Parent-Teacher Day.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sailor Moon characters.
AN: I will occasionally make references to events that happened in a few of my other stories, notably Family Ties and Seven Days In The Life of My Family by Hotaru Tomoe. Just so you don't get confused, give them a quick look.
"Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day." My smile was somewhat forced as I repeated the farewell for what seemed like the millionth time that day. I closed the door to my classroom, yawned, and stretched a bit. I could both hear and feel the bones in my back pop as I stretched. It had been a long day of interviews, and thankfully it was almost over.
Parent-Teacher interviews are something I don't really look forward to sometimes. Don't get me wrong sometimes it can be an enlightening experience for both me, and the parents. I gain some insight into my student's lives, and their parents find out that I'm not really the 'ogress' (as one student put it) that their children tell them I am.
Sitting down at my desk, I opened up my briefcase, which had my initials S.H. engraved on the clasp. S.H. stands for Sakurada Haruna. I am a teacher in a relatively new Jr. High school that stands near the outskirts of Tokyo. The school itself is 5 years old, and I have been teaching at it for nearly 3 years, ever since I transferred here from Crossroads Jr. High.
Anyway, I reached into by briefcase and fished out my appointment book. I was happy to see that this was to be the last appointment for today. What made me happier was that this interview was with the parents of one of my best pupils, Hotaru Tomoe.
I leaned back in my chair a bit and smiled. Hotaru was one of the best students I have ever had, especially in a school where most of the children come from wealthy families and get more money in their weekly allowances then I make in a month and act like it too. Hotaru and a few others are exceptions. She was a bright, but shy girl when I first met her almost two years ago. Her grades were exemplary and she learned quickly, but her social life was almost nonexistent at school. With a bit of prodding she came out of her shell a bit, and I am happy to say that she and a girl named Kimyo, another one of my better pupils, are almost inseparable. I had met her parents before, briefly, and under less than ideal circumstances. I'll explain later.
Checking my watch, I noticed that I had 15 minutes before they got here. I put a sign reading 'Back in 15 Minutes' on my door and went to the washroom to freshen up a bit. I also got a drink from the soda machine, and I was back with 7 minutes to spare.
I felt a bit hungry, so I rummaged through my briefcase for the half of a sandwich I knew was in there from lunch. After a bit of digging I found it and an apple so I munched away for a few minutes while I waited.
While I waited, I dug through my briefcase for my notes. The briefcase was a gift from my boyfriend, a Doctor. We had been going steady for over 6 months now, which was a rarity for me. It was expensive, but he said I was worth it. You can see why I haven't broken up with him.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at my watch, one minute to spare. At least they were punctual. "Coming." I called out as I stood and took a swig of soda before I went over and opened the door. "Yes?" I asked the person on the other side.
"Miss Haruna? We've met before. I'm Michiru Kaioh, one of Hotaru's parents. May we come in please?" Ms. Kaioh, a beautiful young woman with long aquamarine hair and eyes smiled at me when I opened the door. I could see why Hotaru described her as a Princess in her report. Everything about her was graceful and poised. I smiled and asked her to come in. She wore what looked like a designer original dress. I'll admit that I envied her right away.
Next, a tall, athletically trim woman with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes came in and we shook hands. She introduced herself as Haruka Tenoh. I knew her as the Formula One racecar driver that a lot of my students (and fellow teachers) talked about. I had seen her race once before, a former boyfriend took me to the track. To be honest I found it loud and repetitive and told him so. We broke up the next day. Unlike her companion, Ms. Tenoh wore an expensive, but off the rack, sports coat, tie, and slacks. She seemed pleasant but moody. She looked like a lot of my students as she slumped into a chair beside Ms. Kaioh with her arms folded, like she really didn't want to be here.
Behind me someone laughed quietly. I turned and found a tall woman in a tailored business suit and skirt standing there. She had a deep tan, red eyes, and long dark green hair. "Don't mind Haruka. She never really liked school very much. My name is Setsuna Meioh by the way." She smiled warmly as we shook hands, and then she sat down beside the other two.
Ms. Tenoh muttered something about someone walking home and Ms. Kaioh elbowed her in the ribs for it. I chuckled a bit and said that it was nice to see them all again.
As I mentioned before, I had met them all previously, albeit briefly. Hotaru and Ms. Meioh had been in a bad car accident last autumn, resulting in Hotaru being put into a coma for nearly 3 months.
