"Damnit, Pluto!!" Michiru shouted, and Pluto almost seemed to flinch. "She
almost DIED, and all you can do is rattle on about being a SENSHI?!"
Pluto narrowed her eyes and turned away. "Michiru-chan..." She clenched
her fist and faced the wall. "Do you have any idea how alone I am? Do you
think I am good at communicating with people, after guarding the Time Gate
for so long? I am the Guardian of Time, and my duty has become me now. That
and being a Senshi is all I really know how to do anymore. I was away from
my friends for countless millennia before you were reborn, and was guarding
the Gate the whole time."
Michiru pulled her knees up under her chin, eyes misting over. "...Look,
I'm sorry I snapped at you... I just..."
"It's all right... I know you must be devastated right now... But it'll be
ok. It has to be, you know that. Haruka is to be your partner, and she has
to live to do that. Don't worry."
"... She saw me."
Pluto whirled around, crimson eyes wide open. "WHAT?!"
"She... was awake when I arrived, passed out... after I detransformed,
she woke up, just for a moment, and stared right at me."
Pluto swore under her breath and brought her hand up to her chin. "It's
so soon for it to happen..."
The doorbell rang, making Michiru jump, while Pluto just looked over to it.
"I'd better go." She stepped through her portal and disappeared.
Michiru quickly smoothed her hair and opened the door to let Murasaki and
Kanpeki in. "How did the recital go?"
Murasaki began, "Well, it--"
"She was incredible!" Kanpeki breathed. "She plays the piano so well!"
Murasaki colored a bit and grinned. "Thanks! ... It, uh, runs in the family,
I guess... Teinei says Haruka-chan's great at it..." She turned to Michiru
with a puzzled expression.
"Michiru-chan, where's Teinei-san? She left in the middle of the recital;
we had to walk back!"
"She, uh, had to check up on her father... slipped on the stairs at home,
nothing major it turns out, but they were worried at first."
"Ah..." Murasaki seemed to believe it. "Well, can I offer you two anything
to eat or drink?"
"Sure," the two sisters said at once.
Murasaki laughed. "All right, let's go to the kitchen then. Help yourselves."
Michiru and Kanpeki found a brownie stash at the same time and argued a
bit over whether they should eat it or not before Murasaki insisted that
it was all right; they weren't saving it for any special reason. Kanpeki
quickly started eating; she loved any kind of chocolate; Michiru consuming
one rapidly as well, hoping the soothing qualities of the chocolate would
alleviate her worry for Haruka somewhat.
"You two really are a lot alike, you know," Murasaki commented.
The two both looked up at her in surprise.
"The same look on your face right now, too!... C'mon, you're triplets, what
do you expect?"
Michiru sniffed indignantly and joked, "Well, I'm older, so I'm better."
"No you aren't!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"So immature," Murasaki teased, then ducking from the wadded up napkins
that flew at her. "Hey, stop that!" she laughed, "you could've used those!"
"What?!" they both said.
"You've both got chocolate in the corner of your mouths. To busy arguing
to clean up after yourselves, tsk tsk."
Michiru grabbed a napkin while Kanpeki tried to figure out where it was
and wipe it away. Michiru watched with a pang of longing for Haruka as
Murasaki stepped over and carefully wiped it away, making Kanpeki blush
brightly.
"Um... thank you..."
"No problem..."
Michiru cleared her throat and calmed down. "I'm going to make a phone
call... I'll be right back."
She left the room and sat down on the couch by the phone. She waited until
she was sure Kanpeki and Murasaki were too deep in conversation to notice
her, then dialed the hospital.
"Hello, Tokyo Hospital, how may I help you?"
"Hi, I need to check on the status of a patient."
"Your name please?"
"Kaiou Michiru."
"And the patient?"
"Ten'ou Haruka."
"One moment please."
There was a click as the secretary put her on hold, then another as she
returned.
"I have a Ten'ou Teinei here to speak to you."
"Hello, Michiru-chan?"
"Teinei-san, thank goodness... how is she?"
"She's going to be fine."
Michiru breathed a sigh of relief.
