cowsindisguise

But sometimes those competitions were quiet affairs in her home.

Sometimes she would sit down at the table and listen as her brothers work at school was praised for being mediocre, while she was criticized for her lowest grade (which, she never failed to note, was better then her brothers best.) but her parents didn’t like when she’d point it out.

They’d say her brother has so much “potential” and is just waiting to figure out where his talents lie. But they always had a criticism for Mira, a missed key during piano practice or a single misstep in a routine she had only seen once.

Eventually, Mira realized something; it would never matter how much better she actually was than her brother, it didn’t matter that she was leagues ahead of almost everyone in her classes.

She’d never be as good as her brother to her parents.

So instead, she decided to give them something to criticize.

It started with the next piano concert. Instead of the graceful melodies of ancient composers Mira began playing original songs, ones that were “far too loud and jarring” for the audience and judges.

She no longer took piano lessons after that.

The next incident was at her mathematician competition, where she didn’t write out any of the actual process on the board, instead just writing the answer. When one of the judges asked her to show her work, Mira simply refused.

Her parents took that away, too.

Her grades had begun to slip, then. Not because Mira couldn’t keep up or didn’t know the answers, no, it was because she wanted them too. She brought her grades down to the exact same level as her brothers, each class identical to her brother.

Her parents didn’t care. They still praised him for giving his best efforts, and scolded her for failing so hard that it’s embarrassing.

Mira couldn’t wait to move out, she already knew the career she would choose. She wanted to be a dance instructor, to teach people every which style and how to improvise their own moves. She was so excited when she got accepted on a scholarship of all things for a prestigious academy.

But her parents called the school.

They sent them her grades, told them about her delinquent behaviors.

The school rescinded the offer from Mira.

She was livid when she found out what her parents had did. She blew up at them, cussing them out and pointing out the obvious favoritism for her brother. She let out years of frustrations and annoyances and rage at them.

And when she was done, do you know what her father said?

He asked if it was her time of the month.

Mira broke his laptop.

After that, things became actively hostile in her parents home. Mira refused to say a single kind word to any members of her family, why would she? They’d all been cruel to her in every way that she thought mattered.

She’d trade barbs with her brother, aiming for his insecurities about how he really can’t improve. He’d bite back about how their parents obviously only tolerate her and don’t love her.

Her mom tried to teach her the skills a proper wife should have, cooking, cleaning, how to be silent. Mira took the cooking, thrashed everything she was supposed to be clean, and blasted her music whenever her mother told her “your future husband won’t want a wife this loud.”

She’d ignore anything her dad would say, any attempts to “lay down the law” simply because he was oh so condescending about it. Her father cut off her access to friends, took away communication devices and instruments as retaliation.

Mira had became a very angry young woman by then. Any potential friends were scared of her, and any enemy’s feared her.

And Mira?

She had never felt so alone.

The day that would change that came randomly, no warning that her entire world would be altered.

A simple popup, an add for a new idol group needing two more members.

A choreographer, and a lyricist.

Mira clicks on the ad.

She sees the interviews will be held today, in an hour, and it was a ten minute walk.

Mira scrambled to escape unseen. She didn’t go through the front door, or her own window. Her parents had gotten wise at that point and added cameras to see what she’d do.

Mira ended up in the bathroom, where she slipped out of the window and ran. No one saw her leave, and she was determined they wouldn’t see her come back, either.

Arriving at the interviews, Mira was stunned and a little shocked to see just how many girls were there. At a rough guess she’d say over 300 of them, all of them practicing various vocal and dance warmups.

She double checked the ad. According to it, she needed a thirty second song choice she would sing along too and a dance to match.

Now, if Mira were a different person, she might’ve panicked. Might’ve desperately started searching YouTube or the internet for suggestions on what to do.

But Mira isn’t anyone else but herself.

As for what she does feel? Mira feels a massive surge of confidence at the information.

Because Mira knows she’s the best.

Her dad tells her he’s so disappointed in her. It hurts.

And so Mira plans. She checks the flyer over, sees the company responsible for the competition. Something called “sunlight entertainment”, and apparently it was founded by the sunlight sister Celine.

(She knows the sunlight sisters, of course she does. You’d have to live under a rock to not know the greatest pop sensation to ever hit Korea and-according to Mira-the entire world.)

