1
The silver Audi TT parked next to the house, and two women stepped out.
The petite one had long, silvery white hair; short, soft strands framing her delicate features, and lime green eyes contrasting against her long, black eyelashes. A low ponytail was keeping the rest of her hair in place, gently dancing behind her as she walked. Her strapless, drop waist warm yellow dress gently suggesting her generous breasts, marking her slim waist, and then falling down to her thighs, showing off her perfectly shaped legs. Platformed, five inches wedge sandals with ankle belt decorating her small, delicate feet, and a matching handbag hanging from her shoulder, as she arranged her sunglasses over her head.
The other one, considerably taller but just as slim and well shaped, had straight, shoulder length chestnut hair, and startling purple eyes. The low rise, washed side tab mini shorts she was wearing showed off her endless legs; low heeled, braided ankle strap sandals on her perfectly pedicured feet, and a white, crochet-trim blouse. The generous V neck line, perfectly marking her round, full breasts.
Putting the car keys on her handbag and taking out another set, the tall one opened the door, and they both walked in. A set of excited, childish yells and laughter reaching their ears instantly.
"Taiki! Yaten!" a small, six year old girl with light, honey colored eyes and light green hair exclaimed, running up to them, jumping all the way and clapping her hands excitedly. "You're here!" she exclaimed again, taking their hands in her small ones and dragging them into the living room. "Come on! Seiya's teaching us a new dance!"
And right there, in between the couch and the TV set, two more girls were happily imitating the movements of one tall woman, as she danced and laughed. She had jet black, slightly curly short hair, and deep blue eyes framed by long, black eyelashes. Her long, perfect legs were covered by her skinny slouchy washed out jeans, rolled up right over her ankles, showing the black platform pumps decorating her feet. A black, off the shoulder tee, with three quarter sleeves, perfectly hugging her waist and round, full breasts.
"Thriller?" the tall brunette asked, raising an eyebrow, somewhat amused. "That's hardly a new dance..."
"So?" the black haired one said, turning around abruptly, and laughing when one of the girls stumbled upon her. "It's a classic!" she pointed out, smiling cheekily. "It's a hit, it marked an era, it's Michael Jackson!" she exclaimed, imitating the king of pop's movements and slipping around.
Lime green eyes rolled at her antics. "How old are you, again?" the silvery haired woman asked.
"Twelve," she joked, her goofy smile widening.
"Figures," the petite woman mumbled. But then a frown came upon her face as she looked up and down the still dancing woman. "Weren't you wearing exactly that last night?" she asked, pointing at her outfit, remembering the black haired woman had been wearing exactly those same clothes last night, when the three of them went out dancing.
"Maybe," she answered, smiling sheepishly. "What, are you jealous?"
"You wish."
"Aw, don't be!" she exclaimed, now hugging the petite woman. "You know you're my one and only favorite little elf!"
"Stop calling me that!" she grunted, pushing the now laughing black haired woman off of her, and flickering her ponytail.
"But you are a little elf!" the other exclaimed, chuckling. "All small and silvery and glowing."
"Glowing?" the petite woman asked, frowning now. "What am I? A lamp?"
"Ok, growling..." she corrected herself, shaking her shoulders and smiling. "But, you know, maybe if you'd smile more often..."
"Grow up already!" the other exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest and shoving her pointy little nose up in the air, in an exasperated, childish manner.
"You know, sometimes," the tall brunette said, arching an eyebrow at the both of them, "I'm not sure which one of you worries me the most."
"Oh, you're here already!" came a soft, female voice, as a beautiful, red haired woman walked in, cleaning her hands on the apron, smiling warmly at them, and successfully distracting the three women from any possible argument.
"Kakyuu," the newly arrived women said, slightly bowing their heads in respect.
"Oh, stop that," she said, waving her hand. "Lunch is almost ready," she informed them, smiling, before looking up to the tall woman. "Taiki, Shinju has something to show you," she said, smiling proudly as a tall seventeen year old girl walked into the room.
She had straight, red hair reaching down to her shoulders, with silvery clips keeping her bangs out of her big, purple eyes. She had what it looked like some kind of essay in her hands, as she smiled shyly to the tall woman.
"It's just a silly story," she said, shaking her shoulders and handing her the papers. "I'm not as good as you, but I got an A."
"That's great!" Taiki said smiling proudly, encircling one arm around the girl's shoulders in a loving gesture. "Let's see what my future little poet wrote about," she said, tenderly poking the girl's nose with one finger and making her giggle, as they both made it out of the room, in their way to the kitchen, or probably the back yard.
