Yaten tapped her pen impatiently as she waited for class to start. She sat alone on the far side near the window, where she looked out and thought despairingly about the previous day.

As soon as she had seen the people rushing toward her she had freaked. It had provoked memories of her childhood, figures racing toward her, screaming, knocking against her and trampling her as they scrambled to get away. If she had been listening, paying attention instead of staring into the water—if she had heard their warnings a little earlier then she may have been able to get away.

And how different things would have been…

But she couldn't even imagine it. Although she had imagined it enough before, the fantasy was buried under years of despair. It pained her even to think of it now. She shrank into her seat, her stomach twisting with fear revisited. Glancing up in the next second only made it tighten more.

Seiya, the girl who had spent the last three days making Yaten's life hell, was standing at the front of the classroom, body inclined towards the teacher as they spoke in low tones. The dark haired girl looked up at her briefly and Yaten's eyes darted away towards her desk where her touch-screen monitor—built directly into the surface—was scrolling previews of the day's lesson.

"…Have to find you a seat."

Yaten's ears perked up. She looked around the room and much to her dismay saw that the only empty seats were the ones immediately around her (she had chosen hers for exactly that reason). Now she filled with dread as she saw Seiya walking directly towards her, indigo eyes locked with jade ones. Seiya dropped down in the seat next to her and smiled triumphantly.

"Class transfers aren't allowed mid-year," Yaten stated flatly.

"The teacher made an exception," Seiya retorted.

She felt her cheeks flare with anger. She was half ready to storm out of the class when the teacher called their attention.

"We'll begin our studies today on botanical medicines. As most of you know, Kinmoku as a whole is rich in all kinds of plants and trees, second only to Nettaiya as the planet with the greatest diversity of species. Even in our age of technology we look to nature as a source of healing supplies. Various flowers have been used in the aid of…"

Her voice carried on and Yaten began to lose concentration. She could see the strange girl on her right staring at her periodically, and each time Yaten would have to pretend not to notice. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the other girl tapping her screen inanely, but the screen itself was outside her visual range.

A message appeared on her own screen and she started.

'ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?'

At first she thought it was from the teacher. Upon looking up however, she concluded that it couldn't have been, as the teacher was moving back and forth across the counter that doubled as her desk, picking up various plants and describing their healing properties and history of usage. Yaten tried to look around the class casually, but while many seemed distracted or just downright bored, no one was staring back at her or appeared to be typing on their touch screens.

She turned back to her screen and cleared the message. Much as she tried to listen to the extraction methods of ael sap, she found her thoughts wandering back to the message. Maybe it wasn't intended for her at all. She settled with that theory and tried to put it from her mind. Still, a nagging part of her wished it had been…

As minutes passed she found her eyes wandering to her classmate. Seiya leaned on her left fist, her profile showing disinterest. Her eyes were downcast, making her look almost as though she were sleeping. Her lips were pursed as if she were thinking about something, although Yaten doubted it had anything to do with plants. Seiya didn't strike her as the kind of person who was really into school. She seemed more like the type to pass up a study session for a juuball match. Really, she had no idea how lucky she was to be able to go to school all her life. Yaten had learned everything she knew in secret, had spent countless nights staying awake reading forbidden books. Seiya lived in a world where knowledge was free and its pursuit was encouraged rather than punished. She envied that to a terrible degree.

'WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?'

Yaten was jolted once more. This time it couldn't have been a mistake. Whoever sent it would have known from the lack of response to the first that they sent it to the wrong person. No, this was meant for her. But who…

"Yaten Shita."

The pale haired girl sat upright at the calling of her name. A classroom of eyes fell on her. Her hands began to go numb under her table as the teacher spoke to her.

"Would you like to open up discussion on alien plant life?"

"Don't you have books for that?" she asked coldly.

The teacher looked embarrassed and several students gasped. "Well…not everything can be learned by reading alone. A firsthand perspective is always welcome."

"A firsthand account is far less accurate. Don't you think you should be teaching your students facts and not opinions?"

"I—I'm sorry. I wasn't familiar with the Kavaarian education system. If I've offended you, I do deeply apologize. When engaging in discussions with aliens, class, please remember to be respectful of their native culture. Not everybody has lived the same kind of lives that we have." Yaten cringed. She knew the teacher wasn't trying to be mean, but referring to her indirectly as an alien, and then her use of "their" and "we" reminded Yaten just how much of an outcast she was here. She had to be careful—she was starting to feel almost like she belonged, and that was dangerous.

The rest of the class passed without event. When it was over Yaten gathered her things and darted past Seiya. Out in the hall she began to relax, but too soon for the dark-haired girl cut her off before she reached the end of the corridor.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business."

The girl sighed. "Look, she didn't mean anything by what she said. You gotta understand, you're different from us. We're not sure what to say around you."

Something in her words sparked a pain in Yaten's chest. "I understand all right. But I have no intention of being dissected under your microscopes, so you can find some other alien." With that she brushed past her, heading nowhere but away from the girl who made her want to cry. She felt every gaze as she finally made her way to her dorm and locked herself inside. Alone, she fell to the floor, shutting her eyes tightly against tears. She had no friends here, no family, nobody at all. Headmistress Kakyuu should have left her in Qang Prison to rot, but instead she had negotiated to have the sentence reduced to exile.

I would have been better off dead than here Yaten thought despairingly, and tucked her knees up into her chest as hot tears began to fall