Chapter 1

Spring Morning

Nel and Nozomi stood between the tights walls of the two buildings in absolute silence. They heard the grunts and punches of fists and the cracking of bones. They held hands and Nozomi could feel the cold sweat build between their palms. Nozomi held her breath and hoped that they wouldn't be seen. She saw a flash of fists connect to a face and the body thud to the ground. She let out a little gasp and Nel squeezed her hand tighter as a warning to not make a sound. Nozomi squeezed her hand back in assurance but Nel could not see what Nozomi witnessed. A few steps away, the boy laid facing towards her direction in an unconscious state with his eyes slightly open staring at her. Blood covered his face, his lip was cut and mouth hung slightly open. He had a menacing look, a bulky body with squared shoulders and a buzz cut but in this state he looked pitiful. His ears were pierced with a poorly done tattoo on one side of his face. His appearance was a stereotypical look of a an arrogant renegade.

Moments Ago

It started as they were walking to school taking their usual route. They noticed a couple of unfamiliar and troublesome looking men staring at them. The girls walked on cautiously and moved to the next side to avoid any interaction.

"Man, the girls in this part of town are total babes," said one thug.

"Yeah, the body and everything but them eyes, they wild," said another one with a thirsting grin.

Nozomi's mistake was interacting with one indirectly by making a disgusted face.

"Oh shit, man she didn't like what you had to say," said another.

"She can turn right around and I'll change that misunderstanding," said the previous one. "I can talk as smooth as these rich folks. I got a vast vocabulary."

The group laughed at him.

"Yeah, why don't you go over and impress them with your vast vocabulary," instigated another one of them.

The girls ignored their comments and kept walking, Nozomi felt a hand grab her and she gasped out of shock. To be held so suddenly, it terrified her. Out of reflex, Nozomi high kicked her offender in the chin and brought her leg down, her heel connecting to his head. With a sudden twist, Nel grabbed her friend and bolted away from them. They ran with each burning breath and sweat that crept down their backs.

They ran, hearing the threats of the thugs chasing them.

They ran in different routes away from the school.

They ran into alley ways that twisted and turned their senses.

They ran with every burning sensation in their muscles and pulsing waves in their veins.

Nozomi held on to her friend and when one fell behind the other tugged harder for support to keep going. Nozomi looked back at her friend and the boys behind them. She returned her gaze back to the front and almost collided into a figure but side stepped avoiding the physical contact. Their eyes met, a fierce autumn brown looking at deep violet ones. In that moment, mere seconds felt like minutes. She broke eye contact and ran faster and when her body could take no more she turned into an alley. She saw the smallest gap between the buildings and pushed Nel into the compressed space. Nel without a fight, sucked in her breath and fitted right through the space along with Nozomi following after her into the shadows. Nozomi prayed that their offenders wouldn't be able to get to them. This was their dead end.

From the shadows, Nozomi and Nel heard some cuss words and aggressive conversations that erupted into a quick fight.

They were relieved that the attention had diverted away from them. They were in the wrong area to be lingering. They clearly weren't from this residency, otherwise they wouldn't have carelessly boasted about the area. This residency was quiet but it was run by a notorious mob and it wasn't a flashy and visible group but a silent and deadly one that moved through the streets with precision, caution and ease. There was a reason they weren't caught by the law and rumor had it, it was run by a tactful underground leader. No members were known by name, they were ghosts moving through the streets like phantoms. Nozomi had a dreaded feeling that they may have run across a member or members.

Back to their current moment, the unconscious man stared at her with resentful eyes. She heard another crack and she wanted to go deaf until it was all over. She couldn't hear the screams or yells because their opponents muffled their voices. Apparently, they hit these thugs in the throat to silence the screaming. They were left them in whimpers and gasps. Nozomi continued to stare at the pitiful state of the man. Even in his state, he slowly moved his arm up to the side of his face, slowly attempting to point at her. Nozomi felt icy hot chills run up her spine.

"Damn you," she thought."Damn you and your ugly face tattoo."

She wanted Nel to move back but Nel wouldn't budge. She was so firm in her position and Nozomi felt stuck and was literally stuck. Her attention was back on that stupid face tattoo attempting to draw attention to her. He managed to get his arm to the side of his face but before he could point at her, a boot stepped onto his arm and mercilessly pressed harder on it. He groaned in pain but never broke eye contact with her.

