Hey
I'm back with Chapter 5.
As always any feedback you can give is appreciated but not expected.
Anyway I hope you enjoy xx
Chapter 5
After they'd all eaten dinner together, Kai had helped Liana back to the medical department whilst the rest of the team had walked Kiyoko and Alyssa home. Kiyoko hadn't wanted to leave Liana even after she'd promised she would be home the next day. It had taken Kai agreeing to stay with Liana for Kiyoko to finally relent and go home. Needless to say, everyone had found it hilarious.
Kai had stayed with Liana as promised though, keeping a watchful eye on her through the night. When she'd woken in the morning and given the 'all clear', as well as instructions to rest, Kai walked her home. On the way they'd talked about Kiyoko mostly but she'd also explained about the event Alastair had mentioned was happening this weekend. Alastair had created it as a way of letting the customer's celebrate her and Alyssa's birthday with them and give them a weekend off.
Since that day, they hadn't seen the girls but they'd kept in contact with them. Liana had taken the bandages off as soon as Kai had left after walking her home and was on 'house arrest' as she called it. Alyssa was doing ok but she'd clearly been shaken up by what had happened with Liana because she'd been keeping an extremely close eye on Liana and driving her crazy. Or so Kiyoko had told kai after 'borrowing' Liana's phone to stay in contact.
The team in the meantime had been keeping busy by training mostly. Kenny hadn't made an appearance since presentation, choosing to stay at the headquarters to work with Judy and the team, going through everything they'd done in the last 4 years. It sounded like he was having the time of his life so none of them had interfered.
Friday came by slowly and the girls had been unreachable all day which they boys assumed was due to setting up the club for the night. Ray and Kai had decided to head to the shops to buy them a present each since Kiyoko had sent them ideas from Alastair's phone. They weren't having much luck deciding what to get and were roaming the shops in general when someone ran into the back of Kai and little arms went around him. Ray just chuckled as Kai twisted to see it was Kiyoko.
"Hi," she smiled.
"You're not here alone are you?" Kai asked with a smirk.
"No Grampa brought me," she answered, "But I kinda lost him. And then I saw you two. Are you out getting Liana and Alyssa a present?"
Kai notice Ray trying not to laugh even more than he already was as e pulled out his phone, but chose to ignore him and crouch down in front of the girl. Clearly Ray had also caught on to as easily as he did at the demonstration.
"We are but we might still need help," Kai answered, "Think your Grampa will let you help?"
"As long as I promise not to run off," Kiyoko stated.
"Well Grampa said to wait here for now," Ray confirmed, "Did he bring you out to get presents?"
"Yeah, we picked up Alyssa's but we still need to get something for Liana."
"What did you get Alyssa?" Kai asked.
"Personalised blanket with family photo's," Kiyoko cheered making them chuckle.
"What do you think we can get her?" Ray asked.
"I saw a necklace with a jade pendant you could get her. She used to tell me stories about her mom always buying her something in Jade when she visited China. She won't let any of us buy something like that but if it's you, she'll let you get away with it."
Before they could ask about Liana's, Stanley finally found them, looking relived when he saw Kiyoko.
"You young lady almost gave me a heart attack," Stanley informed.
"Sorry Grampa Stan," she stated.
"It's fine. You're lucky you ran into Kai and Ray," Stanley said, "What are you boys doing here?"
"Gifts for Alyssa and Liana," Ray answered.
"Ah well then you've got the best helper in Kiyoko," Stanley chuckled.
"Mind if we kidnap her for a bit?" Kai asked.
"Only if you bring her back," Stanley chuckled, "I'm going to the café I saw across the street. Come find me there after."
"Time to go present hunting then," Ray said as Kai picked up a giggling Kiyoko.
With Kiyoko helping them, they were able to find presents for the 2 women quickly and even helped Kiyoko pick something out for Liana, making sure she had everything to go with it. When they got back to Stanley, he'd treated them all to drinks and also dropped them home. They'd only been home an hour when they receive a message from Stanley, thanking them for helping Kiyoko as well as messages from the girls thanking them for keeping Kiyoko amused and helping Stanley. They also got invited to the club to eat with everyone before opening and told to bring Kenny and Daichi with them.
They'd passed the messages to the rest of the team and agreed to meet to head to the club together. When they arrived, they found Liana waiting outside. Her hair was curled, her make-up was done with a smoky eye look but she was still in joggers and a t-shirt, with the supports on both arms still.
"Hey, glad you could make it," she greeted.
"Thanks for the invite," Tyson said with a smile, " How long can Kenny and Daichi stay?"
"All night but they'll have to stay in the VIP area once we open and until we close. We've only got family, friends and some colleagues up there tonight," Liana informed, " And ignore the mismatch of done up and casual, I still need to get changed."
"How are the arms?" Ray asked walking over and hugging her.
"Getting there," she answered, "Come on we need to get in before Alyssa thinking I'm running."
She let everyone walk in first, with Kai going last and waiting for her. Then she noticed the parcel in his hand.
"What's that?" she asked.
"You've never seen a birthday present before?" Kai quipped.
