The patterns carved into the stone-paved hill are connected to the mysteries of the world

The next morning, I was at my usual meeting with

Hinami.

"I heard what happened from Mimimi. So she told you

she likes you?"

"Yes. Sorry I kept it from you."

Everything was in the open now.

I placed my hands on my knees and straightened my back,

ready to receive my lesson.

"Well, I guess you were hiding it for her sake…"

"Uh, yeah."

She pressed a hand to her head like she was sick of me. "I

wish you'd told me. It affects the assignments I give you…

and I was going to find out at some point anyway."

"Y-yeah, I know. Sorry."

Unaware of what was happening, she'd told me to talk to

both girls about their types—if I'd done that with Mimimi, it

would've been a disaster. And now Hinami knew anyway.

"So Mimimi said she has feelings for you… Hmm."

"S-surprising, I know."

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"Yes," she said, like that was obvious. "It is. It happened

sooner than I'd expected."

That was confusing.

"Y-you kinda sound like you're not surprised about the

confession, though?"

She widened her eyes in mock bewilderment. "I don't just

sound that way; I feel that way… You and Mimimi have

spent quite a bit of time together, and you've got good

chemistry. It was definitely in the cards."

"C-chemistry?"

Hinami nodded. "She falls for your type easily."

"Wh-what's that mean…?"

I didn't get it. Mimimi, the bright and cheerful girl who

could do anything, was a good match for a bottom-tier

character like me?

"…I'd like you to think about that on your own. You

should be able to figure it out with a little reflection, and the

process will help you think like a guy who'd be attractive."

"O-okay…"

If Hinami said so, I probably had all the information I

needed to come up with an answer…but I had no idea what it

might be.

"But anyway, if she already said she likes you, then all the

tasks I just gave you are pointless for her."

"Th-they are…?"

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Hinami nodded. "Which reminds me, I never fully

explained the point of the assignment, did I? Although, I

think you can probably guess. Any ideas?"

I reflected on what she'd given me—a dating-sim event

map with three goals.

Yeah, I think I know.

"…To get closer to them, right?"

Our current conversation indicated as much, too.

"Generally speaking, you're correct. More specifically, the

point is to make these two girls aware of you and increase

your likelihood of success if you do ask them out."

"Ah, okay."

I kind of knew that instinctively. This assignment was

more obviously focused on romance than any she'd given me

in the past.

For some reason, she sighed before continuing:

"Okay, next question… In a dating sim, if your affection

for a certain character reaches the required level, then all

you need to do in order to enter that character's route is

complete the key event, right?"

"…Uh-huh." My response was a bit timid; there was

something hostile about her tone.

"Do you think there's any point in completing the rest of

the event map, then?"

Ah, right.

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Hinami was in her quietly angry mode.

"Um…w-well, as long as you've got enough affection, you

don't need to, really…unless you're doing a speedrun or a

hundred percent or something…"

"You see?" She glared at me silently. "So you made me

give you an extremely inefficient assignment."

"I-I'm very sorry…"

All I could do was throw myself on her mercy. I did

honestly feel bad. I'd kept the confession secret so I wouldn't

upset Mimimi, but ruining Hinami's carefully thought-out

assignments wasn't good, either.

She sighed. "Well, as long as you understand."

The tension suddenly drained from her shoulders, and she

smiled slightly. Her expression was a huge relief to me, and

my spirits lifted. I swear she did this kind of thing on

purpose…

"All right then, I'm going to give you a new assignment

based on this information…or at least, I'd like to."

"So you're not going to?"

Knowing Hinami and her hard-ass approach, I'd been

assuming she would give me a much harder task and then

tell me I could go to hell because it was my own fault.

"Yes, you can just continue on the same course. But you'll

need to focus on Kikuchi-san."

"That makes sense." I nodded.

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Since the point of the assignment was to help a girl know

me better and like me more, doing that with Mimimi

definitely felt wrong, even if I couldn't fully explain why.

"Of course, it's fine if you complete the map for Mimimi,

too."

"Huh?" I said, confused.

Hinami smiled boldly. "After all, the goal is to make her

more aware of you."

"Which is why it's pointless, right?"

Helping her know me better hardly seemed necessary.

She'd already told me how she felt, so we were a bit past that

stage.

"You don't get it, do you? The reason you make them

more aware of you…"

She poked me in the middle of my forehead with her

pointer finger.

"…is that you'll become more aware of them, too."

I was in a state of semishock, thanks also to the sensation

on my forehead. "…Oh."

"Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, more than enough."

