The morning is quiet. Tranquil. All-around peaceful.

  Faint humming drifts through the air as camera drones glide over the campus, their little beeps echoing between the dorm towers.

  Beep! Beep! Beep!

  “Aaaaagh!” I jolt upright, hair sticking everywhere. “What time is it?!”

  My eyes snap to the alarm clock. They go wide.

  “Oh no—no no no!” I yell. “I’m late for roll call! The drill instructors are gonna kill me!”

  I jump out of bed and snap my legs back on, hardly checking the locks before I bolt out the door—only to freeze mid-sprint.

  Oh shoot, why am I in a nightgown?!

  I spin around, sprint back into my room, snatch my uniform off the chair, and throw it on while running. Buttons, straps, whatever—it’s on enough.

  I dive into the elevator with a group of girls heading down.

  They all shift away from me the moment I step inside, wrinkling their noses.

  Huh?

  The doors open and I stumble into the lobby—only to stop dead in my tracks.

  Girls everywhere. Talking. Laughing. Hanging out with drones like it’s a normal morning.

  Not a single one of them rushing to roll call.

  “Wait… where am I?”

  “BUNNY-CHAN~!!!”

  Arms hook around my waist out of nowhere, and Tama hoists me straight into the air, spinning me like clothes in the laundry.

  “Good morning!” she shouts—then she freezes mid-spin, sniffing the air once, twice. “B-bunny-chan?”

  She drops me onto my feet and stumbles back, covering her nose.

  “Why do you stink?!”

  “Uh… huh?” I mumble.

  I lift my arm and take a sniff—and the smell hits immediately. Raw sweat and ozone, all baked into the uniform.

  Oh right… I’m a student at the Arcadian Idol Institute. And I literally ran out of my room wearing the exact same thing I fought in yesterday.

  “Eeeeeeeh~!” My whole face lights up red. “Aaaaaaaaaah!”

  ?

  “Ahahahah!” Tama laughs, throwing her hand on my shoulder before she topples over. “I can’t believe you forgot to put on a new uniform!”

  I sigh, cheeks warming again. “I almost ran out in my nightgown. Thank goodness I didn’t make it to the lobby before I realized.”

  Tama pats my back hard enough to make me stumble. “Ha! Still stuck in bootcamp mode?” Her laughter fades into a sly grin as she leans in. “Maybe next time I’ll catch you in your nightgown before you remember to get changed~”

  I blush harder and roll my eyes to hide it.

  We head into the cafeteria—a big greenhouse-like space with glass walls and a glass ceiling.

  It sits right beneath the fifteenth-floor plaza, so only a thin drizzle of sunlight filters through. But they have lighting rods to fill in the rest, so nothing looks too gloomy.

  “So, where do you wanna eat?” I ask.

  “Let’s go to the protein bar! I gotta keep my muscles ready to beat up Eidolons!”

  I chuckle as we move to the start of the line.

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  Most girls crowd around the café counters grabbing sweets and snacks, so hardly anyone is waiting for actual food.

  At the front, a tall drone hovers in place—round body, bright display, little whirring stabilizers.

  I step up. “I’ll take a Tamago-Set Bowl, a Strawberry Fruit Milk, and a Steam Bun Pair.”

  “Oh oh!” Tama butts in, shooting her hand up like an excited toddler. “I’ll have all that too! But add another Steam Bun Pair, Kinako Toast, and two Kara Strips to my bowl!”

  I frown at her, and she just beams at me.

  “Don’t worry—I’m paying!” She sways her head side to side proudly.

  The drone beeps in delight. Its belly-screen lights up, showing a cute little animation of our food being prepped—packets opening, powder mixing with water into egg, rice steaming and fluffing up, strawberries whirling in a blender.

  When it’s done, the bot’s belly slides open and it hands us our neatly boxed meals—Tama’s packed into a big container to fit everything.

  She taps her HoloNode against the payment pad with a chirpy beep.

  The bot smiles and claps its metal hands before floating toward the next girl in line.

  “Alright, where to next?” I ask.

  Tama marches toward the tables with her mountain of food, and I follow right beside her.

  “Hmm…” Tama hums. “I’m pretty happy with everything I got. Was there anything else you wanted?”

  I shake my head. “Nope.”

  “Alright then, let’s find a place to sit!” she chirps. “Maybe we can find Kanna. You two seemed real close yesterday~”

  I stop in my tracks and stare at her. “Are you kidding? She hates me!”

  Tama giggles, all mischief. “I know—I was only teasing!”

  I roll my eyes and scan the cafeteria for open seats. The place is packed—thanks to me having to run back and change, we got here way later than everyone else.

  Girls crowd every table, chatting, comparing augments, showing off their gear. Some even wear their Mirai Medical legs instead of their mechanical augments, matching cute socks and shoes like they’re at a fashion show instead of a military academy.

