KOF School

The Artist

The Yagamis went shopping all around the mall and eventually went to a cafe near their house for some lunch. It was also where their father worked at, so they also had the idea of watching him in action and cheering him on.
Masaomi was really happy to have them attending the cafe too. He smiled as soon as they walked in and gave his children a cheerful wave as he played.
It was a good thing that they wisely hid the gifts in the bike.
The live band played beautifully, the melody calm and uplifting. The siblings smiled as they watched their father in action, slowly sipping on their hot lemon tea.
To their surprise, Masaomi suddenly jumped off the stage and made a beeline for them with a grin. "I have some time to spare, I can join you guys for a bit."
He called to the waiter and ordered himself some hot lemon tea as well.
"So what brings you here all of a sudden?" Masaomi asked.
"Just wanted to have a snack after going over to Dash's place," Iori smirked. "Anyway, who's gonna fill you in now that you're here?"
Masaomi stirred his tea till the thin layer of honey at the bottom disappeared. "Another band. We can't just play all the way ourselves, right?"
Another band got onto stage and started playing, this time rock music and not jazz like earlier. It was still slow rock and they even recognised the song to be an instrumental version of Glass no Palm Tree by Sugiyama Kiyotaka and the Omega Tribe.
"Man, if only they hired a singer as well," Aiko chuckled as she took a sip of her tea. "And the chorus."
Iori nodded in agreement. "That chorus is the best."
"That guitarist is new," Masaomi nodded towards the stage. "The original guy sprained his wrist so he can't play. I'm surprised they managed to get a temporary replacement so quick."
"Yeah," Iori nodded, looking at the tall tousled-haired young man at the back. "He's good, though. Not like that Hisao idiot from band. I'm just glad that Kyo or Yashiro takes over for the most part." He sighed. "I hope Yashiro's okay, though. I must've given him such a scare the other day."
"Come on, I'm sure he's fine," Aiko comforted. "Just be happy that his bully plan backfired so bad that he ran away in fear."
Iori simply shrugged and turned back to the stage to watch the performance as he sipped his tea. He was a little disturbed when he found that the guitarist was actually staring straight at him and quickly turned back to the table, looking at his phone instead. He couldn't tell if the guitarist was someone he knew since the stage lighting was a little dark and the guy even wore a mask that concealed the bottom half of his face.
"Dad, what's the guitarist's name?" Iori asked, placing his phone down on the table as he picked his cup back up again.
"Shiroya," Masaomi replied. "Anyone you know?"
"No... but he's staring right at us," Iori said, uncomfortably hunching forward with an elbow placed on the table with his hand behind his head.
Masaomi turned to look and realised that the guitarist was gazing at the music stand in front of him as he played the electric guitar solo for the song. Aiko murmured the chorus lyrics as soon as he finished, wearing a smile on her face as she sang softly.
"He's probably just looking at his scores for the solo," Masaomi remarked as he turned back to Iori. "Anyway, you two ride safely, okay? Why didn't your uncle come with you?"
His children simply shrugged, grinning at him.
"Alright, then," Masaomi chuckled. "I have time until they've finished playing a few more songs. Wanna eat something?"
"Sure," the siblings said in unison, nodding.

Masaomi's break was over and Iori heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted the strange guitarist leaving through the back door, holding a bottle of soda that he purchased from the cafe.
"It's a good thing Dad didn't suspect anything," Iori remarked when they exited the cafe. "Now, we have to find a way to distract Uncle."
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Aiko smirked. "I'll do something, you take the stuff and go over to your room and hide them there. Okay?"
Iori nodded. "Deal."
They got onto the bike and started riding home. They had to pass the alleyway beside the cafe, and the two of them decided to stop and look at the cats.
"They're so cute," Aiko chuckled as she petted a fluffy ginger kitten. "And there's so many of them!"
"And they're all well-fed," Iori noted, stroking the silky fur of a black cat. "The cafe people must really take good care of them."
The two of them got onto their bike again to return home. The usually dingy alleyway was flooded with sunlight and white with snow at this time, making it seem beautiful despite being filled with dumpsters and junk. The sound of hissing could be heard, specifically the sound of someone spray-painting a surface.
"Did you hear that?" Iori asked, stopping short in the midst of starting the bike. "Sounds like... spray paint, doesn't it?"
Aiko nodded, a slight frown on her face. "I think someone is vandalising this area."
"Let's catch them in the act," Iori suggested. "And inform the cafe."
"Niisan, come on," Aiko groaned. "What if they're rogues?"
"We'll just take a video of them from a distance and show the cafe manager," Iori reasoned. "They need to be reported!"
Aiko simply shrugged and put her helmet on as her brother wheeled the bike towards the alleyway behind the cafe. That's when the two of them spotted someone tagging the wall, a half-finished mural in front of them. They couldn't see what he looked like since he wore a long hooded trench coat because of the cold.
Iori motioned for his sister to be quiet and slipped his phone out of his pocket. He started filming the vandal tagging the wall in broad daylight, seemingly without care or worry of being caught.
"Niisan," Aiko whispered. "What if he sees us?"
"We're wearing helmets," Iori pointed out. "He can't see our faces."
Just then, the vandal turned around and looked directly at them. Aiko quickly patted her brother's back, prompting him to start riding off.
But to her dismay, Iori just sat there, silently glaring at the guy as he came towards them.
"What do you think you're doing?" the street artist demanded, pointing at Iori.
"What do you think you're doing?" Iori countered without missing a beat. "If filming you is bad, then vandalising is worse."
"I'm not vandalising, the cafe hired me to spice things up!" The artist argued.
"Oh..." Iori didn't know what else to say. He realised that it was the same guy he had seen playing a guitar on-stage earlier, noticing a glimpse of his tousled hair peeking from the hood. "By the way, aren't you the guitarist that performed earlier?"
The tall young man regarded them for a few seconds, standing rooted to the ground with his eyes wide in shock. Aiko even noticed how he took a few steps back, trembling slightly as he backed away.
Without warning, the guy broke into a run, even abandoning his painting supplies as he bolted. Iori wasn't going to let him off that easily, he immediately sped the bike to catch him. He stopped the bike in front of him, blocking his path.
To Aiko's surprise, he got off the bike and took his helmet off as he regarded the taller man with a frown. She wanted to reason with Iori, pull him away and run off to avoid trouble in any form. But at this point, it seemed as if her brother was chasing trouble instead.
"Who are you?" Iori asked, glaring straight at him. "Why were you staring at us at the cafe?"
The guitarist just stood there, staring at him in disbelief. He took a step back to run but Iori blocked his path.
"I'm not letting you leave until you tell me," Iori added. "Especially since you ran off as soon as you recognised us."
The guy shook his head and looked away. "Just leave me alone."
Iori frowned, finding him more and more familiar. His hood had slipped off while he was running, and Iori could see that both of his ears bore two silver hoop earrings. There were only two people he knew who had pierced ears besides the girls. The first was Benimaru, and the second was Yashiro. And only one among them had double-pierced ears.
"Ya... Yashiro?" Iori said in surprise. He looked intently at his eyes, the poorly dyed-black eyebrows confirmed it. "It's really you..."