1 Chapter 1 - She is Found

A tall guy, almost 6-footer, wearing black pants and gray polo shirt, was walking alone in the streets of Fontaine City. He left the three buttons on his shirt opened even in the cold season.

He has black hair and a pair of almond-shaped brown eyes. He had silver hoop earrings and silver chain with an arrow dog tag pendant hanging on his neck.

This guy who kept walking was no other than Alexis "Musica" Argent of Argent Jewelry, Inc. He used to be the young bachelor heir of the company but decided to change his life from a businessman into private owner of a Securities Agency that provided any help based on a client's request.

He looked so bored, judging from his hands on his pockets and languid stare on his eyes. He probably misses his two companions: Clarence and Sora. They had gone out to go back to their hometown to finish the Prince's unfinished business with his ruthless father. They had gone for almost half a year and hadn't communicated him within these months, thus leaving him alone in the city.

Musica kept walking. He stopped when he's in front the door of one of his favorite French restaurants. He entered and took his place near the glass window. He was not in mood, for he didn't bother looking at the menu and just telling his orders to the waitress. He started to eat upon the arrival of his meal. He ate each course one after another. He didn't even remember that he ordered a full-course meal.

It was already 1:00 pm when he finished his meal. He was very full but still took the crepe he ordered last.

"I shouldn't waste food!" he told himself as he forced to eat the dessert.

Sipping the glass of his apple drink, he looked around for no particular reason. His eyes grew bigger when he saw a familiar person from the far corner. He can't clearly see him because of the sun's rays. He then shook his head upon confirming.

"He looks like Clarence..." he said, almost a whisper. Musica barely burst out the juice when he saw that person's posture. "It's a woman..."

That person was a woman indeed. She's tall and has a long black hair tied simply and neatly with a blue ribbon. She wore a plain peach-colored blouse and white jeans. She matched it with flat black sandals. She has a fair complexion and looks around 20 years old.

Musica kept staring and seemed to be captivated by her though he could only see her back and side view.

The girl left already after paying her meal. He slightly shrugged. He has returned to his normal self. His eyes are still following her until she was out of sight already.

"Clarence, Sora, you're so unfair! You should have let me come with you! And now I'm bored so much!"

>>>>>> <<<<<<

The expression on his face still didn't change. He kept walking for almost five or ten minutes. He walked downstairs where there are many happy clubs and bars. He stopped there for a minute, as if planning to go inside to have some entertainment. But he proceeded to walk back the uptown. When he saw an empty juice can, he kicked it forcefully, still with hands on both pockets. "OH! I'm so bored here!" he cried out. "I even lost my interest on women..."

He stopped by in a bookstore. He read some books for about an hour. After reading, he placed the book back and looked for some more. He bought the new editions of mangas Inu Yasha (Rumiko Takahashi) and Groove Adventure Rave (Hiro Mashima), and his favorite funny comic book, The King Squirrel's New Adventure.

He walked and finally reached his simple two-storey block-house - their office as well. On the first floor, the kitchen and dining room was on the north of the house. At the center, there's a billiard table. On the east was a set of black sofa where they discuss about their missions or plans with their clients. On the west, there's a bar. On the second floor, there are five rooms. The three rooms are the three's respective room. The other two are vacant, for which they used as guests' rooms.

Musica entered his room. He put down the mangas he bought on the table beside the bed and lay down. He quickly fell asleep. It was almost three.

Passed four hours, he had already awakened. He slowly blinked his eyes and put his right arm on his forehead. He looked at his watch. It was already passed seven in the evening. He got up from bed and went out. He walked downstairs and saw Wins and the others eating happily on the dining place. The boys were so loud. Wins, his most trusted comrade, noticed him coming near.

"Yo, Musica, join us!" invited Wins. We have lots of food tonight!"

Musica smiled. "I'll have the fruits," he said, taking his seat beside him. He reached for an apple and ate it.

They kept eating. Meanwhile, someone called him. "Boss..." called Jim, also one of his comrades, worriedly.

"Hm?"

