Alright guys, you know the rules! Below are the love stories that brought our two Etoile couples together, read them and vote for your favorite. At the end of the summer, on May 5th of this year, we will have a new eEtoile pair! Good luck girls...and may the odds be ever in your favor. (lol I couldn't resist). Also feel free to respond to this thread as if you are there at the competition. As always the competition is held OUTSIDE on a temporary stage surrounded by flowers and nuns. the previous etoiles will pas on the seme and uke pendants to the new etoiles.

Representing Spica and Lulim, Coyote Hymn Foster and Hiroko Takashina!

The Yo-yo Knight and the Sparkly Princess!

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Coyote. She was a brave and adventurous sort of girl, who loved hockey and Batman. And when she journeyed to the land of Astreae Hill, she took that sense of adventure with her.

Life at St. Spica proved to be a very different sort of life. She had made friends with a number of different and interesting girls. Many of these friends, Coyote held dearly. From the older student, Karida Velazquez who taught her how to act and a number of other valuable skills that she would find useful in her...other activities. To Shimizu Hikari, the one time Student Council President of St. Miator. The silver haired girl had gotten along very well with the young Canadian.

But, her friend was troubled. Unbeknownst to Coyote, Hikari suffered from a mental disorder that would ultimately lead to her demise. She tried to save the girl and was left with a large scar across her face as a reminder of just how hard it could be to keep her friends safe. In the end, Hikari died and her efforts appeared to be in vain.

But, she did not lose hope. She dove deep into the training that Kari could provide her and as the older student prepared to move on and graduate, Coyote donned a mask and swore that she would help anybody who would need her aid on campus.

And this was where her life took a most surprising turn. After all, every tale has two sides, and this fairy tale is most certainly no different. For once upon a time there was a girl named Hiroko Takashina. Quite unlike her knight in shining yoyo-adorned armor she was incredibly shy and at best tried to stay out of everyone's way. She'd been going to a very normal school until suddenly a mysterious benefactor provided a scholarship for the bespectacled girl to attend the famous Astraea Hill school of LeRim.

She came to LeRim uncertain of what awaited her, but knowing it was something she truly wanted. It was a shame that she was such a burden on people though, so she tried her best to stay out of everyone's way as she dutifully studied and read books. Though she was in the book club she had no real friends for fear that they'd be hindered by having to help her when inevitably she did something wrong. Then things began to change - she met a magician who did not see her as a burden but as a lovely assistant. Eventually they did a show together but Hiroko was to be pulled in a different direction by fate.

It all began with the arrival of a mysterious note in her bedroom. One which stated she had a sister, attending school on Astraea Hill! Uncertain whom had placed the note she had the good fortune to meet a pair of Spica students who were willing to help. One was a self-styled detective who helped her track the letter to a long lost grandmother.

When Coyote was tasked with helping the shy Le Rim girl find the secrets of her origins, the importance of the mission was not immediately apparent to her. Hiroko was a girl who needed help and Coyote was more than happy to provide it. And so, Coyote reunited her with her long lost relatives.

After that everything changed. Hiroko was not a Takashina but a Suzumi woman, whose elder sister was Etoile. But she was also engaged to marry. Unwilling to let her kind hearted sister fall to tradition, Hiroko volunteered; lessons in manners and other things ensued, but her heart was never in it. For her heart belonged to another.

Another who had helped her find her sister and grandmother. A Canadian with a goofy smile and hobby of chasing wickets to score touchdowns. Unable to bear the monster her birth mother had arranged her to marry, Hiroko fled so that she could protect her sister as well. To remove herself from society.

Meanwhile, that wicket chasing Canadian was learning from Hiroko's sister just what kind of trouble she was in. And that she was in love with the girl. Sure, a few things might have needed to be pointed out to her (like the fact that Hiroko liked her...and that being liked was a thing that could happen)

If she had not been motivated before, this certainly was a call to action. For Coyote it had started as a mission to save her friend from a lifetime of misery at the hands of an arranged marriage. By the end of it, she was fighting for the chance to be Hiroko's girlfriend.

