World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc.

Quote: “Ms. Ottoman, the twins have been successfully operated on. You may have them back.” A doctor hands a new mother her babies, and the woman, Celine Ottoman, looks at the fraternal twins. She rubs their brown-haired heads, proud to be a parent. She notes their large eyes, while the boy’s mouth is pulled back in what looks to be a smirk.

“I wonder how you two will do in school. I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Now, what should I name the both of you?” The boy kicks his feet a bit, seemingly examining his surroundings, and his mother smiles. “Hm… I think you will be called Daniel. Daniel Ottoman. I like that name, don’t you?” The girl child looks at her mother, as if expecting to be next.

“I didn’t forget you, child. I think that you will be named…Danielle! Do you like that name, Danielle?” The girl moves ever so slightly, satisfied. “Daniel and Danielle. I think that you two will be really close, won’t you?” She looks outside a window at the Toronto sunset, thinking of days, years to come where she would take care of these two. The doctor clears his throat, catching Celine’s attention.

“Well, I hope that you are satisfied with your children, and I wish you the best of luck. While going through the data, I noticed something…odd about the two. Apparently, the data for their Reflections was faulty, and as a result they will likely be abnormal in some way. It will not affect their health, but it is something I am required to tell-”

“That’s good! I’d like for my children to not be normal, as they say. I want them to grow up, to be themselves, regardless of what that means. I have faith in them, don’t you, Doctor?”

“Hm. They seem to be quite the children. I’m sure that they’ll grow into fine young adults. Of course, they will cause their fair share of trouble.”

“That’s what makes children so fun, isn’t it?” The doctor looks at the fading sun, remembering a time long past. His first days at school, before the Reflection System was invented twenty-six years ago in 2178. He also looks back on his own little daughter, all grown up and moved out.

“Yes, that is one of the best parts of parenthood.” He kneels, addressing the small beings in their mother’s arms. “Listen you two, don’t cause too much trouble, you hear?” His request was met with movement from both, supposed agreement all around.

“Well, have fun, Ms. Ottoman. I wish you and your children the best.” The doctor walks out, pulling out his phone and calling his daughter, something he hadn’t done in months. Childbirth can do that to people, apparently.



Fifteen Years Later…

“Daniel! Wake up, you idiot!” I don’t wanna. But in the end, it’s not like I have a choice.

“No. I’m still tired. I’ll go tomorrow. Besides, there are only orientations today.” I roll back over, pulling my covers over my head.

“This laziness is how you got the grades you have. We have placement exams today, so get MOVING!” Danielle, my twin sister, yanks the covers off of my bed, and I slam to the floor.

“I’ll just lay here today. Getting up is way too much effort.”

“Ugh, get GOING! Mom, help me get Dan up!” The stairs begin to creak, and I pull myself further under the covers, hoping not to be seen.

“Dan? You need to get up now; I’m starting to get frustrated. Now, will you get up?” Gulp, I’ve seen Mom mad before, and I didn’t like it. To avoid being sent right to Hell, I crawl about, fishing out my bag and uniform.

“I’m up, I’m up. Geez, Mom, it’s only placement exams.”

“I expect great things from the both of you, so please live up to my expectations. Especially you, Danielle, I don’t want to hear you flunked another placement exam because you only did the math parts, you hear? And Dan? Please at least take the test for once.” We both agree, though I’m lying through my teeth. Why give EXTRA work when you can laze through the year and simply cram before major tests?

“We’re off! We’ll see you tonight, Mom!” Danielle says, bubbly as usual. I follow Danielle, waving behind my back. I want to go back to sleep.

“So, do you plan on actually finishing the test this time, Dan?”

“Nope. You?” Danielle looks at me with disdain.

“Of course, I’m going to at least try. I’m not lazy like you.”

“Hey! That’s not really fair!” I’m not lazy; I save my efforts for something I care about. Watching anime and sleeping.

Anyways, ten minutes of banter passes back and forth, until we reach our new school. “Yo, Danielle, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Apparently, this school has some pretty weird rules and some type of caste system. It’s got a lot of people freaked out, because they don’t want to get dropped at the bottom.”

“Huh… Well, let’s sign in.” I nod, and walk to the desk.

“Erm… Is this where we sign in for the placement exams?” The clerk looks at us from behind the desk, handing us each a sheet.

“Sign them, and head to the class behind me. Good luck.” Danielle and I look at each other, sign the papers, and walk into the classroom.

