◆Kada◆

Kada stared at her ceiling. Her eyes barely open, straining a bit since she’d just woken up and was still tired. She sat up in a daze, her hair in utter disarray. It was flowing in every direction imaginable, unrestrained by her usual hairband. After listlessly staring at nothing for a few seconds, Kada flumped back down onto her pillow and rolled over to go back to sleep.

A minute later, her eyes opened again, and she groggily searched around for her phone. Eventually, she managed to nab it, and brought it close to her face. The bright light hurt her eyes a bit as she checked the time. It was almost [400], late morning, meaning she would be the only one still in bed. Everyone else would be up and active by now, most likely off on jobs.

Even knowing this, Kada would still happily be able to sleep more without really feeling guilty. Her room being wrapped in constant running water made it extremely easy to nod off any time for as long as she wanted. However, there was a problem. Mallea had taken over the role of a nagging mother. If Kada wasn’t up by [400], Mallea would come wake her. Somehow, Mallea seemed to know whether she was awake or not, and wouldn’t come if Kada had gotten up by that time but hadn’t left her room. This place had a really bad spying problem.

Since she’d rather get up on her own terms, Kada rolled out of bed. As in, she literally rolled, and dropped to the floor. She rolled a bit further, parking in between her hot tub and her water treadmill. She was having an internal debate on which to go to, and eventually settled on rolling into the hot tub. Ahhh, I made the right choice, she hummed when the hot water started flowing around her.

After a few minutes of relaxing and not thinking about anything in particular, she thought about the day ahead. First, she decided to check her phone, using her Curse to melt the floor slightly so that her nightstand would tip, causing her phone to fall to the floor. She then used the melted floor to carry her phone over to herself, wanting to be as lazy as possible. There were a few notifications, the first being automated indicators of the jobs everyone had taken. They implemented this in case of emergency.

There was a text from a friend whom she somewhat kept in touch with from when she was living on her own. Kada quickly replied to it, then stared at the email notification. It read ‘New Email: 9999+’. She grimaced as she stared at it, once again refusing to look at them after having already ignored them for several days. Perhaps giving her personal email out on a live broadcast shown to the entire world wasn’t the best idea.

She had absolutely no motivation to take a job right now either, and hadn’t since they’d gotten back from their trip. Arguably, she’d worked the most, having to drive everywhere, but she had been suitably compensated. The Drazahs offered them a choice for their reward. They could either take a lump sum or get an official yearly salary. The lump sum was definitely tempting, easily enough to retire on even at their young age.

In the end, though, both her and Xard ended up taking the salary. While it was definitely a lot less up front, even if they only worked here for a few years, it’d be more overall. Though it did bring up a mild worry, since they’d make up the difference so fast, she wondered if there was an assumption that they’d either quit, get caught, or die before then.

Well, Kada would feel a little guilty if she did nothing, so she could at least contribute some effort today to earn that salary. After going downstairs, eating her brunch, and a brief conversation with Mallea, Kada headed over to a cordoned off lot where they’d be building in the future. Since construction hadn’t started yet, there was little she could do, but she could still help with the prep work.

The ground at that spot wasn’t even remotely close to being level, but with a little effort, Kada could make it smooth. She touched the ground which then liquified, and she began molding it into a flat surface. Over the past few weeks, she found that certain materials were easier to manipulate than others. The sand at the beach had been the easiest by far, probably because it was composed of tiny particles to begin with. This dirt wasn’t awful, but it still took a good amount of focus to get perfectly.

When she finished, Kada noticed Mallea drive by, heading towards the gate. Normally, Kada would have a flying lesson with Mallea in the evening, but it seemed that today’s lesson would be canceled. She’d made great strides in learning to fly a skycraft in the past few days, so a day off wouldn’t hurt. It meant another day before Nathym would make The Tourist able to fly, but Kada could live with that.

A cheeky grin crept up on Kada’s face, the first step in her plan was now complete. She was surrounded by master schemers, but this time she was the puppeteer who was manipulating everyone. With Mallea leaving, it meant that all the annoyances would be out of the way. Both Phon and Xard were off on overnight jobs, and Nathym was on a trip to try and secure some deals with suppliers. Kada may have had a slight hand in trying to tempt them to take those jobs. Ahvra was a recluse, and would only come out of her hole when there was something she wanted to dissect, so Kada didn’t need to worry about her.

The issue had been Mallea, and Kada spent a long time trying to figure out how to make her disappear for a long time. She decided to send Mallea on a wild goose-chase. During their conversation earlier, she mentioned an ultra-rare book that Drim had mentioned wanting, and added that it was being sold in some town nearby, but she didn’t remember which one. That was all she had said, and had made it appear like a passing notion, but Mallea took the bait.