Mira learned how to dance from professional instructors, certainly. But she learned to love it by seeing their performances on tv reruns. Sometimes, although she’d never admit it, Mira would quietly sing and dance alongside them

And so, Mira watched as other girls were called up to perform, each one heading to a back area away from everyone else. She finds the looks of panic across each girls face as they head back. There were a few exceptions, but they were few and far between.

When Mira was finally called, it had been nearly four hours and she was bored out of her mind. She forced herself to stay calm as she walked into the room, putting on a practiced smile. Inside were three people, two older men who looked a little greasy… and Celine.

Celine would be interviewing Mira directly.

Ok, this is fine, don’t panic, just put on the song and sing along. It’s one of the lesser known sunlight sisters songs, called “Gravity”, one of Mira’s personal favorites.

And so, Mira does just that. Her moves are smooth, as if she’d practiced them a hundred times instead of once two hours ago to become familiar with it. Her voice, which Mira knows is lower than most idols prefer, hits each note she aimed for.

By the time the thirty seconds were over Mira felt much better, her breathing controlled and her body relaxed in the way only steady movements could manage.

She took a moment, just one, to glance at the lights. She’d stopped telling people about them after her father yelled at her when she was nine, but she knew she wasn’t imagining them. They were like waves of the ocean, always moving and flowing towards something. As the years had gone by, Mira noticed that when she sang and danced it would even glow brighter, and a sense of peace would wash over her from it.

She glanced back towards Celine, who was studying her very carefully. If Mira didn’t know any better, she might thing the elderly former Idol had seen her look at the lights.

Shaking it off with a smile, Mira looked to the other two judges. They were both sitting, stunned, mouths hanging open. Celine looked between the two, a look of annoyance and mild amusement fluttering across her features. She tells Mira they’ll be in touch.

Mira leaves, feeling a burning hope that for once she finally impressed someone. She practically skips home, excited and anxious about the coming contact, until she sees her dad waiting outside for her.

He demands to know where she was, to which Mira just shrugs and says she went out with some friends. Her father says she doesn’t have any friends because of who she is, and that she should come clean. Mira bites out that just because her family doesn’t meet her friends doesn’t mean she has none.

Her dad sighs, saying he’s disappointed she’s still lying to him, but that that’s not what he wanted to talk to her about. At Mira’s unimpressed look he tells her he found her a husband.

Mira is immediately hostile, saying she isn’t marrying anyone. Her dad says that she doesn’t have a say in the matter, with her grades and attitude she’s lucky her mom was able to find anyone at all, especially someone who can “fix” her. Mira shakes her head, saying she has no interest in marrying a stranger, especially one who thinks she needs to be “fixed”.

He says her “new husband” is coming over tomorrow to take her home. Mira says that if he comes over he’s leaving with nothing but a broken nose. Her father tells her then that if she doesn’t comply, she will be kicked out. She won’t have any access to his money, his house, or any of their extended family.

Mira’s temper flares, and she stalks inside without saying a word. She goes straight to her room, slamming the door and locking it behind her.

(She had to make a lock. Her parent took hers away.)

She packed up the clothes she wore the most, her laptop, and her phone. She grabbed her emergency go back from the bottom of her closet as well, tossing it into the hiking bag she was bringing. She knew that if she wanted to get out of there with anything it would have to be once everyone else is asleep.

So, she waits. Slowly, the activity in the house dies down, until she hears her father’s signature snores, signaling that the house was asleep.

It’s time.

Carefully, Mira creeps out of her room. She doesn’t bother going for the front door, it likely has an alarm set if it’s opened tonight. She checks the bathroom, and sees another alarm has been set on the window, too.

She takes a moment to consider her options. Her parents likely have all the alarms turned on, so any windows downstairs are a no go. The bathroom window upstairs is unviable, and she can’t use her own or her parents room. That means…

Mira turns to her brothers room with more then a little dread.

It’s her one chance to get out. Her once chance to run away before she’s forced into a marriage with what sounds like a complete asshole.

All she has to do is slip out of her brothers window without waking him up.

She creeps to his door, quietly pressing her ear to it. Inside, she can hear rapid clicking sounds, likely from whatever game he’s playing.

Perfect.

