"We… we need to get to him!" Basil whispered at medium volume. After all, they were in the theater.

"How are we going to get there, though!?" Kel whispered.

"I mean, we could just walk up to the stage and go backstage!" Angel suggested, "If anyone tries to stop us, The Maverick and I can hold them off!"

"Yes, that! We shall do-" Mikhael was interrupted.

"No, no. Please, don't. I'm sure there's another way backstage," said Basil.

"Hey…" Kim called out to the party.

"""Yeah?"""

"Where's Aubrey?"

The party looked towards the exit and saw Aubrey already opening the door in a hurried fashion and started running.

Aubrey went out of the theater and frantically looked around for someone to ask. Fortunately, she saw a man in a suit with a nametag, indicating that he was an employee of the theater. Aubrey rushed to him and tried to ask him calmly.

"Mister! How do I go backstage!?" It was not in a calm manner, apparently.

"Uh, it's that door on the far edge- Hey! Only talents and staff are allowed there!" The moment he pointed to the door, Aubrey instantly ran. However, she was instantly grabbed by the wrist by the man.

"... Let me go!"

"Sorry, little miss! Guests can't go backstage!"

"""Aubrey!"""

The party ran up to the girl and man in a suit just after they went out and saw them.

"What are you doing to ojou-chan!? I shall banish you with my fist of-"

"""Mikhael, stop!""" The party (except Angel) shouted at him, stopping him before he deals anymore collateral embarrassment.

"... Sir, please let our friend go!" Basil asked politely."

"I'm sorry, but… If I let her go, she will run backstage, and guests can't go backstage," the man in a suit politely answered.

"Even if we know one of the performers?"

"Even if you know one of the performers."

"Okay…"

Basil looked down for a while, then looked at Aubrey.

"Aubrey, let's wait until Sunny comes out."

"But!"

"You heard what he said! So let's just be patient."

Aubrey looked down, and stopped trying to pull out of the man's grip. The man also loosened the grip on her wrist.

"Sorry to interrupt but…" Kim joined the conversation, "If we wait any longer, we're going to miss the bus."

"I don't care," said Basil, with a confident look towards Kim, "He's my friend that went missing for an entire year. I'm not losing him again, even if I had to break rules."

Though, I already broke a rule. Hm… I should call Grandma later…

Kim looked at him surprised, blushing a little bit. She then smirked, "Well, look who's the naughty one now? I thought you never had it in you," she put her arm around him again, "I dig that," she said as she tried to hide her growing crush over Basil.

Basil turned into a beetroot when it happened, his once confident eyes spiraled again.

Just then, on the corner of Vance's eye, he saw something move. He looked over at whatever he saw, and saw Sunny running out of the theater's front hall. He was pretty close to the stairs.

"Guys? Sunny just ran down the stairs… I think," Vance announced.

Everyone looked at him, and looked at where he was looking and saw a silver-haired boy running down the stairs.

"""..."""

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? LET'S GO AFTER HIM!" Kel broke the frozen group, their party once mobilized again at the speed of Mach 1 (not).

"SUNNY!" Aubrey shouted, but Sunny seemed to not hear them. Rather, it seemed like he started to pick up speed after Aubrey's call.

The sun had already set. However, Somewhere hasn't. With the warm headlights, the town was well lit. The street where the group and Sunny were in still had people in them, strolling and window shopping.

The party tried to catch up to him, and they did get closer. However, Sunny turned to a busier and smaller street, making the party lose him for a bit. Besides that, the busy street would make the party as a whole harder to keep up speed. Aubrey saw his silver hair in the distance, and pointed him out as they chased after him again.

After some time chasing after Sunny, the scenery around them rapidly changed. The once ornate and beautiful cream terracotta were replaced with gray cement and dirty streets. Not only that, the small street they were in was dark.

Sunny turned at the end of the small street, with the others following him. After emerging from the small dark street, they were met with a bigger street with a few working headlights.

…

Sunny was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he…? Huff.. huff…" Basil tried to catch his breath as he looked around the direction Sunny went.

The cityscape had very tall buildings. Some were finished, some were abandoned. The overall scenery was tinted with blue. The only light sources were the rare working but flickering headlights and the moon itself.

The street where Sunny went was very dark. The only places that were lit were the windows on the high buildings. Other than that, the street was dark, only lit by some working door lights.

The group scattered around the barren streets.

Kel, Mikhael, and Angel searched the right side of the street.

Kim and Vance looked at the left side of the street. They found a small and dark alleyway.

