The three punks burst into hysterical laughter.
By then, Ryūta was certain the meeting had fallen through, and the question of why was becoming increasingly unsettling.
"Did they do something to the president? Or was I tricked from the start, and she never intended to come? Either way, I can't afford to dwell on it right now…" he thought and the leader seemed to echo his urgency.
"You ready? Then let's get started!"
The punk raised his fist and, a moment later, charged at Ryūta like a bull. Ryūta dodged just in time, but he didn't have a chance to regain his balance before his opponent came at him again with a sudden uppercut. It didn't land, but it would've taken the boy down, if he hadn't planted his palm on the ground, twisted mid-air, and landed on his feet again.
"Damn, you're quick! I like that!" the leader said, almost sounding impressed. Ryūta barely had time to feel good about it before the punk added, "Let's make it more interesting!"
The punk raised his left hand and gestured to one of his buddies, who slowly began moving toward them. As he got closer, he picked up speed, then broke into a full sprint. Ryūta realized he'd be facing two opponents now, so he tried to preempt their next move, but it didn't work. The leader kept attacking from the opposite direction. While Ryūta managed to hold his ground for a while, it wasn't long before fatigue started to set in. The punches and kicks he'd been blocking with ease earlier began slipping through, chipping away at his strength, until they had him cornered.
"Dammit… All my energy's going into defense, and I haven't even touched them. If this keeps up, I'm finished. What the hell should I do? Call for help? But if they really did hurt the president… No, I can't drag anyone else into this. I've got to figure something out on my own."
As Ryūta scrambled for a plan, the attacks suddenly stopped.
"How about we wrap this up? I'm not a fan of uneven fights," the leader said dully.
"Then why don't you fight me one-on-one? You might even enjoy it," Ryūta shot back, sounding confident, though he could barely stay on his feet.
"Wish I could," the punk sighed. "But I'm following orders, and we're short on time…"
He raised his hand again, this time the right one.
"That's it. I'm done. If they come at me two-on-one again, I won't make it. I can't beat them like this," Ryūta thought, but something struck him as odd.
The leader wasn't signaling to his buddy this time, but in Ryūta's direction.
"Wait! Two? Where's the third–"
By the time he realized what was happening, it was already too late. A sudden, sharp pain shot through the back of his neck, and a moment later, he collapsed to the ground. Struggling to turn his head, he managed to glance behind him out of the corner of his eye, just in time to see the third punk still grinning, a baseball bat in his hand.
"You sneaky, cowardly son of a–" Ryūta muttered as the leader stepped in front of him and crouched down.
"Don't take it personally," he said. "Like I told you, I don't really enjoy this kind of thing. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you something. Your president's our hostage. She's only alive because we need her help, and you, because that was her condition. So unless you want her sacrifice to be in vain, stay out of our way. Otherwise, you might find yourself bleeding out in some dark alley, with no one there to help you."
Ryūta clenched his trembling fist in fury as he listened to the punk's words. Then he tried to push himself up, but it was no use. The blow to his head had drained all his strength. His body refused to move.
"Don't strain yourself. You're lucky you're even conscious. Get some rest. Someone'll come for you soon enough," the punk finished as he stood up, but Ryūta never saw him leave. Within seconds, everything faded to black.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in the school infirmary. He tried to sit up, but the room immediately began to spin, and a searing pain shot through his skull. He barely even noticed the pain coursing through the rest of his body or the bandage stretched tight across the scrape on his chin.
"Bruises all over your body and a mild concussion," said a voice next to his bed, prompting him to turn his head. "The doctor says it's not as bad as it looks, but you'd better avoid any sudden movements."
"Shinji…"
The boy was sitting on a chair, holding a small slip of paper, his eyes still fixed on it for a few more seconds before he finally looked up.
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked.
"Just a little run-in," Ryūta replied, but his friend didn't let it go that easily.
"Believe it or not, I figured that part out on my own," Shinji said, in a tone that was uncharacteristically sharp. "I want to know who did this to you. Was it the person you were supposed to meet?"
"Not exactly…" Ryūta lowered his gaze.
"What do you mean, 'not exactly'? Was it Nao or not?!"
