Lear didn't know much about it, but anyone else in his place would have admitted without hesitation that the stranger possessed unearthly beauty.

She literally exuded light and seemed to float slightly above the ground, so light and airy did her gait seem.

Lear could not make out her facial features exactly, because everything around was slightly blurred, covered with a haze. But from what he saw, she had large shining eyes, small lips and a nose. It was difficult to determine her age by her appearance and voice, but Lear would have given the mysterious girl nineteen years old at most.

She looked straight at him with a slight smile.

"I heard your call, mortal, and I could not leave everything as it is. Not after the sacrifice you made."

Lear vaguely remembered something like that.

Ah yes, a sacrifice. More precisely, many sacrifices. A bloody ritual. Did she talk about that?

Lear lost control, killed a bunch of people and performed a forbidden summoning, but there were reasons for all of this and he didn't regret anything.

If it weren't for that, he would have remained in that... nightmare.

And yet, something was wrong here.

Since when did one of the Behenian stars answer bloody summons?

Lear looked at Capella, intending to ask about it.

"I know what you're thinking. How is it that I heard your prayers and not someone else? Well, dear mortal, you should know. I've watched your life and always wanted to intervene when you were treated unfairly, but I couldn't, since I had no right. But by making the summoning, you gave me the opportunity to answer it before any of the stars, so I'm here. I want to help you restore justice! And take revenge on your enemies."

'What?..'

It was hard to collect his thoughts or even concentrate. Lear's mind felt like ripples on water, appearing under his feet due to the twitching of his body.

Only now did he notice that he was freezing.

'She's kind of strange.'

'Some kind of strange dream.'

"Um, thank you very much..?" it sounded as if he hadn't spoken for a very long time.

"You don't have to thank me. You've already paid more than enough for this wish!" Capella's sonorous voice was ringing in his ears.

She came closer and gently took Lear's hands, who didn't resist at all.

"You're not alone now, Lear. You have me! If you're having trouble, you can call on me in your dreams. I promise to always be by your side and help you in any way I can."

"How? I can't serve, um, you... as a star. And you are a star. So... er, sorry."

Capella squeezed his hands tighter and replied enthusiastically:

"No need to worry! You don't have to serve me! I can be your friend and advisor. Just know that I will always be here for you."

"Okay. Thank you. It's... very nice. I'm very happy, really."

The star laughed.

"I understand. I appeared before you too suddenly and thus confused you, it's my fault. We will have many opportunities to talk, so for now we'll finish. Goodbye, Lear. Don't forget what I told you."

With that, she released Lear, and he fell down into the darkness.

***

Lear woke up with the sensation of falling in his sleep.

Opening his eyes and seeing that he was in his room, he jumped out of bed, dashed across the room, grabbed his backpack and emptied its contents.

A couple of pens, crumpled sheets of paper, one notebook for all the notes he hadn't even written.

Fuck, right.

He didn't carry his textbooks with him.

The realization of his own mistake made Lear want to punch himself in the face.

There was a gentle knock on the door just in time.

Lear was squatting in his shorts, bent over his things on the floor, looking grim.

"Come in." he muttered loudly, shoving his things back.

The one who entered froze right at the entrance.

"What if it was someone else?" Bleary asked after he looked around the room critically and stopped to examine Lear's frozen pose.

He was dressed in the Academy uniform and looked as collected and refined as the rest of Meide's friends whenever Lear met them. With all this, each of them always had the same shaggy mop of hair as he did.

Somehow they combined perfectionism and freedom of expression.

"I don't really care what people think," Lear replied, standing up.

Bleary went to the old closet and began to examine the clothes on the hangers.

"Yeah," he concluded shortly after a short inspection. "Something needs to be done about this."

Lear, pulling on the pants he dropped yesterday on the way to the bed, looked questioningly at the uninvited guest.

"What? And why did you even come?"

"Meide asked. He needs you for something, so you need to look decent, so as not to disgrace both of you.

