Three's A Comfortable Crowd (ch4)

Lastly for the pairings, we have Karen and Hikari! I'll admit, I had way too much fun with the narration at some parts here. You'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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						Chapter 4.

The day after a performance, even a small one like the one they'd just had yesterday, always finds Seishou's students and staff winding down and finally relaxing for a moment. It had just been a brief play they'd held for a smaller audience, but they'd still put a lot of work into it to make it the success it had turned out to be.

As such, the following morning, Nana and Junna decide to prepare various treats for everyone in both classes, as well as the staff to congratulate them on a job well done. And Mahiru eagerly volunteers to help out, excited to take any chance to learn new things and practice her cooking skills. Naturally, Nana and Junna welcome the help with open arms.

And of course, like ducklings following their mother, Karen and Hikari try to join Mahiru in the kitchen helping the other two out. And as touched as they all are by the offer, they gently turn the pair down, simply because five would be too many people, and the two of them probably wouldn't have anything to do.

And what they obviously don't tell them is that it would a little bit stressful to have Karen and Hikari in the kitchen together; it would sort of be like letting a dog and a toddler into a china shop.

But thankfully, Karen and Hikari understand the 3-person limit, and exit the kitchen together.

"Hmm…" Karen puts a hand to her chin in contemplation. "I wonder what we should do then. Any ideas, Hikari-chan?"

Hikari thinks quietly for a moment.

"Maybe… the aquarium?"

"Oh, I'd love to! But I kinda don't have much money at the moment…"

"Yeah. Me either…" Which begs the question of why she made the suggestion in the first place if she already knew she couldn't afford it.

"Let's see…" Karen hums. "What's something we could do for free?"

"Hmm…"

Being it's the two of them, it could very well turn out that they just spend the entire day suggesting and turning down ideas and end up doing nothing at all. But miraculously, Hikari comes up with another proposal.

"Tokyo Tower."

Karen perks up right away.

"Oh! Great idea, Hikari-chan! Let's go see Tokyo Tower! We haven't been there in a while."

"Yeah."

And so the pair sets off to leave campus, stepping out into the bright, sunny afternoon. Hand-in-hand, they head for the park, and honestly it's kind of impressive that they remember how to get there, but when they both put their heads together, they make it eventually.

Tokyo Tower overlooks them from a distance. It isn't lit up yet this early in the day, but seeing the tall red spirals sends a wave of nostalgia through both of them.

"It's the same as ever, huh?" Karen sighs.

"Yeah. It hasn't changed."

"Kinda like us!"

Hikari smiles.

"Yeah."

They decide to walk around the lively park which is bustling with people and bursting with freshly-bloomed flowers. They hardly get farther than ten steps before someone walking a big white dog passes by.

"Wow!" Karen explains. "Look at that doggie! Can we pet him?"

The woman walking him smiles kindly.

"Of course."

Karen and Hikari crouch down to let the dog sniff and lick their hands. His tail starts wagging, and if you squinted hard enough, you could probably envision perked ears and wagging tails on Karen and Hikari, too. Karen pets the dog's head while Hikari lightly strokes a finger down his nose.

"Ahhh, he's so fluffy!"

"He kind of looks like Mr. White…"

"What kind of dog is he?"

"He's an Akita," the owner replies.

"Wow! Like Yukishiro-san?"

"Karen, her name is 'Akira'."

"Oh, right!"

They spend a moment giggling and petting the dog before thanking his walker and waving them off. Karen sniffles as they go.

"Uuu, Hikari-chan, we should get a dog…"

"Maybe. But I don't think pets are allowed at school."

"Yeah, you're right… Heehee, imagine Mahiru-chan's surprise if we suddenly brought a dog back with us!"

"Maybe one day…"

But thankfully, the two of them get distracted by a beautiful flower garden, which effectively lets them forget all about bringing a dog home with them, which would have undoubtedly caused their other roommate a great deal of disarray.

Karen and Hikari admire the flowers for a little while, crouching down to smell a few of them.

"I remember this one!" Karen says, pointing to a yellow flower. "Mahiru-chan told me it's a rho… a rhodeo… s-something like a rhinoceros! What was it…?"

"Either way, they're really pretty," Hikari says with a smile.

They continue on their way, until they come across a familiar section of the park. It's a playground, one they know very well. At the top of the slide, there's an even better view of Tokyo Tower. Karen and Hikari share an eager sort of look.

"Karen-"

"Hikari-chan-"

They smile and nod.

