Episode 55: T h e T h r e e M u s k a f r e a k s
It was already dawn, but everyone was still asleep. Except for Natella who sat against a tree and listened to the chirping of the birds while she read her book.
"I told you, you'll only get yourself hurt by coming here."
She quickly got on her feet and turned around bumping into Damien.
"What are you doing here?" Her eyes widened, looking at the metal bracelets with caution.
"It's fine, the bracelete doesn't feel that hot anyway." Damien looked back at her with disappointed red eyes. "That means you're pretty far away from the cabin you were supposed to sleep in."
Natella sighed and shut the book. "We don't really need sleep anyway. You know that."
"You're such a fool." Damien frowned and flicked her forehead teasingly.
"Ow! Hey, I don't appreciate being scolded by the likes of you." She glared at him, but Damien's face twitched into a sad look before grabbing her into an embrace.
"You're sad."
"No, I'm not." She widened her eyes in surprise, her body stiffening up at the sudden gesture.
"It's ok. I know you like hugs when you're sad." He whispered and patted her hair down, reminding her of an old habit she craved from her best friend.
"Not from you."
"I'm sorry. You can think I'm Dalia or something. She was pretty flat-chested anywa--" His abdomen tensed up after Natella's fist rammed into it.
"I'm fine." She sighed, allowing him to hug her for a few more seconds. "Really, Damien. I'm fine now."
With an affirmed tone, he finally let go, looking back at her. "You're pretty." Natella's face scrunched up.
"Why are you being so awkward?" She rolled her eyes.
"You know, I was kind of glad the family decided on having you as my fiance. If it were one of the Kisch's girls, I think I would have died." He snorted. Natella couldn't help but crack a smile. "I mean, don't get me wrong. They're fine, but her eldest daughter's got to be at least twice my age."
"That's rude." Natella covered her smiling mouth. Damien beamed back at her and narrowed his eyes.
"Natella. I'm glad you're my partner, but are you?"
Her smile dropped and she looked away from him. "I don't think we have a choice in this matter. As a coven, the oracle's words are absolute. Even though we don't practice Magik, she's still a sacred symbol to us. Besides, isn't that what you always told me? You seemed to have softened up, Damien, if you're asking me these questions. Unless you're plotting something strange."
"I haven't softened up, I'm just trying to be a decent guy for a change." He sighed. "I know you don't like me." Natella stood quiet. "Even though I'm a very sexy and capable man."
"Keep dreaming." She scoffed. "Can't you stay serious for just one minute?"
"I am serious." Damien scoffed back, running his hands down his long white hair, seductively biting his lips and winking. "Do you know how many girls asked me out in school? This year makes exactly seven thousand."
"That's kind of sad. We've been alive for so long."
"We did ask for this."
"I know...but...Damien," she looked up at him, deep in thought, "don't you sometimes think that the fabled 'curse' we used to hear of about when a coven abandons Magik is really starting to kick in now? We've become something impure for the sake of a strong desire that consumed us in the whiff of a moment. We're no better than our enemies like this. I can't help but question what I'm living for anymore? What's the purpose?"
Damien looked up at the tiny ray of light shining under the shading of the tall trees. "Hm, well. It might be unclear now, but we've certainly found a new purpose, Natella. Every action leads to another. I think eventually one day we'll find out why we were really bound to live as vampires. There's something great approaching us at a pace faster than what we can imagine. And if we get to experience that, I think a lot of our questions might be answered then." Natella smiled up at him with a little bit more hope on her face than before. "Don't look at me like that, my heart flutters." He teased her by swiping his hand over her face.
"I'm actually wondering if this new side of you is better or not."
"Well, that's not good. I need to be the strong leader of this family! Fear my wrath!" He mockingly threatened her with a glow of his red eyes, puffing his chest out.
"Oh, I'm so frightened."
Damien cracked a smile, glancing at her dull expression. "I think you're just amazing. Your words always find a way to really soothe someone's deepest scars." Before she could glance up at him, he placed his hand on top of her head, pulling her head down as his face dropped into a softer expression. "Thank you for allowing me to love you, Natella."
