The Boy Who Weaves Dreams and the Woman Who Spins the Starry Sky - The Girl Who Weaves Threads of Stars

How far had Yuu walked since leaving Hoshinosato? Yuu was in high spirits. At least, for the first two hours or so. His luggage was light. Three black loaves of bread from Kazuha. One change of clothes. The remainder of star grass tea. And an old map he'd found in the corner of Yozora-do. The one Kazuha had silently stuffed into his pack. (I have a proper map this time. It'll be fine for sure.) Yuu unfolded the map as he walked. It depicted the terrain of the northeastern region of Higashikou. If he was heading out from Hoshinosato toward Kanata Hill, he should head southwest. Southwest. Where was the sun? Since it was morning, it should be rising from the eastern direction, which meant—— "Alright, this way!" Yuu set off with complete confidence. The path wasn't wide, but it was well-trodden and easy to walk on. True to the hilly terrain of the northeast, there was a gentle series of ups and downs. Wind blew through the gaps in the trees, and the air was cool and pleasant. Once he left Hoshinosato, where star threads had almost stopped falling, the quality of the air seemed to change slightly. He walked for three hours straight. Four hours. It was around the fifth hour when Yuu began to think the scenery looked familiar. The shape of the trees seemed recognizable. The way that rock was split—he felt like he'd seen it before. And this slope, he'd definitely—— As he crested the hill, his view opened up. There stood an ancient tree, five hundred years old, towering before him. The Storyteller Tree. The symbol of the village, standing right in the center of Hoshinosato. "……Huh?" Yuu stopped in his tracks. What spread before him was unmistakably the plaza of the Storyteller Tree. The pattern of the stone pavement, the arrangement of the wooden houses around it—all of it was familiar scenery. In the orange light of evening, smoke from the village chimneys was beginning to rise as people prepared dinner. Why. Why was he back in Hoshinosato? "……Hey, you're back already?" A familiar voice called out. When he turned around, Kazuha stood in front of Yozora-do with her arms crossed, watching him. Whether she'd been doing evening restocking or something, she was holding packages in her hands. Her face showed no particular surprise—it had that "I knew it" look about it. "Master, did you find it?" "I didn't find it……" Yuu's voice was barely audible. Kazuha let out a single breath through her nose. He thought a lecture might be coming, but she simply said "I see" and adjusted her packages. "You were holding the map upside down, weren't you?" Yuu looked at the map in his hand. He flipped it over. "……" North and south were completely reversed. Five hours heading northeast from Hoshinosato meant Yuu had been walking in the exact opposite direction the entire time. His face was hot. He could feel his ears burning bright red. "You were lucky to get back before dark." Kazuha said only that, then quickly disappeared into Yozora-do. It seemed that not adding insult to injury was her way. Yuu was left alone on the spot and held the map in the correct orientation. (Absolutely, this time for sure.) He set out again. --- The sky the next morning was a pale water-blue. As the horizon gradually brightened, Yuu was slumped down in a small meadow just before Kanata Hill. After correcting the map's orientation and continuing to walk, he had indeed reached near Kanata Hill by morning. He wanted to praise himself for successfully heading southwest this time, but he was too hungry to muster the energy. He took a bite of one of the black loaves Kazuha had given him. It was dense and had a slight sourness. It wasn't delicious, but it was enough once it was in his stomach. (Kanata Hill, huh.) About twelve kilometers southwest of Hoshinosato. He'd only vaguely heard the name mentioned as a place in the northeastern region of Higashikou where star threads still remained. The story went that if you climbed to the top of the hill, at night you could see dozens of star threads hanging down in silver. Looking toward the sky as it brightened, he could indeed—from the direction of the hill, something seemed to be glowing. Perhaps because night hadn't completely broken yet, what looked like thin silver threads seemed to sway along the slope of the hill. Yuu stood up, black bread still in hand. He walked toward the hill, treading through the grass. His shoes got wet from the morning dew. The grass smelled green. A bird called out somewhere in the distance. As he approached the top of the hill, the light grew stronger. And when he reached the summit——Yuu involuntarily stopped in his tracks. Silver threads were floating in the air. Star threads. Semi-transparent fibers of light raining down from the stars in the night sky. A faint glow visible even to the naked eye, still lingering in the dawn sky. Dozens of them drifted quietly in the air above the summit. And in their center stood a single girl. Long straight hair in a pale purple color swayed gently in the morning breeze. She was slightly shorter than Yuu. She wore a thin white-ish jacket and a soft skirt that reached her ankles. With her eyes closed and her arms extended slightly forward, she stood quietly. Her fingers were moving. Slowly, carefully. Tangling the star threads between her fingers, pulling, twisting, pulling again. It was like the motion of weaving invisible cloth. With each pass of her fingertips, the threads changed shape. Bit by bit, bit by bit, the shape became——a butterfly. Light-edged borders formed on the wings, delicate antennae were born, and patterns in silver light appeared on the wings. Though it wasn't yet complete, the wings had already begun to move. Like a real butterfly, slowly, as if about to flutter. This is dream weaving, Yuu thought. The finished product created by a dream weaver spinning star threads—something made to deliver dreams to people. He'd read about it in books, but seeing it in person was——a first. "That's insanely amazing!!!!!" He'd