Page 31 of Psync
Eli let out a sigh of relief. That problem was sorted out, but depending on how far Haruka had been from him when he hung up, Eli might only have seconds to compose himself. He didn’t have time for his normal methods, so he went for an old, not entirely healthy, but tried-and-true method for feigning normality.
He dug a metal pencil sharpener out of his bag and squeezed it in his palm. Not hard enough to pierce the skin, but enough to give him something else to focus on other than the fantastic bit of evil his brain chemistry was concocting.
Chapter Twelve
Haruka
It had been a good morning, all things considered. He’d finally gotten to check in on Eli since his abrupt departure from the fair, which had been weighing on Haruka’s mind. Something about the kid kept tugging at him.
At first, it had been the clumsiness and those beautiful blue Bambi eyes. Both were impossible to ignore. But the intelligence and the obvious battle the boy was fighting had kept Haruka’s attention.
And there had been the other thing.
It took a lot to faze Haruka. In the gray, boring world he lived in, curious things might catch his attention briefly, but they inevitably faded into the grayness along with everything else.
The first time Haruka heard the voice, it was enough to capture his entire attention. The speech he’d prepared for orientation had escaped, and in its place was panic—a stranger’s panic. Someone nearby was terrified, and it struck Haruka like a fist to the gut.
It never occurred to him that it might have been his imagination—Haruka wasn’t imaginative. He dealt in absolutes, and the panic the voice radiated had been so strong, it was impossible for Haruka to believe it was anything other than real. He’d tried to find the person in the crowd, did his best to listen using whatever he’d used to hear them in the first place, but he couldn’t find them. All he had was a lingering sense that there was something he was missing.
Since that was normal for him, he decided to let it go. Until it happened again. And again. Over the next week, Haruka began to get used to the random stabs of panic flooding his system. Perhaps he should have been bothered by them, but he was more concerned with the person experiencing them firsthand.
He got his first clue it might be Eli when they’d shared a class together. The panic that flickered through Haruka as he watched Eli break down seemed tiny in comparison to what the poor boy was going through.
It might not have been Eli, though. Maybe somehow Haruka had tapped into panicking people in general and could hear everyone near him who was having their own personal crisis. But each incident seemed to have a flavor to it—something he couldn’t quite place.
Saturday at the club fair, Haruka had watched as Eli fell from the fence. Had seen Eli’s face when his friend had caught him at the exact same momentWrongwrongwronghad rung out inside Haruka’s chest.
It was obvious to him the boy didn’t want to be touched. Was his aversion enough to cause the panic Haruka had just felt?
He had to know. Was Eli the source of all the distraction in Haruka’s life? Or only the main one?
So, he’d spent the day with him. Haruka had followed Eli and observed him and his friends, and it hadn’t been what he’d expected.
Haruka wasn’t bored, nor was he mildly annoyed—something he had become accustomed to when spending a long period of time with a person. It had been . . . soothing.
Eli was nothing like the person he’d shown Haruka until then. He’d been as happy as a child, flitting from booth to booth, coming more and more out of his shell as the day progressed.
The hunched posture and hunted demeanor the boy wore like a second skin had vanished, and in its place was something Haruka could only describe as enchanting.
When Eli had written his name in calligraphy, Haruka couldn’t have left his side if he’d been told to.
But the voice stayed quiet, so that particular mystery was still unsolved.
Now Haruka had a new problem. He couldn’t stop thinking about Eli—or the way he attracted the gaze of other people. The more he’d blossomed by Haruka’s side, the more other people had noticed. Anxious Eli was beautiful, but cheerful, relaxed Eli was transcendent.
All of Sunday, Haruka had been restless. Eli had been upset when they’d parted—not with him. Haruka knew he’d done nothing wrong. He was fully capable of helping and protecting Eli if something happened, and—he suspected—so was Eli.
The boy was battling demons most people didn’t have to face, but he was also clearly capable of handling himself, even if he was accident-prone.
So, why was Haruka so uneasy about having Eli out of his sight? And why had it bothered him to see Eli acting so free with his roommate this morning? He’d seemed unfazed by the touch of the other boy, and it didn’t sit right with Haruka.
Haruka reached for his phone to text Eli about lunch when it happened.
Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrongwrong
Haruka nearly dropped his phone from the intensity of the voice.
Without thinking he called Eli and didn’t wait for the boy to speak. “Where are you?”
