Hikori stared out at the desolate blackness of space. It seemed as if there were no end to this journey, but they knew they would eventually reach their destination. Being a small girl of five, she had limited knowledge of why she was sitting on her bed in the middle of this large ship. All she knew was that Mama and Papa were on a mission.

She clutched her stuffed Pupurin in loneliness. Her parents would be off pilot duty very soon, so she hopped off of her bed and walked towards the main control room. The cerulean steel walls made her footsteps echo in her ears, making her feel even more isolated. Fluorescent lights shone from the ceiling, but still the sharp turns of the corridors felt dark. She picked up her pace and soon came to the control room entrance.

She stood on the tips of her toes, trying to reach the access pad. She knew the code in which to get in, but her height was a great disadvantage, with the keys five feet above the floor. Suddenly a shadow loomed above her. She turned around only to find Mondo, grinning at her.

"Trying to sneak into the control room again, Hikori-chan?"

"No, sir. I just wanted to see Mama and Papa. They get off duty now."

"I know that, dear." He rubbed the top of her head with his hand, sending a few hairs astray. "Would you like me to open the door for you?"

"Oh, yes, please, Mondo-san."

He punched in the access code, causing the airlock to open with a loud woosh. He took her hand and walked inside. "Honestly," he murmured to himself, "I don't know how those two could end up with such a sweet kid."

Hikori looked at all of the buttons, knobs, and levers on the control panel in front of her. She dreamed of one day piloting a great ship of her own, complete with her own crew, just like her parents did now. She looked around in growing anticipation, but the ones she came here for were nowhere to be seen. "Mama? Papa?" she called out in a small voice.

"I bet I know where they are. Now you wait here, Hikori-chan, and I'll find them for you."

"Domo arigato, Mondo-san."

Mondo walked out of the room, leaving the airlock open behind him. She wandered over to the huge chair that the pilots sat in and climbed up into it. Pulling up her Pupurin, she skimmed over the labels for the controls. Uranium liquifier, missile launcher, shield amplifier... she was clueless to the functions of all of these. "Oh, Moru, how will I ever be able to do this?" she whispered.

She heard a small group of voices entering the room. "Now, you have to at least have one of you in the control room at a time, senpai."

"I tried to say she had to go back, Mondo-kun."

"I was hungry, too!"

"I could have brought you something."

"You would have brought me back something gross."

"No, I wouldn't have. Not for my sweetheart..."

"Stop it! You're making me blush!"

"Senpai! Your daughter is here to see you."

"Where is she?"

Hikori spun the chair around and leaped off of it, dragging Moru by its ear behind her. "Here I am, Papa!"

"Oh, Hikori!" He picked her up and swung her around in a circle before placing her back on the ground. "How is my chisaii bara doing today?"

"I'm doing just fine, Papa."

"Come here, Hikori," her mother called her. She hugged her and picked her up, seating her on her arm. "Mama, I'm so glad to see you. And Papa, too," she said, ringing her arms around her neck.

"She's the cutest little girl, senpai."

"And she's all ours, isn't she, Kojiro?"

"Of course, Musashi." He smiled proudly at his daughter. "Now, come on, Hikori, I'll race you to the library. First one there picks the game we play."

"Hai, Papa!"

No sooner then Musashi put her down than she was off like a flash down the hallway. Kojiro, only a few yards behind, shot after her. "Hey, come back here!"

Musashi turned to Mondo and sighed. "Looks like I've got two children on my hands."

Mondo laughed. "Don't be discouraged, senpai. I'm sure you can handle them. Now you better get to the library before you end up with the worst controller."

"Arigato, Mondo-kun." She smiled and jogged off towards the library.

"I win, Papa!" Hikori shouted as she raced towards the door of the library a few feet away.

"That may be true, but can you open the door?"

"Papa, that's not fair!"

Kojiro slowed his pace down to a fast walk, and then met Hikori at the room's entrance. She strained to reach the control, but height still was a burden. "Do you want me to open it now, Hikori?"

"No, I want to do it myself." She held her Pupurin up above her head. "Moru, push the button."

"You've got your mother's attitude, you know that?"

"I hear that all the time from Mondo-san," she answered innocently. "Come on, Moru!"

Sighing, he lifted her up to the panel. "Arigato," she replied with a smile.

Smacking her hand on the green button, the door opened and Kojiro, with Hikori in his arms, stepped inside. She immediately jumped down and scampered over to the video game console in the corner. "I want to play 'Rokku no Sutaa'."

"Do we have to play that again?" Musashi questioned as she entered the room behind them. "You haven't played anything else since we got it."

"You can play with me, too! We'll all play!" She excitedly plugged the microphones in and handed one each to them. "I'm gonna win this time."

As the game loaded, Musashi and Kojiro sat down on the two seats that faced the main screen. The sounds of the opening sequence blasted in their ears from the speakers built in to the headrests, so they could barely talk. "Where's our next stop, Musashi?"

