Katsuo glided in on his red bike and stopped at the feet of the one-eyed man. He took his mask off in a sign of intimidation. Hikari thought it was more foolish than anything.

  “Nice to see you again, cue ball. Tell the big boss I say hi,” Katsuo teased. The One-eyed man was not amused. Hikari couldn’t recall a time he ever saw an expression other than his straight brow and rigid lip. Although they always tried to intimidate, there seemed to be an extra dose of animosity in the air. For once, Hikari was glad the whole gang tagged along behind their leader.

  The man nodded and the extra muscle behind him unloaded the truck which carried the cylindrical containers of Glow. Katsuo calculated as they unloaded. Hikari was also following along. They stopped unloading before they should’ve. Something was off.

  “Hey, you think I can’t count? You’re short,” Katsuo accused. The One-eyed man turned his massive shoulders toward the gang leader. Hikari gripped the hilt of the kunai knife that was strapped to his belt. The men behind the One-eyed man carried large EM rifles. Hikari had never been hit by one of those and he wasn’t trying to. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

  “This is all the big boss ordered. Neon production is down this season,” the man explained. His gruff voice wasn’t inviting dispute.

  “My distributors don’t care if production is down or not, we have a market to supply!” Katsuo stepped forward with his chest puffed out. “You better not be going behind our backs. If I find out the Reapers are involved in this, I’ll-”

  “You’ll what?” The One-eyed man threatened. He towered over the teenager. Katsuo was forced to back off. The guards held the EM rifles closer. Hikari tightened his grip on the knife. Smog and tension filled the air.

  “Why don’t we meet with the boss and talk it out like adults. I may be young, but you’ll find we’re quite convincing,” Katsuo said with a wry smile.

  “There’s nothing to discuss,” the One-eyed man said. “The boss doesn’t care to meet you, so I suggest you take what you have and do what you’re paid for while your head is still attached to your body.” The hulking man stood over Katsuo once more, his sneer twice as powerful with only half the eyes. For a moment, Katsuo didn't back down and held the stare. Hikari slowly unsheathed the knife.

  But then the Sonic Pulse Crew witnessed a rare moment of Katsuo biting his tongue and conceding the upper hand. The knife quietly slid back into its sheath.

  Katsuo's face didn’t spell out surrender to Hikari. His ability to read Katsuo was better than anyone else in the gang. It looked more like he had had an idea. An idea that made Hikari more nervous than the One-eyed man did.

  The containers were loaded onto the back of the Lite-bikes. Katsuo gave the One-eyed a cheeky salute.

  “Until next time, cue ball,” he said. He revved his engine extra loudly and took off down the strip. The rest of the crew followed. The One-eyed man watched as the young runners drifted back into the night.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  They reconvened on the street corner down the road on the border of sector 20 and 21. There were Glowheads in the gutter in front of dilapidated slums. They made a large circle around Katsuo, waiting to see what their leader would say. Lately, these types of decisions were made independently of Hikari’s input. However, he felt a read on Katsuo would be necessary to see how they were going to work themselves out of this serious bind. Hikari dismounted from his bike and met Katsuo in the center of the circle. At this, the other sub-group leaders approached the center. These leaders were in charge of guiding a small group of runners to different designated sectors in all directions. They were Katsuo’s most trusted and experienced members.

  “We’ve never been short handed before. I don’t think they’ll be so forgiving,” said Michi. His beady eyes shifted around the circle as he fidgeted with his massive ring.

  “I say screw ‘em. Let’s distribute by ourselves,” Jiro proclaimed. His deep baritone voice carried outside the circle and they heard some cheers of approval from the rest of the Sonics. “The Reapers are out there right now with our Glow, selling on their blocks!” Hikari felt beads of sweat roll down his chin down the inside of his mask. He spoke close to Katsuo’s ear so no one else could hear.

  “We need to be careful about our next move here,” he urged. “We don’t know that the Reapers have any of our product. Making a move on them would just result in a war that we can’t afford right now.” Katsuo considered his options.

  “Why don’t you share with the group,” Jiro barked. “You’re telling him to wuss out as usual!” Hikari couldn’t be bothered to fight back. He just hoped that his message got through to Katsuo. The Sonics were very young at the moment. There was no one older than twenty still in the gang. Their bigger, older members had all been picked up by the APF in their recent crackdown on gangs over the past year. Money was low, they had recently lost a corner and were being pushed out of sector 18 which they had held for as long as Hikari had been there. A key alliance with the Chrome Ghosts was the only thing keeping them from going under completely. But in doing that, they also made enemies with the Eastside Eels, which could cause problems in the future. And now this.

  Katsuo turned to the last subgroup leader who hadn’t spoken yet, Chihiro. He had a shaved head and didn’t speak up very often. He stood leaning against his bike with his arms crossed. Instead of offering his input, he simply nodded at their leader. Katsuo noted this nod and calibrated his official stance. He adjusted his bandana and furrowed his brow. The subgroup leaders were dismissed and Hikari could tell he wouldn’t like the decision. After Jiro, Chihiro, and Michi left, Hikari stayed to plead further.

  “Katsuo, please think this over carefully-”

  “You don’t trust me?” When Katsuo asked questions like this, they weren’t rhetorical. It was critical to answer them correctly. Hikari hadn’t been on the receiving end of one of these questions in many years.

  “This is just a tough situation.” Katsuo’s expression didn’t change. Wrong answer.

  “Why don’t you head back to Yoshi’s. I’ll take care of this,” he said as he turned away from Hikari. He mounted his bike and faced the rest of the gang. Hikari shuffled back to his own bike, Katsuo’s words replaying in his head. “We are going to make our deliveries as normal,” Katsuo announced to the group. He was met with confusion and some disapproval. “When they ask you why we’re short, say there was a slight hiccup on production’s end and the rest of the load will be in soon. We’ll not lose our reputation over this.” He held his fist above his head and the engines roared to life. Katsuo’s words always healed moods. But Hikari was left wondering what he was planning. By the look on his face and the ambiguity of his plan, there was more to come. More that they couldn’t afford.