Spreading over an empty, peaceful street, the clear sky was colored in shades of orange. It indicated that it was time for the sun to go down—and along with it, for the night to fall. 

It’s not like that street had ever been busy—aside from the mornings, when people were on their way to work or school, it was rare to see more than a single group of people walking down it at a time. 

There were slight noises coming from the houses surrounding it on either side—no matter if you liked it or not, there were people living in them, and at this time of the day, there shouldn’t be a single member of the family occupying the particular house missing. 

It was an ordinary summer evening—arguably the best time to leave for a walk. The light wind blew, making the trees rustle ever so slightly. Aside from that, there were no other sounds encircling the street. 

Someone could be noticed coming out of a side alley. To an observer, it would be impossible to disclose their identity. 

At that moment, there was no one on the street except for that person. There were small signs indicating that it was a girl—that included the presence of a black skirt and a strand of blonde hair sticking out of a black hood. 

From the soles of her shoes to an unusual pair of cat ears on top of her hood, her outfit was entirely black with an occasional white accent. Covering her legs and arms was black, non-translucent cloth. 

One could call it a cosplay, although it wasn’t completely the case for that girl. While she was pretending to be a character, it was a character she created on her own. As she acted as such at all times in public, it could be said that she actually was this character. She was a self-proclaimed alien with a tremendous power capable of killing with no more than a single glance lingering in her left eye. 

She proudly held a grudge against other people—her reasons for that remained unknown. There was one exception—a person called Fujioka Takao, who was supposed to be her servant. Although she always called him in a condescending manner “human”, they seemed to get along well. In reality, he was her friend. He was the only human she knew—her only friend. 

There was always a mysterious aura surrounding her. It wasn’t surprising—she always remained quiet, so nobody knew much about her. 

Naturally, her only friend knew her more, although there still were numerous secrets remaining; some of them would never come to light. In spite of that, it could be said that there was no other person that knew about her as much as him. 

She didn’t like people, so she didn’t want to be approached by them. That might have been the reason why she was dressed in this manner, cutting her away from the surrounding world as much as it was possible without remaining indoors. 

Her outfit was conspicuous in itself, but that didn’t change the fact that she was unrecognizable. If someone saw her like that, they would refer to her as a strange black figure, and not just that weird girl Lumiya being strange as always. 

Making her disguise nearly perfect, even her face couldn’t be seen. It was covered with a black gas mask—although she did act as if it had extraordinary features, even she admitted that its main purpose was disguise. Through a pair of heavily tinted eyeholes, she could see everything in front of her relatively well, although her field of view was naturally limited—still, it was better compared to when she had the eyepatch on. Overall, people passing by her weren’t able to catch a sight of her face. 

Although it couldn’t be seen because of the hood sheathing her head, she actually had headphones on, additionally cutting her away from everything around her. That way, even if someone tried to call out to her for some reason, she wouldn’t be able to hear it through the music that was playing relatively loud. 

While she certainly was an indoor person, even she had to go outside every once in a while. In fact, she didn’t particularly dislike it—it was only that she didn’t like the presence of other people, even if they were completely unconcerned. That’s why she always chose a time when the streets were as empty as possible. For a certain reason, she also absolutely loved rain, and often took advantage of it to go for a walk. 

This day was a little bit different—she left earlier than usual. It was a few minutes past eight as she walked down the street that had already been desolated. Inside, she was deeply lost in thought. She was mainly thinking about things unachievable to her—for example, how she would exterminate the human race if her powers were actually real. Well, her thoughts were bold in general. 

There was a huge difference between her in her mind and her in reality. For example, supposing that at this exact moment someone she didn’t know called out to her in a way she would be able to notice, she would be startled and rendered anxious. Her disguise increased her confidence a little—if she didn’t have it, she would be genuinely scared and most likely left unable to respond comprehensibly. 

That was one among numerous reasons why she wore such outfit; it creeped most people out in the first place, so she rarely had to deal with situations like this. 

•  

“Cat ears!” 

A voice belonging to a child called out to her. She wasn’t able to hear it because of the music playing through her headphones, though, so unaware of that, she continued walking forward. 

