The room was badly lit, as only one lamp was turned on.
Basil's grandma had been sitting on the couch. She was wearing green-striped pajamas and her gray hair was let loose rather than her usual bun styled hair. She had been worried about her dear grandchild who hadn't come home since noon. She was praying for Basil's safety, hoping that he wasn't kidnapped or doing bad things.
Ring! Ring!
Basil's grandma heard her house phone ring. Her eyes lit up, hoping it was some news about Basil. Basil's grandma slowly got up the couch and walked towards the phone. She picked it up.
"... Hello? Who is this?"
"Grandma, it's me… Basil."
"Basil!? I'm so worried! Come back home, right now!" Basil's grandma was relieved hearing Basil's voice. However, it wasn't enough; she wanted her baby boy to come home. Only then will she be truly relieved.
"... I can't. I'm stuck in Nowhere."
"Don't joke around." Basil's grandma was angry, thinking Basil was joking around in a situation like this.
"No, Grandma, the name of the place is literally Nowhere."
"Oh…"
"Don't worry about me Grandma, we found good people who wanted to house us for a night. Oh, speaking of we… I didn't go alone, rather, I went with Aubrey, Kel, Kim and a bunch more people! We're safe… we're all safe."
"I… see…" Basil's grandma wasn't actually too relieved hearing that, she had her doubts.
"But Grandma, I also have very great news!"
"W-what is it?"
"We found Sunny!"
Basil's grandma stood there in silence, shocked at what she heard. She blinked her eyes twice.
"D-did I hear that right? You found… Sunny?"
"Yeah! He looks different… but he's definitely Sunny!"
"..."
"Grandma?"
"Y-yes, dear. I'm still here."
"Well, don't worry about me, Grandma. We're in safe hands. We'll come back tomorrow! Goodbye, Grandma! Take care!"
"G-goodbye, dear. You take care, too, dear."
Basil hung the phone up.
Basil's grandma put the phone down, and slowly returned and sat down on the couch, still in shock.
"Sunny's… found…?"
Basil's grandma was processing the information when something hit her; Basil didn't mention Mari was with him. Which means…
Only she knew about Sunny.
Basil's grandma stood up and walked a little bit quicker to the phone, dialing the Suzuki's household's phone number.
Beep… Beep…
Please leave a voice message after this beep…
"N-no one's home?" Basil's grandma was confused. She left a message for the Suzuki household.
"Oh, right… Kel was with Basil… perhaps Kel hasn't told his parents…" Basil's grandma had seen Kel a few times before. Kel was a very energetic person, but at times he would forget to do certain things; so she assumed Kel would forget to tell his parents.
Basil's grandma called the Rodriguez household.
Beep… beep… klek.
"H-hello?" It was the sound of a teenage girl. Well, with the added slightly hoarse quality.
"Mari? Is that you?" Basil's grandma was surprised to hear Mari's voice from the Rodriguez's home phone, "It's Mrs. Tulip speaking." Tulip was Basil's grandma's name.
"G-grandma Tulip? Why are you calling this late at night?"
"Kel isn't back at home, right?"
"Y-yeah… Hero is searching for him and hasn't returned."
"Well, Kel is with Basil in Nowhere."
"In the middle of nowhere?"
"No, literally Nowhere. That's the name of the place."
"Oh."
"Aubrey is with Basil and Kel, too. Could you call Aubrey's parents? I don't have her home phone's number."
"... Will do. Why are they in Nowhere?"
"... I don't know… They might be searching for Sunny. Oh, they're staying for the night there. Basil said he met good people who'll let them stay for the night. Well, I hope they're good people." Basil's grandma's voice was toned with worriedness.
"O… Okay… Is that all…?"
"There's one more thing, Mari dear. But… You need to sit down for this one?"
"Huh?"
"It's… about Sunny."
"What about Sunny!?" Mari's voice was suddenly filled with energy.
"Basil said… They found Sunny."
…
Silence.
"... Mari dear?"
Bang! It was the sound of the phone being dropped.
"M-Mari!? What's wrong!?"
"Basil said… They found Sunny."
They found Sunny.
They found Sunny.
They found Sunny…
That very line echoed through Mari's head. Mari stood still, as the phone on her hand slipped and fell to the ground, sounding a loud bang onto the floor. Realizing what happened, Mari quickly took the phone back to her ear.
"Where is Sunny!?"
"I think… he's in Nowhere."
"I… see. Thank you, Grandma Tulip!"
Chklek.
Mari immediately hung up the phone. She ran to the front door and put on her sandals. By the way, she was wearing Hero's t-shirt and Hero's thick and long gray pants. It was a wear given by Hero for her to sleep in.
Mrs. Rodriguez opted for her to stay for the night in this household after she heard about what happened in the Suzuki household. She would be sleeping in Hero's bed while Hero would sleep on the couch.
Mrs. Rodriguez walked into the living room where the phone was in from her bedroom, due to the sound that was made when the phone fell.
"Mari!? Where are you going!?"
Mari didn't answer, and hurriedly walked out of the house.
"Mari!"
Hero had been searching all night after dinner for Kel. It was unusual for Kel to not go back home unless he told his parents he was going to eat outside. After all, Kel also needs to refuel.
Hero had searched every nook and cranny of Faraway, but to no avail. Not finding Kel, he decided to go back home and tell the depressing news.
Kel, where did you go?
Did you… run away?
I… must've been a bad big brother…
It was Sunny, then now Kel…
Due to this misunderstanding, Hero slumped as his depressing thoughts torment his mind. And then…
"W-wah!?"