"These days, we noticed that you're not in your normal self," Jim said. "You always looked so bored and sad!"

"Yes, that's right!" the others chorused.

"We're all worried about you!" Wins said.

Musica kept silent for few seconds. He must be reflecting on what they told him. He then smiled and looked at them. "Sorry for making you all worry. I'm okay! I just felt those days were boring," he said, giving them a reassuring grin.

Another comrade of his raised a can of beer. "Let's drink for the coming back of our Boss' normal self!"

"Yeah!" chorused all, raising and cheering their cans of different beverages together.

They drank till ten. Some of them had fallen asleep on their places. Musica, Wins and the other two were still fine. Wins, hitting Musica's chest slightly with his elbow, said, "Musica, let's find women and have fun!"

He shook his head. "No... I've told you before; I've changed!" He raised his fist high as a sign of victory.

"Hehehe! I'm just joking! I knew you for so long!"

"Hahaha!" laughed the remaining awake.

After a while, all of them had finally fallen asleep on the floor. There was a nice smile on Musica's face.

>>>>>> <<<<<<

5:00 PM at the Fountain Park.

Musica was sitting on one of the stone benches of the park. He watched the happy scenery happening in front him. After few minutes, a waffle stall passed by and stopped near him. He smelled the scent of tempting hot waffles. He bought two with different filling: cheese and tuna. He bit the cheese waffle first and chewed slowly. "This is Clarence's favorite flavor," he said to himself. The next one was Sora's favorite. He continued eating until the last bite. With thoughts of buying another one, he looked at the stall, which was now far from him. He saw a girl buying. Subconsciously, he was submerged into thoughts. The girl had a long black hair, tied simply with a blue ribbon.

"I think I've seen her before..." he said, talking to himself. He looked at her for long until he saw her side view. He kept staring at her until she left. He blinked and shrugged. "She's the girl I saw yesterday, right?" he said quietly. After a minute, he stood up, put his hands on both pockets and decided not to buy anymore. He walked on the beautiful surface of the white-blocked park, and the fountain gushed out pretty sparks of water, just like fireworks booming out in the wide sky.

>>>>>> <<<<<<

7:00 AM

Musica readied himself to go to a hot spring house on the Northeast. His comrades wanted to come with him but he refused. He said that they would only be noisy bees in his ears. After 45 minutes of traveling, he finally reached the place. The hot spring house was big and simple. It's like a Japanese Hot Spring resort.

He was welcomed by an old smiling woman. "Welcome to Family Hot Spring House, Sir," greeted the grandmother, bowing politely. He smiled and bowed back. She escorted him to his room, which was on the second floor. He entered his room. It was very simple, so are the decorations. Even so, it's very relaxing. The rolled futon was on the corner. The cabinet is on the right side. He put his things on the corner, took off his red jacket and placed it over his bag. Slowly, he placed his knees on the floor and lay down his back. He kept his eyes open and stared blankly on the ceiling. Over a minute, he finally closed it and fell asleep.

Past eleven, he got up from the floor where he was sleeping. He changed his clothes to a robe provided by the house. He was yawning while sliding the door. He walked downstairs so he could bathe already. He reached the Male Hot Spring. He entered, removed his robe, opened another door and finally bathe in the warm water of the spring. His elbows were on the rock and his back was laid on it. He closed his eyes to feel the relaxing warm water.

After a while, he opened his right eye when he heard laughter from a group of girls.

"The spring here is very relaxing," said one girl from the near spring.

"I agree!" another said. And lively laughter was heard once again.

"I thought I was the only costumer here," he said quietly, opening his other eye. He took the comic book, which he brought along, on the rock "After all, it's still October." He then read it. After finishing the second chapter of King Squirrel's New Adventure, he decided to rise up already. He continued reading inside his room. He was laughing quietly, yet uncontrollably, while reading.

At exactly 12:00 in the afternoon, two knocks were heard on his room. He heard it. "Who is it?"

A girl's voice replied, "I'm here to give your lunch, sir."

He crawled to get to the door and opened it. The girl placed the tray of foods gently after the door line. She bowed politely and so was he.

