Damion took a few deep breaths and looked up into Miyuki's furious eyes. Quietly he said, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Reluctantly Miyuki stepped off him and slipped the knife into one of her long socks. She glared at him before she spun around and marched out of the grotto, not glancing back once as she left.

"Hey! Wait up! You have a few things to explain!" Damion called after her once he finally realized what had actually happened. She was just turning out from the hedge when Damion caught up to her. "I would like an explanation. Several explanations actually." He told her, hoping she couldn't tell how frightened he was right now.

"Not now; we're being watched. Follow me." Miyuki murmured as she grabbed his arm and headed towards the exit of the school grounds. Damion glanced around, trying to figure out who it was that was following them but the school grounds were scarce.

"What do you mean? No one's here." Damion said, gesturing to their surroundings with his free arm as they left the school grounds. Miyuki scowled as she quickened her pace and tightened her grip on his arm as they turned onto a busy street.

"Two men in black suits were watching us at the school and have started to tail us. We need to lose them." She finally replied once they had walked a few blocks. Damion turned his head to try and catch sight of the men but couldn't see them through the crowds.

"I know a place we can go that they won't be able to find us." He whispered and MIyuki nodded, letting go of his arm and allowing him to take the lead. "But then you have to explain this whole thing to me, okay?" He added once they arrived at their destination. Bright neon lights flashed from the enormous building, making it seem as bright as the sun.

"The Radical Arcade? Really?" Miyuki muttered as she followed Damion in the black double doors. Beeping and clanging noises bounced around the room as hundreds of people played games all throughout the building. The smell of greasy pizza and sickly sweet rootbeer hung thickly in the air.

"No one will find us here." Damion said with a grin, weaving his way in between the scattered arcade machines. He glanced back at Miyuki, watching her glance at the different machines they passed. She had a scowl plastered on her face but he could see curiosity and excitement glimmering in her eyes, telling him she was more interested in the games than she let on. He finally brought them to the rear of the arcade where the skee ball games sat, knowing no one really ever played them anymore.

"Now can you explain what's going on?" Damion asked, ignoring the flashing lights of the skee ball games. Miyuki glanced around, making sure they were truly alone.

"You can ask three questions." She said quietly as she leaned back on one of the skee ball machines. 

Three questions!? How's that fair? Fine; I'll ask three questions and then demand an explanation. Damion thought, trying to decide which three out of the hundreds of questions in his head to ask. The skee ball game caught his attention once more and an idea popped into his head.

"How about this: I will ask you three questions while we play a game of skee ball. If I get a higher score than you then I get to ask as many questions as I want." Miyuki appeared shocked by his suggestion but she quickly shook it off and grinned at him.

"Seems fair." She replied and Damion quickly inserted money into two of the machines so they could start playing. He was just about to offer her some advice on how best to throw the ball when she picked one up, chucked it down the ramp, and watched it land in the one hundred points slot.

Miyuki picked up a ball and smirked at him. "Well, are you going to throw your ball?" Damion scowled and focused on his machine, winding his arm back and giving the ball a good underhand throw.

Not good enough apparently as he hopelessly watched it bounce and plummet into the thirty points slot. Shaking it off and deciding to focus on the three questions he did have he asked his first one.

"Okay; for the record, are you a Kitsune?" He asked as he watched her next ball soar into the fifty points slot. His gaze dropped down to her shadow and he squinted, trying to see if he could make out the fox-like shape on the patterned carpet.

"Yes, I am a Kitsune." Miyuki murmured as she readied her next throw. Damion gripped his ball as well and tossed it. His jumped into the fifty slot while Miyuki's once again found it's way to the one hundred slot. He glanced over at her, ignoring the smug look on her face as he felt excitement course through his body.

I can't believe I'm playing skee ball with a real Kitsune. He thought giddily before his thoughts turned sour as he threw another ball and watched it land in the ten slot. I shouldn't be doing this; I'm going to get in trouble again.

"Hey, are you going to ask your next question?" Miyuki asked as she launched another ball and grinned as it landed in the fifty slot. Damion shook his thoughts away and nodded, picking his next question carefully.

"So who were those guys that were following us?" He asked as they both threw their balls at the same, both of them thunking into the twenty slot.

"Exterminators from the Kitsune Extermination Faction." She murmured as she threw her ball and let out a quiet "Yes!" as it sunk into the one hundred slot. She picked up her next ball and glanced in his direction. "Your last question?"

Damion thought long and hard for a moment, knowing he wasn't going to be able to outscore her in skee ball at this point. Nervously he asked, "Do they want to kill you?"

Miyuki chucked her last ball and let out a satisfied hum as it landed in the fifty slot. Turning to Damion she answered, "Yes; and you too."

"Why do they want to kill me?" Damion asked in a startled whisper as he dropped his last ball, causing it to drop in the gutter and score zero points. With a wicked grin, Miyuki held up three fingers.

"You used up your three questions and, seeing that I have a higher score in skee ball, I don't have to answer any more questions." Miyuki said, her eyes shining in amusement. Damion was about to demand a rematch when a gunshot echoed from the front of the arcade. 

The whole arcade went dark and a deafening silence filled the large room. Before he could react Miyuki grabbed his hand and ran for the emergency exit. She shoved the door open, setting off the alarm.

"Come on!" She shouted at Damion, taking off down the now dark street. He hadn't realized they had spent so much time in the arcade and now the sun was just peeking over the fiery horizon. "What are you waiting for?!" Miyuki yelled at him causing him to start running towards her.

"I don't think we'll be able to outrun two full-grown men." Damion shouted at her once he caught up to her. The streets were scarce, not a soul in sight as they ran. A bang behind them caused Damion to stumble and break into a cold sweat.

They're trying to kill me! He thought with a mix of shock and fear as he heard another shot and saw the bullet hit a trash can along the street. Damion was gasping for air, afraid he wasn't going to be able to go on for much longer when Miyuki pulled him from off the sidewalk and into a hedge.

"Shh. Follow me." She whispered, holding a finger to her lips. With a deep breath, Damion nodded and followed after her, freezing every time he heard a gunshot. After what seemed like hours of shuffling they emerged from the prickly hedge and onto the same street they had just been running on.

It was eerily silent besides the buzz of distant traffic and the flickering of the street lights. Damion's heart was still beating wildly out of control from the chase so he took a few more deep breaths to try and calm himself. And then Miyuki started laughing.

He turned his head slowly towards her, just staring at her as she wiped her eyes and recovered from her laugh.

"You've never been chased before have you?" Miyuki asked once her laughing had finally subsided. "It gets easier to deal with, trust me. This has happened to me plenty of times." She said with a casual shrug, turning around and starting to walk towards the corner.

This girl is crazy. Damion thought as he anxiously followed her, wondering what would happen next.