"Screw you too then!" Raphael stood up and raised his fist in a threatening manner. "Son of a bi-!"
"Raph... he's clearly gone. You're cursing into thin air again." Amisha interrupted, tapping her long and varnished nails on the table. "Although, I do tire of his despicable behaviour."
Her vexation was demonstrated through her pitiful tone of voice and elusive actions.
"He always bails out last minute. What's the point of him saying he'll go in the first place?"
"That's a good point, Sienna." Zak pondered. "I think I'll talk to him later. Something's definitely up with him. He wouldn't say he wanted to go and then not for no reason."
"If his reason is stupid, I give Raph full permission to beat him to a pulp." Amisha smiled, sinisterly.
"Heck yeah I will!"
"That won't be necessary, guys."
Everyone at the table gave Connie a confused gaze after her sudden response.
"I'm gonna go talk to him."
***
[15:06 P.M.] Finally, it was the end of the day Connie had been waiting for since the Summer Holidays, but it didn't go to plan at all.
With herself being late this morning, her not getting her sweet snack and Hiro cancelling out on the group's outing, an odd feeling began to loom at the back of Connie's mind. It was the kind of feeling that you get when something could go terribly wrong. A sense of impending doom awaiting your downfall, returning to her yet again.
She was walking to Café Kako with Zak, since she works there occasionally as a barista, and it was the perfect opportunity for them to have a conversation with Hiro - it's his part time job too. He knows nothing about coffee styles or techniques so he deals with a range of different things when it needs to be done. Serving, taking orders and managing the cash register (because Connie can't figure out logistics of the machine) etc. ...
"You alright there, Connie?" Zak snapped her back to reality.
"Huh? What?"
"You've been much quieter than usual today. Got something on you mind?"
"Oh..." Connie's head sank as she responded, miserably, and her wavy hair shielded sad eyes. "Other than the fact I have a weird feeling about how awful has been today, I can't stop thinking that-"
"Hiro doesn't hate us, Connie. I know that for a fact. He is just hurt. I want to know why." Zak abruptly pointed out.
"How did you know that was what I was gonna say? I-I mean... I could've been worried about anything!" She was taken aback.
"You'd have been yelling and ranting to us way back when if it was just the average 'anything'. However, when it's to do with Hiromasa... you are scarily silent. You definitely must be doing an extortionate amount of thinking, worrying, and so on."
Connie let out another sigh and stared at Zakaria aimlessly for a bit. A part of her was annoyed by the fact he was spot on and she was that much of an easily readable person.
Another part of her was in awe at the fact he always manages to handle people problems so well. Zak is ever the empath. He has a grand talent for seeking out other people's moods and almost feeling what they feel at times.
A lot of the time Zakaria had been deeply misjudged by his perhaps threatening characteristics: his extremely low voice and his colossal height, his espresso skin shade and his toned, muscular physique, his boujee style of clothing, jewellery, shoes and his unique slit in his eyebrow - which makes him look as if he has some sort of epic battle scar.
Due to this, Zak isn't classified as the approachable type. People would tend to leave him be or stay out of his way for fear that he could cause some detrimental damage to them if provoked. Not to say that is not the truth. He DEFINITELY could. But he's not one to resort to violence at all.
Once people look past all that, a soft and high spirited young man is all Zak is. He's friendly with absolutely everyone and possesses a stylish casual swagger about himself and everything he does.
"I just- I feel like he's getting more and more fed up with us by the second. I don't know why... but it's like... it's like he's hanging onto our friendship and pushing it all away at the same time." Connie finally blurted out. "...That doesn't make too much sense, does it?"
"No. It makes perfect sense. I agree completely. He's hanging our friendship because we're are precious to him in some way or another, but something is up. Like something is restricting him from being around us too much, something... bad." Zak suddenly stopped his strut, his face brooding.
"What kind of bad, do you think?"
"Can't put my finger on it." He shrugged after a short pause between them.
"That's a shame..."
"Don't worry, Connie. We'll get at least some answers out of him after today."
Zak took a moment to observe Connie's body language.
Her posture was slightly slumped as she dragged her feet along the evenly paved concrete floor, head down, eyes on the ground, but her mind in the sky. A turbulent sky with a tempestuous storm of thoughts and unceasing gales of a mixed range of feelings.
From just one simple glace, Zak could see through more than what Connie herself would portray outwardly to him. He could tell she was on the verge of succumbing to overwhelming emotions.
Anger. Guilt. Anxiety. Dejection.
He swiftly identified a most logical and reasonable root of her dismay. She was afraid at the thought of loosing her best friend.
"Mark my word, we will." Zak continued, a grand sense of resolution detectable his tone of voice. "And none of this is your fault, Connie."
Her eyes widened at his words. "I never said I thought... look. I know that. It's just-"
"You fail to believe it. Understandable. You and Hiromasa were very close from all the stories I've heard. I could imagine you feel some sort of responsibility for his actions. Maybe you feel like you haven't been trying hard enough to amend your fractured friendship?"
"I just know I could have done more over the holidays to make him feel better. We rarely ever spoke and it was hard to keep the conversation going. I just assumed that was his general 'I don't wanna talk much' because that's how he is sometimes. But no. Something's changed and I'm ashamed that I didn't notice sooner. Maybe if I asked a few questions back then he wouldn't be so cold to us now..."
"You did well getting at least a conversation out of him though. The best I got was being left on read and that's if he's even feeling generous enough to actually look at my weekly check in message!" Zak laughed, trying to make a joke in an attempt to brighten the atmosphere.
Sadly, Connie wasn't in the mood for it. She gave him a small smile in response, however, there was no real emotion within it. Reverting to her disheartened stance, she began to get lost in the spiral of her thoughts again.
Reminiscing in the times when her and Hiro were the closest of friends, inseparable is what they used to be. They would always be together and they would just click - their friendship like lock and key. Connie was the social butterfly and, in contrast, Hiro was the shy sweetheart.
In the beginning, when they were in their second year of primary school, Connie remembered as clear as day just how she imposed her companionship on Hiro. Even as a kid, Hiro was certainly antisocial and it wasn't unusual for young Connie to go up to someone she had never spoken to before and ask to be friends out of the blue.
At first, the friendship might have been nothing special but as time went on they became best friends. Hiro found that he could talk with Connie and just be himself without the need to try and he felt comfortable telling her anything. She didn't care for his social awkwardness or tendency to be mean sometimes. She just appreciated him and loved him, flaws and all.
Connie could talk to Hiro about all her problems and worries too. Like that time her mum forgot to pack some CinniBunz in her lunch box for school. She recalls how stupid it was. The way her eyes endlessly flooded out tears for the remainder of the school day. From then on, Hiro would make sure to bring in a CinniBunz for her everyday after that - just so she didn't need to cry if her mum forgot.
He didn't care that it was just some regular snack. As long as it made Connie smile, he swore to do anything for her. She was like his idol. Hiro believed Connie was strong and fun and kind and never showed any sort of vulnerability before that one day.
She began to tear up, not just at the fact she desperately wanted a CinniBunz, but because she could no longer feel the joy nor happiness of receiving her favourite snack from Hiro himself. For Connie, receiving that was a constant reminder of their unbreakable friendship and a CinniBunz from him would carry a lot more sentiment compared to just buying it herself or another person getting her one.
When he suddenly stopped that, something in Connie broke. Almost as if him stopping was the same as him stating that their established friendship is coming to an end without the need for any words.
"I can't loose you, Hiro. Not like this."