Twinkle Twinkle, Little Stars (ch3)

Last chapter was a rare sight indeed to see Karen and Hikari trying to be responsible! Now it's Mahiru's turn! Though, considering her roommates pretty much are 6-year-old children, it shouldn't be that different from her average day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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						Chapter 3. Playground Adventures

The first thing Mahiru is aware of when she regains consciousness is a slight headache.

With a moan, she pushes herself up onto her elbows, putting a hand to her forehead as she tries to get her bearings. She can feel grass beneath her, and can already tell she isn't wearing her revue outfit anymore either.

When she finally opens her eyes, she finds herself at the local park, dressed in a yellow floral sundress, one she typically wears on weekends or time off. Shaking her head slowly, Mahiru brushes the grass off herself and rubs her eyes a little.

"Wh... What in the world happened…? Wasn't I with everyone on that stage…?"

When the slight pounding in her head has subsided, she opens her eyes fully this time and looks around. She doesn't see any of her friends or classmates, or anyone she recognizes at all.

"How did I end up here…? I-In any case, I guess I should probably just head back to the dorms." Hopefully Karen, Hikari and the others would be there, and maybe someone could provide an explanation.

Mahiru pulls her legs in and slowly gets to her feet, dusting herself off all the while. She turns to the park's exit where she'll be able to start the walk back to Starlight Hall.

But before she can even take a single step, she hears a voice. A very familiar voice.

"Come on, Hikari-chan!"

Mahiru freezes.

"Karen-chan?" /Her voice sounds a little strange, though…/

Mahiru looks back to the source of the voice and then hears another one.

"Karen… w-wait…"

Just like Karen's, Hikari's voice is instantly recognizable to Mahiru, but also sounds a little bit off somehow. Mahiru scours the park and calls out in the general direction she'd heard their voices coming from.

"Karen-chan? Hikari-chan?"

Mahiru peers around the tree she'd woken up underneath, expecting to see her roommates walking and chatting together. But the Karen and Hikari before her now aren't exactly the ones Mahiru knows.

"Wh-What-?" She has to be imagining things. She has to be dreaming.

Karen and Hikari are running around in the grass together, wearing the exact same distinctive hair pins they've always worn, but they can't be older than five or six years old. They're both half their normal height, wearing clothes that must be several times smaller, and with higher-pitched, childish voices.

They hadn't noticed her yet, which she's thankful for. Mahiru presses her back against the tree and hides, heart pounding and head spinning.

"What… What's going on…? Wh-Why are Karen-chan and Hikari-chan…?"

It has to be the giraffe's doing. Or Elle's. After all, he'd mentioned something about Elle's and Nana's wishes combining or something like that, and if Elle was only a small child herself…

"Does this mean she personified herself onto us somehow…? And the stage remembered Banana-chan's wish and it somehow granted this one, too…? H-How can that be…? How do I go back-"

"K-Karen-!" Little Hikari's voice suddenly cries out. "Karen, wait a minute-"

"Nope! No can do, Hikari-chan! We've gotta be the first ones to the playground today!"

"B-But-"

Mahiru can worry about the situation later, because right now she instinctively recognizes the sounds of a distressed Hikari being pulled along into an oblivious Karen's flow. She peers back around the tree to glimpse them now. Karen has Hikari by the wrist and is charging ahead at full speed across the grass. But Hikari is looking behind herself, trying to both follow Karen and stop her at the same time. Mahiru can already see the outcome of this coming a mile away.

"Ah! H-Hold on!" She rushes out from her hiding spot now and hurries toward the two young girls. Karen continues pulling on Hikari like an excited dog on a leash, while Hikari keeps trying to ask her to wait.

"K-Karen-"

"Come on! We're almost there!"

"But-"

Karen gives her another energetic tug. Mahiru calls out to her.

"Karen-chan! W-Wait-!"

But her warning comes too late, and actually might have assisted in the inevitable. Karen is clearly shocked to hear her name being called by a stranger, and judging by the confusion in her eyes as she looks at Mahiru now, she assumes Karen has no idea who she is.

As she turns in her puzzled state, Karen inadvertently gives Hikari another yank, and it's the one that finally pulls her off-balance. With a yelp, Hikari loses her grip on Karen's hand and tumbles headfirst into the grass. Mahiru winces and reaches her just a second too late, kneeling in the grass beside the poor girl.

"Oh no! H-Hikari-chan? Are you okay?"

Karen has finally skidded to a halt now and whirls around with a loud gasp.

"Hikari-chan! Ahhh- A-Are you okay?!" She runs back to her friend's side, dropping to her knees with panic in her eyes.

