"Odango?" Seiya called from where she was sitting on Usagi's bed, watching her study. It was increasingly difficult to keep herself there, considering how cute the dumpling-headed girl looked hunched over her book; her face screwed up with effort. Luna was proving to be a decent chaperone, though, and had kept the Star Scout in the same place since she had arrived. "Odango, tomorrow's April Fools' day, you know?" she called and Usagi couldn't help but straighten up, a wide grin coming onto her face.
"April Fools' Day?" she squeaked in excitement and was on her feet immediately to rummage through her closet. "Oh-ho-ho, yesssssss~" she cackled and in no time a whole mess of prank supplies was flying at Seiya. When the blond found a jar of something, Seiya didn't dare to ask what it was, she grinned evilly and her buns seemed to form devilish, pointed horns on her head. "I have been waiting to try this all year!" she cackled and Seiya smiled, shaking her head and dropping a few whoopi cushions and ink-squirting pens onto the bed beside her.
"Do you actually have a prank in mind?" she asked and the pom-pom haired girl stopped, blinking at the other in confusion before she slouched and shook her head.
"No…" Seiya smiled and waved her over, patting the bed beside her as she scooted over a bit to keep Usagi from sitting on one of her own practical jokes. When the blond was beside her, Seiya brought an arm around the girl's shoulders, bringing up a blush in her face as the brunette pulled her close.
"Don't look so glum~" she crooned and kissed her head. "I have an idea." The moon Senshi blinked at the other and asked in her innocent way:
"An idea?"
::~::
"I don't know about this…" Usagi tried not to whine as she stood on the corner, near the arcade, staring at Seiya with her head cocked to the side. The brunette was in a uniform from the highschool and had a blond wig on her head. In the outfit, she almost looked the spitting image of Haruka.
"What are you worrying about, Odango? It's only a prank… This is what April Fools' Day is about!" She teased and Usagi smiled in her innocent manner.
"I guess you're right." She said and Seiya grinned, tilting the girl's chin up with a knuckle under it. With the smile on her face, she looked very dashing and Usagi pinked before she turned her face away and giggled. "Don't do that so well! I'll forget you're not Haruka!" the blond insisted and Seiya frowned for a moment before she smiled sheepishly and kissed her 'Odango' on the head.
"Isn't that the point?" she asked and Usagi nodded with a sigh. Then a thought seemed to cross her mind and a frown slid onto her face.
"Michiru won't get mad, will she?" she asked as Seiya was turning to head for the arcade. Hearing this, she stopped and blinked back at Usagi in a confused manner. The natural blond looked away, fidgeting a little awkwardly under Seiya's gaze. "I mean… I might get angry, if someone were pretending to be you…" at the note of insecurity in Usagi's voice, the star Senshi took up her hand and gave it a squeeze before heading toward the arcade with Usagi bringing up the rear some yards behind her.
::~::
Around the 'Formula Racing' game station was a whole gaggle of people, gathered to watch Minako and some geeky grade-schooler "battle to the death". When the door jangled, Minako didn't even glance from the screen, but Rei turned her head and a smile cracked on her mouth. Raising an arm, she gave as wide of a wave as the crowd around her would allow.
"Haruka!" she called and pulled both herself and Makoto out of the crowd to meet up with Uranus' Senshi. "Michiru isn't here yet. When did you get back?" she asked curiously and Haruka blinked.
"Back?" her voice was a little hoarse and Makoto interjected, seeming to think nothing of it.
"You know, back from the races in Sapporo? You weren't at school today, so you're probably surprising her, huh?" Haruka blinked and grinned at the two, nodding to them as Minako let out a whooping scream and the geeky boy beside her groaned at the sight of her victory dance yet again.
"Best 16 out of thirty?" he tried but the blond only laughed heartily and shook her head at him.
"Sorry, Erwin, no dice!" she giggled and hopped off of the game station as the bell on the door rang loudly, signaling that there was someone walking in. Half of the group turned around to see that it was Usagi, looking like she would melt from the heat outside.
"I love you, air conditioning~!" she cried out upon entry and fell into a game booth that was used for versus games with the booth across from it. Her tongue hung out dramatically and she flopped over two seats, fanning herself. Minako let out a cackle and picture framed her fingers at the heat-exhausted girl, pinching one eye shut.
