While Tim's other friends were still playing video games, Melinda quietly took Shun out of Tim's room. Tim and Natsuko followed them out to see how Shun was doing.

The wolf-boy was holding his cell phone, with his hand quivering, dreading but desperately wanting the reply.

Then it arrived. The text from Kouya read in English, "Sorry, Shun-kun. I can only see you on Friday of next week to help with schoolwork. I just got a huge schedule commitment."

"But.. why?" Shun cried. His eyes were beginning to water.

"I wonder if Kouya found someone he wants to make his boyfriend," Melinda declared.

"But he just said that he had a business partner and that's why he got busy all the sudden," Tim said. "It shouldn't be a big deal."

Natsuko clarified, "In Japan, we save face. When we can, we don't want to tell someone directly something because we don't want to hurt his feelings." Despite those words, Shun had a hope, deep down, that Kouya hadn't written him off as a potential boyfriend. That was the one thing that prevented him from having a total breakdown.

"But how did he know Shun wanted to date him?" Tim asked.

"Well, sometimes people can tell. Carlos seemed nervous around me, but around everyone else he was all normal. So I had a feeling," said Melinda.

"I-when I s-saw him, he seemed like he wanted me to be with him," Shun muttered.

"Shun, I'm sure there is someone at school who you can date," Melinda assured.

Tim brought up the school profile on his Android. "2,008 students. 990 are male." After putting away his Android, Tim said, "I heard gay people may be 5 to 10% of the school population, so of the dudes, that's 50 to 100 people."

"So there has to be someone in that pool Shun can date," Melinda said.

"But how many are his type?" Tim asked. "If there's nobody his type he might have to wait till college. I mean Shun is the only openly gay person I know well."

"My type?" Shun asked.

"Well, that means someone you want as a boyfriend," Melinda clarified.

Shun clasped his hands together and muttered, "I want someone like.. like Kouya."

"Someone like him? How?" Melinda asked.

"He's strong… he's big… It's embarrassing!" he cried.

"You don't have to say too much," Melinda said.

"He's… How do I say this… like a, a big brother, but a boyfriend, instead of a brother." He blushed even harder.

"I get it," Melinda said. "So you would be looking probably for an upperclassman."

"I dunno, man. Didn't you say Chelsea knew someone who was starting a gay-straight alliance?" Tim asked.

Melinda said, "Oh, that was Robin. After the principal made that announcement, Robin said that she was going to start a gay-straight alliance. But she moved away just as she was organizing the club because her father got transferred to Germany, and so she went with him. Didn't Chelsea say she was thinking of starting it herself?"

"Why is Chelsea so interested in starting one, anyway?" Tim asked.

Natsuko answered, "She had a gay cousin in another school. At Lakeside, as you know, she helped support Mrs. Williamson's initiative to make the school more accepting of gay youth."

"Well, you can talk to Chelsea. After she starts the club, you might find a dude you like," assured Melinda.

"Thank you. I'll, I'll do that," Shun said. But a quick study of his face revealed a deep anxiety. His friends all knew he still really wanted to be with Kouya.

"Hey, why don't we do something fun next weekend?" Tim offered. "It's a video game convention."

"Really?" Shun cried. His face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"It's at Cobo Center in Downtown. They have all kinds of games you can play. They even have tournaments!"

Melinda cried, "I can come, right?"

"Yeah, and you should come too, Natsuko! Do you like anime?" Tim asked.

"I do. I watched some back in Japan," the girl answered. "I like One Piece."

"Well, you might see some cool cosplaying!" Tim grinned. "And some lame ones too, like if you see a fatty dressed as Nami!"

Melinda, who was curvy herself, cried, "Tim! That's wrong! A person should dress as who she likes, even if she doesn't have the same body shape!"

"Sorree!" he groaned in a sarcastic tone.

Natsuko said, "It's not funny, seriously. When we go, you'll be nice to all the people there." Melinda smiled, seeing how his girl is setting him straight.

