The gun's muzzle was skin temperature by now. Pressed into the base of his skull so long his body had transferred heat. The warmth didn't remove the heart stopping fear of having it jammed into his head. Every time the thug twitched Furuichi wanted to flinch away from him. For fear of getting shot before taking a step he stayed still as standing corpse. Feet frozen to the asphalt. Watching the ring leader, who had dramatically introduced himself as Kamui, beat Oga into the ground with knuckles wrapped in brass and feet encased in steel. The rest egged him on from the sidelines.
Oga hadn't made a sound since they'd gotten him on the ground. Furuichi knew he wasn't yet unconscious but he was sure, if it went on, that even Oga wouldn't last much longer. Oga only curled up on the ground to protect what he could, arms secure around his own head. He refused to fight back least the group go through with the threat of shooting Furuichi dead. Furuichi was calculating the quickest route to the hospital in his head.
The gun in his neck wavered as his captor's attention was drawn away from the fight.
"Hey!" He snapped, not at his boss or Furuichi or Oga or his comrades. Furuichi glanced in the direction of his captor's yell and spotted a group of students loitering at the mouth of the alley they occupied. Ishiyama students. Furuichi recognised them easily, Toujou had saved him a beating yesterday by distracting those students after they'd cornered him. They were probably strong, he guessed, given that they had a big enough head between them to try and beat him up. Everyone knew a beating from Oga swiftly followed a beating of Furuichi. But the guys that held them were something else. They'd kill those kids without blinking an eye.
"Run!- argh." His captor slammed the butt of the gun into his head, yelling at him to shut up. He hit the ground hard on his knees with a yelp and could have sworn his heart tried to jump out of his throat when a bullet scrapped over his shoulder. The crack had him flinching violently. The pain left him biting his cheek to stay silent.
"Furuichi!"
"Stay fucking still, you wanna die you piece of shit!"
Furuichi said nothing, only eyed the backs of his classmates as they ran for safety.
"Fuck!" Kamui yelled, stomping Oga's ribs. "Miya, get after them, now!"
Miya, a standby thug, nodded, dragged a gun from his waist band and took off after them. Furuichi prayed they made it to Ishiyama before Miya caught up with them. His captor pressed the muzzle into his neck again and Furuichi forced himself to stay still as it scorched his flesh. He squeaked in protest only to be prodded with the muzzle.
"Shut up."
He breathed deeply through his nose, trying to calm his thundering heart. This was quickly getting to be too much for him.
Kamui returned his attention to Oga, wailing on him with greater vigour than before, taking perverse pleasure from the sharp crack of Oga's bones as he stomped his hand and ground his heel in to it. He laughed manically, his sycophants jeering and cheering in equal measure. Yelling out suggestions, throwing rocks and kicking over a jagged piece of piping. Horror welled inside him as Kamui gave an evil grin and picked it up.
"Here we go."
#
When the first gunshots echoed across Ishiyama, the yard went silent. The sound cutting through the raucous brawling of its delinquents. Each student more than curious about the shots as they got closer and closer to the school, along with the quieter sounds of panicked screams. For all that they were dangerous delinquents, none were stupid enough to carry a gun onto school grounds.
One student skidded around the school fence, quickly followed by two more one supported by the other and dripping blood behind him. One forwent the entrance entirely and flung himself over the fence, phone clattering across the ground with him as he didn't stick the landing, nor even attempt to. One more swung in the entrance followed by another bullet and some heinous swearing for Miya's missed targets.
Miya crossed the threshold of Ishiyama seconds later. Gun out and at the ready, huffing and puffing and sweaty from his short run. The group he'd been chasing had vanished into the delinquent crowd. Though he scanned for them and threatened and swung his gun around like a loony tune, he was met with a frighteningly cold and unresponsive reception.
Miya's attention was caught by the school doors getting violently shoved open, one falling off its hinges from the abuse, and a group of strutting out. The crowd parted for them and Miya waited for them to get close, and waited, and waited, until they stopped all up in his space. These were the school leaders he was sure, he knew how Ishiyama ran form the rumours passed between fellow gang members. He couldn't back down to them. He glared up into the face of Kunieda, who looked down at him like he was garbage even a cockroach would bypass. Flanked directly on either side by brawny men, Toujou and Himekawa, who were then flanked by two girls, Nene and Chiaki. A seemingly laid-back guy, Kanzaki, hung in the back, staring. Right. At. Him.
