Chapter 51: Chapter 50: Classes, Questions, and Jealousy.

Aoi arrived at the high school entrance at 8:09.

She had no official reason to be there before classes started. Sword practice had ended with plenty of time to spare, and instead of heading straight to the classroom, she ended up standing near the main gate, staring out at the street.

She was there when Nyx arrived.

The elf stopped when she saw her and sized her up for a second.

"What are you doing?"

"None of your business."

Aoi answered without looking at her.

"What a harsh answer..."

Said Nyx.

"Still, I’m not surprised coming from you."

Aoi turned her head toward her.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"I’m just saying..."

Nyx adjusted her backpack on her shoulder.

"Are you waiting for Takeshi?"

"I’m waiting for them to open the classroom."

"The classroom’s been open since eight."

Aoi didn’t respond. Nyx opened her mouth to add something else, but right then both of them looked toward the street at the same time.

Takeshi was walking toward the entrance, and Ophélia was beside him.

Neither of them said anything. They simply stood there watching them approach, and Takeshi, who spotted them from halfway down the block, noticed exactly what they were doing.

Aoi’s jaw was slightly tense, and she was watching Ophélia with an intensity that wasn’t curiosity. Nyx had narrowed her eyes, and her lips had flattened into a straight line where her usual relaxed expression normally was.

Ophélia reached the entrance, saw them, and smiled.

"Good morning, I’m glad you’re here."

"Good morning."

Said Nyx in a tone that tried to sound normal.

Aoi answered as well, though her irritation was noticeable too. Takeshi looked at both of them and said nothing about it.

Ophélia entered the building, and the main hallway reacted.

A group of students talking near the lockers stopped mid-conversation. A teacher crossing the hallway with a folder unconsciously slowed his pace. Two girls walking in the opposite direction glanced at each other after passing Ophélia. A guy checking his phone looked up, looked back down, then looked up again.

Ophélia noticed none of it because she was looking around the hallway.

"It’s longer than I imagined."

"There are three floors."

Said Takeshi.

"And all the classrooms connect to the central hallway?"

"The main ones, yeah. The labs and special rooms are off to the sides."

Ophélia nodded and kept walking, observing the posters on the walls, the numbered doors, the bulletin board near the stairs. Takeshi walked beside her. Aoi and Nyx followed behind them, and neither of them was speaking.

The first class of the day was Ancient World History.

Ophélia sat in the seat assigned to her, took out a brand-new notebook, and opened it to the first page. When the teacher started speaking, she wrote nonstop for the first twenty minutes. Takeshi, sitting two rows behind her, could see her filling the notebook with small, organized handwriting, far denser than anyone else’s in the classroom.

Halfway through class, the teacher asked the group a question and waited, but no one answered immediately, so Ophélia raised her hand.

The teacher pointed at her.

Ophélia’s answer was correct, detailed, and used terminology the teacher hadn’t even mentioned yet in the course. The classroom fell silent for a moment, and the teacher blinked.

"Correct."

He said in surprise.

"Where did you get that reference from?"

"From an ecclesiastical history treatise from the previous century."

Ophélia answered.

"It’s in the library of... where I live, and there’s quite a lot of material about that period."

The teacher didn’t know exactly how to respond to that and continued with the lesson. Several students looked at Ophélia. She didn’t notice because she was already writing again.

Takeshi mentally noted that Ophélia had no filter between what she knew and what she said.

Break started at 10:30.

Ophélia went out to the courtyard with Takeshi and stopped in the middle, looking in different directions. Groups of students were scattered around, people were eating, someone had a ball near the side court. The noise level was considerable compared to the silence of the sanctuary.

"What do people normally do during this time?"

Asked Ophélia.

"Whatever they want. Eat, talk, do nothing."

"There’s no assigned activity?"

"No."

Ophélia processed that.

"And what if someone has nobody to talk to?"

"They stay alone or go find someone."

She looked around the courtyard for another moment. Then she pointed at a group of students near the back wall.

"That group has been staring over here for ten minutes."

"I know."

"Why?"

Takeshi chose the short version.

"You’re new, and people notice new people."

Ophélia accepted the answer without questioning it. Takeshi knew it was incomplete, but it was enough for now.

A moment later, one of the girls from the group Ophélia had pointed at separated from the others and walked over. She asked Ophélia if she was new to the school and where she came from. Ophélia answered that she came from a faraway place. The girl asked what exactly that meant. Ophélia explained in enough detail that the girl had no idea how to continue the conversation.

The girl left a moment later.

Ophélia looked at Takeshi.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Not exactly..."

Said Takeshi.

"But when someone asks where you’re from, they usually expect a short answer, not your full backstory."

"Why?"

"Because the question is usually just a way to start a conversation, not a request for actual information."

Ophélia stayed silent for a moment.

"That’s confusing."

"Yeah."

Takeshi answered.

"It is."

The cafeteria was noisy and smelled like hot food mixed with plastic trays.

Ophélia walked in, saw the lines, the long tables, the number of people moving around at the same time, and said nothing for several seconds.

Takeshi watched her. She wasn’t uncomfortable. She was processing.

They each grabbed a tray, went through the lunch line, and found an empty spot. Aoi was already sitting at a nearby table and saw them arrive. Nyx showed up two minutes later and sat on the other side of Takeshi without saying anything special.

Ophélia looked at the food on her tray and then tasted it.

"It’s not bad."

"Told you."

Takeshi commented.

During lunch, Ophélia asked three questions about how the grading system worked, one about why the cafeteria tables were that specific size, and one about whether it was normal for two people at a table not to speak during the entire meal, discreetly pointing at a pair of students who had been sitting in silence for several minutes.

Takeshi answered the first four. For the last one, he quietly explained that pointing at people in a public space was generally considered rude, regardless of intent.

Ophélia lowered her hand immediately.

"Understood, I’ll write that down."

"You don’t need to write it down."

"I’d rather write it down."

Classes ended at 3:40.

Ophélia walked out of the last classroom with her notebook filled to the last usable pages and a tired expression.

"How was it?"

He asked while they walked down the main staircase.

"It was a lot..."

Ophélia answered, then added,

"I want to come back tomorrow."

Takeshi nodded. That answered the question better than anything else could have.

Takeshi and Ophélia took the road back as the afternoon began to fade. Ophélia walked with the same pace she had in the morning, but with less tension in her shoulders.

Takeshi walked beside her, thinking about something specific.

’Ophélia doesn’t know when not to speak, when to move, or when to stay out of the way. Probably because she’s never needed to before. Protecting her inside the school is going to be more complicated than I thought.’