Hotaru yawned, stretching, as sunshine filtered through her blinds. She blushed slightly when she noticed her friend’s left arm wrapped around her stomach. Hotaru was very used to Chibiusa moving about, but she couldn’t help but marvel at how her friend managed to stay on the bed. Hotaru laid there for a while longer, enjoying the weight of her friend’s arm slung across her belly. She wished it had been a conscious decision, but knowing her friend, it just wouldn’t happen that way. Hotaru slipped out of bed, yawning once more, and walked to the kitchen.
Haruka and Michiru were already up, sitting down at the table; Haruka reading the paper and Michiru sipping a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, hime-chan,” Michiru said, smiling at her daughter.
“Morning, Michiru-mama.” Hotaru smiled back at her mother, stifling yet another yawn.
Haruka peered over her newspaper.
“Rough night?” she asked, her eyes twinkling. Hotaru blushed, looking down at her feet. Michiru smacked her lover’s arm, causing Haruka to say “What?” and Hotaru to giggle.
“Pay no attention to this one,” Michiru told her giggling daughter. She threw Haruka a glare, but the blond-haired woman had disappeared behind her paper.
“Are you hungry?” Michiru asked Hotaru, gesturing her to sit down.
“Hai.”
Hotaru grabbed a bowl, a spoon and a box of cereal. Michiru often chastised her lover over her eating habits, eating habits that their daughter had no problem picking up. Haruka, however, believed that everyone should have at least one bowl of sugary-sweet cereal and Hotaru readily agreed. Neither of them seemed to care that their “one bowl” quota had already been filled, years ago.
“Where’s Setsuna-mama?” Hotaru asked as she munched her sugary breakfast.
“Not sure, actually. She left kind of early,” Michiru said, taking another sip from her coffee.
“She’s been doing that a lot lately,” Haruka added, her daughter nodding her head in agreement. She continued to eat, her thoughts drifting back to her sleeping friend. How exactly did she feel about her? On one hand, they had practically grown up together, having been best friends for so long. Many people commented on how the two were as close as sisters. But Hotaru, never having a sister herself, wasn’t too keen on calling her feelings “sisterly”.
“Hotaru-chan?”
Hotaru tore herself away from her thoughts, noticing that her spoon was halfway to her mouth and, by the look her mom was giving her; it had probably been there for awhile. Grinning sheepishly, Hotaru stuffed the spoon in her mouth.
“Hotaru-chan, do you and Chibiusa-chan have any plans for today? I mean, when or if she wakes up?” Michiru asked, grinning.
“Well, if she wakes up, we’re supposed to go to a movie. I have a feeling we might have to go to an afternoon showing,” Hotaru answered as she finished up her meal.
“Sounds good. Your papa and I are going shopping; I need some new clothes for the summer,” Michiru informed her, her eyes resting on the newspaper that had conspicuously moved up an inch or two.
“Isn’t that right, Haruka?” Michiru asked sweetly. Haruka grunted, apparently in approval, and Michiru smiled as she leaned behind the paper to give her wife a kiss. Hotaru, having been too used to this kind of thing, was about to stand up but she stopped, suddenly very curious. Could she be in love with Chibiusa, like her mama and papa were? She continued to stare at the paper, until she could hear light whispers as well as more kissing. Taking this as her cue, she stood up, taking her bowl and spoon to the sink. She was about to put up the cereal, when a slightly disheveled, pink-haired girl shuffled in. Chibiusa stood in the doorway, stretching and yawning.
“Good-morning, Princess,” Haruka said. Hotaru was relieved to see that her parents had stopped kissing. She grabbed another bowl and spoon, setting it on the table for her friend.
“Thanks, Hotaru-chan and good morning everyone!” the pink-haired girl said, suddenly very energetic. She sat at the table, pouring herself a huge bowl of cereal. Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru all three looked at each other, still unable to fathom the depths of her appetite.
“So, Chibiusa-chan, what movie did you want to see?” Hotaru asked her friend as she sat down beside her. Chibiusa bit her bottom lip, not looking at the older girl.
“Uhm, it’s sort of a chick—“
“Nope.” Hotaru crossed her arms across her chest, shaking her head.
“Ah, a lover’s quarrel,” Haruka said quietly. Michiru smacked her arm again, but neither of the girls had heard her.
“Chibiusa-chan, you know I don’t like chick-flicks,” Hotaru said, her arms still crossed. The girls were only about a year apart, 16 and 15, but their interests were very different. Where Chibiusa liked sappy romance, Hotaru would rather battle an army of youmas then have to sit through that “mushy crap”; she never really understood girls her age.
“Please, Taru-chan?” the younger girl pleaded. She tried to make her best “puppy-dog” eyes, but Hotaru wouldn’t look at her. She placed her hand on the other girl’s thigh, not noticing the flinch she caused. Dark purple eyes finally met shining maroon and Hotaru was unable to resist any longer. She gave a defeated sigh.
“Fine.”
“Yay!!!” Chibiusa jumped out of her chair and gave her friend a big hug. Over her shoulder, Hotaru glared at her papa. Both her and Michiru were watching the pair, an amused expression on Michiru’s face; a smug-grin on her papa’s.
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