2025
I don't own any of the characters etc
It had been the worst winter for twenty years and the GG's had been lucky to have only lost one. Lucky. Gum gets been pulled in from the dusty littered streets of Rokkaku-Dai heights to perform what a desperate Boogie describes as "First Aid." When she sees Yoyo's face pouring a fountain of cold sweat and his hands grabbing at his pelvis, knuckles slowly turning white from grasping at the rough fabric of his jeans in pain she knows.
"He doesn't need first aid…he needs a fucking Priest!"
The hospitals in Tokyo had been out of bounds for four months, signs hung on every entrance stating that any "Known Trouble Maker" (a phrase which here means Rudie) found trying to enter will be "prosecuted" (a phrase which under the Rokkaku government meant death.)
"Isn't there anything you can do?" The GG's form a protective circle around the crying Yoyo, sombre faces all turned to the blonde girl.
"It's his appendix. What? Do you want me to operate? I have a certificate in first aid, not a fucking PHD."
Yoyo had died by dinner time the next day, surrounded by his own sweat and vomit, hands still clutched to his jeans in a stone cold prayer. Everyone had slept with their pillows over their ears to drown out the screaming.
Rhyth remembers the first time she saw Yoyo's beaming face…peering behind the Garage wall nervously, working up the courage to speak to the famous leader. Corn mistakes him for the pizza guy and everybody laughs as the young boys face turns a tomato red. Rhyth remembers how embarrassed she felt for him and how cute she thought his green hair was…
The GG's hold a vigil two days later and afterwards Combo and Garam push the youngest members body into the reservoir at Kibogaoka Hill as Rhyth sits sandwiched between Gum and Boogie crying "I never told him I loved him. I never even told him I loved him." That night Rhyth falls asleep in Garam's arms, imagining that the hand clutching her breast is Yoyo's.
"It's been a hard couple of days. Fuck, its been a hard couple of months. This next year is going to be the hardest and some of us will want to leave, but in order to get through this storm we have to stick together as a team. We have to look out for one another as we have done in the past to keep each other safe. As individuals we very well may not survive these hard times, but as a team we can get through! We must stay together to make it!" Corn gives the speech on new years eve as fireworks explode in the sky like florescent diamonds twinkling and dying like the sparks of a fire. Everyone has tears in their eyes as they watch the short bursts of light illuminating the sky and they are reminded what a short burst of light Yoyo had been in their lives.
Three weeks later Clutch leaves the team. He stands on the raised platform at noon, his face lit by the cold winter sun and announces his retirement from the GG's.
"I can't do this anymore!" He cries. "The Rokkaku are going to find us and when they do they are going to fucking kill us one by one. And if they don't kill us the fucking world will! Look at Yoyo. Ruptured appendix and now he's worm food. This isn't fucking right!" He almost loses balance in his rage and everyone holds their breath silently. "I'm off. I'm fucken done!" He staggers out of the Garage like a drunk at a party with no possessions but his skates and everyone watches him go. Unable to find the words on their tongue to stop him.
Beat finds him the next day, sat in the snow, his left hand frozen to a bottle of cheap stolen whiskey. He uses his fingertips to gently close his ice cold eyes. "Be at peace mate. Whatever happens, I hope you be at peace." Beat cries himself to sleep that night, unable to shake away the image of Clutch sat dead in the snow, with people passing by looking at him with disgust on their polished faces, as if he were as common as an ice lolly in a freezer. "I'll miss you mate." He whispers as sleep finally clouds his thoughts.
By March half the team had gone. Scared by the increase of Rudie searches in the city, and Rudie deaths and lack of food and health care. The memories of Yoyo's dying figure still cling to the backs of their minds like cobwebs and the news of Clutch's possible suicide had reached their ears and freaked the fuck out of them.
"If it can happen to a healthy guy like Yoyo it could happen to any of us." Garam explained to Corn, his bags sat packed on his single messy bed. "The police have started searching the streets for Rudies, its only a matter of time before they find the Garage, or catch one of us tagging during the day…you know that dude. This isn't a government any more…it's a dictatorship! Its only a matter of time before they start gassing us. I can't live here any more Corn. I know you'll understand because you're a cool guy and I get it…your staying with the team now because it's the right thing to do. But seriously, sooner or later you have to think about you. I don't want you to get caught, or die of a fucking virus because you can't get to hospital."
