When the alarm clock went off, Qiluo Tian Gong was in the middle of a dream about a pineapple bun.
The pineapple bun in her dream was as large as a washbasin, its surface baked to a golden crisp, with sugar granules evenly distributed in every crevice of its grid pattern.
She was just about to take a bite when the alarm rang.
“…Ten more seconds.”
She rolled over in her bedding and buried her face in her pillow. Star-trail poked its head out from beside the pillow, its silver-white tail reaching over to brush the tip of her nose lightly.
Starlight particles landed on her nose, cool to the touch, like being hit by a tiny, melting snowflake.
“I know, I know.” Qiluo sat up and rubbed her eyes. The early morning light filtered through the window, turned into a pale gold by the magic membrane of the warming array.
She turned off the alarm—a small magic timer powered by a magic crystal. It wasn't a product of this world, but it didn't look out of place in her room.
The sky was a pale blue, with a few early morning stars still lingering in the west. The star of death hung in the zenith toward the west, almost invisible in the morning light. She estimated the change in its brightness; it hadn't grown significantly compared to last night. The good news was that it was temporarily stable.
Qiluo drew the curtains and began changing into her school uniform.
The Tachibana High School uniform was a deep blue blazer-style outfit with a thin, light blue ribbon at the collar and a matching pleated skirt. She stood before the small mirror hanging on the wall, tying the ribbon into a bow that was neither too pretty nor too ugly, then braided her long hair into a loose side braid resting on her left shoulder. The person in the mirror looked like an ordinary high school girl getting ready for school.
“How do I look?” she asked Star-trail.
Star-trail crouched on the low table, tilting its head to look at her.
“Very ordinary.”
Ordinary was exactly what she wanted. Grades slightly above average, sports skills neither good nor bad, joining no clubs, and not lingering after school.
Her presence needed to be so low that by graduation, her classmates would say, “Wait, was there someone like that in our class?”
“Ordinary is the goal.” Qiluo slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up Star-trail to put it inside. Star-trail skillfully curled itself into a small silver-white ball, showing only its two ears and the very tip of its tail. She left the bag’s zipper open a crack to let it breathe and observe the outside.
“Today might be a long one,” Qiluo whispered to her other self. “Can you handle it?”
“I can go into hibernation,” Star-trail’s muffled voice came from inside the bag. “Call me if anything happens.”
Qiluo walked out of the apartment and locked the door. The smell of soy sauce from a neighbor's breakfast drifted through the hallway. Downstairs, a plump gray pigeon perched on the mailboxes, preening its chest feathers with its beak.
The pigeon glanced at her, let out a coo, and went back to its preening.
The trip from the apartment to Tachibana High School took about forty minutes because she had to catch a train. She left at 7:30 AM and arrived at the school gates at 8:20 AM, just in time for the peak of students arriving.
Two rows of cherry blossom trees stood at the school entrance. The holidays had just ended, and the leaves were still a deep green with no sign of turning yellow.
Students in the same deep blue uniforms flowed past her. No one spared her a second glance. Even though she was a new face on the first day of the term, and her appearance was actually quite striking, Qiluo kept her eyes fixed on the ground the entire way.
Qiluo stood at the school gate and looked up at the school building. The white exterior walls shimmered with a pale gold luster in the morning light, and the window glass reflected fragments of the clouds. Compared to a few days ago when she stood here with her transfer records, her stomach didn't feel quite as tight today.
She took a deep breath and stepped into Tachibana High School.
The classroom was at the end of the second-floor hallway. Class 1-A. The writing on the door sign was handwritten with rounded strokes, likely a girl’s handwriting.
Qiluo arrived early; there were only four or five people in the classroom, each busy with their own things at their desks.
Star-trail shifted in her bag, its tail tip poking out from the zipper gap and then retracting, as if confirming the environment was safe.
“I should go find the teacher first,” Qiluo murmured to herself, heading toward the office she had visited before.
When she reached the office door, it was already open.
