Awww....poor Shun, always treated like the baby. Eh, he'll get over it. Thanks Hoshimare, and Kybele! (psst! Get your friends to read it! Varied opinions! But do not worry, I still value yours over ALLLLLLL the rest! And I have so many other reviewers...) Thanks again guys! Alright, alright, we all know the drill...we all know what DOES NOT belong to Auten...namely, Saint Seiya and Sailor Moon.
Shun moodily sipped his lemonade, watching the passersby with remote interest. Ikki had forced him out of the estate, sending him out into the city with a pocket full of money, and a list of some things to pick up for the household. Without realizing it, Shun adopted a pouting face.
"Errand runner, is that all I am?" he muttered darkly to himself. "Jeez...they think I can't help with anything. Who was the one who spent a half hour with Seiya's knees digging into his ribcage?"
Standing abruptly, and throwing some change on the table for the tip, the andromeda saint stormed away from the outdoor café, feeling aggravated with the whole world. He looked up at the sky, and felt even more annoyed. It was the stars' fault; they were throwing everything off.
As he was making a mental list of all the things that the stars had caused to go wrong, he was suddenly on his rear end, looking at a small girl who was also on the ground, rubbing her head a wincing. The young man realized that he had run into her.
"Wow...I'm sorry," he said, standing and helping her up. He noticed that her hand was fragile and light...like, the same kind of delicacy that you find in a songbird. She shrugged, and dusted off her black skirt.
"It's no big deal...I should've been more careful," she replied, smiling at him, her eyes glowing brightly against her milky skin. Shun grinned warily.
"Yes...but I doubt that you were looking up at the sky while walking," he teased, picking up the books that still lay on the ground. One cover caught his attention, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Dévorer des Âmes...Eater of Souls...? You read old French like this?" he asked, thumbing through the book. The girl nodded, looking a little uncomfortable.
"It's a school assignment," she remarked, holding out her arms for her books. Shun deposited the load into her fragile arms. She smiled at him, and shifted the stack to one arm, and she held out her hand to shake.
"My name is Tomoe Hotaru." Shun took it, admiring the liquid quality to her wide eyes.
"My name is Sh-" Ikki's face suddenly loomed in his mind, telling him to be careful. Though the Andromeda saint doubted that a girl who looked to be no more than fourteen would be a large threat, he elected to be careful. "Shinsadi Masami." She turned to peer down the street at oncoming traffic.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I am afraid that I must head home now."
"Would you like me to walk you home?" Her fragile looks had touched something deep in Shun, because he carefully took her books from her and rested them on his hip. "I'll carry them for you." Hotaru looked hesitant for a moment.
"Well...it is a long walk. Very well." She beamed at him. "Thank you very much, Masami." Shun shrugged modestly.
"It's nothing, really." She led him down the street where he had been sitting at the outdoor eatery, and then around the corner, chatting amicably about neutral topics, such as the weather, the tourists and that sort of thing.
They both jumped, however, as a yellow sports car suddenly squealed up to the curb, the window going down to reveal a very furious face.
"Hotaru!" the person snapped, green eyes burning at Shun. "Get in the car, now!" Shun felt his muscles tense, but Hotaru laid a gentle hand on his arms, and took her books.
"Thank you, Masami. But that is my adopted mother." At this, Shun did a double take...that was a woman?! "Have a good day." The small girl opened to door behind the driver's side, the woman glaring at Shun all the while. When Hotaru had settled herself, the woman stepped on the gas, and with yet another squeal pulled away from the curb, and sped off down the street.
The saint shrugged, and turned to go when he saw a slim, water stained book laying on the ground. Hotaru probably dropped the small novel, which was written in Japanese, titled, "Legends of the Galaxy." Shun slipped it into his pocket and headed back for the estate, eager to read the book resting in his back pocket.