Rana Tekiki-
A woman, 20 years old, had just exited her taxi, grabbing her bags and thanking the driver with a tip. It was raining outside. Fortunately, the woman had brought a jacket, lest she get acid burns. Minor, but still painful. Unfortunately, her hands were still exposed, leaving the fragile appendages to the corrosive rainfall. The woman's name was Rana Tekiki, as stated on her nametag.
Rana walked up to the mansion before her, stepping under the awning. The place belonged to Kokoa Mamae- or Coco, her coach. Her suitcase and briefcase in hand, the dancer reached for her keys, jingling as she looked for the right one. 'So many keys…' she sighed. 'Sometimes I wish I wasn't one of the responsible ones.'
Rana flicked on the lights when she finally opened the door, glancing around. As usual, Rana couldn't spot a speck of dust. But, one thing she did notice was that her coach had changed her floors to black tiles. An apt decision, especially with the team she was in charge of. The front area, at least. Rana wasn't sure about the rest of the house.
After depressurizing her mask, Rana dropped it in the decontamination bucket. "Jay?" She called. The girl, Kokoa's daughter, was usually on the porch drawing with her own gas mask. However, with the current weather, she's probably in her room.
"Yah?" Rana heard her shout back from down the hall. "That Rana?"
"Yes, it is." Rana called back. "Take your time, I'll work on some dinner for you and the others."
"Thank's! Holler if you need me!" Jay tactfully ended the conversation, signaling she was done talking.
Rana gave a small chuckle, dropping her stuff off in her designated room. "I wish Nej was that polite." She sighed to herself as she headed up to the kitchen. "Maybe I'll make curry..." Coco had the spices for it, as she was partial to the dish.
"Bitch!?" The door was kicked open, the voice of the mentioned silver haired teen ringing through the corridors and up the stairs, before she materialized in the main living area.
The girl was a devil, Rana would swear it on her soul. 'How the hell did she get here so quickly?-'
"I heard you talking shi- oh, hey Rana. What's for dinner?" The teen's demeanor changed at the drop of a hat, which Rana had gotten used to over the years. For better or worse.
"Thai Curry" The woman replied, unfazed. "It'll be about an hour thirty." Rana continued up the stairs, now with Nej next to her, the metalette having dropped her bag at the front door.
"KK, I'll be in the back." Nej dismissed herself, shouting "Sayonara!" as she flung herself back over the stair rail to the first floor, presumably to put her bag away.
Rana sighed. 'What a spastic girl.' This happens every year. Thankfully, Kokoa had put a mat below that specific guardrail, to prevent the teen from breaking any ankles. "Are you alright Nej?" She called to her junior, tilting her face to the stairwell slightly as she looked for the right spices in the pantry. Usually this was her friends -Fu's- job to cook, but she was unavailable at the moment. The peppermint haired friend of Rana's and official 'Team Aunt' was catching up on some missed meetings; At least that was what she claimed. Rana herself was the 'Mom' of the group, which was code for: Chaos Children Management.
Speaking of the others, Rana decided to do a mental headcount; Noiro, Michael, Mia and Charlie were all probably on their way from the arcade, Emi and Ume -the twins- were taking their bikes, Rauya would probably be covered in glitter-
"Saaaaallutations!" Speak of a devil and she shall appear.
Rana took in a breath before- "Upstairs, Rauya! Nej just vaulted over the rail, if you are kind enough to check on and retrieve her."
"Of course, mon ami! A moment please." Rana heard the newcomers' bags drop onto the floor- how uncivilized-, before a dorm door opened and closed again. There was maybe another two minutes of precious silence before the door was, yet again, kicked open. "Got her! Feisty little girl. I'm glad she doesn't have her knives!"
"When I came here, I wasn't expecting to see this already." The voice of Noiro monotoned as he entered from the front door, being one of the only decent people and dragging his bag to his room.
"Let go of me you French bi-"
"Heh, wow dude." That was Michael, who had presumably placed a hand over Nej's mouth, if the muffled yelling was anything to go by. "You seriously thought anything else would happen..? In the first thirty seconds. Yeah. You right."
"Well, he can hope." Charlie spoke up, putting their bag in the closet. The squad headed up the stairs after hanging their jackets, meeting Rana in the kitchen.
