Days passed in donkey years. Our teachers were being merciless with the workload and I hardly had anytime to just play games or go out and about. Yuki didn't talk to anyone in class. She would quietly - and reluctantly - answer the questions asked by the teacher. She always looked blank. She rarely smiled, except for the times when our Physics teacher (unsuccessfully) tries to crack a joke. She would politely laugh out of sympathy. But it was never a fake one though. The light in her eyes says that she means it. 
I wish I were outspoken like Ryuu or almost any other guy so I could start a conversation with Yuki. But when I saw her, my heart would go thud. And a hot lump in my throat would make me temporarily mute. I would try not to look at her. Because if I did, she would think that I like her. Which is stupid because I do indeed like her. I did well in school but when it came to her, my logic would go awry. 
Yuki never looked particularly interested in anything. In fact, she would look so disinterested in class it made the people around her feel bad about themselves. She was usually calm, but at times, she would go all hasty and get flustered. 
"Hiro?". It was dad interrupting my chain of thoughts. "Are you free? Do you want to come with me to the library to look for some books that I need?" 
"Nope, can't. I'm hanging out with Ryuu today".

"Ryuu I haven't seen him in a while. Fine, then. Do you need cash?" He asked.

"Of course." He slipped a thousand yen into my hands.

The weather was grim. The rain was making puddles everywhere and I could feel my socks getting wet inside my shoes. Ryuu was waiting outside the gaming store, rain dripping down his windcheater. 

"What took you so long?" Ryuu demanded. "Let's go, the game is about to start"

Inside, I could see three guys waiting for us near the XBox set. Earlier this week, they had made a bet of 4,000 Yen on who wins at Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. I had no doubt in mind that Ryuu would win the prize. Ryuu championed everyone at Call of Duty.

The boys were clearly older than us. They greeted us with a nod. I ushered Ryuu forward and sat on a chair a bit further away, wanting nothing to do with bets or gambling.

After a while, the boys only lasted 8 rounds in one go, Ryuu went on till 14 and was still trolling the zombies. It was clear that Ryuu won, and it was getting dark. The time was up and the worker at the store asked us to leave since there were other people waiting.

"Alright, guys. Where's your money?" Ryuu asked them once we were outside the store. 
The guys just started walking away. I looked at Ryuu uneasily. This was a situation. What was I supposed to do? Put up a fight with three older guys and act like a martyr after doing Ryuu justice? Plus, there were three of them. It would have been a possible option if there was only one. I waited for Ryuu to do something. But Ryuu was standing there, looking at me. 
Normally, I'd just let it go and move on. But oddly enough, I found myself walking towards the three lanky guys. 
What the hell are you going to do now? I yelled at myself mentally. 
I don't frigging know. 
I tapped on the shoulder of the guy in the middle - because it only seemed appropriate. As he looked back, I punched him in the face. Immediately, I had his two sidekicks swing their arms at me. A fist hit me right across my cheeks. A second one came towards my nose. I could feel one half of my face going numb. 
"Stop!" I heard Ryuu shouting. He was grabbing me and pulling me away. One of the guys kicked me in the gut. Pain started spreading all over my abdomen. I considered escaping the situation with Ryuu but that kind of sounded lame and so not manly. 
"Let me go!" I pushed Ryuu away. I clenched my fist and hit two of them at once as hard as I can. 
"You piece of ", the tallest guy cussed. He grabbed my hair and hit me. The other two joined. I writhed in pain. They pushed me against the ground and I landed hard. The shortest one spat at me. One of them charged at Ryuu. Ryuu's nose started bleeding as he was hit in the face. 
"Don't ever mess with us", the tall one yelled. A strange feeling crept inside me as I watched them walk further away. I didn't know if it was relief from knowing that I wasn't being hit anymore. Or if it was because I felt so pathetic. 
I got up and looked at Ryuu. He wiped his bleeding nose. I didn't know what to say. I felt like such a big loser. I tried to defend him but I couldn't even do it right. I probably looked how I felt. I walked to him and opened my mouth to say something. But I couldn't stop seeing myself getting beaten up. I couldn't stop feeling ashamed of letting people see how incapable I was. I started walking away. 
"Hiro" Ryuu shouted behind me. 
I started running. Faster.