Valentine's Day

Silas C.

Challenge Compilation (Little Penguin Puff)

One Shot

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Summary: Valentine's Day isn't always what you want it to be. .

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Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer. Please act accordingly.

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It wasn't that Haruka didn't hear the alarm go off for an hour straight. In fact, anyone within a one-mile radius could hear her damn race-car alarm sound off; it had been broken for close to a year now. All anyone could hear was static mixed in with what sounded like a dying elephant calling out into the early morning. It was a wonder that the whole neighborhood didn't kick in her door, confiscate her lucky alarm and run it over as the last of the dying elephants squealed.

Like I said, it wasn't that Haruka didn't hear the alarm; it was more like she didn't want to hear it. She tossed, turned, tried to shove a pillow as hard as she could over her face, plugged her ears with her fingers and eventually, kicked the alarm to the floor. Of course, all of this was done 'subconsciously.' It wasn't until later that Haruka decided she had enough of her beauty sleep that she cared about what happened to her alarm clock. She rolled over, yawning and stretching at the same time.

She missed Michiru. They usually slept together. Waking up to her beautiful face was the best in the world. Instead, she had to wake up to an annoying alarm clock, one that she refused to admit that she loved. Haruka glanced over at the clock, taking in the time and then taking her time to get up.

Nine… Haruka thought to herself as she 'rested' her eyes for a bit longer. It wasn't until her mind actually processed the number that she realized what time it REALLY was.

" No! " Haruka jumped over her bed and tripped on the carton of milk she forgot to put away a couple of nights ago. The blonde cursed silently as she found the milk had now had a sour smell to it and it was all over her carpet, not to mention her shoes. " Stupid milk carton. " Haruka scowled at the carton as if it had caused itself to be spilt, as if it had jumped out at her, hit her leg and then rebounded to the floor. Haruka realized it was actually her fault that the milk was there to begin with but… she had bigger fish to fry. Haruka shot around the corner of her room, skidding into the kitchen. She quickly put some toast in the toaster then ran to her bedroom skidding in the same fashion she had before.

Without thinking much about what she had been putting on, Haruka threw on some clean clothes… or at least they looked clean… she couldn't recall the last time she did laundry... Now that she had been thinking about it, normally she didn't do the laundry, Michiru did. And Michiru had been gone for two weeks. Haruka wrinkled her nose at the thought of dirty clothes but she put them on anyways and sped off to the toilet room.

When she got into the bathroom she ran straight to the sink but soon regretted running to begin with. The blonde slipped on soapy water, (probably because she was above the speed limit in the house) and she attempted to grab on to anything in her vicinity as she made her descent towards the cruel, chilly, wet, floor. Haruka was able to take hold of the shower curtain on the way down but unfortunately, the curtain hadn't been lifting weights lately, thus, it wasn't able to bear the weight of Haruka. The blonde cursed as her body was slung across the tub wall causing a tremendous amount of pain in her stomach. Haruka went cross eyed for a moment and then fell flat on her back. At first she wasn't mad. That was probably because she was in a great deal of pain but anyhow, once the pain subsided, Haruka cursed again.

She picked herself up wondering how the hell the bathroom was covered in soapy water. Haruka remembered taking a bath the night before but had she really made that big of a mess? The blonde groaned when she picked up her ruined curtain. Haruka shrugged it off and began to brush her teeth. After she finished with that, she practiced only enough hygiene habits to make herself slightly more appealing than an athletic boy who hadn't showered in twelve days. She supposed that probably wasn't a good thing but she didn't have time to worry about what was and wasn't a good thing. Haruka was in the midst of putting on deodorant when she sniffed a particular odor in the air. She couldn't quite place it. It sort of smelled like Michiru's hair when she straightened it… it also smelled like Michiru's cooking on a bad day… Haruka's eyed widened when she remembered she left the toast in the toaster.

