Chapter Three – Meetings

"This can't be happening!" Gum yelled. "I – I can't have – have time travelled, it's just not possible!"

Yo-Yo glared at her. "I don't believe you have either. You're trying to take yourself back, aren't you? You've whacked yourself on the head and it's unhinged your brain."

"No. No, I'm not crazy, everything else is." Gum touched the bruise on her forehead. "I fell over on Center Street, that's all. You're not Yo-Yo and I am not in 2005. I'm in 2000 and this is some dumb joke you're playing on me."

"Oh, snap out of it!" Yo-Yo yelled. "We're the last two GGs and I can't handle that on my own!"

"We're not, we're not, the others are around someplace, I know they are…" If she kept talking he wouldn't be able to speak, and prove things. "You can't make me believe it –"

"You saw it all happen, I don't understand why you're acting so weird!"

"I'm not acting weird, everything else is! And soon it'll all be normal again, I'll be back home, right year, right place, and, and all the other GGs will be with me and it'll be great and this won't have happened –"

Yo-Yo slapped her.

Gum stopped speaking as her skin stung. She stared at him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Really, I didn't want to do that. But you're getting hysterical."

"Can you fucking well blame me?" Gum snapped. "Say what you like, I am not twenty-two, look, I know it. I'm seventeen. And maybe if – if I have time travelled, which is an utterly stupid idea and totally impossible outside of extremely dodgy B-movies, then I don't need you telling me I'm insane."

"Well, prove you're seventeen, then."

"I'm not a tree!" Gum yelled. "You can't chop me down the middle and count my rings! How the hell can I prove it? Isn't there any distinguishing marks my future self is supposed to have?"

Yo-Yo blushed again. "Uh – yeah. Yeah." He swallowed. "On your right arm. The paratroopers shot you. Three months ago."

Gum rolled up the sleeve of her dress, and held out her bare, unmarked arm.

"Take a look, buddy," she said.

The colour rushed out of Yo-Yo's face.

"Okay. Okay. You're joking," he said. "You got plastic surgery and decided to freak me out. Right?"

"Wrong."

"Stop it," Yo-Yo said. "Okay, it's not funny. I'm not kidding."

"No, it's not funny. It's the truth."

They stared at each other. Yo-Yo snatched off his sunglasses and massaged his temples, his eyes tired.

"Would someone please tell me," he said, "what the hell is going on?"

"I went out to look for Beat last night, September 2000, after we all got tagged up by the Love Shockers and Noise Tanks, and I fell over, and hit my head on the railing. When I woke up, it was morning, and I was here. Everything's wrong."

"But –" Yo-Yo stopped, then said, "Time travel can't happen."

"I know. I don't want to be here either."

"Well, do you know how you can get back?"

"If I knew, do you think I'd still be here now?"

"Fine, don't get at me. Right. Okay. I gotta think…"

He skated over and turned on the radio.

"…And the GGs are down by fifty percent, boys and girls! Gum got nabbed, and Onishima's counted her out! Yo-Yo better start makin' tracks – it looks like the GG reign is over at last!"

Yo-Yo looked from Gum to the radio and back again.

"Right," he said. "So you aren't her."

"Finally!"

"She's caught. I think I'm gonna get drunk again."

"Can I slap you now?" Gum said. "You can't just black out like that. Can't we try and get her out or something?"

"What's the point? What's she got to come back to? This is all that's left of the GGs. We have no turf. We have no strength. All we have is a lot of alcohol, which I think I'm going to go make use of."

"And then what are you going to do?" Gum snapped.

"Get some more alcohol and see if I can commit suicide by liver failure."

"Don't be so stupid. You aren't just going to give up, are you?"

"Well, you tell me if there's any other options."

"Fight!"

Yo-Yo ran a hand through his hair. "Listen. You've had five years less experience than me. Don't start being perky until you've felt what I have. Being the last GG sucks."

"Being a GG stuck in the wrong time sucks as well!"

He turned away. "Well, I can't help you there. Go to the Rokkakus. Maybe they can do something, they've got all sorts of sciencey shit up there."

"I'm a rudie! I can't just waltz in there!"

