Bad Dreams.
Summary: Haruka has a bad dream that gets her worried. She seeks comfort from Mamoru, and in an unexpected way.
Rating: T, for some swearing.
A/N: Well, here it is! My first UDDUP fan fiction that doesn't involve any OC's, crossovers or plot tweaking whatsoever! Do enjoy it! ;D
Haruka Toyama awoke with a start at nine AM on December 31st. Panting and drenched in a cold sweat, she sat bolt upright in bed, clutching the pink sheets to her chest. What a horrid dream she had just had. At least, she hoped to whatever higher power there may be that it was just your average bad dream, and not something more sinister. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was something more to the dream, but she had learned over this past year that just because she saw it, that didn't mean it was real. She had been doing fairly well with not getting herself worked up over every little thing she saw in her sleep over the past few months. That dream though, something about it unnerved her.
Sighing and shaking the thoughts from her head, Haruka swung her legs over the side of her bed. She sat there for a while, thinking. Maybe she should mention something to Mamoru-san, just in case?
No…she was just over reacting, now. "Until Death Do Us Part". They had a made a promise, and Mamoru wasn't about to let something like that happen to her, she knew that.
Deciding that it just came down to what she had the most faith in, her precognitive abilities or Mamoru, Haruka stood up and got out of bed. She reflexively walked over to her dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. She wasn't paying attention to her actions, her body was just doing what it did every morning. Her mind was otherwise engaged.
Exiting her room, the dazed Haruka made her way down to the bathroom, not even noticing as she walked by Mamoru, who asked her what was for breakfast. Mamoru stopped walking, staring after her shape as she opened the bathroom door and walked in.
"What the hell is her problem?" He asked aloud, sounding a bit childish. Frowning, he made his way downstairs. Perplexed by Haruka's odd behavior Mamoru stopped at Igawa's workstation, intending to ask the technician if something might be bothering his charge.
Mamoru's frustration grew more upon finding that Igawa was either still sleeping, or not at home. Although where he could be at nine thirty AM on New Year's Eve Day was a total mystery to the swordsman…
Haruka was absentmindedly scrubbing shampoo through her hair when she realized that the warmth running down her face wasn't entirely from the shower. She whimpered, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. She sniffed, trying her best to get a reign on her emotions and calm down before she had to go face Mamoru-san. He didn't like it when she was upset, mainly because he didn't know how to calm her down, so she tried to hide her bad days and moments from him.
She had just about calmed down when her eyes started watering again. "Oh no…" She mumbled, wiping at her eyes more. It was then that she figured out why her eyes were watering again, she wasn't crying…she'd just accidentally rubbed a bunch of shampoo into her eyes. "…Oh…yeah, that's gonna hurt later."
Haruka sighed, trying to rinse her eyes out as best as she could. Despite herself, she ended up bursting into a fit of laughter at how spacey she was being this morning. She'd really have to be careful when she went to make breakfast, so as to not burn the house down. At that thought, it made her laughter increase as she imagined how the situation would end up, with everyone standing outside of the house staring at the burning building. She could just picture Mamoru now, standing there with his arms crossed. "Well god damn, I could have done this myself." He'd probably say.
Feeling a bit better, Haruka's laughter gradually died down as she went about washing herself off and freshening up and preparing to start the day. She finished her shower, dried off with a towel and made to put on her clean clothes. She frowned, digging through the pile for her clean underwear. "Oh no!" She exclaimed, picking up her things and wrapping up in a towel. "I must've dropped them and not noticed!" She flung open the bathroom door, hell-bent on finding them before Mamoru did.
Too late.
"Looking for these?" Mamoru asked, leaning on the outer doorframe of the bathroom and holding her bra and panties up at eye level.
Haruka's face went beet red. "M-maybe." She stuttered, reaching for them.
"Oh, really?" Mamoru held them up out of her reach.
"Wha? Hey!" Haruka exclaimed, trying to extend her reach. "Give me!"
Mamoru cracked a grin, backing away from her. "Give you what?" he questioned, still holding her underwear out of her reach. "Speak, girl! Speak!"
