...

This is... not what I was expecting.

I mindlessly let the door open to its full extent, taking in the sight of the solitary figure taking center stage in the otherwise abandoned room.

The situation steals my voice, leaving me standing at the doorway staring at the girl.

Evidently having taken her time to assess the situation, the girl gently puts down her teacup and opens her eyes, but doesn't look at me?

"Hello there. May I help you?" She said, with her blue eyes opening.

She started directly in front of herself, the movements of her lips seem to break the silence rather than words.

However it's the soft, measure voice that reminds me she's a being separate from the room itself.

She had an accent, I couldn't tell what it was though. I wanted to say Alolan? Hm, maybe not?

"Uh, hi. Sorry for intruding, I was just....kind of lost." I sweatdropped.

"Care to take a seat?" She still looks in front of her.

Although that was unexpected because I'm intruding upon her, I decided to sit down.

"Ummmm.....Thanks." I smiled at her, but she showed no attention to my smile.

Blind, the slight cloudiness to her eyes means she must be at least partially blind, like Gary.

The calming atmosphere is so very different from the student council office.

"I take it you're a new student to Vaniville?" The blue haired girl said.

"You bet, I just transferred in yesterday!" I smiled brightly, but then remembered she's blind.

"I'm Dawn. Pleased to meet you...I come from Sinnoh" Dawn said.

I guess that's where the accent is from.

"Ketchum. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town back in Kanto"

She gives a nod before gesturing roughly in the direction of her teacup.

"Would you care for a drink?" Dawn asks.

"Sure" I don't see any harm in staying for a drink.

She gives a kind nod, taking the request in stride.

Without another word, she steps off the chair and prepares a second cup of tea from a collection of supplies laid out along a shelf.

A brush here, a brush there, her left hand often lightly touching the side of whichever container she's pouring into...it seems to be a process she's followed dozens of times before.

As I lean sideways to see around her back, she seems to use her long, dainty finger to measure the right amount of water in the cup.

It's one thing to see the different disabilities the students in my class have, but it's quite another to see how everyone seem to adapt.

Bianca and May have no problem working together to communicate to me, and Lilly herself seems to have workarounds for problems I'd never thought of.

While I feel slightly guilty about her doing the work, she seems  pleased to be following the 'correct' process of the offerer preparing the drink.

"So," Dawn speaks up.

Her voice brings me out of my silent observance.

"Which room were you looking for? It's not often this classroom is visited after school." She continues doing her thing.

What was I looking for? Oh, the library!

"The school library. Bianca and Ma- I mean, some classmates, told me it was on this floor." I put my hands on my hips.

She finishes pouring water into the teacup as she nods, a small metallic tapping coming from the teacup indication it being stirred.

"I'm aware of Bianca, as are most students. To be with them means you're in class 3-3, no?" She smiles.

"You bet I am, in the science room with Sycamore!"

She giggles before setting down the teaspoon and slowly walking towards the table, teacup and saucer in hand.

"He's quite a character. I imagine you'll come to like him; most do." She chuckled a little.

As she sets down the tea, I gently take it and have a sip. I'm really more of a coffee person, but this seems like a rather bad moment to bring it up.

Nonetheless, the smell's quite nice. I hardly think it'd be hard to choke down.

"Thanks, Dawn. It tastes really nice!" I smiled.

She smiles and quickly waves her hand in front of her face.

I should try and ask her about herself, as it really does seem as if she's catering to me.

"So which class are you from? I imagine it's one of the third-year classes." I sit back, sipping on my tea.

"Yes, I'm in class 3-2; which is on the third floor, same as yours. It's taught by Ivy, and is specifically for both blind and partially blind students."

"I see..... Ah, I mean, uh, s-s-sorry..."

I feel like slapping myself for the faux-pas. Looking at her face, though, she doesn't seem in the least bit put off by it.

"There's no need to change your speech on my account" She laughed.

"Sure. Sorry, I guess I'm really showing my newness here." I chuckled nervously.

"An environment like this would be a big change, so I can't blame you for it. While the same can't be said for everyone, many have come to terms with their conditions." She had a small smile.

A category which would include her, it seems. All too ready to jump ship from this particular topic, I segue into another.

"Do you come here to drink tea often? It's a really chill place." I admired the room.

Thinking on it, this might be her vision of the place behind my school that I liked to have lunch at.