"I'm staying with my team because I have to. I can't abandon them when they need me the most. Besides, what will you do once you get out of here?"
"I've saved up some money. Just enough to get a train ticket outta here man. I don't know where I'll go…just away from here." A moment of silence passes between them. Then eventually, Corn reaches out a hand slowly to pat Garam's shoulder.
"Take care of yourself. I'm gonna…miss you." Corn gulps.
"Yeah…you too. Hey, we're beginning to sound like fags." He chuckles but the awkwardness is gone within seconds. "Seriously though Corn, look after yourself…and the team. Can you…explain to them why I've gone…I'd do it myself but…it'll be hard and then I'll probably stay. I really love you guys, you know that?" Corn nods, his hand still resting on his friends shoulder supportively.
"I'll tell them." He smiles. "If you're ever in Tokyo again…look us up." This time the awkwardness does arise, both of them knowing that they will never see each other again.
"Yeah." Gulp. "See you around." Garam picks up his bags, crammed full of his worldly possessions, everything he's ever owned to his name. Corn can't help but notice how empty they look. As he reaches the door he turns back. "Hey Cornelius…don't get killed…okay?" He smiles a big smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and Corn smiles back just as empty. The boy walks out of the door, and out of the Garage, and out of the story, never looking back.
"Hey pass us a beer Corn!" Garam shouts from the raised platform, hands in the air ready to catch the ice cold beverage. "The Scrappy" is blazing full volume out of the speakers and Garam is break dancing to the song as everyone watches with amusement.
"Nobody's got more swag than me brother." Garam laughs at a grinning Corn. "Just get me in talking distance to Mister Gouji…I'll blow off his hat with my swaggerrr."
"Does Rokkaku Gouji even wear a hat?" The leader chokes on his beer, and it spurts out of his nose in a hilarious display.
"I don't know." He bends over, laughing so hard his ribs hurt. "I can't breathe…." He stutters, clutching his sides and falling over. He rolls around the floor laughing and everyone laughs with him…
Boogie and Rhyth leave not long after Garam. Disappearing like ghosts into the night, without a single goodbye. No body blames them. Nobody even mentions it.
Jazz is working part time at a cinema in Chuo Street. She cleans the toilets and sometimes serves up popcorn when they are short staffed. She likes working in such a busy place as it means she doesn't get noticed. Sometimes Cube or Gum will come to visit her in flat shoes and jeans and it makes the day go faster. Other times Beat will come and have sex with her in the toilet cubicle…she prefers those days. She knows that Beat has been dating Gum for nearly a year now…but she knows even more that when Beat kisses her neck and runs his gloved hands along her thighs she feels like she's the only girl in the world…so she keeps the secret…fully intending to tell Gum one day, so long as that day isn't anytime in the near future.
This particular day is an unusually sunny March and she skips to work humming a tune under her breath which she only recognises as "Aisle 10" once she reaches the chorus.
Hello Allison
I want to hold your hand
I haven't been the same man since I saw you coming in...
A cloud of gunfire surrounds her as a police man fires at will.
Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10.…
It takes her a whole fifteen minutes to die, choking on her own blood.
Cube and Combo leave on the first of April. She's three months pregnant and so there's no guilt for Combo. He loves his GG family, but he's now starting his own family and his fiancé's safety is number one on the list. They leave at two o'clock in the blazing sunlight, hugging each member and leaving soppy wet patches on each others shoulders.
Gum tries to keep back the tears, but by the time Combo reaches her and sweeps her into his large muscular arms she lets go like a hose pipe.
"I r….re…remember when we fi…first mmmm…met." Gum sobs. "Y..you ch…challenged me to a s….skkk….skate off in Shibuya."
"And you won sister!" Combo laughs, trying to gulp back the lump in his throat which is beginning to feel like it will choke him if he doesn't leave soon.
"Y…yes." Gum lets go. "You've always been like a father figure t..to mmm…me. I l…love y…you Combo. You'll be the b…best father ever."
"I hope so sister, I certainly hope so."
