Kaya walked through the front door, Tenshi skipping behind her.

"Mummy!" she called. "We're home!"

"Tenshi chan!" Their mother called as she approached them, scooping Tenshi up into an embrace.

"Kaya san, unpack your bag, please."

"Yes, mum," Kaya said, hiding a scowl.

"How was your day?" Kaya's mother said, her attention back on Tenshi.

"Wonderful, thank you! Oh, Mummy, guess what?"

"What, honey?"

"I got fifty out of fifty for my music test!"

"Wow, sweetie, that's amazing! How did everyone else go?"

"They also got fifty out of fifty, but Lin Sensei said she thought mine was her favourite."

"Well, a special dinner tonight for you! What would you like?"

"Hmm... may I please have sushi train?"

Tenshi's mum smiled.

"Of course, sweetie. Kaya, help your sister get changed for dinner."

Kaya could feel the boiling in her stomach returning once more. She came home with her tests results and was scolded, but when Tenshi gave Mum her's, she got a dinner in her honour. Why did Tenshi always get everything?

"Kaya san, should I wear my white dress or my pink dress?" Tenshi asked her sister.

"Tenshi, you're a big girl, you can dress yourself."

"But Mummy said-"

"Tenshi, dress yourself."

"But-"

"Tenshi! No!"

Tenshi looked at her shoes.

"Ok," she said before turning to skip to her room.

Kaya let her school dress drop to the floor and lazily pulled on a T-shirt, jumper and jeans. She walked out her door to find Tenshi in a cream white dress and a pastel pink bow crowning her silvery white hair.

"Kaya san, do you like my bow?" she said, giggling.

"Yup. Uh huh," Kaya said, not interested.

Tenshi gave her a smile dripping with syrup.

"Thank you!"

Just at that moment, the doorbell rang. Their father was home.

"Daddy!" Tenshi exclaimed before running off to greet him. Kaya could hear noises of greetings and congratulations coming from the front of the house. She walked around the corner to see Tenshi being carried around by her father like a princess.

And, of course, the laughter died once more when Kaya entered the room.

*   *   *

The Sushi Train restaurant, "Soako's", was packed, as usual. Kaya's parents had pre-booked and table on the balcony, facing the sunset. The stench of sushi made Kaya's nose crinkle. Sometimes Rana would tease her and say that she was adopted. A Japanese girl that hated sushi? It was unheard of.

"Tenshi chan, Kaya san, take your pick."

Kaya groaned.

"Can I just have rice?"

"No, Kaya, we are here to have sushi, not rice. If Tenshi wanted rice, she would have gone to another restaurant."

"But I don't want sushi," Kaya mumbled.

"Kaya, tonight isn't about you, it's about Tenshi," her mother said cooly.

"When you get a perfect score on a test, you can choose what we eat,"

Kaya sighed. They both knew that was never going to happen.

"Tuna,"

"Say please,"

"Ok, 'Please',"

"Please what?"

Kaya sighed in exasperation.

"'Please may I have tuna sushi'?" she said with an over-exaggerated smile

"You may. Go order, and take Tenshi with you."

"Come one, Tenshi," Kaya grumbled. It was always about Tenshi. Tenshi, Tenshi, Tenshi.

Tenshi peered over her selection before choosing chicken. Kaya handed the cashier their money and took their food back to their table.

For dessert, her parents ordered a customizable cake with 'Tenshi' written in fancy writing. As usual, whenever Kaya asked for 'just a slither', she got a piece as thick as her forearm. Kaya's slice had the 'T' on it. She didn't eat a bite.

*   *   *

Kaya sat with Rana again the next day at lunch. The rest of her friends were in detention for teasing Momoko, a girl in their year. Rana would be, too, if she wasn't so persuasive. She somehow convinced the teacher that she was merely an innocent bystander horrified by her friend's 'horrible act'.

Just at that moment, Momoko entered the courtyard they were sitting in and went to sit at her table, scrolling through something or other on her phone.

"Look, Momoko's there!" Rana whispered to Kaya, giggling.

"Yup..." said Kaya, shuffling her feet awkwardly. She didn't want to get caught up in this.

At the back of her mind, Kaya felt a little sorry for Momoko. She was modified and very smart, but her parents had strange preferences on how they'd like their daughter to look. Momoko had small misty blue eyes that needed glasses and were allergic to contact lenses. She had short brown hair that wouldn't grow past a bob cut and had a front fridge that went to her eyebrows. Her nails were an unnaturally bright blue, which clashed badly with her skin, but whenever she attempted to paint them with nail polish, the blue colour showed from underneath. She was designed to have a brain for maths and music, yet she hated both. All she wanted to do was draw. She loved art; looking at art, meeting artists and studying designs, yet she wasn't 'programmed' to be an artist. She was terrible at it, and was often bullied for being 'badly modified'.

"'Wonder what she's looking at," Rana said, giggling and nodding to Momoko. "Probably more sculptures," She sniggered.

"Yeah..." Kaya said sheepishly.

Momoko heard them, looked up from her phone and glared. Rana glared back. Kaya shrank in her seat, studying her shoes. A fight was brewing.

Just as Momoko opened her mouth, the bell rang. The courtyard was filled with the shrieks of voice and the shuffling of feet, and both girls lost each other in the crowd. Rana sighed and turned to Kaya.

"Honestly, people can be so rude these days!"

Kaya had to fight the instinct to snort.

*   *   *

Over the weekend, Kaya' parents decided to go on a boating trip for some good 'family time'. When most people think 'boat trip' they think driving on a boat for a bit then stopping for most of the time to swim and have chips. But when Kaya's family said 'boating trip', they'd say "it's about the journey, not the destination!" By that, they meant five hours on a boat with sea spray in your eyes and nothing to do but try not to get thrown off.

Kaya took a couple more puffs from her inhaler before clambering onto the boat. A family near her with young children shuffled away as Kaya inhaled, as if not to catch her rare disease. Kaya grumbled.

Her father started the engine and the boat was off. Kaya hated the ocean. Unlike her sister. Tenshi was laughing a giggling and pointing at pelicans. Kaya was fighting motion sickness and was trying not to vomit.

"Kaya san, look at this!" Tensi yelled over the noise. She stuck her hand into the water and let the ocean fly past her hand.

"Cool..." Kaya groaned, staring out at the other boats bobbing slowly and calmly across the sea, wishing she were in one of them. She could almost feel her stomach churning.

Tenshi looked up.

"Kaya san, are you ok? You look green!"

Kaya took another puff from her inhaler.

"I feel fine," she said.

Tenshi gave Kaya a concerned look. Kaya glared and opened her mouth to say something back when she felt her stomach wrench. She ran to the edge of the boat and watch the contents of her stomach make an appearance. She groaned again.

A family on a passing boat scrunched their noses and looked away as they passed by. Silly girl, Kaya could hear them thinking. Normal people never get sick. Clearly, she's a mistake.

Kaya glared in their direction as she stood up again.

"I hate boating trips..." she mumbled to herself.