Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Trapped In Purgatory ❯ Lesson 8: Struggle ( Chapter 8 )

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Trapped in Purgatory

Lesson 8: Struggle

By: Revamp

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“I'm gonna take care of him,” Raiga stepped forward. There was no way in hell he was going to let Leo parish. He would be the one to take care of him, even if it meant he had a chance of dying himself. That was a risk he was willing to take.

“Y-You will? But didn't you hear him?” Shiko was bewildered that Raiga would even take the chance, knowing the something could happen to him. Leo was hurt badly, and there was no real guarantee that he would live from his injuries. That was a huge risk.

“I don't care. This was bullshit…” The yakuza leader closed his eyes and frowned, “and Leonardo is my friend. I swear if he dies, I die. I'm not gonna leave him here to bleed out and suffer.” He didn't see how the others were so willing to do so. Did none of them have hearts, or were they all that selfish? Either way, they should be ashamed of themselves. Where was their honor?

Taiga could only stand there with widened eyes and a look of horror on his face. His body was locked up and dread mixed with adrenaline rushed through his veins. “Leo…” The nickname fell from his lips before he saw another student raise a knife to stab him out of the corner of his eye. Taiga reached around and chopped into the guy's neck with his axe.

The blade tore the student's flesh, splattering his blood across several others before the chaos ensued and the group began to murder each other. Some screamed as they were being assaulted, others valiantly fought back. While sorrow was present inside, bloodshed reigned supreme on the outside.

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“R-Raiga…please…” Leonardo's voice was husky with the agony he felt. The vicious blades ripped into his flesh and pain surged through him with every bruise and ripped muscle he had. Leo had never felt pain this intense in all of his life and he hoped he never had to again. He felt his body grow cold as he bathed in a pool of his own blood. It stained his clothes and skin and he struggled to see properly. His vision blurred in and out as he tried desperately to keep consciousness.

“I'm gonna pull this out. Y'have t'let me,” Raiga didn't want to accidentally kill him. He needed the other male's complete cooperation if he wanted to even have a shot at living.

“If you pull it out, you may cause him to die faster. He'll bleed all over,” Kazoo warned him against such a thing. Raiga could also rupture other organs if he wasn't careful about what he did.

“If I leave it in I might kill him while I'm holdin' him. It's barely missin' his vitals. I don't even know how the fuck he's still alive but I ain't complaining,” Raiga glanced back at his friend who was fighting against death with more determination than he ever would have. “Y'gotta let me pull it out. Don't worry, Leo. I'm gonna try to take care of you.”

“Why not let me die?” Leo asked weakly. “You wouldn't have…a murder on your shoulders…” He wasn't trying to be that guy, but it didn't seem worth it to try for him. If Raiga let him die, it wasn't like he would hold it against him. In fact, he would have done the opposite. He would have thanked the yakuza for releasing him from this nightmare.

“Y'shouldn't talk when y're hurt,” Raiga chided him and grabbed the handle of the blade. “Now, be still. If I get this outta there in a wrong way y'll end up dead.” He had to be precise about this and he didn't want Leo's death on his shoulders. Even if the rock star eventually succumb to his wounds, it was better than just leaving him there. That wasn't in his honor code at all.

“I deserve it…” Leo whispered. Right now he was in so much pain that he wished he was dead. He longed for the feeling of release, something that would take him away from all of this pain, but it never came.

“Shut up,” Raiga shot. He was going to save him whether he wanted him to or not.

“I want to die,” the blonde continued to spew out his pain and sorrow.

“Well, tough shit,” Raiga responded and slowly pulled the blade. Leo could feel it slicing him as it was removed and screamed in pain as a new wave of agony brought hell upon his already battered body. He shook with the shock that the action caused and tears cascaded down his face. The sword clattered as the bloody blade hit the ground a few feet away.

Tearing a piece of his jacket off, Raiga quickly tied it around the wound to try and hinder the bleeding. Slowly and carefully, he picked up the injured blonde and carried him bride-and-groom style to his room. Raiga's feet moved as quickly as they could. He knew that every moment he paused, time was wasted. Everyone followed him as he entered the dorm and laid Leo carefully on his bed.

The rock star could feel the mattress hug his body and the covers stick to the fresh blood that leaked from it. It was like a cold, dark hug, but something comforting as well. Raiga looked to the others and began to give them tasks.

