Chapter 2.2: "The Futagawa family and the second encounter"

"Y-Young miss, Sir Matthew just called. He said he wanted to talk to you," the maid reported amidst panting by the time she entered the room. She's holding our mansion's landline telephone as she walked towards the bed I was lying on. Wait, what's with the rush? Did something happened?

"Give me that," I calmly ordered despite the surprise. I still couldn't grasp what exactly is going on but base on her nervous appearance and excessive sweating, there seems to be a problem.

Without hesitation, she quickly passed me the telephone. "Hello? Kuya Matt are you there?" I asked in a calm but worried tone to the person on the other line.

"Hmm lil sis? Hik! Is that youuu?" he answered in a sluggish manner followed by a series of boozy hiccups which made me raise my eyebrows. Is he... probably drunk right now?

A lopsided grin formed across my lips when I thought of something funny. I don't have time for stupidity but let's have fun for a bit, shall we? "I'm afraid that I am not in any relations with you, kind sir. But, this is 911 emergency aid, so how may I help you at this hour?" I coughed and spoke in my deepened, diaphragm voice.

"Eh? 911? But I thought I called our family's telephone numberrr? That's weiiiird..." I covered my mouth in order to supress my laughter when I heard his confused and innocent mumbles from the other side. No doubt, he is certainly wasted as hell right now, he couldn't even recognize my altered voice even though it's still so obvious. "Well, never mind. But mister whoever-you-are, can you pweeease help me search for my sister? Cause for some reason, I couldn't fucking contact her damn phooone. Her name by the way is —"

"I'm sorry sir but unfortunately your request is denied by the system. First, you have to pay your electric bill from the past six months in Monelco or else King Waka-waka will permanently expel you from the entire kingdom of Montelban. You now only have 12 hours remaining sir," I cut him off using my most serious tone despite of mentally giggling while still ridiculously putting up an act. "If you can't acquire the elder's wand, the sorcerer's stone, and the invisibility cloak within the given time limit then rest assured that your sister will never return alive again," I added a little taunt to alarm him.

"What the hell? You guys have my sister? Don't you ever dare lay hands on my sweet and most precious baby little sister! Ya hear me? Hik! I swear I will haunt you guys dow — wait, wait." He stopped talking for a few seconds, which seems to me that he's nearly realizing something. "Lil sis! That's you, wasn't it? You can't fool me with your sorcerer's stone thingies and your Waka-waka shits!"

"But I already did, didn't I?"

"Hik! I knew it. Damn!" he cussed. I snickered devilishly when he finally stitched all the pieces out.

"How I wish I could see the dumb face you were doing right after you fell for my prank just now," I teased as I wiped my tears of laughter. "Man, that was a pretty good 2-minute skit of my life this evening. Thanks, bro."

"You're cruel lil sis, how could you do this to me? Are you trying to be like Samantha now who loves to play around with people's feelings?" he cried accusingly. My good-for-nothing heck of a brother is being shamelessly dramatic again.

"And who is that Samantha you are comparing me with? Was she perhaps somebody who dumped you because of your lunacy?"

"NOPE," he replied, he puckered his mouth to form 'P' sound just to give emphasis to the letter itself. "For your information, I am too handsome to get dumped. Second, I am not a lunatic and third, Samantha's just one of my exes. I replaced her for taking me as a fool with a new girlfriend who is waaaay hotter than her! She's even hotter than the sun!"

"No one's hotter than the sun, brother."

"Well, you thought wrong. You just haven't seen her yet," he said in full confidence. I rolled my eyes heavenwards.

"Oh really? If that's the case then let me meet that girl for once."

"No! You can't! That will never happen!" he exclaimed in a shaky voice which startled me.

"And why is that?" He kept silent for a few moments. My forehead creased as I noticed the sudden change of the mood in the atmosphere.

