Rising Shards

Kalei was still blushing as we took our seats in one of the classrooms in the void building.

“Where do you think Amara and KJ went?” I asked. “Or, wait, duh.”

“What duh?” Oka said. “Wow, that sounded really stupid of me. What duh. What duh heck!”

“You’re fine,” I said. “I’m just thinking if Nikki and the others are back, Amara and KJ probably found Rain.”

“Ohhhhh,” Oka said. “Awww, that’s sweet, people getting those reunions.”

We both turned to Kalei, who groaned at us thinking of her and Nikki being similar to the love trio.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“Awesome,” Kalei said.

“She may be in shock,” Lillia said. “I’ve seen this before.”

“You don’t have to look directly at me when you say that.” Oka said. “But don’t feel bad about the ice cube thing. Remember me with the petals?”

“She doesn’t have to remember,” Lillia said. “It still happens regularly. For example. Zeta, how would you describe Oka’s appearance today?”

“Super cute!” I said. “I do really like seeing you try new styles with your hair even if it’s just like the little ponytail deal not being ponytailed.”

Oka giggled, immediately letting out a burst of petals from her hands.

“See?” Lillia asked.

“Shut up.” Oka said, still beaming.

“I haven’t had that happen to me yet…” I said, imagining making a rainstorm when Oka and I snuck off to Kalei’s bathroom to make out during the sleepover.

“It’s different for every Cani.” Lillia said. “Having emotional power reactions is very common.”

“That does help, honestly, thanks Lils.” Kalei said.

“Oh!” I said. “Wait, I totally did have a reaction to you too, Oka. I think it was from stress too, but my tail showed up when it really hit me how erm, yeah. You. How you. I was.”

”What duh!?” Oka said. “I might not have my own tail, but at least I’m responsible for yours in a way.” She looked longingly at my tail.

”What duh.” Kalei repeated.

”What duh...heck!” Oka said. ”What duh heck. That’s what I’m going with.”

Our attention turned to the front of the room, where Letoh wrote “WELCOME NEW STUDENTS” on the whiteboard. The tables we sat at were all set in a circle.

“Oh boy, this is gonna be a whole thing, isn’t it?” Kalei asked, returning to her normally scheduled snark. “Diast, I never pegged you as the type to subject your students to a circle arrangement.”

All the teachers for our pods were around the room, but Dr. Diast was closest to us and an easier teacher target than Letoh or Caya.

“It’s so you can give that big speech you prepared in the center!” Diast said. “You remembered to write and practice that big speech, right Kalei?”

“I’ll just take the F now on that one.” Kalei said.

As the rest of our class—sans Amara and KJ who were likely still clinging tightly to Rain wherever the returning students ended up for their paperwork—sat down, I watched intently, trying to spot any new people.

“Whoa!” Oka said.

“What? What’s wrong?” I said.

“I just realized like four girls here are new already! When did they get here?” Oka said.

“Alright class,” Caya said. “Some of the new students have started to trickle in, and potentially a few more are on the way. I’d like to remind you to treat these new Cani with respect. Just because you’ve had fangs longer is no reason to bully or belittle them.”

Kalei made a little noise, like she was starting a snarky comeback but wisely retracted realizing it was Caya she spoke to and not a teacher more receptive to it like Diast.

“Koridia, do you have something to add?” Caya asked.

“Er, no, just I had a dumb…idea?” Kalei said.

“Why don’t you tell the class?” Caya asked, though it came out more as a command.

“Just that I dunno, isn’t it kinda dumb for us to make fun of these new people just because they’re new Cani and we’re not?” Kalei asked.

“You’re correct,” Caya said. “A rare moment of you doubting your words before speaking, and an unnecessary time to do it to boot.”

“Anyways, let’s get some hellos in.” Diast said.

“Oh no,” I whispered, recognizing that tone.

“What is it?” Oka asked.

“I think they’re gonna make us do an icebreaker with the new people.” I said, unable to hide the panic in my voice.

“Oh, honey,” Oka said. She took my hand. “We’ll get through this.”

“If you’ve had an empty bed in your room, one of these students will likely be joining you soon.” Caya said.

