Stolen Night [Kaede, Sora]

Kaede ran. Occasionally taking looks over her shoulder to check and see if she was being followed, she took a sudden left down the street, a loud scratching sound coming from her shoes as she pivoted. Eventually, as she heard the footsteps and yelling grow quieter, she leaned against a wall to try and catch her breath. No matter how far she ran, it didn't seem like she was going to shake them. She didn't want to go back to Ehefra's, not with this many people on her. Plus, she didn't want to find out what her reaction would be...

There was someone she could go to, though. It was closer than it would be if she tried to run to Ehefra's place, she's probably run out of stamina before she made it halfway. She could hear the collective footsteps getting closer, so she cut her break and started running again, rummaging through her pocket to get the phone that he gave her, frantically texting him, begging for him to have the door unlocked, and that she'd be there in a bit to explain everything.

"Hey, there she is!"

Shit. Kaede tried to pick up the pace, but she could feel her lungs burning as she continued to try and push herself. Come on, just a little bit further...

Eventually, she made it to the enclosed building, dashing inside and climbing the stairs as fast as she could. Her legs and lungs burned, slowing down as she got to the third floor, but she still kept going, forcing herself onward.

'306...306...there!'

Collapsing and out of breath, Kaede weakly pounded her fist against the door, keeping her back to the door and an eye out for her pursuers.

Sora had been alone for the last week, which was fine. That was normal. He continued on with his life like usual, going to work, training, playing video games, and enjoying a controller that didn’t drift. At the moment, he was enjoying a hot shower and his phone was sitting on his bedroom nightstand, charging. He got out, dried off, and put on some sweats before going to his bedroom. He laid down and picked up his phone out of habit, checking the screen to see a text from Kaede. It had been a two minutes since he had received the text. ‘Fuck…’

At the sound of the knocks, Sora immediately bolted toward his front door. It was locked, so it took him a second or two to reach it and get it open. With a quick flick of the lock, he swung the door wide, wanting to see what the hell was going on.

The longer she waited, the more scared she felt. She knew that they'd be up here any minute. She heard the distant slam of a door, causing her to press her body even tighter against the door, trying to look invisible in the doorway. That one action made her breathing start to pick up, unsure if Sora even saw her texts.

He didn't see them. He doesn't care. I'm gonna get dragged off by those guys...and I don't even know what they'll do to me.

But, before she could continue down that dark thought process, the latch clicked, and she fell backward into Sora's apartment as the door suddenly opened. Without a moment's hesitation, she scooted into the place, turning over and crawling past the door, before hooking her leg around the door and slowly closing it, so as to not make noise and draw their attention.

She scrambled to get to her feet and turn the latch, turning around and pressing her back to the door as she looked around the apartment in a panicked frenzy.

"Gotta hide...gotta hide...can't let them find me..."

Sora blinked, startled by Kaede tumbling backward into his apartment. He let go of the knob as she slowly shut the door with her foot, likely to prevent noise. His instincts flared as she saw the panic in her eyes. Reading her expression and piecing together the fearful texts she sent, it was clear someone was after her.

Sora’s muscles tightened, and he kept his focus on the door, listening intently to the heavy footsteps stomping down the hallway, and then suddenly they came to a stop past his apartment. Whoever it was must have realized they’d lost her. There was the above floor to consider too, so who knew what they might think or where they would look next. Either way, he was ready, his hearting hammering in his chest, not from fear, but from his rather strong dislike for needless violence…

As Kaede heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, she ran around the apartment, taking shelter in Sora's room and sliding under his bed, trying to keep herself as far away from the door as she could. As the footsteps stopped past Sora's apartment, all went quiet for a minute, some muffled talking coming from beyond the door, before one of them shouted.

"Ask everyone in here if you need to, dipshit! The bitch didn't jump out the window!