Osmond has the task of finding a sewing kit. The sewing kits were in the home economics room, the model just had to get down there without being murdered. Osmond nodded and headed off with his weapon in hand. Next, he instructed Persephone and Izayoi to go find medical supplies and bandages. If they saw anything that resembled a pain killer, he wanted them to grab it right away. Persephone told him that she'd see what they could do and she and Izayoi retreated out of the room.

Raiga glanced back to his friend who was breathing heavily and sweating. His eyes were screwed shut in pain. “If y'have any strength left, hold down y'r wound. It'll be alright. Leo, come on! Y'can't die on me,” he almost begged the injured man who merely gurgled in response as he placed his shaky hand on his chest and tried to stabilize his wound the best he could.

“Why…” Leo asked in a faint voice, his eyes barely open.

“I care about you. I…” Raiga's voice changed to a sympathetic and soft spoken tone before he snapped out of it and retained his normal one, “never mind. Just get better and stay alive. We don't need anyone else dying on us.” How could he have been so idiotic? Saying that wouldn't have helped him. This wasn't a soap opera, after all.

“It hurts…”

“I can only imagine,” a little hesitant, he reached for the boy's unoccupied hand and held it tightly. “I'm here for you. Don't die. I could never forgive myself if y'died.”

“I'll go get a bucket,” Kazoo finally spoke up. He felt a little silly being the only one who wasn't doing anything. Besides, he figured the two men wanted to be alone.

“Why?” Raiga was a little confused. What the hell did he need a bucket for?

“You'll need to sterilize the wound. Antiseptics are good, but we want to make sure he doesn't get an infection. I hope you realize that none of this means he'll live,” Kazoo wasn't about to simply be positive about this. He wanted everyone to know what they were getting into, especially Raiga considering he took on that responsibility.

“His injuries are life threatening. That is for certain,” Kaizer spoke up from his position across the room, leaned up against the wall.

“Don't you know how to help him? You're in the military. You should have medical training,” Roxy pointed out that of all people, Kaizer should have been up there with those actively helping Leo.

“I have first aid training. I'm a soldier not a medical responder,” Kaizer placed his arms down at his sides and walked over to Leo, assessing his wounds. Reaching down, he synched up the ties on his tourniquet more, and ran his hands across Leo's chest. The flesh of the boy felt cold under his touch. He turned to Raiga after a few moments of silence. “Cover him up. At the rate he's losing blood, his body temperature had dropped dramatically. He's going to become anemic, so we'll need to get him an iron rich diet.”

“Iron rich diet?” Raiga had heard of that before, but he thought it was something only body builders did. How was that going to help him?

“Foods that are rich in iron like red meats, fish, dairy products…magnesium would help him as well. It'll widen his veins and help his blood flow. When we sow up his wounds we have to do it carefully to avoid hemorrhaging and clotting. It'll kill him faster than an infection,” Kaizer shared his medical knowledge on the issue. They wanted his help; they were going to get it.

“You sure do know a lot,” Raiga was impressed. This kid was the same age as him and seemed to know this vast amount of knowledge. It was saying something to impress him, considering he owned his own syndicate.

“You want him to live. That's what I'm doing,” Kaizer's voice was cold. He didn't really care about Leo, he was just doing what was requested of him.

“I'm shocked y're helping me,” but Raiga was also grateful he was. If it wasn't for Kaizer and the others, he wouldn't know what to do about his friend's situation.

“I'm not a total militant asshole,” Kaizer didn't want them to die, at least not now. If it had to come down to them facing off against each other, of course he would kill them. But, for now there was safety in numbers until they decided to start killing each other.

“Kaizerschmarren, you're not so bad and I'm glad y're helping me. That y're helpin' Leo. I'm sure he appreciates it,” Raiga knew he'd appreciate it when he was conscious enough to actually thank him. The fact that someone as seemingly cold and often times cruel as Kaizer could lend a hand when things got rough only helped him see that humanity lay in the darkest of hearts.

“Yeah right,” Kaizer took his words with a grain of salt.

“I mean it,” the yakuza leader was sincere, “everyone might hate you, but I don't think y're completely heartless. Y're a human just like us.” He gave the militant male a toothy smile. Maybe Kaizer wasn't all that bad. He was probably just some misunderstood kid, the kind that people avoided without really knowing their story. He sort of could relate to that.

