【Sunshower Grove】 CH3.01: Familiar Faces (I)
Updated: Oct 6
CH3.01: Familiar Faces (I) 【Suu】
Vriya City University’s campus sat at the north end of town, away from the endless clangor of it’s namesake metropolis. It was around a twenty-minute walk from Suu’s home above the bookstore, and a ten-minute ride if she could get her ancient bicycle to work. If she was really running late, she’d hop on a bus down the street and look like a kid being forced to eat bitter squash the whole way.
And so she walked more often than not. Her route wound past cramped storefronts and tiled-roof homes until it reached the city limits. Then on, the road continued under an extensive archway of tamarind tree canopies until the campus gates.
All along the way, tiny little stone-carved shrines peeked through the foliage. One of them was of a little stone fox-guardian, it’s tiny shrine surrounded by marigold. With droopy eyes and a dull gold bib around its neck, it was hard to miss by the wayside.
Walking past it, Suu’s reactions ranged from a respectful nod, all the way to pleading with the little shrine as if it were the mafia: especially during exams. But whenever she did press her palms together in front of the little shrine, she made sure to spare a kind thought to every person at her university who hosted Free Book Day.
True to its name, it was a book-sale free of charge that took place at VCU’s Library every other month. The rules were simple: donate two or more books to enter, and you could take as many as you could fit in your bag. You’d be alright as long as you brought a reasonably-sized bag—a caveat that was added after some clown showed up with an empty, industrial-size cement sack.
As soon as her lecture ended that morning, Suu was out like a cat on a chase, her mind focused on the singular goal of getting to the Library. Once she got there, the next hour went by with her combing through a sea of discarded tomes. Soon, her tote-bag was stuffed with a modest stack of expensive-looking books; and her job was done. At the counter, she grinned at Mrs. Sarang, the head librarian.
“And how’s the bookstore doing, little one?” Mrs. Sarang asked as she returned Suu’s Library Card. Mrs. Sarang was well into her seventies, so there were very few people on-campus who weren’t ‘little ones’ in her eyes.
Suu grinned at the endearment. She had a soft-spot for old women, and not in the least because she spent her early years getting baby-sat by the neighborhood ‘Grandmother Association’.
Grannies, for the most part, were the gift that kept on giving; be it precious life advice or soul-crushing insult. Mrs. Sarang was a nice old granny who always walked around with a half-smile and a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles on her face. Suu liked her very much. And again, not in the least because the old librarian would always set aside a fresh copy or two of debut novels just for the bookstore.
“Sales are slow these days, Ma’am. But Pa’s art-commissions and classes keep us going somehow,” she said, adjusting her book-bag and hurriedly shoving her library card into her skirt pocket. “Please drop by some time, he’s got some tiny new paintings on sale and I’d love to give you a discount!”
“No discounts for me,” Mrs. Sarang shook her head with a smile. “Gods know the amount of time and skill it takes for your father to make those paintings, he deserves every single coin.”
May Mrs. Sarang live into triple-digits with good health, Suu chanted in her mind as she dashed towards the dining hall.
Once she got there, she made a beeline for the food counter and grabbed two steaming cups of tea. Large, towering windows showered the massive dining hall with sunlight, and her gaze darted across the dozens of crowded tables.
“Suu, over here!” a chirpy voice called out, and Suu swiveled towards its source until she met a familiar, beautiful dark-skinned face. Grinning, she scurried towards one of her best friends.
Yāzhini greeted her and carefully took the cups of tea from her hands. Suu then plopped her belongings on a third chair and the two of them settled into conversation. Further away, a plate of food sat covered with a banana-leaf lid.
“Let me guess,” Suu pointed to the food, “Loh’s got an exam today, yeah?” she slid a cup of tea towards the plate.
“Yup, skipped breakfast as usual too,” Yaa placed a small lid on the cup. “At this rate, she’ll be her own first patient when she becomes a pharmacist one day,” she sighed, looking back at the large dining hall clock.
Suu turned to join her. “Early morning exam was it?” she asked, and Yaa nodded.
“Pretty sure it ended a while ago, though…she’s very late,” Yaa’s bangles clinked against the table.
