FUNCTION DISORDER :: VOLUME ONE

6

At 5:35, even earlier than usual, Irina sat up in a right angle in her bed, grabbed her school bag of dirty white nylon and began painstakingly crawling out of her home, deliberating on every step to avoid making too much noise, walls like lava, the non-squeaky patches on the rigid floor well-memorised. She slipped out the door and began on her way, barely bothered by the freezing wind or the pre-dawn darkness. What bothered her was-

"Good morning, hun. Where are you going?"

Irina spun around and grimaced as Eija rolled up to the doorway in her magic-operated wheelchair. She was in the slow process of getting her body restored, but in the meantime, at least she had magic to drive herself around. A well-groomed ferret sat on her shoulder. Magic medicine promised to cure everything, but it wasn't quite there yet.

"i-I'm just going to school! I thought it would be good to get an early start, exams are coming up after all!", Irina responded, giving a well-rehearsed smile as sweet as stevia.

"Have you had breakfast?", Eija asked, tilting her head, eyebrows sharp and cold.

"Yeah, of course, mom!", Irina called out, backing off.

"What did you have?", pressed Eija.

"I, umm...", came the reply.

"You're lying to me‼ Why are you always fucking lying to me! All you ever do is try to hurt me!", Eija yelled, beginning to weep histrionically.

Irina blinked, tensed up her entire body and cringed, lip trembling.

"Why are you like this!?", Eija begged, voice rising into a shrill screech, like a dying cat. "I guess I'm not worthy of any kind of respect..."

"s-Sorry mom!", Irina whimpered.

"You haven't even fed ANY of the ferrets either! I guess you want poor Thomas Peroni to DIEE??". In response to the intense amplitude of Eija's tantrum, the innocent mustelid jumped off her wheelchair and slithered out of the wintry outside air and into his shiny new cardboard playhouse, sleek healthy fur soon disappearing out of sight as he curled up within.

Irina hung her head and slowly walked back inside. "I'm so sorry! This won't happen again, i-I'll remember tomorrow, I promise!", she gasped.

"Yeah whatever, that's what you said last time.", Eija responded, glaring at Irina with a deep frown permanently etched into her droopy face.

You know, maybe Kal's right. I don't wanna be here. Imagine getting out of here. I wanna see the Lower City before I die.

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Damnit! Why am I so dumb all the time! I should have pushed Usko to the side and actually fucking studied!

His phone confirmed it; He received a grade of H on the Magical Arts test from earlier in the week. I guess maaaybe I could make up for this on the exam? I mean it's mathematically possible. If there's a 10% weight on this and a 40% weight on that, then... fuckkkk. This is going to be hard.

Kaleva glowered through his little octagon window to find the world annoyingly bright already.

"Goood morning Kaleva sweetie‼", called Hilja's sweet siren song.

Kaleva stumbled out into the dining room and before he knew it he was plonked on his usual chair on the tail end of the table, beholding sad pancakes stacked in front of him.

Knowing what to do to avoid scrutiny, he stuck a gleaming aluminium fork into the topmost pancake's moist, sorrowful surface, before dragging the entire thing onto his plate. He gazed around the undying wooden table, an unfortunate constant in his world, for some kind of topping that would make this soggy mess palatable.