*****
"Hey," Sera opened her eyes to Natella whispering over her. "Wake up. Wake up, before Mrs. Kim makes her rounds." The girl slowly shuffled awake but as she moved around, Sera realized that Aiko's arms were still wrapped around her, making it harder to fight off the wrapping of the blankets and his tight embrace.
"Aiko," she grumbled in a morning voice, which was also hoarse from crying. "Ugh, this boy could sleep through an earthquake."
"Wake up!" Natella tore his arm off Sera, allowing her to worm away on the floor while Aiko's face crumpled up with distress. "Hey, wake up. For real, Ms. Kim's--"
"Natella and Sera?" Ms. Kim knocked on the door. The two girls stared at each other with wide eyes and in one clean motion, they both shoved Aiko under the bed, standing guard in front of it.
"Yes?" Natella answered as Ms. Kim opened the door.
"Just checking to see if you guys are awake." Her eyes were dancing all over the room. "Great, come have some breakfast at the main cafeteria before we drive back. By the way Sera, have you seen Wonho around?"
The girl's face dropped in horror.
"No. She was with me all night Ms. Kim." Natella quickly answered for her.
"Hm, strange. I didn't find Aiko either. His partner was half-asleep and didn't really help. Maybe they've gone off somewhere together. Right?" Her worried eyes scanned the room one more time.
"Of course. Aiko's pretty smart, so you shouldn't worry about him too much." Natella reaffirmed.
"Yeah, you're right." Ms. Kim sighed and finally left the two girls alone.
"Wake up!" They both hissed, nudging Aiko with their foot.
"Five more minutes." He mumbled.
"Aiko!" Sera grabbed his face and forced his eyes open with her fingers. "We're not at home! Get up!"
"What time is it?!" He suddenly gasped, sitting up straighter than a rod.
"Breakfast time." Natella picked out a new pair of clothing. "You should go leave now before Ms. Kim suspects anything. Besides, if you have any sense you should know that we girls would like to shower and change into new clothes."
"Oh!" He quickly stood up, towering over the two of them at a considerable height. "Sera, are you okay?" The girl looked up at the cluster of hair sticking up from his head and concealed a laugh, simply nodding to him.
"You need to go wash up too." Natella sighed. Aiko's eyes widened and he quickly fixed his head. With a short bow, he dashed out of the cabin, nearly stumbling into the door. "What a klutz." She mumbled, with a sigh before looking at Sera who was still wrapped up and staring down to the floor with guilt. "Do you want to shower first?"
"It's okay, you can go first," Sera mumbled. Just as Natella walked out, she called after her again. "A-Actually, I just wanted to say thank you for last night. I know you scared Wonho off when I was pretty shaken up, so...thanks for that..."
"Don't mind it. I've been wanting to teach him a lesson from a while back for being such a bloody asshole."
"And, Natella, I just wanted to say I'm sor--"
"Don't say it." Natella turned around with a small smirk. "We're not 'cool' with each other yet. If you say it, then you'll lose. And I don't plan on losing to you."
Sera closed her mouth and returned a thankful smile as Natella walked out.
*****
"Jin, I have something to tell you." Sera slowly approached him while he was cooking dinner.
"You two are back already? How was the trip?"
"Good." Her eyes dropped down to her feet. Jin stopped stirring the vegetables and glanced at her.
"What happened." He took off the pink apron, quickly walking up to her. "Are you ok? Is Aiko ok? Did someone try to hurt you? Is--"
"We're fine!" She scoffed out, overwhelmed by his concern. "What I wanted to tell you was just that...I think...Wonho knows about us." Jin's brows furrowed with confusion. "Like, our powers."
"What?" Jin groaned. "I have to clear his memory again? That's such a process."
"No." Sera firmly spoke up, causing Jin to suspect the whole situation.
"Well, what happened then? Why does he know?"
