Helloooooo! As always, thank you for the reviews/favorites/follows! I always appreciate them and now here's the second to last chapter!

Enjoy!


Moonlight (You're My Starlight): Part 4

You guys are on in ten minutes!"

"I swear that has to be the fifth time she's ran by and told us that," Yaten complained as she fixed the sleeves of her suit jacket.

"She's a stage manager, Yaten," Taiki told her with a roll of her eyes as she put her guitar around her neck. "Please understand that she's doing her job."

"And why should I?"

"Because no one wants to see another article about how you were rude to an employee."

"That was twice! I apologized both times to them personally and the first time I was only sixteen! I didn't think the stage manager had heard me calling her a dirty alpha bitch."

"That's rude, Yaten."

"Sure."

Seiya tuned out her bandmates' bickering, standing next to a nearby table in the dressing room charging her phone and looking down at the text Usagi had sent her.

She'd been staring at it for the last five minutes.

Usagi - Sent 5:45 PM: Good luck tonight! And I look forward to our date! đź’—

Date. This was a date. A "mini" one, or so Usagi had claimed, but a date nonetheless. A date. The type couples—or at least those wishing to be a couple—went on.

"Oh my god," Seiya gasped as it all struck her. "Oh my god."

Heat rose to her cheeks, that familiar thumping back in her chest, the good kind, even if she currently felt like she was on the verge of suffocating.

"What are you doing, Seiya? Are you okay?" It seemed Yaten had stopped in the middle of her and Taiki's bickering to check on her. Her bandmate had kept an intrusive eye on her since the Black Moon Radio incident, much to Seiya's dismay.

The interview had made her feel awful, but… She was okay. She'd had that one week alone, where it had bothered her immensely, but she was okay… Just. Kakyuu had been a touchy subject for the last six or seven months. Anyone would be upset if their girlfriend had dumped them and immediately hopped on a flight to another continent.

But Seiya was okay. She was.

Seiya pocketed her phone and cleared her throat. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. We should probably get ready for the performance."

"We're already ready," Yaten said.

"You knowwhat I mean, smartass."

Yaten smirked. "Heh."

Taiki rolled her eyes as she walked over to the door and opened it. "Seiya's right. We should start heading to the stage."

Yaten hummed in agreement but still eyed Seiya suspiciously. "I just have to make sure she isn't plotting to murder that woman."

"I think we should be worried about you murdering Esmeraude," Seiya said pointedly.

"It's not my fault she needs to be hit by a bus."

"Yaten!" Taiki scolded.

Seiya laughed, realizing it was the first time in a while she'd felt truly happy around her bandmates. "Let's go. We have fans waiting."

They followed her out, and for once in over a week, Seiya felt a lot better. Especially knowing that she would be spending the rest of the evening with Dumpling.

Silver Moon.

Tsukino Usagi.

Her heart fluttered in her chest.

…..

Seiya hadn't played her guitar in a long time, but she felt amazing on stage as she sang in front of the mic and strummed her fingers against the strings of her guitar. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the crowd and the adrenaline she got from their screams and shouts, and how she had somehow tuned them out all these months as she performed, but tonight—she had a motivation to stay focused.

Somewhere out there in the crowd, Dumpling—no, Usagi—was watching her and waiting for her to finish so they could spend the rest of the night together. She didn't have to see her to know she was watching. She just felt it.

She smiled at the crowd and put her guitar to the side to hold onto the microphone upfront. The minute the words to the next song left her mouth, Seiya no longer felt annoyed—at least not to the same severe extent—by the song she and her bandmates had been promoting the last year. She had no idea why. Maybe it was because she had something to look forward to afterwards.

Maybe the song no longer reminded her of the woman she used to be in love with.

Maybe it reminded her of a new person now. She didn't know why that was, but she did know her heart fluttered and she smiled for real whenever she thought of that person.

She hadn't been genuinely happy in months, but… Maybe one day soon that could change.

Much sooner than she had ever thought.

