#28
─Quick profit.
“Hey, I’ve been waiting… ?”
Stella, who appeared while squeezing the water off her hair with a towel, spoke to me with a reddish face along with the misty water vapor.
I wiped off all the water in the bathroom, but it still looks moist in some places. Footprints mixed with water droplets were left on the marble floor.
“No, have you washed everything?”
“Yes… … ”
Stella covered her head with a towel and nodded.
I have something to tell you in a hurry, but I had to go inside because it was raining and I might catch a cold if I stayed outside this cold all the time.
But it was already past midnight. There was no proper place to wash your wet body and have a comfortable conversation.
So in the end, Stella followed my suggestion and led me to her room.
I wondered if it would be easy to enter because I had already been there once, but I couldn’t confidently enter through the front door.
This time, he infiltrated the same route as he had escaped from Stella’s room last time. There weren’t many people around, but it’s something you never know. I managed to get into Stella’s room by jumping over the terrace railing without a word, being as careful as possible.
“Would you like to drink a glass of water?”
“I’m fine. thank you.”
I didn’t feel so embarrassed. Stella’s atmosphere was so serious, and now it’s just purely to talk.
“here.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Stella was wearing a silk dress. Originally, he said he was fine, but I urgently asked for it and came to wash. Didn’t you see I fell this time? If you don’t take good care of your body, you will become like me. In my case, it was exhaustion, but it was true that it could adversely affect my condition anyway.
“… … boo woo woo.”
After taking the water Stella gave her and drinking it, she let out a cool sigh. Then Stella carefully sat down next to the edge of the bed where I was sitting, and then looked back at me and asked.
“It must have happened not too long ago. Are you all right?”
“… … Oh, did you hear me?”
“Ugh, it’s closer to finding out than hearing, but… … ”
“I see. What… are you okay. As you can see it’s fine. Sleeping well is much better. … … Oh, and thanks for taking me and Gabriel to the infirmary.”
“Thank you. It was natural.”
After saying that, Stella raised her index finger.
“Next time, don’t overdo it. Exams are important, but your health is much more important. So, what are you going to do if it breaks down properly?”
“Because it’s okay. It’s so strong it won’t hurt you easily. This was just a light exhaustion.”
I drank another glass of cold water, and when there was no answer and silence, I tilted my head and turned to the side.
There was Stella with a face full of dissatisfaction.
“… … okay. I will be careful in the future.”
“You said that from the beginning.”
While rubbing the nape of her neck in embarrassment, Stella got up from her seat, moved to the mirrored dressing table, and sat down on a chair.
“What are you going to do?”
“Skin care. You should wash it.”
“… … is it?”
“It’s like that.”
Then, using the cosmetics in front of you, you sprinkle something on it, dip it in something like white cream and apply it, tap it, and rub it all over your face as if you were massaging it, saying, “Ugh.” sounded the same
“I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Stella’s murmur.
“Can’t you still do it?”
“no. Some have already become a habit, but I always feel that regular maintenance is really important.”
Tock tock.
Use only your middle and ring fingers to tap your face.
“Ezio, don’t you wear anything?”
“me? What am I… … anything?”
“really? I thought it would, but… … But the skin is unbelievably good. How do you think you are better than me?”
“Sounds that make sense. Anyway, I haven’t been able to sleep for a while now, so I’m really crumbling. There are also a few swellings here.”
“It’s like you said, I can’t sleep. Compared to ordinary people, you are truly blessed. Besides, you’re a boy. I’m really envious, sometimes.”
“is it? … … I don’t know. Hmm.”
Even before the change of body, I don’t have many memories of having trouble in areas such as skin. Except sometimes when the stress gets too much… …
“But you said you didn’t do it before, didn’t you? As far as I can remember, it wasn’t that bad back then. Rather, it was very soft, wasn’t it?”
“Soft and soft… … ”
There, Stella, who had been pouting for a moment, looked at the mirror and continued talking.
“It was when I was young. Everyone has good skin when they are babies.”
“Now is?”
“… … Actually, the basics are fine, but there are some things that have become a habit, but this seems to make my life more stable. So, even when I was at my hometown, I did it alone without the help of the maids.”
I see I shook my head.
“But don’t look at this too much.”
“yes? why?”
“… … Come to think of it, it didn’t seem like it meant much to you, but I didn’t want to show you a face without makeup.”
“… … Aha.”
Stella, who has just washed up, is like a fairy in the Milky Way who was just born in a blessing… … I don’t know what the metaphor was, but somehow it seemed more mysterious and pure. I didn’t even have to put that feeling out of my mouth.
If the usual Stella was the pinnacle of elegance, the current Stella is the bare face of elegance that has been stripped away. To be honest, both have their own charms, and above all, they are dazzlingly beautiful. Either way it was constant.
“Well, I don’t know about anything different from usual.”
“… … Do you know that it is a statement that can be a little problematic as it is?”
Stella on the other side of the mirror narrowed her eyes and said.
“Hey, that was a compliment… … Both are pretty.”
“Ugh.”
From my point of view, it was a bit embarrassing to say, but Stella only responded with a subtle smile.
Then, at some point, she was gently combing her wet hair with her hands.
—Sorry, sarcasm.
I opened my mouth as if possessed as I gazed at the silvery-white hair that was shining under the light.
“stellar.”
“… … why?”
“You are a real girl.”
Then, after a while.
“… … Strange?”
