Midnight Chase and Unexpected Savior

Dark Alley – Midnight

Kira walked briskly through the dimly lit alley, her sharp senses tingling. Someone was following her.

She didn't turn back. Instead, she quickened her pace. The soft echoes of footsteps behind her matched her rhythm. Her heartbeat picked up speed.

Am I imagining things? Or—

Before she could finish the thought, a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

She shrieked, spinning around in panic—

Only to come face-to-face with an equally terrified Renn.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Renn screamed in unison, jumping back so dramatically that he tripped over his own feet and fell flat on the ground.

Kira clutched her chest, gasping. "Kuso! Chotto matte! (Shit! Wait!) What the hell are you doing here, Renn?!"

Renn, still sprawled on the floor, groaned, "What the fuck am I doing?!

I should ask you! Why are you out here alone at this hour?!"

Kira crossed her arms. "Just some little work."

Renn squinted suspiciously. "What work?"

She waved him off. "Oh, come on! And why didn't you just call my name instead of grabbing my shoulder?!"

Renn deadpanned. "Of course! So that all the criminals in this area could learn that two stupid kids are casually roaming around at this time?"

Kira sighed. "Okay, fine." But that shoulder grab—you scared the shit out of me!"

Renn threw his hands up. "I should be saying the same!"

Kira narrowed her eyes. "And what about you? What are you doing here at this hour?"

Renn's mind raced. He couldn't tell her the truth—that he had been tailing her after spotting her sneaking out. And he definitely couldn't say he was with her stepsister.

Because he wanted to live.

"Aah! Ore? (Me?) I was hungry, so I thought I'd buy some instant noodles! Haha!"

Kira blinked. "...Instant noodles? At midnight? In a shady alley?"

Renn nodded frantically. "What? It's true!"

Kira stared at him like he had just confessed to being an alien. "Ne, Renn? Are you stupid?"

Renn, now offended, shot back, "Don't fuck with me!"

Before their bickering could escalate, a mocking voice echoed from the darkness.

"Hey, kids! Continue your couple quarrel, I'm really enjoying it!"

Kira and Renn whipped around, spotting a group of shadowy figures emerging from the alleyway.

Both of them yelled, "We're not a couple!!"

One of the goons, clearly amused, turned to his boss. "Boss, I think we'll get some good ransom money after selling their organs."

The boss nodded. "Yeah! You're right."

Renn's face paled faster than milk spilling on a black carpet. He inched closer to Kira and whispered in a shaky voice, "Ne, Ki-Kira… ,You're not wearing heels today, right?"

Kira, equally nervous, gulped. "Y-Yeah! I haven't!"

Renn exhaled sharply. "Then Why haven't you run?! RUN, KIRA!!"

"Hey, wait!! Don't leave me behind, baka! (Idiot!)" Kira yelled as Renn took off sprinting.

"Don't let them escape!" the boss bellowed.

As they bolted through the narrow streets, Kira screamed, "Damn it! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND LIKE THAT?! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF MY MANAGER?!"

Renn, barely keeping up, yelled back, "Give me a break! I don't want to die at this young age!"

"What do you mean?!"

Before Renn could answer, a firm hand suddenly grabbed both of them from behind. A second later, their mouths were covered.

The goons sprinted past, missing them entirely.

Renn panicked and immediately started thrashing. "Please don't kill me!! I don't want to die as a virgin!!!"

A deep voice hissed, "Shut up, you piece of shit! Or they'll hear you!"

Kira turned, recognizing the voice. Her eyes widened. "Ryujin! It was you?! Yokatta!! (Thank goodness!)"

Renn, now getting a good look at him, observed him from head to toe and blurted out, "You're so cool…"

Ryujin smirked. "Arigato na. (Thanks.) But before you admire me too much… First of all!"

Let's get out of here!

Follow me!"

Without hesitation, they followed Ryujin as he led them through a maze of alleys.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure in a black tracksuit stood in the shadows, watching their every move. The moonlight caught only the glint of his eyes—cold and calculating, yet burning with an unsettling intensity whenever they fixed on Kira. His presence seemed to darken the very air around him, as if the shadows themselves bent to his will.

A slow, eerie smile crept across his lips, revealing teeth that gleamed unnaturally white in the darkness. From his pocket, he withdrew a small object—a hairpin that had gone missing from Kira's vanity weeks ago. He caressed it with an intimacy that would make skin crawl.

The temperature around him seemed to drop several degrees as he watched them disappear into the maze of alleys. His gaze lingered on Kira's retreating form, drinking in every detail of her movement with the obsessive precision of someone who had watched her for far too long.

The figure melted back into the darkness, leaving behind nothing but the lingering sensation of dread—and the faint scent of expensive cologne that seemed oddly out of place in these forgotten alleys.

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