Honesty
Haruka pulled the helmet off her head and shook her short blond hair. She raised her arm, the one not holding the helmet, in victory. People rushed her, a few reporters, some fans that got around security, her manager. She smiled her most charming smile for the reporters to get good pictures. She took a couple pictures with the fans and excused herself to go to the locker room. She was so tired, it was a long exhausting race. She was happy but just wanted to get home. She showered and changed into some loose slacks and a button up shirt. She walked out to her car and was surprised to see a young lady leaning against it. "Hi Mr. Tenoh, I waited for you to come out." She sighed, she really did not want to deal with this right now. "That was quite the victory, I thought you weren't going to win but then you just did. It was very exciting." "Thank you, it was a long and hard race, I am rather tired." "Really? I thought you would be fueled with adrenaline and want to celebrate." "No, sorry to disappoint you. I just want to get home and relax." The woman looked determined "I could help you relax, I give a great massage and I have other talents that could be relaxing for you." Haruka rubbed her face and hair she knew this woman would have shown up at the car of whoever won the race that day "That is a very nice offer, but I am going to decline. Enjoy your evening, I have to head home now." She was not moving from the car. "Miss would you mind, I would like to go now." The woman moved from the car but was advancing closer to Haruka. "We could have so much fun together, we could go to my place or yours, a hotel, I don't care, I'm flexible." Haruka moved away making sure not to let the woman touch her. "No, I do not want you to come with me, and I will not be going anywhere with you. If you do not let me leave I will call security." "Whatever, you almost lost anyway." And she stomped away. Haruka sat in her car shaking her head, what a night. She drove home and smiled. She opened the door and a little ball of arms and legs launched itself at her "Papa's home" it yelled as it flew through the air. Haruka hugged the little girl tightly "did you win?" "You didn't watch?" the little girl looked down "I got distracted by a book, sorry papa." "I won. There was one car in front of me but in the last minute I pulled through and zoomed past them." "Wow, you're the best." Hotaru snuggled Haruka as they walked further into the house. "Dinner is almost ready if you are hungry" Michiru said poking her head around the corner of the kitchen. "I'm starving." Haruka responded appreciatively. The family of three sat and ate they talked about the book Hotaru was reading, the race, Michiru's upcoming album and when they thought Setsuna would be coming back. They tucked Hotaru into bed each giving her a kiss. Haruka stood in the shower and Michiru joined her. "Didn't you shower after the race?" "Yes but I want to wash an encounter away" "An enthusiastic fan?" "She was not a fan of mine, just a fan of whoever wins. You know how it goes, rather persistent actually." "Pretty?" "Michi, don't, please. Why can't we just come out? Why can't I just say look I have a family at home, then maybe I would have less of those encounters if they knew I'm not single." Haruka sounded exhausted in a way that had little to do with the race. "You know why. We do not have so much money saved up that we could destroy our careers by telling the world we are together." "I don't care anymore. I'm really tired of all this." "Okay then let's have our managers talk this out, see if they can find a way that will not turn the public against us." "Really?" "Yes, we can try." Michiru said it but Haruka knew she was scared, they had this conversation many times but never did Michiru agree to come out publicly. Haruka knew it could actually be the end of their careers, they would both lose fans over this. She really didn't care anymore.
The room was tense "Why now?" Haruka's manager asked "we have been fine so far, we don't need to put this out in the open." "Because we want to, we want to be able to go out on dates without sneaking around. We don't want to hide our family" Haruka answered. "Haruka you have more to lose over this than she does." The manager continued nodding his head dismissively towards Michiru. "Not only coming out but letting everyone know you are a woman. This could completely end your racing career, they don't want a female driver on the track." " She has been with me longer then you have" Haruka reminded her manager "and a female driver has been on the track winning for years and they supported her, they just didn't know she was female." "That's worse they will feel betrayed, lied to. They will turn on you immediately." "Sir, you knew this situation before you became Haruka's manager, you had to know it would come to this. In all those years you never even tried to make a contingency plan, never once put anything into place in case a reporter got too curious?" Michiru asked politely. "I'm not creative, besides shouldn't you have been making a plan?" "I believe this is what you get paid rather well for. Michiru's manager will be by soon, we can see if she took her responsibilities more seriously than you did." Haruka was annoyed. They sat in silence till Akame knocked at the door "Am I late?" "No, you are a little early even. How was your drive?" Michiru was genuinely happy to see her manager and gave her a warm hug. "Not bad, hit a bit of traffic but you always get that, so I made sure to leave a little early. Hello Mr. Hako I didn't realize this was a joint meeting." "These two have decided to come out" he said annoyed. "Oh, well, that was to be expected don't you think? They can't stay hidden behind these walls forever." She said gesturing to the beautiful house around them. "Sorry Akame, I was going to tell you slightly differently than that, but it seems Mr. Hako wants to get right to the point." Michiru glared at Hako as she said it. "Since we have gotten right to it, do you have anything planned for them to go public?" he asked Akame avoiding looking at Michiru. "Well, yes. But I was working on Michiru's situation, I don't have access to much that would help Haruka. I have been slowly introducing the idea to her fans, subtly though, nothing too obvious. Making donations to gay youth foundations in her name, including advertisements in her programs for equal rights. The art instillation I encouraged with all the portraits of strong women. When she accompanied Elton John on his last tour, it was not just because he was famous but famous and gay and rather loved in Tokyo. If his fans embraced her, it would make things so much smoother. We have been giving little nudges for years, but I think the casualness of it will make the transition easier." Michiru looked so proud of Akame and nodded at her with appreciation. "So what you are saying is that I'm the only problem?" Haruka said her frustration mounting. "I'm sure Mr. Hako has been working on this as well right?" She looked encouragingly at Mr. Hako "Well