"Three Lights! Three Lights! Three Lights!"

As soon as the song was finished, the cheers from the audience were louder than ever, and while she raised a hand to wave at the audience, Seiya didn't miss the small smiles her bandmates sent her way out of the corner of her eye.

When they finished their set, Seiya had wanted to freshen up and change immediately, so she could go see Usagi, but—

"SEIYA!" Chuu's voice resounded throughout the small backstage area as she swept up to Seiya, seemingly materializing out of thin air and not looking unlike a wild animal on the prowl.

She twitched an eye. "Yes, Chuu?"

"You weren't awful!" Chuu cheered, a wide grin breaking through her feral expression.

Seiya choked and Yaten snorted. Taiki rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"What do you mean I wasn't awful?" Seiya tried her best to not sound offended, but she was known as one of the top vocalists in their country.

She was never awful.

"Just… I know you've noticed that your performances have been lacking lately. The singing is good as always," Chuu explained, giving Seiya a small pat on the back. "But to tell you the truth, your performances have been half-assed up until now. Being the Seiya of The Three Lights is the only thing that saved you."

"Huh?"

"Don't act like you didn't notice the lack of effort you put into your performances after that happened, Kou," Chuu grumbled. "You'd stopped showing up to rehearsals and God forbid you showed up drunk! I was stressed! Stressed! And threatening to be fired, Kou, so don't play dumb! You're glad those two over there love you too much and that you're the most popular member of this group. Otherwise you would've been booted, I tell you! Booted!"

Taiki rolled her eyes. "We weren't going to boot Seiya, Chuu."

Yaten shrugged. "Hell, I would've if she didn't get it together."

Seiya flinched, and despite Chuu and Yaten's harsh commentary, she now realized just how… not self-aware and selfish she had been all these months. She hadn't meant to. Just… Her heart had hurt so much and she had thought Kakyuu was someone she was going to spend the rest of her life with, just for her to leave her there in Japan while she went off to the United States to do what she really wanted.

She had never been a priority in the whole thing and it hurt her more than she could put into words, but in that hurt she had been extremely inconsiderate of not only her bandmates, but her manager and the other people who worked to make her a success too. She didn't deserve praise for not being awful when she had been the very picture of selfishness all these months.

"Guys. I'm sorry, and I know—"

Seiya was interrupted by the sudden intrusion of a loud squeal. It sounded eerily familiar. She, her bandmates, and Chuu all turned around, quickly locating the source of the commotion.

"Minako! Look at what you did! I'm just going to wait! It's literally only been five minutes and—"

It was Sailor V pulling along a protesting woman by the hand, but her body was obscured by a corner in the shadowy path leading from the dressing rooms to backstage. A tiny smile reached Seiya's lips once she realized who exactly it was protesting.

"You already added that heart to my text, Minako! Just—"

"Dumpling," Seiya called, and the younger idol stopped struggling as she realized someone was calling out to her.

"Seiya," she breathed, and Minako took that as her opportunity to yank her around the corner, and then Usagi came stumbling backstage, just barely catching herself from plummeting to the floor.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Yaten griped.

"Usually I don't agree with her, but what she said," Chuu piped up.

Minako huffed as she sauntered up to them, dragging a blushing Usagi all the while. "Stop acting like we haven't been friends for literally the past seven years, Yaten."

Yaten scoffed. "Barely."

"And that's why you'll always have to pay for your tickets to my concerts."

"You wouldn't do that again, Aino?!"

"I would. Empathetically, I would."

"Minako!" Usagi hissed.

"Right! You two!" Minako chirped and pushed Usagi Seiya's way. "They need to talk because we always keep promises around here!"

"I wanted to give her time to wind down and get ready," Usagi said defensively.

Chuu eyed Minako, Usagi, and Seiya dubiously. "What is this about, Kou?"

Seiya didn't think an answer would fly right off her tongue, but she said, "The park. Usagi wanted to show me around the park after the show. That's all."

