You are late!!

After an hour, I started worrying about her. Seriously worrying.

I was standing by the roadside in front of the mall entrance with three heavy shopping bags hanging from my fingers. People were passing by, looking at me like I was some lost delivery boy who had been abandoned by his customer. The shopping mall was only ten minutes away. Sara had told me so casually, "I'm just going to buy a phone case. Wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

That minute had turned into sixty minutes.

At first, I thought she was just taking her time choosing a color. Girls do that, right? But after thirty minutes, the bags started to feel heavy. After forty-five, my phone screen had nothing but her name and the words "Call Ended."

I couldn't stand there anymore. I went to the shopping mall to search for her. I took the escalator to the second floor and went straight to the phone case shop. The shop was crowded, full of glittering cases.

I asked the staff, "Did a girl come here? White dress, yellowish hair, looks kind of angry but pretty?"

The staff member nodded. "Yeah, she came about an hour ago. She bought a transparent case with a small heart on it and left."

An hour ago.

I walked out of the shop and started asking many people about her. I showed them her picture on my phone. Some people glanced and said no. Some just ignored me. No one had a clue where she went after that.

I started calling her again. I pressed call, it rang once, and then got disconnected. I tried again. Disconnected. Again and again. Every single call got disconnected as if her phone was switched off on purpose. My chest was getting tighter with every failed call. My mind started imagining the worst things.

And then, from behind the mall, I heard a voice.

It was very faint, almost drowned by the traffic. But it sounded like her.

I stopped. I held my breath and listened again. Yes, it was coming from a small, narrow street behind the mall — the kind of dark, dirty street where the streetlights don't reach and the smell of garbage hangs in the air.

I started walking toward that voice, my shopping bags thumping against my legs. My heart was beating louder than my footsteps.

And when I saw what was there, I was in complete disbelief. My eyes went wide. My face, which is usually lazy and half-asleep, became more serious than it had ever been in my life.

Sara was there.

And on the cold ground of that street, three men were laying flat on their backs. They were groaning. I could see blood on their arms and on their faces. Their shirts were torn, and one of them was holding his stomach.

My body froze right at the entrance of the alley.

Then I heard an angry voice, louder this time, and it was directed straight at me.

"You are late, idiot!!"

I blinked. My brain couldn't process it. "Am I late? What do you mean?" I asked Sara.

She was standing in the middle of that dirty street, and weirdly, her white dress was completely clean. Not a single wrinkle. Not a single speck of dirt. Her hair was still perfectly tied in its ponytail. She was glaring at me as if I was the one who had caused all this mess.

She put her hands on her hips and said, "Huh? I was waiting for you so you will come and beat these guys. What took you so long?"

I couldn't understand a single word.

"You don't know how much time I gained just by talking to them so you will come. Still, you are late," she continued, as if I was late for a movie date.

I said, "I can't understand. What do you mean? What happened here?"

She walked up to me, grabbed my sleeve, and pulled me closer. She started explaining her plan as if it was the most brilliant plan in the world.

"Look, these guys were trying to harass me. So I was just gaining some time for you. I was talking to them, stalling them, so you will come finding me and will see that these men are trying to harass me and you will beat them like a superhero. Like in the movies!"

I looked at the three grown men groaning on the ground, then I looked at her small hands grabbing my sleeve.

I asked, "But they already are injured?"

She clicked her tongue and said, "Because you were late, so I had to show them their place."

I said, "Means... you fought with three men at the same time? Alone?"

She looked genuinely offended that I even asked. She said, "You think I am weak?"

My mind finally restarted a little. "Did you get hurt or something? Or did you call the police at least?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I am alright. They didn't even able to touch me. And I have called the police and they will take some time to come."

This girl had been missing for an hour. For an hour I thought she was kidnapped, that I would have to fight for her life. And here she was, having already won the fight all by herself and complaining that I was late for my hero entry.

I couldn't help but ask again, "How were you able to fight with them and win?"

And then she started showing me her biceps and started flexing her arm. Even though she doesn't even have biceps. Her arm was thin and pale and soft.

I said without thinking, "You know, you don't have biceps?"

Her eyes narrowed instantly.

She said, "You wanna fight?"

I was still annoyed from waiting an hour in panic. I said, "Sure, why not? Let's fight."

She smiled, that dangerous little smile she does before she scolds me. She said, "You really wanna fight a girl?"

I finally snapped and shouted, "You are not a girl at all. You just beaten three guys at once!"

**Punch!!!!**

The sound echoed in the narrow street.

"Hhhh... Why? Why did you punch me in the face?" I said, holding my cheek. My eyes were watering.

She shook her hand a little as if it hurt her too and said, "Don't know, I mostly use kicks during a fight. But you won't be able to survive my kick, that's why I punched you. Hehe."

My cheek was burning. This girl just knocked out three men and now she was punching me for free.

"Hey, girl, you are pissing me off now," I said with a dead serious face. I was actually angry now.

She giggled and took a perfect fighting stance. Her white dress swayed a little. Even in high heels, her balance was perfect. She looked like a ballerina who could kill you with one kick.

She said, "There you go, I'll use my kicks against you so be prepared to block it."

And we started fighting. Right there in that small street, with three unconscious harassers lying behind us and distant police sirens becoming louder.

I was in full confidence that I'll definitely win because I used to attend taekwondo classes when I was in elementary school. I still remembered the basic forms, the front kick, the roundhouse. I thought I could finally show off and get revenge for the punch.

I was so wrong.

What the heck? Does she know taekwonda?? She is way faster than me. I am barely able to see her kicks. They are like blurs. And why is she smiling during a fight??? And how is she able to always hit a clean shot on me even when I block?