Kouya sighed as he had finished his meal at the Big Boy on Jefferson Avenue. It was getting late, but D-Man said he was going to go party with some friends. It was clear that Kouya wasn't invited, but maybe he could come next time. Within minutes, several cars pulled into the parking lot, and several figures entered the building.

"'Sup, Shavonna!" cried out an enthuisiastic D-Man as he got up from the table.

"Wassup!" greeted the young woman. Shavonna was a large, fairly curvy woman with a bowl cut. Her hot pink shirt had a low neckline showing a lot of her cleavage. Her hot pants exposed her very chubby legs. Prim and proper she wasn't.

"Hey, Shania!" D-Man cried as a woman who had closely cropped hair and a jeans and T-shirt, making her look very masculine, entered. Kouya thought that she could easily pass for a man, and her arms looked like they may have some scars on them. Then D-Man almost immediately called out "Deewayne!" upon seeing a tall teenager wearing a T-shirt and shorts and braces on his teeth. Kouya winced upon seeing his ugly mug.

Kouya had the impression that they were hood types who may have been hustling, or worse. But Kouya's friend Dante had a hood-like swagger and yet he is a decent man who attracted a good girlfriend.

"I want you to meet Kouya! He's my new homie!" D-Man cried.

"Uh, hi," Kouya said, trying his best to put on a happy face and not show them what he really thinks of them.

"He's the one who slept those gangstas at Harpos!" D-Man cried.

"That's whats up!" Deewayne cried, raising his fist.

"We better get goin', but maybe you'll chill with us sometime!" D-Man offered. Kouya gave a smile as he waved goodbye. After pondering the matter, he smiled. Perhaps his initial impressions were wrong and they were just decent folk.

"Do I have to?" squealed a middle school-aged Japanese girl at the dinner table with her mother, father, and older sister in a typical suburban house in Novi. Her eyes, concealed behind thin glasses with pink rims, blinked upon hearing from her strapping father that, yes, she had to. Her black hair was done up in twin pigtails at her sides. The girl's clothing, a gray hoodie with pink stripes, and pink denim shorts with a lighter hue than the pink stripes on the hoodie, contrasted with the bright hue of her sisters white turtleneck. When they wore shoes, the older sister had white shoes but the younger sister had black shoes. Fuyumi fidgeted with her hands, placed under the dinner table. The Sunday evening before school was usually a relaxed time for the Yamanaka family, so it was time to discuss important issues.

"You need to get out of the house more, Fuyumi," Natsuko said. "You're in your room reading books on Saturdays, even if it's nice and pleasant outside."

"All I want to do is just curl up and read a book," Fuyumi sighed.

"I talk to your friends at school and they say you don't go to their parties. You pretty much just go out to ice skate. You might really enjoy opening up to people," Natsuko said.

"No thanks," sighed Fuyumi.

"Don't you like to read comics?" Natsuko asked.

"Yeah."

"So you'll enjoy it since it has all this stuff you're interested in! After all it's got manga stuff… cosplaying… art booths… as well as video games."

"Well… maybe." In Japanese culture a "maybe" was worth a "no" so Natsuko knew she had to cajole her some more.

"I called Tim and asked him if it was okay to take you over, and he said yes. Why don't you come?" Fuyumi sighed, and looked into space.

"I like being alone," she sighed.

"We all need your time alone, but humans are social animals. I don't want you to be by yourself all the time," Natsuko pleaded.

"Fuyumi, go with your sister," their bespectacled father, Akihito commanded. He was in a T-shirt with the Toyota logo and blue jeans.

"Yes, it would be lovely if you went out next Saturday," their mother, Haruko, concurred. She preferred long white dresses.

"You'll see all those cosplayers and you'll recognize whoever is from Bleach or Detective Conan." Fuyumi made a small smile. "And you'll meet Shun-kun and Melinda. They're cool people." Fuyumi didn't say anything at first, so Natsuko asked, "Please?"

After a sigh, Fuyumi answered, "Ok. I'll go."

"Wow, not even an 'I guess'," cried Natsuko.