Seiya heard Yaten snicker. Taiki must have elbowed her or something because Yaten let out an "Ow!" shortly thereafter.

Chuu frowned. "Kou, you better not—"

Quickly, Seiya grabbed one of Usagi's hands and led her back around the corner as she yelled behind her, "It's nothing!"

When they disappeared around the corner, Seiya let go of Usagi's hand with a blush across her face and apologized as they walked down the hall, Usagi trailing behind her. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have—"

"No! I told Minako I wanted to wait until you all were done settling down. I didn't want to rush you," Usagi explained. "I look too eager now, don't I?"

"You're fine," Seiya reassured her as she came to a stop in front of their dressing room and pushed open the door. Usagi lingered at the doorway, watching wide-eyed as Seiya removed her jacket.

"I'll—I'll wait out here," Usagi told her, and Seiya—managing to feel an unholy mixture of hot, bothered, and embarrassed—nodded along, cracking the door closed before starting to undress.

She heard Usagi sigh. "Sorry. Minako was insistent that I don't be late. I don't want you to think I'm rushing you."

That made Seiya laugh as she went through a rack of clothes to pick out her clothes from earlier. "You wouldn't have been late even ten minutes from now. But Minako has always been like that."

"Deadset that she knows more about other people's love lives than they do themselves?" Usagi snorted. "Oh! I almost forgot. Sorry if the word 'date' throws you off a little. I can stop using it if you want."

"N-No!" Seiya blurted, and then hastily cleared her throat. "I mean… It's okay…"

Usagi paused for what felt like a long time. Seiya started to wonder if she was even there anymore, but then she spoke again.

"Do you want it to be a date?"

"Huh?" Heat raced to Seiya's cheeks.

"Do you want it to be a date?" Usagi repeated. "If it makes you uncomfortable—"

"No. I…" Seiya's face was on fire as she twisted the hem of her button-down into a knot. "I would like it to be a date."

"Really? Thank God. I thought I was going out on a limb here and—crap!"

Seiya was lucky she had finished dressing just on time for Usagi to fall through the door and onto the ground.

"Dumpling…" Seiya could only sigh.

Usagi stood up shakingly. "I'm okay! I'm okay… just. I guess the door wasn't closed after all, so when I leaned against it…"

Seiya smirked. "You fell, right? Had nothing to do with your two left feet."

"Yes!" Usagi huffed. She brushed off imaginary dirt on her arms as she said, "So… You don't mind it being a date?"

"No one would know," Seiya said as she shuffled her feet shyly. "I haven't been on a date since… since Kakyuu and I broke up, so yeah. It's a date, but only if it's okay with you."

A small grin spread across Usagi's face. "Of course it is! Besides, I still think we'd look cute in the tabloids together. Don't you think so?"

"D-Dumpling!"

Usagi shot Seiya a smirk before her mouth formed an 'o'. "You don't usually wear heels outside of work."

Seiya raised an eyebrow. To be fair, they'd only known each other a couple of weeks. She wasn't sure how Usagi had even noticed that detail. Unless…

"You were a really big fan of mine before you became an idol, huh?"

"Well, it's not like you didn't mention it in interviews!"

"But that was once." Seiya chuckled. "You were quite the super fan, weren't you?"

Usagi's cheeks turned pink. "Well, I'm not the one who wore heels because we're going on a date," she shot back.

Seiya didn't say anything as she turned away, swearing that her face couldn't get any redder than it already was. "I just… like height."

"No worries, I can stand on my tiptoes."

She snickered, and Seiya's mouth dropped open as Usagi started down the hall.

She followed her down the hall, her hands in her pockets as she glanced at her feet while walking.

She felt that weird beating in her heart again.

It was the good kind.

…..

It didn't take long for Seiya to catch up with her, and when they entered the park together, there were decorative lights illuminating—and ornaments embellishing—the entire block.

Usagi actually had no idea what to say or where she should start. Flirting with Seiya was one thing, but it was another to actually spend time with her aloneafter she just finished performing. And it was even worse because when she was going to text Seiya to ask what she had in mind as to how they'd spend their time, Minako had taken her phone and decided to "enhance" the text before sending it herself.

