"Of course not, silly!" Mi-chan laughed, her mouth full of dough. "I think Tenshi-kun'd be a bit against that, don't you?" These cookies are going to be sooo good."
Tenshi'd be against Neko dating? What kind of control did that girl have over Neko, Hoshi wondered angrily. "Mi-chan, are you saying that Tenshi-kun forbids Neko-chan from dating?"
Mi-chan looked confused. "Forbids her? She doesn't have to. It's just kinda implied in their relationship."
Hoshi was beginning to like Tenshi less and less with every thing she heard about her. What was wrong with this girl, who didn't let Neko go out on dates? And what was wrong with Mi-chan, letting Neko stay friends with her? Mi-chan, who was supposed to protect Neko from such things, who had always been with Hoshi on the getting-Neko-to-date battlefront. Until now, it seemed. There was no way Mi-chan could possibly accept Tenshi as Neko's best friend, when the girl was so completely unworthy, was there? What was wrong with the twins that they couldn't see this?
"Ne, Tenshi-san is older than us, right?" Hoshi said thoughtfully, trying to see if she could understand their reasoning.
Mi-chan looked up from the nuts she was chopping, and wondered where this was going. "Hai."
"Do you think that maybe Neko-chan and Tenshi-san have a misplaced kouhai-sempai relationship?"
"Kouhai-sempai�?" Even though everyone knew what they meant, nobody ever seemed to use those words at Infinity. The Mizuno kids had dropped them shortly after coming. "We don't really talk about sempai relationships here," Mi-chan mentioned. "I don't know why, but it just isn't a big thing at Infinity."
"But everyone knows what they are. And Neko-chan grew up with them. She might have, you know, accidentally brought it into her relationship with Tenshi-san. They might not even realize it."
"Could you get out the chocolate chips?" Mi-chan asked as she began to stir the batter. "Neko-chan and Tenshi-kun's relationship isn't like that."
"Really? Because Neko-chan sure acts like it. She comes when Tenshi-san calls. Tenshi-san asks her to jump and Neko-chan wants to know how high. Neko-chan obviously idolizes her."
Mi-chan concentrated on the cookies and reflected on Hoshi's interpretation. It was true Neko was willing to do anything Tenshi asked, demo�, "You don't understand, Hoshi-chan. It works in reverse too. Tenshi-kun is just as willing to jump through hoops for Neko-chan." There, the batter was done.
As she got out the cookie sheets, Mi-chan asked, "Ne, why are you so anti-Tenshi-kun? You seem fine sharing me with Jian-kun." It wasn't that she was jealous, simply curious.
Hoshi looked down at the kitchen counter. "I'm used to sharing you with others. I had been sharing you with the guys of Suisei High for four years. But I've never had to share Neko-chan with anyone but you."
"But you were always trying to get her to go out on dates."
"That's because I wanted her to get over the Kaido-thing."
"Then be happy for her. I mean, ever since she and Tenshi-kun have-"
*STOP!*
Mi-chan turned to see Neko standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Pale and wide-eyed, Neko said shakily, "Hi. I- I'm back from pole vault." *I so much need to talk to you right now!*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It wasn't that Mi-chan was totally clueless. It was just that she naturally had assumed that Neko had introduced Tenshi as her koibito yesterday. And Neko knew it was her own fault for never telling Mi-chan that she suspected Hoshi was homophobic. She didn't know whether Mi-chan would hold that against Hoshi, but she didn't want to really find out either.
"Ne, Neko-chan. Come see if I used the right settings on the darks," Mi-chan requested. Neko was grateful that everyone she knew seemed to be better at covering things up than her, that is, as long as they were helping her out. She briefly wondered how she had managed to keep the events of the dance a secret from Mi-chan so long, as she was led to the laundry room by Mi-chan, who called to Hoshi, "Finish the cookies!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hoshi spooned cookie dough onto the second cookie sheet, wondering what was taking Mi-chan and Neko so long. Honestly, it didn't take that long to check out dryer settings.
Neko was acting weird anyway. She looked almost frightened when she had entered the kitchen. And she'd been jumpy practically since she saw Hoshi at the airport.
*I swear it's that Tenshi girl. Every time Neko-chan is around her, or Tenshi-san is mentioned, she's gets antsy. Why does she bother hanging out with someone who obviously makes her so nervous?*
Hoshi sighed as she dropped the last cookie onto the sheet. She was just about to go find the twins when they returned. If she expected them to enlighten her on the subject that they had clearly left to discuss, she was out of luck.
But she soon forgot all about it, as the twins rejoined her for cookie baking. Somehow, everything seemed normal again, and she could put her worry behind her when they both were here chatting and laughing with her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hoshi didn't know why Neko thought it would be a good idea to invite Tenshi along with them to the mall. She had to have picked up on Hoshi's dislike of the blonde. Then again, Neko was the type who needed all of her friends to get along. Hoshi knew she shouldn't be surprised by Neko's efforts to get her to like Tenshi.
Yet Hoshi couldn't give Tenshi the benefit of the doubt. Everything about her annoyed Hoshi, from her sparkling blue eyes to her perfectly done hair to her too cute outfit. The gray top marked her as an "ANGEL" in big pink letters (*Sure* Hoshi thought sarcastically, as she read the English word) and had a vertical slit in the neckline so that a hint of her cleavage showed (as if trying to prove Hoshi's skepticism correct). It went very well with the pair of black low riding denim shorts she wore. The whole ensemble was just a little too perfect looking on Tenshi. And though Hoshi didn't know why she objected to it so much, she couldn't help it.
On top of that, Neko still seemed on edge when she was around Tenshi. Yet, she seemed happy too, which was even more confusing to Hoshi. It was as if Tenshi's very presence made it worth Neko's while to be a little nervous. That wasn't the Neko that Hoshi knew, the one who would avoid a tense situation if she could. Now she seemed to almost be embracing the situation just so she could be near Tenshi.
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