Slowly pushing open the door, Mira peeks inside. Just as she’d expected, her brother was sitting hunched over his desk, playing some kind of bright colorful gun game with way too much happening. He’s wearing his weird headphones, the ones with cat ears, which means he won’t hear a thing.

She shuts the door behind her as silently as she can manage before sneaking to his window. A quick glance back confirms he’s still focused on the game, though now he’s leaning forwards in concentration.

With deft fingers Mira unlatched the window, and was about to pull it open when she heard a curse behind her. She acted fast, not even bothering to glance towards her brother to see what had aggravated him.

She threw open the window, lunging out onto the roof. Spinning, Mira manages to see him slumped over his desk, his screen red with a “YOU DIED” message.

Mira allows herself a small smile as she slides the window shut.

After she gets to the end of her street, Mira pauses and thinks about tomorrow. She can picture her dad’s voice raising as he pounds on her door, assuming she probably slept in. She can almost hear the scream of rage when he opens it and finds her stuff, and more importantly her, gone.

He’d probably yell at her mom, though not her brother. After all, the golden boy had never done anything wrong in his entire life, right?

Mira took one last look back at the house she called home, then prison, for years. She won’t miss the people in it, or even the place itself. But she will miss what it once represented.

Safety.

Mira let herself wallow for a moment longer before nodding to herself. Turning, she began to stride purposefully towards the far end of the street. She ends up checking into a cheap hotel with the money she’d had in her go bag, enough for at least a two week stay.

The next few days pass in a blur, with Mira surfing the web using the free hotel WiFi while waiting for an email from the folks at sunlight. She has her phone off and the battery taken out to avoid it being tracked, so she has to hope they’ll contact her via email.

The day she gets the email is the same day she decided to check her social media via the laptop. She had dozens of direct messages from her parents and brother, most of them ordering her to come back with promises of threats they could only carry out if she went back.

Mira blocked them all. It felt… odd, cutting out the only family she has. But she knows it was necessary.

When she checks her email a few minutes later, she sees it. The one she’s been waiting for, with instructions to head to the main offices in Seoul.

Mira doesn’t bother waiting anymore. She packs up her bags, checks out, and hops onto the first bus heading that way. Shes anxious in the ride over, she knows that whatever happens during this meeting will determine whether she can become an idol and permanently escape her parents or if she’ll be forced to find work elsewhere.

She’s been to Seoul a few times over the years, but the size of it still surprises her as the bus enters into the city. Craning her neck Mira can just make out the logo for sunlight entertainment on the massive office building she’s approaching.

Whatever comes next, Mira knows it won’t be easy.

Her arrival to the meeting is one with no fanfare. A secretary showed her to an empty conference room and told her to wait there, leaving before Mira could ask any questions. So Mira did the only thing she could think to do and sat at the surprisingly large meeting table and waited.

And… waited.

And kept waiting.

It wasn’t until a full hour passed that the doors clicked open. Mira, who’d been idly scrolling using the WiFi password she “borrowed” from the secretary’s desk jumped in surprise.

It was Celine again, but this time she wasn’t followed by two greasy looking men.

Instead the most beautiful young woman Mira had ever seen walked in. She had gorgeous purple hair tied back in a braid, swaying gently as she walked with perfect poise. Her face was set in a polite, small smile that could only come from hours of practice in front of a mirror. She waited for Celine to sit down before sitting herself.

Mira managed to wrench her gaze off of her to look towards Celine, who was pulling out legal paperwork. Celine started by apologizing for the lateness, saying they were tied up with “academic disagreements” (whatever that meant) and that they only had a little time to discuss what they needed to.

As the conversation progressed, from a simple kpop group to hunting demons, Mira’s gaze kept drawing back to Rumi. It helped that partway through the demon thing, Rumi pulled a sword out of thin air as proof and let Mira hold it.

Something about Rumi felt… too perfect. The way she would always let Celine answer any questions first, always speaking politely no matter how crass Mira dared be, the small ways she’d correct Mira if there was something she misunderstood.

She was exactly the kind of person her parents had wanted Mira to become.

Mira decided, in that moment, that this girl and her would be enemy. She refused to be friends with someone her parents would like, no matter how gentle their eyes are or how hopefully they look at her.