She was currently passing by a small playground—there were four kids in total playing there, two boys and two girls. The one that just called out to her was a boy—and as it soon turned out, he wasn’t going to give up yet. As such, he sprang up from the sandpit and quickly ran to the figure disguised in black in order to turn its attention to them. 

“...!” 

Lumiya—the real identity of the figure which remained unknown to those kids—was startled when she felt someone’s touch on her hip. It was only to be expected—she was immersed in a world of her own until now, with her hearing and a large part of her eyesight in a different world than the one surrounding her. 

Alarmed, she turned her masked head only to see a little figure of a boy gripping her jacket. At first, she was shocked by that fact, but when she realized that it was nothing but a kid, she calmed down. 

“Wh-what. A-ah...” the muffled voice that came out of the mask was confused. 

Remembering that she had headphones on that prevented her from hearing what that boy was saying, she took them off without pulling down her hood. 

Having returned with her senses to the real world, she looked over her surroundings. There were only four people besides her in the vicinity: the boy standing next to her, and another boy standing on the sandpit with two girls, everyone with their stares fixed on her. 

“Human... children.” 

Having confirmed once more that there was nobody else around, she breathed out with ease. Even though she was anxious around people in general, she could feel relatively comfortable as long as they were kids. 

Their expressions were filled with pure curiosity and surprise, except for one girl that seemed rather uninterested in the current situation. 

“Beings that appear innocent, although upon maturity they will become contemptible like everyone else.” 

Her voice, although muffled, evidently revealed that it belonged to a teenage girl. Before the kids actually approached her, they had no way of knowing what kind of person was hidden under that disguise. Most parents often say, “Don’t talk to strangers”. That girl definitely was a stranger, and at first glance, one could call her a weirdo. Therefore, it was dangerous for them to approach her—without a doubt, they would have gotten scolded had their parents been there. 

“What is that you want from me, you humans that dare to call upon me?” although she was quite anxious inside, she managed to make her voice sound imperious. 

The kids were still curious rather than afraid of the disguised figure, with an exception for a girl that looked down and seemed to be stressed. 

“Cool...” the boy that approached her earlier exclaimed in awe. 

Lumiya, confused, started walking toward the kids, making the boy back down. Without being noticed by the other side, she thoroughly examined their faces—the boy was brimming with enthusiasm, the other boy was merely surprised as much as the girl that had brown hair, but what caught her attention was a girl with black hair, whose face couldn’t be seen because she was avidly looking down. 

“Your guardians are not here?” the disguised girl asked them a question, obviously meaning their parents. 

“No...” the brown-haired girl responded. 

“Why do you have a gas mask?” the enthusiastic boy asked her. 

“Fufu, you see, I don’t want to breathe the same air as you humans. It would be a horrible disgrace to me. I also have my reasons for hiding my real identity from you.” 

“So you won’t take it off?” the brown-haired girl asked a question. 

“If I took it off right now... kuku, you would all fall into eternal sleep.” 

“Is your face that ugly?” immediately after she finished her sentence, the enthusiastic boy exclaimed. 

It was a rather insensitive joke coming from that boy. Even though he surely meant no harm, it hit Lumiya more than it should. She remained silent for a few seconds—since she had the mask on, the kids couldn’t read her face, which, to be fair, frightened them a little, except for the enthusiastic boy that seemed to be dense. 

“You see, I don’t need to take off this mask to use this power. Do you want to have it tested on you?” 

“Yes!” 

She didn’t expect that response. Obviously, she didn’t have any power capable of ending their lives, so she had to talk her way out of it. 

“Fufu, this was a joke. I can’t do that, because I would descend to a filthy human’s level.” 

Seeing that the kids were crouching or sitting down in the sandpit, Lumiya as well decided to kneel down in front of them as she was slightly tired of standing motionless. She remained on a level higher than them, because she was naturally taller than them. 

“You’re not human?” 

“Fufu, that’s right! I actually come from another world, although my appearances are the same as a human’s. That basically makes me undistinguishable, but there is a little problem.” 

She raised her left hand, which was covered with a pitch-black glove, and pointed with it at her left eye. 

“The power I mentioned earlier resides in my left eye. I am not able to control it freely, so I have to restrain it using an eyepatch. This mask works in a similar way, although it allows me to control it freely while keeping my eyesight unobstructed. Unfortunately, I have to lead an ordinary life in this human world, so I can’t wear this outfit, which I find the most comfortable, at all times.” 

