March 28th, 2023.
At the crack of dawn, the sun barely started to rise into the baby blue sky, Kima sat in the passenger seat. In front of her, disregarding her closed eyes, was her new school. But, before she could enter, she decided to roll something, just to prevent her from being sober while enduring the irritation that was the educational system.
"Ya know, for a vegetarian, I'm surprised you smoke the way you do," Ace commented, leaning against the wheel in the driver's seat.
"I'm a very centered being. Plus, everyone annoys me, so I have to find a way to tune them out. It's a very intelligent decision, babe. And you're gonna ask me for some the second I light it either way," Kim replied, licking the paper, garnering Ace's eyes onto her face.
Noticing this with a side-eye, Kima withdrew her tongue, tightening the blunt in her hands. Holding it in her lap, she glanced in his direction momentarily. "What? What're you looking at?" asked the girl.
"Nothing, I think there's something..."
Ace leaned closer, picking at her hair with his fingers, his face right next to her own. Instantly, she yanked him into the kiss by the collar from his hoodie. After the kiss, now designated back in the driver's seat, he reclined, hands behind his head.
"Goddamn, I love you," Ace whispered.
"Yes, yes, I love you too," Kim replied while laughing, rummaging through her pockets for a lighter.
With time, however, she located a lighter.
The car was riddled with the scent of weed, Ace's mind disoriented in a twisted sense of reality while Kima just laughed at his indistinct babbling. Whatever random words he spouted out turned to mere background noise as she affixed her seat, pushing it back flat. Just to lay down for a bit, of course. As she settled, however, some arms came slithering around her and some kisses pecked onto her. Ace was clingy, as expected.
"Yes, I'm here, Ace, don't worry," she reassured, rubbing his head while smiling.
"C'mon, let's have a little fun before we have to leave..." Slurred the ginger, abruptly kissing her.
"Alright, alright." She laughed as she kissed him back, "Cover the windows, then."
"With what? Let 'em watch."
As they were about to continue, a knock came at the window, sending Kim to yelp. Ace's nerves suddenly jerked, leading to him launching back into the wheel, a loud honk blasting out. The knocker covered her ears, and instead, simply opened the door to the driver's seat, spotting Ace's shirtless body against the wheel.
"Jesus Christ, you two look like shit," Katie said.
Standing outside the car, she watched her cousin tumble out from against the wheel and onto the concrete, all in the form of a human ball. Exiting the passenger's side, Kim threw her shirt back over her undergarments, leaving Katie to smirk.
"So... you finally got some, huh?" teased Kate, poking her friend's arm.
"No! Cuz you had to appear and... just ruined it!" Kima yelled, face beet red.
"Aw, don't worry, Kimmy. I'm sure when y'all get home, there'll be enough time for that!" Katie pulled her friend closer with an arm around her neck.
"I'm just lucky June's not here. If she saw me and her brother actively doing it instead of just talking about it... it'd probably scar her virgin mind." Kima shivered at the spoken thought.
"June's not a virgin."
"She's not?!" Ace yelled from the other side of the car.
"Well, thank God you didn't know, too," Kima commented, now looking at Katie, "Since when... and with who?"
"While you guys openly discuss whether my baby sister has had sex or not, I'm taking the rest of this blunt," Ace popped up with a shirt over his bust, holding the stick in his hand.
Kima's eyes widened, extending her hand dramatically, but before she could move, he started sprinting in the other direction.
"YOU ASSHOLE!" she yelled.
"I LOVE YOU TOO!" he screamed from afar.
Katie watched as Kim summoned a Serpent for her to ride on as she chased her lover. She couldn't withhold a smile. Whether this peace was temporary or not, it didn't matter. This was the present, and everyone was smiling.
'If I could ensure that everyone's smile is eternal, I'd do it. I just hope nothing happens... nothing ruins the peace we've worked so hard to build for so long,' thought Katie.
"Oh, hey, Katie!" The black-haired girl's head turned, only to find June.