Hero was crashed by his girlfriend who was running at top speeds, presumably towards the bus shelter.
"M-mari!? What's wrong!?"
Mari looked up, letting Hero see her face.
"Sunny…"
"Huh?"
"I have to go to Sunny!"
Mari got herself up and started running, when Hero held her hand which stopped her.
"W-wait! Mari! What do you mean you have to go to Sunny!?"
"T-they found Sunny!"
"They who!? Mari, please calm down!"
…
After some time, Mari calmed down. They were both sitting on a bench by the pedestrian walk.
"... Basil, Kel, and Aubrey did what…?"
Hero was shocked hearing the news from Mari after she calmed down.
Hero had been searching all year, to no avail of finding Sunny. As it turns out, Sunny was found in Nowhere, the town next to the very town he just visited yesterday. Nowhere was the next town he was going to check today, until Mari happened. He planned to go out to Nowhere on his own; after all, Nowhere had a notorious reputation for housing crooks and bandits.
"That's why…!"
"Mari, think carefully… It's late at night, and there's no more buses."
"I can take a cab."
"Mari…" Hero sighed, "We… we can go tomorrow, okay? Let's just… take a rest first, and we'll go there first thing in the morning, okay?"
"But…" Mari looked at Hero with puppy eyes. Hearing Sunny, she wanted to go and see him with her own eyes, to check if he's well, and to hug him tightly and never let him go. Her big sister instincts were put on full gear.
"No buts, Mari. Besides, if they were staying for the night, and they found Sunny… Sunny should be staying with them, too." … Maybe.
Hero's conclusion was a little bit off the mark, but it will do.
"I promise you, the first thing we'll do tomorrow morning is to go get them, okay? But for now, we should take a rest." Hero cupped Mari's face into his hands. Her skin was very smooth, and her big round eyes and little nose made Hero's heart flutter. He blushed a little bit.
"... Okay…" Mari looked down, deciding to follow Hero's decision.
"Right… let's get back home, okay?"
Mari nodded, wondering about Sunny's well being.
A little girl woke up to a new day on top of a roof, surrounded by friends.
The building Aubrey stayed in was shorter than the other buildings, which meant it was hard for sunlight to shine on the building. The scenery was like a city that was empty after a post-apocalyptic event, shaded in blue, while where the sun shone was tinted yellow. She took her pink bow, wore it, and stood up. She was still dozy.
She was wearing a simple white-sleeved pink dress with a pocket on the right part of the chest area.. It was actually Kim's dress, bought by her parents. Naturally, Kim didn't like it. She didn't even mind if Aubrey took it for herself. Besides that, it suited her alot. She opened the door back inside the building, and heard the sounds of a violin; someone was playing.
Aubrey looked behind her, and saw Sunny wasn't there.
She walked in.
The inside of the building was dark, only lit by reflected sky ambience that came from the open windows. Aubrey looked towards the first floor, and saw Sunny on the stage.
He was playing Der Erlkonig.
"How dedicated…" Aubrey talked to herself.
"He is, isn't he?"
Aubrey looked left and saw Hiko. Aubrey didn't see him when she went to the second floor. He must've been seeing Sunny from another side of the second floor. Hiko extinguished a cigarette he was smoking with a pocket ashtray as he walked towards Aubrey's side.
"Look," said Hiko, with a smile, as he rested his arms on the fence.
Sunny was playing the same piece he did yesterday, but it wasn't as perfect as before. There were small mistakes here and there, but Sunny kept going. Nevertheless, it was still being played well.
Once Sunny finished. Hiko clapped his hands. Aubrey saw Hiko, and joined in the clapping.
"Very good, Sunny. It was better than before. Be sure to rest from time to time."
Sunny looked up and saw Hiko. He smiled and nodded upon Hiko's comment. Then, he saw Aubrey. He trembled, but it wasn't as bad as the first time they saw Sunny. Sunny tried to smile at her, which in turn made Aubrey blush in surprise.
Hiko saw this, and smiled. He looked back towards Sunny who started playing again.
"Wait… you said better than before, what do you mean?" said Aubrey who just realized what Hiko said just now, "wasn't yesterday his best?"
"It was. But you see, that was a one-in-a-million thing."
"Huh?"
"When Sunny plays this score, there's usually some kinks here and there. What happened on stage was kind of a one-time thing. Rather, I was expecting he was going to have a few small mistakes up there. But not having mistakes is okay. Not that I mind them."
"What do you mean?"
"Aubrey, what are we?"
"Huh? Uh… teenagers?"
Hiko chuckled, "Not wrong, but I mean to say, we're human."
"When you're human, you'll always be bound for mistakes, no matter what. For me, the mistakes don't matter; the core and message does. In fact, the mistakes might make it beautiful, authentic. It's okay to strive for perfection, but I think one should be satisfied after playing it well enough."
Aubrey listened to him in silence.
"Besides, Franz Schubert's Der Erlkönig is one of the hardest violin pieces out there. Based on Sunny's track record of only starting violin a month ago, even if he played it mediocrely, that would be considered a miracle. But this… this is beyond prodigy. Or, as we say it here, beyond Ling Ling.
Aubrey listened to Hiko and looked at Sunny, amazed.
"Do you want to know how I met Sunny? And his story here?" Hiko looked at Aubrey.
Aubrey looked back at Hiko and blinked her eyes twice, surprised by the offer, "I-I do!"
"Alright then! Well, it all started in that one fateful yet frantic night… I even remember the date."