Now that she'd said it, it made sense—I mean, her

assignments were usually designed to affect me, so the idea

that this was meant to affect how I saw Mimimi and

Kikuchi-san made even more sense than the reverse. But

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was it right to go forward knowing that?

"I want you to focus on filling in the map for Kikuchi-san,

but if the timing feels right or you want to give it a shot, you

can try to work on Mimimi's map, too. Please move forward

along those lines."

"…It's half up to me, then?" I asked, nodding.

Hinami smirked. "You seem to prefer taking on challenges

when it's something you 'want to do,' after all."

"Y-yeah…"

She raised one eyebrow and laughed. Why did I feel like

she was pulling my strings? Even when I was allowed to

choose my own challenges, she was ultimately the puppet

master.

"I understand," I said.

"Okay. Keep up the hard work."

And so, still a bit off-balance, I started toward the second

goal on my event map.

* * *

I was in the classroom, pulling various junk out of my bag

to get ready for the day, when I heard a voice I didn't usually

hear in class say my name.

"…Tomozaki-kun."

When I turned around, there was Kikuchi-san. She was

looking up at me shyly.

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"What's up?"

Was something wrong? It wasn't unusual for us to talk

one-on-one, but she almost never approached me in class

first thing in the morning.

"Um…good morning."

"Oh, uh, morning."

Even our usual hello had turned into a less familiar

greeting.

"Uh, what's wrong?" I asked.

She pulled a stack of papers out of the paper bag in her

left hand.

"Huh?"

Oh…

"You already finished it?"

"Y-yes…"

It was the revised version of the script we'd talked about

the day before. She was going to emphasize rawness and

realism over simplicity and ease of understanding, leaving

Alucia as real as she already was and bringing Libra and Kris

to life a little more—and she was already done.

"Wow. Didn't you have to change a lot of the dialogue?"

"Oh, um, yes. A lot of the changes were minor, but I think

I redid all the dialogue…"

"A-all of it?" I asked, louder than I intended.

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"Was that bad?"

"Oh, no, definitely not. But you were so quick. We only

talked about it yesterday!"

Even though the play was only twenty minutes long, there

was a lot of text. Probably twenty or thirty times more than

any of the short compositions I'd ever written. And she did it

all in one night?

She smiled shyly.

"…It was just so much fun. When I'm focused, the time

flies."

Her tone was quiet but full of passion. I hadn't heard her

talk like that much in the past.

She stared down at the papers in her hand.

"The characters are moving around in my head, and I

need to find the words to capture them before it's too late.

Once I start, I can't really stop…"

"Wow…"

Her face was shining as brightly as a ray of morning

sunlight. I couldn't help getting all warm and fuzzy just

watching her.

But then her expression turned uncertain.

"It's…a little weird."

Her eyes were slightly moist. She made me think of a fairy

who was afraid she would be banished from the human

world.

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I could never call her weird.

"No, it's not! I think it's amazing. You really have a gift."

"…A g-gift?" She stared at her hands, then laughed, like

she was hesitant to accept the compliment. "N-no way!"

She flapped her hands with a mixture of embarrassment

and happiness. The gesture struck me as so adorable that I

had to say more.

"No, I seriously think you do! I'm not an expert on this

stuff, but as your average everyday reader, I really liked it."

"Y-you did…?"

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"O-oh…"

When I pressed the point a little, she gradually began to

accept my compliments. Why not take it further? She was

always so modest; it would be good if she could at least be

confident about this one thing.

"You not only wrote something this good, but you also

edited the whole thing in one night. It's amazing. Most

people couldn't do that."

"Th-thank you…"

I could practically hear the smoke of embarrassment

puffing from her ears, so I let up on the compliments. Her

face was a little red, too, which was making me embarrassed

myself. It wasn't like I'd lied, but I still felt guilty.

"Okay then. I'll read this today," I said, and she lit up.

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"Great!" she answered cheerfully.

To me, those five letters were like the twang of a koto

heralding the arrival of all the good fortune in world.

"…Huh?"

Suddenly feeling someone's eyes on me, I looked around

and realized that several people were staring at us in

surprise. Well, Kikuchi-san hadn't spoken that loudly, but it

was unusual for her to sound so cheerful. Even I hardly ever

saw her this excited, so to someone who'd never seen this

side of her, it must have been a shock.

The curiosity had spread to a considerable radius around

us; everyone wanted to know what had happened.

Since I was the one who suggested we perform Kikuchisan's play, people must have guessed we were friends…but

the current scene was probably still a surprise.

I glanced behind me, and that's when it happened.

"…Ah!"

"…Ah!"