" No! " Haruka dropped her deodorant and jetted out of the bathroom once again, this time slipping and hitting her head on the wall. Haruka growled at the wall, throwing it a dirty look before she headed into the kitchen to rescue her poor toast. The blonde quickly approached the toaster as if it were her worst enemy and pushed the button. The toast came shooting out like rockets heading into outer space. Haruka caught one but the other landed in a pan full of moldy soup. " Hmm… I wonder how old that soup is? " If it wasn't too old, she still might be able to save her second toast. " Is that a bug? " Haruka squinted her eyes at the soup and leaned closer. She threw her head back and almost passed out at the stench coming from the soup. Haruka pretended to have a walkie talkie next to her face. " Sorry sir, we regret to inform you that the second toast is… beyond help. Over and out. " Haruka said the words as if she experienced the loss of someone's life. Then she smiled, happy that she at least had one left. Without looking at the toast, she wrapped it up and stuffed it in her pocket. " Okay… let's see… " Haruka looked at her watch and grabbed her keys. " I still have some time. "

The blonde jumped in her car, threw the car in drive, looked behind her and hit the acceleration. Haruka's eyes widened when she realized that she needed to go backwards but the car was going forwards. She slammed into the garage door, throwing her into the steering wheel. Haruka cursed again.

" You stupid garage door. " Haruka yelled out in frustration. " Watch where you're going. " She muttered under her breath. She threw the car in reverse and, this time she kept her eyes on the door as if the door was going to attack the front of her now ruined bumper. Haruka heard a smack and her eyes widened again. " Uh oh. " Haruka jumped out of the car and looked behind her car, which she conveniently forgot to put in 'park.'

" Haruka-san, you hit the trash can! " Elsa called out to her friend, who also happened to be her next door neighbor.

" Thanks for the insight, Ms. Obvious. " Haruka rolled her eyes and suddenly felt the bumper of her car against her leg. She jumped to avoid being run over by her own, vacant car. In the process she watched her trash can as it was dragged into the middle of the street. Haruka quickly ran to the driver side of the car and put the brake on.

" Oh that's a mess. " Elsa noticed the front of Haruka's Lamborghini. " Oh my God! What happened to your car!? It's totaled! "

Haruka cringed at Elsa's words. She didn't even try to sympathize with her. Haruka swore that her neighbor was out to annoy the living daylights out of her. " Yeah. " Haruka replied. She was screwed for sure now. Not only was she late but, it would take an hour to clean all of the trash off the street. The car had smashed some of the old food into the road so she would surely need to wash it away with the hose.

" Well, you better get to cleaning. " Elsa put her hands on her waist and laughed.

" Hai. " Haruka replied. " Later. " The blonde hopped in the driver's seat of her car. It was Haruka's turn to grin as she waved to her friend. " I'll do it when I get back! " Haruka yelled as she rounded the street corner in her 'totaled' Lamborghini. " Okay, not bad. Still late but… I still have time. " Haruka sped all throughout downtown without heeding to any of the traffic rules. After all, it's not they applied to HER. The blonde stopped at a flower shop and parked in the middle of the road. She hadn't realized what she had done until she heard honks from the road. Haruka rubbed her head for being so stupid. She got back in her car and realized that even if she was at the shop, there was no parking. Haruka sighed in frustration and noticed the sidewalk mocking her predicament. Haruka grinned and pulled the car up on the cement. " That should do the trick. " Haruka beeped her car and turned around to run flat into some girl that had been carrying coffee in her hand. Haruka cursed as she felt a hot liquid soak through her clothes and singe her skin. The blonde realized that the woman she had ran into was now looking at her funny. " I'm really sorry. "

" Take your hand off my butt! You pervert! "

Haruka realized that, indeed, her hand had 'subconsciously' fallen on to the woman's rear end. It wasn't but another moment of her hand being there that she was slapped in the face. " What was that for?! " Haruka replied as she held her face with her hand.

" You pervert. Someone help! "

" I didn't mean to! " Haruka was angry that this woman actually thought she meant to grab her ass. As if running into her was a ploy to feel her butt…

" Yes you did! You like things like that. You stupid man! "

" Man!? " Haruka was mistaken for a man and this woman probably had something against her because of it. " I don't even like your butt. It was too tight! " Haruka stuck her tongue out at the woman and suddenly felt pain surge through her eye. She staggered back and avoided another punch from the woman. " Why didn't you tell me you took Karate!? " Haruka asked, disappointed in this woman whom she had never met before.

" What difference does it make!? " The offended woman asked as she swung her foot around.