By the end of the meeting, Mira has signed over four years of her life for training, and another four for her being an idol. She learns, then, that Rumi is supposed to be her teammate, her partner, in hunting.

The way Rumi shoots her a practiced smile grates on Mira’s nerves.

Celine asks Mira when she can start, and actually startles a little when Mira speaks a little too quickly as she says immediately. Rumi hesitates for a fraction of a second before asking if there was any family she needed to talk to, but Mira simply gave her a cold glare and said no.

Rumi’s face fell the tiniest amount at that, but Mira ignored her and asked if she can head to the training facility today. Celine (who was focused on paperwork and didn’t see the interaction) says no, she can’t. The flight, while short, isn’t one she wants Mira making on her own so she’ll be staying with them instead.

Mira pauses for a moment, asking what she means by flight. Celine smiles, a bit of a mischievous one fitting the elderly maknae. Celine says that hunters train on Jeju island.

Mira ends up in Celine penthouse for the next few days. She doesn’t see much of the older woman or Rumi, since they were both busy taking care of, as Celine had put it, “boring paperwork she should enjoy not dealing with for a while longer.”

The issue with that is it gives Mira too much time to think.

She thinks a lot, when she isn’t doing something.

She thinks about how her dad probably yelled at her mother, insulting her for not better teaching Mira to be a subservient woman.

Her brother probably complaining about how his grades didn’t go up even thought he “studied so hard” (ie; playing video games) and his parents comforting him about it.

And how eventually, she’d become a bad story to them. A warning against future generations about the black sheep of the family who refused to be a good daughter.

It puts her in a worse mood each day she putters about the house, trying to find something to do. On the day before they’re supposed to leave, Mira does find something… interesting.

Inside of one of the rooms is a balcony completely covered in plants. Don’t get her wrong, she knows what a garden should look like, she’d seen plenty growing up, but this?

This is an entire jungle.

The door to the room opened, making Mira jump slightly before turning with a neutral expression. Rumi was walking in, scratching at her arm as she hefted a large bag over her shoulder.

She froze when she saw Mira standing on the balcony, the smile frozen on her face. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Rumi asked what Mira is doing here. Mira, still angry about how she pictured her family acting, scoffed and jokingly asked if it was Rumi’s room.

To which Rumi says yes, it is.

Mira leveled a disbelieving look at her, pointedly looking around the barren room before returning her gaze to Rumi, and asked her if she was serious.

Rumi’s face twitched slightly at the mocking way Mira asked it, but she simply said yes, she is serious and yes, it is her room.

Mira scoffed, pushing past the young woman without another word. She didn’t care about the way hurt flashed in Rumi’s eyes, so what if she put it there. ? It would just toughen her up!

(She ignores how it sounds like her dad’s voice saying that.)

Mira goes to bed without bothering to eat with the two woman. She doesn’t bother explaining it to Celine, despite the worried expression on her face. She tries not to think about the look of concern thrown at Rumi as Mira had left, doesn’t want to think about what it could mean.

They leave early the next morning wanting to, as Celine put it while waking her up, “beat the dawn to beat the demons!”

The older woman had cringed slightly at the look Mira gave her before shrugging and saying she saw it on the internet.

The flight over is quick, and after arriving at the frankly impressive compound Celine tells Mira she should get ready and get into workout gear, and to join her and Rumi in the kitchen for some breakfast.

Mira, wanting to make up for last night, got ready quickly. She knows she should apologize to Rumi, but that quiet stubborn part doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction.

She knows it’s an act, there’s no way it isn’t. No one is so “little miss perfect” to that degree, Mira should know. She’d been perfect for her parents, her school, her brother, and all it had gotten her was disappointment and fury.

Heading to the kitchen, Mira goes to greet Celine again but pauses when she sees what she’s doing. Her and Rumi are moving around each other in the kitchen, passing each other ingredients or cutlery to prepare the food. It reminds Mira of a choreographed dance, one that they’d had hundreds of times before and would have again.

It looked peaceful, like how a mother and daughter might be when they are just enjoying each others company. Celine shared a small smile with Rumi as they passed each other, and Mira saw a similar smile directed back.

A horrible feeling twisted Mira’s gut, one she’s all to familiar with; Jealousy.

She used to have it every time her parents would praise her brother for the bare minimum while getting on her about the smallest of mistakes.

