Act 1

Start of a Study Case

Chapter 6

Experience Evaluation

"It is here, I see…"

Kirika eyed the door numbered 216 and the shiny new nameplate next to it, which had the Kanji of her name, as well as its alphabetical romaji reading 'Amagiri Kirika' written on it.

She resisted the urge to sigh. It was a little disappointing her room was placed in the second floor in a nine-story building.

If she had any say in the matter, Kirika would have preferred a room in the higher floors; that would at least allow her to enjoy the scenery offered by the Seidoukan Academy whenever she was in her room.

But no, her room just had to be placed near the ground level, and on the northern part of the building at that.

That meant her window faced directly behind the dorms, and that would only provide her with the scenery of a small forest – while that wasn't too bad, it did block the view of the park and the lake which would be far more pleasing to the eyes.

If this is the arrangement, I don't think I will enjoy this room very much…

But she supposed this predicament was tolerable. To begin with, Kirika didn't plan to spend much of her free time in her room.

And now, she had more important things to ponder about.

About today, Julis, and myself.

Parting ways with the princess earlier was quite an amusing affair – after Kirika left her at the gate of the dormitory, Julis seemingly had enough of being ignored, played and brushed off. With all the wrath of an angry goddess, the princess had chased Kirika.

It was honestly to be expected, but it quickly escalated into one of the most thrilling game Kirika had participated recently, so she wouldn't complain. The female dormitory was an environment Player Kirika was not yet familiar with, and a place Player Julis knew inside out.

The situation forced Player Kirika to avoid being seen by large crowds of students to prevent more rumors about both Players. And the opposing Player Julis was a Strega with a strong tenacity and speed-acceleration magic among her repertoire.

These parameters were stacked on top of the fact that, Player Julis very clearly had lots of experience in tag. That much was clear from the number of times Player Kirika was almost cornered.

Player Kirika was 100% sure if she wasn't a Strega herself – Player Julis would have caught her. No questions asked. Her opponent was just that good.

It was a nice game of tag – no, perhaps it became a hide and seek by the end? Though I suppose my use of magic could be considered cheating.

A tiny bit of guilt wormed its way somewhere in her heart, but she tried to ignore it.

There was no doubt Julis was at the very least upset and annoyed with her sudden change of behavior. Before they reached the dorm's gate, they had been conversing in a fairly amicable manner for acquaintances, up until Kirika decided to brush the princess off and leave as quickly as she could.

But that was done on purpose. If she was seen with Julis in the dorms, the rumors about their connection might escalate even further than it already did; creating assumptions which could paint a target on her back.

At the moment, Kirika's presence as a transfer student in the mid of school year was already conspicuous. People had also assumed she was previously acquainted with the princess of Lieseltania as well, due to their conversation in class.

If students began to assume she and Julis were friendly with each other, then the culprit – likely not alone – targeting the Page One might have enough reason to target her as well, even for something as stupid as provoking the princess.

If my retaliation exposes my threat level to them, it will be harder to investigate my enemies.

Kirika had every intention to hunt them down, so it would be smoother if her prey didn't think she was a threat. Remaining beneath notice, or appearing inconsequential were basic principles for hunting.

And surprisingly enough, those almost always held true no matter what kind of hunting ground she was in. Perhaps that was why they were considered 'basic'?

In any case, Kirika honestly wanted to explain why she had to avoid Julis in the dorms. However, their surroundings might be infested with prying eyes and ears, which was why she hadn't done so already.

I shouldn't use it as an excuse, though. I owe her an explanation for the next time we meet. And I will apologize to her, as many times as it takes.

Kirika just hoped Julis wouldn't be too angry to hear her later. Although... if that did happen, she didn't really mind. What kind of friendship could form without any spice, anyway?

But that was that. She should not stand idly before her room any longer. With a quick movement, Kirika took the Seidoukan emblem on her school jacket's pocket and set it upon the door's electronic lock.

With a click sound, the machine recognized her ID and the door opened.

Inside… was bigger than she had imagined. It was the size of a ten-tatami room, and it was already furnished with a bed and a desk. Aside from a chair, no other furniture lay in sight; only her two bags of luggage.

To the left of the entrance, there was a door leading to what she assumed to be the bathroom, and ahead of her was a rather large window which would be more than enough to facilitate her jumping out of the room when she felt like it.

