Chapter 2

The sun was high when Haruko woke up the following day. She assumed that Takenori told their okaasan about the injury she had the other day so no one would bother to disturb her rest.

"Ohayou!" She said as she went down the stairs to find Takenori flipping the channels of their Television.

"Hey, you're up! How's the nose?" Takenori greeted her.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, It just stings a bit." She answered as she yawned.

Gosh! I'm hungry! I haven't eaten dinner last night, and I skipped breakfast today! She said to herself.

"Niichan?" She called from the kitchen.

"What?"

"What's there to eat? I'm so hungry!" She appealed to her brother.

"There's none…"He said glumly

"WHAT!?" She stormed out of the kitchen.

"Here's some money, go buy yourself something to eat." He looked at her then tossed the money on the center table.

She picked the money up and went out of the house to go to a store to buy something to eat. She decided she wanted to eat something that would warm her tummy.

Haruko decided to eat porridge on the nearby restaurant. After eating, she checked on her watch she thought that it was still too early to go home.

"Oniichan would be very boring to be with. I bet I wouldn't enjoy his company." She told herself as she thought of other things to do.

It has been a while since I went there. Right! I'd better go! I've got nothing else to do anyways. She recalled a place that kept her feeling better. The halo of that place, it's like it embraces me to come to it.

She walked until she reached her sanctuary. It is a place within the confines of the public park, an enigmatic place that only she knows its exact location. Its concealed beauty is breathtakingly amazing. This is her place; it is where she let all her emotions out.

"You're still here." She beamed at the place. It's as if the place could hear her. "Apparently no one has seen your exceptional beauty yet. Thank goodness, I was afraid that I would have to share you with someone else." She smiled and sat on the grass overlooking a miniature lagoon.

"I had a dream, about a guy couple of nights ago. It's bothering me. No, HE is bothering me. I don't even know him. I just feel like I want to see him. I don't know it's really weird. I've never felt anything like this. So familiar yet so mysterious." Haruko told the place as if she is telling a story to an old friend whom she trusts wholeheartedly. Not really noticing that she looks stupid and all. As if I care, nobody would be listening to me anyways. She noted to herself.

Time flew fast and Haruko lost track of the time. It was almost sundown when she stood up. She just enjoyed the place too much. However she was already in the mood to go home.

"I guess it's time for me to leave. Thanks for the company again. I'll be back when I have time." Haruko smiled and turned to walk away.

As she was walking towards the exit, she heard a pair of footsteps not belonging to her. She turned to see who it was, and was alarmed to see a man around his early thirties following her, obviously drunk. The girl trembled and felt fear shooting up her spine. She sped up her walking almost staggering. The drunk man had noticed this, and he too sped up his pace. Haruko took this as a confirmation on what the intention of the guy might be. It wasn't good.

"Hey sweetie, where are you going? Care for a chat?" The drunk man said, tipsy.

"Leave me alone! YOU…" She tried to sound tough, but to her dismay, she sounded more like she was pleading.

"Oh come on, sweetie, Just a bit of a chat won't hurt. Will it?"

Haruko was now panicking, not sure what to do. I knew should've attended those judo lessons! Crap! Hey brain! You've got any idea before this man incapacitates me any further!? She was yelling and questioning herself. Only coming up with lame but useful ideas in a way: I could scream my lungs out, I could hit him hard on the shins, I could kick him aimlessly, OR! I COULD RUN UNTIL THERE'S SOMEWHERE TO RUN! Her mind was really not working well enough. Right! RUN!!

Her idea only brought her no good. The man was able to keep up to her pace and pulled her right arm.

"Shit! Get your filthy hands off me you…" She yelled.

The man twisted her arm eventually weakening her. "Me what eh???" He said taunting the poor girl.

"GET OFF ME!! PLEASE!! HELP ME!!!!!" Haruko was begging and crying at the same time now. Effects of both the pain her twisted arm is causing her and the fear that's shaking her.

It was almost dark when instantly; a guy appeared from behind them. Haruko didn't know how to react in seeing another guy. Would this guy save me or hurt me too?

She had no choice. "Please, help me!"