Mahiru reaches out gently to pick Hikari up, slowly helping her back to her feet. Her hair and clothes are all ruffled and covered with blades of grass, and there's a single drop of blood dribbling from her nose. She sniffles, and now there are tears in her eyes.

"Ow…"

Mahiru gasps at the sight of the blood.

"Ah! H-Hold on! I think I have something…" She frantically searches her dress pocket and is beyond relieved to find her usual handkerchief folded up as she normally has it. She extracts it, unfolds it, and gently presses it to Hikari's nose.

"Here. It's okay. Don't sniffle too much. You don't wanna swallow the blood or your tummy will feel sick."

By now, Karen has burst into tears.

"Uwaaaaah! H-Hikari-chan! I-I'm suh-sorry! I didn't mean to-!"

"Karen…" Hikari holds her little hand over Mahiru's to keep the handkerchief in place, but reaches out her other hand toward her friend. "It's okay… don't cry-" But seeing Karen crying just makes Hikari even more upset, and she starts to cry harder.

Before Mahiru knows it, both girls are sobbing, and people are starting to stare.

"A-Ahh, d-don't worry, you two! It's okay! Everything's all right." She puts an arm around each of them and brings them close for a soft hug. "Mahiru-Onee-chan is here now. You don't have to cry."

Now that she knows both of them are more or less completely fine, she feels much calmer. Similarly to what she'd do for her own little siblings whenever they were upset, Mahiru speaks slowly and soothingly, patting their heads and hugging them softly.

And it's as if she's cast a magic spell on them, because both girls stop crying in only a few seconds. Hikari sniffles one last time before she realizes the bleeding has stopped. Mahiru smiles kindly, taking the handkerchief back and folding up the stained portion before putting it back into her pocket.

"There. See? Everything's all right. You too, Karen-chan."

Karen is still frowning, clearly upset that her actions had caused Hikari to get hurt. But when Mahiru pats her head again, Karen musters up a deep breath and lets it out in a big sigh.

"Hikari-chan! I'm really sorry! I was just really excited to play with you!"

Hikari gives her a little smile.

"I know."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Thank goodness…"

Now, both girls turn big curious eyes up to Mahiru, who jolts a bit nervously.

"A-Ah. Nice to meet you," she says with a smile.

Karen tilts her head to one side, and Hikari to the other.

"You said your name was Mahiru-Onee-chan-"

"-but how did you know our names?"

"Eh? A-Ah, I'd just happened to hear you two calling to each other! Th-That's all!"

"Oh."

"That makes sense."

Thankfully, that simple explanation is more than enough to satisfy the six-year-olds, and Mahiru breathes a sigh of relief.

"I-In any case, Hikari-chan, why didn't you want to go with Karen-chan to the playground?"

"Ah!" Hikari seems to have just remembered something. She turns to Karen and grabs her hand. "Karen, I want to play with you. But I lost Mr. White…"

"Huh? Ah-!" Karen gasps, pointing to Hikari's dress. "You're right! Your Mr. White pin is gone!"

"Yeah. I wanted to go look for him first…"

"Definitely! We gotta find your beloved Mr. White, Hikari-chan!"

"I'll help too!" Mahiru declares, not just because she wants to help, but also too because she feels she definitely has to keep an eye on these two until she can figure out how to get them back to normal. "Karen-chan, Hikari-chan, where did you two come from?"

Karen raises her hand.

"My mommy says I came from a stork!"

"Th-That's not what I…" Mahiru puts a hand to her mouth and sighs. "I mean where in the park did you come from? Where could Hikari-chan have lost her pin?"

"Oh! In that case, we came from that way!" Karen points back toward the sidewalks. Mahiru nods.

"Okay. Let's go search."

She stands up, keeping one hand on either of theirs and walking in between them as they scour the grass. To everyone else, they probably look like an older sister with two younger siblings, and to be quite honest that's often how Mahiru feels with them even when they're their normal ages.

But she does have to admit they're much more adorable right now, scampering along at her sides and pointing out every little thing that could possibly resemble a Mr. White pin.

They search for a good few minutes, but pretty soon Mahiru can feel Hikari's fingers trembling in hers. When she peers down, she can see Hikari is doing her very best not to cry again. Mahiru's heart aches.

"It's okay, Hikari-chan," Mahiru says gently. "We'll find him."

Hikari sniffles.

"Okay."

"You're so strong." Mahiru gives her hand a squeeze before continuing on with them.

