" Bye, mom! Dad!" The girl yelled as she rushed out the front door. Vaguely as she closed the door, she heard her father grunt and her mother yell "Be safe". A normal send-off.

The girl moved as quickly as she could running out the open gate and onto the sidewalk in front of her home. She didn't bother closing the gate knowing that her father would be driving to work soon.

Also because she was late for school.

She realised that she would most likely be unable to make it to the bus stop in time, so she decided to run straight to school. She would still be late but only by a few minutes.

An acceptable compromise.

' Should I take the shortcut through the alley?' The girl thought as she approached a dark alley. She had only ever used it once. It was raining back then and she had wanted to get to her house as quickly as possible.

However, as she approached the alley she felt a slight chill run down her spine. Then, she decided to just take her normal route and tried to run a little faster. The girl had suddenly remembered her mother's advice to stay away from dark alleys when walking alone.

' It is a shame, that alley would make a great shortcut if it weren't always so dark in it. It is like walking through a tunnel! What was that chill I felt anyway?' The girl was a little distracted but continued on her way.

Passing through her housing area, she reached the guard house where a familiar guard sat as usual.

" Hello, guard-san!" She greeted the guard as she looked left and right preparing to cross the road.

" Oh, Chihiro-chan, good morning. Running late?" The guard said as he looked up from his newspaper.

" Umu." The guard nodded as he had expected it. Chihiro-chan never went to school on foot unless she missed the bus. Seeing as the road was clear, she crossed the road to the centre curb and began crossing the next road.

As she stepped onto the road, she felt a strong chill run down her spine and she retracted her foot. Immediately after, a speeding car whooshed past her. A silver Toyota to be precise.

The girl took in a shaky breath and turned around to look at the guard. The man was busy reading his newspaper and hadn't seen the near accident.

With a gulp, Chihiro-chan turned back to the road before her and made sure to check if it was safe before she crossed the road.

Once she got across the road, she began running again.

As she passed office buildings and people, there was a lingering sense of discomfort in the back of her mind. As if there was something... wrong. However, the girl paid the tiny bit of nausea no mind, assuming that it was caused by the close call she had before.

" Sorry..." She apologised to the person she bumped into and began walking to the gate of her high school that was already in sight. Already out of breath, she only jogged lightly and reached the gate.

She paled as she saw that the gate was closed and quickly walked over to the guard house. There she saw yet another familiar guard.

" Sato-san, good morning! Why is the school gate closed?" She asked hurriedly.  The young guard turned to the girl and blinked a few times before he remembered her name.

" Chi... Chihiro-san? Today is a school holiday." The girl blink a few times as she processed this new information and facepalmed.

" Uuuughhhh... Right, vernal equinox day... I am sorry for bothering you, Sato-san." The girl nodded slightly to the young man and apologised.

" No, it's fine. I am always here anyway."  The girl thanked the guard. Turning around to leave, the girl spotted her friend who looked equally clueless running up to the school gate.

" Oh, Su-chan!" Su-chan immediately spotted her friend and began running to her instead. Su-chan's face was one of panic, it was clear she had no idea why the gate was closed.

" Ah, haaa- haaa-, Chi-chan! Why is the gate closed so early?!" The girl huffed and puffed. She was sweaty and her face was slightly red from exertion.

" It is vernal equinox day today, Su-chan," Chihiro-chan said and giggled at her friend's look of surprise.

" OOOHHH! Really?! Is THAT why my Onee-chan didn't wake me up today?" The girls both laughed at their ignorance and began walking home together.

They spoke as they walked.

The girls crossed the road together. However, suddenly a loud horn rang out and Su-chan stepped back onto the sidewalk. However, Chihiro stays stunned in the middle of the road.

She stared blankly at the truck barreling towards her as her life flash past her. Fortunately, Suzuki quickly grabbed her friend's arm and yanked her away from the road.

The girl fell onto the sidewalk and lay there breathing heavily.

" Akari! What were you doing?! You are normally more attentive! Didn't you hear the truck's horn?!" Suzuki, Su-chan, looked both worried and angry at her friend, Akari Chihiro, the girl who normally reacted to things quickly.

Akari snapped out of her stupor as she heard her friend call her by her first name for the first time. Though she still looked a little shell-shocked.

" Ah, Su-chan... I am just not feeling well today. Sorry..." As she said this, she shivered and her face paled a little more. She sat up on the ground and caught her breath and tried to calm her racing heart.

The truck driver who had pulled up on the sidewalk came out of his truck looking more than a little angry. Yet, when he saw how pale the girl was, he suppressed his anger.

" Are you girls alright? Do you need a ride? It is the least I could do for nearly hitting you. Do you need to go to the hospital?" The man, now more worried for the poor girl he had nearly killed than angry offered.

Suzuki accepted the man's offer to drive them back and pulled her friend into the front of the truck together with her. The two girls sat on a single chair and had a single seat belt fastened. The truck driver was then told where to go.

On the way, the nauseous girl leaned on her friend's shoulder. Thankfully, they made it to Akari's house without a hitch. Suzuki brought her friend into her house and passed the lethargic girl to her mother who opened the door. Suzuki then explained the situation to her mother as Akari slowly walked up the stairs to her room.

Not bothering to greet her mother.

She then passed out on her bed.

...

It was night, Akari heard some sounds and woke up to see a man wearing a ski mask looming over her with a knife clutched in his hands. The knife was pointed at Akari's chest. Through instinct alone, Akari pushed herself off her bed while throwing a punch at the masked man's chin.

Her fist met the masked man's chin causing him to fall onto the ground as Akari fell onto the ground as well.

Now wide awake, Akari got up onto her feet quickly and stomped on the masked man's hand, the one holding the knife, causing him to let it go. Then, she stomped on the masked man's gut and knocked the wind out of him.

Taking this chance, Akari quickly moved to her room door. As she exited her room, a strong chill ran down her spine and from the corners of her eyes, she saw another masked man, hidden behind her open door.

Unable to move fast enough, the second man managed to catch her and pushed her onto the ground. He then began to strangle her with his hands.

" Hagh! *cough**cough*" Akari began to cough and struggle as she couldn't breathe. Unfortunately, no matter how skilled the girl was in Taekwondo. She was unable to muster any strength to hit the far stronger man. She attempted to kick the man several times. However, no matter how hard she tried to kick, the man didn't flinch a single time.

Soon, she felt her strength leave her completely.

Through blurry, teary eyes, she watched as the man who was strangling her pulled out a small knife. Then, everything went dark.

On this night, Akari Chihiro, who had evaded death for an entire day died.