Lifestyle

"Hey, Ace!" A shorter boy with long, messy brown hair tied up in a high ponytail waltzed into the hospital with his face covered in blood splatters, "It's all done!"

"Hell yeah," Ace smiled and greeted the boy with a low five.

"WOO! So what'd ya do with him, boss?" Mio exclaimed. 

"I used my imagination," Akuma smirked,

"Damn, let me guess... he's hanging naked from a-"

"-street light at a major intersection, that's right." 

"I called that shit!!" Mio jumped and laughed.

"I took photos of him and sent them to every contact on his phone. Ronin snuck into his house and took back that stuff he stole from Sachi," Akuma then took out some jewelry from his pockets, "Among some other stuff..."

"Damn, Ronin went for the good shit," Ace said as he inspected one of the diamond rings. 

"You tryna give that to Sachiko, Ace?" Mio snickered, subsequently getting hit with an aggressive smack on the back by Ace.

"I think I could buy somethin' nice for Sachi with this. Whaddya, think? Somethin' to cheer her up!" Akuma smiled mischievously.

I stood silent and dazed. That was a lot to process. The punishment he gave that Oneiroi member is way illegal. This kid could get charged! Stealing is bad, yeah, but don't you think this is overboard?! And everyone is so chill about it-- happy even. I mean, that Oneiroi member was a piece of shit but you coulda just brought him to the goddamn police after a beating!

"So, what's happening with the other guys?" Ace asked

"They're just cleaning stuff up. They'll come over soon," Akuma said

"How many of em' know what happened?"

"Not many. I told Ronin to tell the rest of the founders only. I don't wanna go scaring everyone," Akuma smiled, "After all, today is a victory. We should be celebrating."

"Yeah, celebrate kickin' Oneiroi's defeat!" Mio jumped in, "Must've been a sight to see!"

I slowly began to back away and venture off into the waiting room in peace-- until Keiji called out to me.

"Hey, Shin. Where're you sneaking off to?" 

"Oh, just gonna go wait in front of Ryuji's operation room-"

"We're gonna come with ya. You tryna go without us?" Mio taunted.

"You guys seem pretty preoccupied so-"

"Not at all," Ace said. I felt a threatening aura loom over me again. I bet he thought I was being suspicious again. 

"Right, we should introduce you to our big boss," Keiji smiled, "Akuma, this is Shin. He carried Ryuji all the way over to the hospital. He helped us out big time today. Without him, we might've never gotten Ryuji here."

I nodded at him. He's making me sound like some sort of big-shot hero, and it's kind of embarrassing. Akuma didn't say anything. He stuffed the jewels back in his pocket and moved closer to me. He squinted his eyes as he stared into mine, almost like he was inspecting me. 

"Who the hell are you?"

"Uhm, just some random guy that happened to find Ryuji on my way back from school."

"School? It's nearly dinner time!"

"Sports practice."

"You know Ryuji?" 

"No... I just saw him lying in his own pool of blood."

"Why'd you help him then?" 

Jeez, what is it with these people and their suspicions about me! 

"Cause' he was fucking dying!"

He didn't say anything after that, he just continued glaring at me. 

"Why the mask?" he said.

"To protect my identity."

He glared at me for a bit longer, then looked back at Ace who did nothing but stare back. It seemed like they could communicate through glaring. He then looked back at me again, then leaned back. His face instantly changed into a grin and he smacked my shoulder in what I think he believed was a pat. 

"Thanks for helping my buddy out, Shin," he smiled, "Call me Akuma, leader of Kansai Kill Thrill."

"Speaking of which, where the hell is Ryuji?"

"They took him on those wheel-beds into some emergency room," Mio said.

"Emergency room?," Akuma said in a low voice "How bad was the wound?"

"Shit, I don't know. When I got here, they were already rolling him away. He had those oxygen masks on his face!" Mio walked back and forth in the lobby, "It was too dark to see outside- Wait. Shin would know!" he pointed straight at me, and everyone's eyes were at me.