How many times had we done this? My eyes awkwardly

met Mimimi's, and I reflexively looked away. But this time, I

also felt like she'd caught me embarrassing myself.

Were we going to spend the rest of the day awkwardly

crossing paths like this?

"B-Braaaaain!!" she called, more nervously than usual.

She walked to us, waving her hand, and stood in front of

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Kikuchi-san and me. Okay. She'd been moving steadily back

toward normal interactions since the previous day, but why

was she was coming over right now?

Both the girls I'd said I was interested in were standing in

front of me at once. What a crazy situation. I didn't know

which one to look at, but while the rest of me froze, my heart

was racing.

Mimimi glanced back and forth between the two of us,

then raised her hand energetically. Kikuchi-san was

obviously floundering at the unexpected situation.

"Brain! You and I better have some meetings soon, too, or

else we won't be ready in time!"

"Meetings…?" I asked, before realizing what she meant.

"Oh right! The comedy routine!"

I'd almost forgotten we were supposed to do that. From

Hinami's assignment to the script meetings with Kikuchisan and the awkward situation with Mimimi, there was just

so much going on, I hadn't had time to think about it. And

now that I was thinking about it, I was getting worried. We

only had a little over two weeks left.

"Yes, the comedy routine! Did you forget? Huh? Huh?"

She poked her finger into my shoulder hard. Hey, stop

that! Even if she was acting normal, given how focused on

her I was right now, her attack hit me extra hard. It was like

every nerve in my body had suddenly gathered in my

shoulder. I couldn't think about anything else.

"I didn't forget; I was just busy."

"I know, you've got a lot going on! Huh? Huh?"

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"Hey, stop…"

What do I do now? In my current mental state, there was

no way I could get my mind off the reality that Mimimi was

touching me. I mean, she had told me she liked me, and

yesterday—heck, even a few minutes ago—we couldn't even

make eye contact. And now she wouldn't stop poking my

shoulder. My data-processing center was overloaded, all my

blood was in my shoulder, and it was about to explode. How

did she shift gears so fast? Normie adaptivity?

"Um, so when do you want to meet?" I asked, making a

strong effort to ignore the sensation in my shoulder and

move the conversation along in a natural manner. But I was

still burning with awareness. My shoulder. Her finger.

"Well…," she said, taking another step toward me.

And now she was poking me again while standing super

close. Honestly, what was with the sudden change? Her big

round eyes were right in front of me, right above the straight

line of her nose. The line from her neck to her chin was as

pretty as a doll's, and even from this close, all I could say

was that she was extremely cute. Well, I could also say my

heart was beating extremely hard.

"Oh, but, Brain, aren't you also the director?"

"You mean the script assistant?"

"Yeah, that!"

Mimimi seemed to have the idea in her head that I was

the director, but should we go with that? As far as I knew, I

was just support.

"Well, to tell the truth, I do have a lot to do… We're still

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not done with the script."

"Hmm, sounds rough. Well, don't worry! I'll find someone

else if I need to!" She grinned and pointed in the air.

"…Okay, yeah."

I think it's human nature to want to help out when

someone says something like that…but realistically, it'd be

hard for me to put much time into it. I was okay at the

moment, but soon, rehearsals would be starting, and I'd

probably have more festival-committee work to do, too. Uh,

wait a second, am I going to be able to handle all this?

All the same, I tried to think of a compromise.

"For now, let's just assume I'll do it and get together

anyway. If it turns out to be too much, we shoulder…I mean,

should just hand over whatever we've figured out to

someone else."

"Okay, good idea. I'm on board!"

Despite my fixation, I managed to move the conversation

along smoothly. It was odd—I was so nervous before we

started talking, but once I started riding the conversational

wave, maybe I could stay afloat.

"Okay, so I have a script meeting today after school…"

"…Oh, okay."

"Should we meet up tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, sounds good!"

The conversation between Mimimi and me bounced along

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at a rapid clip while Kikuchi-san watched and made little

flustered noises.

Oops, I guess she got left behind a bit. I was used to this

speed, but when Mimimi and I talked, the pace was fast even

for normies. Kikuchi-san would be drowning in it.

Or so I thought—but Mimimi suddenly turned to Kikuchisan and smiled.

"Do you mind, Kikuchi-san? I know you need him for the

play, too."

"Oh! Um, y-yes, it's fine!" she sputtered, obviously

startled by the sudden question.

"Ah-ha-ha. Don't be so surprised!"

"Oh, s-sorry, thank you…"

She looked back and forth between the two of us, blinking

in embarrassment. Her small-forest-animal aura

transcended the world we lived in, and if I'd had a handful of

sunflower seeds at that moment, I'm sure I would have given

her every last one.

