Harris Institute for Gifted Students by Pineapple | Content Warnings
Combat was exhausting. And fights were quick. Not like they were in the movies. Not like how they felt. Sofia knew before, but she was learning now.
She wasn’t sure how she fit into a battle when Sumire and Sugi worked so well together. After their few weeks of practice, she could see the moments when Sumire had Ms. Hera pinned, when she seemed to be waiting for Sugi to attack. Sofia could strike then, throwing all her power at Ms. Hera, but she wasn’t nearly as effective as Sugi.
Together with Ms. Fatima, Ms. Hera and Sofia had discovered that using hand movements made her telekinesis stronger. She was learning tutting dance moves now, and it was helping her narrow the world down to the energy she was creating. It took time. It was a work in progress. It was tiring.
So sometimes Ms. Hera relegated Sofia to watching towards the end of the class block.
It wasn’t long after this new situation that Ms. Fatima happened to be walking by. She stopped next to where Sofia was sitting on the grass.
“Sofia, what are you doing here on the sidelines?” she asked.
Sofia scrambled to her feet.
“Is Hera not teaching you well?” she asked, raising a perfectly shaped brow.
“No, Ms. Hera is fine,” Sofia answered with a small laugh. “I’m taking a rest while she works with Sumire and Sugi. They can go longer than I can, so…”
Ms. Fatima hummed, looking across the field.
When Ms. Hera noticed her, she came out of her stance and signaled to the twins to stop fighting for a second. She took long, purposeful strides over to Sofia and Ms. Fatima, putting a hand on her hip. “Come to check on your student?”
Ms. Fatima smirked crookedly. “And you just have her sitting on the ground over here…”
Ms. Hera shrugged. “She’s doing good,” she said. “We need to work on her endurance for sure. The tutting is working well.”
Ms. Fatima nodded along.
Ms. Hera ran a hand through her sweaty hair. “I’m not sure why they assigned her to me, honestly. I wish I could do better for her. Maybe even Polka would’ve been better…”
“No,” Ms. Fatima said. “I specifically requested you.”
Both Sofia and Ms. Hera looked at Ms. Fatima in surprise.
Ms. Fatima adjusted the bag on her shoulder and crossed her arms. “Transformation isn’t just… what you do to yourself,” she explained. “It’s also what you can do to others.”
Ms. Hera’s face was hardening, the same imperceptible way her powers made her skin more durable, in some invisible but obvious way.
Ms. Fatima leaned towards Ms. Hera, smiling, like she was sharing a secret. “Entiendes?”
“I think so,” Ms. Hera said, nodding once to herself.
Sofia didn’t understand, but Ms. Hera was waving her back to the battlefield with the twins, who were chattering together. When Sofia turned back to look at Ms. Fatima, she was walking towards the old training building. Everyone said it wasn’t used anymore. Nothing should have been there except maybe some extra training equipment.
“Sof!” Ms. Hera called.
Sofia spun back around. “Yes?”
“Get your head in the game,” she said. “This time… Instead of trying to hurt me, I want you on full support. Do what you can to help the twins.”
The air vibrated as Ms. Hera fortified herself, as the twins transformed. Sumire was in her motosuit, fully armored up in padded leather and a helmet. Sugi was in his magical girl outfit, as always.
Sugi was flashy. He was acrobatic and imaginative, everything he wanted appearing and doing as he willed it in a flash of light and color. He was an aerial fighter, attacking Ms. Hera from above with magic or bouncing off of her in a feat of physicality. Sugi leapt, jumping over everyone with a burst of white from his boots. He fired a beam—a prism of color gathered and condensed into the palms of his hands—shooting it down at Ms. Hera. It blew him back, higher into the air.
As he fell to earth, Sumire was on the offensive. She was fast, and she excelled in hand-to-hand combat. Sofia wasn’t sure if she should try to help Sugi land? If she should hold Ms. Hera still so Sumire could get in a few solid hits of her own?
