"Clarissa! Clarissa! Where are you!" Inuwa shouted.
Inuwa had run out of the house, chasing the red-tinged footprints that she had left behind. It was dark now, around 11.
The boy felt a twinge of regret welling up within his heart. Forcing a maiden to go out at such a time was something he couldn't allow; he tried desperately to reason with the overwhelming bitterness resounding from his heart.
The familiar void of motivation was damning enough. Tears budding in his eyes, the thought of being rejected by Clarissa made him want to curl up in a ball.
"She isn't particularly fast, so I don't think she could have gone that far. Maybe she's hiding within one of the trees here," Inuwa said, looking around the area. However, that idea was quickly shot down by his own common sense.
Inuwa's home was directly behind a bus stop, which was two minutes away from the station, 5 minutes away from the park and 10 minutes away from any high streets.
Clarissa, to Inuwa's knowledge, lacked any expertise on the journey from Inuwa's house to the park. She also didn't seem the type to be willing to venture out to the train station and move through towns, but then again, would anyone be willing to do that to avoid someone they had a small fight with? Inuwa shivered.
The wind was particularly gnawing at that moment, a bad omen. Clarissa preferred quiet, dead, calm environments where she could listen to her headphones while studying. A suitable candidate for this would be the bus stop, as bus services end around midnight. However, she likely wouldn't want to be around others at the current moment. His fault. He sighed melancholically.
This piece of reasoning led Inuwa to believe that the Park would still be the best bet. She was likely mapping out the route in her head based on the scenery and roads. It was the type of bullshit intelligence she could pull out, if necessary, Inuwa thought, with a grin adorned across his features.
The area was dimly lit, and a navy blue seemed to engulf the area as the boy was slowly submerged within the shadow of the outside world. The moon seemingly became the last source of light for the distressed boy, casting a dim silver highlight on the street.
However, Inuwa's mad dash had replaced the scenery with all but a blur. He was a high-level runner and prided himself especially on his ability to do consecutive cartwheels and back-flips in a row. The reason was that he loved watching anime and cartoons about Ninjas.
He found the idea of high-level warriors who engaged in 'Shadow Combat' and relied on trickery, cunning and wits to be extremely appealing. He especially loved their ability to jump far, high and make use of any space to their advantage.
Surprisingly, the outside world was much calmer than the inside one, compared to that snake pit of a room, anyway, Inuwa thought.
Cringing slightly, he made note of his current progress. He could see a lane yet; this time, it had a car or two driving on it. This showed that this was the lane next to the park. With excitement pooling, the boy leapt with all his strength, making great strides as he trekked with glee towards the park entrance.
"Here it is."
The boy racked his brain, wondering what he'd say to the despairing girl, but he concluded that with each second lost, she'd just trudge further away till she was at real danger of assault or worse.
Instead of preparing, he'd confront this head-on, using only his natural free-flowing thoughts. That was his resolve.
Walking with a renewed purpose, Inuwa couldn't help but notice the incessant squawking of crows above. His trot through the forest ended when he noticed the unfamiliar, sorrowful, snivelling that was Clarissa's. It felt like an arrow laced with venom was shot straight at his chest. He did this. He made her cry. The very least he could do was cheer her up.
"G-go away," she snivelled. Her back was turned towards him.
"No, I'm here to collect you," he replied awkwardly.
"I don't need to be collected, I can handle myself fine already, O-K? You'll just get in the way. You're a drain."
Slightly shocked, Inuwa turned his head away in a disgusting shame. His rotten being was becoming known. She'd always go beyond to be with him, yet he never even acknowledged it. She would often relay war stories to him about the punishments her parents would give her for going out.
"Maybe I always get in the way, but I'm not the one wallowing in self-pity right now because of a few words!"
"For a few words?! What's wrong with you?!
"Yeah, I know you're a sensitive cry-baby who seems to remain in a perpetual toddler-like state,"
He felt like his words were shallow and vindictive, but he hoped that they'd have an effect. However, this initial speech was sure to either rile her up or dissuade her from continuing.
