Lilia's Tale

Chapter 88:Task

I suddenly opened my eyes, confused of what was going on. The room was dark, the lights obviously turned off. My first reaction was to look out through the window, only to see that it was night. Had I fallen asleep and only now woke up? Maybe I was exhausted from the heavy day I had.

I wasn't sure what to think about me falling asleep so suddenly, but there were other worries I had first. I leaned over and looked at the bed below me. Sayuri was tucked in it, tightly hugging one of her pillows. While she definitely looked comfortable, she also looked anxious and scared. I quietly sighed.

I was now scary to my own roomate. Whatever hopes I may have had for a normal student life were already gone. All I could hope to do was take care of her from a distance and make sure her life wouldn't be problematic, regardless of what mine was going to be. It was painful to realise, but I had to endure.

"Master?" Alice suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"I can tell you're scared. What's wrong?"

"...I'm not scared."

"Then what is it, Master?"

"I'm disheartened, and maybe worried. I don't really want to explain, though."

I could tell this only made her more worried and annoyed, but I needed some time to figure things out for myself before even talking about it. I ended up spending the rest of the night wide awake, looking at the ceiling, thinking about it all. By the time the sun arose, Sayuri was still sleeping. I was a bit worried she would be sleeping in past breakfast. I couldn't really do anything, as I knew I shouldn't wake her up in our current situation, so I instead jumped off the bed and went to grab my uniform.

It seemed that my landing woke her up, as I heard her groan as I grabbed my clothes. I looked over and she sat up, still hugging her pillow, rubbed her eyes a bit, then looked in my direction. She was obviously still extremely tired.

I...was not ready for such a cute display. Her messy white hair coupled with her barely-open and sleepy eyes made for quite the pretty scene, only amplified by the pillow inbetween her arms. Truly a young girl at her cutest. We stared at each other for a while until her eyes suddenly widened and she hid her face behind her pillow, only to pop back up soon after.

"G-Good morning..." she shyly said.

"Good morning," I replied after a long pause.

I shook my head trying to get my spirits back, verified I had my clothes in hand and went into the bathroom to change. I removed my dress and underwear then searched, realising I forgot to grab new underwear. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but decided to take the bold action. I put on my shirt, skirt and jacket before coming out of the bathroom. I was being extremely careful with moving around, but Sayuri was right at the closet. She saw me and got out of the way. It worried me, but I had to be thankful in this specific instance. I went and grabbed panties before going back into the bathroom, blocking the door and putting them on. I felt relieved and came out again. She was still on the side, now hiding behind the wall.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She didn't dare say anything. I sighed and continued with:

"I'll wait for you outside, okay?"

She nodded and I went out. the wait seemed particularly long before she came out herself, dressed up and her hair cared for.

"Did you sleep well?"

She nodded again. The fact she still didn't dare speak worried me, but I figured she never really was talkative. I hoped it was nothing more than that, even if I knew deep inside that she was still scared of me.

We went together downstairs and noticed there weren't many people. Maybe we had woken up early. We sat on one of the couches and started waiting. I wasn't sure whether to try and start a conversation or not, especially since she was visibly uncomfortable, so I didn't do anything and just waited.

It took some time before the room filled up with students. Now that there were more people and we were overwhelmed by background noise, I checked on Sayuri again. She was even more uncomfortable, probably from the large crowd around us. Thankfully, it didn't last long as breakfast was ready soon after. We went to eat together, surprisingly being left all alone at our table.

Once done, I offered her to go train a bit at the training area. I wasn't sure if there was anything else we had to do. She nodded, expectations filling her eyes, and we headed for the training room.

"Lilia-san! Sayuri-san!" we heard from behind right before leaving.

I already knew from the voice who it was. Lynn, the student council president.

"I'm glad I could catch up to you two. Is it okay if we talk a bit?"

"Ask Sayuri, I already know what I'm going to do, after all."

"No, I'd rather you stay."

I sighed and gestured towards Sayuri. She nodded, so we followed Lynn to her room. I was uncomfortable in there even more than the first time, and she started explaining to Sayuri everything she explained to me before. She was surprisingly receptive, maybe even more than I was. I listened again just to make sure, but there wasn't much new information on that end.

"By the way Lilia-san," Lynn suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"I think it's best if Sayuri-san stays with you and Julle for patrol duty."

"Huh? Wait, why?"

"Seeing the rumors already spreading about her, I think it's best if you two stay together since you're the one that hasn't tried and dodge her."

"...Did it really spread that fast?"

"Yes. Now everyone knows about how horrendous her mother is, and they don't want to get near her so they don't have to deal with her mother."

I didn't even need to look at Sayuri to hear that what had just been said hurt her badly. I could tell Lynn saw it as well.

"So," she continued, "if you're together with Lilia-san and Julle, nobody will dare bully you. That makes you safer."

"Oh, I get it. In that case, I'm fine with it."

Sayuri, who was on the verge of tears, seemingly calmed down a bit. She nodded and wiped her tears.

"I-I'll do my best!" she enthusiastically said with a broken voice.