The distaste she felt for Rumi elevated closer to downright displeasure.

Mira loudly announced herself as she stepped fully into the kitchen, startling the two right as Celine was passing Rumi a bottle of something. The bottle slipped past Rumi’s fingers, shattering and splashing the liquid onto Rumi’s pants.

Mira apologized, doing her best to make it sound authentic while not meaning it. Rumi told her it was fine and that she’s glad Mira seemed to be in a better mood today. She turned to Celine and said she’d go change really quickly, to which Celine told her to hurry before kissing the top of her head.

The jealousy flared even brighter, and she leveled a glare at Rumi as she walked past, getting a confused look in return. Mira quickly schooled her expression as Celine turned back around, asking if Mira wanted to help set the table, to which Mira agreed.

Once Rumi came back they all ate quickly, with Mira thanking Celine for the meal while pointedly not thanking Rumi. Celine noticed, and thanked Rumi for all her help this morning as well, making Mira grit her teeth.

Why is it that Celine treated Rumi so much better than how Mira’s own mother treated her? The difference felt like night and day as they ate, with Celine and Rumi trading jokes and light conversation about plants of all things. It felt closer to two friends than anything else, rather than a daughter who’s supposed to listen to everything her mother says.

Her confusion and jealousy only grows after breakfast. The “demon hunting training” is a lot more intense than she’d expected it to be, the first part with the run leaving her gasping for breath. Shes out with Rumi, while Celine takes care of more paperwork inside, so she’s not worried about disappointing the older woman yet.

Then along comes freaking Ryu Rumi, her hairline still perfect and breathing even. She even offers Mira a water bottle, which Mira pointedly ignores and goes to grab her own.

After she caught her breath, Rumi brought her to the obstacle course which she said she’d demonstrate for Mira. Despite her annoyance at the older girl Mira couldn’t help but gawk a little bit as Rumi almost flew through the course, almost leaping past rock walls and sliding under log crawl areas.

Mira’s competitive nature flares as Rumi finishes with a flourish, and she moves to the start of the course with a small growl. When she reached it, she took off with no warning, going full bore.

She reached the first rock wall and leapt the way she saw Rumi do it, but she immediately knew something had gone wrong when she only reached halfway up it. Her hands latched onto the climbing stones and she yanked herself over the wall, cursing at how she didn’t clear it the way Rumi did.

Each obstacle has a similar result. She tried to mimic what she saw Rumi did, down to the footwork, but was always a little too slow, or a little off on her timing, or just not strong enough to jump that high. Each failure burned a little more, stoking the flames of her anger higher and higher by the time she made it to the end.

With a leap, she landed on the foam pad at the end… and stumbled.

Mira stumbled.

That was the first time she’d done so in over 8 years.

She’s about to lose it, she needs space, she needs something to hit, something to-

Rumi is applauding.

Mira turns with a glare, but feels it pinch into confusion at the look of genuine aw on Rumi’s face. The purple haired girl ran over, a small smile still on her face, as she congratulated Mira on her fast time. Mira could feel her confusion and frustration grow at the undeserved compliment, and starts pointing out all the ways she messed up, every time she missed a jump or slid down a wall.

Rumi shrugs at those, saying that this course is one they’ll be running every day so she’ll have plenty of time to practice. She leans in, whispering conspiratorially that when she first tried it she slammed face first into the wall and knocked herself out.

Mira feels a flicker of humor at that, but the attempt to cheer her up is soured at the memory of Rumi’s perfect form as she moved through the course. With a scoff of whatever, Mira asks what’s next.

She’s a little shocked to hear weapons training.

That shock turns to anger as she gets thoroughly thrashed by Rumi with every wooden practice weapon she gets. The one weapon that she got close to even one hit on Rumi with is a giant blade Rumi called a Gok-do, but even with the reach advantage Rumi got in close and tapped the sword on her neck.

The next few days go the same, ending with another run, each one exhausting. By the end of the twelfth one Mira’s done. Shes done with the stupid way Rumi still hasn’t broken a sweat, with the stupid way she’s offering her water, with the stupid way she couldn’t even do everything as well as she wanted.

Mira stood up, brushing past Rumi and knocking the water bottle from her hand as a consequence. She doesn’t bother to look back as Rumi asks her if she’s alright, instead just stalking inside.