Haruka's face was about as red as one's face can get without having your head explode, at this point. She followed Mamoru down the hallway. "Give me back my underwear!" She cried.
"Fine." Mamoru said, obviously bored now. He tossed the garments to her. "Next time, you won't leave them on the floor, will you?"
"It wasn't on purpose!" Haruka snapped, walking past him to her room.
Mamoru held his hands up, stopping at the top of the stairs. "Fine, fine." He said as Haruka opened the door to her bedroom. "Just one question."
The pre-cog turned, looking at him. "What?"
"Is the bra really necessary?"
The doors to the main floor opened and Dai rolled in on his motorcycle. He frowned, noticing an odd sound. Turning his head, he yelped, reversing his bike as Mamoru came plummeting down the stairs. The swordsman slid all the way across the room until his path was blocked by the Astro. Dai blinked a few times, pulling his helmet off. "I thought I was s'possed ta be attackin' you, not the other way around?" he asked, leaning back on his motorcycle.
Mamoru growled, jumping up and storming across the room. He stopped at the foot of the stairs. "You do that again and your little ungrateful ass can fight the damn terrorists on your own!" He yelled.
There were a few thuds and then Haruka's door was flung open. "The same goes for you, you freaky underwear sniffer!" She yelled back. "You're not the only blind swordsman on this planet, I can go find another one just as easily as I found you!"
Mamoru paused in coming up with his retort, a bit shocked by Haruka's response. Dai raised an eyebrow, getting off his bike. "Ya know, dude…you always have creeped me out a bit, but I never took ya fer a pedophile." He said, taking a wide berth around Mamoru as he made his way upstairs.
Mamoru made a noise in his throat, turning from the stairs and walking to the kitchen. "After all I've done for that child and this is the way I get treated." He muttered to himself, opening the fridge and picking out a water bottle. "Ungrateful little shit." He uncapped the water bottle and took a big swig. He gagged, spitting the contents of the bottle back out, spraying it all over the kitchen. "Okay, who the fuck put vinegar in with the water bottles!?" He yelled.
Dai paused in the doorway of the kitchen, he had come back down to get something to eat. "Does this count as an attack?" He asked, cocking his head slightly.
Mamoru growled, throwing the vinegar bottle away and advancing on Dai. Dai's eyes widened and he took off running from the kitchen, Mamoru in hot pursuit. Haruka was walking down the stairs as Dai came running up them two at a time. Slowing down to avoid plowing into Haruka, Dai was tackled by Mamoru who stood up and began dragging him back down the stairs. Haruka blinked a few times, before continuing on her journey to the kitchen.
"So, what do you want for breakfast?" She asked casually as Mamoru started beating the shit out of Dai.
"I dunno." Mamoru replied, ignoring Dai's plea's for mercy. "How about…fried cat?"
Dai paused in his screaming to glare up at Mamoru. "Ya wouldn't dare." He challenged.
Mamoru smirked. "Wouldn't I?"
Haruka watched as the two stared at each other for a moment before they both took off in a flurry to find Dai's pet cat. "Mamoru-saaan!" She whined. "Please don't kill the kitty!"
"Who said anything about killing?" Mamoru's voice called from some other confine of the house. "I said we're gonna fry it!"
Haruka sighed, slapping herself in the forehead. "I think I liked him better when he was constantly bitching about the Holidays…" She muttered to herself as she walked to the kitchen.
Ah yes, grumpy Mamoru. Where on earth had he disappeared to? Well, At the start of the month, Haruka had begun to get all excited about the upcoming Christmas, and was going so far as to buy decorations and a tree. She was constantly being cheery, playing Christmas music at full blast at odd hours of the morning and going to extreme lengths to bake, clean, and cater to everyone in the household. Apparently, it was driving Mamoru nuts to see everyone being…nice.
Nice, you say? What on earth was wrong with these people!?