Ms. Hera was grappling with Sumire, Ms. Hera’s forearms still steaming from blocking Sugi’s attack. Sumire was matching her fist-to-fist and kick-to-kick, holding her own against a very capable hero.
When Ms. Hera caught Sumire’s wrist, Sofia saw her opening.
She focused quickly on the placement of her arms, the movement of her fingers. Box. Pyramid. No time—now. Sofia put her palm forward and imagined Ms. Hera as a statue. Frozen. She wouldn’t move.
Sumire paused when Ms. Hera stopped fighting. She glanced over at Sugi, still airborne. Her gaze fell to Sofia.
There was curiosity there. A rush of panic. A chance.
Sofia’s concentration wavered as Sumire’s feelings flooded into her.
Ms. Hera regained the upper hand. She swung a hook with a sickening crunch as something broke, and, with the hold she had on Sumire’s arms, spun and threw her across the field.
The moment seemed to stretch on forever.
As she flew, the pieces of broken helmet fell away. Her hair caught in the wind around her face. The padded suit disappeared, and she was left in the navy blue pleated skirt and matching blazer of the school’s uniform.
Sugi shouted in Japanese, still in his own descent. He was too far from her, and now Sumire was unprotected in the fall.
Sofia spun quickly, focusing on Sumire. Focusing on keeping her floating. Sumire slowed, but… she was heavy. Heavier than anything Sofia had ever tried to move before.
Ms. Hera looked between them, almost nearly panicked. She started to run, to catch her student before she would hit the ground.
In a flash of pink and iridescence, Sugi was there. There were wings on his back—butterfly wings—and he was catching his sister in a princess carry, gently landing them both. Sumire was looking at him with wide, frantic eyes.
As he touched the ground, the wings faded and Sugi’s transformation fell away like water. Ms. Hera and Sofia reached them as Sumire was standing herself up.
“You okay?” Ms. Hera asked.
Sumire nodded.
“I went too hard. I’m sorry,” she said. “Sumire, you need to go to the clinic before you go back to your dorm.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ms. Hera turned to Sugi. “What was that?”
Sugi shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve never flown like that before.”
He scratched the back of his head. “I know.”
Ms. Hera pressed her lips into a thin line. “Good job today,” she said stiffly. “Go get checked out. Get some rest. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
They all said quiet goodbyes, and Ms. Hera left without any other fanfare. It was Sugi who put on a bright smile. “Let’s go,” he said. “Coming, Sofie?”
Sofia nodded dully, feeling like she might get whiplash from the change in mood. But she wanted to make sure Sumire was alright, so she followed the twins to the infirmary. Sugi tried to fill the quiet with chatter about the newest music artist Sofia had never heard of, but it was awkward. She felt out of place despite being invited.
Melissa greeted them cheerfully and, after getting the gist of the situation from Sugi, had Sumire sit down on one of the little cots. She did an examination and then went to go get a potion.
Sugi sat down on the stool next to her bed, spinning 45 degrees one way and then 45 degrees the other. Back and forth, back and forth. Looking anywhere except his sister. “I never noticed that they had raw bulbs here,” he said idly. “Wouldn’t covered lighting be nicer?”
Sumire rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, you know,” she said, putting a hand on Sugi’s. “It’s just sparring.”
He slowed his rotations until he stopped. “Ms. Hera said before I don’t take things seriously,” he said. “Mom and you, too.”
The silence seemed to stretch on forever, sticky, like the air in summer.
“If I was serious, maybe you wouldn’t be in danger. Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry that you might die because I was careless.”
Sumire withdrew her hand. “You would be fine without me,” she said. Her eyes flicked briefly to Sofia, on the fringes of the bay she was in. “We train so you won’t need me.”
“I don’t want to be fine.”
Sumire looked down at her own hands in her lap. “You have baseball practice with Vanessa tonight. You should go get ready.”
“I don’t want to be without you,” he said, with more conviction.