My first meeting with her parents occurred at the hospital, and it wasn't a very good time. I went up to Hotaru's room and was about to go in and give her some flowers and a card that I had the class sign, when a woman, who I was told afterwards was Ms. Meioh, came barreling out of the room nearly knocking me over. She was crying and nearly hysterical.
I went into the room and found Ms. Kaioh sitting there in tears being comforted by a few of my former students, much to my surprise. One of them, Ami Mizuno, came over and explained to me what had happened. Ms. Meioh had been driving her and Hotaru home after a night out when the car was struck by a drunk driver. As a result, Hotaru had been injured severely and put into a coma. I expressed my sincere condolences to Ms. Kaioh and handed her the flowers and card I had brought with me. She thanked me and we embraced. I also ran into another former pupil, Usagi Tsukino, who was also there to comfort her. We left Ami with Ms. Kaioh and we had a brief chat where she told me that she was a friend of Hotaru's as well as her adopted parents. She told me that Ms. Meioh felt responsible for what had happened and had difficulty trying to cope. Part of me was angry with Ms. Meioh about that, and I said so to Usagi, but she assured me that it would work out. I'm happy to say that it did and Hotaru woke up and made a complete recovery. I visited several more times and met Ms. Tenoh as well. Incidentally, this was also where I met my current boyfriend.
"Your daughter has told me quite a bit about the three of you. I must admit I was surprised when Hotaru told me that she had three parents. Not to mention that her 'papa' was actually a woman. I mean no offence Ms. Tenoh." I added quickly.
"None taken. Hotaru has said quite a bit about you as well. And please, call me Haruka." Ms. Tenoh, I mean, Haruka added with a smile. I could swear she was flirting with me, something that didn't go unnoticed by Michiru, who elbowed her in the ribs again.
"Does she think I am an 'ogress' like at least one of my other students does?" I asked.
They laughed a bit. "Oh no, no. She really respects and admires you. If she didn't she wouldn't have given you that CD she gave you for your birthday." Ms. Kaioh, Michiru replied. I smiled at that. Hotaru was one of the few students to give me a gift on my birthday a month ago. The CD was one of Michiru playing at a local concert. It was beautiful. I rummaged through my briefcase and found it.
"Could you autograph this for me?" I asked as I handed it to her.
"Of course." Michiru took the CD and snapped her fingers in front of Haruka's face. Haruka muttered something and handed her a pen. Setsuna rolled her eyes at the ceiling.
"That project you gave her recently was quite intriguing." She remarked, attempting to draw my attention away from the couple. I knew what she was talking about. I gave my class an assignment involving writing about seven days in the life of their families. By far, Hotaru's was the most exciting of the bunch; going for a ride in a racecar, meeting the Sailor Senshi, and the ending that I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it on the news that day.
A group of armed thugs broke into the hotel where Michiru's parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary. Hotaru managed to avoid capture and summon help. She made a makeshift 'Sailor Moon Signal' with a piece of cardboard and the rooftop spotlights. This brought both the Sailor Senshi and the police and they rescued all of the hostages. I was so proud of her that day, as her parents were. The Police Chief personally came by the school to present Hotaru with a medal for bravery in front of the whole school. I thought she would die of embarrassment on the spot. It was an excellent report, and I gave her an A+ for it, but I had this nagging suspicion that she was holding something back.
There were some sad moments in her report as well, the saddest involving Setsuna and her admission that she was unable to have children of her own. I looked into her eyes and saw that while she appeared to be happy, there was some lingering sadness. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her.
"Yes it was." I replied. "She wrote a great report. You must be so proud of her."
"We are very proud of our little Princess." Michiru replied.
"You should have seen her when she got home that day when she got her medal and citation. She was bouncing around like she had eaten an entire bag of sugar. We thought she would never get to sleep that night." Haruka added with a grin.
"She is an inspiration to us all." Setsuna stated. Michiru and Haruka agreed, as did I.
We talked about Hotaru, her grades and a few other things until I noticed that we had run a few minutes over our allotted time. I thanked all of them for coming and made ready to go home, at least until Michiru stopped me with a question.
"Would you like to come out and have dinner with us, Miss Haruna?" She asked.
I have to admit that I was surprised at the invitation. I have received similar offers from a few of the parents, mostly the Fathers, single or otherwise, and I could guess their intentions, but I was still surprised. Well it beat going back home to my lonely apartment. "Sure, I'd love to." They all smiled and off we went in Haruka's car, a vintage yellow Ferrari.
