A space filled with red, red, red. That was what he dreamt about what he was dreaming about, again and again. At this point, he dared not ask questions, for the red brought him comfort and continuation. That's why, even if it was unevenly spread and the great warmth was concentrated towards his torso and legs, he would accept the offering and continue dreaming. After all, he was chosen. He liked the sound of that. He was chosen. Yet, that great warmth kept shifting, shifting, contorting; he could make out the feeling of softness and a faint breath.
"Huh…? Gah!" Inuwa yelped, finally gaining the strength to open his eyes.
Forcefully opening his eyes, the boy felt a presence extremely foreign. It was Clarissa. She was asleep, soundly on his chest. Her breathing was faint, her cheeks rosy, her hair shimmering. However, he didn't focus on any of that. No, what he was concerned about was–
"WHY IS SHE IN MY BED?!" Inuwa shrieked, twisting and contorting violently. The forceful flails of the flustered Inuwa were enough to rouse Clarissa from her slumber. With a heavy yawn, her eyelids fluttered open, and her mouth began to move.
"A… ah. This pillow was comfortable when I started sleeping, but why is it moving so much? Stay here, Pillow-wa," she said, half-dazed.
Blood fiercely travelled to his cheeks; however, his dark skin countered what would be an impressive blush. Before he could even process a response, he had an immense impulse to shout.
"GAH!"
The situation could not be any more desperate.
"Clarissa? Wake up, please!"
A tight-lipped smile melted its way onto her face. She replied blithely.
"Of course, Pillow-wa. Just stay still."
She finally began to come out of her half-dazed state. Opening her eyes slowly, she expected to see a large white pillow and her brother to the side of it. However, to her infinite embarrassment, it was Inuwa. Her face lit up like a cherry.
"Ah... um ...It isn't. This isn't…" her voice faded into disjointed mutterings as she scrambled around, trying to act with equanimity. However, the fierce blush plastered across her face and her shrunken, golden irises indicated all but otherwise.
Instinctively, Inuwa knew that it wasn't her fault. However, he did wish she had acted a little more flustered, like screaming or shouting. Otherwise, he'd feel like he was getting flustered over nothing.
Which he wasn't.
Maybe it would catch up to her later in the day.
After having recollected herself, Clarissa implied, while still clinging onto Inuwa, the exact notion that was gnawing at his mind.
"Sorry, but you know, only one damned person could pull this right?" she said, frowning.
"It was that damned Davee!"
With a name identified. Inuwa and Clarissa simmered and seethed over how they were so callously tricked and misguided. Clearly, somehow Davee had messed with their sleeping arrangements.
Just as they were about to outline a plan, someone burst into Inuwa's room. To his chagrin, it was Davee. Clearly, the loose-lipped Devil coated in red and gold felt only dribbles of regret for the misdeeds he had so sorely committed.
"Hola! How are you all doing today? I'm quite spent! Man, you should see how much of a monkey Clarissa is …when I was carrying her, she was so feisty!"
"Don't say it like that," Clarissa pouted, while staring at Inuwa intently, hoping to glean his reaction. But, to her disappointment, he bore no reaction other than a slight glare at Davee.
"Now let's wait for Anyasu to come here and make this whole situation even more unbearable," Inuwa huffed sagely.
Hey, Clarissa. I've got a plan. Inuwa motioned to Clarissa with a slight slew of his fingers.
Her golden eyes locked onto his void-like ones. He had her attention now. Wordlessly, they came to a consensus. A smirk manifested itself, replacing Inuwa's once unyielding grimace.
"Do you realise how unreasonable you are? The way you phrase things could get us in trouble one day!" Clarissa said, chastising Davee.
What do you have in mind?
"In what way. Throughout my life, my way with words has earned me the praise of numerous people. Heck! I've even won writing competitions with them alone!" Davee replied, punching up to the sky. Inuwa and Clarissa didn't know, but he was lying through his teeth.
Still, as naive 14-year-olds, they bought it immediately. This didn't dissuade them, however.
"You know she doesn't mean that, you buffoon," Inuwa responded.
I'll punch him in the gut, and you slip under his legs. Inuwa relayed to Clarissa through hand signals.
"That's right! Your manner of speaking is far too callous. Maybe you should think before you say something so that we don't have to be disgraced with your voice!" Clarissa said.
But what will happen to you? The slight furrow of her eyebrows told Inuwa exactly what she meant.
"Your goblins. I swear, if you go any further, I'll have to take extreme disciplinary action!" Davee replied, spanking his thigh. Both Inuwa and Clarissa slightly paled.
What on Earth could that mean? Inuwa really didn't want to experience this, but to save Clarissa from the embarrassment, he'd do it.
"Alright, let's see if you're all that!" Inuwa said, ruminating.
Quickly, with his left hand, Inuwa feinted, attacking Davee's liver. Expecting the counter, Inuwa aimed for his gut; however, to his surprise, Davee had blocked it. A condescending smile immediately grew on his features.
"You thought such a shallow plan would work? Hah!" Davee chastised, deepening his voice.
"Clarissa, now!"
Quickly, Clarissa slid under Davee's legs. However, betraying the plan, she launched at his backside, restraining his movement even further.
