Some time later, in another possible world… It was the height of summer, a season steeped in oppressive heat. As Shirley pushed open the heavy doors of St. Lian Girls’ Academy High School’s main building, the incessant, piercing drone of cicadas grating on her ears, a wave of profound irritation washed over her. It was only the third day of summer vacation, a time that, for most high school students—at least those enjoying a proper break without remedial classes—should have marked the joyous commencement of their carefree summer. It was the crucial moment when, having finally caught up on sleep and luxuriated in air-conditioned comfort at home, they would begin to enact their grand plans for summer fun.
Regrettably, Shirley remained confined to the school grounds. As an international boarding school, St. Lian Academy catered to many students whose parents, perpetually busy and globetrotting, had no alternative but to leave their children in residence even during the holidays. Admittedly, this aristocratic institution, with its annual tuition of thirty-three thousand dollars, boasted fully equipped single dormitories and a comprehensive array of recreational facilities, an environment that would be considered utterly luxurious by the vast majority of high school students worldwide.
Shirley’s current vexation, however, stemmed not from her inability to leave school for the holidays, but rather from the impending encounter with a few friends and the awkward entanglements that existed between them.
Despite the presence of an elevator within the building, Shirley opted to ascend via the open-air staircase situated along the periphery, merely to postpone the inevitable awkward encounter. During spring and autumn, breezes wafting from the nearby hills and wooded areas typically rendered the stairwell pleasantly cool. Today, however, the air hung heavy and still; even the cicadas had fallen silent, refusing to sing. The omnipresent heat made any physical exertion deeply uncomfortable, and the scene that unfolded before her only intensified this oppressive sensation.
While St. Lian Academy itself boasted an elegant setting, nestled amidst lush forests and winding rivers on a hill just outside the city, a jarring sight awaited anyone who ascended beyond the third floor. From that vantage point, an unpleasant panorama unfurled: a sprawling factory complex, or more precisely, a long-abandoned steel mill. Its rust-streaked blast furnaces, intricate pipework, and featureless concrete structures coalesced into a grey, leprous scar upon the landscape, an eyesore that made one’s stomach churn. A mere glimpse of the factory’s colossal blast furnaces and towering chimneys was enough to make Shirley feel a sudden, unsettling heat.
Despite her subconscious urge to avert her gaze from the derelict factory, as she neared the fourth floor landing, Shirley’s eyes were involuntarily drawn back. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but moments ago, she had perceived a peculiar flash emanating from the factory’s edge, and now, a strange, dark cloud of mist was rising in the distance, resembling an ominous wall.
‘Is that a cumulonimbus cloud? And that flash just now… was it lightning?’ Shirley murmured to herself, though she immediately recalled that today’s weather forecast had made no mention of rain. As she strained to discern the true nature of the black mist, an even stranger sight revealed itself.
Beside the abandoned steam pipes at the factory’s periphery, a peculiar girl materialized, clad in a dark, flowing gown. Despite the nearly quarter-kilometer distance, Shirley’s eyesight was exceptionally keen. She distinctly saw that this girl, with her pale skin and light hair, possessed a pair of uncanny white feathered wings sprouting from her back!
‘Huh… What? Did I just imagine that?!’
For a moment, Shirley thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, and she rubbed them vigorously. Yet, the winged girl remained steadfastly in place. Even more bizarrely, the girl appeared to be intently gazing towards the school. Behind her, a section of metal piping lay neatly severed, as if by some unknown force, and a narrow trench now marred the ground, as though a sliver of the world itself had been sliced away and simply removed.
‘Was this cosplay? Or some bizarre form of performance art?’ Shirley scratched her forehead, a cascade of questions swirling in her mind, utterly perplexed. Even in this era, when influencers and ‘Fukuji’ [TL Note: A term for female models/performers, often associated with a niche aesthetic or online presence] seemed capable of materializing in any corner of the globe, spreading more rapidly than mold spores in the air, they invariably carried an arsenal of filming equipment. Yet, this particular individual had not even brought a smartphone.
What struck Shirley as even stranger was the sudden, unsettling sense of familiarity that washed over her upon seeing the girl. Though her conscious memory held no recollection of such a person, her subconscious mind, for some inexplicable reason, insisted that this winged maiden had once shared some form of connection with her.
After a moment of hesitation, Shirley shook her head, resuming her ascent up the staircase. Eventually, she reached the rooftop, situated above the fifth floor of the main building. Unlike the typical high school rooftops—usually locked, strewn with rubbish, and overgrown with weeds—St. Lian Academy’s high school rooftop was a versatile sports ground, enclosed by protective netting. Here, students could play tennis, badminton, and dodgeball, or engage in other activities, such as school band rehearsals.
During the previous semester, Shirley, as a member of the band ‘Pink FM Frequency,’ had rehearsed here numerous times on weekends. At this very moment, however, all four other band members were present… though it was clear they were not there for a rehearsal.
‘Shirley! You’re finally here—’ Alice was the first to react to her appearance. The band’s lead vocalist, her appearance almost uncannily identical to ‘that’ Alice so often depicted in anime and manga. Beneath hair like spun gold, a doll-like, flawless face blushed delicately. The moment she spotted Shirley, two spots of crimson bloomed on her fair cheeks, and she instinctively lunged forward… only to be firmly restrained by a hand.
‘Alice, we weren’t finished speaking,’ asserted Ji Bingyao, the band’s guitarist, who had seized her. Naturally strong and perpetually sculpted by rigorous exercise, this tall, athletic, biracial girl dwarfed Shirley, their physical disparity akin to that between a puma and a kitten. A scar near her eye only accentuated the fierce intensity of her expression.
