"What's with the sudden nosebleed?" Silver Bell, drifting off to sleep, happened to glance at Yue Feather. Her eyes snapped wide open as she forced herself awake. "Too much heat in your body?"

"D-dunno..."

"That shouldn't happen from just one bowl of wontons..." Silver Bell eyed the opened chili oil bottle on the table, realization dawning. She sighed helplessly. "Don't eat such spicy stuff in the morning next time. It'll make you overheated."

"Mm... yeah... got it..." Yue Feather mumbled, clamping a hand over his nose as he bolted into the bathroom, unable to look at her another second.

After washing the blood from his face, he found Silver Bell already asleep. Her belly rose and fell gently beneath her clothes. Her delicate face, utterly serene, held no expression at all.

"Already asleep, huh..." Yue Feather scratched his hair. He reached to lift her, but the moment his fingertips brushed her shoulder, his hand trembled slightly. The thought that she might be wearing nothing underneath hit him—and the freshly stanched blood in his nose surged again.

He clapped both hands over his nose and fled to the bedroom. Grabbing a blanket, he turned his head away while draping it over her. Two smooth, bare legs peeked out from under the covers, making his pulse race.

Yue Feather practically sprinted out the front door like he was escaping a fire. Only after gulping the crisp morning air did his heartbeat finally slow.

Today marked the second day the mysterious girl had been in his home. Though he’d confirmed she was real—not a hallucination—it still felt unreal. So many questions nagged him: Why had she appeared *inside* his apartment, not outside his door? How had she gotten in? And if she truly had amnesia, why did she act so familiar with him? None of it made scientific sense.

*Could she be like Sazae-san?* The absurd thought popped into his head. He recalled feeding a stray cat with sausage just days ago—the cat had been oddly affectionate too.

"A... cat-eared girl?!" he blurted aloud, startling a passerby. Flushing, he snapped his mouth shut. "That’s impossible..."

Though he knew it was ridiculous, the idea made Silver Bell—whose beauty usually felt distant—suddenly seem warmer.

Before he knew it, he’d reached school.

Before he knew it, morning reading began.

Before he knew it, morning exercises started...

If middle schoolers took calisthenics seriously, high schoolers mostly went through the motions. Only a few earnest students performed each move properly. Every morning, a girl stood on the flag-raising platform to demonstrate the routine—always a model Youth League member. Chosen for her figure and decent looks, she drew eyes even under baggy uniforms. Not necessarily the school flower, but certainly a class flower with substance.

*Such a pretty girl stuck doing these clumsy exercises... what a waste,* Yue Feather always thought. *If only she could dance like those Japanese girls in idol videos...*

Especially in a sailor uniform. That’d look amazing.

His mind drifted to imagining Silver Bell in one.

"Hey. Let’s go." A classmate nudged him. Startled, Yue Feather realized exercises had ended and everyone was filing back inside.

He’d been spacing out all day, haunted by one worry: Would Silver Bell vanish as suddenly as she’d appeared?

"Yue Feather," the Chinese teacher called, "you’ve been daydreaming half the lesson. Come solve this problem on the board."

"Huh? Oh..." He scrambled up, scanning the room for help. No luck. Even Ji Fan, usually his lifeline, was fast asleep. *Why pick the daydreamer over the snorer?* he grumbled inwardly as he trudged to the front.

The slightly paunchy teacher, beard neatly trimmed, smiled kindly. "Complete these four poetry lines. All from this semester’s lessons. Let’s see if you’ve kept up."

Yue Feather squinted at the verses—each from a different poem—and winced. Circuits were easier than this.

Luckily, the first line was simple: Cao Cao’s *Viewing the Bohai Sea*. His history hobby saved him.

*"The sun and moon seem born within its tides; / The Milky Way appears to rise from its depths."*

The teacher watched his crooked chalk strokes. "Yue Feather, your handwriting... needs serious practice."

"*Cough*..." Yue Feather flushed. His penmanship was bad enough; chalk made it look like a toddler’s scribble.

The second line? Classical Chinese.

"Teacher... this is *wenyanwen*..." he muttered.

"Same rules. Must memorize. Must test."

"...Right." He’d always skipped memorizing classical texts. The words felt familiar, but the ending vanished from his mind.

The teacher’s "kindly" smile returned as he walked down to wake sleeping students. Then—a whisper, barely audible from behind Yue Feather:

*"...only the holes of snakes and eels offer them shelter..."*

"Huh?" Yue Feather inched back, straining to hear.

*"Only the holes of snakes and eels offer them shelter—"* The voice grew clearer. *Zhan Qi.* That kind girl always helped lost souls like him. Dictation beat blank-page panic any day.

"Thanks," he mouthed, flashing a thumbs-up.

Guided by Zhan Qi’s whispers, he finished three lines. But the last character in *"My hairpin can barely hold my thinning hair"* defeated him. Too complex to describe aloud, he desperately scrawled "zan" and hoped for mercy.

"Yue Feather," the teacher sighed, "your handwriting’s rough, but the answers are correct. Except this last character. Review it. And pay attention next time."

"...Got it." Yue Feather slunk back to his seat like a scolded puppy. The podium was his personal hell.

At break, he happily unpacked Silver Bell’s homemade bento. *Does this count as a love meal?*

"Skipping breakfast?" Ji Fan slumped into a chair beside him, yawning. "Just woke up."

"You slept through the whole class. Your arm must be stiff."

"...Seriously?" Yue Feather seethed inwardly. *Why wasn’t this sleeping lump dragged up too? Unfair!*

"Hey," Ji Fan grinned, "which girl in class do you like?"

"Why ask that?" Yue Feather turned away, cheeks warming. "You love-struck or something?"

"Pfft. Just curious."

"...None." He shook his head firmly.

"Bull. You totally like Murong Qiuyu. Your goddess. You even copy homework for her when she skips it—"

"I was... bored!" Yue Feather protested weakly. Silver Bell’s face in his mind shoved Murong Qiuyu aside. "I don’t like anyone right now."

"Sure you don’t." Ji Fan rolled his eyes, slinging an arm over Yue Feather’s shoulders. "Fine. Who’s the prettiest girl in class?"

Yue Feather swallowed dryly. "M-Murong Qiuyu, I guess..."

"HA! And you say you don’t like her?!" Ji Fan’s shout drew stares.

"Keep it down!" Yue Feather ducked his head. He’d taken a whole semester to learn everyone’s names. He barely knew Murong Qiuyu. Admiration wasn’t love—pretty girls had that advantage, as long as their personalities weren’t awful.

"Okay, who’s the *kindest* girl then?"

"Kindest?"

"Best personality."

"Oh... that’d be..." His gaze swept the classroom, landing on Zhan Qi. "Zhan Qi."

"Told you! I think so too."

"Huh? You like her? But she’s not that pretty..."

"NOT PRETTY?!" Ji Fan slapped his shoulder. "You’re too picky, man!"

"No—I mean, shouldn’t someone like you go for the hot girls?"

"Pfft. I’m not shallow!" Ji Fan leaned in with a sly grin. "You and Zhan Qi get along, right? Help me out later."

"W-well..."

"Perfect. Deal."

"Wait, you decided that fast? How even?"