Yuki Kurokawa placed Star-trail back onto the pillow, the little silver-white creature rolling halfway over on the sheets.
Its tail traced a lazy arc in the air before curling back into a perfect ball of fluff.
She gently flicked the tip of Star-trail's ear with her finger. Watching it twitch its ear and return to normal, the corner of her mouth curved slightly.
Letting her sister meet Qiluo...
Had her mother actually accepted Qiluo as her friend, or did she want to use her sister to evaluate whether this friend was qualified?
Based on her understanding of her mother, the latter was far more likely than the former.
But there was one thing she was sure of: if her sister really wanted to meet Qiluo, she hoped Qiluo would agree.
She truly wanted her sister to see what kind of person she had befriended at school.
It wasn't about putting Qiluo through some sort of test; she just felt that her sister would understand.
Yuki Kurokawa sat up straight on the edge of the bed and began to seriously recall her older sister, Rin Kurokawa.
Rin was five years older than her and should be in her third year of medical school now, interning at a university affiliated hospital in another city.
The number of times the two sisters met in a year could be counted on one hand, and each time they met, her sister seemed more like an adult than the last.
When they were young, Rin would ruffle her hair. Later she stopped, choosing instead to stand three paces away and watch her quietly, as if checking to see if she had grown taller.
In Yuki's childhood memories, her sister was someone who always stood three paces ahead of her.
She wasn't the kind of sister who would turn around and reach out to pull her along, but she wouldn't leave her too far behind either.
If Yuki walked too slowly, her sister would stop ahead, pretending to check her phone or adjust her schoolbag, waiting for her to catch up before continuing.
Thinking back now, perhaps her sister was just as bad at expressing herself as she was.
One could only say they were truly sisters.
Meanwhile, Qiluo Tian Gong was dreaming of standing on the highest observation tower of the observatory, shooting a thread of warm white light toward that calamity star.
The Eye of the End was forcibly extinguished by Qiluo's magic.
Just as she was about to give herself a round of applause in her dream, she suddenly felt someone's fingers stroking from the back of her neck all the way to the root of her tail, over and over, without end.
She opened her eyes. Yuki was unconsciously wrapping her fingers around the tip of Star-trail's tail, her movements so gentle it felt like she was spinning a tuft of yarn.
Qiluo lay in bed staring at the ceiling, pressing her pillow against her face.
She had just extinguished the Eye of the End in her dream, only to be rubbed awake. Did this count as Yuki indirectly saving that calamity star?
Yuki Kurokawa, you've really done a bad thing.
Star-trail was currently held in Yuki's arms, the back of its head pressed near Yuki's chest, where it could feel her steady heartbeat.
“...Did I wake you up?” Yuki pulled Star-trail closer into her arms, adjusting her hold.
She had it squat on her knees so its gaze was level with hers. “Sorry, I was thinking about something just now and didn't notice what my hands were doing.”
Of course you woke me up. If you're thinking, just think. Don't casually pet me like a cat.
“No. What are you thinking about?”
Yuki fell silent for a few seconds. Qiluo didn't rush her, simply letting Star-trail squat quietly on her knees.
She was probably gathering her words.
“During breakfast today, I mentioned Qiluo to my mother.”
Her fingers paused on Star-trail's back. “And mother wants my sister to meet her—the friend from the aquarium yesterday.”
She moved her fingers off Star-trail's back, placing them on her knees and slowly clenching them into fists.
“I don't know if Mother has truly accepted the fact that I've made a friend, or if she wants something else.”
She averted her gaze from Star-trail.
She had said so much, yet she left out the sole fact that she wanted them to meet because she craved validation.
What does that mean? Do members of the Kurokawa household get put on trial just for making a friend?
Just because Yuki got to know me, am I going to be purged by the Kurokawa household?
Is this the darkness of the Kurokawa household?
Then what kind of person is Yuki Kurokawa's sister? I hope she isn't just like Mrs. Kurokawa.
“Qiluo Tian Gong, here is five million yen. Leave my sister.”
If it were that kind of scenario, Qiluo might actually consider it. After all, Qiluo Tian Gong would be leaving her sister, but nobody said Star-trail had to leave.
“What is your sister like?” Qiluo didn't press further about her mother's intentions, gently shifting the topic to her sister.
Yuki Kurokawa fell into reminiscence.
Qiluo noticed that when Yuki recalled her sister, the look in her eyes was completely different from when she recalled her mother.
It wasn't that knee-jerk reaction of lowering her head.
“...She's amazing, far more amazing than me. In elementary school, she was selected for the national youth mathematical olympiad training team. In high school, she was fast-tracked into the top private school, and now she's an honor student in medical school.”
“Ever since we were young, everyone has used the word 'genius' to describe her. But I don't think so. My sister just figured out how to survive under Mother's rules much earlier than I did.”
Her hand unconsciously reached toward Star-trail's body again.
...
Recall all you want, but what are your hands doing?
Qiluo shrank back slightly.
Yet Yuki's large hand still pressed down on Star-trail.
“Rin didn't headbutt Mother like I did. She learned very early on to communicate with Mother through her grades. Whatever Mother wanted, she gave her, and she gave even more than what was demanded.”
“So she obtained a certain degree of freedom very early on. Mother's control over her was far looser than it was over me. But the price was that she never told anyone what she truly wanted.”
Yuki withdrew her gaze from the curtains, letting it fall back on Star-trail.
“When we meet, we don't really seem like sisters. We're more like two soldiers serving in the same system.”
“She occasionally comes to visit me, and she always brings a book. The book isn't a gift; it's just something she finished reading and thought I would like.”
“She knows I won't actively buy novels or picture books, so every time we meet, she brings one, claiming she bought too many.”
“Only later did I realize that the publication dates of those books were all in the week before we met. She went out of her way to buy them.”
She paused here, her fingers unconsciously stroking Star-trail's ears.
You two are truly sisters. Neither of you knows how to express yourselves.
Her sister clearly cared about her, yet her way of showing it was so awkward.
Growing up in that kind of household, her sister probably felt that being strong was the best way to protect her younger sister.
Sigh, what kind of elite talent incubator is the Kurokawa household anyway...
Why doesn't Mrs. Kurokawa just open a school?
Although she still didn't know what Yuki's sister was like, Yuki was already doing much better.
Even though she had also been trained by these rules to not know how to make friends, at least she still knew how to express her kindness in her own clumsy way.
Yuki probably felt that her sister would understand.
Rate on N.U.