Eventually, Mamoru's cynical mood started wearing off on Haruka, and in effect it pissed off most everyone else in the house. After getting cornered by Igawa, Dai, and Sierra and getting a tongue lashing from the three of them, Mamoru had put forth some effort to put away the buckets and not toss rain on Haruka's Christmas Parade.
Whether or not Mamoru was genuinely in a better mood, or he was just a surprisingly good actor had yet to be figured out. Not that anyone particularly cared, since Mamoru being in a better mood put everyone else in a better mood. Thus, they had gotten through Christmas without incident and with most everyone getting along.
Haruka went over a mental checklist of things she still had to do that day while she made breakfast. The members of The Wall were going to start showing up at any moment for the New Year's party, so she still had to take down the Christmas stuff and put up a few New Year's banners here and there. She had to vacuum, prepare the guest bedrooms, clean the bathrooms, cook food, and make sure someone stopped to get some fireworks. She paused in flipping a pancake over when Dai's scream echoed throughout the building. Sighing, she added 'scrape Ibuki-san's remains off of the walls' to her checklist.
Haruka bit on her lower lip, suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed at all she had to do in such little time. She tried to think of other things while she cooked, as not to get flustered and her mind inadvertently went back to the bad dream she'd had. She closed her eyes, willing the feelings from the dream to go away. Just let her get through the next two days, let her be happy to ring in the New Year, despite all that had happened to her in this last one. That was all she really wanted, was it too much to ask?
"Reeaaawwwrrrr!"
Haruka jumped at the noise. She turned, coming face-to-face with Dai's cat, who was hanging upside down by its tail and thrashing around. Haruka's gaze trailed up the arm holding the cat. Mamoru grinned at her. "Finally caught the little fucker." he said. "Oh, yeah." he shook the cat. "I caught the cat, too, as you can see."
Haruka gaped. "Mamoru-san! Don't do that to the cat!" She cried, trying to take the scared animal from him.
"Why?" Mamoru asked, bouncing the creature up and down by its tail like a yo-yo. "It's amusing."
The cat let out a dissatisfied hiss, trying to claw at his hand. Unfortunately for kitty-chan, Dai had gotten it de-clawed. Mamoru's grin grew as the cat kept raking its paws over hand. "Say, is there any way we can get Sierra de-clawed, too?" He asked. "Oh, and while we're at it, we might as well neuter Dai."
Haruka frowned, taking the quivering cat from him before he could start spinning it by its tail. "I can only imagine what your form of neutering is." She said, stroking the ball of black fluff in her arms.
Mamoru chuckled. Haruka shook her head, setting the cat down on the floor and watching as it scampered away from Mamoru, taking cover under the kitchen table. "No more abusing the cat!" Haruka scolded, smacking him with a spatula. "Or I won't feed you."
Mamoru frowned at her for a moment before walking to the table and sitting down. He grinned, stomping on the cats tail. The animal screeched, trying to get out from under his foot.
"Mamoru-san! I said no more abusing the cat!" Haruka snapped.
Mamoru's grin was erased by yet another frown as he let his foot up. Dai's cat ran from the room, turning into a black and white blur. "What's your problem?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Nothing!" Haruka snapped again, roughly depositing some pancakes onto a plate. "It's just, how many times do I have to ask you to do somethin-ah!" her rant was cut short by Mamoru, who had obviously gotten up and walked across the kitchen without her noticing, pinching her cheek and tugging on it.
"What's with the mood swings today?" He inquired. He let out a small gasp, letting go of her cheek. "You better not be hitting puberty!" He pointed an accusatory finger at her.
Haruka set some plates on the table. "So what if I am? It's gonna happen sooner or later."
"Well then, make it later god damn it!" Mamoru snapped, getting some glasses down. "I have enough trouble putting with up Sierra and Dai when they start on the rag."
Haruka paused. "Mamoru-san, Dai can't have a period. He's a…well, a he."
Mamoru nodded. "Uh-huh. That's just what 'he' wants us to think. Trust me, that kid is such a pansy, there's no way he's got a set of balls."
Haruka sighed, setting the spatula down on the counter. "You know what? Get your own damn breakfast." She said bitterly, taking her apron off and storming from the room.
