Hello, dear reader. This fic is set about a month after the events of anyone's route beside Satch's. Please see the end of the story for another A/N. Enjoy~
Satchell found her sitting in the meadow near the school campus. Somehow she was close enough for him to see her from a distance, even with the lack of light. She had her back leaning against a large tree with her legs up close to her chest, arms wrapped around them tightly. The girl's long dark brown hair was out of its usual messy bun and was now the only thing that kept him from seeing her face. She wore casual clothes; a dark coloured t-shirt covered by a soft looking, unzipped purple hoodie and bluish-grey jeans. Satch figured she must have come back from a trip into Higanbana.
The girl was looking up at the night sky, most likely admiring the stars that blanketed the Earth's atmosphere. A cool breeze flew past making her hair sway in the same direction. If he wasn't so aware of his surroundings, the Normal Boots member never would have guessed that he had been hidden, crouched behind a bunch of dense bushes for almost half an hour. The girl tightened the grip around her legs as she visually shivered, sniffed, and then quietly sneezed, mumbling a distant compliant afterwards. Satch wanted to go over to her to see if she was okay. It was obvious that she wasn't, but for some reason he had to confirm his hunch.
The thing was, something was holding him back. It wasn't clear why he had this strange feeling. All he knew was that the sensation had to be fought, starting by moving away from the lush green in front of him. Out in the meadow, the girl removed her left hand from its iron grip to once again reveal an open, crumbled piece of paper. She looked down and began quietly reading the contents of the note for the seventh time since he'd been watching. Satch wasn't one to really be interested in other people's private lives - excluding his friends in the Normal Boots Club, of course - but this time, he found himself curious to know what was on the letter.
It wasn't that he didn't care about anyone outside of the club, per se. Satchell really did enjoy helping people find books that spoke to them. It was just that he found it a little harder to interact with those he wasn't properly acquainted with. Yes, unfortunately even getting to know a person through things like their favourite book genre had its limits. Not that it was bad or anything. In the end, it simply meant that his friends noticed a nervous shift in his personality while he was around other students or out of his comforting library element.
The letter wasn't the only thing Satch was curious over either. The girl herself had frequently crossed his notice in the past, and not just because they were in the same classes. It seemed she was one of few students who treated the Normal Boots Club members like any other pupils. For example, over time it had became apparent between the Normal Boots members that whenever she was in the presence of any of them, the girl never went out of her way to make her own presence known like a lot of other students tended to do on a regular basis. What's more, she didn't act as if she was intimidated by them either, which made social interaction much more pleasing. That's how Satchell interpreted the subject anyway.
Her gentle mumbles brought him back to reality. If this girl was up set, he was going to help in any way he could. He had to. With his mind now made up, the Normal Boots member stood. He waited a few minutes for his legs to adjust to the alteration. There was no need to worry about the girl seeing him since she was facing away from the school, much to Satchell's relief. When his legs recovered from a serious case of pins and needles, he stepped away from the bushes and began walking towards the meadow until he got about half way, where he came to a sudden halt.
At this point, dried up leaves littered the grass, threatening to give away his position. Now that he was immobile, Satch found himself doubting his decision. He had to make the choice whether to keep going or cower back to Bluebell House. Was it worth it? Coming all this way, and for what? A girl he hardly knew? A girl who probably wouldn't even consider confiding her troubles to someone as 'popular' as him? Satch pushed up his glasses, his big brown eyes looking over towards the girl once more. Of course she was worth it. She was Lithia Armos, one of the nicest girls he had the pleasure of meeting.
So, the cycle resumed with each foot stepping nearer to the only other person around. Confidence built up inside him with each step he took. As he got closer to her, however — crack — he stepped on a pile of leaves, which covered a bunch of sticks that snapped when he stood on them. The echoing snaps were sure to be heard by at least a mile away.
He immediately froze in an awkward position. Arms were held in mid-swing, fingers apart in a crooked way, knees slightly bent, legs tense and his faced expressed a look that seemed to scream, 'WHAT DID I JUST DO?!'. The Normal Boots member's heart began to pump faster with his lungs working double time to keep up with the rest of the body. In out, in out, in out. The icy cold air went through his nose and out his mouth frantically. Satch mentally scowled himself. Calm down, Satchell ordered his inner voice.
Who knew this would get so intense? His muscles loosened and he righted himself, standing up straight with a sigh. A new feeling seemed to creep up inside him. It told him that something was missing. Another sniff in the distance caught Satch's attention and he realized the mumbles had stopped. His eyes darted to the direction of the girl. She was still facing away with her head tilted back up to the sky. Satch took several cautious steps forward.