"Yeah... It was pretty bad. Once I got inside the hospital, I was confronted with the sheer amount of blood Ryuji had lost. It was..." I murmured.

"And that blood on your hip," Akuma said loudly, "Where's that from?"

"From Ryuji. I was carrying him on my back." 

"We could use some of Ronin's finds to pay for Ryuji's bills," Keiji said, pointing to Akuma's pocket of jewels.

Akuma acknowledged the remark by patting his pocket. He went over to the reception table and asked for a Ryuji Okamura. 

----

We sat in silence outside of Ryuji's operating room. The jovial energy completely shifted from when we were in the lobby. It was a solemn silence-- everyone wallowed in their thoughts. I sat across from everyone, keeping my distance-- only observing their silent suffering. Keiji was near the wall across the room from me, still grasping at the situation. His elbows dug into his thighs as his head rested on his hands. Mio sat next to him and patted him on the back, then looked to his right. Ace sat a seat away from Mio, leaned back against the chair with crossed arms. He kept his head down. Mio tried to pat him on the shoulder too but Ace quickly swatted at him. Akuma sat to the right of Ace. His back was scrunched over, shaking his left leg.

"I'm stepping out for a bit," Ace muttered as he got up and walked out the corner. 

The silence quickly returned, but this time it was restless. How much longer do we need to sit here waiting? I can't just leave without knowing what the hell happened to Ryuji. I feel like sitting here in silence isn't helping ease any anxiety. I was compelled to break the silence, in any way possible. 

"Hey, Akuma. You're shaking away your good luck," I said. 

He looked up at me and glared, "What?" 

Shit. I pointed to his shaking leg.

"It's like a myth-- that shaking your leg is like shaking away your wealth and fortune..." His face almost scared me. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have-- especially in this situation. 

"Nevermind, it's just a silly myth. Means nothing." 

Akuma just ignored me, looking back down at the floor. I felt guilty. Crap. What if he thinks that Ryuji might not make it because he shook away all of his luck? No, that's stupid. Surgeons don't rely on luck. They're capable enough to deal with this. This can't be their first time dealing with a stabbed patient. They've dealt with worse. Yeah, Ryuji is going to be fine. You guys don't have to worry...

The silence returned, but it was much more awkward this time. I decided to keep my mouth shut from now on. We just waited... and waited. 

"Hey, where did Ace run off to?" Keiji asked, however, his tone was more like a statement. 

"He's not back yet, huh?" Mio said.

"Yeah..." 

"What he's up to is none of your business," Akuma said. There was a pause. An awkward one. 

"He... He just needs some time... Ryuji and him are real close, no?" I muttered. There was a pause, like no one was listening to me or willing to answer my question.

"They go way back. They've been best buds since before I met them," Akuma answered.

"Ryu always spoke fondly of Ace. He was his number one inspo for all of his music," Keiji chimed in, "I remember the night of exams, we were jamming it out in the garage. He was pumpin' out hit after hit. Ryu was on the drums and Ace was on the electric guitar," he chuckled to himself.

"Ryu makes music?" I said, rather amazed

"Ace plays guitar??!" Mio exclaimed.

"Of course. Who the hell do you think taught Sachiko how to play? She ain't learning herself," Akuma laughed.

"Yeah, they were a crazy duo. I would help start up some stupid beats using pots and pans, then we'd move to Ryu's garage with proper instruments we saved up to buy. There was this one time we were playing ACDC, meaning we were loud as fuck, right? I tried to play the drums but screwed up and somehow the tambourine went flying. It hit the ground and that shit damn pulsated in our ears. Plus, Ace was going crazy on the guitar, right? We accidentally woke up Ryu's little sister. She ran into the garage and accidentally knocked over Ace's bass guitar. That shit fell hard and broke," Keiji chuckled, looking up at us.

"How bad was the fall?" I asked.

"Kinda bad. Some strings got detached and the tuning knobs went flying."

