Tenshi pushed her food around on her plate.
"Ne, Tenshi? Are you gonna dance?"
"Not without Koneko," Tenshi said solemnly.
"Ano, can't you ask her? She's over at that table."
Tenshi looked at where Puroko was pointing. Sure enough, there was Neko. She sighed. And there was Hoshi. Tenshi knew she couldn't go over there and ask for a dance while Hoshi was there. But she couldn't help but stare at her girlfriend and wonder at the coincidence that they were both here at this party.
When a guy who was obviously interested in Neko (not that Tenshi could blame him) approached Neko and Hoshi, it was all Tenshi could do to keep from jumping up and going to Neko, but she kept her cool and didn't get too jealous. And in fact it seemed that Neko wasn't interested, although she was blushing. Then again, she always blushed.
And then suddenly Neko looked up at Tenshi, as if looking to her for something. Tenshi's heart leapt. But almost instantly, Neko lowered her eyes.
"Iie, Kiddo, I guess not," Tenshi finally answered Puroko's question.
Puroko wasn't going to let Tenshi get away with that answer.
"Why?"
"Because."
"Why?"
"Just because."
"But why?"
"Come on, Kiddo. Let's go get some dessert."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Could I interest one of you lovely ladies in a dance?"
Neko didn't look at him, but instead found her eyes wandering to Tenshi. Tenshi was looking only at her, and Neko suddenly found herself in a completely awkward situation. She suddenly decided that her dinner was fascinating.
Hoshi looked at Neko expectantly, but Neko was apparently too shy to accept the guy's invitation. Hoshi shrugged, and smiled at him, not wanting to be rude. "I'll dance with you," she offered. She wouldn't want to waste a cute guy's invitation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Although the guy was supposed to lead, Mi-chan couldn't help it. She had learned to dance with Neko, and she had always played the guy role. It was only after her first dance with a guy that she had learned how to dance the other way. But now she wanted to talk to Neko, so Jian-wa soon found himself subject to her lead as they danced back towards the table.
"Ne, Neko-chan? Why are you avoiding Tenshi-kun?"
Neko's voice was only a whisper. "I can't pretend that I'm just her friend when I'm around her. And I can't let Hoshi-chan-"
"She's dancing right now. Go talk to Tenshi-kun at least. If Hoshi-chan sees you� I mean, you are supposed to be best friends with Tenshi-kun�"
Neko nodded, but still seemed uncertain.
"Hey, we can stay here and wait for Hoshi-chan and make sure you have all your bases covered, if you'd like," Mi-chan offered.
Neko was grateful, but� "I don't want to keep you from dancing."
"Aw, we can dance anytime. So go on." Mi-chan's determination was unwavering, and with a nod of agreement from Jian-wa, Neko felt she had no other excuses.
"Alright."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi was cutting a piece of chocolate cake to give to Puroko (although the sagacity behind this action was questionable, as Puroko was already hyperactive), when she heard Neko call her name.
"Tenshi-kun."
"Neko-san! Oh, my gosh, isn't this fun! Mama and Papa get to play for everyone, isn't that cool?! And I get to hang out with grown-ups and have cake. Are you gonna dance with Tenshi? Tenshi says you don't wanna. Is that true? Why don't you wanna? I thought you kinda liked her. Neko-san? Don't you like her anymore?"
"Ara, I do, Puroko-chan," Neko said this just as much to Tenshi as to Puroko. "But we can't dance today, because� because�," Neko struggled to come up with a reason that the eight-year-old would understand. But Puroko had grown up in a family where both of her parents were women and her big sister dated women too. Neko didn't want to be the one to explain that some people wouldn't accept that.
"Because Koneko and I are saving up for a victory dance after Regionals." Tenshi shrugged at Neko. It was the best she could come up with on short notice. "Arigatou," Neko mouthed to her. She never liked to lie.
"That sucks. You should dance now and skip the later one."
Neko giggled briefly. She couldn't help it. It was such an eight-year-old philosophy.
"It doesn't work that way, Kiddo," Tenshi said, sadly.
"Gomen nasai," Neko said, looking at Puroko, though speaking to Tenshi.
"Don't worry about it." Tenshi replied in the same fashion.
"Demo, I wanted to see you two dance." Puroko was pouting. "How 'bout after Regionals? Can I then?"
"Sure."
"Why not?"
"Yay!" Puroko was excited by the news. "Ne? What 'zactly are Regionals?"
Tenshi and Neko both smiled as they began to discuss pole vault with the younger girl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan watched Neko and Tenshi, happy that they were getting along despite the whole Hoshi issue. *Man, from best friend to obstacle. Poor Hoshi-chan.* Mi-chan resolved to hang out more with Hoshi before she left. It wasn't fair to her if both of the twins were too involved in their lives on earth to pay attention to her while she
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