Once seated, a proctor hands out large stacks of paper, apparently our tests. Danielle immediately looks for the math, and a bunch of other people are simply panicking. Some people, however, look calm and are nearly done. What do I do? After putting my name on the paper, I go to sleep. Don’t worry; I’ll wake up in enough time to finish.
…
…
…Ding-dong-ding-dooong! “Please pass in your tests. You will be given your assignments shortly.”

Oh, I slept through it… Oh, carp! I slept through the whole test! This won’t end well. Oh, look. Danielle’s furiously trying to finish, as expected. We leave the room, listening to people complain about the test.

“So, how did you do?” Danielle looks warily at me while I scratch the back of my head, wary of the question.

“I went to sleep. I missed the test.” For a second, Danielle looks shocked, but calms down quickly.

“Okay, now really, how did you do?”

“I’m serious. I slept through the whole thing. Huh…I wonder if they noticed?”

“…You’re stupid.” I take this very personally; it is totally uncalled for, after all.

“Hey! That’s not nice!”

An hour later, a proctor hands us our two envelopes with our assignments, and a full explanation of the school Caste System. I open mine and go through its contents, rifling through the papers.

Apparently, there are 10 classes, based on exam performance. Each has a number from 0 to 9, with 0 having the best scores. These classes also have varying facilities, which kinda annoys me, due to my lack of taking the test. After going through the whole list, I look at Danielle’s assignment.

“Hah, looks like you got dumped into Class 9. Idiot!” She points at my assignment, and I look at my paper.

“Seems we’re in the same class, huh?” What? I look at my paper, and sure enough, there is a large, red ‘9’ on the paper.

“Eh!? What is this? I’m no moron! I’d think that my previous test scores would at least get me into Class 7…” Depressed, I trudge up to my new class, Danielle following. The classroom where we would be spending our sophomore year…it is a junkyard.

The chairs are broken, the tables are…well, old coffee tables. This…sucks. Royally. “…Is that a cardboard box? Whose desk is THAT?” I look at the nearly empty classroom, looking at faces. And guess what? I know most, if not all of them.

“Yo, it’s the twins! Why am I not surprised?” I throw my bag at the scrawny, unkempt boy grinning in a corner.

“Shut it, Rod. You’re here too, you know.” Rodney McTavish was a pretentious, trouble-making student who could easily be in Class 3, if he could stop with the insults to teachers. Or so they say, but I haven’t seen him insult a teacher. He does has a temper issue, but he’s my only friend, so I keep him in check.

“Hmph, I knew you were stupid. What did you score?” Ah, that’s Mitsuko Tendou, a Japanese-born student who was raised in Winnipeg. Oh, and she happens to be my worst enemy.

“Zeros on all fronts, not like I care. How many zeroes did YOU get, Ms. I’m-So-Much-Better-Than-Everyone-Else?” I look over her shoulder at her scores, snickering when I see the sheet.

“None, for your information!”

“Six grades below five percent isn’t something to brag about, you know. Really, watch what you say, I’m not dumb.” I kick back on my sorry excuse for a chair, waiting for the teacher to wake up. It never happens, so I go to sleep.

Hours later, the bell rings for us to go home, and we’re given worksheets. Huh, the teacher is up now?

“Take these home. I’d advise you to do them, though they are optional, but they affect...”He hands us a packet of sheets, and I flip through the seven pages. While he goes on about something called a “Reflection System” something or other, I’m weighing the pros and cons of doing the work. It looks pretty easy, so it shouldn’t take much time, but I don’t want to. I sigh, deciding to throw away the five minutes. Such a waste.

Quote:“Did you hear Mr. Wright? What he said was amazing! This Reflection thing sounds awesome!” I’m walking home with Danielle while she goes on about whatever our teacher said, and I do my “fake” homework as I walk. No point in starting with a zero, right? Besides, if you do more work at the beginning, you can pass one test and slack off for a week.

“I didn’t hear a damn thing he said. Speaking of what someone said, isn’t Mom gonna kill us? We DID flunk our exams, remember?”

“Don’t remind me. I actually did pretty well on the Math parts, though there weren’t many problems. Why did they load the test with HISTORY questions, of all things?”

“History? That’s easy. Maybe I should have actually taken the test.” A quiet voice looms from behind my head, and I stop walking, sweating profusely.

“Dan? What did I say this morning?” Yikes, it’s Mom. Dammit, I need an excuse, I need an excuse! Ah! Got one!

