"Come on Filo, we must get going," Fitoria coaxed the child star.
"No... Filo still wanna... party..." she said this while yawning heavily. Sure, she may have been full of energy before, but before you knew it she was yawning and clearly needed to go to bed. "Tell them... Mel-chan..."
"Hmm?" Melty asked. She was a bit more alert than Filo, likely because her parents had either forced her or she felt compelled to study late into the night, burning the midnight candle several nights. However, even she looked tired. "Yeah... Magical Girl Kiiroi can go on for ages..."
"Come on Melty-sama, let's get you home," Eclaire said. "Your entire morning schedule will be ruined if you don't get a good night's rest!"
"Alright..." Melty said, seemingly unable to really fight it. I guess all things considered, it had been a very long day.
"Now, you come on too, Filo," Fitoria said a bit more firmly. Filo seemed to want to protest but had already almost half-dozed off so there was little of that. Fitoria then turned to me. "It occurs to me that we've imposed ourselves upon you twice so very recently- I do hope that one day, perhaps when things are less hectic with Filo's schedule, that you could also drop by her house. I would like to give you a proper thank-you for the meal, and I'm sure that Filo would enjoy you coming over one day." Her tone still was stiff, as if she was inviting me over more out of obligation than anything- after all, reciprocity ruled over human relationships! I had invited her over to my house- and it would be rude for her not to offer the same in kind. I didn't even know if she really would let me in even if I took her up on the offer.
I had run into a situation like that with one of my childhood friends- he always came over to my house, and although he would always say that I should drop by his house one day, whenever I would ask him he would always have something or the other going on and would refuse. I didn't really understand it, until my mother explained to me that it was just a polite way of him rejecting me, since he couldn't openly say that he didn't want me over, but felt compelled to also extend an invitation because I had.
We weren't friends for much longer after that, and as it was, this had happened years ago, but I had met other people like that. And Fitoria had said that Filo would've enjoyed my company, not that she would. Oh well, maybe she was just a tsundere like Melty.
"Sure, I'm sure Filo would be happy to see me again," I told her.
"Ah, I want to extend the same offer," Eclaire said, though she was a bit embarrassed. "I think I've already told you so, but there are certain... issues with Melty's family and we can't allow any outsiders in. I can't say any further."
Was she a CIA agent or something the way she spoke? Well, regardless, at the very least, her offer seemed to be genuine unlike Fitoria's.
I waved the four of them off and watched them all drive away. That left only me, Shindo, and Raphtalia.
I turned around to see Shindo already fast asleep on the couch. I shook my head. "He's still such a kid..." I mused to myself.
"I'm sure if you asked your parents, they'd think that you were a child too," Raphtalia mused. "Though I guess that's normal for your younger brother..."
"Do you have any siblings, Raphtalia?" I asked her.
"No... but..." she seemed to want to add on something, but didn't. "Do you want to take a walk with me outside?"
I didn't comment on the sudden change in topic but followed her outside, just like I had a while back.
She didn't say anything, but I couldn't help but notice how radiant she seemed to be under the lamplight- I mean, sure, she was pretty, I always knew that but...
"Mr. Naofumi," she said.
"Wha? I wasn't thinking anything weird!" I said.
She gave me a quizzical look- so apparently she hadn't read my thoughts. That was good, but I had just said something very awkward. That was bad.
"Um, I never said anything..." she began. "But... when you asked me if I had any siblings, no... but there were two people once. One who was like my little sister, and another who was like my older brother." She gazed up at the stars, seemingly lost in her own thoughts and memories.
Something was off the way she talked about them, as if she was speaking about them in the past tense. That they were... not that they are.
"Raphtalia, you told me dinner reminded you of home," I began. "Did you... grow up somewhere that wasn't Japan?" I mean, based on her features, that much was obvious, but she hadn't told me much about her past life.
"Yes, I grew up somewhere else," she said. She gazed at the stars again. "The stars were different there... but it was a happy time. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to go back there." She sighed. "But I wonder if they even remember me... or if I would be able to find them again after all this time..." She turned towards me. "It's a very strange thought, maybe even a silly one, but I thought that if I ever got famous from streaming, perhaps my face would be everywhere, and they would find me again."
"You don't have anything to go on? Names? Addresses?"
"Names are common, and I don't remember so much of that time," Raphtalia said. "It's a silly thing, isn't it? But a girl can dream, can't she?"
"Yeah..." I said. I couldn't really follow what she was saying, given that I personally didn't have anyone long lost I was trying to find. "But who knows? The world isn't as big as it used to be with the Internet, you know. Who says that you won't run into each other again?"
"Yeah," she said. She then wandered over closer to me. "Who knows what'll happen?"
My heart began to pound, but then, of course, my phone had to ring. "Shindo? What's going on?"
"Uh, bro, do we throw the old cheese wrappers in the recycling bin or the general trash?"
Of course something had to ruin the moment.