Kakyuu smiled at them, before turning back to the remaining two women. She opened her mouth as to say something, when a catchy melody made them all looked at the handbag resting on the couch.
"Yaten?" the black haired woman said, pointing at it. "Your bag's ringing."
"Oh, thank you," she said, sarcastically, while rolling her eyes and flicking her ponytail off her shoulder. "I didn't notice."
She fished through her handbag, looking for her cellphone, and then checked on the caller ID. A smile came to her lips then, as she hurriedly answered the call, stepping out of the room to have some privacy.
Blue eyes followed her small frame walking out, before a hand on her shoulder made the black haired woman looked into Kakyuu's red eyes. But before the redhead woman could say anything at all, the small, green haired girl jumped up to them, grabbing the black haired woman's hand with her small ones, jerking from it.
"Seiya, come on!" she begged. "Dance with us!"
"Alright, alright!" she exclaimed, laughing happily. "One more time, up from the chorus!" she said, clapping her hands, as the girls jumped around her, laughing and ready to dance.
.-.
She turned the page around, resting one elbow over the back of the resting sofa, her hand supporting her chin, as she read through the story. She'd made a mental note to give a few pointers to improve her skills, but considering this was a high school level work, it was remarkable.
A hand going around her shoulders and someone kissing the top of her head startled her, and she blinked, looking up from the printed pages to meet deep blue eyes.
"Hey, T," the black haired man greeted her, smiling warmly.
"Kaito, hi!" she greeted back, returning the smile. But then she frowned, looking around for a moment. "Where's Haruka?" she asked, upon noticing the tall blonde racer was not around.
"Having a family day with Hotaru and the others," he answered, smiling. He sat down right next to her, stretching his legs out.
Taiki smiled. "The Outers' private club, uh?" she joked.
He chuckled, nodding his head. "Something like that," he said, lifting his arms and resting his hands at the back of his neck in a relaxed manner.
"Don't take it personally," she said, tilting her head to a side and smiling. "It's just the way they are."
"I know," he said, nodding his head in agreement, and smiling softly. "So, you reading Shinju's story?" he asked, pointing with his head at the papers still on Taiki's hands.
"Yes," she answered, nodding her head. "It's pretty good."
"Just like her sister," he said, winking at her.
"Shut up," she said, shaking her head.
"I mean it," he said, now chuckling. "You're a very talented writer, T. You know that."
Purple eyes blinked at him, once, before a frown came to her beautiful features. "Ok, what do you want?" she asked, bluntly.
He frowned as well, chuckling at the accusation. "And what makes you think I want something?" he asked, smiling charmingly. "Can't I just be nice to my friend?"
"Not when you're giving me that smile," she pointed out, arching a questioning eyebrow at him. "And what did I tell you about it?"
"It's just a smile!" he defended himself, laughing.
"A smile that usually means you want something," she added for him. "And I know I've been around your sister for years. But I'm not as innocent as she is when it comes to your kissing ass tricks whenever you want something."
He laughed again, loud and hard, shaking his head. "Three Kous, but only one Seiya, right?"
"And that's more than enough," she joked, nodding her head, and then laughing along with him.
"I swear, I'm not about to ask you anything," he assured her, calming himself down a little. "I was just saying... And, just for the record," he then added, "she's not as easy to trick as she used to be."
"Maybe you just need new tricks," she advised, smiling smugly.
He laughed again, and she laughed along with him when one particular black haired woman walked out to the back porch they were sitting at.
"Hey, there, Little Kou," he said, smiling up to her in between laughs.
She blinked at them, frowning, not knowing why they were laughing -and not sure if she wanted to know-... And, why was her brother calling her by her first name?
Ever since becoming a trainee guard on the Palace when she was twelve years old, soon meeting her two Senshi companions, and the three of them becoming Princess Kakyuu's royal guard, she had got used to being called Seiya when on civil form.
Because the three of them shared the same first name, they had pretty much stopped using it, choosing to go by their middle names instead. Most people either didn't know or had grown used to calling them that, never calling either of them Kou and so the three of them reserved that little detail for themselves. Saving it for those rare, private occasions, when it was just the three of them, and words of encouragement, affection, or consolation were needed.
Or, when getting extremely annoyed, calling each other by their full -long- name. Senshi identity included. But that was another story... and, in the most part, Yaten's habit, when being really, extremely angry...