"Oi." The girl drew his attention back to her.
"You better be g-"
"First years said you got Oga and Furuichi." She said. Miya was thrown. He had a gun and she didn't seem the slightest bit intimidated by this, despite it being pointed at her.
"Yeah we got 'em. Just tyin' up loose ends with some thugs from this here school. You wanna give me their names sweetheart?"
"No. I think you should leave, before we find a need to make you." She gave him one last derogatory look and passed him by. The others following a step behind. Miya didn't move to look back, a mistake on his part. The second the laid-back one left his field of vision Miya was sent flying forwards into the dirt at the feet of the group of small fry. His gun slid away from him and vanished under the feet of the crowd. His back felt like it was broken.
"Take care of him."
Was the last thing he heard before an innumerable amount of fists and feet laid into him.
#
Oga was bleeding. Kamui whacked him with the pipe over and over again, unconcerned by the jagged edge gouging Oga's skin. Around them a small puddle of his blood had already grown and filled out by the second. Furuichi had been yanked to his feet by his hair. The fingers still tangled in and dragged his head back to a most uncomfortable position. The muzzle of the gun still pressed into him. The burning had faded but he knew it would leave a mark from the residual burn under his skin.
Kamui was unrelenting, joyous and laughing. Oga was close to his limit. Even he would succumb to blood loss eventually. He only thanked the demon lord that he'd wanted to see his son and thus had called Hilda and Beel to Makai. They still weren't back, and likely wouldn't be for another few days. Enough time, assuming one of them didn't die, to recover enough to say it was only a fairly rough fight and not a complete brutal, dirty beat down.
But he kept beating on Oga. Well past the point of grudge match and far too far into sadistic, psychotic pleasure. Furuichi was mortified to find that Kamui looked to be gaining pleasure from this. His followers still egged him on. He kept beating Oga, and beating him, and beating him, and beating him. Oga let a strangled scream escape through teeth clenched hard enough to crack.
Furuichi took a deep breath, held it, feeling adrenaline run through him.
Wishing he wouldn't do what he was about to. If another one had a gun, he was done. He slammed his heel into the joint of his captor's ankle. When his captor recoiled with a yelp and tried to step away Furuichi jammed his elbow up into his nose, his blood spurted out over Furuichi's elbow, and spun to face him. His captor dropped his gun and hunched over himself, protecting his nose and screaming. Blood dripped between his fingers. Furuichi grabbed his head and rammed his knee up into his face. He hit the ground. Hard. Furuichi let out his breath.
He snatched the gun off the ground and bolted for Kamui. Kamui who was distracted by crouching next to Oga, taunting him. Kamui who didn't have enough time to react even with his men calling out in alarm. Kamui who Furuichi kicked in the face and pursued as he rolled ass over tea kettle until he came to stop on his hands and knees. Furuichi stepped up beside him, Kamui between him and his gang, and pressed the gun against his head.
"Don't move."
Everyone froze.
"Anyone approaches myself or Oga and I take off Kamui's ear, got it?"
They nodded but the quake in Furuichi's voice had confidence trickling back into some. Furuichi moved the muzzle to hover just behind Kamui's ear.
"The rest of you back off. Get out of here."
They didn't move. One smiled and stepped forward and Furuichi pulled back the hammer. He stopped and spread his arms wide.
"Hey now kid. You don't wanna do that. We can work this out."
"I don't want to," the man's smile grew, "but I will. So back off."
He puts his hands up in surrender instead.
"Relax kid. Just give us the gun and this can all go away."
"You think I'm an idiot? I'm not a fighter but I do go to Ishiyama," below him Kamui moved, Furuichi pressed the muzzle softly against his ear, "don't, fucking, move. Asshole! I'll blow your ear off!"
Kamui froze, breath hitching. The man backed off a bit and gestured to the others. Two grabbed up their unconscious friend and another made a move towards Oga.
Kamui's scream blasted over the gunshot. His blood splattered the ground. He dropped to his elbows, his hands covering the place his ear had been. Furuichi stepped over him and aimed at his other ear.
"Get the hell away from Oga bastard!"
They all backed up, the two with their unconscious friend began to leave as fast as they could with him hanging limp between them. The one after Oga just bolted and abandoned them. Only the other man remained. Though now he looked to be taking Furuichi more seriously.
