A few minutes just after their little sparring match Tobi and Temi sat next to each other, watching the sunset as there was nothing else to do. The boy widened his eyes upon remembering something. He searched through his pockets, and breathed a sigh of relief upon feeling something. He pulled out a propeller shaped toy with weighted rings on each of its lobes.
“Aw man, I thought I lost this!” He said as he happily spun it. Temi tilted her head in curiousity, as she had never something like this before. She asked “What’s that? Is it like a gyroscope or a part of some contraption?”
“It’s a fidget spinner.” Tobi replied. “It’s a little toy that I think was made for people with restless hands. It got popular like two years ago… too popular. Lots of little kids played with spinners, and people hate kids, so they hated the spinners.”
The girl in the fox mask followed up by asking “Kids made it annoying basically?” to which he affirmed with “Yeah, exactly!” and proceeded to laugh.
He then raised the spinner, explaining “But this one’s special. I got it… well two for free when my mom bought me a couple of boxes of underwear. Sadly it was the last time I saw her. Anyway, I gave the other spinner to Tsuki as a present for the holidays. She looked really happy even when it was just a toy.”
Temi patted him on the shoulder, saying “Even so it’s the thought that counts, and she really cared about you so of course she was happy about it!” She stood up and continued with “Come on, there’s a town nearby. I’ll take you there.”
“Wait, what? No way, I thought this island was uninhabited.” said a very perplexed Tobi as he stared straight into the eyeholes of Temi’s mask. They made their way through banana plants and coconut trees until they eventually found their way into the small fishing town of Ramonita. The two of them scouted the area while they hid behind a line of lemongrass. To their surprise, they noticed how lively the town was. People were spitting fire, chugging palm wine from giant jugs, riding buffalos wearing tank tops and shorts, and holding drunken karaoke sessions. Curious, Temi asked “Is there a festival going on?”
“No. It’s just a birthday party.” said Tobi as he pointed to a house up a hill. There was a large banner with a child’s picture which says “Happy 1st Birthday, Takeru Lodicakes Gonzales!”
“The hell kinda name is Lodicakes?” Temi remarked.
“Beats me.” Tobi said in response. “Anyway, you got anything I could use to cover myself up?” She then handed him an orange paper bag, saying “Just this.” As soon as he took the bag, he poked two holes into it and wore it as a mask. He then stood up, struck a pose, and asked “How do I look?” to which she responded with “Like shit.” Tobi started strutting out of the bushes, stating “Alright, let’s go get us something to eat!”
Temi let out a “W- wait!” as she grasped the boy’s wrist. She proceeded to say “Look!” while pointing to a group of men clad in armor made of cast iron, patrolling the streets. They knew that they couldn’t just waltz in. Not only do they look incredibly suspiscious, one of them is currently a notorious fugitive.
She warned her new friend, saying “Well… We can’t just head down there. We are definitely going to get in trouble. Unless…” The boy turned to his companion and with an uncertain tone reiterated her statement. “Unless?” The bells on Temi’s mask began to jingle. She excitedly declared “I’ve got an idea! But first, we’re gonna have to get you some threads. There’s blood all over you. Go take a bath. I’ll head into town and get you something to wear.”
Tobi wasted no time and took a dip in the sea. He brushed his feet along the seabed until the water was at waist height, after which he laid floating on his back. He surrendered to the waves as they gently cupped his ears. With the sight of seabirds, The smell of salt, and the sound of the void, he closed his eyes and for a moment was at peace.
***
Tobi reflected on the day he came to this realm. He woke up on the shores of Dumaguete, neither knowing how he got here nor why. He rolled to his side and coughed up seawater. He then heard a girl speak to him.
“Phew, glad you’re alright!” she said. “You didn’t look pale so I was able to save you.”
Upon opening his eyes, the boy’s vision was blurry. The trees looked like green sploodges on the pale blue canvas that was the sky. After a few moments, everything became clearer, especially the girl who was squatting next to him. She had reddish brown hair tied up in a bun, with her bangs pointed down like the tines of a rake. A bubbly expression was drawn on her face, indicating her relief.
“Hi!” she greeted him. He sat up dazed and once again coughed up seawater.
She followed up with “Like dude, what were you doing there? You must’ve been knocked off a ship cause there’s no way anyone would go swimming in a tracksuit.”
