Home Is When I'm With You - Cynonari

[I said quick. The chapter was not quick. I am sorry (I really am). 抖阴社区r's block strikes again! So, I'm not going to make any guarantees for how long the next chapter take. 

So, enjoy today's chapter (please don't kill me, though the same should be said about the last chapter)]

Tighnari pov

Whether it was synthetic or not, I couldn't tell, regardless the light invaded my vision, spilling in around the corners of my eyes. And for once, the world felt at peace. No heavy pattering on the white tiles that reflected the blinding light back into my eyes. No chattering students talking louder than they should be in a library. No yelling, no arguing, no endless crowds of students. In fact not even a single one. Not here in my closed-off little space. Not that it belonged to me, it was a public place but truly such a sweet respite from the cacophony of painfully loud noises provided with your morning lectures. A break from the buzzing in my ears, I truly always loved a time and space like this.

I suppose there were downsides too. It was cold in here. I suppose that it was always like this, but maybe I was always too focused on other unimportant things to notice. I certainly noticed this time.

Though the temperature didn't take that much away from the sweet, sweet peace.

As I smoothly dragged my fingers across both the withered and the new spines of books sitting neatly lined up and organised, I glanced back at the pile of thick books I dumped on the desk a few metres behind me. I counted four. Which meant I needed two more.

There was already a bag, albeit small, sitting in my dormitory, full of textbooks and notebooks I had previously filled. The majority were medical textbooks, only one or two on plant and animal species. We were already decently informed about all that anyway.

As I followed the bookshelf I found a textbook that seemed to be on a topic I hadn't yet borrowed, so I pulled it out and began to skim through the contents, ticking a mental checklist for all the things I needed. Once I was satisfied, I walked back over to the table, which also held my book bag. I placed the fifth book on the pile. As I stared at the growing pile of books, I silently questioned if I could fit it into my bag. I quickly disassembled the pile and skimmed over the covers of the textbooks, and mentally reassured myself that I could definitely borrow them for longer than three weeks, I hoped. I'd be in worlds of trouble otherwise.

But I haven't the mind or time to think of that right now. I still had other affairs to settle. I reassembled the pile and walked back over to a slightly different section of the shelves. I, once more, dragged my hands along the spines of the book, reading their worn and fading titles

I pulled a book off the shelf and read the first couple of pages, skimming through the rest once I felt satisfied enough. I glanced back up at the tall shelf and reached up to push the leaning book out of the way to push the textbook back into place. I continued looking over the books for another few minutes before I finally pulled out another book.

I flipped to a few pages at random, reading them in full. I continued reading despite feeling that this was the last book I needed.

I felt my smile creep up my face as I continued skimming.

But of course.

As always.

And right on time.

My sense of accomplishment and relief that I'd managed to scratch something large off my mental checklist didn't last for long and my smile soon disappeared.