The Fault in Our Mango

Discovering

I sighed and smiled at the guy whose name I finally knew. "Sorry, I must leave now. Oh, and, uh... My name's Kimiko."

"It's fine. See you around, Kim," he answered. I nodded a bit too enthusiastically, then hurried away towards Aika. I reached her and started grinning like an idiot.

"That was him?" she asked. I nodded. "Well," she said. "I guess dreams do come true."

Aika's POV

After watching Kimiko burn for a while because of a guy, I realized it was getting late for us to meet with the girls from the restaurant. So I decided to end Kimiko's tragic moment and called her. We made way to the outskirts of town, and reached the place the place where we were going to meet the others. We waited for while, until finally, Natasha and Nicolette appeared. Soon after, Catnip showed up. And so, Nicolette and Natasha started leading us through the forest.

Nicolette's POV

Natasha walked by my side, while the other girls followed behind us. I glanced at Natasha, who's actually my sister, except no one actually knows. I shook my head. Why was I thinking that anyways? I concentrated on leading the other girls through the forest to reach our tree house.

After a while of walking, we found ourselves in the maze of trees and underbrush that surrounds our house. The other girls were talking, but following us cautiously. Then suddenly, a squirrel jumped at Kimiko out of nowhere. Her reactions were fast, as she quickly grabbed the squirrel and threw it to the ground. I could feel its pain and cries of agony without even looking at it. I turned my head to see the others staring down at the poor animal, not doing anything. Furiously, I lost control.

"It's not just an soulless animal, it's also a living being." I shrieked. "And my family..." I thought. I couldn't hold back anymore, so I just let my rage go.

The trees began to move, the sky darkened, and a storm appeared to be on it's way. A tornado formed out of thin air in the middle of the forest. Kimiko, Aika, and Catnip were confused, as they didn't know what was happening. Natasha, feeling my rage, also lost control. The other girls were swooped away by the winds of the tornado, and got caught up in it. Natasha attacked them with one of her weapons, a magic bow. They still didn't know what was going on.

Aika felt a danger creeping up. "Defend yourself!" she screamed at Kimiko, who nodded. Aika called her wind armor. A white and silver sword appeared in her hand, her clothes changed too. In Kimiko's hands, two swords also appeared. Catnip had heard and was observing what was happening. There wasn't time for questions, so she just reacted. Spinning around in mid air, as if she controlled it, and using the immunity in her body, she was able to land on firm land. Aika slashed at the tornado, also spinning in the air, and she dropped to the ground. She landed on her feet, her normal clothes had returned. Kimiko cancelled the winds in the area, which made the tornado disappear and the trees go back to their usual still state. Calmly, she jumped and landed gracefully on the ground. Natasha's bow disappeared, and my rage calmed down.

We stared at each other. The others realized the storm had been caused by Natasha and I. And we all realized we had something in common. "You... have powers?" I breathed. Heavy silence hung in the air, and without speaking, we returned to walking to the tree house.

We sat in the living room, all quite uncomfortable except for Catnip who'd propped her feet on the coffee table. A heavy silence filled the room, as we stared at each other.

"So... What's up?" asked Catnip. We all stared at her and Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"What's up? What's up?! We're all in deep trouble and you ask what's up? Don't you know that the authorities are looking for us just because of our... "abilities", and that if someone were to say anything, we'd be dead!" she squealed, jumping from her chair. Aika started laughing at that. Kimiko just stared at them. I scoffed.

"This is no laughing matter," Natasha said, which only made Aika laugh harder.

"For some reason, I have a feeling that we're all safe, for now at least," Aika said between giggles.

"So you aren't gonna say anything?" I asked, while Natasha tutted.

"Relax, small girl, I won't say anything" Catnip said.

"Same for us. We also have powers, so it's not like we could stride up to the authorities," Kimiko remarked. Aika was playing with her diamond necklace, while Natasha sat down and relaxed.

"So we're good? I mean, are we friends?" Natasha asked. Kimiko and I nodded. Aika grinned and confirmed.

"Yeah sure, whatever," Catnip lazily said. After a brief period of silence, she asked as she raised an eyebrow, "So, you have powers, huh? What're they?" We stared at her silently. "Okay, so I'll start," she responded.

"I was born with them. I'm a vampire and a demon. Everyone used to think I was a monster," Catnip breathed heavily. "My mom died when I was a little girl, so I didn't know her that much. Except that she was the Queen of Hearts, so I inherited the title. But my dad still had his faith in me. He was a god of war, so that made me a goddess of war... sorta. I trained daily in camp, encouraged by my father, but one day, during a really big war, he died. I was really affected by his death... Anyways, I started traveling after that. About a century ago, I met Zach, which helped me a lot. I accidentally bit him, so now he's like my slave or something. I've also been improving my battle skills and powers through out the years."

A heavy silence filled the room. Aika suddenly grinned, and said, "I like to read-" Kimiko, Catnip, Natasha, and I gave Aika a confused look, "-and to go on adventures too."

"Um, Aika... Please be more clear," Kimiko demanded.

"Relax, you didn't let me finish." Aika made herself comfortable on the couch. "I have many abilities and powers too. I gathered them by practicing, analyzing, or simply, I was just born with them. My body adapts to whatever I learn. It's kind of confusing, but that's how it is. I also have a strange past that involves a lot of magical creatures that shouldn't exist!" she said, sitting upright.

After a brief period of silence Natasha spoke up, glancing at me. I nodded. "I guess it's our turn. I guess my powers are hereditary. Through my father's side, I found out that I had powers one day while I was walking in the forest. I wasn't sure why I went there anyways, but I remember that I was angry and out of control," I breathed. "Soon, the trees started moving, which isn't normal at all, and so did other things around me. I thought someone with magical powers was attacking me, but then I realized I was the one who controlled everything," I finished then glanced at Natasha.

"My powers are also hereditary," she stated. "They come from my father, and my mother gave me intelligence, that's how ended up with mental powers. After years and years of reading books and practicing, I finally started to understand how to control them. Later on, I met Nicolette. We're half-sisters. We found out one day when our father took me somewhere and introduced us. We were shocked, but also happy. Since then we have been together."

"Is your father cute?!" Catnip interrupted. Kimiko rolled her eyes. Natasha shook her head in disappointment and decided to ignore the other girl's comment.

Then it was Kimiko's turn to speak. "Well... I was born with the ability to control people's energy. Make it go up or down... Procrastination powers, I call them," she started. My mother died when I was a few months old from sickness, and my father set out to sea when I was a little girl... He obtained riches, lots of them, actually. You could even consider me the queen of the pirates," Kimiko's expression then changed. "I had an older brother who practiced swordplay, and I used to admire him a lot, but when I was 10, he was killed by some bandits. From that moment on, I aspired to become the best swordsman ever, to honor my bother..." Aika leaned over and gave Kimiko a half hug.

"Oh, you all have interesting stories," Catnip said. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot... What'd you guys say your names were?"

"Aika." "Kimiko." "Nicolette." "Natasha." Each of us said our respective name. Then Catnip grinned. "So, now we'll be together forever!"