As the seconds ticked by, Shinji grew more and more agitated, while Ryūta was left speechless. He didn't know how to answer. In the end, he didn't have to.
Shinji let out a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and this time spoke much more calmly.
"Sorry. I lost my head for a second. When I went up to the student council room, Nao wasn't there. Just a note saying she was going to meet you, but by the time I got there, I only found you... lying unconscious on the ground. I didn't know what to think…"
"Honestly, I'm not sure either. I really was supposed to meet with the president, but instead I was greeted by three weird guys. I'm afraid something might've happened to her."
The two boys sat in silence for a while, both lost in thought. Eventually, Ryūta broke the quiet, suddenly raising his head.
"Wait, why did you ask if the president was the one who did this to me?"
"Because it might not be the first time something like this has happened," Shinji replied grimly, then added, "Remember Sanae's friend? The one who talked her into sneaking into the cemetery?"
"Yeah… that rings a bell," Ryūta said, raising an eyebrow.
"Later, several people saw her talking to Nao. After that, she was on edge all day, like she was scared of something. Then, as soon as the last class ended, she went straight home. No one's heard from her since. Her whole family's vanished without a trace."
"You think the president had something to do with it?"
"I hope not. But lately, she's been acting strange. Like when I asked her what you two talked about, she didn't answer."
"What's so weird about that? Nobody likes being interrogated," Ryūta said, confused.
"That's true," Shinji admitted, "but Nao usually doesn't need to be asked. Whenever we're alone, she always tells me about her day. What she saw, what problems she solved, who she talked to and why. That's why it was so strange when she said nothing, especially knowing you and I are close," Shinji explained, then handed his friend the slip of paper he had been examining so intently earlier. "And then there's this."
"What is this?" Ryūta asked, taking it and giving it a closer look.
On the paper was an address and a time.
"Tonight at eight... And this… This is the address of a hotel, right? What does it mean?" he wondered aloud.
"If nothing else, it means Nao did go to meet you. That's her handwriting," Shinji said firmly.
"Then maybe she really…"
Ryūta fell silent for a moment, clearly deep in thought, while Shinji waited more and more impatiently.
"What? Did something come back to you?" he urged.
"Yeah. I don't remember much after they knocked me out, but I'm sure one of them said the president was their hostage. So that time and place… maybe that's when we'll have a chance to rescue her!"
But Shinji didn't look convinced.
"No. It's clearly a trap."
"What makes you think that?"
"I found that little slip of paper in your hand. Since you didn't recognize it, you probably never saw it before. Which means it was planted there after you were knocked out. The question is, who put it there and why?"
"Got any ideas?" Ryūta asked, clearly at a loss. In response, the other boy raised his hand.
"Actually, I've got three," he said, then started counting on his fingers. "The first possibility is that Nao overheard that gang talking, but they caught her, and she dropped the note. One of them found it and planted it in your hand to lure you into a trap. The second is that there's a traitor in the group. Someone who put the slip in your hand on purpose to help us."
Shinji paused after that, but this time Ryūta couldn't wait.
"And what's the third one?" he asked.
"The one I'm most afraid of. That the whole kidnapping is just an act and Nao's actually with them," the boy with glasses replied, leaving his friend horrified.
"You can't be serious…"
"I don't want it to be true either. But something doesn't sit right."
"Like what?"
"The handwriting. It's too neat. It doesn't look like someone who was panicked or in a rush. She made sure it could be easily read. That alone makes me think..." Shinji trailed off, lowering his eyes.
It was getting harder and harder for Ryūta to watch his friend struggle with so much doubt, so he tried to lift his spirits a little.
"There might be a fourth possibility."
"Really? What?" Shinji's eyes lit up.
"That someone forged the president's handwriting and she has nothing to do with any of this."
"I wish that were true. But I know Nao's handwriting inside and out. I'm completely sure it's hers."
"Then let's focus on the first two options," Ryūta said, his tone firming. "Do you see her as the kind of person who would freeze up in a situation like this?"
"No…" the boy with glasses replied, still sounding a little unsure. Ryūta didn't hesitate to go on.
