Hello! Sorry for the long wait. My excuse is that I'm pretty busy, being an undergraduate and all. *sigh* Oh, and I got hooked up with a game I've been playing...haahaa... (-.-')

Thank you for your patience, your time to read this and your reviews! xD I love you guys!

Well, anyway, enjoy this chapter, though I think it is a bit depressing. Do leave a review as it motivates me more.

Chapter 6

Footsteps could be heard in an apartment located south of Sanfransokyo. It was midnight and some people were hiding from someone, or something. A shadow lurked in the hallway, scratching its sharp object on the wall, creating an eerie screeching sound.

"How did he finds us here?!" a man questioned his companion.

"How should I know? I never thought he'd find us here!" the companion replied.

"Knock, knock…" the owner of the shadow muttered eerily.

The door creaked opened. The person appeared to have obtained a key somewhere. The two men sweat dropped, backing away further from the person in front of them. The whole body of the person in front of them was covered with something that they could not recognized. The shadow owner made sure that it was dark whenever he or she would attack, giving inconvenience to the victims to escape or even to see his or her face.

"Byebye…" the killer said, cutting their throats in a flash.

-skiptime-

It was Tuesday and Alicia was late for work because she had swimming practice. She rushed to the café but made a sudden stop when she saw a lot of women gathered near the junction to the café. They were whispering about a murder which happened last night. The girl shook her head and ignored their scared expressions. She saw a police car outside the building, right in front of the café. She slowly went inside. The scenery was the same, with Aunt Cass entertaining her customers and the gang was there, too. Hiro was nowhere to be found though. Alicia went to change her clothes.

"Alicia, why don't you go see if Hiro needs any help. He's with some police in his garage," Aunt Cass whispered to her when she came out of the changing room.

"Uhhh…I'll bring them some donuts and tea then…" the girl muttered.

"That'll be good," Aunt Cass nodded.

Alicia abided. She took a tray and got everything ready. She used the backdoor to get to the garage so that no one would see her. The girl popped her head in front of the garage. She saw Hiro talking to two police and they were watching his computer screen as they did. The three stopped discussing, turning to her. Hiro smiled when he saw who it was. Alicia stepped in, walking up to the coffee table.

"Uhhh…" she started, putting the tray down, "A-Aunt Cass thought that you could use something to drink and munch…"

"Oh, thanks, Alicia!" Hiro said, walked up to her and took one of the cups of tea.

"Mr Hamada, who is this?" one of the police, around his fifties, who had a beard and moustache, asked.

Hiro glanced up at Alicia who stared back at him. "Uhhh…she's an employee at my café."

The younger police spoke up, "Well, we need to discuss with you privately, not with anyone else around…"

"Officer Raynard and Detective Wills, I want her here," Hiro insisted.

"Well, I don't think that we should continue," the young officer said.

"I agree with Officer Raynard. We can come by again tomorrow or maybe some other day?" the detective offered.

Alicia noticed what was on the screen. She approached it, widening her eyes as she did. She spotted her neighbor's picture, the one who died a few weeks ago.

"Uhhhh…what are these?" she asked.

"Oh, they are the pictures of people who have been murdered over the past few weeks," the officer replied, going up to her.

The detective explained "We were discussing about what was the murder weapon and the similarities these people have…"

They both stood behind her. The girl sweat dropped, staring at them. Hiro didn't like the way they were staring at Alicia. He rushed to stand between them, half glaring at the two police.

"Leave her out of this…" he said.

"Ummm…Hiro, I think I know what the murder weapon is…" Alicia whispered.

"What?" Hiro exclaimed.

Alicia turned back to the screen. She pointed at the throat of the victims.

"It's a knife…a bowie hunting knife…" the girl muttered.

"Alicia, how did you know?" Hiro asked.

The officer crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Care to explain Miss Alicia?"

Alicia turned to them with a determined faced and started her explanation, "My father likes to collect books and pictures of knives. I don't know why, but there are a lot of books in our library that explain a lot about knives."

"Well, we would like to meet this father of yours. Where is your house?" the detective asked her, piercing his gaze towards her.

Hiro backed her up, saying, "I don't think you should know. It is just a coincidence and nothing more than that."