There was an interphone attached on the wall to the bed's right, and two switches on the other side. Probably for the lights and to sound an alarm; Kirika heard the female dormitory was equipped with alarms so any female student could alert the security for burglars.

All in all, it was quite plain, though that was probably to be expected.

Kirika took a few steps into the room as the automatic door behind her closed, and inhaled a deep breath. The air wasn't dusty at all, which meant the room was attended by cleaning service even though it had no occupant before she transferred.

…I will check for any hidden surveillance camera later.

For now, Kirika wanted to-

"Uff…"

-throw herself to the bed, and relax.

Hitting the bed with a soft thudding noise, her line of sight shifted toward the room's ceiling in less than a second. Then, she felt softness across her whole body, forcing her to suppress a smile.

…Comfy.

Sprawling her arms and legs, she tried to press the bed with her weight as much as she could with the awkward position she was on, but there was no creaking noise.

That meant the bed was strong enough to completely support her weight. Her body relaxed at the thought. Overall, this room was hospitable enough for her standards.

A perfect place for her to start evaluating about today's experience.

Now then…

As of this moment, Seidoukan Academy experience had exceeded most of her previous expectations and predictions. Though objectively speaking, surpassing them wasn't exactly difficult.

Kirika knew more than anyone else about her prejudice against the Integrated Enterprise Foundation and the Asterisk City; long before coming here, her opinion of them had never been flattering.

Considering how low the expectations were, she had predicted at least half of it would be subverted. However, she hadn't expected them to be crushed so thoroughly.

Officially speaking today was the first day Amagiri Kirika was in Asterisk City, having just moved in. However, that was not the truth.

Kirika had moved in and lived in the central part of the city for about 6 months, more than enough for her to understand the 'atmosphere' of the city.

She wasn't able to get anywhere near the areas around the six corners of the star-shaped artificial island as they were governed by combat academies, but it was not really necessary to understand Asterisk.

The streets were always busy, activities continued non-stop all day long, and individuals paid no concern for anything which didn't concern themselves.

At first glance, it didn't look any different than a common metropolitan. But that was simply the surface.

Members of mafia-like gangsters and other such organized crimes could be seen roaming certain streets at night.

There were entire districts dedicated as slums for the city outcasts, including criminals and illegal immigrants.

And of course, the intelligence groups of each combat school were crawling everywhere, straddling the lines of legality.

Kirika had to sigh at that thought. No wonder Haruka hated everything about this city.

However, while the ways of living in this city were wretched, it was not something she would dwell on.

It was simply the reality to accept, and she should learn to work around these conditions.

What she did dwell on... was the fact Seidoukan Academy and its vicinity were very much filled to the brim with the beauty of nature.

She knew it was mere aesthetics and it shouldn't affect her evaluation of their conduct.

But…

But…!

Damn it. I love it so much.

The soft grass fields. The richly dense trees. The colorful flower gardens. The reflective and beautiful artificial lake.

It made her experience here more pleasant than expected.

And then there's the people…

It was by far the most surprising aspect of her experience in this academy so far.

Though Haruka would probably say 'there is nothing to be surprised for' if her elder sister was here.

It was almost a presumptuous thought, but Kirika knew her sister would say that, possibly word for word.

Haruka hated everything about the Asterisk, including its people, but she believed in the inherent goodness of humans.

"No matter how you deny it, you are part of the world. The present world is corrupt and ruled by greed… I won't deny it. But this same age gave birth to you and me. That means all is not completely lost, no?" - Haruka once said with a smile.

And for this reason, Haruka wouldn't be surprised to find those who weren't swayed by the corruption of the present world.

Not even at the heart and center of this age – the Asterisk City itself.

That kindhearted woman would take that fact as confirmation for her beliefs.

However, I am not my sister. For me, exceptions exist among humanity.

Each life was unique by birth, one soul could always be distinguished from another.

But there are those with such unique differences, they are set apart from the others in ways so exotic, even the most eloquent of poems would be hard-pressed to describe them.

'Exceptions' – that's my label for individuals like those.

Such existences were few and far in-between among humanity, and they were not a credit to the human race; they were of a different order of humanity entirely.

They represented what humanity should become, not what humanity could become.

Admittedly, Kirika had expected a few of these 'exceptions' to reside in the Asterisk City. She just hadn't expected to meet one so soon, the existence of Julis was both interesting and surprising.

