The morning of Hinata's 17th birthday she woke up feeling as excited as ever. Getting dressed she picked out her nicest clothes, including a shirt she remembered Asou-san saying he liked on one of their other dates. Earlier in the week she had talked to Tomo and told him about their date plans. He had joked about her wearing her nicest underwear and she didn't know what he meant but she figured it couldn't hurt so she picked those out too.
Before leaving she hugged Waka and Tono and headed out. She was a few steps away before she turned back towards her house, thankfully remembering to lock the door.
Hina watched a clock in the store across the plaza from where she sat. 4:30. Asou-san said he'd be there at 3 and with each passing minute the usually cheery Hinata was becoming increasingly anxious. To make matters worse she couldn't get a hold of him by phone.
Two hours later and she was still waiting, sipping from a drink she she had purchased at a nearby vending machine. As she stared at her hands around the can, brows furrowed in concern, she heard a voice speaking to her from directly to her right.
Snapping out of her thoughts she looked up to see an unfamiliar man standing much too close and looking right at her.
"Hey, sweetheart. You shouldn't be out here all alone. Why don't you come with me and we can keep each other company?" As he said this he gently rested his hand on her upper arm.
Maybe it was because she was already on edge, or maybe it was the fact that she had been thinking of her former bodyguard moments earlier, but she remembered something that Asou-san had told her once.
"Not all people are nice people, Hina. There are people who will lie, cheat, steal. People who would kill you or me or anyone else to get what they want. And it doesn't stop there. There are far worse things than death." He hated to be so blunt but it was the only way Hina would get the message. The look in Asou's eyes when he said this was enough to make her a bit more cautious around strangers.
She looked the man in the eye and replied with a firm "No, thank you" before getting up to leave.
"Aw, come on. Where you goin'?"
As she walked away she could hear the man's footsteps following her.