Lumiya—it was the name of a girl I had stumbled upon almost two months ago. To say that she turned my life upside down would be rather an exaggeration, but she definitely did add some spice to it. 

Everything surrounding her being was strange; it made her unusual name fit very well. I was sometimes wondering what it was supposed to mean. I didn’t know how it was written, but it was likely one of those names that didn’t bear much meaning either way. Lumiya... perhaps light? Her hair was distinctively bright, it made sense... but I’m not sure if her parents had known that it was going to become blonde at the moment she was born. That didn’t matter in the end—her name might have been unusual, but it had a pleasant ring to it. 

Her personality was eccentric, but I had already gotten used to it. The eyepatch on her left eye didn’t surprise me anymore. Come to think of it, it didn’t look bad either—it being pitch-black, it paired well with her bright hair that happened to cover it a little. I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t bothersome for her though, but on the other hand, I had never seen her being directly troubled by it. There was only one such situation, when she fell from the bike I had lent her, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the eyepatch—it might have been that her skills were poor in general, or it was just a random accident like any other that could have as well happened to me. Walking around without ever taking it off must have made her used to wearing it. 

To think that it’d been two months since we first met each other... It was when I was carrying the final batch of boxes and I accidentally stumbled on a step. I thought that the building was mostly empty, but I was shocked when I felt a pair of hands catching me midair. As it soon turned out, they belonged to a certain, odd-looking girl... 

Now that you owe me your life... would you like to become my servant... or something... 

Those were the words that started it all. She hadn’t given me even a chance to respond, but hurriedly left right away. It was the reason why I had looked for her... and in the end, I found the girl, lonely eating lunch on the rooftop. The same girl, a few days ago, asked me out... no, asked me to accompany her to some store. 

To be honest, it made me happy. Even if it wasn’t much, something in my tedious, unchanging life had finally progressed forward. It was going to be our first time meeting outside school, so it obviously intimidated me. As always, I ended up overthinking that situation. What if she stood me up? What should I put on? Should I come earlier? What if something happened and I was late? 

“I suggest that we refrain from convening until we rendezvous at Saturday in order to ensure that no one is surveilling us. Please inform me if you won’t be able to meet at the designated time and place.” 

As I was sitting on the bed in my room, anxiety had been brimming within me. My holds holding the phone with her latest message displayed on the screen were quivering. Intimidating me, the only sound I could hear were the hands of the clock steadily approaching five o’clock. 

We were supposed to meet before the station at six, which meant that there was still over an hour left. It usually took me no more than twenty minutes to get there on foot, so just to be assured, I was going to make sure I left no less than thirty minutes earlier. 

Having put the phone back on the desk, I extended my arms behind me and putting pressure on the bed through them, leaned my body back and looked mindlessly at the ceiling. 

At that moment, I was feeling both anxious and excited. I was afraid not only of the possibility of her standing me up, but also of the other people around us. A boy and a girl walking to each other—it was sure to cause a misunderstanding. While I didn’t care what random people that I would see for the first and the last time in my life thought, there was a small chance of someone recognizing one of us... 

Even if our real intentions weren’t like that, they would disregard it and assume what seemed the most obvious—that we were... a couple. In case a random classmate saw us, rumors may arise. In case it was a family member, it would be an enormous humiliation for me. It alone would render me unable to talk to her like before anymore. 

Our designated meeting place was in front of the train station—a place where meeting a classmate was very likely. What would they be doing there on a Saturday, at six o’clock? While I couldn’t think of a particular activity, what mattered was that it wasn’t impossible. 

It wasn’t like I could call it off—I had promised her that we would meet there. It wasn’t like I was sick or had some other, urgent business to take care of. I was only distressed by it—it was something I could expect, I could be sure of it happening; after all, it was always like that. 

The outfit I had chosen to wear wasn’t anything exquisite. I put the same clothes I would put on when going for a walk—shorts and a t-shirt. It wasn’t like I had to make my clothes elegant; we weren’t going on a date. 

I didn’t have to worry about my parents or anything—they wouldn’t question me if I came back before nine, since I was often going for a walk in the evening. 

“...” 

As such, with my entire body trembling, I vigorously shot up from the bed and having grabbed the phone and put it in a pocket, proceeded to leave the room. 

•

It was a summer afternoon nearing the end of June. Looking up at the sky, it didn’t seem that the sun was going to set anytime soon. In spite of that, its heat wasn’t overwhelming me anymore—still, it wasn’t as pleasant as in the evening. There was a light wind blowing against my back, but it wasn’t strong enough to say that it was pushing me forward. 