Julis was the current first princess of Lieseltania – a member of royalty, albeit the royalty of a puppet nation controlled by the IEF. Although her entire bloodline were insignificant in the grand scheme of things, her nation was not.

When Invertia came to pass in early 20th century, the region known nowadays as Lieseltania was hit by numerous meteors. As such, its land now possessed a rich amount of manadytes and Ulm manadytes, making it a target for the IEF to control and take over.

German in its entirety was managed by two IEF companies – [Solnage] and [Fraulenlob], the ones backing Le Wolf Black Institute and Allekant Academy, respectively – and they fought fiercely for the right over the vast amount of manadytes in Germanic lands a few decades after the Invertia.

Ultimately, they reached a compromise by building a nation managed by both companies, so both parties could exercise equal rights over the resources. The name of that nation was 'Lieseltania'.

A mountainous region bathed in snow… fitting for a nation of contempt and sorrow.

In the past six years, Kirika had visited Lieseltania on a few occasions. And she was thankful for those opportunities, as it was where she had learned more about German as well as about how exactly the IEF pacified the nations under their control around the world – through money.

If Kirika was to put a name for her feelings toward Lieseltania, she would say it was 'pity'. To be subjugated by not one, but two behemoths to be exploited for the rest of its existence. Seemingly helpless, unable to change its course of fate.

She was under the impression the royal bloodline of Lieseltania was of the same opinion. Its current king, Jolbert Murray Johannes Heinrich van Riessfeld, as well as his younger sister, Julis Alexia Marie Florentia Renate van Riessfeld, would continue playing the scripts given to them by the IEF.

However, her discussion with the first princess before their duel had shattered that impression completely. Julis came to Asterisk for the sake of money, something which was by all rights already within her reach.

During their duel, the princess didn't face her as an enemy to defeat, but an obstacle to overcome. The redhead wanted to win, of course, but there was no drive in her actions beyond 'I will defeat those who stand my way'.

Like a warrior princess, her approach to battle was methodical and well-thought out, without any need to show off or a desire to 'put enemies in their place'. When she was outsmarted or outclassed, she didn't falter and doubt her chances, but she simply pressed on against the odds.

Julis was focused toward winning the duel, no more, no less.

Through those observations, Kirika had ruled out other possible motivations. Self-satisfaction or personal greed, a hunger for more power, a need to prove herself, such things didn't cross Julis' mind.

The princess simply had a goal she desired, or perhaps only needed, to realize no matter what.

Such an earnest yet firm mindset was a far cry from ordinary people in Asterisk – no, not just Asterisk. It was far from ordinary anywhere in the world right now.

The world of present age renders people complacent… so long as it is convenient for themselves. But she, in a manner reminiscent of those 'exceptionals'… refuses to accept.

That was the overall impression Kirika had of Julis.

Perhaps Julis was quite distinct to the 'exceptions' Kirika was more familiar with – she was able to gain a somewhat solid grasp of the princess through simple observations and a duel, after all.

But these observations were not done, not by far.

Kirika wouldn't jump to conclusions yet. She did not measure her fellow humans simply through what was obvious to the eyes and ears. She would examine Julis' existence thoroughly until she had enough.

That reminds me…

The student council president, Claudia, was also interesting, though for entirely different reasons.

Claudia was the daughter of Nicholas and Isabella Enfield, both being high-ranking members in the IEF company which controlled Seidoukan Academy, [Ginga] or 'Galaxy' in Kirika's mother tongue.

Her lineage alone would be reason enough to warrant extra caution on Kirika's part, and on top of that Claudia was also the student council president of Seidoukan Academy.

Corrupted as the IEF was, they didn't practice nepotism – that meant anyone in a position of power was more than qualified for their position.

… I should stop thinking about her for now.

At the moment, there were simply too many things to speculate about Claudia Enfield, and too little information.

Kirika had already come to this conclusion before dueling Julis, so there was no need to continue that train of thought for the moment.

"Huff…"

A sigh of satisfaction. Kirika was half-done evaluating the essentials of today's experience.

Next, was about herself.

How much of 'myself' did I let show today?

From the moment Kirika stepped into Seidoukan, she had defaulted to her usual persona – a judging, 'talk-when-spoken-to' sarcastic girl, who became more talkative when a topic she liked came up.

It was a mask half-worn. She was not particularly a quiet person, her ability to put her thoughts into words and her feelings into expressions were not at all lacking. But her preference for all things natural was genuine.