And so, love found a way - Hiroko's Yoyo Knight found her in that dark but homey bunker, delivered her from doom. And the best part? Coyote loved her, just as she was.

And under the guidance of Hiroko's grandmother, Coyote and Hiroko are aiming to become Etoile. A Princess and her Knight, together.


Representing St. Spica Girl's Institute, Himiko Miyamae and Iori Onodera!

On the islands of Hawaii, there lived a girl with hair the color of the ocean. She was a selfish girl, doing whatever she wanted and not caring much about how her actions impacted other people. The girl lived with her mother in a small island town close to the shore. She spent the days wandering outside by herself or spending time with her only friend, whom she was extremely close to.

One day a terrible storm hit the island while she was out by herself. Running home, she received a call from her best friend, who was asking for help because she had been badly injured in the storm. Hesitating, she decided to run home to make sure all of her possessions were safe instead of checking on her friend. After all, she was probably just exaggerating.

When the selfish girl hadn’t heard from her friend for a long time, she started to get a little worried. Once the storm had passed, her mother sat her down and explained to her that her only friend had been crushed under the rubble of her house, and had passed away. She was devastated, of course. More than that – it was all her fault. She was entirely to blame for the girl’s death, if only she had went to help her –
She could have saved her.

After that, there was a month of darkness. Depression had hit the ten year old hard, and all of her days mushed together in an endless sea of self-loathing. Her mother was worried, but there was nothing she could do to make her daughter feel better. Eventually she realized on her own that the only way to make herself feel better was to keep something like this from happening in the future. She vowed to never be selfish again, and to live a pure and honest life.

Two and a half years later, she got a call from her father, saying that he had recently gotten a job transfer and wanted to know if she would want to move back to Japan with him. Thinking the change of scenery would be good for her, she agreed, and started attending school at St. Lulim the next month. This girl’s name is Iori Onodera, and this is the story of how she found love – but she is only half of the story.

The other half of the story is that of a girl who foudn herself alone in a large family. She grew up with absentee parents who were far too busy with their own work to really look after one daughter, let alone four. As the youngest of the girls she tried to look up to sisters who were similarly occupied with their own lives. Her idol singer sister, not wanting to share her limelight with anyone else, told the girl that she wasn't pretty enough and couldn't sing.

The poor girl was devastated and locked herself in her room, watching syndicated American science fiction. Suddenly something she saw there grasped her attention, pulling the shy, awkward girl in with its message of hope. A race of alien warriors who were strong despite what anyone thought of them, who carried themselves with valor and honor. Inspired by their example the girl began to change herself to be more like them, gaining personal confidence as she taught herself their fictional language. By the time she arrived on Astraea Hill per her parents' wishes, she had become a confident young lady who would randomly spout Klingon whenever excited.

Most importantly she held the virtue of emotional honesty after the lies her sister had told her. She swore from that day onward that no matter the situation she would always be completely honest about her feelings, which made some people uncomfortable with her. Eventually she became President, fulfilling a longtime ambition to become a leader on campus. Around the same time she fell in love for the first time with a fellow council member named Homura; they danced at the Winter Ball, dated for a few months but then suddenly Homura left.

Devastated she went to the beach to collect her thoughts, only to meet Iori there. A pretty bluenette who like her spoke an obscure language, who had a troubled past she hoped to mend. After a dramatic rescue from seawater in Iori's eye the pair became inseperable. Himiko was in love again, having found such a beautiful girl to share her life with for better or worse! Every day their affection for each other grew stronger until the climactic moment finally ocurred. Wanting to show their love to the whole campus Himiko took Iori to a peaceful tree near the stables to propose something very special: that they run for Etoile.