“I was held exempt. They just threw me into the worst class due to my test scores from my last school!” Yes! Nice one, Dan!

“Oh, well that’s still your fault. Why did you flunk your exams again? Oh, now I remember! You SLEPT THROUGH THEM.” Uh-oh. She looks pissed.

“Don’t worry, I promise I’ll try this year! I swear!” Mom calms down and hands me her grocery bags, rolling her eyes.

“I’m sure you will. Now, please don’t flunk any more tests!” Was that sarcasm in her voice? Well, I’m off the hook for now. Safe!

“I’ll be back in about an hour, so have your things ready for school tomorrow by then! Got it?” Danielle and I nod before Mom walks down the street, and we head inside.

I was wrong. It didn’t take five minutes to do the work. It took three. “This. Is. Too. EASY!” Danielle is flipping through the pages, biting her pencil like she always does when she doesn’t see enough math problems to warrant a passing grade.

“Then let me see yours.”

“No. You have to learn to do things on your own, Danielle. That’s life, you know. Besides, if I did it, you wouldn’t learn anything.”

“So you DON’T need me to help you on that game you’re stuck on, right? Since you’re supposed to learn on your own and what-not.” Damn her.

“You drive a hard bargain. Here, get some wrong on purpose, or someone’ll get suspicious.”

“Got it.” She gets right to copying, and I set out my clothes for the next day, stopping before a mirror. Shaggy brown hair, about 5’8”, brown eyes, skinny, and a long face that my mother always says looks “lazy”. Nothing new, nothing special. Maybe that doctor Mom keeps telling us about lied when he said that we might be different somehow. I yawn and plop myself onto my bed, leaving my packet with Danielle. Within a few minutes, I’m asleep.

The next day, I drag myself out of bed on my own, but I still don’t make it out of my room before ceasing movement. I suck at waking up, and moving on my own is normally out of the question. And so I lay on my face, the top half of my body on the floor, the bottom half still in bed. It’s a start, I guess. May as well finish.

“Yo, Dan! Wake-” Danielle throws open the door, only to see me crawling to my closet to get some clothing. “…MOM! Go stock some food in the basement, the world is going to end today!” Footsteps can be heard from the stairs as Mom makes her way up here. Ignoring Danielle’s little comment, I drag some clothes out and wriggle my way into them, still on the floor.

“…Danielle? Call the police, someone has kidnapped my son and replaced him with a look-alike.” Not you too!

“I simply decided to wake myself up today, is that wrong?” Mom wipes her eyes, getting teary for some reason. I think that they’re all over-reacting, and it’s getting on my nerves!

“My son…he’s finally growing up!” Once on our way to school ten minutes later, Danielle puts in her usual snarky input, though that’s hardly a surprise. It’s just a bit…late.

“I’m still in shock. We’re all going to die today.”

“The ‘End of the world’ thing is old now. Kill it. Do you have my work?”

“It’s in your bag. I’d bet that everyone tried to do it to get out of that crappy class.”

“You must never underestimate idiots. Or laziness for that matter. You can always find a reason not to do something, for you always have ‘I don’t want to’ as an excuse.”

“Why’d you do your work now? Don’t tell me you’ve seen the error of your ways!?”

“Erm…no. It simply means that I can slack off later, when it’s warmer. This way, I don’t have to cram so hard during the summer, namely after Golden Week.”

“Or you could do your work and get into Class 0, where you belong, like a normal person. Did that ever cross you mind?”

“Nope. It still hasn’t. Not even an option.” I stretch, pulling a bagel out of my bag. “Ah, I can’t believe we’re at the bottom of the school. And now we’re gonna be stuck in one pathetic room for the rest of the year!”

“You’re kidding.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t listen to ANYTHING the teacher said yesterday?”

“Nope.”

“Well, let me explain. We actually CAN move up and down through the ranks using the Reflection System. The Reflection System is a series of tests that replace normal exams. They work like a virtual reality game of some sort, with you controlling a ‘Reflection’ of yourself or some other type of representative of your grades. By grades, they mean your prowess in a specific subject, not your actual grades. Mini-exams can be taken at any time to increase the power of your Reflection, so being in Class 9 isn’t THAT bad. We’re scheduled to go up against Class 8 today, so we need to make sure we get these papers turned in. Though it shouldn’t be an issue, they’re well-known for being excessively lazy.”

“Got it. So…how does this thing work?”

