Finally making it to her dorm room, Aoi Naigsa didn't even bother to undress as she fell face first onto her bed, exhausted and worried.
She realizes now that attending the Student Council meeting with her girlfriend, Hanazono Shizuma, was a bad idea. The moment they entered the meeting room, all but Rokujou-sama and Lulim's council gave her hard, cold stares. She had blushed furiously with embarrassment, but remained the entire time. Poorly thought, as she laid witness to a blazing row between Miator's and Spica's Student Council presidents.
The question, "Who will be Etoile?", was the main subject - or rather, the point of this meeting. When given her opinion, Shizuma merely glanced at Nagisa before replying: "I think we should let the Head Mistress resolve this when she returns."
Such a reply ignited a fresh argument between Rokujou and Spica's president, Tomori Shion, which lasted for almost the majority of the meeting, or so it seemed to her. After Shizuma spoke, Nagisa noticed that Kaname and Momomi, two representatives of Spica, were eyeing her; not glaring, but giving her sneering, calculating looks. It made Nagisa very uneasy, but she just looked politely back.
After, she had excused herself, gave Shizuma a quick kiss (drawing more glares from several students) and returned to her room, intending to fall asleep even though it was still dusk. It wasn't until she rolled over that she noticed something odd about her bed.
"What the...?" She got up and examined her bed. Her blankets were jumbled, as though someone had been searching it. Rather odd, she thought, as her friend, Tsukidate Chiyo, never left a part of the room untidy. She pulled the blanket out, and saw a small, slightly bulging envelope fall from the folds. Dropping the blanket, she picked it up and opened it.
Inside was a small, tightly folded paper, and two, simply cut but brilliant jewels, one deep, crimson red, the other a piercing, cobalt blue.
She stared at them in surprise. Jewels this beautiful must have cost a lot of money; they certainly couldn't have come from her friends. Maybe they came from Shizuma...? Looking for answers, she unfolded the piece of paper and read:
Dear Aoi Nagisa,
I believe you saw me training in the forest, near your school's greenhouse. I apologize if I startled you. While I was training, I had felt a very powerful, sun-bright soul reach my attention, which made my actions go a little haywire. I suspect the soul I felt was yours.
It's for this reason that I give you these gems. I won't describe what they are and what they do - yet. Instead, I'd like to meet you and Hanazono Shizuma tomorrow, preferably where I was training. And bring those gems with you - if you want me to explain all.
-Anonymous
Nagisa felt very confused. 'What they are and what they do - yet.' What did that mean? Could they hold some kind of magic? And how does he know her name and that of Shizuma's? Why does he want to meet them both? Could HE possess magic? Or is a trick, planned by some jealous student?
Tired, confused and anxious, Nagisa put the matter away in her mind. She gathered up the letter and jewels, put them back in the envelope, hid them underneath her pillow (For she couldn't think of anywhere else to put them) and laid back down on her bed, falling asleep immediately.
In her room, Shizuma pondered the momentary feelings. She felt tired, an increasing sense of confusion, and a nagging, baseless worry, all gone almost as fast as they came.
'What was that...?' she thought. Suddenly, the tired feeling was back, and growing, as though she was exhausted. Closing her door, she made it to her bed before falling fast asleep.
In the moonlight, the boy smiled as he felt a powerful resonance between the two crystals, and an echoing resonance between two souls. "Indeed," he said to himself, "They must be the first...in a thousand years."