"Coco should be here soon, please make yourselves comfortable." Rana greeted. Continuing her headcount, Rana started again with Mia. She was a high energy girl, but stayed off the stage, being their teams mascot. She managed public affairs and reputation, also making sure the press didn't hound the others. It was a respectable position among dancers, dealing with vultures. Most likely, she was with the boys at the arcade-
"I SMELL CURRY!" Devils, the lot of them. "Michael, Charlie, you left your headsets in the Taxi!"
"Our bad, Mia. Can you put 'em in our rooms?"
"Okay!" The girl all but skipped down the hall by the sound of it, straight for the dorm section, before returning and heading into Jay's room. The duo got along well, deciding to double up due to the general lack of rooms for when competitions started.
Continuing; Amber was likely also taking an Uber to the mansion, and she had no qualms coming to terms with the fact that Kyoka would be arriving after dinner -also via Uber-, without a jacket. So, Kokoa would have to go out and rescue her with a tarp. That also happens every year.
By the time the curry was ready, the other five had arrived. The twins sat on either side of Fu, Amber finding a seat by Charlie and Rauya. Kokoa sat at the head of the table, Jay to her right and an open seat for Kyoka to her left. "Your cooking never ceases to amaze me, Rana." Amber commented as they dug in, kick-starting the usual conversations of the dinner table.
"Indeed!" Rauya agreed, in her usual boisterous tone. "Exquisite!"
Rana chuckled at her antics, taking a bite of her own dish. "I appreciate the compliment, Rauya, Amber. How has everyone been?"
"--Well.--" The Dashiki twins chorused, simultaneously putting down their chopsticks. "--Mother sent us off with our throwing pellets, there's enough to last us the season.--" The duo each held up a handful of black marbles.
When the two girls didn't continue, Fu spoke up. "Eumie, what did I tell you about weapons at the dinner table?" She gently chided, smacking them both on the upside of the head in a mother-like manner.
The girls replied, picking up their utensils: "--It scares most. It should be avoided--." and both took another bite of their meals after putting away the explosives.
"Good." Fu lifted her own bite to her mouth, tasting the dinner for the first time that night, shifting her eyes to Rana. "Delicious, as always."
Before Rana could reply, Kokoa spoke up, silencing the banter that had spread across the table. "Before we get carried away," she started, "which one of you dinguses need joint braces?"
Kyoka-
Kyoka grumbled curses under her breath as the rain didn't let up, dialing Coco's number. <
Kyoka nodded uselessly. "Yes." She confirmed, used to this routine.
<
"Nah, don't worry about it. Happens all the time." The Uber driver said nonchalantly, pulling out his phone. "Plus, my shift ends in five minutes. I'd rather not get another order."
"Fair enough." Kyoka agreed, silence permeating the air.
It wasn't long until Kyoka spotted Kokoa, a tarp in hand. "Kyoka, you're finally here!" The woman covered herself with the tarp before heading out to the driveway. Kyoka strapped on her mask and pushed open the door as her coach arrived, ducking under the tarp and thanking the driver before the duo headed under cover of the awning. "Get a jacket, woman!" Kokoa scolded as she hung the tarp on the rails, huffing in mock irritation. "Your stuff's in the guest closet. The others -aside from Fu- are already knocked out in the dorms, so be quiet. Tea's upstairs."
The student nodded, stifling a yawn. "Thanks coach." Kyoka said as she stretched herself backwards, nearly touching the floor. The duo both stepped inside, Coco heading to her room as Kyoka made her way upstairs. The dancer yanked off her gas mask and dropped it in The Bucket, spotting her senior, the peppermint-haired woman quietly sipping her tea as she gazed out the windows "Hey, Fu. Long time no see." She greeted, a small smile on her lips.
The mentioned smiled in kind, shifting her head and lowering the steaming cup from her own. "Indeed, Kyoka. How have you been?" She asked. Fu had always been kind to her, even while they were at the academy.
"Meh, a'right. Dad's been an asshole -as always- and ma's been working her ass off." The girl sighed as she sat down, practically melting on the table. "What's up with you? I heard you're going to Advanced Schooling at the end of the season."
"Yes, I am." Fu said, taking a sip of her tea. "I'll still be attending practices and competitions, but any extracurriculars will have to be canceled. Tea?" She offered.
Kyoka hesitated for a moment, before sighing. "Please." She accepted. The woman poured some in another cup, handing it to her junior. "Didn't you just get back from being an intern?" Kyoka asked.
