Tales of the Stars:

Book 1: Homecoming

Chapter: 4

Yuzuha Hitachiin was in the middle of a fitting, with a new male model, when her sons popped their heads into her studio. "Hello boys. How was school today." She asked not looking up from the hem line she was lowering.

"Same old." Hikaru said walking in.

"Mamoru these are my boys, Hikaru and Kaoru." the mother introduced.

"Nice to meet you." The model nodded to them trying to not move much. The twins eyed him up for a second. He was around Mori's height, six foot two or so, with a good build without being overly muscular. His black hair was cut short but his fluffy bangs fell to just above his piercing dark blue eyes.

"Boys this is Mamoru Chiba, he's going to be helping with my new show this weekend." Yuzuha made a few last adjustments and stood back to look over her work. The twins' ears perks up at hearing the name Chiba.

"Nice tux mom," Kaoru complimented and looked over the work, "but is the cape too much?"

"Not at all, this whole show is about drama so it's prefect. Beside I think Mamoru here was made to wear tuxedos. You should wear one all the time." the red haired designer grinned and gave the young man a playful wink.

"I don't know about that. I'm not really into drawing attention to myself for no reason." Mamoru answered. He thought his latest employer was a nice woman, but rather strange. Her identical twins were eying him up like he was some kind of lab rat. It was a little scary how much they seemed like their mother.

"What a shame. A cute young man like yourself should take advantage of it while you can. Catch yourself a pretty little girlfriend that way." Yuzuha pouted as she teased him.

"I don't really have time for that with school and work."

"Oh that's right, you're pretty much fending for yourself aren't you. It's good to see hard working youth. I know of a couple mischief makers who could learn from your example. Well let's call it a day Mamoru, go ahead and change. I'll be back with your pay for your time this week." Yuzuha exited the room, but the twins stayed put.

"Can I help you two?" Mamoru asked with a slight attitude.

"Maybe." Hikaru leaned against the wall staring at him.

"We're curious." Kaoru added.

"Sorry boys but you're too young, and I don't swing that way." He was in a hurry so he started to change despite having an audience.

"Don't flatter yourself." Hikaru all but growled at him. "We want to know if Chiba's your real family name or if you're just using it for work." Mamoru paused and looked at them.

"Why?" He asked as he changed back into his street cloths.

"We know someone who has the same family name." Kaoru offered.

"And she has a rather interesting past." Hikaru baited.

Mamoru started hanging the tuxedo back up. "It's not exactly rare." He turned to them without really answering the question. "Just cause your friend has the same last name doesn't mean we're related."

"Our friend said she was adopted when she was four cause she lost her parents in an accident. She doesn't remember much though, cause she was too little, and cause she wasn't with them when it happened." Kaoru lied about how they learned the facts. "She also had a big brother who was never found."

"Accidents happen all the time boys." He tried to keep a straight face. They had no way of knowing he'd lost his memories in a car accident when he was six. He didn't even know the truth behind his name. There was no way he was going to share that information with them.

"Maybe so, but another friend was doing research on it and we decided to do a little of our own." Hikaru blocked the door not letting Mamoru leave. He was shorter, but they weren't done just yet.

"The only living Chiba family members are the son who's been MIA since the accident, but never proclaimed dead, and their daughter. Who happened to be staying with family friends, the night of the accident. Those friends later adopted her." Kaoru helped his brother block the path. "So the way we see it, either you're really her brother, or he's dead and you're just a poser."

"And why do you two care so much?" Mamoru glared at them.

He twins spoke as one and grinned, "Because it's interesting."

"You two are creepy. I hope you grow out of that soon so your mother doesn't have to worry about you." He was about to push his way through when Yuzuha appeared behind her boys.

"Are you two giving Mamoru problems?" she asked. The younger boys moved.

"Not at all." they said and slipped aside.

"Sorry about that." She handed the older boy his money. "Be at the show by five in the morning. We have a lot to go over and prep work before the show starts."

"Got it. Thank you again, this helps a lot." He said his good byes and got away from the strange family as quickly as he could without looking rude. He hated how much those twins had gotten under his skin.

"Hey mom." Hikaru got his mother's attention as the older teen left.

"Yes." she turned to her boys.

"You want a new girl to play dress up with?" the set asked together.

"Always. Who do you have in mind?"

"Souh's family is hosting a new student. Her name's Staria Chiba, and we thought if she played dress up with you for an afternoon she could borrow one of your dresses to wear to our club event next weekend." Kaoru offered.

"Chiba huh? Is that's why you were grilling poor Mamoru." Yuzuha shook her head, seeing right through her boys. "Be nice to him he's had a hard life. Are they related at all? I thought he had no family."

"We were trying to figure that out." Hikaru admitted, "But he was being stubborn on it."

"Have her come over Sunday, and we'll see if there's a family resemblance at all. You have me curious now too."