Sumire smiled gently. Apologetically at Sofia. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Go. I’ll come watch when I’m done here. Sofie will watch me, won’t you?”
It caught Sofia off guard. Both twins turned to look at her.
“I—yeah. Of course I will.”
Sugi deflated like a sad balloon. “Text me when you’re done, okay?”
Sumire nodded.
And then Sugi left. Sumire watched him leave, the tension bleeding from her with every step he took. When he was out of sight, she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.
“You don’t actually have to stay,” Sumire said.
“I told your brother…”
Sumire cracked open an eye. She looked severe now. Harsh. “I know he’s hard to lie to, but I only said that so he’d not worry. I’m fine. You can go.”
“I don’t mind,” Sofia said.
“I’m really not hurt badly,” she said. “When she broke my helmet… it was more surprising than painful.”
“Surprising enough to completely undo your transformation?”
Sumire shifted on the bed, her eyes sliding closed again. “Surprising enough for Sugi to figure out a way to fly,” she said. Instead of answering the proposed question, Sofia noticed. “It was cool to see. I wonder if he’ll be able to do it again next time.”
“Why wouldn’t he be able to? I thought his powers were whatever he could imagine.”
“A bit like that. He sometimes gets held back by logic even if he tries not to.” Sumire sat up when she heard Melissa coming back. She downed the potion given to her without complaint and let Melissa do her follow-up. When she was released, she walked back to her dorm and let Sofia follow.
The next day during class, Ms. Hera had the three working separately. Sugi spent the time meditating on his new power, Sofia did telekinesis drills, and Sumire sparred with Ms. Hera. Ms. Hera even kept Sugi after class to work on the flying technique. He asked Sofia to apologize to Vanessa about it.
Vanessa, surprisingly, didn’t seem too put out. “Sug told me his sister played outfield when they lived in Japan,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I bet she can cover second for him.”
And, when they got downstairs and asked, Sumire said sure.
Mickey was playing, too. Vanessa put her at third base. Ben was at his usual position in first, and Greyson was batting. Vanessa was, of course, as always, pitching. She’d been looking up baseball things on her phone before they came down, but Sofia had barely gotten a peek at it over Vanessa’s shoulders before Vanessa told her to stop being a snoop.
“Be nice if we had a full team, ever,” Greyson quipped.
Vanessa stuck her tongue out and threw the ball.
He hit it head on. Next to Sofia, Samuel whistled. Their eyes followed the ball’s arc high into the sky. A home run in the making.
“Damn it, Greyson!” Vanessa yelled, stomping her foot. “Outfield? Already? I’m—”
There was a thud as Sumire landed, ball in hand.
Everyone stared at her.
“Did you just—?” Greyson stammered.
She shrugged, jogging lightly back to her base.
Ben met her halfway, running to hug her and spin her around. “That was crazy!” He laughed, setting her down. “You should join the team for real!”
Sumire smiled, good-natured. She tossed the ball back to Vanessa, who caught it easily. She had her thinking face on.
“No, I’m serious,” Ben said, turning to look at Vanessa for confirmation.
“I mean,” she started, tossing the ball into her mitt repeatedly, chewing on her cheek. “It’s not like we’ve got a great shortstop.”
“Hey,” Greyson said indignantly, pouting.
Sumire wrenched the glove off. “I think I might have sprained my ankle when I landed though,” she said, laughing lightly.
“What?” Mickey shouted from across the diamond. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Good. Just…” Sumire fidgeted under the attention of everyone. “Probably shouldn’t keep running around on it. Sugi will be back tomorrow. I’ll go get my ankle checked out now. Thanks for letting me play today. It was fun.”
And she fled, like a scared animal. Like she’d withdrawn into herself the day before.
Vanessa sighed, saying something to Greyson and Ben. Sofia didn’t stick around to find out what the plan was. She jumped up and followed Sumire.
“Hey,” she yelled after her. “What was that?”