"You don't get to say that. You barely smile when talking to any of us, and you dismiss our plans as 'childish folly'. You don't even hang out with most of us anymore… Why are you trying to grow up so fast? What are you trying to chase? Why are you trying to leave us behind?" she questioned, her voice rose with a staunch passion, yet it sounded fragile at the same time.
Inuwa remained silent through the verbal admonishment. His gaze was fixed on the ground, which was precisely where he felt his ego could be found.
"Why are you doing what I used to? Wasting your youth? You're a child too, don't forget that," she said.
"To think that this all started because of a lame prank."
Her voice became laced with an intense, indescribable emotion that spoke volumes to Inuwa. He knew it. He had already lost.
"Why are you doing what I used to?"
Again, he tried to shift his focus away. Yet this time the words ran dry within his throat. Upon that realisation, he desperately tried to avoid making eye contact, to no avail. The gravity in her manner, at this point in time, was intoxicating.
"Don't you value your time being young? These memories that we make at the start of our lives will define us for decades to come. Don't try to skim over it, don't try to rush past it, don't try to forget it. I don't know why you've become like this, but it's not good. For you, or for me," she snivelled.
Again, he stayed silent. This time, he did so out of respect. Tears budded at the corners of his eyes. She was the one who was upset– so why was she the one who was cheering him up?
Inuwa let out a low, dry chuckle.
"Hm? What was that?" Clarissa asked, intrigued.
"No answer," she sighed. She was now facing away from Inuwa. Because of this, he could no longer see the subtle wrinkles in her brow or the bags in her eyes.
Clapping her soft hands together, she looked to have a realisation. A pinch of the sweet, gingerly tone she bore before the dispute occurred.
"Inuwa, I'll never hate you or avoid you, so don't do the same to us. Let's spend the rest of our friendship together, what do you say?" she smiled.
Inuwa stared at her in shock, his eyes like dinner plates. His mouth ajar.
There was a determined glint in her eyes; however, her glare had relaxed.
"Clarissa."
"Inuwa."
She was smiling.
"Why?"
"Why what?" she asked, smiling.
"Why are you so strong? Why are you the one cheering me up? Why are you catering to an idiot like me?"
"With the way you've been recently, you might not remember. But there was a time when you let me see the most beautiful sight. A time, where we frolicked around, goofed off, examined bugs, flowers and expressed our curiosity freely. You let me experience that. That's why–" she struck a palm to her chest, grinning cheekily.
"Thank you," she said.
She smiled wryly. Her hair from that angle took on an ethereal glow, and her smile was slight but piercing like the crescent moon.
His chest was full. His heart was full. His throat was full.
He didn't want to speak again, for if he did, he'd be left uttering feelings till the moon retreated behind the horizon line.
"Thank you. I think we should get going, after all, the moon will run away soon," he muttered weakly with a smile.
"Thank you, and sorry," he said to her, as he held out his open palm and shied his eyes away from hers.
Clarissa brimmed with a full smile. She clasped his hand within hers.
He walked her back to his home.
Throughout the silent walk, the sensation of her quivering and shaking in the light, near-winter weather was the only entertainment. Slowly, Inuwa took something out of his pocket, his lips pursed as he stared at it.
"Hm… what are you looking at, Inu?"
He got caught; it was now or never. She really was incredibly good at picking up on things.
"Well… uh… take it."
He turned to face her and then revealed what he was holding– It was a red poppy plant.
"Well... I think that it would really complement your hair," he said, scratching his cheek. He was also carefully studying her expression, trying to ascertain whether she liked it.
"Oh! Well, thanks!" she said. Her response didn't give Inuwa any confidence. However, to her, she was dealt a killer blow, filled with hundreds of nostalgia-filled memories. For that, she turned away, flushed. Yet adorned across her face lay the most beautiful ornament– a full smile.
Nimbly, she stuck it in her hair and clasped Inuwa's hands in hers. Her grip was tighter this time, but for some reason, Inuwa liked the pleasant security that such a feeling gave. He then turned to look at her. But she was looking to the side as if hiding something.
