A/N: Why doesn't Rick call Mizuki 'Mickey'? Come on, if one of your friends told you that, would you call them a Disney character?

Chapter Three

Mizuki dug her fingers into my sides. "Would you stop that?" I snapped at her. "I'm ticklish!"

My street ended in a hill, which I thought would be good to use to put distance between us. It didn't come to mind that I had lowered the tension on the gears until after I discovered I had zero control and the bottom approached with increasing speed.

The handlebar bucked in my hands and threatened to twist and turn, while Mizuki screamed right next to my ear. I was certain I had joined her at some point, and all I could manage was to avoid crashing as we careened down at a dangerous speed. I barely manage to swerve back into our lane to avoid a minivan which blared its horn as we passed.

I skidded to a stop at the bottom, using both the brakes and my sneakers. I could barely stabilize the bike, my legs worn out from trying to halt. Mizuki giggled behind me, tottering both of us. "That was fun! In a strangely suicidal way."

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it," I replied with some sarcasm as I hung over the handlebars, but had to grin too. Mizuki clambered off the bike, and stretched her hands above her head with a slight smile. I pulled my leg over the bike and stood aside the bike, groaning. "My legs ache. I thought I was in good shape until now."

"We all think things until we actually have to face them," Mizuki replied cheerfully.

"Either way, I can't pedal any more."

"Then you're both screwed," a new voice announced. I turned to see a boy a bit younger than I, his hands buried deep into his pockets as he looked at us from under a skewed baseball cap, his hand grasping one strap of a backpack.

"Who the heck are you?" I demanded. "And what's with people just randomly popping up today?"

"It's 'cause you're involved now," he retorted, and nodded towards a yard. "Stow your bike in the bushes. That heap of metal's only going to slow you down."

"What..." I started, but Mizuki moved towards him.

"Come on Rick!" she called.

"Mizuki-"

"He must know something! How much danger can a kid be?" she asked, her brown eyes piercing through me.

I groaned, but had to agree with her reasoning. His cocky stance seemed a bit of a turn off, but I hid my bike inside the neighbor's bushes and tried to nestle it back amid the leaves. I hoped no one would see or question it, and quickly moved after Mizuki as she followed the boy.

"C'mon," he ordered, and swiftly ducked between two houses to hoist himself onto a brick wall. Mizuki easily climbed as if she had born for such things, and it took a moment of scrambling to get my legs on the bricks. They boy crouched on the roof of one of the houses, and held his hand out to Mizuki to help her up. She couldn’t quite reach, a bit shorter than I, so I hoisted her up. Her legs bicycled a bit in the air, before squirming onto the roof. He helped me up too, and the three of us crouched at the edge as the wind gently blew and played with my ponytail.

“It’s going to rain,” the boy noted, glancing at the grayed sky from under his cap pulled low over his eyes. He stood up, and Mizuki and I both followed suit.

“Wow, we’re so high up!” Mizuki marveled, peering down at the ground below. I reached out and steadied her, afraid that she would tumble over from leaning too far. “I’ve never been this high!”

“Why are we up here?” I asked, ignoring Mizuki’s childish wonder. “We’re technically trespassing.” He gave me a look, clearly expressing he didn’t care.

“What’s your name?” he countered pointedly.

“Rick. And this is Mizuki.” I motioned to my new friend.

“Minnesota,” he replied easily.

“Minnesota?” I questioned, confused.

“It’s my name.”

“Isn’t that a state?”

Suddenly Mizuki shrieked, and gave us all a start. I glared at her, but she pointed to a familiar figure coming down the street.

“This guy is like the plague!” I groaned.

“Let’s go!” Minnesota shouted, swinging his other backpack strap on and charging up the sloped roof. Swiftly Mizuki and I followed, trying to keep our footings on the rough shingles as sure as our current leader. He went down the other side, and jumped across the narrow gap to the next house. He turned and held out his hand.

Mizuki and I both jumped at the same time, landing on the other roof. The gaps weren’t wide enough to cause hesitation, although seemed a little daunting.

“We have to get higher,” Minnesota glanced about. “Get up on the second story!”