" Well I probably wouldn't have stuck my tongue out at you… " Haruka said smugly. The woman seemed even more offended and continued attacking her viciously. Haruka stepped back and turned to her left to avoid a sequence of punches and suddenly she heard the sound of hollow metal. Haruka fell back on to the cement almost immediately. The left side of her head became swollen instantaneously. Haruka groaned. Her attacker stood over her and had a smug look on her face. " What are you looking at?" Haruka mumbled as she attempted to get up. The woman kicked her in the stomach, no doubt because of her comment and she lost her breath.

" Stupid perverted man. " She mentioned as she walked away.

Haruka got up, slowly. She was not at all surprised to see a bunch of women standing around her with disgusted looks on their faces. All the men were laughing at Haruka as they thought she had done the best thing they'd seen all day. Haruka simply ignored them and walked inside the flower shop. If anyone had seen her holding her head and noticed a lump the size of a golf ball sticking out, they would have laughed the same way the flower shop attendant had.

" Can I help you sir?! " He asked through fits of laughter. Apparently he was a funny guy. Haruka scowled at him.

" Give me some damn flowers before I shove my dirty, rotten-milk covered shoe down your throat. " Haruka said through clenched teeth. The man proceeded to laugh and gave her bouquet of roses. She paid for the roses but not before scowling at him several times and making him flinch once or twice.

" Thanks for your business, you perverted man. " The attendant said, under his breath. Haruka was about to jump the counter and knock this guy out when she noticed the manager ready to stop her. He was about four inches taller than her and was probably being fed steroids as they spoke. Haruka shied away but cussed him out when she reached the door. The blonde ran out the door and suddenly heard footsteps behind her. When she looked back, the manager was chasing her. She headed over to her car and stopped when she noticed an officer had just stuck a ticket on her window.

" Are you kidding!? " Haruka felt the manager tackle her and she fell into the unsuspecting officer. The three of them were sprawled on the floor when a car drove by at a remarkable speed, splashing Haruka and only Haruka, with muddy water and dirt. The blonde wiped off her face and felt a hand on her arm. The manager took a swing at her face and she ducked; the punch landed the officer straight in the nose. Haruka dived across the hood of her car, hearing the officer and the manager duke it out like fighting dogs. She jumped in her car, threw it into reverse, ran over a bush and screeched out in front of traffic.

Haruka went ninety down the highway, pulling off at the nearest exit. She had a few people honk at her but she didn't have time to look back at them and flip them off but, if she did have time, she would have stuck out her tongue and flipped them off at the same time.

Tokyo International Airport

The blonde sighed in content as she pulled into the large parking lot. She grabbed the bag her flowers were in and ran all the way up to the airport. When she got to the door, the security guard refused to let her in. Not only did she look terrible, she smelled terrible too.

Haruka looked at herself in the reflection on the airport window. Her hair was wet and darkened by mud water. Her face had dirt streaks all over it. Her jacket was drenched with water, as were her pants and shoes. Her shoes, despite having being washed by the rainy weather, still had clumps of curdled milk stuck in the shoe laces. It wasn't simply that. Haruka must not have been paying attention in the bathroom; there were streaks of paste going down her shirt and on top of that, she apparently didn't know that deodorant was for armpits instead of her shirt.

" How did that happen!? " Haruka took a deep breath. She had to get inside of the airport. She had to.

" I'm sorry, I can't let you in. You might scare away our customers. "

" Oh. " Haruka replied sullenly. Then she looked towards the sky. " Hey, look, there's superman! "

" What? " The guard looked in the sky and Haruka grinned.

She sprinted past him, hearing his shouts from behind her. She went down several corridors looking for the right gate. When she finally reached it, she noticed outside the window that the plane had just landed.

" I made it! " Haruka declared as everyone in her vicinity stared at her as if she were the dirtiest person on earth. " Oi, I'm hungry. " The blonde said as she looked down at her stomach. " My toast! " Haruka took out her toast and unwrapped it. " Oh. " The blonde stared at it and pinched it as if it weren't something edible. All over the front and back of the toast was charred, black, crusty stuff. Even the outside part of the toast was rock hard.

