Though she was looking for a star, it wasn't like she had any leads. The girl was relying only on her intuition as she walked around the dark forest. Their footing was dark and unsteady, but the girl’s steps were firm. Seeing that, Koutarou sensed the strong determination of wanting to find the star from the girl.
“Uuhh~, it should have fallen around here...”
“Did you see it?”
“Yes. It came from the sky and zoomed past like that”
“And that's why you came looking for it?”
“Yes”
“All alone?”
“That's right! I came alone! When I left my home and came to this mountain alone the star came falling!”
Koutarou followed behind the girl as they talked.
There's no way she will find it... I should come up with a good way to get her to give up...
Looking at her back, he tried to come up with a way to dissuade her search. As they had scoured the area, Koutarou had learned all he wanted to know from the girl. She had come up to the mountains on her own, and just happened to see the Cradle. She was the one and only witness. If he could get her to give up on her star search, there wouldn't be any problems.
It was obvious that she wouldn't find her star, because what she was looking for, the Cradle, was already buried below the ground. No matter how hard she looked she would never find it. And she had already passed by the area where it had landed. But since Koutarou couldn't tell her that, he ended up letting her waste her time, which was quite painful for him.
Because of that, after learning everything he wanted, he was now trying to come up with a way to get her to give up instead.
“But it's dark. If you don't go home soon, your family will start worrying”
“That's okay. I'm looking for my mom”
“Your mom?”
An unexpected word left the girl’s mouth. While Koutarou was puzzled by what she had said, the girl stopped, turned around and smiled at him.
“Ehehe, it's been a while since I last met mom”
“Weren't you looking for a star?”
“Yes I am. My mom's star”
“Ah...”
It was at that moment that Koutarou understood what the girl meant.
Is it possible that we've disturbed this girl's injured heart...?
And the girl’s next words confirmed his fears.
“My mom said so. If she dies, she would become a blue star. And when I looked up at the sky before I saw a blue star falling! My mom must have found me and came to see me!”
The girl had lost her mother. And by chance she happened to see a blue star, the Cradle, falling down the sky and believed her mother had come to see her. That's why the girl was searching the mountain forest on her own.
If this girl notices that what she saw wasn't her mom's star...
If she doesn't find the star, the girl would surely be sad. When he thought of that, Koutarou was overcome by a feeling of guilt. If he and Clan hadn't landed down in this mountain, she wouldn't have to get so sad.
“...I'm sure you'll find her soon”
Koutarou couldn't find it in him to tell the girl desperately searching for her mother that she wouldn't find her. He was well aware of the pain felt from losing your mother. That's why Koutarou had to say what he did, even if it was just a temporary comfort.
“Yeah! Thank you, Onii-chan!”
The girl gave him a big smile. Koutarou wanted that smile to remain unchanged.