Hourglass

Mari followed the 4 as they ran. They were big-- their black boilersuits showcased their back muscles and broad shoulders. Their pompous haircuts screamed delinquent. Mari was losing confidence the more she looked at them and the closer she got. Their punches must hurt 10x more than Keiji's. She noticed that the biggest one, the one with a ridiculous punch perm, carried something silver and long between his armpits that glimmered in the moonlight. Crap, a weapon?

"Hey! Kill Thrill!" the man with the punch perm yelled. Mari looked up ahead, Ryuji and the others were there. Suddenly, Punch Perm yelled loudly and the group picked up the pace. They were quick runners-- too quick that Mari couldn't catch up. Punch Perm punched Keiji right in the face, and Ryuji fell to the ground.

Mari heard screams of pain mixed with roaring laughter. Mio tried to land a punch on one of them but he was immediately shut down by a harsh hook to the face. Even so, Mio got up again and tried to face off against them.

"I didn't know that Kill Thrill had such weak members!" one of them mocked

"Shut up, bastard!" Keiji roared, punching the guy right in the nose.

"I wouldn't disrespect Oneiroi's 4th division captain like that if I were you!" another Oneiroi member kicked Keiji in the gut. Keiji quickly bounced back with a strong uppercut.

"You good, Ryu?!" Keiji yelled

"*cough* Don't worry bout' me" Ryuji croaked. Mari rushed over to the fight as she let her bag slip from her shoulder. She clutched the straps of her bag tightly in her hand.

Keiji swung at the other guys who came at him, weakening his opponents.

Keiji grit his teeth "You guys will pay for this-" WHAM. Keiji suffered a fatal roundhouse kick to the koi fish tatoos on his neck, almost knocking Keiji out. He collapsed onto the hard concrete.

"You bastards!" Mio yelled as he held out his fist to punch one of the members. Before he could make a blow, one of the Oneiroi members grabbed him roughly by the neck.

"You think you're hot stuff, huh? Not with those thin arms" He proceeded to punch Mio continuously on the face.

"Crap, crap!" Keiji muttered weakly, turning his head towards Ryuji. His vision flickered from fading in and out as Ryuji lay nearly limp on the ground. Oneiroi members began to surround Ryuji.

"Where's the tough talk now, third division captain?" Punch Perm snickered as he kicked Ryuji's back.

"Why don't I finish you right here, right now?!" he bellowed, raising his metal bat, "Batter up!"

"No!" Keiji yelled, struggling to get up from the concrete. Suddenly, he noticed someone running behind Punch Perm with a stance like she's ready to swing. It's Mari!

"Foul ball!" Mari yelled as she swung her bag with all her force and smacked Punch Perm right across the face. The metal bat dropped out of his hands and Mari snatched it before anyone else could. She hastily threw it to Keiji and it accidentally hit him in the face.

"Sorry! I need to work on my aim." Mari said.

"Don't worry about it-" Keiji groaned as he rubbed his aching cheek.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the Oneiroi members shouted. He lunged at Mari, but she dodged it last minute. "Hey! I just dodged that!" she said proudly, only to be kicked in the back seconds later. She fell to the ground and caught glimpse of Mio flailing his legs, still being choked and punched.

"Kick him in the balls, for god sake Mio!"

"But- that's cheating...!" Mio gagged

"Just do it!"

Mio kicked the Oneiroi member in the balls and a high pitched scream penetrated the air. Mio gasped for breath and rubbed his neck.

The Oneiroi member put his arms between his legs as if to shield himself and scowled, "You'd seriously go as far as to kick another gang member in a fight? What are you-- A girl?"

"I don't want to hear that from someone wearing a box shaped pompadour the size of your ego!" Mari said, swinging her bag at the Oneiroi's hips.

He yelped in pain and tried to punch Mari in the face.

"What the hell is in that stupid bag?!"

"Strange artifacts that you've never seen before: thick high school math textbooks!"

"Shut up, you nerd!" The Oneiroi member grabbed Mari's wrist tightly and pulled her up. He raised his other hand up in a tight fist as if ready to punch her. Suddenly, Keiji swung his metal bat and striked the Oneiroi member on the head, ruining his pompadour mullet. Mari fell to the ground and was greeted with a metal bat two inches in front of her face.

"You!" Keiji pointed at Mari with his bat "Take Ryuji and run to the hospital. Promise me you'll take him there in time!"

Mari snapped herself back to reality, "Yeah, I promise!" she nodded. She dashed towards Ryuji who was still laying on the ground. Mio had been defending Ryuji by fighting the Oneiroi members who have been trying to get to the third division captain. Mio was beaten up and bleeding-- he could barely open his left eye. Mari appreciated his perseverance, and now she'd be able to take on some of the load that he's been carrying.