Kaizer turned and looked at him without saying anything. Their eyes met and they shared a moment of silence. His expression was unchanging, showing neither gratitude or offense.

“Did I say somethin' wrong?” Raiga's smile slowly faded into a visage of bewilderment. He could feel the tension between them.

Kaizer's lips tugged into a smirk, something that was atypical of his normal expression. It seemed happy in its own right. “You consider me human? That's quite a feat.” There was something about the tone of his voice that chided Raiga's worries. The militant boy seemed gracious in a way, touched by his phrase.

“Man, it's not like you don't deserve to be,” Raiga was glad. He felt like this moment between them was giving them a bond, only if slightly.

“But, I'm not human.” Those words were spoken with such certainty. It was something Kaizer truly believed. The word `human' was an odd choice to describe him as.

“People wouldn't consider me human, either,” Raiga could relate. “It doesn't matter what they think, though. It's all about how y'see stuff.” Now that he thought about it, the fact that the two of them were put in the positions they were by being yakuza and military-related, he could see where that comment came from. People like them killed others and could be viewed as monsters in the eyes of the populous. He could tell that it was something that affected Kaizer more than he was willing to say.

“I don't think you understand,” Kaizer felt his hopes diminish. Here he only thought he had run into someone he could have possibly told that to, but it was only a cruel joke.

“What if y'weren't human? We'll take that into account. Y'still have a heart that beats just like mine. Pain, anger, sorrow and happiness…we all have emotions. I don't care if y're a kid, adult, dog, cat, robot…if `function and y'can feel emotions, that makes us the same,” Raiga felt like the other male needed to know that. He didn't know what kind of things that Kaizer had seen. Maybe something happened to make him truly believe that he was a monster. Maybe something in one of the wars he was in caused his perspectives to be warped. Whatever the case, he wanted to give him a few kind words. It was the least he could do.

“You shouldn't talk about your stupid idealisms when someone's dying,” Kaizer averted the subject. Those words made him feel odd to say the least. There was no way that someone like Raiga could even come close to understand him and he wasn't going to give those feelings an opportunity to fester.

Raiga sighed a little. There went his chance to be close to him. “I'll back off. I still don't view you as anything but equal,” he at least wanted him to know that.

“I am an imitation of life,” Kaizer knew he was saying far more than he should, but in hindsight it was nice to talk to someone about this topic. He had kept it in for so long.

“Imitations don't feel,” Raiga was certain of that.

Before Kaizer could say anything in response, their conversation was broken by Kazoo coming through the door with a bucket full of soapy water. He sat it down at Leo's bedside and placed a rag on the side of it. The corner of the cloth was submerged into suds. He gave the two a serious look and began to instruct them on what course of action to take.

“You should start taking his clothes off so we can get to work,” Kazoo knew the more time they wasted the more hopeless the situation got. If they wanted to save Leonardo they had to act quickly.

Osmond returned shortly after Kazoo, successful in his mission as well. He held the sewing kit in his hands and presented it to the two men. “I have the needles and thread. I brought hand sanitizer, too. We can use it to sanitize the needles and thread.”

“Prepare the body,” Kaizer commanded as he took off his military coat and draped it over a nearby chair, exposing his white, button up shirt. He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and put a generous amount of sanitizer on his hands.

“I'll sterilize this stuff for you,” Osmond offered as he grabbed the needle and thread and began to work his magic.

As he was cleansing the items he brought in, Persephone and Izayoi walked through the door with their hands full of medical supplies. They glanced over to see Kaizer with his sleeves rolled up and Raiga sitting by his friend's bedside. They brought first aid kits they got from the nurse's office and other supplies they grabbed, sitting them down nearby.

“We got all of the supplies from the nurse's office and the first aid kits,” Persephone informed them.

Osmond threaded the needle and wiped the thread down with sanitizer. He ran the sanitizer along the thread until he got a considerable amount of string cleansed. He then told them that he had a lot of string sanitized and he offered to do more if they needed it.

“Let's begin,” Kaizer turned towards Leo's body that lay there, cleaned and nude. He began to work on him, along with the help of the group. They managed to treat his wounds with their combined knowledge and stitched him up from front to back, all while Leo was awake and under no anesthesia.

