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Those black beady eyes stared back at him. And he was very disappointed at her for failing to save that child in the claw machine.
"Sorry, that's our last token. We didn't get them both but it was a good try though," the girl in a different school uniform said as she patted his slumped shoulders.
"No," he said with a grunt. "You just suck at playing this. In the first place, we could've gotten it if you weren't so bad."
"Yeah, whatever. It's getting late. Let's go home."
"I will come back for you, my friend. Wait for me." He promised while staring at the plushie behind the glass before forcing himself to turn away.
The two elementary children walked out of the arcade with two little dolls and one massive stuffed toy. She put the smaller dolls in a paper bag while Kai was hugging the larger one.
"I got flute lessons tomorrow," the girl said, standing idly beside him.
He nodded. "Okay."
"Just tell me when you want to go back for it." She then forced the paper bag onto his hand before climbing in the waiting bus. "I'll lend them to you in the meantime. So, you must return them once we rescue that other big one, alright?"
"Alright." He gave her a small good bye wave as the bus door shut.
However, that was the last time he saw her before his family decided to move from one country to another for the last seven years.
"This better be worth our senior trip," Dani said while driving through the Big Island highway.
"Of course," Kai laughed, sitting in the passenger seat. "Even if we don't find her, I promise that this will be one of the best summers in your life!"
"Don't mess with me," the other scoffed. "I was born and raised here. Hell, we even went to the same school until you suddenly disappeared, you asshole."
"You're still bitter about that? I already told you what happened."
They parked the car outside an old establishment. With faded posters and the paints peeling off, time had obviously not been kind to the quaint little arcade place he used to go to. But the welcoming feeling it emits was still the same.
"You travel this far just to meet this girl you're looking for?" Dani said, looking around the place.
"Long story. I'll tell you next time."
Kai swung his backpack on his shoulder before walking towards the low door with an Open sign. The lights inside were off and the window blinds were pulled up since its still bright out. Boxes of individually wrapped plastic figures and toys lined the front of the counter and some larger prizes were still displayed at the shelves behind it.
"Aloha!"
The familiar perky baritone voice sounded the moment they entered the building. A large mass of body covered mostly with black clusters of hair popped out somewhere from the back of the store. He effortlessly stacked the three crates of soda bottles in one corner.
"We're just sorting the delivery out there. You boys need anything?"
"Mister Hiapo." Kai smiled and hugged the huge man as tightly as he could.
Surprised and confused, the bulky man returned the gesture but eyed Dani as if to ask what was happening. Dani, on the other hand, just shrugged at him.
When Kai released him, he stared at the man's face a little longer. "It's me, Kai, Mister Hiapo! I'm back."
After a few moments, he gasped in his low base tone and looked at the young man from head to toe. "Holy crap! You're Kai?!"
Kai made tiny excited jumps, glad that the old man finally recognized him.
"My goodness, you got stretched out real well. What did you eat to grow so tall?" The man smacked his back. "And who's this?"
"Daniel Lee," he said. "I'm his best friend."
"Best friend?" Hiapo asked, questionably. "I thought that Rafa girl was your best friend?"
The two younger men paused, gaping at him.
"You know who that girl is?!" Dani was the first to react.
"We've been trying to find some info about her online for the past few weeks," Kai said. "Do you know where she is right now?"
"Heavens know well I do. I've watched that girl grow up." Hiapo gave a little chuckle. "I suggest you go down to the beachfront Shucking Shack around two in the afternoon. You'd find her there."
"Oh, so, she works in that old restaurant?" Dani said, almost with awe. "I didn't think that place's still running."
"Mister Big Billy will cut your tongue if he hears you say that, boy," Hiapo warned.
Dani shuddered in the thought as Kai scanned the place and found the very nemesis he had back then in the same place. He approached it, looking at the little stuffed dolls inside the claw machine.
"This still works?" he asked, testing the control sticks.
"Of course," the older man responded. "Why? Are you gonna rob me of my prizes again?"
The taller younger male laughed and pulled a five-dollar bill to exchange for some tokens while the shorter one only shook his head in disbelief. On the other hand, the old man continued to be amused with their interactions.
"Please don't tell me you've been picking on all the claw machines you see since then?" Dani asked.
"Just saving some children, one token at a time," Kai proudly said before inserting one of the ten tokens he got.
"Somehow, I am torn if I should be glad that you're still the same or not," Hiapo said, now arranging some things behind the counter. "Just don't take too much of my stuff, okay?"
Sitting at the immediate booth of the diner, both Kai and Dani had finished their lunch and were passing time by munching on an order of malasada. The young men discovered no waitress with the name 'Rafa' or the likes of it. However, they still diligently waited as per Mister Hiapo's instruction.
"It's almost two o'clock," Dani said, checking the time from his phone. Kai kept quiet, just enjoying their dessert.