"Because..." Sera gulped down, the memories still fresh, "I...I was," she took a deep breath and bit down on her lip hard. Glancing back up at Jin's anticipating face she found it hard to admit something that happened so recently and affected her. But she was also rather comfortable with him knowing. It was a matter of mustering up enough courage to speak.
"Sera," Jin softly spoke up with a calm demeanor, the tiniest flicker of pink flame dancing in his eyes. "You know that you can tell me absolutely anything, right?"
She nodded and threw a shaky smile before clearing her throat and continuing. "I-I was being attacked and...uh, Aiko and Natella helped me."
Jin's eyes now flared a dangerous shade of hot pink. "You were being attacked? Sera, you told me you were okay." He frowned.
"I'm really fine now! He didn't...do anything, they found me before that."
"Sera, are you okay," Jin demanded an answer and leaned down, seriously looking into her eyes. "You can tell me if this bothers you, alright? And that's fine. You don't have to keep it bottled up." Sera nodded before scowling, placing up a strong guard.
"Don't actually start acting like my real dad now. It's creepy."
"Huh! This is why I'd rather sin! You humans are just so ungrateful." He crossed his arms, glancing down at her just to make sure she looked okay. "But you would have had my full permission to incinerate him at the spot. I would have dealt with his alias. Hell, I'm so glad that fucking bastard is finally away from you. I told you, you were too good for him anyway."
"I know...but I didn't want to show him that I was..." her voice grew small but then she shook her head and confidently looked at Jin. "Whatever. But I don't want you to erase his memories. I want him to remember, and I want him to be scared every time he sees me. I'm tired of hiding who I am." A faint smile took over Jin's face.
"I'm proud of the woman you're becoming, Sera. I've watched you grow so much and--"
"Jin." Sera's eyes widened.
"No, let me continue. This is important. I just can't believe I witnessed the--"
"Jin! That's more important!" Sera screamed, pointing at the pan that was bursting into flame.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He ran over, easily absorbing the flames. However, the damage was done.
Sera looked over his shoulders and sighed. "It's charcoal."
"I'll make something else! Don't worry."
"Sure, but I'm not really hungry." She walked off, waving her hand behind her. As Sera walked down to the veranda, she quickly stopped in her tracks. All of a sudden, the surroundings changed back into the familiar white room.
"What do you want." She looked back at Min's face with a hostile look.
"You lied." He scowled.
"Lied?"
"V and Hanul, they're still alive."
"What!" Sera widened her eyes and quickly shook her head. "No, I didn't know that. Everyone told me that they were dead. They couldn't have been lying, they looked absolutely devastated!"
"You would seriously trust these vile demons?" Min narrowed his eyes. "Have you forgotten your original task? It seems that living among them wasn't such a great idea after all."
"I haven't." Sera glared at him before furrowing her brows with suspicion. "How do you even know this?"
"Anyone with senses can actually feel the immense pressure that just recently opened into this realm yesterday. Don't tell me you haven't felt anything?"
"So...he's--he's not dead?" Sera's whispered while her eyes narrowed with hate.
"No. I knew something was wrong. We'll just continue following the plan from before then. Be sure to get it done."
"I told you I would." She scowled at him.
"Don't be foolish and ruin everything because of some silly mundane decisions." Min left her with a final warning. Just like that, Sera was standing back in the living room with a heavy sunken feeling in her stomach.
"Sera?" Aiko waved his hands across her face. "Sera?"
"Huh? Yes? What?" She blinked, adjusting back to the normal setting.
"Dinner's ready." Jin came out, balancing two plates on his pointer fingers. "You've been standing there for a while, Sera."
"You're exaggerating." She turned around, grabbing her plate off his hand while avoiding his intense stare. Jin snapped, and the other side dishes filled up the dining table.
"Maybe I am. Who knows what hormonal teenage girls like to do anymore. Maybe standing twenty minutes in one area for no reason is one thing." Jin slipped a sly glance at her before disappearing.
Aiko and Sera walked over to the table and the boy began to stuff his face as soon as he sat down. Sera picked at her food, looking around them as she did. "Hey, Aiko."
