This is written from Uo’s point of view.

I woke up to find myself lying on my bedroom floor, staring up at the ceiling. I sighed gently, and let my head fall sideways. Such a nice dream…I was part of a family, with a warm house and loving mother and a kind father. To wake up to this was cruelty. I stood up quickly and grabbed my trench coat from next to me, slipping it on with well-practised ease. In the living room, my old man was laughing deliriously at a blank television screen. I figured the electricity company had cut our supply yet again.

I slammed the door behind me vehemently, and paused to tie up my mask. Then, I just walked. I wanted to get away; to be anywhere but home. I had to keep moving, stop thinking, and start breathing. At home, I always felt so stifled. I just had to leave. I didn’t have any destination in mind; just let my feet take control. I watched my feet move in a daze: left, right, left, right. Nobody bumped into me – people tended to keep their distance from me. They would even cross the road to get away from me. I was trouble, and everyone around me knew that as well as I did.

I stopped walking abruptly, overbalancing and almost falling over. Once I had righted myself, I looked around. This was Tohru’s house. Should I go in? I pictured Tohru and Kyoko eating dinner together, chatting happily, and I knew that I shouldn’t – no, couldn’t – impose on them. It was almost ten minutes that I hovered outside, dithering, but then I strode away quickly.

There was a meeting today for the gang. There I could be with people who came from the same situations as me, thought the same way about things as I did. We had no principles, no morals – we had nothing to base them on. My mom ditched out on me and my dad when I was very small, and my dad has been so useless since then that he might as well be dead.

“Uotani! Where ya been?” I was greeted with plenty of shouts from my gang, and received a lot of pat-on-the-backs. My senpai stood to one side, frowning slightly. But I didn’t take much notice of her, didn’t even stop to think about it. This was my family. Tohru had Kyoko, and I had…this.

“I came to quit,” I said loudly, throwing my mask to the ground. The words shocked even me. The ensuing silence was heavy; almost painful. Then, the murmurs started up. “You hear that?” “Uotani wants out!” The gang leader stepped forward, commanding everyone’s attention. “You know what the penalty for leaving is?” she asked coldly, raising one finely plucked eyebrow. I nodded, all my words dying in my throat. I shuddered slightly as she stepped closer again to start off the proceedings.

The first punch, landing on my face, was strong enough to knock all of the air out of my lungs with an “Oof!” That done, my leader stepped backwards and everyone else rushed forward to scratch, punch and kick every part of me. Two girls restrained me by grabbing my arms tightly. I heard bones crack and snap under the force of the blows. My legs folded below me, and I was held aloft purely by the strength of those holding me.

It hurt so much…I wanted it to end, please! Why wasn’t it stopping? I could barely see out of my swollen eyes, but I spotted my senpai in the crowd. She was biting her lips and clenching her fists helplessly, but when she saw me looking, she mouthed one word and slipped away. My only hope was gone, and with just five letters to console me…”Sorry.”

The other gang members showed no signs of slowing, even once the moon was glowing right above us, illuminating the malicious looks etched into every girl’s face. I had stayed quiet all this time, bearing the ill intent behind every blow silently. But now I wasn’t sure I could say anything, even if I wanted to. What I really wanted to do was run and cry to Kyoko. Her and Tohru’s faces entered my mind again, filling me with hope. Once I had endured this final pain, I would at last be a respectable person, and I wouldn’t feel bad when I spent time with them anymore. I smiled – or tried to. My face was so battered that it couldn’t move or change at all anymore.

My head lolled to the side uncontrollably. And then, abruptly and unbelievably, it ended. I crashed to the floor, not even noticing the fresh wave of pain. I looked around wildly, and saw something miraculous. Only a few feet away from me, Kyoko stood fiercely, glaring angrily at the girls. They scattered, flying away in every direction.

Kyoko scooped me up and hoisted me onto her back. I felt so safe, and she was so strong…I finally gave into my urge to faint, and everything faded to black, a smile still struggling to break free on my bruised face.

I struggled to open my eyes, but when I did, everything was so bright, and they snapped straight shut again. I peeled one eyelid up slowly, followed gradually by the other. I was still being carried by Kyoko, her arms wound tightly around me. “Thank you,” I whispered. Kyoko turned her head towards me, surprised. “Thank you,” I said again, sobbing into her shoulder – not from the sadness, or the pain, but from the overwhelming sense that everything was going to be okay. It was the first time I had felt that way since my mom left, and I embraced it with both arms; much like the way I embraced Kyoko.