“They’ll probably explain later today. Anyway, the homework was actually a pre-test to recalculate our scores. I guess they want to give us a fighting chance, but we’ll see how that goes.” I nod as we arrive at school. Feeling lethargic, I drag myself to class, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

Quote: “Yo. How’s it going?” I flop backwards onto the floor, using my bag as a pillow of sorts. Rod looks down on me from his chair, suspicion in his eye.

“Don’t give me that. Did you prepare at all?”

“Prepare? For what?”

“Dammit, the exams! We’re up against Class 8 today, so we have a chance. I don’t want my grades to drop any lower than normal.”

“So, who did the assignment?”

“Everyone except for Mitsuko. She forgot.” As expected. She’s no good at memorizing stuff, something I happen to be pretty good at.

“S-Shut up! It was optional, wasn’t it?” I drop my packet onto the teacher’s desk along with Rod’s and Danielle’s.

“That’s only four. We’ve got five members. If everyone from Class 8 even gets a decent score, we’re screwed.” Mr. Wright wakes up, barely functioning.

“Right…exams. I’ll go get these graded, and your assessment will start in five minutes.” He feeds the papers into a machine, and turns back around. “Not that I care, but you should know the rules. You have the whole school day to use your Reflections to wipe out Class 8. If you win, you shall get two points, and all of your grades will improve by 10%. Otherwise, they will drop by 5%, and you will lose a point. This is because you are the weaker, and frankly, stupider class.” Hey! Don’t call us stupid! “You shall receive a glass bracelet that has all of the data from your Reflections programmed in it. They have strength based on your scores on these papers, and varies from subject to subject. Once it is killed, you will be forced to report to the cafeteria for emergency cleanup duties. Understood?” He hands out the bracelets, and I inspect mine.

“Got it.” Mitsuko pumps a fist, obviously forgetting about her crappy grade.

“Yup.” Rod gets on board easily. He sucks at Chemistry, so we’ll have to avoid that subject, is all.

“Hmph, easy!” Some guy I didn’t notice before scratched his head, winding his arm like he’s stretching. Where did this guy come from?

“Can I go to sleep?” What? Don’t judge me, I’m sleepy!

“Shut up, Dan. Yeah, we got it.” Danielle looks at the bracelet.

“In that case, let your assessment begi-” There’s a loud banging on the door, and two Class 8 students barge in. One is followed by a bat, and the other by a crocodile.

“Hmph. We challenge two of you to a skirmish!” Mr. Wright stands up, hitting a button on a remote he has in his coat. My sister and the new guy step forward, and my sister looks nervously at her bracelet.

“Approved. Please call out your Reflections.”

“…How do we do this again?” I poke at mine, looking for something to use. I accidentally hit a button, and a greenish light flashes. “Whoa! Okay, then. I found out how. Use that button on the left side! I’m moving ahead!” I know for a fact that Class 8 has six members, so we’re at a disadvantage with numbers. On scores, however, that might be a different story. Please let the rumors be true!

“Tch. Held up. Mitsuko!”

“On it! Let’s see what you look like! Arise, my Reflection!” A large burst of light akin to an explosion erupts from Mitsuko’s arm, nearly blinding the rest of us. Once the glare fades, we get a look at Mitsuko’s Reflection. It’s a…pissed-off looking lizard.

“Wow…” It fits her. A lot.

“Yeah, it’s so cool right?”

“It looks so…stupid. Anyway, reveal yourself!” I hit the button again, this time holding it long enough to get a reaction. There isn’t much of a flashy entrance, but once everything is said and done, my Reflection is…a very small anime character with a stick on his back. “What the hell? It’s so…small. Like a chibi.” It (he?) pokes its tongue out at me.

“Hey, don’t make light of my looks. I’m pretty strong, you know.” Mitsuko and the Class 8 students falter when the squeaky voice rises from my feet. “What’re you all lookin’ at? So, can I kick these guys’ butts now? I’m tired, and these people annoy me.” Now this is my type of guy!

“Yup! We’ll say the subject is…”

“History.” I swivel around to see another student standing with her hands on her hips.

“Okay, History, then.” The two Class 8 students laugh at Mitsuko’s pathetic score, but shut up once mine appears.

“So, you want to mess with Class 9, right? Let’s play. Charge!” My Reflection immediately goes toe-to-toe with the first two students, while Mitsuko struggles to hold off the other one.

“Hey, this girl is pretty weak. Tendou, is it? I guess YOU’LL be on clean-up duty after we stomp you guys!” Her Reflection, a raven, claws at Mitsuko’s Reflection, which is weakly spewing embers at it.

