Letting the faucet water run, Alex hummed to himself as he brushed his teeth. He didn't remember where he heard it, just that it's been stuck in his head since he woke up. Probably something that he heard the Musicians playing, but he didn't remember.
Lifting his head, toothbrush half hanging out of his mouth, Alex looked at his reflection. Behind him, the morning sun poured in through the large glass walls overlooking Hiroshima. Reflecting off the glass shower, the light warmed his back, washing over his shoulders like wings.
On his head, his antlers rose out of his hair like tall bone-white trees over pitch-black waves. His rabbit ears like twin pink'n black towers between them. Catching the light, his glasses glowed like stained glass on Sunday morning.
Spitting into the sink, Alex wiped his mouth. Rinsing his toothbrush, he snapped the travel cover on. Tossing it next to all the other stuff that he brought from home, Alex took a second to do an inventory check.
It wasn't much. Not like he could bring everything. Planes only let you take three bags, including your carry-on. So he'd have to replace a lot of stuff that he left behind here.
Like a cup for his toothbrush. The travel cover would work fine for now, but he'd like to have that on the list. The most important thing was the toothpaste.
Alex frowned, looking over at the almost flat tube lying on its side.
He knew he should have bought that ten-pack of toothpaste before he left. But like always, he put it off until the last second before forgetting about it entirely. Alex sighed. Nothing to do about it now, he guessed. He's just gonna have to hope that they stock the same brand in the stores.
His Kanji wasn't great, but the brands look the same anywhere, right? Either way, he'll go shopping on Saturday.
Changing out of his pajamas, Alex carefully slipped a V-neck over his antlers and put on a pair of shorts. All dressed up, Alex turned off the light before leaving the restroom.
Passing by what was (hopefully) going to be his room from now on, Alex stopped. Peeking in, he checked on the musicians. They weren't morning people, so he wasn't surprised to see that they were still sleeping on their piece of paper.
He'd never say this to their faces, but it was nice to have some quiet every now and then. They're always so energetic when they're awake. Not that Alex had any room to talk, he can admit that. He was a hellion growing up. Pranking, running, screaming, biting. He did everything. But over the years, he'd like to think that he's calmed down a bit.
Not these girls. Unlike him, these girls never really grew out of their little gremlin phase. With each one getting a piece of his personality to go with them.
Red, the self-appointed leader of their little band, had sometime in the night rolled over into Blue's area and was now squeezing the ink out of her sister. She was the more, fun-spirited, reckless one, always getting them into another one of her hair-brained schemes to have fun.
When Alex was younger, it had been her who convinced the others to travel halfway across the city to find Alex when they were still stick drawings. Always trying to ride one of the Quirked animals like some kind of warrior princess, no matter how many times Alex told them how fragile they still were.
Blue, the one currently being treated as a plush toy, was the more intelligent, thoughtful one. Out of all of them, she was the mischievous little demon. Setting up pranks and traps for a laugh. One time even gluing all their cups and plates while they were sleeping.
Yellow and Green were leaning against each other, z's floating above their head as they slept soundly. Compared to their sisters, these two were the calm ones. Yellow, the ever-stubborn one, never backed down no matter what. Whether it was a fight or an argument, she always stood her ground. Made it particularly difficult for his mom when she tried to lecture them.
Green was the airy-flighty one. Always forgetful, always somehow going off on her own. Only to come back hours later, dragging something behind her for one reason or another. Alex still remembered when she found that beehive. She said that it was because she thought the bees would be happier near their flower garden.
Looking at them now, you'd never know that.
Lightly closing the door, Alex continued towards the kitchen. Beneath him, the hardwood floors felt cool against his bare feet as the A/C above him turned on, blasting more cold air in. Ryuko and Rumi apparently like to keep the apartment cold.
It made sense with their Quirks. Most people didn't know this, but Heteromorph Quirks, and some Transformation, did a lot more than give them a few extra parts.
Their Quirks altered their bodies on multiple fundamental levels. Allowing them to embody certain aspects of those Quirks but at the same time still keeping them basically human.
Like that one family in Colorado. See, people thought that their Quirk Avian only gave them the wings of different bird species. But in fact, their Quirk changed their whole body. Eyes, ears, their brains, and even their bones. They had all the advantages of a human with the abilities of a bird, but also all the downsides of a bird with the abilities of a human.
Ryoku's Quirk, while not being a Heteromorph, created a bleed-over effect between her human body and her Dragon body. It's why her Dragon form still kind of looked like her, and why she was so hot.
It was the first thing he noticed about her. The heat coming off her body, it felt like he was standing right in front of an open fire. Anything above fifty or sixty degrees must feel like nothing to her.
Alex and Rumi had a rabbit Quirk. Their body changed to share many of the same traits as any other rabbit. Longer ears for heightened hearing, strengthened muscles in their legs for explosive kicks, and skin that became thicker and more compacted. Skin that, while on a rabbit would be quite frail, on them became armor.
But one that unfortunately couldn't produce sweat. Making heat stroke a big concern for them.
Honestly, one of the things he had worried about moving in with Rumi was whether or not her place was gonna have any air conditioning. Not knowing what her house looked like, he had been preparing to spend some of his hard-earned cash on some expensive fans.
Cause whatever he imagined what living with Rumi would look like, it hadn't been this.
