As the sun was setting, the performing hall was filled with chatter and the sound of moving tables and chairs. It was preparation for a communal dinner, one with all the broke students and artists. However, the regulars were greeted by a few more-than-familiar faces of children once again.

"Mikhael! Come here and help!" Basil was trying to move a medium-sized table, but he didn't have the strength.

"Ah! Step back! This will be a piece of cake! With the power of chakra and h*mon I shall bring this table with one han-rmphhh!" As Mikhael tried out his anime stunt and failed miserably, Basil scratched his cheeks and smiled awkwardly.

"... Uh… I didn't mean for you to bring it on your own…"

"No! Silence! I can feel power welling up on me! I can do i-"

"Stop messing around! You two!" Kim had approached Mikhael from the back and smacked his back.

"Oof! What was that for!?"

As the two friends argued, the others began bringing out the portable stoves and enormous cooking pots that Hiko would use to cook all of them a meal. Out from backstage they came, every one of them occupied with metal cooking pots of various sizes.

Angel was bringing a medium sized pot,

Aubrey was bringing a tad bit smaller pot than Angel's,

Charlene was bringing one of the enormous ones,

and Vance had a humongous one in each hand.

As they came out from the back, a silver haired boy followed them while practically hugging a pot that was as tall as him. It was quite a comical sight to say the least. After Aubrey had put the pot she was carrying on one of the set tables, Aubrey turned around and saw Sunny slowly walking towards the table.

"Hey, Sunny! Do you need help?" Aubrey called out.

Sunny put down the pot with a metallic clank and out from the side his soft face popped out, shaking left and right to tell Aubrey that he didn't need help. Nevertheless, Aubrey walked by and helped Sunny.

It took a while, but after a few weeks Sunny had grown to be comfortable meeting Aubrey, Kel and Basil. Sunny was also already okay looking at the three of them, although sometimes his trauma would kick in and make him freeze on the spot from time to time.

"And heave… ho!" Aubrey and Sunny had successfully put his big pot on top of the table along with the other pots, "There you go!" Aubrey clasped her hands.

Aubrey took a look at Sunny, who was apparently staring at her. This, of course, made Aubrey feel flustered.

"W-what is it?" Aubrey's face slightly reddened.

Sunny looked down with a slight blush on his face. Following Sunny's gaze, Aubrey saw that Sunny had made a thumbs up sign with his hand.

"T-thank you…" Sunny had spirals replacing his pupil as the awkwardness slowly suffocated him. A cold sweat had broken.

He was expecting for Aubrey to react in an uncomfortable way, but instead she broke into laughter.

"Pfft… hahaha!" Aubrey laughed, and looked at Sunny again, "Silly, how does a thumbs up count as 'thank you'?" A bright smile was fixated on her face.

Sunny stared at Aubrey's face, bedazzled. It was the smile that he used to see on Aubrey's face. He liked that smile; it was one of the many things that he liked about her. Sunny looked away nervously, shying away a gratuitous smile.

Before, he had only seen the black blobs with judging red eyes painted over their faces. The red eyes' gaze, filled with prejudice, disgust, hatred, and horror. Albeit just tricks of his mind, it was all real to Sunny. It didn't just send shivers all over his body, it also suffocated his lungs and nauseated his stomach.

However, in these few weeks the black blobs and red eyes slowly washed away from his dear friends' faces, revealing the faces he had known to like and love. Especially Aubrey, of course. She was particularly special to Sunny.

Click!

"Huh?" Hearing the sound, Aubrey curiously looked towards her right and found Basil with his polaroid camera. Following suit, Sunny also looked over towards Basil.

"Hehe! That's a good one for the album!" Basil took out the old photo album and slipped the printed photo into one of its sleeves.

"Hey, let me see!" Aubrey approached Basil. "Ah, this one's good!" As Aubrey observed the photo Basil took, Sunny walked closer and looked at the photo along with the other two.

