Already Found the Way Home
Stelle, come on, you can't sleep forever. What's gotten into you these past few days? Why are you so down in the dumps?
Himeko rapped on Stelle's door and let herself into the room, regarding the gray-haired girl sprawled across the bed.
"It's nothing. I've just... lost my way on the journey of life." Stelle poked her head out from under the covers, her amber eyes barely half-open as she peered at Himeko.
"..." Himeko sighed, a note of helplessness in her voice. "Well then, Stelle — have you found your way home yet?"
"Ahh — yeah, I've found it..."
As Stelle reflected on the decadent days of lying flat she'd just enjoyed, she finally came to terms with the fact that she had transmigrated — and not just that, but in the currently very fashionable cosplay-transmigration fashion.
When she'd first realized that she'd crossed over after attending a cosplay event, and that her new face matched the protagonist of Honkai: Star Rail exactly — down to the name — she'd assumed she'd landed in the game's own world.
At first there'd been a small flicker of panic. What if she couldn't beat so much as an Emanator, let alone an Aeon?
Then she discovered she wasn't aboard the Astral Express, and this world had no Aeons at all. A relief, in a way — though she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed too.
But the moment she stepped outside and saw that her adoptive mother was Himeko, that Mr. Welt lived right next door, and that the two kids Welt had adopted — March 7th and Dan Heng — happened to be her own friends, Stelle's brain promptly short-circuited. Was this the Star Rail universe, or just some parallel world?!
It took her three full days to accept reality. If fate had gone to the trouble of turning her into Stelle, then when in Rome — she might as well carry on her trailblazing journey right here in this world.
Step one: leave the warm, cozy bed.
"Good. March 7th and Dan Heng have been worried sick about you — they're waiting outside right now. Hurry up and get ready, then go find them." Himeko ruffled Stelle's hair, gave her an encouraging smile, and slipped out, closing the door behind her.
"March 7th. Dan Heng. You're here." The moment Stelle emerged from her room, she spotted the two of them on the living room sofa, watching TV.
"Stelle, you're finally up! You haven't left the house in days — I was starting to think you were getting ready to hibernate. Which doesn't make sense, because it's not even winter." The moment March 7th saw her, she popped to her feet and bounced over.
"Human beings do not hibernate in winter, no matter the circumstances. Kindly don't reclassify Stelle as a cold-blooded animal." Dan Heng rose as well and came to stand at Stelle's side, offering March 7th this correction before turning to her. "Have you been feeling unwell lately?"
"Dan Heng, so you do count me as human!" Stelle sounded genuinely surprised. She'd assumed that as this world's Trailblazer, she'd be a Stellaron-powered something-or-other — but no, apparently she was just a regular person after all.
Well, fair enough. This world didn't even have Aeons, let alone Stellarons.
"Wait, don't tell me you actually bought into the hibernation thing?" March 7th gave her a look of profound mixed feelings.
"Oh, not at all. I just figured my identity ought to be a little more special. I mean, as a novel protagonist, if you don't have at least one hidden backstory, three or four sworn enemies, five or six close friends, and seven or eight loyal underlings, you can't really call yourself a protagonist with a straight face." Stelle stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"Stelle, you're actually this full of yourself? You genuinely see yourself as the protagonist? Then what about me and Dan Heng? We'd be two of your five-or-six close friends — no wait, that's only two, we're still three short. Where exactly are you planning to find the rest?" March 7th counted on her fingers, then looked up at Stelle with open curiosity.
"Please do not include me in your narrative framework." Dan Heng attempted, in a perfectly level voice, to derail the plans of March 7th and Stelle alike.
Stelle completely ignored this token, purely verbal show of resistance. "Hmm... no leads yet, honestly. But to qualify as a protagonist's friend, you need to meet at least one of three criteria: impressive abilities, a mysterious background, or good looks." She nodded, satisfied with her own reasoning.
"Mm-hm~ You're absolutely right. And it looks like Dan Heng and I check all three boxes. Clearly we're destined to be your friends, Stelle." March 7th nodded with great conviction.
"March 7th — is your background mysterious?" Stelle asked, puzzled. In this world, weren't she and Dan Heng just orphans Mr. Welt had taken in? Unless, like in Star Rail, they had some hidden identities lurking underneath?
Although, if that were the case... who exactly was the protagonist here?
"N-no, not at all! But, well, in most novels, orphans always turn out to have mysterious backgrounds, right? Maybe one of these days my or Dan Heng's birth parents will show up out of nowhere and hand us our inheritance of a hundred-million-yen fortune! Haha. Ha." March 7th delivered this entire explanation in a voice pitched noticeably too high and much too fast.
Something was off. March 7th's reaction was definitely off.
Stelle fixed her with a probing stare, determined to dig out whatever it was she was hiding.
Under that focused gaze, cold sweat began to bead on March 7th's forehead. Why was Stelle being so sharp-eyed today? She started praying for backup in her head: Himeko, I'm about to crack — get out here NOW!
She shifted her pleading eyes toward Dan Heng, only to find, to her crushing disappointment, that he had already and quite smoothly turned his head away — very clearly intending to leave her for dead.
Fortunately, salvation arrived: as if she had finally heard March 7th's mental cries, Himeko came gliding over with a tray in hand.
"I figured you all hadn't left yet, so I brewed some coffee. Would anyone like a cup?"
March 7th's face changed drastically, and she scrambled to refuse.
For one long moment, she honestly couldn't tell which was more terrifying — Stelle's interrogation, or Himeko's coffee.