"That's why I've been looking for you," Elena said quietly.
Her fingers tightened around mine not forceful, but deliberate. Like she was afraid I let go.
"Your voice," she continued.
"I remembered it and I followed it."
My stomach twisted.
"Why?" I asked, barely above a whisper.
She leaned closer not invading, just close enough that I could feel her warmth.
"Because when I listened to it," she said, "it made something happen inside me."
I froze.
"In your stories," Elena went on, almost hesitant now, "people call that feeling love."
My brain stalled.
"…Wait," I said. "You mean—"
"I want to understand it," she said simply.
"With you."
Silence crashed between us.
My face burned.
"Y-you mean like… friends?" I blurted.
Elena shook her head.
"No." She said it gently which somehow made it worse.
"I mean romantically." She said casually.
I yanked my hands free and shot to my feet.
"No! That's—no way!" I said, words tumbling over each other.
"We're both girls! That's not—this isn't—!"
I didn't even know what I was arguing anymore.
Elena stood slowly.
"Mayumi," she said calmly.
"Does it bother you… that we're both girls?"
She tilted her head.
"If this form is the issue… I can change it."
"What?.."
I didn't have time to stop her.
Her body shifted. White, soft, shimmering… unfolded around her. Her entire form seemed to ripple, then stretch.
When it stopped, someone else stood there.
Humanoid, taller, with clothes that slowly formed around them, colors shifting elegantly until they solidified into a guy.
My breath caught.
"This is equivalent," he said. Elena's voice just lowered.
"Does this resolve the problem?"
It didn't.
If anything, it made my skin crawl.
As he stepped closer, panic surged through me.
"Stop!" I shoved him back. "No—please, change back!"
He blinked, startled.
"But you said—"
"It's not that!" I cut in, shaking.
"I just—I can't.... I don't feel safe when a guy gets close and I don't even talk to boys at school. I just—can't."
Elena went still.
Then she nodded once.
"Understood."
The petals returned the form unraveled and Elena stood there again, just Elena.
I exhaled shakily.
"Why… why choose to be a girl in the first place?" I asked.
Elena answered without hesitation.
"Statistically," she said, "it was the most appealing."
At least she got that part right...
Her appearance really does have a way of lowering someone's guard… But what should I do in this situation now?
After what she said, about wanting something like that… my thoughts were spiraling. I'm not even sure what to respond in the first place.
I loved romance. I read it. I watched it. I replayed scenes in my head like comfort food.
But real life was different.
Real life didn't give you background music or a pause button.
I used to joke that maybe one day God would finally give me a boyfriend.
I just… didn't expect the answer to fall out from outer space.
"Mayumi."
Her voice pulled me out of my spiral.
I blinked, realizing I'd been staring into space for way too long. Elena was watching me very quietly and attentive, like she'd been waiting patiently for an answer I still didn't have.
Right.
An answer.
…Did I even have a choice here?
What if I said no?
Would she suddenly decide Earth wasn't worth sparing anymore? Would rejection be the final straw before she went, Fine, planet destroyed?
I glanced down.
Two books lay on the floor between us. One of them, the one she'd handed me earlier.
The one I left behind in the mountains.
I swallowed.
I never thought confessions would feel this intense. The idea that I could be responsible for billions of people dying just because I rejected an alien who liked me is—
Insane…
But my heart didn't care that it was insane.
My breathing grew uneven as I looked back up at her. Elena looked tense too… shoulders stiff, hands curled slightly at her sides. She was nervous.
Waiting.
That somehow made it worse.
"Hah…" A small, shaky laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered under my breath.
Then, quieter…. almost to myself—
"…I don't think rejection should feel like I'm signing Earth's death sentence."
I met her eyes again.
But that doesn't mean I can just say yes either.
As I mustered the courage to answer her, I finally let it out.
"Can you…" I said hesitantly.
"Can you… give me time to decide?" I closed my eyes, gripping my shirt tightly.
Then I opened one eye, glancing up just enough to see her reaction.
She studied my face like she was trying to solve a problem with no clear answer, her brows knitting together ever so slightly. Not in frustration.
Just… processing.
"Then," she said slowly, carefully, "does that mean yes?"
"I…" I hesitated, fingers curling tight.
I took a breath.
"Maybe… we don't jump into anything yet ya know? Maybe we just start slow. Talk and Learn about each other."
Elena's eyes widened slightly.
"…So," she said, tilting her head, "like courtship?"
I choked.
"C-court—no! I mean—maybe? Kind of?!" I flailed my hands, immediately regretting it.
She blinked. "Am I wrong?"
"No—well—yes—but also no," I groaned, crouching down and pressing my forehead into my knees.
"It's just…being friends but not really being friends? Like a relationship without declarations or labeling and world ending consequences."
She went quiet again.
Then, very carefully, she nodded.
"I can do that," she said.
"…That's reassuring," I muttered.
Then she crouched down in front of me as well.
Before I could react, she reached out and gently pressed a finger against my forehead.
Her voice low, almost… sly.
"I'm glad today's events went well."
She smiled.
My heart skipped in a way I absolutely did not approve of.
Then she straightened up and walked toward the window. She opened it with ease, and the golden-hour sunlight spilled into my room, warm and bright. The breeze rushed in, lifting her hair as it swayed softly in the light.
She glanced back at me.
"We'll meet again," she said casually, "when school starts."
Then, like it was the most normal thing in the world—
"See you, Mayumi."
And she stepped out the window.
"…Huh?"
It took me a full second to process what I'd just witnessed.
"WAIT—WHAT?!"
I rushed to the window, nearly tripping over my own feet, heart pounding as I leaned out—
Nothing.
No figure.
No movement.
No sign she'd ever been there at all.
It was like she'd vanished into thin air.
The room felt too quiet now.
Slowly, I shut the window and leaned my forehead against the glass, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My hands were still shaking. My heart wouldn't calm down.
An alien.
In my room.
All of that… happened in a single day.
I still couldn't wrap my head around it. This morning, I'd been worrying about nothing more than boredom and school starting soon.
And now… now I was standing here, wondering if any of this was even real.
It all felt too fast. Too unreal. Like if I blinked hard enough, I'd wake up and forget everything.
I turned around and glanced down at the books scattered on the floor. One of them was the one I left behind that night. The one that started all of this.
"…This is insane," I muttered.
And yet somewhere beneath the panic, beneath the fear.
I felt it.
A strange, stubborn pull.
I pressed a hand to my chest, my voice barely a whisper.
"Guess… school's going to be insane as well."