After she’s showered, Mira’s feeling a bit better, though her mood is still somewhat sour. She ends up in the kitchen by herself, and a quick glance at the clock confirms it’s close to dinner time.

So, Mira does something she’d always refused to do for her own family. She makes dinner.

She carefully gathers everything up, a simple meal of Kimchi Bokkeumbap that she methodically prepares. But the time sits finished her mind is calm, her hands are steady, and she realizes she might’ve been a little mean to Rumi.

Then, not wanting her efforts to go to waste with no sign of Rumi or Celine, Mira goes to find the two of them. She ends up at Celine’s door, and is about to knock when she hears an odd sound. A muffled sob.

What?

She knows she shouldn’t, but Mira can’t help the burning curiosity and strange sense of protectiveness burning in her already for Celine. She puts her ear to the door and listens.

Rumi is comforting Celine.

That’s the first shock.

The second is that Celine is crying because of Mira.

As she listens, Mira starts to feel a heavy guilt settle in. Celine had been stressed about everything, dealing with the legal side of her parents trying to force her to hand Mira over and how Miras acting like she doesn’t even want to be here.

Celine tells Rumi she isn’t willing to make Mira a prisoner, but that without her the Honmoon might not turn golden in time.

Mira shakes her head slightly, taking a step back. She thought she’d been sneaky, able to avoid her parents finding out where she was. Apparently she’d been wrong, and now Celine was paying for it.

She isn’t entirely sure what the golden Honmoon is supposed to be or what it’s supposed to do, but it sounds important. Mira considers the dilemma.

If she stays, Celine will have to deal with her family non-stop for the next several years until Mira turns old enough. But the Golden Honmoon might be attainable.

If she leaves, Celine’s life would be considerably less stressful with Mira’s family off her back, and she might be able to find someone else to make the golden Honmoon.

Mira backs away from the door, her heart twisting. She doesn’t want to leave, not really. But she is a proud young woman, and she isn’t willing to let someone else suffer because of what she did.

So, Mira makes her choice.

She messages her father, a time and the address of a cafe in town. She says she’s ready to come home. Her father says it’s about time.

Mira leaves a note on the counter, apologizing for being such an ass. She says Celine should look for someone else, and that she can’t help turn the Honmoon gold. Mira says she knows she’s too angry and aggressive, that she hasn’t tried to get along with Rumi even though she’s been nothing but kind.

And she thanks Celine, for giving her some hope before she loses it forever.

Mira leaves that night, not seeing the two of them for dinner. She’d hid in her room, note clutched tightly, until they’d gone to bed.

Her walk is one filled with melancholy. She thinks back to Rumi, her jealousy seeming almost silly now that she has some perspective. Rumi isn’t her brother, she’s way too considerate for that. She can only hope Rumi doesn’t think too badly of her for this.

She thinks of Celine, how she’ll be upset and a little sad Mira left. She thinks of how she’ll try to find where Mira went, becoming more frantic as she searches and still can’t find her. And she thinks of how Celine will eventually give up, and look for another person to make into a hunter.

That stings more than she’d like to admit.

Mira makes it to town. Her dad is waiting there, four large men standing nearby. He tells her that when they get home, she will be going straight to her husbands house. Mira simply nods, the fight in her just… gone.

She can’t find it in herself to care about that. Or about the impending end to her independence and freedom.

Oddly, her mind turns to the first day of training with Rumi. The way Rumi had been so excited and actually applauded her efforts and said she’d done well, even though it hadn’t been perfect.

She thinks of how Rumi looked while running, always keeping pace beside Mira, always sure that Mira took breaks when she needed them.

She thinks of how Rumi looks slamming feet first into Mira’s father, purple hair hidden by a hoodie and a mask on her- wait, what?!

Rumi landed calmly, turning to face the four men as Mira’s father lay unconscious on the ground. At Mira’s disbelieving look, Rumi winked at her.

She actually winked at Mira.

Mira is too stunned to do anything as Rumi proceeds to dismantle all four security men. They never landed a blow on her, and she almost seemed to be dancing, choreographing the fight perfectly.

It’s… beautiful.