"O-Oi, Furuichi-san. There's no need for that. Look, I'm nowhere near your friend. Just, let me grab Kamui and we won't bother you again."
Furuichi glared at him a second, nodded and moved away from Kamui though he kept the gun trained on a non-lethal part of him at all times. The man edged around him. Giving him a very wide berth, and hurried to Kamui's side when Furuichi was by Oga's and seemed less likely to shoot.
He hauled Kamui up, cringing at his screams right by his ear and hurriedly dragged him away from the scene. Furuichi didn't relax until he could barely hear Kamui. Then flicked the safety on, dropped the gun and immediately set to checking Oga over. He licked his fingers and placed them in front of Oga's mouth and waited. He was still breathing. Looking at his wounds, Furuichi was sure he'd need professional medical help. There was no way any delinquent at Ishiyama was adapt enough at first aid to handle this level of injury.
A group of slow footsteps caught his attention and he went straight for the gun, forgetting the safety was on and aiming at the newcomers before he even saw them.
"Furuichi wait!"
He jumped and looked up. Kunieda was closest, hands up and looking uncertain. He lowered the gun but didn't drop it this time. Just in case. He glanced back over Oga, feeling guilty for making Kunieda feel unsafe.
"I… Sorry." He said, intending to explain himself. The words wouldn't come so he gestured to Oga instead. "Help me with him."
"Yeah."
Kunieda's voice was soft, soothing even. Furuichi almost resented it. He knew she only meant to calm him down, but he was annoyed with himself that she even felt the need to be gentle with him right now. It seemed to be that everyone who had come with Kunieda moved to handle Oga. No one wanted to jostle him too much, and nobody wanted to set Furuichi off.
He was slowly moved back by Toujou and Chiaki when it became obvious he was not going to move, even to move Oga, as shock began to seep in. He looked between the gun, Oga and Kamui's blood stain, a part of his ear not far off, and felt his stomach heave. His burn stung, the bullet wound in his shoulder ached and burned. His mind seemed to flip in on itself, replaying events and shots and screams. He felt a sharp throb behind his eyes, his throat tightening. Oga's scream and Kamui's and a bullet tearing his shoulder. Getting jumped and realising, too late, that this was far more serious than a school yard brawl. That first press of cold, cold metal.
"Himekawa!"
Himekawa jumped. He and Kanzaki were the only two not helping with Oga. Busy keeping watch for cops or pedestrians.
Ever flustered in fights, he'd never seen Furuichi quite this upset by anything. He looked ill. His chest heaved unevenly. Himekawa knew the signs of panic. Furuichi was fast descending into an attack. They needed to get him out of here, and Oga definitely needed a hospital.
"Yeah?"
Furuichi thrust the gun out to him. His hands shaking. Himekawa hurried over to take it.
"Get rid of it." He said.
Himekawa tucked it away in his coat and nodded. Then pulled out his phone and dialled help. The others had gotten Oga off the ground. From here they were only a few minutes from Ishiyama. If they took a few back streets they'd take longer, but would be less likely to run into other people. They certainly couldn't walk Oga down the main street with the way he was half dead. Limp and bleeding all over everything.
"I need a car immediately. To the hospital, a friend of mine… yes, yes this can't have questions involved. Good." He hung up.
"We've got ten minutes to get Oga and Furuichi back to Ishiyama, a car will meet us there to take Oga to the hospital."
They all confirmed and headed off. Himekawa guiding Furuichi at the back whilst Kanzaki took point and checked for other life forms. Furuichi didn't say a word on the way. Between them all it was unnaturally silent. Furuichi liked to talk. Liked to fill the silence, no doubt a habit formed because of Oga. Man of few words as he was unless he was beating the shit out of you. Or had just done.
In less time than Himekawa had predicted they were entering the side entrance of Ishiyama. Nobody had seen then, but they'd had a close call with a late riser getting her mail.
The group needed to meet the car at the front of the school, forcing them to parade Oga before the entire group of delinquents still wailing on Miya who was, by now, long since unconscious. The group grew silent and still as they passed by. Eyeing up the damage down to Oga, the blood trail they left behind them and the black vehicle Himekawa had them lay Oga down in and shove Furuichi in behind him. He stepped in himself and told the others where to meet them. By the time they were gone, the students had set in on Miya with well renewed vigour.