The bucket that sat at his bedside was now filled with soapy water that was tinted pink with the blood they had cleaned off in the operation process. When they were finished, Kaizer pulled off one of the stained surgical gloves that had come with the first aid kit.

“That's all I can really do for him,” Kaizer sighed and took off the other glove.

“He seems to b-be stable for the t-time being. W-We should closely monitor his vitals,” Arata suggested. It was best to make sure that he makes it through all of this. The shock that his body had been put through was immeasurable, and he no doubt could be facing complications.

“Too bad none of us are nurses,” Persephone thought this was a drawback. Sure, they had Kaizer but even so he didn't have the knowledge someone trained in the profession would have.

“We'll have to deal with checking his pulse, heartbeat and temperature,” Roxy noted. It was the least that they could do to help him.

Izayoi pulled out a stethoscope from the bundle of items they got from the nurse's office and held it up, “I brought this,” she then pulled up a thermometer and a cuff that was designed to take blood pressure. “I tried to get all of the things I could find.”

“That took a while,” Kazoo wiped the sweat from his brow.

“I had to sow up both sides. He should be stabilized, just resting. We can put his bandages on when he wakes up,” Kaizer noted and began to cover him with all of the blankets that were available in the room. “He'll be anemic, as I have said it's important he stays warm, hydrated and has a lot of iron.”

“Then we should limit him to drinking water for a while,” Kazoo thought that would be best.

“He can get his blood supply back faster that way,” Kaizer agreed.

“Do you think he'll be alright?” Liam knew things looked bleak but he wanted to know what exactly Leo's chances were of making a recovery. He hoped someone at least had an idea. He hated feeling so uncertain about things.

“Who knows,” Kaizer certainly didn't and he wasn't about to make that kind of assessment.

“Let's let him rest for now. We can't do anything else,” Akagi knew that the only thing on their side was time. It was all just a waiting game now.

“I'll stay with him,” Raiga knew that he would need the protection. If someone were to try and batter down the door, they could kill him very easily. He would be there to protect him from any outside forces.

“If you need us, then we'll be around,” Kaizer turned his back to the yakuza and tossed his gloves into a nearby trashcan.

“You can always write us a note and slip it into our dorms,” Monica mad a suggestion if they weren't in their rooms. She knew that there could be a chance that some of them might be out and about and it was the best way to let them know while they were gone that he wanted to see them. “As soon as we get back, we'll come in here.”

“It's so hard without cell phones,” Persephone sighed. She absolutely hated not even having a way to contact each other while they were gone.

“I don't know about you guys, but I'll be in my dorm. All of this is mentally straining on me. I haven't been able to sleep or anything,” Shiko found herself barely clinging to sanity since all of these events had taken place. All of the death got to her, the feeling of blood against her skin, the thought of taking someone's life, the stench of death in her nostrils. She hated it.

“I've been taking naps during the day a well. I would move furniture in front of my door in case someone tries to break in,” Ryunosuke stated. If someone would strike, he knew they might try to kill him when he was least expecting it or vulnerable, and what more vulnerable state than sleeping?

“That's a good idea,” now that she thought about it, Shiko found that to be a very good idea.

“W-Well, l-let's all clear out,” Arata knew their jobs were done there. The only thing they could do was wait.

“Yeah, tell us if anything happens,” Persephone turned and looked over her shoulder, giving Leonardo one last glance before she headed towards the door.

“Y'can count on me,” Raiga gave his allies a small salute as they all cleared out of the room.

Now it was just he and Leonardo, who slept soundly for a long time. He occasionally checked on him to make sure that he was still alive. It was crazy that he managed to sleep as soundly as he did. Raiga couldn't help but admire Leo's endurance. If anything, that man was a tough son of a bitch.

After a couple of hours, Leonardo shot up from bed with a look of fright on his face. It looked as if he had a vivid nightmare and after he shot up, he clutched his chest in pain before releasing a groan of agony. Wild, blue eyes shot around the room, trying to discern where he was before they fell upon the yakuza, who sat at his bedside.

“Hey,” Raiga greeted him.

“I'm…alive…” even Leo sounded shocked to come to that conclusion.

“So far,” Raiga didn't want to jinx it too hard.

