“Tomorrow, I’ll blend in. No one will question me.”

  I should have asked what she meant.

  I really should have.

  High school was as boring as ever. Lockers slamming. Voices overlapping. People moving through the halls like they always did. I went to my seat, dropped my bag, and prepared for another forgettable day.

  Then the homeroom teacher cleared her throat.

  “We’ll be having a new student attending our class starting today,” she said. “Due to personal reasons, she hasn’t been able to attend school for some time, but that’s been resolved.”

  A few heads turned. Mild curiosity. Nothing special.

  “Please introduce yourself.”

  She stood.

  “I’m Akari,” she said calmly. “Nice to meet you.”

  That was it. No dramatic backstory. No flair.

  Still, the room felt… quieter.

  She scanned the class once, eyes passing over everyone without lingering, then stopped when she reached me.

  And smiled.

  She walked toward my row.

  Not rushed. Not hesitant.

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  She stopped beside my desk.

  “Oh,” she said lightly. “You’re here.”

  Every head turned.

  “I know him,” she added, as if mentioning the weather.

  The silence was immediate.

  “…What?”

  “Since when?”

  “Him?”

  I stared at her. “You said you’d blend in.”

  “I am,” she replied softly, and took the empty seat next to mine.

  By second period, whispers followed me everywhere.

  By lunch, they weren’t subtle anymore.

  “Guess even losers get lucky sometimes.”

  “Maybe she lost a bet.”

  “She looks normal. What’s she doing with him?”

  I kept my eyes on my food.

  Akari didn’t.

  She stood up.

  The table went quiet.

  She walked over to the group laughing the loudest. Three guys. All confidence. All stupid enough to think they were safe.

  She leaned down slightly, smiling.

  “I heard you,” she said.

  They froze.

  Her voice didn’t rise. Didn’t shake. It stayed gentle.

  “Let me ask you something,” she continued. “Do you ever think about how easily people remember faces when something bad happens?”

  One of them laughed nervously. “What?”

  She straightened and looked at him. Really looked at him.

  For just a second, the air felt heavier.

  “I do,” Akari said. “I’m very good at remembering.”

  Her smile faded.

  Not into anger.

  Into nothing.

  The color drained from his face.

  “I... I was just joking,” he stammered.

  She nodded. “I know.”

  She turned and walked back to our table.

  None of them laughed again.

  They didn’t talk much either.

  At lunch on the roof, I stared at her. “What did you say to them?”

  “Nothing important,” she replied, sipping her drink.

  “They looked like they’d seen a ghost.”

  She tilted her head. “People imagine worse things than I ever need to say.”

  That didn’t make me feel better.

  The rest of the day passed under a strange tension. No one bothered me directly. Conversations cut short when I walked by. Eyes followed us, then looked away.

  As we walked home, I finally spoke.

  “You’re making my life harder.”

  “Yes,” she agreed easily.

  “You could have just ignored them.”

  “They were loud.”

  I stopped walking. “You scared them.”

  She looked genuinely confused. “They’ll recover.”

  I sighed and kept moving.

  This was what she meant by blending in.

  Not invisibility.

  Control.

  And the worst part?

  No one questioned it.