"What's up?"

Den's voice sounds like it's coming from miles away, and suddenly I don't think I really want to follow through with this questioning session. There's a catch in my throat, because never in my life had I ever thought that my family history was that grim. I really can't remember nuts about my family history save whatever Den and Sve have always repeated.

"They're gone," my brothers would say, "they're not coming back."

The way they say it is extremely subtle, and they've gotten their point across pretty well too. They're dead. End of story. It leaves no room for debate so I don't delve deeper than I'm supposed to. But of course, all my life I thought that their lives had been taken by your typical tragedy accident. To find out that my mother could have been a serious madman, and my dad to die due to false accusation, the notion of that theory just makes me sick to the stomach.

"Ice…?" Den waves a hand in front of my face. I blink twice before realizing that I have just zoned out in front of Den.

"Uh…" I mull over the questions that flit around in my mind and try to start with the easiest question that floats in my mind.

"Are you busy?" I try to ask casually. I don't exactly know where I'm going with this, but it's a start nonetheless. I swing my legs back and forth on the sofa, clearly I'm restless - my mind is spinning with the kind of dizzying lightheadedness you get when you're struck with a scorching fever.

Den arches an eyebrow at me and laughs, " No, not really. Why? Is this going to take long?"

I don't reply for awhile, and I stare at the folded papers in Den's lap. On the front page is a picture of an old wrinkly man, holding a goose in his weather worn hands. The guy's smiling like a winner and the headline says it all: Goose Saves Man. If this is the kind of things Den's been reading before bed, it's no wonder he's infallibly happy with that guileless lopsided grin.

I must have taken too long to reply because Den frowns and probes worriedly, "Is it algebra?"

I'd be lying if I said that didn't injure my manly pride, because even though I'm quite hopeless at math, I'm not that bad. Not yet at least. Den ploughs on nonetheless, " Do they give you nightmares and hurt your head and make you feel useless?"

As I look up to my inquiring brother, I see the sadness and a tinge of disappointment in Den's clear azure eyes. But knowing Den, he's probably disappointed at how the numbers have failed me instead of the other way round - Den's a family sap and the worst kind of bullying he's capable of is messing up your hair after you spent a good half hour fixing it up nicely in the loo. Nor hates this especially.

"No,no," I wave his thoughts away. It's nothing so menial like that, though I wish it would be. Well, time's a wasting and I probably shouldn't spend too much time dawdling around, it's probably better if I got straight to the point pronto. I approach the topic with an air of nonchalance and a bit of caution. "So uhm, hey Den. Have you heard of the 'Eviary Incident'?"

I watch as Den processes the words. He blinks once.

Blinks twice.

Frowns.

"Yeah," he says slowly, eyebrows coming up to knit together.

"Next question," I say, leaving no time for Den to say anymore. "Did you have an older sister?"

Den's frown stretches all the way this time, and the clockworks in Den's brain begin to work against its will after its retirement for the day. It doesn't take long for Den to decipher what I'm getting at and he halts me immediately. I'm kind of glad he does, though. He says thickly, "Ice, stop."

So I do.

I swallow another lump in my throat, and I hate hate hate that I feel like sobbing out loud. To think I was a fraction normal, what a wistful thing to hope for. I bite my lower lip before asking quietly," Was that us, Den?"

The ceiling fan whirs quietly overhead and it's the only sound in the room save Sve's voice from the kitchen - he's been getting louder by notches over the course of our conversation and I can vaguely make out what he's saying. I have enough on my plate though, so I leave Fin's issues aside for awhile. I watch quietly as Den sits up straight and run a calloused hand through his already wrecked hair - a nervous habit he had acquired since his youthful days.

"Where did you get this information?" Den asks. It's my turn to be questioned and I feel sick. It's like one of those CSI dramas that Fin watches where the detective starts questioning you for knowing something you shouldn't.

"Hong showed me a file when we went to the library today." My mouth takes a life on its own as it blathers out the truth when I had been so intent on hiding the fact that Hong dug it up. I don't like lying to Sve and Den. It's easy to lie to Nor and Fin, they are about my age and in a way, more relatable. I can't lie to Sve or Den though, not even when it comes to petty small things like "who forgot to flush the toilet".

