Chapter 73 - Neon City

Ayami wandered through the busy street, venturing into the unfamiliar place she had never gone throughout her life in the past. She glanced at the clock. 3 PM. She sighed as there was still a lot of time before she went to her 'business' in the city.

Maybe she should have just gone after class.

Ayami removed her face mask, revealing her thin pink lips with a slight shade of red and her cute pointy nose. She lowered her cap and adjusted her glasses and fixed her hair as it was messed by the wind earlier.

As she wandered around aimlessly, memorizing each street and places that caught her eye, she saw a familiar man surrounded by girls flirting with him. 

Blonde hair shining like the sun and a pair of charming blue eyes like the blue ocean, with a playful smile on his face, a perfect chiseled jawline, he was someone you could call perfect and this man was someone Ayami knew.

Her eyes turned cold as soon as she laid her eyes on him. 

This man was Oliver Yun, Cole's best friend.

'You think you deserve him? What a funny joke.'

'Remember this, sl*t, you are less than a bug. Don't think about getting together with him. Just thinking about it is disgusting!'

Ayami started recalling the terrible memories she shared with him. This man didn't even think of her as human. 

She could not understand this man. Was there even a need to dehumanize her?

Well, thinking about her actions, she did a bunch of wicked things. But she didn't think that it was enough to treat her that way.

Seeing the smile on his face, she just wanted to grab her gun and shoot him in the head. Or maybe something better, like smashing his face to the point of being unrecognizable or maybe, castrating him.

But then, something unexpected happened. A slight frown appeared on her face as she wondered. 'What is he doing here?'

"Kayden, over here!" 

In the distance, Kayden, wearing casual clothing, was walking towards Oliver with a slight smile on his face. The two were in contrast to each other as one wore casual clothes while the other wore stylish clothes.

Ayami watched as Kayden approached Oliver and greeted him. The two acted like they were friends and not just acquaintances who coincidentally saw each other.

Her gaze darkened, yet there was a tint of disappointment hidden within those eyes when she saw Oliver wrap his hand around Kayden's shoulder, but all she could was watch from afar as she was afraid of getting her identity found.

Ayami hid behind a post not far away and also not enough for them to notice her. She focused on the two of them.

"Yo, it's been a while bro." Oliver said as he slightly patted his back. The women who surrounded him earlier still didn't leave. Oliver smirked and leaned his head to whisper to Kayden. "Which one of them is your type?"

Kayden glared at him. "None of them fancies me."

"Aw, man. I thought I'll finally see you getting a girlfriend. Come on, you're already an adult yet I still haven't seen you with a girl. Why don't I help you with losing your V-card?"

"No thanks, I'm cool with this." Kayden removed the arm on his shoulder as he spoke.

"Haa… alright. By the way, why did you suddenly decide to join us today?" 

"Just because." Kayden slightly smiled. 

As the two conversed, Kayden could feel a stare as if burning a hole on him. He then turned his head and met the eyes of the girl he met at the back of the academy earlier. Though he couldn't completely see her face earlier, he could tell that it was the same crystal blue eyes that stared at him.

'Found you.'

The girl yelped in shock and fumbled as she tried to act normally. She lowered her cap and looked down, while fidgeting on her phone. Kayden chuckled lightly at her actions.

"Hm? Is there something funny?" Oliver asked after Kayden chuckled. Kayden shook his head and denied.

The two entered a private establishment meant for high class. Unfortunately, she could not enter as she first needed to make a reservation. She could only watch them go inside.

Well, it was none of her business anyways. Ayami decided to kill time in another cafe, unfortunately, it seems that robbers like to target the cafes these days and she was a victim of hostages again.

Ayami wondered what was going on today. This time, Ayami stayed still and didn't do anything until the police arrived. Like earlier, the robbers consisted of two men. One, an experienced while the other, an amateur.

Is there something going on in this city?

It looks like Ayami picked a bad time to enter the city.

After being saved by the police, Ayami decided to avoid cafes and kill time in the park. 

***

At nighttime, various neon lights started to illuminate the whole city. There was a reason why it was called Neon City. 

The shade of neon added to the color of the girl wandering through the busy streets with all sorts of people wandering around with some of them in a hurry to head home now that it was night.

The girl lowered her cap as she navigated through the crowd, swiftly avoiding every single contact from the other people.

Then, she stopped right in front of an alleyway and waited for someone as she sucked on the lollipop. Ayami narrowed her eyes, observing every single person passing. 

To every ten people walking past her, there was a chance that one of them is a criminal blending among these normal people. The crime rate increased as the sun went down. The people who have no power started locking their doors, hiding inside their homes. 

At night, Neon city would turn into a dangerous city. In contrast to the colorful lights it was giving, it was also the darkest place in the country. Neon City had another name and that was, Underworld City.

It was the place where gangs and criminals lived and hid during the day. Gangs would start to pop out and gang wars would suddenly start. The police would not intervene, no, they did not dare do so.

"You're late." Ayami said, squinting her eyes at Marie. Marie quickly apologized to her. "I'm sorry, young miss. They were very hard to shake off."

"Hm." Ayami nodded her head and beckoned her to come inside the alleyway. They entered the dark alleyway, which was one of the most dangerous places you shouldn't go when it was night in Neon City.

Throughout the darkness, Ayami treaded the path. Left, right, straight, turn right, then left again. Ayami remembered the direction that John told her.

The two who were walking through the dark alleyway like they were walking in a park, didn't notice the five shadows that were following them. Soon, it became six as a new one joined them.

After walking for a while, the two reached a bar, without noticing the tails that were watching them. It was a shabby two story-building.

Marie wore a mask that covered her whole face and a black latex suit so that she wouldn't be easily recognized, while Ayami still wore the same outfit.

Tok, tok.

Marie was the one who knocked on the door. The wooden door creaked and revealed an old man with wrinkled skin and a white beard on his face.

"What is it?" The old man asked, the air around him was eer. 

"Is this the Red Sun of the West?" Marie asked and the old man replied. "No, I think there is a mistake."

"I see, then do you know where I could find the Stars of the Night?"

It's starting. Ayami thought and sucked on the lollipop. She stood on the side and impatiently waited for their conversation to end.

Couldn't they just ask 'what's the password?' and get done with it? Do they have to use such an old-fashioned way?

The old man glanced at the girl behind the woman, but the woman immediately blocked him. 

A few minutes later of talking back and forth of nonsensical conversation, the old man let them in and welcomed them. The look on the inside was different from what it looks from the outside. It was the very definition of don't judge a book by its cover.

The interior was clean and neat, looking like a high-end modern bar. There were some women wearing a mask and a sexy bunny outfit serving some men.

Ayami pressed her lips into thin line and stood behind Marie, as the men gawked at them like they were seeing a strange creature. Some of them gazed at the two with a perverted gaze, as one had a voluptuous body and the other was a cute girl.

"Tsk. Don't wear that kind of thing if you know you're going to a bar. Their gazes are annoying." Ayami grumbled to Marie. Marie just chuckled and answered 'Yes'.

The two headed to the counter to order some drinks and of course, another one of those 'passwords' just to talk to the boss. Marie didn't allow Ayami to drink even though she had high alcohol tolerance.

Ayami grumbled again and just sourly drank the juice the bartender gave her.. Thankfully, there was no one who approached them, yet.