“Hey Yue. I think I’m falling in love.”
“I’m flattered, Nichi-chan, but I don’t swing that way.”
Two perfect spittakes accompanied these declarations. Nodoka and Haruna stared in shock at Sunset for her impromptu report and at Yue for her blase response.
Haruna recovered first. “I KNEW IT! It’s Makie-san, isn’t it? I suspected ever since that weird conversation on the train, but-”
“It’s not Makie. And could you speak a little louder? I think there are some people on the other side of the room who didn’t hear you.”
The four friends were lounging in one of the Library Exploration Club’s many operations centers which doubled as a breakroom for the tour teams who were between shifts. Sunset, Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna had already led a couple of tours through the first few floors of Library Island, Sunset remaining uncharacteristically quiet throughout. Finally, as they waited for their third group to be ready, she’d broken her silence.
Haruna waved off their upperclassmen who had looked over at her shout. The high-school and university students were administering the tours and standing by for search and rescue if necessary. Eventually, they went back to their own conversations and Haruna turned back to Sunset. “Okay, so not Makie. Who, then?”
“I’d rather not say.” Sunset glared at Haruna. “I’d rather you didn’t shout this person’s name to the entire room.”
“Give her some credit,” Yue said. “She hasn’t spilled the beans about magic yet, despite our concerns.”
“That’s because she knows what I’ll do to her if she does.”
Nodoka shuddered. “I’m not sure which one is scarier: Haruna-chan when she learns that we’ve kept gossip from her, or Nichi-chan if anyone betrays her trust.”
“Stop changing the subject! If you’re not going to tell us who it is, then why did you bother saying anything?”
Sunset sighed. “Because I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I mean, I’ve been thinking about it for the past hour and only now come to grips with the fact that I’m falling in love. I even considered asking you for your diary, Honya, just so I could sort out my thoughts. I also don’t think this person reciprocates. There’s admiration aplenty, but love? Besides, this person just got through a… complicated break up. I’m not sure that love is even an option right now.” She shrugged. “So, I’m kind of in limbo right now.”
“Complicated break up?” Nodoka looked surprised. “Wait, you mean you aren’t talking about me?”
A beat of silence echoed awkwardly between them.
“She what?”
“You knew?”
“Was that a secret?”
“Oh boy.”
Sunset and Nodoka were both blushing furiously. Nodoka started to stammer. “I-I-I mean, I-I just assumed you knew I knew! After I got the diary! A-and with how you teased Setsuna-chan with it! I just assumed you knew I’d seen at some point!”
“Why would I assume that you’d been periodically reading my mind?!” Sunset groaned into her hands. “That damn diary. I knew it would cause trouble.”
“Wait a minute!” Haruna was practically salivating over this revelation. “Nichi-chan is in love with Honya?!”
“It’s a crush,” Sunset corrected. “An innocent infatuation not even approaching the level of puppy love. A childish imitation of the deeper emotion that is eros. A crush can grow into love, but only with significant time, active effort, or a powerful inciting incident.”
“More lessons from the love goddess?” Yue guessed.
“Non-stop lectures for a whole freaking year.” Sunset sighed and shook her head. “But yes, I have a crush on Honya. A small one, and it’s been fading lately as I’ve made more friends and deepened my relationships with them. This is different. ‘Falling in love’ is a much more serious condition. And unfortunately, I think I’ve caught it on the tail end as it’s blooming into fully ‘being in love.’”
Haruna stared at Sunset for a moment. “I’m sorry, I heard Yuechi say ‘love goddess’ and kinda zoned out after that. What?”
Sunset eyed Yue. “You haven’t told her about Keidensu yet?”
“It seemed like a minor detail, considering everything else we had to cover.”
“Fair enough.” She turned back to Haruna. “To summarize, I was roommates with the literal Goddess of Love for a year before coming to this world. I have a vast and deep knowledge of all variations of love and its imitations and relatives. Love may be esoteric, but I have the requisite knowledge to dissect it.”
“I… see. So, ‘falling in love’ versus ‘being in love?’”