“Hang in there! I can take these two down in a few seconds!” My Reflection has no problems. He picks the first student’s Reflection, a small bear, and throws it into the other one, an elf. Who the hell has a freaking ELF? They both explode in a puff of blue smoke, and I turn my attention to the slaughter that is Mitsuko’s fight.

“Yo, go take a History test to refill your Reflection’s strength! I’ve got this one!”

“Thanks! I’ll pay you back!” She runs off as I scoff, pointing at my new adversary.

“Your turn. Oh, your score is quite high for a Class 8 student. I think it is about time to change subjects, no? Seeing as the teacher overseeing this battle has left.” I point over my shoulder at the teacher dragging the defeated students off to the cafeteria. “Well, isn’t this just convenient? Mr. Wright JUST arrived, and he specializes in math, not History.” Once approved, the student’s score drops from around 89 to about 10. “Hmph. I still have a 131. Finish this, I’m bored.” One punch from my Reflection sends the raven reeling, and it finally explodes in a plume of smoke and feathers after being thrown into a wall and slammed with an iron rod.

“Tch, Class 8 surrenders.”

“Not an issue, we already have your captain surrounded. And since he doesn’t want to surrender, it looks like-” Crash! A chair flies out of the classroom door, followed by a chair-sized stag beetle. A cocky-looking boy hops out of the room, smirking widely.

“Hah, that’s not all you need to beat me.” Rod! I rush over as Mr. Wright drags the defeated to the cafeteria.

“What happened to my sister?”

“She was jumped by three Class 8 students.”

“Three? But… Wait a second…”

“Yeah, I thought something was up. That ‘new guy’ was actually the Class 8 captain. He picked Health/PE, and Danielle didn’t stand a chance against three people.”

“I’ve got this. Yo, Reflection!” The little soldier pulls his rod from the wall and trots over.

“I got it. Kick his butt, right?”

“Yup, you got it.” My Reflection practically disappears, going toe-to-toe with the Class 8 captain’s Reflection, an armor-plated gorilla. After exchanging blows, my Reflection starts to force the opponent backwards. Hm. I have a 132 in Health, as does he, so skill wins here. Before I can call out any orders, Rod’s Reflection rams the captain’s from behind, and our two Reflections whittle down his strength until one well-placed hit from the stag beetle’s horns make the Reflection explode.

I lean backwards against a wall. “Hmph. That’s done with. We win.” My Reflection folds his arms, plainly gloating about the win.

“Sucker. You didn’t think you could win, did you?” My Reflection pulls his rod from the wall, leaning on it when a fist the size of a can of tuna knocks Rod’s Reflection into a wall. “Geez, you just don’t give up, do you?”

I sigh. “I’m sure he won’t. Let’s get this over with; Ms. Heyward is coming. I wonder, just how good are you at Literature, fool?” I smirk, stepping forward as Ms. Heyward peeks around the corner. “Excuse me, Ms. Heyward? We need a Subject Overseer for our exams.” She nods, crossing her arms across her chest. Apparently, she was hoping not to be called.

“Yeah, I got it. Approved. Subject: Literature. Field Distance: 25 Meters. Beginning activation process.” The classroom becomes a skewed mess, and my Reflection’s rod turns into a lance. Literature is my strong suit, whether it be reading it or writing it, it’s always been something I’m good at. As a result, my score is 246, compared to the Class 8 captain’s 20.

“So, do you want to give up yet?”

“I’ve seen people win with low scores. Don’t underestimate me.” My Reflection decides to add his input.

“Sure, but you just suck, my very stupid friend. Frankly, I feel bad for Class 8. You’re all about to go down the crapper.” He grins, then attacks with a ferocity and speed that I figured was only possible in video games. Not saying that the whole “Reflection System” idea doesn’t seem like one. In a few sparse seconds, it’s over. The Class 8 captain’s Reflection actually explodes this time, ending the fight.

“That was too easy.” I sit down, and my Reflection burst into a cloud of mist with a salute. “Hopefully, this means our grades won’t suck for long.” I poke my head out into the hall, noting that Class 0 was finishing off Class 3. Three students were jumping the Class 3 captain, marked by his “Class 3 Captain/Rep” nametag, and within a minute, he was done for. One of the Class 0 students leaned against the wall near Class 8’s room.

“It seems you guys won. How did THAT happen?”

“We had a good plan, that’s all.”

