“She pushed me into the water!” the large child complained to the newcomer, a girl of roughly Kisaki’s height.

“I saw what happened, Hojo. You started it. You’d better apologize.”

“You’re not my mom, Tamiko.”

“No, but she works for my dad, so maybe I can tell him about it.”

Kisaki had no idea what the two humans were talking about. She’d been distracted by the apparent activity from the quill in her robes. However, whatever it was, it appeared to have ceased with the appearance of this new girl.

She seemed to be talking down to the first group of humans, the ones who had dared to manhandle her. Perhaps they were servants. Though they were only children, maybe the girl intended for them to be whipped for their impudence.

Whatever the case, the large child – Hojo seemed to be his name – stopped arguing and looked uncertain.

“Take your friends and get out of here. I don’t want to hear about you bullying anyone again, especially not the entertainers.”

Entertainers?

The group of children hesitated for a moment, then the new girl, larger and thus probably older than the others, stamped her foot and said, “Now!”

That got them moving. The four ran off, back the way they’d originally come when Kisaki was still convinced this was some sort of illusion. Hojo stopped at the edge of the trees just long enough to turn around and stick out his tongue, but then he disappeared from her sight.

Kisaki suddenly felt foolish sitting there in the water. For all of her time spent reading about battles and warriors, she’d been bested by a group of mere children seconds after arriving.

“Are you okay?” the older girl, Tamiko, asked. She approached Kisaki, stepped into the water up to her ankles, and leaned down to offer a hand.

Kisaki hesitated to take it. She was quite embarrassed by what had just happened. That, and she’d also learned two harsh lessons this day about assuming everyone she met would want to be friends with her. She didn’t care to learn it a third time.

Again, almost as if in response to her wary thoughts, she felt momentary heat at her side where the quill lay in her robes.

Tamiko smiled. “It’s okay. They’re gone.” After Kisaki continued to hesitate, she added, “Do you understand me?” A moment later, she said something in a different dialect, one that Kisaki didn’t know.

Kisaki wondered if perhaps she could pick up this new language the same way she’d apparently learned the first or whether that was merely some quirk of her appearing in this new land. However, her pride overcame her caution and she decided to answer. “I understand you.”

“That’s good,” Tamiko replied with a grin. “English is the only other language I know well. If that didn’t work, I would’ve had to start making hand gestures.”

“English?”

“Yeah. That’s what I just asked if you spoke.” She straightened up and again held a hand toward Kisaki. “So ... do you like sitting there, getting your uniform all soaking wet?”

“Uniform?” Kisaki asked, but before Tamiko could answer, she took the human girl’s hand and pulled herself up. “No. It was not my intention to get wet. Those others...”

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“They’re jerks, but pretty harmless otherwise. Hojo is a real wimp to anyone who stands up to him. I saw the way you knocked him down. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, he probably would have run home crying.”

Kisaki wasn’t entirely certain what this girl was talking about, but her tone seemed far friendlier than the others she’d met. Though Kisaki’s instincts for others had atrophied due to her long isolation without any peers, she decided to take a chance with this girl. She desperately wanted to make at least one friend during her sojourn, even if that friend was a human who she would likely never be allowed to see again. “Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s no problem. Besides, wouldn’t want your first day working here to be a bad one.”

“Working here?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you one of the performers for the Star Festival this weekend?”

“What is a Star Festival?”

Tamiko stepped from the water and Kisaki followed. When she turned back, she looked confused. “If you’re not here to perform, then why are you wearing that?”

Kisaki looked down. “This? These are my robes. I am always dressed in such attire.”

“Really? Are you from some rich girl boarding school I haven’t heard of?”

Though she was still catching up to Tamiko’s choice of words, Kisaki began to understand. Upon seeing the four children in need of discipline, she’d remarked to herself how strangely they’d been dressed. Now, she realized, here on Earth – however she had gotten here – maybe she was the one dressed strangely. Most of her studies of this planet had been of its history and how it intersected with that of demonkind. Perhaps when not waging war this was how the humans chose to appear. It seemed a logical assumption. “This is how I often dress within the celestial palace. Obviously, servants dress in lesser garb.”

“Servants, eh?” Tamiko replied. “Must be nice.”

“Nice,” Kisaki echoed. “It is comfortable ... if stagnant.”

“You must be one of the guests here, then.”

Kisaki looked away for a moment, embarrassed.

“So you’re not a guest?” Tamiko asked.

“I do not even know where here is.”

Tamiko laughed but then, after a few moments when she saw that Kisaki wasn’t joining her, asked, “You’re not serious, are you?”

“I know I am on Earth, but beyond that...”

“On Earth?” Tamiko replied, blowing out a huff of breath. “That’s a start, I guess. Hold on. Do you have amnesia or something? You know, lost your memory.”

“I am well aware of who I am,” Kisaki said. “It’s just, I do not know how I got here. I...” She paused for a moment, debating how much she should say. It was possible Tamiko’s kindness was a ruse, but she genuinely seemed both friendly and helpful. After a moment’s debate, she decided to trust her. “I left the quarters of my mother, Lady Midnite, without her permission.”

“Lady Midnight?”

“You have heard of her, yes?”

“Is that a stage name, like Lady Gaga?”

“I am not aware of any daimao of that name. Perhaps she inhabits a different wing of the palace.”

“Daimao?” Tamiko asked with a laugh. “Is that her band name?”

Kisaki didn’t quite understand, perhaps a quirk of the local dialect, but it sounded reasonable. “Yes, they are her brethren.”

“Okay, I think I get it now,” Tamiko said. “Your mom’s a musician, probably on the road all the time, never home. So you ran away.” Before Kisaki could say anything to the contrary, she continued. “Don’t you think she’ll be worried about you?”

“I am certain she will be quite angry. Shitoro, too. I have little doubt he will be in charge of my punishment.”

“Shitoro? Who’s that?”

“My guardian.”

“Like your stepdad or something? Wow, is he that bad?”

Kisaki didn’t know what a stepdad was, but again she assumed it was probably just another human colloquialism. “He is very strict and will be particularly cross when he discovers I stole his key.”

“To his car?”

“To the doors that kept me inside.”

“They kept you locked up?!” Tamiko looked shocked. “The hell with that. You’re coming with me. We’ll figure out what to do, but in the meantime, you can stay at my place.”

“You are not going to tell my mother?”

“No way.”

Kisaki smiled. Though she was still wary, she began to suspect she had just made her first new friend. “You are called Tamiko, correct?”

“Yes.” She gave Kisaki a quick bow, then held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

They grasped hands. “I am pleased as well. I am Kisaki.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you. So is yours.”

“It’s okay, I guess.” She turned and beckoned Kisaki onward. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“My dad’s the manager at the Kabira Beach resort. We’re pretty full up right now, but I think I can find somewhere for you to stay. But first...”

“Yes?” Kisaki asked tentatively, falling into step with her new friend.

“First, we’re going to find you some new clothes so you don’t stick out like a sore thumb.”