The next morning, a boy who loves Orange Joe woke up and did some stretches.
"When I flex…
I feel my best! Yeeeeaaaaahhh!"
"Ugh… Kel… You're too loud."
Kel's battle cry to the brand new day woke up and irritated a very sleepy Hero. Ever since Sunny's disappearance, he never had an easy time to sleep. He felt guilty towards Sunny and Mari, and… he was also afraid of losing Mari's love. It felt like he'll never love another person like he loved her. Other than that, he also felt concern towards Sunny's well-being out there.
Kel took a shower and put on his favorite sleeveless orange t-shirt and black shorts out of his wardrobe that consists mostly of his favorite sleeveless orange t-shirts and black shorts.
Kel scurried into his kitchen.
"Hi, Mom!"
"G'morning, dear!"
"G'morning, Sally!"
Kel was going to be a big brother soon. His mother has already had Sally in her belly for 6 months. It wouldn't be long until Kel would greet his new sister into the world.
Kel sat down by the table at the kitchen as his mother served him 2 portions of bacon and eggs. He scarfed them down in a blink of an eye and prepared to go out. He was going to have a basketball game with his friends at Faraway Park.
"Mom! I'll be heading out first!"
"Okay, Kel. Take care!"
It was a wonderful morning in Faraway Town. Windy breeze and clear skies. On the basketball court in Faraway Park, the Orange Joe enjoyer approached a boy who was sitting down on the bench next to the basketball court.
"Yo, Filbert! What's up?"
"Ey, ey! It's Kel-O!"
Both of them shared a high-five. Filbert is a blonde boy with brown eyes who was part of the soccer team. He's wearing a white t-shirt, blue shorts, and a blue cap which he wore backwards.
"Where the boys at, Fil?"
"Oh, they said they'll be coming here a little bit late. Apparently, they binged the Captain Spaceboy trilogy last night when they slept over at Kent's house."
"Oh, boy! They're in for a treat."
Captain Spaceboy was one of Kel's favorite childhood movies. It tells the story of Captain Spaceboy's misadventures that led to a finale where Captain Spaceboy and his crew had to save their galaxy from impending doom. He used to watch the trilogy with Sunny, Basil, and Aubrey.
Kel sat down as silent sets in.
Kel's smiling face turned into a serious face.
"So, do you have any rumors about Sunny?"
"Hm… nope. I talked to Overthere's soccer captain and apparently they haven't seen anyone fitting your description."
"No lead, huh?"
Kel looked disappointed as he smiled wryly while looking at the ground.
Kel, in contrary to Aubrey's belief, still cared about finding Sunny. However, he couldn't face Aubrey and Basil, remembering that he believed his big brother's words during that eventful night. He never told them.
To be fair, Kel was in no wrong to believe his big brother. What he did was an innocent mistake, but… well, it was true that if he believed in Sunny and spoke up to give him a chance to explain himself, things would've gone differently.
Even if Kel never set foot to the other towns, he had one thing; his optimistic aura that allowed him to befriend almost anyone. He decided to befriend people and ask the whereabouts of Sunny while he's at it. It was said that when he got this idea, his brain cell count doubled and dwindled back to its regular number in an instant.
"Yo, Kel, there's the boys!"
"Oh? Oh! Heyyy! Over here!" cried Kel.
"Thank you for your purchase! Come again!"
(W notes: thank you, come again)
Basil nodded and smiled as he took his purchase and went out of the store. He was buying a new flower pot. Meanwhile, he was thinking if he should disobey his grandma and go out of town to find Sunny tomorrow. He felt guilty for not using more of his time to find Sunny.
Should I disobey my Grandma this once? I hope she'll understand…
Just when he thought of that, he saw Aubrey surrounded by the Hooligans. Basil froze and thought to himself.
Why is Aubrey surrounded by them? Are they… harassing her!?
The Hooligans were a misunderstood bunch of children. Well, maybe not too misunderstood. The Hooligans were relatively harmless, just an annoyance. They were known to pull off harmless pranks for fun on other children or make messes around town. Other than that, they were known to be an odd bunch within their school. The places where they hangout (ex. dead ends and dark alleyways near the school) also gave them the impression of being bullies (in truth, they just did it because they (Kim, actually) thought they would look like cool school gangsters, she was apparently a fan of school gang movies).