“F-for real?!” the boy enthusiastically exclaimed. 

“Are you an alien??” 

“I guess.” 

“What are these for?” 

“Uh!” 

Before she knew it, the other boy had snuck up on her and touched one of the cat ears sticking out from the hood of her black coat. Since she didn’t expect that, she unwittingly let out a cute short sound when she felt someone touching them. 

“T-these? Fufu, I guess I can tell you. These are antennas, but not the kind you’re thinking of. They are not meant for communication, but supplement my own senses. They allow me to tell what you are thinking about... but it’s not like I can read your mind. It’s rather inaccurate, although if the emotion is strong enough, I can detect it. For example, if someone wanted to stab me, I would be able to sense it and prevent it. Other than that, it’s a fancy addition. There are also a few hidden functions in there, but I won’t tell you.” 

“Then, are you able to read her mind?” the boy that snuck up on her asked, pointing at the girl that kept her head lowered, as if she was uninterested in the current conversation. 

“This is all lies.” a quiet voice resounded. 

“Huh?” 

“Can’t you see it... she’s only pretending.” 

“What are you talking about, Nanami?” the brown-haired girl said to the other girl that remained silent with her head down until now, whose name turned out to be Nanami. 

“She’s dressed like a weirdo and talks to little kids like us because only we would believe it. Of course she’s human. There is no way an alien would be here and talked to us just like that. I bet she’s actually making fun of you under that mask.” 

Lumiya stood up and stared at the girl who doubted her supposed identity, her emotions unknown to those kids. 

“W-why you’re looking at me like that. It’s... disgusting”, the girl said bashfully, lowering her head and hiding it behind her arms. 

“You’re actually... scared of me, little human girl?” 

“No... I’m not!” 

“Wait a moment. Please don’t approach me, because you may die.” 

With that, Lumiya turned around and crouched down next to a solid fence. She proceeded to reach inside her coat to soon take out an item—it was the black eyepatch she had always been wearing at school. 

Cautiously, she put one of her hands inside her hood without pulling it down. Pressing the mask to her face with one hand to prevent it from falling down, she used the other one to put the eyepatch on her left eye. 

Having reaffirmed that it was holding tight, she removed the mask and breathed the unfiltered, fresh evening air for the first time since she left her house. With a swift move, she pulled down her hoodie and having stood up, returned to the group of kids that had been watching her closely. 

She wasn’t wearing the mask anymore, substituting it with the eyepatch. Her light, blonde hair could be seen now, along with her right, blue eye. 

“And now?” 

Having deprived herself of the mask, she wasn’t feeling as assured as before, even in front of those kids. Still, she tried to hide her emotions as much as possible—she actually was not half bad at it. 

The group of kids was... left astounded for some reason. Their eyes were fixed on the face of the girl that remained disguised before, and the only emotion they displayed was surprise. 

“W-what are you staring at me so fixedly”, embarrassed, she asked them hesitantly—it seemed that the tables had turned. 

“I’m sorry!” the boy that was overly enthusiastic earlier jumped out from the sandpit and prostrated himself before the self-proclaimed alien girl. 

“Huh...?” 

“I’m sorry for saying earlier that your face was ugly. Please don’t kill me. I beg you for forgiveness”, the boy used surprisingly complicated words he had most likely picked up from some TV show his parents had been watching. 

“Ah...” hearing that, Lumiya’s face became slightly flushed. It took her a while before she regained her composure and continued, “Fufu, worry not. I wouldn’t kill you either way.” 

“C-cool...!” 

“What’s your name??” 

“My name? Fufu, that’s bold of you to ask me... but very well, I shall tell you. My name is Lumiya”, she proudly responded as she raised one of her hands to cover the eyepatch on her left eye and arranged her mouth into a smirk. 

“Lu-mi-ya...? Yay, I made friends with an alien!” the boy exclaimed, brimming with enthusiasm. 

His words left Lumiya stunned—not because of their vigorous, overwhelming effect, but because of the fact that he called her his new friend. Of course, she didn’t take it personally since it was coming from a little naïve kid, but it still did make her slightly abashed. 