As Mamoru drove home he was getting angrier. He'd tried to research his family but always came up with dead ends. How had those two brats found information. If it was true, he guessed they could have referenced the girl's adoption papers. Since her new family had been friends with her birth family then records should be accurate. But was that kind of background checking even legal? He knew he had minimal hacking skills, and if he got caught now he wouldn't be charged as a minor any more. As much as they annoyed him those twins could be holding the keys to his past. Either way he needed to know. He was going to have to call the people at the orphanage first thing in the morning. He needed all the information they had.

"It was Mrs. Peacock in the lounge with the wrench." Staria stated. Tamaki threw the case file cards down and stared at her. It was the third game in a row that she'd won. Granted she was just teaching him how to play but weren't beginners supposed to have the luck.

"Are you cheating?" He asked.

"No." She laughed. "This just happens to be my game." She started cleaning up the board figuring he was done with the mystery game for that night.

"I bet Kyoya could beat you at it."

"He probably would, but I doubt you could get him to play. Board games don't seem like his thing." Staria mused over it as she packed things away in the game's metal collectors tin.

"Actually speaking of Kyoya, he's going to help with your dance lesson after school tomorrow."

"I thought you were going to teach me to dance." Staria stopped and looked at him. She wasn't sure she wanted the Ohtori boy teaching her. He didn't seem to have a very good impression of her so far and would most likely be very demanding if she was wasting his time.

"You need music to dance, and if I'm playing the piano you still need a partner. So I asked him if he'd help after school. If he hadn't agreed I would have just asked one of the others for help."

"But he volunteered right? I mean he's not going to expect me to owe him anything is he?"

Tamaki paused for a moment, "No he shouldn't, he might tease you though and make you think that. I know he's been kind of cold to you so far, but give him a chance. He's really an incredible person once you get to know him." He couldn't help but pick, a tiny bit, after seeing her nervousness. "And who knows, maybe you'll wind up with a new crush."

Staria threw a near by couch cushion at the blond. She didn't find his joke funny.

"Did you just blush? You already kind of like him, don't you?" Tamaki avoided the cushion with ease and watched the girl turn redder as she got up to retreat to her room. She never responded as she went up stairs.

Staria had already thought about that, and part of her nervousness was simply the embarrassment factor of having someone she thought was cute seeing her flaws. She didn't argue with the host king on his observation but she didn't have to confirm it either.

"I won't tell!" Tamaki yelled up the stairs after her. Staria shut her bedroom door and slumped against it. The next afternoon was going to be a long one.

Kyoya was finishing his homework when his cell phone started ringing. He ignored it for a ring or two then gave in an answered.

"Hey Kyoya, you have a second?" Kaoru asked from the other end of the line.

"I suppose." The twins never called anyone so he figured it might be important.

"When Hikaru and I got home today mom had a new model over for a fitting."

"And?" Kyoya wanted him to get to the point.

"His name's Chiba." Kaoru paused wait for his upperclassmen to respond.

"I see. Did you confront him?" He closed his home work and pulled up his back ground file on the Chibas to compare information.

"He was really stand offish and didn't really confirm anything. So Hikaru and I have been searching around a bit for the last couple of hours."

"Find anything useful?"

"That's why I called you, to compare notes."

"Alright, what do you have?" He opened the computer files that held the old news articles on the accident.

"Well his name's Mamoru Chiba. He's eighteen and goes to Moto-Azabu City Public High School. He grew up in an orphanage from the time he was six, but there's no record of his life before that."

"So nothing solid to verify the car accident. Someone was either very sloppy with his records, or purposely keeping them hidden." Kyoya was a little annoyed at their lack of facts.

"I know really. But any way he's in mom's show this Saturday. You wanna come with us and see what dirt we can dig up?"

"You haven't given Tamaki any wind of this have you?" Kyoya knew that their self proclaimed leader wouldn't like all of this snooping.

"Nope, but mom's curious now too, so I think she's planning to have Chiba stop by the house this Sunday when we have Staria over for her dress up session."

"I'll tag along to the show. I am rather interested to see how this plays out." It had been too long since something had grabbed his attention like this little story. It wasn't fully his style, but he would rarely turn down a good mystery. There where still a lot of gaps but something told him they were on the right track. Somehow those two just had to be related.

The next morning, Tamaki had a stupid grin on his face as he stared at Kyoya. The raven haired boy hadn't acknowledged him yet, typing away on his laptop as usual.

"Stop being creepy and say whatever it is that you're dying to tell me." the shadow king said without looking up.

"What, I can't just be in a good mood?" Tamaki acted offended.

"The look you have is beyond you're 'good mood' look. It's that dopey grin you get when you have a secret that's eating you up and you just have to tell someone."

"Nonsense."

"Fine then stop staring at me."

"Sorry…." Tamaki pouted a bit. "You are still going to help with Star's dance lesson today right?"

"I said I would didn't I?" Kyoya shut his lap top. "She'll be able to dance by the time of the party. Even if she has no rhythm at all the waltz is manageable with a good partner."

Staria watched the two boys talk, from behind a text book, pretending to study. Tamaki had let the subject from the night before go, but he'd had the dopey grin on his face the entire ride to school. He had said he wouldn't tell Kyoya that she was getting a crush on him, but Tamaki's body language was too obvious. If he said one wrong thing she wouldn't be able to even look at Kyoya without blushing. But she couldn't think negatively either. If she was going to act normal that afternoon, she'd have to pretend like it was nothing. So she had a crush. Big deal. It happens to everyone. She just wished it wasn't her at the moment.