Huffing, he accepted her feelings with slight reluctance and continued to shuffle awkwardly back to the house.
The house wasn't that far away.
Finally, Clarissa looked towards Inuwa. He looked towards her in response. She held his arm tighter, then she spoke.
"Hey, Inuwa?"
"What's up?"
"Remember that promise we made? When we were kids?"
He chuckled slightly, balling his fist towards his mouth. Memories of fields and exploration resurfaced within him.
"How could I forget? That isn't the thing you should say to someone you're meeting for the first time!"
"Well… do you still intend to keep it?" she peered over at him.
He smiled. Not a broad grin or a malicious grin, but a profoundly grateful and pleasant smile.
"Forever and ever more."
Eventually, they arrived at number 10. The Shantarra house. Inuwa knocked once– to no response. He then knocked twice, nothing. Then, before he could knock thrice, he was greeted with a myriad of hushed voices.
The door flung open at once. The party of two instantly realised they were late for the second cake-cutting– the most important of events.
"Sorry! I'm Sorry! Won't happen again!"
"Don't worry, I haven't cut deep enough for it to mean anything," Anyasu laughed it off. "It's good you made it. However, I am curious, why'd you spend so long with Clarissa in private?" he asked.
"None of your business."
Inuwa said, flushing and staring off into the side.
"Well, come on over here! We haven't blown out the candles yet!"
The Shantarra family often would cut the first slice of a cake on their birthdays and offer it to relatives who had died recently. It was unknown when they began practising it; however, none of them had anything against the idea.
As such, one section of the cake, large enough to be a slice, had no candles.
It was a rather ornate cake, a marble cake of gold and silver, white fondant with deities embedded and celestial bodies dotted along on it in the likeness of an edible sticker. It was something Inuwa was proud of concocting with Davee and Clarissa's help, of course.
As Anyasu's brother, it was something worthy of his attention.
A small group of the remaining people gradually sifted over to the heartwarming site. It was about 1 in the morning now, so there were only 5 people left. Still, within that 5, some held a special relationship with Anyasu.
Davee, who was Anyasu's first, best and closest friend.
Clarissa, the once-silent girl, warmed up to the group.
Edgar, one of Inuwa's best friends, even if he wouldn't like to admit it.
Larkins, the man who took care of Inuwa like he was a sibling of the Shantarra family.
Inuwa, Anyasu's most trusted friend, and his dear brother.
They were Anyasu's wings. People who gave him the motivation to shine and claim his own future.
That was why he had to tell them; he had to break the news. Even if it meant drifting apart, it was all for nought if he stayed rotting– no stagnating in this little derelict town, his future wouldn't be snuffed out, it couldn't.
"Cut the cake! Cut the cake!" Larkins yelled, breaking the responsible image he had held a day prior.
"Agreed, I'm quite hungry now!" Davee agreed.
He rubbed his churning stomach ferociously. He looked like a monkey.
"You deserve it, Anyasuu!" Clarissa cooed.
"You said it, Risa!"
Inuwa said, giving her a high-five.
"Don't you have something to say... before he blows the candles and cuts it?" Larkins asked Edgar.
"Anya."
His piercing Hazel eyes peered directly into Anyasu's soul. He bore an unreadable expression. The group stared in anticipation.
"Yes?" Anyasu responded; he wasn't bothered by Edgar's gaze at all.
Edgar broke out into a smile.
"Don't open your gifts too hastily."
"Alright!"
Cutting out the first slice, Anyasu made sure that it was delicately extracted, considering that it was intended for his late Grandma Nevy, who died a month ago. Isolating the plate to the windowsill, he put his hands together in a short prayer for her.
She was a god-fearing woman who was shrewd but warm. She was the one who had personally raised and taught many members of their family in business and economics. If not for her, then both their grandfather and Father wouldn't have owned such a successful business.