Basil took a step. It was heavy. Basil was pacifist, not a fighter. But… Aubrey was his friend, and friends watch out for each other.
"H-hey, you!"
"""Huh?""" The Hooligans looked back towards Basil.
"W-what are you guys doing towards Aubrey!?" Basil gulped, "S-stop it!"
"Huh? Basil?" Aubrey just noticed Basil.
"Get away from them, Aubrey!"
"H-huh? Why?"
"Hoold on a minute, boy." Kim approached Basil with an intimidating yakuza face, while blowing a bubblegum and popping it again.
"Urp…" Basil tensed up.
"Who are you to mess with us, huh!? Can't you see we have business with this lady here!?"
"... I"
"Huh…? Can't hear you!"
Spirals were forming at Basil's eyes. He's raining in cold sweat. He's trembling due to Kim's assertiveness.
"Juuust kidding!"
"Huh…?"
"Man, I bet I look so coooool! Did you guys see that? Man, school gangsters are the best!" She said with a squeal, "By the way, we're not harassing her or anything!"
Basil's legs just gave out and he slumped down in relief.
His relief was cut short when Kim brought her face up close with him, enough for Basil to feel her breath. She had two of her fingers grabbing Basil's chin slightly up.
"You're cute, by the way. 3" Kim said as she winked.
Basil's face suddenly turned red. Never in his life was he this flustered when a girl told him he's cute. Must be the hormones.
Kim walked away, leaving a blushing Basil on the ground.
After collecting himself, he took a deep breath, stood up, and walked towards Aubrey.
"So, you're really okay?"
"Huh? Y-yeah."
"What were you doing though?"
"Describing and showing them Sunny's photo?" She showed Basil a group photo of her, Basil, Kel, Mari, Hero, and Sunny.
"Huh?"
"We're going to search for him."
"..."
"Do… you want to go with us?"
"I…"
"I mean, I get that your grandma doesn't allow you to go out of town without someone like Mari or Hero…"
Basil was conflicted due to his grandma's prohibition. Should I do this? I could like, not tell Grandma, but I'll feel bad for not telling Grandma…
Basil then realized. Aubrey was going to go find Sunny despite being broke. She was going to find Sunny, no matter what. Basil was moved by this.
… Just this once. … I'll still tell Grandma I went out, though! I mean, going with a group of kids is still okay… right?
"I-I'm coming!" Basil finally answered.
"You're really coming? Yay!" Aubrey happily hugged Basil. Basil was caught off guard, but didn't mind the hug.
By the way, the reason Aubrey didn't notice Basil was because she was in a daze staring at Sunny's photo. She deeply missed him.
The gang walked towards the bus stop in front of Faraway Park. No bus in sight.
According to the schedule written on the bus shelter's board, the next bus would be here in 30 more minutes.
"Alright, boys! We still got time! Take a piss or play cards, do whatever you want! Don't stray too far or we'll really leave you!"
"""Roger, Boss!"""
Charlene, Basil and Aubrey sat down nicely on the bench in the bus shelter, with Charlene now patting Basil's head. Besides the bus shelter, Angel, Mikhael, and Vance were playing Pet Rocks while squatting. Mikhael kept losing every round. Kim was laughing at Mikhael's misfortune.
…
… hey…
"Hm? What's that sound?" It seems Angel was the only one who heard it.
…Hey…
"Wait no, I heard it, too." said Vance.
…Hey!..
"I-it must be my great ancestor calling to me to accept his ancient power!" Mikhael claimed.
"""No, it's not.""" Everyone disagreed.
"HEY!"
The direction of the sound was clear. The Hooligans looked behind and saw Kel with his favorite orange t-shirt running towards them at the speed of light.
The moment Aubrey saw Kel, she instantly turned into an angry cat hissing at its offender.
"What are you doing here, Kel!?" She asked angrily.
"Huff… Huff… wait… wait a minute…"
"W-what's wrong, Kel?" said Basil.
"Sunny…"
Basil and Aubrey perked up hearing his name.
"I… I think I got a lead!"