Lily ran as fast as she could through the desolate street, without stopping to catch her breath. She knew that if she stopped, she would be in big trouble. She had no weapon on her person, and she was pretty much helpless on her own. She made the daring choice to look behind her, only to see her pursuer catching up to her. She tried to run faster, but it was pointless. This was as fast as she could go. To her shock and dismay, two more gang members with weapons appeared in front of her, blocking her escape. She panicked. She tried to go back, but the male chasing her had her caught up in a tight spot. While she tried to back away, she tripped and stumbled on the cold concrete ground. Afraid and alone, all she could do was stare with wide eyes as the three gang members closed in around her. One of them - a hooded, dark haired male - approached her, and slowly raised a dagger with a sharp cruel blade above his head. Lily was paralyzed. Her scream was caught in her throat, almost threatening to choke her. The moment she saw the lethal blow come down upon her, she shut her eyes, fearful for the worse...
But it never came. She heard the sound of slicing and the sound of a body hitting the floor, but never felt anything on her own body. She bravely opened her eyes, and was shocked when she saw the headless corpse of her attacker. In an instant, she turned her head only to see her rescuer standing in front of her. Her heart nearly skipped a beat.
He was a slim male, wearing a tight black bodysuit with metal highlight plating his waist, chest, forearms, shins and shoulders, along with a long flowing purple scarf around his neck. He had purple markings under his eyes and his black hair was tied up in a topknot. His long blade drawn, his grey eyes were focused on his intimidated opponents as his obsidian bangs flowed with the breeze. Lily's heart soared as she stared up at him with widened, blueish-purple eyes.
One of the gang members, infuriated that he felt intimidated by this one man, charged recklessly and attempted to attack, but the taller, obsidian haired man vanished and appeared above his in the blink of an eye, much to the teenage girl's surprise.
'Wow! He's so fast!'
She could do nothing but watch as the third gang member tried to fire a gun at the swift ninja, which of course was futile. In one swift flick of the wrist, he killed both of the gang members, and their headless bodies collapsed to the floor instantly. Lily, still sitting on the floor, gazed as her rescuer sheathed his blade back into the black scabbard that was attached to his back. Then, he turned his head to her direction.
"Well?" he said. "You plan sitting there all night?"
"Huh? Oh, no, of course not!" she blurted out nervously, quickly getting to her feet.
The ninja turned his head completely to face her and looked her up and down with furrowed black brows for a moment. She was wearing a white shirt with a bow and a black and white checkered skirt.
"Hm." was all that came out of him before he turned and started to walk away.
"W-wait!" Lily cried out, making him stop and turn to her again.
"What?"
"Um..." she stammered shyly, looking down at her feet. "I-I just wanted to th-thank you for saving me. I-I'm so grateful to be alive..."
The ninja smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "You look a little young to be out here by yourself. And is that a flower on your head?" he asked, pointing at the lily flower she wore in her onyx hair.
"Huh? Oh, um...well, I-I just like lilies, so, um…I wear one in my hair."
"Heh. Really."
The girl with a blue streak in her onyx hair felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she clutched the hem of her skirt.
"Anyway," the male continued, "What are you doing out in this place anyway? You do realise this is the abandoned area, right?"
"It is? I-I had no idea!"
"Don't play dumb. Let me guess, you're a teenager who wanted to explore the area to confirm if the rumors were true, but then you got yourself into trouble. Is that it?"
She squeezed her arm tightly, feeling embarrassed. "Actually, no. I...I got lost on my way home."
"Oh?" The ninja tilted his head off to the side with a raised curious brow. "How?"
"Um, well, I've just started to walk home on my own. I'm not used to it, you see." she explained, feeling confident enough to look at him this time. "I ended up taking a wrong turn when I was trying to get away from those gang members. I didn't realize this was the abandoned district. I-I was scared, so I-"
"You took a "wrong turn", huh?" he interrupted, his smirk returning. "Heh heh. Well, that's new! Never heard of a kid who had no idea they were running into the abandoned area. So then, what's your name, lost girl?"
"Lily. My name is Lily." she answered. "Wh-what's yours?"
"Heh, you really want to know? Fine then. My name is Speed-o'-Sound Sonic, the strongest ninja. No ninja is more deadly than I am."
"Speed-o'-Sound Sonic...?" Lily repeated slowly and quietly, trying not to get tongue-tied. 'The strongest and deadliest ninja? Is he just saying that to scare me?'
Then she smiled sweetly at him with an offer.
"Sonic-senpai, if there's a way I can repay you for saving my life," she offered in a clear voice, "then please allow me to do so. It would mean so much to me."
"You want to repay me? Already?" he asked with a frown. 'This kid is repaying me just because I saved her life on one occasion. Weird...'
"Well, not right now obviously, but still, at least give me a week. I just feel like saying "thank you" isn't enough for this."
Sonic thought about the offer. If this was money she was talking about, it would make saving killing those gang members worth it. Although...
"Uh...Don't you want to find your way home first?" he pointed out. "You can't stay here, y'know. It's obviously not safe for you."
"Um...right..." she agreed, though feeling embarrassed about being reminded that she had to get back home first.
The older ninja rolled his eyes and walked over to her. "Come on."
To her surprise and confusion, he immediately lifted Lily up in his arms, carrying her bridal style. Being in this current position caused a blush to dust over her face.
"Ah! Sonic-senpai? What are you doing?"
"Trust me," he said, "This is the fastest way to get out this shit-hole of a district..."
He lowered himself into a stance. "You might want to hold on to me. You'll fall if you don't."
"Um, o-okay..." replied a shy, hesitant Lily as she wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Ready?"
He took off without waiting for her response. Lily shut her eyes, not wanting to witness what was happening. She already witnessed how fast he was, but she was afraid to see how it felt to move at such superhuman speed. After what only felt as if less than sixty seconds passed, Lily opened her eyes and found herself out of the abandoned area. And outside the Z-City Central Station. Sonic lowered her onto her feet.
"Sonic-senpai, why did you bring me here?" she asked.
"Because I can tell that you're not from around here," he replied bluntly, "The next train leaves in ten minutes."
He looked down at her. "You should get going. Keep yourself out of trouble. Go straight to your home, and don't take any shortcuts."
"Okay," she answered confidently with a nod. "I promise I will pay you back for this, Sonic-senpai."
The ninja simply smirked with amusement. 'That's if you see me again…'
"Get going, lost girl."
"Goodbye," she called behind her as she hurried into the station, "Thanks, again."
After a few moments, Lily turned behind her once more only to find that the ninja who rescued her had vanished. Almost completely into thin air…