"Poke!"

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That's when Mimimi took her pointer finger and suddenly

jabbed Kikuchi-san's snow-white cheek.

"…Fyooii?"

A strange sound escaped Kikuchi-san's mouth, which had

taken an odd shape thanks to Mimimi's finger. She blushed,

realizing how she looked. What the hell was Mimimi doing?

"Wh-wh-wh-what…?"

I'm sure being touched like that was extremely unusual

for Kikuchi-san. No wonder she was surprised; normal

people don't do that. Mimimi's just weird.

But Mimimi completely ignored all sense of propriety and

kept poking her white finger around the crimson-tinted

expanse of snow.

"Nyeh-heh-heh-heh!"

"Fwa-ha-ha?!"

"Come on now."

Mimimi's laughter was so unpleasant that I had to stop

her. Kikuchi-san was bordering on terrified, and I was

already a little afraid myself.

"…Oh! What's wrong with me? Kikuchi-san is so cute, I

lost my mind…"

"I feel like you're always losing it…" I sighed.

I think I know what happened. Mimimi has a thing for

tiny, cute girls like Tama-chan, a category to which Kikuchisan definitely belongs. Quick! Run, Kikuchi-san!

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Kikuchi-san stood there at a loss for words, stroking her

cheek with her mouth half-open. She was blinking her eyes

very noticeably.

"A-are you okay?

"Oh, um, I think so, but I don't know what just

happened…"

"Don't worry. I don't, either."

"R-really? I thought it meant something…"

"Ah-ha-ha, no, I don't think so."

"I-it doesn't…?"

I tried to reassure her in a calmer, slightly slower tone

than I'd used with Mimimi. Why did the crappy character

have to be the one keeping this interaction going? Bridging

the gap between two polar opposite girls was kind of a hard

job for me.

Mimimi watched the two of us talking and tilted her head

curiously, as if this was somehow mysterious to her.

"…What?" I asked.

She widened her eyes like I'd caught her off guard. "…Oh,

um, nothing!"

"Huh?"

"Okay, I'd better get going! See ya later!"

"Huh? Oh, okay, bye…"

Before I could finish, she ran off to the back of the

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classroom. What the heck just happened…?

Kikuchi-san watched her disappear, completely

perplexed.

"I feel like a storm just blew through…," she murmured,

still rubbing her cheek.

"Mimimi's always like that…"

"I-is she?"

And thus ended the encounter between the angel tribe

and the Mimimi tribe, with the Mimimi tribe vanishing into

the mist. I, the translator, was exhausted.

* * *

That day at lunch break, I stayed in the classroom alone.

I was incredibly impressed.

"It's so much better…"

I was reading the manuscript that Kikuchi-san had

handed me this morning—the latest version of the play, with

the characters redrawn.

"Aha, I see what you did there!"

I was sitting at my desk, eating a sandwich and reading,

which was unusual for me these days. My years as a loner

had prepared me well for doing something I wanted to do

with or without other people around. Plus, I was a pro at

mumbling just quietly enough that no one could hear me.

Pretty impressive!

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"…It's not just the characters that she's changed…"

That was a surprise.

Based on our conversation the day before, I thought she

was mostly going to focus on reverting Libra and Kris to

their more realistic selves from before.

But as I read, I realized she'd drastically changed other

parts, too, so that the second half of the plot was now almost

completely different.

"Yeah…I can see Kris doing that."

Despite all the changes, nothing felt wrong.

A better way of viewing it was that when she adjusted the

personalities of the characters, their actions also changed,

and when their actions changed, so did the plot, like a line of

dominoes. It was like by changing the characters to fit the

actors, she'd breathed new life into them.

However she did it, the story had become even more

beautiful.

Libra, the locksmith's son, and Alucia, his childhood best

friend, were exploring the castle one day. There, they

stumbled on a hidden garden where a young girl named Kris

had been imprisoned to care for the flying dragons. Libra

was then condemned to death to cleanse the dragon they'd

met of his "impurity."

To prevent his execution, Libra and Alucia became

temporary siblings and were given the task of caring for and

educating Kris. The script was unchanged up to that point.

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But from there on out, it was different.

Kris was an orphan who had been taken in by the castle to

care for the dragons. Had she come from a farm family, a

knight's family, or a slave family? No one knew. For as long

as she could remember, she had lived in the gardens with

the flying dragons. She had never seen the outside world, let

alone left the castle. That was her tragic life.

In the gardens—was everything she needed.

A soft, fluffy bed. A clean fountain. A warm bath.

Beautiful, costly flowers chosen by the royal gardener.