Maybe it hadn't been obvious to Seiya, but her heart had been going insane in her chest when she'd asked the older woman if she wanted it to be a date. It wasn't a secret that she flirted with Seiya in the first place, but Seiya probably brushed it off as something that wasn't serious. But Usagi, as she realized to her own horror, was serious. And now she was walking side-by-side with the object of her affections—seriously. When did that happen?—at a festival, alone. By themselves.

Just the two of them.

"Dumpling?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

Usagi shook her head. "I'm fine. Just lost in thought. So… What do you want to do first?"

"You like roller coasters?" Seiya asked her, a little excitement in her voice that Usagi found adorable.

"As long as I don't eat first," Usagi joked, but it was true. She couldn't stomach food and ride roller coasters simultaneously. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

"We'll go on a small one first if you don't like them," Seiya suggested.

"No, no! I'll be fine!" Usagi insisted. She didn't particularly like moving objects that weren't cars or planes, but she wasn't going to mess up her and Seiya's date by chickening out.

Seiya eyed her carefully. "Are you sure?"

Usagi nodded. "It's okay. Roller coasters aren't so bad. What's the difference between that and me being forced to swing around the air in fake wings in a sold-out concert arena?"

"Okay. Point taken."

"Thought so. Now let's go!"

She grabbed Seiya by the wrist and dragged her to one of the nearest roller coasters. It looked extremely intimidating, but what mattered was that Seiya wanted to ride it. If it was a date, then she'd make sure Seiya, at the very least, had fun.

"Dumpling, I'm giving you the chance to back out—"

"No! I told you, I'm fine."

"But—"

"No more buts!"

Usagi didn't know what overcame her, but she was going to go on that roller coaster if it was the last thing she did. If it made Seiya happy, then it made her happy.

"You know..." Usagi started to say after a few minutes of standing in line. "We could just—"

"Dumpling. We're not cutting."

"Just an idea…"

They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited, only talking here and there as they drew closer to the front. Finally, it was their turn, and Seiya, for the umpteenth time, asked, "Are you sure you'll be okay, Dumpling?"

Usage, despite the trembling in her legs, shook her head and said, breathlessly, "I'm fine. I mean, at my concerts I'm always standing on high platforms, so this is nothing."

Seiya looked unconvinced, but Usagi reassured her with a smile. Seiya relented and guided Usagi to their seats.

Safe to say, Usagi was sure she lost a lung during the ride from the amount of screaming she did.

"Dumpling," the older singer sighed as she watched Usagi dump herself across the bench. The streetlight cast a painful, unwelcome ray of light over her as her world spun. "I said we didn't have to get on if you didn't like roller coasters."

Usagi stubbornly shook her head as much as she could without getting dizzy and turned to lay on her back, squeezing her eyes closed in an unsuccessful attempt to block out the light. "I-I said that I'd be fine."

She felt Seiya bend down next to her, her pink lips turned down into a frown. What she wouldn't give to kiss those lips…

Wait, what? Did I really just. What—?

"Usagi."

"What? No 'Dumpling'?"

"Dumpling," Seiya said with a chuckle. "What made you force yourself to do something you don't like?"

"Because you like it," Usagi admitted. She opened her eyes and faced Seiya with a smile. "Isn't going on a date all about learning what the other person likes?"

Seiya laughed again, and Usagi's heart sped up. "Not if it kills you not even halfway through the date."

"Sorry," Usagi apologized sincerely. "I've never been a fan of roller coasters. They're too… fast."

"Then…" Seiya tapped her chin in thought. "How about we go to all the booths, check out the game scene, and compete to see who can win the most prizes?"

"But—"

"I read online that you're good at athletic stuff."

"It's been years since I played softball."

"Well, I'm sure those leftover reflexes might come in handy in ring toss and whack-a-mole. Shouldn't they?"