"What's up sister? Why are you crying?" Combo sits on the couch in front of the television, some cartoons are on but he's not watching, preferring the low noise coming from the box to fill the empty space of the Garage. Cube has been gone a while, gone to get some milk in Dogenzaka, and he's worried as fuck. Especially as the Doom Riders have been hanging around there recently. He knows Cube can handle herself in a fight, but he still worries. Gum has just walked in from the direction of 99th Street, tears streaming down her face like English rain. She sits next to Combo and buries her face in his large chest.
"It's B…Beat. I don't know, I th…think he's cheating on me." She sobs.
"Wait…what? What makes you say that girl?" Combo gets a tissue out from the sleeve of his jumper and begins to dab her eyes gently.
"I don't know…he's been acting weird lately, like…like he doesn't w…w…want me anymore. I see him looking at other girls like they are meat, and I know how ch…charming h…he can be. And, he keeps h…hanging with Jazz…I don't know. I t…thought she was my f…friend." She buries her face in her hands.
"Jazz is your friend Gum!" Combo says softly. "And Beat loves you! He's told me himself. He's sure as hell protective of you."
"I know, he treats me like I'm some k…kind of p…prize. Corn…Corn never…." She trails off. Gum and Corn had been together before Beat, and he had always treat her like a Princess.
"Never mind him…" Combo knows not to let Gum linger on Corn, them breaking up almost ended the GG's. "You love Beat and you sure as hell deserve a guy that will protect you. You're a beautiful girl Gum, don't let it get to you." Combo strokes Gum's hair and mentally reminds himself to have a talk with Beat that night…a talk up close.
"Fuck this shit. I'm going." Beat announces. He had fucked Gum that morning, savouring her scent, her taste, as he knew it would be the last time. She'd never have the guts to leave Corn. She didn't have the balls.
"What? Just like that?" Gum has her hands on her hips and her feet stood firmly on the ground. She's not going to give him up without a fight and he knows this, but he also knows she'd never be able to leave the Garage with the leader still sat upon his throne.
"Yeah. Shit. Everyone's gone now. Garam, Combo…"
"Jazz." His face turns pale at the mention of Jazz. Nobody but Gum would have noticed. "You were fucking her weren't you?" She asks calmly, her hands still on her hips.
Beat gulps. "I…"
"You were fucking her at work weren't you? And then coming here and having the…nerve…to make l…ll…" She can't say it. It hurts too much. "And all along I thought you l…loved me." Gum takes a step closer to Beat and he backs away, knowing that she can punch as well as any of the guys.
"Gum…I…I don't know what to say."
"Tell me the fucking truth. For once in your goddamned life, tell me the truth." A tear rolls down Gum's cheek and she brushes it away rapidly, not wanting to show any weakness.
"I…yeah. I was."
"Get out."
"What?"
"Just go. Fucking go. Now."
Beat grabs his half filled suit case, knowing he wont have to chance to fully pack now, and walks out the door. Gum lets out the moan she has been holding in since the beginning of the conversation and lets the tears flow from her blue eyes. She sinks to the floor, clutching her pale face in her small hands, gasping for breath as she lets out a cry.
"I wish Combo was here." She sobs. "I wish all of them were here…"
Beat slams open the door to his room, shoving Gum inside, pushing her against the wall and licking along her collarbone as she lets out a moan. His hand slides under her blouse, pulling the material away from her flesh in one fast movement. "Gorgeous" he mutters as he cups a breast in his gloved hand. "you're perfect." He undoes his belt, as she pulls down her jeans. His lips meet hers in an instant, tongues fighting for the upper hand. "Gum…" He moans "fucking….perfect. Corn doesn't know what he let go…"
Gum walks into the Garage and tries not to vomit. She had walked past the decapitated bodies of all three members of Rapid 99 in Hikage Street. So far from home. Why were they so fucking far from home? She was chased out of Shibuya by three members of the Rokkaku police and she knows its only a matter of time before they find the Garage. It's just the three of them left now…her, Corn and Soda…like it was in the beginning at the orphanage. Funny she thinks as she stumbles, her legs weak from the shock. About as useful as jelly she laughs to herself…nervously…hysterically. I'm going mad.
She sees Corn's blonde hair poking out from the back of his favourite couch. Soda's nowhere to be seen. Probably packing his bags she thinks to herself as she walks over to the leader.
