Rising Shards

“All These Broken Pieces Fit Together” (32.6)



Following Kalei’s instructions, I walked around the bend of the sidewalk, and sure enough, parked under a streetlight was the Matora sisters’ van. I didn’t know what waited for me there, or if Lillia and Ko even were over that way. But my gut said to let Kalei talk to Oka first and for me to find Ko and Lillia and get some things squared away.

I thought about rehearsing some lines in my head. Like, “Hi Lillia, sorry you were told I had a crush on you, but I do not, I hope we can still be friends and that this doesn’t mess that up,” “Ko, I’m not sure why you did all that but I don’t appreciate it and please don’t do that anymore,” stuff like that. As I approached the van, I felt like I was in a crime show where a character steadily walked toward their doom in some location of suburban decay. All my rehearsed lines evaporated as I started envisioning scenarios where the Matora sisters revealed they were in a gang and this was all to lure me in to put a hit out on my for my various criminal shenanigans. I of course never did any such shenanigans, but Tower of Hate and Love’s infamous “Drug Empire Universe” arc left its mark on me. I could only see Lillia and Ko standing outside the van, I wasn’t sure where Latte and Roux ended up. I guess my shoes were really loud on the street as they turned around before I even got too close, leading to a situation like when someone holds a door open for someone else who’s way too far away.

“Perfect, I’m glad you’re here, Zeta.” Lillia said. “Ko has something to say to you.”

Ko didn’t look as demonic under the streetlight, but she still wasn’t super pleased to see me.

“Can I just take a quick lap first?” Ko asked. “I’m all worked up now.”

“Fine, but you’re going to do as I asked,” Lillia said.

“Right…” Ko said before jogging off. The van took off as well, so Lillia and I sat down on the curb.

“Ko’s sister drove her here,” Lillia explained. “She said she was going to go get some snacks from the gas station.”

“Ah,” I said. “Are you…doing alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lillia said. “I…have had to come to terms with some things over the last few minutes, but they were things I’ve been coming to terms with over the last few weeks anyways.”

“Oh…” I said. “Not that…what Ko said I was…the feelings I apparently…because I don’t but—”

“Don’t strain yourself,” Lillia smiled slightly. “I know, and I just see you as a friend too. Even if you saw me as more, I don’t think I could ever do something to hurt Oka like that.”

“Me either,” I said. “My last girlf—well, I dunno if she even counts. You probably know the whole Jeans story, right?”

“Oka’s told me a bit about it,” Lillia said. “But given Ovie’s…everything socially, it doesn’t surprise me that rumors formed about her departure, and that they roped into your past since…”

“Since our fight,” I said. “And I didn’t steal Jeans away, she was already with Ovie. Jeans just never told me that part when I asked her out.”

“That’s about what I had heard,” Lillia said. “So when Ko was telling us the exaggerated, incorrect rumor version of the story, I knew she had to be corrected.”

“Ah…” I said, wondering how scary it would be to have Lillia 'correct' me if I messed up like that.

“Is Oka alright?” Lillia asked.

“I hope so,” I said. “She kind of…I don’t know if it was a panic attack or an anxiety attack, but she had one of those and walked off, but Kalei’s looking for her now.”

“I’m surprised you’re here first, then.” Lillia said.

“Well, I figured I’d be the main event help for Oka,” I said, puffing my chest out. “And that with Kalei needing to square some things away with Oka about the stuff she told Ko, I thought I had to square some things away too.”

“About the things that Kalei told Ko.” Lillia said.

Above us, clouds passed by, revealing stars above and a shining moon.

“Uh huh.” I said. “So what things were you coming to terms with, then?”

“I have…or maybe had, I’m not sure,” Lillia said. “Feelings for Naomi Ratuna. So when Ko told me someone else had a crush on me, I thought it was Naomi.”

“Oh…I’m really sorry.” I said.

“Don’t be.” Lillia said. “This isn’t your fault. It’s a bunch of misunderstandings. Now that I have the clear picture of what’s going on, it actually helps me a lot moving forward.”

“It does? What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how I feel about Naomi, who while I have feelings for, clearly doesn’t know much about my existence,” Lillia said. “And the differences between that and Ko, who’s, to put it bluntly, actively pursuing me. Her methods are a bit intense, to say the least, but before tonight I found them, I don’t know, charming? Exhilarating?”

“So you’re OK with focusing on Ko instead of Naomi?” I asked. I couldn’t decide which of the two I’d consider dating if I had to choose. Ko was the easy loser, but Naomi was mean as a prefect. But her rule abiding nature probably appealed to Lillia. And Ko probably did for the opposite reasons, maybe?

“I found out Naomi’s dating someone anyways,” Lillia said. “So I don’t want to waste time waiting for a relationship to end for someone to notice me.”

“I get that, you deserve someone who notices you.” I said.

“The Naomi part is just how crushes go, they tend to hurt,” Lillia said. "I'm not sure I'm simply done with my feelings for her, I'm just...trying to be realistic from past experiences."

I nodded, thinking back to my early crushes that didn’t pan out.

“And Ko definitely notices me,” Lillia said. “Though I’m not amused with anything she did tonight.”

“I’m not either,” I said. “We were having a good night before that. But once we’re all settled, I hope we can have more of a good night?”

“I’d like that as well,” Lillia said. “I made it very clear how I felt about her actions tonight, and that she will have to make them up to me, and for the group in general, if she’s to remain…in pursuit, so to speak.”

I nodded. The word pursuit made me think of the others that were beside Ko, and their curious absence now.

“Do you know why Latte and Roux were tagging along with her tonight?” I asked. “Where did they go?”

“Um, yes,” Lillia said, looking slightly flustered by the mention of the duo. “I have my theories, but I’d rather not worry too much about Latte and Roux. I utilized their…apparent admiration for me and told them to go to the gas station as well with a very specific list that will take a long time to complete if they actually do it.”

“Wow,” I said. “Lillia, you’re pretty tough, you know?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well, all of us are all pretty rattled after the Fang Moon Web stuff,” I said, leaning back on the sidewalk, my palms immediately cold from the rough concrete. “I had to spend a whole week crying on my couch to start to feel better. And then you’ve just bounced back like nothing happened. I wish I had your resilience, I guess.”

“You seem to be bouncing back well after the incident with your parents.” Lillia said.

“I guess…” I said. “I wish I could do it as seamlessly as you, though.”

“It’s not the easiest…” Lillia said. “But I also had the benefit of the Fang Moon Web incident not directly involving me like it did for you. And I didn’t have anyone I had feelings for get raided by Wildfire Hearts either. In hindsight, I maybe shouldn’t have pushed for normalcy so soon after from the others.”

“You were just trying to help,” I said. “I kinda forgot to help Amara and KJ much after that, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lillia said. “We were supposed to help 09 as well, and that went…”

“Yeah. How about for tonight, we just focus on ourselves,” I said. “Ugh, that sounds super selfish out loud.”

“But you have a good point,” Lillia said. “I think we could all use a night for ourselves.”

"My sister told me that we had to have a self-care weekend," I said. "I think that should extend to everyone at this sleepover too."

At the end of the street, headlights grew brighter. Kai parked her van near us and rolled down her window.

“I got Ko in here,” Kai said. “She ran into the gas station to stare vacantly at the chips, so I figured she’d be better off coming back and getting this over with.”

“Were Roux and Latte there, too?” Lillia asked.

“Yeah, but I left them there, I’ve had enough of those two tonight.” Kai said. “Hop in and let’s talk, it’s cold out!”

Lillia and I got up and crossed the street to the van and got inside.


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