Mamoru's eyebrows went up. "What the hell crawled up her ass overnight?" He asked himself.
By the time Haruka had reached the top of the stairs, she was in tears and with no idea as to why. Well, for one, she felt bad about snapping at Mamoru like that. After all the hubbub about him being bitchy and now she was turning around doing the same thing to him. She walked in her room and shut the door behind her. Leaning on the door, she let out a whine. That dream, it has me all upset and scattered today… She thought.
Random images flashed in and out of her mind from her dream. It had been rather chaotic for a dream, even for a bad one. Try as she might, she just couldn't put the pieces together. Maybe that was why she was in such a bad mood all of sudden. Not being able to figure what, or even if this dream meant anything in the first place.
Haruka sat down on the floor in front of her bedroom door. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them, staring blankly ahead into the dark corners of her room. What does it mean? She thought. There was a reason she had that dream, she could feel it.
But what was the reason? Was something bad going to happen to her and Mamoru? She furrowed her eyebrows together. Somehow, that just didn't seem right. It just didn't feel like they were in any danger at the present moment. She smiled a bit at that thought. She'd have to be careful, thinking things like that. Thinking is one thing, but when you get to where you believe it on a daily basis, you get naïve and ignorant. You get to thinking that nothing bad can happen, and then one day you come home from school to find your whole life's gone to shit.
"Oh, stop it." She told herself. I'm definitely not going to get anywhere thinking like that, that's for sure. Standing up, she decided that she would go back downstairs and apologize to Mamoru. She'd then finish making his breakfast, if someone hadn't already finished it. After she got done eating she'd tidy up the house and put some laundry on, and then after she washed up from breakfast she thought she'd take a nap. Perhaps she was thinking a bit too much. Maybe if she had a rest her mind would be clearer and she'd be able to figure things out more quickly.
As Haruka approached the kitchen the murmur of voices reached her ears. Pausing just outside the door, she tried to get a hint of what was being said. It seemed like Igawa and Sierra were talking to Mamoru. Or, Mamoru was bitching and they just happened to get caught in his line of fire, that possibility was as likely as the first one.
"Maybe she's just having a bad day." Sierra was saying. "Look at all the stress she's been under, Mamoru. She's still only just a child."
"I know that." Mamoru said. "I just don't like it when she get likes this."
Sierra scoffed at him. "Well then now you know how she feels being around you all day long."
Haruka gaped. She didn't feel that way about Mamoru-san at all! How could Sierra say something so mean?
"I didn't mean it like that, for Christ's sake!" Mamoru snapped at Sierra. "I don't like it when she gets like this because…" He sighed. "Because I don't know what to do to make her feel better. Even after almost a year of being around her almost twenty four seven, I still don't know what to do to make her happy."
Haruka covered her mouth with her hands. She smiled beneath them as she backed away from the kitchen and around to the stairs. She scampered back up the stairs, giggling. Silly Mamoru-san. She thought. He has no idea what really makes me happy. "He's so clueless sometimes." She muttered to herself, amused, as she collected her dirty laundry and placed the articles of clothing in a basket.
Haruka exited her room, walking down to Mamoru's and walking in to collect his laundry. She frowned, glancing at the four items that were his. She walked across the room, flipping the bed covers up and kneeling down. Sure enough, she found two pairs of socks, a shoe, a shirt and a pair of boxers under his bed. She deposited the clothes in with the others and picked her basket back up, making for Igawa's room.
She hummed a Christmas song as she went around doing her chores. For now, she was in a better mood. How long this one would last, no one knew.
A few hours passed by, and Mamoru had started to get the feeling that Haruka was avoiding him. Well, actually, judging by how she had run away when they bumped into each other while she was dusting, he'd say that he knew she was avoiding him.
He walked in his room and flopped down on his bed, feeling a bit put out. What had he done? Why was she avoiding him? He frowned, a spark of irritation flaring up. She was the one who was being moody all day! Why was he getting the cold shoulder?
