Hi all! My apologies for taking so long again but hey, at least I somehow managed to update before the month was over, right? If you wanna know why it took me so long then read the next paragraph or you can just skip it since it will be me just blabbering like usual.

What took me so long? Well, a few things:

1. Work: They've been making me work overtime and to the point of exaustion. For real, I would get home hungry and ready to just sleep in my bed just so I could start all over again.

2. Megaman Battle Network 6: I've played all the BN series of megaman till 5 and just this month I found out the 6th was the last one and I just had to play it. So whenever I'd get time off I'd play and I even sacrified some sleep just because I wanted to finish the game before continue writing. When I began with the game was around the 2nd week of this month and I had written only 2 pages. because of reason number 1 it took me longer to finish the game, so I finished it on the 20th or 22th. Time really flew by for me since when I finally realized what the date was I freaked. Anyhow in the 2 following day I managed to write 4 pages which was a lot more than I had managed at the beginning of the month.

3. My antivirus expired: Now a few days ago, it expired. I had completely forgotten to get a new one. Yeah, I know I'm careless and a procrastinator. Anyway, since my antivirus said I could get the new version by dling but since I have never done that before I wasn't so sure so I asked my computer techie/cousin/niisan of which option would be better. He told me that instead of buying an antivirus he could get me one since had one extra. I guess it really is a family thing: how could he forget he had already bought the antivirus and buy another one, the same one on top of it? I know I've done that before too but... I guess I shouldn't complain since I didn't have to pay for the antivirus this time :D

4. Writer's block: Yup, last reason is this one. the infamous writer's block. I know someone said it to me, I don't remember who but someone said something like I would stop being obsess with Yugioh 5ds or something thus it would also be the end of this story. Well, it kinda happened since I became obsess again with megaman but I'm back on track again. Please, don't say stuff like that to me again. It might happen! J/k.

One last thing: Thank you all! this is my very first fic that has over 100 reviews!! I'm super happy for it! THANK YOU GUYS!!

Chapter 16: Running

'It seems they don't care about being seen anymore.' Yori thought as she ran towards the park. 'I need to lose them!'

She ran aimlessly for about ten minutes in which she felt like she had been running forever and completely drained. Despite her exhaustion she kept going. 'I can't keep this up for much longer,' she thought as panted heavily. 'But if I'm tired they must be too. I just need to find a way to lose them.' It was at that moment when she reached the fountain that was in the middle of the park and a sign next to it. She couldn't read it but saw there was a time in it "8:00 p.m." Just by looking at the floor around it she understood. The water fountain would come at exactly eight o'clock creating a water curtain which she had hoped she could use to make her escape. 'Darn it!' she bit her lip. 'So much for plan A.'

Instinctively she changed her route and started running on the grass and between the trees. 'Running between the people in the road had been of no help maybe by running in zigzag between the trees would be more helpful,' she thought.

Just like she thought it worked better than running on the road. She was able to enlarge the distant if only by a few meters. Still it was something. As she looked back she didn't notice what was in front of her till it was too late. She was running so fast she couldn't have stopped herself from running into the bush in front of her. She manage to use her arms to protect her face a little and she used her left arm to somewhat protect her right hand which was the one she had hurt the other night when she had managed to get away from their first attack.

However, after running through the bush and getting a few scratches in the process she found herself falling. Since she had been using both her arms to shield herself from the branches she had not seen the person that had been walking by in the road below. As she was falling she felt a pair of arms wrap around her body and then both rolled a little on the ground finally stopping with her on the ground.

She opened her eyes slowly fearing she had been finally caught. However she met a pair of hazel eyes it took her a moment but she recognized him. 'The Ryoma-alike!' she thought as she couldn't but blush at his proximity.

He quickly got off. "Are you alright?" He asked as he extended a hand to help her up. She gratefully accepted it.

She nodded. "I'm fine, thanks." She said sheepishly. "Sorry about that." She blushed embarrassed. 'I need to stop doing that.' She thought referring to how she had first met him and Yusei.

"Yeah, we need to stop bumping into each other." He chuckled. "Not that I mind being in that position," he smirked.

"Eh?" she blushed. 'Gosh, I think I'm gonna have a nosebleed! He's so darn cute!'

"Anyway, why were you running?" He asked and Yori looked behind her expecting to see those men there but they were not. It confused her as well as surprised her. Why would they suddenly disappear? "You really took me by surprise there. It was like an angel fell out of the sky." She looked back at him with a startled look when he said the last line.

'Oh? So, he's one of those,' she thought a little disappointed but still blushed.

"No reason. Anyway, sorry for tackling you. Bye." She said as coolly as she could manage and tried to leave as quickly as possible.

"See you tomorrow, Yori-chan," he said as she was a few paces away.

She turned around startled. "How do you know my name?"

He chuckled. "Everyone knows who the top duelist at school is."

She didn't say anything. "Since we're gonna share some classes be kind to me." He grinned.

