Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Iko
Iko made sure to skip as she wandered the hallways looking for the students Kinney mentioned. She also kept a sweet, innocent smile on her face, looked at everything with a wide-eyed wonder, and hummed a cheerful little tune under her breath. All part of the act. It's not enough to just to look like someone else. Okay, maybe it was, but no self-respecting actress would simply settle for a change in appearance! You must become an entirely different person, inside and out. You must change the way you walk, the way you act, the way you speak, not one aspect of your personality can be allowed to escape the makeover known as "getting into character". As an aspiring actress herself, Iko knew this better than anyone (and was very good at carrying it out too, if she does say so herself).
So it was as a sweet little fairy-princess of a girl that she very nearly ploughed into a couple of boys, instead of the stylish, funny, and overall amazing Iko Violets.
"Oh dear," she said, with an abnormal amount of giggling, "aren't I clumsy! I'm so very sorry. I do hope that I haven't hurt either of you."
The boys shared a look, probably wondering why a giggling little girl would think that she could hurt a couple of boys who, frankly, looked like they were carved from stone just by skipping into them.
"It's fine." One of them eventually said gruffly.
Iko clapped her hands in excessive delight. "Oh, how wonderful! I really would be upset if you were hurt. But I do still feel bad about running into you like that." She added, "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"
"Do you know a girl named Iko Violets?" the other boy asked.
Aha! So these are the students that are looking for her!
She shook her head mournfully. "I'm so sorry, no."
"The headmistress has asked for her." The boy told her.
Don't pale Violets. Whatever you do, don't let your face go pale!
"I can still help!" She chirped, "What does she look like?"
"Sixth year, tall, dark skin, blue hair, usually tied up in braids, eyes consistently shifting colour depending on mood." He recited, as though he were reading a police report.
Iko grinned. "Oh yeah, I think I saw a girl like that! She was outside, by the lake! But if you don't mind my asking, why are you asking about her?"
"That's classified information." The other boy told her.
Ugh, seriously? Did this guy think he was in the army or something?
"Ooh, classified?" she said curiously, "That sounds really important!"
"And you can't know about it." He said firmly, and made to walk around her, his partner following.
Iko simply hopped in his way, pretending not to notice the irritated scowl that settled across his features. "Oh, but I want to help more! Is there anyone else you want me to find?"
"All other persons required by the headmistress have already been brought to her." The boy said formally.
Iko desperately pushed down the urge to gulp with panic and feigned disappointment. "Aw, that's too bad! Are you sure there's nothing else I can help you with?"
"Positive." The boy insisted, before roughly shoving Iko out of the way and continuing down the hall with the other boy close behind.
Iko waited until she was sure she couldn't hear their footsteps anymore before slumping against the wall and huffing with exhaustion. This was it. They'd been found out. Why else would Levana herself be asking for them? And from the sounds of it, she'd already gotten her evil little hands on the others.
She rubbed her face, wincing at the strange feel of it under her fingers, and groaned. There was no way this could get any worse.
"Iko?"
Instinctively, she looked up at who spoke. It was Kinney. And he was looking right at her. That would mean he was talking to her. Using her real name. But, she looked nothing like herself. How could he…? Maybe it's just a lapse in her acting. Yeah, yeah that must be it.
As casually as she could, Iko returned to a standing position and tilted her head to one side, blinking innocently at Kinney. "Who's Iko?"
Kinney just frowned at her. "Don't play dumb, I know it's you."
"I'm sorry, but you've confused me with somebody else." She replied, "Are you looking for this, "Iko"? I can help you find her if you like."
"I saw you metamorphosing Violets." He said dryly.
Iko was very proud of her acting composure. She'd spent years honing it, so nothing, absolutely nothing could break through the shell of character that she'd built around herself. But as soon as Kinney said he saw her metamorphosing… it was like a troll took a club to that shell and shattered it into thousands of pieces.
Iko's jaw dropped, her perky posture slumping over with shock. All at once, her old fears and insecurities came rushing back in a tsunami of worry. She heard those kids in her old school, glaring at her, avoiding her, calling her a freak and a monster. She waited for those words to come out of Kinney's mouth, as they inevitably would. After all, he'd said nothing but insults to her since the moment they met. Why stop now?
But instead of hardening with hatred, or twisting with disgust, his face… softened.
"Why are you afraid?" He asked quietly.
Iko tossed her head and snorted. "Me? Afraid? Who says that I'm afraid?"
"Iko, you've literally turned white."
Iko blinked at glanced down at her hand. Sure enough, the skin was the colour of bone. She hurriedly shifted it back into her preferred dark colour, letting the rest of her body shift back to her normal shape as well.
She met Kinney's gaze. He looked… concerned. But that's impossible. "Kinney" and "concerned" are two words that don't belong in the same sentence. But Iko could think of no other word to describe the look in his eyes.
"I've just received some bad reactions to people finding out I'm a metamorphagus, that's all." She mumbled.
"Is that why the headmistress is asking for you? Because you're a metamorphagus?" Kinney asked.
She winced. "Actually, the reason's a lot more complicated than that…"
A/N: Holy Stars Almighty I love Kiko.
Please review!
