Another bright light (Aureus)

[Emi Hitokata]

"Kuruma ga ugokanakutesa... Gomenne.(The car won't move... Sorry, Emi.

"Iya, daijyoubu. Takushii nottekaeru(No, it's OK. I'll take a taxi home)," Emi replied before hanging up her cell phone.

She lied: she had no money for a taxi since she spent it all on going to the hospital a few days ago. Thinking about the condition Ryuu was in and what he said to her, she shook her head to clear her mind and started to walk down the street.

Today was Saturday, meaning that she had to go to Japanese language school to learn her native language. It was pointless because she learned everything taught there back in Japan, and she was in the advanced class at her Japanese language school.

She waved to a few of her other classmates and refused their offers of a ride, not wanting to cause too much trouble. Instead, she lied by saying that she was going to a nearby restaurant to eat with her father. Emi had no idea why she was doing this, but maybe it had to do with Emily telling her that she couldn't rely on Ryuu or other people too much.

Emily's comment sort of opened her mind and taught her to be a more independent person. Maybe being the youngest child and growing up in Japan made her rely on others too much. Well, she's going to stop this since she's in America.

The sky was dark and the streets sort of empty, a strange sight for one of the largest cities in America. However, she didn't think much of it and turned to enter a dark alley, a very unwise thing to do.

Immediately, she was surrounded by a group of thugs, some of them whistling and saying things such as,"Hey baby, wanna have a drink." She turned around to exit the alley but found her path blocked by yet another thug. There were at least four of them around her, making escape difficult. If it was only one thug and here, she is sure that it would be easy to take him down. But four is too big of a number.

Immediately, she was reminded of how unlucky the number four is in the Japanese language. It is the same word as death, shi, which is something that may happen to her.

She did the only thing she could do: scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

[Aureus]

Moving to San Fran had been a hassle and a blessing all in one. He had gotten lucky, as Ashley didn't have much trouble moving to a new branch there. Moving itself was never fun, what with all the packing, the yard sale, selling the house, etc. The bright side was he got to leave Long Beach behind and all the stress that had built up on him there and discover a new life 300 miles away. It was a nice change of pace, as Aureus had walked through more of that old city than he could remember. There were new things to discoverer here, but he had to remember that a lot of 259 had followed him. He would make an effort to avoid them if possible.

And so twilight witnessed the city's usual dance: people trudging home, the younger crowd getting out for their drug fueled dances and parties, lovers on their romantic walks and candle-lit dinners, and the dull eyed Senior exploring the concrete, sea-side jungle that was to be his new domain. It wasn't too different from long beach, but overall there was a more festive and laid-back vibe, plus it was a lot fucking bigger. It was a west coast city and came with what you'd expect. In the end, Aureus was glad it wasn't LA.

The street and car lights bathed the world in a mystical white/yellow glow and the hum of traffic was a constant buzzing bee in the back of your mind. In a way, the teen wished they had moved to a more rural city. But this is where he had to be and the boy trusted fate and his own will to entertain him. If only it came in a more original form.

Aureus had been crossing the street when a ear splitting screech nearly knocked him over. He had been in this situation plenty of times to know when a woman was in trouble. Not that women were especially vulnerable or anything, it's just what he encountered. This would be his first fight in San Francisco, and nowhere near the last, that was for sure.

Following the ruckus that a few other people seemed drawn to, the dull-eyed schizo wandered into an alley behind two other men. The first heroic interloper saw what was going on and charged full speed towards one of the girl's attackers. Unfortunately, he slipped on a discarded, half full milkshake and smashed his head against a wall before he could do much princess-rescuing.

Well, that fucked his day up. Mmh, it's horrible that a young girl in such extreme danger has become passe to me. I wonder if I'm being over-confident though. Maybe thugs here aren't push overs. Haha, did you notice she sorta looks like Maxy? Why? Just 'cause she's all Asian and cute? That's racist, ya know. Why am I the one pointing that out? ...It doesn't matter! How can we make this interesting? Meh, it may be cliche, but this is serious.

While the Senior was arguing with himself, as he tends to often do, the small gang had taken notice of the new comers and were making their way towards them, cursing all the while. One went after the second man, dodging his lackluster punch and kneeing him in the stomach. Another one of the tattooed vandals threw a cheap shot at Aureus' nose.

Doubling back, the ex-Pillar firmly grabbed his nose and repositioned it while blood poured out. "*Sigh* I don't suppose you'll take to cleaning my shirt, eh mate?" Aureus inquired, looking as annoyed as possible while wincing from the pain. Standing up straight, he cracked his neck and waited for the next move. Without much hesitation, a third goon swung at him with a broken pipe. Leaning back, Aureus evaded the blow and quickly stepped forward, kneeled slightly and slammed his elbow into his opponent's lower right ribcage. It seemed the last thug was still focused on the girl...

[Emi Hitokata]

Her screaming did the trick; it wasn't long before a young man came along to help out. Sadly, he slipped on something and busted his head on the brick wall. Still, it was a good enough distraction for her to escape. She turned to the nearest thug and raised her hand to slap him, but he grabbed her arm to avoid the hit.

