PART II

"What time was it supposed to be again?" Ken asked that next morning.

"7 am sharp!" Omi hollered from the bathroom.

Ken then mumbled something incoherent as he made his way towards the kitchen. He looked up at the wall clock his eyes a bit heavy.

"5 a.m." He told himself. "Too early." He added as he rested his head against the table. He closed his eyes and muttered out a soft curse.

"Hey, Ken-kun don't sleep on the table." Omi said as he finally emerged from the bathroom. He walked towards Ken, his face alight like the morning sun. "Let's have breakfast, shall we?"

"Go right ahead." He murmured groggily. "Too sleepy."

"Come on, Ken-kun! Up, up already!" Omi coaxed lifting his head by the hair. Ken growled his annoyance.

"Yamero, Omi-kun!" he cried out. "Stop with the noisy chatter already!"

"We have to hurry up, the plane will land at exactly 7 am… "

"You're used to waking up early." Ken groaned. Then heaving out a sigh, he finally opened his eyes and lifted his head. Omi smiled and placed a bowl of cereal before him.

"Now eat up." He said sitting down before him.

Ken then got a spoon and poured some milk on his cereal. He then took a mouthful of the sweet concoction.

"It's not fair though." He said his mouth full of cereal. "Why does that idiot Yohji still sleeping in there?"

"Because that idiot Yohji got himself drunk again last night."

They looked up only to find Aya emerging from the door of his room. He walked towards the two, a no-nonsense emotion on his face.

"Waking up that moron would really be a waste of time." He added dispassionately.

"Have breakfast, Aya-kun." Ken managed to say as Aya sat down beside him.

"Or maybe he's had some hot lovin' last night." piped in Omi, licking the excess milk off his spoon. With that Ken threw a cereal at him.

"Just when did you learn that?" He demanded. "You are just a kid!"

Omi just smiled sheepishly as his response. Aya cleared his throat as he started to dig in his breakfast. He then ate silently, his hands moving in a monotonous motion.

"Makes me curious though." Omi said suddenly. "What does he look like? And boy, from the Philippines… "

"What difference does it make?" Aya replied finishing his cereal. "He is the same with us." He added standing up, the keys to his car on his hand.

Omi rolled his eyes as Ken smirked at him. Go figure… even though Aya tried his best to remain passive about this, there is a hint of curiosity quite audible in his voice.

==========

"Are you sure you spelled the name right?" Ken asked for the fifth time as crowds of people came rushing past them. An irritated Omi turned to him.

"I said yes, yes, yes, yes!" He cried. Then he looked at the signboard in his hand. "Or so it seems…"

Aya looked at the sign, its romanized letters not too foreign for him. Well he has to admit it though; it was a good thing they have Omi with them. He is the only one who could speak and write English fluently. Spending most of his time in the chat rooms really brought him an advantage.

Just then somebody went up to them. He looked up only to find a pair of black eyes meeting his violet ones. A shoulder-length hair contrasting the baby blue blouse and--

"Does anyone of you know how to speak English?"

"A-Alex Castillo?" Omi asked looking at a girl about his age. Ken's jaw dropped in surprise upon seeing a girl and not a boy in front of them.

"Um… yes." She answered uncertainly. She fidgeted nervously as she stood before them.

"Welcome to Japan." Omi finally managed to say. He smiled at her. She smiled back.

"Thank goodness, you know how to speak English." She said. "Are you-- " she fished out a piece of paper from her jeans pocket. "… um Hidaka Ken?"

Ken's ears perked up upon hearing the unusual pronunciation of his name. Omi gave out a chuckle.

"No, I'm Tsukiyono Omi." He said. Then he gestured at his two companions. "This is Fujimiya Aya and this is Hidaka Ken." He added.

Alex smiled as she studied the three before her. She couldn't help but admit that the three look exceptionally good. The man named Aya has this unusual red hair complementing the deep violet hue of his eyes. Next to him is a brown-haired man named Ken and she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from his sparkling brown ones. And last is Omi, the one with the fluent English and shining blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you." She said shyly. She looked away and blushed, aware that she has been staring at them for quite some time now.

Omi's eyes widened then it narrowed upon seeing the faint tint that quickly appeared on her cheek. He found her strange, with her light-tanned skin and her sparkling black eyes, which changed to dark brown. But although strange, he found her quite pretty.

"So where are your bags?" Ken managed to say in slow English. Alex turned to him.

"This is the only one I have, I'm afraid." She replied showing them her knapsack.

Omi nodded his head in understanding. Now he fully realized how critical the situation is. Alex practically had to come rushing here just to be alive. She hasn't even bothered packing up some clothes, just looking at the little knapsack carelessly slung on her shoulder told him so.

"Why don't we go so you can freshen up a little bit?" suggested Omi looking at Aya and Ken. The two nodded quickly. "You can ride inside Aya's car."

With that Aya's eyebrows went up a notch but then he couldn't expect Alex to ride with Omi or Ken since the two brought their bikes. And besides, there is something in her that made him unwilling to even let her near those things. Giving out a curt nod he turned around.

"Ikou. Let's go." He said as he walked away from the airport, the three on his trail.