Author's Note: Oh, and if there's ever anything in the story that I forgot to translate, please let me know in a review and it should usually be corrected within 48 hours. R&R! -

Several days later, after the little arranged date and the circuit had moved on to a new city, Haruka sat at the desk in her hotel room working on a letter to Nina - one of many over the past couple of months she had been gone. She missed her terribly, but knew that she needed to work on continuing the life she loved or she wouldn't be any kind of parent to Nina. She closed off the letter, put it in an addressed envelope, and then rose to take it down to the front desk on her way out. It was a couple of days before the next race, but they had gotten here early to allow the racers, road crew for the racers and the band, and the various other people required to keep things running smoothly time to rest. She grabbed the matching jacket to the dress pants she wore and slipped on her shoes next to the door. After making sure she had her room key, she headed out - only to find Seiya poised to knock on her door. He gave a sheepish grin as she rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering why my life was so quiet over the past couple of days... Must have been because you were busy with something, hm?" They both got aboard the elevator and headed down the several floors to the reception area.

Seiya gave a good-natured scowl. "I'm just glad that guy didn't pursue anything beyond that one date..."

Lifting an eyebrow, she stopped at the front desk to ask the man to make sure the letter was sent out. Then she picked up a copy of the local newspaper and thrust it at his chest. "I'm not sure that the one date was enough revenge for me." With that, she headed out the door.

Confused, Seiya unfolded the paper and caught the reason why she was so upset right on the front page. Unfortunately, it appeared that one of the girls had snapped a picture of the two of them kissing and sent it in to the newspaper. It had apparently flown to the associated press and made it in papers much further away than that one town. Then listed in the sidebar were mentions of stories on various other pages in the entertainment section about the same subject. He folded the paper back up and set it back down on the counter.

"Lover's spat?"

Seiya's attention was drawn toward the man standing there, and he scowled. "Don't believe everything you read."

The man chuckled and shook his head before moving down the counter to help someone else. "Of course, sir."

Seiya shook his head before taking off after Haruka. He caught up with her heading down the sidewalk to explore the city a little. She gave him a slightly disdainful look, lifting an eyebrow. "Are you sure we should be hanging out with each other this much? It's only going to encourage people into thinking that the papers are right."

"Since when do you care about what other people say? Especially the press..."

Haruka shook her head, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her pants. "I don't care what they say so much as being constantly stopped and asked by people why I decided to start dating guys."

Seiya chuckled and shook his head as they came upon a small outdoor cafe and seemed to quietly decide without discussion to stop there for lunch before continuing on. "Hey, at least they didn't get any information about that date you had me go on... Then it would have been stories about the idol cheating on the racer that had changed her dating habits for him, and people would be looking at you like they felt sorry for you."

Then a waitress showed up and quickly took their orders before heading off to tell the cook of them and then assist someone else.

"True. I got enough of that after Michiru died." Haruka shook her head and gave a small sigh. "Seiya, when did this all happen? We used to constantly be at each other's throats, always wishing plague and pestilence on one another... and now there's pictures of us kissing plastered all over newspapers."

He chuckled and shook his head, taking a drink of the glass of soda that had been settled before him. "I've actually thought about that myself... minus the whole thing on newspapers. I quit paying attention to the media long ago. I could tell you why I think it happened... but I don't think you'd like my analysis very much."

"Try me. I'm willing to consider anything to be believable at this point..."

"I think it all happened after Michiru died... she seemed to be the main source of everything between us. Especially with how we met that day in her dressing room. The whole thing with Usagi kind of added fuel to the fire, of course... but it wasn't the main reason."

Haruka let out another long sigh, settling back into a more relaxing position in her chair. "Maybe."

Seiya lifted his shoulders in a shrug as their food was set before them. "Hey, it's just one theory. It doesn't mean that it's the right one. To tell the truth, I didn't put too much effort into figuring it out. I don't like analyzing things... it takes all the enjoyment out of it."

