Star Eater
Chapter Thirty-Four

Cole turned onto Sunset Boulevard and drove slowly past the mark. It was ironic that the jewelry store the daemon chose was the one Kai had broken into so many years ago. He and his mother had actually visited the store earlier that day, because she had wanted a new necklace for a charity ball. Akuma had commented that the twinkling of the gems reminded him of the distant stars. The next morning, Kai had woken to a frantic store manager and a bewildered police officer trying to figure out how a seven-year-old had broken in without tripping the alarms.

In the passenger seat, Kai fidgeted with his gloves. The suit was restrictive, the black clothes on top were heavy, and he was hot—sweating in fact. Plus, he felt a little ridiculous. He was wearing a costume. They’d given him a mask too. If he had a cape, he’d look straight out of a B-rated superhero movie. The problem was he was the bad guy.

The daemons weren’t messing around. They’d even provided Kai with soft leather acrobat’s shoes so that he could climb if he wanted. Personally, Kai thought it was a little racist. Despite his ancestry, he wasn’t a fucking ninja.

Yeah, you’re not Naruto, Akuma said, referring to one of Kai’s favorite manga.

Kai snorted to himself and he felt Cole glance over at him, which he ignored.

Naruto did have a demon inside of him, Kai pointed out.

It was a fox demon, Akuma said. Totally different.

Kai might have laughed but Cole pulled the car into a bar parking lot.

“You’re up,” he said. “The shop is a block that way. Remember you can take whatever you want, but I’d pick something worth stealing.” He handed Kai a velvet bag. “Keep your mask in your pocket until you get closer.”

“Thanks,” Kai muttered and hopped out.

The parking lot was crowded with drunk twenty-somethings stumbling around. It was one-thirty in the morning, almost last call, and a steady crowd throbbed in the street. Kai got his bearings. They were in Silver Lake. A few late-night restaurants and diners were going strong. Music pulsed from one of the clubs half a block down and the 7Eleven sign acted like a nonstop beacon for all drunk and high munchies needs. It was nice to see so much electricity again.

Most of the storefronts were closed and dark, but the street itself was alive with crowds. No one glanced his way, and Kai wove through the cars back towards the jewelry shop. He paused in the doorway of a closed bakery, watching the crowded streets as he stepped back into the shadows. When he was sure no one was looking his way, he phased back through the doorway. Phasing out continued to feel strange in the suit, and he panicked halfway through. Akuma steadied him, the demon’s cold power filling him from the inside and cooling him off. On the other side, Kai phased back in.

He studied the interior, anxiously for security cameras but found none. The fridges were dark but hummed, indicating he hadn’t knocked out the power. Good. For a second, Kai spied all sorts of delights, including bear claws, and was distracted. If he wasn’t in the middle of a dangerous mission, he’d definitely stop to eat.

There’s always time for bear claws, Akuma thought.

They’re a day old, Kai said. The demon didn’t see that as a problem.

Kai took off his shirt and folded it. He placed the shirt on the counter neatly. He unzipped the suit, slipped out of the arms, and tied them around his waist. Kai wasn’t going to take the chance of getting caught on camera. He only hoped that leaving the suit half on made the radius of his effect smaller and therefore less noticeable to the authorities but still effective against nearby cameras. Bare chested, he felt even more ridiculous. Luckily, no one was around to see him.

Mason could be Naruto, Akuma said out of nowhere.

Kai was aware the demon was trying to distract him from his nervousness and he was grateful.

He’s too grim, Kai thought. More of a Sasuke.

It took him no more than seven minutes to phase in and out of the shops along the street. As he went, Akuma kept up the banter about manga.

I think you’re more of a Bleach kind of character, the demon said.

I do not have orange hair and that kid is an actual ninja, Kai pointed out. Besides, unless you’re a death god and have been holding out on me we are not like the Bleach character. If anything, we’re more like D.N. Angel.

Except that that kid has a phantom art thief inside of him, Akuma argued. And I am not some cheap magical artifact.

Kai found Akuma’s sense of offense at this comparison somewhat hilarious given the circumstances.

I don’t think I realized how closely you pay attention to my manga, Kai thought.

Well, it’s interesting, Akuma defended.

In that moment, Kai realized they were going to be okay. He was still hurt and horrified at Akuma’s actions. He wasn’t sure he was ever going to get over it. But as the demon had said so many times, they were always going to be together. He just needed to figure out how to live from here on out.

Kai thought of Link and what had stopped him from running away. He hadn’t been trying to be profound but the question of the future, of what Link wanted in his future, had made him press pause on running away. Kai decided that if they did manage to extricate themselves from the complicated mess Akuma had landed them in, he would figure out what he wanted. He knew he was going to have to deal with his parents. Things had to change there. He was tired of pretending that their family dynamic, or lack thereof, was okay. And he was tired of being treated like a broken doll.

As he thought this, he phased through a wall into the jewelry store. He glanced around, double-checking to make sure there were no guards, then checked that the motion detectors, lasers, and cameras were dead. As he penetrated the building and no alarms rang out, Kai sighed with relief.