no, not really. Things were going so smoothly I didn't want to rock the boat as they say." She looked shocked "Okay, so you have not put anything into action yet. That's okay, we can work with this. What sort of plans have you come up with?" "He was just telling us before you came he had no plans. His plan seemed to be for us to live in the shadows when we were not being paraded around and continue paying him large sums of money every month." Haruka said with a touch of anger. "Well now, that's not exactly what I said" Mr. Hako realized his employment was not exactly secure at the moment "I can come up with a plan, I didn't realize you were unhappy with the situation. I thought you liked the anonymity, not being in the tabloids, your lovely family and your daughter's privacy still private." "I have an idea to maybe make us all on the same page. Mr. Hako you are married right?" Akame asked. "Yes, I have a beautiful wife." "How simply, comfortable. I would like to meet you again in a week. During this week please put yourself in Haruka's shoes. Imagine you are a woman who loves your wife. Would you feel confident going out with her? Would it be easy, would you be afraid? Take this seriously, if you do not understand where your client is coming from you cannot very well represent her can you? Also this gives you a little time to come up with a plan"
"Akame is something else isn't she?" Haruka was amazed as she shut the door. "Yes, she is the best out there. I had to go through many managers before I found her, I was described as difficult to work with because of it. But if I had settled for any of those others I would not have found a manager who fights for me." Michiru sounded proud again. "I wish I had done that. Hako does not seem to care and I hate to think we need to put this off even longer because I have a lazy manager." Haruka sounded so disappointed. "Why does this have to be so difficult?" "Because adversity makes us stronger, and we are very strong women. Don't worry if it comes to it we can downsize, live in a smaller home with less expensive tastes. Or you can become a housewife?" Michiru teased. "I don't race for money, don't get me wrong, it's nice and I love our lifestyle, but I race because I love it." "I know" Michiru kissed Haruka.
"How was your week?" Akame asked full of genuine interest. "Awful. I kept thinking people were staring at me. I felt like everyone knew something about me. I wanted to just stay home, but then I felt trapped. My wife was not happy with my attitude so we fought more. It was just a terrible week" "So are we ready to help these two come out then?" Akame smiled full of confidence. "No, in fact it made me realize just how much there was to lose. The truth is I think it would be best for them not to change the way things are or to completely change. To break up and just find nice guys. The racing community would be more likely to accept Haruka as a woman if she had a husband." Akame was shocked "Asking Haruka to just find a husband is as impossible as asking you to find one, it's not an option." "It is an option; she can just live a normal life and not have all those worries. I know I can get the public behind her as a straight woman." Mr. Hako now was full of confidence, it was a good plan "Leave. Now. I want all paperwork that has anything to do with me returned to my lawyer this evening." Haruka was pissed. "Come now, I'm trying to save your career. This is what would be best, you have to know it. This sort of deviancy will not be accepted by the general public." Mr. Hako's anger was rising as well, his plan was so good. "Excuse me sir, you have been asked to leave our home. You have disrespected us and we wish to no longer have you in our lives. I'm sure Haruka will be glad to give you a positive recommendation if we part ways civilly. She is no longer a good client for you since you cannot see eye to eye." Michiru said it in her polite yet firm voice as she stood to escort Mr. Hako out. "Is she really worth your career?" he said pointing at Michiru "Of course she is, isn't your wife?" "You are not married to her, you never will be married to her, you are not committed to her, you owe her nothing. Why would you do this? Why would you throw everything away" "I love her. I love her more than racing, more than this house, more than the world. I will always be with her." Haruka yelled. Mr. Hako stood and yelled back "only until she gets tired of all this and leaves you. Then you will have given everything up for nothing." "The door is this way Mr. Hako" Michiru's voice now had a hint of ice in it.
"I'm really sorry I did not see that going that way. " Akame sat in shock. "I never would have thought he would treat a client that way, it was despicable" "He was not a great manager anyway. Do you think he will create problems? Sneak stories to the press?" "He is a professional, it could destroy his career if he did, I would think that would be enough to prevent him doing anything brash." Haruka had her head in her hands when Michiru returned to the room. "What do we do now?" Michiru sat next to Haruka and held her hands rubbing them gently. "Do you have time for another client Akame?" Haruka looked at Akame a little desperately. "I know I am not ideal, but you know everything about the situation and I know how well you take care of Michiru." "I really specialize in the music industry not racing, I know nothing in that world and I have no contacts. I don't know if I could do a good job" Akame looked down slightly ashamed she could not help. "I have all the contacts, I know the industry, but I need your creativity just to get me out in the open safely. Then I can find another manager that can take over. Can we at least try? I pay well and I trust you." She sounded exhausted; this did not go the way she planned. Michiru put her arm around Haruka's shoulders. "I'll do it, but if you find a manager before we get this all sorted please hire them." Akame was reluctant at agree but would try her best. "Do you want to both come out at once or one at a time?" "I think one at a time would work best. You already put out the groundwork for me so I can come out, then after that settles we can work on Haruka." Michiru suggested. "That was what I was thinking; the gradual process seems to work best. I'll put together a couple ideas tonight, exclusive interviews and programs that sort of stuff." Akame stood up to go to the door "I'll call tomorrow."
Haruka picked Hotaru up from school. The moms all loved to watch this, a young, handsome, doting father going out of his way to pick his daughter up from school, he was their fantasy in flesh. Hotaru ran and jumped into Haruka's arms, "hello princess, how was school?" The moms continued watching, he only had eyes for his little girl, he never spoke to any of them, never even looked their way. Haruka turned and walked to her car chatting with the little girl. That was another thing the moms noticed, his car, no one else had a car as nice as his, he must make really good money. They watched jealously as the two drove away.
