Twinkle Twinkle, Little Stars (ch2)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

All right! First real chapter focuses on the main trio: Karen, Hikari, and Mahiru!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

---------

							Chapter 2. A Day At The Park


Karen moans, wincing as she tries to open her eyes, only to find a hot, blinding brightness shining down on her.

At first she's convinced it has to be a spotlight, that she must still be onstage with her classmates after that bizarre earthquake-type thing had happened and the lights had gone out.

But as she begins to register more and more of her senses, she can feel she's lying on something soft, not smooth waxed hardwood. And she can feel that her clothes aren't the same revue outfit she'd been wearing before. Rather, now she's in shorts, a t-shirt and overalls, like the casual clothes she'd wear on a day off from school.

She takes a moment to get her bearings before slowly blinking her eyes open.

She's expecting to find herself in her own bed back at the dorms, but when her vision finally focuses, she isn't looking up at the familiar ceiling. Instead, she's gazing up at dozens and dozens of green leaves with a beam of sunlight shining down directly onto her face.

"Wah, so bright!"

She covers her face with her arm and turns to one side, confirming that she is indeed lying in the grass beneath the shade of a tree. When she looks around, she realizes she's at the park. There are plenty of other people walking around with their dogs or children, but Karen doesn't see anyone she recognizes right away.

"Whaaat? What happened? I thought I was with everyone and Elle-san and the giraffe…"

Pushing herself up, Karen shakes her head, which is a big cloudy with fuzziness. Only when she looks to her other side does she realize she isn't alone.

Hikari is lying on her side facing away from her, also dressed in a casual blue blouse and skirt rather than the costume she'd last been wearing. She's clearly unconscious though.

With a gasp, Karen scrambles to crawl over beside her and gently shake her shoulder.

"Hikari-chan?"

Karen has no idea what's going on, but she's a little relieved to at least know Hikari is with her. She gives her friend another little shake to rouse her.

With a whimper, Hikari slowly opens her eyes, blinking through the haze of her confusion before her vision finally flashes with a bit of clarity.

"Mn… Karen…?"

"Yeah! Somehow we're still together." Karen slips an arm around her back and helps her sit up slowly. "Hikari-chan, are you okay?"

"I think so," she mumbles, putting a hand to her forehead. "But my head hurts."

"Mine, too…" Karen huddles a little closer to her, glancing a bit nervously around the park. "I wonder what happened? Weren't we just back at school with everyone? Or was that a dream…?"

"I don't think it was," Hikari says. "I remember the giraffe saying something… like we were going back in time…"

"D-Did we?" Karen looks herself over, and then Hikari, but nothing seems to have changed. "It still seems like we're the same as we were..." She looks around the park to the big digital clock that shows the time, date, and temperature. "Ah! It's the same exact day and year, too! So we haven't gone back in time at all!"

"That's good." Hikari breathes a sigh of relief. "Then I guess… we just finished with what we needed to do and we somehow ended up in the park instead of at school."

"Yeah. I guess so." With a shrug, Karen stretches out her arms and legs briefly before jumping up into a crouch. "Well then, guess we should head back!"

"Yeah."

Karen gets to her feet first, then reaches down to offer her hand. Hikari accepts and Karen pulls her up, dusting her off from stray blades of grass and leaves. She keeps hold of her hand and grins.

"Well then, let's go! It's still the weekend so we can probably-"

"M… Mama…?"

Karen cuts off with a gasp, and Hikari gives her a tug to direct her to the source of a scared little voice.

Not far from them, a young girl with long black hair is standing in the grass with her hands clutched to her chest. As person after person passes her by, she calls out timidly.

"Mama…? Papa…?"

But none of the adults stop to spare her a second glance.

Karen clutches onto Hikari's arm.

"Th-This is terrible, Hikari-chan!" she cries. "That little girl is lost!"

"It almost seems like none of the grown-ups can see or hear her…"

"We've gotta help!"

"Yeah."

Together, they hurry off across the grass toward the little girl, who has started to sniffle by now.

"Mama…? Uuu…" She begins to cry, her little shoulders jolting with hiccups as she brings her hands to her face and starts to whimper softly. Karen and Hikari run to her, pausing just a few feet away.

"H-Hey!" Karen drops to her knees in front of the girl. "A-Are you lost? It's okay! Your two Onee-chans will help you!"

Hikari nods supportively behind her, leaning forward with her hands on her knees and offering a smile.

