Chapter Text
Through a large, bustling crowd of students huddled together, some straying away from the crowds to get to their lockers, many talking loudly, or some gossiping between their few friends, was a small group of kids outside near the fountain shrouded by tall trees covered in bright green leaves swaying gracefully in the chill wind, said kids were also chattering amongst themselves. The fountain held beautiful, clear blue water that almost sparkled, surrounded by pavement and then blades of green grass that had a slight spring scent to them. Flowers were also beginning to bloom; pinks, yellows, and whites all sprinkled in the fields, contrasting nicely with the healthy grass. Sitting on the ledge of the fountain was a cat-eared girl with perfect posture, asking,
"Hey, did you guys hear about the new student?" The one sitting beside her, a boy with white hair, shakes his head, an intrigued glint in his hazel eyes. He sat rather casually, legs crossed and all. This boy was definitely a bit of a sleaze, no doubt about it.
"No, I haven't," he says, "is she a cute girl?" He asks with a smirk. A teen leaning against a nearby tree with blonde hair sighs, walking up to Thancred to smack his arm. He yelps, whipping his head towards her as he pouts.
"Is that all you think about?" She asks, the annoyance clear in her tone.
"No! I just...it's a very important question to ask, Minfillia—"
"Hushhh!" Loudly whispers another girl, leaning forward with a finger pressed onto her pursed lips.
"Thancred's dumb perverted crap is not what we should be focusing on," she says, "why don't we focus on the important topic? Y'know, the new girl?"
"Indeed, Yda. Y'shtola, tell us more about this girl—if you can," says a short boy standing beside Yda. The cat-girl from earlier smiles and nods, crossing her legs politely as she begins to explain,
"Well, I don't know much, but apparently she's coming here because her grades in her last school were horrendous. Our school is known for boosting students' grades," she shrugs, "but those are just rumours." Yda hums, absorbing the information. She's calm for a second before squealing, jumping up and down in one spot.
"Oh, who cares about bad grades?" She says flippantly, waving a dismissive hand, "a new student means a new friend! Aren't you excited, Papalymo?" The short teen sighs at Yda's antics, responding,
"Not really. I mean, maybe she'll prove herself to be an interesting student, but I doubt it," Yda frowns childishly at his words, poking his shoulder,
"Can't you act at least a little excited? For me?"
"No, and I would never act excited for you," Yda takes that personally, crumbling to the ground in utter heartbreak.
"So cruel!" She cries, causing Minfillia to erupt into giggles, politely covering her mouth with the back of her pale hand as she does so. Thancred snorts, shaking his head at their expected banter. He could never get enough of those two. Y'shtola piques up, breaking the comedic moment,
"Has anyone seen Urianger?" She asks, out of nowhere. Everyone shakes their head, with Thancred responding,
"He's probably studying, that bookworm," he jokes, letting out a short laugh at his own joke. Minfillia nods in agreement,
"Definitely," she says, "he loves those books more than us!" Yda laughs, quickly nodding. Urianger always has his nose buried in a book, and if it wasn't non-fiction it was probably classic literature. Perhaps that's what shaped his vocabulary. Half of the time, students fail to comprehend the nerdy teen due to his rather...advanced, if you will, word choices.
"We should drag him out with us sometime," says Y'shtola thoughtfully, wanting their introverted friend to remember what going outside was, "he hasn't even been having lunch with us—Moenbryda's even been seeing less of him, and they're practically married!"
"That is rather weird, even for him," Papalymo mulls, "perhaps there's something going on? Family issues? Bullying?"
Yda shakes her head, "he always says those snide remarks never bother him. Urianger would never lie to us,"
"You never know, maybe he didn’t want us to worry," Thancred adds, making a valid point. Minfilla shakes her head,
"How about we stop speculating? We can just ask him, and check up on him. See if anyone's being rude," she suggests, and everyone clamors in agreement. They all want what's best for their friend, but the best way to achieve that is to actually check up on him. They soon fall into meaningless but chill chatter, discussing their classes, and plans for the day. Y'shtola soon excuses herself, saying that she needs to get some items from her locker for her first class. She picks up her red and white coloured bag that is in almost perfect condition, and waves goodbye with a smile, walking inside. She pushes past the crowds of students, some yelling, some also passing by, before making it to her locker. Her locker that a Viera with pink, curly hair, was standing in front of, trying to open. Y'shtola's never seen this girl before. Ah, she must be the new student!