Sunset leaned back and stared at the ceiling. How to explain it? “Falling in love is… a process. A gradual change in how you feel about someone. It can start anywhere on the scale of attraction from ‘crush’ to ‘drop dead, you pervert.’ You slowly start to see more and more of the other person’s positive qualities, start to understand them more, start to want to be around them more. Even if you still see all of their flaws and faults, they start to matter less. The positives either outweigh the negatives or they blind you to them. Eventually, you cross the event horizon into the state of insanity that is ‘being in love.’
“And it really is a state of insanity. The other person occupies your mind constantly. You’re constantly aware of them if you’re in the same room. If you aren’t in the same room, you’re thinking of how to get together with them again or counting down the time. Your impulse control is significantly impaired where they’re concerned, as is your sense of shame. It’s a terrifying thing.”
Nodoka frowned. “Nichi-chan, do you have to make love sound like such a bad thing?”
“Not ‘love’,” Sunset corrected. “‘Being in love.’ There’s a significant difference. ‘Love’ is far deeper, far nobler, and far more powerful. If you’re ‘in love,’ you want to be happy and for the other person to be happy for the sake of your own good feelings. ‘Love’ is putting the other person’s needs before your own. It’s wanting them to be happy because the thought of them being unhappy tears you to pieces inside. It’s wanting to sacrifice for their sake. Wanting not just what will make them happy in the moment, but what will bring them joy throughout their lives. It’s one of the most powerful magics in the world, literally in my world, and almost so in this one.” She shook her head. “But I’m a long, long way off from ‘love.’”
Haruna stared slack-jawed at Sunset for a minute. “Okay, I was gonna call BS that ‘roommates with the literal Goddess of Love’ stuff, but I can’t think of any other way that Hikaru ‘Demon Slayer’ Nichibotsu goes off on a lecture about love.”
Sunset glared at Yue. “Oh, that detail you mention?”
Yue shrugged. “So, you wanted our advice?”
Haruna shook her head, her familiar eager grin falling into place now that they were back on semi-familiar ground. “O-ho! You want us to help you plan a lovey-dovey date to help you sweep this person off their-”
“Bad breakup, remember? ‘Rebound relationships’ last about a month, max. If this is going to happen, I want it to be because it’s genuine.”
“...that’s a good point.” Haruna crossed her arms with a frown. “Hm, that is a tricky one. Well first off, is this person a boy or a girl?”
“Does that matter?”
“You were roomies with Aphrodite; you tell me.”
“...a girl,” Sunset confessed. She looked away, trying to hide her blush. “Around our - or rather, your - age.”
“Is she a member of the Boxing Club?” Nodoka asked. “Someone in our class?”
“...the latter.” Sunset’s heart filled with dread as she saw her three rather intelligent friends running through their class in their heads. “Look, you don’t need to know who it is to-”
“Konoka?”
“Are you kidding? Setsuna-san would kill her. Wait, could that be it?”
“Nichi-chan would never try to steal Setsuna-san from Konoka-chan. Maybe Asuna-san?”
“Look, you really don’t need to-”
“Nah, that hate’s as real as it gets. Maybe Kaede?”
“They have had more than one heart-to-heart.”
“How did you know about-!”
“No, I’m pretty sure Kaede-san isn’t her type. Maybe for a fling, but not for a relationship.”
“A f-f-f-f-fling?!”
“She is older than us, Honya. And she’s alluded to past casual relationships before.”
“Seriously?! Details!”
“Back in her pony world.”
“...scratch those details.”
“Girls, you really don’t need to-”
“Chisame-san?”
“Wha- I’m not going to respond to wild guesses!”
“Yuna-chan?”
“I don’t… okay, I stare a lot, but that’s just because of her chest!”
“Misa-san?”
“She can drop dead for all I care.”
“Ako-san?”
“-! N-no!”
Three sets of eyes brightened at Sunset’s stammer. “O-ho-ho!” Haruna said, smirking evily. “Is that how it is? I wonder how much Asakura would pay me for a scoop like-”
Sunset lunged forward, her hand wrapping around Haruna’s throat. “Breathe a word of this to her,” she hissed, her eyes blazing as much as her cheeks, “and I swear to you that they will never find the body.”
Haruna just kept up her smirk, utterly unconcerned. “You know you just confirmed it, right?”