Basil knocked at one of the lit doors, but nobody answered.

Aubrey saw this and followed suit, knocking at the few other doors. Alas, there was no response. However, Aubrey saw that the door was unlocked. Within the building was a long hall with doors on each side. The walls weren't even painted; they were just cement. It was an apartment; no, all the lit up buildings on this street were apartments.

"Hey!"

Aubrey looked towards the direction of the sound. It was Kim. The rest of the group also looked towards Kim.

"I found something!"

The group ran towards Kim, who was squatting and looking at something at the ground.

Kim picked up the object that caught her eye.

"A… steak knife?" Kel was confused.

"Take a look at this," Kim took out her pink flip phone. It had a nailed club phone chain. She turned on the built-in flashlight.

Basil noticed the phone, and asked Kim, "May I borrow your phone later?"

"Why?" She smirked, "... isn't it too early to be snooping around my phone~?"

"What!? No!" Basil blushed, "I… I need to call Grandma. She's probably worried sick.

"Ah… well…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm out of credits," she smiled apologetically, "... Sorry."

Basil sighed. I guess I'll look for a public phone.

Back to the steak knife, it hasn't been too long since the knife was there. The edge of the streets and the buildings had these small piles of cement sand, so if the knife had been there for a long time, it should be dusty; it wasn't.

The place where Kim found the knife was just a small distance away from the alleyway she and her big brother found. Kim flipped the knife and saw a label there.

"Uh… I can't read anime," said Kim.

"Hiroyuki… Hiko."

Everyone looked at Mikhael in surprise who apparently could read Japanese. Turns out, his obsession for anime turned eighth-grade syndrome wasn't wasted for nothing.

"You know…" Kim started.

"Yeah…" Vance continued.

"That was cool, Master!" Angel complimented Mikhael with sparkling eyes.

"Hmph! A hero must be prepared!" Mikhael posed.

"... I take that back," said Kim with a disgusted expression.

"... I agree with you, Sis," Vance agreed in response.

"Anyway, wasn't this the name of the contestant before Sunny?" Basil asked.

"It is… Why would he have a knife owned by another contestant?" Kel joined in.

The party didn't notice it, but a few silhouettes have slowly surrounded them.

"... Are you lost, kids? Hehehe…" A voice was heard behind the group, in the direction of the bigger street.

The once huddled up group looked back quickly and saw that they were surrounded by suspicious looking men holding planks and bats.

Aubrey walked backwards, towards the alleyway.

"Ah!" Aubrey was pushed by one of the men. Apparently, one of them snuck to the back when they weren't looking. They were surrounded. The group huddled up into a circle. Vance put up his fists, Charlene got in front of Mikhael and Angel, and Kel kneeled as he grabbed a handful of sand into his dominant hand.

"Now… If you give us all you have, we'll leave you. As a bonus, we might even guide you out of this place! Hehe… he…"

The other men also laughed along. The group was afraid. Even Kim, the one who loves gang and school gang movies, was shivering in fear. Kim gripped onto Basil's hand, with Basil gripping hers in return.

"Guys… We should just give our belongings…" Basil suggested. After all, their lives were much more precious than whatever they have on themselves.

The group nodded at Basil, thinking that was the only way.

…

Then, the sound of a broken glass bottle was heard.

"Ack!" The man who was in front of the alleyway got hit by a glass bottle on the head from behind, breaking the glass bottle and stunning him. Then, he was followed up by a plank on his face. It was supposed to be just the right temple, but he looked back and reaped the rewards. Well, in this case, punishment.

Then, a hand came out of the alleyway, grabbing Aubrey.

"Follow me," a voice was heard from the alleyway. It was very soft, so only Aubrey heard it. She shrieked a little bit in surprise, but didn't back away. The voice wasn't tinged with ill intent.

The person who was the owner of that voice that grabbed Aubrey by her wrist pulled her with him. The rest of the party, seeing Aubrey entering the alleyway, followed suit.

"They're getting away, get them!"

The alleyway was filled with the air conditioning fan machines that threw all the hot air out, which made the already narrow alleyway even narrower. Vance and Charlene were at the very back as they were having a hard time to move around. Behind them were the bandits, who also found even greater difficulty chasing them due to the terrain and their size.

The person in front of them went left, still grabbing Aubrey's hand. On the end of that path, was a tall wired fence. The person looked back at them and pointed at the top of the fence, indicating for them to climb up.

"Y-you want us to climb up?" Aubrey asked.

