One Month Time Skip

Author POV:

"This is delaying our world tour. And worst of all, the police aren't making any start on the criminals," MEM groaned, scrolling through her phone. B Komachi was sitting together at the living room in their rented apartment, still in New York. Why, you might ask?

Well, the news article MEM-cho is currently reading might help.

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Anyone staying in New York might want to be reading this, especially any tourists lingering in the famous Big Apple! 

All (and I do mean ALL) planes connecting from anywhere anytime are DELAYED. Yup, you heard me- COMPLETELY delayed! Why, you might ask? Well, one could blame the snow. Two could blame the little... well, not completely little... accident that occured on New York planes. 

Just two days ago, mark my words, there was murder on an American plane departing from New York. And just as all the staff were racing to that bloody plane, another one got another murder! Goodness, me! Now all the staff were quite far from that plane and half of them had to sprint over. 

Then, on another plane far from the docks of those two targeted planes, there was another murder! A planned triplet murder! Now, the staff are quite distressed. I tried to interview one, but they were too busy tearing down the lanes to Gate D. 

Now there is absoulutely no clue what happened. Everyone aboard the three planes are still in police investigation, but there are no suspects. Everyone seems innocent, or so the police say!

The three planes targetted were from Singaporean, American, and Australian airlines. There's no connection between these three countries, so police are currently freaking. Therefore, for the safety of the citizens.... all planes are cut off.

The three victims of these vicious murders are Miss Laura Quinlan, Mrs Lola Yamamato and a little boy named David. Miss Quinlan was a cook on the Singaporean plane, Mrs Yamamato a flight assistant on the American, and David a passenger on the Australian. Their families are currently distraught, and us as the public hope to offer as much support as we can. 

Well, needless to say, nobody'll be leaving or entering New York for some time now. 

REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS SUPPORT FOR UPSETTING NEWS AT https://www.abc.net.au/btn/upsetting-news/10500572

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"I still can't really believe this happened so close to us." Ruby frowned, re-reading the same article on her phone. "The planes have been delayed for a month now. We are really behind schedule, and we'll have to postpone, delay or cancel all of our upcoming concerts."

"Aw. I was looking forward to the one in Canada." Kana sighed. "All those pretty leather outfits. Hey, show me the article." She peered over at Ruby's phone and scrolled, slowly reading. 

Her finger stopped at a certain part of the text. 

"Wait a second." Kana stared at Ruby's phone. 

"What?" Ruby peered at the section Kana had stopped at. "What?!"

"Oh my god." Kana gasped, her eyes filling with fright. "Oh my god!"

"What is it?" MEM and Ruby asked frantically. 

"It says Lola Yamamato!" Kana shrieked, jabbing her finger at the screen. "Lola Yamamato! Anne's mother, the one we met on the plane!!!"

Ruby and MEM immediantly looked at the news article with revamped despair. "Oh gosh. It is her."

"This is more serious than we thought."

"I feel so bad now... we're here worrying about some world tour while someone's mother dies, murdered on a plane!" Ruby sobbed, clapping a hand over her mouth. 

"Oh, this is horrible. We must check in on Annie." Kana shook her head furiously. "But I don't have her number. Oh, she must be feeling terrible.... however horrible things she did to me, she doesn't deserve to lose her lovely mother."

"She was so nice." MEM said sadly, a comforting arm around Ruby's crying, huddled figure. 

"Girls, we need to discuss-" Miyako burst through the door, clutching a clipboard, then stopped cold in her tracks when she saw the upset three. "What happened?"

"You know about the plane accident?" MEM asked sadly. 

"Yes. The murders?"

"One of them- Lola Yamamato- was the mother of someone we knew in high school." MEM explained, her voice strained. 

"Oh. Oh dear." Miyako hurried over to the girls and hugged Ruby, who was still crying. "Darling, don't cry. This is all very upsetting, but you must be brave."

They got Ruby to calm down before Miyako got down to the professional things. "The problem, as you might have all realised, is that our world tour is horribly delayed. Millions of fans all over the world are demanding explanations, and as hard as I've tried to explain it, some people simply cannot accept it."

Everyone winced. They hated the idea of disappointing their fans.

"We don't know how long this... plane problem is going to go for. So we can't post official reschedule dates yet." Miyako explained. "For now we can only refund but leave places for future reschedulements if wanted. However, I wanted to ask you girls if you wanted to reschedule or just cancel."

