Saiki's summer slid away with barely a foot note's notice. He loved summer when the only time he was forced into to public was when he had a definite task: go to the store, pick up your father, etc. This limited social interaction and simultaneously allowed him to guilt his parents into buying him more coffee jelly. The pattern of summer lured him into a sense of security, and the school year slid into to view long before it had a right to.
Camillia's summer was much the opposite. Having finally unpacked her suitcase into the new confines of a new room, she had finally settled into a slight schedule when her mom announced that touring for Sora's new university would begin.
One of the places Sora applied was back in Ohio, so this was slightly exciting to Camillia. Maybe she could finally go back and see her friends. Maybe move in with one, as an exchange student? But before that idea got off the ground, her mom downed it with a "We lived there once, no need to see it again."
This did however, spark a tour of Kyoto for Doshishana University and Kyoto University. Kyoto was a nice enough place, if far away. The thought of Sora moving out was distressing enough that Camilla basically refused to entertain the possibility of the university. Sora was smart enough, she could manage online college from the comfort of their shared room.
Another consideration included Tokyo, slightly closer than Kyoto, and a favorite of Camilla's. The campus spiraled around downtown, and notably, was much flatter than Kyoto. The urban factor was a huge draw, providing a wealth of entertainment and food stalls to try. This visit marked the unofficial end of travel for the Yamada family in general, and exhausted most of the 'summer' fund.
From then on, Camillia stuck to the house, determined to have at least a week of solid relaxation. Unfortunately, the more she chased relaxation in the week leading up to the start of her fall term, the more unease and anxiety ate at her. With just two days til the start of term, her sister finally snapped.
"You've been pacing a hole in the carpet for days. Find something to do with yourself or I will literally attempt murder." Sora was twitching slightly by the end of this, and considering she was using the only computer monitor in the house, she was unable to escape while being productive. She was working her way through several scholarship applications, moving from her spot only when either set of adults wandered in and needed the computer.
"Sorry," Camillia muttered, slightly apathetically. "I'm just really nervous about the start of term."
She had her sister's full attention now, "What's up? Usually, you don't care about reintroducing yourself to classmates and teachers." Sora was right about that at least, for while Camillia was an introvert by nature, she wasn't shy. In fact, on more than one occasion, Camillia had been known to interrupt class and correct people about the pronunciation of their last name.
"It's not that. I'm more worried about what people will think of me." At this Camilla gestured to herself, and then to the closet which held the first school uniform she'd ever wear. Both Camilla and Sora were considered Japanese back in America, even if her father was technically a mixed race. Here the visual differences between the two sisters and the general population were nearly noticeable: their faces weren't quite as round and they were rather tall. In addition, even after a full summer of practice, Camillia's Japanese retained that strange lilt. It was not obvious that the two were not from Japan originally, but the fact that Camillia was transferring into a small school like PK Academy meant it would not be long before the whole school knew.
"All this over not fitting in? Yeesh. Are you in grade school or what?" This wasn't an unkind rebuke, rather one laced with an underlying message: You can't change what you look like and worrying will hardly help. Camillia nodded slowly, catching her drift. "Besides, your shining personality," sarcasm was heavy in Sora's tone now, "will always be what drives people away." Punctuated with an eye roll, this statement had them both smirking.
At some point though, their aunt had entered the room. Hanabi looked appalled at this, snapping, "Enough girls! Stop fighting or I will separate you." Overbearing and badly timed, both girls grimaced and turned to face her. Hanabi was a small woman but carried an authoritative presence with her every movement. A more traditional Japanese build with an emphasis on the white pastel skin allowed the girls to see a small flush of anger and embarrassment spreading on her face. "Apologize this instant." With a glance, appeasing Hanabi was determined more important than finishing their battle of wits, so they both gave muted apologies and called it a draw.
"You're going to be late you moron!" That was Sora, three inches from her ear at god awful o'clock in the morning.
"You could leave without me!" This was suggested with a note of hope in her voice, because of two reasons: Sora would leave Camillia if the latter wasn't ready, and if that happened, Camillia could put off school for another day. Just as Camillia was beginning to consider this an actual option, Sora snatched the pink bowtie from her hands and affixed it onto the uniform. By this point, Sora had also somehow managed to drag Camillia to the door and picked up the shoes. Through sheer willpower and probably a good bit of brute strength, Sora had managed to get Camillia farther in her wake up routine than Camillia had managed on her own.
The ride was too short for comfort. Suddenly she was opening the door of the car, stepping out into the breezy morning and staring up at the gates to her new school. Here goes nothing. If I hate it, I only have 2 years to go. Then I can ship myself right back to Ohio. Joining the stream of students, she took her first step towards the school assembly.
Saiki woke up the morning of day one in a distinctly dissatisfied mood. School brought noise and disruption and effort when all he really wanted was to bury his head 200 meters in the sand and finally have some quiet.
But that wasn't normal. So Saiki simply sighed, dressed, and resigned himself to another year of normalcy. He hoped.
The way to school was interrupted by an errand pouch and a truck, which was safely averted via his telekinesis. It was slightly astonishing that a limited number of people realized his powers considering how often things 'just worked out' when they otherwise would not have. As he reflected on the nature of his powers and their odd origin, his feet carried him to the school assembly. He vaguely noticed that the English speakers' mind was among the crowd, before getting distracted by Nendou the Thoughtless.
Saiki already knew today would be trouble. His mood worsened.
Author's Note: Alright so take this to tide you over? Real life definitely got in the way of writing this, but here you go. Also sorry for the weird formatting, I'm still figuring out this plaltform.
Read and review, please!