"Do I need to monitor the kind of friends you make," Den jokes, tastelessly. I blanch at the thought. It was a rhetorical question though, and didn't warrant a reply. Den sighs heavily and he looks at me straight in the eye. For a moment, Den felt a little like Sve.

"No," he says. Simple as that. And the breath I had been holding without realizing, came out in a gush. This isn't what I was expecting; for something to match so inexplicably and perfectly, it was almost too good to be true. But just when I think Den hasn't got anything more to say, he continues. "That's not us, but we knew them. At least Sve and I did. The next three sons mentioned in the papers after the three year gap? They were triplets."

I internalize the words and nod slowly, dumbly. It's no wonder my hair is crisp snow. There's a moment of sheer silence as the words slowly sink in, even Sve had quieted in the kitchen.

"Is that all?" Den asks a moment, gently and softer now.

Nodding slowly (and dumbly) once more, I stand up as if to take my leave. I'm about to bid Den goodnight when I remember his birthday is just a few days away. It's a bit irrelevant at this point, but it's a chance and I'm taking it. "Actually Den I have something else to ask, if you don't mind."

He nods, signaling an 'okay' to drop the bomb. So I do, in the most pathetic and obvious way possible. " If you had an endless supply of money, what would you do with it?"

I watch from where I stand as Den frowns once more and he says more seriously, "Did you rob a bank?"

"No," I reply bluntly, insulted once more. "School essay."

Den catches my fib immediately, because he smirks and I know I've been caught. Without replying, Den unfurls the newspaper, puts on his reading glasses and goes back to skimming the headlines and reading weird articles in the paper - the conversation is as good as over.

I bid Den goodnight and am almost out of the room when Den decides to answer my question after all.

"I'd save it. For Nor's, Fin's and your college fees."

It's obviously not the answer I'm looking for but the words hit right home and my heart sinks a little. It's probably not something an average 24-going-on-25 year old would say; it must be tough to be Den and Sve.

I'm halfway up the winding stairs, ready to retire to my room and prepare myself to give Hong a good berating tomorrow, when I watch as Sve marches out of the kitchen with Fin trailing desolately and resignedly behind. I'm a tad curious, but not curious enough to give up my sleep - after all, I'm already mentally prepared for a well rested night and a Friday night (not to mention my weekend as well) with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

ooOoo

The alarm goes off at 7.30am and I roll to the other side of the bed, blindly reaching for the alarm clock. When I can't feel it within my reach, I roll over a little more, fingers straining for the push button that would silence this screaming heap of metal. The minute my fingers grace the cool plastic surface of the clock, I lurch forward lazily in an attempt to pull the object to myself. It was a stupid move though, because instead of pulling the clock closer to me, my fingertips forces the clock over the edge of the dresser and accidentally knocks it off. The alarm clock clutters to the floor with a loud thump, still trilling, the alarm climaxing to its crescendo. I groan loudly before kicking off the covers and sitting up. I scratch an itch on my head and rub my bleary eyes, the alarm still shrieking in antagonistic pain.

I get on all four as I root around for the fallen alarm clock that had uncannily skittered under my bed. I was half in under the bed frame when Norway cracks open the door and calls to me, " Ice, wake up, your alarm clock is screaming bloody murder- oh."

I can hear the irritation heavily laden on Nor's voice, and in my haste to turn around and reply, I knock my head on the underside of the bed frame. I groan once more before hitting the snooze button and crawling out from under the bed.

Norway watches me with bemused eyes from the doorway, and maybe it's the poor lighting in the room or my still sleepy eyes, but Nor looks amazingly pale and unbelievably tired. There's a shadow over his eyes and... dark circles under? He's clad in his usual long sleeved pyjamas and long sweat pants, and it makes me wonder for the umpteenth time whether the central heating system is insufficient in keeping the cold out for Nor.

Smiling sheepishly at Nor, I offer a meek greeting. "Hi."

He shakes his head a little disapprovingly and I feel a little small under his gaze. He waves a hand and disappears from the corridor and I just lie where I am, watching as he walks off disinterestedly.

