The Star (Dr Stone)

1

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! HOW DARE YOU!?"

"Hands up dude, we found a bag of drugs in your car." a cop grabbed the man's arm and arrested him.

"Excuse me, I clearly do not have drugs in my car!" The man lied.

"Keep lying and you'll have a longer vacation in jail." The cop pushed the man into the car.

"Thank you, ma'am. This man was the last drug dealer we were finding." another cop tipped his cap and smiled at a lady.

"No worries." The lady smiled back.

Hoshi stared at her father who was captured by the cop emotionless. Her aunt had called a cop on him after getting tons of evidence.

"C'mon Hoshi-chan, let's go back." her aunt hold hands with Hoshi.

"Where are we going?" Hoshi asked.

"Back to Japan, of course, your mom has promised that I'll take good care of you." Her aunt smiled.

Akiyama Hoshi was a 12 years old child who had a Japanese mother and an American father. They had named her Hoshi because her mother wanted to remind herself a star will always stay by her side. Unfortunately, her mom passed away due to her illness when Hoshi was 10. Father revealed his true form and did drugs with his friend.

Lady luck was on her side, her aunt from her mother's side called the cop on his father after getting all the evidence of him being addicted to the drug. They moved back to Japan to let Hoshi get a new life.

"This will be your room, Hoshi-chan." Her aunt led her to her room. "From now on, I'll be your guardian. If anyone is bothering you, tell me and I'll scare them off." she pulls a thumbs up.

"Arigato, obaa-san." Hoshi thanked. "My Japanese is not really good though."

"Don’t worry! You can talk to me in English if you want." her aunt patted her head.

Every morning, Hoshi would look out the window beside her bed to check out the kids in the park near her house. She will listen to the kids talking in Japanese and ask her aunt for translation. Her aunt bought a learning Japanese book for her to understand more when her aunt is not home.

One night, she had a nightmare about her father getting out of jail and taking her home with him. She sneaked out and went to the park, she met this boy sitting on the swing. He have gravity green hair with a small piece of hair on his face, he wore a simple blue colour NASA T-shirt with a pair of brown shorts.

"What brings you here in the park?" The boy asked in Japanese.

Hoshi struggled to speak in Japanese. "Um, nightmare... sneak out... clear head..."

"You have a nightmare, sneak out of the house and come here to clear your head?" Senku asked her in English.

Hoshi nodded her head and stared at him with surprise.

"Learning English is a must for an astronaut." The boy shrugged.

Hoshi took a seat on the swing beside him. "Astronaut? You want to go to space?"

The boy nodded. "I want to go to space, as soon as possible." he glanced at the starry night.

"I don't know what I want to be when I grow up..." Hoshi muttered, looking down at her shoes.

"Don't worry, you still have time to think about it." he comforted her. "The name's Ishigami Senku, and you are?" he holds out his hand.

"Hoshi. Akiyama Hoshi." she shook his hand in return.

"A Japanese name but not fluent in Japanese?" Senku asked.

"My mother was Japanese and my father was American," Hoshi explained. "I learned English because my father forced me."

"Hoshi-chan!"

The two kids looked at the voice coming.

"Obaa-san!" Hoshi waved her hand.

"You scared me to death! How dare you go out and not tell me?" Her aunt squad down to her niece's height and hold her hands.

"Gomen, obaa-san. I had a nightmare." Hoshi holds her aunt's hand back.

"Are you a new neighbor here?" Senku asked.

"Family problem, I have to move here with my aunt," Hoshi explained. "Obaa-san, this is Senku." she didn't forget to introduce him to her aunt.

"Hello there, dear Senku. Where are your parents?" her aunt asked.

"My old man should be here 10 minutes ago." Senku groaned. "He's late."

"Senku!"

The 3 of them turned their head to a man's voice.

The man notices 2 strangers beside him. "Oh? You've made a friend?" he chuckled and ruffled Senku's hair.  "Sorry, I'm Byakuya. I hope my son doesn't bother you a lot."

"Oh trust me he doesn't. He and my little niece have some nice conversation." Hoshi's aunt stood up and talked to Byakuya.

"That's your dad?" Hoshi asked.

"Yeah, but not by blood." Senku shrugged.

"Come on Hoshi-chan, we have to get ready for next morning." Her aunt took Hoshi's hand. "We have to go to the stationary store to prepare for your new school next week."

"I'm going to school next week?" Hoshi asked. Her aunt nodded her head.

"Does your niece wants to go to the same school as Senku?" Byakuya asked. "It'll be nice if she knows a friend in a new school."

"Can I?" Hoshi looked at her aunt with her big black eyes.

"Oh yes, we sure can!" She squished her niece's cheek.

"See you next week then, Hoshi." Senku waved.

Hoshi nodded and waved back.

After leaving the park, they arrived at their house.

"So, about Senku?" her aunt smiled at Hoshi.

"Obaa-san!"