As some may remember, there was a man with his forearms filled with tattoos who watched The Clockworks' performance with wonder and excitement. His name was Jun.
Now, Mr. Jun had extended a welcoming invitation towards the Clockworks, which Kokomi had refused without hesitation. Beyond thought, it would be a good experience for the band so it could move forward with a purpose. But sad to say, after the group had thought about Kokomi's reasonings, they weren't ready to commit to working for a record label yet.
"My very kind sister doesn't realise that her kindness this time is a hindrance towards the band's success," Jun thought to himself as he sat on his red office chair. He blew away a stray, wavy black strand of hair hanging near his right eyebrow and sighed in disappointment.
Soon, a knock rang near the entrance of Jun's office.
"Come in!" Jun called out.
The door swings open to reveal a young man with short brown hair. He brought a clipboard with him as he walked towards Jun in confident strides.
"Sir, our sales for the new album are doing alright, but it didn't make it to the top 20s this month. Only our old ones by Dawn and Dusk and Cats Three made it up to the top 20s again," the young man reported.
"I see. Thank you for the report," Jun acknowledged.
"Not a problem, sir. Is there anything else you need?" the young employee asked.
As Jun crossed his right leg over the left, he intertwined his hands and placed them on his stomach. He leaned back into his office chair and gazed up at his employee with a serious look.
"How many entries do we have so far?" Jun inquired.
"Twelve so far, sir," the employee replied.
"I see... not enough," Jun said, placing a hand on his chin.
"Yes, quite the predicament we are in, sir," the employee added.
"Well, let's leave it at that and just continue to advertise."
"Understood, sir, we'll get on it right away."
The employee then turned away and walked out the door.
Jun then swivelled his chair towards the right and bent down to open his desk drawer. He pulled out a medium-sized journal. He laid the book on his lap as he leaned back into his chair. He flipped the cover open to reveal newspaper clippings and photos of some girls posing with their instruments. Jun kept flipping through the pages until he found a photograph of a little girl standing in between two teenage boys. The little one was smiling the brightest out of the three while hugging the boys.
Jun furrowed his eyebrows and smiled to himself as he gently touched the girl's face with the tip of his fingers.
"If only you knew what really happened," Jun whispered while looking at the picture. He took the photograph and placed it against his chest.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I really want you back, but I just can't stand to see you cry because of me anymore."
Jun's felt his eyes getting watery, but he didn't have the strength to wipe them away at the moment.
"We were so close back then; why did it have to happen so quickly?" he stammered.
Jun wiped away his stray tears and fixed his posture. Soon, he lifted the cover of his laptop and began his work. He clicked on his files to review the music bands that had submitted to compete in the competition. He scrolled through the list of 12 bands, as his employee had previously mentioned. Jun's eyes soon spotted a name that he would never have thought would join the competition.
The Clockworks
"Huh? My sister changed her mind. Hmm..," Jun placed a hand on his chin in a thinking pose.
Jun shook his head in realisation.
"Of course not; it must've been Beyond. After all, Kazuma did leave the band for him. That's why he's the leader; Beyond's the one who makes the call," Jun said to himself.
I guess Jun didn't have to worry about anything after all. He could now relax or worry about the number of entries that are still missing. Jun got up from his seat, gave his body a good stretch, and sat back down to continue his work with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, back at Santoro's Music Store...
The month of Christmas has arrived. Santoro Music Store's employees are decorating the store with colourful fairy lights, festive-looking posters, and greeting stickers. There was even a festive door sign that had the words 'Tis the season'.
The decorations may look new, but they have actually been used for quite some time. Mr. Santoro didn't want to buy anything new for decorations anymore, considering there are many festivals here in Malaysia. Soon, the Christmas decorations will be pulled down and give way to Chinese New Year decorations. This constant cycle is how management gives respect to the cultures here in Malaysia.
Nahida was keeping Kokomi company as she scrolled through her phone. Kokomi was sitting on top of a ladder and wiped her sweating forehead. She was hanging up the fairy lights above the highest shelves in the store. Nahida kept the ladder still by holding onto one of its rails.
"It looks like Beyond signed up the band for the annual 'Feline Records' Battle of the Bands," Nahida announced while scrolling through her phone.
"Huh, so he did," Kokomi replied nonchalantly as she continued to hang up Christmas decorations.
"Do you think 'Feline' will try to pursue us again?" Nahida inquired, looking up at Kokomi.
"Definitely, but it's Beyond's choice." Kokomi answered, still focusing on hanging up the decorations.
"There's no avoiding that now, is it? *sigh* I wish we could spare time to follow our dreams for a little while," Nahida said.
Kokomi finished hanging the decorations and soon slowly climbed down the ladder, giving out a big sigh of relief. She then went towards Mr. Santoro, who was sitting behind the counter, looking very bored.
"I'm done hanging the decorations, Mr. Santoro," Kokomi said as she gave a cheerful smile.
"Well done, my dear. You can have a break now. It seems like the store will be awfully quiet today," Mr. Santoro said. He said the last part with a sad tone.
"Alright, don't forget to hydrate yourself, Mr. Santoro," Kokomi said, waving him goodbye.
Kokomi heads downstairs towards the underground living house. Nahida soon follows her. Both of them walked into the lounge room to see Beyond strumming on his acoustic guitar. Beyond heard their footsteps and just looked up at them.
"You signed us up for the battle of the bands," Kokomi stated.
"Yes, I did. Got a problem?" Beyond asked as he strummed some chords.
"Hehe, of course not. Just a slight warning is all; just be ready to be swamped by my brother the entire time," Kokomi smiled as she grabbed her handbag.
She soon walked out of the lounge, leaving Nahida and Beyond behind. Beyond and Nahida looked at Kokomi's figure, getting further and further away from. They then looked at each other. Nahida raised an eyebrow at him with her arms crossed. Beyond, in return, raised both of his eyebrows and shrugged.
"What's up with her?" Beyond questioned.
"Probably an amusement waiting to happen," Nahida replied worriedly.
"Eh, we can handle Jun. We've done it before, haven't we?" Beyond said while setting aside his guitar.
"I don't know for how much longer," Nahida muttered, and she glanced at the direction Kokomi went.
"She'll be fine, as long as I'm here," Beyond said, getting up from the couch.
"I hope so," Nahida said, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Now come on, it's lunch time, and I'm starving," Jun said as he grabbed his jacket from the coffee table.
Nahida and Beyond walked out of the lounge and up into the store. They both waved goodbye to Mr. Santoro and walked out of the store's entrance. The day was quite bright and sunny. Just as the time Beyond remembered when he saw the Cat's Three were still performing,
There were pleasant times back in the days when the Aoyama siblings were still performing together. The two brothers, Kazuma and Jun. Their young sister, Kokomi,. Their live performances were when Beyond received the motivation to continue mastering the guitar. He could still remember it as clearly as day...