“...Star-trail never told me.”
She finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly. “I thought... I was its only contractor.”
The smile on Kizuna's face slowly faded.
She looked at Yuki's clenched fingers and suddenly realized what her careless words just now meant to this quiet senior.
Star-trail hadn't told her.
So she was the latecomer who had been kept a secret, while Yuki Kurokawa had no idea another contractor existed this entire time.
“I'm sorry.”
Kizuna lowered her hands from her knees, her shoulders tensing slightly. “I didn't know it hadn't told you. If I had known, I wouldn't have said it like that. I wasn't trying to brag, I just... assumed you knew.”
Yuki shook her head, brushing an unimportant thought out of her mind.
“It's not your fault. It's its own fault for not telling me.”
“When did you form your contract?” Yuki asked, looking up.
“It was while I was still in the hospital. I had been in a coma for a long time. Later, my sister said it was Star-trail who woke me up. When I woke up, I had this on my hand.”
She gently rolled up her left sleeve a bit, revealing the contract mark on the inside of her wrist.
The same Contract Spirit, but different contractors.
Even the marks bore Star-trail's distinct trace, only in a different color.
It was like the same star casting different reflections on different bodies of water.
Kizuna looked at Yuki's downcast, silent face. The guilt in her heart hadn't completely faded, but she didn't say sorry again.
Kurokawa-san had just said it wasn't her fault, and dwelling on it would only make things awkward.
She took a deep breath, her expression turning solemn.
“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Kizuna Asana, code name Seisou. My weapon is a bow, and my mana attribute is Sound.
“My specialty is singing—though I'm still practicing. My Contract Spirit is Star-trail. Nice to meet you!”
She bowed slightly. When she straightened up, she quietly observed Yuki's expression, still feeling a bit nervous.
Yuki suddenly recalled when she had registered her code name at the Association, with Mingyue standing beside her to list her achievements.
Back then, she hadn't known how to introduce herself either, only mechanically stating her name and code name.
“Yuki Kurokawa, code name Snowrealm, Ice mana attribute.”
She seemed to finally confirm something and summoned the courage to ask, “Does Star-trail... accompany every contractor to sleep?”
“Yes,” Kizuna nodded immediately, as if sharing a secret.
“It drapes its tail over my wrist, and then the starlight particles get really warm. Once, I woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night and found it lying on my chest, pressing its forehead against mine and mumbling in its sleep.”
“What did it say?”
“...Something like, 'If you kick the blanket off again, I'm leaving you be.'”
Yuki froze for a moment, then lowered her head and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her shoulders shaking slightly.
She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to find her blanket neatly laid out and tucked in. She was a chronic blanket-kicker, yet she had never caught a cold.
It wasn't because she had some special Magical Girl constitution; it was because a little creature was tucking her in every night and secretly complaining afterward.
Kizuna suddenly gasped, springing up from the bench.
“Wait—what about Tian Gong-san? Could she be one too?”
Excitement shone in her pale purple eyes, as if she had discovered a new world.
“No.”
Yuki's voice was certain.
Kizuna blinked, her lips slightly parted, her train of thought cut off in her throat.
Yuki looked up at her. “I asked Star-trail. Qiluo sometimes smells of starlight because she spends too much time with me and got some leftover mana on her. Ordinary people can get it too, though it dissipates very quickly.”
She didn't mention that she still had some doubts.
She had accepted the explanation back then not because the logic was perfect, but because she had been too happy.
But now, it felt like Star-trail hadn't finished its story.
Just like how Star-trail had never mentioned having a second contractor.
Star-trail was still far too mysterious.
But Yuki hoped Qiluo would always remain an ordinary person.
That way, she could continue to protect her as Snowrealm and stay by her side as Yuki Kurokawa.
“I see.” The light in Kizuna's eyes dimmed slightly, her tone tinged with a bit of regret.
She leaned back against the bench, looking up at the clouds in the sky, and suddenly smiled.
“Actually, that's probably for the best. If she were a Magical Girl too, the density of Magical Girls in this school would be too high. We could form a patrol squad just by eating bento during lunch break.”
Star-trail poked half of its head out from the shadows of the corridor's roof.
It had been crouching on the beam where the vines were thickest, wrapping its tail around the nearby iron frame for balance, witnessing the entire transition from awkwardness to reconciliation between Yuki and Kizuna.
Now that the atmosphere had softened, the two sat side by side on the bench. Kizuna was swinging her legs while talking, and Yuki listened quietly, occasionally nodding.
It seemed sending them here had been the right call.
Now it's my turn to make an appearance.
Star-trail had been watching from the dark, but now that the air had cleared, it would be unreasonable not to show up.
And... to be honest, Star-trail felt a bit embarrassed.
It really should have proactively told Yuki about Kizuna, rather than letting Kizuna slip up by accident.
Although it was for their own good, hiding it was its own mistake.
Flying straight over would seem too deliberate. It had to think of a more natural way to enter...
Aha! I'll just pretend I just woke up and fell down half-asleep.
It shook the pollen off its ears, leaped silently from the beam, and landed on the armrest of the bench.
Kizuna was the first to see it. Her eyes lit up as she scooped it up from the armrest and placed it on her knees, poking its forehead with her finger.
“Were you watching us from up there the whole time? I knew you set this up! If you act all mysterious like this again next time, I'll show you what's what!”
Star-trail's head tilted back slightly from her poking. It pulled its tail out from between Kizuna's fingers and scooted toward Yuki, seeking sanctuary in some sense.
Just as Star-trail reached Yuki's hand, its ear was gently pinched.
Yuki didn't apply much pressure, but she lifted it from Kizuna's knees and held it in front of herself.
Her expression turned as cold as if she were facing a stranger. “Star-trail, I have a question for you.”
Star-trail's tail stiffened in midair.
“You said before that this was your first time being a Contract Spirit. Were you lying to me?”
Kizuna rested her chin on her hand nearby, her eyes curving into an amused look.
Just a moment ago, she had been basking in the warmth of her reconciliation with Yuki, but seeing Star-trail getting interrogated by the ear, she immediately switched to spectator mode, with absolutely no intention of helping.
“...I wasn't lying.”
Star-trail's ear twitched slightly between Yuki's fingers, the stars in its pupils spinning a bit faster than usual.
“I really am a first-time Contract Spirit. I didn't know how to handle having two contractors at the same time... so I kept it from you. It's not because you aren't important, but because I didn't know what to do myself.”
It buried its face in Yuki's palm, gently nuzzling her fingertips with its nose.
This was a move it had learned from pet videos. Qiluo had scrolled through dozens of cute compilation videos, and it had studied them precisely to handle situations like this.
Rate on N.U.