With all his might, Inuwa freed his left arm and aimed for a full-powered punch. Naturally, Davee used both arms to block. With this small opening, Inuwa, crudely but with much speed, stuck a finger up his nose, aiming upwards. It was a disgusting action, but extremely effective.
"Gah! That's rank!" Davee snorted.
Clutching his nose in pain and anger, he stepped out of the room and leaned on the railing near the stairs.
With the distraction omitted, Inuwa and Clarissa dashed towards Anyasu's room, where there would be time to change clothes, leaving the disoriented Davee back in the room.
However, his pearly white teeth glimmered, and his face contorted into a grin. Davee had noticed the red flower in his sister's hair.
"Well, looks like he's gone and done it…" Davee started, "That Inuwa will have to take responsibility!"
Inside the room, they uncovered another sight. Anyasu and Larkins were on the floor. It was usually a typical sight whenever the group came to hang out; however, this sight would be engraved in both Inuwa and Clarissa's memories.
Anyasu, laid out sporadically, was missing his foot. The reason was that it was nestled deep inside Larkin's mouth. That said unfortunate existence was in fact drooling while doing this action.
An incomprehensible darkness clouded Inuwa's expression as Clarissa stared, dumbfounded and disappointed. They both hurriedly put on some clothes over their rather thin nightwear.
Inuwa chose to wear a hoodie and jogger bottoms, combined with green running sneakers and his white shirt. The hoodie was a seaweed green, with black drawstrings. It was something that complemented Inuwa's palette quite well, which was surprising since it was in Anyasu's room, the same Anyasu that had a wardrobe full of the same crimson red and red shirts. His jogger bottoms were black with white streaks. Overall, it was something that would be acceptable to go to school.
Clarissa chose to wear a blush red hoodie, with white letters that read out: 'Chicify'. It seemed like the siblings liked to wear the same brand. She complemented the outfit with pearly white joggers and brown winter boots. It was a chilly morning, so she chose to wear black skins.
When they were done, it became apparent that Anyasu wouldn't wake up anytime soon and Larkins was slowly absorbing the foot deeper into his mouth. Pushing the thought of that scene to the back of their heads, they rushed to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, they expected to see dirty plates, concentrated around the sink, but some near it, a conglomerate of half-eaten dishes, cutlery on the floor and a dirty/dry cake. Yet there was nothing. In fact, at the table there were 3 plates. One of them had 2 stacks of pancakes (around 8 piled on an individual stack), the other had several helpings of bacon and sausages, and the last one had a few hot drinks.
From its smell, Inuwa could discern that they were hot chocolate and coffee. Fortunately, he only knew of two people who could wake up and get started so efficiently.
"It's you. Edgar."
His expression hardened; this morning had become strenuous to say the least.
"Morning. Inuwa," the said boy smiled back, taking a sip from the mug held in his hand. Edgar was a rather tall boy, standing at around 162 centimetres, with a neat quaff of brown hair and striking, light brown eyes, he emanated an aura of authority that sickened Inuwa.
Their piercing gazes met each other. After last night's scuffle, they were both keen on not associating with the other. For fear of getting on each other's nerves and restarting the scuffle, and leaving the perturbed Clarissa to try to pick up the pieces of the reluctant boys' relationship.
"Can't you two be a little more tolerant of each other? I think we should just get along and go to school. There, we can settle things…" she said, waving her arms about nervously. She knew whatever she said would be ignored, but continued trying in desperate hopes of de-escalation.
"…" Inuwa stared at her, his eyes pierced directly through to her soul. Clarissa felt a shiver run down her spine. But she chose to ignore it, instead favouring a scowl at the boy.
"Can't even offer a 'Good Morning' back? How erroneous, to think, I'd do all that labour just to be treated with such minimal hospitality. Your barbarism eludes me."
Somewhere, something snapped.
"Adding fuel to the fire…" Clarissa trailed, her arms going limp.
"It's quite surprising, really, a guest going out of their way to serve their invitees. Quite edified, isn't it? You portray the refined look of a servant quite well, Edgar," Inuwa said, stroking his chin and reaching for a cup of tea.
Inuwa could tell those words had an effect as the slight smirk on Edgar's face was contorted, and he kissed his teeth.
"Enjoy eating the food someone toiled to make. Clearly your parents never instilled a sense of responsibility in their spawn. Or maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"
Inuwa's parents harboured rather strange practices, which didn't allow them to visit on Anyasu's birthday. His father would travel every two weeks to engage in a business, while his mother worked tirelessly as an actor. Therefore, Anyasu and Inuwa were left to their own devices that month.
The blades that were their words danced around each other like sword masters fighting along a battlefield. Even in the early morning landscape, war would be fought between the two.
"Low blow, go scurry off while we eat now, you bastard," Inuwa said.
Suddenly, the blade Inuwa wielded was revealed to be a hammer.
"You're right, I've had enough of talking to an uneducated beast like you," Edgar huffed.
Edgar was rewarded with a deep scowl by the dark-skinned boy.
"That's it! You're finished!"
The black-haired boy suddenly made chase towards Edgar, likely about to tackle the boy to the ground.
In the distance, a lavender-haired boy bore the same expression, clearly annoyed- evidenced by the loud clicking of his tongue.
"Who is that black-haired boy? Is he…? That doesn't make sense…!" the lavender-haired boy scowled.