Quote:
Strange things appear in Destiny City all the time, so nothing seems out of the ordinary about what might look like discarded trash, broken glass, or pieces of broken jewelry. If anyone were to lean in for a closer inspection, they might find a beautiful, gemstone like object that is shaped a bit like a star. They come in an array of colors and almost seem to have some sort of light sparkling in them.
As he landed on Earth, returning from his first visit to his Wonder in months, Aokigahara felt unsettled. Perhaps it was because of his long absence; before his impromptu visit to Yokohama, he tried to visit every two weeks, like clockwork, and spend as much time as he could there. Or perhaps something was stirring, and he was about to have quite a lot of trouble.
Well. No use dwelling, for the moment. He could do a circuit of the city and then go home and get some rest, and approach the problem with fresh eyes in the morning. He certainly wasn’t going to learn any more until he could go back to his Wonder in a few weeks.
He walked the city, letting himself relearn familiar streets and alleyways, occasionally taking a glance up at the sky to observe the stars. He’d heard there had been a meteor shower recently; it was too bad he hadn’t been able to witness it. Sakura had described it glowingly, and even Kaito had shed the teenage ennui he liked to pretend he had (as if; the very prospect was absolutely hilarious, when he was happy to emotively exposit about anything and everything he enjoyed all the time on command) to admit that it had been spectacular. Aokigahara was sure he would have been lucky to see it.
Alas, travel timing had made that impossible, but at least he was home now, in time to witness whatever other oddities Destiny City might cook up and present.
He had been going for a while when he spotted it. A glimmer, on the ground, just bright enough to attract his attention. He thought that it might be a piece of trash, except that it was sitting neatly in a flowerpot sitting in front of a clothing shop. He made a soft, thoughtful noise and reached out, picking it up and turning it over in a gloved hand.
Not sharp. Not glass, either--it looked like a tiny, crystalline star, lilac purple and glimmering in his hand. How strange. And still not the oddest thing he’d picked up, when one considered the hairsticks in his ponytail. There was no reason, as far as he was concerned, not to hold onto it; there might be something meaningful in it later. A little fleck of magic, plucked out of a flowerpot and tucked into his jacket pocket.
All things considered, it felt like a good omen. Or at least a better omen than...whatever was going on on his Wonder. Perhaps he’d been hasty in assuming the danger had escalated; perhaps it was just more of the same and he was rattled by it because he hadn’t been there in so long. Had been cut off from magic in general, since he was out of the city and swamped with all sorts of work.
Only time would tell, truly. But Aokigahara felt just a little bit better about how things might go, with a star in his pocket and a direction to head in.
It was good to be home.
