Lady In Red

30 minutes prior...

"I think I lost them. Hopeless police," Leyon muttered under his breath, coming out from a dark, narrow passageway in the area. Putting his hands in his pockets, he began to roam the streets aimlessly.

"Let's go in. We'll have more privacy there."

Leyon cocked his head sideways to see where the disgusting sound was coming from. A few distances ahead, he saw an ugly old man trying to force a young girl inside a love hotel. The poor girl was resisting with all her might, even trying to bite the man's hand.

"Feisty, are we? I'm curious to see how well you'll do in bed. You're turning me on. Come on. Quick. Let's go in."

Leyon halted in his tracks and silently watched them from the sidewalk. He wasn't trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, but he couldn't bring himself to walk away either. The thought of helping the girl crossed his mind for a brief second before he quickly shrugged it off. It was not his problem. This was the Red-Light district, and judging from the way the girl was dressed and the heavy makeup on her face, she was most likely a worker from there. After all, this was a dwelling place for sick people like them, and he didn't want to involve himself with it.

Only when the girl was ruthlessly pulled into the love hotel did Leyon start to walk again. However, right when he was about to pass the same building, he stopped once more.

[That girl... she was crying.] Guilt tugged at his heart. That girl looked terrified. It was as if she wanted to escape from that man. Leyon turned his head and glared at the entrance of the building. "I'm an idiot," he muttered and dashed towards the entrance.

...

"Me? I'm the Grim Reaper who's going to send you to hell," Leyon answered coldly.

Before the man could retort, Leyon punched him square in the face, followed by an explosive kick up his nether region. That kick alone knocked the wind out of the man's lungs. He groaned in agony, his body twisting and turning on the floor, tightly clutching his prized jewels.

"Hey, let's go." Leyon turned to the girl, extending his hand to her.

Hikari looked at the unidentified stranger, amazed. The striking resemblance caught her off-guard and she stared, lost in his eyes.

"Come on, get up," Leyon said to the girl again, this time raising his tone a little.

Hikari slowly lifted her hand and touched the stranger's extended fingers, not sure if he was actually real or just a figment of her imagination. But to her surprise, he immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her body from the bed.

[No. This isn't real. This must be a dream.] Hikari was too lost in her thoughts to even realise that she was running down the hallways hand in hand with an unknown stranger who looked a lot like the childhood friend in her memories. What was happening? Many questions were popping up inside her mind.

While running down the stairs in her absent-minded state, Hikari twisted her right ankle on the very last step and tumbled to the ground. Looking at her swelling ankle, Hikari bitterly realised she should've taken off her heels when she had the chance. Now she couldn't get up at all.

"Are you okay?" Leyon asked, turning back to check up on the girl. "Can you get up?" he asked again, crouching down to match her height from the ground. The girl gave no response. Taking off the large jacket he was wearing, Leyon covered the girl with it and turned his back on her. "Wear this and get on," he ordered.

Hikari hesitated for a bit before finally getting on his back. Leyon hoisted her up like a small baby and stood up, carrying her out of the hotel.

Weird stares from strangers greeted them when they both came out of the place. Hikari could hear the guy curse under his breath. "Great. Now people think we did something there and came out," she heard him say and blushed from embarrassment.

[I'm sorry. It's my fault.] The words burned at her throat, but she knew they would never reach his ears even if she were to speak them.

After going around for more than ten minutes, they somehow reached the busy streets. Finally, they were out of the Red-Light district.

"You should go home now," said Leyon, putting the girl down gently on the pavement. The girl gave him a dazed look, not saying a word. An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air. "Hey, can you hear me?" he tried again.

The more Hikari looked at the guy, the more she believed he was none other than Leyon.

[Could this person really be Leyon? ] To Hikari, who had his appearance engraved into the back of her memory like a brilliantly captured photograph, the resemblance was hard not to notice. He still had that fair, almost pale white complexion. Those deep, ocean-blue eyes of his did not change one bit. His dark black hair had become longer; it was tied into a neat bun at the top with the hair at the sides flowing freely. His childish features had been thoroughly remodelled with light strokes of masculinity. He had that appearance that could make him stand out in a crowd.

Hikari felt so small under his gaze. Though she was of average height and wearing five-inch heels at the moment, he was still a head taller than her.

In the midst of the busy street and the flickering city lights, they both stood there, gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Leyon finally broke the silence.

"I think you should call a friend to pick you up or something," Leyon said, tearing his gaze away from her. "You can take the jacket. I won't need it anymore," he added. After bidding her farewell, he turned to leave but was stopped by a hand tugging at the back of his T-shirt.

This girl was very weird, thought Leyon. He threw a casual glance over his shoulder, wondering what the girl was up to. She let go of his shirt and looked up at him expectantly without uttering a word.

"You don't have anyone else to call, do you?" Leyon guessed, earning a quiet nod from the girl. "Do you want me to take you home?"

Hikari shook her head. She didn't want to be alone after that traumatizing experience. Besides, she didn't have anything with her at the moment. She had left her bag in the nightclub — the place she vowed she'd never return to. The only solution was for her to get back to the hotel she was temporarily staying in, but she didn't want to go there now, not after meeting him.

Leyon was getting frustrated. What exactly did this girl want?

It was already very late and all he wanted to do was go back to his apartment and sleep, but he was stuck with this girl who looked like a walking corpse in the night.

A breathy sigh escaped his lips before he finally decided. "Just for tonight, I'll take you to my place. Is that okay?" he said and watched as the girl slowly nodded her head.

[Looks like I'm taking a stray cat home with me tonight.]