"Alright, Aki, dear, go ahead and change into your ballet attire, darling," Aunt Akiko said once they arrived at the community center, where Kiki's ballet class was held.
"Yes, mother," Kiki mumbled, and trudged towards the girls bathroom to change. Aunt Akiko turned to Kokichi with excitement.
"You should see her, Kokichi, darling! She is the best dancer in her class!" she exclaimed. Kokichi pressed his lips together skeptically.
"I'm pretty sure she's good, Aunt Akiko, but...she doesn't seem too excited about it," he said.
"Oh, nonsense! Of course she is!" Aunt Akiko said with a lighthearted laugh. "It's her dream to become a ballerina! And, it's the best way to become a proper lady! As a little girl, I never had the opportunity myself to be a ballerina, so I'm not going to let my own daughter miss out on a dream that I missed!"
Her dream, or *yours?* Kokichi thought to himself, his suspicions confirmed. Aunt Akiko was living vicariously through her daughter, forcing her own dreams on Kiki! Kiki soon came back in a light purple leotard, tights, a tutu, and a pair of leg warmers that Kiki recently added to her outfit to add some light to her miserable situation, despite her mother's reluctance.
"Oh, my darling, you look absolutely fabulous!" Aunt Akiko cried. "Except for those silly leg warmers, of course. You cannot become a proper lady wearing those! But when everyone sees you, they're going to lose their minds over how beautiful you look!"
"Mother...I wear this every time I come here," Kiki muttered in a pained voice.
"And you look more and more fabulous each time!" Aunt Akiko said, pinching Kiki's cheeks. "Now, remember to smile, because..."
"...If I look bad, you look bad," Kiki finished reluctantly. Kokichi blinked in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Exactly!" Aunt Akiko beamed. "Now, show me your award-winning smile!" Kiki took a deep breath and forced a wide smile onto her face. "Wonderful! Now, come, come! To the dance studio!" Kiki sighed heavily as she followed her mom down the corridor. Kokichi gazed at her with sympathy. They entered the studio to see the other girls doing warm-ups and stretches. The only other adult in the room was the ballet teacher, Madam Swan, a tall, elegant-looking woman with her raven hair pulled into a tight bun, and piercing, icy-blue eyes. Aunt Akiko turned to Kiki, nodding to her to smile again. Kiki reluctantly flashed Madam Swan a smile.
"Ah, Aki! I am so happy to see your wonderful smile again!" Madam Swan exclaimed. Kiki curtsied in response.
"Why, thank you, Madam Swan," she replied automatically with a slight grimace. "It is so lovely to see you, as well!" Kokichi wondered if Kiki had also been forced by her mother to rehearse the same old tiring line every time she was greeted by her ballet instructor.
"So precious!" Madam Swan cooed. "Madame Ouma, you have a wonderful, gifted daughter!"
"Why, thank you!" Aunt Akiko replied with a large, proud grin. "Ballet and playing the violin is Aki's lifelong dream! Isn't that right, dearest?"
"Yes...mother," Kiki replied through a strained, pained smile. Kokichi shook his head in disbelief. He felt bad for his cousin. She was missing out on her childhood because her own mother was taking it away from her.
"See?!" Aunt Akiko gushed at Madam Swan.
"Mmm, now I understand why you are the best in the class," Madam Swan said, impressed. "But...Hoshiko is another talented ballerina in the making." She gestured over to Hoshiko across the room, who was smirking haughtily at Kiki. Kiki rolled her eyes. Aunt Akiko's excited smile slightly faded.
"Well...I'll just have to do better than her, then," she muttered to herself.
"Come again?" Madam Swan asked, puzzled.
"Oh! I mean...Aki will just have to keep trying and giving it her all!" Aunt Akiko said.
"Oui! " Madam Swan nodded in agreement. Then, she clapped her hands loudly. "Okay, girls, to your positions!" The girls positioned themselves in a straight line at a low bar hanging in front of the mirrors that spanned an entire wall on one side of the studio. Kokichi and Aunt Akiko watched from the other side of the room. "We are going to start with the usual ballet positions warm-up! 1st position, go!" The girls stood up straight and bent their arms in front of them with their palms facing upwards over their waists.
"You'll never be as good as me," Hoshiko whispered to Kiki. Kiki glared at her
"2nd position!" Madam Swan called out. The girls then lifted their arms gracefully to their sides.
"You look like a bloated penguin," Hoshiko snickered. Her taunts were making it hard for Kiki to concentrate that she began to wobble slightly.
"Aki, hold your position steady," Madam Swan warned.
