H o s h i - g a - H o s h i i - d e s u

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

chapter 13: funbari onsens

Hoshi had to push open the door of the convenience store with the side of his body because his hands were full. In his left hand, he held the plastic bag with the eggs. He had to be careful holding that bag, or else the eggs would all break. In his right hand, he held the plastic bag with the milk. That was weighing his hand down.

The tiny bells jingled. He felt a rush of warm air as he stepped out from the slightly cooler store into the bright outdoors.

The streets were empty.

Hoshi looked towards his left and saw a girl bicycling across the street. Hoshi served his head to the right. All he saw there was a tall stoplight.

He wasn't there.

That was to be expected. After all, Hoshi hadn't even seen him when he was walking into the store. Even though he had missed him by a few minutes, it was still a few minutes. He wasn't on this street anymore.

But still...imagine that. If he had only arrived at the store a few minutes earlier, he would have met him.

Only a few minutes earlier.

Hoshi shook his head and slowly trudged away from the convenience store.

He was relatively happy.

Dressed in his usual school uniform (despite the fact that he was currently on summer vacation) of green pants, a white, unbuttoned shirt, and a pair of sandals, the boy hummed as he approached his residence.

Why was he happy?

Well, he was always happy, or at least close to it. But today he was even happier because he was currently listening to his favorite artist's new single.

In his opinion, it was the best song ever. Of course, Bob always had great songs.

Nothing could spoil his good mood, thought the boy. He continued humming as he walked into the courtyard. In the past year, his friends had helped him and his fiancée in converting their humble residence into an inn known for its fabulous hot springs. The boy smiled somewhat contently as he slid open the entrance to the inn.

"I'm home!" He expected a warm "Welcome home!" Instead, his ears were blasted with frigid coldness that registered in his ears despite the loud Bob music that he was currently listening to.

"YOU ARE FINALLY BACK."

The boy sweatdropped as his frowning fiancée came into view.

"Yeah..." He answered tentatively.

She held out her right hand.

The boy looked out her outstretched palms curiously.

She huffed annoying. "Well? Where is it?"

The boy blinked. "Where is what?"

"My new Ringo CD."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you forgot."

Chirp. Chirp chirp.

The chirping of the birds was really noticeable in the strained silence. The boy didn't answer since she told him not to.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? GET IT FOR ME NOW!"

He obeyed without a second's hesitation, bolting out of the door immediately.

She sighed as she headed back to the counter. The customer was staring at the girl with wide eyes. The girl, however, didn't seem to notice the customer's concern, or chose to ignore it. Contrary to her previous attitude, she smiled sweetly at the person in front of her.

"Yes, how may I help you? Our inn offers the best rooms and..."

Her voice trailed off as she discarded her icy attitude to adopt a professional attitude instead. She explained nonstop the benefits of Funbari Onsens.

Cutter's eyes followed the movement of the flies in the shop. He watched as the flies darted left and right. What a long and boring day. Why was he stuck in this dinky little convenience store stashed in between two abandoned stores? He was bored because few customers frequented the store. So far, only two boys had come to the store.

He continued fanning himself as the tiny bells above the door jingled.

He glanced up and watched as a boy wearing green pants and a white, unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt entered the store. His hair was...wait...wasn't that the same boy that had rushed out of the store?

Cutter's head swam with the images of the two boys who had visited his store that day. Now, this boy could be either one of the previous two boys, or this boy could be an entirely different boy...which would mean...

Triplets??

Or maybe they were all the same boy. What would that be called? An onelet.

Was there even such a word? There was such a word as omelet...Eggs with filling...

Cutter shook his head and watched the boy hurriedly rush towards the CD racks and pulled a CD from it. Well, this boy certainly looked the same as the two boys from before. The only thing different about him was his hair...it wasn't tied up, probably because it had come untied in the boy's rush to get to the store. Cutter noticed that the boy's hair was shoulder length.

He scrutinized the boy's attire. His green pants were a solid green, so he certainly wasn't the second boy who had been wearing spotted green pants. Then Cutter's eyes drifted towards the orange headphones.

Okay, unless orange headphones were the current fad, thought Cutter, that boy was the same boy as the first boy.

Cutter watched the boy approach his counter. Unlike before, however, the boy lacked his laidback expression. He was clearly in a hurry. He was jumping from one foot to the other, as if not wanting to stand still.

While Cutter scanned the CD, he couldn't help but ask the boy a question.

"Why didn't you buy this CD with the last one?"

The boy smiled guiltily. "I forgot."

Cutter nodded. That seemed reasonable enough.

"But why didn't you come with your brother? Or ask him to buy this CD for you?"

The boy stopped fidgeting. His hands reached for his headphones, pushing them back from his ears. Had he heard the cashier right? His Bob music had been loud. Although his headphones weren't on his ears right now, he could still hear the music slightly.

"What did you say?" asked the boy.

"Why didn't you buy this CD?" repeated Cutter questionably.

"No, after that."

"Why didn't you come with your brother?"

The boy stared incredulously at Cutter. His fingers found the stop button on his CD player, effectively cutting off Bob's singing.

"How do you know that I have a brother?"

"He came to the store a few minutes after you left the first time."

The boy's eyes widened. Resembling the second boy's actions, he turned and ran towards the door.

The tiny bells jingled at the same time Cutter held up the CD.

"Hey, don't you want to buy this CD?"

Unlike the second boy who hadn't looked back, this boy turned around abruptly, letting the door close behind him. He then headed back to the counter. Cutter wondered if the two boys were playing some sort of hide-and-seek game.

The boy grinned sheepishly and handed Cutter the money.

"Yeah...I want to buy it. If I don't, Anna's gonna kill me."

to be continued

A/N: Thanks everyone, who has wished me "happy birthday." I had the best birthday party ever...lots of fun and laughing.

Next chapter: Exam results

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