The Call
When Tsubaki's name had popped up on the caller I.D, Emma had expected the girl to complain once more about the Kousei situation that she had finally managed to get her to admit. It was something they did quite often, Tsubaki spilling her guts about the quiet and timid boy, and Emma gushing in return about her crush on the loud and proud leader of team barefoot.
It had been a bit awkwards at first, even admitting it to herself had been complicated, considering the boy was one of her cousin's best friends. She loved Karl to pieces, of course, but she would never admit to the boy that she was falling rather hard for his teammate. That meant that Cat and Tsubaki had become her official councillors in the process of keeping her feelings a secret from literally everyone else she knew.
"Hey!" Emma answered with a smile as she walked home from shopping with her cousin. Karl gave her a questioning look, trying to ask her who she was talking to all of a sudden. Her smile dropped as she heard the tell-tale watery breath that meant the elder girl was not okay. "Tsubaki?"
"It's Kousei." She cried into the phone, and Emma nearly dropped her bags at how sudden the proclamation had been.
"I gathered as much." Emma hummed, but her voice was soothing, something that caught Karl completely off guard. "What's happened?"
"Kaori… She's passed." That was all the girl could get out before she was sobbing into the receiver, and all she needed to say for Emma's eyes to widen as she quickened her pace.
"Have you told Cat?" Emma asked, her mind already kicking into overdrive as she tried to think of everything that would need to be done in a short period of time. Her voice was still soft, providing a comfort and force for the woman, though her outward appearance showed the fear and anxiety that was starting to kick in. The panic was obvious on her face, as well as in the certain quickness in her steps as she sped on.
"No, no I didn't tell her yet." She answered after a moment.
"Then don't worry about that, I'll tell Cat when we've finished. How's Kousei taking it?"
"He's done it again." Tsubaki sobbed, and Emberlyn guessed that he was reacting the same way he had when his mother had died. In other words, that meant he was taking it bad, and that's an understatement. "He locked himself in that damn room, and hid under that piano of his. Oh, Emma. He's a mess."
"I'm sure." Emma responded, not unkindly, but knowing them all well enough to have guessed that he wouldn't take the news well. "You know I hate to ask this, but when did it happen?"
"The concert." Tsubaki whispered out, and Emma did drop the phone this time, hands flying to her mouth as the words hit her right in the gut. He hadn't been there? No, worse than that, he was playing the piano when it happened?
"Emma!" Karl shook her shoulder's violently, pulling her attention back to the real world, eyes locking on his as they searched for familiarity. It was something they had done often when they were younger, but something she hadn't needed to rely on in a fairly long time. "Breathe, Emma, Breathe."
She did, closing her eyes and focusing on her breath. Truth be told, she had no idea that she'd ever stopped breathing in the first place. When she had successfully regained her breath and balance, she picked her phone back up, seeing that Tsubaki had hung up at this point.
"What happened?" Karl asked as she stood, and the two exchanged a look again.
"We need to find Cat." Emberlyn managed to whisper out, and Karl nodded, allowing her to lean on him as he guided them to Andy's, which was the closest place they could go to drop things off. They dropped everything quickly, placing the bags in a pile on the floor of her living room, placing it in the corner so that she wouldn't be too mad at them. Once that was finished, he led her quickly through the busy streets of Shanghai, pulling her along to Cat's apartment.
"Cat." Emma called as she banged on the door, her beat growing steadily more frantic as the fingers of her other hand played with a few strands of her long hair that had fallen from her hair tie.
"I'm coming!" They heard the girl yell as her outline came through the glass of the front door. Emma dropped her hand, wrapping both arms around herself and bouncing nervously on her feet as she waited for Cat to open the door and invite them in. The older girl hadn't even finished moving out of the doorway when Emma's hand gripped onto her wrist tightly, pulling her attention. Her next words, however, caught the attention of both the older kids who had separate reactions for obvious reasons.
"Kaori's gone." Emma voiced, watching as Cat's eyes widened, her hand falling from the door as she looked at the younger with complete disbelief. Karl frowned, hugging his cousin tightly to his side as if to offer comfort about the girl's death, though he had no recollection of ever hearing that name. "Kousei's gone back into isolation."
Now that was a name the boy of the group could recognize, Cat's brother and his cousin's foreign friend. He'd heard a lot of stories about the great Kousei Arima, but had only met the boy a handful of times. Of course, he was the only member of Barefoot, other than Cat and Shawn, who knew the boy's past, after digging around during his first trip that involved his little Em's.
There weren't many things that activated his overprotective cousin mode, but there weren't many friends that Little Emma had and didn't at least mention to him. The two practically shared a friends group most of the time, with the exception of the infamous Riff, so a random friend just showing up out of nowhere had peaked his interest.
