Dreaming Blue C1

	Mutou's rambling settles into a familiar rhythm.  His droning voice is sedative, already familiar after only a few days here in the class.  I yawn and roll my head from side to side in my arms.  I can see Shizune giving me a dirty look, but she's too absorbed in her own work to challenge me at the moment.  The assignment doesn't sound too difficult, though.  And this is mostly her fault, anyway - I spent so long helping her put together booths that it was nearly dark by the time I got back to my dorm.  I had to take my pills late, and got terrible sleep as a result.
	"Hicchan, you shouldn't be sleeping~"  Misha's voice fails to stir me, though I at least turn my head to acknowledge her.  "We've got a lot of work to doooo~"  Her lilting tone would be fun on any other day, but today I just grumble in response.
	"Tired.  Don't feel good."
	Misha twinges a bit at that, and it occurs to me that she might have read more into that than I meant.  Today feels so much like a normal school day that I can almost forget why I'm here, even with Misha and Shizune signing away at each other.  It's easy to remember with a quick glance over the rest of the class, though.  Miura pins her work with an elbow while she scribbles furiously on the paper, occasionally frustrating her when it slips away.  Suzuki is dozing, even more tired-eyed and haggard looking than myself.  Even Molly seems restless, stretching her legs every so often as though she longs to be up and moving.  Misha brings me back to myself.
	"Do you need to see the nurse, Hicchan?"  I detect a note of concern in her voice, and a twinge of annoyance at her interrupting my zoning out bubbles to the surface.
	"M'fine."  I slur the words a bit.  "Didn't sleep well, that's all.  Don't worry so much."  I catch a bit of an edge in my voice, and from the looks of it, Misha does too.  But she drops the issue, and my eyes drift closed.  I'll have to apologize at lunch for being rude - Misha is clearly just concerned.  I bet Shizune is pushing her to check on me, too.  Well, I'm sure they'll drag me off at lunch and grill me.  Probably con me into more Student Council work, too.  Right now, I just need a nap...

___

	"...Hey.  You hungry?"
	I'm roused by a nudge on my shoulder, straightening my arm on reflex.  My head thuds softly against the desk, and the feel of the cool desk on my forehead rouses me the rest of the way.  I turn my head and open my eyes into the warm sun.
	"What time is it?"
	The voice is tired, disaffected.  "Lunch time.  You hungry?"
	I pull my head up and weakly push myself into a sitting position, my arms still limp and heavy with sleep, and blink my eyes a couple times to identify the owner of the voice.  Suzuki is sitting in Misha's spot, her elbows propping her up as she stares at me.
	"Suzuki?"  I shake my head a little.  We've never talked before - I actually only know her voice because she's answered questions a couple times in class.  "It's lunch already?"
	"Suzu."  She waves a hand lazily, her head sinking a little more.  "Yeah.  You hungry?"  She quirks an eyebrow, as if she finds it weird that I still haven't answered her question.  There's a little pit of exhaustion in my stomach that settles the question for me.
	"I could eat, yeah."
	She nods and leans over the desk, and there's a little sway in her motion that briefly sets off alarm bells in my mind for some reason, but she adjusts nicely and swings back up with a couple containers.  "Made it this morning.  I'm not hungry enough to eat it all myself.  Boys eat a lot, right?"
	I'm not sure how to respond to that, so I just take the proffered container and open it.  Some kind of rice and vegetable dish.  It's still nice and warm.  Suzu pushes a pair of chopsticks over onto my desk and I break them apart and thank her for the kindness.  It's not bad, with a light, fresh flavor and just a little bit of spice to make the experience more interesting.  For a little while, we eat in silence, before I think of something to ask.
	"You like cooking, then?"
	Suzu shrugs.  "Means I don't have to stand in line at the cafeteria."  I smile a little bit.  There's an easy sense of coexistence alongside this girl.  An air that is both lazy and expectant.  I spend a little while searching for another chance to break the silence, but Suzuki beats me to it.
	"Are you and Misha friends?"
	I think about it for a moment.  "I guess.  Seems like she could make friends with anyone.  Mostly, though, she just needs my help with Student Council stuff."
	Suzuki considers this for a moment.  "She does invite everyone to do Student Council work, yeah.  It seems to be really important to her and her friend."  There's an awkward moment, talking with this girl about another girl I still don't know that well.
	"Did you turn her down, then?"  After all, so far, I haven't seen anybody else helping the Student Council.
	"She never asked."  Suzu frowns.  Her look goes pensive, as though she's trying to decide how she feels about that, and then she makes another little shrug.  "Probably say no anyway."
	"Why?"  My curiosity has been piqued.  I can't resist digging deeper into this strange girl.
	"What kinda stuff do you even do?  I've never been in a student council."
	I think about it for a moment.  "Well, right now, it's all festival stuff.  We've been making fliers, and putting together booths, and there's a lot of paperwork."
	"Paperwork is boring."  Suzu states it matter of factly.  "And hammers seem like a bad idea."  She waves her chopsticks around lazily and I notice for the first time a bandage wrapped around her index finger.  She notices me staring and snaps her hand back, diving into her food with a sudden anxiety.  "M'clumsy," she mutters through the food, obviously curtailing that topic of conversation.  Well, I can't blame her.  Nobody here seems terribly enthused about talking about why they had to come to Yamaku.  It's not like I go about advertising, either.  At least I don't have any obvious signs of my condition.  This constantly tired girl must be used to people speculating as to the nature of her condition all the time.
	"Yeah, probably.  I dropped a sign on my foot yesterday."  I smile, but it feels a little tense.  The lack of honesty in it makes it tiresome to hold, and I go back to eating what Suzu has made before it can grow cold.  There's a slightly uncomfortable smile while we each finish our food.  I hand the container back to Suzu when I'm finished, and she smiles when she sees that I've finished the entire thing.  There's an almost dainty portion of her own meal left.
	"Boys do eat a lot."  She seems oddly satisfied by this bit of information.  "Lunch again tomorrow?"
	I consider it for a moment and nod.  "Yeah, okay."  I stop to think.  "You always eat here?"
	Suzu shakes her head, putting the containers back into her bag.  "No, I have a place.  Where will you be before lunch?"
	"I think the student council girls are going to need my help again.  Could you meet me at the Student Council room?"
	"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.  You should get moving."  Suzu slumps into her arms, already looking exhausted again.
	"What's the rush?"  I try to crack a joke, but Suzu looks too tired to play along.
	"Well, for one, I lied.  Last period starts in, like, five minutes."  She tenses a bit as the bell lets out a shrill tone.  "I'm gonna stay here."
	It finally occurs to me to glance at the clock, and the next thing I know, I'm scooping books into my bag frantically, trying to get my art materials organized.  I get everything packed up and hit the door, knowing already that I'll probably be late to my last class of the day.  Suzu's quiet voice meets me at the door, barely understandable through descending sleep.
	"T'morrow, right?"
	"Yeah.  See you tomorrow."  I leave Suzu behind, dozing on Misha's desk.  Despite my hurry, I'm sure to carefully pull the door closed, so it doesn't make a sound.  There's something oddly peaceful about her daze that makes me loathe to interrupt.  I readjust my bag and set off for art class, feeling oddly refreshed.