Meanwhile, Shun was taking a break from homework. He sat on his chest while viewing his laptop. The wolf-boy was relaxing by browsing Facebook. A while ago after he came out in real life, Shun had told Hiroyuki that he was gay over the internet, and his summertime gaming pal responded saying "I'm glad for you." But Shun sensed that Hiroyuki seemed to be hiding some burden. Long ago he had figured that Hiroyuki had some kind of attachment towards him, which explained why he had felt so burdened by Shun's departure from Minasato.

On Shun's feed, Hiroyuki had a post titled "I GOT SOMEBODY!" The accompanying picture showed Hiroyuki passionately kissing a large tiger-boy, muscular, with just a single red tank top shirt with the words "D-GET" printed on the right breast. The tiger-boy's hands were on Hiroyuki's waist, and Hiroyuki's arms were wrapped around the back of the tiger-boy, his new treasure, his joy.

Shun then read the body of the message. The post said "I am now officially the boyfriend of Torahiko Ooshima, who has become my ray of sunshine!" Shun smiled out of satisfaction that Hiroyuki found somebody, but then his heart began to ache and he lightly trembled upon realizing that his own dreams of romantic fulfillment may be slipping from his grasp. He went to type a congratulatory message, but did his best to hide his own fears that Kouya didn't want him around anymore.

Throughout the week, Shun bottled up his fears. But at lunchtime that Thursday, Shun seemed to have something on his mind. At the cafeteria table in Lakeside High School, the wolf-boy usually engaged in the conversation and smiled, but Melinda couldn't help but see that he sometimes stared off into space and looked anxious. Natsuko started hanging out with Tim and his friends at lunchtime, and she could pick out the same nervousness in Shun's demeanor that her own sister had spades of.

"Hey, Shun! I've got a surprise!" Tim cried, and Shun was roused into attention.

"What is it, Tim?"

"Remember when I asked for one of your passport-style photos your Dad took?"

"Yes," Shun recalled. Tim pulled a card out of his pocket, but Melinda snatched it from him.

"Brazilian ID card?" cried Melinda. "Shun Oguri?" Natsuko giggled as she realized it was the same name a male celebrity back in Japan had. "19 years old?"

"My brother Tom ordered it!" Tim proudly declared.

"Come on! Shun would never do such a thing!" she yelled as she slammed it into the table.

"Just in caase," Tim slyly remarked. Shun slipped his right hand to the ID card and picked it up.

"Hau! It looks nice," Shun said as he felt it with his fingers. It felt strangely real.

"You aren't really gonna use it, are you?" Melinda asked.

"No. It's a gift though, and I do want to keep it," Shun said.

"Good, because you'd be in big trouble if you really tried to use it," she barked. But Shun thought hard about the fake ID. Maybe it would be useful in the future. Especially if he needed to get into one of those clubs Kouya-san might be playing at.

Friday came, and Shun was scheduled to meet Kouya that afternoon after school. Gaku had promised to take him. But around lunch, Shun got a text.

"I'm really, really sick," said the text.

At the townhouse, Gaku moaned as his bony hands gripped the chocolate-colored bedspread. His head was boiling. He drew his hand to his forehead, but had to jerk it back since the forehead was so white-hot.

As Shun stood by his locker, Melinda came up, and Shun told her that Gaku was sick and couldn't take him.

"I can take you," she offered. "You don't mind if we stop by in my old neighborhood for a minute, do you? We can have Kouya meet you there. I know a good place."

"Y-yeah!" I'm going to text him and see if he's fine meeting me there.

That afternoon, Gaku was on his side, asleep. But instead of a refreshing sleep, it felt dulled and very anxious, as the fever played with his mind as he dreamed. Dreams seemed to be strange whenever he was sick. Suddenly, his phone rang with the standard generic answertone, prompting him to wake up uneasily.