It was him and Aubrey. Aubrey was smiling cheerfully while she was looking at Sunny. She wore a rather airy white shirt and blue skirt. The bow she was wearing is colored yellow. On the other hand, Sunny wore his usual white shirt, looking all flustered as he looked away from the ever-smiling Aubrey. It was quite evident that he was blushing. It was late, but Aubrey just noticed this through the photo.

"Hey, Sunny, I just noticed, but you're blushing here."

Sunny didn't reply as he looked away from her. He broke into a cold sweat.

Based on his reaction, Aubrey soon came to a conclusion.

Was it because…

Aubrey blushed as red as a tomato and looked away, "Oh… ahaha…" She laughed nervously.

Basil, who was beside the two tomatoes, giggled at the sight. He soon looked at Aubrey and gave her a wink as he closed the photo album.

"Wait! Basil! It's not what you think it is!"

Oh, but it is what I think it is, Basil thought as he walked away, "Alright, that's enough looking. Let's continue helping out for dinner!"

The hall buzzed with the chatter of university students, broke artists, and children alike. While the students and artists were conversing about art, music, hobbies, and other trivial things, the children were talking about how they're going to spend their remaining summer holiday.

"I'm so sad that Herma died of Ligon."

"Ligon? What's Ligon?"

"Ligon deez n-"

Just before the student that started the joke finished his line, his friend decided to tackle him for the crime of making a deez nuts joke. The others in the hall, rather than trying to break the fight, decided to cheer them on in their soon-to-be brawl for entertainment.

"Yeah! Go, Kyle! Beat him up!" Kim cheered on the student that tackled the joker. The two of them had become friends for their love of old gangster movies.

"K-Kim, I don't think we should cheer them on…" said Basil.

"Why? It's not like it's a serious fight either. Go get him, Kyle!"

Basil sighed in surrender.

But hope wasn't lost, as the sound of clanging kitchenware resounded through the hall.

"Hey, hey! Stop it you two! Or I'm not feeding any of you!" Hiko called out. The entire mob instantly froze. After all, their dinner was quite literally in the hands of Hiko (or rather, pots were), who was going to cook for the entire hall.

""S-sorry…"" The two students apologized.

Hiko sighed, "... Although that was hilarious, I have to admit," Hiko chuckled, "Anyways, the food will be ready in a few more minutes."

The hall roared in excitement from hearing Hiko's announcement. In the midst of the cheers, three girls entered the hall.

"Woah, what's going on?" asked Ella.

"Just your regular CBA crowd," Abbi answered.

"CBA?"

"Eh, let's just say it's a group of students and artists that are equally broke."

"Oh."

Behind the two, a black haired girl scanned the room looking for her little brother. After surveying the crowd for a while, she found the person she was looking for: Sunny. It wasn't that hard to find a white haired boy. Guiding herself through the crowd, Mari approached Sunny.

Sunny hadn't noticed Mari since he was talking with Mikhael about a certain tokusatsu film featuring a giant alien fighting other larger-than-life bad aliens in order to protect Earth from harm. Of course, Sunny just kept nodding as he listened to Mikhael, equally intrigued and confused. Mari gazed at Sunny's back.

Oh, how she had missed him. She missed his random hugs from nowhere. She missed how he looked at her with earnest eyes as he listened to her. She missed playing with him along with Kel, Aubrey, Basil, and Hero.

Mari approached Sunny slowly, moving a hand forward to place on his shoulder. However, just before she placed her hand on his shoulder, she backed away.

Mari was afraid.

What if he hates me? How am I supposed to approach him, after all this time? She thought as she pursed her lips.

However, she wasn't allowed another second to ponder on her thoughts since Sunny had noticed Mari's hand beside him. He took a look back, and was startled by the sight of his own big sister.