So, why was her brother calling her that? And most importantly, why was he laughing? And...
"Little Kou?" she asked, frowning. "What exactly makes me the little one?"
"Age," he answered her, smiling.
"Birth," Taiki said at the same time.
Seiya smiled then, tilting her head to a side, when she noticed the petite frame walking out. "So, ironically enough," she started to say, smiling smugly, "that makes Yaten the big one, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" came Yaten's annoyed voice, as she stepped fully out into the porch.
"Nothing," the black haired woman answered, battling her eyelashes sweetly and encircling an arm around the petite woman's shoulders. "You'll always be my little elf, no matter what."
Yaten growled, poking the black haired Starlight' stomach with her elbow, and then promptly ignoring her complaining, as she looked at the other two.
"Lunch's ready," she simply said, flicking her ponytail and walking back into the house.
"That was uncalled for!" Seiya exclaimed, frowning when the only answer to that was nothing but a growl from somewhere inside the kitchen. "For such a small thing, she can hit really hard," she complained, rubbing her stomach.
"You had it coming," Taiki simply said, smiling at her, as she stood up from her seat. "And you know it."
"What side are you on?" Seiya asked, narrowing her blue eyes at the tall brunette when she simply shook her shoulder. "Traitor."
.
.
A little note:
You know how there's this entire discussion over the Starlights' civil names? If you don't, google it up, it's pretty much everywhere. Anyway, the main point on that is that in Japan, the forename comes first, and then the given name. Like Tsukino Usagi or Aino Minako. Or Seiya Kou, Taiki Kou and Yaten Kou (something most of you already know, right? Nothing new there...)
Add to that the fact that Kou is actually a name (a girls' name, mind you), which literally means light. That means the Starlights share the same name. So it's only normal they go around calling each other Seiya, Yaten and Taiki, instead of Kou, 'cause that would be confusing... I should know about that, my mother remarried when I was 5, and her husband's daughter and I share the same first name (and neither one of us has a middle name), so whenever someone yells our name, it's hard to know which one of us they're calling for... and someone calling over the phone asking for one of us can be quite confusing, when we also happen to have friends with the same name... but that's another story...
Anyway! I'm taking that, adding my own little twist to it. I'm taking Seiya, Yaten and Taiki, as their middle names. Their last names, on this particular story, is irrelevant. And if I happened to be forced to mention it later on, I'd probably make something up... so please don't yell at me for that one...
About this story... it's kind of a side story to "Shattered hearts", to clarify some aspects of it concerning the Starlights, and because I felt like exploring the way they interact with each other and all that. So, if you never read that story, you don't necessary have to, since most of the important facts will be explained here.
I was going to make this a two-shots appendix to "Shattered hearts" (you know, what happens before and after chap 19, what about Kaito, and poor little Taiki having to be the serious one while putting up with her two crazy roommates...), but I've been wanting to write something like "Life with the Outers" concerning the Starlights for a while, so I changed my mind about that, and decided to just write a story about them. But I'll be adding a little of that "Life with the Outers" flavor. Meaning, some chaps would be about the private life of the Lights as simple, "normal" women fighting over the dominance of the TV remote...
You only need to know they're in their early twenties, living on earth with the very few people that survived Galaxia's attack. Taiki has a little sister, and Seiya has a big brother. And this is completely Manga based, meaning, they were never men and are not able to turn into men at all. They are girls. Pretty (crazy?) ladies.
And yes, I did change their hairstyles. For Seiya, just picture her without the ponytail (I think short hair like that makes her look sophisticated and hot! XD). Taiki goes with shoulder length hair, and Yaten is pretty much the same, but shorter (around mid back, lets say), only I might be changing the way she tides it up from time to time
What else, what else? Oh! This takes place right around chap 12 and forward. If there is anything else you don't understand about this story, and you don't feel like reading "Shattered hearts", just ask. I'll do my best to answer without spoiling the story for ya!
A little warning. In my personal opinion, Seiya is a lesbian. And there's a pretty good reason to the rating of this story, so, if you're in any way uncomfortable with sex scenes (both, gay and straight), then please don't read.
Now! I know I have other stories, and those are my main priority. That means I won't be updating this one that often... Or at least not until I finished those (unless of course a Muse decides to strike me down and I get into one of those writing modes of mine...)
Anyway! I'm talking too much here... Hope you like the idea so far. You know the deal, let me know what you think!