"Enjoy your lunch, sir," she said and her face was seen.

Musica saw her face especially her deep blue eyes. His mouth opened slightly as he was surprised to see her. His face seemed very puzzled yet happy.

"CLARENCE!" he blurted out subconsciously.

Her face lit up. She was wondering about the man in front him. "Uhm..." she started. "Is there a problem, sir?" she asked, keeping her voice polite.

He seemed to be back to his consciousness. He felt very nervous and embarrassed. He was wrong! He mistook the young girl to his best friend, whom he hadn't seen for a very long time. He apologized sincerely to her. He bowed many times. "I'm really sorry, miss! Please forgive my rudeness."

"It's nothing, sir," she answered.

He noticed the changed of her voice but not her reaction. She wasn't angry or anything like that. "Excuse me," she said, bowing. She stood up and left.

When she left, he took a very long sigh. He was still nervous because of what he did. He was tapping his chest so much.

"Musica, you fool! You got carried away! That was embarrassing!" he exclaimed, ruffling his hair. He calmed down. He's now in his normal cool. "Why did I say that?" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He remembered her face, her bangs and her black hair that was tied in knot at the back of her head. He opened his eyes. "Why does she look very alike as Clarence? Seeing her that closely, she's as pretty as him! And they have the same hairstyle, the bangs! But not considering their hair colors. And that eyes, that was like the eyes I saw from Clarence when I first met him two years ago... "

He calmed down again. He took the tray of food and ate little by little. He was still thinking

After 20 minutes, he finished all the food. "The food here is great!" he said. Then after a while, two knocks were heard. "Someone here's going to get the tray..." he quietly said to himself. "Oh, it must be HER!" He hurriedly opened the sliding door. Whom he saw was not her. The brown-haired girl took the tray and bowed politely while closing the door.

"I thought it was her..." He sighed. "She must be angry of what I did."

He was reading until he looked at the wall clock. 2:35. He went out, carrying his hilarious comic book. He stood in front his room's door and waited. He wanted to talk to her, with no particular reason in his mind. He waited for many minutes but he couldn't see her. "What am I doing?" he scolded himself. He decided to just walk around instead of thinking hard. He went downstairs. By his way, somebody called his attention. "Hi there, sir," she greeted with a big fat smile. She was the grandma who welcomed him in. He blinked his eyes for he was awakened from his thoughts. "Hi," he greeted back.

Grandma kept her smile. "Are you enjoying your stay here?"

He forced a smile. "Oh, yes."

"That's good to hear. Enjoy your youth! It's happy to be young. Later then." She had passed him. Something came into his mind. "Wait, grandma!" he called out. The old woman heard his calling so she looked back. "Yes?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm looking for someone. She works here. She has black hair and blue eyes. Could you tell me where she is?"

She thought. "Hmm... Black hair and blue eyes..."

He was waiting for her answer. The grandma finally remembered. "Oh, yeah! There's only one girl matching your description. Do you mean Claire?"

He grinned. "Yes, it's her! Do you know where she is?"

"What do you want from her?" she asked, smiling.

"Uhm... well..."

"Sorry, I can't tell you if it's not important. She's very busy right now."

"But..."

Suddenly, grandma looked at the approaching figure from his back. "There she is," she said, pointing at her. Musica turned around and saw Claire. Grandma walked towards her. "Claire-chan, there's a young man looking for you," she said, smiling at Musica. Then she left after that.

"Yes?" she asked.

Musica seemed nervous but excited. It took many seconds for him to say something. He finally started, "I'm really sorry about that. I mistook you for someone else..."

She replied softly, "That was nothing. Please forget it."

There was no eye-to-eye contact between them, but Musica was trying to look at her eyes. Besides, it's impolite if they would do so.

He was now at little ease. He tried to overcome it by saying something all of a sudden. "Are you not busy at this time? I really want to talk to you..."

Claire took seconds to reply.

"Well?" he waited.

"What do you want to talk about?" she said straightly. "Is it important?"

