Jay had thought it would surely be the solution. Take Rianne with him to Hiroshima, have her close to him while she still got to go somewhere that wasn't the apartment. How could that be anything but ideal? He was even more surprised when she asked to go to the matches the second night. That was when everything started going wrong.

What happened was exactly what would happen to anyone who didn't know how to jump the barrier rail: Her feet tangled in it and brought her to the floor. What didn't always happen was the fall ending in a face-first slam into the concrete. It happened this time. She lay there unmoving.

Nothing at all moved for a second or two, then everything went into chaos. Milano, who was closest to her, reached her first. After a quick glance at the situation, he went to work on gently untangling her feet; she couldn't be moved or even turned over as she was.

Jay reached them as Milano was finishing freeing Rianne. His intent was clearly to carry her to the back.

"No! You must not!"

Jay looked up sharply, clearly taken aback by being spoken to that way.

"Let the medical staff take care of her. I saw how she hit. Her neck...Let them do their job." He looked up and to the left. "You also. Whatever is going on here, let the medical people tend to her. And if you are going to fight, do it somewhere else."

Jay turned and saw Ishii standing there. He nearly did decide on a fight, there or somewhere else. But Milano was talking sense, and he supposed the man had a right to be there. It helped keep anyone else from piling into the little space, as well, so the medics could reach her more easily.

No one looked happy to watch her being strapped to a back board, even though it was what they were waiting for.

"Did you see her try to jump? What was she doing?" Ishii looked grim - not that that was unusual, but his expression suggested he already knew the answer.

"Trying to stop the two of you from killing each other, I think. She almost cleared it. Her hand slipped." He looked between them like he couldn't quite work out what the hell they were thinking. "Shouldn't one of you be on your way to the hospital?"

Jay quickly found himself lost in the hospital, which somehow felt like the only way the night could possibly have ended. He thought he must have taken a wrong turn a corridor or two back. If he retraced his steps, he'd hopefully come out somewhere with some signs.

Passing the small shrine room set near the end of the corridor, he saw an unmistakable figure at the altar lighting incense. Fascinated as he was - he hadn't ever seen this side of Ishii, and had no idea if anyone else had - propriety finally overcame curiosity. He was halfway down the corridor when he stopped dead, very nearly causing an orderly pile-up behind him that he didn't notice at all. You saw it. You know all the things it means. Now what? He knew that would be decided by Ishii, whether he was aware or not of the fact. He went back to wait, but stood aside from the door to allow the man some privacy.

For a moment there was a flare of anger in Ishii's eyes when he spotted Jay, but it faded just as quickly. "The nurse said there is a Christian chapel around the corner from here."

"I'm not too big on praying. I want to ask you for something, though."

Ishii nodded.

"Get word to me when she wakes up so I know she's all right. But don't tell her I was here. Maybe later, you know, if it ever seems like a good idea, you can tell her. But not right away. Send someone for her things. I won't be a problem."

"Why would you do this?"

"She...makes things better for me. But the cost for her is way, way too much. Jumping that barrier...I'm not going to try to explain it, I'll just sound like a fucking psycho. But she knows better, and you know it just as much as I do." He took a deep breath. "Keep her away from me and you won't have to make her keep her distance after a while. She knows what's happening. She can't think straight about it right now. She will later."

"And what will you do?"

"Make everyone's life even more unpleasant again. Your break from it is over. That's the price you pay for the one I'm paying."

Ishii watched the younger man walk away, not sure what to think other than maybe some prayers were answered more quickly than others.

He woke four hours later feeling like one full-body muscle cramp, a nurse gently shaking his shoulder.

"She has regained consciousness, but she is very groggy. She seems to think that you and another man would be in here punching each other."

"That is proof that she's awake, not that she's confused. May I go in and see her?"

"For a few minutes. She is on strong pain medication, but she's been asking for you."

"For me?"

The nurse smiled; all he could do was wonder what she'd heard in his voice. "From the moment she opened her eyes. Come with me, please."

The first thing to register was that she looked very tired. The second was a wave of relief that she wasn't dead that was strong enough to nearly cut his knees out from under him. "What do the doctors say?"

"Cracked orbital bone, grade-2 concussion, and a sprained ankle. And that I'm not the brightest person they've ever met. Well, they don't say that exactly. They look it at me."

"It was a foolish thing to do."

"Did you two stop fighting?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then it wasn't entirely foolish. It worked. Just not quite the way I was looking for it to." She looked up at the clock - the time it took her to focus made him wince - then looked back at him, startled. "That was almost six hours ago. You've been here all that time?"

"Yes."

"Owwwww, hospital waiting room chairs. That's okay, they're giving me the good drugs. I'll share."

She'd clearly already had her first dose. "That would probably not be wise. The nurse said I can stay only a few minutes. I will come back in the morning." He saw the question that flickered across her eyes. He thought it would be better to pretend he hadn't seen it. "Rest. Everything will be fine."