"Hey Gum." He smiles when he sees her. The smile is empty like a hollow shell but she doesn't mind. All smiles were like that these days. She feels dizzy, and mad, and empty. She crawls onto the couch slowly, straddling Corn gently, pressing her lips into his. She wraps her arms around his shoulders tightly as he lets his hands hang by his sides, kissing her back but barely. She eventually pulls away reluctantly.
"Gum…what are you…."
"Touch me." She whispers. The lump returning to her throat. Her eyes filling with water. "Please, just…do something…." She reaches down and takes his hand, bringing it to her breast. He looks into her eyes and sees the urgency. He's seen it many times before, but never like this, and he knows what the look means. Knows how dangerous the look is. He obliges and massages her breast through the thin fabric of her dress, brushing his fingers across the hard nubs of her nipples, kissing her lips again, almost tasting the fear in her mouth, on her tongue. She trembles beneath him as she slides his t-shirt over his thin frame. She pulls away for a moment to kiss his collarbone, tracing the protruding line with her soft lips.
"Your thinner." She says. Her mouth a straight thin line. He hears the sadness in her voice, sadness which went a long way down and a long way back. Your thinner.
He remembers making love to her for the first time. Back when the GG's were just an idea in his head and she was his. He remembers the way she giggled as he undid her dress, pressing his lips to her neck, tracing the curve of her breast beneath his fingertips. He remembers the way she bit her lip to stifle out the cry when he broke her, and he remembers the way he kissed the tears from her face as he moved inside her slowly, knowing he never wanted to be with anyone else.
"I love you Corn."
"I love you too. Forever."
Soda hears them fucking from his room. He hears her scream out Corn's name as she orgasms, and he shivers. He knows that they are doomed.
"Hey, Soda…have you ever tried getting to know anyone else. I mean like, really know them." Corn is sat on the edge of Soda's bed as he sorts through his cans of paint. It's Soda's "official" role to make sure the GG's are never out of paint and so far he has done the job pretty well.
"What? You mean like….friends? Like you and me?" Soda asks, his red eyebrows burying down into the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah. Like you and me."
"No. Why." Soda carries on sorting.
"I mean like, what if I moved away or something. Then what would you do?"
"You? Leave the GG's? Never." Soda chuckles. Corn likes seeing him happy but something is troubling him.
"Why do you assume I'm never going to leave?"
"Because…welll…its like when a ship goes down y'know? Like sinks. And the captain stays on board. Like Titanic or whatever it is. Your like that man. You'll be a GG until the end…I just know you will." Soda grins. "You'll stay on your ship right until it sinks."
Corn's holding Soda's left hand and Gum's right. They are sat against the door of the Garage, listening to the sound of footsteps outside, slowly getting closer and closer.
"It's going to be okay." Corn whispers, feeling both hands tighten against his. "It's all going to be fine."
Gum nods slowly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Soda stays silent and still, knowing that whatever he has to say Corn already knows.
"It's just us three. Together, like we used to be." Corn's voice remains low and calm. Gum shakes violently against his side, and Soda trembles slightly. "Just keep calm and hold tight. It'll all be okay soon….I love you guys. I love you both so much." Gum can't hold it in any longer and the cry escapes her lips. Hysterical and violent. The footsteps get closer…so close now…
"I'm glad we're together now." Corn says. "I'm glad we're here together…at the end."
"Today we have a new girl joining us in our house." The careworker smiles. The ladies name was Jill, Corn remembers, and she smelt of lavender. "I want everyone to be nice to her and make her feel at home." Jill steps aside to reveal the most beautiful girl Corn had ever seen. Her hair was golden and her cheeks were a rosy red colour. Her knees were cut below the frilly green hem of her dress and her hands were dirty but to Corn she was the most perfect girl he had ever seen. He plucked up the courage to talk to her that lunch while she was sat playing with the toys in the toybox.
"Hi, my names Cornelius, what's yours?" He smiles brightly.
"Hmmm. Well they call me Gum." She looks Corn up and down suspiciously.
"Gum? Why do they call you that?"
She shrugs. "It's a name." Corn shrugs along with her. Gum doesn't seem like such an unusual nickname, after all they call him Corn…and that's a vegetable.
"Well nice to meet you Gum." He starts to walk away before turning back. "Do you want to be my friend?" He asks hopefully.
"Hm. I don't know about that." Gum frowns.
