Finally, after 3 weeks, Xuan could finally leave the medical center. It felt nice to be able to walk normal and not be shrouded in fluorescent while lights, even if his arms were still gaining their strength back.

"Don't worry about rides," Li had told him, "I'll drive you home."

It was October. The chill in the air was enough to let him know, but all the All Hallow's Eve decorations screamed it at his face.

"Are you coming to the All Hallow's Eve party tonight?" Li asked as he drove Xuan home.

"Maybe," He sighed, "It's just that, I'm still recovering."

"Don't worry," His friend winked at him, "I already called up the planners and got arrangements for extra comfy seating.

Xuan smiled thankfully.

"If you are going, are you still going as the phantom?"

"I couldn't get it in time," He sighed.

"Then how about one of your onesies?"

His face flushed red, "I-I only sleep in those."

Li chuckled at his embarrassment, raising an eyebrow, "Then are you just going to go as yourself? Oh, I know, you could go as your brother, that would freak people out."

"Cut it out!" He waved his fist at Li while giggling.

Li chuckled as he pulled into a parking spot near the dorms. He insisted he help Xuan to his room, which Xuan refused to admit was kinda helpful.

"Thanks," He told Li once at his apartment, "I can take care of myself now."

"Just call me if you need anything," Li went onto his phone and turned the ringer volume all the way up, "I'll be there as soon as possible."

"I'll be fine." Xuan reassured him.

Li sighed and waved to him and left. Once inside, he went straight to his bed and fell it.

"Gah, bed, I missed you." He purred into his pillows. He let his hair fall out of his braid, and threw one of his onesies, a red panda one, on. Since he had gotten injured, Raven gave him the 3 weeks he'd already taken off in the medical wing, plus two more days off, so he had a little more time to gain his energy back.

He was about to turn on the tv when he felt his phone buzz. He peered down at it, and jumped when he saw who it was.

'Yuuhime <3: Are you going to the All Hallow's Eve party? I was invited to go by a friend, but it would make my night if you were there too.'

He felt his cheeks redden. Now he felt obligated to go. But his rest time...

"Mmmmmm...." He groaned. He didn't want to disappoint Yuuhime. He checked them time; only two hours until the party. He grumbled a little.

'I'll be there! ( ^ω^)'

***

Li walked to Xuan's room. About 2 hours ago, he messaged him that he would be going to the party, which excited Li greatly. He'd been planning what they were going to do at the All Hallow's Eve party for months now, and he was planning on giving him and his other friends a night they'd never forget!

He knocked on Xuan's door. "Xuan, you ready?"

"Ah...!" He slowly opened the door. He wore a red panda onesie, it's hood over his head, "Mhm, yeah, I'm ready."

Li smiled and nodded, "I'm driving Suhua and Leora too, if that's fine by you."

"You know it. By the way, what are you going as?"

Li chuckled, with a smirk, "You'll see."

Xuan rolled his eyes with a smile, and the two of them went down to Li's car. In his car, Suhua was in one of the back seats while Leora waited in the front passenger seat. Xuan slipped into the back by Suhua and Li started up the car.

"What are you supposed to be?" He asked Leora.

"I'm a character from a book series I like," She explained, "I wanted to match with Elaine but she didn't wanna dress up."

"She's still coming?"

"Yeah, but she'll fit in with her black and grey outfit anyways."

Xuan chuckled a little, "What are you, Suhua?"

"I just put together a little masquerade costume," She explained, "It's honestly a little cheap, but it's ok."

"You look good," He complimented her. She smiled and thanked him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, looking him up and down.

"My arms are still healing, but everything else is way better."

"That's great! Don't forget to take your medicine." Suhua reminded him, "Put a reminder in your phone."

"I will, I will!"

Soon, they were at the party spot. Normally, it was a private party for just union members to wind down. This year was different, though. With the increase of Shadow Decree activity, there was a vote to decided how to handle the party this year, and almost everybody agreed to make the party public to hopefully attract some Shadow Decree members.

Li wasn't the happiest with this idea, to say the least. It was basically work disguised as a sweet party, and he really didn't want to multitask giving his friends an awesome night and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. Unfortunately, it wasn't just his say, so he would just have to suck it up.

"There's so many people!" Leora sighed, "I was hoping no one would want to come, go to their own parties."

"I can see where they're coming from," Xuan said thoughtfully, "It's a pretty much free party. Besides, it's a good idea for catching criminals."

"You're always in work mode...I doubt any Shadow Decree members will actually come." Li grunted.

"You never know." Xuan shrugged a little.

Once the four of them went in, they went their separate ways. Li looked around for Lewis. He knew he would be there by now, but there were so many people, he could hardly navigate the building. Xuan held onto his arm as to not get lost in all the people.

"Good grief..." Li grumbled when they finally found a space where people were less numerous.