The next morning Haruka and Hotaru opened the door to go to the car and Haruka grabbed the little girl quickly and turned back into the house. "Michi, there are a ton of people outside." "What do you mean?" "I mean I think there are reporters outside our house." "I'm calling Akame." Haruka pulled the blinds to the side a little and looked out the window. There were about ten different reporters with cameramen outside. Fear welled up in her as she pulled out her phone " Hako, what did you do?" "I just put out a few calls trying to help you come out since you wanted to so badly yesterday, it is my parting gift." "Hako, you will be hearing from my lawyer. You signed a rather good non disclosure agreement and I am quite sure you will find yourself out of contract." Haruka hung up and dialed her lawyer immediately. "I need help. Hako let something slip to the press and I really hope it is covered in our nondisclosure agreement. Thanks, see you soon. My house is swarmed with media you might want to come through the back." Michiru came into the room. "What's going on? Why aren't we going to school?" Hotaru asked them. "We are going to have a home day today, and we are going to have a couple visitors. Want to watch a cartoon?" Michiru asked as she walked over to the TV. "We never watch TV. What is going on?" Hotaru asked suspicious. "Mama and I have to take care of a few things today and it would be a lot easier to do from home so we are all staying in. Would you prefer to read a book?" Haruka said. Hotaru pulled a book out of her backpack and sat quietly reading. Michiru and Haruka went into the kitchen to talk. "What's going on?" Michiru asked "Hako decided to try and help us out. I called my lawyer he is on his way." Haruka was concerned. "What can your lawyer do? If he already told the press he cannot take it back. Akame is on her way, maybe between the four of us we can salvage this." "I'm sorry Michiru, this is all a mess, maybe we should have just left things as they were." "No, this is the best, one way or the other, we are being honest and honesty should be the best policy right?" there was no conviction in Michirus voice. Haruka knew she was trying to make her feel better, but they were both very worried. The sat quietly staring at tea cups not sure what to say.
The knock came to the back door and they looked to see both Akame and Kiran at the back door. Haruka rushed over to let them in, both had multiple bags hanging on them full of papers and their computers. "Akame this is Kiran my lawyer, Kiran this is Akame, Michiru's manager and mine for the time being". Were you able to avoid the mob?" "This is crazy what on earth happened?" Akame asked a little frazzled. "I made some calls before I headed over, it seems Hako might have forgotten about that contract he signed, he told multiple news agencies you are a lesbian living with your lover Michiru. Outing you as a woman in the process. I can see multiple ways that breaks the contract." "Big deal, it's already out, letting them know he did not have permission to say anything is not going to help." Michiru said frustrated. "Actually it might. We might be able to spin it to focus more on his betrayal. This is not going to be easy, are you two ready for it?" Akame spoke confidently. Michiru looked at Haruka "I'll do whatever I have to so we can be together openly." "Do you mind if I discuss a couple things with Kiran? I want to make sure what I'm thinking will work before I give the idea to you. Why don't you spend some time with Hotaru till we finish? She must be rather concerned." Akame smiled, her confidence filling the room with hope.
"Michiru, Haruka can you both come back in the kitchen." Kiran was smiling now, his head poking around the corner. "Looks like they might have good news." Haruka said hopefully as she scooted Hotaru off her lap to get up. In the kitchen Akame sat at the breakfast nook, papers and computers covering the table, Kiran sat by her side and they looked pleased. "Please sit, I think it would be best. Michiru you said you would do whatever you have to if it means you can be together openly. Correct?" "Absolutely" "Haruka are you willing to do the same?" "Of course I am." "You are both in love and will be with no others?" Haruka and Michiru noded in unison. At this Kiran smiled "Great. We would like for you to do a couple interviews, we will help you practice for them. We want to get your story out, and use this as a plea to legalize gay marriage. We want you to ask the public to help you get married." Haruka and Michiru stared at each other "That sounds nice but it will never work." Michiru said with all the hope evaporating as she said it "do you have any other plans?" "Don't disregard it yet. We have been looking over some statistics and the tides are turning. People are more likely to support homosexuality now than they have ever been before. Plus…" Kiran looked at Akame now a little hesitant to continue and Akame took over "Look this is not ideal, but we think you should move to Canada till things are safer here. It is currently illegal to have a gay relationship here, and there is a loophole you are lesbians you do not perform sodomy which is actually the act that is illegal, I got that correct right?" Akame looked to Kiran for confirmation and he nodded. "But we think it would be best to say you don't want to leave but you do not feel safe staying just in case and would love to come back home as long as you knew there would be no adverse repercussions." Kiran continued nodding his head as Akame continued "If you are asking to be allowed back it puts the ball in their court, their choice. I can keep your careers going in Canada so you would not lose anything you might even come out in a better position. I think you would both be well received and you can get married there, gay marriage is legal in Canada." Haruka stood up paced a little and left the room without a word. "Michiru, I'm so sorry I can try again, come up with something else I just thought this would be the best. I know it was abrupt and taking a rather large life decision out of the private and into the public but I really was trying to help." Akame looked so disappointed. "I thought it was a good plan Akame. We just have to get clever and try again." Kiran was already concentrating as he wracked his brain for another loophole. "It was very clever and might have worked, I'm surprised you could come up with something so impressive in such a short time" Michiru said encouragingly "You are both great, I know we can come up with something, and who knows it might not have worked." "There was always the chance you would have to live in Canada permanently" Kiran said regretfully. Haruka came back to the room, took a deep breath and walked right over to Michiru "This is not how I wanted to do this, I wanted it to be special, natural, in our own time and not forced." Akame quietly pulled out her phone and started recording. "Michiru, I love you to the ends of the universe." She knelt down on one knee looking right into Michiru's eyes and pulled out a small