Rowan → Ethan Nakamura ✔

Meant It

"I'll get her," Ethan held up a hand at Billie, who was about to follow Rowan. "You guys try and figure out a way back to Hong Kong."

"Is she going to be okay?" Billie's brows were furrowed with concern.

"Yeah. She just needs to cool off for a while – don't worry, she's not running away from us." Ethan added quickly, afraid they would get the wrong idea.

"She did this a lot when you guys were younger?" Will asked.

"Remember when I said she broke someone's arm and got us expelled?" Ethan said distractedly, already half-way out the pavilion. "It was a kid who was trying to keep her around. Ro was going to leave because she knew she couldn't help herself if she stayed."

Nico, Will and Billie shared a look of silent, stunned alarm. Ethan was too busy wondering where Rowan could be to care.

"Look, we'll find you once Ro's let out some steam."

"Alright," Will said. "Watch out for any more statues."

Ethan barely heard him. He waved a hand in absent-minded farewell, and then ran as fast as he could after Rowan.

Large spaces. Ro would be looking for large, flat, open spaces, preferably with easily destructible objects.

Without the statues, Haw Par Villa was more spacious. The trees lining the paths finally had room to breathe – their branches seemed to stretch, eager to reclaim the land they had been shoved out of and pushed to the side to make way for the attractions. Ethan passed a large white sign with red Chinese characters: Under Construction. No wonder the park was deserted.

He stopped in front of a map, inspecting it. Although it was all in Chinese, Ethan had no trouble – his ethnicity meant that he could speak Japanese, his nationality meant that he spoke Cantonese and Mandarin and could read Chinese, and he and Rowan had always spoken English to each other.

There. A white obsidian pillar in the middle of a green patch. It was close to the pavilions, and Rowan hadn't been gone long enough to get too far. Ethan headed in that direction. As he ran, he thought of the first and only time Rowan had lost control.

"Aw, she's mad!" A boy – taller than Ethan by a head with jutting front teeth – cackled. "Why are you mad, Ro-Ro?"

Rowan remained stoic. Ethan snarled in response. "Shut up. You're the one who should be mad – you've got teeth like a rat's."

Buckteeth Boy's face flushed pink. "Go away, Jap."

"Rat teeth, rat teeth," Ethan taunted, delighted with how Buckteeth's complexion grew steadily redder. "You're a rat!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are! Rat teeth means you're a rat!"

"Quiet, Jap," Another boy, already wider than a Buick at age twelve, snapped. "It was our ball first."

Ethan glared. "No, it wasn't, Pig Face."

Buick Boy bristled. "What did you call me?"

"Pig Face. Lard Ball. Grease Head." Ethan slung out nicknames like punches. He saw the damage from how Buick's neck went crimson. "Give us our ball back, Fatty."

"Shut up and go back to your own country!"

Ethan heard a sharp intake of breath from beside him and felt Rowan's fist fly out. He grabbed her wrist when it was halfway raised without look at her. Buckteeth flinched at the abrupt movement, and Ethan couldn't help but grin. "You scared?"