And suddenly there was an attack on her castle from an outside kingdom. Out of nowhere, a humongous cannonball hit, sending the entire thing into disarray. Sand flew everywhere, and Hoshi's beautiful towers had all fallen. She couldn't tell them from the sand that used to be the drawbridge.
On the verge of tears, she looked around for her attacker. Out in the grass, was a group of guys and a girl, looking very guilty.
The girl ran up to her. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit it out of his hands so hard. Gomen nasai." She picked up the ball and sent the boys a look.
Hoshi tried not to cry, but she had been working so hard. "I just- It was almost-" her voice got higher and higher as she tried to fight back her tears. "I just had to do the back." Finally, the waterworks hit.
The green haired girl's eyes widened at her tears. "Ano, I'll help you fix it! I just was trying to get the ball back. But I didn't mean for it to hit your sandcastle."
Hoshi sniffed and wiped her eyes. "You'll really help me?"
"Hai, please don't cry." The girl sat down at the edge of Hoshi's moat and piled some sand on the top of the mound that used to be a castle. "See? No problem."
As she worked, Hoshi couldn't help but smile. She was trying hard, but it didn't even come close to having the artistic touch that Hoshi had put into it previously. So Hoshi began to help rebuild and to give the girl some pointers, and soon they seemed to be getting along quite well.
Until suddenly the girl stood up with some urgency. "Sorry, but I gotta go!" she said quickly, before she ran off, leaving Hoshi in the sandbox to wonder who the girl was and where she was going� and leaving behind the cherry ball she had so wanted, too.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It wasn't even the second day of elementary school and already Mi-chan had left her alone to fend for herself. Neko walked slowly towards the school from the playground, wondering what she should do now all by herself.
She could always find Mi-chan if she really wanted to, but she was stubborn and hurt and Mi-chan had left her alone, not the other way around. So Mi-chan could just come find her if she wanted to.
Absorbed in her thoughts, she wasn't really watching where she was going and ran right into someone bigger than her.
"Well, looky here. Did you lose your other half, Neko-chan?"
Neko looked up to see Akima with Isahiko and Sorou, a couple of his friends, standing before her, just as menacing a sight to her as he had been in preschool. She backed up quickly, but wasn't able to escape before he tore Luna out of her hands.
"Give her back!" she shrieked at him, on the verge of tears of helplessness.
"Yeah, maybe if you say 'onegai.'"
Mi-chan never would've given in. But she wasn't here. And Neko wasn't going to be able to get Luna back by physical means. No other choice in sight, Neko looked down and murmured, "Onegai."
"I can't hear you."
"On.E.Gai," she said louder, blushing as his friends began to snicker. "Now give her back!"
"Um, no. But thanks. You add fun to my recess."
He turned to go, but she wasn't about to let him take her stuffed animal. "Iya!" she screeched as she ran to him and tried to grab Luna from him. But with one swift motion, he pushed her down and started to walk off.
"Hey, you big meanie! It's not nice to push down girls!" Mi-chan seemed to come from nowhere as she appeared on the scene and tackled him. As she began to beat him up (because it's perfectly nice to beat up boys), Isahiko and Sorou began to back away. They knew it wasn't a good idea to face a furious Mi-chan.
The whole incident was cut short then as the bell rang and Touma-sensei came out to collect her class from recess.
"Children! What do you think you're doing?!" She grabbed Mi-chan by the arm and pulled her off of Akima. Akima's friends ran off as he also was pulled to his feet by the teacher. Neko, however, stayed at Mi-chan's side� after rescuing her cat, that is. And she faithfully followed Miss Touma, Mi-chan, and Akima into the classroom.
Miss Touma sat Akima down in a chair facing one corner and Mi-chan in one facing another corner. "Stay here in time-out for the next ten minutes. I will be back with the rest of the class very soon. Do not move!" Turning around to go back to collect the rest of her class, she almost ran over Neko.
"Ano," the girl said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Can I stay in time-out with Mi-chan?"
"Why, no, Neko-chan! You have no reason to be in time-out. Why don't you come back with me to get your classmates?"
Her lip quivered. "But- But I didn't do anything wrong."
Miss Touma seemed baffled by the girl's distress. "Yes, dear. That's why you don't need to be punished."
"Then I can stay with Mi-chan?"
Finally, it dawned on Miss Touma that Neko and Mi-chan had been practically joined at the hip since they came in this morning, and it being the first day of school, Neko probably just didn't want to be separated from her twin.
Miss Touma bent down to talk to Neko so her sister couldn't hear. "Ten minutes isn't all that long. Michiru-chan will be done before you know it." She smiled kindly and added, "Art's next. Why don't you stay here and get an early start on a picture, okay? As long as you don't talk to Michiru-chan."
"'Kay."
Neko wiped her eyes and sat down at the corner of one of the tables as Miss Touma left the room.
*S'ok, Neko-chan. I'm right here.*
*I'm not talking to you. You left me all alone on the playground!* Neko thought bitterly.
* It's not my fault! You hit the ball that hard! And I did come to save you.*
*Shh. Touma-sensei said not to talk!* Neko returned to her coloring and ignored Mi-chan's further attempts at conversation.
But she wasn't mad enough to expect Mi-chan not to sit with her when she got out of time-out. So it was a big shock to her, when another girl sat down next to her before Mi-chan was done.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hoshi saw the girl who had tried to help her in the sandbox, and sat down in the chair at the girl's right.
"Ano�," the girl started. She looked like she wanted to object, but apparently decided better of it.
"Is it okay if I sit here?" Hoshi checked. She didn't want to intrude.
"I guess," the girl said timidly. She seemed totally different than she had on the playground. There, she had been confident (after Hoshi had stopped crying, that is) and friendly. Now she seemed shy and reserved.
Hoshi shrugged it off. She picked up a crayon and began to draw. After awhile, she thought maybe she should try talking to the girl. "I love art!" she told her. "It's my fav'rit part of school." The green-haired girl continued coloring, quietly watching Hoshi the whole time. "Do you like art?"
The girl nodded. "Coloring is fun," she admitted.
"I'm Hoshi, by the way." The girl still didn't respond in kind, so she prompted, "And you are�?"
"Neko."
"Neko?! That's what I was drawing, see?"
Home