The very moment had arrived when fantasy ceased and the reality of a wondrous moment began to sink in. Hiroko had heard a lot of tales about what this day would be like from fellow members of clubs, campus legends and family alike. Etoile was the shining example of love and partnership for every girl who attended school on Astraea Hill to look to for inspiration. Pretty much the penultimate celebrity couple of the three sister schools. Not that long ago she'd been the sort of girl who was happy to stand in the background, rather than burden others with her needs and concerns. Nobody was all that interested in what she thought or had to say anyhow so it was all fine really. That is until she'd found her family, and through the process of searching for them found love. Now that she was here, that girl seemed far in the past. Standing backstage waiting for the competition to begin she felt oddly serene rather than being nervous as she'd been in the past couple weeks.

After all this was the first public display of herself as part of a couple with the most dashingly beautiful Canadian the campus had eer seen. Not that she was sure there was much competition for that mantle. Regardless she was happy to be there with someone who for whatever reason had found value in her, and in turn made the bluenette feel like a valuable person. Grandmother Suzumi had been here before, as had her big sister Maiko. It was almost a family tradition to run for Etoile, though technically Hiroko was only half-Suzumi and still considered herself a bit more Takashina. Some day she might be a Foster. The thought caused her to blush and fidget as she awaited the arrival of her hockey knight. Since they were together Hiroko wanted to show her support for that which Coyote loved. As such rather than a gown like her sister and grandmother had worn, she wore a casual dress that fell to her knees, had long shirt-like sleeves with cuffs that obscured her hands and looked oddly like a hockey jersey. UNderneatht his she had a white pleated skirt that accentuated the trim of the red 'dress'; white boots given to her by her grandmother completed the ensemble along with red, white and blue ribbons used to tie off part of her hair in a pair of little braids. Actually the dress was a Canadiens jersey that she'd taken in to fit her form more closely, but had left the sleeved baggy for alck of time to finish.

"I-I hope she likes it.." she thought aloud, having kept the outfit secret so that she could surprise the Yoyo Knight.

As Coyote understood it, the Etoile position was a big deal. Especially to the girls of Astraea Hill. She had never put much thought into running. And why would she? She was just a hockey player, after all. Who may, or may not, also moonlight as masked guardian of justice on campus. Not that there was much "injustice" to fight. But, she could still help people solve problems if she needed to.

But, to run for Etoile? With a girlfriend? The thought had never once occurred to her. Getting a girlfriend, alone, hadn't crossed her mind. But, that had all changed when she met Hiroko. More specifically, when she spoke with Maiko and found out just what was going on. Now, Coyote found herself deeply in love with the shy bluenette. And when she had asked to run for the same position held by her older sister and her grandmother, Coyote did not hesitate to agree.

A fact that did kind of take her by surprise. She knew she would have support of her teammates. Even if they would continue teasing her about it. They were a loyal bunch and she was happy to count them as her friends. Coyote was putting the finishing touches on her outfit. For the Etoile competition, she was assuming she would have to be dressed appropriately. After all, this was the top spot in all three schools.

Everyone was going to be there. So, she might as well get a little dressy for the occasion. She wore a pair of light linen suit. But, before she stepped out the door there was one thing that caught her eye and brought a smirk to her face. She grabbed it made her way towards the Mouth of Truth, where Hiroko would be waiting.

---

"Hey, Hiro....ko...." Coyote called out when she spotted the head of blue hair, but slowed down once she saw what Hiroko was actually wearing. And it looked too adorable for words. She immediately ran over and threw her arms around the Le Rim girl, nearly losing the old fedora she had worn while performing Kari's play, as she did so. Sure, the color didn't quite match, but Coyote hardly cared about that. The way she saw it, it could only provide her with a bit more luck, for the election.

"You look great!" she declared.