The boy examined himself to see that he appeared completely unscathed. However, something was wrong. He was missing his sword. He began to panic, shouting “My sword! Where’s my sword?!” to which the girl responded with “You mean this one?” as she handed him a tachi in a black scabbard. “I found it floating beside you so I assumed it was yours.”
He looked at her then at the sword in disbelief before proceeding to say “That’s not mine!”
“Ah, I see-”
“But I’ll keep it. I already feel naked without one.”
He took the strange blade and propped himself up with it. He was only able to stand for a couple of seconds before falling face first into the sand. The girl helped him up and placed his arm over her shoulder as the boy used his sword as a crutch. Even as the two slowly walked on the beach, the boy was still coughing up seawater and even sneezed.
“Dude, not on me!” she exclaimed. He tried to apologize but he slurred a little, letting out a “Sworry…”
There was sand and spit on her white sun dress, but she carried on and chuckled nonetheless. The boy turned his head to her and asked “So you saved me. Why?” She looked up to the sky and responded with “Well I couldn’t just leave you there. I had to do the right thing.”
He smiled and thanked her. However, she wasn’t finished. She then continued with “After I felt your pulse, I tried to wake you up by slapping you. It didn’t work so… I tried CPR.”
The boy, still clutching to the strange sword, ran his fingers on his lips, after which he shifted his gaze back to his savior.
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He whispered “Nice.”
“What?”
“Ah- uh I meant you saved me. Nice!”
“Um, you’re welcome?”
After a brief moment of silence, the girl introduced herself.
“I can tell you’re not from here. I’m Minami, Ikehara Minami. What’s your name?”
“Shun… just Shun.” he answered. Minami Stretched a big syruppy smile across her face as she then said “Nice to meet ya! Anyway, my family’s just up ahead. We can get you patched up there.”
Shun would never forget the exact words that came through his head at that moment.
My first kiss was with a cute girl who gave me mouth-to-mouth. Nice!
***
Tobi opened his eyes. He got his feet back on the seabed, shouting “Minami! I have to go back!” He took a few heavy breaths before proceeding to head back to shore. There he saw Temi with a pile of secondhand clothes in her hands. She asked him
“Oh sorry, did I bother you?”
“No, It’s alright. I was just about done.” Tobi Replied.
She then followed up with “I just thought you were still in the middle of shouting a girl’s name half-naked.” The boy remained silent, took his new clothes, and donned them. They were composed of an old haori and a baggy pair of pants with no pockets; both of which were black in color. They resembled the garments of a wandering swordsman. He didn’t like coat very much because not only was its fabric itchy, it also smelled like an old man.
Tobi, understandably upset by this, complained. “Couldn’t you find something better than this?” to which Temi replied with “These were the only ones that seemed alright. The only other things they sold at the ukay-ukay were leotards. Besides you’ll grow on them.” He put on a shabby dusty cape that veiled his upper body. Now he looked like a ronin.
After he got ready, the two of them went back into town. They walked through the bustling streets, through roadside barbeques, buffalos in tank tops and shorts, as well as the guards clad in cast iron. They got a lot of weird looks from people, but luckily they weren’t approached by anyone yet. While they continued to stroll, Temi decided to do some icebreaking and said “So… Minami…” Tobi responded with “She’s a friend of mine from the Ikehara family. Her dad apparently knew my grandpa so he gave me a place to stay. In exchange I did some chores for the family” The girl in the fox mask then asked “I suspect these chores involved more than just housekeeping, right?”
“Yup.” Tobi affirmed. He then proceeded to explain his time with them.
“I worked as their spy for a whole year, prevented and resolved minor disturbances, and fed their dogs. God, they had a lotta dogs. That was until a week ago. One of the puppies went missing and I was sent to look for it. Turns out the Lawin clan’s lackeys stole it to set up a duel against me at a power plant. If I refused, the little pup was gonna get it. Let’s just say I got the puppy back, but no one else made it out of there alive and there was a power outage for the next few days.”
“What happened next? Why were bounty hunters after you?” Temi asked again.
He answered with “Since I killed some of their members, the Lawins wanted the Ikehara to hand me over to them to make it even. I figured they’d leave them alone if I just ran away. But now I’ve realized that they just wanted to get rid of me so that they’d get closer to toppling the family. I gotta go back. I have to help them out!”