"Um, hello," Y'shtola greets as she approaches, making the pink-haired girl flinch and spin around, hands folded in front of her.
"H-hi, um...uh, is there—do you need something?" She asks nervously, fidgeting with her hands. Y'shtola seems shocked at the girl's skittish behaviour, but shrugs it off. Perhaps she's just naturally really jumpy, or it's the stress of going to a new school.
"Yes. I need to get to my locker, please," responds Y'shtola, pointing to the locker behind the Viera with a tan finger. The girl looks behind and then back at Y'shtola, her expression turning utterly guilty, and embarrassed. Her pale cheeks flush a light pink as she turns her gaze down, taking a sudden interest in the floor.
"Oh...that was—that was your locker," she mumbles, mentally face palming herself, "I-I'm sorry, I'm new. I thought...I thought it was mine," Y'shtola waves her off, kindly smiling.
"Don't apologize. And don't be so nervous around me, I don't bite," she teases, to which the pink haired girl relaxes slightly, her tense shoulders drooping.
"Oh, before I forget," Y'shtola starts as Sumi moves to the side so Y'shtola can access her locker, "what's your name?"
"My name's Sumi. Yours?"
"Ah. Mine's Y'shtola," she replies as she takes out books from her locker for math, notebooks filled with neatly curated equations, as expected from the studious Y'shtola. Sumi, too, takes out some books from her own locker that was on the left of Y'shtolas. Flipping through it, Y'shtola noticed that her notes were rather sparse, and made little to no sense. Y'shtola decided not to comment, not wanting to offend her new friend, and not everyone is booksmart. Instead she says,
"I'm assuming you have math as well?" Sumi nods, holding her notebook to her chest with one hand as the other gently shuts her locker.
"Yeah, I do."
"Let me walk you," Y'shtola suggests. Sumi's eyes widen slightly before she smiles, genuinely touched at the offer.
"A-alright, if you're offering,” Sumi says, “lead the way.” So Y'shtola does, beckoning Sumi to follow as she walks through the halls to their destination. Students have begun to filter out, heading to their respective classes in time for the bell. Y'shtola ought to at least show Sumi some other places that are on their way, since she's new and all. It would help her find her way around the school better, if she knew where places like the cafeteria were already.
The two of them pass by a room with glass windows for walls. Through the mostly clean windows were shelves with rows upon rows of books, ranging from different genres like fiction to sci-fi. There was also a lounging area, with bean bags, a small round table, and a circular red carpet that was suspiciously stained.
“This is the library—Urianger's favourite place.” Y'shtola says, grinning. You'd usually find Uriganer lounging in one of the bean bags if he was feeling adventurous, and if not he'd be in his room at his desk.
“Um, who's that?” Oh, right. Sumi's new, she doesn't know anyone here—save for Y'shtola herself.
“Sorry, he’s one of my friends,” explains Y'shtola, “he really loves books. I could introduce you two, if you'd like. He’s nice, don't worry,” Sumi raises her brows at the offer, once again surprised by the kind offer. She stiffens, beginning to fidget with her slender hands.
“I'd…like that,” she says quietly, “y-you're really nice,” at the soft admission, Y'shtola blushes, flattered.
“I could say the same for you,” Y'shtola says, chuckling. She had, secretly, been a tad nervous about the new girl. A new student being good-natured was like finding a diamond amidst a mountain of rubble. If this kindness of hers was an act, she is a very convincing actor, because Y'shtola absolutely adores her. Enough gushing!
“Anyway, we should hurry up, we're gonna be late,” Sumi nods in agreement, and they continue their walk in relative silence, save for the small talk Y'shtola begins, but it quickly dies down with Sumi's shy and curt responses. They make it to the math classroom as soon as the bell rings. It's a quaint classroom; with desks arranged in rows; positive posters displayed on the walls along with ones that are math related; a small fake plant sat atop the teacher's long desk; and a chalkboard with yesterday's notes on them. It also smells like body odor. Great. The staple scent in high school classrooms. Y'shtola and Sumi take a seat in two desks in the middle that are right beside each other. Sumi would have much preferred a desk in the back so she could avoid getting called on, but alas.
The teacher walks in soon after, placing a cup of coffee onto his desk before looking at Sumi and gesturing for her to stand up.
“Today we have a new student,” the teacher explains as Sumi stands up, “please introduce yourself.”
