Prologue: With the Goddess Absent, Tender Tears Fall from the Little Nymphet

Prologue

 

With the Goddess Absent, Tender

Tears Fall from the Little Nymphet

 

Pitter patter pitter patter…

Rain drizzled on the lush green forest of Maiden Park. It was the second week of June, a bit early for the rainy season.

Three famous all-girl schools sat atop the hill. Rain poured from the dark gray skies and soaked the whole area, acting as a precursor to the upcoming long monsoon.

Nagisa looked out from under the umbrella and sighed.

“Haaaah…”

She covered her mouth, surprised at the loudness of her sigh. In St. Miator Girls’ Academy, it was taboo to sigh. She didn’t know whether this rule was simply good manners to prevent others from feeling uncomfortable or a superstition to avoid bad luck, but she kept making little mistakes like these at this prestigious all-girl school. Fortunately, her classmates were well-mannered and didn’t treat her coldly, but…

Nagisa tilted her head and thought, Oh no, I did it again!

From under her umbrella, all she could see was the thick, green forest that surrounded her. She was alone on the wet path.

Yeah…

She wouldn’t chase me all this way…

She’s not allowed to be with someone unimportant like me anyway…

Nagisa detested her cowardice.

“Haaaah…” she sighed again.

She had become self-deprecating ever since she’d started attending this school. Before that, Nagisa had never cared about nor paid attention to what others thought of her. She had used to scratch her head and laugh, and her friends had envied her simplicity…she was simply immature.

But Nagisa had changed quite a bit since she’d transferred to this school.

She reflected on things now, on her existence. And thought about what she could do for others.

This was merely a step toward maturity.

Nagisa tried to be optimistic.

Well, this is the first time I’ve been the center of attention at school, so…I should grow up a little… Tsk tsk, the star on campus is so influential, whomever the star likes, even if it’s an ordinary transfer student like me…gets so much attention…

Nagisa wryly smiled, but deep inside…her heart tightened at the thought of the large shadow that had begun to fill it. The feelings swelled so much, she couldn’t stare into her own heart.

She couldn’t admit her true feelings to the one who had taught Nagisa to feel so melancholy…the one who had entered her heart and controlled her life.

That special person.

Ever since she’d met the goddess…

Nagisa used to spend her days peacefully, but ever since that fateful encounter, she had been attacked by violent waves of emotion that repeatedly rocked her feelings up to the heavens in happiness and at the same time dragged her to the bottomless pit of anxiety, over and over. And day after day.

Though it wasn’t a conscious wish, somewhere in her heart she longed for something to happen.

Maybe I’ll bump into her around the next corner…

Maybe, in the middle of a boring class, she’ll burst through the door and ask, “May I speak to Nagisa-san?”

Nagisa’s heart throbbed at the joyful anticipation.

But on the other hand…while the excitement of seeing the goddess surged through her like a tsunami, it was coupled with immense anxiety, freezing the pit of her stomach. Feelings of both joy and agony could overcome her at any given moment…

Ever since she had met Hanazono Shizuma, a large, mysterious shadow had begun to dwell in Nagisa’s heart.

It was her heart’s very first growing pains.

Another form of anxiety began to grow now.

“Will I never see her again…?” she started to lament, but stopped herself. No, no way. This is only temporary. It’s only for two weeks.

And…it’s been one, two, three…

Nagisa counted on her fingers the number of days she had been separated from Hanazono Shizuma, the number-one star on campus.

“See, it’s been four days already,” she tried to say cheerfully, but it was in vain.

Sigh… Oh, it’s only been four days, and I’m already this miserable… It’s like there’s something large missing from my life…

She was depressed. What’s wrong with me, anyway?

I haven’t done so well today… At the science lab, everyone told me I looked so sad…

Even during breakfast with Tamao-chan, I didn’t have much of an appetite. Tamao-chan looked at me with pity, like I was an abandoned kitty or something.

She even patted my head and said I was a good girl, trying to comfort me…

 

Oh, how did I get myself into this in the first place?

Come to think of it…