“How?” Mizuki demanded, as we charged across the rooftop towards the gable. I hauled myself up, trying desperately to find a hand hold on the steep slant that felt like sandpaper. I glanced behind us, and spotted the man trying to get on the roof and moving as if his limbs were on backwards.

“Come on!” Minnesota snapped, as he pushed Mizuki up behind me. I braced my foot against the roof and the gable, giving some leverage to help pull Mizuki up and push her above me. She scrambled up to the peak and I followed as Minnesota climbed up on his own.

“Wait, that’s not the same guy!” Mizuki cried, looking down at the man following us. “He’s different!”

“He’s still after us!” I retorted sharply, shoving her forward. She shrieked, and slipped away from my hands as she fell and skidded down the steep second floor.

“Mizuki!” I shouted, feeling utterly stupid as she caught herself on the edge and the rain gutter broke. I made my way down to her as Minnesota ripped open his backpack and pulled out some sort of firework.

“What is that?” I demanded of him as I helped Mizuki back on the roof, her hands, elbows, and feet covered in red scratches from her slide.

“Bottle rocket!” Minnesota replied with a grin, and flicked a lighter. Mizuki and I reached him just as the firework sped away, straight towards the man. It caught him just below the throat, and he screamed. Minnesota looked at us. “Go!”

“Those are illegal!” I snapped as I followed him, clutching Mizuki’s hand to drag her along. Minnesota stopped short in front of me. I looked down to the ground, two stories below, and tugged Mizuki back so she wouldn’t fall. “Brilliant, genius. Any other plans?”

“Nope, fresh out.” He peered down, pulling his hat back slightly. “If we jump, will you make it?” he asked, looking back at me.

“From the second story?!” I heard myself shriek, momentarily in awe at my voice for being able to go so high.

“Climb down!” Mizuki cried, pointing down the length of the house to a scraggily-looking tree that the top leaves barely came over the roof.

“We can’t reach that,” I replied as she headed for it, but followed anyways. “And it won’t hold our weight!”

“We have to try.” Her brow furrowed with determination as she knelt at the edge of the roof and reached for the tender tree top. She grasped the leaves, and tore them from the branch. She frowned, and reached again, stretching out as far as she could. I held onto her shirt, trying to keep her from falling. As her slender fingers grasped the thin trunk, she cried, “Got it!”

“Good! Climb down!” Minnesota ordered. “We’re out of time!”

With a hitch and a wiggle, Mizuki clung to the tiny trunk that bent dangerously under her weight. She squirmed her way around the branches, as I waited for her to get on the ground before following.

As soon as she looked up at me with her triumphant smile, I reached for the tree. I heard another bottle rocket fire. I turned to realize the man was on the roof with us, and the firework had missed its target this time. I stared at his scraggily beard that covered his lower face, and the eyes that seemed to reach out at us.

“The girl…” he started, the words sounding weak like a cough.

Suddenly, our new companion’s hands forcefully pushed against my back, and I fell off the roof. The tree bent instantly with my weight and snapped, halting my descent for only a second before I crashed to the ground.

“Are you alright?” Mizuki worriedly pressed.

“Yeah…” I groaned, feeling sore, and got to my feet. I looked up to the roof as a dark blur fell past and crashed onto the thin scattered grass. “Minnesota!”

He lay on the ground, clutching at his side with eyes clenched shut and teeth gritted. His hat knocked from his head, I saw white-blonde hair gracing his head. Mizuki shrieked, as with a sickening crack the man collided with the ground and didn’t move.

Minnesota’s eyes flew open at the sound, and we all stared horrified.

“…Let’s get out of here,” Minnesota whispered hoarsely. I agreed with no hesitation, and helped him to his feet. Mizuki pulled his arm over her shoulder and helped support him as I held him upright and we moved to put distance between us and the pile our pursuer had made.

“Let’s go to the park,” I suggested, thinking of the various places we could hide inside the toddler forts. Minnesota stumbled and bit back a cry. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“Yeah…just hurts like no other…” he groaned.

“Want me to carry you?”

“No, I’m not that bad…”

Only then did I look down, and notice two sets of bare feet.