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

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

chapter 15: lost

Hoshi's smile was contagious. Once Hoshi smiled that semi-mocking smile, Manta couldn't help but smile in return. When Manta looked up in gratitude, a smile had involuntarily spread over his own face.

The girls pouted for a bit, wondering why Hoshi was going to waste his time going to middle school. He was so smart! They kept on complaining until one girl suddenly exclaimed...

"But doesn't that mean he might be in the same school as us?"

The girls perked up at this and immediately grouped together to chat about this new development.

The teacher kept shaking his head, thinking "such a waste," but he was ultimately glad that Hoshi chose to go to middle school. Ichi-sensei disliked "geniuses." He was glad that Hoshi was going to middle school because...seriously, those geniuses needed to be more humble. No matter how smart Hoshi was, Hoshi was only a teenage boy. And young boys needed to know their place. Ichi-sensei was also glad that he didn't teach middle school because he certainly didn't want to be Hoshi's teacher. He hated having students who were a thousand times smarter than him.

He shuddered.

When the day ended, the students filed out of the classroom. Many of the girls threw a few last glances at Hoshi as they left the room. The boys sort of ignored him and Manta.

Only the teacher, Hoshi, and Manta were left in the classroom. Manta slowly packed his things, ready to go home. When Manta reached down to grab his bag, he wondered if he should try to follow Hoshi again...

A pair of boots came into his view. Manta glanced up to see Yoh...no...a slightly smiling Hoshi standing in front of him.

Hoshi extended his right hand.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we?"

Manta was confused. Why would they want to introduce themselves? Didn't they already know each other? But thinking about the first time he met Hao, Manta remembered that he certainly didn't introduce himself to Hao, at least not properly. He had been too busy being shocked by Hao's appearance.

Nevertheless, Manta shook his head.

Although Manta knew that Hoshi already knew who he was, Manta ventured forth with his self-introduction. "I'm Oyamada Manta."

Hoshi nodded. "Well, Manta-kun, nice to meet you."

Hoshi took Manta's hand to shake it as Hoshi continued on with his self-introduction.

The other boy smiled slightly and said, "You can call me Asakura Hoshi."

Manta had been shaking Hoshi's hand warily. He immediately dropped Hoshi's hand after hearing those words.

"What?" exclaimed Manta.

Exactly what did Hoshi mean by calling himself "Asakura Hoshi?" Was Hoshi actually a different person from Hao and Yoh? Or else he wouldn't have called himself an Asakura! Manta's mind became muddled again. He thought for sure that the boy standing in front of him was Asakura Hao. But the boy's words once again confused Manta.

He stood in front of the stoplights, his eyes darting between the green light and the crowd of people who were crossing the street. He was the only one that wasn't in motion. He stood rooted to the ground as the crowd parted around him and then joined together on the other side. He stood at one end of the street, as if he couldn't decide whether or not to cross the street. The lights blinked. He bit his lips and took one step forward. The green light turned red before he even set foot into the streets.

He backed up once again, looking around frantically. The crowd from his side of the street had already crossed the street. The crowd from the other side of the street continued past him without stopping. Now he was the only one standing on this side of the street. He stood next to the pole, waiting for the light to turn green again.

He was utterly lost.

When Hoshi-niichan left to go to cram school, Tsuki had been jealous that the older boy got to have all the fun. At that time, Tsuki had believed that following Hoshi-niichan was the best idea ever. He slipped out of the house without catching his kaa-chan's attention. But from the very start, he never saw Hoshi-niichan's retreating back even once. Tsuki hadn't given up but continued to walk in the direction he thought Hoshi-niichan went.

At first his strides were confident and bold. He passed by numerous houses, apartments, and stores. He passed through several streets, patiently waiting for the light to turn green before he crossed over. He continued wandering and remained confident.

...until the sun started setting.

His heart began pounding more quickly and he started looking around with wide eyes.

He had no idea where he was.

Tsuki's steps slowed down. They were no longer confident and bold...rather they were faltering and timid. Eventually, his steps came to a stop.

That was how Tsuki ended up in front of the crossroads, unsure of what to do next. The crowd around him moved on without a care, leaving Tsuki alone in his demise.

A tiny crowd gathered around him to wait for the light. Once the light turned green, this new crowd crossed the street, leaving him alone once again. The light then turned red again. The little boy remained in the same spot. A crowd gathered around him to wait for the next light. The light turned green, the crowd crossed over, and the light turned red. He was then left alone again.

It was a never-ending cycle, and not one person in the massive crowd stopped to help the lost boy.

Tsuki tried to sniffle back his tears. He rubbed his right eye. He was a naughty little boy...and shouldn't have tried to follow Hoshi-niichan. Now he was lost and it was all his own fault. He felt like curling up into a little ball, but if he did that, he would certainly get trampled over by the crowd.

The light turned green and the crowd once again began crossing the street. Tsuki was ready to give up...until he saw Hoshi-niichan walking in the middle of the street! Through his blurry eyes, Tsuki saw a glimpse of an older boy wearing a white shirt and green pants.

Tsuki commanded his frozen legs to move. Slowly, he took a few steps forward. Confident that he'd be able to move now, Tsuki began dashing through the street and yelling "Hoshi-niichan!"

The weird thing was...Hoshi-niichan never turned around to look at him. Tsuki kept calling his name but Hoshi-niichan never turned around. Why was that? Maybe his yells weren't loud enough to be heard over the noise in the street.

Tsuki kept running and pushing through the crowd. He darted between masses of bodies. He saw the glimpse of green slowly making progress through the crowd. Tsuki reached out to his niichan...and managed to grab the back of his shirt.

"Hoshi-niichan!"

As the older boy turned around with a surprised expression on his face, Tsuki noticed that this boy had much shorter hair than Hoshi-niichan. For a wild moment, Tsuki was alarmed that Hoshi-niichan had cut his hair. But then Tsuki noticed that the older boy had slightly lighter skin too.

Tsuki looked up at the older boy, his lips wobbling.

"You aren't Hoshi-niichan."

The older boy shook his head slowly, agreeing with the little boy's words. The lights blinked, signaling the changing of the light. The crowd had already crossed to the other side of the street, leaving the two young boys standing in the middle of the street. The cars began honking. The older boy glanced around, took the little boy's hands, and ran to the other side of the street. The cars then drove by peacefully.

Safely on the sidewalk, the older boy turned Tsuki's shoulders so that the little boy was facing him squarely. The older boy knelt down to look Tsuki in the eye.

"Tell me..."

Tsuki glanced at the confusing stranger who looked almost exactly like his Hoshi-niichan.

"Who is this 'Hoshi-niichan'?"

to be continued

next chapter: introductions

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