Leonardo glanced at his hand and flexed it a little. Dull pains radiated through his body and traveled through his veins like liquid agony. How had he lived from that? He could barely believe that he was alive, much less someone who had survived a vicious execution. He knew that the worst wasn't over yet.

Just then, a flash of trauma ripped through his psyche and tore apart what little peace of mind he had. Blue eyes widened and the memories played in vivid clarity. The sword came hurling toward him at frightening speed. The blade promised death and plunged into his body with great force. He could taste the copper in his mouth and feel the merciless tearing of flesh.

“I…was stabbed…” the words ran from his lips in a whisper. His voice quivered with emotion as he tried to rid himself of the visions that plagued him.

“We patched y'up. Well, we didn't bandage you yet. We wanted t'wait until y'sat up. Y'gotta go real easy. Kaizerschmarren patched y'up so I think he did a good job. Hopefully they won't bust,” Raiga knew that Leonardo wouldn't like it, but he had to stay put for a while until he recovered enough to go out and start killing people again.

Leonardo removed the covers and slowly stood up. It was then that he found that he was fully nude. Standing up caused him to feel the stitches in his body pulling at him as he got to his feet. Wincing, he placed a hand over his stitched up chest. Blood seeped from his stitches and a thin layer of sweat covered his body. His breath was labored and he felt tired and cold.

“Man,” Raiga looked at Leonardo's hand that was now covered in a thin layer of blood, “you lost a lot of blood. How do y'feel?”

“I feel like someone dug their hand into my chest and ripped my muscle out then searched my skin back together. I'm in a lot of pain. I'm shocked I'm even up,” Leonardo's voice was ragged and he spoke between pained gasped. He didn't even care that he was nude. It wasn't like Raiga had never seen him naked anyway.

The yakuza opened a bottle of antiseptic spray and began to bathe his wounds in medication. If anything it would keep them from getting infected. The contact of the medicine made his friend jump. It was probably cold on him. The yakuza moved around to the other side and continued to treat him. “I know, it's cold. We have t'keep shit out or y'll die,” Raiga told him before bandaging him up.

“Why are you helping me? I mean…I'm a murderer,” Leonardo knew that he was the convicted in the eyes of many. It didn't matter what his story was back there at the trial, there would always be those who didn't believe him.

“Bullshit,” Raiga growled. He didn't believe that for a second. Leonardo wouldn't lie, and even when his life was on the line he didn't have any reason to die about that girl's suicide. “Y're not anything…Just don't do that shit again. Y'scared me, man.”

“I scared me, too,” Leonardo knew Raiga wasn't the only one. Hell, he was still having flashbacks from that nightmare.

“Y're gonna have a scar. Too bad y'r slammin' body is gonna be wrecked,” Raiga made the joke, but in a way he meant it. Leonardo was particularly easy on the eyes. It was a little sad that it had to acquire some battle wounds but he was happy just to be speaking to him right now.

“Who cares? I'm alive,” Leonardo wasn't taking the matter too personally.

“Y'make me sound like a self-centered, vain man,” the yakuza continued to poke at him.

“Aren't we all? We all want to live and in hindsight the idea of killing each other has gone through our heads before,” Leonardo knew that there had been times that he was angry enough to think about strangling someone or even wanting to see them perish but he never acted upon such instincts…not until now.

“I won't deny it, though I'm ashamed of it. I'm worried about a lotta things. I wished I knew if Taiga was alright. I haven't seen him,” Raiga was a yakuza boss; of course he'd done some dirty work. He wasn't above killing his classmates if it was for the sake of duty but this was different.

“He wasn't in the video?” The rock star inquired.

“No,” Raiga shook his head.

“That means he could still be alive,” Leonardo gave him a small sense of hope.

“But for how long? How long would they keep him alive? They know how to string us along, how t'play us. They can make us move accordingly and we can't do shit about it.” Those were undisputed facts. Whoever was the mastermind behind all of this definitely played their cards right and played them well.

Leonardo slowly laid back down, now adorned with fresh bandages and now that he had slipped into some pajama pants that wouldn't constrict him too much. “Damn…I'll be out for a while,” he groaned.

“Don't worry about anything. I want y'to rest if y'don't, then y'make y'reself a target. That's what they want,” Raiga wanted to prevent that more than anything. He fought this long just to keep him alive. He didn't plan on giving up just now.