The little girl whimpers again, but eventually removes her hands from her eyes to reveal her tearstained face. And as soon as they see her up close, both Karen and Hikari let out a gasp.

"M-Mahiru-"

"-chan?!"

She may be much younger than the roommate they both know, but this girl is without a doubt the one and only Tsuyuzaki Mahiru. She has the same face, the same hair tied into tiny pigtails above her ears, the same silver eyes, and the same nervous voice. As she looks up at them now, she hiccups again.

"Th… That's my name… How did you know…?"

Karen's jaw is nearly on the ground by this point, and she quickly looks back to Hikari for answers. Hikari blinks, equally as stumped. Their brains start to race as Karen scrambles for something to say.

"W-Wait, you're… you're really Mahiru-chan, right?"

The little girl nods.

"Yes… Tsuyuzaki Mahiru…"

Karen gulps, but maintains her smile.

"And… h-how old are you."

"Six…"

"S-Six?" Karen looks back at Hikari again, but her friend's expression remains just as baffled.

Mahiru sniffles again, curling all her fingers up at her mouth.

"Onee-chans… are you my babysitters? Did my Mama and Papa call you…?"

Karen and Hikari share another swift look and immediately latch onto the idea.

"Y-Yeah! That's it!" Karen nods vigorously. "We're your babysitters for today, Mahiru-chan! That's how we know your name! Your Mama and Papa called us to come have fun with you until they're finished uh… sh-shopping!"

To her relief, little Mahiru has stopped crying by now.

"Really…?"

Karen nods again.

"Uh-huh! We're gonna have a great time! Don't worry, Mahiru-chan!"

"Sorry we were late," Hikari says, playing along. "You must've been scared all by yourself."

But Mahiru straightens up and shakes her head.

"No. I can't be scared of anything. I have to be brave for my little brother. And Mama says I'm going to have even more little siblings soon, too. So I've gotta look out for them."

Hmm, well that's true," Karen says. "But you've gotta have some fun for yourself too, Mahiru-chan!"

"For myself…?"

"Yeah!" Karen jumps up. "Let Karen-Onee-chan show you a super fun day!"

"Karen… Onee-chan…?" Mahiru repeats.

"Yup!" She puts an arm around Hikari's shoulders and guides her forward. "And this is Hikari-Onee-chan!"

Hikari dips her head.

"Nice to meet you, Mahiru- ah… M-Mahiru…chan."

Mahiru looks back and forth between them, and a smile slowly forms on her face.

"Nice to meet you! Karen-Onee-chan! Hikari-Onee-chan!"

Both Karen and Hikari offer out one hand each. Mahiru takes both with hers and shakes them.

They each keep hold of one of her hands, putting Mahiru between them as they start to walk around the park. Mahiru is bouncing happily on the pathway, while Karen and Hikari shoot confused glances at each other over her head.

"I still don't know what's going on," Karen whispers.

"Me, either. But this really is Mahiru… She's so little…"

"I know! How is that possible?!"

Hikari is quiet for a moment as she thinks it over.

"Didn't the giraffe say… something about rewinding time…?"

"Oh! You're right! He said something like… ahh like it was a combination of Banana's wish to rewind time, and Elle-chan's… well since she's a little kid and all…" She trails off, and her gaze gradually falls back down to the top of Mahiru's head. "So then… Mahiru-chan's time was rewound somehow-?"

"That… seems like it could be true…" Hikari murmurs. "But how can we go back to normal?"

Now it's Karen's turn to think, raking her brain for as much as she can remember.

"What was it he said… 'Just have fun. Fulfill your duty, and you shall be back before you know it'… So, does that mean we just have to… have fun with her…?"

Both girls look down to Mahiru, who is bounding merrily between them, seeming content enough just to be holding their hands. They look back to one another and shrug.

"We might as well," Hikari says.

"Yeah! Guess so!"

They start off by taking Mahiru to the small, colorful playground located at one area of the park. They pause to stand at the edge while Mahiru marvels at all of the children running around having fun.

But she doesn't take off running to go to her favorite thing like most excited young children might. Instead she just bounces in place between her two chaperones, keeping an excited hold on each of their hands.

"So?" Karen prompts her. "Which thing do you wanna do first, Mahiru-chan? The slide? The swings?"

"I-I'm not sure…" Though excited, Mahiru also seems a little overwhelmed. Hikari tilts her head.

"Have you ever been to a playground before?"

"Yeah," Mahiru nods. "But by the time I was old enough to play, I had to look out for my brother. I usually just follow him around and do what he wants to do."

