The apartment door clicked shut behind her like punctuation on a sentence she didn't quite understand.
Aurora dropped her satchel to the floor with a soft thud, her body moving on autopilot. The little one-bedroom space felt quiet, dim, and exactly the kind of place where thoughts echoed a little too loud. She toed off her shoes by the door, letting her shoulders slump. Every muscle in her body ached from the weight of the day.
As she stepped toward her bed, the world spun a little, and she realized—it was early dinner time now. But the fatigue pressed harder than hunger, and so, without ceremony, she collapsed face-first into the soft, well-worn mattress.
Thump.
"Ughhhhhh," she groaned into her blanket, muffling the cry of a soul thoroughly overcooked by socializing and awkward elevator rides. "Never. Getting. Up. Again."
Soft, familiar paws pattered across the floorboards, followed by a tiny hop onto the mattress. Mochii—the brown-furred rabbit with wide, knowing eyes—nuzzled her hair gently, then began nibbling on a loose strand.
"Hey—ow! Mochii!" she laughed, weakly batting him away before flipping over onto her back. "Why do you always go for the hair?"
Mochii blinked up at her with innocent, unbothered eyes. He looked far too pleased with himself for someone who'd been chewing on her like she was a salad.
Aurora reached over and scooped him into her arms, wrapping him in her arms around him like a plush toy that understood emotions. Because somehow, he did. Or at least, he was incredibly good at pretending.
His warmth and weight, light as it was, calmed her nerves in a way nothing else could.
"Hey, you know Mochii," she murmured, her voice raspy from exhaustion. "You wouldn't believe today."
Mochii stared at her with wide, moon-shaped eyes, tilted his head, listening like a tiny therapist.
"First," she began, like she was reading him her diary, "I was late. Obviously. And Professor Vance totally roasted me. Like... in front of everyone. He said, 'I'm sure the planet didn't spin fast enough this morning! Perhaps you'd like to pilot a clock next time instead of a spacecraft.'"
She recited every word of the professor as if it were a poem of nursery then dramatically sighed. "I mean, rude? Accurate, but rude."
She scratched behind Mochii's ears, letting her fingers sink into the familiar comfort of his fur.
"I bulldozed into someone like a human wrecking ball, and guess who it was? The Leo Callahan." She paused dramatically, expecting Mochii to gasp, but of course he didn't. "Okay, I didn't know who he was either at first—but Rhea and Vanessa nearly fainted with shock when they got to know I didn't even know who he was. Apparently, he's like… untouchable cool. Mysterious. Eyeliner boy energy without the eyeliner. That's what they filled me in with. You get it!?"
Mochii blinked slowly. His judgment was real.
"But here's the weird part." Aurora sat up, cradling him in her arms like a loaf of living bread. "Later, I saw him again. In the elevator of my building. MY building, Mochii! And the elevator was all awkward and quiet, and I was trying not to melt into the floor, and then he looks at me with his weirdly hazel eyes and goes, 'You're late. Hopefully, your rabbit doesn't eat your couch.'"
She squinted at Mochii. "How did he know I have a rabbit? Did he see you? Did you sneak out and start a neighbourhood fan club?! I mean it's barely a day since I brought you in."
Mochii wiggled his nose, expression unreadable.
Aurora flopped back on the bed again, clutching Mochii to her chest. Her voice softened.
"I don't know, Mochii… something about him feels strange. Not bad strange, just... puzzle-piece-you-don't-have kind of strange. And I really don't need another mystery in my life right now."
She sighed, eyes drifting shut.
"But the best part?" she whispered. "I made friends. Actual, human friends."
A smile tugged at her lips. "Rhea and Vanessa. And they didn't make me feel like some lost Earth girl in the big sky of space geniuses. They just... welcomed me."
Her phone buzzed beside her, the screen lighting up in the dark room.
— @vanessa_honeybee has sent you a follow request
— @rheaxrules has sent you a follow request
— You've been added to a group: "The Pact."
Aurora blinked at the notification, "Speak of the devil." she let out a soft laugh.
She opened WhatsApp.
The Pact 🐾🚀💖
Van: SHE LIVES!!!
Rhee: Took you long enough. Did Leo's jawline distract you again, or was it the whole "accidental body slam" moment?
Auro: 😭 I literally wanted to become vapour and …disappear.
Van: Babe, Leo Callahan doesn't just bump into people. He lets the universe do it for him. You're practically chosen.
Rhee: CHOSEN ONE VIBES.
Van: We must train her.
Rhee: To resist the smoulder.
Van: Or die trying.
Auro: STOPPPPP 😭💀 Also... um... he lives in my building. I ran into him again... in the elevator. He apparently called me Sunshine! And said something about my rabbit eating my couch 😩
Rhee: 👁👄👁
Van: 👁👄👁
Rhee: He knows about Mochii?!
Van: HE KNOWS ABOUT MOCHII?!??!?
Auro: EXACTLY MY POINT???
Van: Girl. This is giving stalker, or soulmate.
Rhee: Plot twist: Mochii is reporting to him.
Auro: YOU ARE NOT ACCUSING MY SON 😡
Rhee: I said what I said 🫡
Van: But fr, ARE YOU OKAY?? He didn't like... sniff you or anything?
Auro: 😭😭😭
Auro: No. He just stood there being tall and cryptic.
Rhee: Classic Leo. He's allergic to casual human interaction.
Van: We'll protect you 💅
Rhee: …unless you like him 👀
Auro: DO NOT.
Van: YET.
Aurora couldn't stop smiling.
Every reply from them tugged the day's tension further from her bones, like a thread being unknotted.
The room didn't feel so small anymore.
As her fingers flew across the keyboard, teasing back and forth with her new friends, a sense of something unfamiliar curled warm and quiet in her chest.
Belonging.
And maybe, just maybe... the universe had bumped her into the right people after all.