Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Hoshi ga Hoshii desu ❯ the photo ( Chapter 3 )

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

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

-----chapter 3: the photo-----

He stared at the mirror, at the stranger in the mirror. Closing his eyes, he placed the mirror down.

He didn't recognize himself. How sad was that? He opened his eyes, staring at nothing in particular. He couldn't recognize himself...

Although lost in disturbing thoughts, his stomach grumbled.

His eyebrow twitched. His stomach sure didn't like to think. It didn't care about all those complicated things. He threw back his head and laughed. Maybe he should live his life by following what his stomach tells him. Eat first. Think later. Why think that much about things you can't comprehend?

The little boy stirred. Apparently Hoshi's laugh woke him up. Tsuki rubbed his eyes and blinked at the empty bed.

"Hoshi-niichan?" Tuski's voice wavered.

//Did he leave us?//

Hoshi narrowed his eyes. Those voices were back. He only had peace for such a short period of time.

Tsuki glanced around the room and when his eyes landed on Hoshi, they lit up. Tsuki, either not noticing Hoshi's glare or just ignoring it, ran to Hoshi and hugged him.

He froze. That kid was hugging him. Hoshi's hands clenched together, about to summon his spir...his...his what? Hoshi stared blankly at the kid. He couldn't remember what he was going to do.

His stomach grumbled again.

Tsuki giggled and looked up at Hoshi-niichan. Hoshi-niichan's eyes were shadowed by his long long hair. But Hoshi-niichan's cheeks were visible and they were somewhat pinkish.

//Hoshi-niichan is very shy...if he's hungry, he should say something.//

Hoshi's slightly pink cheeks became redder...but it probably was because of frustration and not embarrassment. Hoshi frowned. He never got frustrated...at least he didn't think he was the type to get frustrated.

Tsuki beamed at Hoshi. "Hoshi-niichan, 'kaachan can make some food for you! Come on!"

Tsuki pulled Hoshi out of the room and through the house. Hoshi glanced at his surroundings. The mother and her son lived in a small house with wooden walls. There was little furnishing, except for a table and a few wooden chairs. A framed photo was placed at the far side of the house, but the way the sunlight shone cast shadows onto the photo. Reminding himself to look at the photo later, Hoshi let Tsuki pull him to one of the chairs.

Tsuki beamed once again. "Wait here! I'm going to get 'Kaachan!"

After Tsuki exuberantly asked his 'kaachan to make some food for Hoshi-niichan, he helped place the food on the table. Although Hoshi didn't want to admit that he was extremely hungry and that the food looked delicious, his stomach decided to admit that for him by grumbling loudly. Hoshi frowned but decided not to argue with his stomach. After all, he hadn't eaten for quite awhile.

"Itadakimasu." Hoshi picked up the chopsticks and begun to eat. He hadn't eaten this type of food for awhile...sushi, lots of raw fish and...

Hoshi paused. He never noticed it before. He looked up at the woman and the boy.

"Are you Japanese?"

The mother smiled slightly. "Yes I am, but my friends have always said that I don't look very Japanese."

Hoshi continued eating. He had just asked a very stupid question. What if he were in Japan right now? It would have been stupid to ask that woman if she were Japanese. Besides, the names "Tsuki" and "Sora" were both Japanese names. Tsuki even called him "niichan" and his mother "kaachan." However, Tsuki's crystal blue eyes signified that he certainly wasn't Japanese, or at least only half.

The woman seemed to be lost in her thoughts, glancing towards the shadowed photo at the far side of the room. //I've been living here for twelve years already. Time passes so quickly...Anata...you and Hoshi have already passed away...and since that, two years have passed. Tsuki has been down for awhile, but the appearance of that boy named Hoshi seems to have revived him. He was so happy to see that boy wake up. I guess he was scared that the boy would sleep on forever...just like you.//

Hoshi glanced at the shadowed photo. So that was a photo of either the woman's husband or her son. Both dead. Hoshi chewed and swallowed his food, then he glanced at Tsuki, who was beaming. That little boy didn't really look very depressed.

The woman stopped staring at the photo and focused her attention back to Hoshi. "I presume that you are Japanese as well? Since your name is Hoshi and you say 'Itadakimasu' before you eat."

Hoshi paused. That's right...since "Hoshi" was the first word that came to mind, that meant that he was probably Japanese.

Hoshi nodded.

Sora seemed relieved. "That means I can speak to you in Japanese. My English really isn't that great...I mean I can speak it fine, but it feels weird to me. I prefer speaking in Japanese more."

//My husband was American...but he let me speak Japanese with him. He spoiled me...//

Hoshi blinked. She was speaking in English before? He didn't even notice. Well, he was probably in America then, since her husband was American and she spoke English to him all this time.

Sora smiled widely. "Great! Well, finish eating and we'll find some clothes for you. Your clothes are very tattered."

Was she speaking in Japanese now? It sounded the same to him. Weird...but oh well.

After he finished eating, Sora left with Tsuki to look for clothes. Hoshi would have gone with them, but he wanted to see the photo first. So instead of following the mother and her son, he told them that he wanted to rest more.

Once alone, Hoshi approached the photo. As he stepped closer, he noticed the cracked wooden frame. The photo was still shadowed, so Hoshi reached out to the photo to hold it next to the window.

However, as soon as his hand touched the frame, a shiver went through his arm. Hoshi's eyes widened. The photo, although still in the shadows, lit up even though there wasn't any sunlight around. It was as if the photo was glowing on its own, glowing an eerie blue. Suddenly, the photo was clear.

Two men smiled grimly back at him. They weren't very happy, but they tried to smile for the picture. He looked at the younger one, the one who was probably the Hoshi that the mom was thinking about. The boy was most likely around seventeen. He had short, black hair and cool, dark eyes. In his arms, he held a tabby cat.

His eyes glanced over the father and the son for a little, but they remained on the cat the longest. The cat looked a little weird...it was...glowing.

He poked his finger at the cat.

"Meorowwwwwwww!!!!!" Hoshi almost dropped the photo as wind swirled around him. He tried looking for the source of the noise, but there was too much smoke and it was clouding his vision. When the smoke finally cleared, his eyes landed on...

A transparent tabby cat.

It was the same cat as the one in the photo.

-----to be continued-----

Definitions:
kaachan - mom (informal)
niichan - older brother (informal)
Itadakimasu - I'm ready to receive (more like giving your thanks before you eat)
anata - you dear (used mostly by wives in addressing their husbands)

Next chapter: the cat

pleasereview! :)