In his mind, he had imagined something more barren. More beaten up.
A rundown shack in the woods came to mind. Or maybe an old boxing gym under an apartment on the crime-ridden part of town. You know, a place for her to eat, sleep, then wake up ready to kick ass again.
At least that's what he assumed from her over the phone.
Over the phone, Rumi had made it seem like the only thing that she did was fight and eat. She never talked about any friends, or whether she was dating anyone. Never said how she was doing or if anything was bothering her.
Hell, she hadn't even told them that she had someone already living with her. That was a surprise. Coming face-to-face with an angry fire-breathing dragon that looked ready to roast herself some rabbit legs.
But the biggest surprise was coming to find out that his rough-and-tumble cousin was actually living it up in this castle above the clouds.
Seriously, this place just screamed luxury. Glass walls overlooking the skyline, a balcony, and a swimming pool 80 floors up. A smart thermostat that controlled the temperature in every room. And, most importantly, a dedicated alarm system set on a hair trigger.
How did he know that last one? Cause drunk Rumi doesn't know how to enter in her security codes.
Thank God Ryuko had the forethought to add a drunk version of Rumi's retinal scan into the system, otherwise, they'd have been shot with capture gel. Stuck on the sidewalk until the authorities came to release them.
Walking around the corner, Alex saw in the kitchen that Ryuko and Rumi were already awake. Ryuko was by the coffee machine, idly tapping her nails against the countertop while Rumi sat at the table, clutching her head.
"Please, please Ryuko. Stop, I'm sorry- my head."
Ryuko snorted. That headache was the least Rumi deserved after all that she's put her through. Ruining her relaxing evening, coming home drunk off her ass with some random kid turned surprise roommate. But never say that Ryuko didn't have a heart. She stopped the tapping. Seeing Alex walk in, she gave him a little wave.
"Good morning."
"Mornin'." He nodded.
"Shut up!" Rumi clutched her ears. Hangover headaches were the enemy of Rabbit's hearing.
Ryuko smirked at Rumi's pain. Deciding that she's had her revenge for now, Ryuko lowered her voice.
"Sorry, we don't have much food. Someone didn't bother stocking the fridge, and I haven't had the chance to go grocery shopping yet, so all we have is some fruit and some juice. Coffee if you want it."
Walking over, Alex took a sideswipe at Rumi's ears as he passed her. Getting only a grumble and a half-hearted finger flip in response, Alex smiled at Ryuko.
"That's ok. Not hungry right now anyway. Had a late dinner yesterday, body's still full." Opening the fridge, Alex poured himself some juice that they had.
Didn't know what it was, but it looked like pomegranate, so it was probably fine.
Nodding, Ryuko grabbed a mug out of the cabinet with the words Dragon Hoard written on the side in gold letters. Holding it in both hands, Ryuko closed her eyes and took a sip. Sighing, she opened her eyes and waved Alex over to the table. "Ok, I think there are some things that we need to talk about."
Shrugging, Alex took his cup to the table as Ryuko sat across from both him and Rumi. Sparing Rumi a glance, Ryuko tapped the table.
"Rumi, look up, this involves you as well."
Groaning, Rumi wearily lifted her head.
"Ugh, can't you handle this stuff by yourself? My head is killing me."
"Well, suck it up. Maybe next time you'll think before going on a drunken bender with your underage cousin."
Turning to Alex, Ryuko looked at him in concern. "Which reminds me, how are you holding up. Last night, you seemed pretty drunk yourself. Are you feeling alright? I can't believe Rumi did that to you."
Alex raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about? Did to him? She didn't do anything. Then he looked at Rumi and remembered how much whiskey the two of them had drunk. Alex laughed.
"No, no, I'm fine. I wasn't even drunk last night."
"But I saw you-"
"That was more of a contact high than anything. My Quirk doesn't let me get drunk, or at least not on Whiskey."
Ryuko looked at him, confused.
"What?"
Alex nodded his head.
"Yeah, apparently Jackalopes and Whiskey go hand in hand. My body is not only uniquely suited to like the stuff, but it also breaks it down faster than it can get me drunk. I'd have to be drinking barrels of the stuff to even get a little tipsy."
Ryuko looked over at Rumi with her head lying on the table.
"Then what about-" Ryuko gestured to Rumi. "Why is she like that?"
Alex snorted. "Cause she's got the lesser Quirk."
Rumi kicked him under the table.
"Shut up." She growled.
Alex rubbed his leg as he explained to Ryuko. "She has the garden-variety Rabbit Quirk, not the Jackelope. It's why I have the antlers, and she doesn't, and why my ears are on my head, and hers are on the side."
"Oh," Ryuko set her mug down, "But I thought you were cousins."
Alex nodded. He could see what she meant. Regular Quirks can exhibit differences between family members in their mechanics. Heteromorph Quirks are almost always the same. The problem with them was that they weren't really cousins.
"We just say that cause it's less confusing. She's more related to my Grandma than me. Some Great-Uncle of hers came over to Japan and started a family over here."
Ryuko blinked.
"Ok. Well, and I hope you don't find this rude, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to take the UA entrance exams."
"Those are coming up soon, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Alex nodded.
"Are you ready?"
Drinking the last of his juice, Alex put down his cup before smirking at Ryuko.
"Who knows, I just know that it's gonna be fun. Jehaha."