"Are you awake, Ryo?" Luna whispered, standing by the door.

I was back on my bed, turned the other way, with the covers over my head. My hands were shaking and I could feel my heart racing. I was scared. Why did Luna know where I live? The only one at school that knew was Eiji. And the knife… she carried a knife around with her!

I could hear Luna taking a step closer. I tried not to make a sound but my breathing was shaky. Was I just being paranoid? There really wasn't anything to worry about, was there?

I heard Luna take another step. I mean… why would she kill me? Didn’t she say she liked me? Then the image of the dead man flashed into my mind. He had a look of absolute horror on his face and his eyes were permanently glued to his last moments of desperation. Was I going to end up like him?

Luna took another step. If she were to kill me then there would be no witnesses left to retell the tale. The man that was called Kaiji and the four that ran were unlikely to tell the police. They most likely held a criminal record. All credibility would be lost as soon as the police looked up their background.

I could feel Luna standing over me now, her shadow covered the light coming from the open door. My heart was pounding against my chest and I couldn't control my breathing. I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped onto the blanket. Luna was going to kill me.

Luna placed a hand on top of me and I immediately froze, frightened to show my trembling. Her touch felt warm and gentle which confused me. “Ryo?” Luna murmured, then paused waiting for a response. I didn’t respond. She lifted the blankets up from her end and I felt coldness seeping in for a second before a warmer presence emerged. The bed shifted and something soft pressed up on my back.

"Are you having a nightmare, Ryo?" Hot air blew onto my ears, feeling slightly moist. Then arms wrapped around me, slowly squeezing into my chest. “Don’t worry…” I could feel her breathing quietly into my ear. “They’re all dead.”

I jumped up from the bed, throwing myself out and Luna cried, surprised by my sudden movement. “R-Ryo!” Luna reached a hand out towards me, but I was already sprinting for the door. She extended herself too far and fell from the bed, colliding onto the ground painfully. I heard her head banging onto the floor but I didn’t even bother looking back. I ran out of the room, then straight for the front door, almost ripping the handle off as I flung the door open.

I was running outside in the cold night, wearing nothing but my PJs. It felt like a surreal experience, something straight out of a dream. Except, the pain of my feet hitting the concrete constantly reminded me that I wasn’t dreaming. I breathed hysterically, trying to collect my thoughts, figuring out just where the hell was I going.

There was no way I was going back in my apartment with Luna there. She was crazy. I needed somewhere else to stay… the only place that I could stay was… Eiji’s. He lived in an apartment by himself since he was an international student so I often went there to muck around and hang. Except this time I really needed his help.

Eventually, I arrived at Eiji’s house, panting frantically as I knocked my hand on the door, then waited, then knocked again louder and waited again, then repeated the process several times. I heard shuffling inside the door, and stepped back to wait.

The door swung open, revealing a guy of mixed race, golden blonde hair and shamrock green eyes.

"Who the fuck knocks at—” The annoyed expression disappeared from Eiji’s face as he glanced into my face, puzzled. “Ryo?”

“I need a place to stay.” I said, then pushed past him, walking into the inside of his apartment.

Eiji shrugged, closing the door behind me, then followed me to his couch, watching as I slumped down with an overbearing familiarity. “Why the hell are you in your pajamas?” He glanced at my feet. “And where are your freaking shoes, dude?”

I placed my forearm over my eyes, taking a deep breath. “I…” I wanted to tell him about Luna, but then I realised I didn’t want to get him involved with the ordeal. It was enough that I was the only witness to Luna’s murder. “It’s a long story.” I said.

“Alright…” Eiji said, still perplexed. He could tell that I didn’t want to talk about it, but then he raised his head, remembering something. “Hey… aren’t you supposed to be on a date with Luna or something?”

“Uh…” He wasn’t going to let that topic go.

“How on earth did you get Luna in your house, taking a freaking shower?” He emphasised the fact that it was Luna, his face in disbelief. “The whole school is going to kill you if they found out.”

“L-listen, Eiji.” I sat up from the couch, alert. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

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“Whaat?!” He laughed. “Who do you think I am? I’m your best friend, man.” He pushed me jokingly on the shoulder. “As if I would do something like that.”

“Right…” It was weird talking normally to Eiji after all that has happened.

“But seriously…” He brushed his hair back, breathing out. “This is crazy, man… I can’t actually believe you managed to pull it off with Luna.”

I groaned. He was still going on about it.

Eiji noticed my expression, then chuckled. “Alright, I’ll stop teasing you and give it a rest.” He turned away and headed for his room. “You can stay here for as long as you like, just don’t take my food without asking like last time.”

