Shhh... Hahh... Classroom 2-3 at Hoshimigaoka High School. The pre-homeroom bustle of the morning reached Iatsu's ears like the distant roar of the tide. *(This is about yesterday.)* Only the sound of his own footsteps heading toward his seat echoed unnaturally loud. His classmates around him were keeping their distance, blatantly. The conspicuously empty space around his desk. The aftermath of that incident—the pencil case that had shattered the window—had perfectly chilled the air in the classroom this morning. Iatsu let out a deep breath and set his bag on his desk. The sound of air leaking from his mouth: *Shhh*. The gesture of tugging at his collar was already a habit. *(Even in the Galactic Empire, no one ever came near me. It's the same thing.)* He muttered it in his heart. But he himself couldn't identify the source of the small, stinging pain deep in his chest. That was when it happened. "[excited]Good morning, Iatsu-kun!" The classroom door burst open, and Hoshino Hikari tumbled in as if she'd been thrown. The star-shaped hairpin on the left side of her hair sparkled in the morning sun. Seemingly oblivious to the frozen atmosphere of the classroom, she charged straight toward Iatsu's desk. "[excited]I've been thinking about your psychic powers since yesterday, you know!" The stares of the entire classroom stabbed into Iatsu and Hikari simultaneously. *(Stop it.)* Iatsu screamed inside his mind. His face twitched. "[gentle]Hey, was that really psychokinesis? Or telekinesis? It's amazing, being able to move things without using your hands! Have you ever ridden in a UFO, Iatsu-kun? Have you ever met an alien?" Hikari fired off questions in rapid succession, leaning her petite 155-centimeter frame forward eagerly. Her fluffy short bob swayed. Her large brown eyes sparkled with curiosity. "...Stop it. I am absolutely not..." "[laughing]Huh, what? What are you absolutely not? I'm curious!" She laughed, revealing her double tooth, completely blocking any escape route Iatsu might have had. "[serious]Everyone, listen!" Hikari suddenly raised her voice, letting it echo throughout the classroom. "[excited]I've decided that starting today, I'm going to be friends with Iatsu-kun!" A stir ran through the classroom. "Huh? Seriously?" "That's so like Hikari." "But isn't that guy dangerous?" Voices mixed with curiosity, bewilderment, and a touch of ridicule pressed in on Iatsu like a wall. *(A public execution. Two days in a row.)* Iatsu looked up at the ceiling. He wanted to flee. However, the Dark Lord of the Galactic Empire could not possibly run away just because of a single girl's declaration. Still, he felt utterly mortified. ... During Japanese class. Wakamiya Tatsumi's monotonous voice unraveled the grammar of classical literature. A suitable drowsiness drifted through the classroom. Iatsu was gazing out the window. The horizon of Sagami Bay glittered in the late morning light. Then, a small scrap of paper slid onto his desk. A deftly folded memo. He opened it. Rounded handwriting leaped out at him. *'Are your psychic powers something you were born with? Have you ever seen a UFO? How many aliens are there?'* *(What is this, an interrogation?)* Iatsu furrowed his brow and glanced at the neighboring seat. Hikari was looking his way from behind her textbook, waving her hand slightly. "[whispers]Hey, did you read it?" She said it, killing her voice. "...I read it." "[whispers]Then write a reply!" Resigning himself, he picked up his pen. He wrote only *'All wrong'* and slid the memo back onto her desk. Ten seconds later, a second memo came flying over. *'Then how can you use psychic powers!? Training!? Mutation!? Did you come from the next galaxy!?'* *(The next galaxy. The Galactic Empire could indeed be said to be in the next galaxy... no, that's not the point.)* Iatsu shook his head and this time wrote *'Wrong, wrong, wrong'* three times before sending it back. By the time the chime rang, a total of seven memos had traveled back and forth between them. On the last one, written in Hikari's hand, it said: *'Anyway, Iatsu-kun is way too mysterious, so I'm going to keep asking you questions from now on!'* Iatsu crumpled the note in his fist. ... Lunch break. Having bought bread and milk at the school store, Iatsu was eating lunch alone at his desk. No one was in the surrounding seats; his classmates had clustered together far away from Iatsu to spread out their lunches. *(Fine. I can concentrate on my meal.)* He told himself that, and just as he stabbed the straw into his milk carton— The eraser he had left forgotten on the edge of his desk, obeying gravity, shifted slightly. *Ah.* By the time he realized it, it was too late. The eraser crossed the edge of the desk and began its fall toward the floor. Iatsu reflexively reached out his right hand. He focused the Force into his fingertips. *(Rise, lightly, just a little...!)* But in that instant, the image of Wakamiya's pale face from yesterday and the impact sound of the pencil case shattering the window flashed back in his mind. The ban on playing with psychic powers. His hand stopped. His concentration broke. It was already too late. Yet, getting up to pick the eraser up off the floor also felt like an exaggerated distance to cover. As if time had stopped, Iatsu stared at the eraser on the floor, frozen. *(What am I supposed to do about this?)* "Ah, your eraser looks like it's about to fall." A light voice, as if it were nothing at all, came from beside him. Without even standing up, Hikari naturally bent at the waist and reached out. Then, picking up the eraser from the floor, she placed it on Iatsu's desk with a clean motion. "[gentle]Here you go." It was just that simple an act. And yet. Iatsu heard the sound of his own heartbeat, unnaturally loud. Back in the Galactic Empire, had anyone ever "handed something to him" like this? They were all people who trembled in fear, knelt, and obeyed orders. If he merely directed his gaze at them, everyone held their breath. Not a single person ever approached his hand. And yet, now. "......Ah." Iatsu opened his mouth. He felt he had to say something. Should he say thank you? Words of gratitude. But the words stuck in the back of his throat. *(What on earth is this...)