"Well, neither do I. I'd bet anything she was prepared to be caught. Maybe she even let it happen, so she could uncover the whole thing herself. But just in case, she left us that message. It doesn't matter who put it in my hand or why, or even if it's a trap. What matters is that the president is counting on us."
"You're right," Shinji finally said, lifting his gaze. Then he looked Ryūta in the eye and asked firmly:
"So, what do we do?"
Ryūta was so surprised by the question, he nearly fell off the bed. After a few seconds of scrambling to collect himself, he shot back:
"You're asking me? You're the brains between the two of us!"
"True."
"It kinda hurts how fast you agreed with that..." Ryūta muttered with a grimace, but Shinji ignored the jab and went straight back to the point.
"Try to remember. Did they say anything else?"
"They did. They said she's still alive because they need her."
"That doesn't help us much."
"And that I'm still alive because that was her condition."
"Condition…?" Shinji echoed. "So she really did go with them willingly. But what the hell do they want from her?"
He frowned, deep in thought, but the answer was obvious.
"There's only one way to find out," Ryūta said aloud, and once again Shinji tried to stop him.
"No way! It's too dangerous! Can you even stand up?"
Instead of answering, Ryūta yanked off the blanket to prove his readiness, only to make a surprising discovery.
He wasn't wearing his usual school uniform.
He was dressed in his winter gym clothes.
"Shinji!"
"What?"
"Where are my clothes?" Ryūta asked with a suspicious glance. Shinji, unfazed, answered helpfully as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
"I dropped them off at the cleaners. You were covered in dust from head to toe when we brought you in. You can use my spare set. They're pretty much your size anyw–"
But before he could finish, the boy who had been weak just moments ago suddenly sprang up from the bed.
"See? I'm totally fine!" he boasted, and marched over to the change of clothes hanging on a hanger, only to start wobbling like a tipsy old lady.
"Yeah... I can see that," Shinji said sarcastically. But Ryūta's enthusiasm was undeterred.
"By the way, how many people really know what happened to me?" he asked as he pulled off his shirt.
"No one but us. There weren't any witnesses," Shinji replied.
"Then if anyone asks, let's just say I tripped."
"Where?"
"I don't know, down the stairs, maybe," Ryūta said indifferently.
"Uh-huh… if you say so," Shinji muttered, clearly not invested in arguing.
After he finished changing, Ryūta slung his bag over his shoulder and said:
"Well, I'm off!"
"Off where?" Shinji asked, confused.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to help the president!"
"Were you even listening to me?! We should be calling the police!" he snapped.
"No one would believe us."
"You can't be that sure! We go to a well-known school! Maybe our word actually means something!"
But Ryūta wasn't convinced.
"Even if they did believe us, we've got nothing except a time and an address. And if anything goes wrong, we'll lose our one shot at asking for help. Besides, I don't want to drag Sanae into this."
Shinji finally let out a resigned sigh, then continued, now a bit calmer:
"What exactly is going on between you two?"
"I… don't really know how to explain it," Ryūta replied, looking a bit unsure.
"Look, Ryūta, if you won't tell me anything, I can't help you."
"I never actually asked for your help," he replied.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Ryūta realized how badly they could be misunderstood, so he quickly added:
"I know it's crazy. That's why I can't expect you to come with me."
"Of course I'm coming with you! What, you think I became your friend just to leave you behind when things get hard? Do I really seem that two-faced to you?" Shinji snapped.
"No, that's not what I meant, I just–" Ryūta stammered, but couldn't get the rest out.
"And besides, even if I don't fully understand why… Nao's just as important to me as Sanae is to you. I'm not going to sit back and do nothing."
Ryūta stood there for a moment, stunned. He had never doubted that Shinji was a great person, but after hearing that, he looked up to him even more.
"Thanks, Shinji," he said with a smile.
Realizing the effect his emotional outburst had just had, Shinji awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Let's get going already," he said, then took the lead and walked out the door.
"Right behind you!" Ryūta called, following after him, only to walk straight into the doorframe.
"Augh! Damn double vision..."
After tossing his gym clothes back into his locker, he and Shinji left the school building.
But out in the courtyard, they ran into another problem.
"Sanae…" Ryūta muttered.
The girl was sitting on a bench near the front gate.
When she saw the boys, she stood up and started walking toward them.