"B-Because we just broke up after I recently found out that she's actually cheating with me, for real!" he confessed. I covered both of my ears when his deafening wails blasted loudly across the room like a dying, gigantic sea creature. I know that it's rude not to feel sympathy with what just happened to my brother but I couldn't help myself from getting irritated by the way he's crying in this situation. Rather than sympathizing him, I wanna smack him in person. "Women are so freaking evil, you know? Rather than giving us genuine love and pleasure, y'all torture men like a psycho instead. You toy with our genuine affection and destroy our hearts into pieces like some kind of crap! Is it funny? Do all of you enjoy the feeling of stepping on a fragile man's dignity? Cause if you don't then why do every girl I love always wanted to hurt me? I mean, where exactly did I go wrong? I'm already handsome, I'm smart, I have dozens of sports car, I also have a lot of money but why do you always leave me? ¿Por que, lil sis? Tell me whyyyy!"

Because you're a shameless dork, hermano.

"Where are you now, Kuya Matt?" I frowned as I ignored his stupid question, neglecting the desire of responding sarcastically to it. I heard his gentle hiccups from the other line again.

"Where else should I be?" he made it sound like I already knew something. "Isn't it obvious that I'm here at the place where she left me, cheated on me, and replaced me for a younger man?"

"That's too vague to be obvious, bitter melon. Where is it located then?" I asked again. There was a moment of ticking silence within the moment before I heard his answer.

"Hmm, I dunno. Hik! But it's somewhere called big bird."

"What? Big Turd?!" I loudly repeated.

"You dummy, I said big bird not Pig Twerk!" he corrected irritatingly. Wait what? "Is my voice too heavenly that you lose a bit of your hearing, sister?"

"No, but if you weren't screaming and wailing like a complete idiot awhile ago then perhaps I wouldn't! Jerk!" I jeered in annoyance. "Forget about it! Who's with you right now?"

"Zzz... Zzz... Zzz..." I face-palmed myself when his unpleasant snores vibrated from the speaker. Good Lord, please tell me he isn't sleeping in the middle of our conversation.

"Argh! For the love of crackers Kuya Matt! WAKE UP!!"

"HOLY MOTHER OF BOOBS!" he yelled back as if he just had regained his consciousness from almost dozing off. "Are you still there lil sis? I thought you hanged up the call. I guess you love me so much. Hik!" he added.

"You tell me your real, freaking location now brother or else!"

"Alright, alright! Calm your small tits sis. I'm fiiiine," he chuckled drowsily. I swear if Kuya Matthew was just sitting right next to me, I would have hit him real hard. But I guess he's lucky for tonight. "Didn't I told you already? I'm at the Big bird."

"Are you sure that's a real place?"

It took another couple of seconds before he replied. "I think so, 'cause I could barely tell whether it's not since I wasn't sober. I mean, not to brag but the only big bird I know is my own glorious manhood. Hehehe, roar."

"Do you want me to cut it out so you could die miserably as a virgin bachelor?" I suggested in sarcasm. I don't know if he's doing that in purpose but he's slowly pissing me off. Who wouldn't be annoyed if you were talking to a looped doofus even though you were patiently asking a sensible question? I get it, he's drunk, but why does he have to be so aggravatingly evasive?

He keeps on mumbling something over the phone but I can't hear the words clearly. I massaged my temples and then got up from sitting on the edge of the bed.

"That's it!" I said with full assertion. "I am going to fetch you! So stay right where you are because Lupert and I will pick you up there. Understood?"

"Really lil sis? Yeeeeyyyy! Hik! Yours truly is so happy!" he yelped like a child who was given a candy for free. I could possibly imagine now how wide his smile is. "That's a promise right? I'll wait for you here then, but don't take too long okay? I love you sisterrr!"

"Oh don't you 'I love you' me brother, 'cause you will still have to face my sermon punch as soon as I get there. So better brace yourself!" I ended the call with a taunt before I handed the telephone back to the maid who brought it. "Please call Baldo and my PA Lupert. Tell them that we are heading to Big Bird, if that place truly exist in the map."

"In Big Turd you say, young miss?"

