Counting Stars

Prologue

A girl with raven black hair hummed to herself as she prepared a bento box. She poured the sauce she mixed earlier into a separate container, placing the lid for both containers once she was finished.

She wrapped the bento box with a dark blue cloth, decorated with yellow stars and neatly tied a ribbon on the wrapping to secure the cloth in its wrap. "Done!" She announces, smiling at her work. Shortly after, she cleaned her mess from making the bento and ran back upstairs, getting ready for one of the main factors that'll decide her future filled with heroics. The qualifier exam into the prestigious Yuuei.

She cleaned herself up and checked her eyes in the mirror. She's relieved when she sees her eyes are a bright shade of gold, indicating that she's fully energized. Once she's done with her hygienic tasks, she slipped on the outfit she had picked yesterday: a long-sleeved yellow-ish white sweater, paired with a deep blue skirt and a pale yellow scarf wrapped around her neck.

Before she walked out of her room, she clasps her hands together and closes her eyes, uttering a prayer to the Gods to let her do well in the exam. She unclasps her hands and huffs out, a smile forming on her face. Opening the door to her room, she walks out and takes a glance to her eldest brothers' room, left untouched to preserve his memory, she frowns for a bit, missing him dearly. Although he always shut himself in, he always messaged her goodnight texts. To be honest, she re-read those messages every night, wondering where and how did her brother dissapear. Not wasting more time, she made her way down the stairs connecting the bakery and the floor her family lived in. 

She isn't surprised when she saw both her parents being in the bakery, preparing the fresh pastries to sell in the morning. She averted her gaze to find for the bento box she prepared earlier, which was still in the exact place she left it. "Big brother hasn't left yet?" She asks, heading to the refrigerator. "Yeah, Jun hasn't left yet." Her father answers, standing to his full height from checking the pastries baking in the oven.

She reaches into the refrigerator and grabs a small cup of strawberry yogurt. She closed the refrigerator door and seats herself at one of the seats in the bakery, set up neatly at the side of the counter. She quietly eats the yogurt while her parents diligently prepare the pastries. 

Shortly after, her big brother runs down the staircase and almost trips but manages to catch himself in time and continues his walk down the flight of stairs. "That was graceful." Her mother snorts, followed by her father snickering along. "Of course it was," Jun says, grinning.

Jun noticed Junko sitting while eating her yogurt, he smiles at her presence. "Good Morning, Ko." He greets. "Good morning, big brother." Junko returns her big brother's smile. She then scoops a considerate amount of yogurt on her spoon and shows it to her brother. He looks at her, confused. "You're running late, right? At least eat something for breakfast-." Junko explains herself.

Jun laughs and gets closer to her, eating the yogurt she offered. "Well, I need to be going now. I'll be back home by dinner, mother and father! Good luck with your exam, Ko!" He says, grabbing the bento on the counter and exiting the bakery. "Stay safe, brother." Junko says and waves at him then she continued to finish the remaining of her yogurt and dumps the container into the nearest trashcan. "I'll be going!" She announces, "Wait, Ko! Come here." Her mother calls her over.

She walks nearer to her mother, as she just pulled a tray of fresh chocolate chip cookies from the oven, the sweet smell wafting through the air. She grabbed the nearest convenient utensil, which was a spatula and grabbed two cookies and packed them in a paper bag. "Here's some on the road. Good luck, honey." Her mother caresses her cheek with the hand she doesn't have a mitten on. "Thank you, mother." She smiles and takes the paper bag offered to her.

"All the best, Interstella!" Her father says as she laughs at the nickname her father called her since she was a child. "Alright, father! I won't let you two down!" She says, facing her parents one last time before heading to the school for her qualifier exam, the bright trail of stardust following her every step.