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

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

ch. 29: forgotten companions

Crunch.

Hoshi dimly registered the crunching noises that the girl's shoes made with the glass shards.

Crunch. Crunch.

"Hao-sama?" repeated the girl after her initial joy subsided. She was still ecstatic, but that ecstasy was fading since he wasn't responding at all. He hadn't even said a word to her, not to mention answer her question!

It's just a simple, one word question. All he has to say is "yes!" and I'd be free to jump all over the place right now...oops. I shouldn't be thinking this. He'll hear what I'm saying. I'm so rude.

Hoshi blinked at the orange-haired girl's thoughts. She knew that he could hear her thoughts. The image of the orange-haired girl standing beside two other girls flashed across Hoshi's mind.

When he first saw them in his dream, he was sure that they had been his followers. But he hadn't known if these so called followers were his...friends or not.

This girl, however, was clearly happy in seeing him. And she seemed to know him better than Manta and Ren. It made him reluctant to speak.

"I..." began Hoshi.

The girl looked eager and nervous at the same time. She bit the bottom of her lips and tugged on her gloves unconsciously. One of her black straps slipped off her shoulders. She didn't seem bothered by that since she was wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt underneath.

Why was he noticing things like these? Was it because he felt guilty about what he was going to say? He had a feeling that guilt had been foreign to him before, but ever since living with Sora and Tsuki, he seemed to be feeling guilty at every corner.

"I don't know you."

The words were out.

The girl's eyes widened. She blinked quickly, willing the sudden moistness to go away.

I don't cry. I don't cry. I'm not like Mari. I don't cry! Not that much, at least.

Hoshi's words had been blunt. A bit too blunt. He could have listened to the girl's thoughts and played along as if he knew her, but that would have been just as cruel...maybe even more...since he would be raising false hope.

"Hao-sama has forgotten me?" asked the girl shakily.

Are you angry that I didn't find you sooner?

"I am not your Hao-sama."

The girl laughed at the absurdity of his statement. "Not Hao-sama? Then are you Yoh-sama? I didn't know that Yoh-sama had such long hair." She glanced at Hoshi's appearance, her heart quickening as she took in Hoshi's very ordinary t-shirt, patched jeans, and finally his earring-less ears.

Your earrings! Your cloak! Your boots and gloves...where has the Hao-sama I know gone? You feel so different. Even your attitude is different.

Hoshi picked up the menu once again as he played with one strand of his hair. "As I said, I am not your Hao-sama. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not Yoh either." Hoshi smiled, causing the girl's heart to flutter. She remembered those smiles of his, those smiles that radiated benevolence yet hid an undermining streak of danger. He was Hao-sama. Why was he denying it?

"Since I couldn't remember anything, I started calling myself Hoshi."

The girl, if she had another pitcher in her hand, would have dropped it again and shattered it even worse than the one before.

"HAO-SAMA, YOU LOST YOUR MEMORIES?" she almost shrieked. Okay, she did shriek. But she had a right to. It wasn't everyday that she met her former master who she thought had died who then said he didn't know her and that he wasn't her former master and that he didn't remember anything.

"Yeah." Hoshi reached out to steady his glass of water, which had been trembling due to the vibrations caused by the girl's voice. He cautiously looked towards her, wondering what she was going to do next.

He watched amusedly as the girl smoothed out her black outfit, tugged on her gloves, fixed her straps, rubbed her eyes, and retied her two, short ponytails.

"Well, I guess that explains everything...I kind of feel better that the reason you don't know me isn't because you don't want to remember me anymore."

Or does he really not want to remember?

She finished fixing her hair and smiled widely.

"Let me reintroduce myself then. I'm Matilda Matisse. Macchi for short."

The next hour found the two sitting at the far table of the quiet restaurant. Macchi had whipped out her broom and quickly swept away the glass shards, all the while complaining that her poor broom wasn't made for sweeping. She then laid her broom on the chair next to her sat down with a flourish.

Macchi glanced at the menu, not bothering to pick it up. "So, Hao-sa"

"Hoshi," he interrupted, "Call me Hoshi."

Until he regained his memories, he was Hoshi. A little part of his mind nagged at him. Even if he regained his memories, he still wanted to be called Hoshi. It was his small attempt at holding on to the memories of living with Sora and Tsuki.

"Ho-Hoshi-sama..." Macchi stumbled over the two-syllable name. It wasn't as if the word "hoshi" was foreign to her. She heard it quite often, since the stars were a part of her everyday life. She, along with the rest of Hao-sama's followers, watched the night sky quite often. After all, Hao-sama went star-gazing a lot. It was normal for them to follow his lead.

It's just that it's so weird...thinking of Hao-sama as Hoshi-sama. Well, the beginnings of the two names aren't that different. Both are h's. But still...Hoshi-sama...

"You can drop the –sama," said Hoshi suddenly.

Macchi blinked. "Eh?? Drop the –sama?" She waved her hands quickly. "No, I can't do that Ha-Hoshi-sama!"