"It's not so bad," His friend patted his back with a soft sigh, "At least-"

"Xuan!" They heard Yuuhime's voice, and they saw her sprinting over, Li Guang close behind her.

"Yuuhime! How are you?" Xuan smiled brightly at her.

Li couldn't help but feel amused whenever Xuan and Yuuhime were together. They almost reminded him of teenagers just barely learning to date.

"You're Li Ling, right?" Li Guang asked him, holding out her hand, "I'm Li Guang."

"Nice to meet you, Li Guang." Li shook her hand with a nod of his head.

"Hello again, Mr. Li Ling." Yuuhime waved her hand a little, "What's your costume?"

"Heh, heh, heh," Li smiled pridefully, "When the black lights turn on, you'll see."

"Ah," She nodded, "I'm a ghost. Oooo."

Xuan giggled at her, honestly, sad attempt at sounding like a ghost.

"Li Guang is a mountain climber." Yuuhime dramatically gestured at her friend.

"A very famous one," She said pridefully, "You probably know her."

"Mhm..." Li but his lip.

"Me and Li are looking for Lewis," He explained.

"We can help," Yuuhime offered.

"That'd be great!"

So they went looking for Lewis. Although, even though they went together, they somehow got separated. In other words, Li was alone.

"Hmph. It's fine, we're going back there anyways." He muttered to himself. He looked around for the flaming hair of Lewis, only to spot something more...purple.

"Ain't no way..." He muttered as he slowly descended into the mass of people.

***

"Did we lose Li?" Xuan groaned, trying his best to se above the sea of heads.

"Yeah..." Yuuhime said. All her arms were out, two holding onto Li Guang and Xuan respectively, "I tried to keep a grip on him, but I wasn't able to..."

"It's fine," He reassured her, "Here, let's go somewhere less crowded."

"Glad to see you here, Tang Xuan," He looked around and saw Raven, looking quite annoyed.

"Raven?"

"Mhm. You look lost."

"We lost Li Ling."

"I see. Do you need to get away from everyone?"

"Yes, it's impossible to move around in here!"

She nodded and led them to a door, which she unlocked with a key. Walking in, he saw many of his coworkers.

"Eh?" He looked around, "What is this??"

"It's the actual party," Raven explained, "We're still keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, but it's easier in here with cameras."

"Woooooow!" Li Gaung stared at the room in awe, "Is that- and is that!!- oh my stars!!"

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Xuan asked Raven.

"You didn't think you'd be able to come."

"Touché."

"No-"

"Anyways, where's the cameras? I need to find Li Ling."

"He's on outside duty," Raven explained, "He's watching for suspicions activity out there, so we can catch things the cameras can't."

He huffed, "So that jerk just wanted a buddy!"

"...yes, but he would of had Lewis if he wasn't late."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, but he's busy right now." Raven looked over her shoulder, "Your...friends seem to be liking it in here, though."

Yuuhime had already gotten a giant bowl of ice cream and was trying her best now to down it quickly. Li Guang, on the other hand, was exploring the whole area, saying hello to anyone she knew.

"Xuan," Yuuhime grabbed his sleeves lightly, "Come see this."

Raven raised her eyebrows at the black haired girl, seeming to examine her, but didn't say anything.

Xuan was led to a balcony, where he was stunned by the view he saw. The sky was so clear that night, that the stars shone in a beautiful array of light, each smiling down on the two.

"Wow..." Xuan whispered, staring into the night sky with wonder and amazement.

Yuuhime silently ate her ice cream, and looked over at the other. He looked back.

"The stars really capture the color in your eyes," He whispered.

Her cheeks reddened, "They compliment yours."

His cheeks reddened, too.

They stood staring at each other for a long time. Or, at least, Xuan thought it was a long time. Maybe it was just a second. Maybe it was a minute; he couldn't tell. He didn't want to tell. He wanted to stay here for the rest of the night, staring at her beautiful, green eyes.

"Hey, hello?" Xuan snapped his head around and saw Chang Pu.

"Sorry! Did I disturb you?"

"No!" They both said, embarrassed looks on both their faces.

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry," She shook her head, "I didn't mean to!"

"It's ok, it's fine!" Xuan reassured her, "Hah, sorry for yelling."

"Mmm..." The young girl looked at Xuan then Yuuhime, "I'll be gone soon, I swear."

She held a bouquet of flowers, red and orange. Xuan noticed one of the orange flowers bent sadly, which was a shame, as it was the most vibrant of them all.

"I'm just putting these outside for some fresh air," Chang Pu explained, "It was getting kinda hot in there."

"I see, good on you." Xuan nodded. Yuuhime clearly wanted to get out of that situation, and her escape came when Li Guang came running out.

"Hey! We're starting a game, if you guys wanna join." She hopped up and down, impatiently waiting for a response.

"I'm in," Xuan said, and Yuuhime agreed with a nod of her head.

"Yay! Hurry in!"

