ROSES HAVE THORNS-Chapter 31 - Aftermath [Kurt Side]

"Gooooood morning Darwin! How’s my favourite front deskman doing on this wonderful day~"

"Mr. Rossana, good morning to you too. What’s got you in such a chipper mood?"

"Oh, you know, as much as life’s got its downs, when it brings you up, it will send you to the moon, hahaha! Also, please, call me Kurt."

Kurt’s mood became infectious as everyone who’s looked at him or walked by him seemed to have a smile on their face.

"Haha, well I’m happy for you Kurt." Darwin smiled.

"Thank you, my good man. Here’s hoping that you too will have a great day!" As he left the hotel Darwin noticed that there was a skip in his step and could only wonder what happened for him to be in such a good mood.

While walking through the street Kurt greeted everyone that he came across with the type of energy that screamed, ’Nobody can put me down’.

"Good morning old man with a walking stick!"

"Huh! What’d you say laddy?"

"Good morning doggy taking a piss by the street lamp!"

*Woof!*

"Good morning Mr. Academy Boy! Have fun at school today!"

"Life is but a perpetual cycle of misery and torture where the only comfort we find in it is that we will all die someday and become one with the Earth..."

ring ring

Kurt opened the door to Sophie’s Diner with much vigor and startling Cindy who stood at the entrance.

"Good morning, Cindy! One breakfast special with a medium sized orange juice, please! And here’s me hoping you have a wonderful day~" He winked at her. Although it would’ve come across as a blink seeing that he has one eye covered.

"O-oh Kurt, welcome. One breakfast special coming right up." Cindy blushed as she rushed into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Sophie was busy prepping ingredients when Cindy barged through the door.

"Kurt’s here! And for some reason he’s in a really good mood."

"That’s great..." Sophie rolled her eyes. "What did he order?"

"Oh! He ordered the breakfast special. Say, do you perhaps know why he’s like that?"

"Why would I know?"

"Well, you two have been talking every morning. Unless, did something happen last night?" She struck a thinking pose.

"...Very perceptive of you however I’d suggest you stop your little investigation there. Just thinking about what happened is giving me a headache."

"Really? But he’s so happy."

"I bet he is. Now get to work and stop your chit-chatting."

"Yes boss!"

10 minutes later Sophie arrived with his food as well as a newspaper.

"Thanks, Sophie~" He took the plate with much delight and began eating. "Mmm! Your cooking tastes better every time I eat it."

"Save the flattery and tell me what this is." She showed him the front cover of the paper and on it was a bloodied man whose feet were frozen in ice while a prefect was burning it off.

"They took a picture of me? When? I didn’t see any cameras."

"That’s not the point. Why are you on the front cover? Didn’t you tell me you were going to the bank? So how’d you end up looking like this?"

"It’s a long story."

"And I’ve got all morning." She crossed her arms and waited patiently.

"Haaa... fine. Not like it’s a secret or anything." Kurt sighed as he put his fork down. "You see, what had happened was– Oh sweet Jesus!" He got frightened when he looked out the window.

"Hi buddy!" Dominik stuck his face on the window as he waved to greet Kurt.

"What are you doing out there?!"

"Ha ha! I remembered how you told me you liked this place so I figured that since you’re such a diligent person, you’d be here having breakfast. And boy howdy looks like my guess was right. I even nailed the time!"

"Yeah yeah, nice deducing skill you got there. Now come inside and stop talking through the window like a weirdo. People are watching."

"Sure!" He walked merrily to the front door.

"Oh great..." Sophie stood up. "Another special customer.’

"You know Dominik?"

"Not really. He came by once with his girlfriend but he had that same energy."

ring ring

"Welcome, customer! Table for one?" Cindy greeted him as he arrived at the front door.

"Nope. I’m here to see my buddy Kurt over there. As for my order I’ll have a coffee. 1 Sugar, 2 coffee and no milk, thanks."

"*tsk* At least order some proper food since you’re here." Sophie muttered under her breath as she walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Kurt!" Dominik sat opposite him.

"Morning Dom!" Kurt greeted him just as enthusiastically.

