If you're reading this a second time, you may have noticed subtle changes. The story and characters are the same, so, don't worry about having to re-read everything. I'm just tidying up a bit to hopefully, make this a little easier to read. Enjoy XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Akane lay in bed at 6 a.m. on Saturday watching the rays of the sun slowly brighten up the room she and Miu currently shared with six other occupants. She'd returned last night to silence in the dorm. All the girls had fallen asleep in their sleeping bags in various spots on the floor. She'd drifted off with ease after filling her stomach in the breakfast room before coming to bed. Though, her sleep had been fitful and broken. A nightmare had roused her nearly an hour ago, leaving her staring at the ceiling in silence.
Once Akane couldn't stand the stillness any longer she threw her thick and cosy blanket back, carefully manoeuvred around the girls scattered about the floor and the foot of her bed. She grabbed clothes from the cupboard and chest of drawers and slipped into the bathroom to change. She crept back out of the bathroom, across the room and left silently, popped the earbuds in of Miu's music player she'd plucked from the dressing table on her way out. She zipped up her black, hooded jacket then trotted down the stairs and out into the morning air of the academy grounds.
Exiting the gates to The Sun Dorms, Akane headed for the gardens, a popular pop song from Miu's playlist playing in her ears. She didn't much care for the tune, but the song was loud and repetitive, a good beat to occupy her mind and steer it away from the unwelcome thoughts her nightmare had brought.
Akane walked through the entrance to the gardens, meandered her way through the flower beds, oblivious to the two pairs of eyes following her every step. The music changed to a more rock-inspired tune, which Miu was also partial to. It was an older song but one Akane also enjoyed in small doses. She hummed along absentmindedly as she enjoyed the slightly chilled morning wind brushing her face and pulling at her hair and the sounds of her feet hitting the hard ground underfoot.
She stopped, somewhat abruptly when she found herself in the centre of the garden where there stood a circular fountain. It was set in the middle of the path surrounded by trees and bushes, the walkway, circling it and branching off into four separate paths. She walked around the fountain, gazing into the clouded water at all the wishing pennies left by past students.
Akane stopped and stared at her reflection on the water's surface. Her hood was thrown back revealing the messy bun she'd thrown her hair into at the back of her head, wispy strands that had escaped hung down against the side of her face. The mascara she'd worn the day before was still on but thanks to her pillow, there was more under her eyes than on her eyelashes. Her skin was as deathly pale as ever and her eyes stood out like two spots of paint on a canvas. She concluded that she should have brushed her hair before leaving the room, and at the very least, washed her face and brushed her teeth.
Resigning herself to the scolding she was sure to get from Miu for daring to go out looking like she'd just rolled out of bed (which she had). The sun was defiantly high enough in the sky for her early-bird roommate to be pottering around their room, getting the others up. She turned, intending to start the walk back to The Sun Dorms, but the next track on Miu's playlist had Akane stopping in her tracks.
There was nothing particularly special about the song. It was an older tune, a once-popular song that, like so many others, had fallen into obscurity with newer melodies taking places in people's minds and hearts. What had stirred her was, that this was her parent's song. This was the song they'd danced to on their wedding day as well as every anniversary and birthday since. She rarely heard it now, but it was enough to bring her mind back to her current situation and her goal.
She turned back at the fountain staring at herself a few moments, then suddenly, she plunged her hand into the freezing water, leaving it until the stabbing pain in her hand became intense and her fingers felt like fractured ice. Pulling her hand back, she looked at the blue tinge to the colour of her skin. Flexing her hand painfully, to help the blood circulate faster into her abused appendage. She somewhat enjoyed the faintly uncomfortable tingle of her blood rushing back into her hand, it assured her this wasn't a dream, that she was at the academy and far away from the goings-on at home.
Akane listened to the song intently, drifting through her memories until it reached its end. The sobering thought that she now needed to ensure she stayed in school, brought her back to the present. Shaking the cold-water droplets from her hand she placed it back into her jacket pocket before walking back to The Sun Dorms for breakfast, and hopefully to avoid Miu until after she'd made herself 'fit to be seen'.
The eyes followed Akane as she turned to walk back through the gardens but broke away before they did anything foolish, forcing their feet to carry them back to The Moon Dorms for some much-needed sleep. They had already broken curfew and knew if they dawdled much longer, they would be questions to answer.