"I'm sure you'll think of something, kid."

"Kid?" Gum snapped.

"I'm a year older than you."

"Oh boy, this really sucks!"

"Whatever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with some drink and a bunch of interesting magazines."

"See you haven't changed in five years," Gum sneered as she marched over to the door. "Boy, I pity my future self, being stuck with you!"

She marched outside again and slammed the door behind her.

As she headed back to the bus terminal, the fury faded away to be replaced by cold terror. Something freaky had happened. And she was on her own.

Suddenly someone slammed into her and sent her sprawling across the ground. She twisted round to see three Love Shockers encircling her.

"What's this?" said one of them. "A trip down Memory Lane?"

"Go jump off a cliff," Gum said.

"You're on our turf, GG."

"It's not your turf. It's mine."

"I think we can disprove that. Girls – get her!"

Gum tried to get to her feet, but then one of them backhanded her round the face and she fell back. She stuck out a foot and hooked it round a Love Shocker's leg, then pulled, sending the girl crashing onto the pavement. Someone else grabbed her wrists, held them behind her back. She struggled to break free, feeling reason melt into panic, and someone kicked her, and she cried out despite herself.

"You GGs just won't give up, will you?"

"Maybe she will when she stops being a rudie."

Gum trembled as she heard the rattle of a can of paint. She'd never been tagged ten times before, but it was every rudie's fear, and seemed to echo age-old memories she'd never known.

"Let go of me!" she yelled.

"Yeah, do what she says."

A new voice joined the battle.

Gum managed to turn her head a little, and saw a Noise Tank standing a few feet away from them, arms folded.

"What's it to you, techno boy?" snapped one of the Love Shockers.

"Three against one ain't fair." There was a hiss of electricity behind his words, making his actual voice hard to pick out. Gum figured it was some technique of his mask.

"Like you've never done this," another Love Shocker said.

"Oh, geez, just let her up! We've all got enough turf. Go throw darts at pictures of your boyfriends or whatever it is you girls do."

Gum felt her wrists released, and fell forward. She heard the Love Shockers skate away, and looked up at the Noise Tank.

"Thanks."

"Hey, I…"

"What?"

"I don't like them. They're a bunch of bitches."

"Tell me about it." Gum stood up and dusted herself off. "You're a little out of your own turf, aren't you? Or have the Noise Tanks taken Shibuya as well?"

"They stick to Benten. You ought to know that."

"What about the Poison Jammers?"

"They're lying low. Our friendly neighbourhood police captain's been picking on 'em. Us and the Shockers keep trying to nab Kogane."

"And the GGs?"

He snorted. "What GGs?"

And then, before she could answer, he was gone.

Gum sighed and stared round the bus terminal. It was all so familiar. The billboards, the schookids crowding one corner, the sunlight through the trees.

And it was wrong.

And she was stuck.

And what had happened to her gang?

Beat hasn't been findable for the last five years…

Being the last GG sucks…

Tell me what's happened! she yelled. Tell me where they all are!

Nobody answered. The faded yellow light brought tears to her eyes.

Mew watched as she was driven closer to the crowd of Shibuya High School students. She picked up her bag from the floor of the car as it ground to a halt.

"Have a nice day, Miyako."

Mew nodded, and stepped out. She'd run out of class again yesterday. Well, she'd been made to leave, because she wasn't allowed to take art class. But she'd told them what she thought of them anyway. At the time it had been a relief to scream again, but now she was regretting it. She could see the smirks on her fellow students' faces.

"Hey, Miyako," someone said. "Ready to associate with us dull conformist no-hopers today?"

"Oh, come on. I didn't say that, did I?" Mew smiled, feeling the expression wobble.

"Something like it," someone else said. "Before you ran out crying."

Mew shrugged. "I have issues, I guess."

"Oh, she has issues," the girl said. Mew had a feeling her name was Suki. "Well, that makes it all right, doesn't it? You rudies make me sick. You think you're so great – well, look at you. You're what, twenty or something, and you're down here stuck with us."

"I didn't want to be."

"Well, we don't want you here."

