Cold Shards and Warm Stars (OliKase-FukaOli)

1. Just a Normal School!

   It's been more than half a year since we escaped from the laboratory, but every morning of mine still starts with the thought: "How wonderful it is to wake up to the sun's rays, not those nasty white rattling lamps!". The sun is exquisitely beautiful, as are the sky, the stars, the moon, the trees, and the grass under my feet. Sometimes, when Yohi didn't go to work, he would let me go out to the backyard and walk there under his supervision. The grass pleasantly tickled my feet, and the earth was so soft and yielding under my weight. I loved walking barefoot, feeling life under my feet. Everything was finally alive.

But today is a special day. My first school day in almost 4 years. Sure, they taught me a bit in the laboratory too, to be used for some purposes in the future, and additional knowledge is always better, but those lessons were just me, taught infrequently and slowly, and this is completely different.

– Time to wake up, get up... – the gentle, calm voice of my older brother sounded, who opened the curtains in my room, which is essentially an attic, wider, letting more sunlight into the room, – Come on, Lily doesn't have time, so I will go to the welcoming ceremony.

– Wh... what should I wear? – I asked, tiredly rolling from one end of the bed to the other.

– There's no school uniform at this school, so it doesn't matter much, but still, dress decently. And, um... what about your eye? Maybe just cover it with your bangs?

– No-o-o! I'll wear bandages! – I whined, getting up from the bed and starting to get dressed. I hadn't shown half of my face even at home, either covering my eye with my fringe or with bandages, let alone at school with strangers.

– Alright, as you wish! Come downstairs, I've almost prepared breakfast. – said my brother, leaving the room and leaving me alone.

Stretching, I sighed, then went to the closet and took out a few of my favorite items. I grabbed a gray shirt from a hanger, feeling the pleasant texture of the fabric under my fingers, and then, after undressing, carefully slipped my arms into the sleeves. After that, I put on nearly black gray-brown shorts, which gave my look a relaxed but stylish touch. Finally, I took out a fairly long and spacious blue coat, put it on, and felt confident, as my appearance was both cute and stylish at the same time, but something was definitely missing. Approaching the table, I opened one of the cabinets and took out a bundle of bandages. Carefully wrapping my missing eye, I finally realized that the transformation was complete. I was so engrossed that I forgot that it's better to wash up first and then get dressed, to avoid staining the clothes, but I was neat enough, so there were no problems.

Descending to the first floor into the living room, I approached the table where my brother was already sitting and waiting for me. For breakfast, he had prepared my favorite scrambled eggs with small pieces of bacon and spinach leaves... I sat next to him and began to eat.

– You look good... – my brother said, tiredly rubbing his eyes, – I'll definitely come back late today, so remember the way home. You know, on September 1st here, many families love to go to diners after school to eat pizzas and burgers, so I'll have a lot of work.

– Alright... – I said, separating the unappetizing looking pieces of bacon from the appetizing ones and placing them on the edge of the plate.

We sat and ate, when suddenly a woman with long yellow hair came thundering down from the second floor and, approaching us, sat down next to us. This woman was Lily, a special volunteer who sheltered mutants and helped them lead a normal life. She took us in, although initially, she didn't want to have two wards, but I didn't intend to separate from my brother, so they and Yohi agreed that he would almost immediately start working and contribute to our "family budget," so everything went smoothly.