"Of course I have," she retorted amused, "But we weren't expecting any of you to get us presents."
"We're nice like that," he answered holding it out to her, "Here."
"Thank you. I'll open it later once we close."
When they joined everyone, Kai was led over to the table that was set up. Kiyoko had jumped up from her seat & tackled him like she had earlier that day and Stanley made a joke about her attempts to knock him over. Alastair had apparently ordered a feast, because the table was covered in food so once everyone was together, he ordered them all to sit down and start eating. Kiyoko had amused everyone by calling 'dibs' on sitting next to both Liana and Kai, whilst Tyson followed suit with his and Daichi's antics. Max had spoken with his mom mostly but they'd all spoken with everyone of the staff. And when everyone was done eating, Alastair made a toast to the two girls.
After that, everyone chipped in to help clear up. Judy and another of the girls from the bar helped Liana and Alyssa finish getting ready. Tyson, Daichi and Stanley meanwhile, kept Kiyoko entertained. Kenny ended up helping set up some tech whilst Kai and Ray helped finished getting the bars ready. All in all, it was like a family getting ready for a normal party.
When it was finally time to open, everyone was ushered upstairs and shown how to get to private restrooms as well as a way into Alastair's apartment on the floor above in case Kiyoko got tired. Liana and Alyssa still hadn't come back out as they would be coming out on the stage where the DJ was set up for the night along with a large screen, once the doors were shut. Kai was leaning on the railing watching everyone start to fill the floor below and other invited guests came upstairs when Kiyoko joined him. So when the music stopped, he picked her up to give her a better view as the birthday girls walked out onto the stage.
Alyssa had opted for an emerald green halter neck skater dress which had a satin effect to it which she matched with emerald green pumps. Out of the corner of his eye, Kai could see Ray was in awe but he was too focused on Liana. She was dressed in a red halter neck top, black leather like trousers and a knee length black blazer, all topped with red ankle boots. The supports she still had to wear blended with the blazer, hiding them in plain sight but regardless, she looked stunning.
"How are you all tonight?" Alyssa asked getting a chorus of cheers.
"We want to thank everyone here tonight for joining us to celebrate our birthday," Liana started, "We won't be performing tonight but we will be showing footage of some of our favourite sets and yours."
"So without further interruption, let's get this party started!"
The crowd cheered and the music came back on. Alyssa & Liana moved to the front of the stage to talk with some of the crowd before taking a hidden route upstairs Kiyoko once she was set down, pulled her sister over to dance whilst Alyssa caught up with other invitees.
"Kai come dance," Kiyoko urged as she ran over to him.
"Kiyoko," Liana chided, "Kai might not like dancing."
"I don't mind but it's more ballroom dancing that I know," Kai answered.
"That's so cool," Kiyoko cooed making both Liana and Kai chuckle.
"Why don't you go see if the others want to dance?" Liana suggested, "I'm sure Alyssa and Ray will dance with you."
"You're meddling bis sis."
"No, I'm giving you permission to meddle little sister," Liana smirked.
"About time," Kiyoko exclaimed, "I've been waiting for this since their 'not a date' dates."
Kiyoko ran off and 'accidently' bumped into Alyssa, knocking her into Ray. Kai chuckled at the fiasco whilst Liana turned around to laugh outright.
"She's quite the character," Kai commented.
"She's too smart for her own good sometimes but she'd definitely makes an impression on people," Liana acknowledged.
"Just like her sister," Kai quipped, "You look beautiful by the way."
"Thank you. Alyssa planned on putting me in a dress, but my arms got me out of that," she answered with a smile, "Dresses don't suit me anyway."
"I doubt that," he stated with a smirk earning a shier smiler.
"I need to go mingle, but you owe me a dance later," she stated.
He watched her walk away with a smirk before heading to the bar. As the night went on, everyone mingled, Alyssa and Liana went down to the main floor to dance with the customers, Kiyoko was either dancing with everyone or sitting with Kai, they watched performances and they drank.
Kai was sat on one of the sofa's with Kiyoko, who was falling asleep and using his leg as a pillow. Alyssa dancing with Ray and it hadn't escaped his notice that the flirting had been constant since Alyssa first got them to dance together.
"Did she finally tire out?"
He looked beside him to see Liana had joined them. She sat down next to them, gently reaching across to carefully move some hair out of Kiyoko's face.
"She tired herself out dancing. Tyson and Daichi can't say no to her."
"That's hilarious," Liana laughed.
"I thought so too till she got me too," Kai mentioned.
"She got you to dance?"
"No but I couldn't say no to being her pillow."
Liana bent over as she laughed and Kai couldn't blame her. He'd have laughed too if it had been someone else she'd coerced into being her pillow. He waited until she finished laughing before carefully arranging Kiyoko so he could pick her up. Liana was still giggling softly when she guided Kai up to Kiyoko's room in Alastair's apartment. Together they got her into bed before heading back down.
"You're so wrapped around her finger," Liana giggled.
"Maybe but not as much as Tyson and Daichi though," Kai stated.
"Oh those 2 are probably a lost cause already," she joked.
"She can be their mascot then," he retorted getting another giggle from the woman.
