Colors in the Dark

[52] Beauty

Miraculously, Ayami made it back to Heights Alliance before nightfall, collapsing on the porch for a few moments to de-summon her spirits before getting up and stumbling inside.

The rest of the class was still in the common room, probably almost as overworked as she was. They seemed pretty concerned on how she stormed off earlier, but she waved them off, making her way to the kitchen to brew tea and get more medicine for her migraine.

It turned out a few of the students were working on preparing dinner, so she internally held her tongue and instead politely asked to help, a wave of her prior anger rolling back that she forced herself to keep in check.

At least her classmates didn't notice, gladly accepting her invitation and passing her a pan and instructing her to get some ingredients. She complied, beginning to enjoy the menial task despite needing to hug the counters at all times or risk collapsing.

Not long after, dinner was served, most of the class gathering at the tables to eat the well-prepared meal.

They continued working on their plans for the festival late into the night, so much so that as Ayami came down from her room past midnight for a drink of water at least half of her classmates were still up. With a sigh, she instructed them to wrap it up and escorted them to bed, knowingly they wouldn't do it unless she forced them to.

("Who's the big sister now?" Hecate muttered in the back of her mind.)

The next day, everyone was just as busy, if not a bit sleep-deprived from their late night- Ayami was used to living off of little sleep, so she was one of the better-functioning students that day. She noticed she still hadn't been assigned a role, which stung more than she wanted it to.

I knew that would happen, she reminded herself. Even Naizen said I'd find someplace to fit in, and he's always had a knack for predicting things like this despite his temper.

The only thing about that morning that she even relatively enjoyed was when Aizawa had to practically jump through hoops just to cross the room and get to her, shoving a few pictures of outfits that looked to be for Eri and asking her to pick which one was better.

(She chose the red dress and boots over the rather ugly cat-covered sweater and pants, which Aizawa seemed strangely defeated about, but swiped the pictures back and darted toward the door.)

A few minutes later of standing as far out of the way as she could, Ayami narrowly avoided a few of her classmates scurrying by with boxes of supplies: ropes, boxes of arts and craft supplies, some tools, and even a few costumes, having to dart out of the way at the last second to prevent them from crashing into her.

With a sigh, she enviously eyed the door her teacher managed to escape out of, wanting out of the stuffy, crowded, and busy room she obviously didn't have a place in at the moment herself.

After a case of glitter was unceremoniously dropped to the ground due to carelessness and would have covered Ayami's entire back had she not stepped away at the last second, she gave up trying to make herself comfortable. She irritably summoned Ansaluia and pulled a pair of flats from her skin roughly, slipping them on before navigating out of the building.

She headed toward the school proper, hoping the campus grounds were a bit less crowded and chaotic, though she began to lose hope as she saw how many people were bustling back and forth. As her formation spirit left her mind, she walked down the path, passing the other classes' own dorms.

I wonder if all the other classes are in as much of an adrenaline-boosted rush to perfect their event... Judging from the traffic even outside them, I guess so...