Upon arriving at Harukaze city, Kii was left breathless by the sight in front of her.
“Wow...”
There were several routes connecting Kii's hometown and Harukaze city. The route she had used was a tunnel that exited halfway up a smaller mountain.
After jumping out from the dimly lit tunnel, the Harukaze city being dyed orange appeared in front of her eyes. It was currently evening and the sun was just starting to set, throwing its orange light at the city. The city was normally lit up by all kinds of colors, but now it was all dyed in a calming orange. That profile is only natural for us, but to Kii, it was exceptionally beautiful.
“So the surface was this beautiful...”
Kii's large eyes were sparkling as she innocently looked around her. She saw the city lit up by the orange sun in front of her, around her she saw the trees of a forest and above her was a wide sky. Kii had seen these in pictures and videos, but this was the first time she saw it with her own eyes.
“Everyone should just live up here...”
Just a while ago, Kii couldn't understand the feelings of those who wanted to leave her hometown. But after taking a look for herself, she began understanding. The magnificent sight in front of her and smell of nature stimulated something deep inside her. It was a strange sensation; even though she had left her hometown, she felt like she had just returned home.
“Ah...”
As Kii looked around for a while, the sky began turning darker and a point of light appeared in the sky.
“Could that be a star!?”
Kii had found the first star of the night.
The small point of light in the sky was the twinkle of a star.
That was when she remembered something she had been told by her recently passed away mother. She opened her eyes wide and began looking for other stars. According to her mother, after the first star appeared, many more would follow.
“It's just like mom said! There are so many stars!”
Since it had just turned evening, there was only one bright star, but upon closer inspection she could see many more. There were more weak-glowing stars than she could count using her hands. And each time Kii found a new star, she would let out a pleased sound.
“Amazing! There are stars all over!”
As time passed, the sky darkened even more, and the light from the stars grew stronger. Even the weak glowing stars she had seen at first were now as bright as the first star. Like a box of jewels, the sky twinkled with the light of the stars.
“With this many, I might be able to find mom's star!”
That was the reason why Kii was counting the stars in the sky.
”Kii-chan, don't cry, even if I die. When people die, they become twinkling stars in the sky...”
”Stars?”
”That's right... so if you were to go to the surface, then look for my star. It will be a glowing blue star, so I'm sure you'll find it right away”
”Okay! Kii will find it!”
Her late mother had become a star. That was what the young girl believed. And so she counted the stars in the sky, searching for her mother's star.
Kii hadn't run away just to go watch the Kabutonga movie. She had also done so to find her mother's star. However, either way, the reason for it all was that she had lost her mother. In the end, both her wanting to watch the movie and counting stars was a sign of deficit of love.
“Ah!? It's a blue star!!”
When the sky completely darkened a bright blue star appeared.
“It's mom! It's mom's star!”
It was the blue star that she had been looking for all this time. Upon finding it, Kii expressed her joy using her entire body. She reached out towards the star with both her hands and jumped in place several times.
“Mom! It's Kii! Kii is right here!”
Her expression turned bright and she was filled with joy at having been reunited with her mother as she called out repeatedly. Kii wanted to meet her mother once more, she wanted to hear her name called out in that nostalgic and warm voice.
“Mom! Answer me, mom!”
But no matter how many times Kii called, the star didn’t respond. The star simply twinkled in the sky, not responding to Kii.
“Mom...”
Eventually, Kii's voice faltered and her shoulders dropped.
“Is that star... not mom's star…? Or can she not hear Kii's voice...?”
The blue star showed no reaction despite Kii's calls, and that made her feel unbearably lonely. Eventually the sadness she had felt when her mother passed away revived and she began tearing up.
“Mom... mom...”
Large tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and even a slight shake would send tears running down her cheeks. With her eyes full of tears, Kii looked up into the sky once more. She couldn't give up. Kii touched the necklace around her neck and called out to the star again.