"... And they still have the audacity to call me fake?"
Uruake Irimetsu sighed audibly while listening to her childhood friend Kemu Akane talked on about his day.
"Maybe you're overreacting?" She said.
"What?!"
Quickly turning back into her timid self, Uruake looked away and didn't hold his gaze. "Sorry..." she mumbled.
At that moment the door swung open and their other best friend, Alora Nebula, walked in, nonchalant as ever. "Whats going on here?"
She asked, looking from Uruake to Kemu and back again.
Kemu opened his mouth as if he was going to snap at her, but decided against it.
"Nothing." He said, his voice clipped. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you two. Classes were dismissed an hour ago, but I didn't see you guys at the gate." Alora replied calmly.
"Fair point." Kemu shrugged. "Well, to be completely honest, no, I don't have a reason." He said.
Uruake and Alora exchanged glances. Uruake leaned towards Alora.
"I think he's lost his marbles.." She whispered.
"Hey! I can hear you, y'know!" Kemu snapped, arms crossed.
"Heh, we know. That's what makes it fun." Alora answered, pushing her sunglasses up into her hair.
"Why do you I bother with a pair of crackheads like you two..." He sighed, shaking his head.
"Because you love us!" Uruake said cheerfully.
"Maybe, maybe not." Kemu replied, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Who wants pizza tonight? My treat." Alora called out, holding her phone.
"Whoah." Kemu said, his brows shooting up. "Is the world freezing over? What did I hear my dear little Alora say?"
Alora snickered. "Shut it, Kemu, before I change my mind."
"Can we have Hawaiian?" Uruake piped up enthusiastically.
"Ick, Pineapple? No thanks. I'm allergic." Kemu said lightheartedly.
Uruake gasped as if someone has committed some vulgar crime in front of her.
"How dare you insult Hawaiian pizza like that?!" Uruake snapped, hands on her hips.
"It makes it taste weird, okay? "Kemu replied, alarmed.
"Oh yeah? Then why don't I get Alora to buy all Hawaiian?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Watch me!"
"You little brat!"
Alora watched them as they started throwing insults back and forth at each other, amused. It reminded her of the old days when they were younger and arguing over stupid things like who had the most drawings on the back of their school notebooks and such.
She sighed and closed her phone, smiling to herself. Kemu and Uruake noticed after a few moments and exchanged looks and cracked up.
Minutes later they stopped to catch their breath.
"haven't laughed like that since we were in 5th grade," Uruake said, struggling to catch her breath.
"Hasn't been much to laugh about, anyways. Half of this school is known to be Roused already and everybody is so giddy about whether they're gonna be lucky enough to be one of those people."
Roused. The word echoed in Alora's head as she tried to remember where she'd seen or heard it. She remembered reading a book about Roused Individuals.
Roused Individuals, or Differences, we're, simply put, people that the gods themselves bestowed their blessing upon in the form of mark resembling a certain flower. The blessing itself was actually a fragment of the God's essence, granting the person who had one of these Flower Markings powerful magic.
She supposed it might ve been useful in the older days, but now, Flower Markings were not common anymore, and they rarely ever existed on someone who wasn't a member of a very old family.
"It's expected, isn't it?" Alora said, snapping out her daydream.
"There's been a sudden spike in the numbers of Differences over the last few months. I wonder why."
Kemu rolled his eyes playfully and nudged her. "You spend way too much time wondering about everything, yknow?"
Uruake hugged Alora round the neck. "Kemu is right, you spend too much of your day thinking up scenarios."
Alora raised her brows before she smiled and relaxed.
"Mhmm... Right... I guess I do."
*This is what it feels like having True friends, hmm..*, Alora thought.
End of Chapter 1