Disclaimer: I own nothing. Naoko Takeuchi owns all.
Summary: Odango Atama smiles too rarely these days, Haruka thinks.
Notes: Takes place during the Stars season, before either of the Senshi know of the Three Lights' real identities.
The Last Change
Odango Atama smiles too rarely these days.
Haruka has been watching her from the sideline ever since Mamoru-san left, noticing how her smiles, when they finally make it all the way onto her lips, have become a way of disguising her worries, rather than an indication of happiness. It's as if Mamoru-san has taken all her usual cheer with him to America…
Or maybe she has simply grown up so quickly that even Haruka hasn't been able to follow.
No matter which it is, she sure seems to have changed; their Princess… Haruka follows the girl with her eyes from the driver's seat of her car as Usagi skips down the street, heading for school five minutes too late as is custom, her hair flying in trails of gold after her. At the corner a taller figure is waiting for her, the two talking animatedly until Odango Atama with a mortified shriek grabs the long-haired boy by his sleeve, dragging him after her in her sudden haste…
She probably just realised how late she is.
Haruka feels her eyes narrow as the two disappear out of sight. Once more she can report to the others that Seiya Kou sure is serious about looking out for Usagi-chan…
Starting the car, she glances back towards the Princess' house. It looks the same it did a year ago. What has changed is not their surroundings or their situation (they've been Senshi for so long), rather it's Usagi herself…
Because it isn't Haruka. Certainly, Haruka hasn't changed…
Zigzagging lazily through morning traffic, Haruka asks herself why Odango's close relationship to Seiya bothers her so much that it makes her hate the popular singer just a little. She knows it has nothing to do with her worries about what is going to happen the day Mamoru-san returns. After all, she trusts that Usagi will be able to make the right choice at that time…
What makes her so angry with Seiya is neither the way that he blatantly flirts with Usagi who's – as always – completely oblivious to any romantic interest she encounters, nor is it the way he makes her eyes lighten up when not even Haruka can manage.
She hates Seiya because he is making Usagi depend on him… yes, even making her love him…
… and Haruka has begun asking herself if she wouldn't do the same… had she been in a different position…