Encountering the new zero

On a late autumn evening, the setting sun painted the maple leaves of Yumenosaki Academy a golden-red hue. Xinyu and Yingzhi walked hand-in-hand along the tree-lined path of the campus, having just finished a music club rehearsal. Yingzhi's light blue shirt billowed slightly in the evening breeze, while Xinyu clutched the creases of his cuff tightly—such intimate physical contact had become commonplace between them ever since Yingzhi discovered her secret as a time traveler.

"I heard the maple leaves on the back mountain are all red, shall we go see them?" Yingzhi suddenly suggested, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Xinyu was about to nod when she saw a pale figure standing under the shade of a tree ahead. The person was wearing a black uniform, and their silver hair gleamed coldly in the setting sun. They were looking at them with their arms crossed.

"It's Rei Sakuma-senpai." Eichi's voice suddenly became cautious. "What's he doing here?"

Xin Yu followed his gaze and saw that the boy called "senior" had a vampire-like pale complexion, and his pupils shimmered with a pale gold in the twilight. When Sakuma Rei's gaze turned to them, Xin Yu subconsciously shrank back—those eyes reminded her of the description of the "Moonlit Noble" in Hoshino's legend.

"Excuse me, could you two have a minute?" Rei Sakuma's voice was like silk soaked in ice water, carrying an unsettling elegance. He walked up to them, his gaze shifting between Eichi and Kokoro. "I heard there were strange noises in the music room today. Were you playing 'Hoshino Renka'?"

Xin Yu's heart sank. She had indeed played this piece on Eiji's piano, but it was composed for her by Eiji. How could it have reached Sakuma Zero's ears? What made her even more uneasy was that when Sakuma Zero's gaze fell on her neck, he paused slightly—there hung the maple leaf necklace that Eiji had given her.

"Senior, you've misunderstood." Yingzhi stepped forward, shielding Xinyu behind him. "That was just a normal etude." His tone carried the authority of a student council president, but his eyes glanced at Xinyu out of the corner of his eye, as if to confirm her reaction.

Sakuma Rei suddenly chuckled softly, a laugh that reminded Koko of the legendary "nightingale's lament": "Ordinary?" He reached out and stroked Koko's hair, his touch as gentle as a lover's. "This piece carries Hoshino's essence, and you call it ordinary?"

Xin Yu froze. Hoshino was the starting point of their journey, and also her deepest secret. Did this senior know something? She suddenly remembered Ying Zhi's investigation diary, which mentioned that the "Moonlit Nobles" could sense the aura of other worlds.

"Senior seems to know Hoshino quite well?" Eichi's voice suddenly turned cold, and his fingers unconsciously clenched into fists. Shin-yu noticed the veins under his sleeve bulging slightly—a sign of Eichi's anger.

Sakuma Rei withdrew his hand, a playful expression on his face: "It's just some ancient legend, saying that those who can traverse the star field will carry a special melody."

After speaking, he disappeared into the twilight, leaving the two of them staring at each other in bewilderment. Xin Yu's fingertips unconsciously traced the maple leaf necklace, suddenly realizing that this senior might know more about the secrets of time travel. Ying Zhi's face turned deathly pale; he gripped Xin Yu's hand tightly: "We must find out what he knows."

"Don't be nervous, as long as I'm willing."

That evening, while searching for information in Yingzhi's dormitory, Xinyu suddenly discovered a yellowed map of the starry sky.