Part 2

“And so, the stars will always be shining, wherever and whenever…” —The end.

That’s… all, for, the, screen,ing.

…That was a beautiful starry sky.

I knew it was possible to construct a home-made planetarium out of construction paper and cellophane…

However, Isotake’s Hyades,¹ Nanamegi’s Orion² and Artemis,³ Uu-chan’s Antares,⁴ Kinugawa’s planet drawings, Toi-san’s Ani-sama constellation, and Chief’s Shumai constellation…

Every one of these constellations are as bright as the real deal.

I’m glad you liked it!

Umm, so actually…

I have another present I want to give you, Muneuji-kun.

Toi-san, are you perhaps my random gift giver?

Hehe, yup.

Happy birthday, Muneuji-kun. I hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable school life and that your dreams will come true.

To start off… I have a railway revival commemoration badge! I heard from Ani-sama that you really like trains, so we looked for it together.

This is…! The rumoured valuable, hard to obtain, limited edition, lottery sale collectible—

How did you manage to find this?

…Just happened to have someone who’d hook me up. Just happened to.

And then, here, a collection of books related to the mysteries of the stars and universe.

Wow, that's a lot. Are you planning on opening a bookstore too?

I don’t wanna hear that from the bastard who made a cake that almost burst through the ceiling.

I heard that Muneuji-kun likes stars and wants to become an astronaut… so I picked out books related to them, and it somehow became like this.

It’s not just star-related textbooks, there are also picture books, novels, astrology guides, and even nebula photo books…

There are all sorts of things I have never read before. I look forward to enjoying them all later.

I’d love to hear your thoughts when you’re done.

…Um, so actually, I got to learn a little bit about stars while choosing your presents.

Up until now, the knowledge I had was only related to fortune-telling, but studying the stars from a scientific point of view was really interesting…

It made me want to learn more, so I was wondering if you could teach me about them…?

Of course, if you are fine with me. …However, you have a point, Toi-san.

I have never thought about stars from an astrological perspective, even though it is a way to define the connection between the universe and us humans.

I am still only halfway through my learning. I will devote myself even further from now on.

Then how about we go star-gazing together next time? I might be able to explain how to read them if we’re looking at them directly.

I might have a few good places in mind for that.

Hm? Oh me oh my, what’s happening? Do my ears deceive me or am I sensing a supernova-tastic idea in the making?

We were discussing good places to go star-gazing. We want to talk about the stars and universe under the starry sky.

That sounds wonderful! I can give you a ride if you decide to go!

Thank you. Everyone else should come too. I think a lot of people would enjoy it.

At night, under the starry sky…

I mean, there’s already a person with their head in the stars here.

Sh-Shut up…

It would be fun… to bring, warm drinks, and snacks… I think.

In that case, Uu-chan can make extraordinarily delicious hot cocoa for us. Right Uu-chan?

…Well, I guess it’d be annoying if someone caught a cold.

Wonderful. We should definitely go should we have the chance.

Yup! It’s a promise!

(I have received yet another wonderful present from Toi-san in addition to the books and badge.)

(…My next promise to fulfill.)

Ahhh… I’m beat. It was your birthday, but everyone else was more hyped about it than you were.

Uu-chan. Thank you for preparing all sorts of things for my birthday today. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart.

It’s no big deal. I mean, what are friends for?

But… I think I’ve reached my limit for the day. …I’m passing out.

Yes. I will turn off the lights immediately. Have a good night’s sleep.

…Hey Muu-chan.

Yes?

…Did you have fun?

That goes without saying. It was very, very fun.

I see. Then I’m glad…

Uu-chan?

…Zzz…

Fufu, it looks like he fell asleep. Good night, Uu-chan.

(…The number of memories to share with my father when we meet has increased yet again.)

(When I cross that sea of stars—I will proudly convey today’s celebration to him.)