Day 147

[from StarLight]

"Give it up, White Star!" jeered Black Star, as the two magical girls' beams continued to clash in mid-air. "Your power is no match for mine!"

"Actually, I think my powers are a perfect match for yours," said White Star.

"Oh?" said Black Star. "And what makes you think that?"

"We've been at this for four hours now," said White Star. "Everyone's already gone home." Indeed, the crowd around them had completely dissipated, the public having grown bored of the stalemate, and the sun was now beginning to sink below the horizon.

"I'm still here!" said Hitomi excitedly.

"I don't even know you," said Black Star dismissively.

"I'm here too!" said the overweight otaku in the ninja outfit, having apparently returned.

"Shut up, you filthy neckbeard!" yelled White Star and Black Star in unison. Once again the man moaned and ran off, his arms trailing behind him.

Black Star scowled, glancing over her shoulder at the setting sun. "Wow, we really have been at this for a while," she muttered. "I'd better get home and cook dinner." Turning back to face White Star again, she raised her voice back to normal. "Alright, fine," she said, "we'll call this one a draw. But the next time we meet, I'll be sure to kick your ass!"

"Ha! Dream on, Black Star!" said White Star. "I'll be the one to kick your ass!"

"Oh?" said Black Star. "Well… I'll kick your ass times a hundred!"

"What is this, elementary school?!" scoffed White Star. "If your fighting skills are as bad as your insults then you won't stand a chance!"

This less-than-witty repartee was swiftly interrupted by the growling of both girls' stomachs. "We should probably call this a day and go have dinner," suggested White Star. But wait, she suddenly thought. If I cancel my White Star Beam, there's no guarantee that Black Star will do the same. She could wipe me out the instant I cancel it. I can't take that risk… but, I can't stay here and cancel out her Beam forever! Ohh… what should I do…

"Uhh... are you gonna cancel your beam or what?" asked Black Star suddenly. "I already cancelled mine."

Bringing herself back to her senses, White Star realized that Black Star had already moved out of the way of the beam while cancelling her own. Her White Star Beam has now flying straight down the highway, illuminating the evening sky with a dazzling white light. White Star hurriedly cancelled the beam, chuckling awkwardly and rubbing the back of her neck. "Hehe… whoops. Sorry about that," she said.

"Honestly… how I failed to defeat you, I have no idea," said Black Star, shaking her head. "But no matter. Next time, I'll defeat you for sure!" With that, Black Star turned tail and flew off. I really do need to think of better insults, she thought. I lost that particular battle.

White Star glared after Black Star as she retreated. "I'll kick your ass times infinity," she hissed quietly.

"Nicely fought, White Star," said Kousen, flying over to her. "You managed to hold off Black Star… eventually."

"She'll be back, though, won't she?" said Sanae.

"Most likely," said Kousen. "But if she couldn't defeat you this time, then she most likely won't be able to defeat you next time, either. Well then, now that the city is safe, shall we head back home? I believe you were going to teach me about giant robots next?"

"Oh yeah, I was," said White Star. "But first I should go have dinner, I'm starving."

"I think I could use something to eat as well," said Kousen, massaging her stomach, which was growling even louder than Sanae's. "It appears that since I can no longer draw on the White Star Emblem's chi, I now require the same nourishment as humans."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?!" said White Star, alarmed. "You've gone over 24 hours without eating a thing!"

"Technically, I've gone my whole life without eating anything," said Kousen. "I'm sorry, White Star, but all this other business rather distracted me from it."

"You mean the writer just made it up on the spot again to fill in a plot hole…" grumbled White Star. "Alright, come on, let's go home and I'll cook you something tasty for dinner."

"Thank you," said Kousen. "You are an excellent guardian, and some day, I'm sure you'll make an excellent wife as well."

"Yeah, right," said White Star. "The writer would have to invent a love interest for me first, and that's never gonna happen." As the two flew off, they passed right over Ryouichi, who was standing in the street for no apparent reason. He had no idea that she was his beloved who was flying overhead.

***

The next morning, the battle between White Star and Black Star was on both Sanae and Amaya's minds as they met up on their way to school. Play it cool, Sanae, thought Sanae. You don't her to realize that you're White Star.

Play it cool, Amaya, thought Amaya. You don't want her to realize that you're Black Star. "So, uhh… did you hear about White Star and Black Star duking it out last night?" she asked.

"Kinda hard not to," said Sanae. "It was all over the TV and Internet. I imagine it'll be all over the school as well."

"Oh." I didn't really think that through, thought Amaya. Attacking her will just make people talk about her more. But at least they'll be talking about me, as well.

"Yeah," said Sanae. "I imagine most people will be talking about who would have won."

"Well, we all know what the answer to that is," said Amaya.

"Yeah, we do," said Sanae, smiling. "White Star."

"Black Star," said Amaya simultaneously. Oh, right, she remembered, I should probably make it sound like I don't like Black Star, to throw off the scent. "Uhh, I mean White Star!" she said hurriedly. "Obviously White Star would wipe the floor with Black Star!"

"Obviously," said Sanae. Oh, right, she remembered, I should probably make it sound like I don't like White Star, to throw off the scent. "Uhh… I mean, it would be a pretty close contest, but…"

"Oh?" asked Amaya. "You think Black Star really has skill?"

"Well, she certainly gave White Star a hard time," said Sanae.

"I guess that's true…" said Amaya. "Well, at least we can both agree that all this attention surrounding them is rather annoying, huh?"

"You can say that again," said Sanae. "Good thing the spotlight's back on us now."

The pair continued on their way towards school, each of them oblivious to the fact that the other was now their sworn arch-nemesis.