“I feel so stupid…and ashamed-“the blonde closed his eyes and clenched at the bedding below him. If only he hadn't gone to her then none of this would have happened.

“Don't,” Raiga hushed him, “Y're not a killer. It's about doin' what y'gotta do. I've been killin' too. Hell, I killed in the yakuza. Death isn't exactly anything much t'me,” Raiga freely admitted that he could be a terrible person. In the eyes of many he brought about fear and destruction. He was one of the most powerful men in Japan.

“That's the first time…I feel sick,” Leonardo got off of the bed as he felt the bile churn sickeningly in his stomach. He hobbled over to the bathroom as he felt caustic liquid bubble up his esophagus and he barely made it as he threw up in the toilet.

“Must be the rush. Bet y'r body has taken a beating. I have mouthwash in there. Y'can use it or something,” Raiga didn't know much of what to say to really help him out so offering him the option for fresh breath was probably the only fitting advice he could give.

After he had expelled himself, the blonde used the mouth wash to clear his throat of the vile taste and bent over the sink heaving. He flushed the toilet and ran warm water over a rag to clean his flushed face of sweat.

Blue eyes glanced back into the mirror as a sword headed towards him at light speed. Unable to contain himself, Leonardo held both sides of his head and screamed as loud as he could. He stumbled back and tripped over his own two feet. The man came down on the ground and smacked his head on the wall. Pain shot through his injuries and the newly acquired blow to his head. Leonardo took ragged breaths as he heard the footsteps of the yakuza who hurried to the door and called his name.

Leonardo dragged a hand down his face. “Sorry, I just…keep seeing it. That sword, comin' at me.”

“Y'need t'get back into bed,” Raiga was really worried about him, especially if he was hallucinating this badly. He bent down and slowly helped him up. “Y're hallucinating.”

“Damn,” Leonardo cursed and held the back of his head, “that hurt.”

“I thought maybe y'fell over the toilet. Not even gonna lie, the first time I dormed here, I fell over the toilet into the tub. It was fulla water, too. I was pissed…” Raiga looked irritated for a moment before cracking a goofy smile, “but it was pretty funny when I think about it.”

“Ya did what?” Leonardo sat on the bed and gave him a blank expression. He could hardly picture someone like Raiga doing such a stupid thing.

“I fell over the toilet into the tub. Funny, huh?” Raiga questioned and chuckled at his own actions.

It earned a small laugh from his friend before he winced and placed a hand over his chest. It was too early in his recovery for him to laugh, or maybe this was just fate punishing him. Either way, he felt the creeping illness surge up from his stomach and decided to calm down.

“Oh man, I'm sorry. Are y'okay?” Raiga felt bad that he made him laugh. He was only trying to take his mind off of the horrible course of events that he had gone through.

“No, but I wasn't before,” Leonardo made a good point.

Suddenly, he felt strong arms embrace him, but the touch was surprisingly gentle. They caressed him in a way as to not disturb his injuries. The familiar scent of cologne permeated his senses and the blonde hugged him back, wrapping his arms around the yakuza's muscular torso. The two stayed in their embrace for a while, basking in each other's company. “It feels nice to huge someone after all this shit. I could use it,” Raiga's voice was calm in his ear.

His friend's arms wrapped around him tighter, pulling their bodies close together. Leonardo's skin was cold to the touch and Raiga provided warmth for his frigid body. Hugging the yakuza was always soothing to him, but this time it felt even more special. It was comforting, something he so desperately needed. “Yeah, it's nice. You're really warm,” Leonard rested his tired head on the strong shoulder of the dark-haired man.

Pausing for a moment, Raiga took off his coat and placed it around the other man's shoulders. It had some of his warmth still radiating from it. He then went back to hugging him. Hopefully the extra warmth would calm him and make him feel better. “There,” Raiga's voice was oddly comforting as well. It had a kind tone to it, which was rare for someone who usually spoke so brashly, “it's got a lotta body heat in it.”

Leonardo pulled back a little and stuck his arms through the arm holes and went back to hugging him. He didn't know why, but he really wanted to keep hugging the yakuza. More than anything, he wanted someone to hold him right now. A small smile crossed his face, “now I got the best of both worlds.”