Peculiar trees, one of each variety collected from around the

world. She could read any book she liked, as long as it was a

myth or a fairy tale, and of course, the food she was served

every day was the same as what the nobles ate.

But there was nothing else.

No family. No friends. No school. No ocean. No forest. No

horizon. No animals other than the dragons.

And no happiness or sadness, not in the true sense of the

words.

She was constantly lonely, but she'd never felt anything

else. She had no way of knowing if it was even truly

loneliness.

The force that transformed her safe, distorted, enclosed

world—was the arrival of Libra and Alucia.

The first major change in the script was Kris's reaction

when Libra and Alucia arrived in the garden.

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In the initial script Kikuchi-san gave me, Kris welcomed

the two of them happily, maybe because she guessed they

would free her from her solitude.

"There are humans in the world…other than me? Tell me,

strangers, what are your names? I am Kris."

She might have learned from books the custom of

introductions, and she had clumsily copied it: asking their

names, then telling her own.

It was a sign of her curiosity toward the outer world, as

well as her honest nature.

But the new version was different.

The first thing Kris said when Libra and Alucia came to

the garden was this:

"Wh-who are you? Why are you here…?"

Kikuchi-san had brought Kris's wariness and fear to the

forefront.

Of course, Kris probably did feel a twinge of the happy

expectation of freedom that Kikuchi-san had depicted in the

first version.

But more than that, she feared change and the unknown.

Kikuchi-san had created a true-to-life portrait of the

emotions of a young girl who had spent her whole life alone.

She possessed both fear and curiosity, creating a very real

contradiction within her character.

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Her depiction of Libra had changed dramatically, too.

He was still an insatiably inquisitive boy who found it easy

to get close to people. The big change was in how she

revealed those characteristics.

In the first version, he was more of a hero type, and his

ability to get close to people was depicted simply through his

friendliness and good communication skills.

He stuck his nose in everything, made friends easily, and

never let a situation stagnate. You could call him one version

of the standard main character.

But that wasn't true of the new Libra.

He still had enough inquisitiveness to poke around the

castle without permission and the ability to get close to

people—but the way she depicted these qualities was a little

different.

Instead of smoothly making friends at every turn, he was

awkward and failed a lot. But because he didn't give up and

kept on confidently trying again, he naturally made friends

over time. He'd become a relatable character that you loved,

faults and all.

If I were to name one similarity in the way she'd changed

both these characters, it was that she'd emphasized their

weakness and clumsiness. Kris feared change, and Libra was

awkward.

That was human nature as Kikuchi-san saw it, I was sure.

But when it came to Alucia, Kikuchi-san had taken her

strength to a further extreme.

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In the first version, when Alucia and Libra got to the

garden, Alucia immediately connected the alleged "impurity"

of Libra's presence with the fact that flying dragons naturally

detested impurities, and she guessed that Libra would be

executed. That was why she suggested they run away and

pretend nothing happened, but the guards showed up and

caught them.

The new version, however, took a different turn.

Alucia still made the same connection. But the action she

chose in the moment—was now to break the wings of the

dragon.

If the dragon lost its ability to fly because of an impurity,

the palace would cleanse this impurity by executing the

person who'd caused it. Libra would be killed.

But if the dragon lost its ability to fly by another method,

there would be no reason to execute him.

Her logic was both correct and wrong.

It went without saying that harming one of these dragons

was still a serious crime. But what if Alucia, the king's

daughter, did it "accidentally"? Chances were low that she

would suffer the death penalty.

Alucia weighed the options almost instantly, and in order

to save Libra, she began running toward the dragon to break

its wing.

Just then—either because he'd guessed her whole plan or

because he'd simply sensed something unsettling in her

expression, he grabbed her arm and blocked her from

moving forward.

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"What are you doing?"

"Let me go. I don't think you'll understand, but if I don't

do this, they'll kill you. Please. Let me do it."

Libra refused to budge.

"No."

"Just let me go. I have to break its wing."

"I knew it. I won't let you. You'll die otherwise!"

"Don't worry; I'll be fine. I'll say it was an accident. And

I'd have to do much worse for them to execute a member of

the royal family."

"I still won't let you."

"Why not?"

"Because even if they don't kill you, Alucia will die!"

As he said that last line, the guards arrived and dragged

away the two trespassers.

After that, the plot was generally the same as in the first

version.

Alucia rescued Libra from execution through a nearthreatening negotiation with the adults, the two of them

became "brother and sister" and were charged with caring

for Kris, and their unique relationship began…

My mouth stuffed with a bite of my breaded hamburger

sandwich, I lost myself in the story.

