Tenshi truly believed that her love for Neko-chan was pure. It seemed absurd. They'd barely known each other for two weeks, but there was just something that told her that Neko-chan was the one. She had dated other girls before and had never felt like this. Yet what Eryx had said in the warehouse troubled her. She knew that Sailor Eryx had been evil, but that hadn't made her words hurt any less.
She had heard from her parents (and others) how Sailor Moon had always been able to heal anyone with love. But her sincere confession of love to Neko-chan hadn't changed anything. In fact Evil Eryx had totally blown it off. In the end, it was only Electra who could heal Eryx. And later, it was Mi-chan that finally got Neko-chan to respond to her.
It wasn't that she was jealous, because she wasn't. It's just that Tenshi didn't know where that left her in Neko-chan's heart. Now that Neko-chan could speak freely to Mi-chan (and, judging from the anger she released on the general, probably would forgive Jian-kun soon), she would no longer need Tenshi for that purpose. She hadn't realized it before, but much of their relationship had seemed to revolve around the healing of Neko-chan's heart. Tenshi had been her confidant, her shoulder to cry on. But now Mi-chan could be that again. So even though Tenshi was overjoyed that Neko-chan wouldn't be as depressed anymore, she was still a little anxious about how she fit into Neko-chan's life now.
She looked at where the sun was setting in the west. "Koneko-chan," she whispered as a single tear fell onto her cheek. She wished they could go back to the day they met. Start all over again. It wasn't like from the moment she'd seen her, she'd been thinking "I sure hope this child is gay, because, shimatta, I want her," but she had enjoyed hanging out with her from the beginning and it didn't take long before she was totally taken with her.
*OK, that's enough of that.* She wiped the wet mark off her cheek. She wasn't going to let Neko-chan know that she'd been crying. And she really wasn't going to let Mi-chan know.
She looked at her watch and then at the door. *Kami, where are they?*
She was beginning to get a little worried that they hadn't come out, when suddenly the door opened and they walked out together. Both looked tired and their faces were all red, but Tenshi thought that it was a beautiful sight.
She jumped off the hood of her car. "Neko-chan, are you ok?"
Neko-chan stared at the ground. "Hai," she said quietly and then got into the backseat of the car.
Tenshi looked to Mi-chan for confirmation. "Gomen Tenshi-san. She'll be ok, really. She just�. Just give her a few minutes, ok?"
Tenshi nodded and hoped that she didn't look as heartbroken as she was.
"Are Kimako and Chibi ok?" Mi-chan asked.
"Hai, I talked to Kimahou-chan. They rode with the victims to the hospital. They're fine."
"Good. Arigatou, Tenshi-san."
Tenshi frowned. She hated it when schoolmates called her "san." True, Mi-chan was younger than her. But she was also Neko-chan's twin and Tenshi didn't want her to feel that she had to be so formal. "Michiru-chan, you can call me 'Tenshi-kun' or '-chan' if you want. I don't want you to be so formal around me if I'm dating your sister."
"Oh, well, then you can call me 'Mi-chan' too. Neko-chan always does." She narrowed her eyes at Tenshi. "What do you mean 'if'?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi parked the car at the curb next to the Mizuno house and looked back at the twins. They were both asleep in the backseat. It was really kawaii.
"Mi-chan, Neko-chan, you're home," she called quietly to them.
They opened their eyes and got out of the car. Tenshi did too, planning to walk them to the door. But she stopped when she got about halfway there. She leaned against the tree that was there and decided to watch them for the rest of the way. She had been hoping that maybe Neko-chan might say something, anything. That, one way or another, she'd end the torture of not knowing what she was thinking. But if Neko-chan was going to say something, she would have done so by now. It was best to avoid the awkwardness of saying goodbye at the door. Painful as it was, she'd just let her go.
But just as they were about to walk into the house, Tenshi couldn't take it anymore. "Neko-chan!" she cried.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Neko-chan!"
Neko turned around, but she didn't want to face Tenshi-kun right now. She hadn't even bothered calling Neko "Koneko-chan." She had to be furious. Neko started to turn back, but she ran into Mi-chan, who was blocking her way to the doorway.
"Talk. To. Him.," she said and pushed Neko in the other direction. Then she ran into the house, leaving the couple alone.
Chopin's Funeral March played in Neko's head as she walked towards Tenshi-kun. This was it. Even if she apologized, Tenshi-kun must hate her now. She felt like crying, but she figured she had probably run out of tears back at the warehouse. *Just apologize and run back to the house. She can't break your heart if you don't stick around. Just get out of there.* But she knew she'd never be able to go through with that.
"Ten- Tenshi-kun." Neko glanced up at her for a second before returning her eyes to the ground again. It was funny, but Tenshi-kun didn't look furious. She looked worried. "I- I'm-" Neko's voice threatened to stop working. She closed her eyes and gathered her courage. "Tenshi-kun, I'm so sorry for attacking you tonight. And for what I said. I didn't mean it, really."