"Her condition is stable, and so is Sunao-chan's. Sunao is awake, just a
bit tired. She could leave today, Haruka is questionable though... she
could be moved, but the doctors would prefer to keep her here. Katai is...
well, he took quite a blow to the head with that gun barrel... he'll be out
of it awhile... Which should give them time to pack up and get out of that
house as quick as they can."
"Where would they go?"
Teinei sighed. "I don't know... an apartment maybe. I just know it'll be
fine. Katai should be put in jail, I don't know the details yet."
"Is Haruka still unconscious?"
"She's with us sometimes. She keeps babbling, something about an angel?
With seagreen hair? Hmmm... "
Michiru blushed faintly. "Maybe it's because... she... she saw me... she
woke up a moment and..."
"Hmmmm... Well, don't want to embarrass you too much... What excuse did you
give Murasaki-chan?"
"Your father fell down the stairs, so you had to check up on him. Wasn't
serious after all, but you had to make sure."
"Good, that'll work. Otou-san _does_ have a tendency to slip on the stairs,
so if she happens to ask how he is since the incident, he won't know the
difference either."
"... Ah..."
"... Michiru-chan, why don't you go back to Haruka's and I'll pick you up
there and take you to see her?"
"All right... um, see you soon... bye."
Michiru hung up the phone and stood shakily. The conversation in the
kitchen continued. "I'll see you later!" she called in to them, not
waiting for a reply; they were too busy talking, something about seeing a
movie? Michiru didn't know what was going on; she just wanted to get out
of there and see Haruka.
Her mind didn't entirely register how she ended up at Haruka's, sitting
on her bed. She sat there for awhile, just gazing around the room. She
stood slowly and walked over to the dresser, carefully picking up the
delicate gold cross and matching chain. She ran her finger across the
smooth surface and carefully slipped it into her pocket.
There were several notebooks lying on the floor under the bed. She would
have overlooked them but for a tiny blue corner peaking out from the
comforter. She careful pulled it out and opened it. She was quite shocked
at what she saw in them.
Compositions for the piano spanned dozens of pages, sketches framing
carefully penned notes, poetry, song lyrics...
Michiru carefully laid it on the bed. She wasn't about to read it all; these
were Haruka's private thoughts. Besides, it would take much too long even if
she was willing to.
Teinei came not long after that. "Michiru-chan? Could you come downstairs?"
Michiru was shocked to see Sunao standing there when she came down. She'd
never really seen Haruka's mother, and didn't get a good look earlier, so
she was amazed at the resemblance between them. Sunao smiled sadly at her.
"Hello there."
"H-Hello."
Teinei nodded to Sunao and said, "Michiru-chan, this is Sunao. Sunao,
Kaiou Michiru."
Sunao slowly held her hand out to shake Michiru's trembling one.
"Teinei-san... what..."
Sunao bowed her head and closed her eyes, her voice choking up a bit as
she whispered, "I want to thank you for saving my and my daughter's lives.
I am not entirely sure how you went about it... but we owe you everything.
Thank you."
"Y-you're welcome..."
Teinei's eyes bore into her, and she felt guilty under that gaze,
pressured. "I believe you owe it to Sunao to tell her..."
Michiru stiffened. "But... why..."
"Trust me."
Sunao looked up at her. "I know that you weren't just 'passing by' when
you came to our rescue. Please... what's going on here?"
Michiru closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore the dull pain in her
forehead. There was just too much going on too quickly... saving Haruka's
life twice, her revelation to her siblings, becoming a Senshi, receiving
these fragmented memories of her past...
"I was here because... I... I _love_ Haruka."
Time seemed to take a break that moment as the room fell silent at her
words.
"You... love... my daughter?"
Michiru lowered her head. "Yes." She felt hot tears sting her eyes. Damnit,
why did she listen to Teinei?! She'd probably have to answer all sorts of
questions, defend he--
She gasped in surprise when Sunao hugged her tightly, then drew away. "Oh
God... thank you... thank you... You don't know... how much this means..."
Sunao brushed away tears and said, "If you hadn't come here, we'd be dead.
I suspect you're the one that attended to Haruka last night as well. My
daughter has a future because of you... and hopefully..." Sunao lowered
her voice as she continued, "Haruka has no one. Katai drove her deep within
herself, and since this started, she's been alone. She desperately needs
someone... and... well, according to Teinei-chan, Haruka would probably
be interested in a loving relationship with someone such as yourself."