“...damn it.” Sunset released Haruna and collapsed back into her seat. “Fine, it’s Ako. I’m falling in love with Izumi Ako.”
Haruna barked out a triumphant laugh while Nodoka squeed. Yue looked up in thoughtful confusion. “I didn’t know that Ako-san had a boyfriend.”
“She didn’t,” Sunset muttered. “Not really. It’s… complicated.” She quickly explained to them the circumstance of “Nagi’s” date with Ako and the subsequent revelation of magic that had followed, along with Sunset’s post-rejection pep-talk. “And that’s about it. I mean, being angry at Wildfire for his stupidity makes sense, but I can tell now that I was overreacting. And I think I might have been… jealous of him while he and Ako had their date. I even framed rejecting her as the best option which… yeah, objectively was probably the right call, but I don’t think I advised it for entirely objective reasons. And the way I comforted her afterwards…” Her face was on fire as she looked down at her hands.
“...I’ve never been like that towards anyone before, not since my brother and I were really young. It felt right at the time but, thinking back on it, I’m kind of scared how vulnerable I was. Like, I was so desperate for her not to beat herself up over this. Like if she did, it’d be truly terrible. And when she thanked me afterwards…” A shiver ran down her spine. “I always scoffed when Keidensu talked about how scary ‘being in love’ could be, but I get it now. Right then, I felt like there was a knife pressed right up against my heart, and Ako was the one holding the hilt. And if she came away from that room depressed…”
Her three friends were stunned into silence for a minute; they’d never seen Sunset like this before. “Okay,” Haruna eventually said, nodding. “You’ve definitely got it bad for her.”
“Yeah, I figured that out, thanks,” Sunset said. “The question is, what do I do now?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about the ‘rebound relationship’ issue,” Yue mused. “If Ako-san and Negi-sensei only had the one date, and if she was that embarrassed by it, she probably isn’t gung-ho to try again immediately.”
“Maybe just try what I’m doing with Negi-sensei,” Nodoka suggested. “Spending time getting closer to her until you feel comfortable asking her out on a date.” She blushed and chuckled self-depricatingly. “It, um, it’ll probably take you less time than it did me.”
“Heck, you could probably start going on dates right away,” Haruna said. “Just don’t call them that. Call it ‘hanging out just the two of you’ until you get a sense that she’d be open to more.”
“...that’s it?” Sunset arched an eyebrow. “I totally expected you to tell me to charge full-steam ahead. Isn’t that what you always suggest to Honya?”
“Honya faces the constant risk that someone else will try to swipe up Negi-kun before she can,” Haruna countered. “But with you…” She trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked away. “I mean, no offence to her, but Ako-san is kind of… that is…”
“You’re saying,” Sunset said, an edge in her voice, “that Ako is less likely to attract romantic rivals for me. That it’s less likely for someone else to develop feelings for her than it would be for them to develop feelings for Wildfire.”
Haruna winced. “I mean, yes?”
Sunset took a deep breath and tried to force her initial reaction aside. “You’re probably right,” she admitted through clenched teeth. “Ako’s charm is powerful, but it’s far more to do with her personality than her looks. Her introversion is endearing, but it makes her less likely to draw attention. She’s extremely cute, but our class is full of bombshells that hog the spotlight. Her first impression is… mild.”
Haruna tugged at her shirt collar, sweat running down her face. “Er, right. That. B-but that’s good for you! You’ve got all the time in the world to take the slow and steady approach.” Sunset glared at Haruna. “N-n-not that it would take all the time in the world for someone else to notice how great Ako-san is! Just that, um, er, ah, Yue! Say something!”
Yue chuckled as Sunset's glare bored into Haruna. “Haruna’s tactlessness aside, there’s our advice, Nichi-chan. What do you think?”
Sunset shot one more glare at Haruna before sighing and leaning back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling. “I mean, I guess that makes sense. Ako and I have already been getting closer lately. I guess I just need to start making it intentional.”
“There you go!” Haruna said, relieved. “And hey! If anyone else does start going for Ako-san, you can just beat them to a pulp!” Her boisterous laugh trailed off quickly when she noticed Sunset’s contemplative expression. “Um, Nichi-chan? That was a joke.”