"Mfhm?" He coughed, spilling out pasta. Sera made a face and chose to ignore it.
"You...you haven't really mentioned your parents recently. How are you feeling?" She chewed on a piece of broccoli while her eyes glued onto his facial expressions.
"I'm sad." He admitted, biting into a whole chicken. "I miss mommy."
"Oh, but you didn't hear anything about them from your uncles?" She pried deeper. Aiko's eyes suddenly looked up at her, carefully placing the chicken down.
"I'm not...suppose to tell..." he looked to the side with a guilty expression. Sera quickly got up from the other end and ran around, sitting right next to him.
"You're not supposed to tell me what?" She leaned in closer, tilting her face up to him as her strong gaze pierced his eyes. "What, Aiko? Did you hear something about your parents coming back from Hell?" He hesitantly nodded with a small pout.
"Uncle Jin told me he felt their energies for a brief moment when we were on the senior trip, but he can't spot them anymore. He said it would be best to keep it a secret since he doesn't know what happened." Aiko's mouth widened into a grin, immersed in the very thought of seeing his parents again. "I miss them so much, Sera." He sighed. The girl forced on a tight smile, her mind spacing out briefly before she took a napkin and held his chin up.
"You've made a mess." Aiko's heart quickly skipped a beat as she wiped off the sauce forming a food beard around his mouth. "You should eat more slowly, especially when you go out in public." Sera frowned, looking back at his flustered face. "If someone sees you they'll think you're being starved at home."
"I..." his lashes fluttered as his eyes dashed around. "Food good. It taste good." Sera smiled at his robotic speech, finally leaning back. Aiko began banging on his chest, trying to digest his food after the sudden shock he was exposed to.
"I didn't forget, by the way...I just didn't know when the right time was to thank you." Sera picked at her thumbnail, looking down with sincerity. Aiko grabbed another napkin, making sure to wipe his whole face clean before he looked at her. "You being beside me last night actually helped me a lot. Thanks for keeping me safe and warm."
"Sera," his deep and serious tone forced her eyes to look back at his passionate iridescent orbs. "I promised you that I'll always be there to protect you. I don't want any of the people that I love to be hurt."
"L-Love?" She stammered, nervously scoffing as she looked away. "Do you even know what that means?"
"Now I do." He confidently announced as Sera's face slowly dropped with a guilty expression. "I know love now." Placing on a shaky smile, she looked back at up at him flustered.
"I-I'm finished eating." She cleared her throat and got up, quickly leaving the confused boy staring at her full plate.
*****
H a n u l
I fell onto the motel's carpeted hallway, dragging V by my side. "Stay with me. You'll be okay. Stay with me!" My eyes were brimming with tears and my hands were trembling. Just looking at his near limp body had me hyperventilating.
"A-Abraxas!" I screamed into the narrow halls. It didn't take long for him to appear out of a room, wide-eyed and ready to summon a repelling spell. "No, I beg you! Please, please! I need help and I don't know where else to go! Please, Abraxas! Help me!"
"I-I t-told you t-to never appear here a-again." He gulped down, staring at V's unconscious body in a nervous wreck. "I-I don't want to be involved in your mess."
"Please! Abraxas, he's going to die and I don't know how to help him!" I shook my head feeling the most helpless I ever had as I tightly held onto V. There wasn't any time for this. We needed to go back and warn the others, especially about Aiko. I had to do something now. "Abraxas, I don't have time to argue with you! I need your help whether you like it or not."
"What makes you so sure I won't be able to protect myself from you?" He scoffed, taking a few steps back as he looked at the white flames dancing in her domineering gaze.
"Because what I'm about to tell you will leave you with no choice."
*****
Huddled under the covers, Wonho rocked himself back and forth. His eyes were bloodshot red and beneath them were heavy bags from fatigue and loss of sleep. Piles of crushed cigarette boxes were littered around him.
"Wonho?" A woman's voice came from the locked door followed by a knock.