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It was like a fairy tale, but the depiction of human

weakness gave it a slight edge. Andi did the same thing

sometimes—his fans called those moments "dark Andi."

Maybe it came more naturally for Kikuchi-san to create

dark, Andi–style characters than it did to copy his usual soft

atmosphere. This version wasn't just better than the first—

its depictions of people were even sharper than in the story

version, and I couldn't put it down.

Eventually, the focus shifted to the relationship between

the three young people in the garden.

Libra was in charge of bringing Kris her food and the

books she requested.

Alucia was in charge of tutoring her, because Kris couldn't

attend school.

Of course, the two of them didn't stick to their assigned

roles. Libra sometimes talked about the books with Kris, and

Alucia sometimes taught her things that weren't in the

schoolbooks, like how to make flower garlands. They were

like friends, like family. Or perhaps like the caretaker and

teacher they were officially supposed to be.

Their relationships couldn't be easily described with a

single word.

Kris liked to read.

Well, accurately speaking, she had no other way to pass

the time in the garden. Her only other pleasure was to make

crowns from the many flowers there, like Alucia had taught

her. Aside from that, all she could do was read the books

Libra brought from the castle library.

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But because she could easily read a few books in a day,

she burned through most of the fairy tales and myths in the

library within a few months.

So the next stories she tried—were Libra's tales of the

outside world.

"Actually, the fastest dragons are the giants. People tend

to think they move slowly because they're so big and dumb,

but each step they take is huge. They're like…boom, boom!

And they're incredibly fast."

"Wow! Tell me more!"

"I hear some institutes have been using their kinetic

energy to make magical energy. The magicians say it's a

huge development."

"Amazing! Hey, do you know how to use magic?"

"No way! I'm a locksmith's son… The most I can do is

unlock stuff."

"Ah-ha-ha! You mean…by using one of those mechanical

things?"

"Exactly! You're sharp!"

"Don't make fun of me! Of course I know that."

"But seriously…with one of those, I can go lots of places

and see lots of things. It's all I need."

"Huh…"

"You don't believe me?"

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"Of course I do! So your ability to unlock things is a

very…"

"Very what?"

"A very wonderful kind of magic!"

Libra told her things she could never read in fairy tales or

myths—things about real humans.

About how they lived and fought and loved. And

sometimes died.

Kris lived in the same world as them, but Libra's stories

were the most familiar and unfamiliar she had ever heard.

"Kris! Alucia won the grand prize at the Magic Arts

Tournament!"

"Really? Is it true, Libra?"

"I wouldn't lie about that! She really is amazing…"

"She certainly is! Let's have a surprise celebration at my

next class!"

"That's a great idea! Let's do it!"

"Of course! I'll make the most beautiful garland I've ever

made!"

"Okay, I'm counting on you! And I'll… Well, I can't do

anything, so I'll just celebrate!"

"Ah-ha-ha! …Actually, that might be what she wants most

of all."

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"Huh? You think so? I'm betting she asks me for a magic

carbuncle or something."

"Hee-hee. She might, but…"

"What do you mean?"

"…You don't know?"

"No."

"…Oh."

The way Libra talked about her, Alucia seemed like a very

serious, incredibly hardworking person.

But Kris got a slightly different impression from their

classes together…

"Okay, Kris, did you do your homework?"

"Yeah. But there was so much! You're the worst!"

"I am not. This is all for you, you know."

"Is it?"

"What? …Is there something you'd like to say?"

"I mean, if this were truly for me, I think you'd teach me

about the outside world instead."

"Hmm… Okay then. Kris."

"Yes?"

"In the outside world, there's a kind of butterfly called a

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swallowtail. Do you know what a butterfly is?"

"Uh, I think it's a kind of bug, right? Like this?"

"That's a roly-poly! Don't pick it up."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Listen, you can have two bugs, but if they're different

species, they'll be completely different."

"But all we have in here are these."

"I know. That's why you need to study."

"Do I?"

"If you want to hear about the outside world, you need

some basic knowledge first."

"Maybe you're right…"

"So first, we study. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. I think you're just buttering me up… At least

I know what a butterfly is now!"

"Now, please open up scroll number forty-one."

"Hey, are you listening? Uh-oh, I think I really bugged her

this time…"

"Scroll forty-one!"

"Oh! Yes, of course…"

Alucia was rational and intellectual, never leaving herself

vulnerable to attack. But Kris knew that beneath it all, she

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was kind.

As Alucia served as a teacher and Libra as a caretaker, the

three of them grew closer and closer together.