“Well, duh. A bloody smear would be too easy to find. But if I teleported them into a locked dungeon here on Library Island…”
Another minute of silence hung about the room. “Keidensu-hime is right,” Nodoka muttered. “Being in love is scary.”
“Speaking of which,” Sunset said, snapping out of her reverie, “didn’t you have a date with Wildfire yester-”
“Oh my! Is that the time?! We’d better get ready for the next tour group!”
“Wha- HEY! You can’t just interrogate me on my love life and then run off at the first mention of yours! Honya?! HONYA!!!”
*****
Unfortunately for Sunset’s curiosity, the next tour group was indeed ready to go. Fortunately for Sunset’s heart, Ako had finally arrived. She was able to ignore Haruna’s snickering easily enough, a task that became even easier when Negi arrived right before the group set off. His and Ako’s eyes met for an instant before they both looked away, intense blushes covering both of their faces. Sunset was both relieved and concerned that Ako’s blush seemed to be entirely from embarrassment rather than attraction.
"You're going to have to get used to it," Sunset muttered to Ako as Yue led the group down to the second level of Library Island, lecturing everyone on what little they knew of its history. "You're going to see him everyday in class."
Ako huffed, staring at the back of Negi’s head. Thankfully, their teacher was completely engrossed in Yue's lecture. She and Sunset were loitering at the back of the group so as not to be overheard. "I know. But it's just so embarrassing!"
"If it's any consolation, Wildfire’s just as embarrassed as you are." She smirked. "In fact, I think seeing how embarrassed you are is making him even more flustered."
"Maybe I should keep it up on purpose, then," Ako grumbled.
Sunset stifled a laugh and shook her head. "Hell hath no fury" indeed. "As fun as that would be to watch, and as much as he deserves it, you probably don't want more of the class asking about what happened between you two."
Ako sighed. “You’re probably right. Not that any of them would believe me anyway. I mean, how many people in the class even know about magic?” She started to chuckle before trailing off when she noticed Sunset counting on her fingers. “Er, Nichi-chan?”
“I think you make eighteen,” Sunset muttered. “Nineteen if you count the class ghost. Actually, I’m pretty sure Kotarou’s let Chizuru and Natsumi in on the secret, and Ayaka’s sharp enough that I’d be surprised if she hasn’t intuited something of what’s going on. So that’s twenty-two. I think the only ones still in the dark are the twins, the cheerleaders, the rest of the sports girls, Satsuki, and Misora.”
Ako’s stared at Sunset, her jaw hanging open. “Nichi-chan, that’s more than two thirds of the class.”
“Wildfire is ridiculously bad at keeping it a secret.” Sunset shrugged. “Though, to be fair, nine of us knew about magic from the start. But there’s a betting pool going for how long it will take for the whole class to find out. But with you acting as a gateway to the sports girls and Dekopin Rocket and the twins learning ninja stuff from Kaede, Satsuki and Misora are the only wildcards. My bet’s on everyone knowing before the year is over.”
“Actually, Kasuga-chan already knows.”
Sunset and Ako flinched at the sudden intrusion, the former turning to glare over her shoulder at Haruna. “Eavesdropping is a nasty habit. It’s going to get you into trouble someday.”
“Down there is the biggest lake in Library Island,” Yue lectured the group, pointing to a massive cavern to the left. “Lake Tribulatio, which is Latin for ‘trouble’. So named for the many traps which ring its shores and the dangerous wildlife that used to make the waters their home.”
Sunset sneered at Haruna. “Oh look, ‘someday’ might be here now.”
Haruna held up her hands placatingly. “Hey hey hey, I just happened to overhear. Anyway, it turns out Kasuga-chan’s been part of the ‘inner world’ all along.”
“Is that so?” Sunset hummed to herself. “Twenty-three, then. I wonder if Satsuki knows anything…”
“I’d be surprised if she doesn’t,” Ako mused. “She’s friends with Chao-san and Hakase-san, right?”
“And then there’s her food stall,” Haruna added. “People get chatty over food, especially if you give them enough sake. One of the mage teachers at this school is bound to have let something slip around her.”