While a completely faked persona had its uses, keeping them up for long would be exhaustive, and certain individuals could see through it. For long term, a part of her true personality mixed with practiced acting were more efficient.

Kirika had expected to keep it up for the entire day. After all, it was sufficient to keep a distance with most people, while still somewhat approachable for those willing to bulldoze the wall called 'personal space' like Julis and Claudia.

What other people see of me, will be what I want them to see.

Julis proved to be a spanner in the works, though. The princess was interesting enough to request a duel against. Naturally, Kirika had to adjust her behavior to match the occasion.

As a personal rule, Kirika always relaxed her restraints whenever she was in a situation which could cause [pain]. Usually a conflict with other people, be it with words or with actions.

Whatever it was she wanted to express, she would do so. Not necessarily everything which crossed her mind, just what she felt like conveying, but still more than what she usually displayed.

A conflict takes two, after all.

In other words, Julis had seen a bit more of the existence known as 'Amagiri Kirika', as per usual for Kirika's first step of making a friend – actual friend – of a person.

As such, it was important to precisely identify her personal attributes – aspects of her identity – which were made apparent to observers, Julis in this case.

Especially because Kirika found herself more worked up than usual in front of Julis earlier. That was a careless blunder on her part; even for a fight, she didn't normally anger to that point.

For now, let's analyze...

From the moment Kirika had requested the duel, she no longer tried to sound flat and uninterested. She let her excitement bled into her voice, and into her body language.

From her perspective, it would become apparent there is more to 'me' than just a quiet snarker... there is a spirited fighter beneath the mask.

This was clear from how Julis responded to most of Kirika's initial provocations. It was neither annoyance nor appreciation, but the princess did pay attention to them.

For their duel, Kirika intentionally became talkative, speaking out loud every little thing she noticed about Julis.

To tear up any previously established image of 'Amagiri Kirika' in her head, it was necessary to be act the opposite of the way I behaved before, to give a different impression.

It was easy to tell it had been effective – Julis very clearly had changed at least a few thoughts about her, seeing as the princess asked if she knew about flowers in middle of a literal combat.

In this fight, Kirika restricted herself to fighting in melee with [Fallen Aurora] transformed into a sword. It was still sufficient to turn the duel in her favor.

Establishing myself as a difficult opponent would create a very strong impression, and it's a very effective way to live rent-free in someone's head.

And indeed, Julis couldn't afford to look elsewhere other than at her during their duel. It felt nice, being the center of someone's attention.

Later on Kirika pointed out the unexpected common interest between them; knowledge, and likely fondness, of flowers.

Bonding through a common factor is a tried and true method, and I established myself as someone passionate about something Julis is at least knowledgeable about.

Julis appeared to be affected by that exchange. For a few moments Julis looked solemn, as if recalling something from her past.

Kirika proceeded to shrug off Julis's own provocation, seeing as the princess was right about her being just a textbook florist when it came to Victorian language of flowers.

Being honest is a virtue when interacting with someone who is difficult to trust others... especially about what I am and am not.

In fact, Kirika's honesty was rewarded. Julis made a verbal promise, one which she had every intention of capitalizing.

Then, the ambush happened...

A frown tugged her lips at the memory.

Kirika halted their duel to save Julis from harm, and then venomously proclaimed her intent to deal with the interlopers.

I was more annoyed than expected, but for Julis it should be a normal reaction.

Surprisingly though, Julis insisted she should not pursue them. This was interesting because it was most likely out of concern; the princess didn't want her to walk into a trap.

Julis was even willing to argue against me for that.

Once their duel was over, Kirika once again donned her default persona in the following small talk as they returned to the dorm.

And then our interactions today ended with a game of tag and hide and seek...

Up until that point, Kirika had displayed just a bit of her true mindset and temper. From the looks of it, this much was apparently sufficient to establish them as acquaintances.

Which is actually quite surprising...

Perhaps Julis was softer than expected, or was comfortable with her for some as-of-now unknown reason. No need to ponder this particular conundrum for now.

All in all, if I were to describe how much did I reveal myself today...

An image came to mind.

...It's like dipping a hand into the surface of a lake.

The hand being Julis, the lake being Kirika.

Just the way I like it.

Kirika didn't remember when, but at some point her lips had curved into a smile, and had been for several minutes.

There were still ways to go before Julis could 'submerge' and feel more of the lake, but that's for later. There was no need to rush.

