Beating Hearts

He did not have a car, so he had to run all the way from Shibuya Station to Suginami City.

Takemichi arrived at Asagaya General Hospital, panting as he pushed through the doors into the waiting room. Through the double doors that led inside, he saw Doctors moving around in the background, and his ears faintly the sound of elevators chiming as they went up and down. He peered around the waiting room at the white, spotless walls, the people lined up, sitting in stiff chairs, and he looked down at the shining linoleum at his feet. He was struggling to keep his balance after running so much, and was breathing so loud he was certain the entire room was staring at him.

When he reached the reception desk, he did not even have the breath to ask questions, and had to hold himself up against the desk to keep from collapsing. The journey would have normally taken close to an hour on foot, but he had sprinted so fast for so long that he was certain he hadn't even taken twenty.

"Excuse me!" Takemichi croaked, sucking in a gasp of air. "I'm….. here….. for a patient that may be….. in the emergency room….."

"Of course, sir," The receptionist lady politely said. "And what's your relationship to the patient?"

Takemichi managed to lift himself up, feeling the energy return to his burning legs. "He's…. My friend…"

"And the patient's name?"

"Yamamoto…. Takuya…."

She frowned. "I can let you wait outside his room, but no visitors are being allowed in at this time. Mr. Yamamoto is resting."

"That's fine," Takemichi said. "Please, just take me there."

The receptionist peered at the computer on her desk, typing for a few seconds. After a moment, she gave him a form to sign and said, "Right this way, sir."

They took the elevator all the way up to the ICU, and she led him to the back of the hallway of identical doors. As he walked past the rooms, he peered left and right, looking at the numbers: 501, 502, 503. Some of the rooms had machines he could hear whirring, even on the other side. The hospital was scentless, but the air smelled cold, and he could hear ventilation faintly flow. The lights on this floor had gone from normal to a blueish fluorescent.

Takemichi wiped the sweat from his forehead and worked to finally get his breathing back under control, but it wasn't just the exhaustion from running that was making him pant. As they began to get close to room 516, where the lady had said Takuya was.

Upon reaching his destination, he saw, on a sofa propped up against the wall, his friends, clearly anxiously waiting for him. There was an aura of pain and anger that could be felt, even with all of them being completely silent.

He took a deep breath when he saw the torn clothes and wounds on his friends that told of a one-sided beatdown. Cuts, scrapes and bruises covered their arms and faces. Akkun's lip was split and swollen, Makoto's nose was bandaged, and Kazushi's forehead had stitches running diagonally across it. Thank god they're not hurt worse, Takemichi thought.

"Guys," Takemichi said, "What happened?"

At once, everyone turned to him, and came forward, wrapping him in hugs. Whilst he wanted to comfort all of them, he was more concerned about the bastard who did this.

"I'm glad you guys are alright," Takemichi muttered. "But how's Takuya?"

Makoto Suzuki, a young man with black, skin-faded hair and - as they all liked to joke about - fish lips, shared a worried glance with the other two before looking back at him.

"He still hasn't woken up," Makoto said. "He's in a coma, but thankfully the doctors said there likely won't be any brain damage."

"My god," Takemichi's voice was low. I wouldn't have even been there when he died, he thought. The weight of how badly Takyua was hurt finally began to really wash over him. "Will he recover?"

Akkun, his friend with a plum-colored pompadour, was up next, and he was clearly fighting back tears.

"They said it would take months for him to be back to normal, and that's assuming he wakes soon." Akkun's voice shook with grief. "We all got beat to hell, but Kiyomasa's a fucking animal. Takuya went down with one punch, but he just kept kicking him. Now he's got three broken ribs and a fucking cracked skull." Akkun punched his fist towards the wall, but ultimately didn't make contact - they were in a hospital. "He almost fucking killed him, and for what? Just 'cuz he could."

Takemichi was clenching his own teeth so hard he'd nearly gnawed them down. "And where the fuck were you guys?"

"We tried to stop him!" Makoto protested. "But there were a fucking dozen gang members, all too scared of Kiyomasa to go against him. How do you think we got this fucked up?"

Takemichi opened his mouth, sighed, then stopped. "You're right." He shook his head. "Now, what were you guys doing over there, anyway? You said on Tuesday that Masaru told you that he knew a guy who was a member of Toman. Judging by…" He waved a hand at Takuya's door, "...what happened, I'm going to assume these guys were the real deal?"

Kazushi Yamagishi, who had been angrily pacing in a circle, stopped to collapse onto a sofa and bury his head in his hands. He was the only person Takemichi knew who wore glasses, and he had long, chestnut-colored hair and a goatee on his chin.

"He didn't just tell us he knew them," Yamagishi snapped. "That fucking bastard - he said he was a member. Bragged about it, even. But this is your cousin we're talking about, so we thought he was full of shit. We got tired of him lying to try to impress us, but then he said he could prove it. We were like "Why not?" and followed him down to this old, empty place that Kiyomasa and his people were using as a fighting ring."