It had been the worst winter for twenty years and the GG's had been lucky to have only lost one. Lucky. Gum gets been pulled in from the dusty littered streets of Rokkaku-Dai heights to perform what a desperate Boogie describes as "First Aid." When she sees Yoyo's face pouring a fountain of cold sweat and his hands grabbing at his pelvis, knuckles slowly turning white from grasping at the rough fabric of his jeans in pain she knows.
"He doesn't need first aid…he needs a fucking Priest!"
The hospitals in Tokyo had been out of bounds for four months, signs hung on every entrance stating that any "Known Trouble Maker" (a phrase which here means Rudie) found trying to enter will be "prosecuted" (a phrase which under the Rokkaku government meant death.)
"Isn't there anything you can do?" The GG's form a protective circle around the crying Yoyo, sombre faces all turned to the blonde girl.
"It's his appendix. What? Do you want me to operate? I have a certificate in first aid, not a fucking PHD."
Yoyo had died by dinner time the next day, surrounded by his own sweat and vomit, hands still clutched to his jeans in a stone cold prayer. Everyone had slept with their pillows over their ears to drown out the screaming.
Rhyth remembers the first time she saw Yoyo's beaming face…peering behind the Garage wall nervously, working up the courage to speak to the famous leader. Corn mistakes him for the pizza guy and everybody laughs as the young boys face turns a tomato red. Rhyth remembers how embarrassed she felt for him and how cute she thought his green hair was…
The GG's hold a vigil two days later and afterwards Combo and Garam push the youngest members body into the reservoir at Kibogaoka Hill as Rhyth sits sandwiched between Gum and Boogie crying "I never told him I loved him. I never even told him I loved him." That night Rhyth falls asleep in Garam's arms, imagining that the hand clutching her breast is Yoyo's.
"It's been a hard couple of days. Fuck, its been a hard couple of months. This next year is going to be the hardest and some of us will want to leave, but in order to get through this storm we have to stick together as a team. We have to look out for one another as we have done in the past to keep each other safe. As individuals we very well may not survive these hard times, but as a team we can get through! We must stay together to make it!" Corn gives the speech on new years eve as fireworks explode in the sky like florescent diamonds twinkling and dying like the sparks of a fire. Everyone has tears in their eyes as they watch the short bursts of light illuminating the sky and they are reminded what a short burst of light Yoyo had been in their lives.
Three weeks later Clutch leaves the team. He stands on the raised platform at noon, his face lit by the cold winter sun and announces his retirement from the GG's.
"I can't do this anymore!" He cries. "The Rokkaku are going to find us and when they do they are going to fucking kill us one by one. And if they don't kill us the fucking world will! Look at Yoyo. Ruptured appendix and now he's worm food. This isn't fucking right!" He almost loses balance in his rage and everyone holds their breath silently. "I'm off. I'm fucken done!" He staggers out of the Garage like a drunk at a party with no possessions but his skates and everyone watches him go. Unable to find the words on their tongue to stop him.
Beat finds him the next day, sat in the snow, his left hand frozen to a bottle of cheap stolen whiskey. He uses his fingertips to gently close his ice cold eyes. "Be at peace mate. Whatever happens, I hope you be at peace." Beat cries himself to sleep that night, unable to shake away the image of Clutch sat dead in the snow, with people passing by looking at him with disgust on their polished faces, as if he were as common as an ice lolly in a freezer. "I'll miss you mate." He whispers as sleep finally clouds his thoughts.
By March half the team had gone. Scared by the increase of Rudie searches in the city, and Rudie deaths and lack of food and health care. The memories of Yoyo's dying figure still cling to the backs of their minds like cobwebs and the news of Clutch's possible suicide had reached their ears and freaked the fuck out of them.
"If it can happen to a healthy guy like Yoyo it could happen to any of us." Garam explained to Corn, his bags sat packed on his single messy bed. "The police have started searching the streets for Rudies, its only a matter of time before they find the Garage, or catch one of us tagging during the day…you know that dude. This isn't a government any more…it's a dictatorship! Its only a matter of time before they start gassing us. I can't live here any more Corn. I know you'll understand because you're a cool guy and I get it…your staying with the team now because it's the right thing to do. But seriously, sooner or later you have to think about you. I don't want you to get caught, or die of a fucking virus because you can't get to hospital."
