STARS

It was night when she first saw her. She could remember it as if it had happened the night before. The image of the beautiful girl sitting by the river watching the stars was still fresh in her memory. How did Nagisa come across such a beautiful scene?

Nagisa couldn't remember why she argued with her family before dinner. Possibly some nonsense, the Misumi family was made up of stubborn people. What Nagisa did remember was that she decided to do a little night run to calm down and cool her head.

The future high school student ran to the river. The cold night air was helping her relax and take her mind off what had happened at home. All of that was a hazard of being in the middle of adolescence. Her mother, stern and worried about her, tried to keep her close to her lap to protect her. Nagisa, confident that she could venture a little further into her life, did not want to be led by the hand any longer.

One thing led to another and then everyone in the dining room was yelling; even her little brother, who had nothing to do with the argument. And despite having argued with her family, Nagisa couldn't help but feel that feeling of happiness in her heart. That's what living was all about, right?

Nagisa decided to rest a bit on the river bank, and that's when she saw her.

The most beautiful girl she had ever seen, a girl with long hair, dark as night itself. Her skin was clear as the moon, her eyes bright like the stars in the sky. Nagisa had never seen anything like this in her life. Neither the characters in the shows she liked, nor the models in the magazines, nor her prettiest close friends resembled that girl under the stars.

When the breeze blew and seemed to caress the girl's long, silky hair, Nagisa felt as if she were short of breath.

The beautiful vision seemed to last forever, but actually it lasted for about a minute.

The beautiful girl left without turning around, as if she had only stopped for a moment to see the starry sky. Nagisa looked at the path where the girl left. She smiled. The sky looks beautiful, Nagisa thought with an even bigger smile.

Nagisa already felt better. She was already ready to go home and have dinner with her family; surely they were waiting for her. Nagisa felt grateful to the unknown girl, besides she felt happy for no particular reason, she was just happy.

"Thank you," Nagisa muttered as she walked back home.

What Nagisa did not expect, was that a few weeks later she would see that same girl enter the same high school, in the same year, in the same classroom.

"It's the girl under the stars," Nagisa muttered. "I can't believe this!" The girl was so much prettier up close! By the way, the girl just sat at her desk and took a book out of her backpack to read while the other students talked, got to know each other and socialized with the excitement of having entered high school. Nagisa herself was already making new friends, a couple of nice girls who sat across from and next to her desk.

A while later, the teacher in charge of the class entered the room. After a short speech to encourage them in their first year as high school students, the teacher began a roll call and asked the students one by one to introduce themselves to the group.

"My name is Misumi Nagisa, I love playing lacrosse and I want to join the Verone lacrosse team, I also like hanging out with my friends. I hope we can be friends and get along," was Nagisa's introduction when it was her turn. Her classmates applauded briefly but enthusiastically.

One by one, the students introduced themselves, but Nagisa waited for the introduction of one person in particular. She at least wanted to know the name of the girl she first saw under the stars.

"Yukishiro, your turn."

The girl stood up and curtsied politely. Her voice came from between her pale pink lips, her voice is nice, Nagisa thought.

"My name is Yukishiro Honoka, nice to meet you all, I hope we get along," was the little she said before sitting down again. Her classmates clapped and almost immediately moved on to the next student.

Nagisa didn't pay much attention after that. She already knew the girl's name: Yukishiro Honoka.

It's a good name, Nagisa muttered.