Chapter 3

When Shouko was taken by the street thugs, she was forcefully taken into a large abandoned gym. The inside of the gymnasium was worn and dirty, its air giving Shouko a foul atmosphere of ruckus. The lines that were perhaps once basketball court lines were just mere scratches on the floor. Pushed and shoved around, she was taken to the front of the gym, where there was a platform to form something similar to a stage.

A hand came forward and grabbed her from the captors and dragged her on stage. She winced at the rough actions of her new captor. From the way he carried himself, Shouko guessed him to be one of the higher ups of the gangs. His malicious grin sent shivers down her spine as he forced her to face the twenty or so members gathered around below the stage.

Shouko may have been young and naïve, but she still read books, and she still understood the dangers of being a young girl alone with a bunch of unruly guys. Her eyes were filled with naked fear as they laughed and joked around about how she would never escape; of how they were going to find Yuuji and beat him up in front of her eyes.

She stood there, petrified, for what seemed forever, until a sudden yell from the other end of the hall interrupted the mood. She watched dazedly as a few thugs ran to the back of the hall and exited. There was a strange sensation as Shouko realised she no longer felt fear or worry as she stood there in front of the meancing hoodlums; it was as if she just stopped caring.

But that all went to pass as she watched the returning hoodlums carry a sagging body into the wide gym. Shouko felt her heart beat faster as she recognised the red hair on the unconscious boy. Shouko squinted her eyes shut in hopes of banishing the scene before her, but even that was useless as the hoodlums carried Yuuji onto the stage.

Shouko tried to approach Yuuji, but strong, unrefined hands gripped her shoulder. Shouko turned to bite on her captive's hand, but as she did so, he showed her the content in his other hand, and her blood ran cold. A tazer. While never having seen one before then, even Shouko knows of the terrible consequences tazers may lead to.

Shouko doesn't stop eyeing the tazer until she hears a moan release from Yuuji. She couldn't help but hold her breath as Yuuji slowly came to. She wanted to hear his voice; she wanted to see his grin, and she wanted to make sure he was alright. But all of that would have to wait as the hoodlums stepped forward to surround the half-awake Yuuji.

"Wh-what do you guys want?!" Yuuji's cry was weak and powerless as he lay on the floor surrounded by lanky high schoolers.

A rough hand gripped Yuuji's collar and pulled him up, "You're going to pay for all you've done!"

"Wh-what did I do?!" Yuuji cried again, and Shouko couldn't help admire his bravery as he talked back.

"One of our juniors reported you were messing with him at school, so I guess it's time we teach you a lesson once and for all!" a thug answered with a sadistic grin.

Then the punches began. Whack after whack, groan after groan, the sight before Shouko was an appaling site. But yet, everyone around her were cheering and laughing, their excited grins all visible on their faces. Shouko felt sick from their reactions alone.

That was when she noticed, her captor's hands were no longer holding her, but intensely watching the sight of Yuuji before them. Shouko bit her lip, knowing that if she didn't do something now, she'd lose everything dear to her forever. If she didn't do something, not only her life; but also Yuuji's, will be gone.

Her actions were dangerous and reckless as she leapt forward and snatched the tazor from the thug before her. Without a clear destination or target, she ran towards Yuuji and pressed the tazor button just as it touched the shirts of the attacking hoodlums.

From then on, everything felt like a blur as she pointed her tazor in the hoodlums' general direction, and threatened them with her tazor as she ordered two of them to help her carry Yuuji away from here. Her knuckles were turning white as she clutched the tazor, refusing to let go.

When the police finally came after her phone call, the officers had to wrench her fingers away from the tazor as the medics carred Yuuji into a hospital truck. Shouko pushed to follow, but was ushered instead into a police car.

She knew the cops had the best intentions, but without the comfort of Yuuji's presence, even inside the secure grounds of the police headquarters, everything seemed intimidating and detached.

Yuuji…
Please be okay…
I'll be waiting for you to come back…
I'll be waiting for always.