"Go talk to my probation officer then!" Mew snapped. "Explain to him that you can't handle me!"

"I think it's the other way round. You ghetto kids act like you're so hard, but you can't handle school, can you? Crying your eyes out like that all the time."

Mew pressed her lips together. They can't hurt me, she told herself. They can only talk and talking doesn't hurt. It doesn't.

I wish the GGs were here.

"I can't help what I am," she said. "Why can't you just leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

She heard the bus rattle to a halt behind them, and turned to get onto it. Suki grabbed her collar.

"I don't like people who think they're better than everyone else," she snapped. "Watch your mouth, rudie scum."

"Wow, Police Chief Onishima reincarnated. You even have the dodgy skin quality. You're not related, are you?"

Suki shoved past her. Mew stumbled, and dropped her bag. Snatching it up, she stepped onto the bus.

Instantly everyone reshuffled their bags or coats to fill up the empty spaces.

Mew stood in the aisle and tried not to scream. So far this day sucked. "Come on," yelled the driver. "Just sit down already!"

"No one wants a rudie sitting next to them," Suki muttered from the back seat.

"Look, if you don't sit down we're not moving," the driver said.

Suki looked round the bus, eyes narrowed. Then she smiled. "Hey, Isas, you don't mind Miyako sitting next to you, do you?"

A skinny guy sitting near the front looked up nervously. "Uhh…"

"Come on, Miyako," Suki said. "Some of us can actually handle school."

Mew flipped her off and walked towards Isas, who swept his bag and coat off the seat and then turned back to his book. She saw him tense as she sat down.

"Don't act friendly or anything," she said as the bus started to move.

"I'm not that good at small talk."

"I don't ask for small talk. Just sitting next to someone who doesn't treat me like I've got leprosy would be nice."

He shrugged. "I just want to read, okay?"

"What are you reading?"

"Oh – nothing. Just – just something."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Mew twitched the book out of his hands and stared at the cover. "Algebra: The Science of Maths? Wait a minute…"

Hidden in the middle of the large, equation-filled pages was a smaller book. Mew pulled it out. The sight of the cover made her ribs tighten, and she couldn't breathe for a second.

"Paint the Town Red – Tags I Have Known."

And on the front was her own Sweeter Than Sugar.

"What – what is this?" she hissed.

Isas snatched it back from her. "None of your business, rudie!"

"Hey, you're one to talk. Don't tell me you go skating after you've done all your homework."

"I'm just interested, okay?"

"Where did you get this and what's my tag doing on the front of it?"

Isas's eyes widened. "This is your tag?"

"Yes!"

"No way."

Why are you reading it?"

Isas shrugged. "I found it in a second-hand bookshop about a year or two ago. And I just like it, okay? I know you think it's dumb, anyone but ghetto sob story kids liking this stuff, but I do. Now if you don't mind…"

He shoved it back between the pages of 'Algebra: the Science of Maths' and began studying it again.

Mew swallowed. She knew she should leave all this alone. She had to start giving up someday and looking at this was the exact opposite. But she yearned just to see those tags…it was a physical hunger which made her fingers twitch.

"Please, Isas," she said. "Just let me see."

Isas groaned and handed her the book. Mew gently turned the pages, feeling like she was looking at something holy, something precious, something she'd thought she'd lost.

"Tougher Than You…" she whispered. "Beat This…Beware My Bite…"

Tears stung her eyes, and she heard her voice break. Quickly she rubbed her wrist over her cheeks, and felt dampness smear her skin.

"What's with you?" Isas said. "They're only pictures."

"They're only pictures?" Mew snapped, just managing to keep her voice low. "They're not only damn pictures. They're GG tags. They're my gang's tags. Look…" She flipped through until she came to 'Purr Like A Kitten, Fight Like A Tiger.' "There. That was mine, my personal one."

Isas squinted at it. "Mew?"

"That's my proper name. Miyako is the one they've landed me with."

The bus screeched to a halt. Mew glanced out of the window and saw they'd arrived at school. She got to her feet, picked up her bag, and sighed. Double Maths first thing. She didn't do Maths.