shouted reflexively. His voice echoed across the entire hill. The girl's eyes opened. Startled, her fingers stopped moving. One of the threads she'd been tangling slipped from her hand. That was enough. With a sound like "Basa," the butterfly weaving collapsed. The silver light unraveled all at once, becoming glittering particles of light scattered into the air. They drifted slowly through the morning air, growing fainter and fainter, until they disappeared. All of it was gone. "……Ah" Yuu froze on the spot. The girl turned around. Silver eyes captured Yuu. Was she angry? Was she crying? Or——? "My" The girl simply said that. Her expression was calm. Not angry, not crying. Just slightly surprised, and then she smiled slowly. "……Can you see the star threads?" Her voice was soft. Like something dissolving into the wind, a gentle sound. Yuu couldn't speak for a while. When he finally opened his mouth, what came out was a full apology. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I broke something important! Something so beautiful! Because I said something unnecessary! I'm truly——" "It's alright. I can just weave it again." The girl laughed. Not a troubled laugh, not a forced one—she seemed to genuinely mean it, with an honest smile. It was then that Yuu noticed something. He felt something touch his cheek. A light, feather-like sensation. When he tried to touch it with his hand, it was already gone. It seemed the light particles from the collapsed butterfly had burst one last time near Yuu's cheek. "Beautiful" The girl said it softly. Yuu thought "Huh?" but the girl's gaze was already directed not at Yuu's cheek, but at the last particles of light floating in the air. Her silver eyes quietly followed the remaining light particles as they slowly faded. (What was that just now……?) Yuu gently touched his own cheek. It felt warm. Even though the morning breeze was cold, for some reason that spot alone seemed to retain a little warmth. --- The two of them sat side by side at the top of the hill. The morning sky was beginning to brighten completely, and thin clouds drifted in from the east. The girl's name was Riri, and she was sixteen years old, he learned. When Yuu explained why he'd come to the hill, Riri listened quietly. About the village's star dying, about wanting to become a dream weaver, about setting out alone to find a master. As he talked, he ended up spilling the whole story about holding the map upside down and walking for half a day only to return to Hoshinosato, but Riri laughed softly for the first time at that. "That must have been difficult." "More like I was just being careless." "If that carelessness gives you the energy to set out alone to become a dream weaver, then carelessness isn't so bad, I think." Yuu was somewhat surprised by that perspective. From what Riri told him, her circumstances were similar to Yuu's. The moment she touched the star threads, her hands glowed faintly—a sign of innate talent as a dream weaver. But she had no formal master. There were only about thirty active dream weavers in all of Higashikou, and without performing the "Oath of Star-Gazing"—a ritual where master and apprentice share each other's dreams once under the same star—one couldn't receive formal recognition. "I've been practicing alone on this hill. Since no one can teach me, I've been learning by imitation." "So that butterfly earlier was all self-taught?" "That's right. But I'm still far from good. The butterfly's left and right wings weren't symmetrical." "Isn't it incredibly amazing to be able to do that much self-taught?" Riri looked away slightly, a bit embarrassed. "……Would you want to teach each other? I can share what I noticed watching you try to grasp the star threads for the first time, and you can teach me what you noticed watching how I weave. Not as master and apprentice, but just……together." Yuu thought for a moment. Three seconds. "Let's do it!" It was an immediate answer. --- First, Riri explained how to grasp the star threads. "The threads, you see, look—there are still some left over there. In the night-breaking sky air. See them?" Yuu squinted. Indeed, in the air above the hill, several thin silver lights drifted. As daylight approached, they would fade more and more, Riri said, so it was better to do it sooner. "Reach out your hand. Touch the dream gently, like caressing it. Don't put in any force. Just feel it." Yuu reached out his hand. (Touch the dream gently……?) Moving his hand slowly, guided by sensation, he felt something touch his fingertips. Cold, and silky. This was—— "I got it! I can feel it! This is it, right!?" "Yes, yes——slowly——" Yuu grabbed it. With all his strength. CRACK!!! White light burst from his fingertips. The star thread exploded, scattering light particles that hit Yuu's face directly. With a dry sound, something like black smoke spread out around him. "……" Riri fell silent. Yuu slowly looked up. His face was covered in soot. On his bangs, his cheeks, the tip of his nose—black soot clung everywhere. "……If you put in too much force, the thread breaks. Star threads are connected to people's dreams, so if you handle them roughly, they resist." "Got it, so I need to be gentler." Second attempt. This time, truly gently. Riri stood beside him and carefully taught him the hand shape. Position your fingers like this, relax your wrist. Don't "touch" the thread—"feel" it. Like caressing a dream—— Yuu moved his hand truly gently this time. He felt it at his fingertips. That cold, silky sensation. This time, cautiously. Gently. Caressing the dream—— When he relaxed his grip, his fingertip slipped right through. "Ah" The momentum of leaning forward made him lose his balance. He fell. Toward Riri. His foot landed squarely on the small sphere of light she'd been weaving—the remnants of yesterday's practice, apparently. Splat. The light sphere flattened.

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Episode 2

Name: The Boy Who Weaves Dreams and the Woman Who Spins the Starry Sky
Author: Novelia

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