"Aw, Mahiru-chan, you're such a good girl!" Karen pats Mahiru's head softly, ruffling her hair just a little. "But y'know, you've gotta have your own fun from time to time! You can't be all work and no play! You've definitely gotta play more!"

"And," Hikari adds on. "Since your parents left you in our care today, you don't have to worry about watching your brother. You can play all you want."

Mahiru's eyes start to twinkle as she looks back and forth between the two of them.

"Really? But…" The beginnings of her smile fade before it can fully form. "I… I don't have any friends to play with here…"

Karen and Hikari almost drop to their knees at the sad yet innocent comment.

"Of course you do!" Karen crouches down on one knee again to get closer to her. "You have us, Mahiru-chan! Karen-Onee-chan is your friend today!"

"And Hikari-Onee-chan," Hikari says, crouching on Mahiru's other side with a smile.

Mahiru sniffles, and her lip begins to wobble. The next thing Karen knows, little Mahiru has thrown her arms around her shoulders in a big hug.

"Thank you, Karen-Onee-chan!"

Karen feels a rush of emotion swirl around in her chest. She has to remind herself this isn't her usual Mahiru and that she can't hug her back with the same kind of force she normally might. Instead, she wraps one arm around her and pulls her into a gentle hug.

"You don't have to thank me!" She gives Mahiru a pat on the head before the little girl steps away, wiping her eyes with a smile before she turns around to throw her arms around Hikari, too.

"Thank you, Hikari-Onee-chan!"

Hikari is a bit more shocked by the affectionate gesture, but she also wraps an arm around Mahiru and pulls her close.

"It's Karen-Onee-chan and I who should be thanking you, Mahiru-chan."

Karen nods in agreement.

In their everyday lives at Seishou, Mahiru is always the one taking care of them, more often than not. Whether this is a dream or a fragment of rewound time for real, the least they can do is repay their gratitude and let her have a bit of fun for once.

They both know she's been looking after her younger siblings since she could remember, and she always helped her parents and grandparents out, too. And surely amongst all of that, Mahiru never got much time to be a kid herself.

So that's why they're going to give her as much time as they can today.

Even if this will all be meaningless or get erased in the end, it would still be worth it to them both to let Mahiru have her fun, just for this moment.

Once she's finished hugging Hikari, Mahiru directs her attention to the jungle gym. Karen and Hikari share a smile before guiding Mahiru over.

They let go of her hands, and she almost seems confused for a moment; clearly, she'd never been given free rein like this before. But now, with both her chaperones' approval, Mahiru smiles and takes off to start climbing.

Karen and Hikari stand back a little, but follow her with their eyes, making sure she doesn't slip or bump into any of the other kids.

Mahiru completes the entire jungle gym in what must be record timing for a six-year-old; it's no wonder she'll grow up to be one of the most nimble and flexible girls in all of Class A.

When she's had her fill of that, Mahiru scurries up a green ladder and across a rickety wooden bridge to reach the slides. But once she gets to the top, she seems to realize just how high up she is. She peeks down through the safety bars to her caretakers who are watching supportively from below.

"K-Karen-Onee-chan? Hikari-Onee-chan? I think it's too high…"

"That's okay!" Karen calls up to her.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Hikari assures her.

And for a moment, they both assume Mahiru will turn around and climb back down the ladder. But to their surprise, she stays put. She swallows and calls back down to them.

"N-No! I w-want to do it!"

Karen and Hikari share a smile.

"That's great, Mahiru-chan!" Karen says. "Then Hikari-Onee-chan and I will support you!"

"We'll wait for you at the bottom."

"W-Will you catch me?"

"Yeah!"

"Of course."

Mahiru sighs in relief. She lets a couple of other children slide down first as she takes some time to gather up her courage and confidence. When she's ready, Karen and Hikari both crouch down at the bottom of the slide with their arms open wide.

"You can do it, Mahiru-chan!"

"We'll catch you no matter what."

They both watch as Mahiru sits at the top of the big yellow slide, gripping the sides nervously as she looks all the way down to where they're waiting at the bottom. But she can't seem to bring herself to let go and slide down.

Hikari murmurs softly so only Karen can hear.

"She's really cute…"

"Yeah. She really is…" Karen tries not to squeal now as she raises her voice again. "It's okay, Mahiru-chan! If you're scared, you don't have to do it after all!"

"We're proud you gave it a try," Hikari says.