“Who’s very late?” a familiar, yet sleepy voice jolted both girls around, and they watched their best-friend stand there like she’d just fought off demons. They cheered and cleared the third chair so that the last member of the trio could sit down.
Loh slumped onto the chair and wasted no time slamming her head onto the table. No sound came of it though—not when both Yaa and Suu’s hands cushioned her crash.
“You’ll break your hands,” Loh mumbled, nuzzling her forehead further into her friends’ hands.
“Better our hands than your head,” Yaa teased, and Suu helped her gently lay Loh’s head down.
“Yeah, hey! Braincells are a precious resource around here,” Suu snapped as she poked her sleepy friend. “The only reason I function is because I absorb whatever I can get from you two nerds, so take it easy now.”
Yaa pinched Suu’s ear, earning her an angry squeak. “If underselling yourself were a sport,” Yaa continued with a sigh, “this little ball of sass would win first place. Although you’d give her good competition, Lo-Lo.”
“She learns from the best,” Loh sat up and scrubbed her eyes like a cranky toddler. “Whatever braincells she absorbs from me, I promise they’re not helping her brain,” she grumbled, earning a pinch to the ear from Yaa. Just as Suu was about to insert a snarky remark into the middle of her friends’ tirade, she halted at the sight of the bluish blotches under Loh’s eyes.
“Gods, Loh! Did you even close your eyes last night?” she asked, leaning towards her barely-awake friend.
“Oh did I ever,” she grumbled again. Suu and Yaa handed her a cup of tea and uncovered the plate with the urgency of a pair of worried mothers. “But you two clowns convinced me to chase my dreams so now I stay up all night studying,” she sighed and nodded at her friend in thanks.
“Your bank-account will stay up all night too when you work at a good medical-centre,” Suu quipped as she poked the sleepy girl’s shoulder. “It will all be worth it,” she brought out a bar of honey-dipped peanuts and placed it at the edge of the plate. “Eat up, little one.”
“Big talk coming from the littlest-and-youngest one here,” Loh dipped a rice-cake into some chutney, and screwed her eyes shut as she chewed.
“Oh please,” Suu chuckled as she passed another honeyed-peanut bar to Yaa. “I look older than the both of you combined.”
As was usual, her friends groaned various versions of ‘no you don’t, shut the hell up’. They had good reason to. Suu was the youngest among them. Loh was twenty and Yaa was twenty-one; and they were in entirely different programs: Pharmacy and Music respectively. Meanwhile, Suu was happy to be done with her studies by the end of the year to find any odd job; jobs, that a General Education degree could land her.
She saw it as nothing short of a miracle that they’d managed to be close friends over the last ten years. They were an odd trio of different ages, faces, heights, and interests; but brought together by a love for spicy food, music, and the odd book. It helped that they never quite fit in with their respective classmates. And so they stuck together, through thick and thin. Whether it was Yaa recovering from an accident back in middle school, or Loh’s father unexpectedly passing away in junior-high; they huddled together through it all. They were Suu’s sisters through and through.
Right as the three of them settled back into conversation, a small crowd rushed into the dining hall. Suu jerked her head towards the growing noise—something was happening in the hallway, judging by the commotion. More people poured in, but they spoke in hushed tones. It was as though they were expecting someone. Unable to figure out anything from all the whispering, she turned back to where Yaa sat glancing at the new faces, her hand on her chin.
“The hell is going on?” Suu asked, frowning.
Yaa tilted her head and eyed the crowd. “If I were to guess…” she began slowly, her gaze focusing on the scene ahead. “…it’s probably because that guy’s here.”
“Either that or VCU’s getting raided,” Loh mumbled halfway through chewing. “I hope so, actually. I could use a break from these damn exams.”
“Too bad we’re not Central University Loh,” Suu shrugged. “But wait, which guy?”
The question hung in the air like an unexplained joke as Yaa chuckled and Loh stopped chewing her food.
“That guy who comes to campus once a week and gets followed-around by a bunch of ‘fans’ as if he’s famous,” Loh rattled out her words as if it was the most boring piece of information in the world. “None of them have the balls to talk to him though,” she shrugged, and went back to finishing up her breakfast.