"She is holding her position steady! Do you not see her?!" Aunt Akiko snapped. Madam Swan stared at her in shock.
"Uh...Aunt Akiko, it's fine if Aki makes a tiny mistake," Kokichi said, tugging at his aunt's sleeve.
"But, she didn't make a mistake!" Aunt Akiko insisted. "You are all just...s-seeing things! My daughter is absolutely perfect! Madam Swan, you will apologize to my daughter, at once!"
"O-Oh, um, yes...I do apologize, Aki, dear," Madam Swan said quietly to Kiki. Kiki remained silent, too embarrassed to speak. Instead, she merely nodded in response.
"Third position!" Aunt Akiko ordered the girls. Madam Swan and the girls--and even Kokichi--stared at her in shock. "Third position, third position!" Aunt Akiko urged Madam Swan.
"Right. Um...third position, girls!" Madam Swan instructed. The girls stretched their right arms to their sides and lowered their left arms over their waists again, just as they did in first position. After finishing the fourth and final positions, the girls were ready to move on.
"Okay, girls! I want to see your pirouettes!" Madam Swan said. "Honoka, you first!" A quiet girl with short, silvery-blue hair took her position in the center of the room. She began twirling across until she stumbled and fell to the floor. Some girls, including Hoshiko, snickered at her. Honoka tried her best to hold back tears of shame.
"That is enough!" Madam Swan said sternly to the girls who were laughing. She helped Honoka up. "Do not worry, Honoka. You will get it if you keep trying." Honoka nodded silently and stood in line with the other girls. "Hoshiko, you are next." Tossing her hair at Kiki, Hoshiko took her place in the center of the room. She danced across the room in perfect twirls. When she finished, the other girls clapped.
"Très magnifique! " Madam Swan exclaimed as Hoshiko made her way back to the line.
"I know," she said haughtily, sneering at Kiki.
Oh, brother, Kiki thought to herself.
"Aki, dear, you are up next," Madam Swan said. Kiki nodded and took her place in the center of the room. Aunt Akiko gasped with excitement. Kokichi and Kiki's eyes met. Kokichi smiled and nodded in encouragement at her. Kiki smiled back and took a deep breath. She began to spin around effortlessly and gracefully.
"AAAHHHH!!!" Hoshiko suddenly screamed, messing up Kiki's spin, and startling everyone in the room.
"What is the matter?" Madam Swan cried, rushing over to Hoshiko.
"I saw a bug!" Hoshiko cried in feigned horror.
"I didn't see a bug," one of the other girls said, looking around.
"Me, neither," said another girl.
"SHE'S LYING!!!" Aunt Akiko roared, pointing an accusing finger at Hoshiko. "SHE DID IT TO MESS UP MY LITTLE AKI'S PERFECT SPIN!!! THROW HER OUT!!! OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!" The other girls stared at her in horror. Kiki shut her eyes, deeply mortified and disturbed by her mother's behavior. She wished that she could be far away from there.
"Madame Ouma, please, calm yourself!" Madam Swan said.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM MYSELF!!" Aunt Akiko yelled, glaring daggers at Madam Swan. She turned to Hoshiko. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!! SAY YOU'RE SORRY!!! NOW!!!"
"Um...how about we just let Aki try again, alright?" Madam Swan said, hoping to appease Aunt Akiko.
"I suppose that is okay," Aunt Akiko mumbled, adjusting her bun. Madam Swan sighed wearily.
"Aki, try again," she said. Kiki felt like crying. After her mother's outburst at Hoshiko, she was afraid of disappointing and upsetting her mother even more. She held in her tears, however, as she pirouetted across the dance floor. Under the pressure of her mother, she began to falter. She felt her feet give from underneath her, and she fell to the floor.
"Aki!! How could you?!" Aunt Akiko said, rushing over to her. "That was a perfect pirouette, darling, and you messed it up! You have to be perfect! This is your dream, remember?!"
"I'm sorry, mother," Kiki muttered, picking herself up.
"You want to become a proper lady, don't you? You want to be a ballerina, yes?" Aunt Akiko continued.
"...Yes, ma'am," Kiki answered reluctantly. Of course, she didn't want to be a ballerina, nor did she want to be a proper lady. She just wanted to do her own thing, whatever her own thing was. She never had the chance to really find out, due to her mother's excessive meddling. Aunt Akiko pointed to Kiki's leg warmers.
"I knew it! It is these dreadful leg warmers that are the problem!" she cried. "Remove them!" Kiki reluctantly removed her leg warmers.