"I come here fairly often during lunch times. My duties as class representative don't leave enough time for an 'official' club, so a friend and I use this room for having tea." She nodded slightly.

Class representative, huh?

Compared to Bianca, her mannerisms seem to be almost completely opposite. While Bianca's blunt and fiercely driven, Dawn seems relaxed and calm, almost aloof.

Come to think of it, she might be useful for a less biased view of the school's clubs.

"What kinds of clubs are there to join?" I asked her.

"The more popular ones are the track and field club, which uses the field near the school during lunchtimes, the baseball club, and the book club in a room near the library. There are also numerous small ones too, though, such as the art and music clubs." She smiled.

At a time when I'm just wanting to get on my feet, rushing into a club right away seems slightly unappealing.

I wonder if this school shares the same rule as my old one...

"Is it compulsory to join a club?" I asked her again.

Damn, I ask a lot of questions.

"It isn't, though it is encouraged." She chuckled.

"Ah, good. That's a relief." I sighed.

I've really let down my guard around this girl to let such a thing slip out. The fact seems to slightly amuse her.

Not wanting my tea to get cold, I finally start drinking it as Dawn does the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I look over to the window over her shoulder, I notice the light coming into the room has a distinctly orange tint.

Even here, time doesn't stand still.

"The time's gone quickly" I shrugged.

"Sorry?" 

Right. She's blind. Of course she can't see the sun setting.

"It looks like the sun's starting to set." I told her.

She looked surprised. I guess she must have lost track of time.

"Sorry, Ash. I didn't mean to keep you from the library for so long." She made a sad expression.

"Ah, no big deal! I enjoyed the time here anyway" I adjusted my hat.

"It's open until six-thirty during weekdays." She smiles.

A quick glance at my watch confirms I have well enough time to get there.

"I might get going in that case. It's been nice talking to you, Dawn" I fist pumped.

She smiles and gives a deep nod, her hands still neatly folded on the table in front of her.

"My pleasure" She giggles.

"Oh, come to think of it... shall I show you where the library is?" She opens her eyes.

"I couldn't possible ask for more help. I should be able to find it all right" I fist pumped again.

Well, unless my navigation skills fail me...not for the first time.

"It's all right, I was going to be talking to the librarian there in any case. I could introduce you." She smiled

"If you're sure, then that'd be great. Thanks!" I smile back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It doesn't take long for us to arrive at the door to the warm-looking room, apparently situated in the center of the floor rather than either wing.

"Ladies first." I laughed.

She walks in.

To the left is the wooden library counter, with the library proper being on the right.

It easily dwarfs my old school's library, with the distinct smell of old books giving the place an almost old-world air.

There don't seem to be a lot of students here. Considering the time, it isn't a big surprise; everyone's probably either in the school grounds or the dorms.

"Joy, are you here?" Dawn says it to thin air since the librarian doesn't seem to be present and of course Dawn can't see this.

What's unexpected is that it draws a reaction.

Something from under the counter thuds against it, followed by a quiet wail.

"Ouch" An unknown voice moans.

The origin, apparently the librarian, quickly crawls out and counces up to extremely rigid attention.

"Oh, hey, Dawn. How can I help you?" Joy says.

Her voice is strained in a failing attempt to sound casual and she's rubbing the back of her head.

"Good afternoon. What happened just now? I heard a strange sound." Dawn asked Joy.

"It's nothing, I just hit my head." She chuckled slightly.

"Are you all right? I'm sorry, I couldn't have know--"

"It's okay! It's okay, sorry for making you worry." The librarian cut Dawn off.

She quick to reverse Dawn's apologies, almost frantically trying to push aside the possibility that she could be in any way inconvenienced by bashing her head on the counter.

"Worse things have happened, hehehe" She trailed off with herself.

The girl fidgets with her fingers as Dawn doesn't seem to drop her concerned expression, and then she shuffles some papers around the counter for no reason.

A little shorter than Dawn, pink hair, blue eyes and a very troubled look, she seems to fit a library perfectly.

"Oh no, I'm sorry for not noticing you before!" She looked at me.

I put my hands up in front me.

"Did you need to check out a book? Or return one? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She looked like she was about to cry.

"Relax, I'm Ash Ketchum. I'm a new student" I smiled.

She went from nervous to relaxed in a matter of few seconds.

"He's with me, Joy. Ash, Joy is the school librarian." Dawn nodded.