“Can’t blame them really,” Yaa’s tone was hushed. “Sure he’s nice to look at, but he’s got this angry feel about him, you know?”
Suu’s eyebrows nearly reached her hairline as she constantly turned her head between the growing crowds and her friends.
“Look I love you both but which nut-case are you talking about?!” she asked desperately. An excited squeal from somewhere in the crowd made her jolt and look around again. The noisy halls then began to hush and simmer down.
Yaa bit back a laugh and pointed a finger towards the entrance, perking her eyebrows at Suu with a cheeky smirk. Suu laughed and frowned at the same time, mouthing a silent ‘seriously, who is this person?!’ at her friend. Once she turned to face the entrance, the sound of heavy footsteps reached her ears.
Silence spread across the crowds as a large man sauntered into the hall, and Suu froze in her seat. Dressed in dark colors, his long hair was done half-up with the rest of it cascading like a veil until his chest. Suu caught a glimpse of his side-profile, the sight of which made her chest tighten. Delicate features that altogether did not match his menacing frame. It was the same face from the day before.
“That guy,” Yaa whispered in a sing-song tone, “is Vaishaka Desakshi.”
It was like getting doused in ice when she recognized ‘Fox-face’. Unaware of her gaze, he sauntered away in the distance; his arms bare in a sleek tunic.
W-Well, he could just be a look-alike, she reasoned. She blinked several times until her confused gaze fell on his arm. And her mouth fell open again.
Oh Gods, no.
A circular mandala enclosing the Holy Trinity, with a Guardian Dragon’s wide-open maw on top. Etched with blood-like red ink. Same tattoo, same man. Most probably.
If that really is him, she thought to herself, what the actual hell is he doing here?!
As soon as he settled a dark satchel on a table devoid of people, he began to look around as if he were searching for someone. Suu took that as a cue to stop staring. She whipped around in her seat and faced her friends; one hand placed on her chest to will her beating heart.
Calm down, it’s all right, she repeated to herself over and over again.
Loh was sipping her cup of tea now, and between her and Yaa, they looked at their youngest friend with a curious expression—Suu had a feeling they knew something was off. She swallowed nervously.
“So, uhh,” she began with a worried smile, “Who’s the, uh, who’s the Evil Prince over there,” she teased, trying her best not to sound shaken. “And how have I never seen him around here?”
Yaa placed her chin on her palm again. “Mr. Evil Prince over there transferred from Central University more than a month ago,” she said, watching the way Suu winced. “He just takes one business-related class, last I heard,” she smiled. “What’s with the tough face, Suu?”
“Oh, w-well, just, uh, not the kind of face I’m into,” Suu grinned, hoping it covered the panic on her face.
“Yeah I’m not into his face either, but I’ll admit he’s a beautiful son-of-a-mother,” Loh gazed behind Suu with a frown, and scratched her chin. “Nothing more beautiful than academic validation though,” she added with a shrug.
“Not even your precious childhood crush’s smile?” Suu teased, crouching towards Loh with a knowing grin.
Loh jolted as if she’d been stung and her face lit up like a dark tomato. She wasted no time lunging towards her curly-haired friend and proceeded to pinch her cheeks.
Yaa squealed and tried to get them to separate; the trio devolving into a laughing fit. “Pipe down, you two!” the older girl nearly yelled, and then immediately brought her voice down to a whisper. “And listen , Suu…” She paused, as if to search for the right words. “Listen. About the Evil Prince over there, you’re better off staying away from him—”
Suu geared her voice to whisper as loud as she could, feeling her whole face burn with panic. “Now why would I ever interact with—”
“You’re an unpredictable little thing,” Loh wagged her finger at her like a mother would to a misbehaving child. Suu poked her tongue out at her. The older girls exchanged wary smiles before Loh spoke again. “Take it as free advice from your seniors.”
Suu gave her friends a confused look for a few moments until she twisted her lips into an evil smirk. Deny, deflect, and destabilize, or so the saying went. “Oh I’m sorry,” Suu drawled with a dramatic tone, “No guy I talk to will ever hold a match to Naviran and Korou,” she drawled, and the girls jolted. She pointed one accusing finger at Yaa. “Navi couldn’t even wait for you to graduate before marrying you last year,” she declared. Her other finger pointed at Loh. “Korou’s followed you around like a clingy puppy for as long as he’s lived!”