There are several children running around on the playground with their parents nearby, but the two Seishou girls don't feel as awkward walking into the play area as any other girls their age might. Once the slide is free, Karen lets go of Hikari's hand to get into a crouch.

"Ready? Here I go!" She tears off across the wood chips and gets a running start before stepping onto the slide and stomping her way up to the top. Once there, she turns around and raises her hands triumphantly.

"Success! Come on, Hikari-chan!" Karen bends forward, reaching her arm out towards where her childhood friend is waiting at the bottom.

Hikari feels her heart flutter. It's just like when they were kids, and just like the first time she'd come to Seishou and met here with Karen that night-

"Hey!" A high-pitched, nasally voice interrupts the girls' nostalgic moment, and they both turn to look down at a young boy who is waggling his finger up at Karen in a chiding manner. "Onee-chan, that's no good! You can't climb up the slide! That's against the rules!"

Gasping, Karen brings her hands to her face and starts to flounder.

"Oh my gosh! You're right! I-I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking!" She looks around frantically at a small gathering of other kids who are staring up at her after her very daring climb. Karen puts on an act for them. "Now listen here, everyone! You should never run up the slide! It's very dangerous! Only I, the Amazing Aijou Karen, can safely pull off such a stunt! Because, you see, I am a trained professional! But you should never do it, okay?"

The children's jaws drop, and Hikari's does a little too, entirely captivated by her persona.

"Okay!" comes the unanimous response.

The children eventually scatter and continue playing, and Karen heaves a big sigh of relief.

"That was a close one…" She turns to look back down at Hikari. "You should probably use the ladder, Hikari-chan."

"Yeah. I will."

Hikari rounds the structure and walks up the ladder properly, which is for the best anyway considering she's wearing dress shoes and not sneakers like her roommate. Karen still offers her hand to her though, and Hikari accepts it as she's helped up the last few steps.

At last, they stand together at the top and gaze out toward Tokyo Tower with their hands still entwined.

And they're both quiet for a moment, but with these two, they don't always need words to know exactly how the other is feeling and what she's thinking. They squeeze each other's hands at the same time, share a glance and a smile at the same time, and reach out to adjust each other's hair pins at the same time.

They get to have their moments of nostalgia, but soon afterward a line of children begins forming at the ladder, so they know they have to finish their turn and get down.

Hikari sits down cautiously on the slide because of her skirt and inches down little by little. But when it's Karen's turn in her trusty shorts, she rockets down in a split second and jumps to her feet at the end.

"Ta-daaah!"

The children and Hikari all clap for her.

With their goal of seeing Tokyo Tower now accomplished, Karen and Hikari link hands again as they turn to head off the playground. That's when both girls pause at the sight of the empty swing-set, and share another knowing look.

So they each take a swing side-by-side, with Hikari swinging a little bit slower, and Karen pumping her legs with the enthusiasm of all the children here combined. Hikari just enjoys watching her.

"Karen, you can still go as high as you used to."

"Eheehee, you think so?" She swings forward, feeling the refreshing blast of air in her face, then back as her hair flies into her eyes.

She closes her eyes, letting that feeling overtake her, as if the world has fallen away beneath her and she's swinging in outer space.

"This is the best! It feels like I'm on top of the world! You should try it, Hikari-chan!"

Hikari just watches her with a content smile for a moment, enjoying the sight of Karen looking so carefree and happy. It rubs off on her easily, and before long Hikari does as she'd suggested and closes her eyes as she swings a little higher.

And when she envisions herself as such, she really does feel like she's flying back and forth on top of the world with Karen.

"You're right," she says. "It's just like how our stage would be."

"Yeah! Everyone in the world can see us together, Hikari-chan!"

"Except we can't see…"

"Yeah, we should probably open our eyes."

Both girls giggle as they do so. Karen slows herself down a little and reaches out one hand toward her friend. Hikari carefully reaches out to grab onto her.

They swing a little more slowly now, moving in-sync as they look over the playground and park beyond. After a few minutes, Karen starts to kick a bit harder again. Hikari notices they've started to get off-pace.

"Karen, hold on."

"Oh! Sorry, Hikari-chan! I wanna try something." Karen lets her go, and they both go back to holding onto their respective chains. Hikari watches curiously as Karen bends forward or backward further, depending on her movement, lifting her swing up higher than before as she begins to narrate her own little world.

"And this is it, folks! The Amazing Aijou is about to make her jump! In three… two… one… blastoff!"

With this energetic shout, Karen vacates her swing and jumps cleanly off, flying for a solid few seconds before skidding to a perfect landing with her arms out wide.

"Ta-daaah!"

