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There are countless universes out there and there is a universe right here in the palm of a beautiful, raven-haired, grey-eyed girl. She isn't doing anything in particular but standing there, leaning against the balcony railing and holding the universe together.
She makes it look easy and Yachi is simultaneously awed and envious.
Yachi knows how much work goes into thinking up universes, creating them and then holding them together for the endless number of years you want them to last for. A universe could end just like that on the palm of your hand if your concentration strayed. Yachi has never tried making a universe of her own and she never wants to. On the other hand, Shimizu has so many universes of her own creation, which she carefully nurtures and watches over with all the benevolence of a mother goddess. Yachi thinks she is amazing.
The wind blows and Shimizu tucks her hair behind a ear, her other hand holding the small universe steady in the centre of her palm. In such a situation, Yachi knows she would have panicked, for fear of dropping the small universe, and her panic would have actually led her to drop it and then that would be the end of it. Yachi shudders. She is glad she never got down making one.
"Shimizu?" Yachi inches forward timidly, remembering what she had come here for. The beautiful girl had called her here and Yachi has not the slightest clue why when Shimizu is a thriving forest in full bloom and Yachi is but the brownest, crispiest leaf on the side of the street. She has made it a point never to stay in Shimizu's presence for too long because the difference between them is just far too great.
Shimizu turns to her with a rustle of her witch's gown, made in a shade of black so deep and dark Yachi can't make out the folds in it. She beckons Yachi forward and Yachi scoots over on fearful feet, eyeing the universe in her hand once she gets close enough.
As far as universes go, it is a pretty normal one in the style of the popular twenty-first century Earth universes. The magic settings appear dormant and the tension in it is low, leaving its inhabitants to lead peaceful, if not slightly uneventful, lives. Despite her lack of experiences with making universes, Yachi likes these. In the few universes she had been allowed to observe, she realised that inhabitants in these universes tended to look inward to find their potential and drew them out in their own funny ways.
"Exciting, isn't it?" Shimizu says softly and Yachi glances her way, startled. She had forgotten about Shimizu and now that she returns her attention to the amazing girl at her side, she sees that Shimizu is smiling at her.
"It is," Yachi squeaks, unable to fully tear her eyes away from the universe cupped in Shimizu's palm. A man crossing the road is just about to bump into his one true love. The first flower of spring is shivering under the ground, ready to sprout. There is always so much potential in universes.
She doesn't see Shimizu reach for her hand until she feels her take it, gently pressing the universe into her palm. Yachi's eyes go wide and her body freezes as Shimizu lets go of the universe, her hands steadying Yachi's hand and curling Yachi's fingers over it.
"I want you to help me look after this one," Shimizu tells her and Yachi gapes at her.
"I-I-I can't." Yachi shakes her head vehemently then freezes again as she feels the universe move. Frozen stiff, she gazes up at Shimizu, terrified. "Why?"
"I can no longer maintain as many universes," Shimizu tells her ruefully, her hands still folded over Yachi's. "It's taking a toll on me and they've been telling me to collapse a few of them."
"Collapse them?" Yachi repeats, aghast. All the inhabitants, all that potential, an entire universe gone forever.
Shimizu nods at the emotion on Yachi's face. "I can't bring myself to do that. Therefore, I'm looking for other witches to help me look after a few of them. Just for a while, while I get my health back."
"B-but why me?" Yachi stammers. "I've never made a universe in my life. I've never held together a universe in my life, I've never held a universe in my life."
Shimizu takes a hand away from Yachi's precarious grip on her universe to tuck her hair behind her ear. "You like universes like these, even though other witches find them dull and uninteresting. You appreciate them for what they are and what they have."
"I do but I'm barely qualified!" Yachi wails. "All I've ever done is maintenance work."
"You're as qualified as any of us here, Yachi Hitoka. Maintenance, especially on universes not your own, takes patience and care, and you've been doing beautiful work." Shimizu smiles and takes her other hand away from Yachi and her universe. "Have more faith in yourself."
The universe in her palm is so small yet so big, a compact world of possibilities even she can't predict. Without Shimizu holding her hand, she feels the full weight of it, pressing down on her and filling her mind. It is beautiful yet terrible to be able to see every chance encounter, every love story, every tragedy, every birth and death contained in the space of her palm. And now she bears the responsibility of holding them all together in one universe.