"Oh, it's my superior baby cousin. How's this mornin' treating your adorable self?" Kate asked while they embraced.
"Pretty good! What about chaself?" questioned June, toothy grin behind her lips.
"Well, this right here," she pointed to the car she was standing nearby, "Is Ace's car so I ran into them. They were high and about to fuck... and somehow, throughout the confusion, Ace now knows you're not a virgin anymore. Weird how that works, huh? Okaygoodtalknowbye!"
Katie ran away before June had the time to process what'd been said. Instead, she just stood motionless, hands gripping the bag's straps. She sighed—no doubt her brother would snitch when they'd get home.
'Dad's the least of my worries, though…' she thought, walking toward the school, 'Please don't tell Azazel, Katie…'
Needless to say, with such an eventful morning having already occurred, the tone for the rest of the day was already written. And so, through some hours of shared laughter and undeniable tomfoolery, the time came for the school day to end. Together, they walked toward the parking lot, out the school's front doors. Ace seemed like a slug with the way he strutted, his hand almost glued to Kima's.
To June's surprise, her eyes widened, lips discharging a gasp. The look in her green pupils wasn't fear, it was more shock—intrigue. To think someone as important as he would arrive here so casually.
"Hey, look, it's dad!" Pointed the white-haired Wilder.
And there was August, leaned against her brother's vehicle, his son's stolen shades hiding the heterochromatic palette of his discolored retinas. Suddenly, he spotted them, a plastic coffee cup between his fingers.
"Oi! Over 'ere, you stupid brats!" Called the white-haired Reaper.
"Yeah, yeah, hold onto your wrinkly old dick, stupid geezer," Katie irritably mocked, hands in her jacket pockets.
"That ain't no way to talk to your uncle, kiddo."
After that snarky comment, August stepped forward, then raised his hand. Quickly ruffling her hair, the action earned an irritable groan venting out her mouth— not to mention his hand getting swatted.
"What's up? Something wrong?" Asked Kima.
"Uh, yeah, I just need Ace for today," August said, pulling his son away from his black-haired lover.
"Alright then, fine! Kimmy and I already have plans anyway!" June childishly pouted, entangling her arm in Kim's.
Ace, gradually sobering up, leaned against a wall, scrolling through his phone. At the same time, August's head turned at his daughter's comment.
"Just you and Kimmy? Are you sure about that? I just want Ace, not Katie, too…"
Now all three of the girls remained puzzled. Ace continued to listen to music while behind August, calmly lip-syncing and emoting as the ongoing tunes played—muffled.
"Okay, maybe I'm speaking French. All three of you do something while I have a guy talk with Ace! Does-that-make-sense-to-you?" August enunciated on each word in his last sentence, Katie and Kima rolling their eyes at his mockery.
"Ooh! This could be fun, then! Katie, you can go out with us!" Excitedly stated June.
"Uh… are you sure about this?" Katie asked August.
"Definite. Now leave me alone, we have manly things to discuss," August said, pulling his son along to the exit.
"When you say 'manly' do you mean smoking and walking around talking about bullshit?" Asked Kim.
"Yup! Bye-bye!"
August's retreat with Ace in tow was almost instantaneous. Before Katie knew it, she was stuck with her girlfriend and cousin. It was like any usual day, right?
"Uh… so where'd you two plan on going?" Katie asked.
"Ah, I'm glad you asked!" June replied with a literal pep in her step, "We're gonna be heading to the mall, it just finished construction last week. There's a food court and everything.. plus Kima wants new clothes. How's that sound?"
"Sounds amazing, I'm starving. But, let it be known that we're not going to any vegetarian place," Katie commented, walking out the open school's gate.
"Here-here!" Agreed June.
"Whatever, I'm not hungry anyway!"
While the group separated to spend time with their respective genders, the seeds of disaster were slowly planted. All beginning with the Judge's limping leg through the endless forest just bordering on the Evolutionary Capital's elusive walls.
Just what laid beyond… he would soon find out!
Evolutionary Injustice Arc - Start.
To Be Continued.