بسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In The Name Of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

⊱ ⋆ ⊰

He looks at the rooftop, mouth agape in solace, yet, a feeling of dread encases it.

"Vanessa!" Alan calls out to her in between all the chaos surrounding him. "They are on top of that second house behind those fabrics." He points in their direction to her.

The sunlight strokes the side of his face, causing his azure lenses to glitter and brighten the golden flecks in them. Since a dozen policemen and policewomen chase the residents of the alley, creating havoc, the atmosphere is thus far from being pure as dust flies off in the air.

The manager squints her eyes to get a better view of the top of the house. Her expression is composed, and her professional business beige attire draws grace that even the sun gets bashed by the lady. As she spots the trio, a wave of relief washes over her. The lady smiles a small smile, and now even the birds have come out of their nests to witness the moment, for this is only rare when Vanessa Elrod smiles genuinely.

"Mark!" She calls out to the head of the security member from her earpiece. "Get your men and go to the second house to the left. They are there on the rooftop hiding behind the clothes." The manager orders, gazing at the beast-looking man, Mark, standing a few meters away from her. When he nods, Vanessa turns her attention to Alan and then to Sofia standing behind him. A long fresh scar stretches down her left cheekbone and terror glints in her tear-stricken eyes.

"Had you not fallen over the boulder, we wouldn't have heard you scream from the other street," says the lady to Sofia.

"This area is like a maze. The band members and I didn't realize we were going round and round in the first place."

Elrod clicks her tongue in distaste.

Then with a gesture of her hand, ogre-like men in black surround her, the vocalist and the assistant. They take a step back as the police are busy with the people in the alley; Mark and his men enter the house in silence, smooth as a shadow.

"Arnold!" Vanessa calls out to the man on her left, "Look out for cameras and paparazzi. This scenario can't get recorded." She voices out in an icy tone.

Though I highly doubt it will. Above all, a commotion with no paparazzi is so unlikely. The lady ponders with gritted teeth.

⁂|                   |⁂

The room is dark and void of much light except for a few light beams entering the conference room through the small space between the cords of the venetian blinds. Lucky is the light trapped outside as the beams entering the room tremble by the aura surrounding a man in his early forties.

He tilts his head. A magnificent bullseye hangs on the wall in terror, waiting for its master's next move.

Kyoya Hayashi brings the dart closer to his lips, and a devious smile breaks out on his face, one which can frost the veins of those to whom it is directed.

He languidly inclines to the back of the swivel chair as his eyes focus on the center target. "Why did you stop, Jo Lin-kun?" He side-glances him.

And Jo Lin, the Manager Director of Seiga Incorporation, quivers under his sight.

Kyoya throws the dart. It pierces the air and hits about a centimeter aside from the center. He clicks his tongue in irritation, and the man standing next to him swallows hard.

"Draw closer. Why are you fretting?" Hayashi raises his left eyebrow at him. "Unfold the incident to me. After all, we are the only ones here."

But what he does not know is that being alone with him scared Jo Lin more than narrating the tale.

The bulky gent takes another dart and aims again. For a man said to be in his early forties, Kyoya is exceptionally fit, with broad shoulders and no belly bulging out.

"One of the members of Velvet Band is attacked by the locals of Seagull Alley. She is admitted to the hospital in Mombassa. Nothing severe but an injury in her head required urgent treatment, tono."

(boss)

The man in the middle throwing the dart halts, but it escapes the grip of his fingers and collides far away from the center. Hayashi then turns his entire form towards the Director. "How?"

One word, yet with such chilliness, it could freeze the running molten.

"After filming to create awareness for charity purposes in the children's hospital, the members went sightseeing with three guards allotted to them by the Kenyan police." He looks down at the box of neatly placed darts in order in his grip. "It was reported that Alan Smith forgot his camera back at the clique, so one of the guards went with him. And when a few minutes passed, a group of paparazzi caught on the other members. There, the other bodyguards got separated from them, and the members accidentally entered the Seagull alley where most residents are the smugglers working for the local mobs."

Kyoya's jaw ticks as fumes of anger radiate in the air. "How?" He grits.

"The guards were busy distracting the paparazzi. They told the members a passage to another alley, but they got lost afterward." He pauses, observing his maters' expressions before continuing, "They were then-- ambushed. One was physically harmed, while the others got rescued with no injury. Luckily, an assistant was with them who ran from the scene to find help and was successful."

He finishes. An eerie silence cages the room in a tight grasp, and only the sound of air exhaling from two bodies with dead souls generates. The boss tsks, taking another dart and focusing again. He directs it, and this time it hits the bullseye in the center. The corner of his lips elevates.

Bingo.

"Tono, the news will eventually reach Chairman Keisuke's ears. What report do you desire for me to give?" The manager voices out after a few moments.

(boss)

"That old man has such a Divine Blessing in his life. Now I am starting to think he might live for seventy more years." The man grumbles. "Let's think about the report later, but first, deport the team sent to Kenya to Seiga headquarters. And about the donation to the children's hospital--" He says, locking his silver moonlight-colored lens eyes with Jo Lin's. A wicked smile spreads on his face, "cut it by ten percent as a token of their hospitality."

"Wakarimashita, tonu."

(I understand, boss)

"You're free to leave. I suddenly lost interest in playing darts." He dismisses the Director with a wave of his hand.

With a small bow, Jo Lin walks to leave, only to be stopped by his master's dominating voice.

"Remember, Jo Lin-kun, make the news bearable to hear." Kyoya smiles sickly yet in a sweet manner.

