Work Text:
It's late. Almost too late for others to care. The sun goes down as the night quickly approaches Hope's peak academy. It is the start of winter. Not much will change within this particular city. Perhaps snow will fall, perhaps it won't. A lone figure is standing on the rooftop of the old building. It seems like a somewhat comfortable place to spend time. It even has a neat table that is currently unoccupied. The single figure that is currently on this rood stares into the distance with half-closed eyes. The figure is the famous ultimate Detective, the daughter of the current headmaster of this academy, Kirigiri Kyoko. She loves coming here to think, loves the chilly breeze on her skin. It is somewhat of a habit at this point. She was having a bit of chaos in her life in these past few days, and so she retreated here to think about them. Nobody disturbed her on this usual routine of hers, so she decided that it will not hurt to stay a while longer. However, the sudden sound of a voice broke the silence just as suddenly as the owner of said voice appeared.
"Kukuku. My-my, what a pleasant surprise. Kirigiri-san." They both know each other, someone from a parallel class, an ultimate anthropologist. They both found each other's talents fascinating and so she decided not to go away, a talk might not hurt.
"Shinguji-san. What brings you here this late?" She figured she knows the answer already. She has never stayed this late, and perhaps they have been just missing each other every time? How ironic. She finally hears his footsteps as the tall figure of the male stands beside herself. The gaze of her eyes examines him just as always, a habit of hers. And just as always he is completely covered with clothes and bandages. The mask is concealing most of his actual face. How typical. Their gazes suddenly meet and just like that, both turn slightly away. It seems like he was doing the same thing as her then. Unsurprising. She wants to say something, but it seems like the other decides to take the lead.
"There is a story about the stars that were told about the stars in one of the old tribes of Amerca. It tells a story of A Coyote, wolves, and bears. The story goes something like this." He pauses, trying to remember the details of this small, but rather interesting story. just so that he may then continue again.
"Once there were five wolves who would share meat with Coyote. One night the wolves were staring at the sky. "What are you looking at?" asked Coyote. "There are two animals up there," they told him. "But we can't get to them." "That is easy," said Coyote. He took his bow and shot an arrow into the sky where it stuck. He shot another arrow that stuck into the first. Then he shot another and another until the chain of arrow reached the ground. The five wolves and Coyote climbed the arrows into the sky. The oldest wolf took along his dog. When they reached the sky, they could see that the animals were grizzly bears. The wolves went near the bears and sat there looking at them, and the bears looked back. Coyote thought they looked good sitting there, so he left them and removed his arrow ladder. The three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper and the two stars of the bowl near the handle are the wolves. The two stars on the front of the bowl are the bears. The tiny star by the wolf in the middle of the handle is the dog." He exhaled again, his story finished. This has earned a curious look from the detective. She did not understand why he would want to share that story out of everything else. And so she turned her head to him and asked.
"Does that story hold any significance to you Shinguji-san?" And to her surprise, she heard a chuckle, a genuine one, not like the other one that he started with during their meeting. What an interesting sight. She never quite saw him display those emotions before. However, he quickly explained himself anyway.
"Significance? Oh, no. Not in particular. I just remembered this tale because I find it truly magnificent how humans came up with these beautiful tales to explain something that they did not quite understand. I see the depiction of loneliness in that story. I see humans that are trying to assure themselves that they are not alone and that even the ladder to the stars can be built. Do you understand Kirigiri-san? Being alone is a terrifying thing isn't it?" He adds a smile hidden behind his mask but seen to the naked eye based on his entire facial expression. She does not reply. She simply nods. Perhaps she will wait for him the next evening as well. Nothing bad will come from hearing a few stories. They do not talk. Not at all. They don't have to. They just enjoy the evening as it is. Now, of course, not alone. What a particular sight it is, indeed. Two different, yet so similar people watching the stars above, consumed by their thoughts. But at least, not alone. Right?