"Who the hell are you? Just in case you didn't notice, I'm trying to have fun here!" The drunk man said, surprised by the sudden addition to their company.

For the first time, the mysterious guy said-- "idiot…"

"Fuck you!" The drunk man said, Twisting Haruko's arm harder, making the girl yelp in pain.

Haruko raised her head to see the anonymous guy standing almost a meter away from them. Again she begged "Please help me…"

The drunk man used his arms to turn Haruko to face him. He was acting as if he was oblivious to the guy who's standing behind them watching his every action. "If you want to watch me have fun with this girl fine then! No viewer's discretion." He laughed demonically.

Haruko tried to maneuver herself so that she could at least try to escape. He wouldn't help me. She said to herself, looking up to the guy who was barely a silhouette now that he was standing against the light.

The drunk man seemed to notice Haruko's movements and was now aiming for her lips, Haruko helplessly kicked him anywhere it would hit. Her flip flops flew everywhere in the hope of making her way out of the man's grasps. He enveloped her into a grasp too hard for her to breathe.

Instantly, the mysterious guy was strangling the drunk man. He pulled the man from behind and started punching him in the guts. The drunk man, being tipsy swayed from one side to another, but was now starting to fight back. He gave the mysterious guy a hard punch near the jaw. However, Haruko's knight in shining didn't seem to mind the pain. He jumped over the drunk man and gave him multiple punches all straight on the face. The drunk man was now laying in a pool of blood that came from either his mouth, his nose or from both.

Haruko was shaking with fear when she looked up at the guy who just saved her life. He wasn't a silhouette anymore, thought his face was livid and his features were hidden in the dark. She only saw a portion of his face that was lightened by the lamp posts. His eyes, his cheekbones, his hair.

"T—tha…nk… you…" Haruko stammered.

"You're noisy. Waking up someone from a good sleep isn't polite." The guy said glumly.

Her knight in shining armor slowly walked away from her. She noticed him pull his cell phone and dialed. Haruko was frozen in place when a security guard and a woman caught her attention.

"Are you okay?" The woman said alarmed by her face stained with dried up tears.

"Yeah, I guess I'm fine." She said. Shock, still pulsating throughout her system.

"Somebody called our security office reporting an attempted rape in this area. Then we found you." The lady, now she recognized as the head of the security department of the park explained.

Haruko immediately remembered the guy who just saved her. He called someone. Probably, he was the one who called them up.

The drunk man was now dragged along to the office for interrogation and for turn over to the police. A few cops asked Haruko for the details and called their house to inform her guardians (in this case, her brother) about the incident and to pick her up. Takenori was the one who went to the park's security office. Ofcourse, as expected, Takenori was in hysteria when he learned about every detail of what had happened to his little sister. He almost killed the guy if he wasn't restrained by the cops.

"Oniichan, I'm fine already." Haruko calmed him down.

The police finally allowed her to go. Good thing they were patient enough not to arrest Takenori for cursing the man endlessly. They expressed their gratitude to Haruko for helping them arrest one of the most notorious rapists in the district of Kanagawa.

They reached home. Haruko had to dwell on the fact that Takenori would be babbling endlessly about what had happened and about her going anywhere without telling her whereabouts. When she already had too much of Takenori's sermons, she told him that she had too much for one day and her head is already spinning.

"Fine, go to bed and rest." He sighed deeply. "After the nose incident with Hanamichi, now this!? I've got one lucky sister!! " She heard Takenori babble to himself.

Haruko sighed as well the moment she reached her room. I am one lucky girl am I? She thought sarcastically.

She took a shower to relax her system down a bit. It helped her think things that happened throughout the day. She went on her study table, took out her diary and wrote:

"I had a very long day. I just went out to eat, relax a bit at the park then I almost got raped by a psychotic drunk man. Luckily, someone saved me. I don't know why, but out of all the things that happened to me, I remember the details perfectly when it comes to my knight in shining armor. I felt like I know him. Like I've seen him before, I just don't know where.

Do I know him? Is he someone I am bound to know?" Haruko sighed and was buried deep in her thoughts once more.