"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He let off a panicked cry. The slightest thing was making him jittery ever since what he had witnessed on the trip that night. He had almost wished that the memories were just a bad dream. But he knew very well that there weren't.
Slipping the covers down over his face, he tried to squeeze out the terrifying images from his brain before angrily letting out a wild scream. With frustration, he threw the blankets and got up on his feet trying to light a cigarette up with his trembling hands.
"Glad to see that you look like absolute shit, you little fucker."
Wonho gasped, his mouth dropping the stick and unable to let out anything other than a raspy low cry. Jin took a step forward and Wonho's knees gave out, forcing him to sit back down on his bed.
"Wh-what..." he could barely manage to ask him a question. The rest of the words wheezed out into air.
"What am I doing here?" Jin cocked his head with a guess. "Mm, just checking up on you, Wonho. After all, weren't you my daughter's boyfriend--oh, sorry, ex-boyfriend. That's right. You've done something very bad, haven't you? Something unforgivable." Jin continued to walk over. Wonho gasped, throwing his legs up and scrambling back against the wall by his bed.
"Do you know what you've done? Answer me, boy. Quick." Jin's eyes flared pink, causing Wonho to scream. "You can scream all you'd like. But no one's going to hear you." He smirked as the pink flame took the form of snakes, crawling out of his body. "Now, answer me. What did you do to Sera?"
"I'm sorry!" He continued to scream. Wonho dashed to his door, trying to open it, but the knob was stuck like cement. "HELP!" He banged on the door.
"I thought I told you," Jin appeared behind him in a flash. "No one's going to hear you." With a strong hand, he pinned the boy against the wall, lifting him off the floor.
"No! No! NO! Don't kill me! Please, I'll do anything! Don't kill me! I'm sorry! I'm a disgusting pig, I'm horrible! I deserve the worst! What I did was wrong! I'm sorry!"
"You're sorry? Now you're sorry? That's interesting. You only feel remorse when you get caught, right Wonho? The guilt starts eating you up only when you feel threatened, right Wonho?" A snake crawled out of his arm and snapped its fangs at Wonho's face. The boy screamed with fear, shutting his eyes tight as the color of his pants grew darker around his crotch. "You pathetic vile piece of shit." Jin scoffed at him. "You think you can harass my daughter and get away with it? Do you know how many times I dreamed of finally giving you what you deserved? Do you think I didn't know how you were always using her for your benefits? From the beginning, I knew she was too good for you. You sick motherfucker."
"Please! I'll do anything!" Wonho gasped out between his tears. "Just...just don't kill me."
"Oh, don't worry. I won't kill you." Jin smirked and leaned closer to whisper into his ear. "You're going to have to live with this fear your whole life. Live afraid, because at any time I can come for you. Go on. Go. Scream and shout. Point fingers at me and Sera, but who's going to believe you? You'll end up in a psych-ward filled with real horrors, far different from your little sweet sheltered world. You've done this to yourself, so you're going to live with your dirty mistakes, and you're going to remember everything until the day you fucking die."
Letting him go, Wonho dropped down to the floor, spaced out, and sobbing silently.
"Remember this piece of advice from someone who's done way worse, little boy." Jin glared down at the traumatized kid. "Anything you do will always come back to bite you in the ass one day. And twice-fold. That's your punishment." Jin smirked. "See you in Hell, Wonho."
*****
"Look at her, walking around so shamelessly. What a slut."
Sera passed by the whispers of the students, tightly gripping onto her lunch tray. It was just like the past, the teasing, and the taunting. The sneering eyes and sly comments. She couldn't let them get to her now.
"How dirty. I can't believe she still has the guts to show her face around here. After accusing Wonho of doing something so horrible." The rumors had spread without her consent. And they also spread beyond her control too. Now there were different versions of the story and in each one she was the monster.
