Thirteen

"Oh, look at that girl there. Do you think she's alright? She's looks a bit sickly…"

At least once every few days, at home-time, Ruri would hear one of the waiting mothers make some kind of comment about her unusual appearance. They were usually concerned rather than offensive, but Ruri ignored them anyway. The wrong kind of sympathy could hurt.

She always found this time of day hard to bear. The time when lessons had finished for the day and it was time to return to the orphanage. The journey wasn't the problem – it was this first bit, walking across the school-yard which was filled with children meeting with their parents. It was a cruel reminder of something that had been taken from her. As usual, she kept her gaze straight ahead as she strode quickly towards the gate.

Despite her precautions, she still saw things happening through the corner of her eye. A small boy ran up to his mother, who scooped him up in her arms and hugged him adoringly. On her other side a well-built man was giving a piggy-back ride to his toddler daughter, who was squealing in delight. Two blonde twins raced each other to the other side of the playground, while their young parents watched them lovingly, their arms placed around each other. Ruri turned her head completely away from them, screwed up her eyes and sighed with infinite longing.

"I wish I could have what they have."

The logical part of her mind temporarily kicked in and delivered its blunt response.

"Don't waste your thoughts longing for something you can't have,"

Of course, that was a foolish suggestion. She could bury her thoughts, but her emotions could not be suppressed so easily. Her yearning for those stolen aspects of her life would always be there in the background and there was no way she could stop that.

Oh well…

She left through the school gates and went along the street towards the station, where she would catch the Shuttle-Train back to the village in which Seven Oaks was situated. It was only a five-minute walk from the school, and she was four minutes into that when suddenly an unfamiliar voice came from her right side.

"You're Ruri Hoshino, right?"

Ruri turned around to see a tall man in a long black trench coat regarding her, while he leant against a lamppost with his arms folded. He must have been around twenty, with his night-black hair tied back in a tail. His similarly dark eyes seemed to be instilled with some kind of fierce shadowy force, while his youthful face was marred by a long jagged scar which ran like a canyon down his left cheek. She'd never seen a human with such a sinister air about him, so she put her guard up.

"Yes, that is my name," she replied cautiously.

"I need to speak with you,"

She was about to go over to him, but then remembered something Minato had said on their Christmas shore-leave, about how you shouldn't talk to strange men when alone on the street. So instead she just said, "Excuse me, I'm in a hurry," and continued walking.

"I said, I need to speak with you." The man took a step forward and grasped her left shoulder, forcing her to stop. Ruri gasped out loud, shocked by this sudden advance. She immediately tried to pull away but she couldn't escape this man's iron grip.

"Let me go! What do you think you're doing?" she cried.

"Just shut up and don't struggle," her captor asserted. "When girls are bad, I break their arms." He dug his fingers further into her shoulder to accentuate his threat.

Ruri ignored his words and kept on trying to free her arm, to no avail. When she realised she didn't enough strength to get away, she looked around desperately for someone else to help her. Unbelievably the street was empty – apart from a few other kids on the other side walking towards the station who were ignoring her completely. It appeared that she was left to her own devices. She frantically lashed out with her foot, striking the tall man's shin.

"Ow! You little brat! Quit moving around, you can't get away!" Her scarred assailant began to pull her backwards towards him. His unyielding hold was making her shoulder numb with pain now.

Deciding she had to act while she still had one arm available, Ruri nudged the strap of her backpack off her right shoulder so that it slid down to her free hand. Then she swung it back around her right side, then forward and around so that it went high over her left shoulder and clubbed her attacker right in the face. The weight of her school-books made it a hefty blow, causing him to swear in surprise. While that distracted him, Ruri kicked him sharply in the shin again. The unexpected pain caused him to grunt and loosen his grip. Seizing her chance, Ruri broke away from him and instantly started to run away. She didn't look back, but could hear his rapid footsteps behind her as he gave chase.

"Who on Earth is this person? What does he want with me?"

She tried to run faster, but sensed him closing in on her. It was less then hundred metres to the station, maybe she could make it before her pursuer caught her. Maybe. But he was a much quicker runner and she could tell from the sound of his breathing that he was catching up fast. It was going to be a photo finish.