She has to prevent Karen from sprinting off to go pet someone's dog every now and again and refocus her on the task at-hand. And just when Mahiru feels Hikari is about to burst out into tears all over again, Karen makes a triumphant cry.

"Ah!" Mahiru feels a tug on her left arm as Karen suddenly bends down into a nearby bush. Mahiru peers over her shoulder, and Hikari peers from behind Mahiru to watch her.

"Ah-hah!" Karen pops up with a soft white plush of a familiar bear in her hand. "I found him! I found Mr. White!"

"Wow!" Mahiru beams. "That's amazing! You did it, Karen-chan!"

Mahiru coaxes Hikari forward before kneeling down to gather both girls into her arms for a hug. Hikari whimpers with relief as she throws her arms around Karen.

"You found him…"

"Mm-hm! So don't worry, Hikari-chan! He won't be lonely anymore!"

As Mahiru eases back from the little group hug, she realizes the truth in Karen's words. Of course Hikari had been upset just because she'd lost her precious Mr. White, but more so than that she'd been upset because she hadn't wanted him to be all alone.

/Children really are too pure… Especially these two…/

After the tearful reunion, Mahiru offers out her hand to Karen for the pin and looks to Hikari for permission.

"May I?"

Hikari nods. Karen gives Mahiru the pin, and Mahiru cleans it off as best she can before turning to Hikari. She carefully clips the pin into place at the top of her dress and fastens it securely.

"There! All done!"

And Hikari is absolutely glowing now.

"Thank you, Mahiru-Onee-chan."

"Yay!" Karen jumps forward and throws both arms around her friend. "Hikari-chan, I'm so happy!"

"Me, too. But Karen, I think he fell off the first time because you were hugging me too hard."

"Oh! Whoopsie!"

Mahiru sighs again and gets to her feet, once more taking both of their hands.

"Now that that's settled, why don't we head to the playground? Karen-chan, I know you wanted to go really badly, but you pushed aside what you wanted so you could help Hikari-chan. You're such a good girl!"

To her surprise, little Karen actually blushes a little.

"I'll be happiest when Hikari-chan is happy."

"Me too, Karen," Hikari says. "I'm happiest when you're happiest, so let's go to the playground."

"Really? Yay~!"

Mahiru feels she's about to start crying now. Her heart is so warm.

/No matter how old these two are, I just love them so much!/

"All right, it's decided then," she says, taking both their hands. "To the playground!"

"Yeeeah!"

Karen starts charging ahead right away, but Mahiru follows along a little bit more slowly to hold her back and compensate for Hikari's milder pace. In just a few minutes they reach the playground, but Mahiru doesn't let them go right away.

"Karen-chan, Hikari-chan, make sure you both stay together, all right? I'm coming with you, but I can't have one of you go running off."

Both she and Hikari look to Karen, who kicks her shoe in the wood chips bashfully.

"Okay!" she grins.

Mahiru nods in satisfaction.

"All right, let's have fun!" She releases them, and the two young girls run off.

Mahiru follows alongside them as they climb the ladder and take turns on the slide, then run across the various plastic structures, giggling all the while. The moment there are a few swings free, Karen gives a battle cry.

"Swings!" She jumps off the platform she'd been standing on and sends up a spray of wood chips before charging off. Both Hikari and Mahiru call after her.

"Karen-

"Karen-chan-"

"Don't jump off stuff!"

"Don't run!"

They both share a glance, then burst out laughing. Mahiru reaches up to Hikari, who hops off the platform and into her arms. Mahiru carries her to the swings where Karen has already sat down and start bouncing and kicking her legs.

"Mahiru-Onee-chan! Can you push us?"

"Of course!" She settles Hikari down onto the other swing, then moves behind the two of them. "Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Mm."

Mahiru simultaneously gives their backs a light push, and both girls start bending their knees to bring themselves higher.

"Yaay!" Karens squeals. "This is the best! Usually only Hikari-chan or I can swing at once and the other one has to push, but now we can swing together!"

"Thank you, Mahiru-Onee-chan."

"It's my pleasure, you two!"

Every time they swing back toward her, Mahiru gently pats their backs before pushing them forward again, making sure they don't go too high. Karen and Hikari giggle all the while, feeling the rush of the wind through their hair. When Karen is finally finished laughing, she looks sideways to her friend.

"Hey, hey, Hikari-chan! We're married!"

"Eh?"

"You know!" Karen explains. "When you're swinging in-sync with the person next to you, it means you're married!"

"Married…" Hikari repeats, then looks back over her shoulder. "But what about Mahiru-Onee-chan?"

"Eh? Me?" Mahiru blinks.

