By the time the sun crawled over the rooftops of Tokyo, my room looked like a fantasy war zone—the tatami cracked, my posters crooked, and a literal celestial warrior kneeling on a pillow like she was meditating before battle.
Meanwhile, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, half-dressed in my uniform, aggressively biting into a piece of toast like it owed me emotional support.
"Keeper," she said softly, eyes opening. Her gaze was so calm it made my chaotic heart do backflips. "You look distressed. Did I do something wrong?"
Her voice hit me straight in the chest.Not because she sounded guilty, but because… damn. She actually cared.
"N-No." I shifted awkwardly. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just—"
How did I explain the concept of school to a woman who created a crater just by standing up?
"I kinda… have class today," I muttered.
She blinked. "Class? As in… warfare training?"
"…I wish."
Her expression softened at my misery. "Then what must be done? I shall accompany you, of course."
"No!" I nearly choked on my toast. "Absolutely not! You can't just show up at school with—"I waved vaguely at her glowing hair, her gleaming armor, the general aura of "I can kill a god."
"—that."
Celestia glanced down at herself. "Is my form displeasing to you?"
"What? No! You look—uh—fine. More than fine. Super fine. God-tier fine. That's not the issue."
She tilted her head, confused.
I buried my face in my hands.Couldn't believe I was having this conversation with a literal divine being.
"Look," I said, forcing myself to meet her eyes. "You need a name. A normal one. Something that won't make people question reality."
"A name…" she murmured.
Her eyes softened, as though the idea meant something deeper than I understood.
"A name bestowed by one's Keeper…" she whispered. "That is a sacred act."
"Yeah well, in Japan we just call it… naming someone," I muttered.Then I swallowed hard.
I didn't want to screw this up.She was looking at me with so much trust it felt like holding something fragile in my palms.
"Okay," I breathed. "How about… Ami?"
Her lips parted.I swear the room warmed a little.
"Ami…" she repeated, rolling the sound gently on her tongue. "Does it have a meaning?"
"It means… friend," I said. "Or someone close. Someone you trust."
Her eyes shimmered—not glowing, not blazing, just softly shimmering with something painfully human.
"Then… I am Ami," she whispered. "Yours to protect… and to trust."
My chest tightened so fast it actually hurt.
I should not be feeling things this early in the morning.
But reality didn't wait.
"Ami," I said carefully. "You need to blend into society."
"I can shapeshift," she offered immediately.
I pictured her turning into a cat or a lamp or something and nearly screamed internally. "N-No! Not that kind of blending! I mean socially blend in. As in, people shouldn't see your god powers and freak."
Ami blinked. "Humans… dislike divinity?"
"Humans dislike anything weird."
"That is unfortunate," she murmured. "Since everything about me is… what you call weird."
She sounded almost disappointed.Somehow, that stung.
"We'll figure it out," I promised. "But first—if you're coming to school, you need a backstory."
"Back… story." Her voice went flat. "A fabricated identity."
"Yeah."
Ami stood, placing a hand on her chest. "Then I shall weave one."
"All due respect," I said, standing up too, "your weaving last night involved summoning a monster through my closet, so maybe let me handle this one."
She hesitated.Then her eyes narrowed—subtle, but dangerous.
"Aki," she said quietly. "You are in danger if your identity does not match mine. Thus—permit me to assist."
Before I could stop her, her eyes glowed faint blue.
"A-Ami?"That was the only warning I got.
Soft ripples of light spread from her fingertips, washing across the room like gentle waves. Then they seeped into the walls, into the air, into the city.
My skin prickled.
"Ami—what are you—?!"
"Hush," she said gently, her voice echoing like bells. "I am rewriting the perceptions of those around you."
"What does that even—"
And then it hit me.
She was hypnotizing people.
Like, not one person.Not ten.Everyone.
The entire apartment building shimmered.A warmth flowed out, seeping through the floorboards, out the window, across the street, across the neighborhood.
Reality twisted.Light bent.Memories reshaped.
I nearly tripped as the world warped around me like someone adjusting a camera lens.
"A-Ami! Stop! That's freaky!"
"I am constructing an identity that cannot be questioned," she murmured. "Relax."