They headed to the bar on the ground floor to get drinks, as well as to say goodbye to Stanley who was calling it a night.
"So do I get that dance now?" Liana asked.
"I can only do ballroom dancing."
"I'm calling bullshit on that and need I remind you, salsa is also ballroom dancing," she stated grabbing his hand, "Follow me."
He chuckled and let her pull him down to the main floor and deep into the crowd. He kept his hands on her hips as they danced together, even when she turned to grind against him. She might have called him bluff on dancing but the wasn't complaining in the slightest. They carried on dancing until she needed a break and they've just stepped onto the stairs when Alastair came out on stage with a mic and the music stopped.
"Oh no," she muttered as she hid her face in his shoulder.
"As you're all very aware, we're celebrating my niece's birthday today. And you all know you can't have a party without some candles to blow out," Alastair announced, "Alyssa, Liana get up here!"
Alyssa stumbled down the stairs with a giggle and together with Liana they moved to the stage, climbing up with the DJ's help. Once they were stood next to Alastair, a large 4-tiered cake rolled out with candles on each tier as Alastair led everyone to sing Happy Birthday.
"Make a wish girls," he ordered joyfully.
They laughed and moved round to a side each. As soon as all the candles were out, the club erupted in cheers before the music started to play again and the girls helped Alastair cut the cake to pass out pieces on paper plates. Kai waited on the stairs for them to come back and helped them bring up pieces to everyone in the VIP area, with one piece kept aside for Kiyoko.
The party continued for another hour before Alastair declared the club was closing up. The clean-up began as the club began to empty and once everyone was gone, the team came downstairs with Alyssa, Liana and Kiyoko who'd woken up. The speedy clean up as the club was emptying, allowed the bar staff to join them all for an after party as well as give Liana and Alyssa gifts.
Kiyoko had quickly run off to collect her gifts for them as well as Kai & Ray's gifts. A lot of the gifts the girls received were home spa kits & skin care gift sets. But the boys noticed they also got a lot of home made gifts. All the staff were working on other careers with their bar wages funding their start ups and the girls whenever they found out about something like this, had given them a boost in funds. The girls were proving to be quite the enigma.
When Alyssa opened her gifts from Kiyoko and Ray, she awed at the jade necklace before gushing over the softness of the blanket and wrapping it around herself. Just as Kiyoko had predicted though, Alyssa didn't complain about getting Jade from Ray which earned a roll of the eyes from Liana.
Liana, however, looked shocked to receive her gift from Kiyoko was art supplies, and lots of them.
"How did you get all this?" Liana asked in awe.
"Kai, Ray and Grampa helped," Kiyoko stated, "I noticed all your stuff needed to be replaced"
"Thank you," she said pulling her little sister onto her lap for a hug.
"Open your gift from Kai," Kiyoko urged impatiently making everyone laugh.
Liana opened it carefully to find it was a normal cardboard box, but she gasped when she opened it and found a book and small jewellery box containing a amethyst stone pendant on a silver chain.
"Which book is that Liana?" Alastair asked.
"Grimm's Fairy Tales. I've been meaning to get this for ages," she answered as Kiyoko helped Liana put the necklace on before turning to Kai, "Thank you, I love them."
"You got Kiyoko's help didn't ya?" Alastair asked.
"She's an amazing helper," Kai smirked as the girl jumped onto his lap, "It was this or a calligraphy set."
"Ooo, I'd have loved a calligraphy set," Liana cooed making everyone laugh.
"Let's finished up people," Alastair announced.
"Can the team stay here tonight?" Kiyoko asked.
"We haven't got anything set up for them tonight little miss," Alastair responded, "Maybe another time."
"We'll be back tomorrow night," Tyson offered.
"Whipped," Ray coughed out.
"Keep joking but you can't disappoint her either," Alyssa retorted.
"None of them can," Kiyoko quipped with an overly dramatic tone and gesture.
"And on that note bratnik, time for you to go back to bed," Liana announced, "Say goodnight to everyone."
As Kiyoko went round giving everyone a hug goodnight, everyone finished the last of the clean up. By the time they were all done, Alastair had taken Kiyoko upstairs to let Liana and Alyssa walk the boys out so they could head home.
"Thanks for coming tonight," they said.
"No problem, we had a blast," Tyson responded.
"Let me know if you need a babysitter for Kiyoko," Daichi offered, "I'll be happy to look after her."
"And here I thought we were done with the birthday presents," Alyssa joked.
"Happy birthday again. We'll see you tomorrow," Max said giving them each a hug.
Once the hugs were done and Ray had gotten a kiss on the cheek, they all started to leak, with Kai lagging behind slightly. Just before he rounded the corner, Liana ran up to him, grabbing his arm and reaching up to kiss his cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"A proper thank you for my presents and the dance," she answered, "See you tomorrow?"
"Wouldn't miss it," he said kissing her cheek and letting her walk away.
So that's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
For anyone who's an Escaflowne Fan, please check out my story Return to Gaea.
As always, any feedback is great feedback, but it's not expected.
I'll be uploading the next chapter on 4th December.
Until next time xx