When The Snow Falls

"What was the missing student called?" Daniel asked immediately.

Amien shook his head.

"I really don't know anything other than what I've just told you. It was a rumour. All I know is that there's supposed to be a student who went missing in that year and was a member of the Mystery Club. He was also a male."

Daniel's gut feeling was telling him that Amien was keeping something back from them. Judging from Amien's personality, now was not the time to interrogate him.

"Wow! I never knew that!" Oliver exclaimed excitedly. "We really do have a mystery to solve now. Where should we start?"

There was no answer from around the table. Amien appeared to have retreated into a stony silence and the other members looked blank.

Daniel opened his mouth to make a suggestion and was cut off by the bell. It was the end of lunchtime already.

"We'll meet after school in two days time and I want suggestions from each of you," Oliver said quickly and reached for his bag. "We've made some progress today."

***

"So there's definitely a mystery to solve," Felix concluded on their walk home.

"It appears so," Daniel replied. "There's that rumour, the meeting minutes, the lack of content in the yearbook as well as the missing photo and member list."

He was beginning to get excited again. It was something he had missed from his first life. The adrenaline from solving a mystery had been highly addictive.

Then again hadn't that been what had killed him?

Kingston Royal Academy's mystery had brought him very close to death again. If they did start investigating he was going to have to be careful. It wouldn't be just him in danger, there was his boyfriend to consider. Daniel also didn't want to finish this life prem.a.t.u.r.ely either.

"I take it that you have realised something the others didn't," Felix continued on.

It was interesting to note that Felix's mind worked the same way as his.

"There's someone with access to the Mystery Club's yearbook who wanted to hide the missing student's existence," he said. "Someone wants to keep that rumour hidden. It's a shame it's been six years- we can't tell when that happened."

"Well I do have a clue for you," Felix said in a good natured tone. "If you'd been listening to Oliver when we first met him, you would know it too."

Daniel scowled. Felix was right though. It was useful to listen properly.

"The club photo is taken at the start of the academic year which is when they have the maximum number of members. Members tend to leave later in the year for exams or studying so the photo is taken as early as possible and the member list is everyone who joined at the start of the year- Oliver was saying that it was a shame we weren't here at the start of the academic year in Japan. That means…"

"The missing student went missing after the yearbook was produced and wasn't there for the next year's photo. We need to find when they produce the yearbooks. We'll be able to narrow down the timeframe then."

"That's right," Felix replied. "You're clever."

Daniel tried not to smile at the compliment.

"You are too."

Felix bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks."

***

When they returned to the apartment they found Mr and Mrs Albury were both in. Daniel hadn't been expecting to see them so soon and they were both dressed up which was out of the ordinary. Vanessa was in a formal red dress whilst Colin was doing up his tie.

Felix was sharper on the uptake than him.

"Have you two been invited somewhere?"

"We have indeed been invited somewhere fancy," Vanessa confirmed. "Are you two coming? There will be food which means lots of desserts for Daniel."

She glanced at him with a smile which left Daniel wondering what Felix had told his parents about him.

"Do you mind going with us?" Felix asked. "We don't really have any impending homework so you can come."

"I'll come with you," he agreed.

Felix's father cleared his throat.

"It has a formal dress code so you are both going to have to change."

Daniel's mother had packed him quite a range of clothes which he had questioned at the time. It seemed like she knew what he would be doing better than him. She had insisted on packing him a few smart shirts and at least one pair of trousers that weren't jeans.

"You should both see people who you know. Most of the students at your international school have parents in the same circle as us. Think of it as a way to make friends," Colin informed them when they got in the car.

The car stopped outside a hotel on a quiet street half an hour later. The outside didn't look ostentatious, it was the interior that showed the hotel was aimed at rich clientele. The lack of Japanese architecture inside and the prevalence of chandeliers and damask wallpaper suggested it accommodated international travellers best.

When they entered the ballroom Daniel recognised the signs of a social function. The Earl had taken him to enough of them. The men were mostly overweight and old and their wives were grouped together in cliques that seemed to be separated by amounts of over the top jewellery and layers of makeup. He could feel that the four of them were being given curious looks.

"Are we nouveau riche?" he heard Felix whisper to his mother. "That group of women in the corner are giving us snobby looks."

"Kind of," she replied softly. "Remember we are upstarts here. Their opinion doesn't matter anyway. We aren't doing business with them- it's their spouses."

"I bet you're going to go up to them and say hello no matter what," Felix predicted.

She smirked at him. "Nothing disarms bitchy women more than politeness."

Daniel was perfectly content to watch Vanessa walk over to the aforementioned group of women and greet them. Felix saw him watching and winked at him.

"My mother is quite unique," he whispered.

"Right, Vanessa has broken the ice with the women, I need to do the same for the males here," Colin said cheerfully. "I think I can see people your age around the buffet table."

Daniel looked over the buffet and his stomach rumbled on cue. Felix laughed and led him over to the table. The selection ranged from standard English teatime fare to Japanese cuisine. Daniel picked out something savoury first. Desserts were always better after something savoury- he always felt he had earned the sweetness after eating something savoury. His choice was a crustless cuc.u.mber sandwich which was triangle shaped. From what he had experienced in his first two weeks in Japan, Japanese interpretation of foreign foods really varied. The sandwich didn't contain cream like he had been expecting, but that was to be expected as the hotel seemed to be catering to a more international market.

He looked surreptitiously at the people around him. He did recognise a few people from the school. One boy was in his Japanese class and he'd noticed that the boy had spent the whole class drawing in his sketchbook. It was hard to recognise him without the eyeliner and black hoodie. Another boy he was able to recognise from his History class and another he had seen in the common room.

Daniel continued looking around. Standing by the window at the other end of the ballroom was a couple who looked out of place to him. Whilst they were smartly and expensively attired, they looked tired and had no interest in socialising. They also looked a little too young compared to their counterparts and the woman wasn't wearing any jewellery other than a wedding ring.

Yet again Felix was on the same page as him.

"Do you know that couple?" he asked the emo boy from their Japanese class.

Daniel was minorly sure his name was Grant.

Grant looked in the indicated direction with a bored expression and his face became unreadable.

"They are the Emberrys. Mr Emberry is the CEO of Ember's Toys- it's quite big in the UK."

Daniel had heard of the company. It was a major company in the UK that manufactured toys and was known for high quality and child friendly products. He hadn't been aware of a Japanese expansion though.

"They look out of place," he commented.

"I swear they only turn up to events like this out of politeness. They don't need to socialise and butter up for business deals like some people here. They have one line of Ember's Toys here and it sells well without them doing anything."

"I wonder why they're still in Japan," Felix said to him.

Daniel shrugged and turned to the dessert half of the buffet. Grant answered the unspoken question and provided them with a very vital hint.

"They're still here because their son disappeared six years ago. They're hoping he will return to them if they stay here. I think he went to our school."

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Felix. It appeared that they were picking up puzzle pieces at a rapid rate.