Hey everybody! I'm trying my best to write as much as possible so I can make this a good story. It's actually something i'm very interested in lately. Thanks to my dad tearing me away from my videogames, i'm now (mostly) free to start writing regularly. If you like this story, tell me about it. If you don't like it, tell me what you didn't like about it. Without further ado, enjoy.

Chapter 3: lingering remorse

Ellen kept cursing in her mind as she looked around for Chia. The sun had now gone down and the moon had risen, leaving the blonde girl to run around searching in the darkness. She started asking people at local pubs, then at the Cafe, and even at grocery stores, hoping that someone had seen Chia, to no avail. She went back to check Chia's home, which was, as always, empty. Her mother always worked nights at the bar, serving tables, so she was never home long enough to see her daughter home from school. Hoping to find Chia quickly, she started running down the bridge and then stopped, questioning what she was doing. 'why do I care? I'm not the real Viola.' this and more echoed through her mind, screaming at her. 'you should leave her be. She doesn't need you, and you don't need her. You don't need anyone, do you?' she was getting frustrated and quickly hit the bars on the side of the bridge. 'I just need to find her and apologize... I do care about her. Maybe not the same way she does, but I do care.' she resolved to finding Chia once more. She looked behind dumpsters, in alleys and even public restrooms. Ellen heard a scream from a familiar voice. She ran toward the sound to see the men on bikes from before, each one holding Chia by an arm.

"you were with that bitch who kicked me in the face earlier this afternoon." the man said, grinning psychotically. "now i'm gunna hold onto you, have some fun with you, then tear her into shreds when I find her." Chia squirmed, trying to get away, but it was pointless.

"You're just a scumbag! You use women for your own pleasure, and then you just discard them!"

"and what the fuck is wrong with a few one-night stands? Is it wrong for a guy to enjoy the delicious women that pass him by? Strip her do-" he got cut off by a rock hitting him in the side of the head.

"not if I have anything to say about it, you perverted jerk off!" she threw another rock at him but missed. He pulled out a knife and walked toward her.

"It's pay back time for that kick you stupid bitch." the man started grinning again. "also, i'm gonna mail you and your girlfriend here in pieces to your families. How's that sound kid?"

"i've heard more intimidating one liners in anime." she smirked, standing tall and unfazed by the knife, but keeping her eyes on it. He swung the knife toward Ellen's theigh, which she dodged by arching her back, but giving a narrow margine for error. She returned a swift kick to the man's face, but upon quickly recovering, he stabbed at her face, barely missing and cutting her cheek. 'damnit. If I don't disarm this asshole, I really will get cut into pieces.' the man started going for her knee, but she swiftly sidestepped and then placed a foot behind his heel, twisted his wrist that was holding the knife, and then she grabbed him by the neck, slid her foot under his heel to trip him, and slammed his head into the ground. Realizing he was still slightly conscious after she stood up, she kicked him in the face to knock him out. Afterwards, she turned to the other boys who had let go of Chia and were running at Ellen with metal pipes. She had her eyes on the weapons, realizing they were swinging not only in unison, but at the same area. She ducked under them and grinned as they both hit eachother in the face. The two men gave into their cowardice and picked up their leader and ran.

"You okay Chia?" Ellen looked at Chia with a serious look, but Chia didn't look at her, but nodded. "i'm sorry, for what I said before. I'm not exactly going through very good times right now. I just didn't know how to react, so i-" Chia put her lips to Ellen. They were both blushing and Chia's eyes were closed. She broke away from the kiss, and Ellen's eyes were filled with disbelief. She didn't know how to respond to what had just happened.

"Viola, stop talking. Okay? I should have noticed that you had problems of your own. If you need someone to talk to, then i'm always here. Talk to me about anything you need." she smiled at Ellen.

"we should probably get home. I'm pretty tired." Ellen wanted to sleep this day off, and she also had other things to think about too. She started walking Chia home, not saying anything to her. Chia reached for Ellen's hand, and upon touching, Ellen looked at Chia and smiled. They held eachother's hand the whole way to her own house.

"Dad! I'm home!" Ellen shouted to her father, still holding Chia's hand as they walked in the door together.

"Oh, hey Viola. There's some coffee in the pot if you want some." he gestured over to the half-full pot on the desk by the microwave. "if you don't mind, i'd like to talk to you about some things. It's related to your chivalry for a test frog at school."

"Dad, it's alright. I'm not going to kill a living thing. I refuse to do that, ever." she put on a toothed smile that showed that she was happy and content, but Chia knew better.

"that's not the point here Viola. You need to do this kind of thing to get good grades at school. They breed these frogs specifically for it too."

"but why is it the frogs don't have a choice?" the logic Ellen used to have was blowing up in her own face, being self-refuted, but she didn't care. She changed, almost too suddenly for the people around her to understand. She grimaced at her father as she continued "if you and mom had me, and doctors wanted to take me away for organ donations, would you shut up and let them do what they wanted, saying I was born for it? It's complete bullshit!"

"Viola, stop yelling at your dad." Chia was trying to be calm, but she was clearly getting upset at the sight. She tightened the grip on her hand, which caused Ellen to stop dead in her tracks and look at Chia with a shocked look. "i'm sorry." that was all she said before she grabbed a coffee cup and poured her coffee, drinking it black.