The police turned to look at each other. They ended their discussion there. They excused themselves and exited the garage to be on their way. Hiro was furious at Alicia.

"Why did you go telling them that?!" he shouted at her.

"I…just t-thought…" Alicia's words were interrupted.

"I don't want to hear it! Do you know what they're going to do now?! They're going to hit the database, search for your family and your address! They might even arrest your father as a suspect!" Hiro shouted angrily. "That's the last thing I would want!"

"I just thought it would help…" the girl muttered, biting her lower lip.

She didn't cry but she was shocked of Hiro's outburst. Gogo and Honey made an appearance. Apparently, they could sense that something was up when the police decided to be on their way. Hiro was trying to contain his anger when he saw them. Honey rubbed Alicia's shoulder as comfort. Alicia hid her face in Honey's embrace. The older girl took Alicia out of the garage.

"Really, Hiro? You just have to scream at her?" Gogo questioned the boy.

"Gogo…I…" he saw Gogo shook her head and walked away.

Alicia sat with the gang after that. They waited for her to explain what had happened. She didn't until it was closing time and it was time for the gang to go home. Hiro was helping out with the cleaning. Aunt Cass was in the kitchen upstairs, preparing dinner. Alicia did the dishes and wiped them dry. Then, she changed back into her school uniform. Hiro was about to speak up but the girl rushed out of the café. She started her walk home.

Once she was home, she entered the house and rushed upstairs. She didn't come down for dinner and made a headache as an excuse. Asch decided to take some food for her after doing the dishes. Kate tagged along. He knocked on the door.

Kate pushed it opened with a smile. "Hey…we brought you some food."

Alicia was on her bed, hugging a teddy bear, staring into spaces. Kate and Asch glanced up at each other. Asch placed the plate of grilled steak on her study desk while Kate made herself comfortable on the bed. He sat down on her chair.

"Care to tell us what happened?" he said.

"It's nothing important…" she muttered, turning to look at her brother.

Asch handed her the plate of steak. She started to eat, slowly munching on each bite. Kate and Asch turned to look at each other. Kate watched her sister eat. She was about to say something when Joey pushed open the door and stumbled onto the floor. He got up immediately, toddling up to the bed where his two sisters were sitting. Kate picked him up and let him sit between them.

"Chish Awicia ok?" he asked, with the innocent face of his.

Alicia swallowed her food and replied, "I'm fine… Thanks for being concerned, Joey…"

She hugged her baby brother. She glanced up at Asch, trying to give him a signal that only the two of them understand. After she ate, she went to the kitchen with her oldest brother. Kate had to put Joey to sleep because it was passed his bedtime and hers. Alicia was ready to tell Asch what had happened.

"So, you're telling me that Hiro shouted at you?" Asch reconfirmed.

"He accidentally shouted at me, not intentionally. He was worried that father could be a prime suspect of the murders…because of what I told the police…" Alicia corrected him.

Asch gazed into his sister's eyes. "What exactly did you tell them?"

She gulped and drawled, "I…told them that father has a collection of books about knives…"

"Those weren't father's…" Asch muttered, looking away.

"What?" Alicia asked because she could barely hear him.

Turning back to look at his sister, "Those were not father's…because I asked about it once. He said it was from our childhood, but that's all. He won't tell me more…"

Alicia went to work as usual the next day. She ignored Hiro and the gang because she needed some time to cool down and she thought Hiro needed it too. The gang watched her as she minded the cash register, wiped some tables and jot down orders from the customers. A tanned skin girl with a black hoodie suddenly made an appearance. All eyes were on her as she walked up to Hiro who was busy cleaning up a table. His teammates were confused because they didn't recognize the girl at all. Alicia was bothered a bit, but she had to ignore it since she hadn't spoken to Hiro since the incident yesterday. Gogo decided to call the brown haired girl.

"Alicia, can I have another cup of coffee?" she called.

The girl nodded and rushed to refill her cup. Honey leaned in to whisper.

"Who is that girl?" she asked.

"I don't know…" Alicia replied, sighing.

"Well, she's wearing a hoodie with the letters SFIT written on it. Could she be a student?" Wasabi was next to whisper.

"Fred, you're still the school mascot. Have you ever seen her?" Honey asked the guy.

