"Well, ready to head home?" Kyo asked me as he held the door of the theater open for me to walk through, ahead of him. It was getting late, and I needed to get some sleep.
I nodded. "I suppose so. I have some homework I need to work on tomorrow, anyway." I stretched my arms as we began the long walk back to campus. It was dark out by now, the moon high in the night sky.
"You're such a good student," Kyo teased me with a shake of his head.
I smiled and chuckled. "You're just jealous."
He rose an eyebrow in my direction. "Me? Jealous? Not when I can retain everything the professor says and not study and still pass all my tests with an A."
It was my turn to shake my head. He really was a genius. I was glad he was the one helping me with my past. Anyone else wouldn't be smart or kind enough. "You got me there. but, a little hard work goes a long way," I replied, knowing how nerdy I sounded.
He laughed as we cut through the park and headed downtown. Part of the streets down town were never very safe, not for night walkers. Kyo never let me go downtown alone because there were so many thugs and killings that happened in that neighborhood.
I just hoped that we'd be able to hurry through that part of town without any commotion. Last time, I had been mugged and lost all of my cash and a credit card. It was not a very good memory for me.
I kept close to Kyo, hugging his arm. Not many things scared me, but this place creeped me out. I always got this sense of uneasiness, a restlessness as I passed through these streets. Kyo put his arm around me protectively, knowing how scared I really was.
We weren't very far in when we heard gunshots. We stopped dead in our tracks, listening to find the origin of the shots. We did not want to get caught up in the middle of all the fighting. "Kyo?" I whispered, my voice cracking under the nervousness I felt.
"It'll be ok," he assured me, tightening his grip around my shoulders.
Another shot went off. They were closer than we had expected. Kyo pushed me forward, to run, and I took off. Kyo took the lead, leading me out of the streets. I looked over my shoulder, wondering what was going on. Was someone dying?
What if someone was getting killed? I didn't want to just leave them to die that way. But, I was petrified and I knew I wasn't going to be able to do anything should I arrive on the scene with one gang facing down another. More than likely, I'd only get in the way and end up getting myself killed.
But, maybe if I was sneaky about it? No, I needed to keep running. Looking up, I found that I had run into a dead end. Kyo was no where to be seen. Just great. That's what I get for not paying any attention. Panic was beginning to set in. I didn't hear any gunshots, so that was good, but it was too quiet for my tastes.
Turning around, I headed back onto the streets and headed in the direction Kyo and I had been heading. But, I didn't know which turn to take, and I ended up getting even more lost in the labyrinth that was the back alleys of downtown.
I bumped into a guy, who I had never seen before in my life, but looked slightly familiar. He frowned at me, giving me an odd expression. It looked as though he thought he knew me.
"Oh, sorry," I said as I started running away from him. I didn't know anyone here, and I didn't want to talk to anyone and get myself into trouble.