That would be even worse! It would feel as if I weren't talking to Hao-sama anymore.

Hoshi shrugged and turned his attention back to the menu. He still hadn't placed an order, since Macchi's reentrance into his life had caused quite a commotion.

"Hoshi-sama, let's order this!"

She leaned over from her side of the table and pulled Hoshi's menu down so that the items on the menu were visible to both. She then pointed at one section of the menu.

Hoshi looked at the small, scrawny section title. He slowly read out loud, "Ka-bo-cha." He looked up at her with one eyebrow raised. "Kabocha?" An image of the round, green vegetable appeared in his mind. He pictured Macchi trying to swallow the small pumpkin whole. Was kabocha even edible?

Macchi nodded enthusiastically.

My faaaavorite! That's why I work here. I was lured by the sweet smell of none other than KABOCHA! It's this restaurant's specialty, after all.

Macchi placed her hand on her face, her eyes dreamy, her mouth almost watering at the thought of her favorite dish.

Hoshi sweatdropped. The girl really seemed to like kabocha, the Japanese pumpkin. Well, ordering her a kabocha dish couldn't hurt...after all, kabocha dishes couldn't be that bad-tasting, right?

"Sure, let's order it."

He regretted letting Macchi order. Kabocha, as he thought, wasn't bad-tasting. But eating millions of the sweet kabocha dishes disturbed his stomach greatly. He didn't think that she would be capable of ordering so many...dishes with kabocha. He didn't even know that there were that many different kabocha dishes!

His eyes widened when the waiter brought the sixth kabocha dish to the table.

"Here's your dish, Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup with Pancetta and Sage."

Kyaa! It's the famous Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup with Pancetta and Sage! This has got to be the best dish ever!

Hoshi watched the dish as it was placed on their table. Macchi smiled happily, gobbling down more kabocha and reaching out to spoon herself some soup.

This was the sixth kabocha dish and the second soup that Macchi had ordered.

How many more were there?

How much more could she eat?

Hoshi glanced to the left. Kabocha salad. Kabocha Sun-Dried Tomato Soup. He glanced to the right. Simmered Sweet Kabocha. Tempura Kabocha. Sweet Kabocha Squash with Soya Sauce.

Apparently, they had ordered more.

"Here's your next dish, Kabocha cornbread."

Kabocha cornbread! Cornbread! With kabocha!

At these times, Hoshi wished he wasn't able to hear her thoughts. The waiter placed the dish on the table and turned around to leave.

Hoshi reached out to grab the waiter's shirt, his eyes still glued to the kabocha dishes in front of him.

"Tell me there's no more."

"Um...I can't do that. There are still...five more," said the waiter hesitantly.

Wow...I knew that Matilda-san liked kabocha, but she ordered so many kabocha dishes! I wonder who's paying? Even with her employee discount, it's going to be an ugly number.

Hoshi released his hold on the waiter's shirt, resigned to his fate of eating kabocha until he became sick and to the fact that he was probably going to be the one paying. The waiter quickly shuffled back to kitchen.

Macchi paused in her eating, her spoon lifted halfway between her bowl and her mouth. "Hoshi-sama, aren't you eating anymore?"

He glanced at happy, orange and green kabocha dishes in front of him. He smiled falteringly. "No...I'm fine."

She shrugged.

More for me then!

She quickly polished off every single dish. Once she discovered that Hoshi wasn't going to eat anymore, she stopped using her own plate altogether. Instead, she grabbed the individual kabocha dishes and fed herself straight off the dish.

Macchi sighed happily as she stacked the last plate on top of the pile.

"I'm done!"

Hoshi sighed as well, though quite unhappily. He pulled out Manta's wallet. Well, there went the last of Manta's money.

Macchi waved goodbye to the other waiters and waitresses of the store. "Thanks for taking my shift!" She grinned as she leaped out of the door to stand under the night sky.

She squinted her eye and pointed her broom at a twinkling star.

"Hey, Hoshi-sama, thanks for the meal. I haven't had such a feast for quite some time."

I've always wanted to try out all those dishes...but somehow I never had enough money! I wonder where all the money I earned went?

To eating, no doubt. She probably had a pumpkin feast every time she received her pay.

Hoshi didn't reply as he gazed at the dim stars. The lights of Shibuya were so bright that they illuminated the night sky and made the stars hard to see. Nevertheless, just knowing that the stars were there was a soothing thought.

Macchi lowered her arm as she spun around, her orange hair bobbing around with her.

"Would you like to meet up with everyone else?"

She gazed at him with bright eyes.

Everyone's waiting for you.

to be continued

a/n: Well, lots of people guessed right who the waitress was! Haha...saying "Hoshi-sama" reminds me of Sango addressing Miroku from Inuyasha. Of course, Sango says "Houshi-sama," but it sounds kind of similar.

About the idol thing in the last chapter, well, wouldn't it be cool if Hoshi became a real star? Okay, bad pun. (sweatdrops) Actually, that's supposed to be the plot of my next fic, "Twin Stars."

next chapter: end of summer

Please review. :)