box "I have loved you for so long and wanted to ask you this for years. I feel complete when we are together and I want to be with no other except you. I want to make music with you that only we can make together. I want to be there with you when times get tough, we can fight anything together. I want grow old together. You make me happier than winning any race and I love winning. But for you to be with me I will give up everything just to be with you forever. Michiru will you marry me?" Michiru put her hands to her shocked mouth but never looked away from Haruka's eyes. She nodded and jumped out of the chair to be on the floor with Haruka throwing her arms around the woman's neck and pulling her into a tight hug. "Yes, without hesitation yes. Forever." "Yay, you're getting married." Everyone turned to the door where Hotaru was doing a little victory dance and then she ran over to jump into the outstretched arms of Michiru and Haruka. The three huddled on the floor hugging tightly. Akame finished the recording and put her phone down, she smiled at Kiran thinking this just might work. Akame and Kiran left the room to let the family have a moment together. "That went rather well" Kiran noted. "Yes and if I get permission to release it, that proposal will help a lot." Akame glowed. "I had a feeling she might have had a ring somewhere, she has asked a couple times about the legality of gay marriage. But I also know she does not like to be pushed into anything; I feared she might have dug her heels in." "We have so much work to do." Akame's eyes widened thinking about all that was going to have to be done. "First we have to decide what to do with the press sitting outside; they are going to want something really good for having to wait this long." "Should we talk to them and invite them to interviews on different days?" Kiran suggested "Well I hate to say it but I looked at who was out there and they are not who I would like to be sharing the story. They like controversy, these reporters will not help our cause but cause problems." "Michiru has a new album coming out, maybe I could have her play and we could say it was a publicity stunt? Honestly we have only been here about two hours so they could not have been here for more than 4 or 5 hours. I think we might be able to play it off and buy a little time. I could also change the name of the album to "Coming Out", so it looks like it was a play on words of a sort, that part is feeble I know but it would tie in what they were told." "That is quite a gamble but let's try it, I really hate to intrude on them. Hey Haruka plays piano right? Could we have them play together it could be a coming out as a musician? Have them record a couple song together for the new album?" "Kiran, that is genius." Akame exclaimed excitedly "I'm going to invite a couple more TV stations. When they arrive the others will get excited thinking something is about to happen and I would like some more reputable stations here covering this. Let's break the idea to them and get started."
It required a lot of moving furniture but they got the piano out into the backyard. Akame and Kiran decorating the backyard a little, though it was nice enough it really didn't need much. Haruka put on a tux and Michiru picked a dress she often wore at concerts. They could hear the news reporters in the front getting excited as more news vans arrived. "Are you ready?" Akame asked, the two poised over their instruments they nodded and started to play. Akame went to the side gate and opened it letting the interested news crews in. They all crowded around but not too close so they could each get a good shot. Haruka concentrated hard as she played, she needed this to sound like it was planned, it was a song they played together many times but it was never important before to get it perfect. Michiru fell into her violin moving and swaying, the ecstasy of the proposal still fresh, she played with a passion she rarely felt playing the violin anymore. No one spoke they just recorded and watched in awe. It was a mini concert, they played a total of three songs. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I have long had a passion for music so today I come out as a Pianist. I appreciate the lovely Mrs. Kiaho for agreeing to let me play with her on her new album and agreeing to title it to commemorate this new aspect of my career. We have been friends for many years and she has always encouraged me to play publicly, but I was not sure how my racing fans would take this detour. I hope they enjoy the music I made for them. If you liked what you heard, I encourage you to buy the album titled "Coming Out" on October 14th." Haruka and Michiru waved and went into the house. Akame took over instructing the press what would happen next, scheduling many interviews and laughing a little as she apologized for the little publicity stunt and confusion Mr. Hako had created by forgetting to give the time the event would start and getting the information incorrect. She handled them professionally and perfectly, each left feeling satisfied with what they had. She made sure they were all packed and gone before going into the house. Haruka and Michiru had already changed back into day clothes "That worked, we have some more time now. But that means we have to re-record the whole album. God what a day. I need to start organizing, talking to the record company, they are going to give me a hard time for this. We will release the other album later." Akame looked exhausted. "Want to stay in the guest room tonight?" Michiru offered. Akame thought about it weighing the pros and cons. "If you really don't mind, yes. This way we can watch what each station shows and put out any fires that might arise. And start planning that album." "I don't think you are going to need me anymore are you?" Kiran asked. "I think this will be my department, but if you could start on phase two. Working on the marriage and what would be the best wording for interviews and what needs to be done to move to Canada. I think that will be quite enough to work on." "The more I have prepared early the better. We don't know when we are going to have to put that into action. So yes, I will start now. I would like this all to happen no sooner than 4 months, after the album is out and things have settled a bit. We should probably put the piano back, you don't want it damaged" Akame started her many calls as the others moved the piano.
The news ran on every screen in the house. The results were good, many calling the stunt clever and well thought out and encouraging their viewers to buy the album when it comes out. The reporters that were there gushed about how beautiful the music was and how surprising it was for Haruka to play so well. The last station played its piece and Haruka, Michiru and Akame all sighed a deep sigh of relief, they pulled it off. "I can't keep going, I'm mentally and physically exhausted and you all must be as well. I'm calling it a night." Akame headed to the guest room a little slower than she normally walked and not as tall.