I run through the daily routines mechanically: a shower, a good brushing down with a healthy amount of spearmint Colgate and a thorough rinsing with frosty Listerine. I chuck my homework and books into my bags before I climb down to the kitchen - the smell of bacon is especially tantalizing today.

The table's set for three and Nor's already chewing on a piece of toast, no trace of the pale illusion of Nor in the morning - more peachy and no bruising crescents under his eyes. Fin though, Fin looks like a new person, in a bad sense. His eyes are red rimmed and a little puffy; he's missing his double eyelids - a classic telltale sign that he probably cried himself to sleep or that he's currently sporting a very bad case of sore eye; sore eyes.

"Mornin'", I say, dropping the 'g', in a very Sve-esque way. Nor nods in acknowledgement but it completely slips Fin by, which is queer because if anyone ignores, it's usually Nor.

Breakfast passes silently, which is quite a rare and odd occurrence. Fin usually titters away at the table, especially when Nor takes the yolk out of the sunny side up. This time though, Fin says naught and in fact, he doesn't even touch his food let alone roll the peas around the plate. In the end, he bins his breakfast along with Nor's sodden yolk.

The trip to school is another wintry ordeal with Fin spending eternity on his cell phone, which is pretty strange because Fin is the least technologically savvy person there is in the house hold. The last time he had to do a group project on a PowerPoint slide had him downloading three different viruses into the family desktop and crashing the whole system down until he was met with the Blue Screen of Death. All the family data we had kept in there - photos, music, projects from every single member - had all been cleaned out and that was the first time Den decided to invest in individual laptops for every one of us.

As we near the school gates, it becomes pretty clear to both Nor and I that something just isn't quite right. Fin marches ahead, eyes trained on his cell phone and I think miserably of my busted one back home. I walk abreast with Nor and we exchange a glance; a mutual understanding passes and we trod on from behind in worried silence. Just before we part ways, I latch onto my chance. Now, it's been ridiculously clear that something isn't right with Fin and it's painfully obvious that one of us had to ask what was the matter, and between Nor and I, well, there isn't any other choice for me, is there?

I reach out a hand and take Fin's elbow. "Hey Fin?"

He blinks at me, slowly and stupidly. I'm reminded of Den from last night - that slow registering gaze.

"Yeah...?" Fin says, dragging out the word, clearly in a stupor of some kind.

"Everything okay?"

Nor shifts impatiently beside us, urging us to move a little faster; talk a little faster. Just like that though, Fin caves. His eyes are easy to read again, lilac orbs like troubled water.

"Hey guys," Fin says, almost hysteric. "Do you think it'll be cool if I decided to major with Computer Science as one of my main core subjects?"

"Instead of 'cool'," Nor says flatly, intellectually. "would you like it?"

"Of course!" Fin says hotly, voice rising an octave in petulance, as if Nor had said something wrong. "I'm interested in it! I want this!"

He's almost yelling by the end of the sentence, and I wince, feeling a little stung. Fin is wound up over something although I can't say I know what for. I let go of Fin's elbow and twine my hands together, confused. "Why though? I thought you were into Food Sciences? You were practically all over the place when you spoke to Seys the last time she came over."

"I changed my mind."

Nor sighs and gives his usual 'I-don't-have-time-for-this' face.

"But Fin, don't you hate technology?" I try. I'm not particularly trying to talk him out of it though I do have a feeling that he'll come to regret it later someday.

"I said, Ice. I said 'I changed my mind'," Fin grits, stubbornly and clearly cross. I can tell he's trying hard to hide his irritation and anger, but the acid bleeds from his tongue and I feel my own patience tapering off.

"I'm just trying to rationalise-"

Fin cuts me off. "Rationalise!" he snorts, coldly. "I bet you don't even know what rational numbers are because you're horrid at Mathematics!"

It was a personal attack and I have absolutely no idea how it was even related to the subject at hand and why he resorted to saying something so underhand as that. But it breaks my patience and I find myself roaring back at him with the same angst and maddening rage. "Well, the last time you tried to use a computer you crashed the whole system-"

"I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!"

"You cried all night swearing you'd never touch technology again and sobbing about how much you loathed technology!"

"Shut up!"