"We're supposed to be headed for the planet Noir, to pick up some dark Pokémon."

"Well, that seems feasible."

"How? It's over 6 planets away!"

"Well, it's not my fault that they assign us to far away lands. And we'll get a chance to try our our new warp speed system."

"The Saltar Luz? That thing hasn't been approved yet, Kojiro."

"It's been used a thousand times, Musashi."

"But it only has a 99.6% guarantee! At least 4 ships have been lost! Do you want to be the fifth?"

"Not exactly..."

"Mama! Papa! Look at my score!" The child's voice cut into the conversation, ultimately ending the topic until another time. "It's really high this time!"

The numbers on the screen flashed a 125. "That's very good, Hikori," Kojiro nodded. He looked over at Musashi and smiled. "The dear doesn't know the top score is 500," he whispered.

"Let me try it, Hikori," her mother said as she stood up, microphone in hand. "What do I do?"

"You put these little metal things on your hands and feet." She put two small silver sensors on top of Musashi's boots and placed two similar gold ones on the back of her hands. And this little red one goes on your neck."

Musashi took it in her hand and positioned it where her voice box was. "How do I get points, Hikori-chan?"

"You gotta be a rock star!"

Looking for some clarification, she turned to Kojiro. "You have to do the same things that they do on the screen. Sing the lyrics, do the actions, play air guitar." He sat back in the chair. "This should be fun," he grinned. "Hikori, come sit on Papa's lap and watch Mama play the air guitar."

"You have to do this after me, Koji," she threatened. She turned towards the loading screen and waited.

"Mama's gonna do really well, isn't she?"

"I think she'll do just fine."

Suddenly the whole wall in front of them burst into a screaming, jeering, action-packed arena. Musashi screamed.

"You're gonna lose if you're scared, Mama," Hikori advised.

"I'm not scared, dear, I was just startled."

Kojiro pointed to the screen, lips curled into a smirk. "Musashi, the song's starting."

"Oh!" She turned around and immediately tried to mimic the actions of the singer onscreen. It was but a few minutes before audible laughter was heard coming from the direction of the padded metallic chair. "I hear that! Stop it!" she yelled while trying to jam on the non-existant strings.

"Every word that's not the lyrics deducts points..." Kojiro forced out at a bout of calmness.

"Go, Mama!"

She hit her last high note and the auditorium faded into black. The numbers flashed in columns slot machine-style, and then...

"A 34?!"

"Nice try, Mama. You'll get better."

Kojiro could stifled a chuckle only for a moment, and then burst out in a roar. "You were :::hah hah::: absolutely wonderful, :::hahaha hahaha::: sweetie."

"It's your turn, Kojiro." She put her hand to his ear as he got up. A cruel whisper, "Looks like your sleeping on the floor tonight."

"Come on, Musa-chan!"

She sat down next to Hikori in the chair, being careful not to squash Moru in the process. "Good luck."

"It's all in the believability, ladies." He stepped up to the screen, and as soon as the game came on, he waved his arms to the "crowd". "Kon'nichi wa, Tokyo! Are you ready to rock?"

"What are you doing?"

"Papa's the best at this game! He can get a really high score!"

And indeed, it did look like he was performing for his fans. He rocked the stadium with his vocals, and his perfect guitar chords. Musashi didn't say a word as the music died down and his score came onscreen.

"All right! A new record!" Kojiro pumped his fist.

"How in the world did you get a 487?"

"I told you, Mama! Papa's a star!"

She hugged his legs tight. "See? I'm a star," Kojiro grinned. "And," he said as he scooped Hikori up in his arms, "my little girl's going to be a star, too."

"I think our little star needs to go to bed." Musashi pointed at the watch on her belt. "It's getting late. I'll tuck her in, Kojiro."

"Fine." He kissed her cheek and gave her a hug before handing her over. "Oyasumi, my chisaii bara."

"Oyasumi, Papa!"

They both walked out of the library and down the blue hallways back to Hikori's bedroom. Hikori rested her head on her mother's shoulder, and Moru bounced off of Musashi's hip at every step. "That was a lot of fun, Mama."

"It was, wasn't it?" She stopped just in front of the control panel, and the little girl slid the protective panel upward and opened the portal. Carrying her to the bed, she set her down and walked over to the closet to get her nightgown.

"You looked really silly." Hikori chattered as she changed. "And I think you'll get better soon and I want to play again tomorrow and I think Papa was the best."

"Your Papa is the best, isn't he?" Musashi smiled. She placed the small child into bed, pulled the blanket over her, and gave her a peck on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Hikori-chan. I love you."

"Love you too, Mama." She shut her eyes and turned towards the window. "Oyasumi."

Taking one last look at her, Musashi walked out of the room, pressing the button and snapping the panel shut. Just before the door closed, Hikori could still hear her mother's voice.

"I'll always love my little girl. Oyasumi."