"We need you to address being a woman" Akame said. "While you are promoting the album during interviews. We need that out in the open." "Are you sure?" Haruka asked apprehensively. "Yes the album is "Coming Out", this can also be your way to let your fans know you are a woman. I think we will put something on the album so it is not one station getting the information first. The CD jacket would be the perfect place." "If this goes badly then it could be the end." "Yes I expect you to lose about half of your fans." "Are you kidding me that is going to destroy me" "No, it won't, plus you will get more fans from Michiru. If I have evaluated this correctly you should come out with more fans than before, even with losing some." Haruka looked at Michiru "this was a bad idea; I should not have pushed for this. This is going to end badly." "Haruka, the album is good, people are excited for it. I think it will be okay. You have not lost any support at your races yet. Give them some credit, you are an able driver and they love to watch you race. It will not end. Let's trust Akame okay?" "Hey now, no pressure, it's not a sure thing but I really believe it will be fine." Akame defended.
"Haruka, what a surprise, you're a woman." The female reporter exclaimed positively. "Yes, always have been. I have always found pants and shirts much more functional and comfortable than dresses. Have you ever tried to ride a motorcycle with a dress on, it's not a great idea." "That is true but to mislead your fans like that, the betrayal they feel must be deep. How could you continue to lie to them?" "Ah, well I never did, did I? I never gave interviews before; I just never corrected any articles about me that referred to me as him or he. And that could be considered a lie by omission, I know that. But the longer it went the more I feared I would lose fans simply because I was female and I did not want to give up racing, it was a lot easier to let people think I was a guy, I was encouraged by my manager to continue that way. I now have a new manager that believes honesty is the best policy and I have to agree. I am glad I can show my fans who I am without have to avoid certain questions, I am glad I get to be honest with them." Haruka smiled at the camera. "So this album "Coming Out" is amazing, tell me all about it" "It started a while ago, I have been playing the piano since I was a child. It is a great way to relax and there are songs that remind me of racing, check out track 5, it is so fast and action packed it will get your heart racing. I went to high school with Michiru and we became quick friends." "Yes we have a picture of the two of you, look how young you were, and already wearing men's clothes." "I was already racing in this picture; I was an up and comer, a young new hot shot, taking risks more experience drivers knew better than to take. I participated in any race I could F1, motorbike, running. If you had to go fast, I was doing it." "Sounds dangerous." "It is, don't get me wrong I had a couple close calls but I'm really at home on the track. As my racing career picked up I kept in touch with Michiru. She had been impressed with how well I played piano since we had played a couple duets together in high school and she frequently asked if I would record an album with her. I always told her I was focusing on racing and did not want to work on music. But recently I felt the music and I really wanted to share it. This album came about because of my new manager encouraging me to "Come Out" and be myself; female and musically inclined. She told me my previous managers meant well, but probably did more damage than help by keeping who I was a secret. I would have still had fans if they knew I was female all along and never had the guilt of feeling like I was lying to them." "That is quite a story. I have listened to the album about five times now and love it. I hope the album does well and thank you for your courage of being honest to your fans. It must have been very scary." "Probably the scariest thing I have ever done, I love my fans and do not want to lose them. I hope they love me for who I am, not who they thought I was." "I do believe Miss Kaioh is here to play a song with you." "Yes" "I can't wait to watch after the break."
"Can I never do another interview again?" Haruka whined as they sat on the couch, it had been three weeks non-stop since the album came out, multiple interviews a day, she had never experience this before. Michiru held her hand and replied "Oh sweetie, this is normal, I do this for every album that I make. But that was the last scheduled interview" "The way you say that makes it seem like it's not over." "It's not. Things pop up and the album is selling so well we might have interviews to discuss that. It really worked out better than we could have planned. I guess the big test comes next week. You have a race, first one since the album came out, first time with your fellow racers, with your fans. How do you feel?" "Like it cannot happen soon enough. The waiting is the hard part. I just want to get back out on the track and prove I'm still me and I'm still a good racer." "Don't be reckless, I want you back in one piece, we can't get married if you are dead. You will probably be asked to do some interviews after the race as well, they will want to know how it went"
"Tenoh, why didn't you tell us you were a girl?" "You would have treated me different, like you are now. I know you wanted to call me an ass, but now you don't want to cuss in front of me. Get over it, I'm the same person I was a month ago, the same person you were following all over the track." "I don't like it, I don't like that you lied to us." "I didn't like it either, Hako encouraged it, said I would no longer have a career, could no longer race if people knew. And let's face it I'm the best racer here, so I had to stay to push you guys." "You're really cocky for someone with no cock." "That's better" Haruka smiled. "Now let's race, I'll see you when you finally cross the finish line." It was a good race but Haruka knew she was going to have to find out who the new guy in 56 was, it seemed like they were trying to shove Haruka off the track a couple times and that made things more difficult. She barely won, but she knew she needed to, to prove she still belonged there. It really was a hard race, it felt like everyone was trying extra hard to beat the girl to the finish line. Was this how it was going to be for the rest of her career, having to work harder and harder each race? There was a group of racers gathered around 56 when Haruka looked up and lots of yelling. "What the hell was that?" Haruka made her way over and the racers were all yelling at the young man that had just gotten out of his car "That was stupid, dangerous are you trying to kill someone?" yelled several of the veteran racers. The young man was angry, Haruka was not sure if it was because he placed so badly or if it was because he was getting yelled at by so many people. "If you don't know how to drive stay off the track". The youth finally tried to defended himself "I know how to drive, that stupid woman needs to learn how to drive." "Tenoh is a great driver, she maneuvered around your stupid ass trying to run her off the track and still managed to win" "You let her win, just because she is a girl." "No, that is not even close to true. Look at the times. That is the best I have ever gotten to the finish and I think the same is true for most of us here." Many heads nodded and others grunted their agreements. "She pushed us faster than we have ever been, none of us wanted to lose." The young man pushed his way through the crowd and inadvertently ended up in front of Haruka. "You don't belong here, go play a piano. Can't even fight her own fights" he said as he pushed past. "When do you want to fight? I know a great gym. I'll take you any time you want, but I don't street brawl." She yelled after him and he turned back. "Now, let's go now." "Fine it's a stupid time since we both just finished a race but if you want to, I'll do it now."
