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After returning from a mission, Kafka overhears Elio mentioning something called the red string of fate while conversing with Blade. She observes the way Bladie's eyebrows furrowed when Elio spoke of how his red string is still intact. At that time, Kafka simply continued walking towards her room as things that aren't important to the script are not of interest to her.
Yet even as the weeks passed, Elio's words lingered in her mind, resurfacing at times when Kafka peered out into the sea of stars. What does it mean and why does it impact someone's fate? How is it any different from the threads that she binds her enemies with?
Nothing has struck her as deep as the promise of change and the journey outside her home planet, so why is the thought of something she heard in passing, filling up her mind with wandering thoughts. There’s also the sensation of unknown feelings coiled so tightly around her heart.
Suffocating is the best way she can describe the way this unknown feeling affected her. She didn't even understand the purpose of a red string so how could she possibly put a label to what she felt. This unanswered question followed Kafka every second she breathed and caused her to fumble during missions.
Her mistakes eventually put her fellow Stellaron Hunters in danger much to the glee of Blade and dismay of Silver Wolf. Her absent mind during missions had Elio sending her off to a remote planet by herself to sort things out.
Kafka explored the streets aimlessly for a couple of days until she got bored and sat down at an outside table of the coffee shop that had a rich aroma of ground coffee beans surrounding it. She ordered a straight cup of black coffee and didn't bother with how the waitress looked at her when she uttered her choice.
Kafka's eyes stare off into the distance, not focusing on anything, just a vision of the busy street blurring together with the sunset in the background. She asked herself many times why she was so hung up on some nonexistent red string but always failed to find an answer that wasn't a lie she made up to convince herself.
She soon gets tired of watching the strangers in her field of view and opts to close her eyes until her drink arrives. When she sees nothing but darkness, she can picture the starry sea and wishes upon them that she will witness the end of the script with all her questions answered.
*Jingle*
The bell atop the coffee shop's door chimes as someone exits the building. Kafka opens her eyes expecting that it's her coffee about to be served but the person caught in her sights, sets her entire being aflame.
Kafka's violet eyes were hidden behind her circular shades but the accessory couldn't fully hide her expression. Her eyes were wide open, lips slightly parted in awe, hand subconsciously raised. She didn't even know what she was doing but her gloved hand reached out to gently caress the radiant scarlet that fluttered in the wind as the woman walked by her table.
Her fingertips barely grazed the end of a lock of red hair but the contact was enough for the Stellaron Hunter to understand a bit better. She didn't expect to ever find the answer to her question yet when she watched the vivid red gradually get farther away, melding into the distant sunset skies, a small smile appeared on her face.
'The answers to my universe', Kafka whispered to no one in particular. A confirmation to herself that this is her reality and not another haunting dream.
Unbeknownst to the Stellaron Hunter, on her finger, an unseen red string has secured itself around it. As if the curtain of velvet that brushed through her fingers formed this connection upon contact. The string trails off in the direction of where the sun meets the horizon.
Every day after that encounter, Kafka yearned to meet again. When the opportunity came, she jumped at it like how a snapping turtle would at its prey. Her dance began at Herta's space station with a Stellaron in the palm of her hand and the following steps in her waltz put her closer and closer to the other end of her red string.
"Himeko, correct?"