The AC's hum woke Yuki up – total buzzkill compared to the crazy marketplace she'd been in. She blinked, staring at her ceiling, not some old-timey inn. Her phone was screaming an alarm on her messy desk, next to a blinking Bluetooth speaker.
"WTF?" she muttered, sitting up fast. Big mistake. Head rush city. She grabbed her head. Her soft PJs felt way different than the dirty dress she'd been rocking while running for her life in Graaswell City.
She looked around. Her room was a whole vibe, but also kinda sus. Anime posters – *Attack on Titan*, *Demon Slayer* – were plastered on the walls. Her gaming chair and PC, with all the RGB lights going ham, were right there. The AC kept humming, super chill but also low-key annoying.
"This… is my room," she whispered, kinda shaky. She went to the window and yeeted the curtains open.
Tokyo was right there, bussin' with life. Cars honking, the smell of fresh bread from the bakery downstairs – it was all so real, no cap.
She saw herself in the window. Her long blonde hair, a mix of her Cali and Japanese genes, framed her face. Her blue eyes were huge. She pinched her cheek, like, for real?
"No way… Was that all a dream?" she whispered, thinking about Alepou's smile, the chaos at the takoyaki stand, and Prince Gabriel arresting that old dude. The punch and Alepou's hug felt way too real. Like, no kizzy.
She checked out her closet. Her Kamiyama International High uniform was hanging there, a reminder of her normal life. She looked at the calendar.
April 5th.
Her heart dropped. "First day of school… and the entrance exam results!" she gasped. Big yikes.
She started panicking, pacing her room. "How is this even possible? I was just in Graaswell City! In medieval drip! Did I… time travel? Was it all a dream? Or am I in some weird in-between place?"
She looked at the Bluetooth speaker. Just sitting there, ghosting her. She picked it up and shook it. "Did you send me to another world? Are you a magical artifact or something?"
Nothing. Total silence.
Yuki flopped into her gaming chair, staring at her reflection in the dark screen. "If it was a dream, why do I remember everything so clearly? Alepou… Gabriel… even the smell of that takoyaki…"
Her stomach growled, bringing her back to earth. She sighed and stood up. "Real or not," she muttered, "I gotta focus. First day of high school, let's go."
While she brushed her teeth and got ready, Graaswell City kept flashing back. Alepou's laugh, the takoyaki stand mayhem, the prince – it all felt way too real to be fake.
"Am I tripping?" she muttered, putting on her uniform. The clean uniform felt weird after wearing those old-timey clothes.
But as she tied her tie and grabbed her bag, she had another thought. What if the isekai world was real, and *this* is the dream?
Yuki stopped at her bedroom door. "If I go through this door," she thought, "am I leaving that world behind forever?"
She shook her head. "Nah. If it's real, I'll find a way back. Alepou, Gabriel… if you're out there, wait for me."
She took a deep breath, opened her bedroom door, and stepped out into the hallway. The muted sounds of the morning – the distant clatter of dishes, the low hum of the refrigerator – drifted in from the living room. It was a stark contrast to the bustling streets of Tokyo she'd imagined just moments before. The reality of her apartment, her *real* life, settled around her. She walked towards the living room, the rising sun casting long shadows ahead of her. Her adventure in *this* world was starting, but she knew, deep down, her Graaswell City adventure wasn't over. It was giving unfinished business vibes. The pull was real, like a notification she couldn't ignore, a message from another dimension.