Food was the last thing on my mind. The lights to the room turned off, and I sunk down into the couch, trying to get into a comfortable position. Even though Eiji’s door was closed, I could hear him falling back on his bed, the mattress creaking noisily as he did so.

Eiji lived in a small apartment alone like me. He was born in America, his father being a full-blooded American. His mother was from Japan and died when he was 7 years old. Because of her death, he went back to Japan to study, blaming himself for not being there at the time. Since then, we’ve been friends from middle school all the way to today.

I sighed and rested my head against the side of the couch. I couldn’t believe everything that has happened. My life had spun out of control in just two days. I was probably now an accomplice to murder. Thinking about that made me think of Luna. She said she loved me… it had to be a lie. She must of had some type of ulterior motive. I didn’t even know her that well. And what kind of girl carried a knife around with her?

I shuddered as the memory of the park came back to me. She didn't even flinch when she slit that guy’s throat open. I could still remember how lifeless her eyes had looked back then. It was completely different from the Luna I knew at school… the Luna I thought I knew. My eyes began to droop and I fell into a deep slumber.

----------------------------------------

I felt something kicking into my ribs and I opened my eyes. Eiji was standing over me, brushing his teeth.

"Wake up, Ryo." He said between a mouthful of toothpaste. "We've got a bunch of things to do today."

I rubbed my eyes wearily and yawned. "Just five more minutes..."

I yelped as Eiji kicked me again.

"I've got something exciting planned for today." Eiji said. I crawled up to my feet sleepily. "Trust me, you'll love it."

By the time I was done with the bathroom, Eiji had changed into a pair of jeans and a white collared shirt. I was dressed in some clothes I had left over at Eiji’s place, nothing fascinating. Eiji glanced at me, then eyed me hair annoyed. “Do you ever brush your hair?”

“What does it matter.” I shrugged.

Eiji sighed then swiped his keys off the table, opening the front door. The sunlight shone into the apartment and I placed a hand over my eyes, squinting. We walked down the stairs, exiting the apartment building.

“I know something bad probably happened with you and Luna.” Eiji said.

My heart jumped, hearing Luna’s name. I had almost forgotten about it too. God damn it Eiji…

“That’s why I’ve prepared something to cheer you up today.” Eiji grinned, looking at me. “Come on, don’t look like that.”

I raised an eyebrow. He was probably talking about the arcades or something. "And what pray tell might that be?"

"You'll know when we get there." He laughed and we crossed the road. There were quite a lot of people out on the streets today. "Don’t worry about yesterday."

The phrase reminded me bitterly of Luna and I frowned. I could almost feel her breathing into my ear. I turned around, there was no one.

"Even if you couldn't get it up with Luna." He added snickering. I punched him lightly on the arm, and he laughed, weaving away from me.

Eventually we arrived at a café in a Shinjuku shopping mall. We sat down and I looked down at the view. There was a large window besides us showing the levels and the vast amount of people in the shopping mall. They looked like ants from up here.

"So?" I smirked at Eiji as the waitress placed down the menus. "You didn't come here just to shout me lunch did you?"

Eiji grinned at me and slid a bunch of notes across the table. I picked it up, confused. There was around six thousand yen.

"Put it in your pocket quick." Eiji said, glancing down at his watch. "They should be coming soon."

I had no idea what was going on but Eiji wouldn't just throw money at me for no reason. He must have had something planned in his mind. I stuffed the notes in my pocket hesitantly and tried to make sense of the whole situation but Eiji sat looking at the time and searching around him.

It couldn't be… could it? I opened my mouth to say something when Eiji suddenly called out.

"Hey, Kyoko!" He raised his hand and waved to two girls standing at the entrance. And as they approached us, I realised what was going on.

"Hi, sorry we're late!" One of the girls beamed. She had shoulder length hair and wore a yellow blouse. The girl behind her had pink hair that was tied up at the back, a purse around her shoulder and wore a white tank top. She seemed to be hiding nervously behind the girl with the yellow blouse.

"About time!" Eiji exclaimed. He got out of his chair and gestured towards me. "Kyoko, Yumi, this is Ryo. Ryo, this is Kyoko,"

He placed a hand around the girl with the yellow blouse and grinned. Then he pushed the girl with pink hair forward. "And that's Yumi. Well, you two have fun. Don't do anything too naughty, ok?"

He winked at me then led Kyoko out of the café while Yumi stood awkwardly at the spot where she had been abandoned by her friend. I sat there with my mouth hanging open still trying to take it all in.

"I-if you don't want to go out with me, I'll just leave…" Yumi mumbled, her eyes staring at the ground.

"N-no," I stood up and pulled a seat out for her. What was I doing? "Please, have a seat."

She sat down and I got back on my seat. Now what?