Heart To Heart || Neteyam Sully

15. Throwing Punches

"Oh, do you think of me half as much as I think of you?"

Neteyam's POV

Dad entered the cot just in time after I had returned the camera back into where it's supposed to be. "You're still here?" He said when he saw me. Then he shifted his vision towards Eiwa who was standing beside the door. "What are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow in suspicion before giving me that look.

"Came here to call him," Eiwa's words rolled off her tongue convincingly. "The rest are waiting already," she added. I almost believed her, even when I knew she was lying.

Dad seemed to have thought the same as he nodded, "I see. You two better go then."

Eiwa and I quickly walked out and once we were out of earshot I turned and smiled at her. "That was one believable lie."

"Two actually," Eiwa corrected proudly.

I bit my lips and pretended to think hard, "I won't know whether or not you are lying then. For all we know, you could be lying right now."

"What would I lie about," Eiwa rolled her eyes playfully.

"About not lying?" I said though it came out more like a question.

Eiwa chuckled, "Nice try, 'Tey. On a serious note, we should probably go and find the others."

I nodded in agreement, "Definitely. After what happened yesterday, it's probably best not to leave Lo'ak alone yet."

"Unless Tsireya is with him," Eiwa raised an eyebrow.

"Unless she is with him," I replied, before sighing unintentionally. "My brother's all grown up. He used to be emotionless, you know. And he teased me once because I had a—" I turned to Eiwa who looked at me with anticipation in her eyes.

"What was it that you had?"

I swallowed, "Nevermind what I had. Let's just go find them." I didn't know why I felt the need to hide the fact that I had a girlfriend from Eiwa. It was only once and it didn't even last a month, and I don't usually feel uncomfortable about it.

Eiwa narrowed her eyes at me and shrugged, "Okay then. I'll just ask Lo'ak. Or Kiri. Or Tuk. They always have the best stories about you."

"What stories?" I widened my eyes.

"Nevermind what stories. Let's just go find them," she responded, mimicking my tone from earlier as well. She then walked forward, leaving me behind.

I shook my head in disbelief, though I couldn't help but smile like an idiot. I kind of am an idiot. She didn't even do anything funny, yet there I was smiling before the sight of a girl I never thought I'd ever meet. The girl I had definitely fallen for. It took me a while to realize the fact that I like her. A little too long. I wonder if she feels the same too.

"What are you doing?" Eiwa turned around.

I snapped back into reality and quickly walked to her side.

It wasn't long after that a distant argument was heard. Eiwa looked at me with concern in her eyes, confirming that I wasn't the only one who heard it. We quickly found the source, which was none other than Ao'nung and my lovely baby brother. "Hey! Lo'ak, stop."

"Oh, look," Ao'nung greeted with a sneer. "The other brother is here. And his girlfriend or whatever."

"I would appreciate it if you leave my siblings alone, Ao'nung," I told him as I approached them.

Ao'nung laughed in a mocking way, "Always the big brother coming to save the day."

I turned around, I found my brother's eyes, "Tell me what happened Lo'ak."

"He was making fun of Kiri for no reason," Lo'ak furrowed his brows.

"You call yourself a gentleman but treat my sister like that?" I scoffed. "This is going to be the last time I say this and you better listen, Ao'nung. Don't mess with my family again."

Ao'nung raised both his hands in defeat as he stepped back, but he still had that awfully irritating smile on his face. I turned around and pushed Lo'ak and Kiri to walk away. I don't need any extra problems. Though Lo'ak resisted and gave me that mischievous smile. I shook my head as a warning but what did I expect, Lo'ak still went for it. "I got this, brother."

"I do have five fingers," Lo'ak started.

"Um— Shouldn't you stop him?" Eiwa whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this."

I sighed, "You can try. Just keep in mind that he is Lo'ak."

"But you know what they can do?" Lo'ak continued as he showed off his hands. "Look closely."

And just like that the first punch was thrown. There were two other boys with Ao'nung, so it was definitely not going to end well.

"You all are so stupid," Kiri rolled her eyes.

Before I knew it, Eiwa had launched herself into the fight and threw a punch at one of the boys. He tried to get her but Eiwa had also punched him the second time right on his face, causing him to pass out. "That was too quick!" she protested.

Lo'ak on the other hand was on the ground as Ao'nung got hold of his braid and began to pull it. I sighed with a smile, giving Kiri a look.

"Seriously?" Kiri raised her brows.

I went over to Ao'nung and pulled him by his ears, "You wanna fight? Let's fight."

Things escalated from there onwards, before you know it, a black eye had appeared on the boy Eiwa had knocked out. Ao'nung and I both ended up with bruises, though his was visibly worse. The last guy had a bleeding nose, while Eiwa had a small cut on her hips. "You okay?" I asked her on the way back to our cot after Tsireya came over with Tonowari and dad to stop the fight. Dad was furious, but it was pretty fun.

Eiwa nodded, "Nothing I can't stand. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your lip is bleeding," she mentioned.

"You could just kiss the blood off," I jokingly suggested.

She only rolled her eyes. Once we were in the cot, Dad stood across from the four of us but kept his eyes on Lo'ak and I.

"What did I say about getting yourselves into trouble?" he asked us.

Lo'ak gave me an apologetic look which I mouthed "Too late" to.

"It's my fault, Sir—" I started.

"Stop taking the blame for this idiot, Neteyam," he cut me off. "I know you all know what you did was wrong, so I won't waste my time on that. Just don't want anything else like this to happen alright?"

"Yes Sir," Lo'ak and I chorused.

"Go and apologize to Ao'nung," Dad told Lo'ak.

"But—" Lo'ak started but stopped once he saw his dad's expression.

"What happened to watching over your brother huh?" he turned to me once Lo'ak left.

"Sorry, Sir," I apologized. "I shouldn't have let that happen."

"At least they won," I heard Eiwa mutter.

Dad sighed, "How's the others?"

"Worse than us," I answered guility.

"Good," he patted my shoulders.

"Much worse than us," I clarified.

"Get out!" Dad pushed me out, with Eiwa and Kiri following me behind. "And get your cuts cleaned, you two." He referred to Eiwa and I. "Kiri, I need to talk to you."

Kiri sighed in defeat before she flashed Eiwa and I a smile and returned back into the cot.

"Is it bad that I think it was fun?" Eiwa asked.

I chuckled, "No. Not at all."