That's when Nor steps in, literally. He steps on my foot and slaps Fin across the face in one lithe movement. Everything escalated at breakneck speed and cooled off just as quickly, leaving me in a daze and I'm not sure what just happened. We barely exchanged sentences, but the short argument leaves us both high strung and highly irate. We both quieten immediately, my breathing coming in short ragged gasps and I see that Fin's holding back tears that make his eyes look glassy. I kick myself mentally, because this really isn't exactly the kind of turn out I had been expecting. I was supposed to soothe Fin's mind, not wring it up and cause him further distress. People had stopped to watch the Eviary brothers have a brawl with each other and I feel my ears turn scarlet as it burned in embarrassment.

Nor looks at us both before he sighs. He rubs a hand delicately over his eyes before he looks at Fin and says, "It doesn't matter what you do, but if you're really into Computer Science and if you're sure you'd be interested enough to work hard for it, your grades will show like it always has. If you're dead sure on this, I don't think Sve and Den would stop you."

"You're wrong," Fin chokes. His voice full of unwept tears and wails threatening to break his carefully constructed cool. " They're horrid, just as Ice was-"

"Ice," Nor cuts in bluntly. If there's anything Nor's good at, it's maintaining neutrality in almost everything and I'm absolutely grateful for this single voice of reasoning in the heat of the moment. "Ice didn't say you shouldn't take it. He was just asking if that's what you really wanted. If you felt provoked or second guessed your decision, then you might want to give it another think through."

The flat tone of Nor's voice is therapeutic, and I feel my heart slow to a healthy beat, and I watch as Fin's expression softens. Norway casts a glance at the two of us before he utters a simple 'I'll be going' and leaves us standing by the gate. I cuff my sneakers on the ground, the print of Nor's shoe on mine somewhat visible. I sigh, it feels like a terrible start to the day already.

We stand around a little pathetically as people weave around us, making their way to school. I'm about to say something when I hear someone call out to me.

"Ice!" Hong waves from a few paces away and I raise my hand back in response . And as I turn to greet him, the memory of yesterday's library expedition slowly rose to the front of my mind. I shake the thought away - the more pressing matter right now is Fin.

I turn my attention back to Fin, only to see that he's already left me.

ooOoo

After school, I take the afternoon off with Seys and Hong in a nearby fast food diner. The day just flits by and I can't recall paying attention to anything in class today. My heart squeezes with that dull, despondent feeling you get when you're just so upset about something. It feels like I'm sinking in a pit of sadness, you see, I've never fought with Fin before, at least not to this degree. Fin is one of the hardest people to upset because he's perpetually positive and radiant, and there I go, traipsing and waltzing over that soft heart with my razor edged words. I must be the worst person alive.

Seys pokes me in the side. I jerk in my seat.

"You did more damage then you claimed," Seys pouts to Hong and I blink as she huffs irritably at him.

"What?" I say, confused.

Hong bites his lower lip and he lowers his eyes, guilt gnawing at him. I watch as the egocentric Hong folds into himself, for once his ego had been his downfall. He looks at me apologetically, eyes downcast and upset. "Ice I'm sorry I dug all that dirt up on your family."

As if she had a part to play in it, Seys slips in a helpful comment that Hong hasn't told her the details in an attempt to hamper the effects of his bad deed.

"I haven't told her anything," Hong whittles, almost whining.

When I don't say anything, Seys wails," We're supposed to be an inseparable trio, you ruined it Hong!"

The fight in the morning had been bad enough, and I'm not going to let another relationship fall through today. Seys plucks a packet of raw sugar off the sugar box and hurls it at Hong's face, the packet making a pathetic sound as it hits him square on the forehead. I laugh.

"It's okay," I say. I have more pressing things at hand, then to bother about a story that suspiciously mirrored mine but according to Den, hadn't been us. I trust Den on this and I don't think he's lying.

They both peer at me incredulous, but I wave them away. "It wasn't my family," I explain, and I know Hong doesn't believe me.

"Ice, it's okay-"

"No, really. Den says so. He also said that my family had been in cahoots with them some eons ago, I dunno."