She lifted an eyebrow over at him, wondering whether to be more disturbed over the fact that he was so comfortable with their new friendship and what everyone thought about them, or the fact that he had come to the conclusion that Michiru was the source of the enmity that had existed between them since the day they had met. Seiya didn't notice her skeptic look as he was busily working on the hamburger he had ordered, and Haruka couldn't help but be amazed once again at how different they were. It was as easy to figure out as looking at their favorite foods that were settled before them - he had ordered a hamburger and fries, and she had a salad. But, she decided not to analyze it all at the moment. To tell the truth, she was glad not to have the extra stress of quarreling with him throughout this entire tour. She wasn't all that happy about the stories running rampant in the media, but hopefully that would all die down soon if people saw them and saw that they acted nothing like a couple. That all settled in her mind, she started in on her lunch as well and for the next few minutes, they ate in companionable silence. After they finished, they both paid for their own meal, then rose and headed off to find something to do.

Hours later, after visiting some of the local landmarks, they had almost inevitably ended up in a music store. Seiya was absorbed in strumming experimentally on a plugged-in electric guitar while Haruka had settled herself before one of the grand pianos they had on prominent display. With a vague grin, Seiya picked up the guitar and traveled over next to the piano, glad that the cord was long enough to allow it. He started in on a song, and watched as Haruka just noticed he was there and gave a small grin and immediately started following along. Just as easily and quickly as his fingers flew over the strings, her fingers danced over the piano keys. One of the store clerks gave them a vaguely amazed look, then with a shy grin, headed over to a drum set and listened for a moment before easily picking up and adding a beat to the music they were creating. The other three clerks looked amused as their shy friend played along with the music, but went along with it all with an easy attitude. Two of them set about quickly hooking up sound equipment to amplify the music they were creating while the other went to open wide both of the doors that led into the store. It wasn't long before a crowd had amassed to listen in such a group that it spilled out onto the sidewalk as they flowed easily from one song to the other, taking turns to pick which one it would be, just to see if the others could follow.

Needless to say, the shop did a roaring business that day. The clerk at the drums often had to leave the drums to assist the other three in their sales. By closing time, each had collected enough commission for the day to outweigh what they had made in their entire time there. They weren't even bothered by letting the doors and shop stay open a bit longer to let the two continue to play. When they finally stopped, there was an uproarious bit of applause from the crowd that remained. Seiya grinned and gave a bit of a showboating bow and a wave. Haruka was a bit embarrassed by it all, as she had never really played that sort of music before, and especially not in accompaniment with anything but Michiru's violin. That thought only served to pull forward several memories that washed away the emotions that had come with being able to play with someone once more.

As people quickly noted who Seiya was and he was trapped into signing several autographs, Haruka managed to slip out unnoticed and head back to the hotel. She was a good half hour into the forty-five minute walk before Seiya came running up behind her, out of breath as he clamped a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and allowed him to catch his breath, looking down at him with the same vague disdain that had become so habitual for so long. "You really shouldn't stop so suddenly after running that much." He scowled a bit up at her, not quite noticing her expression yet. "Tell me, was it painful for you to have to leave behind so many adoring fans like that?"

Finally catching her mood, Seiya straightened and looked at her with a bewildered expression, his hand still on her shoulder. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." She reached up and took his hand off her shoulder. "Maybe I'm just coming back to my senses for the first time since that basketball game. I guess I lost them at some point while I was working at getting my life back together, but they're back in full now."

"What are you talking about? I can't help it if people recognize me for what I do... and you know why I do it too... I'm not here on this planet performing with Taiki and Yaten just for the fame. You know we're looking for Kakyuu-hime."

"Yeah, I remember that. But I also just remembered that I don't really like you, and even more that I really don't like being in the news as much as I have been recently. Once they run out of fuel to add to the fire about us, they'll start dragging up old stories. That may not be that bad for you, but you know what stories they have on file about me. That's the last thing I need right now, just like your supposed friendship. So let's just go back to the way things were, okay? I liked it better that way." With that, she turned and walked calmly away, leaving a bewildered Seiya behind.