Alethian Shield: Arjuna

ONE

C. 001
A Mundane Life

It was a cycle for Endenna to sit in class and do absolutely nothing.

The breath she inhaled made her face scrunch up at its temperature. The windows were wide open, letting the most humid air she has ever felt enveloping the whole class. She wondered how most of her class mates were able to endure it, diligently jotting down the notes whilst trying to peek to the side to the parts where the teacher was standing infront of.

The pages felt strangely rough on her fingers. Maybe because of her not using it everyday like the rest of her classmates who have gone through their second and third notebook. The teacher was still teaching a mathematic problem she couldn't care less to listen to. The chalk she held was screeching painfully on the board, causing her to look up to face the board.

The teacher seems fascinated as she locked eyes with olive-eyed girl. "Endenna dear, would you like to answer question b for me?"

"46."

The teacher blinked, "This is not addition Endenna dear, we are learning multiplication now."

Her cheeks flared a brilliant shade of red as her classmates erupted in fits of laughter. She felt like slamming her head to a wall, and throwing it away somewhere far. But the fault of hers was already done, there's nothing she could do.

In the background of her monotonous thoughts, she could hear the teacher ordering the students to calm down, and that mistakes are meant to be made for humans to learn.

In the end, she was left to scribbling little circles on her notebook, averting the eyes of the teacher if she were to ask another question. She muted the rest of the world too. Her ears muffled the voices of her friends, her vision tunneling down to focus on her notes. It was only when her neck began to ache did she stopped what she was doing.

The girl looked up, appearing flustered as she panted heavily. The whole classroom was now empty, the air now getting denser as the seconds went by. She placed a hand to her heart, the fast thumping from her shock really—

"shouldn't you go pack up?"

Eh? Endenna snaped to the direction of the voice, immediately finding a blonde girl standing across from her.

"Class ended just now. The teacher canceled the afternoon class because of the weather. She said she'll book a tutorial room next time. So don't forget." She said, fixing the last of her shoulder straps before glancing back to Endenna. "It seems you have troubles with talking to people. I haven't heard you say a word after all this time, so what you did just now was amazing."

Endenna stopped placing her pencil case at what she said. A small flush arising at her kind words. But she couldn't find herself saying anything back. 'what was her name?' she though to herself. The girl had already put away her badge where her name was supposed to show, making things more difficult for her. 'so I just... ask her?' Endenna thought again, horrified at finally having to talk to someone.

"have you seen the news lately?"

Endenna shook her head as a reply.

"There has been terrorist attacks from what I could gather."

"terr? Terror?"

The blonde girl widened her eyes at the sound of Endenna's voice. It was surprisingly pleasant but she had to focus on it well to actually heart it. The weight of her words carried the lightness of a feather. She then nodded at the girl, whilst a worried look laced in her features.

Endenna frowned. Did she say something wrong?

"yes, terrorist attacks. Its where bad people kill people." She explained, "The police founded no lead unfortunately, but from what they found, the victims were usually alone... That's why..."