Spring Forward (Vivi)

Miri looked up at the 'hey-o', catching sight of the blue haired girl who approached her. She had seen her around a couple times, but like Vivi said, they'd never been properly introduced. She had been the girl to punch Shugo in the face when he returned from the dead. The memory made the corners of Miri's lips turn upward. He'd deserved it.

"Hello, I'm Mireli." She returned the introduction kindly, something that she wouldn't have quite been able to do the first day she stepped on the PHS #552 campus. Though she was still fairly quiet and withdrawn, she wasn't so much so that she couldn't return pleasantries. "Are you here for the flower planting?" She asked. Students were still leaving for the day so it was entirely possible Vivi was just stopping by on her way out. If she had managed to miss all the colorful flyers, Miri would invite the blue haired girl to join her. After all, it would be much more fun if there were someone she knew, if only vaguely.

"I've never actually punched anything.."Miri mused softly, it was curious how different the two girls were juxtaposed to each other. Vivi was strong, determined, and hardened by the mainland life. She was born and raised among the hustle and bustle of the city, wise to its ways and lies. Mireli was much more passive, sensitive, and intuitive. However, this meant that she was often burned by this world so full of fire and ice, each invisible wound healing to scar tissue, making her just a little more tough each day. Still...she'd never thrown an actual punch. That day would soon come.

"I was." She said, grabbing her own pair of gloves and slipping them onto her small hands. They were a little on the big side. Miri was surprised Vivi had noticed the quiet girl, as she hadn't spoken a single word in the whole meeting. "You punched Shugo." The corners of her lips twitched upward at the memory.

She grabbed a trowel and a miniature rake and then a small flat of flowers a helper was handing out to the students. "Let's go this way." She suggested, a bit bold of her to do so, nodding her head to a patch of dirt that hadn't been claimed yet and headed over there with the supplies.

Mireli looked at Vivi as she admitted to never planting flowers before. It was something her people liked to do, especially if their caravans carved ruts in the grass in the spring months. Give back to the earth they unintentionally harmed, and all that. Miri smiled warmly, "Sure."

It occurred to her that instruction required her to speak a fair amount, but it was something she figured she could handle. It wasn't that she couldn't talk a lot, it was just that she didn't. She took in so much more when she was quiet.

"First, you need to dig a hole, as deep as your hand is long." She dug a small hole with the little shovel, piling the dirt to the side. She then stuck her hand in the hole to test the depth, the surface leveling with the end of her palm. "Then take the flowers from its little home," She set down the shovel and picked up one of the plastic squares from the flat and carefully pushed on the bottom, loosening the roots and popping it out of the square into her hand, "-place it in the hole," she did so, "-and then replace the dirt so it covers all of the roots." She picked up the shovel again and carefully scooped the dirt back into the hole and covered the roots, patting around the flower with her hands.

"And that's that!" She smiled at the blue haired girl, glad to have been able to share a little nugget of knowledge with her. It seemed like Miri had so much learning and catching up to do, that it was nice to return the favor.