With that... she supposed her 'experience evaluation' could be concluded for today.

Time to look for surveillance cameras!

It was unlikely for such things to be installed within the student rooms, as it would be a breach of privacy of an illegal degree. However, it wouldn't hurt to be too careful in regards to the IEF in general.

Still, it would be a little boring if she silently spent the entire evening looking for cameras which might or might not be in her room. She supposed that called for a few songs from her smartphone.

That would be a great way to pass the time; listening to songs from her favorite musical band [Telios Diva] and investigating her own room at the same time.

This might be the only time I will earnestly enjoy myself in this room.

Kirika decided it was best to make the most out of it.

"Seems that I really lost her…"

Feeling more exhausted than her body really was, Julis let out a sigh as she looked around the dormitory cafeteria. Five minutes had passed after she last saw a certain whitehaired young woman, and there had been no more sign of her ever since.

It would seem she really had failed to catch Kirika.

Humph. So I guessed right about her.

By all rights, Julis should have caught her. She had been in this dormitory for about one and a half years since her 3rd junior high school, while the transfer student had only arrived just now. It was obvious who had the advantage.

Although Kirika's movements were incredibly fast – the swordswoman's physiques were definitely above her own – she had no trouble catching up using magic. Combined with her prior experience in tag, Julis was sure she had roped Kirika into the corner multiple times.

But for some reason, it never came to pass.

Twice. Twice I directed her to a dead end, only to find no one.

The first time it happened, it confused her enough to stop for a moment and turned back. After that, Julis had wondered if she was hallucinating, but a few moments later she found Kirika again near the stairs leading to the 2nd floor, and it almost threw her for a loop.

It was almost as Kirika had just teleported. However, after she cornered the transfer student again and disappeared for the second time, it was clear whatever had happened definitely wasn't the product of her own mind.

If anything, it had confirmed something she had been suspecting: Amagiri Kirika was a Strega. The rare breed of the Starpulse Generation, similar to Julis herself.

At this point it was just obvious. Kirika had quickly figured out the motif for her magical techniques in their duel earlier. And no Genestellar, no matter how exceptional, would be able to slip past her unnoticed without magic.

Fortunately, even for magic-users there were only a limited number of ways to 'disappear' and 'reappear' like what Kirika had done. Teleportation was the easiest answer, but Julis knew better.

To manipulate dimensions and cross vast distances from one point in space to another using magic was only possible in theory. The human mind was simply unable to comprehend the unseen fabric which made up the spacetime continuum, which was why no magic-user in history had been able to achieve it.

Exceptional as the transfer student was, Julis didn't believe even Kirika could pull it off. That left only two other possibilities.

To begin with, Dantes and Stregas had physical manifestations of their personality and experience as magical abilities. Despite how naturally it might come to some, others might experience difficulty in defining their abilities, and for a few, it might as well be impossible.

To use herself as an example, she had an affinity for fire and heat, fashioned with the imagery of flowers in respect to her closest friend. It had afforded a wide range of magical abilities, including creating illusions made out of fire.

Flames burned through their light, and with light came a wide variety of colors. With effort, she could create illusions of objects, simply by shaping her flames in the form and color of objects she wished.

In other words, it was possible Kirika also had an affinity for a phenomenon which could forn complex illusions. Though false hallways or dead ends would not fool Julis, it was possible the transfer student had assumed a state of invisibility.

The other possibility was quite a wild guess, but unlike teleportation it was perfectly within the limits of what Genestellars could do. Certain Dantes and Stregas possessed affinities which allowed them to move through solid objects.

She knew it all too well. It was a spell commonly used by specialized agents of the Integrated Enterprise Foundation – spies, kidnappers and assassins. Being the royalty of Lieseltania had given her a few unfortunate opportunities to meet them in person.

The thought made Julis frown a bit. Even if her brother was technically the one in charge of them – the loyalty of those unscrupulous individuals belonged only to the IEF. Regardless of their loyalty, the very fact they were around her home left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Julis shook her head to brush the negativity aside. Nothing could be done about it now, and she was not in her home now, anyway.

From the two possibilities, it was far more likely Kirika had the former rather than the latter. If the transfer student was able to phase through solid objects, then she could have escaped easily by simply phasing through the ceiling or the floor, and there would be no need to go to the stairs.

…Honestly.

The thought of Kirika using illusion magic to hide from her greatly annoyed Julis.

