July 6th. Shiro finished the last arrangement for tomorrow's Star Festival event at the planetarium and stepped out onto the balcony. The sky was cloudy. She hoped it would be clear by tomorrow evening, or there would be no point in hosting this event in the first place. Shiro sighed as she leaned her forearms on the top of the railing and looked up at the starless sky. Something caught her attention, glowing in the distance. She searched the skies for it. It didn't feel like a shooting star. Did she imagine it? Another dazzling light caught her eye. Her head snapped in the direction of the light. It seemed far away, but a big light was racing toward her.
Shiro gasped as a foreboding feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

Shiro opened her eyes, greeted by the familiar sight of her apartment's ceiling. She groggily sat up.
"A meteor..." she mumbled to herself. She was still pretty out of it, but something felt... strange.
"That wasn't a meteor."
Shiro gasped. That voice... She slowly looked up and found herself in the presence of six males. "You guys... Why are you here?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Look, look, Dui! This is Earth!" The blonde shouted excitedly, ignoring her.
Dui groaned. "I can't believe we were actually exiled." Exiled? They were exiled? All six of them?
"Geez... I was praying up until the last minute that the kind was only joking..."
"That was naïve of you, Teo. You shouldn't hold out hope for mercy from the king, for your own sake." Shiro's eyes widened considerably at the sound of that voice as she slowly looked up at him. Why? Why now? Why here? Shiro swallowed with great difficulty and clenched her hand into a fist before it could instinctively reach out to him. Even as every fibre of her being was crying out to him. Shiro squeezed her eyes shut, only opening them when she heard the unpleasant click of a tongue.
"What a hovel. I don't need this irritation. I'm leaving."
"Scorpio, wait! Ichthys, let's follow him!" Dui said.
Ichthys snorted. "He reeeally doesn't want to have anything to do with humans." That damn king... Shiro bet he did this on purpose. He totally did. There was no way he wouldn't know where she was. This was no coincidence. Damn it all!

She'd be relieved if the other three didn't stay behind. They were the ones she wanted gone the most.
For now, Shiro opted to observe the situation.
"Scorpio still knows how to make his words sting. Some things never change..." That voice again. Shiro's lip quivered and she bit into it.
"Ignore him, Hue," Teorus said. Shiro gnashed her teeth.
"Of course I will. I don't have any interest in engaging him... Typical scorpion. I don't care how much of a hovel this place is; he should watch his tongue." Shiro almost laughed. He hasn't changed.
"You just said something pretty mean yourself, Hue."
Shiro's eyebrow twitched. "If you don't mind, please continue your conversation somewhere that isn't my home," she spoke up, her voice louder than before. She'd had just about all she could take. She wanted them out. Hue came over to her and looked her in the eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw his. He only had stars... in one eye...? Visibly shaken, Hue averted his eyes.
"Hue?" Teorus asked.
"It's nothing..." Hue answered quietly. Damn. It. All!
"Aww that's no way to treat a lady!" The male with the princely aura approached her. Shiro sighed as she looked up at Teorus. As soon as they made eye contact, his eyes widened. "You... You have stars in your eyes."
She looked to the side with a sarcastic and somewhat exasperated smile. Yeah, she knew. "What are you talking about?" Only one thing to do at this point: feign complete ignorance.
"Oh...?" Oh no, now he was joining the conversation. Will this nightmare never end? Fate certainly was cruel. Or maybe the fates were punishing her for abandoning them. Shiro watched as Leon moved languidly, walking up to her. "I see... So that means you're..." She arched an eyebrow.
"Leon, you're getting too close to her," Hue warned.
"Stars in her eyes? Now I'm interested," Leon smirked.

"Interested in what? Stars in my eyes? Are you delusional?"
"We're... gods. The gods who rule the stars... Does that ring a bell?" Teorus asked.
"It's called the Princes of the Stars..." Shiro muttered.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah! Like that!" Teorus exclaimed excitedly.
"Anyway... Please come with us... Actually, you must come with us. It's your destiny..." Hue said. She arched an eyebrow again.
"Do you really mean that?" she asked softly. Startled, Hue looked away from her, unwilling to answer. Figures... Shiro sighed. "Don't make me laugh." She scoffed.
"You don't believe us? But you just wished on a star!"
Shiro gave Teorus a flat look. "No, I didn't. Now if you don't mind, I have a million better things to do than listen to some lunatic's crazy talk. Hurry up and get out." She waved her hand in a shooing motion.
"You're only a human, yet you dare refuse the gods." Leon's eyes held overwhelming power that demanded to be obeyed.
"Get out of my face." She levelled a glare at him, unflinching.
"Refusing us was never an option... I'll personally make you understand. That shouldn't be so bad, hm?" Leon laughed condescendingly as his long fingers slowly traced a line down Shiro's cheek. Her eyes followed that finger with a frightening amount of scrutiny. "Don't be afraid."
"Wow. I never would've thought you'd touch a human, Leo," Teorus said, visibly surprised.
"This is just a little entertainment. It should be fun..." Leon said.
"Geez, what are you planning on doing?"
"I'm simply going to make her understand our power, that's all."

