Chapter 3

My Heart Races Even More

I arrive at the school the next morning, feeling very happy today. After meeting with Erena again, I began to feel more safe around her. She's just so . . . pretty and looks like a popular girl. I look over at the paper she had given me with her number. I added her to my contacts last night, but I just can't help but keep staring at it. She has such beautiful handwriting. I slide my fingers upwards toward her signature when I can feel my heart beating in my chest again. I bring my hand up to my chest to feel it beating rapidly. Oh, my goodness! It's happening again! Am I actually falling for her!?

"Whatcha got there, Umi-chan~?" a cheerful voice says from above me.

I nearly jump out of my seat at the sight of Honoka standing right in front of me with her big blue eyes. "H-Honoka! Don't scare me like that!"

"Ohhh~! Is that a note I see?" Honoka doesn't give me a chance to respond as she snatches it out of my hands.

"Hey! Give it back!" I cry as I struggle to reach for it. "It's not yours!"

"I'm just curious!" Honoka tries to reason.

"It's none of your business, so give it back right now!"

"Kotori-chan, take a look!" She quickly hands the note to my other childhood friend as Kotori takes a look at it and her eyes widen.

"Erena-san gave you her number!?" she exclaims. "That's so awesome!"

"Shhh!" I quickly put both of my hands onto their mouths to quiet them down. "Someone might hear you!"

"Why?" Honoka's voice is muffled from my hand, in which I quickly pull away.

"It's embarrassing, so you musn't tell anyone, I mean, anyone about this!" I demand while pointing a finger towards Honoka. She really likes to spoil others.

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Kotori asks. "I mean, it's just her number."

"Listen, Erena and I just became friends," I explain to them. "So, she just snuck a little note in my bag, just when I was about to realize I forgot to ask her number."

"Wow! She's a clever girl for doing that!" Honoka says.

"So please, please don't tell anyone, not even the rest of the club members, okay?" I plead while putting my hands together while bowing my head.

Honoka giggles as she pats my head. "Oh, Umi-chan. You're as shy as always."

"I mean it!" I shout at them.

"Hehe! Okay, okay!" The ginger puts her hands up in defense.

I sigh in relief as I sit back down on the chair after Honoka hands me back the note. What will everyone else thing when they find out that I became friends with a student from another school?

By the time lunch starts, Honoka and Kotori are off eating lunch together once again. I sit by the tree while taking out my smart phone. Since Erena had been kind enough to give me her number, I might as well text her my number. Though, I don't know when her lunch period is. I let out a sigh as I realize that. I really should start asking her questions before doing anything else. I text her number anyway and decide to wait for her reply until after school.

But a few minutes before I start eating my lunch, my phone goes off. As I turn it on I blush deeply as I realize I received a message from none other than Erena.

"Thank you so much, Umi."

Seeing that text makes my heart race once again. So, she does have lunch on the same period. But why? Ah, no time to think about that right now. She finally got my number! I'm so happy! By the time I regained my composure, I eat my lunch until the period is over. I look over at Erena's number again and turn off my phone. I'll have to talk to her after school.

**After School**

I'm about to leave the classroom when I turn on my phone again and I immediately receive a text from Erena. I blush deeply as I read what it says.

"May I come over to your house today? I want to meet your family."

I gasp as I look around to see if anyone else, other than Honoka and Kotori, is able to see it until I immediately reply with an "OK". One word. Way to go, Umi. Not just "Sure, you can come over." or anything like that! As I quickly exit the classroom, I stop immediately when I see Eli and Nozomi walking by. I literally slide on the floor, only to almost crash into Eli, but we thankfully don't topple over.

"Whoa there!" Eli says while giggling. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

I'm about to answer when Nozomi beats me to it.

"What's that?" she asks as she leans down to pick up something off the floor.

I look down to realize what she had picked up. "N-Nozomi!"

The violet haired girl giggles as she shows me the note. "Now who's Erena Toudou-san, hm? Is she your new friend~?"

"Y-yes," I answer.

"Hehe~! How did you two become good friends?" Nozomi says, stepping casually towards my side and smiling.

I feel like I couldn't hide from them anymore and explained everything that happened. As I spoke about Erena, thoughts of her flash through my mind, including when she had saved me from being molested. I didn't even realize I was blushing until Nozomi points it out.

"Why is your face red?" she asks.

"Ah! N-nothing!" I protest as I wave my hands back and forth. "Th-there's nothing to be worried about, right!? My face isn't red at all!" What am I saying!?

Nozomi giggles. "Don't worry, Umi-chan. I understand."

I blink. "Y-you do?"

Nozomi just winks at me and rejoins her girlfriend to link arms with her. "Let's go, Eli-chi."

"Alright," the quarter-Russian blonde says while turning to me. "We'll see you later, Umi."

