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I stayed and visited with Unazuki for a long time. It felt really nice to be with another girl my age, just chatting and not thinking about anything other than boys, movies, and shopping. I'd almost forgotten what that was like. I was so relaxed that I didn't even mind when Shingo did notice me. He actually came over with his girlfriend, Mika, and re-introduced the two of us. As soon as I heard her name I remembered her, that little girl who had so enjoyed working on dolls. I wondered if she still idolized Sailor Moon the way she used to, or if she'd grown out of it the way Shingo had.

I didn't ask for fear of embarrassing Shingo, but he might not even have minded because when I said I had to go home, he sat up and said, "Where are you going?"

For a moment I thought he was taking offence to the fact that I was referring to somewhere other than our parent's house as home and I floundered for an explanation. But then it dawned on me that he was just asking where the apartment was located, and I realized that I had never shared that information with him. "It's just down town," I replied. "Why don't you come with me and I'll show you?"

"Sure!" Mika said enthusiastically before Shingo could answer. "I'd love to see where the Three Lights live!" Her eyes were shining with excitement and I had to smile, knowing that I had found yet another fan. Shingo was trying hard not to pout too obviously as I said good-bye to Unazuki and thanked her. She made me promise that I would go hang out with her and her friends next Saturday, and I was surprised to realize that I was actually looking forward to it.

"So are you happy staying with them?" Shingo asked as we left. He was holding Mika's hand and I could tell at a glance that he had nothing to worry about. Mika looked totally psyched to be holding hands in public; she was clutching his hand so tightly that I doubted anything could shake her off. He had no competition.

"Actually, I am," I said, if only because there was no point in lying about it. "I know that it must be weird not having me at home."

"I don't mind. It means that there are actually snacks left when I want some." He smirked up at me and I scoffed, reaching out to muss his hair. He squeaked and Mika laughed.

"Well then, I'm glad." And I was. It was kind of hard to hear about my family because I felt so detached from them. Even though this was just supposed to be temporary, I knew I would probably never move back there. My days of being an ordinary high school girl who lived with her parents and little brother were over. Even if I didn't stay with Seiya, Yaten and Taiki - and I very much wanted to - I was enjoying my freedom too much to go back.

Shingo seemed to sense what I meant by that because his joyful smile dulled a little. "Mom still really misses you, you know."

"I know," I said quietly, because there wasn't much else I could say. It had to have come as a surprise to my family. In their eyes I was still been the same lazy girl I always was. They never saw the maturity I had developed through being a senshi because I'd always made it a point to hide it. It was just too easy to keep being silly little Tsukino Usagi when I was around them. Maybe it was finally time to stop that. I stopped walking and looked at him seriously. "Shingo, I'm not coming back. You do know that, right?"

He sighed and Mika glanced between the two of us, clearly wondering if she should let us have some privacy. Shingo calmed her with a little shake of his head and replied, "I think I knew that when you walked out the door with that guy. I think we all did. I'm just not sure Mom and Dad have accepted it yet."

I didn't know what to say that. This wasn't something I could fix, and I think that Shingo knew that, however much he might have been hoping that I would be able to. After a minute of silence, he turned away from me and kept walking and I fell into step behind him, eventually catching up so that the three of us were walking side by side. We didn't say anything, mostly because there was nothing more to say. I couldn't go home even if I had wanted to. I was no longer an average teenager and playing at being one seemed like it would be so pointless. Besides, the thought of leaving the Starlights was impossible for me to even think about.

We reached the apartment building and the doorman let us in. It was a pretty posh place, but I had never really thought about that until I saw the impressed look on Mika's face. Suddenly I started to see the place through her eyes: the marble floor, the doorman who bowed to us, the gleaming elevator that had practically been polished to a shine. This was definitely a high class place. I wondered what they would think of the apartment itself, which was enormous by anyone's standards. I had never actually asked, but I knew it had to be costing a lot of money every month. Still, it wasn't like Seiya, Yaten or Taiki had to worry about money. I knew they had a lot of it. I had to wonder what that was like.

"Wow," Mika said softly as the elevator let us off into the hall. I opened the door with the key that Seiya had given me and she actually gasped. It was a little embarrassing, actually.

"You can leave your shoes there," I said. I rooted around in the hall closet and found a couple of pairs of slippers that had probably belonged to Yaten at some point. I had noticed that while they were living as guys, she had indulged freely in the few clothing pieces that she could. She definitely had the biggest shoe collection of any one I knew, both men's and women's, and fortunately that seemed to include slippers.