"Yeah. I don't want you to be alone…"

"That's okay!" Karen declares. "We can both marry Mahiru-Onee-chan, too!"

"Aha, all right!" Mahiru agrees, blushing faintly. "We can all get married, the three of us!"

"Yaaay!"

The girls swing for a while longer before Mahiru gradually slows them down to a halt. She has no idea how much longer things are going to be like this, but she's determined to stay with them for as long as she can.

"Are you two tired yet?"

"Nope!"

"Karen's never tired," Hikari informs her. "Cuz she always sleeps in really late."

"Ah, so she's been like that from the start, huh?" Mahiru chuckles.

"Hey, hey!" Karen says. "Mahiru-Onee-chan, what's that?"

Mahiru looks up to where Karen is pointing to the other side of the park as they walk. She hadn't looked over this way before, but now she can see a crowd is gathered. There are a few big white trucks parked in the parking lot with ocean waves and fish painted on them. Banners posted on the street lamps tell Mahiru what it is.

"A traveling aquarium!" she gasps. "That sounds like fun! Do you two wanna go?"

"A planetarium?" Karen asks.

"Aquarium," Hikari says. "Karen, we went there before, remember? The one with the jellyfish."

"Oh! That one?!" Karen has started to jump up and down again in her excitement. "Let's go, let's go!"

"It's not the same as the big building," Mahiru says. "This is just a little one they set up in the parking lot. They probably only have a few animals to show us."

"That's okay!" Karen says. "Let's go, let's go!"

"I wanna see jellyfish," Hikari mumbles.

"Well, I'm not sure if they'll have any, but we can go see!"

So Mahiru takes them over to the bustling crowds. She's relieved to see there is no entry fee, as she doesn't have her wallet, so she's able to gladly bring the girls over to look.

They gawk at a tank full of crabs and clams that has been set up on a table as the workers talk about the creatures. There's also a table with a tank of sea horses and sea stars. And beside that is a touch tank with several sting rays swimming around.

The girls all wash their hands at a small portable sink first, then Mahiru guides them over to the touch tank. Karen dips her hand right in to pet the sting ray's back.

"Wow! It's kinda slimy, but also kinda soft!"

Another ray slides up the side of the tank and splashes them a little. Hikari timidly reaches in and eventually manages to pet one too.

"It really is soft…"

"Mahiru-Onee-chan, you should touch it too!" Karen says.

"Eh? Th-That's okay…"

"It's not scary," Hikari says. "I promise."

Mahiru's heart flutters again. How could she refuse an opportunity to let the two of them believe they've given her the courage to do something? For the sake of boosting their confidence, Mahiru agrees to dip her hand into the cool water and stroke her fingers along one of the rays. A shudder runs up her spine, but she gives the girls a thumbs-up.

"Yay! She did it!"

"Good job."

"Th-Thank you, girls…"

When they've finished there and washed their hands again, Mahiru brings them to the final display table. There's a purplish cylindrical tank there, and inside are five white, fluffy jellyfish.

Hikari's jaw drops in wonder, and Karen giggles and thinks up names for each of them.

By the time Mahiru has finally coaxed them away, both girls have started to yawn.

"That was so much fun…" Karen mumbles.

"I wish we could always be with Mahiru-Onee-chan," Hikari agrees.

Their eyes start closing as they're still walking, so Mahiru crouches down, having each of them lean against her shoulders as she scoops one up with each arm.

"I'm glad you two had fun. And don't worry! Mahiru-Onee-chan will be with you guys for sure!"

"Really…?"

"I'm glad…"

Mahiru carries both of them back into the shade of the grassy area, suddenly feeling overcome by exhaustion herself.

/I had a lot of fun with them today. But hopefully everything will go back to normal soon…/

With a sigh, Mahiru sits down with the two girls and slowly lies down on her back, keeping them each tucked into her sides. She hears a few more sleepy murmurs from them.

"Mahiru-Onee-chan…"

"Thank you…"

Mahiru hugs them both, giving a kiss to the top of Karen's head, and then one to Hikari's.

"Goodnight, you two. Sweet dreams."

And just a moment later, Mahiru dozes off with her two future roommates cuddled up to her sides.

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A/N: I felt doing two chapters, one of baby Mahiru, and the other combining baby Karen and Hikari, would make more sense than doing three chapters with each girl being a baby with the other two normal. It was much more fun to have Karen and Hikari try to be good big sisters to baby Mahiru than just one or the other freaking out with two baby roommates.

I just had to throw in a little aquarium scene somehow! Hope you enjoyed! Next 2 chapters will be another pair!