Sure, follow my cousin to a dangerous, hidden location to potentially meet dangerous gang members. Even if you didn't believe him, why did you think that was a good idea? Takemichi thought, before asking, "And you went? Just like that?"

"Yep. We saw some guy get an uppercut the moment we walked in. And they were betting on the matches, too. It was cool, at first, even though we didn't have any money to bet. Kiyomasa would bark out names, and then two guys from the audience would come down and fight each other until one gave up or was knocked out. We thought it was cool…. We thought these people were fighting willingly, but it turns out Masaru led us to a goddamned madhouse."

"My cousin set you up?" If that's true, I'll deal with him later, Takemichi thought.

Akkun scratched his head. "I don't think he really even set us up. I think he was just in over his head and trying to seem cool. He may not have been a real gangster, but the people there definitely were."

"And you still stuck around," Takemichi said. "You're idiots. You should have dipped the moment you saw what was going on. Fighting is one thing, but fighting for sport is stupid, and you shouldn't have been in a place where you were outnumbered by dangerous people."

"We ain't got no excuse for that," Makoto said. "Truth is…"

"...That watching was fun because it wasn't you, right?" What the hell did they think was gonna happen? Takemichi thought. He felt frustration curl in his stomach. This could have been avoided, and Takuya wouldn't be in a coma.

"Come on, man, it was like watching real-life boxing. People have gotten worse injuries before and they were back in the ring in a few weeks."

"Takuya's not Takanori Gomi," Takemichi barked. He stalked forward, reaching out and grabbing the back of Makoto's head, pulling his face close and glaring. "He's a fucking twig who's never won a fight we didn't babysit, you know that. He could have been killed."

Makoto lowered his eyes in shame. "You're right. We never should have stuck around for as long as we did, especially after we found out Masaru lied."

Takemichi let him go. "I'm sorry. It's not really your fault, I just…. I'm pissed. I shouldn't take it out on you guys." He took a few steps back and gestured with his hand, asking, "What else happened?"

"Kiyomasa wasn't dragging in the spectators at first," Akkun said. "But I guess he got bored of watching the same 12 guys beat the shit out of each other, because he said that he'd step in himself and fight next. We were excited, but then he called down Takuya to be his opponent. I tried to offer myself in his place, and got socked in the stomach by one of his goons for my troubles. None of the other spectators did a thing, and the gang members outnumbered us."

"So the match went down," Takemichi grumbled. "And Kiyomasa did that to him?"

Yamagishi nodded, blowing out an angry breath. "He picked a weaker opponent on purpose so he could smack him around! Takuya was down, he was crying and pissing all over himself, but this sick fuck kept on beating him anyway. When we got out of the stands and tried to intervene, they beat us down too."

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday," Makoto piped up.

He momentarily remembered that they would have had to call an ambulance for Takyua. "What'd you tell the paramedics?" If they confessed to being spectators in a gang fighting ring, it could create a lot of trouble with police.

"We said we got mugged, and that our assailants took off before we could get a good look," Akkun said. "And anyway, it was half-true. They took our wallets when they were done kicking the shit out of us and went through all of our identities, and then took all our money. Kiyomasa said if we snitched, then he'd find out where we lived."

Takemichi was silent for a moment. He looked towards the hospital door with longing, saying nothing, and for a moment the others stared at him with concern and confusion.

"Takemichi….?" Akkun muttered.

"Where is this fighting ring?" Takemichi whispered.

Immediately, his friends went dead silent. Their grief had turned to concern, and they were now looking at him worriedly. Takemichi understood why - they had been scared shitless, and were in no hurry to go back and confront their fears, nor did they want him to get hurt. But all he could think about, and all that he felt at this moment, was the fact that his friends had been robbed and beaten, and one of them - someone he's known the longest, since kindergarten - was critical.

Akkun was pale now. "L-Look, T-Takemichi, that place is swarming with bikers. Even if you get there, what are you gonna-"

"I'll get in the ring with Kiyomasa," Takemichi declared. "Just me and him." He won't turn down a challenge in front of all his groupies, Takemichi thought. His pride won't let him. It was something that was usually pretty consistent with gang members: their egos.

Makoto came beside him, placing a hand on his back and patting him. "Look, I get that you're upset. We all are. I want nothing more than to send this guy to hell. But we can't-"

"-You don't need to worry about Kiyomasa finding you, because I'm coming to him." Takemichi wrenched away from his grasp. He felt an untameable, hot rage he had never felt in his life spread from his aching head, to his rapidly-beating heart, and down to his clenching fists. "This bastard could have killed one of my best friends, all for his sick idea of fun. I'll make him pay for what he's done myself. Now, where is he?"