"Well, this is the bank," Ellie concludes. They stop on the sidewalk under the bank sign wedged between and coffee-house and a convenient store. Hwoarang backs away from the storefronts, craning his head up at the aged brick building.
"This doesn't tell us anything," he says, readjusting the goggles sitting above his forehead. "Jin could be anywhere."
Ellie turns her palms up. "You guys said find the bank, I found the bank."
Xiaoyu looks down both ends of the street, trash flickering lightly in the wind. In the cool fall air, people walk briskly with their coat collars up coming in and out of the crumbling apartment complexes jammed on the condensed street. Sirens go off in the distance and groups of friends talk loud and passionately to one another on the street corner, an eruption of laughter occasionally disrupting the city atmosphere. She can't see Jin in this part of the city, but maybe that's exactly why he came here.
"Now what?" Hwoarang asks. He crosses his arms and leans against the rough brick.
Xiaoyu pulls out her phone and starts to sift through her pictures, impatiently.
Ellie shrugs. "I don't know. Go back and wait for another surge in his accounts?"
"That could take months," Hwoarang says.
Xiaoyu glances up to see a tall woman with a white jacket coming down their side of the sidewalk. She is wistful and elegant as she steps over cigarette butts and ripped promotion cards, cradling a cell phone between her cheek and shoulder. Xiaoyu looks back down at her pictures passing through pictures of her and panda, Miharu, and Alisa. She finally finds one of Jin and abruptly looks back up.
"Excuse me," Xiaoyu says approaching the woman.
"What is she doing?" Hwoarang mumbles to Ellie.
The woman in the white jacket halts, and grabs the phone from her shoulder. "One second," the woman says to the phone, then to Xiaoyu, "Yes, can I help you?"
Xiaoyu flips over her phone, showing the woman the picture of Jin. "Have you seen this guy? He's our friend and we can't find him."
"Seriously?" Hwoarang grumbles, pushing off of the wall.
"Oh no," The woman exclaims, seeming concerned. She examines the picture of Jin closely. It's a picture of him leaning against the car he bought Xiaoyu for her 19th birthday. He's got his arms folded with his muscles bulging below the sleeves of his black t-shirt, his smile wide and charming. The woman presses her lips together in a thin line and her eyebrows turn up. "I'm sorry; I've never seen him before."
"Thank you." Xiaoyu nods, swallowing a knot of disappointment and starts walking up the cracked uneven sidewalk. Someone has seen him, at least she hopes so. She just has to find the right person. Ellie and Hwoarang call after her, but she ignores them. She doesn't want to waste any time.
Xiaoyu asks a guy standing outside a deli shop, "Have you seen this guy before?"
The man shakes his head and Xiaoyu continues. Her heart feels heavy, the idea of finding Jin becoming more of a dream than a reality. She has to find him. There is no other option. She asks a group of teenagers next, holding out the picture as she cranes her head to watch the cars zooming by, hoping to see him in the back of a taxi or something.
"Nope, never seen 'em," one of them says.
"Thanks anyway," Xiaoyu picks up the pace to the next group, feeling worry tangle through her veins. Looking for Jin is like looking for a dime in a jar full of nickels, one man in the vastness of a city.
"Xiaoyu!" Ellie and Hwoarang, who have been pacing behind her, catch up and Hwoarang grabs her by the arm. "Hey, wait a second!"
Xiaoyu snatches her arm away but stops to look at him. His eyes are narrow and judgmental; hers are focused and determined. This is the last thing she needs from Hwoarang right now.
"What are you doing?" he demands. Ellie watches Xiaoyu just behind his shoulder, and Xiaoyu can tell she wants to know the same thing.
"I'm looking for Jin," she says simply. "We have to start somewhere."
"Xiao." Ellie steps forward, her nose a bright pink from the chilling air. Loose dark strands have escaped from her bun, catching in the breeze. "Jin could be anywhere. He could even be in the next town by now."
"Isn't that what we came down here for? To see what we could find out here?"
Ellie quiets and Hwoarang says, "We were hoping he'd be near a hotel district of some sort. You know, ask the bellhop if he's seen anything, slide the desk attendant some money to check the guest list. There are easier ways to do this."
She doesn't have time for this. Xiaoyu turns to keep walking, mumbling under her breath, "It's not supposed to be easy."
"Hey." Hwoarang paces alongside her and with every stride of his long legs, she have to do three. Not being able to get away festers Xiaoyu's irritation and she suddenly halts, meeting his eyes.
"What?" she snaps.
"Look around you for a second!" Hwoarang raises his voice, though he sounds more concerned than angry. "There are hundreds of apartment units on this street alone. Jin is in hiding, and you think you're just going to find him wandering the streets?"