"Thanks," Shingo said. He stuffed his feet into the slippers and his hands into his pockets. He seemed uncomfortable and I wondered if I'd made a mistake in bringing them here. I'd thought that he would like to see where I was staying now, that it might make him feel better, but I was beginning to have second thoughts. It was too late now, though. It wasn't like I could ask them to leave. Instead, I led them into the living room, where Luna and Artemis were sleeping on the couch. Luna lifted her head and looked shocked to see Shingo and Mika, and I didn't blame her.

"You guys can sit. I'll grab something to eat and drink," I said, walking into the kitchen. It was actually nice to have company, I realized as I moved around pouring cola into three cups. I wasn't used to being on my own. I hadn't realized how much I had been dreading the thought of returning to an empty apartment. I knew that Kakyuu would have long since disappeared - the senshi and Mamoru had not been able to stay with me for very long, so it was a logical conclusion - but I thought that the Starlights might need some time on their own to come to terms with it. I knew that I was still reeling from the senshi's visit.

I heard the sound of someone turning the television on and I assumed the both of them were watching, so I was shocked when I turned around and saw Shingo in the kitchen with me. Actually, he startled me, and I dropped one of the cups. Cola splattered everywhere. "Damn!" I exclaimed, and then clapped my hand over my mouth. Shingo stared at me for a long moment before he started to laugh.

"Same old Usagi," he said, shaking his head. I smiled sheepishly and grabbed a cloth, kneeling down to wipe up the mess. Shingo came over and helped, picking the cup up and taking the cloth from me while I fetched the mop. He watched me scrub for a minute before he said, "But you're not exactly the same, are you?" And there was something in his voice that made me pause and look up at him more closely. He was frowning, the corners of his lips turned down slightly, and his eyes were narrowed as he examined me.

"I'm not sure what you mean," I said carefully.

"I think you are," he replied. "There's something different about you, Nee-chan. You've been acting really weird for these past few months and I know that I've figured out the truth."

My heart was pounding. I had no idea what he was going to say. For a wild few seconds I wondered if he realized that I was pregnant. I wasn't showing yet, but was there something else that gave me away? Maybe the way I walked or held myself? I stared at him anxiously when he remained silent. "Well, go on," I ordered when he kept silent. "What do you think you know?"

He smiled and I knew he'd done it on purpose to tease me. "You're in love with Seiya."

It was spoken so frankly, so calmly, that it took me a little while to wrap my head around what he'd just said. My hands started to shake, though I made an effort to hide it. This wasn't exactly news I was freely sharing with people. Knowing that someone else knew was terrifying. "Where did you get an idea like that from?" I asked, forcing myself to give a little laugh like it meant nothing. Unfortunately, he wasn't convinced that easily.

"I can just tell. You're totally different around him. I noticed that from the very beginning. It's even different from how you acted around Mamoru-san. When you were with him, it was like you always felt like you had something to prove. You used to try to act so adult. But now… even just walking into this apartment, you relaxed," he replied. I stared at him, amazed at how much he had noticed. "When you guys came to visit us, you clung to him like you were worried he was going to disappear. Actually, that's how I knew that he was in love with you, too. No one could treat a clingy girl like you that gently if they weren't."

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I wasn't sure what to say first. I could have denied it, but there didn't seem to be much sense in that. He was right, after all, and I was sure that he would only bring out more evidence to support it if I protested. Finally, I went with, "I wasn't clingy. And I didn't have anything to prove to Mamo-chan."

Now that he knew I wasn't going to deny it, he grinned. "Yeah you did. He was so much older than you were. I know you felt like a kid when you were around him. Mom used to say that, too. Not that it matters now." He shrugged and then looked up at me. "Are you and Seiya going to get together?"

"I don't know," I said, still reeling from this shocking bout of information. Mom had felt the same way Shingo did? She'd never told me that. I'd always thought that she approved of Mamo-chan.

"Well, you should," he said frankly. "I like Seiya. I think he would be good to you." His cheeks flushed and he looked away, but he kept talking. "You're such an odango atama sometimes. You take on so much and you don't let anyone else help you with it. I thought that when your friends died you would try to suffer through it all by yourself because you wouldn't want anyone else to take even a little bit of your burden. But you let him in." He looked at me. "You need someone like him, Nee-chan. I wouldn't let him slip through your fingers."

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