Suddenly, Sumire developed a (very bad) (fake) limp. She put on her best and brightest smile, so Sofia instantly knew she was lying. “What are you talking about?”
“Girl,” she said.
Sumire sighed, her resting icy exterior returning. “What.”
“Be real.”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Sumire said.
“I absolutely would not understand why you’re being like this,” Sofia agreed. “What, you’re afraid of people seeing you?”
“No,” she said, and with such conviction that Sofia believed her. Then she said, “but they need to see my brother.”
Sumire must have seen something in Sofia’s face because she scratched the back of her head.
“He was born first,” she said, her fingers tangling in her hair. “First born son. He’s… the world to me. To my family. I want him to succeed.”
Sofia screwed her face up. “Do you think that means you can’t?”
Sumire leveled Sofia with a blank stare. “I think it means that if he needs somebody to stand on, I will be that person.”
“So you’re gonna just lie down and let him do that?”
“It’s my duty,” Sumire said, tilting her head. She couldn’t see the anger bubbling up in Sofia, couldn’t see what was wrong with wanting the best for her brother.
Similarly, Sofia didn’t know what Sumire was talking about. Not when Sumire was making herself small for a man. Not when Sumire shined so bright on her own, and certainly not when Sumire was her own person.
Sumire sighed, giving up. “I knew you wouldn’t understand,” she said.
“No, I don’t,” Sofia agreed. “But don’t you think the higher you rose, the higher Sugi could stand, too?”
“Nobody cares about second place,” she said, shaking her head.
“Isn’t it a bit unfair to assume you’d be first?” Sofia countered, smiling wryly. “I know you don’t think that lowly of him.”
Sumire glared daggers at Sofia. A look she was sure Sugi could never achieve.
“A little bit of competition never hurt anyone, huh?” Sofia added.
“How American of you.” Sumire didn’t look impressed, but she was smiling a little bit, and that was an improvement from the sour look she’d had on before.
Sofia gained the courage to approach her, knocking Sumire in the arm. “I bet he’d be happy to see you happy, too.”
“He doesn’t realize how easy he has it,” Sumire sighed, wistful. “Let’s go back to the dorms.”
“What do you mean?”
Sumire spun on her heel, already walking back. “I didn’t really hurt my ankle.”
Sofia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I know that.”
They were back at it. Team S, as Sugi had taken to calling them, used the first half of class to run drills to improve a specific skill. And now they were sparring against Ms. Hera.
Support was less draining than offense, Sofia was finding. She was focusing on accelerating Sugi’s movements, giving him an extra boost, or slowing down Ms. Hera if she managed to get too close to Sumire. The twins were taking to it well, like fish to water.
Unfortunately, it was also getting easier to predict when Sugi and Sumire would be vulnerable. It was easier to see Sumire’s hesitance now that she knew to look for it. Ms. Hera probably knew it, too, the way she didn’t always immediately break her holds when they all knew she probably could.
Sugi summoned a larger than life scythe and swung downwards towards Ms. Hera. It was an electric pink swipe, stunningly fast for its size. She dodged just barely so it lodged into the ground behind her, and when he dropped the handle, it sunk, its weight trapping her between the handle and blade. Sofia tried to add to the weight, keep Ms. Hera where she was.
It was only a matter of time before Sugi’s magic faded. Everyone knew that.
Sugi was working on summoning something else. Boxing gloves, by the look of it.
But Sumire rushed, leapt, flying kicked.
Ms. Hera caught her leg and held her. She punched, and Sumire was all speed and flexibility; she didn’t have the strength to block it. Her helmet cracked again. Crumbled.
Sugi’s magic wavered as he started to panic.
But this time, when her helmet fell away, she had a lace mask over her eyes. The motosuit followed, flaking away the way old leather does, until she was left in a lighter, black and red armor. Something like a Morphsuit. Like a Power Ranger.
Sofia saw Ms. Hera smile, proud like a parent.
And then Sumire twisted and kicked Ms. Hera in the head with her other foot.
JAAM Writing 