A foreign accented voice resounded in the sparkly princess' very being as her name was called out.  Soon she would definitely found out what her yoyo knight in shining hockey gear thought of her outfit for the Etoile competition, something that she'd been pretty nervous about.  Despite her initial feelings that maybe something more formal was in order she'd been assured that something a little more casual would compliment her partner more than a fancy gown.  Not to say that her jersey-turned-dress wasn't kind of fancy on its own really.  In fact the trim had been replaced by some rather fancy satin trim in place of rough jersey fabric.  When she turned to see her girlfriend there in such a dapper outfit it was enough to maker her heart skip a bit or three.  Casual as she'd dressed herself the yoyo knight had worn something much more formal than expected.  At a disadvantage there she felt a bit out of place and was worried for a moment that she would disappoint Coyote for having dressed so inconsiderately for the big day.

Once Coyote had the chance to speak though she found her fears again totally unfounded.  Hiroko blushed at the hug and slid her arms around the Canadian's waist as well so that they could pull themselves even closer together.  Since they attended different schools she really didn't get to see Coyote as often as she would've liked.  Part of her wanted to kiss the purplenette then and there but a real lady would wait for a more intimate moment perhaps, or at least a little more romantic.  This wasn't really a time where she thought it'd be a good idea since she felt like people were watching them.  Not only that but she wanted to give Coyote some advance warning of the kiss since Coyote was a little leery over the whole idea.  For now, she was content to just hug and share the moment in her girlfriend's embrace.

"Are you ready?  My grandmother is really cheering for us... n-not to p-p-put pressure on you..." she giggled a little then asked, "D-do you  think the hockey t-team could use a L-L-LeRim... cheerleader... well, maybe more l-like a manager or.. um.. mascot?"

Her heart was racing with excitement as she entered the backstage area where the etoile competition was taking place. It hadn't been that long ago that her wonderful partner Himiko had asked her to run for the coveted position with her. Iori would have never seen herself doing something like this if it hadn't been for the strength of her girlfriend to encourage her. Even though the two girl had only been together for several months, it felt like so much longer. Her life here had been good before, but now that she could be with Himiko everyday, she was even happier. Come to think of it, it had been about a year now since the two had met. Her mind drifted off, thinking about that fateful day on the beach. The day where her raven haired warrior had rescued her from the salty sting of the ocean.

And now here she was, a year later, running for etoile with the same girl. A girl who wasn't here yet; something she noticed from looking around. The other contestants were here though, but she hadn't met either of them before. She had heard their names though, Hiroko and Coyote. She wondered if she should introduce herself...it would be polite, but it looked like they were having a somewhat intimate moment. She would just stay quiet for now, ruining the mood was the last thing she wanted to do. They were both dressed very nicely, and thinking about it made the blue haired girl look over what she was wearing. She had wanted to look nice, of course, so she had bought a new white dress with blue accents that brought out her eyes. Maybe the dress was a little childish...well, it couldn't be helped now. All she could do now was wait. 

Himiko knew she was running late for the most important event of her scholastic career. Knew that she was leaving her beloved girlfriend waiting in the lurch on the biggest day of the Astraea Hill calendar. She rode toward the Mouth of Truth astride Kronos, cursing herself for taking so long to get ready for the Etoile Competition. The soon to be former Spica Student Council President had wanted to ensure that she looked her absolute best for the girl she'd rescued from the ravages of sea water in the eyes. Iori had brought her back from the brink of depression and anguish, given her a reason to be happy again. To pay that love back she was going to be just as dashing and gallant as the girl saw her. Used to wearing trousers when she didn't have to wear her uniform, it was quite a change to be wearing something with a skirt. Nothing short of something so fancy would do for this day though!

Himiko ahd finally arrived at her destination when she wondered if Iori would want to see here dressed like that. Especially since she was the warrior type and probably was seen as much by her girlfriend. All the same it was a time for change, so why not go a bit out of her normal comfort zone? The raven haired warrior leaped over a barricade, climbed up to the backstage area ad approached the waiting girls there. A well dressed, if eclectic, couple were their competition and Himiko nodded at them with a smile. She knew Coyote-Hymn Foster somewhat, a well regarded member of the hockey team. They seemed like nice girls but she was more concerned with the bluenette nearby. Even cuter than usual! With her smile broadened she rushed over to Iori and threw her arms around the girl. Only after twirling with the Hawaiian did she dare to speak.

