Disclaimer: If CSPI were my creation, Mifuyu's autism would have moved beyond mere coding to "undeniably canon."
Mifuyu ducked out of the classroom between lessons. Thank goodness Class Z had such flexible schedules. She couldn't handle this right now.
Of course the hallways carried their own sensory overload, but she was outside quickly.
In the relative quiet of the open air, Mifuyu took a deep breath in and out. She felt better already.
It didn't last long – even though the sun was shining, even with the school's modified weather, the February air was freezing. Still, it was better than the noise and stress inside.
Mifuyu took off running down the walkways. She liked CLAMP School's climate control, but it was jarring to spend one day shoveling snow at home, only to go to school where it was eternally spring the next. Sometimes she wished CLAMP School's Weather Department would let the seasons happen. She didn't want the school to be buried in a blizzard, no, but a little snow in winter wouldn't be bad.
But this wasn't really helping. Focusing on minor quibbles when she was overloaded would only increase her stress. Mifuyu concentrated on her breathing patterns as she kept running. It wasn't far to the kendo dojo.
Once there, Mifuyu took off her shoes and started to stretch. This was one place she could always cool down. Just as well. She felt like she was about to cry.
It was okay now. Mifuyu finished warming up and took her sword into the main hall. At this time of day, with most of the students in class, the dojo was empty. Perfect.
Everything was quiet as Mifuyu started on her katas. The quiet sound of the building's electronics was a pleasant background hum, and there wasn't much noise coming in from outside. Occasionally a gust of wind would push at the wooden walls, but that was all there was to disturb her.
She wasn't sure how long she spent there, swinging her sword. Time was just the warm strain of her arms and the steady push and pull of her breathing.
By the time she got tired, Mifuyu's mind had calmed. Not only calmed, but it no longer stuttered at each tiny thing. She'd successfully averted disaster.
She must've been here for a while, she mused as the kendo club members started to appear. She gave them a wave, but kept her attention on her cooldown stretches. It might've been better to change out of her uniform for this, but she hadn't been in the right mental place for the thought of changing into a hakama to even occur to her. She decided it didn't matter. She smelled okay, so it was fine.
Now, was it lunchtime or time to go back to class? Or, better yet, was it time to meet up with the Association? Mifuyu stepped out into the winter sun and grinned. She'd go meet her friends. Classes would still be there when she was ready, and Takayuki always had snacks at the ready.
A/N: I had a lot of stress and overload yesterday, and since i couldn't physically leave the situation, the next best thing was to write about someone else dealing with the same problem. As someone on tumblr said (i can't remember their name or find the post orz), fandom is about finding a character you share one trait with and projecting all your shit onto them. In this case, it's me, Mifuyu, and autism.