"Sunao-san... I don't think Haruka is ready," Michiru replied. "I... I
would love it if she was, but I can tell that she needs time to recover,
to rebuild her life. She has to be able to accept herself before I can
try to enter her life. Please don't tell her... I don't want to ruin my
chances before I have the opportunity to talk to her myself."
"I won't." Sunao paused a moment. "How long have you been in love with her?"
"A few months. I've been watching her since the first day of school."
Sunao seemed quite shocked. "So you've been coming to our house all this time?
I never even noticed."
"Well, I didn't intend to be."
Sunao chuckled, then said softly, "Michiru-chan, if you don't mind... it's
too dangerous for Haruka and I to stay here. We need to get out of here,
fast, and find someplace to stay. We borrowed a van from a friend... could
you help Teinei and I pack up as much as we can?"
"So soon?"
"Once Katai wakes up, he'll be dangerous. The authorities have no proof of
what really happened here, so they aren't going to charge him. We have to be
gone before he can track us down."
"All right."
"I'll get my things, could you attend to Haruka's? I have a feeling you
know what she would want to hang onto."
Michiru blushed slightly and nodded, then took some boxes upstairs to pack
stuff in. The first thing was definitely the notebooks. Michiru searched
around and packed some clothes that Haruka favored, some of her manga,
her school materials, and other items, then took them downstairs in shifts.
Sunao and Teinei were waiting.
"Well, let's get going," Teinei said.
Sunao took a last look around the place, then sighed bitterly. She was
almost violent when she locked the door, but was careful when placing
the boxes in the van. "Are you sure you got everything she'd want?"
"Positive."
"All right then."
They got in the van, Teinei driving. "We'll have to the hospital to get
Haruka-chan... I know the doctors won't like it, but she'll be in danger
if she stays there with Katai too long."
"Teinei-san, is it really a good idea for me to go, too?"
"Don't worry. They'll give her something to make sure she's sleepy; make
the move easier. I have an apartment lined up that a friend of mine is
moving out of, so we'll drop this stuff off first to make more room, then
get Haruka, all right?"
 
 
It didn't take long to finish that and get to the hospital. They were
escorted to Haruka's room in silence. After giving the doctor an
explanation, he prepared the necessary medication, then gave it to the
still unconscious Haruka.
"She'll sleep for several more hours, maybe wake up a few times, and will
be tired the next few days. Make sure she doesn't move except when
necessary; eating, using the restroom, etc. Anything else?"
"No matter what happens, my husband is not to know of this," Sunao said
sharply.
"Understood."
Haruka was stretched out in the backseat of the van, head cradled in
Michiru's arms. Sunao watched out of the corner of her eye the whole trip
to the apartment. Michiru gazed down at Haruka, and carefully pulled out
the cross necklace that she'd tucked into her pocket. She fastened it
around Haruka's neck and smiled softly at her. She gently stroked her
hair and touched her hand to her cheek.
It's going to be all right, she thought. Haruka will be safe now. I just
need to give her some time to recover. It'll be okay.
Haruka stirred very slightly, but didn't open her eyes, and was soon
fast asleep again. Sunao chuckled a bit when Michiru released the breath
she'd been holding.
"Worried?"
"A bit. She's seen me, but I'm not sure if she will remember me."
 
"Don't worry, I won't tell her what really happened... If she happens to
mention remembering you, I'll deny everything."
"Thank you."
It didn't take too long to reach the apartment. They had to be very
careful moving Haruka, but got her upstairs and tucked into a bed
without any trouble.
"I should probably go," Michiru whispered sadly. "It wouldn't be a good
idea to have me around."
Sunao handed her a slip of paper. "The number here... in case you want
to talk to me. I'll get yours from Teinei."
Michiru tensed a bit when Sunao hugged her, and nearly cried when she
hugged Teinei.
"It'll be okay, Michiru," Teinei whispered.
"I'm just so scared... I... I'm going to check on her one last time...
then I'll go."
Michiru slowly approached Haruka's bed, bending carefully over her.