"Maybe," she says, matching his volume. "But I know we won't find him just sitting around in front of a computer screen. Jin needs us, and he needs us now! Every second we wait is just a waste of time."
Hwoarang laughs absurdly. "No, this is a waste of time."
"Then, go!" she says dryly. She's losing daylight and doesn't want to spend it arguing with Hwoarang. He never should have come if this is how he is going to be. "You and Ellie can go back to the estate, and I'll… figure out what I can here."
Ellie shakes her head. "We're not leaving you in this part of the city. It will be dark soon."
"When it's dark, I'll leave, but I'm doing this with or without you guys," Xiaoyu declares adamantly.
"I can't believe this," Hwoarang grumbles. He turns and walks back the way they came, swearing under his breath.
"Where are you going?" Ellie calls after him. Xiaoyu doesn't stand around to wait for the answer.
"On a walk."
Ellie watches him march off, wishing he would just stay and help out, and then turns to face Xiaoyu who has, without warning, walked off in the other direction, continuing to show Jin's picture to anyone in her path.
"Thanks guys," Ellie says to herself alone on the sidewalk and pushes her glasses further up on her nose. She decides to cross the street so she can cover more ground. Street lamps are starting to flicker on, one by one as she paces up the sidewalk. Some hum loudly overhead and others, blown out. Before Ellie started working for Jin, she lived in an area like this on the other side of the city. Back then she lived with her older brother, helping him do underground tech work for small businesses. That's how she gained a knack for computers and eventually met Jin.
One day, this man hired Ellie, giving her an IP address to hack into, not knowing it was the one of the many at Mishima Zaibatsu. It took only minutes to infiltrate the firewall, and within a few days, Jin was at her door with a job offer she couldn't refuse. Upon her acceptance, Jin had her moved into the estate where she became Jin's full-time assistant and tech guru.
Ellie can't even begin to imagine what Jin's going through, and she want to find him just like Hwoarang and Xiaoyu, but she's more concerned with what happens after that. Part of her thinks he'll just run off again, somewhere he can't be followed. Another part of her believes that once he sees Xiaoyu again, he'll come home. It's strange with them two. Obviously Xiaoyu cares for Jin more than anyone wants to acknowledge and Jin… Ellie can never get her bearings straight about Jin's feelings, not only for Xiaoyu but about anything. Jin's the kind of guy that you can know for years, and still know nothing about him.
Ellie leans against a long iron gate in front of one of the complexes. She scans the area for Jin, halfway hoping he descends from the air like some obvious gift-wrapped present for Ellie to discover. He doesn't come from the sky though. He doesn't come from anywhere. Ellie sits, people watching from the fence for a while, until the chill evening air begins to bite at her skin.
"Hi," a high-pitched voice says from behind the gate.
Ellie glances over her shoulder at a little girl sitting on the concrete steps. She can't be any more than six years old bundled up in a long coat with a scarf around her neck. Ellie smiles, wondering what she is doing out here. "Hello. It's a little cold to be sitting out here, isn't it?"
The girl shakes her head and her ponytail flips behind her. "No, my jacket is really warm. Are you cold?"
"A little. I'm looking for my friend-,"
"I have friends!" the girl jumps us and walks toward the gate. She lifts the sleeve of her jacket, exposing a wrist full of friendship bracelets. "See? I have twelve."
"Wow," Ellie exaggerates, playing along. She turns to face the girl and presses her arms on the top of the gate. "I have a friend who would love those. And, guess what?"
"What?"
"She's friends with a panda!"
The girl's dark brown eyes expand like balloons. "No way."
"Way," Ellie laughs. "What's your name?"
The little girl smiles, exposing her missing front teeth. "Kiku."
"That's a pretty name. I'm Ellie. What are you doing out here, Kiku?"
Kiku shrugs, looking down the sidewalk. "Waiting for Mr. Neighbor."
"Mr. Neighbor? He sounds cool."
"The coolest! He said he would bring me candy from the grocery store. He should be on his way back."
"Sweet." Ellie looks down the sidewalk for any man who could be rightfully titled 'Mr. Neighbor', but no one is coming their way. Ellie looks back at Kiku. "What candy did you ask for?"
"Gummy bears."
"Gummy bears, mmmm." Ellie playfully rubs her stomach and winks. "My favorite."
"Mine too!" Kiku exclaims.
"My favorite is the red. What's yours?"
"Green." Kiku abruptly climbs on her side of the gate and bends at the waist to lean far over the edge, staring down the sidewalk. Ellie angles her head to match Kiku's line of sight and sees Hwoarang casually pacing up the street. Disappointedly, Kiku jumps down from the gate. "I thought that was Mr. Neighbor."
"He'll show up soon," Ellie assures her. "But I should go. That's actually my friend."
Kiku looks down the street again until her eyes rest on Hwoarang. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"No," Ellie mutes a laugh. "Just my friend."