Leon pulled his fingers away from Shiro's cheek and snapped his fingers. Shiro gasped as her body floated out of her window and into the night sky.
"Let me down!" she yelled at him.
"I could, but... Do you really want me to let you down now?"
"Fine, take me back to my apartment then!"
"I have no intention of letting you go just yet. I could let you live or die depending on my mood. I don't think it would be very wise of you to yell any further." Despite Shiro's obvious disdain, Leon took her by the waist and pulled her close. He gracefully took her hand and walked off, leading her across the sky. "We're going up a little higher," he whispered in her ear before moving his big hand to softly cover her eyes. When he finally took his hands off her eyes, Shiro gasped at the sight in front of her. The sky above her was filled with stars, the city below with flickering lights. "What's the most beautiful thing you see right now?" Leon asked, his voice a quiet whisper in Shiro's ear.
"The stars..." Shiro answered almost automatically.
"You appreciate the beauty of the stars? I guess you do have taste, after all." Shiro didn't answer. "I suppose the noble light of the stars is unreachable to lowly humans... They have no choice but to look up at them in envy... How pitiful." You're the only thing around here that's pitiful, Shiro almost said. "Have you decided to believe?
Shiro sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I believe."
"Fine. Now thatlll you believe we're gods, the next thing you need to do is be a good girl and follow me. Come with me."
"Why?" Shiro asked.
"To put it in human terms, you need to 'have faith'. It's up to you whether you follow me or not." As if Shiro would ever follow the likes of him. "Well... It's time for some entertainment. I hope it's enjoyable," he said, one corner of his mouth quirking up into a smirk. He touched Shiro's cheek and her body began to drop. She gasped and her eyes widened. "You're a foolish human to refuse a god... We'll meet again. And when we do, you'll say that you'll be mine. I am Leon, ruler of Leo. Remember my name."

Shiro startled awake, gasping as her eyes flew open. Her body was covered in sweat. She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her long blonde hair. She sauntered to her open window in a daze and closed it before getting ready for work.

The TV was blaring in the background as she took a seat at the dining table for breakfast, and she happened to notice a blabbering about her horoscope.
"Aquarius has the number one horoscope for today. A fateful encounter awaits you today. You just might meet some special at work!"
Thoroughly annoyed, Shiro snatched the remote and threw it at the screen. The remote hit the TV on the power button, effectively shutting it off. Fateful encounter... Yeah right. More like a nightmare. 

When Shiro arrived at the planetarium, she immediately got to work, eager to forget about last night. Hiyori walked up to her and started talking.
"Good morning, Shiro."
"Morning. You're here early," Shiro mused.
"Yeah. I came early since there's so much to do for the Star Festival event. Opening the roof and having people decorate it with their wishes is a good idea."
"It would be entertaining for the kids." As they were talking, customers started lining up. Shiro took their tickets with some of her other co-workers, Hiyori included. "Welcome to the planetarium. Enjoy the stars."
"Look! I wrote down my wish!" a little girl beamed happily.
Shiro crouched down to her level. "After you enjoy the stars, you can hang your wish on the roof." She smiled and petted the little girl's hair.
"Who grants these wishes?" a boy asked.
"The princes of the stars do. If you wish as hard as you can, I bet they'll grant yours," Shiro smiled and winked at him.
"You really did get a job here just because you love stars, didn't you?" Hiyori asked.
Shiro smiled wryly. "You can't see the stars in Tokyo. This place is my only connection to it."
"Hey, you two, the show is about to start," one of her co-workers called.

By evening, everyone had moved on to the roof for the Star Festival event.
"I wanna put my wish up high! Mommy said the wishes up high get granted first!"
"Me too! Me tooo!"
Shiro helped the excited children to hang up their wishes. She didn't suppose if she wished for her life to go back to normal it would be granted? No, that damned king was enjoying this far too much to let her get away from that. She'd probably see those gods soon, too.
"You make for a lovely scene, surrounded by all these wishes. You truly are a goddess." The hair on Shiro's neck stood upright and her entire back stiffened at the sound of Dui's voice. She slowly turned around.
"Hey. What's up with those three?"
"Those costumes are incredible. Are they part of the Star Festival event?"
"Oh my God! They're all super hot!" The customers were going crazy at the sight of them. Shiro supposed it didn't matter if the customers thought the men were part of the event, but if they were going to hang around humans, they should at least dress for it. The men didn't spare the customers a second glance as they walked up to her.
"I know we didn't make a very good impression last night, so... I'd like another chance at a first impression. Because I want your heart to belong to me and only me," Dui said.
"Rejected," Shiro said flatly.
"Dui, let me say hello too. We finally meet, Goddess. I'm Ichthys, ruler of Pisces." An innocent smile spread across his face as he tenderly took her hand. His hand was freezing, and she shook hers free from his grasp.
"Go bother someone else." Shiro scoffed.