The sound of the lapping waves could be heard from underneath them as the water hit the supporting beams the establishment had secured over the sandy coast. Five minutes after two went by, the diner's door opened with a loud ring, instantly alerting the employees.
"Rafa," one of the waitresses called out. "Those guys were looking for you."
They both turned to where the waitress was talking to and found a short haired female wearing an oil-stained denim overall looking back in their direction. She gave an acknowledging nod to the other female and headed towards the booth.
"'Sup, boys," she said, placing a hand on her hip as she stopped beside them.
"You're Rafa?" Kai asked, sliding out of the booth.
"Yup, that's me."
Kai turned back to grab his backpack, pulled two stuffed toys from it, and showed it to her. "I'm returning these friends."
"No way..." She trailed off, staring at the two blue and green penguin dolls Kai was handing over.
Her eyes then traveled to a large paper bag in the seat behind him. Sticking to the top were several parts of different plushies. This pulled the corners of her lips to widen and she beamed at him.
"So, how long are you gonna stay here?" she asked the moment they met again in her workshop. "Dani said you're both just visiting."
"Five days including today," Kai said. "We're flying back Monday morning."
"Ah." Rafa nodded as she continued to watch the male walk around her place. "Find anything you like?"
"You made those too?"
He pointed to the small wooden statues atop a ceiling shelf. There were an assortment of miniature animals standing on it. And though it was high, Kai could effortlessly reach the carvings.
"Yeah," Rafa said. "Just some things I make when I'm bored."
"They're pretty." His fingertips ran through each statue, barely touching them, as if they were made out of glass instead of wood. Then, he chuckled, pulling two thumb-sized statues and admired them closely. "Are these penguins?"
"Why? Don't they look like they are?"
"They do." Kai returned them to their perch on the shelf and smiled at her. "Sorry I only got to return them today."
"It's nothing." Rafa scoffed, shaking her head. "I'm surprised you even remember."
"I have them," he emphasized. "Of course, I won't forget."
"Yesterday was a real rollercoaster, wasn't it? I was wondering why Mister Hiapo suddenly called me and then I found you in Shucking Shack. How brilliant was that?"
She opened one of the cabinets and it revealed a large stuffed toy neatly wrapped in plastic. Its cover was already yellowish with age and it was obvious that the thing inside was kept in a pristine condition.
"Meet Alaka'i," Rafa said, grabbing the toy and wiping the thin layer of dust off it. "It took me a year to save him."
She handed it to him after ripping the plastic open. And Kai released a gleeful shrill the moment he recognized the plushie. He took it into his arms, hugging it tightly.
"Wow! You did it," he said, grinning widely and tucking the massive white and pink bunny under his chin. "Why didn't I think of naming the penguins? Maybe, because they're yours."
Rafa chuckled, pulling the two penguins from the bag and placing them to where Alaka'i was.
"It's never too late to give them something. Let's see..." She stared at the toys before patting the green and blue ones, saying respectively, "Private and Kowalski."
"Madagascar! Nice!" Kai laughed. "We better complete the gang before I leave."
"I can get Rico and Skipper myself, thank you very much," she said, closing the cabinet doors. "We better hurry before the last ferry leaves. Manta rays are waiting for you."
They had squeezed the rest of the week filled with every adventure on land, sea and air. From driving and biking through gorgeous sceneries, hiking and walking through natural wonders, snorkeling and diving with the diverse marine life, swimming and kayaking in clear blue waters, and admiring all the colors of the archipelago from a helicopter tour.
On their last day, Dani was forced to spend it with his family. Hence, Kai decided to volunteer with Rafa in the cat sanctuary and just fly back to the Big Island the following day.
"Take whichever room, we rent this out when there are a lot of tourists on the island," Rafa said, throwing her bag in one of the three rooms of the small bungalow house. "We only stored some food here. So, I know we're definitely having breakfast items for dinner."
"Anything's fine by me," came Kai's voice from the other side of the house. "I also have some instant noodles we can share later."
"Is that still those super spicy ones you got from Korea?"
"Yeah. That friend I literally butt heads with introduced me to it," he said, walking out of the room in a different outfit. "Now, I'm like him."
Kai followed Rafa and the other volunteers around the sanctuary to check many things that needed fixing. The round proved fruitful and they quickly pulled the cat fixtures and houses that had to be repaired. But Rafa just worked on the larger ones that they couldn't take back in the shed.
"See those two? They've been seen together even before they got here," she said, motioning to the black cat and the tiger-striped cat that were quietly lying down on each level of a cat tower in the corner of the shed. "So, people called the black one, Soul. And the other one is Mate."
Kai looked to where the cat tower was after handing Rafa a few more nails she asked for. "Very fitting. And they seem to be so content with just each other's company."