"Get back here!" her chaser bellowed.

"I certainly won't," Ruri thought. With an abrupt movement, she ducked between two parked cars and continued running along the, fortunately empty, road. That took her out of grasping range for a few moments. Cursing, the man kept to the pavement for a few more vehicles, then vaulted across one to the road. Luckily, by then she'd gained enough ground to reach the station.

As she dashed through the main gate onto the nearly empty platform, she saw that the train hadn't yet arrived. By now her stamina was dwindling and she couldn't run any longer. The moment she slowed, her pursuer caught up with her and grabbed her arm roughly. Ruri quickly yanked it free, but the momentum caused her to stagger a few steps and fall down. She gave the man a fearful glance as she struggled to stand again.

"Just come quietly and no-one is going to get hurt," he growled bearing down on her. His trench coat opened as he reached out towards her, revealing a long sheathed knife beneath. Ruri gasped at the sight of it – did this man intend to use it if she didn't cooperate?

As she tried to calm her panicking mind, she remembered another piece of advice which Minato had given her, about what to do if you felt threatened in the street. You had to scream and attract attention to yourself.

So she did.

Clenching both her fists by her sides, she emitted a high-pitched shriek which she hadn't thought herself capable of. The few people that were on the platform turned to look at her in astonishment. The strange man, however, took an uncertain step back.

"Shut up!" he shouted, his eyes darting around the platform uneasily.

Ruri pay no heed to his demand, instead deciding to keep this act up. She drew another large breath and renewed her ear-splitting scream, straining her voice-box to breaking-point. Her oppressor mouthed a profanity and backed off further, seeing that people were looking in their direction. Finally, he gave her one last torn glance before turning and running away at full pelt.

"Hey you, stop where you are!" Ruri saw that the station security guard run past her after the retreating figure. However he stopped after a few metres, since the other man had too much of a head start to be caught and had already left the station. So instead the guard walked back to her and helped her up.

"Are you okay, little girl? What was he doing?"

"He was chasing me," rasped Ruri, her voice hoarse now. "But I am unharmed, thank you."

Looking down at her uncertainly, the guard folded his arms. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes. I'll be fine," she said breathlessly.

"Well, if you're certain. I'll report this to the police and keep an eye out for that guy in case he shows up again."

Ruri nodded to him and walked over to the edge of the platform to wait for her train, taking this chance to regain her breath. Before she knew it some more people approached her. She might have guessed it – it was Mikoto with some other orphanage children.

"What happened, Ruri?" Mikoto asked. She had genuine concern riding in her features.

"Maybe she's seen herself in the mirror for the first time!" sniggered another orphanage girl whose name Ruri couldn't remember. "That's enough to make anyone scream!"

"Shut up Annie," said Mikoto. "So what happened?" she asked Ruri.

"There was a man was chasing me," said Ruri. "I don't know who it was, but I am unharmed."

"I don't think any guy would ever want to chase after you!" murmured the same girl, smirking at her own cruel comment.

"I said shut up!" snapped Mikoto. Annie made a face, but didn't say anything more.

Turning back to Ruri, the plaited girl asked, "Chasing you? But why?"

"I don't know. His motive was unclear to me."

Just then the train pulled into the station, sending a cool breeze over them and drowning out their conversation. The doors hissed open and the children boarded. No seats were available, so Ruri had to stand, holding on to one of the bars in the centre of the carriage. Mikoto pushed her way over to her through the crowd.

"You're going to tell Miss Nishida about this, right?" she said

"I see no reason to concern her."
"But what if he comes back?"

"If he does I don't see how she'll be the one to protect me."

"But come on!" Mikoto exclaimed desperately. "You have at least call the police!"

"That security guard saw him. He'll be able to take the matter from here. Nothing I do will make a difference."

Though she didn't look happy about it, Mikoto dropped the matter. "Well, if you say so," she said quietly. "I still think you should tell someone though." With that, she slunk off through the mass of people to rejoin her crowd.

With her friend now gone, Ruri looked out of the grimy train window. A constant stream of posters and lights on the tunnel wall flashed past her eyes as the train rushed onward. Their lulling effect helped her mind drift into a trance as she considered the niggling question.

What had that man wanted with her?