I had left my house way too early—it was forty minutes before the time we were supposed to meet. Even though I could take it easy and walk at a slow pace, I always ended up increasing it unwittingly after a dozen of seconds. I knew that I would have to nervously stand in one place for at least twenty minutes waiting for her if I continued, yet I couldn’t slow down. 

What troubled me, was that this situation reminded me of a generic date more than it should. I hadn’t experienced it myself, but only seen it on TV—one person came half an hour too early, and when the other one arrived, they said that they had just come. 

What would happen if I really arrived way too early and she asked me how long I had been waiting? I would tell her that I had just arrived, wouldn’t I? 

We might as well get there at the same time—then we would just laugh it off and proceed to do what we had to. 

My legs had been closing the distance between me and the station. Walking down the nearly empty neighborhood streets, I felt my heartbeat increasing as I found myself closer to the final destination. 

“...” 

It was my first time going out with anyone for a long time. I hadn’t been to the train station recently as well. Not that it mattered, but the road became less familiar to me after I passed a convenience store. 

Every now and then, there were some people passing by me. Entirely unconcerned, random people—usually, they were families on a walk together. It made me think, how long it had been since I had gone on a walk with my entire family? It would be a few good years, if I brushed aside holidays. Was it a bad thing? Not necessarily—to be honest, I would be simply embarrassed if I were to walk around with them. 

I had always walked alone—was it to school, a store or the station. Seeing the same scenery for the hundredth time became obviously boring, so I thought about things to make it pleasant. Why did I even think about this? I was sure that it was a common thing—walking together with parents was simply something everyone grew out of at some point. 

•

Before long, I had finally reached it. I came out of a side alley and before my eyes, the relatively large building appeared. I mean, the station itself wasn’t that big—it was mainly the shopping center next to it that made it seem as such. 

From that moment on, there was much more people around. Still, it was far from being crowded. The level of anxiety within me rose almost proportionally—I found it difficult to keep on at moving forward. It was alright as long as I kept progressing, but I felt that, at the moment I stopped for whatever reason, I wouldn’t be able to continue anymore. I would just fret and become unable to move, until I finally give up entirely and run away. 

It didn’t change the fact that there were still over twenty minutes left till the appointed time of meeting. I found myself worrying, what was I going to be doing for that entire time? The anxiety effectively prevented me from pulling out my phone and fiddling with it to kill time, so I would be left with fidgetily walking around and stressing myself out. 

Aside from the incessant uneasiness, there was another sensation filling me—surprisingly, it was a pleasant one. It was only because of it that I was able to push forward this entire time. It was what made me unable to give up midway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the reason why I had left home that early. 

That feeling was anticipation. I was simply looking forward to our meeting. I was curious to see how she behaved outside of school—of course, I was expecting to see her act in the same peculiar way as always, and I would be surprised if she took off that eyepatch of hers. 

It would be my first time seeing her dressed in something else than the school uniform—I was wondering what she would wear. Would she dress in a casual way like I did, or maybe put on some sophisticated outfit fitting her pretense? 

It was going to be my long-awaited chance to get to know her better. We would finally be able to talk freely not constrained by time, and yeah... I was looking forward to it. 

Even though there was timidity within me overflowing, I felt encouraged to move forward—towards our first meeting outside of school! 

“...” 

I finally reached the plaza in front of the station. It was a fairly pleasant place—surrounded by various small shops and restaurants, there were some trees and benches set around. We arranged to meet right there in less than twenty minutes—for that reason, I found it difficult to move my body as the final time was closing in. 

There were some people walking around, but there weren’t any dense crowds so one could easily distinguish between them. For example, there was a rather middle-aged pair walking in the direction of a café; a girl with black hair that seemed to be in high school age leaving the station; a male figure in a pink shirt sitting on a bench fiddling with a phone; someone in a black cat-eared hoodie facing a lamp; and a girl in a white dress walking alongside a guy that seemed to be high school age as well... wait, a cat-eared hoodie? It was certainly an odd thing to be wearing, and it had to be warm in there, but well... 

That was when I noticed a strand of blonde hair sticking out from that hoodie. It reminded me of the girl I was supposed to meet in a while—its color was mostly the same for as much as I could notice from that distance. 

Seeing it, I raised my hand to scratch my cheek in curiosity. It was an odd coincidence, seeing someone dressed strangely with blonde hair. There were about twenty minutes left until our meeting time—I was going to be bored for a while, it seemed. 

