Kingdom Hearts: Dream Team

Chapter 17: The Secret Life of Shiki 💜

"Foresight!" All of the likely moves our opponents would make were revealed to me. "Got it!" I exclaimed. "Beat, Rhyme, go wide and get the Heartless on the far side. Neku, you and Shiki take care of the ones on the rooftops. I'll handle the ones on the ground. Move it, go!"

Saturday; Heartless had attacked the outskirts of town. As a custom, whenever there is a massive Heartless attack, I use my gift to help come up with a good battle strategy. I just hoped my plan would go exactly right. "Just stick to my plan," I instructed. When I was done shouting orders and I destroyed my designated foes, I watched how the rest of my plan played out.

Beat and Rhyme had split in opposite directions, taking out Heartless simultaneously and meeting in the middle point. Seeing the two of them coordinating their attacks pleased me. Meanwhile, Neku and Shiki were fighting the ones on the rooftops. They seemed to fight separately, choosing to each take out a different batch of Heartless. Yet, the two of them had a lot of sync between them, which amazed me.

We returned to my house afterwards. My friends went to Dream Team HQ, while I remained in the main house. A sharp knock on the door made me jump. When I opened the door, Cyrena was outside. Still, she wore her black coat with her hood drawn. "Hello, neighbor," she said with a friendly tone. I knew she was faking it. I asked her, "What do you want?" Even though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was starring right at me. "I just wanna talk," she said.

Tense, I walked outside to meet her. Even though I should've been relaxed, all of my warning bells were on full blast. Something about her wasn't right and I knew it. "You don't trust me," she suddenly said. "I understand." Curious, I asked her who she really was. "I'm your neighbor. I live at the house at the end of the street."

When I started to ask her why she always keeps her hood up, she told me. "I have this horrible... scar," she hesitantly said. "I'm really embarrassed by it." Before I could ask her any more questions, she turned to me and said she had to go. Rushing, Cyrena was out of sight within moments. I still didn't trust her.

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Monday went really well. When lunch came, I was surprised to not see Shayla at my locker, ready to pound me. Her suspension was long over after all. Instead, her mean friends were by my locker. "Hey, Freak," they said. Regardless of what they said, I had to maintain my composure. "Shayla's back," they pressed on, "and she's really mad at you." I turned to look at them and sneered. "I know that."

Shiki suddenly turned a corner. "Hey, Aislynn," she said, "Who are your friends?" My assailants turned to look at Shiki. "Seriously," one said, "Why would we want to be friends with... that?!" Oh no, I thought, did they just call me a thing? "My name is Aislynn," I insisted to the girls, " and I'm a she!" Both of them started laughing. "Doesn't matter, Freak. You'll be dead by the end of the week." I shrugged off the threat, knowing that wasn't gonna happen.

At lunch, I asked Shiki how the progress on the homecoming outfits was going. She started acting weird when I asked her, saying that she needed more time. For the rest of the day, she seemed rather down. Training that evening was also rough for her and I went to bed that night hoping Shiki would be back to her usual self in the morning. Of course, I was wrong.

For the next two days, Shiki hardly spoke to any of us. The only time she talked to me was when I wore my glasses and she insisted I take them off. Why does she not want me to wear my glasses. I need them. Worse yet, she didn't put her best foot forward with training on Tuesday. Wednesday after school, Shiki refused to even participate in the training. When everyone asked what the problem was, I said that I wasn't sure... but I would find out.

As I walked into Shiki's room I couldn't believe what I saw. The walls were a light pink with floral designs painted on. The dresser and mirror were white and wood-grain, similar to the ones in my room. The room reminded me so much of my bedroom, except the color scheme for the bed sheets and walls were reversed. On the dresser, I saw the designs I had given Shiki to work with. In one corner of the room, I saw a sewing machine perched on a desk and various sewing supplies around it.

Shiki was sitting on the bed, staring at her phone. "Hey, Aislynn," she said as I walked towards her. That was the moment when the questions flooded out of me. "What's wrong? Have you even started on the homecoming outfits?" I stopped when I looked at her phone. Shiki was looking at a picture of herself and a girl I didn't recognize; a girl with short brown hair just like mine, but straighter. "Who is that," I asked her. Shiki locked eyes with me for the brief moment, then back at the picture. "That's me," she said, "and my best friend, Eri."

"Why are you upset," I asked her. Taking my place next to her, I prepared to listen to what Shiki had to say. "I was never pretty," she started, "or smart. Eri was both of those things. I hated myself and I wanted to be her." Confusion clouded my judgement. How did this tie into why she was upset? "Alright," Shiki picked up. "The truth is... I don't actually look like this."

Shiki explained that the way she looks now was "borrowed" from her best friend, Eri. The other girl in the picture was Shiki as she really is: a girl who looks surprisingly similar to myself. In the photo, she was wearing a pair of glasses similar in style to the ones I have. This explained why Shiki hated it when I wore my glasses: Because I reminded her too much of herself. Apparently, Shiki had looked the way she does now ever since she started the Reaper's Game.

"When I saw myself, I was happy. I'd finally gotten my wish to be someone else and I got into it, too. I tried to act like Eri, but I'm not her." Putting my hand on her shoulder, I attempted to comfort her. Unlike my other two "therapy sessions", I knew exactly what to say. I started my lecture as I stood.

"I have my own Eri," I explained to my friend. "Her name is Kaylee." Me and Kaylee have been best friends ever since we were very little. Even though we both attended different schools, we managed to maintain a close relationship. We swapped clothes, we had sleepovers, we were even members of the same girl scout troop before it disbanded. Despite this, the two of us couldn't have been more different.

"Like you, Shiki, I hated the person I used to be." When I was little, my emotions would switch on a dime. I constantly needed to be the center of attention, my grades were horrible, and any number of things would enrage me. "Kaylee always remained level-headed when it came to my moods. She was the only person my age who stood firm when everyone else turned and ran. She's amazing."

Kaylee is everything I'm not. She's blonde, she was a cheerleader at one point, and she can talk to people with no major difficulties. Yep, she was something. "But I was never jealous of her," I told Shiki. "I knew there were things about me that she wished she had." Shiki changed position, a clear indicator that she was listening. "Like what?"

"She was envious of my dark hair," I stated, recalling all of the fond memories of Kaylee dying her hair dark brown to match mine. "Plus, I sing a little." A shocked expression appeared on Shiki's face. "You sing?!" I nodded. It's true, I am an okay singer. "My point is that Eri is probably envious of you in some areas." Shiki grabbed Mr. Mew from where she had placed him and held him in her arms. "I don't wanna go back," she stated. "Something happened between me and Eri."

Shiki proceeded to tell me that before she had lost her life, she had told Eri about her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Eri had stepped on that dream, saying that Shiki wasn't well suited for the job. "That's awful," I said. "I've said things like that to Kaylee before, but only about small stuff." It's true. In the past, I have said things to Kaylee that potentially jeopardized our friendship, but I took them back almost immediately. "Besides," I added, "You'd make a great fashion designer."

A sparkle appeared in her eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time. "You really think so?" I nodded. "You pay attention to all those little details that most people overlook." An idea struck me. "Ya know what?" I swept all of my design sketches off the dresser and threw them into the trashcan. "Forget these, Shiki. Try designing the homecoming outfits from scratch."

"But what about Eri," Shiki reminded me. I put my hand on her shoulder. "She probably feels really bad about what she said to you," I assured her. "You'll never know until you finish the Reaper's Game, but you can't do that until you return to Shibuya. Make the desire to know your resolve to keep going. I have faith in you." Shiki smiled up at me.

"Thanks, Aislynn. I'll try!"