"But you're the goddess I've been searching for," he replied. Shiro heard girls squealing.
"This is so romantic! Is it a Star Festival-themed proposal?"
"Is this a TV show? Are we being filmed?"
Shiro sighed, her shoulders slumped. "Would it kill you to try and blend in at least?" she muttered.
"Hey, Ichthys. Quit playing around. I'm going to be sick if I have to hang around this disgusting place much longer." Shiro turned halfway to see a tall, thin man walking toward her. She found his words pretty rich, considering he came from this world to begin with. But she supposed she could see why he would feel that way, given his history. "I wish something wonderful would happen." When Shiro looked over, Scorpio was holding one of the wishes and reading it. She marched over to him and snatched the paper out of his hand.
"Cut that out." She put it back where it was.
Scorpio clicked his tongue. "How absurd. I don't make a habit of listening to human wishes... But why don't you try me? Tell me some of your ridiculous human wishes." Shiro's eyebrow twitched. "I want to live in a big house. I want to be rich. I want to be beautiful. I'm a god. I could grant any of those wishes easily."
"The only wish I have is for you people to go far away and never come near me again," she retorted.
"Huh?" Scorpio glared sharply at her.
"Granting human wishes is our job. Don't stick your noses where they don't belong." When did Leon show up? Why Was this happening to her? Curse you, King of the Heavens!!!
"Look! Look! Those guys are hot too!"
"Wow... Are they actors? They're too good-looking to be normal people." Those customers were so noisy. Shiro hung her head in defeat, her shoulders slumped. She wasn't getting out of this, was she?
"I can't believe you guys were able to track her down," Hue said.
"I guess this is what they mean when they say you can never be too careful," Teorus added.
"What? In that case, you guys are in the wrong for not telling us about the goddess. We do, as they say, have a shared destiny, right?" Ichthys said.
"I know we were the ones who hightailed it out of that apartment..." Dui said. Shiro ignored him and walked away.
"Hello? Why are you walking away when we're right in front of you? That makes me sad," Teorus teased. "How about you and I have some fun tonight?" He elegantly draped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him.
"Let go," she said, warning in her voice.
"Aww don't be like that." His arm around her, Teo snapped his fingers. Something resembling stardust began to fall, sparkling in the sky. The customers were going absolutely wild at the sight, the kids especially. "See that? Now, why don't you come with me?"
Shiro was unimpressed. "I said, let go." she elbowed Teorus in the ribs, hard.
"You're flirting with the human too much, Teorus." Hue casually pulled her away from the Taurus god. Shiro wanted to tell him that she didn't need his protection, but when she looked at him, she seemed to lose her voice. Shiro looked away sulkily and crossed her arms. "It's nice to meet you..." She didn't look back at him as he pretended not to know her. No, he didn't really know her. Not the her in front of him, anyway. "I'm Huedhaut, ruler of Aquarius." She knew. "I hope we can get to know each other better." Shiro slowly looked up at him. "And if you're not okay with something, be frank with me and say so." She sighed and slumped her shoulders for the upteenth time. "You've always been like that, ever since you were little." Shiro gasped, her eyes wide. "Uh..." Huedhaut looked away awkwardly. He hadn't meant to say that.
Shiro looked away as well. "Shiro. My name is Shiro."
Scorpio clicked his tongue. "Quit wasting time and get to the point. Are you sure this is really the woman?"
"No doubt about it. She definitely has stars in her eyes," Ichthys replied.
"I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes. Hey, woman. Show me your eyes. Now," Scorpio ordered and pulled her hard by the arm. Shiro immediately tore her arm from his grip. "That was stupid... but you're brave, aren't you?" She glared up at him and he clicked his tongue again. He inched closer, but Shiro stood her ground. "I simply want to know about you. Reveal everything about yourself to me."
"Forget it," she replied. Before he could retort, Shiro heard a panicked scream. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound.
"Don't climb up there! It's too high! Hurry and get down!" a mother yelled at her son. Shiro's eyes widened at the sight of the boy climbing up onto the edge of the roof.
"I don't wanna! I wanna see the stars up close!" He was hanging off the side of the building. No. The wind was picking up. He was going to fall. Shiro ran to the boy, her hand outstretched. She reached him just as he was sent flying over the edge. Shiro pulled him to her by his arm, throwing him onto the concrete floor as the force of his fall pulled her body over the edge.

Shiro reached her hand up to the sky as she tumbled from the roof. There was only one face that popped into her mind. 
Huedhaut!