A small blush crossed his face, “Leonardo…”

“Thanks,” Leonardo closed his eyes and rested his head on Raiga's shoulder. There was something that just felt right about this moment. When he was in the yakuza's arms, everything felt right. It was as if they were far away from this mass of murder and undug graves. “I owe ya a lot. If it wasn't for you, I'd be fighting for my life…I'd probably just get killed or die.”

“I'd never do that to you,” Raiga's voice was filled with devotion. He couldn't even begin to think about leaving his dear friend to bleed on the floor as he walked away with his life. Some things were worth fighting for, and Leonardo was more than anything.

“Hey, can I sleep on you? You're just really warm and I'm freezing,” Leonardo didn't care about how such a thing would look. Right now, he just wanted to be warm and feel safe. He wanted to be with someone he cared about and rid his mind of the horrible hallucinations that plagued him.

“Y'bet y're hot ass I'll let ya. What's better than y'r good-lookin' best friend using y'as an electric blanket?” Raiga left his tone ambiguous on that. Whether Leonardo took it as him blatantly hitting on him or took it as a friendly joke was up to him.

“Flatterer,” Leonardo cracked a smile.

“It's not flattery as much as it is truth,” Raiga said as he pulled back from their hug and moved around his friend, lying on his bed. He slowly reached up and gently pulled the rock star on top of him. Their bodies molded together as Raiga pulled up the covers around the two of them. He could feel Leonardo huddle around him. “There, this is better,” Raiga smiled and felt the warmth grow between them. Leonardo's body felt right against his, and he knew this moment was fleeting, but he wished it could last forever. “Snuggle time,” he ran his fingers through the blonde locks of his friend's Mohawk as the other male rested his head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“After graduation, are ya gonna go back to the yakuza?” Leonardo tried to bring up a seemingly happier subject so he could get his mind off of the recent events.

“Yeah,” Raiga replied, “if y'live what're you gonna do?”

“I don't know,” Leonardo hadn't thought about what he was going to do past his execution attempt, much less about what he would do when he got out of this place.

“I feel kinda guilty, y'know?” Raiga's voice then dropped into a tone of sorrow as he let out a sigh.

“Why?” Leonardo asked.

“I couldn't save you. No matter what I did, I couldn't save you. I swore I'd protect you, but man it didn't work that way,” the yakuza wouldn't deny that he didn't feel just awful. He had sworn that he would do his best to make sure that something like this didn't happen, and yet here he was holding his critically injured friend in his arms. It was beyond painful and felt dishonoring to him.

“You did everything ya could. That means the world to me,” Leonardo wasn't going to fault him for that. After all, right now the only person who was staying with him was Raiga. He didn't have to take responsibility for him. Hell, Raiga knew that if he didn't make it then he was going to be charged with his death, but the yakuza still stayed by him despite all of that. Leonardo was beyond flattered that someone would risk their own life for him.

Raiga was such a good friend.

“Leo, I-“ the yakuza spoke before cutting himself off.

“You?” Leonardo lifted his head from his chest and gazed into his visage.

“Go to sleep,” Raiga dismissed.

“Alright,” Leonardo was too tired to really question him, or even fight back. Soon, he felt the heaviness of sleep cling to his eyelids, pulling them shut as he drifted off into dreams.

Raiga fell asleep soon afterwards.

XxXxXxXxXx

A member of the swim team snuck up behind Taiga and swung an axe at him. At the last moment, he blocked him with his own axe and pushed against his force. The swim team member pulled back and swung his weapon again, only to have it blocked by the young yakuza member. Over and over again, their weapons clashed, sending clanking noises echoing through the air.

With a heavy swing the swimmer put all of his strength into knocking Taiga's axe from his hands. The yakuza's eyes widened as his weapon slipped from his hands and spiraled through the air. The axe hit the floor and slid across it. Taiga ran after his weapon and flumbled to attempt to grab it. The swimmer was on top of him and struck down with his axe in an attempt to dismember him. The axe blade dug into the ground, scarring the floor and lodging itself deep within the surface of the floor.

The swimmer attempted to pull his blade out as Taiga grabbed his axe and hit the boy in the back. His axe blade dug deep within the other human's flesh as blood sprayed across his chest and spattered on his face. He struck him again and again.

