Noa hadn’t thought that the would-be robbery would have had much of an effect on her, but she had been completely wrong. She didn’t realize that she was suffering from any after effects until the next time she worked at her internship. Her boss had had to stay late, and therefore she had to; she didn’t leave until well into the night, and even as she was leaving, her boss was pouring another gigantic mug of coffee for himself, and settling into an all-nighter. She stepped out of the building and into the late night alone, hesitating on the sidewalk. Suddenly the walk she needed to take to the bus stop was miles long, and she was completely exposed and vulnerable on the street by herself. Still, this wasn’t a route that she hadn’t taken before; she took a deep breath and started walking, gripping the strap of her bag tightly as she went.

She only got as far as the awning of the building at the end of the next corner before fear sent her straight back to the front of the building she left; she stood in the shadows under the awning of the building, her heart racing in her chest as she looked up and down the street. There was no way that she would be able to make it down to the bus stop – and wait for the bus to come – on her own; there was no telling who could approach her, or what they might want. She hadn’t lived a sheltered life in San Francisco; she had always known what could happen, but this was the first time that she felt like it could happen to her.

Without really thinking she pulled out her phone and went to her contacts, scrolling down to Hikaru’s number and calling it. The phone seemed to ring for an eternity; she figured sadly that he was most likely working and was about to hang up when the call picked up, making her breath catch in .

“…Who the is this?” he demanded, his voice deep and groggy with sleep; Noa’s eyes widened.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were sleeping.”

“…Noa?”

“Sorry! Go back to sleep!” She hung up quickly, leaning back against the door behind her. She had actually been about to ask him to come all the way to her internship, just to walk to her bus stop. She needed to get a hold of herself; if she couldn’t walk to the bus stop then she would just have to use Lyft, and spend the money to get home. She jumped as her phone began ringing in her hand; Hikaru’s name was displayed on the screen, and she couldn’t tell if it was her imagination or if the phone was actually glaring at her.

“Stop ing around on the phone,” Hikaru snapped when she answered. “What do you want?”

“I’m not ing around,” Noa insisted. “I was trying to let you go back to sleep.”

“What do you want?” Noa sighed, shaking her head.

“I was trying to get home from my internship,” she told him reluctantly. “But…I can’t do it, I guess.”

“What, you’re scared?” Noa made a face, feeling utterly ridiculous. “Talk, Noa.”

“Well yeah, I guess so…” she relented. “I just…I’m trying to get to the bus stop without having a heart attack…”

“Where do you do your internship?” Hikaru questioned suddenly, making her pause.