Quick update: you guys may notice that I've heavily edited the prologue, mainly in that I took out the actual interactions in favor of just focusing on the more uninvolved third-person omniscient perspective. After thinking it over, and a review from a helpful reader, I realized that even for my typical style, the prologue seemed a little haphazard. So I just took out what didn't match, and as nothing happened in the prologue anyway, it was fairly easy to just edit it out.

A big shout-out to everyone who reviewed- thank you so much for encouraging me to continue! Sorry the updates won't be every day or so- I'm in a vet tech program that requires me to go to school pretty much every day, and requires online homework, etc. so I won't be able to write as fast as I would like, but I'm planning to have updates every weekend! And they may be sooner than that on occasions- I more or less write when I get inspired/motivated (and your reviews really are motivating, guys!). So yeah. Enjoy!

Even the Stars Grow Older

One: This Summer and What is This?

It wasn't so much that Akari minded being overlooked—she'd long-since gotten used to that, and her sister was always more than supportive. What really bothered her was what being overlooked entailed in regards to the other aspects of her life, particularly romance (or, more accurately, the lack thereof), among other things.

And it wasn't as if Akari were some horny teenager looking for a quick one-night-stand—if anything, the fact that she was still a virgin even in her late high school years kept the raging hormones more-or-less at bay. After all, how can you miss something when you don't know what you're missing? Not that Kyouko didn't frequently attempt to fill her in on just that multiple times—it's just that she always got smacked by Yui or head-butted (usually in the stomach) by Chinatsu, both of whom seemed to believe that Akari was still just as naïve as she had been as a middle-schooler, before she actually got around to saying anything even halfway useful. Not that Akari particularly wanted to learn anything of real life importance from Kyouko—there was just too big a chance that Kyouko's 'advice' could cause Akari embarrassment down the line.

Still, Akari did wonder, sometimes—did feel a twinge, an almost nostalgic tug, right at the pit of her stomach whenever she looked at couples holding hands, whispering in each other's ears… It was even getting to the point that she was becoming envious of Himawari and Sakurako, because even if they couldn't see their love for each other (and by this point, Akari was starting to doubt that Himawari, at the very least, wasn't maybe just pretending to be oblivious out of stubbornness or something similar), everybody else could. Sometimes Akari wondered how it must feel to have somebody else—somebody to laugh with, somebody who just understood her, who would protect her, who would notice when she frowned, even when everybody else failed to notice anything was wrong.

She rarely dwelt on thoughts like that, though—it wasn't in her nature. She was happy as she was, and felt lucky to have such close friends, knowing that the majority of people didn't even have those bonds.

Still, sometimes she did wonder.

"Akari-chan!" The voice rang clearly through the crowded hallway, causing Akari to pause and turn in her tracks. Taking a few steps before noticing that her best friend had stopped, Chinatsu stopped and was in the process of turning around as well when the same voice cried, "China-chaa~"

"Don't call me that," she stated bluntly as an overeager Kyouko lurched to a stop right in front of the two girls, having almost bulldozed Akari in her haste. "What do you want, anyway?" the pinkette continued, raising one eyebrow and folding her arms over her chest.

Akari laughed nervously—while Kyouko had certainly mellowed (at least a tiny bit) since middle school, she was still an avid Mirakurun fangirl and, as such, a constant annoyance to Chinatsu, even more so now that Yui had a car, giving them much more freedom to go to different events. Needless to say, the relationship between the two hadn't really improved since middle school, although it hadn't really crumbled either. Chinatsu, at the very least, seemed to accept that Kyouko was kind of the glue that held them all together, even after all this time.

Completely unfazed (as per usual) by Chinatsu's attitude, Kyouko straightened, holding out what appeared to be some sort of flyer for a…

"Another Comuket?!" Chinatsu cried in disbelief. "No way! Every year you drag me to that and dress me up as Mirakurun—I'm not even the right age anymore!"