"Iori! i'm so sorry that I kept you waiting.. was it worth the wait?" she asked, then kissed the bluenette on the cheek, whispering, "I love you, by the way.."

As the pair hugged closer, Coyote smiled. Were it not for the election, and the people expecting an actual event to start (at some point) Coyote was pretty sure she could have spent the rest of the day hugging her girlfriend. Maybe they might even give that kissing thing another shot. Who knew, anything was possible, right? Well, there were other things that they had to do and first and foremost was prepare for this Etoile election. It was something that was important to Hiroko and Coyote was going to make sure that she did everything she could to help her win this contest.

Unlike most games she was used to, though, this one didn't involve any fights. Unless there was some gladiatorial component that had been kept hidden from her all this time. And with the last Seme Etoile, Coyote wouldn't be surprised if the strange Miator girl hadn't lobbied very hard for just such an event to be added into the contest. Either way, she was determined to win!

"A cheerleader?" She chuckled a little bit...and then blushed, because she was imagining what Hiroko might look like in a St. Spica cheerleader costume. It was likely to be a very fetching sight, if her mind was any indicator.

"If you thought the other girls on the team were fans of yours, before just wait until you start cheerleading." she laughed, "But...cheerleader, or manager...or even mascot, I'm sure we'd all love to have you there. Me, especially."

Admittedly the entire concept of being a cheerleader of any sort was still a bit of a foreign one to Hiroko. Even with her newfound confidence it wasn't something that would have immediately come to mind under its own power. Only through the intervention of her grandmother's suggestions had the seeds been planted in the bluenette's mind. She did want to branch out into some new things so this was actually quite the opportunity for her! Not only to try a new activity but to become involved in what her girlfriend enjoyed doing as well. There were other hockey related things that the bluenette had thought of but this was neither the time nor the place to reveal them. One such thing was a short guide to the sport she'd written in case any other girls became invovled with hockey players but were not athletically inclined. It included some handy definitions like that of wickets, touchdowns and bats. Surely that would help girls all over the school if they fell for a pretty hockey player.

Hiroko hadn't been comfortable with all the other hockey players being her fans, but now it was kind of weirdly normal. Their attention could be smothering at times but all of them were good-natured enough. Anyone who appreciated some simple home baking would find it easy to get into Hiroko's good graces too. There had been a few times where she'd delivered snacks to the team just in time to give them some extra energy during a hockey match. Granted they seemed to perk up no matter when she showed up and even if she didn't have any desserts for them. Having thought she didn't really fit in anywhere, she was oddly at peace in the company of the hockey team even if one or two of them did flirt occasionally. They were Coyote's friends so they were Hiroko's friends as well.

"I-I promise I'd cheer really loud for you.. and.. um.. the wh-whole team... and bring them cookies," Hiroko replied to the Canadian, "G-grandmother has already made me a uniform for it... it's a bit shorter than my LeRim uniform.."

While she still intended to show Hiroko just what the details of her favorite sport were, a majority of her lessons seemed to be failing enlighten the Le Rim girl, any further than she her present knowledge. Which is to say, almost nothing. But, at least she knew that they played on ice. As the saying goes, you have to start somewhere. At some point, she would have to try and teach her...something.

In the meantime, she could always enjoy the fine work of Hiroko's grandmother. She couldn't stop the blush that was spreading across her face at the idea of the costume she would be wearing. Coyote laughed a little, trying not to draw too much attention to her imagination.

"Er, wow...that sounds like...fun!" well, that was trying, anyways, "I-I'm sure you'll be great at it! And...yeah, the other girls will look forward to that as well."

Yes, they likely would. Keeping them in line with Hiroko around was likely to be a fool's errand. Coyote hoped that the thought of punching rival teams might do good during an actual game, but practices could very well become a nightmare.