By the time it’s over, the four men are laying groaning on the ground, clutching at dislocated limbs. Mira’s father is standing up slowly, clutching at his broken nose. He tries to threaten Rumi with a lawsuit, to which Rumi simply slams another fist into his broken nose.

Mira finally snaps out of her reverie, asking what Rumi is doing here. Rumi says she’s here to get her teammate back. Mira tries to argue, saying Rumi can just find another one, but Rumi shakes her head.

She tells Mira that the Honmoon has chosen her, and it will not choose another. Mira says it’ll have to, she isn’t willing to keep hurting Celine and Rumi. Rumi raises an eyebrow, and asks when she did that.

Mira says she overheard Celine crying in the office, which made Rumi flinch slightly, confirming to Mira that she was right.

Right up until Rumi grabbed her arm.

Rumi says that she was crying because she got drunk. Today is the anniversary of her mother’s death, and Celine had made a poor choice and drank too much. Celine isn’t under nearly as much stress as Mira thinks, and is apparently taking great satisfaction in pissing off her dad.

Mira says she hurt Rumi, too. Rumi shrugs, and says she forgives Mira.

Mira is stunned for a moment, before saying it doesn’t work like that. Rumi pulls the mask down, grinning, and says that’s totally how it works now. Something about Rumi’s slightly awkward smile feels much more genuine, now. It makes a smile come to Mira’s face, too.

Rumi’s smile shrinks, but is still there. She asks Mira to come home with her.

Mira looks down at her father, still clutching his nose and in pain. She thinks about what living with that “new husband” would be like, with his efforts to “fix her”. She thinks about how Celine had been fighting with her dad for almost two weeks now, and had apparently been enjoying it. She thinks about how Rumi came out all this way in the dead of night not to drag her back, but to ask her to come home.

Home.

Because that’s what Rumi and Celine became, even while Mira was prickly and angry. They became her sense of safety, something she hadn’t felt in a house in years.

She thinks… no.

Mira knows what she wants to do.

Mira says she wants to go home.

——

This one took a while ngl. I was trying my best to get into Mira’s head about how she thinks about stuff, but I’m not usually an angry or jealous person so it was a bit of a struggle.

Picturing little teenage Rumi, with her Copious Notes and Bonding Plan and fantasies of what it'll be like to become friends with her Hunters.

Picturing her meeting Mira, a riot of pink and limbs and a bitterness that sears the air through clipped remarks and barbed looks, always angry, always guarded, always disappearing behind a slamming door.

Picturing Rumi trying.

"So, do you like historical dramas? There's a good one coming on and-"

"No."

"...Oh. That's okay! What kind of shows-"

Slam!

Picturing Rumi trying.

"I've got a ton of really pretty beads; wanna make friendship-"

Slam!

Picturing Rumi trying so hard.

"It's a nice day out, Mira; wanna go for a walk? Or we could garden with Celine-"

"Would you just stop?"

"...Okay."

Picturing Rumi stopping, because...isn't this what friends do, too? Listen to what they want and...stop.

Picturing Rumi lying awake at night, staring at the shadows crawling across her ceiling, wondering where she went wrong.

Celine had always said her Hunters would be her soul mates; that they'd be the most important people in the world to each other; that they'd be her best friends.

Like her girls were with her.

But Rumi's pretty sure Mira hates her, and that if she hadn't signed a contract with Sunlight she'd already be on the ferry back to the mainland.

She certainly isn't acting like a soul mate, even less like someone who wants to be friends.

What did she do wrong?

Picturing Rumi reviewing her notes, brow creased as she replays the scenes from the cafeteria and playground and halls she committed to memory, analyzing them.

No, she did everything right. Then...

Her throat goes tight.

Then the problem must be her. And she knows where all her problems come from.

Celine says Mira's fated to be a Hunter, and though she has yet to learn that part of her future she must already know, in some deep part of herself, that Rumi's...wrong.

A mistake.

Her patterns throb.

And who would want to be friends with a half-demon?

(Picturing Mira, who's been burned too many times to want to reach for the flame even as she craves its warmth;

who sees all Rumi has- a house where she's allowed to play stupid programs on the TV without being told to turn it off, a pile of craft supplies she can use without being scolded about wasting her time, a mom-type-person who wants to spend time with her and loves her- and is pained by how unfair it is;