Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko-sensei, not me. I'm just borrowing the characters to write this silly little story of mine.
Akira: I'm back again, with another one shot. I seem to be writing more one shot recently I noticed. Well, I kind of wrote this with a bad writer's block, so don't really expect much okay? So this is actually the first time I actually include the other Senshi in my story, so please forgive me if they go out of character or something. Well, this is a Christmas special I guess. I hereby wish everyone on a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope you'll enjoy this.
Look Up
The party was already over and the lights were already out a few hours ago. There were people spread on the floor of the living room, all drunk and sleeping, except for one person who sat wide awake with her back leaning against the couch.
'This is it then…'
Messy blond bangs fell into her shocking teal green eyes as she leaned her head backwards onto the seats of the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. She bent one knee and rested one arm on it lazily as the other leg remained straightened on the carpeted floor. The tall figure sighed and threw her arm over her eyes. Memories of what happened approximately fifteen minutes ago were still fresh in her mind. The bitter feeling hurts too much to be forgotten that easily actually.
-----
Flashback
That would be the perfect chance to tell her. Everyone was out cold, and Michiru probably thought that she was drunk like the others as well. It wouldn't hurt as much if she got rejected in that fashion, right?
The blonde slung an arm over the violinist's shoulder and pulled her close as she helped Haruka to her feet. The blue eyed girl gave the blonde a questioning stare that clearly said, 'Haruka?' and pouted cutely when she received no reply from her taller friend.
"Michiru," the blonde slurred in her 'drunken' state and forced a hiccup while she continued slowly, "I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time now…"
The smaller girl in her arms stiffened as if she knew what was coming, but she relaxed as she regained her composure professionally.
"I've fallen in love with you," the blond racer slurred again as she felt the anxiousness in her mind pulse through her body while waiting for the aqua haired girl's answer to her confession.
"I'm sorry, Haruka."
And that was it. The pro racer fell back into the couch with a 'thud' with her striking orbs closed as she pretended to be asleep. She felt a hand on her face, and she was sure that the hand belonged to Michiru. After all, it was soft and delicate, like a mother's touch. Whispering an apology into the blonde's ears, the aqua haired girl stood from her position beside the couch and left the house quietly.
It was then the blonde decided to sit up from her previous position, a hand placed over her broken heart as she blinked back the tears welling up at the corner of her eyes.
Who said it didn't hurt as much?
It hurts like hell.
End of Flashback
-----
The next day
The lock to the front door unlocked as Haruka turned the key in the keyhole and opened the door.
"Okaeri, Haruka," deep blue eyes greeted the blonde as she entered the kitchen to look for food. The bitter feeling of rejection churned in her stomach at the sight of the beautiful girl standing in front of her as she forced a smile onto her lips and greeted the girl, "Tadaima, Michiru, and Ohayou."
Haruka headed straight for the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of fresh milk as Michiru shifted uncomfortably in her spot. Even though Haruka had her back facing the smaller girl, she knew that those alluring blue eyes were following her movements. As awkward as it seemed, the smaller girl spoke to break the silence.
"Haruka, about yesterday…"
That pain, it's back again.
'Calm down, Haruka. She didn't know you were sober. Pretend you don't know anything about it and your relationship with her will be safe.'
"Did something happen yesterday?" she flashed a fake hundred watt smile at the violinist and continued, "I was so drunk that I can't remember a thing."
"Oh," she fidgeted again, looking a little disappointed when she spoke again, "It's nothing."
The unnerving silence resumed as Michiru fixed the breakfast with Haruka sitting quietly at the table, drinking her milk and massaging her temples for her hangover.
-----
One Year Later
Five girls cramped into one room in the Tsukino household was never a good idea, especially when the group of girls contained the infamous noisy trio of the entire universe, Tsukino Usagi, Aino Minako and Hino Rei.
"Those two are so dense! We need to do something to get them together, Usagi-chan!" Minako slammed her palms onto the poor table in the middle of Usagi's room, causing the tea cups on the table to lift off a little from the table.
"That's right, and we're going to do it at the party!" a very excited Usagi pounded her fists into the air and jumped, hitting her head against the study desk right behind her, earning an obnoxious laughter from the dark haired miko who sat on the side of the bed, leaning her back against it.
"Rei-chan's being a meanie!"
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ami sighed at her friends' usual conversations and returned to her book quietly, slowly flipping through the pages as she scanned them with her eyes.
"They're at it again. Do something, Ami-chan," the tall brunette nudged the studious girl lightly in the ribs as she whispered into her ear nervously.
