Chapter Four: Signs of “Female Fall”
“Well then, Kanade, see you at today’s club activity~”
Nagi smiled happily and said this before turning and leaving the classroom.
After a moment of silence.
“I was wrong about you! How could you possibly be our ally!” Suzuki said tragically.
The look in the onlookers’ eyes when they saw Nagi.
Her obsessive admiration for Kanade was almost overflowing.
It was as if hearts were about to pop up above her head.
How could the two of them possibly have a normal childhood friends relationship!?
“N-No way, childhood friends can only be losers…” Tanaka said, flipping through the book in disbelief, as if to find some theoretical support.
“Tanaka, wake up! Reality and manga are two different things!”
“What—!?” Tanaka exclaimed, as if struck by lightning, dropping the manga in his hands to the floor.
The person in question, Kanade, quietly set down her bento.
“….. I need to go to the restroom.”
“You traitor, don’t try to escape—!”
The classroom’s crowd watched as Kanade and Suzuki’s figures disappeared through the back door.
They exchanged glances.
“Are those childhood friends always like this since last year?”
This was a question from a boy who wasn’t in the same class as Nagi last year.
He was stunned by the scene he had just witnessed.
Why had this pair of childhood friends not started dating yet? Could it be that Tsukimi really didn’t like girls?
“I guess there’s no hope~”
On the other side, a small circle of girls who had their sights set on Kanade sighed.
No matter who it was, after witnessing the sweet demeanor of the two just now, resembling a newlywed couple.
They all knew they had no chance against Nagi.
Not only was she their childhood friend who grew up together, but she was also a lovely and virtuous super beautiful girl; trying to compete with her for a guy would only be humiliating.
“After all, she is the most popular beauty in the whole school~,” one girl mentioned last year’s voting results.
“This year, Nagi will probably continue her reign~,” another girl who was in the same class as Nagi last year shrugged.
“So how could commoners like us compete with Cinderella~?”
“Indeed, at least someone like that new freshman princess this year might have a chance to compete with Nagi, right?”
“Ah, if it’s that princess, maybe there’s hope, but… would any princess like her take a liking to someone like Tsukimi?”
The other girls nodded in agreement.
Only one girl in this small group had remained silent.
She was slightly taller than the others, her eyes fixed intently in the direction Kanade had exited the classroom.
“I won’t give up,” she declared resolutely.
“Eh!? Is that for real? She’s that Hoshimiya Nagi, you know?”
The other girls looked shocked.
“I understand, but—”
She paused, as if swallowing the saliva in her mouth.
“Did you all notice? The moment Hoshimiya-san turned to leave, Tsukimi’s expression flashed with a look of sadness, like a stray puppy abandoned by its owner—ahhh, that was super super super amazing~~~”
“Eh? R-Really?”
“Really, really, Tsukimi is definitely the type that would cling and act cute once they start dating~,” she said excitedly as if she could barely hold back the drool.
“Just thinking about being cuddled by Tsukimi with that handsome face, like a puppy snuggling in my arms~~~ I can’t take it anymore~~~”
Seeing this, the other girls instinctively took a step back.
They silently distanced themselves from her.
And all the girls in their minds were thinking the same thing:
“Wow, this girl is scary, if I ever get a boyfriend, I definitely don’t want her to find out~”
…..
…..
It really feels strange.
With this thought, Nagi had come to the rooftop during the break.
Waiting for her was the snowy white figure of Garuda.
Under the azure sky.
A gentle breeze lifted Nagi’s black, shiny hair.
A person and a bird stood by the rooftop railing.
“I recently feel something is off…” Nagi said with a heavy expression.
“Master, you’re at that age now~”
“What do you mean?”
“Recently, have you felt a bit emotionally unstable, wanting to explode, right?”
“N-No, no way, what are you talking about? It’s not like that—”
“—It will come, you know.” Garuda interrupted Nagi’s denial.
“… I know about this, of course~~~” Nagi’s eyes welled up with tears, gripping the mesh railing tightly.
“Although I know it’s a normal physiological phenomenon for girls, but… it’s so scary! Just thinking about that day approaching, I get so worried I can’t sleep at night!”
“So……. that’s why I wanted to escape reality here first—!” Nagi admitted candidly.
Although she had learned about this in advance through various studies.
But the more she understood, the more she was scared.
If before, the only difference between men and women was physical.
Then after this.
Nagi would truly possess the unique reproductive ability of women.
In other words, this was the true “female fall.”
“N-No, that’s not what I wanted to say—” After being scared for a while, Nagi suddenly remembered that what she was worried about wasn’t just this, this was concerning too, but she wanted to say something else.
“Recently, the state of starlight is very strange.”
Nagi felt that the consumption of starlight had been a bit abnormal lately.
The starlight she replenished the day before had consumed less than half by today.
After she finished her bath this morning, she intentionally wore a more stimulating “wrapped in a towel in front” outfit.
To test the consumption of starlight.
As a result, the consumption of starlight was minimal.
The starlight in her eyes was still as dazzling as ever.
Even when she delivered lunch to Kanade in their classroom this morning, showing off their bond was less than what she had expected.
This was very odd.
Where was the problem?
Garuda listened silently to Nagi’s talk and stayed silent for a while.
Then tilted her head and said to Nagi:
“….. Doesn’t this mean, Master, that you have completely fallen?”
“!!!”
Nagi felt as if her brain had been struck by lightning.
She buckled and knelt down.
This assumption Nagi had considered.
And it made logical sense.
Because the consumption of starlight was related to “self”; the closer her every movement got to “self,” the lower the consumption of starlight…
Was it because she was unwilling to accept this fact, hence had ignored what was happening?
“If even pretending to be newlyweds with Kanade hardly consumes anything… Master, have you finally fallen to this point?”
“!? K-Kill me!”
Until the end.
Garuda’s crimson bean-like eyes remained fixed on the transformed Koha Nagi.
She seemed to want to say something but swallowed her words.
…..
The break time ended.
Next was the art class.
Nagi, along with everyone, went to the art room.
The most popular student in the class, Nagi, was pushed forward.
She became the model for everyone’s sketching in art class.
Nagi couldn’t refuse her classmates’ enthusiasm.
She could only walk gracefully to the front, placing her hands on her knees and sitting down elegantly.
The sparkling starlight in her eyes.
Shimmered and dazzled as it attracted everyone’s attention.
Meanwhile, at Nagi’s original seat.
A piece of pristine white paper was splattered with ink that seemed to have appeared from nowhere at the corner.
The ink spread along the paper’s fibers.
Silently and quietly polluted the white.
