"Ryo! Over here!"

Yumi waved at me excitedly, amidst the crowd and I scuttled myself over. The cinema seemed to be packed with people today.

"Hey." I said patting her on the head. She was so short compared to Luna.

Yumi swiped my hand off and looked at me pouting. "I'm not a child."

"Haha, so what movie are we watching?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"Um…" Yumi glanced at the large rows of screens on the side of the cinema. I could see action, sci-fi, comedy and romance movies. I guess Yumi would choose something to do with romance. Then I saw a screen displaying a horror movie. I froze staring at the blood flickering on the screen. It reminded me of Luna. All that blood in the warehouse. I couldn't believe it had actually happened just yesterday.

Yumi glanced at me and saw me staring fixedly at the screen.

"Let's watch that." Yumi said pointing at the horror movie.

"H-huh?" I broke out of my trance. "Are you sure?"

"Yup." Yumi exclaimed cheerfully. She pulled me towards her side and dragged me into the line. We somehow managed to book into the earliest screening of the movie and I paid for both the tickets before Yumi could protest.

We headed to the cinema and sat down at our allocated seats. The advertisements were still playing and I took out my phone looking down at the time. There was still a while before school ended. Luna should had realised I didn't go to school by now. I turned the phone off and shoved it back in my pocket.

"So…" Yumi started in a soft voice. I could hear the advertisements playing in the background. "We've got our entrance exams for university coming up soon, huh?"

"Yeah." I answered. That wasn’t a topic I usually wanted to talk about. But right now, it seemed a heck of a lot better than to think about Luna.

"What are you planning to do after high school?"

"I…" I looked up at the ceiling. "I don't really know…"

"You should think about it, Ryo. It's good to have dreams." Yumi said. I saw her looking down nervously. "I want to be a preschool teacher."

"Haha, that's good for you." I said. Then I added snickering. "You would fit in with the children perfectly."

Yumi pushed me playfully on the arm.

I could see the movie starting and Yumi quieted down. I spent the remainder of the time watching the movie and thinking about Luna. The movie seemed like a children's bedtime story compared to yesterday's events. I mean all the special effects seemed so unrealistic. The pain on the actor's face and the ones I saw on the yakuzas’ faces were so different. I felt dull watching the fake blood spilling on the floor.

About half way through the movie, I felt a petite hand slipping around my arm and I looked at Yumi welling up in tears. She buried her head against my shoulder and I felt her hand tightening. It made me remember that Yumi was just a normal girl.

Eventually the movie ended and I left the cinema with Yumi clinging onto me embarrassingly.

"Jeez. That was so scary." Yumi sighed as we stopped at the exit of the cinema.

"What did you think it was going to about?” It was pretty obvious from the poster outside that the movie was going to be about horror.

She laughed weakly. “I actually like horror movies, but I’m always too scared to watch them alone.”

“What?” I mocked in a disbelieving tone. “I thought the type of movies you would like are romantic comedies.”

"N-no." Yumi stuttered at my light-handed teasing. "Anyway let's get something to eat."

We somehow arrived at the same café as the one from last time. I ordered a different sandwich while Yumi pointed at the thing that resembled a giant ice cream again. I couldn’t understand how someone lived solely on a diet of desserts.

Yumi was looking at the television so I glanced at the screen as well. It was the news. I could see a large warehouse with people carrying bodies out of the place and a reporter standing at the front.

"…and it has been estimated that there were at least thirty corpses found in the warehouse. Many of the victims were found horribly dismembered and disfigured." The reporter announced. "The police have yet to release a statement on the matter."

"That's terrible..." Yumi said. "Why would someone do something like that…"

"Y-yeah…" I stammered. The police are going to investigate the massacre and a few forensic tools could possibly lead to me and Luna's DNA traces.

I swallowed. What if they catch us and send us to prison for the rest of our lives? I mean, I could be charged for obstruction of justice and withholding vital information to a crime scene. There were at least thirty people killed.

Yumi looked at me with a worried look seeing the expression on my face. She opened her mouth to say something when the waitress placed our food down on the table.

"Enjoy." The waitress smiled.

Yumi beamed at her strawberry parfait while I chewed down bitterly on my sandwich.

I ate quietly while Yumi talked about school. All I could think about was Luna. At this rate she was definitely going to get caught and I would also go to jail when they found my DNA all over the place. I had to do something.

"—are you listening, Ryo?" Yumi sulked.

"Uh… Yeah." I answered. "Listen Yumi, something really important came up. I need to go first."

