Chapter 4: 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.