31_days | [April 2] [Gokusen] Run

Title: Run
Day/Theme: April 2 - the moral of this story should be completely obvious
Series: Gokusen
Character/Pairing: Sawada Shin, Original Male Character
Rating: G

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He was starting to get a stitch in his side. His lungs burned. He didn't know how much longer he could keep running.

He darted through the crowd, shoving people out of the way when they didn't move fast enough. A woman shouted in surprise when he raced past her. The grocery bags slipped from her hands. He didn't stop to help her. He cursed as the crowd thinned around him. In his blind rush to get away, he had inadvertently raced toward the residential area.

He didn't dare look behind him. He only hoped that he had lost his pursuer in the crush of people. He stopped at an intersection and looked around, catching his bearings. He braced his hands on his thighs, panting. The area was faintly familiar. There was a shrine nearby, he knew. It was located away from the main thoroughfares, neatly tucked away that only the people in the area knew about it. Well, them and anyone bored enough to wander around town aimlessly that they stumbled on the shrine by pure chance.

He took a deep breath, despite the pain, and took off on a slow jog. He would hide there, just until the sun went down. Then he'll use the darkness to his advantage and head home. With plan in mind, he dared to look over his shoulder.

No one was following him.

He breath a sigh of relief. He slowed down to a brisk walk. When he reached the temple's stone steps, he was walking normally. He stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up. Dirt and dry leaves covered the steps. The temple appeared empty. He climbed the steps leisurely. The adrenaline of before had left him, now that he knew he was safe. He laughed a little to himself.

He looked around when he reached the top. The grounds were empty, like he had suspected.

“I'm such an idiot,” he said with another laugh. He stopped in front of the haiden

“And here I was worried,” he said to one of the komainu. He absently patted the stone statue on the head. The beast glared up at him. “Like someone like him could keep up with me.” He scoffed.

“That's what I was thinking.”

He froze at the sound of that voice. He spun around. Shirokin Gakuen's bancho, Sawada Shin leaned against the other komainu, watching him with a dangerous look that seemed to match the statue's open mouthed snarl. He swallowed roughly and took an instinctive step back.

“Took you long enough” Sawada drawled. “Nice place, by the way. Hard to find, if you don't know where it is. Or know someone that does.

“Let me give a bit of advice, though,” Sawada continued. He pushed off the statue and took a step forward. “Next time you find a convenient bold hole, make sure not to tell anyone. Like they say, one can keep a secret, but two? Well, that's just asking for it.”

Sawada stopped his advanced and gave him smiled that froze him in place. “Oh, and Nishiyama? There is no where you can hide. I will always find you.

“Now grit your teeth. This is going to hurt.”