Again, an onlooking audience of children claps for her. Karen soaks in the praise before quickly adding on her disclaimer.

"Ah, but remember! You guys shouldn't try this sort of thing! I'm a professional, okay?"

"Okay!"

As the children scamper off, Karen turns back around to face Hikari on the swings, with her arms still spread wide and a big grin on her face.

"Come on, Hikari-chan! Jump!"

"Eh?" Hikari had already started slowing herself down to get off, but now she tilts her head. Karen nods.

"Yeah! You can do it, Hikari-chan! Don't worry, I'll catch you!" Karen moves into position just a few feet in front of her and waits readily.

Hikari swallows a bit nervously, but she feels no shame about doing something like this as a high schooler - it's just that she's worried to jump. As if she hadn't fought countless revues whilst jumping off pillars and staircases dozens of feet high, but this is very different.

She continues swinging as she looks down at Karen, who is still waiting for her.

"It's okay, Hikari-chan! You can trust me!"

And Hikari knows that. She's always known it, deep down.

So with a determined nod, she braces herself and waits for the next forward swing. The girls make eye contact, and they both prepare for it.

"Hup!" Hikari jumps off her swing, her long black hair flowing out behind her in the wind as she reaches her arms out toward Karen.

Likewise, Karen reaches up for her, grinning all the while as she locks her arms firmly around Hikari's waist.

"Gotcha!"

But the lovely, graceful end to this little stunt they'd both envisioned - with them both ending up perfectly stable on their feet in each others' arms - is, of course, not how physics works.

With Hikari's forward force being much greater than Karen's standstill force, the two girls are naturally sent falling at the second of impact.

"Whoa-!"

"Ah-"

They cling tightly to one another and squeeze their eyes shut as they fall, landing with a mutual 'oof!' into the wood chips below, with Karen being softly crushed by Hikari's weight, and Hikari bonking her chin against Karen's shoulder.

The little ruckus they've caused gets some onlookers' attention, but before anyone can get too concerned about the odd couple, both girls start to chuckle.

"That was great! You did it, Hikari-chan!"

"You really caught me."

"Of course I did!"

Hikari slowly pushes herself up, taking Karen's hands and pulling her up after. Karen shakes the wood chips out of her hair, then reaches out to pluck one from Hikari's.

"Are you okay, Hikari-chan?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I'm good! Non-non problem!"

"Good."

They hold hands and help each other to their feet, then proceed to brush each other off some more.

"We should probably head back soon," Hikari says.

"Yeah, you're right! I bet Mahiru-chan, Jun-Jun, and Banana are just about finished by now!"

The two of them head off the playground, waving goodbye to the children who had been their audience today.

"Bye, Amazing Anju!" the boy from the slide calls out. Karen grins back and gives him a thumbs-up.

"Close enough!"

It's just as she and Hikari are stepping off from the playground back onto the grass when Karen feels a slight tug on her hand.

"Ah-"

Hikari stumbles beside her, hopping on one foot a few times. Karen reacts quickly and dives in to support her.

"Hikari-chan? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Hikari glances down at her right foot, which is now bare. Her shoe had fallen off a few inches away, and as she looks at it now, she frowns. "The strap is broken."

"Oh no. That must've happened when we fell." Karen makes a serious, pensive expression and nudges Hikari's shoe closer with her own. "Can you still wear it at all?"

Hikari slips her foot back into the shoe, but after a few experimental steps it just falls right off again.

"I don't think so…"

"That's no good. You can't walk all the way back with one foot bare!" Without hesitation, Karen turns her back to Hikari and drops down to one knee. "Here! Get on!"

Hikari blinks.

"Are you sure? We're not kids anymore, Karen…"

Says the girl who just spent an entire afternoon on a children's playground with no qualms at all.

Karen just grins back at her.

"I don't mind! Unless it's embarrassing for you…?"

Hikari quickly shakes her head.

"No."

"Great! Then hop on!"

Hikari slowly lowers herself a little, picking up her fallen shoe before shyly wrapping her arms around Karen's neck and pressing her chest to her back. Karen waits until she's adjusted herself, then reaches back to secure a grip on her legs.

"Okay! You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Up we go!"

Karen hunches forward and pushes herself to her feet with ease, keeping Hikari steady on her back. Hikari is a little bit startled by all the sudden movement in such an unfamiliar position, and she clings to her friend a bit harder. Karen turns her face to glimpse her expression.

"Hikari-chan? You okay?"

Hikari slowly dips her head.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry! You're not heavy or anything! I hold you on my back all the time when we stretch, remember?"

"Yeah."

