(Ab)Normal Days | Shion | Eat the Evidence
Shion Tsuzuki really wanted to believe that she had inherent access to certain rights.
For example, as a member of the upper classes, it was her right to eat gold. It didn’t taste like anything, and on some level, she knew it was a waste of perfectly good precious metals, but it was right there, covering numerous incredibly expensive desserts and the like that she had encountered over her time in a layer of fine edible filigree, and it was terribly pricey and difficult for all but those from her class bracket to afford to eat with impunity, and therefore, it was her right to eat gold.
Or for another example, as an artistic and independent soul who had transcended both the need for conformity and that little thing called gender, it was her right to dress however she pleased, and ergo, if she wanted to go about dressed like a nineteenth century British nobleman (or, in today’s case, in a cream-colored dress shirt, dark khakis, a bowtie and suspenders), she was damn well going to, and nobody had the right to say anything about her brand of personal expression.
And as someone who had things she would rather keep to herself, it was her right to not have those things out in the open ever.
With that in mind, it was only natural that the motive of this week (after six days - had the bear… bears been asleep at the wheel or too busy catching up with each other or what) sent ice lancing through Shion’s gut and had the thereminist visibly stiffening and blanching slightly, despite her attempts to remain neutral. Not since the fog motive had she had a reaction like this, and even then, that one had taken a while to set in. Not so with this one. She knew what was on that card, she knew how people… most people would take it, she knew what she stood to lose should that information get out, oh gods, did she know…
“I know everything about you.” That was what the bear… her bear had said, and while Shion could have laughed it off as a bluff way back when, after Ri’s death, and… and everything else, it was an impossibility.
He knew. He wasn’t supposed to, no one was, with how tightly she kept that locked up, but he… they knew. And if someone didn’t act soon everyone would… even if she kept her card secret (as she planned to)… everyone would surely… and after now, when there was a chance for her to redeem herself, they would all… they would all… oh gods, Shion, stop shaking, it isn’t as if-
In came an errant gust of wind, blowing the cards out of the bear’s hand.
There went the cards, scattered all over the ground.
And the bear was… the bear was telling them to…
Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god-
It was a testament to Shion’s rigorous social self-conditioning that she didn’t break out screaming right there. No, the thereminist just screamed internally as she watched, seemingly frozen in place and bluish-violet eyes wide with fear, as her classmates dove for the scattered cards, cards she couldn’t tell apart and one of them was hers and who the fuck cared about the blacked-out names, everyone with half a mind would take one look at hers and see right through her and then they’d…
It wasn’t fair. She’d had an opening, she could have started over, and now someone was… someone would know that… and then everyone would know that… and if it was one of the large number of vermin infesting her class, then it might have been out in the air long before those few days were up-
-but, but, Shion sharply reminded herself, there was still hope! Sure, maybe the cards were a bit thin on the ground now, with how much time she’d spent frozen on the spot, but there was still a chance-
Shion dove for one of the cards, firing off a mental prayer to the gods to let her grab her own as she went.
The gods did not deliver, as she found on seconds later, kneeling on the ground holding a card that was most definitely not hers (which contained information she was better off not knowing) with hands that could not stop shaking, no matter how hard she willed them otherwise.
“N-no… that’s… why does it have to be like this?”
Shion knew the answer to that one full well. She just wasn’t going to verbalize it, let alone admit it to herself for the time being.
It took a few moments for the thereminist to realize that the meeting had been called off and that people were leaving en masse while she was… she was here on the floor with something she didn’t want to look at, let alone think about, not only because of what was on it but because of what it represented. Because of what that could mean for her. Because of what it would mean unless someone… unless… and even then…
(With her luck, it really was one of the vermin with that card. But gods, please don’t let her dwell on that for too long…)
The answer was clear in Shion’s mind - she had to get rid of it, if only to give herself slightly more peace of mind. And she knew exactly how she would at that.
Shion looked shiftily around at those still in the area, drew a shaky breath, and darted off towards the Shopping District, card in hand, stopping behind the movie theater, gazing steadily at the card, crumpling it up, and… popping it in her mouth and doing her level best to chew it up to a point where she could easily swallow it.
Well, it was the only guaranteed way to get rid of it, undignified as it was, she told herself, mentally praying that no one else in the class was about to come across her attempting to eat a mouthful of printed cardboard. She’d been through enough in the space of a few minutes, and she’d have enough to think about in these next few days, she didn’t need that on top of everything else.