Oh…maybe that was it. Maybe she felt bad for yelling at him, and wasn't sure how to go about apologizing? The irritation subsided and Mamoru grinned a little bit. Sometimes that kid was just too cute for her own good.
Wait, what?
Haruka? Cute? Did he really just think that? Oh good lord, what the hell was wrong with him!? Blinking a few times, Mamoru decided that a nice long nap was in order, before he had anymore thoughts which involved Haruka being 'cute'. He took his glasses off and set them on the nightstand by his bed. Rolling over onto his side, he wrapped an arm around his pillow and closed his eyes…
Haruka was walking out of the kitchen when the doors opened and a car pulled in. She stopped in front of it as the engine cut off. Foxtrot, Kilo, and Juliet exited the vehicle. "Hi, guys!" Haruka greeted, giving hugs all around.
"Hey kiddo!" Foxtrot said back. He opened the back door of the car and pulled out a big bag full of Christmas presents. "Here, brought ya some stuff, since we weren't able to be here for Christmas!"
"Oh, thanks." Haruka said, taking the bag an gawking at its weight. "You really didn't have to."
Kilo smiled at her. "Well, we wanted to. There's some stuff for everyone else in there too." He said.
Haruka waddled over to the Christmas tree with the bag and set about arranging the presents under it. Sierra came walking down the stairs, having noticed the car pull in and curious about who had occupied it. A little disappointed that it wasn't Alpha, she smiled and greeted Kilo and Foxtrot. Juliet gaped. "What, no hug for me?" She asked, feigning hurt.
"Nope, sorry." Sierra said. "Those were my last two." She grinned at Juliet, giving her a light hug anyway. The two of them still didn't always get along, but they could be in the same room without tearing each other to bits now, at least.
"So, we're the first one's here?" Foxtrot asked, walking over to the empty buffet table.
"Yep." Haruka said. "Here, come help me put food on that." She said, dragging Foxtrot into the kitchen.
The other three Wall members stood in silence for a few minutes before Sierra finally broke it. "So, any idea when the Commander is getting in?" She inquired.
Juliet's lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Yeah, he should be here about four or five." She said, watching as Foxtrot came walking back out of the kitchen, balancing plates stacked up on top of each other in either hand.
Kilo walked over to unload some of the plates before Foxtrot dropped them all. He took a stack and went about placing them on the buffet table. "Echo, Charlie and Papa should here sooner than the Commander, though."
"Ah, that's so soon!" Haruka exclaimed, looking at her watch. "I still have to prepare the guest bedrooms, vacuum and finish the laundry!"
"We'll help you!" Sierra said, giving Juliet a shove towards the laundry room.
"What? We will?" The infiltrator squawked. Catching Sierra's look, she reiterated. "I mean, of course we will, honey." She gave Haruka a forced smile, making her way to go finish the laundry.
Kilo and Fox smirked as the girl disappeared to do various chores. Igawa came walking downstairs, fresh out of a shower. "Hey!" He greeted, shaking their hands. "Nice to see you guys are still alive and well."
"Same goes for you, computer boy." Foxtrot greeted back.
"Thanks for inviting us." Kilo said.
"Nah, not a problem." Igawa said. "Haruka was the one who wanted you guys here. She wanted to throw a New Year's party, and we figured the more the merrier."
"Speaking of more…" Foxtrot looked around. "Where's Blade at?"
Igawa blinked, looking around as well. "Hell, I dunno." He answered, shrugging.
Dai suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. He jumped on the banister and slid down, landing on his feet at the bottom of the steps. "So, the gang's all here, then." He said, sucking on a lollipop.
"Well, not all of us." Fox said. "Not yet, anyway."
Dai shook his hand. "Nice ta finally meet ya…I guess."
Igawa frowned. "Dai, be nice." He scolded.
Haruka poked her head out of the kitchen doorway. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, frowned and disappeared again. The guys looked over, hearing hushed voices coming from the room before Haruka was shoved out. She frowned, glaring towards the kitchen. "I'm not saying that!" She hissed.
"Why not?" Juliet whined, walking out. "You should learn how to be a proper seductress already."