“So that’s a soft twenty-four.” Sunset shook her head. I swear, if Yue’s right and it all gets out before Summer Break, I’m punting Wildfire into Lake Tribulatio. I’ve got some good snacks riding on this!”
“That’s what happens when you bet against Yuechi.” Haruna hooked an arm around Ako’s neck, pulling her close and whispering conspiratorially. “So, how’s it feel to be initiated into the ‘Knowing About Magic Club?’ If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask your reliable Haruna-senpai.”
“‘Haruna-senpai’ only learned about it today herself,” Sunset said, glaring at her. “And last I checked, you’re still missing some key pieces of information.”
“Pshah,” Haruna said, waving her off. “Yuechi and Honya-chan have filled me in on all the important parts.”
“You didn’t know about my former-roommate until literally five minutes ago.”
“You’re from another dimension; that doesn’t count!”
“Wait. She’s what?”
“That’s it! Time for you to get into trouble!”
“Wait! Nichi- agh! No! No no no no nooooooooooooooooo…”
The tour group stared in shock as Haruna was flung down to the water far below. Yue simply sighed and shook her head. “Sorry about that, everyone. She’ll be fine. Nichibotsu throws Haruna-chan into Lake Tribulatio at least once a month. As I was saying, this corridor is relatively new, only added in the last century to connect the main path to the French History section.”
Sunset huffed and took Ako’s hand, pulling her along after the tour group. “That Haruna, I swear. One of these days she’s going to let something slip that gets her into serious trouble.”
Ako said nothing for a minute, letting Sunset pull her along, neither of them really listening to Yue’s commentary. “Nichi-chan?” she eventually asked. “How much is there about you that I don’t know?”
Sunset was quiet for a moment before she sighed, slowing to a stop and letting the tour group progress without them. “...a lot, Ako. I guess I should start by saying that my amnesia story is completely made up.”
“I kind of figured that, yeah. So, you’re from… another dimension?”
“I was kinda hoping we could work up to that, but yeah. I’m from another universe entirely, unconnected to this one except by a magic mirror that only opens once every two-and-a-half years. The mirror on this side is inside a hidden room here in Library Island, where Honya and the others found me. They taught me Japanese and helped me adapt to this world. I learned about this world’s magic soon after I joined the class, and I’ve been learning ever since.” She paused as they passed a narrow side-passage. “Huh. Never been down this way before.” She shrugged and pulled Ako along off the main path. “Come on. Need to make sure no-one overhears us.”
“Eh?!” Ako looked from Sunset to the main path and back, uncertain. “Er, they said not to leave the group. We could get lost.”
“We probably will.” Sunset chuckled as Ako’s uncertainty turned to panic. “Don’t worry. I get lost down here all the time. I know all the tricks to find my way back. Can’t miss my Midnight Horror route tonight after all.”
Ako hesitated a moment longer before allowing Sunset to drag her deeper into Library Island. As they walked and browsed the bookshelves - poetry and other writings of the Warring States Period - Sunset filled Ako in on what she knew of the magical world, including Negi’s adventures in Kyoto and their confrontation with the demon Herrman. She found herself glossing over the more combative parts of these stories, though she did divulge - at Ako’s prompting - the details of her conflict with Negi.
“So, you’re not, er, ‘contracted’ to Negi-sensei anymore?”
“It was only a provisional contract,” Sunset muttered. “And no, I’m not. Free and untethered, that’s me.” Free and untethered? Seriously? Agh! How do you flirt again?
“Yeah, that sounds more like you,” Ako mused. “But he has a lot of other partners, right?”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Four, last I checked. And Haruna will definitely want to join in on that once she hears about artefacts.”
“And you form a contract by, um, k-kissing, right?”
“...yeah?”
“...so you’re saying that I got taken in by a playboy.”
Sunset stumbled to a stop. She turned to stare back at a stone-faced Ako. “You- that- You didn’t-” Her dumbfounded, half-panicked expression turned quickly to irritation as Ako’s stoic facade started to crack. “Oh, ha ha.”
Ako giggled as her face relaxed. “Sorry, Nichi-chan. I couldn’t resist. You were just so concerned about me earlier, and I never really get the chance to tease you.”