All of a sudden, a loud series of knocks came to Sora's door, as well as the other doors on the floor. Upon opening the door, he'd see an evidently irritated man with black, slicked back hair, about Sora's height, and a hand resting against the outside of the doorframe. The guy had a green, slightly oversized, knock-off brand sweater that was halfway unzipped, jeans that were ripped at the knees, and a black short-sleeved shirt underneath.

"Oi, you seen a girl with short black hair come runnin' by? Bitch looks like a cutting board, can't miss 'er. If you have, tell us, and we'll be on our way."

A couple of the man's companions snickered down the hall at overhearing the comment, causing Kaede to curl up even more under Sora's bed, arms instinctively covering her chest.

When the knock came, Sora waited for a few seconds, making it seem like he wasn’t waiting at the door. Sora sighed, opened the door and raised an eyebrow at the thug standing there. “Can I help you?” he asked. The question was a tad idiotic, but Sora had no interest in taunting this moron and causing more problems for himself, or for Kaede. “No,” was all he said, blunt and quick.

The guy stood there for a few seconds, staring hard at Sora, as if trying to figure out if he was lying. But, eventually, he just grumbled, rolling his eyes as he looked down the hall, seeing if his friends had any luck. They all shrugged, and the one in front of Sora's door looked even more visibly annoyed.

"Right. Sorry to bother ya."

He turned around, walking back down the hall to the others. Mumbled talking came down the hallway, but, eventually as they went down the stairs a loud "FUCK!" came from him as their footsteps eventually receded into nothing but silence. Upon hearing the sounds retreating, Kaede slowly started to crawl out from under the bed, but kept herself ready to hide again, should it be necessary.

The reaction he got was calmer than Sora expected from someone chasing a girl through an apartment building. Sora nodded at the man and closed the door, locking the knob and chaining it before walking to his room. He helped Kaede out from under the bed, but then sat her down on it and began checking her for injuries.

“Are you alright? What was that about?” he asked, noting the scrapes, the bruises on her wrist, and even a small wince when his hand brushed against her stomach. Eyeing her a moment, he slowly lifted her shirt, noticing her freeze up, but still needed to look. When he saw the bruise, he let her shirt drop and sat down.

She expected to just be able to leave Sora's place after the guys were confirmed to be gone. But, rather than that, Sora insisted on helping her out from under his bed and checking her over for any injuries. As he did, Kaede looked to the wall instead of him, not wanting to show how embarrassed she was about the injuries. But, that embarrassment turned to worry and fear in an instant as she felt her shirt being lifted up. She froze, but, thankfully, he didn't lift it far.

Just to where he could see the ugly bruise on her stomach. Then, he started asking questions, something that caused her to want to scrunch up, but moving her legs close to her chest made the bruise on her stomach sting, and so, she stayed as she was before. She knew that he wouldn't leave it be until she did tell him what happened. So, she grumbled, before finally speaking.

"...I'm fine. I was just...doing some job hunting. Then, I...came across those guys. They were throwing rocks at a kitty. I didn't know what else to do to make them stop, so, I...um...I punched him."

She looked to her lap, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as she explained herself.

"Turns out I punched their stupid leader in the face, and he wanted to get even. S-So, he...started hitting me. Tried to get away, but one of them pulled me back and held me by the wrists so I couldn't run again."

She quietly gestured to the bruises, then to the marks on her wrist. As the adrenaline of the situation finally was dying down, she could feel them stinging more and more as she talked.

"They kept going, a-and...I thought they were gonna r- ...but, I slipped away after kicking one of them in the balls. After that, I just...kept running until I got here."

Sora let out a low huff, a knot of anger curling his gut as he heard what happened to her. He ran his hand over his head in frustration, and there was a part of him that wanted to go after them now and smash their faces into brick, but he refrained. He released another sigh and took a moment to think. He realized he was also frustrated with her. He glanced at her once and the rolled his eyes.

“If you had stayed here, you’d be fine,” Sora said, his voice hard and angry. Sora stood up, heading to the fridge. He opened it up and pulled out a beer, slammed the door, popped the top and took a swig. “Why leave? You can stay here. Why leave?”