Stopping in the middle of the cafeteria, she looked at her old table where Wonho sat with his friends. It hurt that all of them had cut her off so quickly after all the memories they shared for the past two years. When her eyes came in contact with them, they stared before sneering and turning their faces away to the very perpetrator, Wonho. But he was avoiding her at all costs, and that's what made Sera place a victorious smile on her face as she continued to walk down the cafeteria.
"What are you smiling about?" Some girl stood up and walked to Sera, throwing her milk carton at her chest. "You dirty whore!"
A quick hand caught the carton and before Sera could do anything she looked up to find Aiko and Natella, standing beside her on guard.
Wonho quickly stood up, practically tilting his chair down to the floor. "J-Just leave her alone! Those monsters..." his voice died down as Sera's wide and hurt eyes stared back. "You disgust me!!" He screamed at her, sitting back down and getting comforted by his friends.
"Are you okay?" Natella opened the milk carton and drank from it.
"Why are they so mean to Sera?" Aiko frowned, looking back at the disapproving faces with a pang of hurt. "She isn't a bad person."
"It's easier to say that. But altering these pathetic minds is useless. Teenagers will believe in the majority, no matter how shitty the belief is. It's almost like a cult." Natella explained as they sat down at their usual table. Sera stood beside them, her head lowered. "What, you don't want to sit with the losers?" Natella smirked, watching Sera tightly grip her lunch tray.
"You think you're doing me a favor?" Sera huffed out a breath, glancing down at her with an entitled look. "I can sit where ever the hell I want." And just like that, she grabbed the seat on the other side of the square table and slammed her tray down. "I can't believe this." She mumbled, covering her face from the taunting eyes.
"You're more ashamed of this table than of the actual situation, aren't you?" Natella continued to tease her while Sera glared at her.
"We can leave..." Aiko suggested before Sera let out a submissive sigh.
"No. Why would you two leave..." she shook her head and grabbed her chopsticks, wolfing down the food on her tray as a coping mechanism. Natella looked at her with horror and Aiko happily followed Sera's example. "I'm the one who's always been so immature." She gasped, swallowing down a big bite of food. "I've been lying to myself the whole time, thinking I belonged at another table. I can't believe I tried so hard to fit in." She scoffed. "I'm just another loser, but that's okay." Sera beamed, looking back at the two stunned faces. "What?" Her smile compressed back into a scowl as she continued to scarf down more food. "Are you going to eat that?" She pointed at Natella's tray.
"No. I don't really eat food." She shoved the tray at her and took out a cranberry juice carton instead. "All yours."
"By the way, what is that?" Sera rudely spat rice all over the place, pointing at the carton.
"Bird blood."
More rice sputtered out. But this time from Aiko too.
"What?" Natella furrowed her brows. "What's your excuse, Aiko. You've been sitting with me the whole time and you didn't know I only drank blood?"
"But...but Natella!" He pouted. "That's not good for you! You need to eat more things." He quickly grabbed a generous chunk of his shredded chicken and held it out to her. "Food is so good! You need to eat!"
"No, uh, Aiko..." she backed away from his offer. "Trust me, I'm good. I can't eat that, it'll seriously mess me up. Besides that's also a bird you're eating."
"Do you want more?" He returned to his tray and shoveled a larger portion taking her rejection personally.
"I can't eat all that in one bite, Aiko!" This time she laughed at his genuine efforts.
"Well, I like shredded chicken." Sera suddenly spoke up with a full mouth, side-glancing at Natella with an envious look. "I like shredded chicken." She firmly repeated again, this time with more emphasis as she glared at Aiko. Natella let out a scoff and rolled her eyes at her with annoyance.
"You still have room for more? You might want to stop eating like a starved caveman."
"You're just jealous all my food goes down to my boobs. You cardboard." Sera swallowed down, giving Natella a sassy smile as the girl's face dropped into a scowl.
"That's called being overweight, you cow!" Natella sneered back at her.
"Overweight? At least I can gain and lose weight, you dead corpse."
"I am not dead!" Natella angrily slammed her hand on the metal table. A piece of shredded chicken fell from the stack piled on Aiko's chopsticks as he suddenly became stuck in the middle of their bantering.