"Yup, can't say I miss it though." Fu said, followed by a semi-contemplative look before sighing deeply, leaning back in her chair. "I passed the final, but I'd be lying if I said I'm looking forward to Advanced."
"Noted…" The team leader paused for a second, before turning back to Fu. "Hey, Fu?" The dancer asked, swirling her tea. "Could I sign up for an internship now?"
There was a pause in the air, indicative of Fu's souring mood.
"Go to bed Kyoka." Fu said firmly, followed by the sound of her putting her cup down. "You know how stupid of an idea that is. You'll be eaten alive." The mentioned teen suppressed a long yawn as she lifted her cup, downing the rest of her suspicious-tasting tea like a shot.
"Finefinefine, I'll head down. No Advanced for eighteen year-olds." She grumbled, standing up to cuff her senior on the shoulder before turning heel and almost falling down the stairs. "Next time tell me when you stuff chemicals in my drink."
"Rails exist for a reason, you know that right? Despite the existence of Nej?"
"YuuuuuP." She didn't grab the rail. Needless to say, Kyoka nearly face planted down the last few stairs, having to catch herself on the wall.
"ばか."
"なに!? めさいぬです" Stumbling down the halls as quietly as possible, the team manager made it to the guest room she shared with Nej, falling into her bed and losing consciousness almost immediately.
Kokoa Mamae-
Kokoa listened as the team she coached conversed, laughing at each other's antics and complimenting Rana's cooking skills. They weren't wrong, the woman's cooking was delicious. However, much like Mia, the coach had biases towards both Thai Curry and her athletes.
Eventually, Kokoa spoke up, silencing the banter that had spread across the table. "Before we get carried away," she started, "which one of you dinguses need joint braces?" She asked as she pulled out a notepad. "I already know Kyoka does."
Amber held up her hand. "I sprained my wrist a while back. It's fine now, but still injury-prone."
"Marksmanship?" The teen nodded, putting her hand down. "Anyone else?"
"Same thing, actually." Charlie spoke up. "I was with Amber." Kokoa nodded, writing everything down. "We got dress practice tomorrow, look sharp. You all remember your rooms?" A resounding echo of 'yes coach' came from the table before the meal banter continued.
"The Select Fierce are on again this season, right?" Charlie asked. "I met Charlotte and Analeese from their team. Two of the most chaotic kiddos I've ever met."
"Well of course they're on! Fierce is the No. 3 Junior team from all the Californian Districts!" Rauya spoke up. "Analeese and Liliana, you said?"
Charlie shook his head, a bite of food in his mouth as he corrected her. "Analeese and Charlotte. Liliana is the tiny one, their 'Ms. Flexy Bendy'."
On the other side of the table, Fu and the twins were speaking, the eldest of the three having a somewhat worried expression. "You left a what..?"
Not long after dinner ended, Kokoa was left with Fu, both of them discussing her Advanced Training after the end of the season. "I suggest you go to a three year training in our eastern districts. I'll put in a word to Coach Ghallager for you." The woman said, showing the face of her laptop.
"The Midnight Diamonds coach?" Fu asked. "Why them?"
Kokoa spoke frankly, surprising the peppermint headed girl a bit: "I know you don't want to be on a red team, Fu. The diamonds may have a few registered, but it's not a requirement with them." Kokoa said, then received a call.
<
"You need me to pick you up, don't you?" Kokoa guessed as she answered the call, knowing she was right and not even trying to hide the deadpan in her voice.
<
"Alright, I'll be out in a moment." *beep*
(ba-dump)
"I'll send Kyoka up here," she said to Fu after hanging up, "I'm gonna head down to bed." The peppermint haired woman simply nodded, uttering a 'goodnight' in response.
Kokoa put on her mask before exiting her house, spotting Kyoka. Tarp at the ready, Kokoa made her way to the taxi in her driveway. "Kyoka, you're finally here!" The coach glared at the acid rain, 'what a pain in the arse'. She internally snarled.
Kyoka opened the uber door as she approached, ducking under the tarp and thanking the driver before the duo headed under cover of the awning. "Get a jacket, woman!" Kokoa scolded as she hung the tarp on the rails, huffing in mock irritation. The coach sent Kyoka upstairs as the two both stepped inside, Kokoa heading to her room as Kyoka made her way to the living area.