Haruka was about to give up on life when she realized that she forgot to get Michiru chocolates. Haruka's eyes widened. She felt around for her wallet; she still had some time to get something sweet in one of these small gift shops. But with her luck, they would probably think she was some homeless person with intentions of stealing. She couldn't really blame them for thinking that either. Haruka became frantic when she realized she didn't have her wallet. Did she lose it? Haruka groaned, feeling her pockets for any sort of money. To her surprise she found a crumpled dollar and leapt for joy when she found a candy machine.

" Flight 91 is letting the passengers get off! " Exclaimed a nearby kid to his father. Haruka remembered that Michiru's flight was the same and she quickly put her dollar in the candy machine. She chose Michiru's favorite candy and selected it. On its way down, of course, the candy got stuck.

" Stupid machine. " Haruka growled. She looked around for a minute. She couldn't possibly forget Michiru's chocolate. That's what Michiru liked best…

Like a crazed woman, Haruka began shaking the machine furiously, causing a lot of attention to be drawn to her. Just as the security guards proceeded towards her cautiously, the candy was freed. She thought that when she stopped abusing the machine, kicking it and such, that the guards would back off but she was wrong. She grabbed her candy and when she pulled away she realized that her hand was stuck in the door. Haruka frantically pulled out her hand and just as a guard reached for her shoulder, she kicked him in the face, consequently freeing her hand and the bar of candy within her clutches. The other guards chased her to the gate where she noticed a particular crowd had formed. She stopped, watching the people with their cameras and microphones everywhere. The guards stopped too, right behind Haruka, and watched the scene unfold before them.

As one of the passengers came through the gate, the flashes started sounding, reporters started asking trivial questions and men, most likely fans of the woman coming out of the gate, were handing her gifts left and right. Haruka noticed their spiffy suits and nicely taken care of gifts. She remembered her own appearance in the window and looked down at the bag with flowers in her hand. She pulled the flowers out and realized they had been smashed when the manager of the flower shop had sandwiched her between him and the officer. They didn't really look like flowers anymore. They looked like dead, dirty, roses. She couldn't believe that all of this happened because she woke up late…

" Stupid alarm clock… " Haruka muttered, vindictively.

She heard the voices of the reporters getting louder as they came closer to her. Haruka didn't care though. She had failed miserably today. She was covered in spoiled milk, toothpaste, deodorant, mud, dirt, water and the stench of a strong coffee. She had a lump sticking out of the side of her head. She probably broke one of her fingers in the damn candy machine. Her hair looked like she hadn't combed or washed it in years, not to mention the fact that there was muddy water dripping from the ends of it. She most likely had a black eye and other parts of her face were probably starting to swell. Her back hurt from slipping on water. Her curtains were trashed. Her Lamborghini was totaled. She lost her wallet. Her garage door was smashed in. Her room floor was covered in spoiled milk. Her bathroom had soap water all over it. Her house was dirty. She received a parking ticket. There was trash all over the front of her yard and in the middle of the road in front of her house. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that her flowers were ruined, falling apart and certainly looked more like weeds than expensive roses. The only chocolate she had gotten for her girlfriend was one candy bar which was now crushed into two parts because she couldn't control the sadness that was overwhelming her.

" Nani? "

The blonde heard the words and she felt a sting in her heart but, as of now, she didn't deserve to even talk to the woman that she had loved so much. Every one of the loud reporters became quiet. The flashes still kept going but none of them said anything. Most of them were surprised that the infamous Michiru Kaioh, world renowned violinist, would talk to such a waste of a 'man.' The security guards put their hands on her shoulders when they realized she was a nuisance to the famous woman. Haruka shrugged off their hands and looked down at the floor.

" I would love to give all of you interviews later but for now, would you mind turning off the cameras? " Michiru asked sweetly. The reporters were reluctant to oblige but they left her alone after a few moments. Some of Michiru's fans were looking at Haruka with disgust.