But at this point, she just felt tired. The fatigue wasn't even physical, it was purely mental.

Julis still intended to interrogate Kirika, though. She had every intention to find out the girl's true intentions behind their interactions together, and she would not drop this matter until she received answers.

At first, Julis had not intended to pursue the topic that way – she wanted to demand answers by winning their duel, courtesy of the favor Kirika would owe her by that point. But their duel was interrupted, so she supposed the answers could wait until the next opportunity.

However, after their last conversation… to say Julis was offended by Kirika's behavior was putting it lightly.

Certainly, the transfer student paid attention to everything she had to say whenever they conversed. And clearly, the swordswoman acknowledged her enough to duel her in complete privacy, even going as far as to temporarily sabotage the school's rules and equipment.

And yet, after all of that, Kirika then tried to avoid her.

The duel had cleared up a few things for Julis. Like the fact that the apparent emotionlessness and apathy Kirika had displayed before their duel was simply a façade, and that there was… an interesting individual underneath it.

For someone like her, who held absolutely no interest in forming relationships beyond the bonds she already had, that was the highest compliment Julis could give for a stranger.

The feeling was also mutual. Julis could tell Kirika was also interested about her, and not in the ways most other students were – the transfer student had dueled her for reasons Julis had yet to understand, but it was different from the others who had challenged her.

Yet after the duel, it was clear through their conversation afterwards that Kirika was subtly, but definitely trying to avoid her. It explained why the transfer student suddenly brought up about mochi, commented she was… adorable, and had distracted her with a smile.

That last one was partially her own fault, Julis admitted. Kirika had simply noticed it. Since this morning, she had stared at the girl and lost herself in her thoughts more than once – Julis blamed that on Kirika's resemblance with Orphelia.

But that only served to reinforce her point. Kirika was observing her closely enough to notice even small details like that, and now this same person suddenly tried to avoid her, without any apparent reason at that.

Julis didn't understand why – and she was not happy with that, to say the least. And she was not going to be ignored or dismissed again.

Thus, the chase had ensued. It felt more like a game and another duel, however – one which she lost.

It was a little frustrating, but it couldn't be helped. If Kirika could cast illusions and became invisible, Julis had little chance to corner her, even in an advantageous environment.

That being said, there was no reason to rush and interrogate the transfer student right away. Unless Kirika didn't plan to have dinner, she would eventually appear in the dormitory cafeteria.

Even if Kirika didn't appear or if the cafeteria was too crowded for them to have a private conversation, Julis could always confront the transfer student tomorrow in the class.

She had to ensure their privacy, of course. It was shameful to be lectured about attention - a subject she was all too familiar with - in her own language no less. That was a mistake she wasn't going to repeat.

Julis was more than a little upset with Kirika now, but she would at least respect the transfer student's avoidance of attention.

Unless she tries to ignore or avoid me again, that is.

In which case, Julis would go through the crude but effective solution invented by humans ever since the ancient times.

Violence solves problems...

Long time no see, how is the chapter? Share your thoughts in the reviews!

…I am ashamed. I have no excuses. Half a year without an update? Even if I had college? This shouldn't have happened.

Yet it did. I tried, I really did, but clearly, my best isn't enough and my ability to manage time leaves a lot to be desired. But eh, I want to update at least once before the year ends.

It is unfortunate I wasn't able to make a double update – I originally intended to update both Asterisk Winter and the Date a Live fanfiction Alternate Reincarnation before the year hits 2019 – but it seems it is just wishful dream on my part. At least, do enjoy this one.

Also, I wish to address the issue which seems to concern a few of my readers: since Kirika is a young woman, how is the harem going to work? Well, I shall answer that.

Almost all, and I am emphasizing here, NEARLY EVERYONE of the characters will retain their sexualities, so almost none of the Asterisk girls will end up being attracted to Kirika.

The only ones I could really see being closet lesbians and engage in yuri activities are Saya Sasamiya and Sylvia Lyyneheym, and even those two are arguable.

Still, Kirika being female does open up avenues for the boys, but you might or might not be interested about them.

As such, I wish to request you readers to share your thoughts specifically about Kirika and romance; what kind of romance you want to see have, and with whom, assuming you want any? If you think it is still too early to judge since you are not very familiar with Kirika's personality yet, that's fine as well.

That's all I want to say. Now, thank you for following the development of "Asterisk Winter"… Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!