Usagi couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips because Seiya sounded so confident yet so unsure at the same time. "Whack-a-mole?"

"You need really good reflexes for that one," Seiya said. "It's a pain in the ass."

"Then I suppose we should have a go at it then," Usagi said, sitting up.

"Are you feeling better?"

Usagi shook her head as she stood up, brushing her pants off. "Yes, I am," she said as she reached out for Seiya, hooking their arms together.

"You're close." Seiya said, vaguely.

"I am. I need to make sure I don't trip over air."

Seiya snickered, and Usagi pushed her in the arm. "You're not supposed to laugh!"

"Sorry, Dumpling," Seiya apologized, though she was stifling a giggle. "Come on. Let's go hit some moles."

Somehow, Usagi ended up with the highest score the whack-a-mole station had seen in years, causing her to end up winning one of their biggest stuffed animals. Seeing as it was too large to chug around, Usagi arranged for it to be shipped to Mamoru's place. Afterwards, they did the ring toss, and Usagi couldn't help but smile in triumph at the amazed look on Seiya's face as Usagi successfully tossed all the rings on each bottle without one miss. They also played a shooting game where Usagi broke the record for highest score, leading Seiya to conclude that Usagi was a guaranteed master at anything if it involved her apparent freakishly good aim.

The only thing Seiya beat Usagi at was throwing hoops, which honestly had more to do with Usagi totally missing the net most her tries due to the fact that the hoop-throwing station was situated right smack next to a corn dog vendor and Usagi couldn't help the fact that her stomach was weak.

They did, however, end up with an abundance of stuffed animals in the end, of which they decided to evenly split between themselves despite Usagi winning most of them (that was after they'd called in a few assistants to relocate the stuffed animals somewhere secure. Mamoru was definitely going to be pissed when a wealth of stuffed animals were delivered to his doorstep, but he'd get over it).

Usagi was glad that Seiya had been considerate enough to accommodate her and play games the entire time, but she knew the perfect way to make up for that.

The ferris wheel.

She had caught Seiya staring at it multiple times as they had walked through the park. She didn't know Seiya liked ferris wheels, but if they made her happy, then Usagi was more than willing to finally accommodate her.

"Dumpling, where are we going?" Seiya asked her as Usagi power-walked through the venue, tugging Seiya along.

"Here," Usagi breathed as they stopped in front of the tall ferris wheel.

"If you wanted to go on the ferris wheel, then why didn't you—?"

"You want to go on the ferris wheel," Usagi interrupted her. Seiya opened her mouth to reply, and the blonde singer knew only an excuse would fly out of it, so she quickly interrupted her again. "You've done everything I've wanted to do all night, so now it's my turn to do something you like."

She noticed the pink blush that rose on Seiya's cheeks, and the taller woman cleared her throat. "I m-mean, I… We don't have to—"

"Seiya, what kind of person do you think I am?" Usagi huffed. "If we're on a date, then we have to share what we love with each other, right? Not just what we learn on wikipedia."

Seiya rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I suppose you're right, Dumpling."

"Then let's go!"

Usagi pulled her toward the ferris wheel, and when the carts came to a stop, the worker guided them inside one of them, making sure they were settled in their seats across from one another.

When the worker had gone, Usagi spoke to the woman in front of her. "Is there a reason you like ferris wheels?"

Seiya cast her a glance while she started playing with her fingers in her lap. "I've always enjoyed heights, so I've loved ferris wheels for a long time, but… I guess they just remind me of the past."

"The past?" Usagi questioned, although she knew exactly what—who—Seiya was talking about.

Seiya smiled thinly. "I used to come here with Kakyuu, that's all."

"Kakyuu…" Usagi trailed off, bothered by the mention of the woman despite her best efforts to think rationally. "How often?"

"Just whenever we felt like it. The only festival attraction that stays up all year is the ferris wheel."

"Oh…" Usagi said softly as she fiddled with her own hands. "Well. I hope I'm in good company."

