1Nekane hoisted her bag higher up on her shoulder. Thank God school is over… She thought, kicking pebbles on her way to her new favorite store. She had only been here one month, and upon arriving she had immediately located the closest bookstore. The new volume of her favorite shounen-ai manga was coming out today, and she wanted to be the first one to buy it. The streets were cold and silent except for the loud clump of her boots. She wondered how long her mother would decide to stay in this town, or if another job would soon pop up. She hoped they would stay longer—this town was peaceful and best of all, it rained almost every day. Hot weather of any kind was Nekane's mortal enemy.
Her grin stretched across her face when she reached the bookstore. It was tiny, and she was looking forward to settling down inside. Pots overflowing with flowers usually sat on the low tables and the woman inside sometimes served her hot tea. Bouncing on her toes, Nekane opened the door.
She blinked, closed the door, looked around, and opened it again.
There was a fucking field in there! A blue sky had replaced the store's ceiling and emerald grass and nodding flowers covered the floor. She stepped inside, wondering if she was still dreaming. The door closed behind her, and to her horror, when she looked back, it was no longer there.
"Oh, come on!" She said. She should've expected something like this would happen to her someday. Her mother was a psychic—and truthfully, some of the things she told her customers seemed to just be her best guesses—sometimes she knew things, things that Nekane would never have been able to guess. Besides her mother being psychic, she also fully believed in faeries, mermaids and any other magical creatures. Growing up wearing her clothes inside out to ward off goblins, lighting candles on the winter solstice, leaving a bowl of milk out for brownies, etc., had made Nekane pretty open-minded.
Nekane's mother also managed and founded the Cirque du Somnium. Nekane had been on the road with her mother's circus all of her seventeen years. Currently, they only had three acts: Terpsichore (or Terp, as Nekane called her) had the ability to make anyone's tattoos dance (and was one hell of a tattoo artist—she had given Nekane her first), Nekane—The Amazing Sweeper/Wiper/Ticket-Seller/Any Job That Needs to be Done Employee, and her mother—The Farseeing Amaia.
Okay, so technically they had two acts. It wasn't a matter of not being able to find more people—they had held many auditions over the years, but most of them weren't genuine, and Amaia would accept nothing less than true and unusual talent.
Nekane could never figure out exactly how Terp performed—she simply played her flute, and people's tattoos rose of their skin and shimmied. And the one time she asked, Terp had said, "What does it look like I'm doin', darlin'? I play the flute, and the tats dance. Pay attention."
She decided it was better to not think about it too much. So without further deliberation, she started the long march across the field.
Very long.
Soon she had to clip back her short hair and after half an hour she kicked off her boots and carried them. The sun's rays pierced her like arrows and her shirt was sticky with sweat. And she didn't seem to be moving either, each step carried her past the same clump of grass, the same patch of flowers…
"Does this ever end?" She groaned.
"What 'cha got there?" A voice suddenly said. It sounded like a female. Nekane heard the girl's brisk footsteps trailing after her.
"School supplies and some shounen-ai." Said Nekane, not bothering to turn around. She kept up her brisk walk across the endless field.
"Oh… what're those?" Nekane sighed, she was sticky, hot, and exhausted, and definitely not in the mood to deal with this girl.
"School supplies are stuff for school. And shounen-ai is a genre of manga." Nekane paused to catch her breath, and spun around, figuring it couldn't hurt to ask for directions.
A skinny girl stood in front of her. She had pretty, Asian-looking features, although Nekane wasn't sure exactly what ethnicity, and was dressed in a Gothic Lolita dress that hung off her petite frame. Despite her small stature, she was a good foot taller than Nekane.
"' School'?"
"It's a place you go to learn. Now, lis—"
"What's 'manga'?
"Japanese comic books. Ca—"
"What're 'comic books'?"
"Will you wait? I've been walking around in this field for forever, and I'm tired and hungry, and I haven't got—What's so funny?"
"I—I—can't believe you—you—you answered all of my questions!" Her laugh was strangely low for a girl's.
"Can you please just tell me how to get out of here?" Her mother always told her it was better to be direct with people. The odd girl held up a hand, trying to collect herself. After a moment, she finally calmed down. Nekane couldn't see how she found this so incredibly amusing.
"I'll get you out of here." She held out her hand and Nekane raised an eyebrow. She wasn't about to hold hands with someone she just met. "You won't be able to leave if you don't take my hand. There has to be some skin-to-skin contact… unless you had something else in mind…"
"Holding hands is fine!" Nekane quickly said, grabbing her hand. The girl laughed her strange low laugh again, pulling Nekane forward. They quickly reached the edge of the field, and there was a town in the distance that Nekane could have sworn had not been there before.
"Let's goo!" The girl suddenly sprinted ahead, Nekane struggling to catch up. She wished the girl would slow down, her feet ached.
The odd girl finally stopped when they reached the little town. The buildings were tall and thin, like fingers clawing at the sky. Cobblestone roads crisscrossed through the town and children scampered from building to building.
"Why're there so many kids?" Nekane asked.
"Because it's sunny." Was all the strange girl said. "You hungry?"
"Starving."
"Then we'll get something to eat as soon as I change." She led Nekane to a tall white building, tying up her long black hair into a ponytail. A red couch sat in the center of the room, with a low table in front of it. Through the wide window in the room, Nekane could see a marble green sea. "I'll be right back." The girl exited through another door, leaving Nekane standing in front of the couch.
Nekane collapsed onto the soft cushions and dropped her bag on the floor. At least her feet weren't aching anymore. She inhaled, a pleasant rose and… salty smell filled the room. Hopefully she would be able to eat, and then get home before her mother freaked out.
The door the girl had left opened and a low voice said, "Okaaay, ready?"
Nekane looked at the door and blinked. A boy stood in the doorway, wearing jeans and a ripped up white T-shirt, showing strips of pale skin. He had tied up his black hair with a white ribbon. There was something familiar about him… "You're a boy!?"
"I tricked you!?" He looked absolutely delighted. "Didn't beat my last record, but yay!" Once again, he snatched Nekane's hand and skipped out the door. Nekane tried to avoid the scampering children while being jostled by the boy. If I don't get some food now, I. Will. Eat. Him. "Oh yeah, my name's Asier! What's yours?"
"Nekane…where are we going?"
"Food!"
A/N: Please don't kill me! It's rough, but I have limited time to edit DX.
And I don't know why, but I really like Terp!