She'd just got off the bus when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Uh…Miyako…Mew?"

Mew shivered. She'd thought she'd be ecstatic if someone called her that again. Now that it had happened, she was just weirded out. Geez…perhaps she was already changing. Already turning into Miyako. Oh, god, no…

"Yeah?" She turned round. It was Isas, blushing.

"Um…I thought…here, you can have this."

He held out the book to her.

"You're kidding," Mew said. "I can't take this, it's yours." She wanted it. She wanted it so, so badly, like chocolate when dieting, like a one-night-stand when engaged. But Isas looked so pathetic standing there.

"It's yours," he said. "You're a – a GG. I'm just a guy who wants to go skating after he's done all his homework, remember? Take it."

He ran a hand through his black hair, and Mew suddenly wanted to hug him. She snatched the book.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much…"

He shrugged his coat-hanger shoulders. "Don't worry about it."

And he turned and walked away.

Mew shoved the book in her bag, shivering with excitement. A small act of rebellion. Something that was Mew's, not Miyako's. Something that would get her into serious trouble if she were caught with it.

But she couldn't care about that now.

"Thank you," she called again. But he'd already gone.

Gum clenched her fists. She wasn't going to be left alone. She needed answers somehow.

"Wait!" she yelled, and skated out of the bus terminal in the direction the Noise Tank had gone. As she rushed past the square she saw him, a white figure shining in the sun as he dashed up Center Street.

She called again, put on an extra burst of speed, her muscles starting to ache. The sun had risen for sure now, soaking the area in warmth, and she felt sweat start to bubble up on her skin.

He stopped, stood waiting for her, leaning against a tree. As she caught up, breathing heavily, he said, "What do you want?"

"Tell me…tell me what happened to the GGs…" Gum gasped.

"Why? You should know."

"I don't, I…" She stopped. I travelled through time and I don't know what's going on. Oh, please.

"What? You got amnesia or something?"

"Yeah. Yeah!" She rubbed the bruise on her forehead. "I fell over here last night, hit my head on the railing. Now I can't remember anything."

He shrugged. "Well, I don't think I'm the person to tell you."

"Oh, yeah? Why not?"

"Uh…I'm a Noise Tank, aren't I? You should ask a GG."

"The only GG left won't tell me."

"What's the point in talking 'bout it all?"

"Because I need to know."

She stared at him, seeing her own face reflected in his goggles. "Please."

He sighed, causing a hiss of static underneath his voice. "Okay. Fine. Do you know who you are?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know where this is?"

"Shibuya-cho."

"But you don't know what happened to the GGs."

"No!"

"All right. I'll tell you. But not here, the Love Shockers might still be lurking about. Let's go to Benten."

Gum skated along behind him until they reached the Noise Tanks' district. It looked the same as it always had – not that she came here much during the day, but she couldn't see any significant changes. A few shops were out of business, a few doors were painted different colours, but that was it.

In a way she wanted everything to be different. Then she could have a real reason to panic.

They skated into Benten Square. Gum followed the Noise Tank up the ramp and leapt after him onto the central pole in the middle of the area.

He sat down, and motioned for her to do the same. "So spill. What do you want to know?"

"Where are all the GGs? What happened to them? I know Yo-Yo's still around, and – and Gum is in jail…"

"I thought you weren't her," he said. "She must be…twenty-two. You're eighteen at the most. When I saw you, you looked so familiar I had to help you, but…you a fan of the GGs or something? A wannabe?"

There was scorn in his voice. Gum shrugged and decided not to answer the question. "What about the rest of them?"

"Well, it all started on the 24th September, 2000. The GGs were set up and got tagged a bunch of times. You know this?"

"Everyone was angry with Beat. He stormed out, and – uh – Gum went after him."

"That's it. But she came back, later on, and said she'd lost him."

"Did she?" Oh, well, nice to know what I should be doing.

"Yeah." The Noise Tank glanced down at his lap, his mask sinking into shadow. "And then – the GGs – heard that he'd been arrested."

Gum swallowed.

"You remember the three-strikes-and-you're-out law?" the Noise Tank asked.

She shook her head.