The person nodded, "Hurry." His voice was very soft. It was very dark, so nobody could make out his face.

"Everyone, we need to climb up here! Quickly!"

Everyone ran towards the fence as one by one they climbed up. The first one to pass through was Aubrey and Basil, with the help of Kel and Vance. Kim was next.

After Kim was on the other side, sounds of footsteps were heard from behind them. The bandits found them.

"Oh, shoot shoot shoot! Hurry up!" Kim was panicking.

Kel got up easily with no help due to his athletic prowess. However, Vance and Charlene had difficulties due to their weight. Vance helped Charlene first to climb up the fence. The footsteps drew nearer.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Charlene jolted in shock from the shout, which made her lose her footing on her right leg. Thankfully, Vance caught Charlene and immediately pushed her up. Time wasn't of the essence.

The person ran towards a big pile of boxes which was behind Vance and Charlene. He prepared himself to throw the pile down.

He waited.

…

The silhouette of the bandits were now seen.

Now!

The person threw the pile down, which hindered the bandits' vision and disoriented them.

Vance was finally on the other side.

"Hey! We're all already on the other side! Come here, now!"

The person heard this, and threw the wooden plank with every ounce of his strength towards one of them, hitting his head and knocking him back. He ran towards the fence, left the wooden plank, and climbed up.

But…

"You're not getting away!"

One of them caught up to the person and grabbed him by the leg. The person was already at the top of the fence. He struggled to get out of the bandit's grip.

Aubrey rushed towards the fence, taking something from Kim's hand.

"Huh!?" Kim was surprised as Aubrey took something from her right hand.

"Get… away!" Aubrey screamed as loud as she could as she stabbed the steak knife towards the arm that was holding the person's leg.

"Argh!" The bandit winced in pain as he let go of the person's leg. The person climbed as fast as he could and fell onto the other side.

All of them succeeded in running away.

…

All of them had run quite a distance. All of them were panting.

Basil was on his knees, gasping for air.

Kel was holding onto a working headlight, also panting.

Aubrey was behind the person, breathing moderately quickly.

Kim was next to Basil, with her hands on her knees.

Angel was wiping his sweat.

Charlene was standing at the very back, her breathing had already become normal.

Vance was sitting on the ground with his legs straight and his hands on the ground, supporting his upper body. He was gasping for air while looking up.

Mikhael had one of his hands on the wall as he was catching a breath. He then charmingly(?) wiped his sweat.

The person was also breathing fairly quickly, at the same rate as Aubrey.

They were all being lit by the working headlight Kel supported himself on, which now revealed the person to everyone else. The darkness before made them unable to recognize said person.

Aubrey was staring at the person, and still staring.

"... Sunny?"

The boy was wearing the same white shirt and black sleeveless coat. His hair was the same silver color as he was on the stage. He jolted in shock, as he slowly looked back.

His skin was fairly white, with a tinge of yellow. His face was very clean with no impurities. His eyelashes were long, and his eyes were of silver color. Truly, he was like a very cute doll, if only he didn't get the scratches on his face from the fall before. Sunny's eyes were filled with fear, his hands were trembling. It was only a little bit when Aubrey called him. But after seeing Kel, Basil and Aubrey, his trembling and fear only became more apparent. His breathing quickened.

"Sunny…? Are you okay?"

Aubrey was worried about his behavior and scratches, so she approached him with one hand reaching out to him.

Seeing this, Sunny walked back very quickly, farther from the light. He was shaking even more and his breathing was erratic.

"... What's wrong, Sunny?"

Sunny took one more step back, and turned back from them. He took something out of his pocket. However, the darkness didn't allow any one of them recognize what he took out.

Something glowed in front of Sunny for a moment.

Sunny took a deep breath.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Breath in…

Breath out…

Slowly, his trembling started to stop. After he did, he looked back at them with the usual neutral face he usually wore. However…

A smoke trail was seen on Sunny's right. All of them followed the trail and saw it. All of them were shocked.

"S-Sunny…" said Basil with a concern.

Sunny looked at Basil with a straight face.

Basil approached Sunny as he reached out for his hand with the cigarette.

"You do know smoking isn't healthy, right…?" Basil was smiling nervously.

Sunny nodded and looked away with a frown. He knew that smoking was bad for him. However, he also needed it.

Basil's hand was close enough to take the cigarette, but Sunny moved that hand away. Basil saw this and looked at him. Sunny shaked his head as he gave an expression that told him 'Please, don't."