"Oh shit, Ace must've been pissed," Mio said. 

"Yeah, he was pretty pissed. But he got over it like a man, especially after seeing how bad she started bawling. She felt bad," Keiji paused for a bit and then smiled, "Ace went on the acoustic guitar and played this nice lullaby for her. Ryu sang along. She fell asleep on the garage couch."

"That sounds so sweet," I said, "Kinda makes me tired just thinkin' about it."

"Yeah, it's been a long day," Akuma murmured. There was a brief air of melancholy to him. A wave of silence washed over the room. He got up and left, walking out the corner without a word.

"... I wonder if," Keiji muttered, "I wonder if I'll ever be able to sit back in that garage and hear them play again." He looked back down and started to massage his forehead, "I wonder if I'll ever be able to play shit on those drums again and laugh about it. Or if we'll ever get to wake up Ryu's sis by accident again."

"Nah, Ryuji would beat you if you did that again," Mio chuckled, patting Keiji on the back. They all seem like good people. 

"Don't worry, Keiji," I said, "Ryuji's making it out alive. Plus, he and I are gonna make some lunch for our parents. He promised."

"For your parents?" Mio sneered.

"Yeah. You know, I bet your parents work hard as hell. My dad works hard, and my mom just screws him over and over. Ryuji's mom is working 24/7 to provide for two kids. That stuff isn't easy. They deserve it, right?"

"Of course I know. My mom is the same, ya know?" Mio sighed. A wave of awkward silence wafted through the room. "It's cause my dad's dead," he suddenly said.

"Hey, maybe you, Ryuji, and I can make some lunch for our parents, then. Come join us too, Keiji," I said, trying to lighten the mood. Mio smiled at me briefly, but there was no response from Keiji. Not even a look back up.

"... Hey, Keiji. Ryuji's making it out alive, but he's gonna take some time recovering here in the hospital," I said, "So during that time, perfect your drum playing skills for next time. Blow him and Ace away."

"Right! I'll even help you out!" Mio proclaimed proudly.

"You seem like the guy who'd definitely break something. If you want to spare the money of buying a new drumset, stay far away," I said.

Keiji chuckled a bit which lightened the mood a bit. 

"Do you think I'm some kind of clumsy animal?!" 

"Maybe... I mean, if you end up accidentally breaking Ace's guitar don't expect a soft little lullaby to put you back to sleep."

"I ain't ever expecting that!"

"Ace doesn't like to show it, but he got a soft spot, huh? I can't really imagine him playing a lullaby. He seems scary."

"Of course he's scary, he's the vice president of Kansai Kill Thrill! He don't play around, ya know?"

"Aw, but he teaches Akuma's sister how to play guitar, eh?"

"Yeah, he totally got the hots for her-"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Ace suddenly appeared, googling at us, "And who do I have the 'hots' for?" 

"Uhm... N-Nobody..." Mio stammered. 

"Don't worry about it, Ace. I won't tell a soul," I snickered.

"Yeah, sure."

"Welcome back, boss!" Mio exclaimed.

"And I didn't come alone," Ace walked farther into the operation room and two guys appeared from the corner. Again, they both wore the same uniforms.

"Ace gave us a quick rundown of what happened," the one with slicked back hair in a low bun sat on the other side of the room beside Keiji.

"We should've been there," the one with green hair in two braids sat a seat away from me, "How could we call ourselves Kill Thrill members?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ronin. This was all some bad surprise," Ace sat down back in his seat, "Anyways, this right here is Shin. He carried Ryuji to the hospital in time."

Suddenly, eyes were on me. "Nice to meet you," the one with the braids shifted his head slightly towards me, "Ronin." I nodded at him.

"I'm Micah-- second division captain," the slicked back hair boy said in a deep voice, "Which division are you in?"

"Call me Shin. Nice to meet you guys," I said, "And I'm not in any division."

"What do you mean?" 

"He's not part of Kill Thrill" Ace interjected, "Just some guy at the right place at the right time."