She nodded. Not sure how to reply and quickly walked away. 'I'm sure they were right behind me so why…?' she thought as she was walking out of the park and down the main street. She stopped on her tracks 'They wouldn't…!' she thought as dread came over her and started running to their rendezvous point.

Aki and the twins were at the guys' home and currently they were playing with Yusei and Crow. Aki pretended to look at their game of card but her thoughts were elsewhere. She couldn't help but worried over her friend. 'Should I tell them or should I wait a little longer? I hope she's okay but what if-'

"Aki, you alright?" Asked Yusei as he noticed Aki struggling with something.

Aki flinched when Yusei touched her shoulder in order to get her back to reality. "I-I'm alright but…" she looked down to the floor.

Yusei gave her a puzzled look.

"Hey guys!" Yori greeted as she came through the front door. Everyone looked at her surprised. Aki had said that Yori would probably be late since she had to work, when it was past three forty-five as to not worry the kids of her absence.

"Yori!" Aki exclaimed surprised and relieved to see her in one piece.

"What happened?" Rua was the one to voice everyone's thought as they saw all of her clothes dirty with twigs and leaves on part of her hair and uniform. Not to mention the few visible cuts on her hand and face.

"Oh this?" she giggled. "Clumsy me; I kinda tripped over some bushes on the park."

They gaped not believing her.

"I know, I know, just how is it possible to trip over some bushes, right? I mean, I should have seen them." She sighed. "Seriously, this kind of thing only happens to me."

Aki wanted to know what had really happened. Had she fought against those guys and gotten injured and she just put dirty and leaves on her clothes to make up a story? It was a lousy story but still there was a possibility. She had to ask her.

"It was so embarrassing too since I ended crashing on top of someone too." She continued as she entered the garage. "And I did that twice today too. Kinda reminded me of how I met Yusei." She blushed.

Rua and Ruka laughed as they remember when Yori soaked Yusei with a bottle of water and she had later told them she had previously met him the same way too. Aki also couldn't help but giggled. Only Crow looked at them clueless and Yusei wasn't sure of how to react but smiled.

"What's so funny? Can someone fill me in?" Crow asked.

"Oh no! I just remembered I have to work today. Jeez, I'm gonna be so late! Later." She said as she was ready to hit the road again. She had only gone to assure Aki she was fine and to make sure they were fine but she hadn't thought to stay for so long.

"Eh? Already?" Rua said disappointed.

Yori gave him a sad smile and then looked at the other guys. "Guys, do me a favor and tell them. They need to know." She addressed Aki, Crow and Yusei.

"But I thought you said…" Aki started.

"I know, but things changed and they need to know." She looked serious. "Rua, Ruka, please wait here till I come back."

"Eh?" both twins looked surprised.

"I'll see you later." And with that she left.

"Did something happen?" asked Yusei to Aki.

Aki looked serious and nodded mutely.

"Yusei, what did Yori-chan mean? What was she talking about?" Rua asked.

"What's happening?" asked Ruka worried, "Yori was kinda weird just now."

The three elder teens didn't say anything for a moment.

"She told us to tell them so I guess we should start by filling them in." Crow started.

Aki and Yusei nodded. Between the three of them they started by telling them about Yori's problem and how she was now staying there for the time being. Jack didn't arrive till later that evening when they had just finished telling the kids about the situation they were in.

"Aki, do you have any idea why would she suddenly change her mind?" asked Yusei.

Ruka realized something. "Could it be that those men were waiting for her after school? Is that why she told us to go ahead?"

Aki nodded. "Yeah, we saw them and they went after her."

"So what she told us…?" asked Rua.

"It was probably to not worry you. I bet she was sure if to tell you or not. In the end she probably thought it was best if you knew." Aki said.

"Do you really think she would lie and then say the truth? It doesn't make much sense." Jack stated.

"I guess we'll have to wait for her and ask her." Ruka said.

Nine o'clock came and Yori still hadn't returned. The shop was only a few blocks away so it was about fifteen minutes on foot. They started to worry.

"I'll be back," Yusei stood up. "I'm gonna head over to the shop. I'll let you guys know if anything has happened, alright?"

"I hope nothing happened and she's just late." Said Aki who was now helping the twins do their homework.

"I think we can leave it like this for today and tomorrow morning I'll finish it myself." Jeff said as he put down another box full of manga. "Thank you for staying and helping me with the new shipment."

Yori smiled. "No problem at all. After all, the new volume Shin Tennis no Oujisama* just came out and I wanted to read it as soon as I could." She squealed.

"I know, it's great! I can't wait to get home and read it." Said Jeff equally excited. "Anyway, it's late so should hurry home now."

Yori finished taking the manga from the box she had in front of her and folded. "Yes, I should probably go now."

Someone tried to open the front door and then a knocking sound came.

"Can you take care of our visitor? I think he doesn't know we're already close for today." Said Jeff as he took a small piled of the boxes Yori had undone to the back to the garbage.

Yori did as told. She went to the door. "I'm sorry we're-" she gaped. "Yusei? What are you doing here?" She opened the door for him and then locked it again once he was inside.