As such, I began looking around in distress. There was someone passing by me every several seconds, and I felt strangely uneasy when they closed in to me. What was the cause for that? It hadn’t been like that before, so it was most likely caused by the persisting anxiety before the meeting. 

A few minutes later, I found myself unconsciously turning my head around to that weird figure standing in front of a lamp. It hadn’t moved even slightly since I came here and they didn’t seem to be killing time by fiddling with a phone or anything, so perhaps they were waiting for someone? 

A strand of blonde hair appeared again, and it was only then when I realized that it had to be a girl as I noticed a black skirt sticking out from under the hoodie. A girl in a cat-eared hoodie... it was kinda cute, wasn’t it? 

That was when a realization hit me. Blonde hair, a girl, strange outfit... I was about to meet a girl with blonde hair that was very likely to wear a strange outfit in that exact place. Wasn’t it too much of a coincidence? What if the person standing there was actually... that girl, Lumiya? It wasn’t impossible that she came earlier, right? 

“...” 

Anxiously, I glanced at that figure. I couldn’t properly judge its height from that distance, so I had no way but to walk over to it and take a peek at its face. 

I started moving forward, closing in to it. Its black back being turned to me this entire time, I was afraid of it suddenly turning around so I tried to look as inconspicuously as possible. My spying skills were poor in general, though, so I might appear suspicious if it happened to notice me. 

I finally found myself close to it, so I made a small circle in order to see the face that was hidden under the black hood, and... 

“...!?” 

What I noticed made me open my mouth and let out a silent sound of astonishment. It was something that I wouldn’t have ever thought of seeing there... I mean, thinking about it rationally, it wasn’t that unbelievable. Staring in wonder, I wanted to let out a silent giggle. 

I wanted to see that figure’s face, but it seemed that it had some reason for hiding it—because instead of it, I saw a gas mask in the same color as the hoodie. 

Why would someone wear a gas mask in the middle of the city, and when it was that hot? It wasn’t like there was some kind of a contamination nearby, neither was there a cosplay event. In addition to it, I saw more of the blonde hair that wasn’t covered by the hood. 

From that alone, I really could not judge if it was the girl I was supposed to meet with. I mean, it might have been—her hair seemed to be really similar to what I remembered, and her height might have been much the same, but it wasn’t enough to make me assured of it. 

Unfortunately, it seemed that I had no other option but to approach that figure. My heartbeat was so loud that I could hear it in my ears despite the place not being entirely quiet, but I started moving forward. 

The pace I was walking at was slow, and my head kept looking down. Before I approached the mysterious figure, I closed my eyes and gulped loudly. 

“...” 

Before I knew it, I had to stop. It turned out that, after all, I didn’t have enough courage to speak to a figure that might have been a stranger, and a weirdo to boot. With my head down, I turned around and started walking away from it. 

What options I had left, then? Perhaps I would wait for our meeting time and see if the “real” her came. If not, then I would send her a message—then, I should be sure if that disguised figure was, in fact, that girl. 

Either way, that event definitely had scarred me a little. I was about to likely make an idiot out of myself by approaching a random person just because she had blonde hair and wore a strange outfit. If she was really dressed in such way, how would she expect me to recognize her? 

“...!!” 

All of a sudden, I felt a hand grabbing me by my right shoulder. Naturally, it shocked me greatly—it could only be bad news, especially that with the corner of my eye I was able to note that it was coated with a black glove. 

“Fret not, human. This is me.” 

I heard a muffled sound from behind me. At first, I was startled because I couldn’t process its contents right away, but after the initial shock passed, I turned myself around. 

“ah...” 

As I expected, what I saw upon looking behind myself was the figure disguised in black clothing and a gas mask. The voice, although muffled, was something I recognized—the same with its contents. There was only one person that called me human—I confirmed that it really was that girl I was supposed to meet with, Lumiya. 

Either way... her outfit was not only strange, but also ridiculous. Taking a closer look at it, what I thought that was a hoodie was actually more like a coat. Her black skirt was slightly longer than the school uniform one, and under it, there were no exposed places—her legs were fully covered by non-translucent tights. Her arms were entirely clad in black gloves. Below her neck, which was basically the only uncovered part of her body, there was a black ribbon. 

That outfit gave me goosebumps—not entirely because of the condescending vibe it gave off, but because of how hot it had to be inside. If that wasn’t enough, she decided to put on a gas mask that made it harder for her to breathe the already warm air. 

“L-Lumiya...-san?” 

At this moment, her eccentricity was taken to the next level.