And Jo Lin knows the hidden meaning behind it. Manipulate the broadcasts until Seiga is pleased, even if there is no truth left in it.

⊰| |⊱

The sky is again starry, with no clouds to conceal its glimmering charm over the RV bus routing over the motorway. The wind blows, carrying serenity wherever it goes, unlike the woodsy-eyed girl tossing and turning in her bed restlessly.

She groans. Sitting up, Wafa's eyes leak venom as she glares at the two white pillows, one over the other on which she rested her head a few moments ago.

With no hope left in slumber to overcome her senses, the brown-haired girl wraps the throw around her body and gets down from the top bunk bed. Searching for her phone, Wafa's eyes clash with a sleeping figure instead. A shirtless man is sleeping on the adjacent bunk bed.

She quickly averts her coffee-colored lens. This is certainly not a sight she desires to see in the middle of the night. Oh, how she despises it when they walk around or sleep barechested in front of her.

Her lips stretch in a teasing smile.  "Ivan stole your bed, eh?" The brown-haired girl asks as she walks to the sitting area.

Alan's orbs travel up to her, yet his finger works smoothly with the Rubix cube without even having to look down at it. A few cans of beer lay on the side table helplessly. And on the other hand, Kyle doesn't even bother looking up at her. With a book in his grasp, drinking in the words, he is too engrossed in his realm of imagination to consider her.

"That--"

Wafa glares at the auburn-haired man, well-known what is about to come from his filterless mouth.

"--fabulous bastard punched me and stole my bed." He grits his teeth with a tight smile.

But after receiving the same look from her, he reasons, "What? I didn't even swear now!"

Her glare remains intact while taking a seat next to the windows. "You're bad-mouthing him behind his back. Although, you didn't cuss, which is rich coming from you." She pauses, "You're still talking bad."

Alan, in response, frowns at her remarks and rolls his eyes.

The brown-haired girl tears her eyes from him to the stars shining outside as the vocalist walks up to where she is sitting and settles on her opposite side, facing her.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"I can't. These stitches are annoying. And though I've taken high-dose medicine, which probably has tons of antihistamine, still sleep is nowhere near me." She lightly shrugs, gazing at the constellations, etching the patterns in her memory.

He nods, and a moment of silence overshadows them.

"Hey, Waffle."

She hums, eyes glued to the stars.

"Wafa."

She hums again.

"Can you, for God's sake look at me?!" Alan whisper-yells, throwing his Rubix cube at her.

"WHAT?!" The girl yells louder, tossing the cube back at him, causing the man sleeping behind her to grunt, and the other man delved into letters printed on crisp off-white pages, for once to look up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry." His orbs focus on her with sincerity.

"Sorry that you detached me from my thoughts, Alan?" She says, this time with poise.

"No," Alan looks down. His fingers carelessly flip the sides of the cube. "For what happened in Mombasa. I left you guys for my stupid camera." His lens locks up with hers, "And you got-- nearly killed."

A moment passes by.

"I've known you for so long, and even to this day, I can't seem to put my finger on the exact color of your eyes."

"Huh?!" Alan's composure changes. He didn't foresee this coming.

While the chestnut-haired man and midnight-haired man gawk at her for being unusually blunt, Wafa, in her obliviousness, leans closer to him, inspecting the black hues blending in with golden flecks which collide with blue and green lines and then a darker shade of sea green outlines the overall lens. And to her, it looks like the symmetric patterns of the lights reflecting in a kaleidoscope.

"Subhan Allah, such magnificently crafted it is." She whispers and the corner of Alan's lips rises in a mischievous grin.

(Glory be to Allah)

"Quit flirting already," Kyle remarks.

"What?" Her vision clears, her lips form a circle like an 'o', and the realization cracks up in her head. She instantly backs away from him, her cheeks flushed. "Wallahi, I didn't mean to!"

(by God)

Her fluster-filled woodsy lens travels to Kyle and then to Alan, finding amusement written all over his features for even a blind person to read.

"It's fine, sweetie. I'll totally let you look into my eyes all night long." The auburn-haired man coos at her.

"Hey! Stop with this besharmi." She inclines back and raises her socked foot at him with a stern look settling on her features, trying to be intimidating, but failing cutely.

(shamelessness)

Kyle closes his book and says, "Interesting." He leisurely puts his elbow on the chair armpad and rests his chin on top of the back of his hand. "What's with the hypocrisy, Waffle?" The sax-eyed man asks with a teasing smile.

The maiden groans, hiding her face behind the walls of her hand as her face turns into a beetroot. She mutters a series of Astaghfirullah, and the boys chortle.

(I seek forgiveness in God)

Wafa peeks out and apologizes to Alan as the men double their laughter.

Vanessa cranes her neck to glance at them from the front seat, her lips lifting slightly from the edges.

Thus under the shining stars blinking at the vehicle, they spend their night laughing and chatting. And tonight, Wafa learns an old lesson again; men and women can never just be friends without the haramness.

⊱ ⋆ ⊰

| HADITH |

Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "I enjoin you to be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man may continue to tell the truth and endeavour to be truthful until he is recorded with Allah as a speaker of truth. And beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to Hell. A man may continue to tell lies and endeavour to tell lies, until he is recorded with Allah as a liar."

-Al-Bukhari

| AUTHOR'S NOTE |

Remembers the newly introduced characters. They will be twisting the story, soon!

May Allah  ﷻ enjoin you in the group of His Truthful Servants.

- W A L I Y A