This time, I thought he would answer with a little horns, but he showed a very unexpected reaction.
“Actually, I was a man… … Was it better?”
It wasn’t meant to be that way.
“No, just… … I am amazed every time I see it. I really want to know if it’s the friend I used to know. Until now, there has been a tendency to perceive each of them as separate people, but it seems that you are slowly acknowledging the fact that you are the former Alfresn… … So it looks new these days. Something.”
“So you say you don’t like it, you say you like it… … ”
“You can’t hate it. The latter, of course.”
“… … okay?”
“More than anything.”
“… … yes?”
Recalling the image of my friend who liked stars, I spit out those words after a long time in my pure childhood.
“I don’t care if you are a woman or a man. Even if I knew she was a woman from the beginning, I would have been trying to get along.”
Both were young. It really wouldn’t matter. still the same I must have somehow been drawn to Stella’s beautiful personality and personality.
“So, do you still like me?”
I paused for a moment, but answered naturally.
“Yeah… … I like it. Isn’t it obvious? how much fun i had with you Looking at the memories of that childhood that still remain, I think I’ll know how much I liked you as a friend… … ”
“… … I don’t even need to emphasize my friend.”
“yes?”
“No, it’s okay.”
Stella did not speak for a long time.
Thanks to you, I was embarrassed and scratched the back of my neck. After a while, Stella took turns putting the lids on her makeup and combing her hair this time with a comb.
“Hey.”
“yes.”
“Did you say you still love me?”
“right.”
“Even if I still have a lot to hide?”
“… … yes?”
It was a small voice, but the meaning did not scatter.
But to me, who asked me blankly, not knowing how to respond, Stella shook her head and picked up the words she dropped.
“never mind.”
It was just my guess though.
Today’s Stella looked a little different from usual.
#29
Stella, who dried her hair neatly, sat gently on her buttocks next to me with her soft skin. I said to Stella like that.
“I thought it looked very urgent before, but now it’s a lot calmer.”
“If we talk to each other in a state of confusion, it’s obvious that we won’t be able to communicate properly. I can talk more comfortably this way.”
In front of the dormitory, I had to sweat for about five minutes to calm Stella, who was giving me a wide hug.
“You mean, are you sure you’ve calmed down?”
“… … yes. I think I’m fine now.”
Her cheeks are slightly red, perhaps as a reminder of her shameful appearance. Maybe it’s just because it’s been a while since I washed up.
“So, what the hell happened?”
“Well… … ”
Stella clenched her hands and opened her mouth.
“First of all, I’m sorry for calling you so late. But I thought I should tell you as soon as possible. If it was too late, I could not have enough time to respond with certainty.”
“it’s okay. Please feel free to speak.”
“Yeah, that’s… … ”
He seemed to be contemplating whether or not to float his luck.
after a while.
“Did I tell you last time? I can only hear the voice of the star once every set period. So I can see a little bit of the future… … ”
I nodded. Stella continued.
“Last time I was supposed to look after your fate, didn’t I? But there was a problem there. In the end, I couldn’t see your future.”
“It did.”
The vast ocean, the burning evening sky. A ray of light like the sun. It’s a scene I still remember vividly.
Now that I know a lot, I can roughly guess what it really is… …
“By the way, this time the voice reached me.”
“… … to the stars?”
“yes. It was clearly communicated, and the answer was also heard.”
Stella continued speaking with a firm voice.
“I had a gut feeling before it rained. I must hear the voice of the star today… … Otherwise, something big will happen. But I didn’t call you this time. If you lose your chance like last time, it will be of no use. So I went to see the stars by myself.”
“Yeah, was it?”
“I did… … I saw it.”
“So, what?”
“I saw your fate in a few days.”
I remember what Stella said while holding me.
– In this exercise, you must be absent.
“Maybe that… … ”
“It’s not just that. Maybe the reason I was able to see your fate was because you weren’t the only person involved in it.”
“… … What does that mean?”
“It’s practice. In this mock practice… … ”
“calm down.”
“Yeah, wait a minute. Wait a minute… … ”
Trying to recall the memories he had seen, he calmly wrapped Stella’s shoulder, which was gradually getting short of breath, and calmed him down.
“The first thing I saw was your face.”
“face?”
“yes. It’s a very dark space. There is no one around, and there is no light. This is probably the place where this practice is held. I saw you there Your uniform was all torn and burned, and you couldn’t see where you went, and you were staggering around in rags.”
“… … ”
That’s a pretty brutal prophecy. However, the scenes that emerge from the memories buried within me overlap one by one. It wasn’t unrealistic at all, I had to think so.
Are you going to run into something tough in practice? If anything happens there… …
I unconsciously touched the bracelet on my wrist. Does it happen even while wearing this? It was never a good future.
“And, and… … ”
Stella shrugged her shoulders and continued.
“You weren’t the only one there. There was one friend who was not as bad as you, but seemed to be hurt a little. You were walking towards that friend. … … But, I really don’t understand what happened in the next moment. I was so surprised and scared, that’s why I came to you like this.”
“Okay, okay, so keep talking.”
“Ezio, Ezio… … you are there You, in this exercise… … ”
fear. distrust. With a face engulfed in all kinds of negative emotions, Stella trembled, tired of blue, and held my hand.
Those silvery-silver eyes stared straight at me——
“You killed Yuri.”
immediately after.
“What I saw… That’s it.”
The accident stopped, and I couldn’t think of anything.