They met at the gym and every racer she knew was there to watch. Oh god I had better win this thing. They got into the ring and started and the young man; she really should have found out the young punks name before she tried to knock him out, was tired but full of anger. He swung his fists with all the power he had. Haruka dodged easily and occasionally gave a well placed punch. She was not angry and could easily focus and he was all over the place. Haruka won without a doubt pinning him to the ground with his arm twisted behind his back and Haruka leaning her knee into his back. "Damn Tenoh, I didn't know you could fight." The racers were patting her on the back "Let's go celebrate, want to go to the bar?" "Tenoh, never joins us at the bar." Haruka smiled "your right, I think I just want to go home guys." "No, I would really like to talk, not fighting, not drinking. But I feel like we need to talk." Haruka ran her hand through her hair "fine, where do you want to go?" "There is a diner around the corner, we can walk there it is so close." "okay, I'll meet you there. I have to do something first." She walked outside and called Michiru "Hey… Thanks, I'm glad you watched… Um, I'm going to be late tonight… I know but I think this is important, the guys want to talk… If I don't, I think it will not go well… I'll call you when I'm on my way home… I love you too, kiss Hotaru for me." Haruka hung up. "Who was that?" Haruka spun around filling with dread and saw Haru "I thought we were going to meet at the diner?" "I got out a little later than the others, who was that?" "A friend." "A friend you love? A friend you ask to kiss someone?" "Yes" Haruka said, not knowing what else to say. "Haruka, what else are you hiding? And why? Most of us are married why would you be embarrassed to be in a relationship?" A look of dawning went over Haru's face as he chose his words "Is it a woman?" Haruka swallowed hard, Haru had just defended her for being a female racer less than an hour ago. Would he still defend her with this new information? She needed to answer but braced herself in case it went badly "Yes". "Holy hell Tenoh. Do we know anything about you? Fuck, it feels like everything about you is a lie." "What would you have me do? What would you have done? You saw what happened today, someone tried to run me off the track. You know how people feel about lesbians. Keeping to myself was the only way to be safe." Haruka was desperate. Haru looked at her "I don't know, are you going to tell the others?" "You choose, you tell me what I should do. Do you think it will be okay? I put my life and my happiness in your hands. You tell me, I'm so tired. Living like this everyday wears me out. You tell me what to do so I am not hated." Haru looked at her finally understanding how complicated it all was. "Let's go, if we don't show up they are going to be impossible to deal with." Haru started to walk towards the diner.
"Hey you two what took so long?" " Decide to make a move now that she's a woman?" Haruka sighed a frustrated sigh "Guys I don't want to be here all night. How about we just talk about what you want to. Your families want to see you." "Okay why did you keep all this a secret, who cares if you play the piano?" "That is complicated, mostly it was an excuse to let the public know I'm female." Okay why did you keep that a secret?" "When I walked in just now, you already started making fun of me being female, joking about making a move on me, I enjoyed avoiding all that. I just wanted to be one of the guys and I was and now I feel like things changed to what I always feared they would be. I was right to keep it a secret." There were guilty murmurs throughout the group. "I guess that explains why you never took home any of those ladies trying to hook up with you after a race, you being a lady and all." Haruka looked at Haru asking again what she should do, Haru had no idea. "Right this is why he, sorry, she never dates. Must be complicated when the world thinks you're a bloke." "Very complicated" Haruka responded. "How complicated?" the question was asked with a hint of knowing. Haruka put her head in her hands "look guys it's not easy being me. I'm sorry about that. You are all so lucky having these normal, straight forward, uncomplicated lives. I envy you more than you know." "So are you going to tell us everything, are you going to be honest with us or are you going to shock us with another little secret in a month or two?" The question just wanted confirmation of a suspicion but it left no loopholes, no way around. "I ask you as professionals to please not let this out to the public." Haruka looked around at the empty diner "I have a girlfriend; we have been together a long time. We have an adopted daughter. I never hooked up with any of those other women because I had someone at home that I loved and that I wanted to get back to as soon as I could. I am completely faithful to her." She said it out loud, fear fell over her face. She had said it. "You have a kid and we never knew" "Is it Kaiho Michiru?" Haruka's heart was racing it was one thing to out herself, it was another completely to out Michiru. "I mean the way you two play music together, occasionally it is indecent." "What do you mean?" Haruka asked shocked. "You may as well be making love right in front of us, it is so intimate I blushed watching one of your interviews" The man answered. Haruka blushed in response. "Yes it is Michiru and you are right, we do plan on putting everything out into the open soon. I would love to have your support, and I probably don't deserve it. But please put yourself in my shoes, what would you have done?" Haruka asked. Haru spoke up "Probably the same thing you did, hide as much as I could, avoid answering any questions, keep to myself mostly." "I don't really want anything to change, just to be able to be honest from now on. I want to keep kicking your butts on the track, I want to give you a hard time and I don't want you to hold back giving me one. But if tonight taught you anything, just know if you take it too far I can beat you up in the ring as well." Haruka smiled, she really hoped this would not mess everything up. "If you are all done prying into my private life can I please go home?" "I would want to get home too, if Kaioh Michiru was there waiting for me" one of the guys said with a hint of jealousy. "Go home, spend time with your wives and be glad your relationship is not as complicated as mine. See you in a week." "Tenoh, start bringing the family to the tracks okay. We have a lot of lost time to make up, you spoil my kids something fierce, I have years of payback." "Yeah" others agreed. Haruka grabbed her stuff and headed out, she needed to tell Michiru right away, and probably Akame as well. "My wife was so shocked when she found out Tenoh was female, she really had a thing for her. I laughed so hard when I found out." Haruka overheard as she walked out. She smiled, she had a good feeling, this had been the right thing to do.