Relax?? Relax??I was witnessing brain magic at 7:10 a.m. on a Tuesday!
The light faded.
Ami opened her eyes—blue, steady, calm.
"It is done."
"…W-What did you do?" I squeaked.
She stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back proudly.
"I have altered the memories of your community. I am now known as Ami Laurent, your childhood friend from overseas who has returned to Japan to resume her studies and transfer into your school."
I stared.
"You WHAT?!"
She nodded elegantly. "Everyone now believes I lived in this neighborhood years ago, left for Europe, and have returned to live with you for the duration of my exchange program."
"EXCHANGE—AMI, YOU CAN'T JUST—!!"
"I also ensured that you and I were close," she continued mildly. "To avoid suspicion."
I choked.
"How close?!"
Ami tilted her head. "Close enough that questions regarding sleep arrangements and living proximity will not raise concerns."
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!WHY DOES SHE SAY THINGS LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY?!
"Y-You didn't—like—make anyone think we're—"
"Bound eternally by fate?" she asked, brightening.
"NO! Not that!!"
She frowned, disappointed for reasons I did NOT want to unpack before school.
Then my phone buzzed.
[New Transfer Student Added to Roster]Ami Laurent – Class 1-B
I stared at the screen.
"…You hacked the school too."
"I modified the memories of the faculty," she corrected. "Less crude."
"AMI THAT IS NOT BETTER."
She blinked innocently. "I was helping."
I sank onto my bed, burying my face in my hands.My heartbeat was somewhere in my throat, in my brain, everywhere.
This was insane.Absolutely insane.
But then…
Ami knelt in front of me.Gently. Softly.She placed her hand over mine.
"Aki," she said in the softest voice I'd heard from her yet. "I cannot exist in this world without protection. If I am discovered, I will be hunted. I did what was necessary to remain by your side."
That hit harder than any magic.
Her fingers tightened.Just slightly.
"Please… don't be angry," she whispered. "I only wished to belong here. With you."
My heart cracked.
Her expression wasn't divine or untouchable.It was human.Lonely.Almost scared.
And I realized something I'd been refusing to see:
She wasn't trying to dominate my life.She was trying not to lose it.
I exhaled slowly.
"…I'm not angry," I said quietly. "Just… shocked."
Her eyes brightened a little. "Shocked is acceptable."
I snorted despite myself.Then I stood, brushing myself off.
"Okay. Let's… go to school."
Ami stood too. Her armor shimmered—and then dissolved into a flash of light. When the glow faded, she was wearing a crisp school uniform—our school's uniform. A perfect fit. Perfect everything.
She looked like she'd stepped out of a magazine.She looked like trouble.She looked like… someone I was going to have a very hard time pretending not to care about.
"Aki," she said, stepping beside me. "Thank you… for allowing me to be Ami."
Her voice trembled—barely. But enough.
I couldn't look at her for a second.Not without feeling something dangerous swelling in my chest.
When I finally met her gaze, she smiled.
Not divine.Not warrior-like.Just… softly.Like a girl.
And that scared me more than monsters.
We walked to school together.
Every neighbor we passed smiled warmly at her, waving like she was a long-lost daughter of the block.
Because in their rewritten memories—she was.
Every student we passed froze, whispering.
"Woah—who's the new girl?""Foreign? She's gorgeous.""Is she with Fujimori? They look close—""Dude, he pulled?? Since when?!"
I wanted to scream into the nearest drain.
Ami leaned toward me. "Is this… blending?"
"Don't talk to me," I whispered, face burning. "Just don't."
She smiled like she was enjoying every second.
And honestly…even though I was dying internally,even though I didn't understand what fate had thrown at me,even though everything was way too much—
Walking beside her didn't feel wrong.
It felt like the beginning of something big.Something terrifying.Something I wasn't sure I could handle.
But Ami looked at me like I was someone worth following.Worth protecting.Worth choosing.
And that made it impossible to step away.
As we stepped onto campus, she reached out—hesitated—and brushed her fingers lightly against my sleeve.
A small, barely-there touch.
But it warmed my entire body.
"Aki," she whispered. "I will not let this world harm you. Ever."
I nodded, breath catching in my throat.
This was real.Too real.
And somehow…
I didn't want it to stop.