"Please get well soon," she said softly, lightly touching her cheek.
Haruka's eyes fluttered slightly and she whispered, "Angel?"
Michiru smiled sadly, standing to adjust the blue notebook set on the
nightstand, and left, waving slightly to Sunao and Teinei, refusing a ride
home ("I need the time to think".)
Life was just too complicated sometimes.
 
 
"Oh good, looks like Michiru is the only one home," Kanpeki commented as
she walked to the front door with Murasaki. "No cars, and no lights
except hers."
"That's, um, that's good."
Kanpeki giggled a bit as she unlocked the door and took Murasaki's hand,
leading her into the house. She shut the door quietly behind them. "Whew,
I'm so full..."
"I told you they had the best food there," Murasaki said with a laugh.
"They sure did."
Kanpeki shuffled her feet as there was a bit of an awkward silence. "Well,
uh, what do you want to do now?..."
Murasaki smiled sweetly at her. "I wouldn't mind just spending some time
alone together."
"Oh..." Kanpeki blushed a bit as Murasaki took her hand and led her to
sit on the couch in the living room. "You know, I had the best time of
my life tonight."
"Wish I'd had the nerve to ask you out earlier," Murasaki said with a
laugh.
"Yeah..." Kanpeki smiled at her. "I'm really glad..." She quickly wiped
her eyes and looked away.
"What's wrong?" Murasaki leaned towards her and hugged her gently. "You
can tell me..."
"I just..." Kanpeki bit her lip and blushed, then smiled up at her. "To
tell the truth... I love you."
Murasaki blushed a bit, but smiled back at her. "I love you, too."
Kanpeki hugged her tightly, then started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, we spent all this time trying to hide our feelings... but we feel
the same!"
"It's a bit amusing..."
Kanpeki jumped when the clock struck the hour loudly.
"Ten o'clock already?!" Murasaki frowned. "Damnit... Teinei'll be
expecting me to get home."
"Do you _have_ to go?"
"She'll pitch a fit if I don't get home on time... sorry."
They heard Michiru call down right after that, "Kanpeki-chan, come up
here a moment..."
"I'll be there in a moment!" Kanpeki turned to Murasaki. "Guess I
won't be walking you home."
"Oh well," Murasaki said with a shrug. "... Call me?"
"Sure." Kanpeki shyly looked down. "Well... bye."
"Bye..."
Murasaki paused a moment, then bent forward and tenderly kissed Kanpeki's
lips. Kanpeki wrapped her arms around her neck and returned the kiss, then
they pulled away.
"I love you," Murasaki said softly.
"I love you, too."
Kanpeki waved as Murasaki left, watching her for awhile, then shut and
locked the door. She walked up the stairs to Michiru's room in a daze.
"What is it, Michiru?"
Michiru looked up from her sketchbook. "Sorry, I didn't interrupt you
two, did I?"
"Um, not really, I suppose..."
"So... you went on a date?"
"Yeah..."
"Well? How was it?"
"The best night of my life," Kanpeki sighed. "And..." she blushed a bit.
"Well, I told her... I told her I loved her, and... and she said she
loves me, too... and we kissed before she left."
"That's great!" Michiru said excitedly, but her smile seemed a bit sad.
"What did you need me for?"
"It, um, it wasn't that important actually... I just wanted you to tell
Teinei whenever you go to see Murasaki that I won't be visiting tomorrow...
I need some time by myself to think."
"All right," Kanpeki said. "Well, I'm going to go call her now, so I'll tell
her."
"Thanks."
"Sleep well, onee-chan."
"You, too..."
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~
CHAPTER 7
~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 
 
The next morning, Haruka stirred and woke up. She lay there in the bed,
unmoving, thinking of nothing in particular for a few minutes.
The ceiling was different. The walls, the bed, the window... Hmmmm...
where am I anyways?
She tried to sit up, and found herself too weak to do so. She sighed
and settled in again. She glanced down at herself, at the bandages
and gauze she was used to seeing, at the pajamas that someone must've
put on her while she was unconscious.
 
what happened this time?
Katai... grabbing her around the neck, beating her... her mother...
pulling a gun... It was hard to remember...