The waitress comes and asks if we'd like to make an order, and Hong flips open the menu. He smiles charmingly at the waitress before he frantically flips to the main course section. He scans the menu quickly before he flashes her another grin and says," One Wagyu Burger and a cup of Lapsang Souchong, serve now."

I squint at him as the foreign words tumble out of his mouth in a smooth waterfall and I am in utter disbelief. Whatever this Lapsa Soucho thing is, it sounded disgusting. It was also a bit weird to see Hong flirt with a lady who was obviously past her 20s, talk about aiming high.

The waitress looks at me in turn and I fluster without Hong's grace, and I look back at the menu, eyes searching for something that looks good. Seys elbows me gently from the side and offers to go first. I let her.

She points a delicate finger to a picture and says she wants the seafood spaghetti with extra sauce and she also wants a cup of Kukicha tea.

When it's my turn, I feel all their eyes trained on me while I order non sophisticated food like fish and chips and orange juice. I feel ridiculously child-like when our drinks arrive and I'm the only one drinking from a Collin glass. I'll never understand why people, who are sixteen no less, would choose to spend money on bitter tea which costs at least double of my sweet, hydrating, glass of Vitamin C goodness.

I stir absently at my orange juice with the bendy black straw, disturbing the ice cubes and hearing them clink pleasantly against the glass. I didn't think my fight with Fin had been particularly bad to the point that we wouldn't make up and be friends again, but something bugs me about the issue; hinting at something much deeper than what appears at surface value.

As if reading my mind, Hong asks, "Everything alright with your brother?"

He rests his chin on his left hand and stares at me intently as he stirs his cup of Laplap Chouchou with the tea spoon provided.

"I dunno man," I say. And I really don't. "I had a row with him this morning, and he fled before I had a chance to apologise."

"Oh," Hong says. "I thought he fled because he was afraid I'd start asking him questions."

Fin? Scared of The Hong Kong? It's almost a laughable thought.

Our food comes though, and cuts our conversation short. Hong lays out the details to a clueless Seys as we work through the meal, and her eyes are huge with wonder, and you can tell there's a niggling suspicion and awe when Hong runs the end where the Eviary Incident was in no relation to me. (He also tells me that I have a retest next Tuesday for the Home Economics test I failed some days back, but I'm too caught up with Fin that I don't bother about it too much.) I spend the rest of the meal insisting Hong pay my bill and rolling the fries around the plate.

ooOoo

I'm walking up footpaths leading up to my home, a paper bag of freshly baked cookies clutched in my hands. It's an apology gift for Fin because I really dislike being on cold terms with him; it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that it completely unwelcoming.

As I near our front yard, just 3 houses down, I notice something really odd.

There's a car. Parked right in front of my house. And it's not Den's car; it's a deep set black BMW that can seat, at most, five people. I stop where I am and watch as the engine bursts to live in a hearty roar, and watch as the car pulls out of its place next to the sidewalk.

I watch it as it begins to cruise down the road, towards my direction, gaining speed and momentum as it goes downhill. When it passes by me, I steal a peak at the driver. It surprises me to see the windows down, and it leaves me speechless when the driver smiles as me, eyes twinkling a beautiful purple. She uses her free hand and waves carelessly at me, and before I know it, the car slips by, on its way out.

I'm confused; I've never seen this woman before. When I look back at my house, I'm relieved to find Den's car parked in the driveway. I run the rest of the distance to my house, question burning on the tip of my tongue.

Who was she? A lover maybe?

A/N: Ahhhhhh I haven't written in forever and this might be a crap chapter but I'd just like to thank a few people for making this chapter possible. Also the sequence is a bit choppy imo, I'll fix it up again when I'm less tired ^^; I'll also fix some grammar, vocab, spelling as well as typo errors in the previous chapters. R&R! Much love! xoxo

Firstly to , for reviewing the chapter some time mid june last year while I was in the heat of the mad A level rush, I was extremely stoked that someone had still been reading this and it gave me a sense of wanting to continue. :)

To Lapulta J.R.R. Cahill for still reviewing because even though you can't rmb having added this to your watch list, you still welcomed me when i gave sign of continuation ^_^ Thank you :)

To Guest, for egging me on even when the next chapter didn't come out for days after having promised a continuation ^^