" That's Haruka? " One of the men said. " I thought 'he' was a famous racer? He looks like a bum. "

" Yeah, really. "

" Is that his gift to her on such a day? "

Haruka clenched her fists. Michiru had simply stayed unmoving. The blonde looked up at the men. " Yeah, this is my gift. " Haruka dropped them on the floor. " But you wouldn't understand what I went through to get simply this. " The blonde turned to leave when she felt arms wrap around her waist. Haruka tightened up. Why was Michiru hugging her? Didn't she see what she looked like? She was covered in mud and water. Surely Michiru didn't want to get her dress dirty…

" I love it. " Haruka looked down at the hands around her waist. They were tightly holding Haruka's flowers and candy bar. " But even if you didn't bring me anything, I would still love you. "

Haruka relaxed a bit and turned to Michiru. She didn't want to cry in front of these men but she was totally and utterly exhausted. " Michiru… gomen… I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. "

Michiru giggled and pinched Haruka's cheeks. " I can only imagine, my love… " The aqua-haired woman brushed the blonde's hair from her face and noticed a swelling eye and the suddenly obvious lump on her head. " Haruka, what on earth… " Michiru gently touched both of what looked to be, war wounds.

" Oh. Well, I made a big mistake today. " Haruka admitted as she led Michiru away from the gate, leaving the rude men astounded by Michiru's kindness.

" Ara? You make a mistake? And for you to admit that you made one… that's a step forward in life, Haruka. " Michiru laughed as the blonde squinted her eyes and pretended to scowl at Michiru. " Don't look at me like that! What happened? "

Haruka cleared her throat. " I stuck my tongue out at a woman who knew martial arts. " Michiru looked at Haruka skeptically. " It's true. Then she beat me up. "

" You, beaten up? "

" Mmmhmm. " Haruka held up the flowers for Michiru.

" Is that how those were smashed? "

" Erm… no… those were smashed when the manager of the flower shop tried to beat me up. "

" Oh… " Michiru examined Haruka's face. " Is that how you got the lump? "

" Erm… no… that happened when the pole jumped out and hit me in head. "

Michiru laughed. " The pole jumped out at you, huh? " Michiru asked without believing a word of that.

" Yeah… so did the bathroom wall, the garage door and the spoiled milk that's now covering the bedroom floor. "

Michiru's eyes widened. Haruka knew she was mad now. The blonde was going to pull away when her lover pulled her back. " Do I even want to know? " Michiru finally asked, laughing all the while to the car. When they reached her Lamborghini, Michiru laughed even harder. " Haruka, what happened to the car!? " Michiru noticed old food on the back of the bumper and the front bumper was absolutely ruined.

" Both the trash can and the garage door wanted to bully me today. " Haruka replied as she put a hand behind her neck. She felt incredibly stupid.

" Haruka, you know I love you, right? " Michiru had a smile on her face. " And you know, this is quite possibly the best present I've ever had on Valentine's Day. " The violinist leaned up for a kiss and the two shared a very passionate but somewhat muddy kiss. Michiru pulled away and smiled. Haruka wiped some mud off Michiru's face and smiled in returned.

" I love you too. And… thanks but this isn't even a real gift. "

" Sure it is. " Michiru replied as she got in the car. Haruka followed suit.

" How so? "

" Well, you went through all of that just to meet me at the airport and wish me a Happy Valentine's Day. If that's not love, I don't know what is. " Haruka never really thought of it like that but she wouldn't have changed a thing about what she had done because she really did want to make Valentine's a good day for Michiru. Michiru put her hand on Haruka's hand. " Come on, let's go home. We'll clean up the house because, I'm sure, that's it's a total wreck. " Haruka smirked as she started the engine. " And then when we're done, I'll take you to dinner and give you your Valentine's Day present afterwards. " Haruka tightened up at the words. " What? " Michiru asked.

" If your present is anything like mine, we can just skip it. You don't have to go through all that trouble… "

" Iie! Mine will be different, MUCH different. " Michiru winked at Haruka. " But I'm sure it'll be as full of love as your present was to me. "

" I don't think you'll be wanting to give me a present when we get home. The house is REALLY a big mess. " Haruka blushed. Michiru squinted her eyes and the two shared a heart felt laugh.

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THE END

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AN: Tsk tsk. Oh ya, I edited the chapter after I got out of class so ... yeah, I apologize for the unedited version. It was a bit tacky. I'm sure there's still mistakes but if there are, it's because my writing level isn't the highest it could be. Have a good valentine's day everyone.