"I don't think so," Fred replied, munching on a croissant, "Maybe one of his fans? Or scandals?"

Wasabi hit Fred on the head for saying something that could offend Alicia. The girl gave out a small smile and excused herself. Hiro invited the tanned girl to sit with him at a corner far from the counter so that they could talk privately. He glanced up at Alicia once in a while but the girl totally ignored him as she entertained the customers. Aunt Cass didn't know Hiro's guest either. She was a bit worried.

An elderly customer called for Alicia. "Alicia, dear, won't you sit and talk with me for a while?"

"Uh…" Alicia turned to her boss who gave a small nod, "Okay…"

The girl sat across the old woman and smiled. "You look just like my late granddaughter. She died in an accident."

"Ohh…" was all Alicia could reply.

"Do you have a twin or something because I think I saw my late granddaughter with a girl that looked exactly like you…before the accident?" the old woman asked.

Confused but interested the girl asked, "When did this accident happen?"

"Five years ago…" the elderly replied without a second thought.

Aunt Cass interrupted the conversation with an apology because she had to take Alicia away to deal with the dishes. The old woman laughed and nodded. She patted the girl's back and let her go do her work. Aunt Cass told Alicia that she shouldn't listen too much of the old woman's story. It may not be true. The girl nodded. She glanced up at Hiro who was escorting the hooded girl to the entrance of the café. She got a glimpse of the hooded girl's hair.

"Alicia, I need you and Hiro to close the café today. I have a date tonight!" Aunt Cass said, excitedly.

"When did this turn out?" Alicia asked.

"Well, I just got a text from my girlfriends that we're meeting for a movie tonight!" the woman said, still excited.

Hiro came into the counter. "Really, Aunt Cass?" he asked with a straight face.

"Oh come on! Be happy for me!" Aunt Cass said, elbowing him.

Sighing, the boy asked, "What about my dinner?"

"Well, can you hit Alicia's house for that?" the brown haired woman asked, earning widened eyes from both of the teenagers.

"I have to call first to tell my family," Alicia spoke up.

Aunt Cass gasped and happily said, "Why don't the two of you have dinner here? I think Alicia could wind up something nice to eat."

Hiro was next to speak up, "I don't think it's a good idea. Her father would kill her if she isn't back by dinner time."

"Okay…" Aunt Cass said, turning to Alicia, "Give me your father's number, I'll talk to him."

Alicia glanced up at Hiro. The boy gave up, walking away from the two. Sighing, the girl handed her mobile phone to Aunt Cass. The woman texted her father. In a few minutes, her phone rang. She picked it up and went upstairs to talk with the person at the end of the line. Alicia continued her work, thinking of excuses to make. When she was minding the register, her boss approached her.

"Your father said you could stay, but you have to be back before 10 pm," Aunt Cass whispered to her.

"Wha? Aunt Cass…I can't…" Alicia groaned.

Blinking, the woman asked, "Why not? Are you two fighting?"

Hiro barged into the conversation. "No, we didn't. She just doesn't like the idea of burdening me to send her home after dinner."

Alicia's brow twitched at what Hiro had just said. She took a deep breath before saying, "You know what? I'd love to stay. I'll cook the two of us dinner…"

She walked away after that. Hiro gaped at what she had just said. After all, he was just trying to help her. Alicia went to serve a customer who had just ordered a croissant and a cup of hot milk. She was smiling happily as if the conversation they just had never happened. Aunt Cass took her leave after telling Hiro what he should be doing. It was closing time before they know it.

"I'm gonna take a bath. It won't be long…" Hiro said to Alicia who was busying herself in the kitchen.

"Yeah…ok…" the girl replied, not even looking at him.

She was back in her school uniform. She decided to make roasted beef, one of the easiest food she could cook. She served them on the dining table once it was done and then, got ready to leave. Hiro came downstairs. He stopped her from leaving.

"Please, at least eat with me…" he said.

"No thank you. I only cooked for you. I'm going home now," Alicia replied rather coldly.

She slipped her way from a half surprised Hiro. She said goodbye and exited the house. The girl had already called her brother to pick her up. Asch came on his scooter. He smiled when he saw her and she raised her brows. He knew that something had happened. Alicia took her helmet, got on the scooter and they were on their way home.