Riff was a special case though, as the blonde haired man had met Karl, but the two didn't exactly mix well. Both were a bit too showy, dramatic, and overconfident, Emma's protection being the small grey area that they agreed on when speaking to each other. He had thrown the whole of Barefoot for a loop when Emma befriended him. Even Shawn had been confused at how such a sweet girl could get mixed up in his brash and somewhat obnoxious plans at times.
Oh how he had cried during the Kitty-Cat phase, that man was a bad influence on his baby cousin.
He'd gotten lost in his mind though, and missed quite a portion of their conversation, only being pulled back in when he heard something about Japan.
"...Japan today, but we can fly out this weekend to make sure he's okay. It's about break time, so I just need to get Andy to come with us. Karl can cover for us with Barefoot, and I'll let Riff know we'll be out of the country later." Cat was crying now, and Karl was proud of his little cousin's initiative, comforting her best friend and speaking softly as if speaking too loud would break her further.
"W-will you… Will you stay w-with me ton-night." Cat managed to as between sobs, and Emma nodded her head.
"Of course. Whatever you need, but I'd have to go get my things from…"
"I'll get them." Karl offered, Emma's green eyes turned to him for a moment, and she seemed to be thinking for a moment. Emberlyn nodded to her cousin, mouthing a quick thank you to him before turning back to her tearful friend.
"We'll be there as soon as we can, Cat. Tsubaki and Watari will take good care of him until then, and he's still got Hiroko and little Koharu." Emma whispered, and Karl nodded to himself before setting off to collect her things for her. That meant he'd have too…
Travel to the Zhao family house… He really hadn't thought this through very well. Still, he pulled his own phone out and typed in the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" The person answered from the other side.
"Isaac! I need your help."
Sophie, Isaac, and Kyo were quick to arrive in front of Andy's house. Karl, who had asked Isaac and Kyo to come, was already waiting for them in the guestroom Emma had claimed during her parents month long business trip. They were due to leave tomorrow, but had dropped her off a week ago anyways. He never could understand his Aunt Claire and Uncle Erin with their stupid out of place discisions.
"Karl?" Andy called, drawing the boy's eyes to the door as all four stood there, watching him pack up his cousin's belongings.
"Great, you're all here. I need some help getting Em's stuff together." Karl said, pulling out another outfit and pushing it into the suitcase that was placed in her bed. "I've already taken care of her pajamas, and a few outfits. I still need jackets, something for her to do when she gets bored, Aunty can take care of her girl items for a week, but I need to go get her more toothpaste from her house."
"Wait, what's happening?" Andy asked, eyebrows raised as she watched her nephew pack.
"We're going to Japan for a bit to visit Cat's brother. You, me, Emma, and Cat. It's last minute but there was an emergency." Karl said, standing up and looking around for a minute before getting Emma's laptop and moving a pile of neatly folded clothes to place the laptop in the bottom.
"Cat has a brother?" Sophie asked, walking over to the bathroom to get a few things the Zhao girl would need. Karl smiled in thanks when she placed them in the bag as well.
"That really quiet guy Emma was hanging out with a few months back." Karl stated, throwing a jacket into the suitcase, not bothering to fold anymore. Sophie nodded, and started folding them anyways as Andy started pulling Emma's girl items from her top drawer and packing them for her.
"And we'll be gone for a week?" Andy reassured. "Because I can't really read Japanese well, you know."
"Just a week." Karl stated again.
"Great. How are we telling my little brothers and sisters?" Andy smirked as Karl stopped mid-step, looking at her in horror as it seemed to settle in his system.
"I forgot about that." He said, but didn't look too derailed. "You don't have to tell Aunt Claire and Uncle Erin, but I'll tell my parents when I go to pack. They left you in charge of Emma for the time being, so you shouldn't have to tell them about it.
"I'm not sure that's how it works, Karl." Andy said, but didn't object to not telling them. "I'll call Maria as well, she's staying over there right now, so we can stay with her."
"Already did." Karl assured, not halting in his packing.
"You did?!" Andy said, surprise coating her voice and face. Karl nodded his head and for the first time, they actually stopped to look at the boy. His face was set and determined, like he used to do when…
Like the one he'd had after comforting Emma when she had a night terror, completely focused but feeling powerless to help her. It broke Andy's heart to see when one of them got like this, but there was nothing anyone could do until they felt like they'd been on some help.
"She's gonna need a thicker jacket from her house, it gets a little colder in Japan than what she's used to, and I have no doubts that it'll rain."
Protective Cousin Mode had been activated.