Meanwhile, the three other thugs were busy with even more newcomers. Emi felt hopeful since her job of taking care of these jerks became much easier. Although her right arm was trapped, she still had three limbs to fight with. She kneed him in the crouch area, causing him to groan out in pain. He released his grip, allowing her to spin around once with her left leg outstretched. She kicked him in the stomach, and he flew back a few feet, hitting the brick wall and landing in a pile of garbage bags.

Emi wasn't going to stick around and wait for even more thugs to come; she was going to get the hell out of her and catch the nearest taxi, no matter the price. She headed towards the entrance of the alley and paused next to the thug Aureus just elbowed. For some reason, she was feeling quite angry, and she needed something to take that anger out on. Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed the thug's upper arm, a loud pop sounded as she threw him to the ground.

After giving Aureus a polite nod, she turned and took a step, as if she was about to exit the alleyway.

[Aureus]

Well...that didn't go quite the way Aureus expected. Here he was with a leaky nose and the supposed victim was walking away without a scratch. She seemed to have some fight in her, but it hadn't been the wisest move to stop to inflict payback on one of her attackers while there were still two of them standing by uninjured. As she turned to leave, one the goons let out a frustrated growl and made a move to charge her. Coming from her left side, Aureus grabbed her left arm with his right and spun her around 180 degrees. Her assailant tripped over the first guy's body and crashed into the ground. Now her only problem was the guy she was now facing.

Somewhat sure she could handle herself, the dull-eyed boy moved in for the kill, so to speak, on the fallen mugger. A few shots to the ribs and stomach were enough to satisfy him and Aureus turned back around to see how the mysterious Asian girl was faring.

[Emi Hitokata]

Suddenly, Emi heard a growl behind her, and before she could turn, someone grabbed her left arm and spun her around. If it wasn't for the mysterious rescuer, she would have been attacked with no way to come up with a defensive move. The anger that was in her seconds ago disappeared, and she began to shake. She moved closer to Aureus and gripped his shirt. Her head was on his shoulder, as if she believed that it would give her better protection.

A second later, she pulled away, realizing that she just grabbed onto a complete stranger. The remaining thug also came at the two, so Emi moved forward and ducked as he tried to punch her. She sent her right fist as his stomach, and he doubled over in pain. Emi grimaced as she pushed the heavy weight off of her.

"Ugh!"

She kicked the remaining thug in the stomach and allowed one of her rescuers to finish up the job. Her attention was now turned to Aureus who she flashed a small smile at.

"Thanks a lot. I needed the help."

[Aureus]

Before the ex-pillar had time to finish the guy on the ground, the dark haired girl had clung tightly to his shirt, resting her head against his shoulder. Chi... he thought before he had time to catch himself. You're pathetic. It's been almost a year and a half, get the fuck over it. Levi reprimanded him. A second later the girl let him go and Aureus shook off his momentary relapse and took his anger out on the downed goon. She wasn't here, at least he didn't think so, and that was probably for the better. He couldn't live in the past.

Turning around, he found the damsel in distress...wasn't in much distress anymore. She was still unwounded. Maybe all his down time had made him weak. "Really? I couldn't tell, what with the way you took those two out. I'm the one with the busted nose, that guy looks like he's going to toss his lunch, and I think that guy might have brain damage." The Senior replied, pointing out the injured would-be heroes. A figure rose up behind her...

"Duck!" He shouted, hoping the girl had a quick reaction time, otherwise he'd have to push her out of the way. If she took his cue and ducked, Aureus would ignite his right glove and deliver a flaming punch to the attacker's face, pay back for that cheap shot earlier. If not, he wouldn't have enough time to act before the fucker cracked a piece of wood into his shoulder.

[Emi Hitokata]

Come to think of it, Emi seemed to be the only one who wasn't suffering from any injuries. Well, that did get rid of the stereotype that girls can't fight. Emi also thought of herself as more graceful, and less prone to getting injured.

Oh well, it also helped to have three people to come over and rescue her.

She stood there and grinned proudly as Aureus commented about how she took down two guys on her own. Who ever said that she shouldn't rely on others too much? Emi could take down a thug without much help. She just wished that Emily was there to see it.

Suddenly, he told her to duck, and her eyes widened before she quickly did what he ordered her to do. Her head lifted to see him punch one of the thugs. She could have also sworn that she saw fire come of his fist.

"Woah," she said in amazement.

[Aureus]

The girl hit the ground in a flash and in the next second it was all over, hopefully for good this time. It took a second for Aureus to remember that flaming punches were impressive. "Oh...haha, yeah, it's all in the gloves. It's a long story. You're pretty fast though, ya know that?" he said while scratching the back of his neck. He wasn't kidding either, if his guess was right, she was almost as fast as he was. Things seemed to have settled down and so the dull-eyed boy extended his hand to help her up.

[Emi Hitokata]

When it was all over, Emi stood up, running her fingers through her slightly tangled hair. She bent down to examine a thug and found him unconscious. Well, she was sure that there would be no more problems coming from them. She wanted to do more to them but decided that being charged with murder wouldn't do well on her record.