"Ah, okay." I wave to both of them as they leave. They are a happy couple, aren't they? I think to myself. And so is everyone else. So far, I've been the only one who hasn't had a lover. Not one. I mean . . . I will find one, right? No worries. Still . . . Erena's pretty interesting. E-eh!? When did Erena pop in my mind!? I sigh as I shake my head and exit the school. I decided to meet her again at the station to have a talk with her. I'm just . . . more relaxed when I'm around her. I make my way to the train station and look for her when I find her talking with some other girl with medium length auburn hair. Who is that girl? She's kind of . . . cute. And huh? There's another one approaching them. This time, it's a girl with short brown hair. All three of them smile at each other as they greet one another. Are those two Erena's friends? As I slowly approach them, Erena takes notice and smiles at me.

"Hey, there, Umi!" she greets. "Perfect timing! I would like you to meet my two best friends, Anju Yuuki-san and Tsubasa Kira-san."

"Hello," Anju says. Wow, even her voice sounds cute!

"Nice to meet you," Tsubasa greets with a bow.

"U-um, nice to meet you two," I reply while returning the bow.

"So, she's the girl you were talking about?" Anju asks.

Erena nods. "Yes. She's the girl I had saved the other day."

Tsubasa comes closer to me and smiles. "Well, you sure are a cutie~!"

E-eh!? She called me . . . cute!?

"Hehe! Isn't she?" Anju says as she playfully pinches my cheek. "Erena-chan was telling us how cute you were the moment she looked at you after she saved you. We were dying to meet you, Umi-chan."

"R-Really?" I stutter while trying to regain my composure from meeting two girls for the first time. They are just . . . so nice.

"Mm-hmm!" Tsubasa says. "Erena tells us all about you for the past couple of days, so we asked her if we could meet you."

Anju comes closer to me, causing me to blush. "And right away, when I looked at you, I thought to myself, 'She's cuter than I expected'. So, we're glad we're finally meeting each other, Umi-chan."

"Th-thank you," I say with a small smile.

When the train arrives, all three of us get on and sit down at an available spot in the seating area. I sit next to Erena while Anju and Tsubasa sit next to each other beside us. From there, all of us were chatting up a storm, getting to know one another. As we were talking, I take a look at Erena. She's so . . . beautiful, even from the side view. I didn't even realize she had made friends of her own at UTX Academy. And to be honest, her friends are very kind. They are really enjoyable to be around and are fun to talk to as well. In fact, this is the first time I've seen other people from UTX Academy that are willing to talk with me. We talked for about 15 minutes before the train stops. Tsubasa and Anju stand up.

"This is our stop," Anju says. "We'll see you later."

"It was really fun talking with you!" Tsubasa says. "Shall we meet again tomorrow?"

"Sure!" Erena says as she turns to me for approval. "What do you say, Umi?"

"U-um, sure!" I reply quickly. "I would love to!"

Anju smiles happily. "I'm glad. See you later, Umi-chan!"

"Bye!" Tsubasa says while waving.

Erena and I both wave good-bye as the door close and the train starts to move again. Erena sits a bit closer to me, almost making our shoulders touch. I start to blush again as I look down at the floor a bit to avoid eye contact with her. She's so close my heart is racing rapidly. It's happening again, isn't it? This feeling when I'm around her. Still, I feel a bit more relaxed when I'm around her. Just then, I feel an arm wrap around me and gently pull me closer with our shoulders fully touching. Oh, my gosh! My heart is literally going to burst at any moment! I quickly look up at Erena, who is smiling and winking at me. I blush even harder as I feel my heart beating faster as well. She just . . . winked at me! For what exactly? Unfortunately, I couldn't say anything, but I feel really comfortable leaning against her. I think I could just fall asleep right now . . .

"Umi," I hear her call my name. "Umi, this is our stop. Do you want to go? Or just sleep here for the rest of the night~?"

I sit up as I notice everyone leaving and I quickly jump to my feet. "R-right! Let's get going!"

Erena and I exit the train and stop short as I fiddle with my fingers. What should I say? My face is too warm and my heart is still beating rapidly because of Erena pulling me close to her. However, Erena beats me to it.

"It's nice spending time with you again," she says. "I enjoyed being with you, Umi."

"S-same here," I reply. "Th-thank you."

I turn towards her as she turns to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you later," I say as I wave good-bye to her.

I stand there for a few more minutes to watch her leave, with her hair swaying at every step. I put my fist to my chest to feel my heart still beating. And then, I smile. Oh, Erena. I wish I could spend more time with you. With that, I begin to walk towards my home, which is about 5 blocks away. However, as I'm walking, I can hear another set of footsteps behind me. Actually, it sounds super close. Is someone . . . following me? I quickly turn my head to look, but . . . no one's there. Maybe it's my imagination? I continue to walk until I hear the footsteps again. Someone's definitely following me! I turn my head again. Still nothing! That's it! I'll go a different route so that the person doesn't follow me all the way home.