Temi patted him on the back, saying “First we’ll need to make preparations. That is, getting some food and a place to stay.”
***
As they walked up the hill and on the road leading to the birthday boy’s house, a lot of people stopped their merrymaking to have a look at the duo of masked travelers. They, including the family hosting the party, thought they were performers. Not long after they finally went up the hill, everyone at the house and those down the slope flocked and gathered around the two. There was a lot of chatter and requests from them such as
“Hey, do some tricks!”
“Wow! Where are you guys from?”
“What’s with the masks? Are you vampires or something?”
Tobi raised his palms and stepped back, not exactly knowing what to say. Temi then cleared her throat and stated “We’ve noticed you’re all having a good time, so we’re here to make a lot better.” The townsfolk cheered and chugged even more palm wine as they made way for them to perform in the front yard. The birthday party seemingly turned into a talent show, with baby Takeru sitting on a high chair as the judge. Everyone watched and sat by, anticipating what their opening act might be. The air was thick with tension that there might as well be an air pizza made out of it.
The two looked at each other, bobbing their heads and waving their hands.
“So?” Temi asked Tobi, who then recoiled in slight confusion saying “So!? You’re the one who roped us into this! W- what are we gonna do, make balloon animals or something?”
“Who said we are?” she replied. After taking in a deep breath, she added “How about we work on your reflexes for now? Think about this as today’s lesson.” Tobi was even more confused and slightly tilted his head. Next thing he knew, a few knives flew right at him. He was able to catch them at quite an impressive speed that the audience started applauding and cheering for them. The two of them looked to see that the birthday boy was pretty unimpressed. For their next act, Temi raised her arms up into the air and from her coat emerged birds and mice of different colors and sizes. But that wasn’t all. She then pointed to the moon and said “You guys see that thing?” to which everybody nodded. She then muttered “Alright, let me just…” as she then appeared to have snatched the very moon from the sky. It sat on her fingertips like a glowing ping pong ball. The applause grew even louder as the partygoers went from astonished, to impressed, to absolutely stunned. Tobi couldn’t help but chuckle and join in on the clapping, knowing it was just a trick. Even with her inhumanly impressive magic tricks, baby Takeru still didn’t lift a cheek on his pink blobby face. Since it had come to this, she had to resort to one final act. She walked over to Tobi, had him put on a blindfold over his mask, and spun him around. As he stood unknowingly facing a buffalo dressed in tank tops and shorts, Temi took a barrel of palm wine and threw it at him. Tobi sensed exactly were it came from and shifted his body to its direction. He then stepped back a little and clenched the hilt of his sword before quickly drawing it. He swung it so fast the blade appeared like a faint white streak, as it went right through the barrel and immediately back into its sheath. The barrel was then split into two, and each half went in different directions. For just a moment it was raining palm wine all over the front yard. Men in tank tops at around thirty to forty something stuck out their tongues as the wine droplets dove straight into their mouths. Mind you, he was using an incredibly dull sword; so dull in fact that it might as well had been a long butter knife. The crowd fell silent, filling the air with even more tension than before. This ended when baby Takeru chuckled at the amazing display. Right then and there, in a deep and silky voice, he uttered his first word: “Amazeballs!”
And the crowd went wild. Tobi quickly took off his blindfold, wondering what’s going on. Everyone came up to the extravagant duo and applauded them, offering them all they could eat. Just then, a loud clapping silenced the crowd, followed by a deep booming voice saying “Impressive.” A tall man resembling a tiger shark with red skin walked up to the duo.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had traveling swordsmen on our island.”
He stretched his arm to Tobi and offered him a handshake.
To Be Continued
End of Chapter Infodump:
Lodicakes: A Filipino term(commonly used to call someone you admire). Lodi is idol spelt backwards and the cakes part kinda makes it resemble the word babycakes.
Ukay-Ukay: derived from Bisaya which means “to dig” or “to sift through”,
an ukay-ukayan is a second hand shop that commonly sells clothes, bags, footwear, accessories, plushies, and many more for dirt cheap. Most cities and towns have at least an ukay ukay shop. When shopping in one, it’s important to wash whatever clothes you’ve bought before wearing them.