It was best just to leave the jerks on the ground here. However, she is going to call the police, just to make sure that they don't get away with what they did.

Emi blushed when Aureus complimented her on her speed. She wasn't used to hearing compliments, and it is hard for her to come up with a good reply without sounding mean or too full of herself. Finally, she just shrugged and looked down on her feet.

"But yeah. Thanks for the help," she murmured shyly.

[Aureus]

Ya know, I'm beginning to think Chi is the only non-shy Asian girl in this entire state. Levi chided Aureus as the girl awkwardly thanked him for his help. "Nah, what was I supposed to do? Completely ignore someone getting jumped? Plus, it was kinda fun. 'Cept for my shirt..." the Senior responded with a small laugh. "Oh, we should probably call an ambulance for those two." he added, pointing to the guy that had slipped on the milkshake and the guy with the broken ribs. Yeah, that was the price of going out of your way to help people. Pulling out his cell phone Aureus dialed 911 and told the operator the situation. He didn't plan to stick around for questioning though. "I'm Aureus, by the way. And you are?" he asked with a soft smile.

[Emi Hitokata]

Emi inhaled sharply as she examined Aureus's clothing. Well, getting dirty is inevitable, especially if you decide to pick a fight to save a girl. Also, it wasn't as if the shirt required dry cleaning. However, Emi looked down yet again and mumbled an apology, just because she felt bad about causing him trouble.

She took a more serious demeanor as her savior mentioned the two thugs on the ground. Well, they couldn't leave the guys alone, but she still hated them for trying to assault her. However, if they were left alone without calling the police, then they would get away with their crime.

Aureus was already on his phone before she would make an answer. She was planning to call the police herself, but she decided that it was better for someone else to do that. It was better just to avoid anything that could have her tracked. She didn't want anyone to know about the incident, especially her family because it would show others how careless she was tonight.

"Emi Hitokata," she replied, as it was the least she could do for her savior was give a name. She shifted uncomfortably, as if she was someone who hated staying in the same place for a long period of time and suggested,"Wanna get out of here?"

[Aureus]

"It's nice to meet you, Emi. And yeah, I was just about to get something to eat, wanna come along?" Aureus answered before walking out of the alley. With a sigh, he wiped the remaining blood from his face onto the shirt. He wondered if Emi was short for Emily. Either way, she seemed nice enough and maybe he had found someone to talk to for the night. Mmh...it's probably a good idea to make some friends, instead of just girlfriend or enemies. And your one night stands don't count either, Levi. The schizophrenic teen thought to himself as he continued along the dirty streets.

[Emi Hitokata]

"Um, well..."

She really wanted to have a bite to eat with Aureus since he came off as a really nice guy, but it was late and she didn't want her brothers to overreact about her coming home late. They were overprotective enough to call the police and start a city-wide search for her. Plus, if they saw her with Aureus, they would assume the wrong things.

Emi jogged and caught up to him. She moved in front of him and stopped to block him way.

"Well, it's late, and my family are probably worried about me." She casually tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled up at him.

[Aureus]

Stopping when the girl rushed in front of him, Aureus leaned against the wall and listened to what she had to say. Damn, rejected! Shut it, you! Don't feel bad, 's probably not your fault. She's just Asian an' all. Levi stereotypically advised his other side. "Couldn't you just call and tell them you're ok? If they're really protective, you should do what you want for a change, eh? But I won't press you. Think you'd make it back fine alone, or do you want some company?" Aureus replied, yet again playing the role of the nice guy. It was who he had always been, despite everything that had happened to him and probably one of his bigger flaws.

[Emi Hitokata]

It wasn't as if Aureus was bad like the thugs back there. Plus, if he tried something suspicious, she could always kick his ass. Emi didn't fit the weak Asian chick stereotype; there was something hidden behind her weak arms and small stature, and she could fight off, or at least escape from one guy.

There was nothing wrong with telling her brothers a little white lie. She stood there for a few seconds and pondered the dozens of possibilities that ran through her head. Suddenly, her face lit up and she pulled out a sleek midnight blue cell phone that her father bought for her recently.

Before the first ring could finish, one of her brothers picked up the phone and answered. Emi had to hold her mobile at arms length because the voice coming out of it was so darn loud.

"Emi-chan? Daijyoubu? Nankaatta?(Emi? Are you OK? Did something happen?)" Her oldest brother wasn't yelling; he just had problems understanding that there was no need to use such a loud voice on the phone. Emi was absolutely mortified of what was happening.

"Daijyoubu. Sokomadeshinpaishinakutteiiyo. Hoshuukouno tomodachi to bangohan taberukara, kaerigaosoiyoI'm OK. You don't have to worry like that. I'm just gonna eat dinner with my Japanese language school classmates, so I'll be home late)."

Emi snapped her phone shut without hearing her older brother's reaction. Like Aureus said, it was best for her to do what she wanted for a change.

"Know any good places to eat?"