69 Walking with the Moon (1/2)
With a companion, everything about the School Festival changed. What I had perceived to be a poorly constructed tent that students sold food items from no longer appeared shabby, and instead, I started being able to perceive the effort that was put into them. It was odd how one's perspective can be altered that much by simply having a companion.
Walking with Luna, I noticed that she always had a content smile on her face, one that expressed a sense of joy for life. Although it wasn't particularly dazzling like that of Irina's, Luna's smile was quite comforting to see. It was at that moment that I sensed that she was like the polar opposite of me. Unlike me, she was like the bright side of the moon, always shining in the light with great confidence in her own abilities. Her clear amber eyes were never obscured by any sense of impurities, and seemed to always peer into the positive aspects of life. She seemed to be always able to see the light, whereas I lived in the darkness.
Every motion of hers were imbued with great authority and confidence, and was made with great fluidity and vitality. Even then, she was blessed with the gift of gentleness that I was only able to notice after standing a short distance behind her and observing her interactions with others. She always spoke in a caring manner, and numerous times her facial expression softened when approached by admirers.
”Is something the matter?” she asked after noticing me staring in her direction as we walked down the hallway of the lecture building that was filled with streams of guests and students calling for customers to visit their classrooms. All in all, there was a great sense of vitality in the youthful feeling that was able to be sensed.
”Nothing,” I calmly responded. ”It's just that you're not like how I had imagined you to be.”
”Really?” she chuckled. ”What's my image in your imaginations?”
”Someone who's extremely demanding, tough-minded, and very confident in oneself,” I said.
”Is that so?” she laughed. Her laughter was imbued with such great amount of emotion and melted my heart upon hearing it. It seemed to have the ability to lower one's guard, which it did for me. ”I must've had a bad first impression on you.”
She continued laughing, probably mocking herself for the failure at creating a positive first impression. I didn't mind listening or even watching her laugh and smile. It was quite calming, and oddly enough, it made my mind quite peaceful and filled with joy. Her laughter stopped shortly after, and for a second there, I felt as if I had saw a look of grave sadness and melancholy on her face as she frowned.
”I'm not as strong as you might've imagined,” she whispered, and immediately, as if it was a mere illusion, that frown of melancholy vanished, allowing for that confident smile to return.
”Huh?” I was shocked by that sudden change in her countenance, irritated by that brief display of sadness in her. It pulled at my heart, making me feel quite uneasy. My bland facial expression slowly steered towards one of sadness as I was still haunted by that brief image of melancholy she had displayed. The world around me seemed to have silenced itself or my brain had chose to filter out the noise of life from all around and became extremely bland in color. The bright colors of the decorations no longer appealed to me, and everything appeared to be the same shade of black.
”What's that sad look for?” she smiled. ”Are you sad that I wasn't the kind of person you've imagined?”
Her simple words and smile brought me back to this world of color, dragging me out of that dark abyss of despair that I, too, was slowly slipping into. It was strange how much power she had over my soul, but... it wasn't a bad feeling.
”Maybe,” I whispered and smiled. I was surprised at what I had chosen to say to her for it seemed to disobey my character.
”That's mean,” she chuckled as we continued our walk down the hallway.
Our conversation came to an end after that, and she was then preoccupied with the task of chatting with students that had approached her. They invited her to visit their classroom, promising to provide whatever they were providing for free to her. However, she smiled and refused the offer. Her decision brought about a small frown on the students's faces, but that look quickly evaporated and was replaced by a smile once again. That must've been Luna's personal charm at work, for it seemed as if she could always elicit joy from people, a characteristic that I had missed during the Committee meetings due to my own gloomy attitude.
I noticed that her conversation with the other students were coming to an end by the look on her face. However, I wasn't entirely sure because I wasn't standing close enough to her to hear what they were saying and the hallway was loud with the presence of guests. I discovered that the students that had approached her ignored me entirely. That was probably... definitely due to the distance between where we stood. From an outsider's point of view, we were probably too far to be thought of as a group.
”Why'd you refuse them?” I asked her once we were alone. ”You could've had a chance for free stuff.”
”Now why did I?” She looked over her shoulder and smiled charmingly towards me.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as she turned in my direction, allowing me to take in the breath-taking beauty that she exhibited. The way her hair flowed in the air in accordance to the movement of her body, the way her eyes seemed to look past the barriers that I've erected around my heart, and the way that smile seemed to affect my soul, it was an image that I've carved into my memories.
”I don't know,” I responded as time resumed its original flow and I jogged to catch up to her. I intentionally shortened the distance between us with this opportunity. I want to be closer to her. I don't care if I'm just in the shadows, but just a bit closer. Just a bit closer.
”If I were to accept their offer,” she finally answered after keeping quiet for a bit to draw my attention, ”then I would have to leave you alone out here. I promised you first that we would walk around together, so I need to fulfill that promise first.”
So it's just her sense of responsibilities...
But even then, I couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness deep within my heart that she didn't choose to abandon me like so many people had done so. Therefore, I felt my facial expression relax.
We then continued our walk through the lecture building with me following her where ever she had wanted to visit. Because of this, we basically entered every single classroom. However, we never stayed for a prolonged period of time in any single class. What we did was that we visited the rooms, and she would then go and have a brief chat with the students of the classroom while I looked around. If it was a store that sold food, I would look at the menu, and if it was a store that sold handmade trinkets such as decorated phone cases or small plushies.
”I'm tired,” Luna said after we walked about for about two hours or so. ”Let's find somewhere to eat lunch.”
”If that's what you want,” I would respond.
”There's a cafe,” she said, pointing at the sign that stood outside the opened doors of the classroom with the plate 2-A. It was my classroom. ”Let's go there.”
I didn't have any time to object or any real reason to do so when she started for the opened doors to the classroom. Therefore, I followed after her and into my classroom that was temporarily set up as a maid and butler cafe for the Festival.
”Welcome back, Master!”
We were greeted in the most cliche manner possible, but when they realized that their 'Master' was the student council president herself, their attitude became even friendlier. They spoke to her with great enthusiasm and started making brief chit chat with her. It was only when the considerate student council president reminded them of their duties as waiters and waitresses that they returned to their jobs, leaving a female student to bring Luna to a table as I was left standing by the door. No one seemed to have noticed me.