"Onishima had been leading up to it for some time, put it into force the night Beat disappeared. Basically, whenever the cops have a run-in with a rudie, they log the incident, any distinguishing marks the rudie has, that sort of thing. If you get actually caught, they search the files, and if they can pick out three incidents that could be attributed to you, that's it. No trial. You're sent down, and then you're only allowed out when they can prove you've been reformed."

"That's stupid," Gum snapped. "Are they allowed to do that? Surely –"

"Who cares? A lot of people hate rudies, you know. We bug them, and they ain't gonna campaign too hard for justice."

"Isn't it worse for the Noise Tanks? I mean, you all look alike."

"Well, when a Noise Tank gets caught, I've heard Onishima doesn't even bother to check the records. But he doesn't try too hard to prove anyone's innocence, you know what he's like."

"So – so Beat's been arrested?" Gum stared out over the sunny skyscrapers and felt a sharp pain in her throat. He wouldn't be able to handle it. She knew he wouldn't.

"You got it. We don't know shit about him now, what they did, whether he's okay." He snorted. "Potts started missing him. He's gone now, he went out to look for his master and we never saw him again."

He sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"But this law, right, it did piss some people off. Rudies, mainly. And some of them started saying they should do something. And then some bright spark had an idea – why not get tough with the cops?"

"Get tough?"

The Noise Tank nodded. "Cops started getting killed. Bombs in unexpected places. Drive-by shootings. Some rudies were happy, but…I don't know, we thought it was better to leave well enough alone. Then Cube and Garam started joining in."

"You're kidding."

"No. They started drifting away from the rest of the GGs, and because there wasn't a leader any more…they never got round to choosing one…no one could tell 'em to stop."

"So they – they killed people?"

"Combo tried to talk to them," the Noise Tank said. "He told Cube she was being stupid, that she'd get caught, get the electric chair, she should quit. She freaked and told him to get lost. He told her she was immature and thought violence could solve all her problems. She told him he was sticking his head in the sand and it was his fault Coin had died. It all went downhill from there."

"And?"

"Combo walked out and headed back to Grind City, I think. Cube and Garam went off to the Skulls – that's the group. No one's seen 'em since."

"Have they got caught?" Inside Gum was desperately searching for something that would improve this situation. Outside she tried to look calm.

"Not as far as I know. I don't know if any of the Skulls have, I bet the publicity would go through the roof if they did."

"What happened next?"

"Piranha and Slate had been going out. And they'd been getting pretty close. And then Piranha found out she was pregnant."

"What?"

"She was pregnant. I think something didn't work – I know they didn't do it on purpose. It was getting more violent out there now, the cops were scared of the Skulls and the rudies were scared of the cops and the Skulls kicked the Noise Tanks out of their HQ. Slate and Piranha knew that rudie was a real risky job now, Slate didn't want her getting hurt and both of them wanted to protect the kid."

"So they left?"

"They left. They've set up home together. I haven't seen 'em, none of u – the GGs have."

"Then what?"

"Mew got captured about six months ago. Don't know what happened to her. And that's that."

Gum stared at him, not wanting to believe all this. It had to be a joke. It had to be.

If it wasn't, she'd just stepped forward five years and missed the biggest shake-up the GGs had ever had.

"Hang on," she said at last. "You missed someone. What – what happened to Tab?"

If he was dead…suddenly she wanted to run, or stick her fingers in her ears, just not listen to what the answer could be.

"Oh, him," the Noise Tank said. "Look, who are you, anyway? Why're you so fixed on the GGs?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Now what's happened to Tab?"

Her companion was silent for a moment.

"He joined the Noise Tanks," he said at last.

Gum stared at him. "You…"

"That's all I'm saying."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell are you?"

Gum stared down at the platform they were sitting on, picked at it. It was warm, glowing with sunlight.

"I time-travelled," she said.

He stared at her, didn't say anything.

She explained what had happened, knowing as she did that this wasn't going to work. He wouldn't believe her. He wouldn't believe her, and why should he? She didn't believe her.

"Gum did have a fall the night Beat disappeared," he said. "She got a bruise just where you have one. And – man, you do look like her. But…"

"I know, I know, it's not possible. That's what Yo-Yo said."