Tanabe was sitting at a desk near the window, her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, holding a red pen to grade something. A stack of various forms for the first day of school was piled on her desk, next to a steaming cup of coffee. Seeing Qiluo at the door, she put down her pen and waved her over.
“Tian Gong-san, you’re here early.”
“I’m used to waking up early.”
Tanabe pulled a folder from her desk, took out a class seating chart, and handed it to her. “Your seat is in the row by the window, second from the back. Your textbooks are already at your desk, but the supplemental materials will be handed out after the first period. The first period is a homeroom meeting; I’ll take you to the classroom then to introduce you.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“The introduction doesn't need to be long. Just mention your name, hobbies, and your background before transferring. Your classmates might ask some questions; just answer the ones you want to.”
“…Yes.” Qiluo nodded. She noticed Tanabe said “answer the ones you want to,” not “you have to answer them all.” This detail made her like the middle-aged teacher a little more.
“Also, since you were overseas before, the PE classes and curriculum here might be a bit different from what you're used to. If there's anything you're not comfortable with, let the PE teacher know in advance.” Tanabe took off her glasses to wipe them. “This is an important term, but there's no need to be too nervous. Transfer students have their own pace.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Teachers in every world seem to say this year is the most important one. It reminded her of her old teachers who said the same thing every time.
At 8:30, after the preparatory bell rang, the hallway gradually became livelier. Qiluo stood by Tanabe’s desk, listening to the symphony of footsteps, sliding doors, and morning greetings. These sounds filtered through the office walls, their high frequencies muffled, leaving only a dull bass hum.
Inside her bag, Star-trail’s tail lightly brushed her back.
The official bell rang. Tanabe stood up, picked up the class register, and signaled for Qiluo to follow. The hallway had quieted down as the homeroom meetings began in each class.
They walked past classroom doors, catching glimpses of students sitting upright through the windows. Some classes were doing roll call; in others, student representatives were speaking at the podium.
The Class 1-A sign appeared at the end of the hallway. Tanabe pulled the door open, and the rustling chatter in the classroom ceased instantly.
“Good morning, everyone. The new term has begun.” Tanabe walked to the podium and placed the register on the desk. “Before roll call, I’d like to introduce a new student. Starting this term, Class A will have one more member.”
“Eh? A transfer student?”
“For real?”
“I hope it’s a pretty girl.”
“No way! I hope it’s a handsome guy!”
“Quiet!” Tanabe tapped the desk until the classroom settled down, then nodded toward the door. Qiluo walked into the classroom and stood beside the podium. Over thirty pairs of eyes fixed on her simultaneously; the weight of their gaze was a bit heavier than she had expected.
She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard.
She bowed her head slightly and began the lines she had rehearsed countless times in her head.
“Hello everyone, my name is Qiluo Tian Gong. Due to my parents’ work, I’ve been living overseas, and I’m transferring to Tachibana High School starting this term. I taught myself Japanese at home, so please bear with me if I say anything incorrectly. My hobby is… stargazing. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
A few seconds of silence followed.
Then, the classroom erupted in applause. A girl with twin tails in the front row clapped the hardest, her palms making a loud slapping sound, her face wearing an expression that reminded Qiluo of a lucky cat in front of a convenience store.
“Whoa, she really is a beauty!”
“Shh—”
“What are you afraid of? She probably doesn't understand… oh wait, she does.”
“Didn't she say she taught herself Japanese overseas? Of course she understands.”
“She’s so pretty. I wonder if she has a boyfriend.”
“I heard people overseas are pretty open; maybe she already has several.”
Whispers rippled through the room like waves on a pond. Qiluo maintained the polite smile she had practiced and filed away these voices in her mind.
Most were curious. A few carried an evaluative tone—likely the class's central figures deciding if she was worth befriending. For now, there was no hostility or suspicion.
