White Swan Tainted With Black

One ballerina stealthily pulled Eirin backstage. "What is going on, Eirin? Are you feeling ill?" Her teacher asked in a panic, but Eirin was still out of it. The throbbing wouldn't stop, and the pain makes her want to curl up.

"Snap out of it!" She heard one girl say, making Eirin remember her purpose. 'I'm here to show Ava my improvement. That I am dancing for her.'

Eirin took a deep breath. The throbbing didn't stop, but she endured the pain. She stood and walked back to the stage, just like how she should.

The round of applause and cheers filled Eirin's ears as she bowed with a smile in front of the audience. Eirin performed perfectly, despite the pain, and when the curtain closed, she fell to her knees and caused an uproar.

"Eirin? Are you alright?" Her teacher approached her, but Eirin could not hear her words or anyone's voice at all. "Do you need medicine? Are you hurt?"

Eirin shook her head to get out the blurriness in her eyes as she leaned on one of the staff while standing up. "I-I'm going to take a break." She said as she rushed towards the empty dressing room. The moment she got inside, she crouched due to the never-ending pain near her neck. Eirin's eyes roamed around, trying to find something cold to put on her neck, but her eyes landed on the wide mirror instead. Her forehead creased as she touched the base of her neck where her birthmark was located.

"W-Why is it turning red?" Her colon-like birthmark was reddish despite not feeling any irritation or itchiness. "I don't remember having allergies." No reason emerged in Eirin's head that could explain the strange occurrence. Despite not being itchy, it was painful.

'It feels like someone's bashing a fiery nail into my neck.' She thought.

Eirin struggled as she went towards her seat where her bottled water was. The second she drank water as if cooling the heat from her birthmark, the excruciating pain subsided. "What was that?" She thought as she heaved a sigh. "I should probably change clothes now."

"Is it just me, or don't you guys think that first year is arrogant? She almost ruined our show, pretending to be someone great when she looks like she's about to die."

Eirin looked toward the dressing room's door. She could hear those loud voices despite the closed door. "She looked so funny suffering like that because of her pride." Eirin's eyes landed on the mirror, and she stared at her reflection.

"Serena should have gotten the lead role. I don't understand how you could talk nicely to that girl when she stole your role."

"It doesn't matter." Eirin heard the familiar voice of that sweet senior that cheered for her despite being pushed aside and getting a minor role. "It's not like she's talented. Didn't you guys say her grandmother's rich?"

"Yeah. She owns that famous restaurant downtown. The one with a luxurious interior and expensive food. My family once ate there, and it was amazing."

Eirin balled her fists after hearing the senior's laugh echoing and reaching inside the dressing room. It wasn't surprising for her to hear people say hateful words about her, but she does not want the same for her grandmother and friends.

"That's the only role she'll get, anyway. I won't let a girl like her ruin my career."

Eirin took a deep breath as she removed the white swan headband she was wearing. 'Nothing good will come out of it if I get out there and tell them that they're wrong.' She thought.

"How will Ei ruin your career when you don't have one?"

Eirin's head turned 180 after hearing her best friend's voice outside with those girls. 'What is she doing here?' She thought as she grabbed the bottled water too tightly due to surprise.

"Ei is a talented girl, unlike mobs like you guys." Ava's tone sounded so cheerful that people wouldn't even realize that she was insulting those other girls.

"Excuse me!? Who do you think you are? And why are you even here backstage?"

"Stop. She's Madam Evelyn's daughter." One girl said.

The sound of Ava's laugh after that made Eirin's eyebrows furrow. "That's right. My mother, the ballet prodigy, sees Ei as her best student. You people can't see that because envy filled your eyes. How funny, right? Being backstabbed for being the best is amazing. As expected of my Ei." Ava said while clapping.

Hearing her best friend defend her like that caused an enormous lump in Eirin's throat that was too hard to swallow. Being former rivals, Eirin and Ava cheered each other on and improved side by side. However, due to Ava's constitution breaking down, she couldn't keep up with the training.

'But she kept supporting me.' Eirin looked up to prevent her tears from falling. 'I love her so much.'

Eirin once thought that her best friend hated the fact that she could still dance freely while Ava was bound to her bed most of the time.

"Ei is talented and has the skills. She's kind and wouldn't talk about people behind their backs like you girls. You aren't near her level at all!" Eirin stood up and walked towards the door.