Sunset huffed and looked away to hide her blush. “Yeah yeah, yuck it up. Glad you’re okay enough to make jokes about it, at least.”
Ako nodded with a light blush of her own. “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about it ever since Negi-kun told me everything. I mean, really, I barely knew ‘Nagi-san.’ I met him once before the festival and then spent, what, a few hours with him? I’m just glad it all wrapped up before my feelings could grow any deeper.” She groaned. “I still can’t believe how hard I fell.”
Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, that’s love for ya, I guess.”
“Love, huh?” Ako hummed curiously. “Do you have a lot of experience with love, Nichi-chan?”
“Not… first-hand,” she admitted. “I mentioned my former roommate earlier, right? Well, she’s something of an expert on love. Most of what I know comes from her ramblings.”
“Your roommate from… the other dimension, right?” Ako’s eyes sparked with curiosity. “What’s it like?”
Sunset shrugged. “Oh, you know. People. Problems. Not too different from this one.”
Ako deflated. “Oh.”
“...everyone’s a pony, though.”
“EH?!”
*****
By the time Sunset had finished detailing her life in Equestria - and Ako had demanded details - they’d made their way down to familiar territory for Sunset. She quickly led Ako to her old room to show her the mirror.
“Wow,” Ako breathed as she ran a hand along the mirror’s purple frame. “A whole other world, just on the other side of this mirror.”
Sunset eyed the mirror with decidedly less awe, though without the scorn she had once born. She couldn’t help but wonder if, having experienced all she had now, she would have made the same choice she’d made back then.
Useless speculation, really. The only way for me to have seen all I’ve seen and learned all I’ve learned would have been to go through. I suppose I was always meant to explore this world behind the mirror. “I’ll be happy to show you around when it opens again,” Sunset told Ako. “It’ll be open for three days. That’s plenty of time to show you the sights of Canterlot and have you back here before the portal closes.”
Ako jerked her hand back. “Oh! Right. E-heh. Wouldn’t want to get stuck on the other side for two and a half years. Not that it wouldn’t be fun, but it would be pretty terrible for everyone if I disappeared on them one day.” She winced and looked back at Sunset. “N-not that I think you’re terrible, Nichi-chan! It’s just, um…”
Sunset shook her head and gazed into the mirror, studying her still-alien reflection. “It’s okay. It was pretty terrible of me. Not just for running out on Tenko-hime, but for leaving Nikko behind without a word. Leaving Keidensu-hime without apologizing for my bitchiness and jealousy. Leaving the R&D guys with my unfinished work.” She sighed. “I’m going to have a lot of apologizing to do when I go back.”
“That’s a lot to take care of in three days. I don’t envy you.”
“...”
“Nichi-chan? You… you would just be going back for three days, right?”
Sunset sighed again and sat down before the mirror. “Honestly? I’m not sure. I still don’t feel like I’m a human, not really. I feel like my destiny is still to guide and guard Equestria. But… I will admit, it’s going to be a lot harder to leave than I thought it would be when I first came through. I… I really don’t want to say anything like a permanent goodbye to any of the friends I’ve made here. Honya. Yue. Setsuna. Even Evangeline and Dog-boy, er, Kotarou, Wildfire’s friend.”
Ako pointed uncertainly at herself. “Er…”
“Oh yeah,” Sunset mused idly. “You too, I guess.” She smirked up at Ako and held up her hand, her thumb and forefinger half a centimeter apart. “Just a liiiiittle bit.”
Ako giggled. “Jerk.”
Sunset answered with a chuckle before looking back at the mirror. “I really don’t want to leave everyone behind again, Ako. Not now when I finally get why this whole ‘friendship’ thing is so great. I… I’d miss all of you a lot.”
Ako frowned. “Maybe there’s a way to keep the portal open longer than those three days?”
“Maybe…” Sunset shook her head and stood. “Something to think about, anyway. Maybe I’ll see if Evangeline and Wildfire have any ideas about that sort of thing. If nothing else, I can see if Tenko-hime has any ideas when I get back.” She jerked her head towards the door. “Come on. Let’s get back.”
Ako gave the mirror one last glance before following.