Neko hadn't planned on telling Hoshi, the twins' best friend from Mercury, that she was dating Tenshi. She had correctly deduced that Hoshi was a bit homophobic. However, Hoshi had assured her after finding out the truth that she would still be Neko's friend. And yet here was a letter from her, addressed only to Mi-chan.
She walked slowly into the house, shuffling through the rest of the mail unenthusiastically.
"Hey, Neko," Ryo called as she entered. He started into the hall to intercept his eldest and find out what she was disappointed about now.
"Konnichi wa, Otou�oh!" There, behind a biking magazine for Mi-chan, was another star-studded purple envelope.
Dear Neko-chan,
How's your fall term going? I'm sorry I haven't written to you in so long. It's been so busy here on Mercury.
You'll never believe who asked me out last week. Kidou-kun. Can you believe it?! Turns out he's liked me for years, almost since you dumped him. He's such a hottie! We're going to the holiday formal together. I can't wait! I wish you and Mi-chan could come. It'll be loads of fun, but it won't be the same without you guys.
Anyway, I'm sorry if I was weird while I was on Earth. You two will always be my best friends, no matter what choices you make.
Neko stopped and giggled. "It's not a choice, baka." But she wasn't really upset. She was too happy that Hoshi had written to her at all.
She sensed Mi-chan come in and ran out to share her happiness with her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Mi-chan! Kite kite!"
Mi-chan watched her sister bounce down the stairs with amusement while she hung her keys on a peg next to the door. "Uh�, Hoshi-chan wrote to us, and you're just too excited for words?"
Neko stuck out her tongue. "It's no fair guessing when you already know."
"Well, if you didn't broadcast your thoughts�," Mi-chan teased.
"Anyway, your mail's on the coffee table." Neko suddenly glanced around. "Ne, where's Chibi?"
"You didn't pick him up?" Mi-chan answered slowly.
"Why would I do that? It's your day to pick him up." A hint of a smile played upon her lips. "Did you forget our baby bro?"
But Mi-chan was not in the mood for joking. "No, but when I went to get him at cram school, he wasn't there." It had actually ticked her off at the time. There she was, taking time out of her busy schedule, and Chibi hadn't even been there. She had naturally assumed he had found another way home, like maybe Neko had got done early and picked him up, and Mi-chan had felt cheated that nobody had called her to spare her the trip. But perhaps there had been no one to call her.
She opened her communicator, but shut it right away as Ryo entered the hall from the living room. Instinctively, she shielded her thoughts from him, so that her otou-san wouldn't worry, or Chibi wouldn't get in trouble. She hadn't decided which.
"Everything okay, girls?" he asked concerned. Just because Mi-chan had shielded her unease, didn't keep Neko from transmitting her feelings.
"Yeah�, I just need to go pick up Chibi," Mi-chan said in a strained voice. She grabbed her keys and ran out the door.
"It- It's not my day to pick him up," Neko stammered.
Ryo sighed and followed Mi-chan out the door before she went and killed her brother.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan fully intended to find Chibi on her own, but she had barely gotten to her bike before a car drove up to their driveway. There, in the passenger seat was Chibi.
She ran up to the car. "Where the hell have you been?! I went to pick you up at cram school and you weren't there. You could have at least called, you know?" Finally, Mi-chan bothered to take notice of the driver of the car. "Ne, who are you?" she asked of the redhead in the driver's seat.
"Hi, I'm Carrie," the girl said as she reached across Chibi to offer Mi-chan her hand. Mi-chan didn't take it. "Gabriel offered to show me around today. I'm new here."
