Rising Shards

“I have to find out the truth!” Arlit said, pounding her fist on the table. “The more I find out about the twelfth dimension’s murders by the unicorn bandit, the more I feel lost in this labyrinth of mysteries!”

“What I like about the show is that it’s so relatable.” Oka said.

Oka and I were watching Tower of Hate and Love. It was playing on my phone while we worked on homework in the girls’ dorm lounge. Since the lounge was always freezing cold, we were also wrapped up in a blanket. I was a bit shaky, partly because I was anxious and partly because I kept drinking a Redgre Cola offshoot called Saber they were giving out in every building. Because the Kilanders apparently wanted to get in on the freebies and stuff after Cubicle Days like the Cani Courtesy people. It had way too much caffeine. But mostly because I wasn’t expecting Oka to just invite herself to wrap the blanket around her as well when she joined me. Her being so close warmed us both. I asked myself why this didn’t feel like it did when Jeans would spend whole dates just hugging me. I realized I didn’t feel afraid of Oka like I was with Jeans. Which in its own way was scary, but not for like, Jeans related reasons.

“Oh no,” I said quietly. Then I realized I said that out loud.

“What? Something on this assignment?” Oka asked as she took her earbud out of the headphone set we were sharing.

“The next arc…it’s the ‘cousins’ one.” I said, a quicker and smoother cover up than I usually could bust out. I locked away a thought that popped into my head then, deep enough that I didn't have to consider the potential consequences of the scary thought.

“I’ll brace myself,” Oka said. “You’ve trained me for this.”

Just as the last credits rolled before the filler arc, Kalei sauntered over, waving bye to the Matora sisters.

“Wow, you guys look like a cocoon,” Kalei said. “But that might be because I got this book on cocoons and it’s got me just thinking about cocoons.”

I let go of my side of the blanket, but then the cold of the lounge hit me.

“Kalei, wanna help us with this worksheet on the effects of fang removal on Cani?” Oka asked.

“Not really,” Kalei said. “I did get three coupons from Penteldtam for coffee’s that we can use at the coffee bar here that I was going to share, but I guess homework is a thing too.”

“Why’d Penteldtam give you coupons?” Oka asked.

“He was handing them out to everyone on the beach, it’s like coupon warfare with all these rich Cani people and Haven weirdos,” Kalei said. “See why you should spend more time on the beach? To get coupons from our suspender wearing principal?”

“That’s like an anti-advertisement,” I said. “But it’s not like I don’t want to go to the beach, it’s just muggy today.”

“Muuuugggyyy.” Oka said. “I’ll stay in the AC, thanks.”

Oka winked at me, proud that I had explained air conditioning to her, which had me even more concerned about her old school when I found out she didn’t know about it.

“Plus, I already got a few Saber drinks for free from the school today,” I said.

There were weirdly a few coffee booths in the school, I assumed for faculty since coffee was an adult drink for adults, but they had them in the dorms too.

“We’re gonna be up all night with these,” I said, eyeing the drink I got.

“I got a decaf frap.” Kalei said.

“What, for real?” I said. “You can get coffee without caffeine? But I thought it was an adult drink for adults...”

“I just got a smoothie,” Oka said.

“Why’d you waste your coupon on just a regular large coffee?” Kalei asked.

“I don’t know! To fit in?” I said.

“If you really wanted to fit in, you should have just copied my order.” Kalei said.

"Maybe I wanted to fit in with adults," I said. "With an adult drink for adults!"

“You don’t have to drink it,” Oka said. “Here, we’ll trade.”

“No, that’s not fair to you,” I said.

“How about we go back and forth?” Oka asked. “You get a sip of yours, I get a sip of mine, then you get a sip of mine, I get a sip of yours.”

“Hmmm, that could work,” I said.

“You guys have such a weird dynamic.” Kalei said. “Do you know how nasty it’d be to go between a regular coffee and a FruteBurst Strawberry Rainbow Blast Smoothie would be?”

“Good point,” Oka said. “Maybe we could trade sips with Kalei too, to balance out the flavor.”

“Hey! I never said I’d join in on this!” Kalei said.

Kalei joined us back at our booth, and we managed to finagle the blanket to keep all three of us warm. I took one sip of my coffee and decided I didn’t like coffee. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Stella.

“Hello?”

“Zeta, I just had the sudden sense that you’re about to tip the scale to too much caffeine,” Stella said.

