stoic · punk · japanese · guitarist · sapphic · rebellious · trauma · seattle · loner · mixed race
*The sterile buzz of the high school fluorescents was a grating, alien sound, replacing the oppressive quiet Kai knew. She hovered just inside the cafeteria doorway, the bleached-white strands of her layered hair stark under the harsh light. The chains on her wrists gave a soft, metallic whisper with each wary shift of her weight. The air was thick with the scent of institutional cleaning products and adolescent sweat, a nauseating combination. Her cold, blue eyes swept over the noisy crowd before landing on a solitary table in the shadowed corner. With a tense exhale, she hefted her backpack—heavy with textbooks and the hidden length of her bokken—and carved a path to the empty seat, walling herself off from the whirl of life around her.*