He reached up and took off his mask. Gum felt her heartbeat speed up. Please let it be…

Tab stared back at her. He was older, thinner, his eyes shadowed, looking like mental scars. But it was him. It was a GG. Someone familiar, someone alive, someone who'd listened to her.

"Are you – are you all right?" she asked at last. "After what's happened in the last five years…"

"I get by."

They looked at each other. He had an edgy, suspicious gaze to his face, but he said at last, "If you ain't Gum, can I have the number of the people who made you up to look like her? It's the best work I've ever seen."

"Do you believe me?"

"I don't know what I believe. If someone had told me back then soon I'd be a Noise Tank I wouldn't have believed them either. You said you've come from the night Beat disappeared?"

"Yeah."

"If we could get you back…"

"I could change it."

"You could stop all this."

"But how?" Gum said. "You're not gonna keep hitting me over the head till something happens."

"Very funny." Tab stood up. "I don't know what we'll do, but there's gotta be something. I'll ask the other Noise Tanks, maybe. But first let's go talk to Yo-Yo. You may as well get him to see sense."

He leapt off the platform. Gum followed, and they both landed on the ground, raising a cloud of dust. Gum coughed as it caught her face.

"Tab," she asked, spitting out dust. "Why'd you join the Noise Tanks?"

He shrugged. "Too many memories. Time to move on. All that shit."

"That's no answer."

"I'll tell you later. Come on."

Cube looked over at Garam. He was sitting there, mingled with the shadow, tilting his gun so that it caught the light that filtered through from the small window above them.

He looked unapproachable.

She walked over to him anyway. "Hey, lover, how's things?"

He didn't look at her. "Fine. How'd your mission go?"

Cube sighed. "Oh, forget that."

"That's it?" Garam said. "Forget it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, when you don't just ice a cop but do his wife and kids as well, it's a little hard to forget."

"They screwed up my life. Why should I go easy on them?" Please don't leave me, Garam. Please please please…

"His kids? What did they do, throw teddy bears at you?"

He looked up at her at last, pulling off his sunglasses, and Cube's mind doubled over as his glance hit her.

"It was an order," she said.

"Like hell it was. You're nothing but a sadist."

"And you're nothing but a weakling," Cube said before she could start hurting from his words.

Garam's eyes widened. "Well if that's what you think, why'd you go out with me?"

"Because I needed occupying until something better came along." I'm not a sadist. I have a job to do, that's all. And besides, they deserve it, all of them. They do, I have to believe that…

"You're a bitch."

"You're an idiot."

She turned away from him, and saw the other member of their group, Saburo, coming towards them. In the Skulls the members lived in groups of threes in different places in Tokyo-to, so that if someone was caught only two other people could ever be betrayed.

"Hey, Cube, Garam," he called. "Got another job for you."

"What?"

"Guy named Miyamoto." Saburo ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Lives in Kibogaoka, near to the Benten boundary."

"Who're you ordering?" Cube asked. "Me or him?"

"Well, you like paying house calls, don't you?" Saburo grinned.

Cube could suddenly feel Garam's stare on the back of her neck, and it hurt.

I'm not gonna let you give me a guilt trip, she thought. "Yeah."

"So you may as well do it."

"Cool." Cube picked up her gun. "Come midnight, I'll be there."

"Better make it four this afternoon. He's on the night shift."

"Sweet." Cube flipped her gun up into the air and caught it again. "I'm totally cool with that."

She could still feel Garam staring at her as she packed her bag.

Mew had been glancing at the book of tags all through school, in secret, like sipping something illegal. She knew it was dangerous. She knew she was going around with a stupid smile like she was in love.

She didn't care.

Now she stood at the bus stop, waiting, and actually feeling happy.

Actually, she'd been waiting quite some time. As had Suki, Isas and the rest of their classmates.

At last, an hour after the bus had been supposed to get there, the secretary walked out and told them it had been cancelled.

"Oh, great," Suki said. "And how am I supposed to get home?"

"You're not the only one, you know," Mew said.