"Are we going to be picking up Hotaru?" I asked during our drive there.
"No, she's over at Kimyo's house studying." Setsuna replied from beside me.
"That's nice to hear." I replied.
"That she's at her friends' place or that she's studying?" Setsuna replied with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
"Both." I replied. We laughed and made our way to a nice little restaurant that they knew. As we passed by a jewelry store, I could have sworn that I saw my boyfriend's car in front of it. I looked back as we passed by. It looked like his car anyway. I shrugged and turned my attention back to Setsuna, who had an enigmatic smile on her face.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." She replied in a mysterious voice. I just sat there and stared at her until we pulled up to the restaurant.
The restaurant was a nice little place. A modest crowd was there and a waiter who greeted them by name took us to our seats immediately.
"Come here often?" I remarked casually. They laughed as we sat down. We each ordered drinks and looked at the menus.
As we sat there chatting away, I heard a voice call out; "Hey guys, nice to see you again." When I looked up, I was surprised to see the face of another one of my former pupils, Makoto Kino.
"Hello, Makoto, its' nice to see you again. You remember Miss Haruna, your old teacher, don't you?" Michiru said as she embraced Makoto and then pointed me out to her.
"Of course. How have you been, Miss Haruna?" She smiled at me and bowed a bit.
"I'm fine, thank you Makoto. Have you worked here long?" I asked.
"Yeah, I've been working here for 8 months now as the Souse Chef. I figure this will give me a lot of experience for when I open my own place." She replied. "What brings you here?"
I told her that it was Parent-Teacher Interview time and that Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna had graciously invited me out after we had our chat.
"That's great. They're nice people and Hotaru is such a great kid." Makoto looked at her watch. "I have to head back to the kitchen now. I'll make something really good for you. Later." She waved and went back into the kitchen.
We ordered dinner and shared a bottle of wine while we waited. I only had one glass, honest. It was a school day tomorrow. We talked a bit more about Hotaru and little bits and pieces about our own lives. Haruka had a big race on the weekend, while Michiru had a concert next week. I really wanted to go with my boyfriend, but tickets were sold out. Michiru smiled and said that she would see what she could do. Setsuna talked about having her designs in a big local fashion show next month. Hotaru had included several pictures of her and her parents wearing a few of her designs and I thought they were beautiful and said so. She smiled warmly and thanked me.
Dinner was excellent. Makoto was a talented cook when I taught her in Jr. High 5 years ago, and she has gotten even better since then. We sat and had dessert and coffee and Makoto joined us again for a few minutes. We talked for a few hours until it was, alas, time to call it a night. We thanked Makoto for a wonderful dinner and assured her that we would be back soon, not to mention getting her assurance that I would be invited to the grand opening of her place when she opened.
"Of course. You and your boyfriend are welcome anytime." Makoto and I embraced and the four of us left.
They drove me back to my apartment as I usually take the bus to school. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and bid each other good night.
"That was a lot of fun. I hope we can do it again sometime." I told them.
"It was our pleasure. And we will do this again soon I hope, Miss. Haruna." Michiru said as we were going our separate ways.
"Sakurada, please." I told her.
They all smiled warmly. "All right. Good night then Sakurada." Michiru smiled as we shook hands. I shook hands with Setsuna and Haruka and bid them good night as well. We waved at each other as they drove off and I turned and went into my apartment.
After I reached my apartment, I quickly sorted through my usual collection of bills and junk mail while listening to my voice mail. There were the usual calls from my Mother and sister, one from another teacher, and one from my boyfriend. He called to tell me that he was going to pick me up after school tomorrow and wanted to take me out to dinner, and wanted me to pick a place. He also hinted that he had a gift for me of some sort.
I smiled at this. I called his voice mail and told him that tomorrow was fine, and that I knew this wonderful little restaurant that he would like. I hung up and made ready to go to bed wondering what his little gift was.
It had been a better day than I thought it would be. I never expected to make a bunch of new friends today, that's for sure. I rather envied Hotaru for having wonderful parents like she has. And somehow I thought that I would have a gift of my own for my boyfriend tomorrow, in the form of some complementary concert tickets. As I pondered what my boyfriend's gift was, Setsuna's voice seemed to float into my head.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." The voice said. I let those words comfort me as I went to sleep.
Tomorrow was a school day after all.
The End.