“Um…m-my name's Sumi,” she says quietly. And that's it. She sits back down, embarrassed at her lackluster introduction. The teacher just nods as a few kids discreetly snicker behind their hands.
“Thank you. Now, for today's lesson…” The teacher begins to write notes down for a formula onto the chalkboard. Most students are dutifully writing it down, while a few are merely slacking off or doodling. Y'shtola diligently wrote down the numbers and symbols in her neat handwriting, and Sumi…well, she was trying. Y'shtola took a peek at Sumi's notes and noticed how little she was copying down. The notes were all there, but Sumi was merely staring at the board, tapping her pencil on her page.
“...You okay?” Y'shtola whispers.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” replies Sumi, sighing, “I just don't understand this at all,” Y'shtola hums. That makes sense, Sumi isn't the type to mindlessly copy notes, it seems.
“I can help you go over them later,” Y'shtola, once again, offers. It was just a kind offer after a kind one. Will she ever get tired of being sweet?
“Th-that would be really nice,” Sumi says, deeply touched at the cat-eared girl's thoughtfulness, “thank you, seriously.”
Y'shtola smiles bashfully, about to respond until a stern glare from the teacher shuts her up. She turns back to her notebook, scrawling down equations. The bell soon rings, for a passing period, which Sumi is incredibly thankful for. Math class was dragging on. She haphazardly places her notebook into her light pink bag with white polka dots, zipping it up and throwing it over her shoulder. Y'shtola walks up behind her, tapping Sumi's shoulder,
“What class do you have next?”
“Um,” Sumi digs through her bag, pulling out her timetable, “oh, I have science,” Y'shtola snickers at the disappointed expression on Sumi's face, before patting her shoulder placately.
“Science isn't that bad,” Y'shtola assures, “I can walk you. I have music, and that's on the way,” Sumi nods and follows behind Y'shtola. They arrive in front of the science classroom, and Y'shtola waves goodbye as she walks away to her own class. Inside, Sumi takes a seat at the back, doing her work to the best of her ability. After around an hour, the bell rings and Sumi darts up, shoving everything into her bag. It's lunch! Finally, Sumi's been counting the seconds until this well-earned break. She picks her bag and decides to go to the bathroom, since she's been holding it in all day. As she approaches the bathroom—after getting lost multiple times—she overhears two people talking.
“Gosh, why do you always talk like that?” Says a boy.
“Art thou irritated by mine manner of speech?” Retorts a slightly deeper voice.
Sumi pauses in her steps, her interest piqued. She looks around the corner, spotting two boys chatting—one a Hyur with choppy brunet hair, and the other an Elezen with silver hair and slight stubble on his pale face.
“Yeah, I am, ya freak,” he scoffs, “you speak like a geek, a nerd. It's embarrassing.”
Before Urianger could respond, Sumi walks up, shyly folding her hands in front of her lap as she mumbles,
“um, I don't—that's a little…disrespectful,” it goes silent for a beat before the brunet bursts into laughter, hands on his knees,
“No shit,” he snickers, “that's why I said it. Shocking, huh?” He mocks before turning on his heel, walking away.
“Anyway, I said what I wanted to. Speak normally next time, weirdo,” the boy says as he walks to the cafeteria. Sumi sighs, scratching the back of her neck. That was…embarrassing. She tried to stand up for this teen, but failed. Of course she did. She turns around to face Urianger,
“Sorry…he shouldn't have said that stuff to you,” she says, smiling apologetically. He shrugs in response,
“Tis naught to me, their words doth trouble thee not,” he says coolly—though his voice was quiet, almost tired, “verily, I do thank thee,” and with that, he leaves, heading to the library.
Sumi's pink eyes linger on his retreating form, cocking her head to the side. He says he's okay, but there was a…look in his eyes. His shoulders were slightly sagged, too. Words hurt, even if he refuses to admit it. Her lips form a thin line as she enters the woman's restroom, pondering the recent encounter. Sumi hopes he's truly okay, and not just putting up a facade. Even if he's a stranger, Urianger doesn't deserve to get picked on for something so stupid. Washing her hands after exiting the stall, she frowns in the mirror. Just a few more hours of classes to get through—that being said, where is she going to sit for lunch? Perhaps Y'shtola and her friends would let Sumi join them, the Miqo'te was quite kind to her after all. She sighs—something she realized she's been doing quite frequently lately—and exits the bathroom. It won't hurt to try.