Inside, he saw that Kaylee, Arcana, Brynn, Q, and Lucas sitting in a circle on the ground, an open space for the remaining for the three coming over.

"What are we playing?" Yuuhime asked as she sat down.

"Mafia," Li Guang said, "I'll explain real fast."

"Hehe," Kaylee leaned in closer to Xuan, "What were you and that goth chick doing out there?"

"Eh?" His cheeks went red, "Just, just talking. That's it!"

"Just talking?" Arcana chimed in, a look of doubt on his face, "Didn't seem like it to me, you stopped talking."

"Alright! We're ready!" Li Guang announced. "I'll be the narrator first! Everybody, close your eyes."

***

Two rounds in, and Lucas and Brynn had been killed. Li Guang had to hush Lucas many times so he wouldn't accidentally reveal the identities of everyone.

"Ok, everyone! 'Wake up'," Li Guang said.

All the remaining players opened their eyes.

"Alright, listen up! Late one night, Tang Xuan was on his way home from work when suddenly, a hole opened up beneath him!"

A dramatically comedic gasp echoed from the ground.

"Nooooo," Tang Xuan sniffed dramatically.

"But!" Li Guang raised her fist up high, "The detective found out who the mafia who opened the hole was and pushed her in too!"

"But I'm not done yet! The angel saved Tang Xuan."

"So the mafia loses?" Kaylee asked.

"Yes. It was Yuuhime!"

Yuuhime giggled, "That was fun."

"You're a good mafia," Lucas said, giving a thumbs up. Yuuhime thanked him, and smiled at Xuan.

"It was fun," He nodded.

"Mona would have had a blast," Arcana sighed.

"I'm sure she would have," Kaylee stood up, "Hey, but don't worry too much about her. She's a tough girl, she'll be ok. I'm sure of it!

He gave her a small smile.

"Look at the time!" Li Guang gasped, "The costume contest is gonna happen any minute! Let's go, Yuuhime!"

***

Li crept around the corner. He knew it was Yun now. Drat, he wasn't able to give his friends a good time, let alone even find Lewis, and now this!

The little brat was good at evading him, slipping in and out of small spaces Li couldn't even fit his torso through. But now, he was heading down a blocked off alleyway.

"Got nowhere else to run now," Li sneered. Yun folded his arms.

"You just love making my life harder, don't you?" The smaller one snapped.

"You did that to yourself," The larger shrugged, still sneering at the nasty Yun in front of him. The purple haired Esper growled at him, lunging at Li.

Li luckily dodged, throwing a jab at Yun's face, who blocked it with a quick flick of his metal staff. He then jumped onto a nearby pole, which wilted under his weight, and sent two shadow clones Li's way. Li swung at the clones, knocking them back only for them to hop right back on him.

Yun jumped up onto a higher ledge, grabbing onto a window ledge. He peered down, deciding what his next course of action should be.

"Get back down here and fight me!" Li threw his weapon at Yun, who had no way of dodging it, and fell down. Li grabbed Yun by the collar and pinned him against the wall roughly, undercutting his stomach.

"Now tell me why you're here," Li growled. Yun stayed silent, simply glaring at the larger Esper holding him.

"Not gonna talk?" He growled. He was about to give him another punch when he heard a car door open and then a thump on the ground. Glancing over, he was shocked to see a body laying on the ground just outside the alleyway.

"OW!" Li felt a hard impact to his crotch. He groaned as Yun slipped away.

Li cursed, then looked over at the body.

***

Yuuhime and Li Guang sat on a soft couch. Yuuhime continued to eat ice cream, hoping desperately that she wouldn't have to pay anything for it.

"So, Xuan." Li Guang asked her friend, her eyes shining with anticipation.

"Yeah..?" Yuuhime paused her ice cream eating to listen to Li Guang.

"It's not that I don't trust him, but-"

"But?" She didn't mean to have that much ice in her voice.

"Calm down! I just want to hang out with him for a day. If one of my friends is going to date, I wanna make sure their partner is everything they think!"

Yuuhime raised an eyebrow, "So you don't trust him?"

"No! I do, it's just I want to examine his character."

"Like a specimen?"

"Eh?"

"...never mind."

They suddenly heard a commotion. Li Guang shot up, Yuuhime following.

"Oh my goodness...!"

"Mona! Mona! Is she ok?!"

"Give her room!" Suhua ordered everyone, and started to examine and patch up the beat up Mona.

Yuuhime peered over everyone's shoulders and noticed that Mona's injuries were similar to Xuan's, from three weeks ago; burns up her arms and legs, and her hair was a mess.

"Where's Xuan?" Li looked around, "I need to talk to him now."

"He's outside with Chang Pu," Q said, pointing to a balcony, "Looking at flowers or something."

Li ran out. Yuuhime watched, but her gaze returned to Mona. More specifically, the burns along her arms and legs, the burns that were like Xuan's.

'What does it mean?'