Which is to say—

A chuckle escaped me as I read. I knew Kikuchi-san had

added jokes because Tama-chan would be playing Kris. She

knew how to give people what they wanted.

Something else was cracking me up, too.

It was pure coincidence, but Libra's childhood friend,

Alucia, was exactly like the real Hinami.

She was aggressive, arrogant, confident, and efficient in

everything she did. And she got results.

In her lessons, she was merciless with her logic—exactly

like the Hinami I knew. The hints of playfulness and

occasional glimpses of her exhaustion and humanity were

different, but that was unavoidable. Hinami's level of

strength felt more like fiction than reality. Why was the real

person less real than the fictional one?

My guess was that Kikuchi-san had imagined what

Hinami was really like and based her character on that. On

the surface, Hinami was the delicate, perfect heroine, but

Kikuchi-san must have figured out that something different

was hidden underneath. I was chalking the pinpoint

accuracy up to coincidence, though.

The next plot twist in the play hinged on the flying

dragon.

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These dragons grew up faster than humans and lived

longer, becoming mature at around ten years of age. Of

course, there was some variation, but it was said that almost

all dragons could fly by the time they were thirteen. On the

flip side, if they couldn't fly by then, it was assumed there

must be something wrong with them.

For example, an exposure to impurity.

The dragon that Kris was raising—turned thirteen that

year.

"Why won't you fly, my dear?" Kris murmured as she

stroked the dragon's wings. "Your wings have turned

beautiful colors, and you've grown so big. You really ought to

be flying by now."

Her voice quivered with anxiety—with fear that it was her

fault.

Three conditions were believed to be necessary for a

dragon to fly.

One: The dragon had grown rainbow-colored scales with

antigravitational properties.

Two: It had developed muscular strength that was

adequate to support these wings despite their

antigravitational force.

Three: It did not have any impurities.

When a dragon had achieved the first two conditions but

still could not fly, everyone at the castle assumed that

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impurity must be causing the problem.

In other words—there was no choice but to cleanse the

impurity. And so a movement emerged, pushing for the

execution of Libra. The conflict around Libra escalated, and

the drama unfolded.

But these were relatively minor. What really stayed with

me was what happened after this drama was resolved.

Kris and Libra were talking.

"Kris, I might have figured out what the impurity is."

"Really?! What do you mean, Libra? That's a major

discovery!"

"Yeah…"

"…Why do you look so sad?"

"…Kris. Flying dragons are very intelligent. You know

that, right?"

"Yes. Even ordinary dragons are smarter than humans,

and the flying ones are especially magnificent, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Ultimately, humans are dependent on dragons, but

we aren't the only ones getting something out of the

relationship. You could even say they're playing with us."

"Is that connected to the reason this dragon can't fly?"

Libra looked over to the dragon, which was napping by the

water's edge.

"Dragons—can see into the hearts of humans."

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"…They can?"

"And they are kind. They never forget the person who

raised them, and they do everything they can to make that

person's wishes come true."

"…All right."

"Are you starting to understand now?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Kris."

"Yes?"

"It thinks—that you don't want to fly."

He had revealed the weakness in Kris's heart.

The garden had everything.

But—it also had nothing.

That's why she was so bored, lonely, and curious. She'd

wished she could leave.

But then she met Libra and Alucia.

They'd talked about all kinds of things, brought out all

kinds of feelings in one another.

Now she had something more than the garden.

And her fear of entering the unknown world outside had

taken over, more than her desire to leave the garden and

soar across the open sky.

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Everyone shared that same fear of taking a step toward

something new.

She was more or less satisfied with her present reality; if

she changed it, she might find something even more

wonderful—but she also might find something more painful

and trying. And once she took that step, she might never be

able to come back. She was terrified of taking flight toward

somewhere new.

Only one thing could be tying down the dragon's wings:

Kris's own heart.

As I read Kikuchi-san's script, I was hooked. There's no

other way to put it.

She had used a fairy-tale fantasy to reveal the weakness of

a girl who knew nothing of the world. It really did bring to

mind dark Andi, with its keen observations of human nature

set in a dreamy world. But only Kikuchi-san could have

written this particular theme in this way.

"…Yeah."

That was why I wanted so badly for this play she'd poured

her soul into to be a success.

Now everything in me was hoping for it.

* * *

After school that day, I went to the cafeteria with Kikuchisan.

"So these are just my personal impressions, but…"

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Kikuchi-san hunched her shoulders.

"…I thought it was fantastic. Even better than the shortstory version."

"R-really?!"

I nodded. "Yeah. When Alucia tried to break the dragon's

wings? I did not see that coming. It was so awful, I had to

laugh!"