The young ‘seniors’ glanced at each other again until they sighed at the same time.
“She’s due for a good beating, don’t you think?” Loh muttered with an evil smirk.
Yaa nodded with a calm smile. “I doubt it’ll fix her, but we can try.”
“Haven’t you two beat me up enough today?!” Suu cried.
In response, they pounced on her with a stint of tickles and face-pinching that put toddlers to shame. Finally, Loh clasped Suu’s arm and stood up.
“I’m not done with you yet, little one. Let me go wash my hands and get some more tea,” said Loh, giving Suu’s cheek one more pinch before walking away. Yaa sat back and chuckled while Suu smoothed over her heated face. As annoyed as she was, she was still chuckling from the previous tickle-fest.
“Seriously though,” she exhaled, adjusting the haywire curls around her face. “I can’t believe they let some dude from CU in here. Is nothing sacred these days?!”
Yaa chuckled and tossed her an exhausted smile. “From what I heard, he barely lasted a week at CU before he quit,” she tapped her fingers on the table. “He might be a normal one after all. And I haven’t heard anything creepy about him so far. No lover-boy incidents, so-to-speak. He just seems to be this…miserable recluse, or something.”
Suu crossed her arms and twisted her lips every which way, in an attempt to look deep in thought. She couldn’t let Yaa know how relieved she felt upon hearing that piece of gossip. “That’s hard to believe when he looks like he spends all his money on books, tattoos, and shampoo,” she tossed her braided hair back.
“Oh hold on Suu,” Yaa extended the last word with a knowing smile, “Those are pretty specific details for someone you don’t know,” she said slowly.
Oh sh*t.
Her friend’s piercing eyes wracked Suu’s nerves, because she knew she couldn’t hide from the older girl. Infuriating as it was, Yaa always saw right through her, be it fib or front. Every single time. And right now was no different.
Suu huffed and crossed her legs in an attempt to seem nonchalant. “I mean, just look at him, its, it’s right there! Unless you want to be a saint and and not judge books by their covers or whatever,” she scoffed, drumming her fingers on the table.
Sht, I said too much, way too much. Sht-sht-sht, she screamed in her mind.
And sure enough, Yaa’s widening smirk confirmed her fears: the older girl looked like she could see right through her mean-word walls.
“Right…” Yaa crossed her arms and continued her cheeky smile. “…so is there a reason you want to judge him so much, or…?”
For the first time in a long while, raw panic surged through Suu’s body and she felt her face burning up.
“Long hair, walks around like a brooding crow,” she blurted out. “There’s no way I’d care about someone like that,” she crossed her arms, frowning at the fact that her friend’s smile was fading. Her frown deepened when Yaa sat up straight and began to slowly look up. Still worse, something like fear flashed in the older girl’s eyes, and Suu opened her mouth to protest. And she paused.
Oh.
The noise and chatter around them had come to a complete stand-still.
“Is ‘Sumitra Airavara’ here…?” a familiar, deep voice asked from above her, and Suu’s heart nearly skipped a beat.
Yaa darted her gaze helplessly between Suu and the man behind her. The unasked ‘Do I tell him?’ was written all over the older girl’s face. Suu willed her body to move, because the last thing she wanted was to put her friends in uncomfortable positions. She slowly turned around.
Face to face with the midriff of a tunic, she became painfully aware of the several pairs of prying eyes on her. Yet as much as her mind screamed at her to not look at him, she tilted her face up and met his gaze. It took a mountain of self-restraint to not jolt at the exact same eyes and face she had seen the day before.
Fox-face’s gaze was gentle, somehow. He moved his head softly to get a better look at her, a few stray locks swinging towards her. If he recognized her from the day before, he sure didn’t act like it; but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Are you…” his unasked question hung in the air between them, and she swallowed hard as she willed her voice to come out.
“Th-that would be me, ye—” her words died in her throat as a sudden wave of panic settled into her.
Why the hell does he know my name?
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I need to redraw the trio, sheesh. I went through three drawings of them sitting at the dining halls before going with just their faces ;-; Please let me know what you think.
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