"Don't look now, but you can almost see Usagi's panties!" Usagi sat up at that, letting out a squeak and turning the color of a ripe raddish. Minako just went on laughing as the bun-haired girl scowled.
"Why do you have to say things like that, Mina?" she called and the Venus Senshi stuck out her tongue.
"Because it's easy~"
Haruka only shook her head and rolled her eyes at the group, saying nothing about it. If it wasn't easy to tease Usa, then no one would have bothered to try. It was how most of them "showed their affection", Minako particularly, and everyone agreed that it just wouldn't be the same if she could turn their jests back on them just as skillfully.
The bell from the door chimed again and Usagi turned her head to see that it was Michiru walking in now. She looked just the same as she always did in her school uniform. Though it seemed to look horrendous on all others, she somehow looked very enchanting in the red, green, and black uniform. She was carrying her bag in front of her, the way she usually did.
"How's the game going?" she asked loosely, stopping when her blue eyes fell on what looked to be Haruka standing with the group. A look crossed her face and it sent a pang of regret through Usagi. Neptune's Senshi looked both like it was taking all of her self control not to run across the room and leap on Haruka, and the raw emotion in her eyes was enough to make Usagi regret the scenario all together. The only thing that came out of her mouth, though, was a two worded sentence. "You're back." Haruka smiled at her.
"This morning." She said mildly and Michiru's grip on her bag visibly got tighter.
"Why didn't you come home?" she asked and a mash of whispering went around the group of Senshi. Many of them hadn't known that the girls lived with one another, though the suspicion of their relationship to one another was almost common knowledge at that point. Haruka gave a rolling shrug and cocked her head a little before answering.
"I lost my key, and didn't want to wake you, so I stayed in a hotel." Michiru wrinkled her nose at this notion, but said nothing as her eyes fell shut and she nodded. Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she offered a smile to Minako and spoke lightly.
"Looks like I've missed all the fun." She said and Mina shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the sulking Erwin; her hands on her hips.
"Well, I was being begged for a rematch, wanna watch that?" she asked and Michiru laughed softly, shaking her head as she took a step back toward the door again.
"I have to be going anyway." Michiru said mildly and shrugged, a sympathetic glance finding a pouting Minako. "Maybe another time." 'Haruka' gave the blond racer a kind nudge and jogged after Michiru, catching up easily.
::~::
While the two of them were walking out, Usagi could only stare and when she watched Seiya's hand come up and touch Michiru's back as if she were really Haruka escorting the other girl out. Even knowing that they were just playing and April Fools' Day trick, her heart hammered and she felt a spike of jealousy stab into her. It was all she could do to hang onto the seat she was in so that she would not follow after them and spoil the joke.
::~::
Something felt a little off to Michiru as she walked beside Haruka toward their shared apartment. For one thing, for being her athletic self, Haruka was lagging behind so much that the violinist had to halt herself several times to allow her time to catch up. With Haruka's love of speed, it was almost shocking for her to be walking slower than even her.
Pressing the matter was not something that Michiru wanted to do in public, though. The girl was a private person, often called cold; she hardly wanted to cause a scene like this in the open. Behind her, she could sense someone tagging along after them but, again, she made no mention to it. She was patient, she could wait.
When the two had reached the apartment building and were ascending the stairs toward the apartment, Michiru turned around to face Haruka, her blue eyes narrowed.
::~::
"I suggest you drop that half-witted disguise before I get annoyed." When Michiru stopped her on the stairs to speak to her sternly, Seiya stopped to look up at her. Neptune's Senshi looked severe as she stared down at her and the brunette blinked.
"I don't know what you're talking about? You're acting weird." She took a step up and Michiru's grip on her bag tightened. She tried again.
"Just stop already! April Fools' Day or not, this joke isn't funny." Seiya smiled at the other and took another step up. She brought a hand up to touch Neptune's cheek and when the girl moved to push her away, she caught her arm.
"What makes you think I'm joking, Michiru?" she asked as seductively as she could, her face very close to the cyan-haired girls. Blue eyes all but glared at her, and when Seiya moved again, someone grabbed her by the shoulder, yanking her back and off of Michiru.
"I'm pretty sure she told you to knock it off already." It was Haruka standing there. She was in jeans and a button-up shirt that was open 2 buttons. Her hair was a little disheveled, but she looked her usual, dashing self as her greens glared at Seiya. "It's not funny."