"Oh," she says crestfallen. "You sure you don't want to wait with me until Mr. Neighbor gets back?"
Ellie contemplates it for a moment. "I would, but it's getting late. You should wait inside where it's warm."
Kiku nods, craning her head to see over the gate one last time. "Okay, I'll wait inside."
"Bye Kiku," Ellie waves and Kiku waves back. Ellie walks backwards from the complex until she sees Kiku go inside, turning at the last second to meet Hwoarang. He leans against a phone booth, ostensibly unaffected by the weather, his jacket unzipped. His tan skin shows no sign of cold, while Ellie knows her cheeks are probably splotchy and pink.
"You'll get sick that way," Ellie warns him.
"Yeah, yeah." Hwoarang pushes off the booth and they fall in step together toward the car. He shoves his hands in his pockets and brushes his arm impishly against hers. "Making friends?"
"Yup, her name is Kiku." Ellie returns the nudge. "Where's Xiaoyu?"
"I text her. She'll meet us at the car." He sighs, "I told her we'd come out here first thing in the morning."
"Good, she needs that."
"Yeah, all those feeling in that little body," he laughs uneasily, scratching the back of his head.
Ellie finds each crack in the sidewalk as she walks. For some reason, she can't look up at him. "What about Jin? Does he, I mean-,"
"Nope, don't even try it. You won't get a word out of me."
"I wasn't. I-," Ellie can feel her cheeks grow hot.
"Sure you weren't. I know how you girls," he wiggles his fingers like he's conjuring up some spell, "do whatever it is you do."
"Shut up, Hwoarang," she pushes him into the building and he coils over pretending to be hurt. They both erupt in laughter. After a while, the laughter fades and the reminder of Jin's absence sits between them like a third person.
"You shouldn't be so harsh on Xiaoyu. She takes what you say to heart," Ellie says. It is now dark. Up ahead, they can see Ellie's car under a street lamp in a parking lot wedged between two buildings.
"I know. This is just so…"
"Frustrating? Yeah, we've all been on edge."
"I don't mean to be mean. Really, I don't, but there is a chance Jin is never coming back, and she needs to be ready for that if it comes."
"Well, right now she's not accepting that as an option, and I think that's good."
Hwoarang glances at her, chewing the inside of his cheek. "She's just really fragile. She thinks I don't see it but I do. She two steps from a meltdown overload."
"I get it, but she's having a hard enough time with Jin missing as it is. You two arguing just… makes it worse."
He nods and as they wait to cross the street, he turns to her. "Thanks for all your help, El. I know Ling and I can be a headache."
Ellie looks up to meet his dark hazel eyes and smiles. "Once we find Jin, all this tension will disappear, and everything will be back to normal."
The street clears and Ellie steps down from the curb to cross as Hwoarang places his hand lightly on her shoulder. "And El?"
She turns to face him, the gravel crunching under the pivot of her foot. Hwoarang steps down from the curb, minimizing the space and huge height difference between them. "I'm glad you're here."
He lets his hand fall from her shoulder and proceeds to cross the street. There's a slight tingle in her stomach that she's never experienced before and after a moment, she turns to follow behind Hwoarang while turning over in her mind exactly what that was.
The next morning, Ellie and Xiaoyu sit on the curb in front of the bank, waiting for Hwoarang. Xiaoyu lets out a heavy sigh and props her chin on her hands, which are resting on her knees. This is not how she wanted to start her morning.
"Just give it a few more minutes," Ellie suggests as if reading Xiaoyu's mind. Ellie takes the glasses from her face and cleans them on the hem on her red t-shirt. She looks up at Xiaoyu, eyes a soft green, begging Xiaoyu to wait a little longer. Ellie slides her glasses back on and unlocks her phone. Xiaoyu knows she's texting Hwoarang, trying to figure out where he is. From the looks of it, he's not answering.
Xiaoyu stands up and brushes off the back on her jeans. The sun is surprisingly warm under the still air as the city bustles around them. She looks up and down the street for Hwoarang one last time. "I'm done waiting. If he comes, then he can meet up with us later."
Ellie doesn't argue, getting to her feet. They start out in the same place making their way up the street, asking random pedestrians if they've seen Jin. Of course, no one has, but it doesn't discourage Xiaoyu from asking. A few minutes later, they stop, hearing the roar of Hwoarang's bike. It's all black, a matte finish, and loud enough to make everyone turn and look. He's got a passenger on the back. Ellie and Xiaoyu exchange curious glances. Who? When he stops on the corner and cuts off the bike, the girl hops off, dusting her black jeans and unbuckling her helmet.
"That kind of looks like…" Ellie's voice trails off.
Xiaoyu strains her eyes to get a good look. "Asuka!"
