iv.

Hotaru has long given up trying to find a reason for her insomnia. Perhaps this is a trait all technical abilities share: Maybe their mind let's them do extraordinary things at the cost of ordinary ones. She doesn't mind trading in her sleep, though she does sometimes imagine a world where she isn't awake, wanting to invent but being too tired to make her hands do so.

Then again, she muses, kicking up small stones on the path in front of her, Luca Nogi hardly has the mind of a technical ability type, yet she always meets him during nights like this one. The bumblebee invention she designed the week before is still being tested, but so far it is doing an admirable job, lighting the way while flying at her side. It illuminates her classmate's figure a few steps ahead of her.

He is waiting for her to catch up.

"Enjoying your newly acquired No-Star life,?" Hotaru asks him as a way of greeting. He seems disgruntled as they set out on their way to the forest and she soon realises way: Three golden stars glimmer at the collar of his uniform. Luca catches her gaze and sighs.

"They gave me new ones," he explains. "Apparently the amount of stars I have isn't my choice to make."

"Such a shame," she says "I was looking forward to no longer having to share the three star dormitory with you, but here we are."

"Sorry to inconvenience you, Imai."

"Oh well, I can always shoot you when you get too close. And this way my picture source is closeby!"

His unhappy expression almost makes Hotaru want to stick out her tongue.

"I'm surprised," she comments, flopping down on the bench they've just reached and staring into the forest. "I thought after the stunt we pulled the Academy would punish us, but I suppose they need to keep things quiet."

Luca nods, then pauses. He sits down next to her without meeting her eyes, seemingly nervous.

"About that...stunt. I meant to ask you something…," Luca trails off, only continuing to speak when he catches her impatiently motioning for him to do so. He takes a deep breath.

"Did you mean it,?" Luca asks, and she can sense his agitation. "Did you mean it when we were under the Middle School, looking for Natsume, and you said I should stop being a coward? Is that what you think I am?"

It takes her a moment to remember what he is talking about (between fighting Persona and meeting the MSP, the whole thing wasn't exactly light on details) and her classmate takes those few seconds as hesitation.

"I...I don't care if you think so," he hurriedly assures her, "but with Mikan, it's different."

"Why, because you're in love with her?" Her words come out like a sneer as she remembers the two boys vying for her best friend's attention.

Luca flushes.

"Because unlike you she isn't evil," he grits out between clenched teeth.

She cocks her head to the side, silently agreeing before swiftly hitting him in the side of the head with her gun.

"She doesn't think you're a coward," Hotaru tells him once he's stopped groaning. Luca shoots her a grateful look, the quiet kind of Thank You he knows won't make her hit him as a punishment.

It's strange. Maybe it's the fact that she should really be sleeping, maybe the events of today are making her crazy. But she suddenly remembers how he called her brave once, all those months ago. It made the scales between them uneven. But normally she would not care for the opportunity to even them back out.

"For what it's worth," she says now, "I don't think you're a coward either. You're just as stupid as Mikan."

Not stupid at all, she means, just good.

Her admission surprises him, but Luca knows better than to mention it. Clearing his throat, he moves onto the next topic.

"So...You've found yourself a fan," he says.

"I've always had fans", Hotaru replies with a smug smile. "This one isn't any different. I just hope he won't annoy me any more than he already has."

Luca rolls his eyes at her.

"Oh, poor Imai, drowning in admires," he says.

Hotaru shrugs.

"They're insane, I tell you."

"Oh, really?" Luca sounds genuinely curious. Hotaru nods sagely.

"Oh yes," she mock-whispers. "One of them even makes me talk to him past midnight. I guess moths just seek out the light that I am on instinct."

Luca's expression is familiar. He usually wears it when she blackmails him with her picture collection.

"You're not the light Imai," he pouts. "You're...you're…"

"Keep going, you're getting there," Hotaru drawls. Luca brings his fingertips to his lips, apparently deep in concentration. After a few seconds he sits up straight, face triumphant.

"You're a sea rabbit!," he says, sounding thrilled with himself. Her brows rise unwittingly.

"What," Hotaru asks, "is that?"

"A very stupid fish. In fact, it barely has any brain cells."

Zoology knowledge strikes again, she thinks, holding back a smile.

The inventor shoots him for that, and again later when they are playing "guess the constellation" and he starts insisting on the existence of Pluto all over again.

They're on their way back to the dormitory when Luca stops walking, making her turn around. He seems serious. The light atmosphere vanishes from the air.

"Do you have a plan?," he asks her.

Hotaru doesn't have to ask for what. They fought for their lives, Mikan's heritage makes her a danger, Natsume's sister was trapped and is now free. They won this match but the Academy will do what it does best: Retaliate, swiftly and efficiently.

"I always do," she promises.

Hotaru has never liked chess - black and white seems like a dangerous simplification of reality - but life makes her play it now. Luca watches her, expectancy evident in his eyes. He trusts her to make the right move and somehow that gives her the confidence to believe that she can beat their all powerful school, that this isn't game-over for any of them.