"Commander, the nuclear engines are fading fast, what do we do?" A male's dry voice asks as a dark shadow seems to float over Earth.
"Hmm... Do you see that planet there, can you open the details of the planet?" Another male's voice replies, but in a more normal voice.
"No, sir, I cannot seem to gain any information on or about the planet. Should we try to contact them?"
"Too risky. There could be a civil war for all we know."
"Good point. Should we hide the ship upon the planet, sire?" A female voice asks as the shadow approached Earth slowly.
"Yes."
The shadow moved closer to Earth as it began to approach the surface quickly. In the night sky over Japan, all seemed still and peaceful. Barely anyone roaming the streets, the shadow slowly lowered at an angle to the surface. "There, in the dense forest, land there." The second male's voice commanded as the ship lowered it's landing gear and sat gently upon the earth. All seemed to sit still as Miharu and Yukinari were walking home from the store. With bags of food in each of their hands, they laughed as Miharu finished her joke.
"So Miharu, you remember what tomorrow is, right?" Yukinari asked her as they neared his home.
"Tomorrow... Tomorrow is a Saturday..."
"You're birthday is tomorrow." He laughed.
"How silly of me to forget." She giggled.
As they passed through the gate and up to the doorstep, Yukinari kicked the door twice in order to get someone's attention. Kirie opened the door to see the two carrying the bags of food. Taking one of the bags from Miharu, they sat them on the kitchen table. In the background, you could hear Tomoka cheering on for the next episode of Poyon. A pot of water on the stove boiled as the rice inside cooked. Kirie and Koyomi had set the table up with plates, napkins, etc. As the others moved into the living room to watch T.V. and chat about how their days went, Kirie set a timer for five minutes for the rice to boil a little longer, then joining them to chat. As they laughed about how the day went, Tomoka switched the channel to the news. But something about the report seemed to silence everyone in the room. The lady behind the desk pushed her glasses back as a picture appeared next to her. The picture depicted a shadowy shape in the night sky.
"Turn it up." Kirie told Tomoka.
"Fine" she groaned.
"Right now at nine; the story that is sweeping the globe. Just a few minutes ago, this object was spotted by Japanese pilots running a late night run. The object in question is still unidentified and has not been seen since this picture was taken. We received an interview with the pilot who took the picture."
The view of the desk and woman switched to a man in front of a well-lighten runway with a microphone in hand and his helmet against his waist. He coughed before he began;
"We had just lifted off and got into formation when I saw it. It was a black color when I first saw it; it was clear that something wasn't right. I reported in to base what I had seen, and I took a picture as fast as possible. And right after the picture took, it disappeared from all view. By the way, I'm singl-"
The screen switched back to the woman behind the desk with the picture next to her again, but a question mark over it. "Is it a hoax, or a real spaceship? More tonight at ten."
"Wow, you don't see that every day." A voice came from behind the couch.
"Is that you, Fukuyama?" Kirie sighed angrily as he slowly peeked over the back of the couch.
"How did you- Guah!"
Pulling his body over the couch in a headlock, Kirie tightened her hold on his neck as he began to squirm. As she knocked him onto the floor and began to kick him rapidly, Miharu looked out the window at the stars in the far, far distance. Yukinari took notice of this, placing a hand on her shoulder. Turning to see him, their gazes locked as she placed her hand on his. They both looked out the window to the stars in the sky. The moon shinning brightly, the night never seemed so peaceful. "Hey Yukinari, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Miharu."
"Will we always be together?"
"Of course, Miharu."
"Commander, the minions are in hibernation mode. They will be inactive until we return to the ship." A female voice reported as a cloaked figure walked down a ramp from the shadowy ship.
"Good. They need their rest."
"Commander, do I really need to walk you do? This isn't easy when you are in my case." The dry voiced male grumbled as the cloaked figure stumbled forward.
"Yes. If Robin can do it, you can do it, Beine."
"But sir, Robin has two legs; I have four!"
"Sire, I am ready to go." A robotic voice came from the cloak walking off the ramp last said as the ramp began to close underneath the hull of the ship.
As the four figures began to walk away from the ship, one stumbling, the ship seemed to disappear from vision. As they walked over a hill, they looked over the city before them. With few lights on and few people roaming the streets, the commander began to wonder if the world had been abandoned by it's inhabitants. As they adventured down streets and through ally ways, they found themselves lost in a building with closed shops on both sides. As the cloaked persons looked around, they spotted a pink-haired girl with a saddened look on her face. She sighed as she looked to the closed vegetable shop before her; "They closed already." She looked over to the four cloaked figures for a brief moment, then turned around and began to walk the opposite way.
"She... She has a Star Mark! Maybe we could get her to power the ship for us!" The commander said to the group. They mumbled for a moment, then nodded.
Turning around and chasing after the girl, the commander called out to her. When he got her attention, she turned around with an innocent look on her face.
"Excuse me, ma'am. I know this may sound rude, but is that a Star Mark upon your forehead?"
"Why yes, it is." She giggled.
"Do you mind," the commander began softly, "if we ask a favor of you? But could we ask you in a more... private setting?"
"Yeah, sure." she chuckled, "We could go to Yukinari's house to talk. Even though it is past one o'clock now."
"Thank you, ma'am. We appreciate it."
"Please," she chuckled, "call me Miharu!"