“…how did you know?” I asked.

“It’s part of my Cani gift,” Stella said. “You know how caffeine messes with you, right? As well as Cani, our biology is sensitive to caffeine. How much have you had today?”

“Just a Saber they gave out,” I said.

“Just a Saber? Those things are energy drinks!” Stella said. “At least it was only…it wasn’t only one, was it?”

“…no,” I said.

“And now you have another in front of you too because it’s after Cubicle Days and everyone is giving out stuff,” Stella said. “So if you really need to feel like using a coupon or getting that free crap, wait until the Haven magazine comes. Did you get that yet?”

“No,” I said, feeling like I wasted a coupon. I didn’t like lying to Stella, but I couldn’t be sure if Kalei was listening to the call.

“Beats me. Don’t have whatever you’re having.” Stella said. “Especially if it’s coffee. Alright, I have work though so don't drink that coffee.”

“OK, later Stella,” I said.

“Your sister can sense when you have caffeine?” Kalei asked after I hung up. “What Cani gift is that?”

“I think you should keep your volume lower for your phone, Zeta,” Oka said. “That came through pretty clear and imagine if it was something embarrassing.”

I harrumphed my hand into my cheek. Stella telling me to not have the coffee made me want to drink the coffee, but the coffee tasted really gross. But it was also a free coffee.

“Zeta, you’ve had a dopey look on your face lately.” Kalei said.

“Wow, thanks Kalei,” I said. “I’m very glad you’re my friend.”

“No, no, not like that, like happy dopey.”

“I don’t think that’s better?” I asked.

“Wait, shut up,” Kalei said. “Don’t move.”

I started to protest, but Kalei was determined.

“Seriously, don’t move.” Kalei said, holding her pointer fingers and thumbs out to make the like frame pose over my face.

“What is it?” Oka asked.

“Doesn’t Zeta look like a model like from this one angle when she has that blank mouth, just ever so slightly agape look?”

“Yeah totally! Zeta’s so pretty!” Oka said.

“Hey, wait…” I said.

“And then she starts talking and ruins the whole model thing.” Kalei said. “Then it’s like, oh yeah it’s Zeta.”

“Hey!” I said.

I steamed about that as Kalei and Oka laughed, but I couldn’t stay mad long.

“Alright, what are we watching?” Kalei said as I put my phone back on the little slanty stand thing to display it while we did homework.

“We were watching Tower, but we hit the ‘cousins’ arc, and Zeta said that one is apparently just all filler,” Oka said.

“Oh, yeah, no. I don’t know how they got away with so little happening in that arc for that many episodes,” Kalei said. “Anything else?”

“We could watch a Renderfold’s Tryst.” I suggested.

“It is a classic.” Kalei said.

“What’s that one about?” Oka asked.

“This guy is running a business and he decides he’d rather live in space,” Kalei said. “Then he builds a spaceship but then ends up building a robot and falling in love with it. Oh, but it was all a dream!”

"That literally spoils the series finale, Kalei." I said.

“Pass.” Oka said.

With our homework finally done, we were in danger of losing the whole day to caffeine boredom as we flipped through our potential shows and movies.

I noticed Aira was showing something to Lillia Cadence on the other side of the lounge. Lillia raised her nose at Aira and turned away, and the two started arguing.

“They’re going at it again,” I said.

“They’re like polar opposites,” Oka said.

Lillia was proper and dignified and always put her focus on school first, while Aira had recently missed three straight days of class because she forgot to go despite living at school. Aira was friendly and willing to talk to everyone, while Lillia was more socially unreachable despite what I assumed were her best efforts. So far, our void classes had involved little contact with either as they both went on their own aloof ways while training. Naturally, the two had some fights.

“They’re like, you and Zeta, if you hated each other,” Kalei said. “Like mirror universe Zeta and Oka.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that,” I said.

“Wait, which one is which?” Oka asked.

“Well, Oka, you’re smart like Lillia, and Zeta, you can be pretty stupid and you’re pretty weird.”

“Kalei, did I do something to you recently that you’re punishing me for? Or are you just praising me really badly? Because I can’t tell.”

“If you don’t take your studies seriously, you won’t get anywhere here!” Lillia yelled.

Everyone in the lounge turned when they heard that. Lillia blushed and crossed her arms. Aira didn’t seem at all upset by what Lillia had just said to her and responded with something too quiet for us to hear. Lillia nodded and left.