Haruka gulped a bit... she couldn't quite remember anything... what
happened earlier, the previous day?... she seemed to remember seeing
someone... no, that was impossible...
She realized she was wearing her cross. She hadn't been when Katai
attacked... where had it come from?
She heard someone in the other room, then sounds in the kitchen of
breakfast being started. Sunao walked in shortly afterwards.
"Haruka..." she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's... it's good to see
you awake. How do you feel?"
"M-mom? I... I'm so weak... so tired... Am I... am I going to be ok?"
Sunao hugged her tight, fighting back tears. "You will be. You lost
a lot of blood, so you'll definitely feel weak for awhile... but that'll
pass."
"Where are we?"
"A friend's apartment, generously given to us now. I... I had to get
you away... I had to make sure Katai couldn't hurt you again. Your
stuff is here, as much as we could bring. I'm going to enroll you in a
different school..."
"Where?"
"It's called Goban Yobi-ko... a very elite preparatory school, quite
pricey, but I think it'll be good for you. I can't be sending you to
public, not with what's going on. I'll... I'll need to find a new job,
so Katai can't track me... you... you better hide as much about yourself
as you can. Money will be tight for awhile... if you feel up to it, you
could get a part-time job to help out..."
"Mom... go ahead and cry. It's ok."
Sunao covered her face in her hands and Haruka awkwardly held her as
she sobbed.
"I should have seen it sooner... put an end to it! Now look what's
happened!"
"It's not your fault. It's all _his_ fault. Don't blame yourself. It's
going to be ok." Haruka felt a bit silly comforting her mom, but she
understood that it needed to be done. "I'll find some sort of job to help
out, ok? Something that I'll earn a lot in... I don't think it'll be easy
to hide myself too much."
Sunao wiped her eyes and drew back. "Don't reveal any details of your
past, obviously. Keep to yourself. Dress different, act different,
whatever it takes. It will be a bit suspicious... I mean, if he does
try to find us, and sees there's a girl who happens to be named Ten'ou
Haruka at that school..."
Haruka suddenly had an idea.
"No... I don't have to be a _girl_."
Sunao looked at her quizzically. "Haruka-chan, what is _that_ supposed
to mean?"
"You said I have to hide myself, right? Well... it'll be a bit awkward
to do, but... I could just get the boys' uniform and act like a boy,
and no one would be the wiser."
Sunao considered it. "It's not that I mind it, but..." She chuckled a bit.
"Haruka, you have a lot to hide, you realize. Things boys don't have."
Haruka blushed and covered her chest with her arms. "Well... the jackets
are thick..."
"And your face is rather--"
"Could hide with makeup maybe... darken my eyebrows and cut my hair even
shorter or something."
Sunao sighed. "It's a good way to hide... a bit unusual, but it'll work,
I believe... Well, better get back to making breakfast." She turned and
left.
Haruka looked over at her nightstand and saw her blue notebook lying
there. She grabbed it, fearful that someone might have looked through
it. She recorded everything in it, and if someone saw it...
It was untouched, thank goodness. What was it doing out? What was
going on here?
 
 
Haruka had to struggle to get over to the kitchen when breakfast was
ready, refusing her mother's help; she wanted to do it on her own.
Sunao didn't really say anything. She just sat, ate, and sighed. Haruka
noticed her neck was bruised, and she had difficulty swallowing.
Haruka pushed her food around a bit when she'd finished. A meal this
big would have normally been finished quickly to satisfy her nearly
constant hunger, but she felt too tired and strangely didn't want
to eat. She looked down at herself, how thin she'd become, how obviously
female she was, and grimaced a bit.
It was going to take a _lot_ of work to trick people into thinking she
was a guy.
Sunao told her she'd start at the new school in a week and should
try to be ready by then. Haruka nodded and stumbled back into her
room. She grabbed her notebook and started scribbling down notes, then
searched for some colored pencils. Strange, they'd been placed in the
drawer she'd always kept them in... but this was a different dresser.
How would anyone have know where do put them?
Maybe it had something to do with that weird feeling she got all the
time, as if someone was watching her... maybe someone was. Maybe they'd
arranged her things.
She scrawled several notes, scribbling a bit of a picture, of sorts.