"What did you say!?"

Eirin opened the door, thus making all the girls look in her direction. Things would have escalated badly if she didn't come out to stop them. The senior, Serena, gulped and backed away. "Ava, why are you fighting these unimportant people?" Her voice sounded nonchalant, causing those girls to glare at her, but it did not matter.

"Ei! I've been searching for you." Ava rushed to Eirin with her brightest smile. "Bright and your grandma are here. Let's go meet them."

Ava pulled Eirin away from that place, gripping her hand as if afraid of letting go. Leaving those other girls dumbfounded. "Don't mind their words, Ei. We all know you're the best ballerina here."

The tone of Ava's voice, mixing with the sounds of their footsteps, made a smile form on Eirin's face. She stared at her best friend's back, and she was far smaller than Eirin, but as they walked, Ava's back felt broad, as if protecting Eirin. Having someone like that comforted her.

'Times have already passed, but she still protects me like this,' Eirin thought. "Thank you," she muttered.

"What? Did you say something?" The crowded hallway coincided with Eirin's whisper, making Ava unable to hear her words. "Anyway, are you okay? You looked like you were having a hard time before the show started."

The memory of what Eirin heard in the restroom flashed inside her head, and what she saw the moment she stood in the middle of the stage haunted her. 'I'm the target of unknown people… but why?' Eirin thought.

"Ei?"

Despite the negative thoughts clouding Eirin's mind, she chose to smile. "It's nothing. I just pushed myself too much this time."

Ava clicked her tongue and stopped walking to face Eirin. "You know you shouldn't do that." She shook her head as she caressed Eirin's cheek. "You still did great. And you will always do great." Those words comforted Eirin and warmed her heart.

"There you are!" They saw Bright waving his hand as they arrived in front of the main door to the auditorium. "I thought you were changing clothes."

Eirin's face started heating up as the surge of embarrassment filled her, realizing that she was still wearing her white tutu dress.

"This dress is pretty. It suits you."

Eirin froze, but she could feel Ava's eyes on her. "I forgot! I'll change first."

"I'll go with you." Eirin ran, and Ava followed her back backstage. The other members of the ballet club were already leaving. "What was that all about?" Ava poked Eirin's sides as they entered the empty dressing room.

"What was what?"

Eirin started removing her hair tie, letting her hair loose while looking at the mirror. 'That was dangerous,' she thought as she took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"You were blushing so hard. It's obvious you got a thing for Bright Goodwin." Ava said, making Eirin flinch. "I don't understand why the two of you are still not dating."

With a frown, "We're 15," Eirin said and cleared her throat. "Why are you telling me that, anyway? You're the one who likes Bright the most."

Ava laughed so hard she fell to the floor. "Hey! Be careful, will you?" Eirin could not help but be worried. "What if you accidentally hurt yourself?"

"It's because you said something so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh," Ava said. "Bright is like a brother to me. It's yucky to think of him as a man."

Eirin balled her fists. They could only hear Ava's laughter echoing throughout the entire room. She knew Ava since they were children. Mannerisms and habits. Eirin knew it all.

"You don't have to lie to me."

Ava accepted Eirin's hand and stood up from the floor. "I'm not lying, Ei." She held Eirin's hand and smiled. "If you're suppressing your feelings because of me, then you can stop that. I will be happy if Bright and Ei are happy."

'Lies.'

It was pointless to keep talking about it, as Eirin knew that her best friend would keep denying her feelings, thinking that it was for their own good. "You know I would rather focus on ballet than romance."

Ava chuckled and clung to Eirin's arm. "You sure about that? You looked smitten by Bright's compliments." Eirin nudged her, causing Ava to laugh more. "I'll buy you a drink."

Eirin sighed as soon as Ava left the room. "This is all my fault," she muttered as she went into the changing screen and started removing the tutu dress.

"Oi."

Eirin quickly turned around after hearing the voice of a man. Her forehead creased. "Who are you?" As she asked those words. "What are you doing inside the dressing room?" Silence followed that, and only the sound of the air conditioning filled Eirin's ears.

"Stop pretending." Eirin gulped upon seeing the man's face. Those empty jet-black eyes stared down at her. And as if she's falling into an endless abyss, the already small changing screen felt suffocating as the man moved closer to her. Eirin's back touched the cold and hard wall.

"I know you heard us."