One by one, the auxiliary lights dimmed, and the planetarium drowned in pitch black.

The screen above them came to life, with millions of stars filling it from the outside in; and behind them, the glow of the nebula.

Normally the gentle darkness of the planetarium, and the warm resonance of its sound system, were enough to quell any anxiety stirring within Tomori. But this time they were not enough. Her heart was pounding.

“Raana-chan,” she whispered. “I-It’s starting.”

Beside her, Raana sank back into her seat, watching the display stir awake with some curiosity.

Tomori had tried to get Raana to come with her to the planetarium countless times before, and every time she had been soundly rejected–usually with some variation of “don’t wanna” or “I’d rather go see the cats” or, the one Tomori dreaded most–"sounds boring." She had all but given up hope when she saw the announcement on the planetarium’s Bwitter account that jolted her with a second wind of motivation: an entire show focused on the Cat’s Eye Nebula and the stars surrounding it.

She simply had to see it, she decided; and it had to be with Raana.

And out of nowhere, for no reason Tomori could fathom, Raana casually said yes the instant she brought it up.

Loathe as she was to admit it, Tomori had a selfish motive for inviting her.

She had realized at a young age that, when people look up at the stars on a clear night, a certain ineffable something shone in their eyes, which told her more about them than any number of words ever could. Ever since then, she’d made a point of collecting these looks from every person she loved, neatly stashing them in her memories like she might store away pretty rocks of collectible bandages. She had gotten her parents’, of course. Sakiko and Soyo’s, around when they first met; Anon’s, right after MyGO got back together. Taki had taken her the longest–she could never seem to catch her at a good time–but in time, she got hers, too.

Only Raana was left. Only she had not shown Tomori how her eyes reflected the stars. It was a gap in her collection, one so deep and dark and conspicuous it made Tomori shudder to even think about.

Now that they were here, she couldn’t help but steal furtive glances at Raana every few seconds. Her heartrate quickened as the show began.

It wasn’t there yet. But that was normal. It always took a bit to sink in, to really draw it out of them. Tomori held her breath and waited.

The show drew further along. She kept on peeking to her right, waiting for the moment to come. But it wouldn’t; she looked just the same as ever.

And then–with a dazzling flash of light–the Cat’s Eye Nebula filled the screen overhead. It was bright enough, and beautiful enough, to stun Tomori out of her anxious fidgeting. For a few long seconds it was all that she saw, and all that she could think about.

When her eyes finally adjusted and her mind left its reverie, she once again turned Raana. But she was no longer there.

Tomori’s heart sank; until she felt a strange weight, and looked down, and saw the girl sleeping soundly on her lap.

She knew, right away, that she had gotten what she’d come here for.