"Mio, don't worry! I'm going to take Ryuji to the hospital now!" Mari said, putting Ryuji on her back. "Hang in there, Ryuji. You owe me that dinner!"

"Mio, go with him! Protect them!" Keiji shouted as he landed another blow to Punch Perm.

"Leave it to me!" Mio elbowed the Oneiroi members one last time to give him a window to break free and run to Mari. As one of the Oneiroi members tried to follow Mio, he was immediately shut down by Keiji with a bat to the head.

"Now that I have you all to myself," Keiji smirked, "I can go all out!"

Keiji was a strong fighter, unleashing his fury in every single blow. Safe to say that he's got the Oneiroi members handled.

---------

Mio panted as he ran alongside Mari, "How's Ryuji?"

"Still breathing" Mari wheezed, "But he's losing blood fast. We have to move quick."

"Right." Mio looked at Ryuji, then at the mysterious boy he somehow decided to trust with his dying friend, "By the way, you never told me your name."

"Call me Shin."

"Shin. Shin, have we met before?"

Mari felt a bit panicked by this. She can't have Mio knowing her true identity. It's dangerous if she's connected to gang activity, especially this one! Getting stabbed is something she's not looking to experience. She'll have to try harder to make sure Mio doesn't recognize his classmate. It's not like they were close at school anyway-- they hardly ever talked.

"What? Nah, I highly doubt it. I ain't ever seen you before cause' I don't get caught up in this gang stuff."

"Oh. It's just cause you sound familiar. And you said my name earlier. But I don't think I told you my name?"

"Oh, uhm, it's just cause I overheard Keiji say your name before, man. Duh." Do delinquents say 'duh'?

"Oh, that makes sense."

Mari's pace was slowing down. She's not exactly the most fit-- she prefers to stay inside and practice playing guitar. Running is definitely not her forte, but the adrenaline has kept her pumping for a while now. But that won't last, especially since it's extremely difficult to breathe through her face mask.

"Hey, I can take Ryuji. We can take turns." Mio suggested

Mari stopped running to catch her breath, "That's... Fantastic" She panted, "It feels...like I'm swallowing needles..." She looked to Ryuji who lay limp on her shoulder. "Ryuji... You there?" Mari asked. There was a moment of silence which made Mari and Mio's stomach knot, but then they heard a faint noise.

"Yeah..." Ryuji muttered weakly

"Ryuji! Hang in there! We're almost there!" Mio shouted piercingly as he took Ryuji onto his back. He ran ahead as if he gained a sudden burst of energy and began singing "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin painfully loudly and horribly. Take a shot everytime his voice cracked.

"What the hell, Mio? You tryna make the other Oneiroi members figure out we're here?" Mari laughed

"I need Ryuji to stay awake!" Mio yelled, "The neighbors always complain about me whenever I sing in the shower cause' I wake their dogs or somethin'. So this should work!"

Mari rolled her eyes and smiled and ran to catch up with Mio. She decided to join Mio in singing too.

-------

Keiji finished up the remaining Oneiroi member with a quick, sharp jab to the gut. Around him lay passed out Oneiroi members scattered on the pavement. Keiji cracked his neck and rubbed his bleeding forehead.

"Man, you guys made me work" he grumbled, "I should inform Jay about all this." He picked up his metal bat from the pavement and headed for the park.

-------

It's been 2 minutes and Mio is already out of breath, staggering erratically across pavement.

"Mio, I can take him now if you need..."

"No, Shin! I can do this!" he wheezed. He stopped in his tracks all of a sudden and breathed, "Nevermind. You take him..."

Mari took Ryuji onto her back and snickered, "It's cause' you were singing your heart out too much."

"No such thing" Mio scoffed. He looked ahead and smiled brightly, "Shin, look! I can see the hospital building from here!"

Mari gazed at the warm lights of the Osaka General Hospital at night. Hope glimmered inside of her, energizing her will to run faster.

"We're almost there, Ryuji! Look, the hospital is right there!" Mari exclaimed, "Mio! Can you-" From behind Mio, she noticed a tall, built boy bearing a long white coat close in behind him. Another Oneiroi member!

"Mio! Watch out!" But it was too late. Mio was jumped by an Oneiroi member and he toppled onto the ground.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘱! 𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦! Mari thought, clenching her fists. Should she fight back? This guy is 2 times bigger than Mio. Plus, he's already beat up from the other Oneiroi members!

"Shin! D-Don't worry about me!" Mio cried out "I can handle this bastard! I'm sure Keiji is going to come back with reinforcements! Bring Ryuji to the hospital! Now!"

Mari nodded and sprinted away. Her legs were getting as heavy as barbells, but she couldn't stop. Not after Mio and Keiji's sacrifices. It's clear that Ryuji means too much to them. They're fighting so hard to protect him despite suffering fatal blows from the opposing gang. Mari can't let them down now. It's up to her to save Ryuji now, and she's not going to fail.