Yuki was still sitting by the bedside, with no intention of leaving.
The chair was the most ordinary kind of folding chair found in a nurse's office. The cushion was rock-hard, and sitting on it for too long would make one's backside ache, but she didn't seem to feel it at all.
Her entire attention was focused on the lump of the blanket on the bed.
A sound came from the windowsill, as if something had stepped onto the metal frame.
Yuki Kurokawa turned her head. Star-trail was crouching on the windowsill, its tail hanging down from the frame. The starlight on it was almost invisible in the afternoon light, only occasionally glinting at a certain angle.
Yuki first glanced at Qiluo on the bed. Qiluo was lying flat, her breathing steady, looking indeed fast asleep.
Only then did she stand up and quietly walk over to the window.
As she pushed the window open, the hinge let out a squeak. She froze instantly and looked back at the bed.
There was no movement, so she pushed the window open just wide enough for Star-trail to slip inside.
Star-trail leapt from the windowsill onto her arm, its tail brushing against her skin with a cool sensation.
“Why are you here?” Yuki lowered her voice, reaching out to rub Star-trail's ears.
Star-trail tilted its head, dodging her fingers, and lowered its voice just like Yuki: “I happened to be passing by and saw you here, so I came in to check. What's wrong with her?”
“She said she had indigestion. She lay down for a bit and fell asleep.”
Yuki looked back at the lumped blanket on the bed, her worry not yet fully dispelled. “Her color looks fine, so it shouldn't be anything serious, but I'm still worried about her.”
“I'll keep an eye on things here.” Star-trail hopped lightly off her arm, landing on the nightstand to squat right next to the water cup.
“Go to the gymnasium. It should be starting soon over there. If she wakes up and finds you've been guarding her the whole time, she'll only feel guilty.”
Yuki Kurokawa didn't answer.
She felt she would probably never be able to explain it clearly to anyone else.
Just as you couldn't describe the sound of the tides to someone who had never seen the ocean.
The lights on the stage, the gorgeous costumes, the Magical Girls adored by thousands—none of those things could ever compare to Qiluo's soft sleeping face in her eyes.
She loved these quiet moments that belonged to her alone.
There was no need to think about how to start a conversation, no need to consider what to say next. She could just sit nearby, listening to Qiluo's even breathing, watching her hand relax unconsciously.
All of this belonged to her.
No one would suddenly call her over to check out some stall, and no one would chatter in her ear.
There was only herself, and the sleeping Qiluo.
Others always said she was too quiet, that she should go out more and see the outside world.
But she felt there was nothing worth seeing in the outside world. The most beautiful thing was already right here.
But... Star-trail was right.
If Qiluo woke up and found her sitting here all this time, she would probably show that apologetic expression and then try to find a way to make her leave.
“...I'll leave in a bit.”
Yuki Kurokawa nudged her chair a few inches closer to the bed, her knees almost touching the edge of the frame.
There was a scratch on Qiluo's hand resting outside the blanket, likely from accidentally scraping it while moving classroom desks and chairs earlier.
Yuki wanted to reach out and touch the scratch, but she was afraid of waking her. In the end, she simply rested her fingers gently on the edge of the bed, keeping a distance of a few centimeters from Qiluo's hand.
As if this, too, could be considered holding hands.
Footsteps occasionally echoed in the hallway outside, only to quickly fade away.
Listening to the sounds of the school campus blended with Qiluo's breathing, she felt the two sounds were unexpectedly harmonious.
After a long while, she finally stood up from the chair, the legs making no sound at all against the floor.
Bending down, she pulled up the blanket that had slipped below Qiluo's shoulders. Then, she nudged the water cup on the nightstand another half-inch inward, making sure it wouldn't be knocked over.
Finally, she gave Star-trail a slight nod and silently mouthed something. Her lips formed the words, “I'm leaving her to you.”
Standing at the door of the nurse's office with her hand still on the doorknob, her feet felt as though they were being gently held back by something.
She glanced back at the closed door. Through the narrow glass window at the top of the doorframe, she could just see the curtain of the bed by the window, now drawn completely shut.
Star-trail was probably curled up next to her pillow by now, just like it usually did at her house.
Qiluo Tian Gong listened to the door close. Only after confirming that the footsteps had completely vanished at the end of the corridor did she quietly open one eye.
After making sure Yuki had indeed left, she pulled the blanket down and exhaled a long breath toward the ceiling.
Having held that sleeping posture just now without daring to move even a finger, the trapped heat under the sheets had flushed her cheeks red, and the tips of her ears felt slightly hot.
“...She's gone.”
Sitting up in bed, she scooped Star-trail off the nightstand and placed it on her lap, slowly smoothing down the fur on its back that had been ruffled earlier.
Star-trail narrowed its eyes, letting out a low purring sound from its throat as if to say, “Of course.”
“Do you think I should tell them?” Qiluo sat cross-legged on the narrow cot, her fingers idly massaging Star-trail's ears.
She knew what Star-trail was thinking; her other self naturally knew what she was thinking.
Would it be better if I told the others that I am Lightweaver?
For instance, then people wouldn't be planting tracking magic on me.
Qiluo Tian Gong pulled out the keychain Kizuna had stuffed into her hands this morning.
Qiluo held the keychain up to her eyes and pinched the toy cat's right ear.
A tiny fluctuation of mana rippled against her fingertip, feeling like a mild mosquito bite.
“A tracking rune,” she said to Star-trail, who nodded silently.
She flipped the toy cat over and ran her fingertip from the base of its tail to the tip. The rune was hidden right at the tip of the tail, carved extremely small and covered with a layer of concealing varnish.
If one didn't look closely, it would look no different from a regular decorative pattern.
But she had felt something was off right from the start.
The mere fact that Meruru was giving away gifts was enough to warrant suspicion.
“It's actually quite finely made.” She bounced the toy cat in her palm. The weight was just right; hanging it on a phone wouldn't look out of place.
The magic-sensing chip in the ear, working in tandem with the rune on the tail, could pinpoint a location within a radius of several hundred meters.
“Then let's see what exactly you have planned.”
Qiluo Tian Gong planned to pretend she didn't know about this for now. If Meruru thought she could just use this to follow her all the way home...
...then Qiluo would gladly make her remember how it felt to be hung up at the Association last time.
Rate on N.U.