I had been trying to not think too much about the potential of Kalei and I having a new roommate. I just assumed we’d have an empty bunk indefinitely after Oka had to move out due to stupid rules about dating. I decided to focus on getting through the icebreaker first. Fortunately, the newbies got to start there. First up was Marmalade, a girl with black hair.

“Um. Hi.” Marmalade said. “I’m Marmalade, and I’m not sure…what to say about myself?” She shrugged.

“Great intro.” Kalei whispered.

“Uh, what else, what else,” Marmalade said. “She/they, please.”

Roux got out a pencil and notebook and started intensely writing something down.

“Oh!” Marmalade laughed to herself. “Forgot to say, like, my Cani parts. Not my. Well, there are my fangs. I’m really bad at public speaking, sorry.”

“You’re fine, you’re among friends here.” Diast said.

Kalei elbowed me. “Hey!” I hissed. Lillia shushed us.

“I’m a lot cooler when I’m not giving a speech, trust me,” Marmalade continued. ”So I got my fangs a few weeks ago. It really hurt. My power is, um, I guess I can’t show it here. But it’s pretty sweet.” We clapped for Marmalade, who seemed relieved to be finished talking.

“She seems normal, maybe we can make a bid for her as our roommate.” Kalei said.

Next up was a Kanibari girl who seemed to take after a dog with her floppy ears and reddish-orange hued fur.

“Oh, I was wondering when she’d be official,” Kalei said.

“Hey.” The girl said. “Name’s Olivia, but most people call me Scrungy.”

“Oh boy.” Kai said.

“Why oh boy?” I asked.

“That’s Scrungy, don’t piss her off ever.” Ko said. “Remember what I said about her, Lillia?”

“She’s the one that gets into fights a lot?” Lillia said.

Ko nodded. “I’ll protect you though if she gets close.”

”I can handle myself,” Lillia said. She saw that Ko lowered her head a bit. ”Or, right. Thank you. I look forward to it.” That answer seemed to please Ko, and also make Lillia’s cheeks redden a bit.

“Oh crap.” Iris said, standing up suddenly. “Wait, what the hell?”

“Arco, sit down please.” Caya said. Iris ignored her, squinting at the Kanibari girl.

“It is you!” Iris said.

“Huh?” Maia asked. Iris had already walked away from her table.

“Arco.” Caya said as Iris marched onward anyways.

“I don’t even know how this works, but ha!” Iris said. “Serves you right. Dumping me for being a Cani, and now you’re a Kanibari!”

“Iris, please keep the drama out of my classroom.” Caya said.

Caya’s efforts fell on deaf ears, as Scrungy immediately started swinging her fists at Iris, who didn’t hesitate fighting back. This was the first time I’d ever seen a fistfight in class. It lasted about two seconds before Caya beamed energy between them, putting both Olivia and Iris into bubbles that separated them.

“I’m going to go take care of them,” Caya said, sending the bubbles outside of the classroom. “Dr. Diast, Ms. Letoh, please handle the class til I’m back.”

Caya left, with Maia rushing after.

”Heh, whoa,” I said, my slight quivering laugh giving away how terrified that encounter made me, as did my death grip on Oka’s arm. To her credit, she just patted me gently until I eased my clenching.

“Yeah, this is just one of those days,” Diast said. “I felt it as soon as I woke up, weird energy. So the rest of us, let’s just stay chill? You two have a tough act to follow, yeesh.”

One of the other new students, who was sitting next to Scrungy, stood up quickly, waved, then sat back down and got back to a book they were reading. They had large, round glasses and braided hair.

“And that’s Michi.” Dr. Diast said.

Michi stood up again. ”Right, should probably, say. I’m Michi. I’m...also they. Like Marmalade. Like, they. Just they. But she is...fine. I like it less, though. God, I suck at this too.” They sat back down.

”To be fair, there was a fight right in front of you like a minute ago, I wouldn’t be able to do much better under those circumstances.” Diast said.

Last up was a girl with a big lilac tail that kind of looked like a squirrel’s. Her hair was long in the same lilac color, and there was immediate chatter as some of the class had met her already. She took a deep breath, carrying herself like she was about to give her first speech as president of the country.

“My name is Caeda Firae,” She said, looking up to the heavens. Which in this case was just the ceiling. “And I am going to change the world.”