The truth was that the book didn’t exist, well not yet anyways. It had yet to be published. She hadn’t lied about it being rare. Only a few would be printed as a special edition, but it wouldn’t be out for another month. This was all so that she could get some alone time with Drim. She had a small taste during the trip, and felt very close to making progress, but it was impossible to do at the compound with all the nuisances around.

This would be her one shot. All the stars had aligned just right to give her the chance, so she was going to give it her best. Drim was out on a job too, but should be home right around dinner time based on Kada’s estimations. She pulled out her phone and sent him a text. 『Looks like it’s just going to be us for dinner. You want anything in particular?』

『I’m good with anything.』was his response. For most people, they would find this kind of answer particularly frustrating, but it had been exactly the one she was hoping for. She then skipped back towards the mansion, since she had a lot of preparations to complete.

Hours later, Kada was sitting in front of the vanity in her room, the corpses of four broken hair straighteners laying at her feet. The fifth one was on its last legs, but it just barely managed to get the job done. Kada was quite envious of Phon’s hair. It was naturally straight, with a good amount of volume and just a little bounce. It was nothing like Kada’s hair which was closer to a wild beast that needed to be tamed. She often thought about cutting it short to make it more manageable, but it was hard to justify when she’d spent so long growing it out.

The work had paid off, though, and Kada was stunned when she looked at herself in the full-body mirror. She looked like someone else entirely. Her hair was flowing elegantly downwards, gently draping over her shoulders and down her back. It contrasted nicely with the sundress she was wearing, a huge leap from what she normally wore. She no longer looked like a beach slob who didn’t care about her appearance, dressing in what was practical. No, she was an elegant lady, ready to have a lovely evening.

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Kada found herself walking slower down the stairs, not used to wearing this kind of thing, and she absolutely didn’t want to mess it up before the event even started. She was making the final preparations when the doorbell rang, confusing Kada as to why Drim would do that. Was it possible that he knew her intentions and was going along with it?

Her heart began to race and her stomach churned with anxiety as she went to answer the door. She grabbed the knob, took a deep breath, and smiled. “Welcome home!” was all she could think to say as she opened the door. She smiled brightly as the light from outside hit her face and she thought it must have blinded her for a moment because she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Phon was standing there, looking extremely unpleased, which made Kada’s heart plummet. “Were you expecting someone else?” Phon glared at her with disdain in her eyes. Kada couldn’t formulate a response, she was too phased by Phon being there at all to be able to process the situation. “Oh… something smells good. I take it you got dinner ready then.”

Phon pushed past Kada and headed to the small dining room where Kada had set out the meal. This prompted Kada to chase after her and stutter, “Where- Where’s- Wasn’t Drim supposed to be the one coming home?”

“About that…” Phon scowled at her. “Apparently, he ran into one of those dirt people and decided to tail it, so he doesn’t know when he’ll be home. That’s what he called to tell me earlier. The next part was the interesting bit, he told me to let you know he was sorry he couldn’t make your dinner together tonight. Now I had no idea that this place would be so deserted today, and my heart was just riddled with pity at the thought of you eating dinner here all by yourself, so I rushed home… Sit,” Phon ordered as she sat down at the table herself. Kada did so obediently, not wanting to incur Phon’s wrath even further.

“Now, imagine my surprise when I come home and find you dolled up like this,” Phon continued as she prepared a plate of food. It was a simple meal of pizza and a few side dishes, since Kada knew Drim preferred the simple stuff. “I’ll be honest, Kada, you look good, stunning even. I guess you really can pull it off when you try. You definitely don’t look like that on any regular day. Have some big plans for tonight, a special occasion? Meeting some friends perhaps… or maybe you’re ready for a date.”

Kada shuddered at those words, it was clear that Phon had seen right through her plans, but she just couldn’t bring herself to admit it. “Oh, you know… nothing special going on really,” Kada lied horribly. “Just felt like changing it up for once.”

“Of course, of course…” Phon played along and then took a bite of pizza. “Hmm, this is actually really good. Where’d you get it?”

“Ohh, umm-” Kada hesitated to admit the truth. “I… Made it…”

There was a thud, and the sound of silverware and plates clanging rang through the room as Phon slammed her fist down on the table. “Do you really think it’s the best idea to lie to me right now?” Phon hissed. “I can tell with a single bite that this was made in a brick oven, which we don’t have. You should at least try to make your lies possible if you want them to be believable.”