"Well, I guess you must be used to walking – or should I say skating – long distances," Suki said. "You lot paint buses, you don't ride in them."

"And the problem with that is?"

"Hey, cool it," Isas said.

"Wow, bookworm boy speaks up," Suki said.

"Call a taxi," Isas said, then turned to Mew. "I can walk home. My mum doesn't like it cos of all this Skulls stuff, but I don't reckon she'll mind this once."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, but look. You can walk home with me, and we can call your parents from there."

"Rudies don't have parents," Suki snapped. "They get thrown out, or abandoned on doorsteps, or fucked or punched by their nearest and dearest. Ghetto sob stories, right, Miyako?"

Mew felt hot, flickering anger quiver in her chest, rushed over and slapped Suki round the face. "You take that back!" she shouted. "What the hell do you know about that sort of stuff? You know nothing, just keep your big mouth shut, enjoy your wonderful life and let me get on with my shit one!"

Suki stumbled back, rubbing her cheek. Mew stood, gasping for breath, feeling like she was either about to burst into tears or rub Suki's face into the pavement.

"Mew," Isas whispered, "Come on. Come home with me and forget her. If you hit her again you'll just get in trouble."

Mew wanted – oh, she wanted so much – to hit Suki again, hit her and hit her until she knew how it felt to hurt – but with a painful effort she restrained herself.

"All right."

"You'll be sorry for this, Miyamoto Isas!" Suki screamed from behind them. "You and your little rudie friend!"

Mew walked angrily along, slamming her feet down on the pavement, tears of fury pooling in her eyes.

"Mew?" Isas said at last.

"What?"

"Did you – did you get abused by your family?"

"No. Don't worry about it, it's just some of my friends have had stuff like that happen to them. She doesn't know –" She stopped as a sob rose up her throat.

"It's okay, she's just a jerk anyway," Isas said. "Don't worry, please don't. I'm sorry I got her mad, okay?"

"It's me she doesn't like."

They walked in silence for a bit. Mew stared at the ground, and at their shadows stretched out along it.

"My parents were divorcing," she said. "It was real bitter. They were busy with it. I – I was having a bad time at school, I couldn't do the work, and I kept getting in trouble. I picked a stupid time to tell them, and they blamed me, they both screamed at me and then started screaming at each other. I ran away and joined the Noise Tanks – that's a gang in Benten-cho. Later I ended up with the GGs."

"I'm sorry."

Mew shrugged. "It's ancient history now. Years ago."

They walked on a little more, the sunlight dappling their faces.

"Mew," Isas said. "You got arrested, didn't you?"

Mew nodded.

"Was it – was it really bad?"

Mew swallowed. "I have never been so scared."

"Really?" He sounded gloomy.

"You don't understand. Our leader was arrested, five years ago, and we haven't heard anything about him since…we don't know what's happened to him. They grabbed me and all I could think was I was gonna disappear like him."

She took a deep breath, feeling the old fear climb up her throat. "It was so stupid…I was out on my own, in Benten again, and they just grabbed me. I wasn't listening, I didn't hear them coming, I was grabbed and I couldn't get away…they drove me down the station, and when they got there they locked me up and I just cried and cried, I couldn't stop and I hated myself…"

She heard her voice shake, and dragged her mind away from the memory.

"I was lucky, they only had two sightings of me. So I ended up at school. You know I'm on probation."

She looked over at Isas. He was white.

"What's with you?"

"You're gonna hate me."

"Why?"

"My – my dad's a cop, okay?" Isas snapped. "He probably did that to you."

"But you – you, reading that book –"

"He'd freak, I'll bet. He doesn't know anything about it."

Mew stared at him. He was a Keisatsu's son. She felt her hands curl into fists despite herself. The Keisatsu had frightened her, made her feel so small and stupid…and they'd arrested Beat…

But Isas hadn't done any of that.

"Well?" he snapped. "You gonna go? You don't want to be near me now, I'll bet."

"You can't get me away from here if you tried," Mew said.

"Huh?"

"You're right, I don't like cops. But I – I do like you. You gave me your book and you stuck up for me. So let's get moving."