“And you, little human girl, your name... Nanami, was it?” Lumiya, now with her face and hair uncovered, looked at the black-haired girl sitting the farthest from the rest on the sandpit, whose expression didn’t reveal that she was scared anymore. She was only a little bit troubled, but she managed to return Lumiya’s gaze. 

“I-I still don’t believe that you’re an alien... you look exactly the same as us...” 

“You don’t have to believe me. After all, I’m not that different from humans if it comes to appearance”, she politely explained to the little girl that although still didn’t believe her, visibly expressed some curiosity, “To tell the truth, I was human once as well, or at least I thought so. It was one day that I started questioning it. I’ve been living in this world since I remember, but I started realizing that I actually don’t belong here. Part of the memories of my former self returned to me along with my powers, and so... I still don’t know what I’m doing here or how I found myself here. Perhaps it’s all a conspiracy, but I have no proof to confirm that yet. That’s why I may not appear like a proper alien, but I’m sure that I’m not human as you.” 

Those four kids certainly took a liking to her story as they all kept staring at the standing tall figure. 

“In fact, you might not be human as well. If one day you notice that there is something wrong with this world... you might be right. In general, though, it’s better to live with your eyes closed.” 

After she was finished with her story, there was no response coming from the kids, who had evidently been a little bit overwhelmed by it. Lumiya, beginning to feel humiliated, made an attempt to leave before it got worse. 

“Well then, I shall take my leave now. We might never meet again. If I may ask something of you, don’t grow to be treacherous like other humans. Farewell.” 

Uneasily, she proceeded to turn around and walk away from the playground. Having put her hood on again, she lifted the hand holding her mask, and while pressing it to her face, took the eyepatch off from her left eye. Having assured that the mask was clinging tightly to her face, she put the eyepatch inside her coat and nervously picked up her pace. She also put her headphones on again, finally cutting herself away from the surroundings and proceeded in the direction of her home. 

It seemed that her peace wouldn’t last any longer—one of the children she had left behind was running after her. Surprisingly, it was the one who appeared to be the shyest earlier—the black-haired girl named Nanami. 

“L-Lumiya...” shyly, she called out to her, but didn’t receive any response since she couldn’t hear it. That wasn’t enough to make her give up, though, as she decided to pull ahead of her and stand in her way, similarly like the enthusiastic boy had done earlier. 

“...!” since she thought she had humiliated herself before those kids, when she noticed one of them standing in her way, she was twice as startled. She didn’t have any other choice but to take her headphones off again. 

“Err... is it true that you can read minds?” the girl asked her bashfully. 

“N-no, I can’t read minds. All I can do is read one’s expression and judge their emotions more accurately than humans can.” 

“B-because, actually... I can do that too. I mean, I can tell if someone’s lying...” 

“Huh...” 

“And when you took off that mask... it didn’t seem like you were lying. It’s impossible, but... are you really an alien?” 

Surprised with that girl’s confession, Lumiya responded her proudly: 

“Fufu, I may not be human, but it doesn’t mean that I’m different from you.” 

After all, the story she had told those kids wasn’t exactly false. In fact, it was real, just told in a very roundabout way. 

“So aliens... are actually like humans?” 

“Actually, I don’t know much more about aliens than you do. Ah, by the way, keep the fact that we met a secret. I mustn’t reveal my real identity to everyone else, so I made an exception for you. Now, I have to go. If your guardians appeared here now, I would get in trouble. So long, human child.” 

That wasn’t surprising—seeing that their kid was talking to someone dressed fully in black and wearing a gas mask to boot, they would surely get the wrong idea. 

As such, Lumiya walked away from the little girl called Nanami. This time, she didn’t put the headphones on again, but started walking at a very hurried pace trying not to think about anything until she got home. Even in front of those little kids, she was anxious and ended up embarrassed. She was really disappointed in herself and decided that she would never leave for a walk that early again. 

That little girl stood in the middle of the deserted street confused, staring at the black figure growing smaller. Obviously, she never told her parents about that strange meeting. Although she pretended before her friends that she didn’t believe the strange figure that she was an alien, she did give some thought to her words. 

She thought, “perhaps I am an alien too...?”