I got up and watched Yumi frown sourly.

"Ok then…" Yumi trailed off. "I-I'll see you then…"

"Yeah." I replied, rubbing my head awkwardly. Yumi always made me feel so guilty when I see her sad. "It was a fun day though. See you."

I walked over to the counter and paid for the meal. That was all my money gone for the month. I should be receiving more money from my parents in the next few days though. As I walked out of the café I turned back to see Yumi sitting in the empty table alone. I hoped she would get home alright.

I left the shopping mall and made my way to the warehouse. I could still remember some of the route from when I had ran back to my apartment. Eventually I arrived at the abandoned warehouse and I could see that the area was surrounded with police tapes restricting people from entering.

I looked around for any signs of police vans or media but they all seemed to have left. I guess they had already collected all the evidence they needed.

I didn't know why but I ducked past the tape and walked towards the warehouse. I stepped inside and looked around. They had cleaned the place up completely but I could still make out a thick scent of blood. I walked slowly towards the centre of the warehouse and my footsteps echoed softly. The sun was still up and light leaked through the holes in the ceiling.

I stood in the centre of the warehouse looking up at the sky though a ceiling hole. The light shone down on me and I sunk in the warmth.

"Who are you?" A voice spoke from the corner of the warehouse.

I snapped my head towards the direction of the voice and I saw a figure revealing himself from the darkness. The figure was clad in a dark tattered cloak from head to toe. He pulled back the hood and revealed a boy with a smooth pale face. Long streaks of brown hair fell over a pair of pale crimson eyes.

I couldn't believe that I didn’t see him there when I had walked in. I could have sworn there was no one else in the warehouse. I watched him walking slowly towards me with a dull expression on his face.

"I… uh… was trying to find something." I stuttered. I didn't know why I was explaining myself to a boy around the same age as me. I could easily ask him the same question. But it felt like he had a dangerous aura around him, something was setting me on edge.

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He didn't say anything and I kept my mouth shut. I was starting to feel scared.

He stopped in front of me.

"You're lying." He said.

"I-I'm not." I stuttered. I felt a sweat trickle down my forehead. "Besides what are you doing here anyway?"

He didn't say anything and I saw his eyes sharpen for a second. The sound of metal screeching pierced the air and before I could open my mouth I saw a silver light flash across my eyes. A strong force jerked me backwards and I fell on the ground before hearing a loud clang.

Luna stood in front of me, her switchblade dangling loosely in one hand. She was wearing her school uniform and the back of her hair was tied up behind her head. The boy jumped backwards, landing soundlessly away from Luna and me.

"Luna..." The boy raised a hand from beneath his cloak and touched the front of his neck. There was a long shallow cut stretching across his neck, almost invisible. "That was pretty classy. Jumping down from the ceiling hole."

I had no idea what was going on. Did he know Luna? How did he know her name? What the hell was going on? I could see a single drop of blood on Luna's blade.

"Are you ok, Ryo?" Luna asked without leaving her eyes off the boy.

"Y-yeah…" I stammered. I picked myself up and staggered to keep my balance.

"What are you doing here, Ichiro?" Luna asked the boy. She didn't move from her spot and had her switchblade hidden behind her.

So they did know each other. I glanced at the boy named Ichiro hesitantly. Something about him spelt danger and I couldn't find the strength in my legs to run. There was only one exit and it was also the only entrance. Ichiro was standing in front of it. I guess hiding behind Luna was the only choice.

"You know why." Ichiro said grimly. "I was sent here to take you back."

Ichiro started walking towards us slowly and I could hear something dragging across the floor. "You hid your tracks well, Luna. We might never had found you again... but killing an entire group of yakuzas’ and leaving the bodies to rot? That was stupid, Luna. I took one look at the cuts and knew it was you."

Ichiro stopped at a safe distance away from us and looked at Luna. "The cuts were so clean and accurate, you had the NPA profiling a neurosurgeon with up to ten years of experience. And that handiwork on the man... you purposely avoided all major arteries leaving him alive for at least ten minutes before he died from a loss of blood. He was living in a state of complete pain."

"Poor guy." Ichiro smirked. He raised a hand out towards Luna and his face grew serious again. "Leave him alone, Luna. We don't have times for your childish games any more. You have no idea the time and effort we put into relocating you."

"I'm not going back." Luna said, not moving from her spot.

Ichiro let his hand down and looked at Luna with an intense glare. I could see his crimson eyes glowing unnaturally. "I won't lose to you again, Luna."

