Her straight eyebrows arched as she turned back to gaze toward the closed window
'Someone...i sensed someone's gaze.'
She tilted her head.
She didn't know what was going on. She had never been so clueless in her life like she was right now.
Her mind was all muddled up.
She was totally blank about what was happening and she disliked it.
Well, more than disliked, she hated it.
The unsettling feeling of ignorance gnawed at her, leaving her uneasy and unsettled.
She took in a deep breathe and exhaled as she tilted her head slightly and pushed back her hair with her hand, mussing up her straight bangs.
She calmly headed towards the door to go out when something struck her.
The door was locked.
From the inside.
She wasn't the one who locked it.
Her hand reaching for the door suspended in mid-air, hesitated just inches from the door. Abruptly, a memory surfaced in her mind.
How could she forget about it?
'That hand....who was that?'
She frowned as she rested her head against the door.
A thought crept into her mind: could that person be lurking in this room, concealed from view?
With unwavering conviction, she dismissed the idea. In this moment, for some reason unknown, her senses seemed heightened to the maximum, and she felt with certainty that she was the sole occupant of the storeroom.
"Well...except for that bird," she muttered, her narrowed gaze dull as she observed the indigo feathered creature cozying up on the windowsill, basking in the sun's warmth.
It was a human who pulled her into that black hole, and who was the person that was about to enter the living room?
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Her hand at the door handle flexed and tightened then she pushed the door open and stepped into the unknown, only to come face to face with a figure right away.
"What the..."
Straight blackish-blue hair cascaded down to her chest. Her feline eyes were sharp and clear, the colors resembling a two-shaded moonlit lake, with deep blue and silvery pale blue hues that mystically refused to blend.
Her upturned lips were plump and rosy, a striking contrast against her spotlessly pale skin. Adorning her ears were numerous silver stud piercings, glinting in the light.
Leaving her momentarily disoriented, she was greeted by her own reflection.
The walls appeared to be made of one-way glass, offering a voyeuristic view of concealed spaces. The floor and ceiling, bathed in the hue of rose gold, added an air of luxury and enchantment to the surroundings.
At the end of the hallway, the storeroom seemed to stand as the final destination.
One thing bugged her, but first, in an attempt to find answers, she concentrated her eyesight, seeking to once again penetrate the mysteries concealed behind the one-way glass wall, as she had involuntarily done before.
It would be a difficult situation if someone saw her while she remained utterly clueless about what in the world was going on.
She was relieved when her vision pierced the one-way glass wall once more, revealing an empty room with neatly arranged items.
Thankfully no one was inside. The need to remain hidden from any other's eyes was important in her clueless situation.
Breaking her concentration and turning her vision to normal, she gazed at her own reflection on the glass wall again.
Dressed in her black school skirt, a crisp white shirt with carefully folded sleeves, a neatly-knotted black tie, and an oversized black half-sweater neatly tucked in. Completing the ensemble were her quarter-length black socks and polished black school shoes.
Her appearance and uniform were the same, everything was the same, except for one thing.
Her hair color.
She twisted one lock in her hand as she pondered.
She had black hair with distinct bluish hue, it was never dark blue hair with blackish hue.
Moistening her lips with a quick flick of her tongue, she lightly nibbled on them as she ventured down the hallway cautiously, ignoring her sudden hair transformation for the time being.
With swift, hushed steps, she hurried forward, her footsteps almost soundless. As she approached the end of the hallway, a balcony came into her view.
She cautiously peered from her concealed vantage point, all while remaining hidden from plain sight.
From her concealed perch on the balcony, she gazed down upon a sprawling, upscale restaurant, deducing that it must be the school's grand cafeteria.
In an instant, her ears perked up, capturing the distinct sounds of approaching footsteps, and as she focused on those sounds, the chatter of numerous boys and girls grew increasingly audible. They were evidently on their way to the cafeteria.
"What should we have for lunch today?"
"Anything."
"I'm not hungry at all today."
"Hey, we have spells tests today?"
"I heard we're having an event at school soon?"
"The foundation ceremony?"
"Hey, I heard you passed the swordsmanship test."
"He failed the mana test though."
It seemed that the students were indeed converging for their lunch so she quickly paced back to the storeroom and locked the door.
She sighed as she leaned at the door and gazed up at the ceiling in thought.
In the midst of her reverie, her hand instinctively reached for her ear, fingers absently twisting the piercing as a habitual gesture.
Her fingertips traced the contours of her piercings as she pondered the curious gifts of sight and hearing, the ability to perceive beyond ordinary limits—a power she had experienced so mysteriously, yet profoundly.
The topic of conversations of the students then started floating in the forefront of her mind.
With a tired sigh, she massaged her eyes with her fingers and moved toward the shelves, hoping to discover something among the items that might shed light on the nature of this place or provide clues about the enigma she was embroiled in.
The certainty began to settle within her that this place, wherever it resided in the vast expanse of the universe, was markedly distinct from her familiar world.
Amidst the perplexity that enveloped her, she held to the unwavering conviction that everything unfolding around her was, in fact, a genuine reality. There was no room for the notion that it could be a mere dream or hallucination; this world she suddenly found herself in was unquestionably real.
Grateful for the pristine condition of the storeroom, devoid of dirt and dust, she cast her gaze around, her search culminating in the discovery of something that piqued her interest.
'Imperial Elysian Cluster Academy, Year 7097....School maga—'
"That's the last year's school magazine," A calm voice pierced the silence from behind, halting her movements in their tracks.
Her eyebrows twitched in a subtle show of surprise and she slowly turned around to face the visitor who had seemingly materialized out of thin air.
The boy with pale golden hair and peridot eyes, whose ethereal appearance seemed almost otherworldly, bestowed upon her a blinding smile before parting his lips to speak.
"Hey there."