Drops of Starlight

Chapter 13: Well, This Shall Be Interesting

"Don't think you have a chance just because Mamoru's no longer in the picture," Haruka continued in a low voice. She cast a glance over her shoulder, ensuring the bathroom door was firmly shut.

"I'd say I have as good of a chance as any." Seiya met her eyes sharply. They stared at each other for a long moment. Seiya could practically feel the electricity snapping off the air, just as it had when they met and shook hands.

"Why are you here anyway?" Haruka asked.

"We're visiting."

"And why now?"

"Why not? We would've come back sooner, but it took a long time to rebuild our world and train new guardians."

"So, you assume you can just stay here? Because your Princess is being taken care of?"

"We can if we want." Seiya's lip twitched up at the corner. "But I have a feeling you wouldn't care for that, huh?"

Haruka bent to Seiya's level so their faces were six inches apart. "I find it real convenient how we haven't had a threat since Chaos, nearly a decade ago. Yet, as soon as you three show up, a new enemy appears too."

Seiya sprung to her feet, momentarily oblivious to the piercing pain in her side. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means you may think I'm here to safeguard you in your current injured state, but my role is to protect her. From any potential threats."

"Including me?" Seiya finished, jaw clenching.  "It's disappointing you can't trust us just because we're from another star system. I thought after the war with Galaxia things changed, but it seems I was mistaken. Is that why you never saw us off from the rooftop? We never received an apology, you know, seeing how we were the ones who stuck by her side til the very end."

Haruka said nothing, just held her unshakable gaze.

The bathroom door eased open and Usagi emerged, wrapped in a towel with Chibi-Usa on her hip. A baby towel with a bunny hood rested over Chibi-Usa's damp hair and draped around her tiny, chubby body.

"What's going on?" Usagi asked tentatively. "I thought I heard yelling..."

Haruka retreated, her apple relinquished to a final, satisfying crunch.

"Nothing, Bun Head, we're just talking," Seiya replied, keeping her voice even.

"I see..." Usagi took in the sight of Seiya's exposed shoulders, sun-kissed skin, and trace of cleavage. She clutched her towel tighter as if suddenly realizing that was all she was wearing, and scurried off to her bedroom.

Noticing the way Usagi looked at the Starlight, Haruka seized Seiya's discarded top and flung it in her face as she walked away.

"Put on a fucking shirt," she muttered.

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"We sure are getting a lot of snow," Usagi remarked, her chopsticks occasionally clinking against the bowl of instant ramen as she slurped its contents noisily.

Across the kitchen table, Seiya joined her in eating a quick dinner, while Haruka watched the news in the living room. With Chibi-Usa securely asleep in her crib for the night, a rare calmness pervaded the space.

"This is unusual for Tokyo?" Seiya asked.

Usagi nodded. The weather woman's voice trickled in from the other room, capturing their collective attention.

"Reports indicate that the snow is causing widespread disruptions throughout Tokyo and several other regions across Japan. Adding to the peculiarity, there have been sightings of an enigmatic purple lightning phenomenon in Osaka, coinciding with what meteorologists have coined as 'The Blizzard of the Decade'."