‘Exactly!’ chimed in Shijō Yurizumi, the band’s saxophonist. ‘We specifically asked Shirley to come today so you could clarify things face-to-face.’ Though a head shorter than Ji Bingyao, she yielded nothing in terms of assertiveness. ‘Let’s discuss the matter at hand first.’
‘Well, we truly don’t want to jeopardize the hard-won friendship we share,’ Eileen, the band’s drummer, quietly assented. She was the only member with a shy, introverted nature, a stark contrast to her outwardly sunny and athletic demeanor. ‘So, Alice, you really should consider our feelings, and at least… think a bit more…’
‘Of course, it had to be this.’ Shirley sighed deeply, her expression one of utter displeasure as she surveyed the four girls before her. In truth, she harbored no profound interest in being part of a band. However, during the previous semester, Eileen, the drummer for the eleventh-grade band ‘Pink FM Frequency,’ had suddenly fallen ill, placing the band’s upcoming performance at risk of cancellation. Shirley, ever prone to helping those in need, happened to possess some knowledge of drum kits due to a personal hobby, and thus temporarily filled in for Eileen.
Logically, this arrangement should have presented no issues. Troublingly, however, after a few public performances, Shirley began to notice that the other three band members’ affection for her seemed to be growing… at an alarmingly rapid pace. Initially, Shirley had dismissed it as the natural camaraderie forged through shared practice and collective effort. Yet, to her utter surprise, on the eve of this year’s Valentine’s Day, Ji Bingyao, Shijō Yurizumi, and Alice had each presented her with a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates!
And, by an unfortunate coincidence, all three, without any prior coordination, had converged right outside her dormitory door!
The ensuing incident, a veritable ‘Shame-ura Field’—no, a ‘Shura Field’ [TL Note: ‘Shura Field’ (修罗场) refers to an intense, chaotic, or dramatic scene, often a love triangle conflict], as it was more accurately termed—had immediately pushed the band to the brink of dissolution. To make matters worse, in an attempt to alleviate the escalating conflict between the three, Shirley had proactively sought out the now-recovered Eileen, hoping to withdraw from the band and yield her position back to the original drummer. To her astonishment, Alice had then declared that if Shirley were to leave, she would withdraw as well!
Shirley’s presence here today was precisely to address this intricate predicament.
‘Alice, please cease your childish stubbornness,’ Ji Bingyao stated, hands on her hips and her face etched with exasperation, after Alice had begun to wail. ‘Shirley is our shared love… our mutually cherished friend. You should be working with us to persuade her to stay, not threatening to quit.’
‘Exactly!’ Shijō Yurizumi echoed. ‘The more friends, the better! How can you constantly think of monopolizing someone?’
‘But… I only feel motivated when Shirley is by my side,’ Alice insisted, shaking her head vigorously. ‘Without Shirley, my entire world turns grey; I simply have no desire to sing…’
‘See?’ Ji Bingyao glanced at Shirley, throwing her hands up in exasperation. ‘Shirley, I strongly urge you to stay. Otherwise, we’ll never be able to convince little Alice to continue working with us…’
‘I… I… uh…’ Beads of sweat began to trickle down Shirley’s forehead. Though Ji Bingyao’s suggestion sounded perfectly reasonable, the problem was that she had witnessed this exact scenario play out several times over the past three years!
Ever since her adoptive parents enrolled her in St. Lian Girls’ Academy during her third year of junior high, Shirley had, at a rate of one per year, effectively dismantled three student clubs! First, she joined the Astronomy Enthusiasts’ Club, then the Classical Literature Appreciation Society, and subsequently the Paranormal Research Club. Bizarrely, as if under some peculiar curse, any club she joined would inevitably erupt into fierce internal conflict within six months, only to disband, with her being the primary cause of the strife!
While Ji Bingyao and Shijō Yurizumi now spoke of ‘a mutually cherished friend,’ Shirley knew perfectly well that this was only because their friendship with Alice had not yet fractured. Based on the past experiences of the three disbanded clubs, if Shirley were to remain, this band would surely collapse in infighting within two or three more months!
However, if she were to withdraw… Observing Ji Bingyao’s gaze, which bordered on obsessive and even somewhat pathological, Shirley shivered involuntarily, despite the oppressive heat. Unlike the members of those previous clubs, neither Ji Bingyao nor Shijō Yurizumi were easily dismissed. A casual refusal might very well grant the audience beyond the fourth wall a chance to witness the dramatic sinking of a beautiful ship…
In short, casually rejecting their plea was absolutely out of the question! Yet, staying was no long-term solution either…
‘Regardless, Alice, you’re seventeen now; you should understand how to get along with everyone, not constantly follow Shirley around like a little puppy! While it would be wonderful if Shirley stayed, if she insists on leaving, you can’t…’ Just as Shirley was consumed by anxiety, Eileen, whose position she had temporarily filled, began to reason with Alice.
‘Hmph! If I can be with Shirley, I don’t mind being a puppy! Woof! Woof woof!’ Hearing this, Alice immediately dropped to all fours, barking like a dog as she crawled in a circle around Shirley! She then began to rub her cheek against Shirley’s calf, much like an affectionate little puppy! ‘Well? This is how much I care about Shirley!’
‘Eek!’ Although Alice’s eyes had transformed into heart shapes, Shirley dared not accept such an expression of affection. She frantically cast a pleading glance at the others, but perhaps Alice’s behavior was too unexpected, for no one reacted immediately.
‘Hmph hmph, truly Mother. In any world, she remains a woman burdened by deep sin.’ Just as Shirley found herself utterly at a loss, a childish, shrill voice suddenly emanated from behind her.