"Oh? Well, you're so fucking dead I can smell you rotting away from miles! You dirty vampire!"
"Lower your voice, you vile Demon Slayer! You're just jealous of my everlasting youth--oh! Look! Is that a wrinkle next to your mouth? Poor thing!"
"A wrinkle? Hah, you make grannies look young!" Sera touched the corner of her mouth with concern. "You should look at your own face! You pale, purple-eyed freak!"
"And like you're any better?! You're a freak too you know!"
"You're freakier!"
"No, you are!"
"You!"
"You are!!"
"Please, just stop fighting!" Aiko finally spoke up with a nervous tremble, slamming his chopsticks down to his tray.
"Stay out of this!" They both snapped at his shocked face which quickly avoided their intense glares. A brief silence took over the table as the girls zapped laser-eyes at each other, then at the whispering crowd of the kids around them. As soon as their eyes met again, they both broke into a fit of laughter.
"You f-freak..." Sera laughed, chasing her breath. Aiko blinked with confusion, watching as the girls bonded in a rather strange way.
"I already know..." Natella snorted, covering her mouth.
"M-Me..hah..me too..." Sera snorted with a nod, pointing at herself as she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. "Who are we kidding..." they both looked at Aiko and laughed harder.
"He's the weirdest one out of the three of us!" Natella smacked the table, huddling over with a stitch in her side. Sera practically crushed her face into her food, gasping between her laughs as she clutched her stomach tightly.
Aiko's lower lip pouted as his chopsticks tossed a grain of rice around.
"You...you're not really mad? Right?" Sera's laughs slowed down, looking at his sad face.
"Aiko," Natella finished up her laugh before biting down on her smile. "We're not making fun of you. We're really just making fun of ourselves."
"I know..." he nodded, looking down at the table. "But you both knocked off my shredded chicken in the middle of your fight...and now it's all gone." They stared at the miserable meat that slipped off to the table when Sera and Natella were going through their laughing fits.
"Oh..." Natella looked back at Sera, trying to hold back a laugh. Meanwhile, Sera shamelessly laughed, covering her face.
"I-I'm sorry. I haven't laughed this hard in forever." She shook her head and looked back at Aiko's depressed face. "Here." She pushed her tray over. "I have some still if you're hungry." Immediately, his face lit up.
"I can have it? Really?" He asked, practically ready to dig his chopsticks in. Sera smiled and nodded. "You're so nice!" He gasped with genuinely joy. The two of them watched as he happily devoured it, smiling at them with his puffed-out cheeks.
"You like food that much?" Sera scoffed, watching as Aiko cutely twisted side-to-side and nodded, chewing with enjoyment.
"How cute." Sera leaned her face against her palm, watching him get happy from something so simple. Natella lowered her gaze, holding a small smile as she looked down at her juice carton.
"Hey, guys. So, should we name this table 'the freaks' or what?" She spoke up after a long pause.
"Hm, I don't know. 'The freaks' sounds a little weird." Sera shrugged.
"Exactly."
"I think we need something that has a better ring to it."
"How about the three muskafreaks?" Aiko suddenly chipped in.
"Aiko, I'm pretty sure that's plagiarizing. And finish chewing your food first."
"Oh."
"I like it!"
"The three muskafreaks? 'The freaks' is a better name."
"No, I mean, Natella, you have to admit. That was pretty witty for Aiko. When did you even learn stuff like that?"
"It's cool right?! I read it in a book! The characters were fusing two nouns together, so I thought I could try it out with this!"
"Ok, fine. The three muskafreaks." Natella rolled her eyes.
"You're still salty we didn't go with your idea."
"I'm not salty."
"Uh, yes, you are."
"I am not. This is absolutely ridiculous! What are we even--"
"Ok! We're the three muskafreaks now!" Aiko stopped their bickering, beaming a bright smile back at the two girls.
Before either of them realized, on that day, the table of "the three muskafreaks" had just created a brand new bond.
And one bond, in particular, that would blossom into something deeper.