Asuka pulls off her helmet and holds her arms out at her sides, her smile wide and full of life. "And I thought you were looking for me. Guess I got the wrong Kazama."
Xiaoyu runs up to her and encircles her arms around Asuka. Xiaoyu saw her just last week but she is exactly the dynamic they need right now. If anyone can pull this group out of a rut, it's Asuka. "I thought you were at the university."
"I am. I've got an exam in," she checks her watch then claps her hands. "three hours. So, let's get moving."
Xiaoyu stifles a laugh and glances at Hwoarang as he swings his leg over his bike to rest it on the kickstand. He pulls the helmet from his head and tucks it under his arm.
"Sorry, I'm late," he jokes with a sly grin.
"Ellie," Asuka calls out. "You're taller than I thought. I've never seen away from your desk before."
"Just came to help out," Ellie says in a small voice.
"And she has," Hwoarang adds, joining them on the sidewalk, finger combing his smushed hair. "She found out which bank Jin used in a matter of minutes."
Asuka folds her arms and nods. "That's right, tech wizard."
Ellie tucks a strand of her shoulder length hair behind her ear, her cheeks gaining a little color. "I wouldn't say wizard."
"I would," Xiaoyu chimes in. She throws her arms over Asuka's shoulder and they share a smile. "But remember, Jin?"
"Right!" Asuka eyes graze the surrounding area. "And he chose to hideout here?"
"We think so. But no one around here has seen him," Hwoarang says.
"Okay," Asuka says. Xiaoyu knows Asuka's calculating every detail she can gather as she pulls away from the group. She turns around in circles, scanning the rooftops of each building, and then various windows. The rest of them follow Asuka all the way up to the top of the street, waiting for her synopsis.
"Jin!" she finally screams at the top of her lungs, catching the attention of the surrounding area. "Come out, right now!"
"Asuka!" Xiaoyu and Ellie hiss at the same time.
Asuka turns to them and shrugs, "What? You want to find him or not?"
"We don't want him to run off," Xiaoyu warns.
"Well, I know you don't suggest we go door by door. He could be anywhere."
Hwoarang scoffs, "That's what I've been telling her."
"Wait," Asuka freezes and subsequently so does everyone else. She looks down the intersecting street and Xiaoyu, Hwoarang, and Ellie crane their heads to follow her gaze. Asuka twists her neck to look down the opposite side and so do they.
"What is it?" Ellie whispers as if she'll ruin Asuka concentration if she's too loud.
"I know this street," Asuka says simply.
Xiaoyu steps forward examining the area for something familiar. "Have you been here with Jin before?"
Asuka shakes her head. "I don't know."
"Please, Asuka," Xiaoyu begs, hoping they'll get some type of clue as to where Jin is. "Try to remember."
Asuka presses her lips together and takes a right at the corner. She walks with so much haste only Hwoarang can casually keep up with her.
"Where are you going?" Xiaoyu asks, but Asuka doesn't answer.
She and Ellie exchange a glance and pick up a light jog behind them. They continue down the road for sometime until the scenery has changed around them. The broken aged buildings become deep red brick facades of quaint antique shops and fresh markets with SALE signs written in chalk for the catch of the day. The cracked sidewalks transform to even and clear walkways, lined with shrubbery and flowers.
The further they walk the more Xiaoyu feels a prickle creeping up her spine. The anticipation of getting closer to finding Jin takes over and the next thing she knows she's searching the area frantically as if she had just seen him. Each coat, every hooded person she sees affirms his presence and intensifies the inner responsibility Xiaoyu has tasked upon herself. Her chest hurts, each beat of her heart thrashing against her chest.
Hwoarang looks over his shoulder at Xiaoyu as if he can hear her pounding heart. Xiaoyu swallows it down, rearranging her face to mask her distress. He turns back around and Asuka finally slows to a stop.
"There," she points.
Xiaoyu stares at the row of quaint narrow townhouses further down the street.
"Is Jin there?" she asks, her voice laced with despair and longing.
"No," Asuka turns to face them. "That's Zafina's house."
"Yeah." Hwoarang squints, recognizing the area. "I didn't realize we were so close. Asuka, where were you yesterday? We sure could have used you."
"History exam," she responds proudly.
Xiaoyu squeezes Asuka tightly, and Asuka whines for her to let go. For once she feels like they're getting somewhere.
"Who's Zafina and how would she know Jin?" Ellie inquires.
"Long story," Hwoarang tells her. "Even if she hasn't seen him she may be able to help. I don't know why I didn't think of that before."
Ellie crooks her eyebrows. "How? Jin is essentially off-the-map, if she hasn't-"
"Because she works with magic," Asuka cuts her off.
Ellie mouth falls open as she gapes at the row of houses. "Like, real magic?"
Xiaoyu pushes past them and starts toward Zafina's. "Yeah, let's go."