"We were worried." Yusei said looking at her directly at her eyes. She looked away, ashamed; her cheeks slightly red.

"I'm sorry but the shipping came late and the others were already leaving. So I thought I'd help a bit." She had turned around so he wouldn't see her face. Somehow being on the same room as him was making her heart beat extremely fast. Not to mention it was a little awkward after the event of this morning and Sunday.

"Well, Yori, you can go ho-" Jeff returned and saw Yusei standing there. "Oh, I see your boyfriend came to pick you up. How kind of him."

If before she had been blushing now her face was flushing. She could feel it burning all the way to her ears. Yusei looked taken aback.

"Um, no! We're not! He is my friend! We're just friends!" Yori said waving her hands furiously in the air and shaking her head.

Yusei looked at her reaction. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Yes, we're just friends." He confirmed calmly.

Yori stopped moving her hands and looked at Yusei. He didn't notice as he was looking at Jeff. She felt a twinge of pain in her heart. 'Yes, we're just friends.' How could the sentence that had previously made her so happy to the point of tears now make her feel like crying again but this time from sadness?

"Oh? Is that so? My bad." Apologized Jeff with a smile. He then took of his glasses and approached Yori and took her hand and kissed it. "Then that means I still have a chance?"

Yusei looked extremely surprised and glared at Jeff. Yori on the other hand simply rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Seriously, you're gonna get yourself arrested. You do know this is sexual harassment, don't you?" She pinched his hand and immediately let go. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"Ow, Yori-chan you're so mean." He curled up into a ball and started sulking in a corner.

Yusei was surprised. Yori rolled her eyes again.

"Well, we're going now, Jeff." Yori said. Jeff recovered once heard those words.

"Oh yes, and sorry again for making you stay. And don't worry about it. Bye" Jeff said as he showed them to the door.

"Sorry, Yusei, I didn't think it was so late." Yori started once they were out of the store. Out of the cornet of her eyes she saw one of the shady men.

Yusei also noticed. "They're here," he said in a low voice so only Yori would hear him.

"I know," she said keeping her voice low too. "We can't go back now; we have to lose them first."

Yusei took her hand and she looked at him surprised. "Let's run for it." He grabbed her left hand and ran.

Yori and Yusei ran, the men chased them. Yori would look back behind them from time to time to see if they still were after them. They ran for several minutes, they were becoming tired but didn't stop. Her legs felt so heavy, she had done this before earlier after all and she still hadn't eaten anything since break at school.

Yusei turned around while Yori was looking back. The men had been right behind them. She tripped and pushed Yusei down with her into an alley.

"Where did they go? They were here a second ago!" They heard the voice very near. "Split up and look for the girl!"

Yusei pulled Yori closer to him as to hide her face into his chest. Yori held onto him and closed her eyes tight. They were so close and she was really scared. She just hoped they wouldn't notice them. 'Leave, leave, leave…' she kept repeating in her mind like a mantra.

"What about the boy?" one of them asked.

"We're only getting pay for the girl. Do whatever you want with him." The leader of the group said before leaving.

After a few minutes when they couldn't hear them anymore did they finally separated.

"That was close, too close." Yori sighed as she got off Yusei.

"Let's go back; they must be really worried now." Yusei said standing up and then offering her a hand, which she took gratefully.

Yori nodded. "Anyway, where are we?" she asked as she looked around at a part of the city she hadn't seen before though it looked kind of familiar for some reason.

There were love hotels, night clubs and bars in this part of town. 'Red light district?'

"Diamond Area." Replied Yusei. "You better stay close, this place is dangerous. So don't let go." Yusei offered her his hand.

Yori nodded wordlessly and hoped she wasn't blushing. 'Everything looks so pretty and dazzling though.' She thought as she looked around at the different lights and people chatting.

"You have your phone with you?" asked Yusei as they started walking back.

She handed to him wordlessly. "You gonna call them to tell them we're alright?"

"Yeah, it's already almost ten thirty. I bet Rua and Ruka must be sleepy." He said and Yori felt a little responsible for that. Yusei dialed the number. "By the way, how did you know there was alley there?"

Yori blushed and looked away.

"We should be back soon. Yeah, we're alright. See you." Yusei said on the phone.

"Never mind that. Let's just hurry back, alright?" Yori said nervously as she took the lead.

Author's Note:

* Shin Tennis no Oujisama aka New Prince of Tennis the continuation of the Prince of Tennis manga. I'm hook on it. I just hope they release it here soon but since they're still working on PoT manga, I guess they have to finish with it first.

Sorry if it was kinda short but it was going to take me longer if I put it with the next part not to mention I have to be very careful with my writing from now on. Why? keep on reading to find out! :P See you next chapter!

Please review! I always like to hear from you guys and I apologize if sometimes I don't reply but sometimes it's hard to keep track of who I do reply and who I don't. I usually reply to everyone, or at least I try. Anyway I'd like to hear your thoughts, bye!