The blue haired girl sighed and replied with a soft whisper of her own while she pointed at the excited pair of blondes who were already dancing in happiness of their 'hook-them-up' plan, "Do you really think there's anyone who can stop them now, Mako-chan?"
"Mako-chan, the cake is delicious!" Makoto smiled at her energetic friend and turned her attention back to the genius to gain some sort of support.
The logical pair winced at the loud squeals of their three very excited friends who seemed to have a rough idea of how they were going to carry out their plan and turned towards the quieter pair with eerie glints in their eyes. Clapping her book shut, Ami stood on her feet and straightened her skirt before sighing, "So, what did you come up with this time?"
The trio cheered happily and welcomed the genius into their group quickly, as if her participation was long expected.
"Now, we all know how Haruka-san is when it comes to confessions, so what we're going to do is just to give her a little push in the back…"
The rest of the group nodded and directed their full attention at the blonde who started speaking.
-----
"Achoo!"
"Hmmm? What's the matter, Haruka?" deep blue eyes filled with concern rested their gaze onto a sneezing Haruka who was red in the nose, just like Rudolph the reindeer.
Haruka rubbed her red nose in irritation and sniffled as she answered with a hoarse voice, "It's nothing, Michiru. I must have caught a cold the other day when I got caught in the snow the other day."
The aqua haired girl sighed a little and continued in her steps as she asked, "Will you be alright to attend the party tomorrow? Usagi-chan and the others are expecting us at her place for the Christmas party after all."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," she broke into a light coughing fit, and then finally managed, "I can't be disappointing those cute girls now, can I?"
Haruka gave her a thumb up and flashed Michiru a confident grin. Michiru gave the tall blonde a skeptical look and frowned before sighing in defeat and removed the navy blue muffler hanging around her neck. The aquamarine eyed girl turned one-eighty all of a sudden with her bright aqua hair fluttering beautifully in the passing wind for a moment, causing the blonde who was walking behind her to stop dead in her own tracks to admire the beautiful sight before her unconsciously. Haruka shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts.
"Michiru?" questioned the blonde in confusion as she looked into the eyes of her shorter friend. The shorter girl's next course of action surprised the blonde even more as Michiru went onto her toes and wrapped her hands around the teal eyed girl's neck, sending the blonde's mind into a state of frenzy at the closeness of their faces.
The smaller girl's next words came out as a whisper into the racer's ears, her warm breath tickling the taller girl's ears lightly, "Haruka, don't move."
Haruka could only gulp and nod stiffly at the girl's command as she stood rooted to the spot with one hand tucked into the pocket of her coat, the other holding tightly onto their groceries of the week, while she slowly took in the fragrant scent of the beautiful violinist's hair which smelled of… the deep and calm ocean. She fixed her gaze onto the snow collected branches of a tall tree in the distance in nervousness as a faint but warm feeling of smooth fabric wrapped around her neck slightly. Haruka finally broke out of her trance when the smaller girl released her hold on the blonde's neck, taking a step back to observe her new work. Haruka's pocketed hand flew to her neck to touch the soft fabric of the muffler's material and smiled thankfully at the violinist.
Feeling satisfied with her ministration, Michiru gave a happy nod as her lips curved into a soft smile and spun around to walk again with her blond friend happily trailing after her with a hand on her newly acquired muffler.
-----
"Achoo!"
'Not again…' Haruka tossed around uneasily in her bed, hugging the covers close to her body for comfort. She threw a casual glance at the clock beside her bed and groaned. She had woken up earlier than usual and there was absolutely nothing for her to do this early in the morning, expect for a nice morning jog which probably wasn't a very good idea since she was still down with cold. She swallowed and winced as her throat screamed for the presence of water.
Grunting in annoyance, she threw the covers off her sweaty body and shivered at the sudden lack of warmth. Hugging her arms around her body, she removed her half drenched pajamas and threw on a clean and dry shirt with a pair of comfy slacks before heading off into the kitchen drowsily.
The tall blonde cursed when she hit her head against the lower leveled cabinet in the kitchen while she fumbled around for her pills. Lazily, she pulled out a chair and plopped herself onto it as she poured herself a glass of water to go with the pills.
"Haruka…?"
Being caught off guard, the handsome racer gagged and managed to spit out a mouthful of the water she was drinking along with the medicine and broke into yet another coughing fit. The aqua haired girl gasped and rushed towards her friend who seemed to be in pain and rubbed her back to ease the coughs.
"I'm so sorry, Haruka," worry was evident in her voice when she apologized for startling the poor blonde. "Are you feeling better now?"