Rustling suddenly was heard coming from a nearby tree. Lithia jumped in her place tearing her eyes away from the stars and, thankfully, glanced over her left shoulder instead of her right. Satch turned to look too. A bird was messing around, flapping its wings widely and squawking loudly near the top of the tree. The crazy thing was probably hunting down a worm or something to eat. It didn't take long for the bird to take flight again, going in search of another hunting spot.
Satch and Lithia watched as the bird flew away in the direction of the moon. If he didn't know better, Satch would've thought that what just happened may have been some kind of sign. Lucky he did know better. Nevertheless, he adjusted his glasses out of habit and continued on with his walk. The wind blew around them furiously, making them both shudder. Why was she out here? Surely she could've read the letter in her dorm instead. When his eyes focused back on Lithia, she was looking down at the paper in her hands again. After a while, the Normal Boots member finally neared his stop. To his surprise, however, when he was close enough to earshot Lithia took a breath and spoke.
"You won't tell anyone I wa- I was out here, w-ill you, Satch?"
There was no mistaking the troubled falter in her voice, or how her tone was noticeably about three notches flatter than normal. She must have gotten a look at me when I was distracted. Well, there was no point in hanging back now. Slowly, Satch stalked his way closer to her. He still found himself being cautious, though he didn't know what for. Whenever in Lithia's presence he found himself being wary of his everything he did. The Normal Boots member could never figure out why he was always so thoughtful around her, and it frustrated him to no end every single time. A sort of expected realisation struck Satchell when he approached the girl. His dreaded assumption was indeed correct, she was not okay at all.
It only seemed right to stand a few feet away from Lithia just in case, and for good reason. The moment her wavy hair couldn't hide her face any longer, a pang of emotions hit him hard. Her small nose had gone red and under her eyes were red and puffy too. Still wet tear streaks shimmered down her cheeks in the moonlight. She looked miserable, exhausted and defeated. The rumours Satch heard from other students weren't true, were they? He remembered several people in homeroom say she wouldn't be around much longer. At the time, he simply dismissed the speculation since he didn't like what it implied.
"And let you land in detention? No, I wouldn't do that. But I hope you don't come out here at night on a regular basis. It's not healthy, you know."
Lithia smiled a little despite her sad vibe. The girl kept her head down, eyes on the paper.
"Ye- yeah, I'm, uh.. I'm aware. This is actually my first time breaking curfew. I've ne- never been the kind of person to take chances, see. But anyway, did you need something?"
The way her voice wavered made Satch think she was finding it hard to keep herself together. He tried a reassuring smile, but it didn't stay for long. What did he want? It was obvious she was upset, and he wanted to help, but how could he? Would she even let him? Questions were swarming in his head. A voice inside struggled to shout above them. Just then, Lithia all of a sudden turned her head and looked up to meet his gaze, smile long gone.
If he felt bad before, this was a hundred times worse. Just look at those eyes! They were an intense silvery grey, and he could practically see the distress swimming in the trapped tears of the orbs. Say something! the inner voice cried. But Satchell wasn't listening. He couldn't. It was as if he was in a trance, and he didn't even want to break free from it. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long time before Lithia finally averted hers down to the ground with a look of.. embarrassment? Lithia sighed solemnly.
"Why did you come, Satch? You of all people shouldn't be caught out here."
The Normal Boots member simply stared down at the girl since he wasn't really sure how to react to the comment. It wasn't like he would get in any real trouble. His job as the Librarian's assistant often saved his butt, after all. Sure, being in the Normal Boots Club had its privileges too, but being able to say he was a member wasn't enough to stop him from earning an afternoon in detention. But now was not the time to think about that. In a sort of instinct to act, Satch inched closer and sat down next to the girl on the cold grass. As he did so, Lithia brought her legs down into a cross-legged position, rotated herself around in order to face him then shuffled over creating a reasonable gap between them.
"You don't need to worry about me, though I appreciate the concern. I'm more worried about you. I came to see if you were alright."
Lithia stayed quiet while she processed his response. After a while, she slowly nodded in acknowledgment. She glanced up after that to flash him a small lopsided smile that was again in spite of the energy she gave off. Satch copied the gesture with a smile of his own before she could place her gaze back on her hands, which earned a faint, shaky chuckle from the girl as she folded the piece of paper into thirds.
"Well, I'm not. But I suppose the appreciation is there for you as well. May I ask why you, a Normal Boots member, care enough to risk ten to fifteen double-pages of written lines for me?"