And for a moment, it looks like Mahiru is going to stand up and climb back down. But then, she gives herself a shake and calls out in a determined voice.

"I… I can do it!"

Her two babysitters call back a response.

"Yeah!"

"You can do it."

With their encouraging words, Mahiru finally lets go of the slide and pushes herself forward. She yelps, crying out nervously as her speed increases and the slide takes her around a few gentle curves.

But in only a few seconds the rush of air comes to a stop as she reaches the bottom.

Karen and Hikari lean forward as she nears them, catching her in a big hug as she comes off the slide. There isn't much force behind the impact, but their weight combined is enough to knock them back into the wood chips with Mahiru on top and in between them without a spec of dirt on her. Karen and Hikari laugh merrily and give her a big hug.

"You did it, Mahiru-chan!"

"You were so brave!"

Mahiru slowly lifts her head, realizing she'd done it, and that it had actually been really fun. With a squeal, she nuzzles against each of their cheeks.

"I did it!"

"Yes!"

"You did!"

The three of them are quite the dramatic but adorable sight, lying on the ground together in the middle of the playground. But eventually Karen and Hikari sit up, helping Mahiru to her feet before giving her another joint hug.

She takes them to the swings next, where Hikari sits on the swing beside her, and Karen stands behind to lightly push Mahiru's back.

And then it's the monkey bars, where they both follow her on-foot and sport her from either side as she makes her way across.

Then they manage to get to a carousel, where Mahiru sits in the middle and holds onto the metal bars. Karen sits behind her and keeps Mahiru secure between her knees, looping one arm around her stomach and holding onto a bar with her other hand. Hikari stays standing and spins them slowly.

Mahiru squeals and giggles all the while, and by the time Hikari stops them, the six-year-old can't stop smiling.

They do a few more things together on the playground before the older girls can tell that Mahiru is getting tired. They walk with her back toward the grassy area of the park as she tells them about how she's been practicing her baton twirling.

"My grandma really loves to see me do it!" she says. "She told me I could be the best in the whole town some day!"

"I'm sure you can!" Karen agrees. "Mahiru-chan, you're amazing!"

"You really are," Hikari says. "Super amazing."

"Karen-Onee-chan, Hikari-Onee-chan… you're both so nice…" Mahiru's eyes begin to flutter, and her steps become slower. She yawns, and then all at once starts to fall asleep on her feet. They both keep a firm hold on her hands to prevent her from falling until Karen can crouch down to support her. She grins.

"Mahiru-chan, did you have a lot of fun today?"

"Mmm…" The girl gives a tiny nod.

"We're glad," Hikari says. "But we should go rest in the shade for now."

"Here, can you get on my back? I'll carry you!"

Hikari helps Mahiru get situated and put her arms around Karen's neck. Karen reaches back to support her legs, then stands up slowly. Hikari keeps a hand on Mahiru's back to ensure she won't slip off, as she's already mostly asleep by now.

They walk quietly together back to the shade of the tree where they'd woken up before, slowly sitting down in the grass. They gently lie the sleeping Mahiru between them before sharing a curious glance.

"What now?" Hikari wonders. "Should we look for her parents?"

"I'm not sure…" Karen puts a hand to her chin to contemplate. "If Mahiru-chan had enough fun today, then I think everything should go back to normal soon."

"Karen…" Hikari blinks slowly and brings a hand to her mouth, covering a yawn of her own. "Suddenly I'm feeling tired too…"

"Huh? Uuuh-" Karen ends up yawning as well. "You're right. Me, too…"

They share another tired glance, then look back down to Mahiru, who still has a smile on her face even in her sleep.

And so they decide on their answer. After all, this had all started with them waking up, so wouldn't it make sense for it to end with them going to sleep?

So Karen and Hikari lie down in the grass on either side of little Mahiru, each lightly draping an arm across her and resting their hands on each other's shoulders.

"Goodnight, Hikari-chan, Mahiru-chan."

"Goodnight."

They close their eyes, and sleep comes right away.

--------

A/N: So! Nana's wish being repeated so often allowed a bit of magic to stay behind, and little baby Elle wanted to see her favorite Stage Girls the same age as her! Therefore, we have Baby Starlights! Each chapter will be of each pair (or trio) taking care of the other!

I wanted to let Karen and Hikari help little Mahiru out with her confidence here, and allow her to be a kid since she's always had to look out for her younger siblings. Put together, I think those two could be decent babysitters, at least just for a short while. Any longer and they'd probably start to panic haha

Next chapter shall be the reverse!