Haruka nodded quickly and replied, her voice sounding lower and huskier than usual, "I'm fine, Michiru. The water only went down the wrong pipe."
Michiru ruffled the dirty blond hair for a little and then smiled at her best friend in a teasing manner after confirming that she was fine.
"I never knew you were that much of a… scaredy cat though."
Giggles filled the cold air in the kitchen as the blond racer flushed and looked away bashfully at her friend's teasing. Making no move to defend herself, she stood up from the table and grinned playfully at her best friend who was still giggling. Without any warning, she scooped the smaller girl into her arms, earning a surprised gasp from her friend and exited the kitchen as Haruka laughed and threw the smaller girl onto the couch in the living room and attacked the smaller girl's ribs with her hands as revenge for laughing at her.
The laughter died down after a few minutes and Haruka settled her breathless self onto the couch beside Michiru to rest herself a little more before breakfast.
The aqua haired girl rested her head onto the tall racer's shoulder and closed her deep blue eyes slowly in tiredness. Haruka took a deep breath and started quietly, "Thanks Michiru, I feel a lot better now. I think the fever's gone."
Receiving no reply, she turned her head to look at her best friend who was sleeping peacefully after laughing happily and smiled gently. It was only times like that that she could fully admire the beautiful features of her best friend. The sleeping and flawless angelic face was only visible at times like that. Haruka closed her eyes as well, letting the images of her best friend run through her mind vividly as a contented smile graced her lips.
'For now, this is enough. Just being this close to you is enough.'
-----
Hours later, the sleeping beauty on the couch stirred in her sleep and cracked her blue eyes open slowly. Haruka was sleeping beside her with her arms wrapped protectively around her small shoulders, providing warmth that the room lacked. Carefully removing the arms around her shoulders, she snuck out of the embrace quietly and watched the sleeping blonde who had a contented smile on her face. It was hard to believe that one year had already passed since that time.
Michiru leaned over the sleeping blonde, feeling her aqua hair tumble over her shoulders as she leaned forward to observe the blonde in closer detail. She felt her face reddening as she inched closer to the blonde who had supposedly confessed to her a year ago unknowingly. It was quite a disappointment to have found out that the blonde could not remember a thing about what she had said to her on the Christmas a year ago.
Michiru raised her hand cautiously and brushed a strand of blond hair out of Haruka's eyes delicately, staring at the peaceful expression of the blonde made her happy somehow. And somehow, she found herself staring at the slightly parted lips of the blonde as she moved a little nearer…
-----
"Usagi-chan, bring the cake here!" Makoto yelled into the kitchen as she brought the food into the cozy living room where the rest of her friends were gathered and remembered something as her next words came out as a warning, "and don't you dare dip your finger into the icing, Tsukino Usagi-san, or I'll personally make sure that you don't get to taste anything else later."
The blonde girl clicked her fingers in irritation and mumbled to herself, "Shucks, busted."
The clumsy blonde carried the cake into the room and laughed nervously when she noticed all eyes on her.
"What?"
Rei was the first one to open her mouth to ask, "You didn't eat it, did you?"
"I wasn't going to eat it!" defended Usagi as she placed the cake onto the table cautiously. She gave another nervous laugh when the group narrowed their eyes at her skeptically and then rolled their eyes skyward.
"Okay, fine. I was going to eat a little, but I didn't eat it!"
Just then, the doorbell rang loudly through the house, stopping the girls from whatever they were doing almost immediately.
"They're here! Did you prepare it?" Minako squealed excitedly and directed her question at the brunette who nodded confidently.
"Of course it is, you can leave it to me," the tall girl winked at the long haired blonde as she literally bounced towards the door.
The door swung wide open, revealing the beautiful violinist and a charming pianist who stood on the doorstep languidly. The tall brunette quickly ushered the both of them into the house as the rest of the girls greeted the pair happily. Haruka forced a smile at the younger girls as she sat herself onto the couch beside Michiru who was already engaged in a lively conversation with the girls.
"Haruka-san, are you feeling fine? You don't look so well," asked Ami as she placed the sickly blond racer under a scrutinizing stare.
Haruka gave out a light cough and faked yet another smile at the genius, "I'm alright, Ami-chan. It's not very serious anyway."
The studious girl nodded reluctantly and returned to her book once again, with her nose buried deeply in it. Deciding that she needed a glass of water to soothe her throat, Haruka stood up from her seat and left for the kitchen silently. Entering the kitchen, Haruka groaned as she sat onto the chair, feeling more feverish than ever. Her line of vision was blurring, she felt incredibly hot and cold at the same time, and her throat was hurting like hell. She was definitely not fine by the looks of it.
