The Hawaiian Special Forces

Chapter 2

Aoloa scowled at his paper. He'd gotten a C, in part for failing to mention that Guam, Samoa, Wake Island, and the Mariana Islands were now part of the UPS. Also for deviating from "official" history in a UPS history course and including classified information.

"It's not like our existence isn't classified, anyway," he muttered, causing Mele to chuckle at him. She and Keaka had both snuggled against him while he was reviewing his paper in their common room. "Do I amuse you, Mele?" he grumbled.

"Yup! I told you it was going to be an official history test, and you didn't listen."

Keaka curled up tighter against him and snored softly. "Yeah, but I thought I might get some bonus points..."

"It never works that way with Mr. Higgins, does it?"

"I suppose not. And why are you two wrapped around me anyway?"

Keaka softly replied, "We like you," before snoring softly again.

Kanoa suddenly burst into the room, bellowing "Who let the dogs out?" to which his entire pack shouted "Woof, woof, woof-woof!"

Aoloa was on his feet in an instant. "Mutts! Out!"

"Oh, but I couldn't help but overhear you made some errors on your essay. Perhaps you'd like to study a perfect paper?" he asked, waving a paper with a giant A+ scrawled over it.

"I said OUT!" With that, Aoloa charged the stupid mutt, tackling him to the ground. "Do I need to remind you why mutts need a pack?" he growled.

"Oh, and your little colony is so much better? Who's got your back, kitty?" Aoloa found himself ripped off the mongrel by three sets of strong arms. He'd have been more worried, except he heard a few low growls behind him, and new at least a couple members of the colony were more annoyed by the mutts than their desire to be lazy.

"I think I have enough. Get out. You have your own common room where you can dog pile in a corner."

"Fine, but if you ever want tutoring, just let me know," Kanoa smirked.

In no time, the mutts had left, leaving several members of the colony to pace around the room in agitation, occasionally tossing a punch at each other. Finally, Keaka laid a gentle hand on Aoloa's shoulder. "Come, lie with us. They aren't worth the trouble, and you know it."

Nodding absently, he let himself be lead back to a mound of cushions. Settling in, Keaka straddled his back and began rubbing his shoulders. Despite himself, he felt a soft rumbling begin to fill his chest as the tension of the conflict washed away. Soon enough, he had dozed off.

Aoloa woke to find Akoni at his back. The smaller boy had an arm draped over his eyes. Keaka was leaning against Kaholo in another corner, using him to prop herself up as she inspected her nails. Aoloa smiled to himself.

Their colony had six girls and six boys, making them an even match for the pack across the hall. With mounds of pillows scattered around the room, they had no issue finding a place to sack out as they saw fit. In their room, they generally wore shorts, and sometimes a shirt, though they weren't above strolling about naked.

The pack across the hall, by contrast, tended to wake and sleep together, all somehow piling into the massive bed they had in one corner. They spent more time awake than was seemly, playing all manner of physical games, from wrestling to foosball to dancing like maniacs with music that annoyed everyone in hearing.

Why do we compete with each other so? None of us feel the need to bait the berserkers or taunt the cast. Even the pod gets left alone, normally. Why is it the colony and the pack gets in conflict? Is it our numbers, our balance in power? Aoloa shook his head. He'd been trying to figure it out for over a decade, and never gotten a solution in his mind.