This Isn't The Kid

A banged up red car pulled up to the entrance of the police station and stopped beside a dark gray sedan.

The driver got out of the car and stood next to the front passenger seat. The man who was standing there looked slightly older than the rest with jet black hair neatly cut and matching sunglasses perched above piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a white collared shirt, a dark grey dress jacket, and slacks.

"Hey, heard you got knocked out on the job yesterday!" He laughed. He walked over to where Juel stood.

"Yea..uh huh..." Juel mumbled, clearly flustered.

"You seem to be handling the loss pretty well. Are you sure you're not gonna' die of guilt?" The man laughed, patting Juel's shoulder comfortingly.

"Yea...whatever" Juel mumbled.

The man turned his attention towards Shiroi, "So who is this lady and why is she with you?" He asked curiously.

"Oh I'm sorry I forgot to tell ya. This is Shiroi. She is one of the new recruits." Juel chuckled as he gestured to Shiroi.

"Nice to meet you," Shiroi smiled politely.

"Likewise." The man replied before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a small box of cigars. He removed one which he handed to her. She accepted it smiling at the man, but she then turned to glance back at Juel, looking puzzled.

She looked at the cigar and putting it into her bag unsure of what else to say. As the three were walking out into the parking lot of the building, Juel glanced back to make sure that Shiroi was alright with being there. Her expression told him she was okay with it and he relaxed slightly.

When they arrived at the station, everyone headed straight to the breakroom so Juel decided to stay behind. He sat down at a table and looked down at his hands that he was clenching together in his lap. He was trying to take deep breaths and calm down.

A man dressed in a beige suit approached the table with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. He placed the files down and sat down across from Juel who was busy staring blankly at the table.

"Hello again. I hope you are alright as I heard what happened," he spoke gently. He waited patiently for Juel to respond

"Huh? Yea, I'll be fine...just tired."

"That's understandable," He responded kindly, "Well anyways we have the person who came after you, he is in the custody of the authorities now."

Juel was trying so hard to not think about seeing that cheeky kid. Juel was trying so hard to not think about seeing that cheeky kid again. He hated seeing those smirks on his face especially because he was right here near by. But he also was really curious what he was thinking as he stared through Shiroi.

They all followed to the interrogation room see that the man in chains, whom Shiroi assumed to be the boy that Juel keeps blushing over, was already being questioned by two cops.

The man kept glancing over at him and Shiroi was surprised to see his smile fade. When he realized that Shiroi was watching him, he quickly averted his gaze.

"Alright, let us start with the questioning." One of the officers said as she sat down in front of the prisoner when Juel got up close trying to get in view of him better.

"Hey! Wait!" Juel shouted.

"What's wrong?" The policeman asked.

"This is the wrong guy!" Juel argued.

"Is it?" The officer replied sarcastically, "We've got the same name, the same age and our faces match…" the officer sighed.

"Yeah. So maybe they just look alike?" The other officer added.

"Oh, shut up!" Juel spouted.

Leaving the room aggravated still glaring at the prisoner. Shiroi gave them a worried look. It seemed that Juel doesn't agree to cooperate with them.

"Juel! We can't just leave him in there!" Shiroi said.

"Let the cops deal with it, but I am not since this isn't the guy!" Juel explained.

"Juel, this isn't good. Let's go ask some other questions. Maybe he's changed his mind since then and we can still find some clues to get rid of this guy!" Shiroi insisted.

"Shiroi I told you," Juel paused for dramatic effect, "If I don't like something, I just won't let it happen! Besides it will take some time for them to figure this out…they'll probably be looking around too much. He might slip up somewhere and give us away. Now come on we need to go…" Juel began leaving the office.

Shiroi rolled her eyes and ran off back to the in interrogation room to help out. The cop sitting across from the prisoner looked at him curiously but said nothing.

The kid was leaning against the wall staring out at the glass window silently. He was holding his head in his hands. As soon as he saw Shiroi enter he immediately stood straight up and looked at her. His eyes flashed with panic and fear. Shiroi noticed that it didn't seem that he was happy to see her.

"Sorry to bother you kid, are you doing alright? Do you need anything?" Shiroi asked him gently.

He remained silent, he didn't even blink twice.

After a few minutes of silence the kid started talking, "I'm fine, thanks..." his voice trailed off.

"Are you sure, cause your acting kinda strange." Shiroi replied confused.

He hesitated for a moment before saying quietly,"I was wondering if maybe you could help me," he looked back down towards the floor.

"You want my help?" Shiroi asked surprised and shocked.

"Yes, uh I mean no, not exactly. I guess I just want you to know what's going on with me." He answered quietly.

Shiroi hesitated before ran back out the door again to see if Juel was still there. He was.

"Where were you?" Juel asked concerned.

"I thought I left you to do work and you weren't here anymore,"

"Ahhh yeah I was just waiting for you," Juel admitted bashfully.

"I guess so," Juel said as she walked past him and went into the office. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it while sighing heavily.

He walked back to the car and climbed inside, slamming his door shut. After turning on the radio, he reached down under the passenger seat and pulled out the small wooden box that he used to collect money in.

Sitting there next to the box on top of the steering wheel, he fiddled with it. He opened the box and took out several stacks of money along with several pieces of paper. He put the box back underneath his seat as he reached for the keys. He started driving, not noticing his surroundings very well.

He noticed a very tall man behind the car and stopped the car abruptly causing the person behind the car to stumble forward. He slammed his hand on the horn before the person could react or call out to him. The man jumped over the car and walked up to him angrily.

Juel felt the blood drain from his face and froze completely afraid of what would happen, he gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and stared at the man with wide fearful eyes. The man glared at him angrily and grabbed onto the edge of the window, he pushed himself up against the glass and leaned dangerously close to him. Juel backed up against the car in fear until he hit the seat and slid down to the floor and hid beneath the seat.

"Why'd you stop?!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Shouldn't I stop when there is people behind me?" Juel argued.

"True...but also I suggest leaving the boy you met alone," The man smiled.

He noticed similar features of white hair, but his face was covered in tattoos and he had dark eyes with vertical scars across the bridge of his nose. His skin was pale but his muscles looked very taut and muscular.

"You knew that kid in there was different didn't you?!" Juel yelled at him accusingly.

"Some things are bigger than we know about."

He chuckled lightly before getting off the window and walking away slowly disappearing amongst the crowds. Juel sat there frozen still terrified out of his mind, but relieved that the man was gone. He sat still in fear and anxiety. A few moments later his phone rang. He fumbled a bit to get his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the caller ID. The name displayed was the name of his friend, Shiroi. He hesitantly accepted the call.

"Hey buddy how's it going?" She greeted.

"Why is everyone telling me to stop looking for that kid?" Juel asked.

"Maybe his case is private and you shouldn't meddle in someone else's case unless he asks you to help. I bet the chief would rather you didn't know any more about it either," Shiroi suggested.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Juel agreed sadly.

"Don't worry about it," Shiroi reassured him.

They both ended the call after a few more minutes. Juel turned on the radio trying to distract himself from his thoughts and worries. The station playing a song that he recognized.