"Really?" Micah scoffed, "Awful good timing for some random guy."

I shrugged. He's doesn't trust me either.

"I trust Shin," Keiji said, "I was suspicious of him at first, but I think he's alright."

Micah cast a stern glaze at me, "You in high school too?"

"Yeah."

"Chummy with Ryuji?"

"No..."

"Keiji?"

"Never met."

"So you guys just met each other today, huh?" he snickered, "And what's up with the get-up? Mask and all. What're you hiding from?"

"Micah, enough," Ace interjected, "We've all had a rough day."

"He could be a spy for all we know."

"Don't shit on my boy Shin!" Mio exclaimed.

"Did you guys see where Akuma went?" Ronin cut in, fidgeting with a golden pocket watch in his hand.

"He was here a bit ago," I muttered in a low voice. Ronin acknowledged my remark by turning his head towards me.

"What was that?" Micah spoke in a louder tone.

"He stepped out a little while ago," Ace said, "He's fine."

Micah mumbled and leaned back, crossing his arms. 

"I pocketed some jewelry. You guys wanna have a look?" Ronin took out some rings and necklaces from his messenger bag and splayed it on the empty chair next to me.

"Damn! What a haul!" Mio got up out of his seat and inspected the stolen trinkets. He grabbed a metallic silver ring from the pile, "This is legit."

"You can keep it. I don't like jewelry," Ronin said.

"Really?! Shit, man," Mio stood up and smacked Ronin on the shoulder, "We love you!" He turned to Keiji, "You should get on this! We could pick out a sick gift to surprise Ryuji."

"He's always liked rings," Micah smirked. 

"Shin, you should take a look too," Ronin said to me. I shook my head. This isn't even ours. "It's fine, you know. Oneiroi probably stole this jewelry from a bunch of other people," he added. I shook my head again, "You guys can have it or sell it or whatever."

"We could use the extra funds," Micah said as he approached the pile of gold and diamonds, "This necklace is nice," he took a golden necklace with an emerald pendant. 

"Is that for your girl?" Mio teased.

"Micah you got a girl?" Ace snickered.

"No, you idiots," Micah lightly smacked Mio in the arm, "It's for my mom."

"Always looking out for your momma, huh?" Keiji laughed. 

"Hey, we're taking jewelry already?" Akuma smirked, suddenly appearing next to me, "Hope you guys left some for me."

"You already got some in your right pocket," Ace chuckled, getting up from his seat and also approaching the pile.

"I'm kidding around! Don't take too much. We need to sell it to fund Ryuji's operation." 

I watched as these strong delinquents crowded next to me, discussing which jewelry to take. I did not expect my night to end up like this.

The adrenaline of someone literally dying on my back kept my sickness at bay, but much of the rush has worn off and I was starting to feel dizzy. I thought of my bedroom, and snuggling under my covers surrounded by plushies. Just thinking about it made me extremely sleepy. If I went home now, I could probably find out about the news tomorrow at school-- depending on Mio's mood when I spot him in math class. Plus, I could probably just visit him tomorrow in the afternoon too. 

"Damn, I'll fucking destroy those Oneiroi fuckers!" I heard Micah suddenly yell, scaring me back awake.

"Geez, you could do to lower your voice a little," Ronin said, rubbing his ears. 

"Don't worry," Akuma smirked mischeviously, "For every one of my members they send to the hospital, I send ten of theirs!"

"Hey, quit it!" Ace glared at him seriously and smacked Akuma's arm, "You're feeding the hospital too much money" he chortled.

"Talk about making the rich richer!" Mio let out a hearty laugh.

Everyone laughed until a nurse emerged from the door with a face mask and gloves. We immediately quieted down, and Ronin stuffed the jewelry back into his bag.

"Ryuji? Ryuji!" Mio shouted as he tried taking a peek through the door. The nurse stopped him.

"Excuse me, could you guys quiet down?" he said, "People are operating in there."

