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In those dark, sad days, Crow was left reminiscing Seiren. She remembered a specific event from the past, the first time she had referred to her partner as her “rival” ever since they joined Shadow Galactica. Back when they were sent on another mission, way before they were assigned to Earth…
“Sailor Aluminum Seiren, I’ll give you the honour of being my official rival!”
Crow proudly made this declaration, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at her said “rival”. Seiren was biting down on an apple and suddenly raised her head, looking at her companion with a confused expression.
“Hm? What is it, Crow-san?”
“Were you not listening? I said you are now my rival!”
“Oh. Huh-uh. Alright,” Seiren replied absent-mindedly.
She then took another bite of her apple, infuriating Crow.
“Stop eating when someone is talking to you!”
Seiren swallowed, then brought her finger to her chin, a pondering look on her face.
“I can do both at the same time,” she said.
“You can barely do one thing at a time, and that’s beside the point!”
Seiren finished eating her apple and threw the core away.
“Alright, alright. I’m done. What were you saying again?”
“You must be kidding me!?” Crow exclaimed, exasperated. “How can an airhead like yourself even compete with me for the number one spot among the Animamates…”
“But I’m not…?”
“I can’t even fathom that you are currently ahead of me!” Crow continued. “Just you wait, Seiren! It’s only a matter of time until I become the number one Animamates!”
Upon those words, Seiren joined her hands together, smiling.
“I wish you the best in your endeavour, Crow-san!” she cheered enthusiastically.
Crow felt like facepalming so badly right now. She ground her teeth with annoyance before stepping towards Seiren, so close that their faces could almost touch.
“You’re not supposed to encourage me! We are rivals! You should be fighting me to preserve your title as the number one…!”
“Ehh… but I don’t want to fight with Crow-san…”
Seiren looked down, pouting. Crow couldn’t help but feel conflicted by that reaction. A part of her felt terribly annoyed and just wanted to slap her, but another part of her strangely wanted to just get a little closer…
“Ohh, are you two having a lovers’ quarrel again?”
Crow jolted and felt the need to put some distance between her and Seiren when another Animamates stepped inside the room. The latter smirked at them, running a hand through her long, wavy indigo hair.
“You…!” Crow muttered between her teeth.
“Ah, Papillon-san!” Seiren exclaimed. “And Mouse-san.”
Behind her was a petite woman dressed as a white mouse.
“Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon!” Crow let out. “Stay out of this! This is between me and my rival-”
“Rival?” Papillon chuckled. “Is that the Coronis term for girlfriend?”
“No, apparently they use the term ‘mate’ there,” Mouse sneered.
“What’d you say, you little runt!?”
“Eek…!”
Mouse immediately cowered behind Papillon.
“I think we should leave these two alone, give them some privacy,” Papillon teased.
Mouse nodded and they both started to walk away. Seiren waved at them.
“Bye-bye!” she said happily.
“Yeah, get the hell away!” Crow yelled.
When they were both gone, she turned back to Seiren.
“So, where were we… uh?”
Crow wasn’t expecting Seiren to be that close to her when she turned back. She nearly jolted, her heart skipping a beat.
“You know, Crow-san,” Seiren began, her face dangerously close to Crow’s, “I think I’d rather be your lover than your rival.”
Crow’s heart was now racing, so much that she almost felt like it would come out of her chest, and her face felt warm like she was blushing.
“W-what…?”
“Just kidding,” Seiren said with a cutesy smile. “Did I startle you, Crow-san?”
It took a few seconds for Crow to regain her composure. She clenched her fist, frustrated at both herself and Seiren. Behind her innocent smile hid a rather sly and coy woman she knew better not to underestimate.
“You… you’re definitely worthy to be called my rival, Seiren…”
“My, thank you-”
Crow suddenly pointed at Seiren, a fierce look in her brown eyes.
“So I won’t go easy on you! I’ll surpass you and reclaim my spot as number one!”
Seiren nodded.
“And I wish you good luck with that, Crow-san.”
“Make fun of me all you want, but you’ll see. I’ll bring Galaxia-sama even more true star seeds than you ever could!”
Seiren smiled softly.
“Yes, let’s both do our best.”
Crow shed a tear. Thinking about the past like that and how obsessed she was with this rivalry and being number one, she could only realize now how silly it was… since she had just lost her dear rival.
“I’ll bring Galaxia-sama even more true star seeds than you ever could” she had said. But only one Star Seed mattered now.
The true star seed Seiren mentioned before her demise. Crow believed in her last words. She had faith that Seiren did find it. And she won’t let her death be in vain.
She was determined to prove to them all that Seiren was right. Especially to that pesky annoying Nyanko.
“You know, Crow-san, I think I’d rather be your lover than your rival,” she remembered Seiren telling her.
Even if she might have been kidding that one time, right now, Crow wished it could have been serious. But it was too late now to see this coming true.
She wiped out her tears.
“Goodbye, my rival. I… loved you.”