"Perhaps, if you would just...relax, Madame Ouma, we can-" Madam Swan began. Aunt Akiko eyed her ferociously.
"I know what is best for my daughter," she interrupted sharply. "She can and will perfect the pirouette! It is her dream! She will become a ballerina! She will be a proper lady that everyone adores! Is that understood?" Madam Swan merely stared at her incredulously.
"Um...class, that is all for today," she finally said. "Why don't we call it a day?"
"It is too early for that," Aunt Akiko said with a frown.
"Well, I completely forgot that I have a doctor's appointment," Madam Swan lied. "So, I cannot be lat-"
"Call in a substitute teacher," Aunt Akiko interrupted. "Aki is not going to give up on her lesson!"
"Um...Aunt Akiko? I just got a text from Uncle Akio," Kokichi lied as he held up his phone. "He needs you home right away. It's an emergency."
"Ohh...very well," Aunt Akiko huffed. "Aki, hurry and get changed. I will meet you in the limo."
"Yes, mother," Kiki answered. Aunt Akiko hurried out of the room. The other girls left the studio. Kokichi, Kiki, and Madam Swan were left.
"Aki, chérie, will you be okay?" Madam Swan asked. Kiki nodded and flashed Madam Swan a large smile.
"Yes, Madam Swan," she replied with a curtsy. "Thank you for worrying about me." Madam Swan smiled sadly at her.
"You do not have to put up the act while your mother is away," she said softly. Kiki stared at her.
"You always knew?" she asked.
"Well, not at first," Madam Swan admitted. "But, after today, I am not surprised your mother would put you up to it. You do not have to fake anymore with me...Kiki." Kiki sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Miss Swan," she said appreciatively. Madam Swan nodded in response before turning to Kokichi.
"You are cousins, oui? " she asked.
"Oui! " Kokichi replied with a cheeky grin.
"Please, treat Kiki with kindness," Madam Swan said to him. "She really needs it. All the girls do."
"You don't have to worry about that, Miss Swan," Kiki said. "My cousin takes better care of me than my mom does, and we haven't even known each other too long."
"I see," Madam Swan said, smiling gratefully at Kokichi. "Well, please continue being there for her." After that, Madam Swan left. Kokichi and Kiki were now alone. Kiki sank to the floor in despair, burying her face in her hands. Kokichi sat down next to her and gave her a hug.
"Kokichi...can you just...ship me off to Mars, or something?" Kiki mumbled.
"Hmhmhmhmm...sorry, Chibi-Kichi. No can do," Kokichi said, chuckling softly.
"It's just...I feel like a...a..." Kiki began.
"A what?"
"Like...a runaway train that's never coming back," Kiki said. "I feel like I'm going the wrong way on a one-way track. It seems like I should be getting somewhere, but, somehow...I'm neither here, nor there." Kokichi gave her a strange smile.
"Aren't those...lyrics to a song?" he asked. Kiki looked back at him with a tired smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I joke to myself like that whenever I'm feeling sad," she said. Kokichi smiled sympathetically at her. "It helps make me feel better a little. But...still. I do feel stuck."
"Don't worry, Chibi-Kichi," Kokichi said, giving Kiki a squeeze. "You won't be stuck for long. Especially since I know what your mom's problem is." Kiki looked at him.
"You do?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah! She's living vicariously through you," Kokichi replied. Kiki tilted her head in confusion.
"What's that mean?"
"Basically, she's trying to create the perfect version of herself using you," Kokichi said.
"Why would she do that?" Kiki asked.
"While you were changing earlier, your mom told me that she didn't have the opportunity to be a ballerina when she was your age," Kokichi explained. "So, she's using you to live out what's basically now a fantasy to her. And I don't think she's wanting you to become a 'proper lady.' She wants you to be the her that she's always wanted to be...basically the perfect version of herself."
"That doesn't really...make sense?" Kiki said.
"You're right, Kiki. It doesn't...at all," Kokichi replied. "Parents accomplish absolutely nothing by living vicariously through their kid. But, somehow, in their minds, they feel like their kid's success is their own. All the parent is really doing, though, is causing friction between them and their kid."
"Do they realize they're doing that?" Kiki asked.
"Sometimes, they don't, and sometimes they do and they don't care," Kokichi said. "I don't know which is the case with your mom, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that she needs to stop."
"How do we get her to stop?" Kiki asked. Kokichi ruffled her hair.
"I'll talk to her about it tonight," he said. "Just leave everything to me, Chibi-Kichi!" Kiki smiled gratefully at him.
"Thanks, Kokichi," she said, giving him a hug. Kokichi hugged her in return.