction of the nearest internet cafe. Dairue was behind a tree, trying to wrap his entire body to fit the cylindrical shape of the bark.

Yuki decides to run toward the three boys, she grabs their collars and pulls them back

"Aaaaah! Please, am sorry, am sorry like really sorryyyyyy~" Yasu profusely apologized, in fear of being physically hurt by the four girls.

"Let go, Yuki, I'll walk.." Max coldly remarked to her hands keeping his collar in a tight grip.

"Maaaaaaaan, Yasu, you were too loud." Dairue came by, walking past Yuki, acting as if he's always been there.

"Where's Yuari?" Max turned to Yasu, trying to figure out where their fourth member went.

"Oh yeah, he escaped us." with a chill, careless tone, he responded.

"You let him go? Idiot, idiot, you idiot..." Max could only express frustration, as they failed to convince Yuari to go with them.

"Yeah, yeaaaa! it's my fault! Sorry, let's just go!" Yasu pushed Max and Yuki away from him, trying to shrug off his completely disastrous responsibilities of making sure everybody stays with them.

"Glad you know." Yuki's last words before she went back to the three other girls.

Maragi reassures the boys that they won't pay, her money meant nothing much to her and her family. She values the enjoyment and the happiness of being with her friends, the boys were only a new addition to their growing band of people. The young lady understood how much they were on edge, she asked if they wanted food yet to her surprise, everyone was full.

Of them aside from Niko, the hungry woman was adamant that she wanted something to eat. She told Maragi of her cravings and how good a glazed donut would taste in the morning, about how crispy the sold meat was during the mornings. She was drooling over the thought of "Karaage", the crispy skin, the piping hot steam inside of the chicken.

Her words made everyone question their stomachs, Maragi bought everyone, including herself, the same meal. Each crunch made the loud sounds of crackling chicken batter so much more satisfying, Max downed two out of the four pieces and decided he'll save the last two pieces for his mother.

After a minute of eating, everybody was done with their meals, Dairue even shared his own with Yuki, the two's innocent bond, growing more and more as they spent time together. Max could not help but feel warmth over the chemistry they had with each other, the undeniable friendship that had grown since they were younger, the comfort he had with the two unpredictable idiots.

The great travelers arrived at their destination, the arcade was open for business during that day. To their surprise, not a lot of people played, the few that slouched over the arcade machines were sparse and far apart. They were shocked and thrilled to experience an entire arcade as if it was rented by Maragi herself.

"We- we have the whole arcade!!" Maragi jumped and jumped, feeling like the ground was being towed and rattled around, overjoyed by not seeing any other people except a few guests and customers that wandered by.

"We have almost the whole arcade, this is a cool sight." looking at the emptiness, the newly cleaned red carpets with rotating patterns. Max could only express his comfort in knowing there were plenty of spots to hide and rest on, a black couch on the corner, a few seats that aren't occupied, sitting away from the machines.

"Hey, hey idiot, Dairueee! Look, basketballs, let's see who can shoot the most." Yasu was enticing his fellow competitor to a basketball match, one with no court and all arcade machine greatness.

"You're not gonna win bozo, you can't even dribble during our sports fest" The arrogant response was a testament to his own. Dairue had scored a half-court shot in the trials, Yasu could barely get his hands to function when holding a ball.

The rich lady, Maragi, took her time loading all their cards with the same amount, she asked them to spend their cards wherever they liked. Dairue and Yasu quickly had a competition on who can shoot the most, Hisae was following Niko and Mari to where the karaoke machines were. Maragi played alone on the crane machine, attempting to take a plushie for herself.

"Where's Max?" looking around as she tried peeking over the corners, Yuki was astonished at how quickly he disappeared after being there at the doors with her.

"I don't know, maybe the crane machines?" Mari, yet again answered with another question.

"I saw him sitting by the counter earlier, I think he's in the corner somewhere." Niko tries to save her curiosity by comforting her, she brings her closer and gives a thumbs up to Max, who was on the other end of the establishment. Max gave a thumbs up back before slumping his body on the black couch.

Max was nowhere to be found after his short appearance, nobody knew about his sacred spot hidden behind the opaque glass. He sat down next to the small wall where there were couches to rest on, however, Maragi had known where he was planning to sit down. She approached him and decided to ask whether he could help

"Help me, come on, you're not doing anything anyway" Maragi pulled his hand and took him to the crane machines. The stuffed animals inside were looking into her soul, tempting her to spend more and more money on getting an inch closer to taking them home.

"The key to the crane is only pressing the button after you've gone from the bottom, then you try and wiggle the claw around to see if it aligns? Try to align the right claw into the tag so it hooks on. Maybe you'll win, it's not foolproof..." a hefty essay from Max, his experiences with gambling on claw machines was finally paying off.

"How did you know it's the crane?" Maragi asked as if she didn't bring him towards the claw machines.

Max refused to answer yet she tried his advice, the boy was pacing behind, he took control of the machine and set her aside. He ended up winning the plushie second try. She had insisted it was her prize due to her spending the money on the cards, the gentleman willingly gave the plushie away.

Dairue and Yasu on the other hand, were both tied on the basketball rim. Dairue caught one more shot beforehand, the battle was close at hand. Both of them were on edge over who'll land the final basket yet suddenly the power began to lose voltage.

The lights ended up flickering…