"Meide should have thought of that the first time he shook my hand," Lear muttered, slamming the closet doors in Bleary's face. "If I'm such a walking disgrace to his entire family name."

"That's not what I said."

"I know. But I have no time for that little fellow's whims right now. You can tell me verbatim."

Bleary sighed. Lear had the impression that he he was in a bad mood today. Or he was always so dissatisfied in the morning, just like Lear himself.

"Lear, don't be such a fool, please. If you do a favor for Meide, he will not remain in debt."

Lear, pulling on his usual unremarkable T-shirt, stopped.

After a while, he finally got dressed and looked seriously at Bleary.

"And what should I put on myself? Or better yet, tell me in advance what is this about."

For the first time since he entered, Bleary smiled.

As they left the room, he asked on the go:

"Do you sleep with a wristband on your arm?"

Lear instinctively grabbed his wrist and nodded silently.

***

Instead of his usual unkempt appearance, Lear looked like Meide's brother, who had once been lost in childhood. The picky first-year Antares even got to his hair. While Boenetri's was roughly styled to one side, he tried to comb Lear's back. It turned out as shaggy as usual, but in the opposite direction.

He also made Lear put on the entire uniform, including shirt, tie, vest, jacket and belt. It was a suffocating set and Lear was even glad that at the moment he was in his adolescent body and not his real one.

Now he fit perfectly into Meide's company.

Boenetri did all this before breakfast, and finally the two of them went to the dining hall.

"Why can't you or Bleary explain why all this is happening?"

"If I said that I was just tired of your appearance, would you believe me?"

"No. Yes..? I don't know. I hope that's not it, otherwise I'll be wearing the same shirt for the rest of the year to spite you."

Meide was horrified, but quickly pulled himself together.

"You've already been doing that."

"All year long."

Boenetri let out a tired sigh, as if he were dealing with a naughty child.

"The championship qualifiers are coming soon."

Even though they were sitting at the table eating breakfast, Lear felt the need to get up abruptly and run away without looking back.

How could he have forgotten about them? The time had already come.

"No! Whatever you're leading to," he protested.

"You're the strongest among us! Look, I even complimented you."

"What about Kariado? He can knock both of us down at the same time. Thanks for the praise, of course, but you just want to use me because you feel sorry for your friend!"

"I don't feel sorry for anyone! I despise pity."

"Big words."

"Kariado and the others have their own business and studies. And you have nothing to do anyway. And it would be a big waste not to show your abilities."

"How do you know if I have something to do or not? In short, I don't want to and that's it."

Bleary and Kariado had already had breakfast, and Meide couldn't turn to them for support. The other first-years had either already woken up and had breakfast, or were having breakfast without even waking up.

Meide helplessly lowered his head and mumbled something incoherently.

"What?"

"You can... ask me... anything you want. Within reasonable limits."

Lear looked at him incredulously.

Of course, Bleary had already lured him with the same promise, but hearing it from Boenetri himself was even nicer.

"Okay. Like what?"

"What?"

"What can I ask for?"

"Hm. Money..?"

Lear raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, do you think that because I'm poor, that's the only thing on my mind?"

"Maybe not the only thing, but the first thing that comes to mind."

Lear thought about it. With one hand, he unconsciously rubbed the skin through his wristband.

"Okay, I've decided."

"Great. And what is it?"

He didn't answer right away, thinking it over again.

The championship was an important event for the entire Academy and was held in two rounds. First, there were qualifiers within the Academy, then a tournament between different educational institutions where those who were going to dedicate their lives to serving the stars studied.

Participation in it would definitely be accompanied by excessive and undesirable attention from everyone around him in Lear's situation.

Boenetri waited patiently for his companion to deign to answer.

"Well..." Lear rested his head on his hands, folded in front of him. "...I really could use some money."

Upon hearing this, Meide raised an eyebrow, just like Lear had done before.