A blood-curdling scream flowed into his ears as he turned to see Kaizer slicing through another student. He worked quickly, quietly and effortlessly as ran pat him, slicing through several students who attempted to attack him. Their hits never even got the chance to land as the militant boy's cruel blade ripped their lives from them savagely. Kaizer dismembered three students in a row and turned around to decapitate another. Blood stained the walls, the boy and his blade. He then cut another student clean in half as if their body was nothing to get through. He struck once, twice, three times…

Taiga could only stare wide-eyed in admiration about the student's killing prowess. Kaizer almost worked more like a machine than a human being. Taiga had seen some violent people. It came with the territory of being in the yakuza, but he had never seen someone quite like him.

`Who is that guy? Come to think of it, I saw him in the trial, too. I think his name was Kaizerschmarro or some shit. He's pretty good. Must be a master fencer,” Taiga's thoughts left him as he came back into reality. “I'm not going to fuck with him”

XxXxXxXxXx

Raiga cracked his eyes open as he heard the sharp knocking on his door. He looked down to see that Leonardo was still sleeping on him. The rock star's face looked so peaceful as he slept, and he didn't want to disturb him.

“Who is it?” He asked from his place and hoped his voice traveled well enough to be heard.

“It's me,” he heard the familiar voice of Izayoi on the other side.

“Come in,” he granted her permission.

“The door is locked,” Izayoi replied and jiggled the doorknob to prove her point.

“Hold on,” Raiga grabbed the key to the door from the nightstand nearby and slowly slid out from under his sleeping friend. He made sure to settle Leonardo back into bed before he pulled the covers around him and tucked him in to help him conserve his body heat. Leaning down, he ran a hand through his hair and felt thee silky texture between his fingers. He planted a quick kiss on his forehead before he went to the door.

Izayoi stood there with some food and a small jug of milk. She managed to get a hold of some of that iron enriched food that Kaizer mentioned before they did their crude operation on the rock star.

“I brought you some food. I figure Leo would be hungry,” the girl smiled and held out the plate to him.

Raiga allowed her to come in the door. He then shut it behind her and locked it to make sure no one happened to see her come in and tried to kill them when they least expected it. He told the girl that Leonardo was asleep and she asked how he was. Izayoi had been worried about him since the operation, and not only that…she didn't want Raiga to die, either.

“Not good,” Raiga informed her. “He's got blood loss, he's thrown up for an hour and he fell once, had a hallucination…I'm kinda glad he's sleepin' because he's in a lot of pain.”

“Poor guy,” Izayoi cast him a sympathetic expression, “I didn't want to convict him.”

She had never felt as guilty as she did in that moment, even if she knew she had no choice in the matter. It was either convict him or suffer her own set of consequences. She hated that he was set up and that she was made to go against him as a result.

“Let's not talk about that,” Raiga averted the subject just in case Leonardo woke up. He didn't need the rock star having any more hallucinations. “He's been sayin' shit like `I'm a murderer' since he woke up.”

“I'm glad he's resting,” Izayoi knew that he needed it more than anyone.

“I just hope that he lives.” That was the yakuza's main concern.

“You care about him a lot, don't you?” Izayoi knew it took a lot of heart to step in and take charge of trying to save someone at the cost of your own life. Raiga was admirable in that sense, but she felt as if there was something else there. The two had a wonderful and deep connection and she appreciated that.

“More than he'll ever know. He's my best friend. I'd rather die than kill him. That's somethin' I swear on.” Raiga's love was much more intimate than anyone could imagine, but it wasn't as if he could so blatantly admit it to the girl, nor could he even say such things to Leonardo himself.

Izayoi sat at the foot of the bed with her plates of steak. “I got these from the café. I asked for them especially for Leo.”

“Where are everyone else?” Raiga inquired.

“They're killing the other students. Everyone decided that they can no longer keep their pacts of not killing,” Izayoi's visage saddened. It seemed they had finally given in to the nightmare that tried to consume them.

“Things are getting' serious now,” the yakuza was disappointed but he knew that he couldn't blame them. They weren't left with many options after what happened to Leonardo.

“You don't think they'll try anything on each other, do you? I mean, we're still a group, right?” Izayoi glanced to her ally in question. She wanted so desperately to believe that they had retained some kind of morale despite their decision to murder.

“I don't know. It's hard to tell who to trust anymore,” Raiga wished he could have given her a good answer. He wished he could have told her something positive but he couldn't find it in himself to lie to her.

…To Be Continued