Disclaimer: I do not own Magic Knight Rayearth.
4 years after the events of Magic Knight Rayearth 2
Fuu Hououji stared out the library window. She was supposed to be studying but found herself uncharacteristically unable to concentrate. It wasn't the academics that were bothering her. Fuu actually had nothing particularly pressing to work on. She had been accepted to the prestigious University of Tokyo and had already graduated high school. Although the thought of the heavy load of school work that was soon to be her lot in life daunted her somewhat what really bothered her was that entering college somehow seemed like a final step away from the world known to her and its inhabitants by the name Cephiro.
*
Umi Ryuuzaki liked her life. She had been accepted to a great school, had a great boyfriend, a great wardrobe, and to top it all off had recently won a fencing tournament. If 13 year old Umi could see 18 year old Umi she would be more than pleased. But looking at herself in the window of a passing store Umi couldn't help feeling, despite telling herself that she shouldn't, like something wasn't right with her life. And something most definitely wasn't right with Hikaru….
*
Hikaru Shidou was always smiling. It was just a character trait. She did not like to worry or upset people. And the smiles were mostly genuine, in that she felt real affection for the people she smiled at. Unlike Umi and Fuu she was not going to college. She was going to work for her family, probably for the rest of her life. And that was alright with her. Words could hardly describe how much she enjoyed being a part of her family. She loved her parents, and her brothers, and her eldest brother's new wife and baby. She still sniffled whenever she passed Hikaree's grave, who had passed a year ago, but she loved that she was close to her here. Still, sometimes…this felt wrong.