𝕯𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖔𝖕

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊: 𝕾𝖍𝖊'𝖘 𝖆 𝖙𝖚𝖙𝖔𝖗

Kanae, who had just left school, walked towards the park near Furin. The place Umemiya and her had organised to meet today.

He insisted on being outside as the weather had finally started getting warmer, she had packed a few sheets of math and English questions along with her notebook and a booklet of science questions to send home with Umemiya (as well as some pastries for the two).

While she didn't view herself as particularly smart, she did have a knack for retaining information about things she found interesting, her best subjects being English and Media Studies which was more of a club than an actual class but...

When she got to the park she looked around and quickly spotted the tall leader of Bofurin sitting at a bench and scrolling on his phone with two drinks next to him. He must have felt her gaze as he looked up, smiling as he saw her.

"Hey~ I bought you a coffee," he bubbled, holding out the cup as she got closer.

"OoO~ what kind?"

"Now, I took a wild guess and assumed caramel latte?" he fake winced.

"Good choice, one of my favourites," she chuckled, fingers brushing over his as she took the cup from him "Thank you."

"No problem, anyway's what are we doing today?" he asked pulling a pair of reading glasses out of his pocket and putting them on

"Are those- real?"

"What do you mean are they real? Of course they are!?!"

Meanwhile- a group of men who were pissed off with Bofurin happened to be watching from the shadows nearby...

Boy did he regret this, well, kind of. While he got to spend time with Kanae, she made him work hard. However, it was worth it to see her stick her tongue out as she concentrated and to watch as she got more and more comfortable around him.

"Well, the good news is you're doing well in Maths, it's just literature we have to worry about," Kanae told him looking down at the papers she had given him to complete "And we don't know about the sciences yet either so make sure you do the questions, okay?"

"I'll do them as soon as I get home" he saluted

"Good good, well I'll see you next time, message me when you're free," she smiled as she stood up throwing her bag over her shoulder "And just because we've exchanged numbers doesn't mean you can spam me. Byyeee Umemiyaaaa~"

With that, she stood and started walking away, back towards the town. Leaving Umemiya yelling from the bench.

"Wait, do you want me to walk you back?!"

"No, it's okay! Thanks for the coffee though!" she spun around waving at Umemiya before spinning back around and popping her headphones in her ears with her music turned up fully.

You wouldn't think she'd be one to listen to metal songs, but she loved them, they were perfect for walking to, matching the beat to her steps as she skipped along the path, past alleyways and shops.

She decided to take the long way, walking along the outskirts of the town before cutting through towards the bakery.

It wasn't even dark, but nowadays it didn't need to be.

People were getting braver.

"Hey miss," someone breathed, their mouth directly next to her ear so she could feel them speak, feel the breath on her neck and smell the alcohol on their breath.

She physically jumped, trying to move away but felt the hands of the man grab her shoulders, making her shudder.

"Sir please let go." She cautioned, using a polite yet firm voice as she tugged on the wires of her headphones to make one come out.

"Why don't ya come with me- we'll have some fun don't worry" he gulped, the disgusting sound so close to Kanae's ear it made her feel ill. The man leaned towards a dark alleyway, wrapping his arm over her shoulder and pulling her along.

"Let go," she repeated tears forming in the corners of her eyes, panic setting in and making her stomach drop. A similar sensation to being dunked underwater without warning with the addition of a buzzing in your head and a pain in your throat.

The buzzing in your head is thoughts of what is happening and could happen. And the pain in your throat is the dilemma of what sound to make, scream and cause a scene or stay quiet. Screaming could get you killed before anyone arrives to help, but it would draw attention and make sure you're found, even if it's too late. Staying silent could allow you to find an opportunity to run later.

She resisted, pulling away but he all but forced her to take a step.

Social norms went down the drain when the thought 'if he gets me in there I'm dead' went through her head.

She jolted back pulling away from the man again, ducking her head under his arm as she made a break for it.

"I SAID- you're coming with me girlie," he warned yanking a fist full of her hair towards himself. Pulling her into his chest and dragging her into the darkness.

Tears cascaded down her face as she scrunched her eyes up, kicking and thrashing wildly.

"NO!! LET GO-" she screamed at the top of her lungs, the words stopping in her throat when the man spun her around and slapped her across the face. Her vision blurred and she couldn't tell if it was from tears or pain. "Please, please, please just let me go-"

"Maybe next time you'll learn to pick better company! Now shut up," the man demanded yanking her further down the alley.

"Wait- Umemiya?" she whispered, choking out a sob, they were trying to get back at Bofurin, and they thought hurting her was the way to do it. "UMEMIYA!" she screeched again, hoping to god he- or anyone had heard

She could barely see where he was taking her but there were definitely a few turns down dingy streets. She knew when they had reached their destination as she was roughly thrown against the floor. Head smashing into the concrete causing a painful ringing in her ears.

There was some talking, some arguing about what to do with her. It was all a blur.

'My head hurts' she thought, chuckling to herself as she tried to pull herself up. Managing to get to her hands and knees she braced herself.

'Now or never' she thought as the ringing in her ears got quiet enough to hear the song still playing from her headphones what kind of man, fitting.

She pushed up and threw herself into as much of a sprint as she could.

Almost reaching the entrance to wherever they were, her fingertips grazed freedom as her

body hit the floor, a weight on her back.

Another of the men on top of her, cackling and flipping her over underneath him.

Another scream, one of fear.

9/14

Her head dropped, looking towards freedom as a pair of driving shoes stepped forward. She

looked up with a glimmer of hope.

What she saw frightened and relieved her, Umemiya with dead eyes.