Akame was at the house when Haruka arrived, she interrogated her about every aspect of the evening. How people responded, she got names of everyone that was there and promised to check into the driver of 56. She thanked Haruka for not getting into a fight right there on the track but at least moving it to the gym and agreed that it was not ideal to have told them about Michiru but it would have been worse to lie or avoid the question. Akame sat thinking how this would fit into their plan. She made notes on responses to any scenarios she could think of. "We know many of them were supportive and that is great but there is a possibility some of them were not. I have a couple ideas but we won't know what we have to respond to till it happens. I hope you don't mind the interrogation, but I needed every detail." "No worries, I'm glad to have someone so dedicated helping us" Haruka responded gratefully. Akame got up to leave "I need to think about Michiru and Hotaru going to the track next week. I don't know if it is the best idea yet. Oh and Haruka I have some interviews lined up for tomorrow, my phone was ringing off the hook after the race, everyone wants to talk to you. That was quite impressive."
It had been years since Michiru went with Haruka to the track. They had decided it would look odd if she was there too often, so she just stopped going. Michiru got out of the car and held Hotaru's hand Haruka lead them to the track, they could visit a little before the race. Haru walked over "You came, glad you could make it." "Michiru, Hotaru this is Haru. Haru this is my girlfriend Michiru and my daughter Hotaru." Haruka made the introductions with a mix of happiness and fear. "Everyone is going to be so excited to meet you two. It's all we have been talking about this morning." Michiru raised her eyebrows "Really? Whatever for?" Haru looked a little red "Taking bets. Mostly people are betting you are not really Tenoh's girlfriend, others that you would not come. Silly stuff like that." Haruka looked at Haru with daggers in her eyes. "Come this way, all the families are here, well the ones that came. Apparently some of the wives and kids don't enjoy the races." Haru said conversationally. They were bombarded by the group the moment they walked up "How did you get a girl like her? She's much too good for you" "Tenoh, you rarely visit this area anymore, we missed you." "Their daughter is adorable." They mingled and got to know a few people, it was very pleasant. Many of the racers gave Hotaru little gifts like miniatures of their cars and let her know they were the best racer there. Hotaru played with the other kids with the new toys. Michiru noticed a woman in the corner with her kids not visiting with the rest of the group, the kids very much unhappy not being able to play with the others. One out of this whole group, it's not bad, much better than we could have hoped really she thought. "Ms. Kaioh is it true you will be playing violin today before the race?" The man next to her asked. "Yes our manager thought promoting the album would be the best explanation for me being here. You might know the truth but we are not ready yet for the whole world to know." Michiru said with a smile but her eyes showed disappointment. "Actually, I should go prepare for that. I need to change and check the stage." She went to Haruka and whispered in her ear "time to get ready" they got Hotaru and left the chatting group.
Akame was already at the stage checking that everything was ready for them. "You two go change I'll keep Hotaru with me." It did not take too long to get ready Michiru in a nice dress and Haruka in her racing gear. "I really feel ridiculous playing piano in this, it is hard to move." "I know but you won't have a bunch of time before the race to change again. Plus it is supposed to make your fans more at ease knowing you are not changing completely." They walked towards the stage, it was not an elaborate stage but it worked. They waited to be introduced, and waved as they walked up. Haruka decided on track 5, the fast paced and energetic one, she hoped it would excite the crowed, it did. Haruka left to get ready to actually race and Michiru played two more upbeat songs, ones that would be on her next album. The crowd applauded enthusiastically, it had gone over well. Michiru joined Akame and Hotaru and found their seats. She was going to change but did not want to miss the start. Haruka was not in the lead she stayed about fifth. She did not want to push too hard to start, she would give it her all in the end and she knew that's what the others were doing as well. It was a good race, just like old times no one trying to run her off the track. She focused on the track nothing else mattered at the moment, she kept track of the other cars their speed their movements trying to be aware of everything around her. It was time to go for it, she accelerated and calculated every minute movement, every millisecond counted. She won.
Life felt normal, things were okay. "It feels like a calm before a storm" Michiru said her head resting on Haruka's chest. "That's because we are only half way out of the woods." Haruka mused and kissed Michiru on the head. "When do you think the whole "phase two" will be starting" Michiru asked. "I don't know I really don't want to leave Tokyo but if it has to be, it has to be. We should really get a meeting planned with Akame and Kiran." "Not today, we do not have anything planned for today. Let's just stay home and relax." "What do you want to do?" "Bake? We have not baked in a while." "sounds like too much effort, how about we just stay in bed till it is time to pick Hotaru up?" Haruka suggested. "Hmm. Just stay in bed, that sounds rather boring, what will you do to entertain me?" Michiru asked with a fake innocence.
Haruka was happy as she drove to get Hotaru from school. It had been a very nice day at home. She parked and walked near the gate the kids would be at soon. The whispers had changed since the album had come out. She never let them know she could hear everything they said she focused just beyond the gate waiting to Hotaru's little head bounce up the entrance. "I can't believe she is a woman I would have bet anything she was a man" "Look at the way she acts though, she acts like a man and dresses like one, what else were we supposed to think?" Some of the women had been angry and other just embarrassed. "I won't let my daughter be around Hotaru anymore, I don't want her mixed up in all that confusion." That was the only thing that could have ever been said that would make Haruka talk to those women. She turned her head and walked over she turned up her charm to ten "Ladies, I do not mind you talking about me, you can think whatever you like about me, but never do anything to hurt my daughter. I had wondered why she had been so down and now I see you are telling her friends they can no longer play with her. That is rather immature don't you think, to punish a child for what you think of their parents. You do not know me or anything about me and yet you all have had so many opinions of me since my daughter started going to this school. I would ask you to please let things go back to the way they were before, but maybe without all fawning over me and my car" she winked at them, the ladies all looked shocked. "I didn't know you could hear us" one of the ladies stammered "Well I could. Can I trust that my daughter will come home happier tomorrow?" the group nodded and murmured in agreement "Thank you very much, this has been a hard enough time for Hotaru without her friends abandoning her." Haruka looked at the gate the kids had started to come out. "Have a wonderful day." She walked over to Hotaru and picked her up hugging as they walked to the car. Quieter than normal one of the ladies spoke "I have never wished a woman was a man in my life, but that's not true now." Some of the others giggled and some were scandalized.
