Kaori looked concerned. “Maybe you should stay here, Dante. You know what the Hawks are like.”

He knew all-too-well. The Hawks were the least accepting tribe around – even worse than Godhand in some respects! Unless you conformed to their rigid ideals of what was ‘cool’, you were excluded and mocked. They were the epitome of everything Dante hated about people and he had no doubts they hated him just as much. Yet spending the afternoon enduring Byron’s taunts and causing further ruptures in Joel’s stable friendship group was also a situation he’d rather avoid. At least, if he followed Phantasia, he would be in familiar company – the Hawks hated her just as much, surely? And why would she even want to visit them. It was a curiosity he couldn’t help but follow, much to Joel and Kaori’s long faces as he left them.

Less than a minute at the gallery and he was feeling regret for abandoning actual friends. The Hawks were arranged in small cliques, each sitting on a step of the gallery corresponding to their position within the larger group. The Academy Hawks, led by Vincent, sat on one of the lowest steps and were unusually receptive to Phantasia’s advances.

“Dante never leaves his room, so I brought him out!” she said, much to his own embarrassment. Did this girl ever realise who she was talking to?

“Why are we even here?” he mumbled to himself. That Phantasia turned to acknowledge him made him wonder if those weird ears of hers were designed to pick up the slightest sound.

“You can’t just limit yourself to one group of friends, silly!” she said, maintaining her cheerful tone even as the collective scorn of the Hawks continued to focus on her mere presence, “And I thought that maybe…”

She tugged his coat again, demonstrating a strength her frail body belied. Before he knew it, Dante was sitting on the lowest step next to Shelley. He could hear the sudden intake of breath and exasperated mumbling from the tribal gangs as a stranger settled down on their sacred turf.

“You and Shelley should get along!” finished Phantasia, standing proud with hands on hips as if she’d just accomplished a miraculous task.

Dante glanced sideways at the diminutive dark-haired girl. Her appearance had changed over the past few weeks from the quintessential black-coat-and-white-top of the Hawks. Now she wore a loose tie and an unbuttoned waistcoat was lurking beneath the coat as if trying to hide from the ever-judgemental eyes of the Hawks. Even her hair was now parted at the side. It were as if Shelley was trying to discard her current image and replicate Phantasia’s…

“I like the coat,” she whispered, her large eyes glancing at him momentarily before returning to their focus on the ground.

“My mum made it for me,” he said, doing his best to ignore the gallery of glares aimed in his direction. Shelley looked as uncomfortable here as he felt. “Not very fashionable…”

Shelley smiled, like she wanted to make further comment but was afraid of the repercussions. He could tell she hated it here but was too scared to leave, because he’d once felt the same hanging around with the Ravens. A distant part of him wanted to put an arm around her and say it was okay, that she didn’t have to force herself to fit in and should just be herself.

Vincent cleared his throat to turn his little clique’s attention his way. “This is all very touching, Dove girl,” he said to Phantasia, “You finished yet?”

Phantasia grabbed Dante’s arm again and pulled him away from the steps. “You people should open up more,” she said, “I’m not giving up until I see some colour round here!”

Chapter 35
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