Rising Shards

“I’m gonna be honest, while this is big, for sure, this house is a lot more boring than I expected,” Kalei said. “The show made it seem like the Kilanders are always like three seconds away from killing each other when they aren’t doing other wacky hijinks. And yes, I know this isn’t the Kilander house, but still. There isn’t even like anything hanging up on some of these walls.”

“I dunno!” Oka said. “There’s a reason I’d rather be at the dorms instead of here. A lot of reasons, really. But hey, if you look out this window you can see the pool though!”

Oka grabbed Kalei and I by our hands and directed us to the window in her room, which gave a view of a huge pool below. The party was being set up there, with tons of plates of food being placed all around.

“Wait, is this a pool party?” I asked.

“Probably the last pool party of the season,” Oka said. “Maybe one more before it gets really cold, but this is a heated pool so maybe not.”

“That’s a heated pool?” Kalei asked. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We could have brought swimsuits!”

“If you really want to swim, I’m sure there’s swimsuits in your size in the laundry, they have tons of clothes that aren’t being touched. I don’t know if I want to swim in front of all these people.”

“Oh, like they’ll be paying attention to us,” Kalei said. “Cmon, you all want to swim right? I can’t even remember the last time I went for a good swim.”

“It has been a while…” I said. The last time I could remember actually going to a pool was with Jeans, so the bar was pretty low for me having good swimming memories.

“I’m fine with it,” I said.

Oka brought us down to the laundry room, which was filled with piles of clothes. Like an absurd amount of clothes piled up, with some closest to the doors in garbage bags.

“There are…a lot of clothes here.” I said, poking through stuff.

“Yep, but thanks to yours truly the piles aren’t as big as they used to be!” Oka said.

“How come?” I said.

“I started bugging the Kilanders to donate all the clothes they aren’t using, and eventually they caved in and told me if I bagged them, they’d take them away. Or get someone to take them away once a week. Berin even counts it as a chore so I’m getting allowance for every bag I bring in!”

“Wow, how noble,” Kalei said. “And I don’t mean that in my usual sarcastic way. That’s pretty cool, dude.” She kicked at one of the piles. “But then how are we gonna find swimsuits in this?”

Oka grinned. “I have this whole thing sorted mentally. Swimsuits are in the far corner past the big winter coats.”

“Question,” I said.

“Uh huh?” Oka said.

“If these are getting donated…and we see something we like that’s our size…can we just…take it?”

“Yeah, go for it!” Oka said. “I think it’s Kitty Kilander that buys a ton of clothes that get shipped here that she never even touches. Maybe Aki too. But I haven’t talked to either of them much.”

“They won’t be mad you’re getting rid of their stuff?” Kalei asked.

“Berin says he doubts they’ll even notice.”

Oka led us on an expedition over mountains of clothes to a corner where there was a pile of swimsuits. I found three in my size, but one had a pattern of clown faces on it so that one was a hard pass. The other two were each one pieces that each had pastel colors. I went with a pink and yellow striped one, since the other one’s green coloring was a bit too Rising Shards uniform-y. Oka had a white two piece that had a cute skirt type thing attached to the bottom, and Kalei grabbed one that had the old logo and pattern of a soda company on it because she thought it was funny.

Next to the laundry room was a whole giant gym and spa area that even had changing rooms. There were enough of them that we each could have a room to ourselves. I’m sure the others were the same, but I was amazed mine looked like the locker rooms big sports starts got interviewed at on TV. There were strange, padded spots between the cubbies; I wasn’t sure what they were for. It had taken me a while to get used to changing at school, so changing in a strange new place made me feel a bit tense. I didn’t want to go back hunting for more swimsuits, so I was banking on the one I picked fitting. I tried to just pretend I was in the locker room for my eyes on the ground/directly forward at locker or mirror strategy even though I was all alone.

Once we got changed, Oka found us some beach towels and showed us the way down to the pool area.

“Hey, can I ask a favor before we go out there?” Oka asked.

“Sure, what is it?” I said as I tied my hair up.

“I might get pulled aside for photo ops and stuff,” Oka said. “So if I give you guys this sign…” She made a subtle slash throat gesture. “Find me and drag me away from whatever stupid thing I’m stuck in.”

“Got it,” Kalei said. “And if I shove Zeta into the pool or dunk her head underwater, that’s our signal that we miss you and you should come over to us.”

“You are not doing either of those.” I said. “What if you do that and she’s not looking?”

“Well, then it’d just be funny for me,” Kalei said.

“Whatever,” I said. “I wanna get into the pool already. I’m getting goosebumps just standing here.”

The fall air was a bit brisk, so a heated pool sounded very nice. Right as we got to the pool area though, Berin stopped us.

“Oka, before you dive in, Penty’s gonna make his announcement.” Berin said.

“I’m in a swimsuit, I don’t wanna be in a press picture.” Oka said.

“I don’t think they’ll take a picture,” Berin said. “But if they do, I’ll shove you out of the way. Penteldtam just wants the family here for his big reveal.”

“Fiiiiine,” Oka said.

“So we can get in the pool now then, right?” Kalei said.

“How about you wait until this is done?” Berin said.

Berin took Oka away to go chat with the other Kilanders, who were seated at a table that was placed among the others so it was clear it was the main point of interest.

“Alright, let’s see how many Kilanders are…here.” Kalei said as she squinted. “I see Berin, Penteldtam, and Caya.”

“Did none of the others show up?” I said. “That’s…kinda sad for Penteldtam.”

Penteldtam didn’t look too upset though. He was wearing a tuxedo, and looked like he was posing to someone holding up a small camera near him. He proudly stood up and clanged a glass against a fork he was holding. The glass broke, and after checking his hands to make sure he didn’t get any broken glass in them, he got everyone’s attention again.

“Alright, did you start the live stream?” Penteldtam asked to the camera holder. They shook their head. “OK, good, start it now. And don’t get the broken glass in the shot. And everyone, stay away from the broken glass.”

Oka had to sit down at the table with Berin, and Caya joined them. Oka had her towel wrapped around her firmly, looking incredibly embarrassed to be near a camera in a swimsuit. I hoped they didn’t get her in any shots at all for the livestream.

“Right, welcome, fans of the Kilander family! And also to the members of the Kilander family that are joining us via chat and will be here later.” Penteldtam got out a laptop and set it down. “Just getting this up too. I see Aki’s there in the chat. Aki, big bro! Well, big bro that’s not here! Oof, maybe don’t…swear so much in the chat. Alright, we’re all here for a big announcement, right?”

Caya and Berin gave some slight applause, and Oka caved in and joined them.

“Yes,” Penteldtam said. “Yes, we’re all here for the new member of the Kilander family, my new daughter! Alright, I don’t want to wait anymore, bring her out!”

There was nothing for a second as Penteldtam stood there. Just as I wondered if he would actually make this all up, there was a thud under the table he was at. Oka scooted back just before the whole table flipped over.

“Oh crap!” Oka said, falling backwards.

A blue haired girl rose up from her spot where the table formerly stood. A blue haired girl I recognized, the clybrid android girl Aira and Laenie found on the beach outside school. Penteldtam cheered and posed as the table landed with a thud in front of them, the edge of the sheet on top of it dipping into the pool.

“Ta da!” 09 said, arms spread out to match Penteldtam’s pose. Oka looked my way and gave the throat slash pose.