Suddenly Ichiro sprinted towards Luna at an incredible speed. I heard a loud clash as they collided and Luna skidded several feet backwards. Ichiro threw off his cloak revealing a dark blue suit with a sleeveless top. He wore heavy gloves and I could see a large scar running down his right arm. In his hand he held a long silver katana that fell down to the ground. The katana seemed to illuminate in the dark and I could hear a distant vibration ringing in my ears.

"Do you hear that, Luna?" Ichiro asked walking in a circle around Luna. "It's the sound of death."

Luna didn't say anything. I saw dark blood trickling down her right hand from under her school blazer and I gasped. Luna had been shot on her arm just yesterday. There was no way she was going to defeat him with a wound like that.

"Soon the sound will fill your ears." Ichiro said. "You can't escape it."

Ichiro's eyes sharpened and he dashed forward again, his blade dragging across the floor. I saw Luna bracing herself for the impact but Ichiro jumped on the last step and landed behind her swiftly. He drew the blade across his side and Luna rolled out of the attack just in time. However, this time Ichiro didn't stop. He leaped forward pursuing Luna with a relentless barrage of assault to which Luna parried and dodged stiffly.

"What's wrong, Luna?" Ichiro jeered between his strikes. He threw an upward cut and Luna winced as she deflected the blow painfully. She was thrown off her feet and landed several feet backwards, stumbling to remain her balance. "You're weaker now."

He didn't give her a chance to recover. Ichiro rushed forward sending her further back against the wall. It seemed with each strike, the sound of metal vibrating grew louder and my ears throbbed as the sound rung irritatingly in my ears. I could see Luna's face straining to keep up with Ichiro's pace.

The sun was beginning to set now and the warehouse grew dark. He threw another stroke towards Luna's side and she weaved under his blade taking another step backwards. More blood was trickling down her right arm and I clenched my teeth uneasily. Was Luna going to lose?

"Is it because of your injury?" Ichiro asked hacking into her right side. I saw a painful expression crossing Luna's face as she was forced to switch her blade to her right hand, deflecting the blow. "Or… is it because of him?"

Luna jumped away from another strike and her back hit against the wall. The sun was gone now and darkness was quickly sinking in to the warehouse. I could hear the sound of Ichiro's katana pounding against my ears.

"It's over, Luna!" Ichiro charged forward his crimson eyes flaring and aimed his blade towards Luna's chest. All of a sudden Luna's eyes glowed a terrifying violet and she pushed herself off the wall with one foot on its surface. She moved across Ichiro's katana with ease, just avoiding the blade before she plunged her hand under his arm and into his ribcage, using his momentum against him.

I saw the blade digging into flesh and Luna pushed the knife in. Ichiro let out a sharp cry before jumping back with an arm to the side that Luna stabbed. Blood dripped down his hand and he flinched as the pain travelled across his body. He moved the hand aside, took a look at the wound then looked back at Luna with a hysterical look on his face.

"R-really, Luna?" Ichiro spat out. I could see blood dribbling down his mouth and the colour in his eyes had grown dull. "Singling out my spleen in a single stroke? You god damn monster…”

He coughed and fell down to his knees. The sound of Ichiro's katana vibrating had stopped now and the warehouse was deadly silent like the time Luna had killed all thirty yakuzas in the one room. I could see Luna's figure standing over Ichiro. How did she move so fast? I didn't even hear her footsteps.

Ichiro looked up at Luna's emotionless face and grinned. "All this time I had thought I was the predator and you were the prey… but you're the one that was hunting me the whole fight."

Ichiro coughed and looked at the ground grimly. "Bidding your time and waiting for the perfect opportunity to retaliate. I should had known something was up when you let yourself back up against a wall. You would never make such an elementary mistake without knowing what you were doing."

Ichiro looked back up at Luna, his face weary. "Y-you're perfect, Luna…”

Luna threw her hand up and I saw the blade flashing.

"S-STOP!" I screamed.

Luna hesitated and Ichiro used that chance to push himself out of her way. He swiped his katana off the floor and threw on his cloak. He turned around looking at Luna.

"They're coming to get you." Ichiro warned. He took one last look at me before disappearing into the darkness.

I panted heavily covered in sweat looking at Luna. She wasn't moving. I wonder what the hell that was all about. What did Ichiro mean by 'they're coming'? Who was 'they'?

Luna turned her head to face me and I saw her eyes burning a dark violet in the darkness.