The Star (Dr Stone)

2

"ding dong! "

The doorbell rang when Hoshi was eating her breakfast.

"Coming!" her aunt speed up her pace. "Who the hell coming here so early..." she muttered.

"Good morning to you too, sis." a woman's voice. "I brought you an assistant for your little trip to the stationery mall since you know, a kid will know what another kid wants. "

"You shouldn't have, sis." Her aunt responded. "Shouldn't he be at school at this hour?" she asked.

"I already talked to his teacher on the phone yesterday," she said. "I'll leave him to you today until evening then."

"Damn you sis!" her aunt groaned as the boy walked in.

"Obaa-san?" Hoshi asked. "Who is he?"

"Say hello to your cousin, Gen." Her aunt introduced. "Gen-kun, this is Hoshi, my niece."

"Akiyama-san, I didn't know you have a niece?" Gen, the boy, asked.

"Well now you do." her aunt huffed as she went back to the kitchen. "I believe you have your breakfast before coming here, Gen-kun." she pointed at Hoshi. "Don’t try to make Hoshi-chan cry, or you'll meet the spatula."

"Mom fed me already, Akiyama-san." Gen waved his hand.

"Good. Now, Hoshi-chan, change your clothes after you are done eating your breakfast." Her aunt reminded.

"Okay." Hoshi nodded her head.

Gen sat the opposite of Hoshi and decided to entertain her for a while. "Hoshi-chan, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Hoshi tilted her head as she was thinking. "I don't know. I haven't found it yet." she shook her head.

"Want to see a magic trick I'm working on?" Gen asked, pulling a deck of cards out of nowhere. Hoshi nodded her head.

Gen shuffled the cards and let Hoshi pull one. "Pick a card, any card."

Hoshi picked a 5-diamond card and put it on top of the rest of the cards to let him shuffle. Gen picked out one of the cards. "Is this your card?"

Hoshi widen her eyes as she nodded her head. "Yeah!"

"I see you warm up to him already." Her aunt walked out with other clothes on her. "Go change your clothes, Hoshi-chan."

After seeing Hoshi go back to get the room, her aunt stared at Gen. "Try to look after her."

"Yes ma'am." Gen saluted and smiled.

~~~

The stationary mall was larger than Hoshi expected. To avoid getting lost, both of her hands were held by Gen and her aunt.

"Oh if isn't this Akiyama-san! What a surprise to see you here!" a staff member approached them. "What brings you here today?"

"I need a set of stationery and some notebooks." her aunt counted her fingers. "Get me some theme set and I'll let her choose."

"Coming right up!" The man smiled as he walked back.

The staff member brought them some sets, a car theme, a barbie theme, a space theme, a dinosaur theme, and a flower theme.

"Which theme do you want, Hoshi-chan?" her aunt asked.

Hoshi glanced at the theme sets and her eyes laid on the space theme. "This one."

"Great choice kid!" The man exclaimed, taking back the others.

"Your name means star, so it fits the space theme." Gen pointed out. Hoshi nodded her head.

"The notebook I choose for you is for you when you need to write down something important." Her aunt passed a book to Hoshi. "Try to make good use of it." Hoshi nodded her head.

After paying for the stationary, they went to the nearest restaurant for their lunch.

"What do you want to be when you grow up, Gen-nii?" Hoshi asked.

Gen's heart warmed as she called him Gen-nii since he is older than her by 3 years. "I want to be a magician when I grow up, and then I can get money to buy anything for you." he patted her head.

"Wow, okay boy, you are only 15, talk about money." her aunt deadpanned. "You are spoiling her."

"Yes I am, and I'll do it once I will be a magician." Gen grinned.

"Gen-nii will buy anything for me?" Hoshi asked.

"Once he becomes a real magician, then sure." her aunt crossed her arms.

"Promise?" Hoshi looked at him.

"Promise." Gen nodded.

~~~

Gen managed to entertain Hoshi until evening, she had fallen asleep in the car.

"Thank you for coming here, Gen-kun." her aunt thanked.

"No worries, Akiyama-san." Gen smiled. "I am happy to help."

"But seriously, don't talk about her parents to her." Her aunt frowned.

"What happened to her parents?" Gen asked.

"Her dad was an asshole drug dealer, and got arrested a month ago." her aunt clenched the steering wheel. "Her mom died of illness when she was 10."

"Oh..." Gen glanced at her cousin.

"At least you're being a good cousin to her." Her aunt smiled.

"It's the least I could do, Akiyama-san."