Kokoa entered her room quietly, so as to not disturb her sleeping students in the neighboring rooms, unrolling her yoga mat. She sat down in a pike, grabbing the bottoms of her feet from over her toes and pulling herself forward, shifting her elbows down. "Ahhhhh…" She sighed, letting her back and hamstrings release and stretch. The coach's eyes were closed, relaxing for a solid minute, before pulling herself into a split, keeping hold of her feet and folding forward into a pancake stretch, followed by letting go of said feet and reaching her arms forward.
The dance coach watched the light-show behind her eyes as she took in the sound of the rain hitting her window, breathing in the fresh air that the filter provided her, appreciative of the ability to breathe peacefully. Kokoa pulled her legs around back and into a cobra stretch for a few seconds, before standing and putting away her mat, feeling refreshed.
The woman flicked off her lights after lighting the candles, sitting down at her desk and picking up the pile of mail on her keyboard. 'Hmm, let's see. Junk, junk, junk…'
Kokoa's train of thought faded away, the rain fading to static as she spotted the blue envelope in her hand.
She hated that color.
Opening it, all she had to do was read the first couple sentences before dropping the paper, as if it had burned her.
Kokoa stared at the letter on her desk, seething near uncontrollably. The discarded envelope under her hand tearing under her nails, the lettering on the front -Mayu Dance and Prep School- caked with blood spilled in rage. Her eyes ached and the jewels burned with a special kind of pain, only found when fear and agony met. Her nails dug into the meat of her palm as her hazy eyes read the letter, addressed to her.
"Congratulations, Miss Kokoa Mamae! Kaketsu Mamae has been scouted to attend Mayu Da-"
Coco closed her eyes, counting her breaths. She knew this would happen. Her eyes continued to ache, all thanks to that goddamn school. Now, they wanted her daughter. They wanted to do that to her daughter.
"Miss Sayu, where are we going?" A young Kokoa asked, with naive curiosity in her voice. The woman leading her spoke, the words spilling out of her mouth acting as ice water running down the girl's spine. "The operation room, you're ready for your first alteration." Kokoa paused. "What?" she asked, her voice shaking. She'd seen the other girls on stretchers coming out of those rooms, their backs covered in blood and glints of metal and deformed flesh along their spines. No tears were in their eyes, but they were hurting. Even to a twelve year old girl, it was obvious.
Sayu grabbed her wrist, Kokoa's trust in the woman cracking like a glass castle under siege, as she was dragged to the lower levels. "You've been sent here earlier than most girls, and your body is healthy and young, so you're getting a dual operation. You have class with Miss LiLi three hours after you're scheduled to be out. I expect you to be on time."
All Kokoa could think of now was the pitying looks the second and third years have given her, the small jewels in their tear ducts the only warning they could offer.
Kokoa screamed.
Seventeen year old Coco listened as dirt was thrown against her 'coffin', her hands crossed over her heart. This was her final test, her graduation. And possibly, her last few hours alive. She had chosen a small pic as her tool to escape, clutched tightly in her right hand. The air had already begun to grow thin, and the buzzer had yet to go off, signaling when she could start to dig out.
*beep*
There it was. Coco began fervently attacking the roof of her resting place, wood and dirt falling in her eyes. Eyes she only just realized were useless in this darkness.
"You will be blinded by the stage lights, don't rely on your eyes completely."
Coco's breath began to grow thick, panting and salivating like a rabid dog.
"There will be no time to rest on the floor, control your breath."
The girl forced herself to calm down, stilling. Then, with a few controlled breaths, she traced the edge of her coffin.
"Coco, when you start digging, go sideways. The dirt will crush you if you try to go straight up." Said to her by an already graduated dancer.
She had been so close to death, so soon after she was buried. How shameful. She cracked off pieces of the side wall, pulling dirt around and under her, crawling slowly out of the coffin, pushing the dirt back and behind her. The soil was under her nails now, caked with sweat, and perhaps a bit of blood. All she could do now was thank her upperclassman for that last piece of advice she had given, before being sent to perform with the rest of her classmates.
Kokoa continued to stare at the letter, her rage fizzling out. If Mayu had taught her one thing, it had been to be grateful for the air she breathed. That one breath after she escaped the coffin had been the deepest and most filling breath of her life, and she remembered to utter completion what every inch of her body -inside and outside- felt as she took that single gasp.