"My bad," Micah said, grabbing Mio's shirt and pulling him back, "We'll be quieter, sir."

The nurse sighed, "Are you guys friends with Ryuji Okamura?"

"Yes. We're practically brothers," Keiji got up with glimmers of hope and fear in his eyes, "What's going on, doctor?"

"I'm not the doctor, but he's stable so far," he said. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"The operation will probably finish in about an hour and a half. In the meantime, are there are blood relatives of Ryuji present?"

We shook our heads. 

"We need to get in touch with them."

"I can contact his mom," Ace said, pulling out his cellphone. 

"She must be worried sick. Later, we would like an explanation of what went on," the nurse said.

"Yes, sir, thank you," Ace said.

Everyone else thanked the nurse as he re-entered the operation room.

Shit, that's right. My mom doesn't know I'm out this late! I grabbed my cellphone from my pocket and found 4 missed calls and 5 unread messages from my mom. Crap! I should get going.

"Thank you, God!" Mio blew kisses to the ceiling and Micah patted him on the shoulder, "Ryuji's gonna survive this," Micah smiled.

"You guys act like you doubted that he could overcome this," Akuma scoffed, but he was clearly hiding just how happy he was.

Ace dialed Ryuji's mom's number and put the phone up to his ear, "His mom's gonna be pissed for sure."

Amidst all the clamor, I took the opportunity to slip away from the waiting room. Ryuji will make it. Time for me to get home.

--

"Yes, Auntie? It's Ace."

"Ace? Is everything alright?"

"Don't worry, everything is under control."

"What's happened? Is Ryuji safe?"

"Well, someone stabbed him around the evening time-"

"Stabbed him?! Oh my god! Stabbed him where?!"

"Around the hip area?" Ace looked at Keiji to make sure he got it right, and Keiji nodded, "-- Yeah, at the hip area. We're at the hospital right now-"

 "I'm coming there right now. Which hospital?! I'll end my shift right now!"

"Auntie, please calm down. The nurse said he's in stable condition. They're operating on him right now."

"Oh my goodness! When did he get to the hospital?! Was he conscious?!"

"Yes-- Well he's not conscious. But don't worry, someone brought him to the hospital in time-" Ace turned around to find Shin, but he was no where to be found. 

"Where's Shin?!" Mio exclaimed, "Shin!" he called out. 

"Shut it," Micah smacked him, "The nurse already told us to be quiet."

"Sorry."

"Someone?! Were you there?" Mrs. Okamura stammered.

"I was busy, but Mio and Keiji were there. The three of them helped get him to the hospital in-time," Ace replied. 

"Shin left a couple minutes ago," Ronin remarked casually. 

"And you didn't say anything?" Mio snapped.

Ronin shrugged, "He has his own business."

"He left without saying nothing?" Micah scoffed, "Who knows where he's going now."

"Maybe we can still catch up to him," Keiji got up from his seat ran out the waiting room, with Mio following suit.

Keiji and Mio ran into the lobby, shouting his name. They notice a school bag in the middle of a bunch of empty seats.

"Hey, that's Shin's isn't it?" Mio said, running towards the bag.

"Yeah, he used it to smack one of those Oneiroi guys!"

They check inside the bag, but Shin's name isn't in it. Instead, they see "R. TAKARA."

"Who the hell is R. Takara?" Keiji inspected the pages in the book.

"Is that Shin's last name?"

"But then where does the 'R' come from?"

"The handwriting's real neat though-- Wait" Mio grabbed the book and flipped some pages, "We're learning this typa math right now!"

He dug through the bag and found a math textbook. He flipped to the first page and found his high school stamp on the title page.

"Shit, this is my high school! I have this exact textbook!" Mio gasped, 

"What?! You guys go to the same school?!" Keiji laughed, "We can find him faster, then!"

"I'll hunt him down tomorrow. Shouldn't be too hard. I already know he's in my grade."

Mio and Keiji took the bag and went back into the waiting room.