"What? I said Big bird not Big — whatever," I gave up and sighed as I managed to push the confused servant out. Then, I went inside my walk-in closet to get my cardigan jacket before I left the room to follow her downstairs.

After a quick span of two minutes, Me together with my PA and personal driver went to take back a lost, innocent goat home (I'm talking about my drunk brother Matthew). Unfortunately, it took us a while to find his exact location because the truth is, we can't find any existing establishment named 'Big Bird' around the city. It turns out that Big bird isn't the name of the bar and instead, it is called 'Big Beard.' Despite of that misleading information, I still couldn't blame my brother knowing that he's drunk and could no longer talk or read properly. Good thing that we have a tracker so we were still able to track him down through his cellphone's GPS.

I hurriedly stormed inside with no hesitation as soon as we arrived at the destination. There were two bouncers guarding up the entrance who almost blocked me out until Lupert released a golden, all-access VIP card and allowed us to go through. Although, my confidence earlier suddenly depleted the moment I realized what kind of jeopardizing moment did I just got in to.

"Yes! We own this night, bitches!"

"Is this seat taken, miss?"

"You're so handsome. Can I kiss you?"

"Let's go upstairs babe."

As the flickering, polychromatic lights refracted in every direction accompanied by a loud, upbeat music banging from every corners, the crowd danced along with the DJ’s rhythm like ferocious animals at the center floor as if tomorrow's gonna be the end of the world. Some drunk dorks are sleeping on the tables, and some couples — or probably just a pair of strangers — are shamelessly making love on the sofas placed on each side of the hall without even thinking that a lot of eyes can see them doing those lewd things in public. However, despite of feeling lost and disgusted, I took a very deep breath before I continued to pave my way in with just a small chance of possibility to find my most handful sibling ever.

Not gonna lie, but I have never been fond of going in this kind of place before just to have fun. For me, nocturnal activities such as parties and bar-hopping are either just for introverts who finds socializing an extent to kill boredom, or perhaps for some straight-up jerks and whores out there who just happened to have a bunch of money, free time, and some infinite libidos to spare with. And that is totally not my cup of tea.

"Hi baby, are you free?" Just as I maintained a stealth aura to avoid anyone's attention, a certain guy still approached me while he's walking like a deadpan zombie. His half-opened eyes screams intoxication as his grin which strangely creeped across his lips made me shiver over an instant.

I am planning to ignore him and shove him off not until he blocked his body on my path, and leaned forward just to make me see his dumb face more clearly at a closer range. Not to offend anyone but honestly, I think he is the ugliest person I've ever seen in my life.

I coughed and averted my gaze. "I'm sorry but I don't think I have that much time to waste with you. So, can you kindly move out of the way please?"

"What if I say no? Will you still play hard to get with me, kitty?" he replied then licked his lips 360 degrees before biting the lower part. Is he trying to be seductive? Because it is absolutely not working.

"What's your name?" I asked with my arms crossed.

"Why? Are you interested at me now?"

"No. I was just wondering if it might be spelled as 'I-D-I-O-T' and I'm trying to confirm it," I answered with an apathetic poker face to insult him more. His jaw tightening is obviously noticeable from my perspective.

He was about to touch me but Lupert and the other two bodyguards blocked in front of us. "Mister, I hope you don't mind but I beg you to step back from the young miss." He warned as he stopped the ugly guy's hand mid-air before even getting in contact on my porcelain skin.

The man got scared right away so he turned his back on us and fled like a frightened cat. Lupert immediately look at me to check upon my condition.

"Just tell me young miss if you're still not comfortable with this environment so I could escort you back at the car with the bodyguards and Mr. Baldo. I will handle Sir Matthew myself," he volunteered.

"No need Lu. I-I'm perfectly fine so don't worry. Let's just search him fast so we could get home right after this."

"Roger that, young miss." He nodded obediently.

And so it goes, we resumed to the task of searching for the wanted freak everywhere but after wasting a couple of minutes, we still get no progress. We could not find even just a trace of Matthew-my-dorky-brother-Cortez' shadow around the whole bar. Did he left already? What is he was actually not here to begin with?