After Gaku gave his standard "moshi-moshi," he declared in a strained voice, "you can come in." And stealthily, Amaki emerged, unlocking Gaku's door, and then closing it. It was useful to let Amaki have an extra key into his modest townhouse. Amaki hustled into the bedroom, where he found Gaku burning up in bed.

"Kodori-san," Amaki greeted. "I can make you some okayu."

"Y-yes, that would be good," Gaku responded. The strain from the sickness was obvious.

"You work yourself too hard," Amaki sighed. "You come in at 6:30 in the morning when you don't need to be there until 9."

"It's so I can have my work done so I can pick up Shun in the afternoon and do shopping for Uncle Ryo," Gaku replied.

In the kitchen Amaki mixed a bowl of okayu congee soup, using ingredients from Gaku's cupboard, and put it into a pot. As it began to boil, Amaki made a kuzuyu drink with kudzu powder. An American, when sick, would typically have chicken soup and ginger ale. However Amaki was a Japanese person, so he made what was customary to the Japanese. And since there was a Japanese grocery in town, Amaki was able to make this stuff.

When he emerged from the kitchen, of course he had a piping hot bowl of congee soup in one hand and a glass of kuzuyu in another, and he set them down on the nightstand on coasters. But Amaki darted into the kitchen momentarily and emerged with an extra paper bag filled with three vanilla cupcakes, handmade and with extra frosting.

"I… I knew you'd bring sweets," Gaku declared with a smile and some excitedness.

"Don't strain yourself, Kodori-san," cautioned Amaki. But Gaku used whatever strength he had to tear off his bedsheets and sit up straight, although rather uneasily. The bespectacled cat-man blushed upon realizing that Gaku's emaciated body was dressed only in white briefs. Due to the lack of fat in the wolf-man's body, the cat-man could clearly make out the bones of Gaku's ribs, and the rhythms of the wolf-man's lungs were easily seen.

"Sorry about that… I just couldn't resist," smiled Gaku. "I don't wear pajamas to bed."

"Kodori-san, why I don't I stay a while and… take care of you?"

That afternoon, Amaki helped Gaku eat the congee soup, holding the bowl as Gaku ate spoonful after spoonful of the piping hot, comforting liquid. Amaki took care to use a napkin to wipe off Gaku's mouth when he accidentally got soup spilled on it. Of course, Amaki served his special vanilla cupcakes, and the wolf-man appreciated this extra bout of sweetness.

But Amaki still didn't leave, for he took Gaku's temperature, holding the thermometer while it was lodged in the wolf-man's tongue. He then wrote down the high fever count of 102 degrees Fahrenheit after taking it out. After all, he used an American thermometer. Next he went into the medicine cabinet of Gaku's bathroom and took a bottle of Advil pills, and he gave some to Gaku.

After swallowing the medicine, Gaku said, "Don't stress yourself too much taking Uncle Ryo tomorrow." Gaku knew that on Saturday, Ryo was meeting the Mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing, at a reception at the Manoogian Mansion, the mayor's residence. Amaki was going to be with Ryo that evening. "I don't want you to get sick like me."

"Don't worry, I can keep up with Vice President," chuckled Amaki. Then, Amaki declared, "My last order is to give you a 'feel better soon' kiss." The cat-man then puckered up his lips, but…

"Don't kiss me, I'm sick!" Gaku desperately barked with his hoarse voice. Amaki stopped in his tracks.

As Amaki tended to Gaku, the wolf-boy was in Southwest Detroit. Shun's impression of Mexicantown was that it was lively and colorful. While much of Detroit was sleepy, bombed out, or empty, Mexicantown was law offices, bakeries, restaurants, food trucks, and lively crowds. The businesses were thriving. The Latin vibe permeated through with the bright colors on buildings, the dressed-up girls doing quinceañeras-coming of age celebrations done when a girl is fifteen-, and the Mexican-style music piping through the buildings.

Melinda's Ford Fiesta was very modest and all gray inside, but she was happy with the car she drove. Shun could people-watch and see relatively busy streets, with citizens milling around, buying goods, and having fun. The wolf-boy noticed an army of middle school-aged girls in Catholic-style uniforms, with charcoal vests, ties and skirts coupled with white blouses. They were chatting as they ate Mexican pastries.