"I'm staying with my team because I have to. I can't abandon them when they need me the most. Besides, what will you do once you get out of here?"
"I've saved up some money. Just enough to get a train ticket outta here man. I don't know where I'll go…just away from here." A moment of silence passes between them. Then eventually, Corn reaches out a hand slowly to pat Garam's shoulder.
"Take care of yourself. I'm gonna…miss you." Corn gulps.
"Yeah…you too. Hey, we're beginning to sound like fags." He chuckles but the awkwardness is gone within seconds. "Seriously though Corn, look after yourself…and the team. Can you…explain to them why I've gone…I'd do it myself but…it'll be hard and then I'll probably stay. I really love you guys, you know that?" Corn nods, his hand still resting on his friends shoulder supportively.
"I'll tell them." He smiles. "If you're ever in Tokyo again…look us up." This time the awkwardness does arise, both of them knowing that they will never see each other again.
"Yeah." Gulp. "See you around." Garam picks up his bags, crammed full of his worldly possessions, everything he's ever owned to his name. Corn can't help but notice how empty they look. As he reaches the door he turns back. "Hey Cornelius…don't get killed…okay?" He smiles a big smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and Corn smiles back just as empty. The boy walks out of the door, and out of the Garage, and out of the story, never looking back.
"Hey pass us a beer Corn!" Garam shouts from the raised platform, hands in the air ready to catch the ice cold beverage. "The Scrappy" is blazing full volume out of the speakers and Garam is break dancing to the song as everyone watches with amusement.
"Nobody's got more swag than me brother." Garam laughs at a grinning Corn. "Just get me in talking distance to Mister Gouji…I'll blow off his hat with my swaggerrr."
"Does Rokkaku Gouji even wear a hat?" The leader chokes on his beer, and it spurts out of his nose in a hilarious display.
"I don't know." He bends over, laughing so hard his ribs hurt. "I can't breathe…." He stutters, clutching his sides and falling over. He rolls around the floor laughing and everyone laughs with him…
Boogie and Rhyth leave not long after Garam. Disappearing like ghosts into the night, without a single goodbye. No body blames them. Nobody even mentions it.
Jazz is working part time at a cinema in Chuo Street. She cleans the toilets and sometimes serves up popcorn when they are short staffed. She likes working in such a busy place as it means she doesn't get noticed. Sometimes Cube or Gum will come to visit her in flat shoes and jeans and it makes the day go faster. Other times Beat will come and have sex with her in the toilet cubicle…she prefers those days. She knows that Beat has been dating Gum for nearly a year now…but she knows even more that when Beat kisses her neck and runs his gloved hands along her thighs she feels like she's the only girl in the world…so she keeps the secret…fully intending to tell Gum one day, so long as that day isn't anytime in the near future.
This particular day is an unusually sunny March and she skips to work humming a tune under her breath which she only recognises as "Aisle 10" once she reaches the chorus.
Hello Allison
I want to hold your hand
I haven't been the same man since I saw you coming in...
A cloud of gunfire surrounds her as a police man fires at will.
Let's have a toast to the girl in aisle 10.…
It takes her a whole fifteen minutes to die, choking on her own blood.
Cube and Combo leave on the first of April. She's three months pregnant and so there's no guilt for Combo. He loves his GG family, but he's now starting his own family and his fiancé's safety is number one on the list. They leave at two o'clock in the blazing sunlight, hugging each member and leaving soppy wet patches on each others shoulders.
Gum tries to keep back the tears, but by the time Combo reaches her and sweeps her into his large muscular arms she lets go like a hose pipe.
"I r….re…remember when we fi…first mmmm…met." Gum sobs. "Y..you ch…challenged me to a s….skkk….skate off in Shibuya."
"And you won sister!" Combo laughs, trying to gulp back the lump in his throat which is beginning to feel like it will choke him if he doesn't leave soon.
"Y…yes." Gum lets go. "You've always been like a father figure t..to mmm…me. I l…love y…you Combo. You'll be the b…best father ever."
"I hope so sister, I certainly hope so."