The day went by far to quickly for Staria's taste. She had thought about playing the sick card after lunch, but she couldn't. As much as it scared her this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Yes she might make a fool of herself, but she had just as much of a chance at making a better impression. She just had to focus on the mission at hand. Learn to dance and be herself. Easy right?

"Star you ready?" Tamaki asked picking up his bag and walking over to her desk with Kyoya.

"Yeah, I guess." She managed to sound normal. Points for her.

"Great. I figured we'd just use the club room. There's a piano already and plenty of space to move around."

"Do you really play the piano?" she asked. She still didn't fully believe that. He just seemed to flighty.

"You mean he hasn't preformed for you yet?" Kyoya seamed surprised. Staria shook her head no.

"It didn't really come up." Tamaki admitted as they headed to the club room. "I played a lot for my mother whenever she was sick in bed. I always tried my best to keep her in a cheery mood despite the pain she was in."

"Just listen to him play, you'd never know he's such an idiot." Kyoya smiled and Staria thought that it was a real one for once.

The threesome found themselves in music room and Tamaki took his place at the grand piano. He started playing some classical fair to make sure the instrument was tuned and to warm up a little. Staria couldn't name the piece he was playing but it sounded familiar. She was a bit blown away by his skill level.

"Tamaki you are awesome!" Staria hopped over and gave him a hug from behind when he finished. "Why didn't you tell me you were so cool?"

Tamaki laughed, "Thank you, but we all have our talents. Now we should get started. Kyoya's you're teacher today so listen well."

"Right." Staria walked back over to her dance partner for the day. "I'm just gonna apologize in advance for stepping on your toes."

"Fair enough." Kyoya said. " Alright generally the male will lead when dancing, so your steps will mirror my own. If I step forward with my right you will step back with your left and so on. We'll go over the steps first without music to ease you in."

"Ok." Staria faced him and let him take her hands. He left a good sized gap between them knowing she'd be watching their feet for a while.

"First step back with your right foot." He stepped forward with his left to guide her. "Good now as you step back with your left you're going to step out as well, so you'd get a diagonal line if we traced your steps." He stepped forward with his right to show her. She followed, never looking up. "Alright, then glide your right foot together with your left. Now we reverse it." He stepped back getting her to follow and continued through the last part of the step. He had her do the box step a few times and didn't scold her for looking at her feet the whole time.

"Ok this isn't that bad." Staria said.

"Glad to hear it." Kyoya nodded to Tamaki to start playing. The blond host started a nice slow even melody. "Now no more looking at your feet." He raised her right hand up in his left and let go of her left hand. Staria had to focus to keep from blushing when he placed his free hand on her waist and pulled her closer to him. The movement did, however, force her eyes up from the floor to meet his. She noted for a second that his eyes were a rather dark shade of cool gray.

"Put your left hand on my shoulder and relax. We're just going to do the same steps to music now. Listen to the piano. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three. That's you're pacing." He let her listen for a moment before starting. Staria was pleased with herself when she found the rhythm somewhat easily, but she kept wanting to look at her feet.

"Head up." Kyoya coaxed. "You should always be making some sort of eye contact with your partner. You don't have to stare but it's rude to not look at them."

"Sorry." Staria blushed a little from being scolded.

"It's alright." He smiled gently at her "You're doing fine. Just keep following my lead." With that he started adding a small turn to the steps. Staria yelped a bit at first not quite ready for it, but managing.

Tamaki smiled as he played, looking up to watch the two occasionally. Staria was obviously nervous but catching on quickly. If she wasn't Kyoya wouldn't have already started adding turns and change ups. He decided to test her a bit on his own and changed his tempo to a slightly faster pace.

As if on cue Staria shot him a look, "Now you're adding surprises too?"

"You're doing fine." Kyoya reassured her. "Like I said just relax and listen to the music. You have a natural rhythm, your body knows what to do. Just let it."

"Easier said than done." Staria muttered nervously, but smiled none the less. She needed to stay calm. "How'd you learn to dance Kyoya?"

"My sister taught me when I started middle school."

"Tamaki did say you had a sister, and two older brothers right?"

"Yes, Tamaki likes to talk doesn't he." Kyoya shot his friend a 'why have you been talking about me look' and took the opportunity to field his own questions. He kept his voice low enough so Tamaki wouldn't hear the conversation. "Though he hasn't told us anything of your family situation. It's a little odd for him since he's all about family. I guess coming from his kind of home would do that to a person. Do you have any siblings Staria?"

She was caught off guard by the question, but more so that he used her first name. Up until then he'd always done the polite Japanese thing and called her 'Miss Chiba'. The sudden change in formalities threw off her rhythm, making her stumble backwards. Kyoya tried to pull her forward to correct it, but misjudged the momentum. Tamaki stopped playing and jumped to his feet, as he watched his friends tumble into a pile on the floor.