  It takes a minute, but I spot a tiny table tucked into a corner.

  And sitting right there—almost trying to disappear—is Emi. Arms curled around a giant tub of ice cream, a stack of boxed fluff cakes beside her. Alone.

  I swear, every time she tries not to stand out she ends up looking even more obvious.

  Tama and I head over with our food.

  “Morning!” I say.

  Emi looks up, inhales sharply—and immediately hacks on her spoon, spitting out a chunk of ice cream as she coughs. “Not you two again~!”

  “Wow,” Tama says, grin sharp at the edges, “and here I was thinking we’d become friends!”

  “I don’t want to be friends!” Emi shouts, setting down her ice cream and curling up, pulling her legs tight against her chest.

  That’s when I notice it—dried tear-tracks at the corners of her eyes, and her nose bright red.

  “Wait… were you crying again?” I ask gently.

  Emi’s face crumples and she sniffles loud enough to turn heads. “Yeah… I was planning on dropping out of Hisame’s class so I could go home, but my mentor just messaged me and said if I did that, I’m not allowed to work in the workshop again until I either become an adult or make ten friends naturally.”

  Her voice wobbles. Tears swell again, clinging to her lashes.

  Tama just stares at her with the flattest, most exhausted expression I’ve ever seen from her.

  “Wow~ that sounds so harsh,” Tama says in the fakest sympathetic tone ever. “You must have a su~per strict mentor.”

  “I KNOW!” Emi cries, tears spilling fully now. “They’re so mean~! All I want to do is design augments and test drone systems~!”

  I sigh and sit across from her, with Tama dropping into the seat beside me. Tama tears into her food immediately, shoveling rice into her mouth like she hasn’t eaten in days.

  I split my chopsticks—and glance at Emi’s “meal.”

  Just… ice cream and boxed fluff cakes. For breakfast?

  “Hey, Emi,” I ask, “is that really all you’re gonna eat?”

  Emi nods slowly. “I like to eat sweets when I’m sad.”

  “Must be sad often,” Tama mutters before I elbow her in the ribs.

  “Well, sweets are nice and all,” I tell Emi, “but you should really try something healthy.” I hold out a piece of egg with my chopsticks. “Want some of mine?”

  Emi grimaces, leaning away from it like I’m offering poison. “Can you stop being nice to me?! I don’t like it!”

  “I—I mean, I’m just—”

  “Why would you rather we be mean to you?” Tama cuts in.

  Emi looks away, mumbling under her breath. “At least then I won’t feel obligated to be your friends…”

  “Oh, okay then…” Tama’s grin turns predatory as she stands up. “Hey, four-eyes!”

  Emi jolts, and even I freeze.

  “Yeah, I’m talking to you, tubby!” she continues. “Why don’t you toughen up and act like a real Idol instead of a little crybaby who always wants to go home?!”

  I jump and grab her by the arm. “T-Tama! Don’t be ru—”

  “Ehehe~”

  We both pause and look over. Emi’s blushing, hugging her legs, swaying side-to-side like she’s listening to a lullaby.

  “Actually… I don’t mind,” she admits, face bright pink. “I kinda liked it.”

  Tama and I recoil at the exact same time, our shoulders lurching up in pure secondhand embarrassment.

  “Ew!” Tama sputters. “Nevermind—you made it weird!”

  Emi blushes even harder and buries her face back into the ice cream, shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth like nothing happened.

  I turn back to my food—until a group of girls walking past catches my attention.

  “Did you guys hear about the Hozumono Colony?” one girl whispers.

  Another nods. “Yeah, apparently it just, like, blinked out or whatever.”

  “No way—like it disappeared?!” the third gasps.

  “Uh-huh. The school even sent a bunch of second and third years to check it out.”

  The three drift out of earshot, then Tama and I exchange a look.

  “Did you hear about this?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “Nah. I haven’t been on the net since yesterday.”

  “I did,” Emi cuts in quietly. “It’s all over the news. Everyone’s freaking out.”

  Tama shrugs. “Probably just an Eidolon thing. Relay colonies get smacked all the time.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” I add, “Still… I kinda wanna check what actually happened.”

  Tama nods, scooting closer until she rests her head on my shoulder.

  I pull up my HoloNode and flick the screen to life—and immediately wish I didn’t.

  The display flashes open and shows the last thing I had up last night.

  My heart stops and my eyes go wide.

  Nope—no, no, no, no!

  I shut the screen off so fast it vanishes within the blink of an eye.

  Tama’s head lifts off my shoulder, her gaze slowly sliding toward me.

  “Bunny-chan…?” she murmurs.

  I try to keep my face neutral, but my cheeks betray me and go bright red.

  “Bunny-chan?” Tama repeats, eyes narrowing on me like a hungry cat.

  “Whose butt was that?”

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