The both of them looked at each other in silence, not making a single move. Sunny observed her big sister; a white shirt with blue shorts. Abbi's clothes. Sunny also noticed her chapped lips and pale complexion. She wasn't in particularly good shape. The sight made him full of worry. But…

How should I approach my big sister? He thought.

He was afraid that he would hurt her again, like the time he pushed her towards the stairs by accident. His mind was also ingrained with the hurtful memories of the months of practice and scolding. He was willing to let it slide and forgive. Rather, he never imposed them as her fault, but as a product of him being unable to live up to her expectations to be perfect. Nevertheless, the fear and pain were ingrained to him, and his feeling of unworthiness wasn't helping either.

Sunny looked down, avoiding Mari's gaze as he fidgeted with his fingers nervously.

Mari opened her mouth, but no voice came out.

Awkward silence.

Failing her first attempt, she tried one more time.

"Hey!... Um… Uh… How are you, Sunny?" Bad move.

Sunny looked at Mari and nodded slowly as he looked away.

Another pause.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Mari decided to move the conversation forward again.

"So… Sunny. I was wondering if we could-"

"Alright, people! Dinner is ready!" Hiko exclaimed. Unfortunately, before she was able to finish her sentence, Mari was cut off by Hiko's announcement.

"Oh, Sunny- kyoudai ! Our master has made nourishment for us all! Let us go!" said Mikhael as he grabbed Sunny with him whilst moving into the dinner queue, " Ojou-sama , will you join us in Master Hiko's grand dinner?"

" Ojou-sam…? I… uh… no thanks. I'll… go. Have a nice dinner, you two!" Mari forced a smile. Since she had used up the last ounces of her courage to even talk to Sunny and to try talking to him in private, she had decided to chicken out.

Walking away from the crowd to get some fresh air outside, Mari exited the hall. On the other hand, Sunny felt sad at the sight of her leaving, wanting to call out to her once again. However, he too gave up on that thought.

On the sideline, Abbi watched Mari's attempt to talk and apologize to Sunny fall into ruin because of Hiko's unfortunate timing. She glanced a sharp glare at Hiko, so sharp that even Hiko felt a sharp chill on his back.

Thinking that she needed to give a little nudge, Abbi walked towards Sunny and called him.

"Sunny?"

The evening of Nowhere wasn't dark. The summer sun was still shining its rays towards the forsaken town, creating a huge contrast of orange-tinted buildings with its cool blue shadows. Observing this phenomenon of orange and blue, Mari sat in front of the hall, regretting her decisions of backing out on Sunny beforehand.

Nothing I can do now, can I? She thought of an excuse.

Mari sighed in disappointment towards herself.

However, just before she had decided to go back into the hall, a soft and small hand touched her shoulder.

It was Sunny.

"Sunny…? Why are you…?" Mari was confused as to why Sunny was outside, until she saw the plate of rice and curry in his other hand.

With his two small hands, Sunny offered the curry plate to Mari.

"T-Thank you, Sunny," said Mari. She took the spoon and fork that Sunny also gave and looked at the curry plate she placed on her lap.

It looked like a regular curry plate, half rice and half curry. The curry had potatoes, carrots, and minced beef. Mari took a spoonful and ate. It tasted savory, with a lot of flavor. The carrots were sweet and slightly firm, giving the curry a little bit of a fun twist, the potato was soft, giving the curry a little bit more volume, and the minced beef's texture and taste enhanced the curry even further.

Hiko's curry was truly something to die for.

Mari's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting the curry to be this good. However, she realized something else.

Looking right beside her, Sunny had sat down right next to Mari, as if he was waiting for something.

"You're not going back in…?" Mari asked.

"Abbi said that I should listen to what you had to say," Sunny said softly.

"Oh…" Mari looked forward while she pondered on what she should say next as her little brother waited patiently right beside her.

She looked forward, staring at the ground. Time to time, she would glance back at Sunny who's not showing any sign of moving.

Mari took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"Sunny… I… haven't been a good sister to you."

