Sweet Naivety

Chapter 7: The Guy Next Door

Chapter 7: The Guy Next Door

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I saw my uncles off the next morning, wishing them luck on their business trip. Uncle Juushiro had gone through a checklist with me, being almost obsessive in making sure that I would be taken care of and safe while he was gone. Uncle Shunsui had ruffled my hair and told me not to get into any trouble. And then I was left alone.

I sighed, feeling strange and almost empty... I had been in Japan for nearly a month. And I had successfully made it through my first week of school. I had made friends, gotten familiar with the town, and even had my first kiss... I'd say I was doing pretty well.

I made myself some lunch and decided to watch some television. There was nothing like a Saturday filled with cartoons...

And after my mind had been sufficiently melted by mind-numbing TV, I decided that I should probably do my homework. I had a paper due on Monday, so I decided to gather my things and head to the library. I might as well finish it today so that I could have some free time tomorrow.

I walked there alone, enjoying the time to myself. It felt like I hadn't been by myself since I had moved here. My uncle had been so concerned about me that he had been on the verge of being overprotective. And then I had gone to school and made friends that had kept me busy all week.

I was happy to see that the library was extremely nice... It was a twenty four hour library, and it was well stocked and staffed. There were lots of windows for natural light while reading. And lots of comfy chairs set up around big tables. And the books were well taken care of. I set my things up to start on my paper, gathering the reference books that I would need.

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I spent hours working on my paper... In fact, it was so long that it had gotten dark. When I checked the time, I panicked. I can't believe that it had gotten so late! It was after midnight! Why, oh why, had I stayed out so late at night? Me and my damned ability to lose track of time! I hurriedly packed my things and rushed out of the library. I considered calling Mr. or Mrs. Kuchiki... but it was so late, and I didn't want to bother them. So I just sped down the dark sidewalk, cursing the streetlamps for not providing enough light.

I could hear strange laughing up ahead, and I saw a group of men stumbling around the street corner. I realized that I would not be able to avoid them. And since I really didn't want to go through them, I decided to cross the street, even though I didn't need to. I checked both ways, waiting for the one car in sight to pass, and then stepped out into the street. But I was stopped by someone grabbing my wrist. Panic filled me.

"Where ya going, pretty girl?" A rough voice grated through the air.

I cringed, trying to jerk my wrist away, but the grip was tightened and my body was jerked backward. I tripped on the curb, falling back into a strange body as I yelped in surprise. Suddenly I was pushed up against a wall, surrounded and with nowhere to run. I reached into my bag for the pepper spray that my uncle had given me, but both of my arms were quickly restrained. So I kicked out, making contact with a shin on one man and the crotch on another.

"Agh! Stay the fuck still!"

When they closed back in and pinned my body against the wall, I let out an ear piercing scream. It was quickly ended when one of them covered my mouth.