The question was simple, but again, an answer didn't come to mind. It was odd how he couldn't answer her questions straight away, but he could answer anyone else's in a heartbeat. Could there be something wrong with him? The problem had started after Satchell overheard a conversation between Lithia and two of her friends in the library one afternoon. It was purely by accident, of course. No one could stop their ears from tuning in to voices around them, it just couldn't be done.
"Don't te- tell me you came out of pity? God, it better not be out of pity. It's bad enough that I'm reminded of probably getting kicked out of Asagao in a month's time every class. Having you here only makes me feel worse. It's amazing I lasted this long. Honestly, i-it is. I don't know how I made it this far. I-it's not like I ha- haven't been trying to u-understand the work. E-everything is just— i-is just— is just so damn hard to wrap my head around. M-maybe I should just—"
Her voice became strong for a bit until the end where she had to cut herself off in order to keep herself from bursting into tears right there and then. When she mentioned leaving the Academy she waved the letter around as if it held the proof everyone needed for the rumour to be confirmed. Now she sighed deeply, eyes full of tears ready to fall as she hugged her middle tightly. Uncharacteristically, Satch slid over next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Out of instinct, it seemed, Lithia turned to him and buried her face in his chest just as she broke out into a sob.
Satch tightened his hold on her slightly in hopes it gave off a comforting feeling. Apparently it did, because Lithia's arms quickly wrapped around him with somewhat desperation almost immediately after. Satchell didn't mind this at all. He smiled fondly down at the girl, gently rubbing an endless circle on her back that in time helped soothe her. Lithia managed to stop herself from crying after some time.
When she was ready, Lithia pulled away. She lifted her head high enough to glance up at the stars, breathing in the cold air shakily. Satch took notice of how she stayed close to him instead of moving away again. The girl croaked an apology and thank you for putting up with her outburst. Satch ducked his head in acknowledgment even though he as only half paying attention. His mind played back what she said during her vent. There was a question he didn't necessary want to ask, but he would surely go crazy if he didn't get the confirmation.
"So.. it's true then? You.. you don't have long here?"
Lithia dragged her eyes down from the sky to look at the Normal Boots member with sad eyes. She wiped her cheeks and under her eyes with a sleeve of her hoodie as she nodded.
"Anything I can help with?"
She shook her head after a few seconds of thought.
"Not really, no. I mean, I don't see an- any point. My grade would need to be bumped up by at least sixty-five percent in order for me to simply continue attending the Academy."
"Whaaaat? Are you serious? I can so help you! With enough studying with me, you'll be top of the class!"
Lithia sighed.
"It's not that simple, Satch. I have a month to catch up on all the work from last semester and everything we're learning in class now. I already know I won't be able to maintain the grade if I do somehow survive the month. Besides, you have your own studying to take care of along with the library gig. I can't distract you."
Satch couldn't help but chuckle.
"Girl, you need more confidence in yourself. It might not be the only thing you'll need to get through this, but it's definitely a big contributing factor. And like I said, there's no need for you to worry about me. I can handle the workload no problem. In regards to maintaining the grade, we'll just have to be study buddies for the rest of the year then. Can I ask how are you struggling with school?"
The girl rolled her eyes when he mentioned needing confidence as if she'd heard it a million times over. Satch didn't doubt that. Lithia looked like she wanted to protest for the rest of his dialogue, but apparently decided it was better to just answer his query.
"I guess my main problem is that there is a lot of information to take in during class so it's difficult for me to remember everything, even when I take notes and stay after class. And then there's the lack of concentrat— wait. 'We'll just have to be study buddies'? Since when did we establish a team up?"
Satchell full out laughed this time, grinning from ear to ear. Lithia paled in the moon's light.
"Just now! Awe c'mon Lithia, you should have known I wasn't going to let you surrender that easy. Anyway, there are some techniques for both concentration and work management we can try out. It shouldn't take long to decipher what best works for you."
It didn't seem like Lithia was listening to what he was saying at this point. All this time her eyes had been on him, but now they were more interested in something on the ground. Satch noticed the slight frown on her brow as well as the way the right side of her bottom lip was captured in a gentle bite. His cheeks flushed. Silence followed for almost a full minute before Lithia spoke again. When she did, she returned her gaze on him with skeptical eyes.
"Why do you want to help so much?"
It was Satch's turn to spend time thinking. He turned his gaze up to the night's sky. It was clear of clouds, so millions of stars sat displayed in plain view. The sight was extraordinary, but not for the first time was the Normal Boots member reminded of his own insignificance. He frowned a bit and averted his eyes. How do I put this?
