"So, does anyone find that new kid odd?" Beatrice asked of her school friends at lunch.
"You mean that big beefcake that Felicia's gone head over heels for?" Jennifer said bitterly. "I hadn't noticed."
"Green's a terrible color for you, Jenny," Mathew said. "Seriously, who even makes green jeans?"
"Well, he is an odd duck, no mistaking there." Jessie agreed.
"But what are you implying?" Daniel asked.
Beatrice then used her goggles to project a holographic screen. "See, when I first met Felicia, I noticed on my thermal scans that he body temperature was below zero... as in so far down that logically speaking she should be dead." The screen showed the relevant images. Showing Felicia's deep blue thermal signature
"You... don't say," Mathew said inquisitively.
"And when we first met William Kasai, I scanned him as well," Beatrice said, then the screen showed the aforementioned William Kasai's thermal signature. Which was pure white "To put this into context, that temperature is the melting point of lead! He should be dead!"
"Well I agree he is that hot, but that's hard- wait..." Jennifer said. "It's so obvious! You're concerned for the well being of one of your earliest friends. And your curious about how this is possible considering the obvious impossibilities!" She said.
Beatrice and the rest of her friends looked between each other in confusion. "Quick show of hands, who was expecting her to go on about me being jealous?" Beatrice said everyone raised there hands. Including Jennifer's friends Tracie and Georgie.
"Really?" Jennifer said indignantly. "Besides being rich, my main function in this dynamic is to make guess right on the immediate situation on the first try."
"So... are we going to ignore that Bea can do this?" Mathew said. "Like... did you scan us last week? When you had-"
"It was a conscious choice I made to have my emotions deactivated for the entire week!" Beatrice said defensively. "I thought it was a good idea at the time, and after the lab animal incident on Friday, and everything that happened over the weekend. It seemed like the most logical thing to do!" She said in frustration. "Look... let's just focus on figuring out who this guy is okay?"
XXXX
Later that same day after school, Beatrice arrived at William Kasai's house. "Nice place, let's see what this guy is all about." She said to herself as she used a light-bending device to make herself invisible, and followed William inside.
"How was school, Billy?" William's mother said.
"It was fine mom," William said.
"You better not be seeing that Uinta girl!" An elderly man said, presumably his grandfather.
"But grandpa, she's nice!" William was then hit in the head by his grandfather's cane.
"Oh, that might be the case... but her family is cursed by the Yuki-onna. Same as our family was cursed by the Onibi!" The old man said, conjuring a flame in his hand.
"Oh please don't cover that old legend AGAIN!" William's complaint was followed by another cane strike to the head.
"Pipe down boy! Now, back during the Sengoku Jidai, our ninja clans were one. But then two brothers were cursed, each by the respective Yokai and-" William's grandfather then noticed that the microwave was popping popcorn. "Okay, whose making popcorn?" He said, unaware that it was Beatrice doing this.
"This was not one of my better ideas..." Bea thought to herself.
"So anyways," The grandfather continued. "The brother cursed with ice powers was made cold and apathetic. While our clan's founder was relatively unaffected. It wasn't until years later that- OKAY WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE?!" The old man said in shock at the levitating bag of popcorn.
"Uh... pay no attention to the ghost popcorn!" Beatrice said lamely.
The family was silent before Grandpa said. "Just keep quiet."
XXXX
The following morning Beatrice approached Felicia with what she learned at the Kasai home. "Bea... it's sweet that you're worried about me. But there isn't a problem with me dating Billy." Felicia said.
"But I heard the whole legend about how your clans were founded! How the ice one became a threat to everyone around him and the fire one had to kill him!" Beatrice said. "That was before this thing short-circuited and everyone realized I wasn't a ghost that liked popcorn." She said, producing the smoking light-bending device. "Last time I take something from the Errant Traveler's junk closet I'll tell you that."
"Bea... you sweetheart of a robot," Felicia said as she gave her robotic friend a hug. "There's a prophecy. One that states that if a Unita and a Kasai marry. The curse will be undone, and reunite the families after enough generations passed that the descendants of twin brothers wouldn't be weird and creepy."
Beatrice was shivering from Felicia's hug. "You... have the coldest hug... of anyone. I've ever met!" Beatrice said.
"Oh! Sorry!" Felicia said as she stopped hugging. "It's been passed down in my family for generations, and when I told Billy about it. He was onboard for dating me. And when we get married, we'll finally be able to control our respective elemental powers."
"I... didn't hear a word of that prophesy when I was at the Kasai home," Beatrice said. "All I heard was how the whole thing started."
"So you didn't get my texts last night," Mathew said, surprising both girls.
"Don't sneak up like that!" Beatrice said.
"How do you keep doing that?!" Felicia asked.
"I am a master at the art of walking tippy toes!" Mathew said proudly. "I think it's funny that I can sneak up on a trained ninja. Also, your family needs to invest in heaters. I spent an entire hour digging up dirt there. And penguins couldn't survive in your house!"
Felicia was quiet before saying. "I'm going to class now."
