"So, how was Posiden Coffee?" Kay asked as he wiped the windows for cleaning period.
"It was good, we had the Cream Strawberry Burst and some Black Forest cake and it was actually quite good, the price wasn't so bad too," Iori made sure that the tables were aligned with a metre ruler. "Also, guess who we saw there."
"Like I'd know," Kay snorted before turning to him. "Who?"
"Your unrelated twin," Iori smirked. "That Najud girl."
"It's Najd, by the way."
"Whatever, we saw her. She came with her aunt, who looks exactly like her. Aiko said the only difference was the fact that she was older."
Kay stopped spraying water midway and turned towards Iori, a panicked look on his face. "Looked like her but older?"
"Yeah, but Aiko said she had a different eye colour," Iori nodded, pushing a table forward with his knee. "Why do you ask?"
"Does this woman look just like me?" Kay asked, earning Iori's look of surprise. "What colour were her eyes? Were they blue?"
"I'm not sure, Aiko didn't say," Iori shrugged. "Maybe they were green or something."
"I'll have to ask her about it," Kay concluded seriously before turning back to the windows.
Iori sighed. "You think she might be your mother?"
"Not really my mother, but at least a relative would be nice," Kay explained, spraying some water onto the plate glass. "My mother was adopted, we're not sure if she was abandoned or kidnapped." He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Knowing that someone in my mother's form still lives is at least better than nothing, not as good as having her with us, but it's something. Zayn longs for Mom the most, though he doesn't really show it, since he can't remember her at all."
"Well, I guess I understand how he feels," Iori admitted. "My mother died at childbirth. So I don't have any memories of her too. Sometimes I wish that she survived at least two minutes after giving birth to me. Maybe my brain would've stored her loving face in some corner of my mind."
"Zayn wishes that too, though he saw her for a whole year," Kay said. "He still doesn't remember much of her, he was much too young."
"Poor guy..." Iori sympathised.
"My father still wishes that she wasn't in the car when it exploded," Kay sighed. "However wild the theory is, I don't care. There's still a chance, though slim, for her to come back."
Iori nodded, a slight smile on his face. How he wished he could conclude a similar theory for his own mother and Aiko's.
Kay stopped Najd in the corridor as soon as she exited the class to go downstairs after school.
"Oh, hi, Kay," Najd greeted him with a small smile.
"My friend said he saw you at the coffee shop last night," Kay said. "And he said you brought an aunt."
"Yeah, she's very close to me, why are you asking?" Najd asked as she adjusted her bag.
"What colour are her eyes?" Kay asked. "My friend said she looked exactly like you with a different eye colour. What colour are they? Blue?"
Najd gave him a funny look. "That's... that's not for you to know. And even if they are blue, what's in it for you?"
"That might mean she's a relative of my mother," Kay sighed. "Did your family lose any of their daughters back in the seventies? My mom was found and raised by my Irish grandparents, we still have no clue of her biological family. Could it be you guys?"
Najd averted her gaze. "I... I'm not sure about that. My grandparents are long gone, there's no way I can ask them."
Kay didn't know how to respond and just gave her a nod before bidding farewell and walking away. How could he pester her now? After knowing that there was no way for her to even ask her grandparents about an unknown aunt?
He just sighed and made his way downstairs.
Kyo and the other members of the Band Club were overjoyed to find that the KOF Musicale had been postponed to mid January instead. But they still had to prepare for the prize-giving event that came a few days before the year-end holidays.
"At least it's not that big an event," Kyo grinned as he informed the rest. "Yagami, do you think we can manage a few new songs by then?"
Iori shrugged. "Sure. Everyone has the scores for Mayonaka Down Town and Sunny, right? We need to practice the ones with the singing vocals since the choir will be joining us. I've spoken with the Choir Club's president and they have agreed to practice with us next month onwards."
"Will we be playing those songs for the Musicale as well?" Aiko raised her hand and asked.
Iori nodded. "Of course we will. Those are masterpieces, we can't just play them only for a small event, right?"
Yashiro raised his hand next. "What about Silent Screamer?"
"We're saving that for the Musicale," Iori replied. "Because we have three songs already for the prize-giving."
"Actually, four," Kyo cut in. "Terry-san has agreed for us to play Cool Jamming on the Moon."
Iori lit up in surprise. "He has? That's amazing!"
Aiko started clapping cheerfully too, much to Takeru's surprise. No one actually knew what was to celebrate about it but silently waited, some even smiling.
"Everyone, our president and his sister are the writers of the song called Cool Jamming on the Moon," Kyo explained with a smile. "So that's why they're really happy. We're working with Terry-san to arrange the song for all of us to play accordingly."
"You wrote that song?" Takeru asked Aiko in surprise.
Aiko nodded vigorously, a wide grin on her face. Takeru realised that there was a lot more that he didn't know of her. He caught Iori glaring at him and immediately turned his attention to the sheet music. Yashiro glared daggers at Iori from where he sat.
Rock noticed that Kay was silent throughout the meeting, having a distant look on his face as each group presented an alternative ending for a Disney movie.
"Ariel asks her father to help give her legs instead of asking Ursula, and her father happily agrees and gives his blessings for her to pursue Eric," the member of the third group presented with a cheeky grin on his face. "And so she does, she somehow gets herself into the castle since he recognises her for the woman who saved him from drowning."
"Then one day, Ariel sneaks into his room when he wasn't around to see what she can get to impress him," another girl of the same group continued. "She finds a box with a bunch of pictures of other girls which he previously dated. She realised that they were all victims of a serial killer."
"The serial killer is Eric," the boy took over again, his grin growing a little wider. "Ariel realises that she is the next targeted victim and immediately went to her father for help. King Tritone agrees to take him down and turns Eric into a fish which they both fry and eat! The end."
Rock burst into laughter at the brutal yet comical ending. He turned to Kay and pointed at them. "That's a fun ending, don't you think?"
"Huh?" Kay said, not really understanding or concentrating on the presentations.
Rock sighed. "Kay, did you not hear the presentation at all?"
"I did," Kay quickly said, attempting a small smile. "It was fun, Sleeping Beauty, right?"
Rock didn't respond to him and thanked the group before calling the next one. He turned to Kay and shook his shoulder slightly. "Kay, are you alright? You don't seem very... good."
"I'm fine, just confused and I feel horrible for asking someone about a relative they may or may not have and finding out that they have lost the two people who might know the answer," Kay blurted out. "I'm so confused right now."
"What exactly happened?" Rock asked.
"Well, it's a long story, one that concerns my mother," Kay sighed. "I don't know if she's dead or alive, though we sort of have proof that she is indeed dead. But said proof can also point to my mother being alive."
Rock gave him a slight smile. "Reminds me of my own mother. I once had an unreliable source inform me that she's still alive. I don't know if I should believe it or ignore it."
"Either way, it's just gonna unfold itself in the future so I guess all we have to do is wait."
"That's the only thing I can do now too," Rock agreed with a smile.