"Pleased to meet you." I smiled

"Ash. Right. Ash. Pleased to meet you, too. Ash." She looked nervous again.

She needs to relax.

For a second she visibly attempts to engrave the name on her mind so she won't forget.

A very awkward silence follows.

"Umm, I'll go check the aisles then, if you don't mind." I smiled.

"Very well. Meanwhile, Joy,  I would have those books if it's all right with you." Dawn smiles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My first impression was right; the library is surprisingly big.

"Alright!" I turned my hat back and wiped my gloves against my pants.

Ambling down the narrow aisles, I study the spines of the books in random order, occasionally sliding one out to red the blurb, taking it with me if it looks good.

In a matter of a few moments I have a respectable stack of books in my arms.

"I guess I'll never be stuck for choice in here" I chuckled to myself.

I reach the end of the aisle and find a collection of desks, set up for study or personal reading. Going a little further, though, I discover a nice quiet corner at the back.

While the rest of the library has the odd student sitting at a desk either reading or stealthily sleeping, the back is pretty much deserted.

As I glance around, I see someone who I recognize sitting on one of several beanbags.

It's the honey-blonde-haired girl from my class. The one who snuck out of the classroom earlier.

She's reading a book, keeping it close to her face which makes her look like she's really into it.

From the way she was acting today, I had her pegged as more of a delinquent than a bookworm. In fact, her mysterious disappearance from the class raises all sorts of whys in my head.

Intrigue floats slowly but surely towards the surface, and before I know it I'm walking towards the mysterious girl.

No harm in introducing myself? She is my classmate after all.

Walking over to another beanbag. I take a seat and lay my books beside it.

The girl starts, looking scaredly up at me.

This is the first time I've seen her this close. Underneath her long, dense bangs, I can see that part of her face, at least a third if not a half, is pretty badly scarred.

My eyes are immediately drawn to the scars, subconsciously peeking past her hair until they meet her own deep blue eyes.

For a second, I am shocked, and divert my eyes to the book in her hands, before I realize that looking away probably only makes it worse.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." I scratched my nose

"It....it's okay." She nervously said.

The girl certainly doesn't look like it's okay, but I let it slide.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I smiled brightly at her.

She seems to be very uncertain whether it's okay or not for me to sit, but finally she nods, just a little.

"O....okay." She said.

I take the seat next to her, and she hides herself behind her book.

"Life of Pi?"....Never heard of it.

"So, errr...sorry again for startling you. I'm Ash Ketchum! I'm from Pallet Town back in Kanto!" I fist pumped.

She looks up from her book, stalling a little before replying.

"I...know....w-we...are in the same....s-same class." She stutters.

Her speech is stilted and so quiet that it is barely audible even in the still library.

Somehow I think my 'delinquent' impression of her was wrong.

I was about to open up the first page of my book until she says something.

"S-S-Serena. I'm....Serena."

I resist to urge to say 'that's a nice name' just to have something to say, but really, it's the only thing I can think of.

 "Don't let me interrupt your reading. I'll just check these books if you don't mind." I smile at her.

She nods a little, and sighs a little sigh of relief.

I feel sorry for her, the scarring on the side of her face really effects her looks, don't get me wrong, I actually think she's cute, but obviously she'd look better without it. Eh, I don't care either way.

My eyes still wander to her direction, and I sneak peeks at her flowing hair and the scars it's hiding.

After a while I realize that she's doing the same and only pretending to be immersed in 'Life of Pi.'

Her gaze is not inquisitive at all though, it darts around like a scared rabbit.

When our gazes finally meet, the chain reaction is unstoppable.

She stands up forcefully from the beanbag and takes a deep breath.

"I..." She stops in her words.

"I..."

"I..?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ivegottogodosomething!" She panics, without warning, Serena takes off and runs towards the counter.

Her hare-like take off catches me so off guard that I don't manage to go after her until she has a good head start.

By the time I reach the counter Serena is nowhere to be seen.

Dawn and Joy are happily chatting away.

Knowing that I won't be able to catch Serena myself, I approach the two.

"Hey, did you se-notice a girl run past here?" I questioned the two.

"Um, maybe...what did she look like?" Joy said happily.

"Long, honey colored hair. Kinda shy. She had some sort of scars on her face ,but she was really cute though" I shrugged.

"You wouldn't be talking about Serena, would you?" Dawn said while looking in a different direction.