"She's thirteen, Juliet!" The group of guys bellowed at her, storming over and dragging poor Haruka away from the horny witch before could imprint anymore evil ideas in the innocent girl's head.
The afternoon came and went, Mamoru had woken up from his nap to raid the buffet table. He went outside and practiced with his sword for a while, before coming back in and raiding the buffet table…again. After gorging himself on cakes and pizza, he decided a shower was in order and proceeded up the stairs to rinse off.
Echo, Charlie and Papa had shown up at around four. Two hours later, Alpha had driven in, barely having enough room to park his SUV among all the other cars. The rest of the Wall members had shown up shortly after, a few of them having to park outside of the building.
Haruka watched, bemused, as the buffet table ran out of food and was refilled three whole times in the span of four hours. She was having a really fun time hanging out with everybody. They had set up some games and most everyone took turns playing with Haruka.
Almost every TV in the house was on, each one turned to a different New Year's festival. Haruka was sitting on the steps, looking a bit worried.
"What's wrong, princess?" Dai asked, sitting down next to her on the stairs. His cat was huddled up in his arms, still petrified from its encounter with Mamoru earlier that day.
Haruka fidgeted. "Oh, I just feel like there was a bit more I could have done for the party." She said, letting out a nervous giggle.
"Whaaat?" Dai dismissed her thought with a flap of his hand. "Yer crazy. Everybody's havin' a great time! See?" He put an arm around her shoulder, pointing down at their house full of guests. "Even ol' Alpha seems ta be enjoyin' himself."
Haruka giggled, looking over at Alpha. He had come clad in a suit and tie, and delivered a red rose to Sierra. The two of them had danced for a while and were currently sitting together away from the main throng of the partiers, enjoying two plates of food.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Haruka said finally, after surveying the party for a while longer. "I just tend to turn into a bit of a perfectionist with these things. It's a habit I got from mom, I think."
Dai moved to say something, but was cut off when someone threw a football at him. Catching it, he scowled down at Foxtrot. "Come on!" Fox yelled. "We're gonna go outside and play some real bad ass football!"
Dai frowned, kicking his cat off of his lap and standing up. "You need ta quit worryin' so much, ya know?" He said to Haruka as he walked down the stairs and followed some of the guys out the back door.
Haruka sat there for a few more minutes before choking up. She put a hand over her face and stood up, running the rest of the way up the stairs. She stopped at the end of the hallway. Mom… She let out a garbled cry, sliding down the wall. Oh mom, I miss you so much! Her shoulders quivered as she started crying, unable to even try to stop.
A door opened to Haruka's left. Mamoru walked out of his room to go to the bathroom and almost walked right over her. "Eh? Haruka, what's wrong?" He asked, squatting down next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder.
Haruka took a minute to try and calm herself down enough to talk. "I just…" She trailed off, losing the trust in her voice. "I just miss my parents!"
Mamoru's eyes widened a bit. He sighed. He reached around and pulled a hankie out of his back pocket and offered it to her. "Don't get snot all over your clothes." He said, feeling somewhat awkward. After all, what does a blind swordsman tell a thirteen year old, orphaned pre-cog to make her stop crying? "Everything will be okay?" Please, what a load of shit that was.
Haruka took the handkerchief from and blew her nose in it. Mamoru stood back up. "I gotta use the bathroom real quick, but why don't you go in my room and when I come back we can talk?" He asked.
Haruka tilted her head up, staring at him through watery eyes. "Yeah, that sounds good." She said, nodding. Mamoru continued on down to the bathroom as she stood up and walked into his room. She walked across the room and sat down on his bed.
It was then, that the realization hit her full force. She finally figured out why that dream had been bugging her all day. In her dream, her and Mamoru had been separated. The Elements Network had turned Mamoru over to the police and abandoned her. In the end, she had been left all alone and without anyone to help her. But, more than that, what scared her was the thought that something bad might happen to Mamoru. She couldn't bear to lose him, along with her parents, and along with the rest of her family.