A bitter laugh emanated from Seiya's mouth. "You're good. Unfortunately, I loved her for the longest, so this… It'll take some getting used to."

The next thing that flew out of Usagi's mouth wasn't a question she meant to ask, but she couldn't help it. She had flirted with Seiya, but she had never entertained the idea of a relationship with her until Minako had asked how she personally felt about her. It wasn't love, she knew that, and it had only been a couple of weeks, but she liked Seiya. Liked liked.

"Did you still love her now?"

And that was Usagi, jumping the gun and stepping over whatever boundary that existed between them, and it was a pretty massive boundary.

Seiya's eyes widened in surprise. Usagi thought she might be angry based off the subsequent hard set of her jaw and prepped for the (justifiable) chewing out she'd be on the receiving end of. But then Seiya sighed, quietly. She seemed distant when she spoke again.

"I've never… I've never really asked myself that before… All I remember is that she broke my heart. And I guess the feeling of being betrayed… She left on a plane as soon as she told me where she was going, and that hurt even more knowing that she made the decision without me."

"I'm sorry," Usagi told her genuinely. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No," Seiya said. "No. It's okay. It… These things happen, you know?"

At the look on her face, Usagi felt guilty for even coaching the topic to begin with. It was just that everything involving the situation with Kakyuu was, to Usagi, so messed up. Maybe she wasn't a bad person according to Minako and Seiya, but Usagi couldn't move on from the fact that rather than talk about it, Kakyuu took the plunge and made a decision without considering the woman she loved at all.

Was it her sense of justice? That was, after all, her whole gimmick as Silver Moon. Or… Did she really like Seiya the way Minako thought she did?

She looked back up at the woman who was looking out the window of the cart silently, the moon casting a lustrous reflection on her face. Usagi always thought Seiya was a beautiful woman, even during her days as a teen idol prancing around in skirts and bobs, but now her hair hung in a long, sleek black ponytail that extended beyond her well-defined waist. Blessed with a sharp face with full lips, cheekbones, and eyelashes to die for, and a lithe body that could fill out a tailored suit better than any man could, Seiya was a knockout. A bombshell in every sense of the word.

But what Usagi liked the most about her, physically, were her blue eyes. It reminded her of the night sky and they shined brighter than the moon when she was in her element because no matter the circumstances, you could always tell she enjoyed singing and being on stage with her bandmates.

She hadn't even realized she was staring until Seiya had placed a hand on her arm and mouthed something, but Usagi wasn't paying attention. Seiya's face… it was so close...

And her lips were so pretty.

She wanted to kiss them.

Crap. There goes that intrusive thought again.

"Dumpling, are you okay?"

Usagi backed away, all but molding into her seat as she felt her body heat up. "Y-Yes! Sorry! I was thinking!"

Seiya tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow. "Are you sure? The ride is almost over, so we can leave if you—"

"No!" Usagi shut down whatever Seiya was thinking. "We haven't—we haven't gotten anything to eat yet. I saw a takoyaki booth earlier, so let's go there!"

"... Anything you want, Dumpling," Seiya answered slowly, and was it Usagi or was there something in her face that almost looked like... disappointment?

She brushed it off. Usagi was projecting, overthinking things as usual.

It was just her luck that the ferris wheel came to a stop a second later, and Usagi hurried out of the cart as quickly but subtly as she could, not wanting to tip off Seiya by acting too strange.

"Right, so…" Usagi started as she avoided looking at Seiya. "The takoyaki stand is this way."

She led her to it, a few feet ahead of Seiya as the woman walked a little behind her. When they arrived, Usagi waited for her to catch up before ordering until she saw—

"Haruka! Michiru!"

Haruka looked away from the menu along with her girlfriend, Michiru.

"Kitten," she greeted with a smile. She then noticed the figure behind her. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, Haruka," Usagi chuckled. "You know this is Seiya. From The Three Lights."

Michiru chuckled. "Haruka isn't a fan of popular wo—I mean, hello, Usagi, dear," she greeted, the grip she had on Haruka's arm tightening.

