Kaya reluctantly handed her science exam results to her mum, avoiding her gaze. She knew what was about to come. Again.

Her mother took it, needing only a glance at the page before sighing in disappointment.

"A 'C'? Kaya san, I thought you told me you studied!"

"I did," Kaya mumbled in reply.

"Kaya, look at me," her mother said. She could feel her mum's eyes on her as Kaya raised her head.

Her mother shook her head.

"If only you could be like your sister," she said.

Kaya felt a fuming annoyance boiling in her stomach, but she held her tongue.

"I'm as good as Tenshi is," she said quietly.

Mer mother shook her head again like she wouldn't expect her to understand.

"It's ok, honey. I know you're trying your hardest," She handed her daughter back her test paper and walked off to the office.

Kaya roughly chucked her results on the kitchen bench, swung her school bag off her shoulders and flopped on the couch, rubbing her temples. Oh, how she despised her sister! Her parents would always be saying 'Why can't you be more like Tenshi?' or 'Tenshi would know how to do that', and it was completely unfair. How was kaya supposed to compete with her nine-year-old sister who was quite literally programmed for perfection?!

When Kaya had been born, genetically modifying children had been extremely expensive, and besides, who would want to scientifically modify their unborn child? It was wrong. Unnatural. Only the richest and selfish of people would design their own child.

But when Kaya's little sister, Tenshi, was born five years later, genetically modifying your child was not only a popular choice but expected. If your child wasn't modified, they would fall behind at school, have a sickness or allergy and wouldn't be guaranteed to look beautiful. Perfection was becoming required in Japan.

Tenshi's name means 'angel', and an 'angel' she was. She had long, silky, swan-white hair that went all the way past her torso. She always left it out. Why put it up? It never got knotted. Her eyes were an unnatural electric blue that would make your toes tingle. Her skin was smooth and white. Her lips were like strawberry kisses. Her nails were modified to be naturally pastel pink. She resembled a doll. And to top it all off, she was a genius. Tenshi, along with everyone else in her class, always got one hundred percent in her tests.

And then there was Kaya. Kaya had thin, stringy, black hair that wouldn't grow past her chest. Her eyes were brown. Nothing special. She had a chocolate birthmark on her forehead. She suffered from asthma. So did her father. Tenshi would have, too, if she hadn't been lucky enough to be born in the era she was. Kaya had gotten a B in every test this year, except for science. Still, she was the lowest in the class. All of her friends got straight A's. Wait, let me rephrase that. Her friend got straight A's. She only had one. Who would want to be friends with an ugly, sick, imperfect girl, anyway?

Kaya stopped grumbling to take a few puffs from her inhaler. She kept inhaling as she stomped to her room. She grabbed her IBook off the shelf, turned it on and began reading. Reading calmed her down, especially history. History was the only subject Kaya really enjoyed. It was like learning about heaven. Genetically Modified Organisms had only just been discovered and weren't dared tested on humans. Global warming was subtle. Wars were fought with guns, not nuclear bombs. But as much as Kaya adored the past, she couldn't help but be frustrated at her ancestors for letting things get this out of hand. She wondered what it would be like to be born two hundred years ago...

Just then, a knock on her bedroom door snapped Kaya back into reality.

"Come in," she said.

The door slid open to reveal Kaya's father, fresh from the office.

"Dinner's on the table," He said simply before walking off to the dining room. No 'hello, Kaya, how was your day?' or 'did you get your science results back yet?'.

Kaya turned off her IBook and shuffled to the dinner table. A raw salmon sprinkled with garlic and lemon proudly took up the centre of the table. Not a moment after Kaya had sat down in her chair, a chime rang out around the house. The doorbell. Her mother opened it with a shriek of delight.

"Tenshi chan! You're home! How was your day?" she exclaimed while hugging her daughter.

"Lovely, thank you!" Tenshi said, smiling sweetly. It made Kaya want to puke.

"Did you do your music test today?"

"Yes! Lin Sensei loved my song!"

"Well, that's good news!" Her mother said, holding Tenshi's hand as she leads her to the table.

"Do you want to hear it?"

No, Kaya thought.

"Of course," Her father said.

Tenshi let go of her mother's hand and stood on her chair. Oh, great. Not this again, Kaya thought, stifling a groan.

"Flowers litter the ground,

Birds will gather around.

The sakura sway in the wind

As the cranes sing a song of sweet sound..."

Tenshi's voice was high and angelic. Her mother was clutching her hand to her heart. Kaya couldn't take it anymore. She'd lost her appetite. She rose from her chair and began to walk off.

"Kaya san, where do you think you're going?" Her mother snapped.

Kaya kept on walking.

"I'm not hungry," she said as her bedroom door slid closed behind her.

*   *   *

Kaya sat at the dining table the next day, munching on her cereal, her uniform hanging on the couch. She could already hear the morning gridlock overcoming the city with noise. As Kaya chewed, she read the cereal packet, as she did many times when she was bored.

"No artificial colours or flavours!" read the box. "Modified to be naturally colourful, tasty and fun!"

Kaya stopped eating her breakfast.

"Kaya san, put your uniform on, your train leaves in ten minutes!" called out her mother from her bedroom.

Kaya rose from her seat and pulled her uniform on. Packing her lunch, her phone, her laptop and her IBook into her bag, Kaya zapped her teeth and walked out the door, a happy, chirping Tenshi skipping along behind her.