She'd never taken drawing seriously, nor writing; she just figured if
she got it down on paper, it was good enough. When she took her time,
she could write quite well, but had never put effort into art.
Hmmm... She really needed to get out and exercise. She was getting
too weak... plus, having some muscle would help if she was going to
fake being a guy. It took Haruka awhile to get dressed and convince
Sunao she'd be okay if she went out on her own for a jog. She wasn't
even sure herself if she could handle it. She had to do it... she
convinced herself of it.
The streets were relatively calm today, which was a surprise. She
took things slow, keeping a steady but careful pace as she headed for
the park... not the one by her old house, but the large park everyone
seemed to go to. Huge lake, trees everywhere... she'd rarely come
here, and was pleasantly surprised. The wind off the lake was
wonderful, quite nice. She circled around the lake, slowing as she
came towards a street leading off somewhere. She felt a bit curious to
see what exactly was out there-- she hadn't gotten out much in the
past few years, after all. She walked at a brisk pace towards...
hmmm, a large stadium, lots of noise coming from it...
She stopped when she reached the chain-link fence, and watched with
wide, excited eyes at the sight.
It was a race track... cars zooming by everywhere, fans cheering
ecstatically... but best of all was the speed... everything was going
so quickly, and she could feel the breeze stirred up by the cars even
from the distance she was at.
Haruka was _definitely_ interested in this.
There had to be a way in somewhere... ahhh, there it was, a garage on
the far side, gone unnoticed by most. A small section of the fence
was loose... perfect. Haruka had to suck in her breath a bit to slip
through, but it was otherwise easy to get in. They should have tighter
security. She sat down on the concrete, so close to the track now. Her
eyes were aglow as she watched the cars zip by. Oh, to be able to go
that fast! Like the wind...
"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!"
Haruka jumped with a start, quickly standing and whirling around to
face the voice. An older man stood there, hair almost entirely gray and
balding, but his blue eyes still sharp. He looked a bit tired, but he was
no doubt quite strong in his day, not to say he was weak now.
"I... I... came to see..." Haruka didn't know what to say. She was in
big trouble now...
"Watch the race, huh?"
Haruka nodded slowly and glanced at the track again. Damnit, she wanted
to be out there!
He seemed amused and leaned against the wall. "Name's Engi, yours?"
"Eh?" Haruka turned, eyebrow lifted quizzically. "Why do you care?"
"Well, you trespassed for one thing... but I might just let you go. I
run this garage here, and you seem pretty interested in the cars. I
could let you help out... but of course, that's up to you, Miss
Anonymous."
Haruka lowered her eyes in embarrassment. "My name's... um, Haruka...
I... sorry, I'm not used to... being around people."
"That's all right. Don't need people skills to work with a machine."
Engi chuckled a bit. "Want to come in and take a peak? Got a couple
cars just waiting to get out on the track... sheesh, look at the
crowd today! It's just a practice, too!... Anyways, a couple guys
gonna be headed out soon, so you could take a look at the cars a
bit before they go."
"Um, sure!"
Engi laughed loudly. "You're a real character, Haruka-chan. I can
see it already. Haven't even been around these babies before, have
you?"
"No... I just was out for a walk and stumbled across the place."
Her eyes gleamed a bit. "I saw how fast they went, and I wanted to
be in one, going that fast, too."
Engi chuckled. "Look out, a girl wanting to race!"
Haruka glared at him. "Something wrong with that?"
Engi winked. "Not at all. I've slipped a couple into the races before.
All it takes is a clever disguise and a few mannerisms, and the
officials never know otherwise."
"Huh?"
He sighed then. "You really don't get out... Women aren't allowed to
race, according to the rules. But I'm not afraid to bend them for
someone who has what it takes to be a good driver. Show me what you
got, prove you can hide what you are, and you just might end up behind
the wheel. Whaddya say?"
Haruka wanted to burst with excitement. "Deal!"
"All right then, let's go show you some of these cars, eh?"
He opened a small door to the garage and lead her in. The air smelled of
gasoline and sweat, the sound of engines roaring and tools at work
deafening. Haruka was overjoyed. Engi lead her around, just letting
her see the cars for now, "Look but don't touch!," pausing to say hi
to the drivers he knew, then took her into his office in the back where
it was quieter.