Sunny looked at Mari, and paid attention earnestly. Of course, Mari kept looking forward, not responding back to Sunny's gaze.

"I know that I haven't treated you well during those past months, and I've said horrible things… and I hurt you…" Mari paused.

"... to the point that you had to throw your violin. I'm… sorry that I didn't notice, and I'm also sorry for being such a bad big sister to you, to the point that you wouldn't come back home."

Sunny looked at her in disagreement, "No, I-"

"I know you hate me for that, and it's okay if you keep on hating me. You don't even have to go back home. I'm… sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. I…" Mari started tearing up and took a deep breath.

Silence. She had finally said what she had to say.

"... I don't hate you," Sunny said again.

Mari looked at Sunny with widened eyes.

"I'm scared. I'm scared that I'm going to hurt you again, Mari." Sunny looked at his two hands, riddled with callousness from his endless times of practice in the past year.

"Besides… aren't I good enough? My violin playing? I can't be perfect, like you." Sunny looked at Mari.

"No! Sunny, you're… more than just my violinist. You're my brother! And… I truly forgot that." Mari's sudden realization horrified herself. She was so focused on making sure the recital was perfect that she had driven Sunny to think like that.

"I… wasn't putting healthy expectations on you. You were just starting to play the violin and I… forgot about that midway. And Sunny, I've come to realize that I'm not the perfect big sister you thought of me as." Mari wiped her tears.

Another span of silence filled the air as Sunny looked down.

"... I'm sorry, Sunny, I truly am. There's not enough sorrys in the world to tell you just how badly I want to apologize and make it up to you." Mari looked down in defeat.

"I'm sorry, too," a certain boy spoke. Mari's eyes widened as she looked at Sunny again, "I'm sorry I pushed you off the stairs. I didn't mean to."

Mari smiled, "... No, I probably deserved it-"

"But what if you died?"

Mari froze.

"Don't say that you deserve to die." Sunny trembled. "I don't want you to die."

Mari looked at Sunny hugging himself. "I don't want to hurt you." It hurt Mari to see her own little brother this way.

Mari didn't know what to answer. If she did, it would all be lies.

"... Yeah, I could have died," Mari admitted, "But, Sunny, I love you so much. If that was the risk of having you back home, then I don't mind!"

Sunny looked at Mari, the glimmer in his eye seemed like it glowed a little more.

"Besides, if you want to, we could put cushions all over the house. That way, the house will be safer, and more fun!"

Sunny chuckled at the thought of a house covered in soft cushions. It seemed so silly to him. "That doesn't sound like a good idea," Sunny looked at Mari. A small smile formed on his face, "I don't think Mom would agree to that."

"We could always bribe her with ice cream."

"Vanilla with chopped strawberries?"

"Vanilla with chopped strawberries."

A long pause resounded between them for a while as they looked at each other blankly. Tickled by the silence between them, the siblings broke into laughter. The laughter slowly faded away as it turned quiet once again.

Sunny slowly hugged Mari carefully, as if she was fragile glass: too hard, and everything breaks. Then, he slowly squeezed a little bit tighter. She couldn't see it, nor had Sunny ever said it, but she could feel how much Sunny had missed her. This touched her heart, making her slightly tear up. She blinked her eyes to keep the tears at bay.

"I never hated you," Sunny softly said. "I forgive you."

Mari's lips trembled as she responded to Sunny's embrace by hugging him back, "Okay."

"But… Can I stay here a little longer? I still don't want to go back."

"That's okay. Take your time," Mari stroked Sunny's hair. A tear had leaked through her eye, prompting her to wipe it away.

"Will you come back here?" Sunny cutely peeked at Mari.

"I will."

""Cheers!"" Several wine glasses clanged.

The tables were filled with a luxurious buffet. Glamorous, ornate pillars lined the walls. Red carpet covered the floor. Butlers were serving the guests with cocktails on their plate. The ambience was filled with jazz music.