Basil was about to say something, but didn't. He took back his reaching hand. Basil looked down on the dusty asphalt with a saddened face.

Sunny took another huff, and approached them close enough so at least Aubrey, Kel, and Basil could hear him.

"Follow me if you want to go back home."

Their walk was a silent one. Nobody tried to talk to Sunny as they walked through narrow alleyways and under-lit streets. Until…

"Sunny?"

Sunny looked back at Aubrey, and looked forward again. It was a gesture he made to show that he heard her.

"... Have you been living well?"

Sunny took time to process her question, looking back through his year away from Faraway. Sunny looked back at her and nodded.

Aubrey soon realized that back then, she never really asked Sunny anything. Whenever they talked to each other, it had always been Aubrey and only Aubrey that was speaking. Upon this thought, she felt awful. She loved Sunny, but she never really tried to get to know him and his thoughts. Instead… Sunny probably knew Aubrey more than Aubrey knew Sunny.

Aubrey readied her next question again.

"Did you miss us…?"

Sunny didn't look back, but he definitely heard the question. Sunny closed his eyes, and opened them again with an answer. Sunny inhaled and exhaled another whiff of his cigarette.

Sunny nodded.

"Then… why didn't you go back home?"

"..."

Sunny didn't answer. Aubrey felt he didn't want to answer her question so she let him be.

"... What happened? To your eye?"

Sunny stopped and grimaced upon remembering what happened to his eye.

"...Stabbed. Bad people," Sunny whispered.

"I… I'm sorry…" Aubrey looked down.

Sunny continued to walk forward again.

Silence ensued again afterwards for some time.

…

"... So! Did you meet new friends?" Kel said with a happy tone and a smile, trying to brighten up the mood.

Sunny nodded.

"How are they like? Are they… sporty like me? Maybe a flower boy like Basil? Or a ticking time bomb like Aubrey?"

"Hey!" cried Aubrey as she looked at Kel angrily with puffy cheeks.

Sunny thought for a while, the cigarette in front of his mouth.

"... they're good people," Sunny spoke in a whisper.

"That's great! You should introduce them to us sometime!"

"... maybe," Sunny refused at the request.

"Why maybe?"

"..."

Sunny didn't answer and just kept walking. He took another whiff.

It was silent once again.

…

"Have you been eating well?" Basil was the one asking now.

Sunny thought for a bit, and giggled over a thought.

"... not really," said Sunny with a little giggle after. It must have been a good memory.

"Well… you should always eat healthy stuff! Like vegetables!"

"blegh," Sunny never really liked vegetables. Everyone knew that back then. However, this was the first time he truly showed his dislike. Basil was surprised at his response.

A little bit of silence.

"Do you… have a comfortable place to sleep in?" Basil asked again.

Sunny nodded, "... very comfortable."

"I… see…"

"..."

"..."

Sunny took another whiff as he asked the next question. His hand trembled a bit.

"How's… big sister?"

Kel, Basil, and Aubrey looked at him, surprised. It was Sunny's first question during their conversation.

…

"Mari… was heartbroken when you left," said Aubrey. I was heartbroken too when you left…

"Mari… has been putting up missing posters of you. She misses you. A lot. We all do," said Basil.

"Mari… has been avoiding Hero for what he said to you. Speaking of Hero, he's really sorry for what he said to you. I am sorry for not believing in you," said Kel.

Sunny just walked, and finally nodded.

"I… see…"

They kept walking, without a word spoken again after.

After walking for a while, the bus stop was now in view. The bus was already there.

"Guys, look!" Kel smiled at the sight of the bus.

"Speed up your pace, y'all!" cried Kim.

"Chaaaarrggee!" shouted Mikhael as he lived his fantasy.

All of them ran, except Sunny. He walked slowly.

But just after they started running, the bus drove away.

"Wait, no no no no! Bus driver! We're here!" Kel cried.

"Argh, darn it!" said Vance.

"Chill now, everyone… it's okay, we can always wait for the next bus," said Kim with a relaxed smile as she opened her cellphone, "... Oh, shoot." Her once relaxed smile disappeared in an instant.

"What is it?" Aubrey asked.

Aubrey peered into Kim's flip phone and saw the time.

9:04 p.m.

Everyone went silent after seeing the time.

Sunny walked to them and saw the time.

…

He sighed as he rested his head on his left hand and cursed.

Everyone looked at him with shock.

"""Sunny, language!""" scolded Kel, Basil, and Aubrey.