• •
  The words "Stream Ended" on the computer screen dimly lit the dark room. Just minutes ago, the screen had been a storm of cheers from hundreds of thousands of viewers, filled with emojis standing in for cherry-blossom pink and sapphire blue penlights. But the moment the disconnect button was pressed, the room was plunged into a silence so deep it made the ears ring. She—Hoshimachi Suisei—slowly took her hands off the keyboard, feeling the weight of the outfit she had grown so accustomed to. After today, she would never stand on stage in this form again, nor would she ever stand beside her partner again.

The door to the room opened soundlessly. Entering was Sakura Miko, her precious partner who had shared countless nights with her since the very beginning of their activities. Miko stood frozen, still gripping the doorknob. Her eyes were red and moist, and even from a distance, it was clear she was desperately fighting back tears that were about to overflow. Her usual mischievous smile was nowhere to be found.

There was no need for words. Every word that needed to be said had already been spent over the past few years, in the time they had shared while insisting it was just "business." Besides, they both understood painfully well that if they spoke now, the "promise to smile" they had managed to keep until the very end of the stream would crumble in an instant.

Suisei rose quietly from her chair and walked toward Miko. With every step, the coldness of a "daily life without each other" that would begin tomorrow became more real. The late-night calls they could make anytime. The collaborations where they rolled around laughing over nonsense. The wings of the stage where they held each other's trembling hands before a big concert. It felt as if the miraculous time when the light of the blue star and the light of the pink cherry blossom intersected was being tucked away into a beautiful box named the past.

Standing before Miko, Suisei gently took both of her hands. Miko's small hands were trembling slightly. Unable to hold back any longer, Miko pressed her forehead against Suisei's shoulder. Tear stains began to spread across the blue costume, drop by drop. That warmth only served to sharpen the pain of parting. Suisei said nothing; she simply wrapped her arms around Miko's back and held her tight, so very tight.

Wordless emotions were exchanged silently between them. "Thank you," "I'm lonely," and "Don't go" were all dissolved into the strength of that embrace. Eventually, Miko slowly raised her head, and through tear-filled eyes, she managed to force a strained, crooked smile. Suisei returned the gesture with her usual fearless, yet incredibly kind grin.

Their hands slowly drifted apart. The moment their fingertips lost contact, the air between them was no longer that of "miComet." However, the warmth of the hands that had let go and the memories of the seasons they carved together would forever light the separate paths they were about to walk. Without looking back, Suisei took a single step forward into a new tomorrow. In the night sky outside the window, a single shooting star grazed the cherry-blossom-colored cityscape and vanished. *