"Well that explains a lot." Michiru said "what do we do?" "Nothing, I think it will be fine tomorrow." Haruka said confidently. "Not tomorrow but if we come out, it will be even worse for her." Michiru said with dread. "Mama what's wrong?" Hotaru asked when she walked into the room "Just having a hard time with some adult stuff" Michiru said as she patted the spot on the couch next to her. "Is it because you are both girls?" Haruka looked at her curious "why would you ask that?" "some of the teachers were talking about you, they stopped when they saw me. But they said you were both on all my paperwork together and how" she stopped for a moment concentrating to remember the word "Scandalous it was to have two women raise a child?" Michiru's eyebrows shot up as she looked at Haruka. "That word is new to me what is scandalous?" "Um, I guess the best definition would be publicly embarrassing?" Haruka said looking to Michiru for confirmation. "Yes, that would be a good way to define it. Some people don't like two women together." "Why?" "Because it is not the way most people live. This is a very grown up discussion. It is very hard because so many people feel very strongly about it." Michiru had pulled Hotaru closer to her and stroked her hair. "I don't understand why it matters to other people, who lives together" "You know what, I don't understand it either." Haruka said honestly "but things might get a little, uncomfortable, from here on out. We are going to try to get married." "I know it is very exciting, all my friend's parents are married already." Hotaru said her eyes bright. "Well some people might not like it, so they might say and do not nice things and we might move away for a while till things are nicer here" "I will go with you right?" Hotaru said a little worried. "Of course, we would never leave our little princess." Michiru said hugging her. "That's okay then. As long as we are together."
"This is it, are you ready?" "No" Michiru had fear all over her face, Akame took her hands "breath Michiru, just breath." She looked at Haruka for support but saw the same fear on her face. "we have been over this, you cannot come out without coming out. You have to do it. We have the press conference all ready, all you have to do is go out there and remember what Kiran told you. You can do this. I will be right there with you and so will Kiran." "I can't. I really can't" Michiru was starting to cry. Haruka stood next to her and put her arm around her but it was weak. "I think we need to cancel" Haruka said "Haruka, turning down a challenge. I never thought I would see the day" Haru walked into the room. Haruka looked up fear covering her "Shut it, you have no idea what this feels like." "You are right, but I know it took a lot more courage to tell your friends that you work with and see on a regular basis than this group of unknown people that really don't matter. Get out there and stop giving this lady a hard time, I'm sure she has been losing lots of sleep over this, just get it over with." Haru said. Michiru looked at Haruka, no more tears in her eyes and nodded. "not just yet, you need a touch up." Akame pulled out some make up trying to cover the damage the tears did. "Now let's go." She led them out to the table with four chairs, Kiran was already sitting, all the press looking towards them. They were both wearing smiles, a façade of confidence covering how they felt inside. "Welcome, thank you for your patience. We have a statement and will have time for a couple questions after, when we are out of time we will leave, we have quite a tight schedule today. Sorry for the abruptness of when we might leave, we may not get to all your questions." Akame said before she took her seat to join the others. Michiru looked at the paper in front of her, unsure if she would be able to find her voice to read it. Haruka tapped her foot under the table and nodded her head to the front row of reporters. Instead of reports though she saw a few of the racers, Haku had rejoined them. They each smiled encouragingly, Michiru smiled back grateful. As she spoke her gaze would return to them and her confidence would be renewed. This was mirrored by Haruka when she spoke, having people there who knew and supported them gave them the courage to continue. Akame carefully chose the reporters to ask questions. "This is going to be quite a shock for your fans, do you think they will still support you? "I hope that my fans have loved me for all these years because they love the music that I play, I put my heart and soul into my music giving them each of piece of me. I have amazing fans and would hate to lose even one of them." Michiru said with a smile and looked at Haruka next to answer "I know my fans have had many shocks this year. I think this past year has almost been like a race, it was steady at first, very smooth but then like a driver trying to overcome me my manager sent confidential information to the press, and smoothly we pulled around and left him in the dust. It gave us new obstacles, we released an amazing album like passing another racer, and I let the world know more about me, that I am a woman; I struggled to pass that particular driver. At the time thinking I would never get past them, but I did. This last racer is giving me a race like I have never had before. And I need my fans more than ever to help me overcome this car because if I lose this race I do not get to go back on the track and race again. Canada sounds like a lovely place but my heart is here in Japan with my fans. I want to keep racing here, please help me do that." There was applause and a couple whoops from the group of racers in the front, Haruka smiled at them, fully appreciating what they were doing for her. The reporters seemed shocked at such a display of support, Akame just smiled. "Are there any other surprises we should expect?" "No, well one, but we planned to address it today. As mentioned we have been together for many years we did not mention we have been raising and adopted daughter. She is a wonderful little girl and I would hope you would all let a small child keep her privacy." Michiru said hoping it would deter any more questions about her. Akame stood up "Thank you for your time and your questions. Michiru and Haruka need to leave now, they have a flight to Canada. We hope it will be a short trip. Kiran will be here to close out this conference and will let you know how you can help."