"I don't want to cancel." Ruby looked up at her adoptive mother, her eyes red from crying. "We've already done Paris and Malaysia and Australia and Taiwan. We couldn't cancel it halfway. Especially not when we've practiced so hard for this."

"All the new singles we've released too just for this." MEM added ruefully. 

"I agree." Kana nodded. "It would be an abanadoned project if we just cancelled. And look at all the posters and videos and posts we've put online about this! People will be furious."

"Well, we'll just keep checking the American planes and hoping this is all fixed up soon, then," Miyako sighed, and left them. 

"This is just too upsetting." Kana pressed two fingers to her forehead. "I think I'm getting a headache."

"Me too. You go out for a walk. I'll stay with Ruby." MEM suggested. 

"Alright. You won't have to ask twice." Kana went to her room upstairs to bundle up. It was very cold outside, but she just needed a walk to clear her head. Her mind felt very muddled up right now, like a messy untangled knot of thoughts. 

Kana POV:

I changed out of my sweatpants and sweater into a warm red coat, white leg warmers and black leggings. To top it off I wore the black beret MEM had bought for me for my birthday last year. 

After tying back my messy hair into a low ponytail and dousing my face in cold water, I felt slightly better. Less tangled inside. 

It was all just too overwhelming. I hadn't thought this incident would do this much- delaying all the planes. All of them. 

I had been really, really hyped about the upcoming performances. And I had made multiple appointments to see friends in other countries. Having to postpone everything made my heart ache and a sick feeling twist in my gut. 

At least there was still Aqua. He and I had been secretly dating as not to ruin my reputation as an idol. Still, I didn't seem him everyday because of the weather, and right now I really needed to see him. 

I picked up my phone and tried to call Aqua, but there was just a monotone 'leave a message' voice ringing back in my ear.

It made me feel sick. 

Fresh air, fresh air. Get fresh air RIGHT NOW OR YOU WILL DO SOMETHING YOU'LL REGRET, ARIMA KANA. 

I thrust the door open, immediantly hitting an invisible wall of cold air. It was oh so cold, but made my tensed muscles relax and I exhaled a breath of air I hadn't known I had been holding in.

I slammed the door shut behind me and started walking down the snowy American streets. Despite my ice-proof boots, the chilly wet snow beneath the soles of my feet still felt teeth-bitingly icy. 

I wrapped my pale hands around my arms as my teeth chattered, regretting coming outside just a little. But at least the mess in my head was slowly unravelling, little by little, as if frozen by the cold. 

I made my way down to the only place with lights on (probably the only place with a heater, too), a small cafe with a cute dog mascot painted onto the sign, reading- 'Carmen's Coffee'. It looked just relaxing enough, and yes, just warm enough, too. 

 I pushed open the glass door, a rusty-looking golden bell tinkling, frost making it terribly had to get in. 

A tired-looking girl around my age slumped over the empty counter, scrolling on her phone, but still looking rather bored. She had messy dirt blonde hair, deflated emerald green eyes and coloured white fingernails. White was the new nail polish trend, but I thought it looked tacky. 

I went to the corner sofa, tucked away from the rest of the cafe, and finally allowed myself to sit back, eyes closed, soaking in the warmth and comforting emptiness of the small place. 

I cracked an eye open. The girl hadn't even looked my eye. Her eyes were still glued to the screen. Typical waitress. I assumed she was the waitress as well as the counter person, as there was no other staff in the place. Not even a cook in the kitchen, as far as I could see. 

I skimmed the menu on the table. There was a wide variety of coffee and tea cakes, along with countless types of tea, bingsu, pastries and other delicies. I usually loved bingsu, and would have ordered the taro-matcha one right away (such an interesting combination of my favourites!), but it was much too cold for it and I would have gotten a brain freeze. So I settled for a small almond cookie and a medium latte. Couldn't go over my diet. 

I raised my hand for the girl but she didn't notice me. So I called 'Excuse me', but then I realised she was wearing airpods. 

I walked up to the counter and pulled out my wallet. When the girl still didn't notice me, I gently tapped her on the shoulder. 

"Hm?" She tore off her airpods and finally removed her eyes from the screen, noticing me. "Oh. Sorry about that." She straightened and clicked on her tablet. "What would you like?"