“No, it’s true. I really did make it,” Kada insisted. “And we do have one. Mallea built it a few days ago out in the garden. I specifically asked her to, though I think she did it more for herself.”

Phon closed her eyes to verify it herself. “Well I’ll be damned, we really do have one. How did I not notice?” she was amazed. “Curse that woman for not telling me. I bet she was planning on ambushing me with something really delicious made from it some day, but I’ll show her…! Wait… Kada… are you wearing underwear?! Just how far were you expecting this whole thing to go?!” It seemed that Phon was more surprised by this development than angry by its implications.

“Well… I wasn’t expecting that kind of thing to happen,” Kada quickly emphasized. “But it felt wrong to dress up like this and not wear something just as pretty underneath. I did briefly consider at one point to just sprawl out on his bed in it in an attempt to seduce him...”

“You know, I wish you had done that,” Phon was surprisingly supportive of the idea.

“Uhh, really?” Kada responded in disbelief.

“Yes, because then we would finally have a use for the torture room downstairs,” Phon gleamed seriously.

Kada elected to ignore that but needed to point out something else. “Oh, I’m actually really proud of you for understanding the correlation, though.”

Phon let out a huge sigh, some of her anger had clearly subsided, and she just looked rather tired now. “Thanks, I’ve been reading up on it. I still don’t get most of it but I think I at least have a basic understanding. Anyways, don’t you think this has gone a bit too far, Kada?” Phon declared. “This crush… or whatever it is, seems to be turning into more of an obsession. Why are you so focused on Drim? I mean, look at yourself now. If you maintained that level of effort you could get someone easily. Hell, there’s even a bunch of different people here now, no interest in any of them at all?”

“Well, let’s run down the list, shall we?” Kada leaned forward a bit in her chair. She had thought a lot about this and had strong opinions. “Nathym is completely married to his work, Xard wouldn’t look at me that way if I was the last person on Rathe, you have the sexuality of a potato, Ahvra would make me feel like a pedophile, and Mallea scares me.”

“Those… are all valid points,” Phon admitted.

“And there’s just something special about Drim,” Kada persisted. “I can’t tell you what he has that makes him special, but I can tell you he’s the only one that has it. As we move forward, so many more eyes are going to be drawn to him. I feel that if I don’t act aggressive now, I won’t get the chance later. So, I need to at least plant the idea in his head so there’s room to grow.”

“I’m sorry Kada, but I honestly think you’re hurting yourself more than helping,” Phon was oddly sincere. “Obviously, I can’t speak for him entirely, but I know my brother. I’m sure he’s not looking your way, and stuff like this won’t help. If anything, it will just make him think you’re weird. Drim’s so focused on his goals that he isn’t looking for anything like what you want, but if it’s any consolation, he isn’t looking anyone else’s way either. Maybe in a few years when things are different you may have better luck, though I’ll still do my best to try and sabotage you as much as possible.”

“I would expect nothing less.” It was Kada’s turn to sigh.

“Hey… do you wanna take a bath,” Phon suddenly suggested. “I feel like a nice soak would be the best way to rinse out these emotions and forget this whole thing ever happened.”

Kada eagerly took Phon up on her offer. She could really use the relaxation too after all this, and didn’t want to reject Phon’s offer of peace since she’d been expecting to at least receive some lashings or other equivalent punishment. They got into the communal bath together, separated by the divider of course, and soaked in the hot water. “Hey Phon,” Kada broke the silence first. “Do you ever think about… If he wasn’t your brother…”

“If he wasn’t my brother…” Phon’s voice languished for a moment. “It’s exactly because he’s my brother that I can’t entertain thoughts like those.” That conversation ended there, but the two of them ended up talking for nearly an hour. Kada may not have succeeded in improving her relationship with Drim, but she felt she got a lot closer to Phon.

Kada decided to head downstairs after drying off, her hair already back to its usual state. She found Mallea home already, and had beaten her to taking care of the mess she was about to clean. “Sorry that I missed our flight lesson today, Kelsey,” Mallea apologized once she noticed Kada was there. “It was worth it, though, I managed to track down that book you mentioned.”

“Wait, you did?!” Kada doubted her ears.

“Yes, I couldn’t find it in any stores, so I tracked down the author at her home,” Mallea recounted. “I guess you must have been misinformed, because apparently the book isn’t out yet, but I was able to get a signed early-copy. I think Drim will like that even more.”

Kada laughed to herself, fighting off the insanity she’d just heard. What had she been thinking, trying to manipulate titans of absurdity like these?