"Well, what do you think?"
"It's great!"
"I knew you'd say that," he said with a grin. "Today's too busy to
try you out in one, but tomorrow it'll be all clear. Just a few
people out on the track, enough to make it interesting but not
dangerous for a beginner. If we can train you well enough... well,
you might just be in for some races."
Haruka eagerly rubbed her hands together.
"Hey, Engi-san!"
A tall, black haired man was pounding on the doorframe. His fire suit
was slick with grease, and a small trail of blood trickled down the
side of his head. "We could use a hand out here, you know!"
"Be right there, Hayasa-san," Engi replied. "C'mon, Haruka-chan, you
need to see what makes a car run."
Haruka followed, carefully to dodge people running around and tools
tossed from driver to mechanic and back again. She was caught up in
the hectic pace of it all, eager to be a part of it.
Engi stopped in front of a long, shiny red car with sponsor's stickers
plastered all over it. He popped open the hood and looked around
carefully. Hayasa was talking about some stuff she didn't understand,
and she just peered in, wondering what all the parts did.
Something caught her eye, a person moving in the background. She
turned quickly, and was surprised to see a familiar face... she'd only
seen pictures, but...
"Murasaki?!"
The girl whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Her
eyes landed on Haruka, staring in shock. She made her way over quickly
an excited look on her face.
"Haruka?"
Haruka had never actually met her third cousin. Teinei'd briefly
mentioned her, Sunao spoke of her occasionally, but that was it.
"Strange place for a first meeting, isn't it?" Murasaki chuckled.
"Great to finally run into you!"
"Yeah..." Haruka scratched her head, at loss for words. "Ummmm...
so... what are you doing here?"
"Just stopping by for a moment. A friend of mine works on-- Hayasa-
kun! What's wrong with it now?!"
Hayasa grinned up at her. "Brakes out of alignment, almost had a
crash out there the other day!"
"You idiot! You're gonna get yourself killed!"
Hayasa shrugged. "The life of a racer... full of risks. It's worth
it though." He chuckled and went back to work.
"Your friend, I assume?"
Murasaki chuckled. "Yup. He's a nut, but he's a good guy."
"Is he your bo... ah... y'know..."
Murasaki looked a cross between nauseous and exploding with laughter.
"Oh my god, no way!"
It was then that Haruka finally noticed the girl that had been
silently following Murasaki around. It was when she laughed a bit
at Murasaki's comment that Haruka noticed her. She seemed quite...
small; she was short and slender, and had a sort of detached air to her,
like she didn't belong and knew it.
"Oh, uh, Haruka-chan... I should have said something sooner, this is
Kanpeki, my gi-- uh, my good friend."
Haruka's ears had perked a bit, and she felt a bit disappointed when
Murasaki ended up saying "good friend" instead of what she'd thought
she'd say. Haruka had always wanted to meet someone else "like her"
to talk to about it.
Kanpeki rolled her eyes slightly and giggled. "We can tell _her_,
Mura-chan!" She held out her hand to Haruka, eyes twinkling a bit,
and said, "Let's try this again. I'm Kanpeki, and as of yesterday,
I'm her girlfriend."
Haruka was much more pleased to hear that. "Nice to meet you," she
said, shaking her hand. "... as of yesterday?"
Murasaki blushed faintly. "Well, we, uh, didn't really go out until,
uh, yesterday and all..."
"Yeah, and if _someone_ had only had the courage to bring it up sooner,
*ahem*."
Murasaki winked. "You know you were just as nervous as me."
Haruka had zoned a bit during their teasing banter. In her mind, she
was picturing herself with a girlfriend of her own someday, with...
"So, Haruka--" Haruka had to shake her head clear of visions of aqua
and blue, "--what have you been up to?"
"I... um..." Haruka had to think up an excuse, quick. "Well..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, geez, we only know each other through parents and...
let's see, Teinei is my... second cousin? I think..."
"No, it's okay... I was just... I thought the track looked interesting,
wanted to see--"
Engi popped up with a grin. "She wants to drive, that's what!"
"Ah!" Murasaki gave Haruka a knowing wink. "Good luck!"