"A small almond cookie and a medium latter, please." The girl looked a little younger than me, now that I got a close-up. She had a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks and her eyes would have looked cheeky if not for the hue of sadness clouding the brilliant green sparkle. 

"Milk requirements, hot or cold, and any sugar for the latte?" The girl asked. I noticed on her staff badge it read 'Kelly'. Cute name. A high school friend had a little sister with that name. 

"Soy milk, hot and no sugar, please."

"Alright." She tapped on the screen and held up the remote. "That'll be $7.55, please. Cash or card?"

"Cash." I retrieved a ten-dollar note from my wallet. Kelly took it and stared at the change box, her forehead wrinkling in concentration. I stood, trying to be patient. I had already figured it out in my head. $2.05, please, already. Just fork over a two dollar coin and a five cent please, said my unfaithful evil brain. 

"Um... okay. Ten and seven... here you go." She gave me a two and a one dollar coin, along with a five cent piece. 

"Oh... um, it's actually just two and five." I handed back the one dollar coin. "Not three."

"Oh." Kelly looked flustered, taking the coin and dropping it back into the box with a clang. "Sorry."

"It's alright." Somehow, I could see my own fustration, sadness and depression mirrored in her worried face. "Is... is everything alright? I know times for me right now are stressful, with the plane incident...."

"Yes." Kelly sighed. "My boyfriend's mother was Laura Quinlan, who was one of the plane's victims. She was just about to go on a world trip." 

'World trip'. Suddenly I was glad B Komachi hadn't left New York early. 

"Oh dear. That must be very upsetting for you." I said sympathetically. 

"Yes. Well, more so for my boyfriend, Sam. He's distraught. And he's taking it out on me. It's... it's not been the best week." 

"What's he done?"

"He yelled at me in the morning because I accidentally left my slippers on the floor. A week ago he ditched me at my birthday dinner because he wanted to go hang out with his friends at some club. And when he just found out about his mother, he had gone crazy, throwing things randomly everywhere. He threw a butter knife at me. I've got the scar here." Kelly ruefully pulled back her hair to show a scar just next to her scalp. 

"Oh my gosh. That's horrible." I gasped. "I don't mean to be rude, but... are you sure that's the right relationship for you?"

"That's the thing. He was perfect before," Kelly sighed. "My dream guy, really. I know it sounds clichè, but he really was. Sam was a super nice, patient, funny and good-looking guy. He had this cute light brown hair, blue eyes and was pretty tall- lots of my friends were jealous. He loved me a lot too. I really believed he was 'the one'."

"I know something about hard relationships." I smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just take a break from him for a while and see if he gets better."

"Thanks for the advice. I really needed that." Kelly smiled. 

"I'm Kana... Aoki," I couldn't reveal my real name, in case she realised it was me, the idol. "Do you want to exchange numbers?" 

"That would be lovely!" Kelly scribbled down her number on a post-it-note and gave it to me. I did the same. "Thank you! It comforts me so much to know I have a friend who really understands my situation. Well, I'll go get your order."

After eating, I stepped back into the cold streets, entering Kelly's number into my phone, ready to head home. As much as Kelly had needed my advice, I had needed her comforting presence and that small break from the idol life. Kelly hadn't even recognised me. 

As I was making my way back to the apartment, I almost ran into someone. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I took a step back, feeling my throbbing forehead, looking up to see who I had crashed into. 

I was shocked to see it was the most handsome man I had ever seen. 

Not even joking. 

He had lovely brown hair that looked so silky I just wanted to run my fingers through it. And his eyes! Oh, his beautiful blue eyes. A little like Aqua's, but with more depth and intimacy about it. He was a good head taller than me but that just made him more attractive. I felt like I had been struck by Cupid's arrow. 

"No, I'm sorry." He said, and his apologetic smile was probably the sweetest thing I had ever seen. He was wearing a black sweater and jeans- not a lot for such a cold, snowy day.

"I was just going to see my girlfriend." he explained,  but his eyes were fixed on me. "Hey, aren't you that idol? Um.... Kana, was it? My girlfriend went to see you a month ago."

My girlfriend... 

Wait.

I recognised him now. 

That was Sam. 

Kelly's Sam.

A/N: This is the epilogue for this book, a little extra scene! A lot of you wanted an epilogue, so I added this extra short story. Hope you enjoy!