"So just relax! Let the Amazing Aijou take care of you now!"

Hikari smiles a little.

"You mean the Amazing Anju?"

"Eheehee…"

At the very least, Hikari is much more relaxed now to know Karen is fine with holding her. So she leans herself comfortably onto her roommate and rests her chin on her shoulder. Karen tilts her head back to brush her cheek with hers softly.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Just lemme know if you wanna get down for any reason."

"Okay."

So with her passenger now in-tow, Karen sets off back across the park the way they'd come. She has to resist the urge to ask to pet anyone else's dogs right now, and impressively manages to refrain.

The air has gotten just a little bit cooler now, but Karen doesn't mind it one bit. Hikari is so warm and soft against her back. She can even feel her heartbeat, soft and steady. But just to be safe, Karen checks on her.

"Hikari-chan? You're not cold or anything, right? Does your foot hurt?"

There's a raspy little mumble in response.

"No. I'm fine."

"Okay. We'll be back before you know it!"

Karen eventually exits the park and begins the walk down the sidewalk, bound for the dorms. Hikari doesn't say much all the while - in fact, she doesn't say anything after that brief conversation.

When they're about halfway back, Karen notices a slight shifting in Hikari's weight, and a second later the shoe falls from her grasp and onto the sidewalk.

"Hikari-chan-?"

Karen looks back, but she doesn't need much else to tell her that Hikari's fallen fast asleep. Her eyes are contentedly closed, her breathing is soft, and her pulse has slowed down. Karen smiles, doing her best to bend down and pick up the shoe while still keeping Hikari steady.

It's a bit difficult from then on to walk, knowing Hikari isn't awake to adjust her grip properly, which means Karen will have to be extra careful that she doesn't start to slip off. But Karen doesn't want to wake her.

She hums to herself, seeing how many songs it takes before Starlight Hall is in sight again.

She quietly makes her way through the front doors, reassuring the woman at the front desk that Hikari is all right before checking them both back in.

Karen then heads down the halls toward the common room, and she can already smell sweet, freshly-baked things on the air. When she finally gets there, she calls out in a whisper.

"We're back!"

All their other friends are there, sitting around the table where Mahiru is just helping Nana with a few finishing touches.

"Ah! Karen-chan! I was just about to text you-" Mahiru cuts off when she sees her two roommates. "H-Hikari-chan? Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine!" Karen says. "She's just sleeping."

"Thank goodness…"

"Yeah. I decided to carry her back because her shoe broke when she jumped off the swing."

"H-Hikari-chan jumped off a swing?" Mahiru yelps. "Why?"

"Well, I sort of told her to…"

"Karen-chan!"

"I caught her, though! And we're both fine!"

"Geez, Karen-chan…"

Karen makes her way over to the couch, and Mahiru helps her carefully ease Hikari off her back. She does her best not to wake her, but all the movement, voices, and smells combined have Hikari blinking her eyes open before long.

"Huh…? We're back…?"

"Yes!" Mahiru smiles. "Welcome back, Hikari-chan!"

"Something smells yummy."

"You bet!" Karen says, sitting down beside her. "Mahiru-chan, Jun-Jun, and Banana made cookies!"

"And don't worry," Mahiru says. "I'll fix your shoe."

"Thank you."

As everyone gathers around now and starts to munch on their fresh cookies, Mahiru asks her roommates about their day.

"So what did you guys do?"

"We went to the park!" Karen announces. "And we pet this biiiig fluffy dog!"

"He looked like Mr. White," Hikari adds helpfully.

"Yeah! And then we went on the slide-!"

"Karen got scolded."

"Really?" Mahiru chuckles nervously. "By security?"

"No. By a five-year-old."

"Hey!" Karen whines. "He could've been six!"

"Even so, he really liked the Amazing Bakaren."

"It's the Amazing Anju! I mean Aijou!"

The others hardly have any idea what these two are saying now, but they all laugh merrily.

Karen and Hikari laugh too as they reminisce about their fun day at the park together.

When everyone has finished eating and stands to get started on cleaning up, Hikari and Karen linger on the couch for a moment.

"Karen," Hikari says. "I had a lot of fun today."

Karen beams at her.

"I'm glad! I had a lot of fun too, Hikari-chan!"

Karen opens her arms up wide for her again. Hikari blinks, but happy snuggles up against her in a warm hug.

Then, they help each other up and start the cleanup.

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A/N: This chapter was so much fun to write! Not often I can write Starlight girls being childish and use my narration for humor! These two were my original OTP so I had to give them something good!

Next chapter will be the last! OT3 again!