"What's up sister? Why are you crying?" Combo sits on the couch in front of the television, some cartoons are on but he's not watching, preferring the low noise coming from the box to fill the empty space of the Garage. Cube has been gone a while, gone to get some milk in Dogenzaka, and he's worried as fuck. Especially as the Doom Riders have been hanging around there recently. He knows Cube can handle herself in a fight, but he still worries. Gum has just walked in from the direction of 99th Street, tears streaming down her face like English rain. She sits next to Combo and buries her face in his large chest.
"It's B…Beat. I don't know, I th…think he's cheating on me." She sobs.
"Wait…what? What makes you say that girl?" Combo gets a tissue out from the sleeve of his jumper and begins to dab her eyes gently.
"I don't know…he's been acting weird lately, like…like he doesn't w…w…want me anymore. I see him looking at other girls like they are meat, and I know how ch…charming h…he can be. And, he keeps h…hanging with Jazz…I don't know. I t…thought she was my f…friend." She buries her face in her hands.
"Jazz is your friend Gum!" Combo says softly. "And Beat loves you! He's told me himself. He's sure as hell protective of you."
"I know, he treats me like I'm some k…kind of p…prize. Corn…Corn never…." She trails off. Gum and Corn had been together before Beat, and he had always treat her like a Princess.
"Never mind him…" Combo knows not to let Gum linger on Corn, them breaking up almost ended the GG's. "You love Beat and you sure as hell deserve a guy that will protect you. You're a beautiful girl Gum, don't let it get to you." Combo strokes Gum's hair and mentally reminds himself to have a talk with Beat that night…a talk up close.
"Fuck this shit. I'm going." Beat announces. He had fucked Gum that morning, savouring her scent, her taste, as he knew it would be the last time. She'd never have the guts to leave Corn. She didn't have the balls.
"What? Just like that?" Gum has her hands on her hips and her feet stood firmly on the ground. She's not going to give him up without a fight and he knows this, but he also knows she'd never be able to leave the Garage with the leader still sat upon his throne.
"Yeah. Shit. Everyone's gone now. Garam, Combo…"
"Jazz." His face turns pale at the mention of Jazz. Nobody but Gum would have noticed. "You were fucking her weren't you?" She asks calmly, her hands still on her hips.
Beat gulps. "I…"
"You were fucking her at work weren't you? And then coming here and having the…nerve…to make l…ll…" She can't say it. It hurts too much. "And all along I thought you l…loved me." Gum takes a step closer to Beat and he backs away, knowing that she can punch as well as any of the guys.
"Gum…I…I don't know what to say."
"Tell me the fucking truth. For once in your goddamned life, tell me the truth." A tear rolls down Gum's cheek and she brushes it away rapidly, not wanting to show any weakness.
"I…yeah. I was."
"Get out."
"What?"
"Just go. Fucking go. Now."
Beat grabs his half filled suit case, knowing he wont have to chance to fully pack now, and walks out the door. Gum lets out the moan she has been holding in since the beginning of the conversation and lets the tears flow from her blue eyes. She sinks to the floor, clutching her pale face in her small hands, gasping for breath as she lets out a cry.
"I wish Combo was here." She sobs. "I wish all of them were here…"
Beat slams open the door to his room, shoving Gum inside, pushing her against the wall and licking along her collarbone as she lets out a moan. His hand slides under her blouse, pulling the material away from her flesh in one fast movement. "Gorgeous" he mutters as he cups a breast in his gloved hand. "you're perfect." He undoes his belt, as she pulls down her jeans. His lips meet hers in an instant, tongues fighting for the upper hand. "Gum…" He moans "fucking….perfect. Corn doesn't know what he let go…"
Gum walks into the Garage and tries not to vomit. She had walked past the decapitated bodies of all three members of Rapid 99 in Hikage Street. So far from home. Why were they so fucking far from home? She was chased out of Shibuya by three members of the Rokkaku police and she knows its only a matter of time before they find the Garage. It's just the three of them left now…her, Corn and Soda…like it was in the beginning at the orphanage. Funny she thinks as she stumbles, her legs weak from the shock. About as useful as jelly she laughs to herself…nervously…hysterically. I'm going mad.
She sees Corn's blonde hair poking out from the back of his favourite couch. Soda's nowhere to be seen. Probably packing his bags she thinks to herself as she walks over to the leader.