Sure, the rest of her family was perfectly fine, she hoped. But it wasn't like she could go see them anytime soon. Not unless she wanted to put them in harm's way, and it'd be a cold day in hell before she ever did anything to harm her family. Well…harm them anymore than she already had, at least.
Mamoru returned just then, walking back into the room and shutting the door behind him. He sat down on the bed next to her, looking down at her outline. "So, what's wrong? You've been moody all day." He said.
Haruka tugged on the hankie in her hands. "I…I had a bad dream." She said simply. "Last night. In my dream, we got separated, for good, and it scared me, Mamoru-san. When my parents were killed, all I could do was stand by and watch it happen, and run away. I don't want the same thing to happen to you…" Tears welled up in her eyes again and she let out a sob.
Mamoru, however, burst out into a fit of laughter. Haruka gaped, feeling worse than before. "What's so damn funny!?" She cried, getting angry.
"I'm not laughing at you." Mamoru said, his laughter dying down. "It's just amusing, you're so worried about something happening to me."
"Shouldn't I be?" Haruka fumed, no longer crying. God, she was at her wits end with him!
"Uh, no." Mamoru answered simply. He began counting off on his fingers. "Let's see, since I've hooked up with you I've fought against Yakuza, hit men with flying droids, more Yakuza, Galboan Diplomats…well, he doesn't count. That wasn't much of a fight, really. Anyway, what else… Oh, yeah, let's not forget the fucking zombies! And then there was the bear, and then there was that tank. You remember the tank? That I fought against with a broken weapon? And won?"
Haruka stared at him through narrowed eyes. "Are you bragging or are you going somewhere with this?" She asked, crossing her arms.
Mamoru sighed. "My point, numb nuts, is that even after all that you're still worried that something's gonna happen to me? Doesn't it seem a bit silly to you to worry now?"
Haruka thought about it for a minute. "There's always the possibility that one of the bad guys will get a hold of some nuclear weapons to use against you."
"They've already tried grenades." Mamoru reminded her.
"That's true…" Haruka sighed, feeling stupid for getting all worked up.
"Look…" Mamoru said, patting her on the head. "I know you miss your parents, and I wish there was something I could do to make that hurt go away, but I can't. Nothing anyone does will ever heal that scar. I can, however, make sure that no matter what, you never have to go through that again. I'm going to do that…until death do us part."
Haruka stared at him. She opened her mouth to say something, when a shout from downstairs caught her ear. She turned her attention to the door. "I think they're beginning the countdown to new year's." She said, looking at her watch. Sure enough, nine seconds to the new year.
Haruka watched as two more seconds ticked by. "Mamoru-san?"
"What?" Mamoru asked.
Six seconds to midnight…
"Can I ask you a favor of sorts?" Haruka looked at him.
Mamoru raised an eyebrow. "Depends, what do you want?"
Five seconds…
"Well…I promised myself that I was going to be happy, no matter what while bringing in this new year." Haruka explained hurriedly.
Four seconds…
"Okay…" Mamoru answered. "And?"
Three seconds…
Haruka moved on the bed, climbing in his lap.
Two seconds…
"Haruka, what the hell are you doing?" Mamoru asked, leaning away from her. She grinned at him. "Oh nothing, just fulfilling a wish, is all."
"Happy New Year!" The bellow came from downstairs as the whole room erupted into cheers.
Mamoru blinked. Haruka had pressed her lips to his. She stayed like that for a few seconds before pulling away. "I just wanted to be happy, Mamoru-san." She said. "Every day, you make me happy."
Mamoru stared at her shape, his brain lagging behind in processing what had just happened. Haruka giggled, kissing him once on the cheek and climbing off his lap. She walked across the room and out of the door, heading back downstairs to join in the festivities.
Laying back down on his mattress, Mamoru put a hand up to his cheek where Haruka had kissed him. He grinned. "Well…if she hits puberty a bit earlier than normal, who's going to fault her?"
A/N: Remember, reviews are win! ;D If I get a hair up my ass, I might write some sort of companion piece to this. Who knows.