"Bye, Mummy! I love you!"

"Love you too, honey! Goodbye, Kaya."

"Bye, Mum," says Kaya, anxious to get out the door.

Tenshi pulls her bag on her back and reaches up to hold Kaya's hand. Kaya suddenly out of nowhere notices how itchy her ear is and moves her hand away to scratch it. Tenshi settles on letting her hand swing to her side. She waved her mother goodbye as she walked out the door.

"Kaya san, can we go to the museum today? After school?"

"No, Tenshi. I need to study."

"Oh. Ok. What about tomorrow?"

"No, Tenshi."

Tenshi was silent for a moment.

"What if we-"

"Tenshi, I have to study."

Tenshi was silent for a moment more, then nodded like she understood. She looked back at the road and pointed at the train station.

"Hurry, Kaya san, the train is coming!" she exclaimed, grabbing Kaya's arm before she could pull away and dragged her to the station. Just as they arrived, the train pulled up. The two girls got on.

Most of the kids at Kaya's high school caught the train. There was a whole system of school trains running all through Tokyo but, to save traffic, they operated on tracks that ran through the air. The door slid open and Kaya, Tenshi and other school children clambered on. Kaya spotted a few girls in her class taking up the back of the train. One girl had blonde hair. The other had curly black hair. Both girls were modified. All the girls in Kaya's class were. She went to an expensive school, and most parents there could afford to modify their child when Kaya was born.

The girl with blonde hair looked up from her phone to see Tenshi and Kaya searching for a seat.

"Tenshi chan!" she exclaimed. "Come sit with us!"

Kaya sat down in an empty seat and pulled out her IBook. Hello to you, too, She thought.

"Oh, I love your nails, Tenshi!" Said the girl with curly hair as Tenshi plonked herself in the seat next to them. "Did you paint them?"

Tenshi giggled. "My Mummy got them for me," she said.

The two girls laughed.

"She's so cute!" The blonde girl squealed to the other.

Kaya pulled on her headphones and drowned their words in music. Staring out the window, she could see the whole of the city beneath her. She tried focusing on that.

No less than fifteen minutes later, their destination loomed in the distance. Tokyo City Christian High, Kaya's school, was the next stop. Tenshi's school was right next door. The train stopped and Kaya got off, Tenshi and the two girls not far behind her.

"Do you go to Tokyo Primary?" Kaya heard one of the girls ask.

"Yup!"

"See you this afternoon! Bye, Tenshi!" said the curly haired girl. Both girls giggled as they walked off the train and through the school gates. Kaya could feel her modified cereal threatening to make a reappearance as she watched her alien of a sister skip towards her school, her long silvery hair flowing behind her, humming to herself.

I didn't take long for Kaya to spot Rana. She had vivid red hair that would stand out a mile. She was sitting with her group friends, laughing about something. Kaya quickened her pace as she walked towards her.

"Hey, Rana!" she called as she approached closer.

Rana looked up. "Oh, hello, Kaya!" she said, giving Kaya her deluxe smile. Her friend's laughter began to die Kaya arrived.

"How'd you go in science?" Rana asked.

"Oh, erm..." Kaya began sheepishly.

"A 'C'..."

"Oh, erm, that's good!" Said Rana, smiling sweetly. By this time, most of Rana's friends had gone, mumbling something about due essays and homework.

"How you go?"

"A hundred percent. Isn't that cool?"

"Oh, um, yeah..."

Rana sat down next to her and gave her a warm smile.

"It's ok. No one expects you to get an 'A'. I mean, a 'C' is, like, so good for someone like you!"

By that, she meant someone who'd hadn't their genes scientifically manipulated before they were even born.

Kaya tried to smile back but found it difficult to return the smile that Rana was giving her. As if she felt sorry for her. Kaya hoped their friendship wasn't built on that.

Kaya does admit, Rana isn't the kind of girl she would normally be friends with. She was smart, popular, modified and can be a little bit vain at times. Still, one-half friend was better than no friends, right?

Just at that moment, the bell rang. The noises of the shuffling of feet, shrieking voices and the opening and shutting of lockers filled the air. Kaya followed Rana to the top of the stairs and to their lockers, which were right next to each other.

Kaya allowed her locker to scan her thumbprint before lazily throwing open the door. Grabbing her Geography books, Kaya made her way to the classroom.

An hour later of torturous 'learning', it was recess. Sitting down at her usual table, she heard a loud obnoxious group of girls laughing as they entered the courtyard. Rana had arrived.

"Oh, Kaya!" She called. "Come sit with us!"

Kaya picked up her things and awkwardly shuffled over to where they were and sat down next to Rana. Once again, the laughter died.

"Do you have Geography next?" Rana asked.

"I just had it," Kaya said, sitting down.

"Oh, did you hear that the principal is making me move lockers?"

"Really? Why?"

Rana shrugged. "Not sure. Something about a new student coming and he wants them to be close to other students in their classes."

"A new student?"

'I know, right? He's making me move lockers for some new kid!"

That's not what Kaya had meant.

"When are you moving?"

"Don't know. Probably when they come." Rana guessed, biting into her sushi roll.

"Where are they from?"

Rana shrugged. "I don't know. Probably Hakone or something like that. If they're coming here, they must, like, be modified or rich or something."

Kaya felt a tiny bubble of hope pop within the back of her mind.

"Yeah..." She vaguely agreed. "Probably..."