"They're senior cats," she said. "Also, the other volunteers said they were abandoned at the same time by their owner. It's kinda sad, but with a happy ending."
"Yes..." he trailed off, smirking at his own thoughts. "Like Private and Kowalski. And Alaka'i."
"This and that were different. We didn't abandon them." Rafa climbed down the ladder and handed Kai the tool box. "We fostered them before going to their forever homes."
They worked while chatting, having random conversations. Lunch was fun with the cats roaming beside them, trying their luck to steal a bite of the humans' food which forced the two to retreat in the canteen. Kai was then put into other labor while Rafa finished her work.
"That was fun," Kai said as they headed back to the house for the night. "Plus the cats were so cute."
"You're a good volunteer," Rafa said. "We can use more people like you there."
"I bet," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Who could resist these looks?"
The female snorted and threw a rag at him. "Don't make me gag."
Dinner was peaceful aside from the sound of choking due to the spicy soup going down the wrong pipe.
"That thing is gonna be the death of me." With tears in her eyes, Rafa finished a bottle of water. "I better stick to my spam and eggs."
"Suit yourself." Kai continued to slurp his noodles after a bite of spam.
"Have you decided what to do once you go back?" she asked after they cleaned up.
Kai shrugged.
"I have no idea. I just want to do everything I want before settling for anything." He stopped and listened to the waves on the shore. "What do you think, Rafiah, should I stay here for a bit longer?"
"Why are you using my real name now?" She inched further from him from where they sat on the sand. "And why are you asking me when you just said you'd do what you want?"
Again, he shrugged. "I don't know. This place seems so perfect right now but I'm sure there are other places like this."
"What are you really trying to find, Kai?" she asked, looking at his profile. "You should ask yourself that first. Searching for something you don't know isn't going to help you."
He smiled and gazed back at her. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
Months of exchanging messages, doing video calls, random life updates, and two international trips together, proved their friendship to be more than what they both initially thought it was.
"Rafiah," he said, sitting beside her outside the hanok they rented. "I'm applying for college next year."
"Alright," she said, giving him a nod of acknowledgement. "Then, that means you'd be busy for a while."
"Will you miss me?" He nudged her a little with his arm.
"As if." She laughed and nudged him back a bit harder. "We already know that neither the Pacific Ocean nor any amount of distance could stop us. If there's anything I'm sure of, it is that we won't be missing each other much."
"Harsh."
"Am I wrong?"
"No."
"What are you gonna take?" Rafa asked, after a few seconds of silence, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I'm still thinking about it." He placed his head on top of hers. "I'm down to the last three options."
"Want me to help you?"
"I'm good. Thanks."
"Then, I'll just surprise you at your place once you're settled in."
"I'd love to see you pull something like that off."
Kai laughed at the memory of when he did that to her six months prior. Her classmates were teasing her the moment they found him standing by the school gate, waiting for her. The amount of rumors circulated fast in the small vocational school.
"Please take care of them for me." He handed her the paper bag with a pair of stuffed piglets. "I'm sure the others will love some more company."
"If you continue this, I'd feel like Noah soon," Rafa said, accepting the paper bag. "I had to make a bigger cabinet just to accommodate everyone, you know."
"Yeah, you already told me." Kai grinned before reaching over and hugging Rafa. "Next time, I'll go back and help you build a separate house for them."
She chuckled and returned the gesture. "Or you could stop giving me stuffed toys."
He gasped and pushed her off him with an exaggerated look. "You did not just say that! The kids could hear you."
Rafa laughed and tightened her arms around him again. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. They'll get the ultimate care in my place."
Kai then leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I know they're in your good and dexterous hands."
"Our furry children will miss you," she said with her face buried in his shirt.
"And you?"
She looked up at him, a sly smile on her lips. "I'll be too busy planning a new house to avoid overcrowding."
"As long as you think about me from time to time, that's good enough for me." And he left another peck on her forehead.
Kai was running around with a toy on both hands as the cats curiously followed the things hanging at the end of the poles. There were about twenty felines dashing by his feet, claws exposed and eyes locked on the small bundle of feathers.
"Sometimes I forget that he's the same age as us," Dani said, shaking his head. "He's so care-free like that."
"You can say that again," Rafa added, following Kai with her gaze as they erect a new tower for the cats to climb.
"Yo, Kai!" Dani called towards the direction of the tall male. "We need another hand here!"
He came running and giggling, trying to catch his breath as they all lifted the wooden tower.
"One, two, three!"
"You should lift it higher, Dani," he said, struggling to keep himself straight. "Higher!"
"Tell that to yourself," Dani rebutted. "You could barely handle the weight of this thing!"
"You two, shut up and just walk!" Rafa snapped, glaring at the tall men with her. "I am dying right here."
Kai threw his head back with a hearty laugh, baptizing Rafa as the furriest of all that he had ever seen in his entire life.
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