Anyasu cut out a second slice; it was slightly marbled, slightly wilted; however, it was still cake. There were 15 candles, and he still needed to blow them out, so with all his might, he extinguished every single flame. Every single flame but one refused. The one on his perfect slice. Slightly interested, he blew on it repeatedly. However, it refused. Giving up, he sat down and started eating.
"That's strange. Are you getting weaker?" Inuwa asked as Anyasu beckoned him over. He already knew what Anyasu intended for him to do, so with a wry smile, he blew the last candle out.
Inuwa began cutting out slices and handing them to his friends, making sure to give Davee the largest one.
"Inuwa! Well, let's just dig in," said Anyasu, chuckling.
"Inuwa, want some of my cake? I'm quite full already," said Clarissa.
Calling him over, Inuwa was lulled by the cake; it was clear Clarissa planned to trick him.
"It smells and looks sooo good…" he cooed with a wide smile and drool dribbling down his chin.
"I know, right! That piping bag we bought was finally useful. Honestly, it's been so long since we bought it that I had to clean out dust, debris and hair from it."
That quickly garnered the attention of the 3 closest boys, Inuwa, Davee and Edgar. Clarissa was a truly horrid cleaner. In fact, cooking was likely one of her only real talents. Everything else she worked hours on end to attain. It was something quite admirable. However, cleaning was something she should never try. The last time she cleaned, she managed to misplace Inuwa's new debit card, resulting in her getting chewed out for a while.
However, she would have argued that it was Inuwa's fault for leaving it out in the open in the first place.
Just like that. Inuwa knew that he wasn't going to survive this day one way or another.
"DUST?"
"I'm gonna be sick," said Davee, who was still shovelling cake into his mouth.
Davee had turned a dark purple. Meanwhile, Anyasu had snickered a little in the background.
Watching him snicker, Edgar clicked his tongue and felt around the walls of his mouth for any pieces of debris. However, to his shock, there was nothing.
"What folly," he said, airing out his frustrations.
"Hold on. Why are you all reacting like that?" she asked while tilting her head.
All 3 boys looked at her with a deadpan, scrutinising her with every fibre of their being, concentrating their hatred onto her visage.
Then at once, they pounced on the girl, tackling her to the ground. Immediately, she responded with her own attacks. In a matter of seconds, the fight became an all-out brawl.
"You damn idiots!"
"Edgar, it's time we settle this!"
"You ain't going nowhere!" Davee said, wrapping his arms around Inuwa as Edgar swung at him again.
"It's quite funny to see them like this, knowing that you cleaned it right after she left. Isn't that what your silence is about Larkins?" Anyasu said quietly.
Behind them, Larkins was coughing fervently.
He was caught; therefore, the only possibility left was to admit to what he had done. However, he wanted to perpetuate the hysteria. So, he decided to deliberately withhold the information. He then spoke.
"It's actually my first time seeing anything related to cake in years. You know why, Anya."
"You tried to mask your chuckles with a cough, didn't you?"
"We're both watching the same fight, isn't it quite funny?"
Anyasu clicked his tongue; he was quite right. However, he didn't answer the question.
"So, I assume you were quite happy about this. Even if the brawl is amusing, who would be entertained by dust mites and hair in their cake?"
He was practically cornered now. There was only one thing he could do to preserve the lie.
"Urk! Gurrgh!"
Forcibly throwing up, a special talent of his, Larkins would preserve the lie and let the fight continue.
Sick covered his trousers and trickled down to the floor. The smell was abhorrent.
"Damn you! That's disgusting! Go wash yourself right now!" Anyasu yelled. He had jumped back, and his eyes were shrunken.
Throughout the Shantarra house, the sounds of cheerful, disgusted and frustrated voices rang about. Even till the sky became a baby blue, the lively indicators of life roared on.
That night was the last night that Inuwa would spend peacefully with his brother under the twinkling, twinkling night sky. Before, the machinations of destiny whirred. Yet, quietly brooding, the chaotic forces that ran counter-clockwise to destiny seemed to magnify in extent.
A dark shadow would consume them all.