I landed a kick on her and she dodged it like it's nothing, as if she had predicted it five seconds ago. Well, I got scared not because she is too strong but because she had worn high heels and I'll be dead if she kicked me in my face with high heels. A heel to the face would be the end of me.

During the fight, she said while kicking, "I am impressed that you survived this long. But be prepared, I am not gonna show you mercy."

She is hella fast. I was going to be defeated if I just stood there. I wasn't able to move my body properly because she was throwing kicks from all directions — low kick, high kick, spinning kick. Even though if I blocked her kicks still I got hurt. My arms were numb. And I was about to give up, my legs were shaking, but suddenly my brain clicked something and!! I remembered a stupid video I watched at midnight.

I shouted at the top of my lungs,

"Sara I love you a lot!!!!!!"

And she got frozen. Completely frozen. I saw she wasn't even moving. Her leg was still in the air. Her expression was saying that she is in complete shock. Her face turned bright red from her neck to her ears.

And I saw an opportunity and I knocked her down, gently tackling her to the ground.

After a few seconds of silence, she looked up at me from the ground and asked me very sweetly, in a voice I had never heard before,

"You really do love me??"

I panicked and said quickly, "Nah, I just don't want to lose. Hehe."

And right after that, I felt something so strong and cold. I saw her face and she was so mad and I was able to feel her strong presence, like a pressure. She stood up slowly and I said, "What the heck??? Is she turning into Super Saiyan????"

I was terrified by her presence. Her aura was literally different. And right after that I found myself laying in the middle of the road, staring at the dark sky. While she was standing just next to me, breathing heavily, her fists clenched.

My nose was bleeding. I touched it and saw blood on my fingers.

I looked at the three guys and they were still sleeping, unconscious. I asked her, my voice muffled, "Did you kill them cause they aren't waking up??"

She said, still angry, "Don't worry, when you were unconscious they tried to run but I was that mad at you that I took my anger out on them and they got unconscious again."

And right after that the police arrived. The red and blue lights flashed at the entrance of the street. They quickly put those guys in the police car and came toward us. I thought they might be coming to me to ask if I am okay or not but... Why the heck are they taking me with them? They grabbed my arm.

I said to the police, "Sir, sir, I am innocent. I didn't try to harass that girl. She is my friend!"

One of them said in a strict voice, "Shut up, you look like a 16 or 17 years old kid and you do such things? Come to the station."

I stopped defending myself because I knew how it looked — me, bleeding nose, three guys on the ground.

And then Sara came running and said, "Sir, he is telling the truth. He is the one who saved me. You can see the blood is still flowing from his nose because he fought for me."

And then they apologized to me and let go of my arm. They went back to the police station with the three men.

And Sara started laughing. She was holding her stomach and laughing.

I asked, "Why are you laughing?? I was about to get arrested because of you."

She said, "I am laughing because you used your brain during the fight. I am really impressed by your tactics. Let's head home. You look terrible."

We started walking to our home and I asked her that how she knows taekwondo and how is she that strong, even stronger than me.

She replied, "I used to attend taekwondo classes and I was the strongest kid there. Hehe! My master used to say I have natural talent."

I said, "I also used to attend that, still I am not strong enough to take you down in a one v one situation. It's embarrassing."

She said, "Still you were able to defeat me once. So you are not that weak."

She asked me, "Why did you say I love you to me and how did you know that I'll get stunned??"

I said, "I watched a video. They said if you say something shocking to someone like 'I love you' then there are many possibilities that the person will get stunned for a moment. I just tried it."

She said, "Good! Your brain is good!! You are smarter than you look."

And then she said, "Hold on, maybe I'll have a cotton in my purse."

I said, "For what?"

She said, "Your nose is still bleeding, that's why. You look like a ghost."

She took the cotton from her purse and gently put that on my nose. Her fingers were cold and soft. She was so close I could smell her shampoo.

And after that we reached our home. And the moment I entered the house I collapsed on the floor from exhaustion. My whole body was aching.

When I opened my eyes I saw it's already morning. The sunlight was coming from the window. And I saw Sara sleeping just beside me. Her face was so close. I started blushing like crazy and then I realized that I didn't have anything on except pants. My hoodie and shirt were gone. My brain started making weird thoughts.

"Did we do anything wrong??? Did........."

"You got up?" Sara said, rubbing her eyes.

I got scared and sat up, covering myself with the blanket and said, "Tell me what are you doing in my bed?? And why my hoodie and shirt are removed??"

She blushed a little and said, "First thing, you are in my bed, idiot."

I looked around and realized that I am in her room. The walls were pink. Then she said, "Last night you collapsed and I was worried about you so I opened your hoodie to check your body."

I said, "What do you mean? Why would you do that?"

She said, "I was checking that if you are hurt from anywhere like in shoulders or somewhere? You were hit a lot."

Then I said, "Still but why did you sleep beside me?"

She said angrily, "I didn't want to sleep with you but your room smells disgusting and I wasn't comfortable on the sofa. That's why I had no option left."

And then she kicked me from her room and said, "Go clean your room then talk to me, idiot!"

And I started thinking about all the things that happened last night and remembered that I said I love you to her in the middle of the fight. I got so embarrassed that my face turned red and I went to my room and locked the door.

At evening,

Sara came to me and sat next to me on the sofa and we started watching a movie together. The room was quiet except for the movie sound. And suddenly she said in a very low voice,

"You know Aoto, there is a boy I really love him."

I thought that... Yeah, I might know him. I hope Ren and Sara get a happy ending. Ren likes her after all.

I said, trying to sound supportive, "Oh, I hope you both end up together."

She said, "No, no chance that he and I are gonna end up together."

And I saw her tears in her eyes while saying that. They were shining in the TV light.