A wedding between two big families of musicians was being held in a five-star hotel far from the town of Faraway and Somewhere. The newlyweds had already exchanged their vows and the feast had started for quite a while when a late guest had arrived for the joyous occasion.

"Ah, you must be Yamaha Suzuki, I presume?"

"Yes, that I am."

"Alright, sir. Please write your name in this book. Did you bring any gifts for the recently wedded?"

"I did." Yamaha placed a small white parcel with a red ribbon on it. "Please take good care of it. It's fragile."

"Yes, sir."

Yamaha wrote his name on the registration book and entered the venue. While he was entering, he snuck a peek at the florally decorated board that was standing next to the door.

A Merry Celebration of The Newlywedded

Celle Cruz and Akito Yukihiro

"Ah, Yamaha! What took you so long?" A chubby man with short, graying hair greeted Yamaha.

"Sorry, Barry. I got delayed because my mother forgot where she placed her glasses." Yamaha sighed.

"Mother? I thought you hated staying with your old geezers. Something happened at home? And when I mean home, I mean that home."

"I prefer not to say."

"... Whatever you say, friend. Anyways, come and have a seat!" Barry led Yamaha to an empty seat and grabbed two filled wine glasses from a nearby butler.

Yamaha took a sip from the wine glass; it was white wine.

"Hm, this one's good."

"Straight from Italy. 1996."

Yamaha nodded in approval, "Speaking of which, how's your… runaway problem going on?"

"You first."

Yamaha rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. Personal information for personal information. It was a fair trade.

"... I threatened my daughter with something horrible."

"Horrible? It can't be that bad."

"It was bad enough for Laurette to kick me out of the house."

Barry looked at Yamaha with an amused look, and then shaked his head.

"So, how's your daughter problem?" Yamaha repeated his question again.

"... Nope. They still haven't found Abbi. Poor Abbi," Barry's expression saddened, "If only I knew what Rachel had been doing sooner…" Barry cursed under his breath, his grip on the wine glass tightening.

Yamaha silently nodded to show he was listening. Wanting to change the mood, Yamaha tried to think of a conversation topic. However, just as he was about to speak, A white suited man with blonde hair and beard approached the two.

"Yamaha! Barry! I'm so glad to see you!"

Yamaha stood up and offered a handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Vincent Cruz."

Compared to the black suited Yamaha and the blue suited Barry, Vincent Cruz had a bigger build than the two. However, he was still well built for an aged man.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you, Yamaha Suzuki. How are you, Barry?"

"Never better, Vincent."

Yamaha scanned around the wedding. "Where's your daughter?"

"Pshaw, that cheeky girl. She decided to try and find her "long lost friend" just from a rumor I've heard.

"Rumor?"

"Something about a talented green-haired pianist that plays in the Somewhere Theatre. I swear, that's the umpteenth time she went out when I said the word 'pianist'."

"By friend, do you mean my Abbi?" Barry asked, hope in his eyes.

"Yes… I think that's her name."

"I-is it her!?"

"No idea, I haven't heard from her yet. I'll ask her after I give her an earful for not attending her cousin's wedding! What was she thinking!?"

Vincent sat down on a chair as he massaged the bridge of his nose. "Oh, since we're at the topic of rumors, I've heard of an even crazier rumor that will blow your eyes and boggle your minds."

"Eh, must be some tall tale you heard from hearsay," said Barry.

"No! Listen. I heard this from my nephew, from my aunt-in-law's daughter who's from my mother's side."

"Wait, slow down, what?" Barry got lost in Vincent's family tree.

"You know what? Doesn't matter. So, he saw a child play Der Erlkonig! A child! His hair was dyed in white, his eye in silver! And you know what's the best part? He played it well! I believe he's as old as your son, Yamaha."

The uninterested Yamaha suddenly took interest as his eyes widened by the revelation. He sat back and pondered over the story Vincent told the both of them.

Could it be?