Silver Spoon relaxed as she watched her party play out, noting how everyone was getting along. Now all that was on her mind…
‘Come on…where is he? I only turn 17 once…’
Keiji appeared next to her a few moments later and asked, “Hey, wassup? Why aren’tcha enjoying your own party?”
“Huh? Oh…” Spoon was snapped out of her stupor as she turned to him. “I was just…hoping my parents would show up. My dad especially. He’s usually too busy to even see me when I come home from school. Why do you think he invited all of his stupid co-workers’ kids? He barely knows who I hang out with…”
“Yikes…” Keiji grit his teeth, but did his best to keep his emotions from boiling over. Another uncaring father figure that he made a mental note of dealing with at some point in the future…
For the moment though, he wanted to try his hand at consoling her.
“Hey…uh…regardless of what happens, we’re here for ya. I know what that’s like, so I feel for ya, Silv,” he explained as best he could with his eyes darting around, unable to make contact with her.
Silver Spoon sighed, then looked at him with a smile. “...thanks, Keiji. I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it. Even if it’s…kinda hard,” she huffed while running her hand through the side of her hair and looked down at herself. “...and I got this new black dress just for this event and everything. I wanted my parents to meet you too.”
“...yeah given the kinda shit your old man invited,” Keiji hissed in reference to all of the snobby, corporate teens that were still talking amongst themselves, “I highly doubt he’d like my ass.”
“Man, you really don’t mince words do you?” Silver commented on his blunt nature, then smiled. “Then again, that’s what I love about you. You’re not afraid of some rich jerkface’s influence.”
“Hell no,” he scoffed as he scratched the back of his neck, “I’ve been on that side of the social ladder. Those bitches never see the forest past the trees.”
“That’s understandable. Can you believe my dad actually tried to have me married off?”
That information caught Keiji off guard. He raised an eyebrow and started to flex his fingers, popping each of his knuckles’ joints. “...Huh. That….that doesn’t surprise me at all, honestly.”
“Aaaand now that I’m 17, I full expect him to send me more marriage options,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses with a sigh. “And they’ll all get ignored. Arranged malarkey is annoying…”
‘Yikes. She’s got a shit time going. Still…if I can somehow figure out if her parents are--oh hey. That’s Sandbar’s nerdy sister. Hm…’
Keiji tapped his foot as he thought hard about what he wanted to do and say next--gears turned in his head. His ultimate goal was to act on behalf of Silver Spoon in order to make her life better. Or at least cut down on the disappointment she’d face on her birthday.
She noticed how hard he scrunched his face up while thinking and asked, “...are you okay, Kei? You look like you’re about to short-circuit--”
“No! No…I’m fine, I just got an idea,” he said with his usual, shark-like grin as he started backing away, “You’re gonna like this if it works out. Gimme a mo!”
“...What?” Silver Spoon raised a brow, then chuckled as she shook her head. “...he’s so strange sometimes…it’s adorable. Better go make sure my cousin doesn’t embarrass Flash.”
Once Diamond Tiara left the table, Keiji hurried over to greet Coral Currents, sitting down in the chair and nearly falling over in the process.
“Heeeyy--woah!”
Coral glanced at him with a confused look on her face. “...uh, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah I’m fine, look. Can you do me a favor--”
“No, I'm not gonna hack into the school database and change your grades.”
Keiji paused for a second. “...you can do that?”
“...”
“...”
“What do you need?” Coral asked, simply wishing to move away from that subject as quickly as humanly possible.
“You got drones in the air, right?” Keiji pointed up at the dimming afternoon sky as the sun set, “I need you to see if you can find Spoon’s parents for me.”
“Hmmm…” Coral pouted, pursing her lips together for a moment before shrugging her shoulders with her hands raised. “I suppose I can help you since you’re a friend of my big brother. Skeedaddle doesn’t seem to mind you either.” She pulled out her tablet. “Let’s see here…”
Keiji leaned over, “So how does it--”
“At-tut-tut!” Coral cut him off while raising her finger, “Shhhh. I need supreme focus. I’m an agent after all.”
“Eh?” He stopped to think for a moment. ‘Agent of what? She’s a crafty one, isn’t she?’
As Coral continued using her drone, she’d get a notification from her superior.
Are you and your friends in position, Coral?
Roger. We are.
Good. If we can nail Mr. Spoon, we can find out who exactly he’s funding and why.
Coral shifted her eyes around and noted a few other boys and girls her age that were scouting about in trees surrounding the mansion. Nobody was the wiser, not even the perceptive Keiji who could see well in the dark due to his vampiric vision.
“Ah, there he is,” she commented once she noted a presence on the map via her drone’s bird’s eye view. “Heading…away from here. Hm. That’s not good.”
“Shit…” Keiji lamented with his arms folded. “Dumbass should be here for his daughter’s birthday. At least her mom’s on the way, right?”
“Gimme a sec,” Coral replied while tapping her tablet, “I’ll see if I can find her.”
All the while, she sent a message to her fellow agents:
Fellow Amanita: Search and destroy.