"I.. suppose it's.. because I like seeing you around? I don't know, you've got this likeness to you – a bubbly personality that's contagious to those you hang around. It would be sad to see you leave." After a few seconds, he hesitantly added, "… Plus the way you bit your lip when you're deep in thought is.. kinda cute."
Satch face grew hotter, but he wouldn't allow himself to look away out of awkwardness; instead he cocked his head to the side and waited. Her initial reaction was genuine shock from what Satch gathered. What part of his response surprised her so much, he didn't know. Her eyes widened with a sparkle – or was it a trick of the dull light? – and her mouth was left slightly agape. A faint blush masked her face.
"I bite my lip? Really?" Satch smiled sheepishly as he nodded. "That's so weird, I've never noticed…"
The girl trailed off, apparently genuinely bewildered by the idea. Had she really been unaware all this time? After a second or so, she came to terms with it and seemed to gather herself up again; she took a deep breath, sat up straight and flashed him another lopsided smile, only this time, it was a much happier one.
"Well— I'm, uh.. thank you. I can't remember the last time someone gave me compliments quite like those. It.. it means a lot. And I'm really not in the position to refuse your help, so I'll take it with much appreciation."
Satchell beamed. "Good, I'm glad!"
A big gust of wind flew past making the two shiver again. Satch got up from the grass.
"Now that we have that sorted out, we should probably head back before it gets any later." He held out a hand for Lithia, who took it after some hesitation, then gently pulled her to her feet. "I'll walk you home."
It didn't take nearly as long to cross the meadow back to the campus than it did to get there, but Satch expected that anyway. The walk to Primrose House was quick, yet comfortably quiet. The two fourth-years kept an eye out for any staff on a late stroll, though thankfully, none came. When they made it to Primrose, Satch held the door open for Lithia then stepped in after her. The two tried to be as quiet as they could down the hall, up four flights of stairs and half way down another hall where they stopped in front of the door numbered 432. Lithia turned to face the Normal Boots member.
"Thank you again, Satch. I don't know what I'd do without you."
He waved a hand, smiling once more. "It's the best I can do. We'll work out a plan tomorrow. I'll be working in the morning, so I'll come find you at lunch, alright?"
Lithia nodded. "Mhm, I'll be here if you don't see me in the library beforehand."
At that moment, a clutter came from the room opposite them. The shuffling footsteps that proceeded after a few seconds came towards the door. Lithia was quick to react. She instinctively stepped closer to her door and slowly slid a hand behind her back which she used to grab the knob with, all the while keeping her eyes on him. Satch figured she was probably afraid of getting caught outside her dorm at such a late hour.
"Either way, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Of course you will," he said with a nod of his own, dimples obvious in the new light. "Good night, Lithia."
They both stepped out of the door's path after she twisted the knob, opened it just enough for her to step through then wedged herself in between the small space before saying.
"good night, Satch."
With one last timid smile and a blush on her cheeks, the girl slid fully through the door then closed it. Just like that, she was gone. Satch stood at the door now smiling to himself.
"Was that who I think it was?" asked, presumably, her roommate from inside the room.
It was muffled, but Satchell couldn't sworn he heard Lithia chuckle nervously. Before the Normal Boots member could hear anything else, he was disrupted by the door on the other side of the hallway opening. Satch turned just in time to see a blonde haired girl stick her head out. He recognised this one to be another student from his classes. Satch smiled broadly at her then turned on a heel, now making a start for the stairs.
He made it out of the building without any further interruptions. While on his way to Bluebell House, he thought long and hard about the night's events. Not only was he able to cheer Lithia up tonight, she also agreed to tutoring with him! It was only last week he realised just how much he wanted to get to know her. This was the perfect opportunity! Of course, the circumstances in which they were under could've been better, but it was an opportunity nonetheless. Maybe this could work out?
Satisfied, Satchell pushed open the door to Bluebell and briskly made his way to his dorm. Needless to say, he was excited to see what tomorrow brought.
To get the disclaimer out of the way; I do not own Asagao Academy or Satch. I had a random idea for this fic and wrote it down as it came to me, so grammar and punctuation is probably a little off. I don't think I got in-game Satch's personality quite right either, but, y'know, I tried. There's some headcanons in there, too if you look hard enough!
So, did you like it? Did you, did you? If you did, you should totally let me know in a review! I am always up for constructive criticism, too. So don't be afraid to tell me where I can improve. With that I will leave you, dear reader.
I hope you're happy and well :)