As You Fade Away

2. Rain on the Inside

It was a brand new day in Sumeru. Lumine woke to the chirping of the birds and the pattering of rain on her roof. The morning was chilly, and she was not ready to move out of bed. She snuggled her fluffy blanket and stared at a picture frame at her bedside table. It had a yellowing picture of her brother and herself, who wore crazy grins.

Lumine smiled to herself as she recounted the days she spent with him. She was a little upset; he said he would be back after his trip with their friend, the floating pale humanoid, Paimon. But she guessed she had to start her high school days without her twin.

The girl lazily rolled off her bed and dragged her feet to take a shower. The cold water stung her; she could never get used to it. She scrambled out and got dressed as she realized no one would be making her breakfast. Her time was ticking. She had to get to the school premises within half an hour. She rummaged through her bag to make sure she packed everything the previous night. She snatched a sunsetia and ran to her school without an umbrella, hoping she could make it in time for the opening day.

As she was running, Lumine bumped into Kaveh, a very talented artist who also slept in. He was a year older than her and met her when Collei invited some friends to have dinner. Together under Kaveh's umbrella, they reached the gates of the school, panting and soaked.

There it was, the Akademia High School, or AHS for short. The building gave off a majestic feel. The front of the school had trees and grass with a fountain and benches. It felt more like a park and not a school. The building was stretched wider than the Crux Fleet and just as tall. There were hundreds of kids filing into the school building. Some with raincoats and others with umbrellas. Some just didn't bother the rain and kept on going.

Lumine gaped. Kaveh chucked while steering her inwards.

"It gets more grand inside. You haven't seen anything yet. The carvings and mosaics in the halls will blow you away!" Kaveh beamed as he shook the umbrella and rolled it up.

And just as he promised, the interior did impress the girl. There was graffiti art on all the walls of the hallway. The top has a blue mosaic pattern of a partially cloudy sky. It was calming to see.

"How do you find your way through?" Lumine asked as she pivoted on her heel to take in everything.

"The third floor is for dorms for the first years. You'll be staying there starting next week. As to how you find your way, you'd just have to get used to it. Class 1 D, wasn't it? Right this way." Kaveh put his hands on his hip and guided Lumine to her classroom. She noticed that most of the students seemed to be going in the same direction.

"Leave your bag there and follow the other students to the auditorium. The beginning of the school year starts there." Kaveh instructed as he went to his classroom.

Lumine waved goodbye and entered the room. There were eighteen benches and chairs paired to make three columns and three rows. Lumine placed her bag on the table next to the window in the first row. The sight outside was calm. It looked like the rain had cleared.

As she turned to exit the classroom, she saw a girl smiling and waving at her. Lumine immidiately recognized her friend, Collei. She had silky green hair and a complimenting golden hairpiece.

"Lumine! We happen to be in the same class. It is such a relief to have someone you know around." Collei placed her bag on the table next to Lumine. "Come on, we have to get to the auditorium, or we'll miss the principal's speech and draw attention to ourselves." Collei led the way with Lumine at her heel.

"Tighnari told me all about how the school works," Collei said as she pointed to various rooms. "That is the music room. There are three such rooms in this school. And that is the art room. Oh, and this room will be my favorite one!" Collei opened the double doors, which led to a wide mess hall.