"Wow, what’s got you in such a good mood?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Dommy." Kurt smirked.

"Shhh dude, not so loud. What if someone heard you?"

"Heh. So, I’m guessing the reason you’re in such a good mood is because your promise with Mia’s been fulfilled?"

"Yeeeeep~ All. Night. Long." He slouched back on his seat and relaxed. "What about you?"

"Me? Hmph." Kurt let out a breath of satisfaction and also relaxed on his seat. "I too might’ve found my special lady~"

"Damn, for real? Life’s just been too good to us lately, huh?"

"All I have to do now is locked in and pursue her. Just thinking about the futures got me all excited~"

"Ahh, young love... Oh shoot!" Dominik flung himself forward and slammed his hands on the table.

"Hey, watch it! My food nearly fell over!"

"Never mind that! Dude, what about your promise to Mia!" Dominik started panicking.

"Promise? What promise?" Kurt ate nonchalantly.

"You promised Mia that you’d go on a date with her boss!"

"Here’s your coffee, sir." Cindy put his drink on the table.

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem! If you need anything else, I’ll be up front!" She smiled and walked away.

Once she was gone, Dominik went straight back into panic mode.

"And so?! What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean? There’s nothing I can do but cancel it. I wouldn’t have minded if it was before, although reluctantly, but now that I found someone I’m interested in, I can’t be bothered going on a date with some stranger." Kurt shrugged.

"But Mia was so excited about it! Apparently her boss has been lonely for the past five years or so and refused to go out on any dates. But she finally agreed to go on a blind one with you!"

"Where are you hearing these things?"

"From Mia. She likes to get chatty during our pillow talks."

"That mouth of hers is gonna get her in trouble one day. No one likes a tattletale."

"To be fair, she only talks about these things to me.... hopefully...maybe...most likely...ha ha. Anyways you have to be the one to tell her the bad news. If she hears it from me it’ll just dampen the image she has of you and you’ll seem like a coward who ran away from a date."

"Sure, whenever I get the chance to see her again I will."

"Cool. So what’s the plan for today?" Dominik changed topics and got into work mode.

"Today is gonna be a special one." Kurt set his finished plate aside and cleaned his mouth with a wet wipe."

"Special?" Dominik leaned forward with a razor focused look.

"Yeah. Tell me," Kurt pointed to a student walking past their window, "What time does their academy end today?"

"Future Academy? With how busy they are preparing for the tournament, they’re scheduled to end classes at 13:00pm. Why do you want to know?"

"Remember Emelie from yesterday?"

"Do I!? Oops," He covered his mouth, "Hehe sorry."

"Ah right, you’re a big fan of hers. I guess this is your chance to get that autograph you wanted."

"Nice." Dominik smiled. "So, what about her?"

"I believe she’s hiding a lot of secrets in regards to the cult."

"Whoa there buddy I’m gonna have to slow you down. Emelie Herst is not part of the cult."

"That’s not what I was saying you goof.

"Oh... sorry."

"It’s ok. Maybe I didn’t word it right. What I’m trying to say is that she could help us with the investigation. Heck, with her on our side I believe we can even solve the problem of those missing kids."

"The ones that the church took, right?"

"That’s right. And I’m sorry I don’t have any evidence to prove it’s true other than hearsay but I’m gonna need you to believe me on this."

"Of course man. I wouldn’t have vouched for you if I didn’t believe you."

"Thanks."

"But what are we gonna do in the meantime. There’s still about six and a half hours left before the academy is out." Dominik reminded him.

"Before I tell you, there’s something I need to know. Have you prefects kept a record of the parents who had their child taken by the church?"

"Yes. They had to fill in a form of consent. We and the church both kept a copy of it."

"Good. Then firstly, with your help in getting those forms, we will visit these parents and ask them if this was all done willingly or if they were forced into giving their child away."

"What if they don’t say anything?"

"Don’t worry. Their faces can say a thousand words. I will know since I’ve dealt with all types of people. If they don’t say anything then we move on to the next."

"Damn, and here I thought I was the professional... What’s after that? You did say ’firstly’."

"After that," Kurt dramatically looked out the window, "We go to the orphanage."