But that's impossible, the tracker led us in this site before we lost the signal earlier.

"Young miss, a random person told me about Sir Matthew's whereabouts. When I showed him the photo of the young master, he said that the gentleman was on the second floor."

"Then what are we waiting here for? Let's go upstairs," I said affirmatively before climbing up first to the second floor of the bar. The rest of them followed me behind.

[Now Playing: Here comes trouble by Monstars]

He's the king of the jungle

He got a tiger as his pet

He rules no kingdom but you must abide

This bad rascal unless you're gone dead, yeah

I'm on the last step of the stairway when we were welcomed by a loud and unfamiliar, contemporary rock song — which is the total opposite of what music genre is being played below. It caught my attention so I turned left to see where the melody came from, only to find three gorgeous people with colorful hairs and flashy outfits standing above a circumscribed platform which I'm guessing is a small stage. Each one of them is playing different instruments. The guy with the dirty blonde hair is on the drums, the other guy who had bluish-greenish hair is on the keyboard, while the redhead singing at the center is playing a base guitar. In front of them lies another swarm of people shouting and cheering while watching them perform. There are others who even sang along while leaping up to the beat. It seems like I just stumbled upon a rookie band's live concert which is currently taking place here.

Until he messed up with a fighter

Somewhere down the lane

Now she's coming right to where he hides

And bites back like a killer on your bed

Despite of the contrast from the first floor, I can still smell the strong scent of alcohol and smoke all around the perimeter. Good thing that I brought a handkerchief with me so I could cover up my nose with something. I also noticed that this floor is slightly larger and has more divisions which I think is for private uses only.

"This way Young miss," Lupert took the lead so we trailed after him. We walked past by several VIP rooms and gambling stations through a long and narrow path ahead of us.

Here comes trouble, trouble, trouble

And he's calling out your name

I'm on the double, double, double

And my guard is up to stop your flames

When we were a bit at the end of the pathway when Lupert suddenly stopped walking before me. I also stopped regardless of the confusion and lean besides his shoulder to have a look of what's in front of him since I was behind him. And then,

I saw my brother Matthew.

Fighting with another dude.

Here comes trouble, trouble, trouble

And he's screaming out your name

I'm on the double, double, double

Cause I know that you are hard to tame

Trouble is your middle name

"Kuya Matt!" I yelled and ran towards my brother. I heard Lupert calling my name but I ignored him. Kuya Matt turned to me as well as the guy he's brawling with whom I quickly pushed away out of reflex.

"You stay away from my brother!" I shouted with full authority to the other guy. And since it's a bit dark here due to the flickering lights, I can't clearly the look he's currently making.

"Lil sis? Is that you already?" He asked as I tilted my head back towards his direction besides me. He strongly reeks alcohol like and his eyes were swollen from intoxication. I stroked his left cheek with a blackened bruise as I also touched his bleeding fist.

I hugged him tightly but instantly smack him when I recalled something. "Aww! What was that for lil sis?" he groaned in pain.

"Didn't I tell you that I will give you a sermon punch as soon as I get here? Why didn't you behave and wait for me huh?" I hollered angrily and put both of my hands on my hips.

"Lo siento hermana, but I just can't help it," he apologized.

"Why? What's wrong then?"

"Remember when I told you about my late ex-girlfriend? That guy is that arrogant fucker who took my girl away from me! He's that a-hole who Chlogna replaced me with!"

"Really? That's him?"

He nodded like a kid reporting to his mother which made me look back towards the direction of his enemy — who is now standing before us even after I pushed him really hard that he fell on the ground seconds ago. And just as when the moment was right, some lights spotted to his position which allowed me clearly see his whole appearance.

My whole system shivered when our eyes met each other in a familiar scene.

He was that monstrous bastard from school yesterday!

"Y-YOU?!?" we both shouted in unison while pointing out each other between a stupefying silence surrounding us.

***

A/N: By the way the song lyrics featured in this part is from my own composition. I hope you like it!