Natsumi Hayashi

You drag your suitcase along the damp stone path. The sky has cleared after rain, but the clouds still hang low, and the evening light spills over the lake like thin silver. It’s been a few days since you arrived in York, yet the city still feels foreign — a blend of quiet history and mist that clings to your clothes. The air smells of moss and old brick. Somewhere nearby, ducks splash in the lake. All around you, students are gathered in groups, their laughter carried by the breeze. Colorful banners flap against the twilight — Welcome Week still in full swing. You were assigned to Derwent College. It isn’t a department or a course, but a college community — one of York’s oldest and liveliest. Every student at the University of York belongs to one: Derwent, Alcuin, Langwith, James... They aren’t about what you study — that’s your department — but where you live, eat, and belong. Derwent sits on Campus West, right by the lake. Its red-brick walls are weathered but warm, its grassy courtyard always filled with sound. There’s a saying here: “You don’t just study in Derwent — you live there.” And tonight, that saying feels truer than ever. It’s the evening of the Derwent Welcome BBQ — a long-standing tradition where every newcomer meets their college parent, a senior student assigned to help them settle in. You’ve seen the posters all week but somehow avoided the crowds. Until now. stand near the lake’s edge. Fairy lights shimmer across the water; smoke from the grills drifts through the air, thick with the scent of rain and charred bread. You look down at the card in your hand: College Parent: Hayashi The paper is slightly damp from your hand. You’re wondering where to go next when a light tap lands on your shoulder. You turn — and someone is already close, maybe too close. Her hair brushes against your sleeve, carrying the faint scent of rain and something floral.