And perhaps that was the most horrible part of it.
That was the very second she became a true dancer. All the pain of those alterations, training, and agony all blurred together, along with her life before. But that breath, that one breath was a moment she hated and loved all at the same time.
Sometimes, she wished she had died in that coffin, letting herself rest on those padded silk cushions, just to spite them. It was as if they had taken her brain and pulled out all the bad, but still leaving that feeling of utter dread and despair to keep her from taking a misstep. To keep her mind as poised as her body had been trained and forced to be.
Kokoa picked up the letter, holding it up to the candle next to her.
And her hand began to shake.
It trembled, as if her body was saying: 'Please, don't do it. Don't defy them. Don't let them hurt me anymore.' Begging her.
'They can't hurt you anymore.' Kokoa replied, and the quaking in her hand began to slow. 'They are no longer your teachers. They are no longer your trainers. They are no longer your masters.' As if it was a living thing on its own, Kokoa's hand stilled completely. 'The contract is over.'
Coco burned the letter.
Fuhai Mu -
Fu sighed, closing her eyes as she washed the sun set. Everyone had gone to bed now, the gray sky finally having turned a starless black. The air was starting to cool off in the house, so Fu took on the job of closing the blinds. She felt mildly guilty about drugging Kyoka, but the girl needed to sleep. She could see the bags under her juniors eyes, and knew by the look on her face that she wouldn't go to bed without an intervention.
Grabbing a mask and stepping out onto the patio, Fu gazed at the world around her. The sky no longer displays the midnight blue as it did years ago, speckled with pure white. 'I wonder if the stars see us through those clouds.' It was still raining, and Fu lifted her hand out of the shelter, quickly feeling the acidic bite of the rain. 'And what this world has become. Is anyone planning on saving it?' Fu pulled her hand back, dipping it into a bowl of water and pouring said bowl over the edge. Her hand was red and aching, but it hardly mattered to her anymore. "Saving this pitiful race…" She whispered as she glanced at the back of her hand, followed by a sigh. However, this one was not a sigh of endeared exasperation. It was sad. "Like trying to press coal into diamonds with one's bare hands."
"しょじょおろかな" Foolish girl… The voice was quiet, yet suffocating. Almost indistinguishable from the rain pattering on the roof. But, its words were true. Fu knew this to be the case, the truth was always heavy. No matter the voice who spoke it, or the cruel words used.
"I know." She knew quite well, too well in fact. The strings that were desperation shattered her view, like the webs of a spider catching in the eyelashes of an unsuspecting passerby.
"Do you? Do you truly?" Though, unlike most, Fu left the webs on her eyes, not wiping desperately at the uncomfortable, sticky feeling.
"Yes." Even if the web-spinning spider was poisonous, red and gray like ash on roses, she had yet to feel the deadly bite of regret.
"Then you are even more of a fool. You try to save this 'pitiful race', knowing it will be futile?" Spiders were living, breathing creatures too. The vitriol of humans was much less forgiving than the touch of even a harmless airachnid, so why was it them who were mercilessly crushed?
"Yes." Because some of them had venom.
"Truly, a fool…" because, to most, they were ugly. Unsightly.
However, if spiders are crushed, what of the other insects? They will swarm where they don't belong. Humans will feel that every second a thousand tiny legs are crawling up their spines. Like a colony of ants. Disease will spread like wildfire, bees and such will be killed off, leaving humans and animals to die of starvation and infection.
The voice didn't return and Fu closed her eyes, only waiting a half-minute before feeling a hot breath on her neck, and phantom hands on her shoulders. The color of molten amber flooded her closed vision for a split second, before another voice spoke. "Your standing among angles just fell by a large margin, you know. Spiders are meant to stay in the dark."
"I'm aware. Leave." Fu bit out, annoyed.
"You're no fun." The voice pouted, the warm ghostly touch disappearing from Fu, and the sheen of amber fading from behind her eyes. "I'll be back, spider."
They were a force of nature. Nothing but their own pride could tell them what to do, or where to go. Or who to 'mess' with. They were the clear glass that encased the blind bug, leaving them to spin useless webs, with no draft to guide food into their traps. To die alone and starving.
Fu sighed, yet again, retreating back into the house to hear Coco's scream. A fool indeed.