I turn to a random corner, which I'm unfamiliar with, but I don't care. I just want the person to lose track of where he/she is and I can finally go home. However, as I go further down the street, I hear the footsteps again. I slightly look back and see a glimpse of a familiar man who quickly hides behind a lamp pole. Crud! That's the guy that almost molested me the other day! How did he manage to follow me here!? This is not good! Not good at all! I turn another corner, hoping to get back to the street where I'm at, but . . . it's another street that I'm unfamiliar with. I stop and look back. No one's there, but I know that man is trying to stalk me! I back away a few steps while taking my phone out to dial Honoka's number. I wait and wait for her to answer, but unfortunately, it goes into voicemail. I dial Kotori's number, but no answer. I can't call my parents since they are out working until late. I hide behind a corner while dialing Erena's number. She's my only hope right now.

"Hello?" she answers.

"U-um, Erena?" I say. "I'm . . . in big trouble right now. Remember that man who almost molested me?"

"Yes?" Erena's voice sounds shocked and concerned.

"Well . . . he's stalking me and I'll be doomed if he followed me into my home. My parents aren't coming home until late." I frantically look around again. "He's . . . he's going to try to get me, Erena! Please help me!" I shut my eyes tightly, with tears nearly coming out. I have never been so scared in my life, nor have a man who almost molested me return.

"I'll be right there!" Erena says. "Hang on! Where are you?"

Fortunately, I'm near some street signs, so I tell her what street I'm at and Erena tells me that she'll be there in a flash. I start to hang up when I feel a sudden hand grab me from behind and push me against a wall, which causes me to scream in pain.

"Well, what do we have here?" the man says. "Ah, I remember you~."

"Please get off me!" I cry out. "I need to be somewhere!"

"Not gonna happen!" The man snaps. "I think it's time to finish what we started!" He grabs hold of both of my hands and ties them with some tape so that they won't move and turns me around. "Your protector isn't here to save you this time, you little brat!" I can see a sharp knife in his hand, which makes me gasp.

"Don't worry," he says. "I'll make the cut fast. Just to see your beautiful body, my dear."

My eyes widen as he raises the knife and lowers it to touch the top of my blazer. He's going to rape me! That's even worse than it was on the train!

"Ah! N-no!" I cry while tears fall. "No, don't! Please!"

The man chuckles as he pauses. "There's no one here to help you now, young lady!

"Why are you here!?" I shout. "Why did you follow me here!?"

"I told you didn't I?" he sneers into my face. "To finish what we started. I noticed that your pretty friend was beside you, so I waited until the right moment. Of course, you made a grave mistake of going to an abandoned area, so now's my chance to make my move on you."

I couldn't believe what I'm hearing. I'm put myself in serious danger by walking into an abandoned street! How is Erena going to find me here? I shut my eyes tightly as I prepare what is about to come for me. However, just like before, nothing happened. I quickly open my eyes to see Erena grabbing the man's arm where he is holding the knife.

"Didn't I tell you before what I would do if you did something like this again?" Erena growls as she forcefully pulls him away. I drop down to my knees as I watch them struggle.

"You witch!" the man growls as he tries to elbow her, but she quickly dodges it and grabs hold of his arm.

She kicks him to the ground and pins him while still grabbing hold of his arm. She starts pulling on it until I hear a loud crack. My eyes widen as the man screams in pain. She literally bent his arm out of place! I can't even believe how strong she is! Erena kicks him multiple times until she found the tape he used to tie my arms and quickly ties his. She then picks him up and pins him to a lamp post and wraps the tape around him so he could not escape.

"Grr!" he growls. "You better get me out of this! I've got lots to do with this girl!"

"No you're not!" Erena shouts at him. "You got a lot to deal with the police! How dare you do something to a poor girl like her!?"

"Whatever!" the man shouts. "She's just a weak, piece of trash!"

SMACK!

My eyes widen again as I see her slap the man hard, leaving a large red mark on his cheek.

"Don't even THINK about insulting her either!" she shouts at him as she runs towards me to rip off the tape and look at me with concern for a bit before helping me up and facing the man. "This girl here! She's beautiful, sweet and kind! You don't know anything about her, you creep!"

I look up at Erena as small tears start to form. She's . . . she's defending me, too! I can feel my heart beating rapidly from her strong words.

"Also," she continues. "She's clearly not yours. Because . . . I love her!"

My eyes widen at this. Wh-what!? What did she say!?"

Erena turns to me with a serious look and caresses my cheek. "Umi, it's the truth. I love you. I really do." And just like that, she leans in and presses her lips against mine.

My body feels like it's going numb. Erena . . . she just . . . kissed me. After she confessed to me . . . Oh, my gosh! I feel like I'm going to faint! Thankfully, she pulls away and faces the man again. She pulls out her phone, dials the police and tells them the address. I was too shocked to even remember what happened next.

A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry for the super late update! First I had major writer's block. Then, it took me about 3 days to write this chapter. So, I'm truly sorry and I promise I will update as soon as I can. Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review~! ;)