Kikuchi-san giggled. "I know. I couldn't help smiling to

myself when I thought of it. I was thinking, Would she really

go that far?"

"Ha-ha-ha, yeah."

We looked at each other, still smiling.

"Oh, and the part that stuck with me most was when we

find out why the dragon can't fly. Kris's fear was, like, so

real… I was thinking, yeah, this is how people feel."

Kikuchi-san smiled meaningfully. "I thought you might."

"…You did?"

She paused for a moment before answering. "I can't say

any more… It's a secret."

She brought her finger to her lips.

"Wh-what?"

"Hee-hee."

This mysterious side of her was oddly attractive, and I

didn't want to ruin the effect by asking any more questions.

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"Oh, also—what happens after we find out why the dragon

can't fly! I really liked that part, too."

Kikuchi-san clapped her hands together. "Oh, I love that

scene, too!" she exclaimed happily.

After Kris realizes that she doesn't want to fly, Libra

makes the following proposal.

"Let's ride the dragon together and go see the outside

world."

It's not that Kris doesn't want to see the world—she's just

scared and lonely. Afraid to do it by herself and fly off into

the unknown all alone. That's why she wishes she could stay

on the ground.

But…

"Kris is just afraid to see the world by herself, isn't she?" I

asked very directly.

Kikuchi-san took a quick breath in, then smiled warmly.

"Yes. She was curious about the glittering world outside…but

her fear outweighed her curiosity."

"But if Libra was with her—she felt she could do it," I said.

Kikuchi-san was happy to answer. "She wanted to take

flight, but her fear held her back. She wanted to see the

world with her own eyes, but the sights were just too scary to

see alone. Libra is the one who leads her out of the garden.

It's a comfortable prison, but it's so lonely, too."

She was looking straight at me the whole time she spoke,

her voice full of emotion.

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"Yeah, that scene hit me really hard. It was like I could see

it."

Kris mounts the dragon with Libra, and they see the world

from high above.

The sun feels warmer up there, and the scenes below are

livelier than anything she's ever seen.

Kris is so affected by the colors of this unknown world

that she becomes dizzy.

"Kris would have felt so grateful to Libra for bringing her

out of the garden," Kikuchi-san said.

"Yeah?"

She nodded slowly.

"That world she'd been seeing all her life—that gray world

—she would never want it back after she saw everything

else."

Her voice was so full of emotion, it was like she'd been the

one on dragonback.

"…Huh?"

Something she'd said grabbed my attention—and a second

later, I connected the dots.

Of course. That phrase she'd used just now.

It was the same phrase she'd used once before when we

were having a deep conversation.

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The gray world.

I realized something—or maybe I'd already started to

realize it while I was reading the script.

A young girl withdraws into her own world; a young boy

suddenly bursts into that world. The boy tells the girl about

the outside, and she becomes curious about it. But she's too

scared to take the first big step.

I didn't know if she did it on purpose or by chance.

But the story of Kris…seemed to trace exactly the same arc

as Kikuchi-san's own story.

Kikuchi-san's experiences, her past thoughts, her present

thoughts—they were all a part of Kris herself. I couldn't

avoid that conclusion.

When I thought back on the story from that perspective,

the pieces fell into place one by one.

Kris had spent her days reading books in the garden.

Kikuchi-san had spent hers reading Andi books in the

library.

Of course, there were lots of other things in Kikuchi-san's

life, which was why I hadn't spotted the link earlier.

But there was no question about it—Kikuchi-san existed

vividly within the character of Kris.

In that case…

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The boy who suddenly burst into the garden where Kris

had spent so many years reading alone.

The boy who told her all about the outside world.

The boy who finally led her into that world—the character

of Libra was…

"Oh…" I gulped at the sudden realization.

"What's the matter?" Kikuchi-san peered worriedly into

my face.

"Uh, n-nothing…"

I didn't know what to say. I didn't think my instinct was

wrong, but saying it to her directly did not seem like a good

idea.

"…About Libra…," I asked, to make sure.

"Yes?" Kikuchi-san tilted her head.

"What's he…best at?"

She thought for a second, then said, "He's good at lots of

things, like opening locks, but if I had to say what he's best

at…"

Then she finally said it plainly.

"…it would be saying exactly what he's thinking."

Well, there you had it.

"…Oh."

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If what I suspected was true…

…then this script wasn't made up from scratch.

She'd poured her whole self into the characters, distilling

each of her own experiences until they crystallized into this

incredibly special story.

In other words…

…"On the Wings of the Unknown"…

…was the tale of Kikuchi-san herself.