He was taken aback by her straightness. Because he was hoping that she would say yes. "Uh... it's something personal... I think, I'll just..." He cut it when he saw her frowning a bit on the side, not at him directly. "She's scary..." he said to himself.

"To whom did you mistake me, Sir?" she asked calmly and politely. This made Musica felt at ease.

"To my friend," he said, forcing a grin. "You look so much alike him. But I don't mean you look manly!" he turned nervous when he said this. "Actually, he looks like a girl given his long hair. So that's why."

By hearing these words, Claire's heart suddenly beat fast. She slowly held her hands together. She said, looking at him, "Does he have a long grayish hair and a pair of blue eyes, just like mine?"

He was surprised for she knew his description. "Yes, that's him!"

She slightly bent her head her head down and made a smile on her lips. "Finally..." she said very quietly, almost a whisper that no one could hear.

Musica was not nervous anymore. He grinned, "You know, I have a feeling that you are his sister."

She looked straightly at him with excited eyes. "Yes, I am," she said, smiling clearly at him.

He was smiling happily too, not only for the reason he had finally found his best friend's long lost sister, but also for his personal reason that he himself didn't know yet. He managed to say something excitedly, "He'll be happy to see you!"

Suddenly, a girl came and whispered something on Claire's ear. She nodded to her and the girl left. "Excuse me, but the manager is calling me now to get back to my work immediately. Can we talk again later?"

"Sure," he quickly replied.

"I'll be leaving now," she said, bowing. She then left.

Musica walked upstairs. As soon as he entered his room, he jumped high and kept shouting in his mind. He was dancing in joy. "Yes! Yes! I finally found her! Clarence's gonna be happy for sure! Who could have thought that our years of searching for her finally ended...? I gotta remember this day. Thursday, huh..."

He quitted dancing and quickly sat down. He turned serious but then laughed. "Hahaha!" He quitted it. "I feel so warm again..." he said excitedly. "This is also the same feeling I felt when I first met Clarence... And now, I finally met the female one. " He laid his back on the floor with his hands at the back of his head. He's still smiling. He's really happy.

>>>>>> <<<<<<

Both Musica and Claire were talking outside his room.

"Where is brother now?" Claire asked longingly.

Musica crossed his arms. "He went back to his hometown. Actually, we haven't seen and communicated each other for almost six months now."

The expression of her face seemed that she lost hope. She sighed. "Then, when will I ever see him...?" she said in a very low tone, almost a whisper that she alone could hear.

"Don't worry," he said in assuring tone. He smiled and winked. "I guess he'll be back soon. Very soon... But if he won't show up to me by the following days, I'll follow him there and beat him up for he hadn't communicated with me and he let you wait! " he said with strong feeling, punching his fist on the other palm, as if ready for some fight.

"Will you really do that to him?"

"Of course! He deserves it!"

She laughed very shortly. "Tell me, is he a funny person?"

"Yes, very much. But he gets serious all of a sudden."

"How come?"

"When he's sleeping on a chair. His face is very serious."

"Oh..."

"He's really funny!" he said, laughing.

"By the way," she interrupted.

He stopped laughing. "Hm?"

"What's your name? I wasn't able to ask you before."

"Musica. And yours is Claire, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. Well, thank you very much, Musica. I'm glad that I met you."

He suddenly felt that he's blushing. He put his left hand at the back of his head. "That's was nothing. I just want the two of you to meet up already."

She just nodded. "But I wonder when? We don't know where his present location is."

"Do you have any contact number?" he asked. "I'll contact you if ever I have news about him."

And they took each others' contact numbers. Before leaving, Claire said, "Just call me once."

"Okay."

"I'm looking forward to it. Thank you again."

On that night, he rest on the futon. He was thinking of something serious. "If Claire is Clarence's sister, it only means that she's... not human as well?" He quickly sat up and shook his head. "I don't think so. She's definitely a human being! I can feel it. Hmm... But, how can that be?"

He was puzzled. He just lay back on the bed. He stretched his arms and legs. He then yawned. He closed his eyes and smiled. "I better ask Clarence about this when I see him."