"Yeah, that's her. I saw her reading and tried to talk to her, but I think I scared her off or something." I rubbed the back of my head.

"Oh no. Joy, would you excuse me, I had better try and find her." Dawn closed her eyes.

"Sure. I'll just hold onto these until you come back." Joy took the books out of Dawn's hands.

"W-Wait, I didn't mean to upset her or anything, I-

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to explain it to you some other time." Dawn dashed out the door.

Once she left it was just me and Joy.

"Can I check these out?" I smiled at her.

"Sure" She took them and scanned them

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holding the library books with one arm, I trawl my pocket for the key to the door.

A sudden sound from behind startles me, making me nearly drop the books I'm carrying or the key that I almost managed to get into the lock.

"Who is it?" A voice from behind says.

I turn around to see who is talking to me. It's Gary. He seems to be in a friendly mood, although the light glinting off his glasses in the dark gives him a sinister look.

"It's just me." I respond plainly.

He doesn't seem to be buying it.

"You live across the hall. You're Gary." 

He jumps back, his eyes filled with an uncomprehending fear.

"How do you know my name? Damn, this can only mean one of two things: either we have met, and you are telling the truth, and I just can't remember it, or you are a spy." Gary says in fear.

He pauses.

"A psychic spy." He put on hand in his pocket.

"I'm not psychic..." I sweat drop.

"How do I know that? I'm not a mind reader." He gives me an angry look.

Gary then points a finger in my face damningly.

"UNLIKE YOU!" He almost screams.

"Stop that, man. We met yesterday. What's wrong with you? I live in this room." I point to my room.

"Lies. If you think you can pass as Ashy boy because I'm legally blind you are sorely mistaken." He tenses his fist.

I want to grab him bu the shoulders and shake him. Exasperated, I rub my eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Stay there." Gary moves closer. I stay still, lest he assault me physically, although I doubt he could do much damage even if he did.

"Oh, wait, I see it now. Damn, it really is you, Ashy boy" He smiles.

His personality switch is like a lever.

"So why the long face? What happened? Do you have a long face? I assume you do from your tone." He puts his hands on his hips.

Serena is bothering me.

"Eh, it's nothing. I just scared some girl off accidentally. Literally too, she actually ran away from me. Was my fault, really, I think. I'm not really....used to all this yet." I shrugged, still feeling kinda bad.

"A girl? A cute on?" He adjusted his glasses, when he did that it reminded me of one of my friends back in Kanto, his name was Clemont, I wonder what he's up to nowadays.

Cute? That's kinda a hard question now that I think of it. She had a nice body and really beautiful hair...But...the face...eh, she's still cute, I guess.

"She was cute" I smiled.

"I knew it!" He randomly says.

"There are a lot of cute girls here. A strangely disproportionate amount... I believe this is one of the dark secrets of this school." Gary clicks his fingers like he just discovered something.

"I'm about to blow your mind, ready?" He confidently says.

Oh no.

"No, I'm not ready." I sigh.

I only get as far as turning the doorknob before Gary starts talking again, showing that he doesn't really care if my mind is blown or not.

"I believe that this school is a battleground. The site of a feminist infiltration." He fist pumped.

"Oh, hell no..." I mentally face palmed.

"I'm going to go bed now, It's extremely late." I open my door.

"But it's only 6:56p-"

I shut the door in his face, cutting him off.

"God he's so annoying." I mumbled to myself.

I don't know if I can fully digest what just happened, so I give up and just go to my room, kicking off my shoes before falling face first into the bed.

It takes me some time to relax and get up so I can get started on homework.

It's because the sheets are cool and comforting against my cheeks, and it feels good just lying there with my eyes closed.

This school is like some kind of bizarre and surreal island. It's isolated on top of a mountain, and each person is stranger than the last.

I just can't seem to fit in. What irony, one would think that fitting in a place that's made for people who are unfit for anywhere else would be easy.

"Maybe I'm trying too hard."

Although I say that, it doesn't help take the edge off, and the words are left echoing off my empty walls.

I guess it's not as bad as I expected, though. This place really is more a school and less a hospital pretending it's a school than I thought it would be.

If nothing else, the scenery is beautiful.

I open one eye, seeing the schoolbooks and bottles of pills arranged side-by-side on my desktop.

Maybe this place is too much like a normal school, after all.