[i]Kotori[/i] - [u]Invisible Once Again[/u]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzRBoZb3GKw]Post Theme~Enjoy if You'd Like[/url]

A few days of quiet behind the pale curtains of the Academy's infirmary marked the little Songbird's week after the incident in the city. Having strained a little too hard to accomplish what she did, her sacrifice was made entirely worthwhile as after the first day; families of those who she had saved delivered flowers and well wishes in tearful gratitude. While the girl could appreciate the beautiful turquoise and fiery blossoms that lay scattered about the bedside table, her wish was to escape the plainly white surroundings.

Yet for the first two days when she tried to get off the bed, let alone attempt to stand, Nurses came bustling in and forced her back into the bed. Insisting upon her rest and recovery, even though she felt well enough to try and leave. 

On the seventh day, as the sun cast a pattern of comforting warmth across her cheek through the translucent curtains, the Doctor came to her and told her of her impending release. For the first time in over half a week, she smiled brilliantly. Sliding off the edge of the mattress that had been her cage for the past few days, she changed into a fresh uniform in the later fire that was the afternoon's sky. 

Tucking a book called "Great Expectations" by an interesting European author named Charles Dickens beneath her arm, she slid her toes into the polished uniform shoes she wore, and strode across the almost reflective tile towards the exit. Pushing past the barrier, the flowers that she had been given trailed behind her through the air. 

Walking home with the gifted book held tightly in her grasp, she opened the door to her dark, quiet, and lonely home. A small little and humble dormitory room with scant decoration. Thanks to the kindness and gratitude of others, the flowers found window sills to sit upon, and the once plain room found a little splash beautiful color. Of fire, water, and softened golden hues. 

Even if they could not talk nor speak, the flowers made her feel a little less alone. 

The book that she had been gifted found it's place upon the little table near the edge of the room. Sitting beside it upon a hard backed oaken chair which she had picked from the garbage and struggled to repair, a lamp flickered on by itself as she lifted the book into her hands. Propping it open unto the first page, the little Songbird began a new adventure in her heart's mind. 

One that was to be filled with hope, and heartbreak; tribulations and triumph alike.

She did not drift to sleep for a few hours longer as the story enveloped her mind and heart alike, and when she did; her dreams were filled with spinning wonders of European Nobility and Aristocracy, the enigmatic beauty which the Protagonist had fallen for, and the devilish plot of an elderly woman who had corrupted her. All to simply break a man's heart as hers had so many years ago.

As she always had done, Kotori woke early. A little earlier this time since she still had to fulfill a promise that she had made. Much unlike the promise in the book she had read, this one was simpler; yet it still mattered much.

A clatter of cooking utensils marked the first part of her day after the usual shower and running of a brush through her hair to tame its wild state after a night's rest. Soon after as a mixed scent of various herbs and spices emanated while eggs sizzled upon the pan, the Songbird carefully turned them so that they remained perfectly round. A chopping mixture of varying vegetable sauté with basil and olive oil also crept past her senses as she deemed their taste satisfactory.

While she carefully piled and organized these first two tastes into a duet of black bento boxes, the rice steamer she had saved for weeks to get dinged with a high pitched chime to announce the completion of the starch she required. With a softened smile, she carefully placed the rice into a box. Neatly shaping them both like a pyramid, she moved next to retrieve a pair of fresh Honeycrisp Apples. Sweet and firm, she neatly sliced them, neatly arranging the eight slices they became in a row as she doused them lightly with a touch of lemon juice. To partly preserve the apples and insure they wouldn't spoil, and to add a little tartness to the overwhelming sweetness that the Honeycrisp were known for.

After drizzling a thin line of caramel across the apples, a trio of thickly cut bacon would stray across the eggs. Doused with cracked black pepper, and while she hummed softly in a song only she knew, the boxes were neatly closed and tied down with string. 

Settling one atop the other, and wrapping them in a soft cloth bag to insure the safety of their travel, the little Songbird unraveled the apron she had tied about her waist and neck and bravely made for the outside world once again.

The walk to the main campus did not take long, and similarly as she had done to the day before, before the detention and before the disaster in the city itself, Kotori ventured to the music room. Finding the Grand Piano and playing a softened, melancholy tune that had struck her heart. Having known many songs by memory, she always preferred those that spoke to the hesitance and apprehension that always seemed to strike true to her heart.

Sounds of other students bustling about brought her attention to the other side of the day that had began, and she quietly, humbly strode from the music room and back into the cafeteria where it had all began. Carefully unwrapping the two bento boxes, the quiet and shy girl plucked a piece of paper and wrote a small message upon it as she settled it upon the table in front of her.

It simply stated such:

[i][color=92278f]'Thank you for your kindness, Kirima-san.'[/color][/i]

With the addressee being plain enough as to who it should go to, Kotori paused for a moment as she stared at it uneasily. Deciding that it was best to probably eat outside today instead of the suffocating cafeteria, she lightly plucked up the two boxes and strode outside. In the gentle wind that cast the pink petals of cherry blossoms to waft in front of her, she tucked her skirt beneath her as she sat beneath the shade of a tree. 

Settling her box in front of her on her lap, and the box that belonged to the one she had promised to make a breakfast for, the little Songbird waited for the Iron Giant to arrive.