The boy stepping on him, wore a hood covering his face to veil his features. He looked at the arm and hand then turned his head slowly to Nozomi's direction. He looked at her dead in the eye. It was those fierce autumn brown eyes but this time stoic and void of any emotions. They stared at each other and Nozomi slowly brought her finger up to her mouth and gave a silent "shh."

She didn't want trouble. She wanted to go back to her normal routine with her friend. They were good students and they didn't cause problems. They minded their own business and went about their cliche high school life but here they were in this unwanted predicament of a scenario.

The unknown boy looked at her and back at the tattoo guy. He took his arm and without hesitation pulled the arm back and snapped it out of place. This sent shivers down Nozomi and a twist in her stomach that made her weak in her legs. It was a warning to her, if she spoke about this scene the same outcome would come to her.

"Take this as our first and final warning," said a husky voice.

Nozomi closed her eyes and was thankful for the unknown figure for blocking the remaining scene. She didn't want those tattle telling eyes on her.

With that the voices disappeared and Nozomi and Nel waited in their hiding until they felt safe to come out. Nozomi let out a breath and slowly shuffled out to see the horrid damage in front of her. There were six unconscious bodies displayed in the dark alley. Nel covered her mouth to prevent any noises from coming out and the girls moved with silence. Nozomi saw a black card laid on the floor with a faint wording "Mirage" on it. It was them, the mob that had done this to the boys. They shuffled out of the alley way and made their way back to the main road. The girls managed to make it to school but not in well kept appearances. Their uniforms were dusted by the wall and hair tangled from the running. In simple terms, they were physically and mentally distorted.

The girls entered the classroom late and Nel gave a weak smile to their teacher. The students looked at the girls with confusion. They were not used to seeing them disheveled. They were always put together.

Nel and Nozomi didn't have the chance to talk about what had happened but Nozomi could feel Nel's eyes beaming at the back of her neck. The teacher had to stop the lecture and ask Nel if she was okay. When lunch finally arrived, Nel grabbed Nozomi and rushed to the cafeteria and grabbed their food and rushed to their signature private spot to discuss the incident.

"Well?" Nel said.

"Well, what?" Nozomi asked.

"What we witnessed! Should we report it?" Nel suggested.

"No!" Nozomi hissed. "We were so lucky to have gotten out of danger and you want us back in it." Nozomi said, shivering at the images of the bodies.

"Nozomi!" Nel shook her friend lightly.

"They're not our problem and you saw the card." Nozomi argued.

Nel fell silent and dropped her hands off Nozomi.

"The important thing is we got out safe," Nozomi said.

Nel let out a heavy sigh and agreed. It was best to remain silent. They had no business interfering in a manner that would jeopardize their safety. The police wouldn't be able to protect them.

"I honestly thought we were done for," Nel said. "But nice kick by the way," Nel mused.

"Well he asked for it," Nozomi said.

"He wasn't terrifying after what was done to him, it was terrifying seeing him in that state," Nel added.

Nozomi nodded and thought back to the one who had put him in such a pitiful state.

"Did you get a good look at who had done that to him," Nozomi asked.

"No, I only noticed him in all black with a hood," Nel said. "He covered himself up pretty well, but that's to be expected and not a trace left behind. We are soooo lucky to have gotten out of it."

"How come you didn't move any further?" Nozomi said remembering that she wanted her to move back further into the corner.

"Oh, that tight space you shoved us in, by the way, do you realize how lucky I was that my butt! and breast! could fit in that gap! I didn't move because there was a Pepsi can next to my foot and one simple move would have notified the entire town where we were," Nel exasperated. "We would have been ratted out by a damn empty Pepsi can!"

Nozomi let out a sigh, of all the things, a can of Pepsi had exposed her.

Hello!

I hope all is well and you enjoyed the story. Please note that I don't own the characters. Be respectful with your criticism, so I can become a better writer and story teller. I have a couple chapters done but the work is still in its editing/revision process including changes to characters ... I do love Nozomi and want to continue her story in a different dimension and light. Let me know what you think!

Thank you! and have an amazing day!

Update: I fixed a couple of grammatical errors.