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Alex stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to face her. They both stopped, puffing small clouds into the cold air. Even though this mission was mostly related to her, it pissed Alex off that she wasn’t taking this seriously. He could only spell it out for her. “You want to find your friend, right?”

Kana nodded.

“Then that’s worth more than this piece of junk anyway. Whether we get any news or not.” He turned back again and called to Hal. “We can also just use the Civic!”

“Don’t fucking touch it!” Hal called back to him, jogging to catch up. “We just lost the Altima. I ain’t losing another one of my—”

“Wait,” Kana cut him off. They reached the edge of the street, a few steps from where the Challenger was parked under a dim streetlight. She went up to the car, pressed her face to the back window, then spun around, eyebrows pinched. “Where’s Connor?”

13

Shadow

People in costumes jostled Jun left and right as he squeezed through the crowd, trying to follow Ruki. But in a single blink, he lost sight of him.

Palms clammy, head reeling, Jun stumbled out of the crowd. He scanned the open area until he spotted Ruki’s puffy tan bomber jacket, then let out a breath of relief. Next to a mobile light tower, Ruki stood on his toes, glancing above the sea of heads.

The crease between his brows softened when his eyes landed on Jun. He strode towards him as Jun jogged over to meet him halfway.

“I thought I lost you,” Ruki breathed, the vapor spilling from his lips into the icy night.

Jun shook his head, his teeth already starting to chatter. “There are so many people here. Is it always like this?”

Ruki chuckled, dimples creasing his cheeks. “It is Halloween night. People don’t want it to end, so they come here.”

Several voices calling Ruki’s name cut between them. A group of four tall, wiry boys from the soccer team strode over, two of them with girls clinging to their arms. Jun recognized their faces but had never learned their names.

Ruki gave each of them a quick handshake and a greeting, like slipping on a different skin. Jun watched from a step behind—the way Ruki laughed with them, matched their energy, became someone slightly different.

When it was just the two of them, Jun could almost be himself. But the moment anyone else appeared, Jun shrank. It wasn’t Ruki who changed. It was him.

He wondered if Ruki saw him the way everyone else did.

“Hey, do you want to grab food?”

Jun started. He’d drifted again, losing the thread of the conversation. Ruki stood in front of him now, waiting with a wide smile.

“Uh, sure.”

Ruki stepped closer, the space between them shrinking. He turned back to the boys and jerked his head at Jun. “You guys met Jun?”

The one with the buzz-cut red hair and a thick build jutted his chin at Jun. “This the guy that always hangs out in front of the locker rooms?”

Jun’s breath caught. He dropped his gaze as soft chuckles rippled through the group.

“Yes, but I asked him to,” Ruki said firmly.

“Nah, man, it’s cool,” said a curly-haired guy, pulling his girl closer. “You do you. Plus, the more the merrier, right?”

The other guys moved on from acknowledging Jun’s presence to convincing Ruki to follow them. Jun glanced up when someone tapped his shoulder. Ruki looked at him, his eyes and smile soft, somewhere between reassurance and embarrassment.

“Are you okay with it?” Ruki asked, almost in a whisper so that the other guys couldn’t hear.

Ruki could always sense whenever Jun couldn’t keep up with social situations or didn’t know how to handle it. One of the many things he admired that he wished he could do.

Swallowing the anxiety lumping in his throat, Jun nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They followed the group towards the hot food stalls. Jun trailed a step behind, trying to stay close to Ruki. He caught him up ahead, chuckling about something, and could have sworn he saw his middle finger up.