Chibi: Chapter two~! Now we find out Takuto's late penalty! Bwahahaha... I'm writing this while listening to Takuto sing. If you think you'll fall in love with Wako's singing, you haven't heard Mamoru Miyano sing First Galaxy. It's my little slice of energetic redheaded heaven. But the party is going to be next chapter. And this is half filler-ish, half flashback because I seriously love doing the flashbacks for this. I ALSO SHIP MIZUNO/TAKUTO BECAUSE HOT DAMN IT'S THE CUTEST THING EVER.

On With The Show~!

...

"Do I really have to do this?"

"It's your own fault you were late Tsunashi. I praticed on my own for an hour before you got there, and that's not even including the time I spent warming up."

"But this is ridiculous!"

"I repeat, you shouldn't have been late. You agreed to help me make up lost practice time from my birthday, meaning you also agreed to the penalty. Now go give Kanako something to be flabbergasted at." Airi pointed at the boat stairs, offering no mercy to the redhead. Takuto sighed and began trudging up the steps, despairing the outcome of it all. He innerly cursed himself for agreeing, but he did miss out on her little get together, as uneventful as it was.

So the Ginga Bishounen trudged up the stairs, his mind whirling on how to make the married woman... distracted.

Takuto shuddered.

...

"Is it time yet?"

"No. The maiden hasn't found her temple... and at this rate the queen will never be completely revived. She will merely stir."

...

Airi paused in her split and looked up to see Takuto enter the dance studio, wearing a baggy gray shirt and black sweat pants that she had to admit did not look too bad on his toned legs. The violet girl promptly moved out of her stretching position and stood, head tilted.

"Tsunashi...?"

"I... well... it's about five hours till your birthday party right? I figured if you had some help with practice it might make things move a little faster. And this time, I got to the studio early!" Airi fought back her smile as he set down his bag next to hers and began stretching. "Don't just stand there! Let's do this!"

She smiled at him brightly and fell, splitting her legs again and making him wince as her body stretched forward to touch one of her feet. The red head was morbidly curious about how such a tiny girl could be so flexible, but he merely stretched his body back and touched the ground with his hands, lifting himself into a handstand. Now it was Airi's turn to watch him, her blue eyes glimmering at him in her own curiosity. Once again her split was forgotten and she sat there legs crossed as he began to walk forward on his hands.

"How are you doing that without falling?" She asked, making his ruby colored eyes find hers with a smile of his own.

"Why are you auditioning for a scholarship when you're a first year student?" Airi's hands found the bottom of her camisole and she twisted the fabric, eyes darting down shyly. He fell forward on his back but kept those red orbs on her as she bit her lip. When their eyes found each other again she puffed out her small chest.

"You tell me yours first."

"My grandpa taught me. He said it was a good way to learn to keep my balance."

She deflated, obviously not expecting such a short and sweet answer.

"Well... most seniors do scholarships months before they graduate, but the company I want to dance for is offering this scholarship to any student of any grade. All I have to do is come up with an original dance routine in the next two weeks and then my college is taken care of, as well as a start on the career of my choice. I'd like to have at least the first six years of my life past high school figured out. Y'know... so I don't get any unexpected surprises."

"Those are the best kind of surprises."

"I don't like surprises." Airi muttered as she stood and shook herself out to loosen up a bit more. "So... um..."

"Last time we worked on your... what were they called again? Those jumps."

"Jetes. Today... well... I figured I'd just work on some solo routines and see if anything comes to mind for the next few steps of my routine." The violet haired girl mumbled as she tucked a few stray strands behind her ear. Takuto stood and stretched his arms a few more times before giving her a smile.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

...

Takuto ended up watching her.

She did her routines robotically at first, but eventually she put herself into it and he found he couldn't look away. Alas, dancing so much within the few hours eventually had the violet haired girl trembling in exhaustion and she collapsed on the ground next to him, reaching vainly for one of the water bottles she had brought. He handed one to her and kept watching with a bemused smile.

"You're really good."

Glimmering eyes found his and Takuto kept himself from gulping as she smiled at him. "I've wanted to dance since I was a little girl. Lots of practice and a few gymnastics classes work out really well for this."

"So... what will you do when you get the scholarship?" He asked, pulling his gaze from hers to stare at the ceiling. Airi looked up as well and squinted, draining at least a third of the water from it's container.

"Probably just... keep going to school. Taking a break from all the dancing will be good too. I can spend more time with Wako and Ruri." She finally breathed out. "I never really do outgoing things to be honest. I guess it's one of the things making me nervous about the party today. I know Kanako, and the thought of her throwing the party kind of scares me."

"She scares you too?"

Airi dissolved into giggles and Takuto joined her laughter. "So why don't you call her Mrs. Watanabe?"

"Because every time I hear that I think about what kind of guy she's married to and I keep thinking about this tiny old man who's just covered in wrinkles. You know, like one of those dogs... um... sharpei? The Chinese ones."

Ruby eyes blinked at her in astonishment. "Your imagination must be over active."

"It probably is."

...

He often thought about what it would be like to kiss her.

It wasn't her mouth that drew his attention, but rather the wonder of the experience alone. Was she the kind to give short, sweet kisses or those long drawn out ones that he often saw some of the wives of Samekh's guard give their husbands before they left to go on duty. He had no one, Tau had always been on his own. He couldn't remember his mother or father, was an only child. No friends.

Until he became Astarte's guard.

She practically dragged him inot being friends with her and he didn't resist because she was his queen and he actually wanted someone to be close to him.

But how did he end up wondering about her pink lips and the way they kissed?

. . .

"FUC-"

Takuto could not speak. His cheeks burned red and mouth tingled slightly as Airi pulled away, her cheeks painted a pale pink as their eyes stared each other down. Then she screeched and backed away, apologizing profusely. He did the same and soon they couldn't even look at each other.

One thought burned into his mind.

Her lips were soft, and tasted like berries.