His Ascension

Why are you here?

"Pull up here." Cassie ruled out to her chauffeur.

The limousine had been moving for about ten minutes. The driver parked the car behind a restaurant and stepped out. Ken carefully took out his hand that had been entangled in Cassie's. She smiled lovingly at him and he immersed her in a warm hug.

"Thank you so much sister," he said, holding up the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

She rubbed his back tenderly and replied. "Siblings don't have to thank each other Ken. You can count on your big sister anytime."

They broke off the embrace. Cassie pulled out a tissue from her bag and passed it to Ken.

He collected the tissue and pressed it to his eyes. "Thank you, Cassie," he mumbled and threw his back against the seat with a deep sigh.

Cassie understood that dozens of thoughts were running through his mind at that moment so she remained silent. After a few minutes, she spoke, breaking the silence between them. Ken's forest green eyes were devoid of tears. 

"Seems like I arrived just on time."

Ken forced a grin. "You really did," he replied with a nod and threw the wet tissue through the window. "Did you think they bought your story?"

Cassie giggled and crossed her legs. "Of course they did. You should have seen the look on Miranda's face. I'm such a good actress."

"I was lost in the whole thing. I couldn't look at her treacherous face.  I was in that corner, barely paying attention." Ken sniffled.

"Well, at this point, I won't be surprised if your girl comes running back to you. I could sense the look of regret on her face and her boyfriend?" Cassie broke into a dry laugh. "The guy was stunned. He could barely move his lips. I stormed in just when they thought they heard you."

Cassie turned to Ken and saw his head lowered. She realized it wasn't the right time to joke about the issue. 

"I'm so sorry Ken," she said, her voice ringing sympathy with her right hand on his shoulder.

Ken lifted his head and patted her hand with a nod. "Thank you so much, Cassie. I would have done something stupid if you didn't show up. You salvaged me from their web of humiliation." 

"Don't worry about a thing bro. You'll be fine. She doesn't deserve you."

"That's by the way," Ken said with a fake smile plastered on his face. It will probably take him a long time to get over Miranda. "Can you tell me how you got here? I must confess that you look great," he commented. 

Cassie flipped her hair. "You know part of my story back there was true. I dropped by your house and saw you hailing a cab. I screamed your name but you didn't hear me and before I could blink, you were in the cab so I asked my driver to trail you. We ended up in Miranda's apartment." she explained.

"You arrived right on time. And I guess you heard everything.

Cassie sighed. "I heard every damn thing and I'm sorry for barging into the drama Ken but I don't regret it. That girl and her damn boyfriend were humiliating the hell out of you so I had to step in."

"I don't blame you for standing up for me like that Cassie. Unity is what binds us." Ken replied with a warm smile.

"Seems like someone didn't forget the lessons huh?" Cassie hinted with a double blink.

"The master taught us well Cassie. It should be considered treason to forget his priceless teachings." Ken replied.

"Why don't we step into the restaurant?" Cassie demanded. "You and I have a lot of catching up to do," she stressed.

Ken agreed with a smile. The last time he saw Cassie was about three years ago while he was still undergoing training. That was before he left for high school. That was before he left home and all the memories it generated.

Cassie jumped out of the car beaming with smiles. Together with MC, they strolled into the restaurant. Cassie identified a vacant booth at the end by her right. She hurried to the spot and crashed there.

"Last booth is the best booth," Ken said with a smile and settled opposite Cassie. She was glad he was now smiling genuinely.

As kids, they always aimed for the last booth whenever they got into restaurants. It was their favourite spot.

"I'll place the orders," Cassie announced excitedly and waved her right hand at the waitress.

Ken smiled as he remembered their fun moments together. Cassie hasn't changed a bit. She was still his bossy loving big sister who always wanted to dish out instructions to him and place orders whenever they went out together. 

The waitress walked to their booth with a cheerful smile. "Can I get your orders please?" she solicited and unzipped the bottom of her apron. She pulled out a pen and paper.

"We will have two banana shakes and two apple pies," Cassie said without lifting the menu card. The waitress smiled and scribbled the other.  She turned to leave.

"Wait, do you serve those here?" Cassie quickly added.

The waitress nodded in agreement. "Banana shakes and Apple pies are on the menu card. I'll deliver your orders sooner than you expect." replied the cheerful waitress. She flashed a smile and swung into action.

Cassie turned around and caught MC smiling. "What's funny bro?"

"You haven't changed a bit, Cassie."

"You thought I would?" 

Ken flashed another smile and shook his head. "I miss you." he blurted.

An awkward silence fell upon them for a short while before Cassie spoke. "We miss you. Master and I."

The waitress returned with two banana shakes and a plate of Apple pies. She placed it in the centre of the round table and left with a smile. 

Cassie leaned toward Ken and whispered. "Don't you think maybe someone cast a laughing spell on the waitress?"

"You are so silly," Ken replied with a chuckle.

"Time to dig in." Cassie declared and grabbed one plastic cup she placed the straw in her mouth and gazed up at Ken. He was seated, arms folded across his chest. He was lost.

She sighed and pulled out the straw from her mouth. It was evident that he loves Miranda a lot. Was she being insensitive when she dragged him to the restaurant? Cassie thought. She ordered banana shakes on purpose because it was his favourite. He also had a thing for apple pies.

She noticed the lumps underneath his eyes and how shrunken he had become. His cheeks had sunk in and she wasn't sure whether the change occurred in the last three years or because of the sudden love drama. Cassie needed no X-ray machine to see how shattered her little brother was. She wished she could cheer him up as she always did. She wished she could make his sexy eyes glitter and his face beam. She hated this Ken sitting before her like a lost sheep. 

"We must find strength from the situations that make us weak." Cassie spat with her gaze fixed on Ken.

He lifted his head and held up her stare. He nodded in understanding. That was a line fondly used by their master and Cassie was taking him back to training days.

She smiled and shoved the milkshake toward him. "You are a warrior Ken. Don't let the world see you for what you are not."

He smiled and grabbed the drink. "So what brought you to town?"

"You. I came here for you Ken." she fired back.

Ken dropped the banana shake. He already drank half of it. "You came for me?"

Cassie ignored the question and said. "Congratulations. You better start warming up for Harvard."

Ken smiled. He didn't need to ask her how she found out about his admission. Their abilities were known to each other.