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Part 6
Page 2
"Okay, stop."
The three boys paused in their steps, turning back
toward their leader.
"Just what the hell was that about?" Shujuan asked,
glaring up at all three of them. The incline of the road even made Guonan
taller than her. "I don' remember askin' you to nose into my business again."
"We told you, Shujuan," Wensley answered calmly.
"We're sticking with you. Just like you asked."
"That Liang guy's been bad news since the start,"
Guonan said. "He gives you heebie-jeebies all over. An' he doesn't like
you,
Shu-rin. Jian was tellin' the truth. We were only jus' lookin' out for
you..."
"Liang is my problem," she countered. And sort of
wished she hadn't put it quite like that. "I mean..."
Cao Wenlong shook his head. "Shu-rin, I remember
that guy. We were in the same class in high school, before I dropped out.
He was part of why I dropped out, you understand? He's bad news,"
he repeated, stressing the words. "He's a creep an' he's not into girls
at all. You didn't go an' change anything in him."
Shujuan flushed again. "I didn't--"
She recomposed herself. "What d'any of you care,
anyway? It shouldn't matter to you! It's not like it means anything!"
Guonan bowed his head. "That's what you said about
Zhao too."
"Don't change the subject!"
"Listen, Shu-rin," Jianmin cut in, walking back
toward her. He leaned an arm on her shoulder, and in her unbalance he succeeded
in not being shoved away. "Liang was that close to sayin' he'd marked you
his territ'ry or something. You could smell it off him. We weren't gonna
take that, you understand?" He leaned harder to emphasize his point. "Th'only'uns
'round here with a claim to stake 'bout you is us."
Your eyes are red.
No. They're black.
Blood red.
Do you seriously think
blood is the only thing that's red in this world?
She glared, and backed up. Jianmin was sent off-balance
and stumbled.
"No one owns me," she said, darkly quiet. "Least
of all you guys. How long does it take for people to get that?"
"Funny," Guonan mumbled gloomily. "'Cause s'feeling
more an' more like you own us."
Shujuan threw her gaze over to the boy. He shrank
and fell silent.
She tossed her head to flick the bangs out of her
eyes, and turned away. "We can't sleep at the warehouse tonight. Now that
we've started fightin' back, things're jus' gonna get harder. Everyone
got a place where they can crash tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Think so."
"No," said Guonan.
"Find something," Shujuan told him. "Wen an' I'll
head back to the shop tonight to clear out the important stuff. We'll all
meet back there tomorrow mornin'. Business as usual if we can manage it."
She glanced back at them. "Okay?" she barked.
Their eyes fell to the ground, and vague agreements
were mumbled. Shu-rin nodded, deeming it sufficient. "Fine, then. Come
on, Wensley."
When they departed, Guonan and Jianmin said nothing.
Just watched in silence.
When they were gone, Guonan's eyes drifted down
to the bat he had dragged with him all this way. It was badly gouged. Glass
and metal stuck in splits in the wood. Under better light there might have
even been a bit of blood splattered on there.
He tossed it, let it clatter in a junk heap to the
side of the road. Jianmin's chain was tossed in after.
"We oughta get goin', monkey," Jian sighed.
What was this feeling. It was like something had
candied his heart and then snapped it in half. Except not so cutesy and
pink-sounding.
Stupid girls.
After checking the boy for injuries and sending him
on his way, King Kougaiji tutted to himself and dusted his suit off. Things,
it seemed, were turning into havoc quite quickly. It wasn't even going
to amount to anything if he couldn't get a handle of the situation somehow,
preferably from Shujuan's own words. He'd gleaned less from the boyfriend
than he had from his agents.
Kougaiji's gaze drifted skywards.
Oh dear. It looked like rain.
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