-DOWNTOWN SAPPORO STREET, NEAR SUSUKINO-
-9:42 PM, JANUARY 22, 2017-
Snow had thickened across the city.
Streetlights glowed faintly through the swirling white.
Rikuu stood under a flickering lamp outside the train station, staring at the message on his phone.
He's not waking up.
His jaw tightened.
He dialed immediately.
Masayoshi answered on the second ring.
"…Tell me that's a joke."
"It's not," Masayoshi replied quietly.
Rikuu's breath fogged in front of him.
"What happened?"
"He collapsed after they carried him out. Ambulance took him."
"…Hospital?"
"Hokkaido Central."
Silence filled the line.
"You coming?" Masayoshi asked.
Rikuu didn't hesitate.
"…Yeah."
-HOKKAIDO CENTRAL HOSPITAL, EMERGENCY ENTRANCE-
-10:18 PM-
The emergency entrance was louder than the university hospital.
Ambulances arrived.
Doors opened and closed rapidly.
Doctors moved quickly through bright hallways.
Rikuu and Masayoshi stood near the waiting area wall.
Masayoshi kept glancing toward the reception desk.
"You didn't hit him that hard," he muttered.
Rikuu remained silent.
"You've fought bigger guys before."
Still nothing.
Masayoshi rubbed his neck nervously.
"They're saying concussion. Maybe internal bleeding."
Rikuu's hands slowly tightened into fists.
"Where is he?"
"ICU."
The word hung in the air.
Rikuu stepped toward the front desk.
But a familiar voice stopped him.
"You shouldn't be here."
One of the fight organizers leaned against a pillar nearby.
Hands in coat pockets.
Watching calmly.
Rikuu turned.
"You said it was finished."
"It was."
"Then why are you here?"
The man shrugged slightly.
"Insurance."
Masayoshi stepped forward.
"You think this is funny?"
"Relax."
He nodded toward Rikuu.
"The problem isn't us."
"Then what is?" Rikuu asked.
The organizer smiled faintly.
"The police."
Masayoshi went pale.
"…What?"
"An ambulance crew reported the injuries. Happens sometimes."
Rikuu's expression didn't change.
"They'll ask questions."
"Then I'll answer them."
The man chuckled.
"You think it's that simple?"
Masayoshi cursed under his breath.
"These fights aren't legal," he said.
"Exactly," the organizer replied.
Rikuu stepped closer.
"You promised this ends."
"It still does," the man said calmly.
"As long as you stay quiet about where the fight happened."
Rikuu's voice hardened.
"I don't talk."
"I know."
The man pushed himself off the pillar.
"That's why you were valuable."
He glanced briefly toward the ICU hallway.
"If the guy wakes up, everything disappears."
"And if he doesn't?" Masayoshi asked.
The man shrugged.
"Then things get complicated."
He walked away before either of them could respond.
Masayoshi stared at Rikuu.
"This is bad."
"…Yeah."
-KOMORI RESIDENCE, ICHIKA'S ROOM-
-10:34 PM-
Ichika sat at her desk.
Her phone rested beside an open notebook.
She had been writing.
But her pen hadn't moved in several minutes.
Her thoughts drifted back to dinner.
To the way Rikuu answered her father's questions.
To the quiet determination in his voice.
She smiled faintly.
Then her phone buzzed.
Rikuu:
I might be busy tonight.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Is everything okay?
Several seconds passed.
Then—
Yeah. Just something from before.
She frowned slightly.
But didn't push.
Don't forget to sleep.
A pause.
Then his reply.
You too.
She set the phone down.
But the same uneasy feeling from earlier returned.
A quiet instinct whispering that something was wrong.
Outside her window—
Snow continued falling across Sapporo.
Unaware.
Unstoppable.
-HOKKAIDO CENTRAL HOSPITAL, ICU WAITING AREA-
-11:12 PM-
Rikuu sat alone now.
Masayoshi had gone to get coffee.
The waiting room lights were too bright.
Too sterile.
A nurse walked past quietly.
Machines beeped faintly behind closed doors.
He stared at the floor.
At the memory replaying in his mind.
The last punch.
The way the man fell.
He had fought hundreds of times.
Broken noses.
Bruised ribs.
Knocked out opponents.
But never this.
Never someone who didn't wake up.
Masayoshi returned slowly, holding two coffees.
"…Still nothing."
Rikuu took the cup but didn't drink.
"What if he dies?" Masayoshi asked quietly.
Rikuu finally spoke.
"…Then I carry it."
Masayoshi shook his head.
"You didn't mean—"
"It doesn't matter what I meant."
The words were calm.
But heavy.
Across the hallway—
A doctor suddenly stepped out of the ICU doors.
Both boys stood immediately.
The doctor looked down at his chart.
"…Family of Tanaka Hiroshi?"
Rikuu and Masayoshi exchanged a quick glance.
They weren't family.
But they stepped closer anyway.
"Is he alive?" Masayoshi asked.
The doctor looked at them carefully.
"He's still unconscious."
Rikuu felt his chest tighten.
"But he's stable for now."
For now.
The phrase again.
Always temporary.
Always fragile.
As the doctor walked away—
Rikuu leaned back against the wall slowly.
The fight had ended.
But the consequences had just begun.
And somewhere deep inside him—
A quiet fear surfaced.
Not fear for himself.
Fear that this world he had tried to leave…
Might not let him go.