The jewelry store cases were organized by stone color, type, and gender. There was one case with men’s watches and rings. A case composed of entirely chocolate diamond jewelry. And, of course, the engagement ring case Kai had fallen asleep on so many years ago.

The boy and his demon took all this in with a sweeping glance. Then, Kai reached through the glass in the nearest case and touched a diamond necklace with three strings of stones and a sapphire pendant at its center. Akuma’s essence spread out over the necklace and it phased out. As he picked it up and slipped it into the velvet bag, Kai couldn’t decide who wanted to finish this more quickly. Akuma asked him what the phantom thief from the manga would grab and Kai grinned.

He decided to make it into a game, choosing items based solely on how closely they resembled pictures of jewels he’d seen in his manga. The stolen jewelry glittered like tiny stars before disappearing into his black velvet bag. When the bag was heavy, Kai stuffed it down into the small of his back inside the suit and headed back through the wall he’d entered from.

He went all the way back down the block towards the bakery. There he slipped the suit fully on. He didn’t wait until the refrigerators hummed back to life before breaking out onto the street. He just hoped that they turned back on. Even day-old bear claws seemed a waste. The traffic cameras made him cautious.

Before breaking back out onto the street, Kai checked his clothes. Satisfied his non-suspicious entirely black outfit was in place, he walked through the door and back into the shadows of the darkened doorway.

Again Kai waited, watching the street until a loud crowd of kids walked by. Kai slid into the edge of the group, blending in until they got to a corner. There he continued across the street, hands shoved in his pockets and his face down. When the cop started calling out to him, Kai didn’t even realize he was being spoken to.

“Hey,” the cop shouted, closer.

Kai’s head snapped up as the authoritative voice filtered in. He focused on the blue uniform and felt the cold stirrings of dread. Don’t kill him, Akuma. Don’t kill him, don’t kill him.

“Yes, officer?” Kai asked, terrified. Did Homeland have pictures of him?

“Aren’t you a little young to be out this late at night?” the cop demanded.

“Uh, yes, sir,” Kai agreed, immediately.

“Well, why are you out then?”

Kai searched for inspiration, and saw a sign over the cop’s shoulder with a band name he didn’t recognize. People flooded out of the club, obviously fresh from a concert. Kai’s liar’s instincts seized on it like a flotation device in a sea of bullshit.

“My brother brought me to a concert,” Kai said. “I had to beg my parents and they said since it’s my favorite band since, like, fourth grade, I could go. It just let out and I was grabbing some water,” Kai pointed at the 7Eleven, “before we went home.”

The cop glanced around. “Where’s your brother?”

Kai pointed to the sleek expensive car where Cole waited. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t have any choice. The cop walked him over, all but putting his hand on Kai’s shoulder. Kai prayed the cop didn’t touch him. Although Akuma seemed to be controlling himself, the demon would not take kindly to a stranger touching Kai. As it was, Akuma was tightly coiled around the star, vibrating with readiness. He was a tiger in the brush. The cop didn’t know he was being stalked.

The officer tapped on the glass with the butt of his flashlight and Cole rolled down the windows. The daemon glanced at Kai without any sense of alarm, while Kai’s heart pounded out of his ears. They looked nothing alike. Even take away Kai’s half-Asian ancestry, his hair was dark and his eyes were hazel whereas Cole’s hair was medium brown and his eyes blue. Their facial structure was completely different. Kai’s stomach sank as he realized his liar’s instincts may have failed them in their biggest moment of need.

“Evening, officer,” Cole said. “Is there a problem? Was my little brother doing something wrong?”

Kai almost fell down he was so relieved when Cole said it.

Daemons have good hearing, Akuma reminded him.

The cop looked at Cole askance and then back at Kai, the physical differences all too obvious. But then, this was L.A. so the cop shrugged to himself as if to say, ‘whatever.’

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong. But you shouldn’t be letting him wander around with these fools out,” the cop gestured at a group of college kids who were pushing each other drunk and rowdy around the parking lot. “He’s too young. Get him home.”

“Yes, sir,” Cole agreed, and gestured for Kai to get in the car. Kai quickly obeyed.

“Have a good night,” Cole said, but the cop was already yelling at the college kids to calm the hell down.

Cole rolled the window back up. He turned the key and the engine sputtered. Cole narrowed his eyes at Kai. Kai saw the cop’s body angle towards them again. He fumbled through his shirt, trying to grab the zipper. He managed to get it and yank it all the way up. Cole tried the key again, and the engine turned over with a purring rumble.

Cole put the car into gear and drove out of the parking lot. “Did you do it?” he asked, a few blocks later.

“Yes,” Kai said.

They drove the rest of the way in silence, but Cole didn’t take him back to the store. Instead, they pulled up to a walled-in compound that looked like it should be featured on Hollywood’s Famous Homes tour. Kai’s stomach sank into the floor.