The blond pianist rested her forehead onto the table and closed her eyes as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
-----
It had been ten minutes since Haruka had disappeared from the living room and into the kitchen. Ten minutes was more than enough to fetch a glass of water, especially when the house itself wasn't very big, and the glasses in the kitchen were properly lined up at the counter. All it would take was to pick up the glass and open the fridge and pour the water into the glass. Michiru paused in her conversation almost suddenly and turned her head to look at the lit kitchen.
Noticing the older girl's actions, Minako smiled to herself and stood up from her seat.
"Michiru-san, Haruka-san's taking way too long in the kitchen. Do you mind checking up on her?"
Giving a thankful look at the blonde idol wanna-be, she placed her cup of punch onto the table and headed for the kitchen, a worried expression evident in her features. Pushing the door open, the aqua haired girl gasped when she noticed the blonde sitting in the chair unmoving. Fearing for the worst, she hurried over to the sleeping blonde and shook her teal eyed friend awake, finally heaving a sigh of relief when the sleeping pianist roused from her slumber with a groan followed by an upset grunt.
"Ugh… what is it?" the blonde awoke with a snap and turned to glare at whomever decided to wake her up in that uncomfortable manner. The aqua haired girl retracted her hand almost immediately at the sentence while the blonde softened her gaze when she realized the one who woke her up was the person whom she had been dreaming of weeks.
"I'm sorry, I thought something happened to you since you were gone for a while…" she trailed off the apology, looking for something to say to the now awake blonde.
"Oh, I'm sorry Michiru. I guess I kind of dozed off in here," Haruka scratched her head apologetically for snapping at the surprised violinist and offered a warm smile as she stood to her full height.
"It's fine. Minako-chan was getting worried so I came in to have a-" Michiru lied and stopped in mid-sentence when she casually looked up and found something seemingly interesting and smiled mischievously at the taller girl. Haruka, unsure of what the smaller girl was smiling at, threw her a confused look before deciding to follow her best friend's gaze to the ceiling. An 'o' shape formed on her lips as she sighted a white berried green plant hanging above the both of them.
The handsome blonde rubbed the nape of her neck in embarrassment and spoke, somewhat sheepishly, "Guess they got us good…"
She shifted in discomfort in her spot as she waited for a response from the beautiful violinist who stood silent and rigid. When she received no forms of reply, she continued slowly, "Well… there's nobody looking. So I guess we'll just pretend that we never came under it. We have to go, they're already counting down." The charming blonde made her move to step away from the smaller girl when suddenly, she felt a force on her wrist pulling her back and turning her around to meet the lips of the beautiful violinist.
Haruka felt her whole body stiffen as she felt Michiru's soft lips pressed against her very own, but quickly relaxed as she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around the small frame of the ocean eyed girl. Feeling slender arms snaking their way around her neck, Haruka pressed their bodies together in response and leaned in deeper, lost in their own world…
-----
"I told you this would work," Minako whispered excitedly as she snapped a couple of pictures of the kissing couple in the kitchen, earning a disapproving look from the tall brunette and the blue haired genius who reprimanded her about privacy.
"Well it did work, but Haruka-san wasn't the one to make the first move, so you lose the bet," the shrine priestess smirked playfully at the blonde leader of the plan.
"Fine, so what do I have to do?" the irritated blonde placed her hands on her hips and glared at her friends who stifled their laughter when they heard Rei's reply.
"Well… your punishment only involves a whip, a couple of candles, and a sexy uniform in the bedroom…"
"Oooh, kinky."
-----
The Next Day…
"Achoo!"
"Michiru…" said the blonde who was lying on the couch with her legs dangling off the armrest as she watched the other girl from the corner of her eyes.
"Hmmm?" answered the sick violinist as she turned her head to face the blonde.
"You know… maybe we shouldn't have done that," the blonde racer replied sheepishly, her teal eyes focused onto the smaller girl's.
"It's alright, Haruka. I'll be fine," Michiru assured and sneezed another time, then continued, "After all, I'm glad how things turned out for us."
Fin.
Akira: Well, that was pretty sad. I wanted to make it longer and include many more things, but time is running out for me and I'm swarmed with writer's block. The last part isn't really implying anything, so don't go imagining lol. I can't say this is good; in fact, it's one of the worst I've done and I'm not really happy with this. Okay fine, so it sucks. Anyway, I'm desperately trying to get my writer's block cured, so I'm terribly sorry if this disappointed any of you. -Sighs and bows-