Kyouko merely raised her free hand to her mouth, doing a spot-on impression of the stereotypical 'oujo-sama chuckle'. "Ho, ho, ho—how naïve you are, Chinatsu-chan! Age is the last thing anybody pays attention to at Comuket~! Even older, you meet more of the qualifications to cosplay Mirakurun than anybody else! I've seen men in their forties cosplaying her!"

Akari paled at this because, thanks to Kyouko's enthusiasm and wide variety of online friends, so had she. The picture Kyouko had insisted on taking to 'commemorate the occasion' was still hanging over the blonde's bed—in it, a blue-faced, dead-eyed Akari, in full Mirakurun costume herself (this had been during Chinatsu's brief rebellious stage, her reasoning being that if she ignored Yui and made herself scarce, the older girl was sure to realize how much she needed Chinatsu—as a result, Akari was forced to become Kyouko's cosplay pet), was being squeezed to the side of her very sweaty, very hairy doppelgänger.

The overall effect was one of absolute horror, similar to what they'd come to expect from Chinatsu's…art.

"-ri-chan?"

"Akari-chan!"

Akari started, magenta eyes clearing only to find themselves mere inches from sharp blue. "Akari-chan, are you alright?" Chinatsu asked, her brow furrowing. Upon further inspection, the pinkette appeared to be keeping a grabby Kyouko at bay with one hand firmly clamped over the blonde's face, fingers digging into the skin there. For a moment, Akari felt sympathy pains for Kyouko, as she knew better than anyone that despite her pretty appearance, Chinatsu was not gentle. At all.

But then all at once, she lost her ability to even breathe, let alone worry over the safety of others. Because Chinatsu was really very, very close now, and Akari's head was swimming in the faint, sweet scent of her best friend's perfume.

What was it…? She showed me…was it sugar cookie? Or maybe lemon crème…yes, definitely lemon crème…and wait, when did Chinatsu grow taller than me?

Panicking, Akari jumped away from the pinkette, whose concerned face had been mere centimeters from her own. In response, a foreign expression appeared on the other girl's face—at first, shock, and then, for half a second, a flash of what Akari could have sworn was hurt. She hadn't seen Chinatsu looking like that since the time the latter had convinced herself that Yui had found a boyfriend back in their last year of middle school, when the girls had to temporarily separate due to Yui and Kyouko entering high school.

Hastily trying to rectify the situation, Akari stammered, "Sorry, I was just thinking of that time Kyouko-chan dressed me up as Mirakurun, and I freaked out a little bit, ehehe…"

Chinatsu's eyes widened in recognition, and then darkened- clearly, she remembered as well. Apparently satisfied, the pinkette whirled back around, finally releasing Kyouko, who made a show of gasping for breath as Yui finally caught up to their little group. The conversation went on as they exited the building toward the parking lot, and for once Akari was grateful for her lack of presence as she was left alone to her thoughts.

What was that? It wasn't as though Chinatsu had never been that close to her before—Akari still remembered the time Yui and Kyouko had been away and Chinatsu had wanted to practice kissing, though her memories of that particular day were hazy at best. Still, she remembered feeling distinctly different that time—she'd been reluctant, scared, even, of losing her first kiss to Chinatsu. If anything, shouldn't her instincts have told her to run this time? Instead, it almost felt like they'd been drawing her closer.

Akari shook her head, hard. Chinatsu still had feelings for Yui, even if they were less pronounced, and even if that weren't the case, the pinkette was practically a goddess among the male population of their school. Even if Akari had, as just another part of the universe's perpetual joke on her, developed feelings for Chinatsu (which she never would, because Chinatsu wasn't her type at all, best friend or otherwise. Not that Akari knew what her type was, just that it couldn't possibly be her best friend, right?) there would be absolutely no sense in even acknowledging them, because what could a plain, boring girl like Akari ever do to be attractive to the most highly sought after girl in their school, even if they were best friends?

Not that it mattered at all, of course, because today had clearly been some sort of freak accident, Akari's reaction probably stemming from her thoughts on romance. Of course, she'd feel that way about anyone who got so close right after her thoughts had strayed to that topic, right?

