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When Hao-sama first came for her, he had a rip in his cloak. She didn't know why she had noticed that of all details when dead eyes were all she presented to the world. But she noticed it, and it bothered her.
It wasn't until much later that she made the connection. If she had to pinpoint the exact time, she'd have to say that it was when she first saw Lyserg in America. It was then that she thought, "Ah, so that's what Hao-sama must have been doing before he came for me."
He hadn't come for her specifically. He had come to England for Lyserg. She was just what was conveniently "on the way."
Nevertheless, he as her savior had appeared before her in a bout of flames when no one else had bothered. He had worn that same deceitfully benign smile that he presented to everyone, friends and foes alike. She didn't recall ever seeing a genuine smile on his face.
"Hao-sama, where are you taking me?" She had asked, timid before this person who looked no older than her, yet was in fact so much older and so much more experienced than she. She couldn't even imagine the depths of his knowledge and power.
His head turned slightly, his eyes hidden in his smile.
"Ah, you'll know when we get there."
So she followed blindly without another word, climbing onto the back of a flaming, gigantic spirit that she later came to know as the Spirit of Fire. She tried clinging to the spirit, afraid that she'd fall off, but there wasn't anything to cling to. As the spirit took off, she felt herself slipping, scrambling to stay on. All the while, Hao-sama just sat there, his arms folded, his legs crossed, exuding so much confidence that she quickly straightened up, glancing down hesitantly towards the Earth which was so, so far away. But she wasn't afraid. She gingerly dangled her legs over the edge, giggling as she did so. It might have been from nervousness. It might have been from excitement.
Did it matter?
For once, she felt liberated.
That night, she was introduced to two girls who would become her close companions. Kanna and Mari. They formed a strange bond, one that wasn't based on their trust of each other, but rather on their loyalty to the one who had saved them from the bottomless pits that were their lives.
She had a hard time accepting that they were outcasts of society just like her.
Kanna was tall, much taller than she could ever be. Kanna towered over her with long flowing hair that was the envy of any girl. She had one cigarette to her mouth, the smoke curling up around her. Kanna was someone you'd call "pretty" or maybe even "beautiful."
Mari, on the other hand, was the opposite. She was petite. She was blonde. She spoke in an endearing way. When Macchi first saw her, Mari was clutching a doll to herself tightly. Anyone's heart would have melted at that sight. If Kanna was "pretty," Mari was "cute."
Where did that leave her? Of course, she had been dwindling too much on appearances, but at that time, it wasn't like she knew them yet. She felt inadequate, like she didn't belong, even though all of them were outcasts.
The three of them stood there staring at each other. Hao-sama had raised an eyebrow at their silence. Unable to stand the awkwardness, she made the first move. If she couldn't be pretty, if she couldn't be cute, at least she could be herself, and she'd be damned if she couldn't at least break the awkward silence.
"I'm Macchi. And you two are?" She had said, loudly and clearly, proud and tall. Well, not as tall as Kanna had been standing, but good enough, considering her height.
When the blonde girl responded, however, Macchi's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Che lingua state parlando?"
And when the tall girl responded, Macchi's jaws dropped.
"Ich verstehe nicht!"
Macchi smacked her head against the wall before pointing an accusatory finger at Hao-sama. The other two girls had their lips pursed.
"They don't speak English!" complained Macchi. "How are we supposed to talk to each other then? Point like barbarians?"
"Like what you're doing right now?" retorted Hao, amused at their demise.
She retracted her finger hastily.
"Sorry...but still, what are we supposed to do?"
Hao-sama shrugged before addressing each of them in their own language.
"I want all of you to learn a common language. What better than Japanese?"
And so began their days together. They didn't spend them plotting on how to take over the world or how to exterminate all the humans or even how to gain more power. They spent those early days...learning Japanese.
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omake:
"Hao-sama, can you please tell Mari that I'm going to the bathroom?"
"Hao-sama, can you tell Macchi that her pumpkin is stealing my cigarettes and that she better make him return them?"
"Hao-sama, Mari's braids have come untied. Kanna is good at tying them. Can Hao-sama ask Kanna for Mari?"
"Hao-sama-"
"Spirit of Fire, roast them."
"Hao-sama!" wailed three voices at once.