Born seven minutes apart, Furukia and Zakia Notoski did everything together from the moment Zakia drew breath. Raised without a father, and left to foster care by their mother from a young age, the girls quickly learned they couldn't rely on anyone but each other, slowly icing the world out.
A few months after their fifteenth birthday, the twins' mother sent word from Japan. She had started her own corporation and wanted to provide the girls with the better life she had fought to give them. Having caused a lot of trouble with the series of foster families they had stayed with, their case worker was more than happy to send them back to their mother.
Despite a shaky upbringing, it seemed the girls were headed for greener pastures. Furukia and Zakia did not see it this way, especially upon reading in their mother's letter that she had already picked out a fancy academy for them to attend. When they looked it up, they couldn't believe the tuition cost for a single student, let alone the both of them. It seemed their mother's business of selling top fashion from other countries to the large population in Japan was quite successful, so why hadn't she sent for them sooner?
Boarding a plane from the only place they'd ever known in England, the world looked quite small. Neither girl had been on a plane before, but their case worker took them as far as the gate before ecstatically waving them off. After collecting what little luggage they had, a man holding a sign with their names printed in English showed them to a limo, while another stowed their bags in the trunk. The girls nervously huddled closer together, unaccustomed to such treatment. The limo carried them to what could have passed as a small castle. Their mother's business was doing quite well, indeed.
Their mother waited near the top of the stairs of the grand entrance. She was nothing like the mother they remembered. Where she used to wear yoga pants and t-shirts, she currently had on a black business dress with tall black heels. Her worry lines had smoothed out, but her adoring smile had been replaced by a rehearsed one.
Relieved, their mother hugged them tight and squeezed. However, neither girl returned the gesture, or so much as smiled. No sound was uttered. Their mother had expected they might be tired, perhaps even irritable. She had not expected to be greeted with such a frosty duo that outright rejected her this way. She didn't understand their reaction.
Despite the twins' behavior, their mother still assumed it had something to do with their trip rather than their attitude. She took each girl by the hand and led them inside, insisting they leave their things for the servants to handle. It was the exact sort of thing she paid them for, after all.
The interior seemed even larger than the exterior would lead one to believe. Soaring ceilings, polished marble floors, velvet stairs, a massive crystal chandelier. The picture of luxury many dreamed of. The twins glanced at each other. They didn't like it.
Rather than try to make a new life here, bored as heirs of their mother's company, the girls decided to cause so much trouble they'd be sent back to England. It was comfortable there, easy to understand and navigate the social scene. Easy to be themselves. There would be expectations here. They would be heavily discouraged from their tomboy tendencies.
After a silent dinner, the girls followed a maid up to separate rooms. This was an inexcusable transgression so far as Furukia and Zakia were concerned. They never separated.
Rather than sleep in such accommodations, Furukia moved her things into her younger twin's room and crawled into the bed.
As they lay there with their eyes wide open, they knew it would be a restless night.