Chapter 3.2 (2/2)

“…… Not yet.”

Miku said this while glaring so hard at the water’s surface that it was terrifying. It seemed that she still wanted to fish. However, the sun would be setting soon, and the results of the compet.i.tion were clear.

“Ah~ …… Um, you know…”

“Not yet, I said……. I still haven’t caught a single one……!”

“……”

Her eyes were glistening just a bit. Were those tears of frustration? I would have never thought that she’d take this compet.i.tion so seriously. With earnest eyes, she stared at the end of the fis.h.i.+ng line. I found her face to be very cute, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Wh…… What’s so funny!”

“B-because…… aha….. You’re staring so hard at the water but….. Not a single one……”

“Stop laughing~!”

“……ahahaha!”

“……. Y-you’re so mean, laughing at me like that! Stupid Len—I hate you……!”

“Sorry……! Haha—”

I must have teased her too much. Miku’s face gradually lost its composure, and she looked like she might burst out crying at any moment. Even as she made this face, I wanted to monopolize her even more. I found myself thinking these inappropriate thoughts.

“I’m sorry,”

I pulled her into an embrace. She started squirming like a child, so I pressed my hand against the back of her head and forced our gazes to meet. With a wrinkle at her brow, she glared at me from point-blank range, but there was no strength in it at all.

“You look cute when you’re angry, too.”

“……”

“Come on, cheer up. Please?”

“……”

“Remember? The loser has to grant one wish of the winner—is that still not enough to make you do it?”

“No! I won’t really be happy even if I do so……”

She turned her head away again. Her entire upper body was twisted away from me.

“That’s bothersome……”

“….. You hardly look bothered at all!”

“But I am?”

“…. See? You’re laughing!”

“Am I? I always look like this.”

“No you don’t! You usually look much more handsome…”

“…… Eh?”

“……!”

She seemed to be embarra.s.sed by what she’d said and tried to stand up, but I strengthened my grip to stop her.

“Let go of me, please!”

“No way. I won’t let go.”

“Len, please……! Huh……?”

I’d been seen. Surely, my own face was as red as the sunset right now. She seldom complimented me by saying I that was handsome, or anything of the sort. My heart was pounding noisily.

“…… Come now, it really is going to get dark soon, so let’s go back.”

I pretended like it was nothing, and stood up.

“Len…… your face—”

“If you say any more…. I’ll make you have the same face as me,”

As soon as I said this, she seemed to imagine something, and became tongue-tied, her face pink. She stared at me with eyes that seemed to expect something, and my heart sprang forward a bit in mischief.

“Come to think of if, the winner of the compet.i.tion is me, so…. About my wish…..”

I whispered this softly in her ear. Her face quickly reddened.

“~~~!”

As she stood still, unable to say a word, I took her hand, the bucket in my other free hand, and started to walk. She glared at me again, looking slightly rueful, but as before, there wasn’t any strength in the expression.

“Ah~ I’m so hungry…… I’m looking to dinner.”

“……. Right.”

Contrary to the now-heavy bucket, my gait was much lighter on the way back than when we’d come.

When it became night, we decided to make a simple meal with the fish that we…… well, the fish that I had caught. I excitedly pulled out the cooking utensils, but after being told by Miku, “Len, you don’t have to help out, so just relax,” with a no-questions-asked-smile, I was suddenly left with nothing to do. Each time I tried to help the maids with some kind of household ch.o.r.e, too, they nervously told me that I didn’t have to since I was the master. I was hardly making any progress.

To kill time, I walked aimlessly around the garden by myself. The heat from the afternoon had subsided a bit, and the night air felt nice. As I continued walking like this for a while, I noticed that the area around my feet had suddenly gotten brighter. Wondering what it was, I crouched down and saw that it was a bug. I didn’t remember seeing this kind of bug during the day. Leaning in to have a closer look, they seemed to be flying while emitting a soft light from their body.

I felt a sense of affinity towards creatures with wings. Perhaps it was because I had once been an angel, but I felt that these bugs also shared the hards.h.i.+ps and troubles as others that had wings. As I stared listlessly at this beautiful, flickering bug, I heard her calling for me from within the mansion. I’d have to tell her about this unusual bug. With quick steps, I followed the delicious scent of food that had drifted into the garden.

“Hey, Miku. Earlier, I saw this strange bug in the garden.”

“A strange bug……?”

After we finished dinner, and I was rejected again when offering to help clean up, I relaxed by myself on the sofa. I suddenly remembered about the bug that I had found earlier, and started to tell her about it. She told me that she’d like to see them for herself, so we went outside again. The garden was glowing brightly. Many of those glowing bugs, many more than earlier, had gathered.

“Woah…. There’s more than before……!”

“Fireflies! So pretty……”

“Fireflies?”

“Yes, they’re called fireflies. They live where there’s clean water. Lately, there aren’t too many in Velcant anymore, but…… It must be because there’s so much nature around here.”

“I see……”

Clean water, huh. Until I had come to live in the human world, I had never really realized that there were so many different lands and cultures. Heaven was the origin of everything. I remembered once telling her this. Although she probably didn’t remember that now…… Velcant and Tard differed greatly in its people, culture, climate, and practically everything else. Now that I was a human, I was very happy that I was able to see these large differences.

“Wow…… The fireflies are pretty, but so are the stars.”

“You’re right…… Ah! Miku, watch out!”

“? ……kyahh—”

As she walked slowly, looking up at the night sky, her foot stumbled into something. I embraced her body suddenly to prevent her from falling, but I also lost my balance, and we both tumbled to the ground.

“…… L-Len, are you alright?”

“…… I’m fine. Are you?”

“Y-yes, since you protected me…… I’m sorry. …… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I was glad that she wasn’t injured. I decided that I would clean up this garden a bit, first thing tomorrow. I was sure that she must have stumbled on some trash or something. Rolling over, we remained lying there on the gra.s.s, and looked up at the sky.

“It’s so pretty…… Both above and below, everything’s glowing.”

Before we noticed, there were fireflies floating around where we were lying down, as well.

“……. Both the stars and the fireflies are pretty, but Miku’s the one that glows the brightest.”

“Ah……! Y-you always say things like that.”

“Because it’s true.”

“…… Don’t say those kinds of things to other people.”

“…… Are you jealous……? That makes me happy. But you know, I’ve never said them to anyone besides you, Miku~”

“I-I mean from now on……!”

“…… Alright. I promise.”

“It’s a promise, alright?”

“If you’ll stay by my side forever, that’s enough. I don’t need anything else.”

“Mm…… Me too. If you’re by my side, that’s enough.”

“……”

“…… Ah! It’s a shooting star!”

“Eh?”

For a split-second, a star streaked across the sky with a sparkle.

“Oh, another one! Hey, Len, did you know that if you make a wish on a shooting star before it disappears, your wish will come true?”

“Really? …… Alright, here I go! Ah…… It disappears a lot faster than I thought it would.”

“It’s rather difficult. A long time ago, my father also made a wish on a shooting star, and it came true.”

“Oh? …… What kind of wish was it?”

“He wished that his love with my mother would grow stronger, and right after that, they really did grow closer and became lovers.”

“Oh…? Your father sounds like he was an interesting man.”

“Doesn’t he? It’s so romantic……”

“…… I’ll make a wish too, then. But… I don’t have too much faith towards the stars, so is it alright if I make the wish directly to myself?”

I gazed up at the starry sky, staring at nowhere in particular. Getting into fights over trivial things, and then making up and laughing it off. I felt so much happiness from that kind of frivolous play. I simply wished that these peaceful days would continue forever.

<script>