Chapter 6: Wonder By Saussy
Days slipped by with a dreary sameness, each one a little heavier than the last. By the middle of the week, Natsu's hopes that things at school would improve had started to fade.
It was quite redundant.
Each morning, her new normal; she would wake up early, dressed in her ugly uniform, and try to ignore the nerves bubbling up in her stomach. She made her way to the academy, determined to push through the day, but the whispers, cold stares, and muttered remarks never seemed to lessen. She would start the day with as much of a positive attitude as possible, but by the end of the day, it would be basically non-existent.
they only got worse the longer she ignored them.
She tried to keep her head down, keep her mouth shut; but the comments followed her anyways, sticking like thorns she couldn't shake. "Guess the Vermillion's don't have the standards they used to," someone sneered when she passed, accompanied by poorly concealed laughs.
lunch was pretty much the same, Often finding herself sitting alone, pushing food around her plate, the noise of other students swelling around her. Sometimes she'd catch sight of a group glancing her way, laughing behind their hands or murmuring. That Verena girl hadn't come back yet but Natsu had seen her around a few times, every time, Verena would grimace in disgust and proceed on her way, that hurt way less. But Still, Natsu ignored it, She'd keep her gaze steady, her shoulders squared, and pretend it didn't bother her, but every day it grew harder to hold her composure.
unfortunately for her, she was not as sneaky as she thought.
Fuegoleon, too, had noticed the shift. In the evenings, he tried to engage her with questions, gently asking about her classes, her teachers, and anything that could give him a glimpse into her day. But Natsu's answers had become clipped and guarded, a forced brightness in her voice as she replied, "It's fine" or "The teachers are nice."
Which wasn't a lie. The days were technically fine; nothing really bad happened. All her instructors were kind and did their best with their groups of students.
Fuegoleon wouldn't have worried too much if it hadn't been for one very noticeable shift. When Natsu stopped insisting on going to the base with him. It was the one time he would get to see her act like her normal self, running around and giving everyone a hard time. Bugging his squad with questions about their spells and causing mayhem. It had been part of their everyday routine. Fuegeoleon would take a break to retrieve her from the Vermillion estate and they would spend the rest of the day at the base, doing paperwork and now homework, maybe he would show her a spell with the task to replicate it, she was good at that.
But after the first few weeks...
"Can we just... go home instead?" she had asked, her gaze downcast, fingers toying with the edge of her uniform sleeve. "I'm tired."
Fuegoleon had noted the hint of strain in her voice, the way she avoided meeting his eyes, and immediately felt that something was amiss. He had nodded, of course, and they'd headed straight back to the estate, where, without much more than a polite murmur. She had disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her with a soft click. He'd expected her to emerge for dinner with her usual energy. Still, instead, she was oddly quiet, answering only when spoken to and hardly touching her food, no matter what was cooked.
then the week was finally over, today was the last day of school before the weekend. Natsu couldn't help the relief she felt. classes were long gone and she didn't have to go back for two short days. It finally felt like she could breathe.
At one point, Adallai cast a worried glance toward Fuegoleon. "She's been reserved, I thought she would have been okay by now " she whispered, her brows knitting in concern as she watched Natsu quietly push her food around her plate. Normally, Natsu would've been chatting away, recounting every detail of her day, her voice lively with excitement.