Tanabe tapped the podium with the register to signal for silence. “Tian Gong-san’s seat is the second from the back in the window row. The textbooks are already there. Alright, let’s start the roll call. Aizawa—”
Qiluo walked down the aisle toward her seat. Second from the back by the window—prime real estate. The seat behind her was empty, and in front of her was a girl looking down at a textbook. The girl’s hair was a deep black, cut neatly, veiling her profile as it fell. She didn't look up at Qiluo, her fingers quietly turning a page in her book with almost no sound.
Qiluo hung her bag on the side of the desk and sat down. The light from the window fell perfectly across the desk, making the textbook covers shimmer slightly.
Star-trail shifted slightly in the bag, its tail tip poking out of the zipper gap to brush her lower back briefly—their prearranged signal for “all clear.” Then the tail tip retracted as Star-trail entered hibernation.
The first period was homeroom. Tanabe gave a long talk about things to note for the new term and handed out several forms for everyone to fill out.
Qiluo looked through the forms: club interest survey, health status declaration…
In the club interest column, she wrote “None.” For health status, she marked everything as “Good.”
After the forms were passed forward, the homeroom meeting ended. The bell rang, and the first break began. Qiluo had just opened her math textbook when a shadow fell over her desk.
She looked up. Twin tails—though not exactly, as she could see now that it was mostly loose hair with just two sections tied up.
It was the girl who had clapped the loudest before class.
“Tian Gong-san!” Her eyes were sparkling as she leaned in, hovering right on the edge between polite distance and personal space.
“Where overseas did you come back from? Is your English amazing? Is it really like what you see in dramas? Oh, right, your name is so pretty! Is it a stage name? Or your real name?”
Qiluo held her textbook, feeling completely out of her element with such an extroverted person. This was exactly why she had preferred working in the observatory’s restricted area in the past.
Qiluo answered casually, “It’s my real name.”
“Whoa—then how do you write ‘Kira’? I saw the characters on the board, but the reading is so unique—”
Unique reading? Ah… she suddenly realized that since it was pronounced ‘Kira,’ it sounded like ‘shimmering’ in Japanese.
“‘Qi’ refers to the patterns on silk, and ‘Luo’ means thin gauze. Together, they represent the shimmering brilliance of the stars.”
This was the explanation she had prepared for the name; the characters for Qiluo indeed carried star-related imagery.
The girl let out a long “Wow,” then suddenly slapped her forehead as if remembering something.
“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Yano Rei! Just call me Rei! I’m in Class A—well, anyway, I’m Rei! Is your hobby really stars? Like, using an astronomical telescope? Or looking at constellation apps on your phone? Or maybe astrology? You know, horoscopes, blood type divination, that kind of stuff—”
“Just the stars,” Qiluo interrupted the girl, who was as enthusiastic as a puppy. “I use a telescope occasionally.”
“What about your sign?”
“You know, the constellation for your birthday! Like, I’m a Cancer!”
Qiluo’s lips parted slightly and then closed. This world had zodiac signs too. Of course it did; as long as there was a starry sky, people would connect the stars into patterns and name them.
It was just that those constellations were completely different from the ones observed in her original world. She made a mental note to study the constellation system of this world tonight.
But she couldn't do that now! Would an ordinary person who loved stars not know their own zodiac sign? Qiluo didn't know, but for her own sake…
Star-trail, Star-trail! Quick, check what sign my birthday is!
Inside the bag, Star-trail lazily extended a paw, pulled out Qiluo’s phone, and performed a search.
“I… I’m a Gemini,” she said slowly, waiting for Star-trail’s search results. “Um… I’m a Gemini… but I prefer the stars themselves.”
“The stars themselves—” Rei repeated the phrase, her eyes shining even brighter. “That’s even cooler! It’s not astrology, it’s actual observation! Can I come watch next time you’re stargazing?”
“…If there’s an opportunity.”
Rei was about to say more when a short-haired girl pulled her back. “Rei, give it a rest. It’s her first day; don't talk her ear off.”
“I won’t! Tian Gong-san looks like the type who can handle a lot of information… right?”
Rate on N.U.
