{-- ʆost and ƒound || open --}
Holding her breath, she pressed her shoulder blade against the academy’s front doors.
She was hauling around an armful of luggage. It’d only just recently been tossed carelessly on the curb for her— the delivery service lacking the courtesy to leave it for her in the office. Regardless; she was relieved to finally have it back in her possession. Someone else had taken her bag by accident at the train station upon arrival and graciously sent it back to the academy’s address. At the very least, the academy handled the situation generously— donating her a school uniform, gym clothes, and basic toiletries to suffice her first few days.
Considering classes had only just been released for the day, the halls were crowded with unfamiliar faces— none that she had taken the time yet to memorize. Thus far she had only yet observed those with intimidating statures, those who could potentially surpass her in a fight. A habit, perhaps, but it was apparent that she had no reason to be weary or distrustful of any of her classmates quite yet.
It wouldn’t have been so burdensome to carry her bags on her own if she didn’t have to open doors or navigate her way through dauntingly long, winding hallways and corridors in the process. Even still, assistance was not something she required. She certainly hoped that it was clear that she could handle this on her own. Most didn’t go out of their way to approach someone with her physique and cutthroat, scarlet hued stare. She was neither a cliched vision of ‘beauty’ or approachable by any means.
Most avoided her— and with good reason. To navigate her way past her classmates invisibly would be preferable. While her arms ached, her stoic visage remained perfectly intact. Though her classmates might have sought to create “friendships” and “bonds”— she was there strictly on business. She had one goal and entertaining herself with an ordinary high school life was one of the last things on her mind.
The doors sighed with compliance under the weight of her handless push, emitting a low creak as they swung open and exposed the entranceway, bustling with student activity. A garbling of excited voices echoed off the walls of the expansive space, increasing her awareness of just how overwhelmingly crowded it was. Peko released the breath she’d held captive to brace herself upon arrival before taking a few tentative steps inside, letting the doors snap shut behind her with a loud ‘thwack’.
She successfully threaded her way through the crowd without drawing attention to herself. When she began her climb up the stairs, however, her heel slid in a shallow pool of spilt liquid. Water? Juice? Whatever it was— her bag jumped out of her arms and went summersaulting down the stairs. She grabbed onto the railing at her side in attempt to keep herself balanced— her chin banging against it in the process. A metallic taste filled her mouth immediately afterwards.
After taking a moment to recompose herself, she straightened up and brushed the creases in her skirt with her palms, stowing away the evidence that she’d ever keeled over to begin with.
—Honestly?
Swordswomen weren’t supposed to slip on the stairs. How long had it been since she’d had a remotely clumsy experience? Peko aimed a vexed, flustered glare where the blame rightfully belonged— the liquid on the stairs that’d prompted her to loose her footing.
When she was made aware of someone else’s presence poised at the top of the stairs, her ruby stare immediately snapped upwards to meet that of another. Was this the person who created the slippery hazard on the stairs? Or just a passerby? Did it matter?
An exchanged glance didn’t give her reason to initiate a conversation, did it? She awkwardly finished brushing her skirt and turned on her heel, trekking down the steps to reclaim her fallen luggage. She made her way towards the top again, using her sleeve to wipe away a tiny bead of blood that was traveling around the contour of her lower lip. She paused in front of the other person and gestured to the spill.
"You’d best be careful, if you’re on your way down."
So that's Hope's Peak, huh? Man, craziness if I ever saw it. Man, it's like I got the world in the palm of my hand! Carefree whistling echoed through the stairway, followed by the clicking sounds of wooden sandals. Out of tune humming could be heard from above the traveling warrior. There was no sense of rhythm or rhyme, and the person who it belonged to appeared to give little about the tune itself. It had taken a few steps for a sudden stop. The man had sniffed the air, then, over the railings, peered down at the white-haired person who dragged her luggage.
"Jeez, lady! That's one hell of a bruiser! Don't you know Mars is in retrograde now?!" He looked at her with a touch of concern in his voice before he raced down to be at level with her. "Hey, you want some help with that?"