* Deep in his chest, something grew slightly warm. It spread slowly, like a hot spring welling up from beneath the ice. A sensation he had never felt before, one he couldn't explain. "[surprised]What's wrong? Your face is bright red?" "[scared]It's not. I am absolutely not, this is... stop it, don't look." Iatsu hurriedly turned his face away and clutched the eraser. Hikari tilted her head, yet still laughed happily. Something like her body warmth, transmitted through the eraser, lingered in Iatsu's palm for a while. ... After school. The shouts of club activities could be heard from the school grounds, and the setting sun stretched long shadows down the hallway. "[excited]Iatsu-kun, let's walk home together!" Hikari, barely finished getting ready to leave, flew over to Iatsu's desk. Her star-shaped hairpin and double tooth swayed happily. While packing his textbooks into his bag, Iatsu analyzed the meaning of her words. "...What is the purpose of that action?" He asked with a straight face. "[surprised]Huh?" Hikari's large eyes widened in surprise. A moment of silence. Then, she burst out laughing. "[laughing]What's with that! What do you mean, purpose? Because it's fun, obviously!" "...Fun." Iatsu repeated the word, rolling it around in his mouth. Fun. For the Dark Lord of the Galactic Empire, that was one of the most distant concepts. The sense of accomplishment from a mission. The annihilation of enemies. The efficiency of rule through fear. He could understand those, but the feeling that "walking home with someone is fun" was more distant than an unknown universe. "[gentle]That's right. Walking home with a friend is fun. You talk about what happened today, or chat about TV shows." Friend. TV shows. More incomprehensible words piled up. But Iatsu stopped himself from arguing on the spot. The sensation she called "fun"—truthfully, just a little, just a tiny bit—had piqued his interest. "...Understood. So I just need to walk alongside you." "[excited]That's right, that's right! Okay, let's go!" The two of them started walking down the hallway side by side. Hikari chattered on, one-sidedly. "Hey, how do you train psychic powers? Do you think I could learn to use them someday? Is it like concentrating in your fingertips? Or more like willing it? Iatsu-kun, be my practice dummy sometime!" "...What do you mean, practice dummy?" "For example, I try to move an eraser, and Iatsu-kun watches! I want you to give me advice." "I can't give advice. My power is uncontrollable. If something were to happen to you..." "[excited]Huh, could it be you're worried about me?" "...No." Having such a conversation, the two headed for the shoe lockers. That was when it happened. A sharp, tingling sense of unease ran down Iatsu's spine. A gaze. Several dozen meters behind them. At the corner of the hallway. There, a female student stood. Her long silver hair was tied back into a single ponytail, fastened with a white ribbon. Her clear, silvery eyes were coldly fixed on Iatsu's back. She held a black notebook in her hand. The Student Council President, Shirogane Akane. Her fingers, wrapped in white gloves, made a pen race. She was observing something, recording it. *(That's—)* "Hey, are you listening? Iatsu-kun!" Hikari peered into his face. When Iatsu turned, his eyes met her bright brown ones. "Yeah, I'm listening." When Iatsu looked at the corner of the hallway again, there was no trace or shadow of Shirogane Akane. *(Someone was watching me. But who?)* Only an unpleasant tension clung to his back. Hikari hadn't noticed at all. She was, in her own world, passionately expounding her own theories on how to train psychic powers. "First of all, I think deep breathing is important! You have to feel the flow of your *ki*!" "...What on earth are you talking about?" Iatsu let out a small sigh. ... Night. Iatsu sat at the desk in his room. Outside the window, the lights of the Hoshimigaoka residential area dotted the darkness. On the desk lay a single TV remote control. "Five centimeters. Today, for sure, I'll move it just five centimeters." Iatsu held his right hand over the remote and closed his eyes. Concentrate. Feel the flow of the Force that dwells in all things. Empty your mind, but never let go of the flow of power. The precise Force control he had demonstrated countless times before the Emperor. Regain that sensation. He took a deep breath in, and let it out. *Shhh... Hahh...* The remote trembled faintly. *(Yes, just that much—)* Iatsu leaned forward, murmuring in his heart. In that instant. *FWOOSH!* Along with a surge of emotion, the Force erupted. The remote shot like a bullet, slamming into the TV and hitting the power button directly. "Wha—" The TV screen flashed on. And then. **BOOM!!!** An explosive roar echoed throughout the room. The laughter and cheers of a variety show blared out at maximum volume. The screams of the performers and the roaring laughter of the audience thundered through the late-night residential area. "[scared]Silence it, do something about this machine—" He frantically tried to pick up the remote, but in his panic, the Force went even more out of control. This time, the channel switched on its own, and a storm of static spread across the entire screen. *KSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!!!* Maximum-volume white noise tore through the silence. From the other side of the wall, the angry yell of the neighbor could be heard. "[angry]What the hell is that noise, you bastard!!" From downstairs, his mother Sanae's voice. "[scared]Iatsu!? Did you do something!?" "[crying]STOOOOP!" Ha