Having placated herself, Akari returned her attention to the topic at hand. Apparently, the flyer Kyouko had been waving in front of their faces was an advertisement for Comuket, just as Chinatsu had predicted. The blonde had seen it and decided it would make the perfect trip to commemorate their last real summer together as a group, as she and Yui would return to school as seniors and, once they'd graduated, would be busy with applying to schools and so on.

"We've got to invite Himawari-chan and Sakurako-chan as well," Kyouko was saying, almost bouncing with excitement. "Himawari-chan makes a great Rivalun!"

"If she even agrees to do it," Yui noted, deadpan as usual in regards to Kyouko's scheming. "At least you won't be bullying Sugiura-san into it again."

Kyouko puffed out her cheeks. "I never bullied her into anything! And I forgot about Ayano-chan!" she exclaimed as Yui did a face-palm. "True, Himawari-chan's hair color is best, but there's always wigs, and Ayano has the perfect moe personality for it…"

Chinatsu rolled her eyes, slowing her pace so that she fell behind the two older girls and into step with Akari. "Well, if nothing else, it's always entertaining to have them along. Who needs cable when you've got real, quality husband-wife comedy for free?"

"Chinatsu-chan!" Akari chastised, more out of habit than anything else. Glancing at the red-head out of the corner of her eye, Chinatsu grinned and shot her a mischievous wink.

"Don't pretend you're not entertained by it as well, Akari-chan," she replied, poking Akari's cheek, trying (rather successfully) to elicit a smile from her best friend. "Really, it's their own fault for fighting all the time when we all know what they really want to do is shove each other against the wall and—"

"Chinatsu-chan!"

The pinkette threw her head back and cackled as Akari smacked her arm.

As the pinkette had grown older, her true personality had begun to overcome the sugary façade she always put on around the older girls and strangers. Akari, of course, wasn't really surprised, as she'd been seeing this side of Chinatsu for years, and, in some strange way, actually preferred this more mischievous, more real side of her best friend as opposed to the schoolgirl with a crush that she'd pretended to be back in middle school. Sure, Chinatsu could be crass, blunt and sometimes (though rarely) downright mean, but she could also be sweet (in a real way, not the fake, sugary way she had been, like that time she had talked Akari into having that fake-date with her to help her with Yui), playful and protective, particularly of her best friend, who was still a good deal more naïve and innocent than the rest of the girls, save perhaps for the perpetually stuttering and blushing Ayano. Her art was as terrible as ever, but over the past four years or so, it had grown on Akari, and all of them, in a weird way, and had become almost comforting in that it was a part of Chinatsu, who was just a walking contradiction in and of herself.

Akari caught herself just as they finally reached the parking lot and shook her head again, hard this time. What was she doing, thinking about Chinatsu so much all of a sudden? She quickly dispelled the worry. She was probably just in a weird mood today- maybe it was just the universe's way of telling her to stop kidding herself about romance.

I still haven't found that damn spider…

ANYWAY. Thanks to everyone for reading, and please don't forget to leave a review! I hope this chapter goes over better than the last- again, the previous chapter was just written in a prologue-style. And if there's anything you want to see in this story, please let me know in your reviews as well! I'm always open to ideas!

This chapter obviously focused on Chinatsu and Akari, but the other pairings will come into play really soon! Please let me know what you think—Chinatsu is particularly difficult to age up, because I like the idea of making her real personality more prominent with age, but I don't want her to seem out of character. Please be gentle- I did work really hard in thinking out how she would act without going OOC.

ALSO: The fake-date I reference wasn't in the anime (at least not yet! Go season 3!), but it is available in manga form in scanlations online, though I forget which chapter it was. They're going on a fake-date and of course Chinatsu is going gaga over Yui and having Akari do ridiculous things to act like Chinatsu's 'Yui-senpai', but then after lunch she suggests they go shopping, because 'her time with Akari is important too'. It's really sweet :) I've also noticed as a general rule that real Chinatsu is quite sweet to Akari in general, save for her bouts of crazy. And that's the Chinatsu I'm trying to write With ought being OOC...please tell me how I did!

Anyway, please review and I hope you enjoyed!