Usagi sighed.

It was better that Haruka stopped her from saying her next words.

Usagi watched as Seiya finally came to stand beside her and held her hand out. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kou Seiya."

"Tenoh Haruka," Haruka said as she shook Seiya's hand, but it didn't stop Usagi from noticing she shook it a little too hard. "How long have you two been friends?"

"Just a few weeks," Seiya answered as their hands broke apart. "We met backstage at the Juban Music Festival."

"Oh," Michiru piped up. "I'm Kaioh Michiru, and Haruka's already introduced herself. We're Usagi's stylists and makeup artists, so we've seen some of your performances up close. You all are lovely singers."

Seiya flushed. "Thank you, Kaioh-san."

"Just call me Michiru."

Haruka narrowed her eyes. "Hmm. I didn't know you and Kitten had become friends. She never mentioned it."

"I was busy," Usagi said in a tone that indicated she wanted Haruka to let it go, and the older woman seemed to catch on. For now.

She clicked her tongue, folding her arms. "Well, nice to meet you, Seiya. Take good care of Kitten for me, won't you?"

Before Seiya could answer, Usagi said, "Well, we'll wait at a table while you guys finish, so… We'll just be going!" Usagi laughed sheepishly and hauled Seiya over to a wooden table.

When they sat down, Seiya scoffed. "I kinda get the feeling that your friend didn't like me."

Usagi sighed. "I'm sorry. Haruka is like that with everyone, so it's just not you. She wasn't very fond of me at first either. But she's actually pretty chill when you get to know her."

"You two must have met when you started singing," Seiya said. "Michiru said they were on your team."

"No. I've known Haruka since high school. She's my… ex-girlfriend actually."

"Wait, what? Really?"

"I said I hadn't dated anyone since I was sixteen. We broke up when she left for college in another city since she's two years older than me. It wouldn't have worked out between us long distance," Usagi explained.

"How long did you date?"

Usagi put a finger to her chin. "Almost two years. Almost. It's probably closer to a year and a half now that I think about it."

"And you broke up… Because of long distance…" Seiya muttered.

Usagi nodded. "I like to think about what it'd be like if things had worked out between us, but she has Michiru now and I'm happy for them. She's happy for me too."

She wouldn't lie and say it didn't hurt when Haruka had suggested they break things off a few years ago, but she wanted what was best for Haruka and Haruka had wanted Usagi to focus and not get distracted, so it was an amicable split. Thankfully, they remained good friends, and when Usagi had gotten into the show business, she had immediately jumped at the opportunity to style her since she had gone to school for fashion.

She watched as a tiny smile made its way on Seiya's face. "I'm glad you have someone that still cares for you, even if you aren't together anymore."

Usagi figured Seiya was alluding to Kakyuu, but she didn't care to ask.

"Sometimes people manage to keep in touch and sometimes… they just drift apart, intentionally or unintentionally," Usagi said softly. "But it's okay… Because you always meet new people and they might end up being the ones who stay with you all your life."

Seiya groaned as she leaned over the table, but she didn't look upset, just bemused. She put a hand over Usagi's. "You always seem to know what to say, Dumpling."

Usagi didn't move, frozen by Seiya's touch. She made sure to focus on their hands, afraid that if she looked up and saw Seiya's lips, she'd be overcome with the desire to kiss her again.

Usage shrugged. "I just say what's on my mind, and if they end up meaning a lot to you, then I'm glad."

Usagi intertwined their fingers on the tabletop, still refusing to meet Seiya's eyes. She couldn't see Seiya's expression, but the warm fingers that began stroking her knuckles said more than any words could convey at that moment.

Fuck. I'm a goner.

And if Usagi spent the next few minutes daydreaming about their paparazzi photos together, well. It was nobody's business but her own.


Writing this chapter was my favorite for multiple reasons, but that might actually be the last!

Anyways, thank you for reading! Feedback and reviews are appreciated!