She pushed a protesting Neko into the bathroom, glad it at least had a window. She waited for the lock to turn before she turned away from the door. Then grabbing a pair of boxers from the top of her laundry and pulling them on, the blonde began to search the room�s contents for something she could use as a weapon. Wishing she had a baseball bat, she grabbed the small wooden chair at her desk, tossing Neko�s clothes that had lain on it onto the desk.
Feeling braver now that she was armed, she braced herself and opened the door, preparing to swing the chair at the burglar.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka had had the hardest time finding the light switch in Tenshi�s apartment. And when she did, it turned out the lamp itself was turned off, so she was forced to grope around in the dark until she found it, practically breaking it in the process. Muttering under her breath about dresses being more trouble than they�re worth she made her way towards Tenshi�s bedroom, surprised when her daughter opened the door and almost hit her with a chair.
�Haruka-papa!� Tenshi managed to stop herself mid-swing, a look of shock, horror, and guilt flooding her face. �Wh- What are you doing here?! Gomen nasai, I thought you were a burglar!�
�Hmph, I wish. Then I wouldn�t be carrying these around.� She offloaded some of the material to Tenshi, glad to lighten the mass. �I suppose we can put them on the bed for now, so you can look at them. Your mother is adamant that you make a decision right away so she can call Pierre-san and let him know what to design. Nine months to go, and she�s already gone wedding crazy! Everything apparently needs to be done right now.�
Tenshi giggled as they laid the dresses and papers on the unmade bed. Haruka looked at her, glad that at least her daughter the bride was being sensible about the whole thing. Then she frowned, noticing how hot and sweaty the girl seemed. �I�m sorry, did I catch you while you were exercising or something?�
�Huh? Oh yeah. I was kinda in the middle of a work out,� Tenshi said. Haruka almost thought her face might have turned a little pinker, but then again, it could have been a trick of the light.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi felt bad for lying to her okaa-san, but she couldn�t tell her that she was here with Neko. Haruka didn�t yet know that they were having sex. Neko�s family knew and had decided that the engaged couple�s business should be left to them, but Tenshi couldn�t see bringing the topic up with her parents that easily. Haruka had a short temper, and the wrong move could have Haruka holding a grudge for a long time. So far Neko and Tenshi had been able to convince her to give them her blessing for each step in their relationship, but who knew how she�d respond to the thought of Neko deflowering her eldest daughter.
Haruka went on to complain about how Michiru had been possessed by Wedding Planner Girl, and how the least Tenshi could do was come by and tell her mama to chill out every once in a while. Tenshi was nodding her agreement, wondering how she could politely get Haruka to leave, when Haruka�s pace led her past Tenshi�s desk.
�You shouldn�t leave your clothes all over your desk,� Haruka teased her, picking up the flower-patterned pink shirt and folding it nicely. For a brief moment, Tenshi was worried that Neko�s bra would fall out, but then she came to the realization that it wasn�t with the clothes at all. Her eyes darted around the room looking for the missing article of clothing as Haruka examined the shirt. �Ano, did you buy this for Neko-chan?�
�Hai,� Tenshi answered, absentmindedly, her eyes finally lighting upon the fuchsia bra. It was right behind her on the floor next to the bed. She practically sighed with relief, realizing it simply looked like something Tenshi herself had discarded while dressing for bed, but as Haruka folded Neko�s denim skirt too, Tenshi suddenly panicked that her mother would be picking up after her throughout the room. Up close, Neko�s bra was clearly not the size that Tenshi wore.
�Well, that�s a relief.� Tenshi slid back a couple steps and discreetly kicked the bra under her bed before Haruka had turned back towards her. �I thought maybe you had completely adopted her style, rather than just favoring your more feminine outfits lately.�
�Nope,� Tenshi said quickly. �That one�s for Koneko, alright.� Tenshi wanted to ask what the hell was wrong with wearing her more feminine outfits, but mostly she just wanted Haruka to leave. �Well, you should go report to Michiru-mama that you made the delivery,� she suggested, beginning to stretch like she wanted to get back to her �work out.�
Haruka groaned, and Tenshi could bet it wasn�t the first time tonight. �She wants some kind of word on what sort of things you like.�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko sat on the edge of Tenshi�s tub, worrying about what was going on outside and why Tenshi hadn�t come back yet. The only good thought she had going for her was that she hadn�t heard any kind of gun shot, but then again there were other weapons that a criminal could be using. Tenshi could be lying out there, unconscious or bleeding to death! And here Neko was, holed up in the bathroom like some idiot who could have saved her but didn�t! She refused to let that happen. She was going to go help Tenshi!
She tiptoed to the door, but before she opened it, she thought she could hear Tenshi talking. In fact, it sounded like only Tenshi was talking, like she was talking to herself. Concentrating on Tenshi�s state of mind and putting her ear to the door, Neko finally figured out what was going on.
��yeah, but this fabric is really soft. I think Puroko and the others would appreciate that.�
�That may be so, but Michiru expects you to have more than just a feel in mind when you let her know what you want. She wants�.�
�Haruka-sama!� Neko gasped under her breath. She clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from yelling out in surprise. Haruka was much more threatening than a burglar! She would rip Neko to pieces if she knew that Neko was having sex with her precious daughter.
Neko instructed herself to calm down. She knew Haruka would not literally rip her to pieces. But she would not be happy if she caught Neko here, half-naked, in Tenshi�s apartment. Neko desperately searched the bathroom, hoping Tenshi�s terrycloth bathrobe was hanging from a towel rack or something. But she clearly remembered seeing the dark green robe hanging in Tenshi�s closet moments before being pushed into her current hiding place, a fact that was disappointing since she was beginning to realize how cold the bathroom was on top of everything else. She shivered and hugged herself for warmth, keeping an ear trained on the door to be ready in case Haruka did anything drastic, like break into the bathroom for some reason.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi had really gotten into this bridesmaid dress thing since she started looking at designs and stuff. Even knowing that Haruka must be bored out of her mind, she couldn�t help exclaiming as she came across one cute design or another.
