Modern Magic

Friends

TK stood up from her desk, turning quietly to check on her roommate, and then leaving swiftly. She walked up the stairs, finding Rio's room and knocking.

Shuffling could be heard from inside as the door opened. Maria stood there, a towel to her recently-washed hair.

"Ah, TK!" She exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around TK's neck, hugging her.

TK had to pry Maria off, "Hey, hey, I'm here to pick up Rio. It's our day off."

Maria nodded, letting TK into their room. TK noted that Rio's bed sheets were the same as her own before she heard the shower running.

"I'm afraid Rio is washing right now." Maria said the words sadly, like five minutes would make a difference.

TK nodded, "Oh, I can wait. Do you mind if I hang out in here?"

Maria nodded, "That is fine!"

Rio stared at herself in the mirror, looking at her eyes and hair. She'd always wished she could style the white and straight hair. Her mother didn't approve of dying it.

She quickly slipped her clothes on before opening the door to see TK on Maria's bed, talking to Maria while she was on the floor.

"Hey, Rio, I had an idea for something we could do today." TK stood, stretching a little and then waiting for Rio's answer.

Rio's eyes almost instantly lit up, "What would we do?"

TK smiled, "I thought, that since the recreational room is in use and the library is boring, we could get permission to go to town and get our hair done!"

TK smiled at Rio's response, which consisted of jumping around gleefully, "Could I get a dye? Even a little?"

TK raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I guess. Just don't cover all of your natural color, for legal stuff."

It was illegal to cover your natural hair color completely, since hair color defined your strongest Aparide and could give the officers a weakness to work with if you broke the law. It is completely illegal to dye the roots, but you could do the tips or some or half.

Rio nodded, "That is fair."

TK grinned, then grabbed Rio's wrist and started pulling her along, Rio quickly complying and following.

They stopped by the office first, asking for the permission, which was granted, to go to the city.

As they stood outside, waiting for the bus, TK was chatting with Rio.

"Hey thanks for the other day, I owe you one." TK ran a hand through her hair, placing the other in her pocket.

"You don't owe me. I just needed to settle things."

"Still, I feel obliged to thank you." TK held her hand out, "besides, he deserved it anyways."

Rio nodded, and shortly after the bus arrived. The doors opened and they stepped on, holding out their IDs and special passes from the school.

After the driver approved their passes, they sat down near the back of the bus, only one other person entering. He was the "bully" who disagreed in the stuff his buddies did.

He was very tall, somewhere around six feet, and very thin with slight muscles showing. His left eye was a deep red, and his right eye a dark blue, his hair complementing it with  it's dark black color. He has a black button up shirt on, slightly tight for his size, he wore white jeans with red converse high-tops.

He lifted a pass and his ID, then looked up around the bus, quickly noticing Rio and TK.

TK tensed up, recognizing him from the scuffle the day before, and was prepared for his antics.

Rio, however, hadn't tensed up, having noticed his smile, previously, at her win. She had also noticed that he was the one who hesitated.

He walked over, sitting in the seat next to the two, "Uh, hey, I'm sorry about the other day.."

The bus started rolling as TK glared, "Are you now? I don't buy it."

Rio placed a hand on TK's shoulder, who turned her head as Rio shook her head, "He didn't want to fight."

TK looked back to the boy, then sighed, "Fine. Hello, my name is TK, and your's?"

"Uh, Ethan. Nice to meet you." He held his hand out, TK reluctantly taking it and shaking.

Rio only half bowed since she was sitting.

The three sat in silence for a few minutes before Rio spoke up, "So what are you doing in town?"

"Oh, just some.. shopping." He turned his gaze away, obviously embarrassed about what he was shopping for.

Rio only nodded, waiting out the rest of the ride with TK, who seemed to have a cloud of  anger over her head.

Eventually, the bus arrived at the town, the three exiting swiftly and nodding small goodbyes.

TK's mood seemed to lighten once Ethan had left, but Rio appeared indifferent. The two found the hair salon quickly, the lady behind the desk chiming, "One second!"

Shortly after, she popped her head from under the desk, her light pink hair giving her red eyes a warm feel, "Ah, TK! It's so nice to see you!"

She turned around the edge of the desk, coming over to hug TK, who hugged back.

After a second of the embrace, the lady held TK at arm's length before turning her attention to Rio, "Oh and who is this cutie?"

Rio bowed, "I am Rio, nice to meet you."

The lady nodded eagerly, then turned back to TK, "So, I'm assuming this is the friend you mentioned?"

TK nods, "Yeah, she and I were actually hoping for slight hair dyeing."

The lady contemplated this for a second, then snapped her fingers, turning to Rio, "I have a wonderful idea for you!"

The lady led Rio and TK to a small closet, bottles of shampoos, conditioners, hair dyes, and more. She stood onto a stool, reaching a tub at the top before sliding it down into her arms.

She set the tub down on the floor, spinning each bottle to read the labels before selecting two, "I couldn't help but notice your heterochromia, so I got an idea. Why not dye one pigtail tips this Royal purple and the other a light green, each to match your eyes?"

Rio thought for a second, "Oh, uh, sure!"

The lady jumped in excitement, grabbing a few more bottles and setting up a station while TK and Rio exited the closet.

"Her name is Lira, she's a three aparide. Sorry if she's giddy, but she loves meeting new people." TK crossed her arms, looking to Rio.

"Oh it is fine. I like the energy." Rio smiled a little before stepping toward a beckoning Lira.

Rio sat down in the chair, Lira mixing a few things before grabbing Rio's hair and rubbing the colorful paste into it.

They sat like that for a while, Rio still in the chair with Lira slathering the paste all through her hair, changing the tips to match.

After Lira had finished applying the color, she stepped back, "Okay, now we just let that sit for about an hour."