“That is a lie. You didn’t do as well as you should have on the entrance exams, did you? Your scores say you should be in Class 1, at the very least. So, how’d you end up in Class 9?”

“Didn’t do the test. Anyway, it seems like you made short work of Class 3. Your exams didn’t start until about an hour ago. Doesn’t seem like it, does it?”

“Nah. Believe it or not, we took an hour to get out of our own room. We were pinned pretty bad. Anyway, school’s almost over for us. You can leave right after finishing exams, but I hear your sister’s been trapped in KIA Detention. Pretty sneaky of Class 8, and I’m sure that showing up for someone else’s roll call is against exam rules. Nice win. Hmph, make sure you don’t flunk out until December 12th.”

“Why?”

“Our exams is a match against Class 9 on that day. That is all. See you later.”

“Yeah…” I watch as this new guy walks away, off to get his stuff and leave. “What was THAT about? Ah, well. Yo, teach!” Mr. Wright turns from the distressed students toiling in the halls to clean the lockers.

“Yes? Please, make this quick.”

“How long does this detention last?”

“They’ve got another hour unless they’re class passed their exams, which results in immediate release. We don’t want to discredit sacrifices made to pass, so this rule was put into place.”

“Well, Class 9 DID just finish beating down Class 8, so I’d think that Danielle can leave, no?”

“I’d need a teacher to confirm this. I find it hard to believe that the lowly Class 9 actually beat someone. Especially with this girl’s low Health score.” Maybe Danielle tried to do it on her own? That’s the only logical explanation, she’s always been trying to improve her grades, one subject at a time, a stark contrast to me, someone who couldn’t care less. At all.

“Well, Ms. Heyward was supposed to send you-” An armored pigeon flashes by my face, landing on a door handle. In its beak… There’s something, an envelope, dangling by a string. It slices the string and envelope, leaving a letter at Mr. Wright’s feet. “Read it.”

“I don’t need to. Here’s Heyward’s idiot son now. Take your classmates and leave; you’ve passed your first exams.” The Class 8 captain dejectedly picks up a cloth and joins his classmates in washing the walls.

“Danielle, let’s go home.”

“Hey! I’m here too, you know. I DID bail Rod out of a bad situation to get him into that room.”

“Mitsuko, you’re here? Okay, then, come on. Rod already left, and we go in the same direction to get home, so we might as well walk home together.”

“May as well. Someone has to keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t do something stupid, and that might as well be me.” Danielle mutters.

“Come on, you two.” The whole way down the block, I don’t hear anything Mitsuko and Danielle say. I’m way too busy thinking to. What have I gotten into? This school, it isn’t much different than others besides the Reflection System, so why am I so out of sorts?

“What are you thinking about?” Mitsuko looks at my face, reading it pretty well.

“Hm? Nothing.” I look at the campus, thinking about why I felt so uneasy. “Reflection System, eh? Class 0 has the upper hand here…”

“Oh, THAT. Well, it can’t be that bad. As long as we keep our heads up and eyes open, we can win. Besides, that’s months from now. It’s only the second day now, remember? Don’t feel bad.” Mitsuko flips a lopsided grin, heading across the street. I’m about to ask why when I notice that we’re on our block. Wait… Huh? I know Mitsuko had moved, but…across the street? She waves, and we both wave back, me being a little half-hearted about it. It’s not even ten yet, so I kick back and relax once inside.

“What are you two doing back?” Mom drags herself out of the kitchen, where she had obviously just been asleep. There was a page from the newspaper stuck to her head, too.

“Exams. Once we finish we can leave.” Mom looks at me suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow.

“And? How did you do?”

“Well, we passed. For once.”

“Oh! I forgot that you kids use the Reflection System for tests now! I was JUST setting up a database so you can use them here too, for studying purposes, of course. So? Who’d you go against?” Wait, rewind! She KNEW? Well, why didn’t she tell us? Danielle seems to share my sentiment.

“Forget about that, why did you know and not tell us about it? And how did you find out?”

“Oh, I’ve known since you two were born. Sorry for not telling you, I thought it would be a nice surprise. And I wanted to see something… Oh, never mind. It’s nothing.” Danielle and I look at each other, dumbfounded.

“Okay, so forgetting about that, I’m going to bed.” My head hurt beyond belief, and besides, there are still some things I needed to think about. I tromp upstairs, plopping myself face-first into my bed. I doze off immediately. I’ll think later, I’m tired.