"Hey Gum." He smiles when he sees her. The smile is empty like a hollow shell but she doesn't mind. All smiles were like that these days. She feels dizzy, and mad, and empty. She crawls onto the couch slowly, straddling Corn gently, pressing her lips into his. She wraps her arms around his shoulders tightly as he lets his hands hang by his sides, kissing her back but barely. She eventually pulls away reluctantly.
"Gum…what are you…."
"Touch me." She whispers. The lump returning to her throat. Her eyes filling with water. "Please, just…do something…." She reaches down and takes his hand, bringing it to her breast. He looks into her eyes and sees the urgency. He's seen it many times before, but never like this, and he knows what the look means. Knows how dangerous the look is. He obliges and massages her breast through the thin fabric of her dress, brushing his fingers across the hard nubs of her nipples, kissing her lips again, almost tasting the fear in her mouth, on her tongue. She trembles beneath him as she slides his t-shirt over his thin frame. She pulls away for a moment to kiss his collarbone, tracing the protruding line with her soft lips.
"Your thinner." She says. Her mouth a straight thin line. He hears the sadness in her voice, sadness which went a long way down and a long way back. Your thinner.
He remembers making love to her for the first time. Back when the GG's were just an idea in his head and she was his. He remembers the way she giggled as he undid her dress, pressing his lips to her neck, tracing the curve of her breast beneath his fingertips. He remembers the way she bit her lip to stifle out the cry when he broke her, and he remembers the way he kissed the tears from her face as he moved inside her slowly, knowing he never wanted to be with anyone else.
"I love you Corn."
"I love you too. Forever."
Soda hears them fucking from his room. He hears her scream out Corn's name as she orgasms, and he shivers. He knows that they are doomed.
"Hey, Soda…have you ever tried getting to know anyone else. I mean like, really know them." Corn is sat on the edge of Soda's bed as he sorts through his cans of paint. It's Soda's "official" role to make sure the GG's are never out of paint and so far he has done the job pretty well.
"What? You mean like….friends? Like you and me?" Soda asks, his red eyebrows burying down into the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah. Like you and me."
"No. Why." Soda carries on sorting.
"I mean like, what if I moved away or something. Then what would you do?"
"You? Leave the GG's? Never." Soda chuckles. Corn likes seeing him happy but something is troubling him.
"Why do you assume I'm never going to leave?"
"Because…welll…its like when a ship goes down y'know? Like sinks. And the captain stays on board. Like Titanic or whatever it is. Your like that man. You'll be a GG until the end…I just know you will." Soda grins. "You'll stay on your ship right until it sinks."
Corn's holding Soda's left hand and Gum's right. They are sat against the door of the Garage, listening to the sound of footsteps outside, slowly getting closer and closer.
"It's going to be okay." Corn whispers, feeling both hands tighten against his. "It's all going to be fine."
Gum nods slowly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Soda stays silent and still, knowing that whatever he has to say Corn already knows.
"It's just us three. Together, like we used to be." Corn's voice remains low and calm. Gum shakes violently against his side, and Soda trembles slightly. "Just keep calm and hold tight. It'll all be okay soon….I love you guys. I love you both so much." Gum can't hold it in any longer and the cry escapes her lips. Hysterical and violent. The footsteps get closer…so close now…
"I'm glad we're together now." Corn says. "I'm glad we're here together…at the end."
"Today we have a new girl joining us in our house." The careworker smiles. The ladies name was Jill, Corn remembers, and she smelt of lavender. "I want everyone to be nice to her and make her feel at home." Jill steps aside to reveal the most beautiful girl Corn had ever seen. Her hair was golden and her cheeks were a rosy red colour. Her knees were cut below the frilly green hem of her dress and her hands were dirty but to Corn she was the most perfect girl he had ever seen. He plucked up the courage to talk to her that lunch while she was sat playing with the toys in the toybox.
"Hi, my names Cornelius, what's yours?" He smiles brightly.
"Hmmm. Well they call me Gum." She looks Corn up and down suspiciously.
"Gum? Why do they call you that?"
She shrugs. "It's a name." Corn shrugs along with her. Gum doesn't seem like such an unusual nickname, after all they call him Corn…and that's a vegetable.
"Well nice to meet you Gum." He starts to walk away before turning back. "Do you want to be my friend?" He asks hopefully.
"Hm. I don't know about that." Gum frowns.