"I was one of them once," Melinda sighed.

Taqueria Lupita's along Bagley Avenue was a quite lively casual restaurant, a sit-down place that seemed cramped but very exciting. Shun couldn't keep track of the Spanish words and phrases that floated around him.

"Taco truck's better, but I think a sit-down place would be nice," Melinda chimed as they took an empty table. The menu seemed strange too, as Shun didn't have a cursory knowledge of Spanish that most Americans had. The word "verde" meant nothing to him. It didn't take long for a husky dog-man with silver hair to enter. Naturally he gravitated towards the table with Shun and Melinda.

"Kouya-san," Shun greeted, with a mixture of hope and fear. His own ears were lowered, and the wolf-boy's face looked like it had some guilt in it, like he did something wrong. Kouya could tell Shun seemed afraid of something. Melinda said hi, but then allowed the two beastfolk to talk in Japanese as she ordered the food. Kouya suspected that Shun's friend knew something was amiss in their own relationship. Right away Shun got his English book out, and the two looked over it. But Kouya could detect that the problems Shun asked for help with seemed a little too easy.

Surrounded by old memories, Melinda remembered that time in middle school when Stephanie Perez, her friend, came out as a lesbian to her. Stephanie was taller than Melinda and always wore her hair in pigtails. Together with their other friend, Norma Gallegos, who was short and wore her hair short, the three walked to school, got in trouble and visited the taquerias and Mexican bakeries together. Carlos, Melinda's boyfriend, knew all of the girls and they often hanged out with him. They were inseparable until that day.

At the Catholic school, in an isolated hallway, Stephanie confided in Melinda, explaining how much she loved a girl named Maria, wanting to feel acceptance for who she was, afraid of telling her parents. But Melinda blew her off, laughing at her, thinking it was a silly phase she would get over. Then Stephanie had an anguished look on her face, of rage and of horror. Melinda could never forget her face, how her heart broke when Melinda trivialized her. Stephanie ran away before Melinda could change her mind and apologize. That afternoon Stephanie had been hit by a delivery van driven by a drunk. Melinda could see the fountain of blood where her friend was hit. She had died on the scene. Ever since then, her own relationship with Norma was frayed, as Norma suspected that Melinda had hurt Stephanie somehow.

She was never able to apologize to Stephanie.

Meanwhile, Kouya was tempted to tell Shun that he was taken, and that it was all over, and that he needed to look somewhere else for a boyfriend. But… something bothered him. After weeks of it seeming like D-Man was going to reveal his interest to him, it appeared that D-Man was dragging his foot, not saying anything that would clue Kouya in that he needed to go further. Sometimes it even looked like he was giving glances at Shavonna. She had a trashy vibe, and when Kouya learned that she had a younger sister who needed special care, yet Shavonna spent all her time partying and fooling around instead of helping her grandmother take care of her sister, he wrote her off as an irresponsible skank. But Kouya wondered if D-Man's supposed infatuation was just his imagination and in fact D-Man had no interest in her.

And it wouldn't be fair to demand him that he open up in front of everyone. He remembered the time his classmate Jason came out as gay. The next time they met, Jason said, "My momma doesn't want to see me no more." Then he repeated the words, but in a higher tone, and Jason burst in tears, and Kouya held him in his arms as the young man sobbed. There was no way he would force that pain on anyone who was closeted by making him come out when he didn't want to. So if D-Man said nothing, Kouya would just say nothing and stop seeing him so much.

So would it be fair to tell Shun that he was taken? No. But at the same time he didn't want to yank Shun's chain or give him false hope. But he couldn't cut him off. His voice pretended that everything was normal, and he promised Shun that sometime he would let him know the next time there was a concert for him. He wondered if at this point Shun even believed him.

This time neither Shun, Kouya, or Melinda could really taste the food they ate. They were too preoccupied with their troubles.