Michiru winced as she leaned down to pick up her bathrobe from the floor.
"Is something wrong?" Haruka asked. She was lying down on the bed with her hands behind her head.
"My hip hurts. And it's your fault," Michiru replied, pulling on the robe and walking over to the bed.
"And how is it my fault?" Haruka asked and sat up to face Michiru.
"You're the one who twisted my leg into an awkward position," Michiru explained as Haruka opened the robe that Michiru had just closed.
"You're the one who wanted me to go harder. Besides, you weren't complaining at the moment," Haruka said and slipped her arms around Michiru's waist.
"You wanted to do it on the bathroom floor. The tiles aren't the most comfortable surface," Michiru said. Haruka slid her hand down and stroked her hip.
"You were too irresistible. I couldn't wait," Haruka smiled.
"So it is your fault that my hip hurts," Michiru teased and ran her fingers through Haruka's hair.
"Sorry. Should I be gentler with you, then?" Haruka asked with a smirk on her lips.
"Don't you dare," Michiru breathed. Haruka stood up and pulled her in for a kiss. When they finally broke apart, Haruka ran her hand down Michiru's arm, making the shorter woman shiver.
"I'm still not the only one to blame. You seduced me in the bathroom," Haruka said.
"Oh, did I? If I remember correctly, you were the one who couldn't keep her hands to herself," Michiru teased.
"Don't pretend to be innocent. You always act like it's all my fault. You're the one who can't resist my charm."
"That's quite the accusation, Tenoh. Especially since it's untrue," Michiru smiled and ran her finger over Haruka's collarbone.
"It is true. And I'll prove it to you," Haruka said. She leaned down to press a kiss against Michiru's neck and took the hand that was resting on her chest into her own hand.
"How were you going to do that?" Michiru asked, closing her eyes.
"We'll have a contest. The first one to beg for sex loses," Haruka said and sat back down on the bed, pulling Michiru down to sit on her lap.
"You sound quite confident for someone who is trying to have sex right now," Michiru laughed.
"I know I can win. So what do you say? Oh, and you're not allowed to masturbate either," Haruka said and tugged the robe off of Michiru.
"What does the winner get?" Michiru asked. She was now getting curious about Haruka's contest, especially since she could easily win. Haruka thought for a moment.
"Bragging rights and one wish that the loser has to fulfill," Haruka replied.
"Fine. I'll agree to your contest, since you seem to be very eager to lose," Michiru said as Haruka's hand travelled down to her thighs.
"Good. But first, let's have one more round. Just for luck," Haruka breathed against Michiru's skin. The violinist smiled and wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck. Just for luck.
The next few days were fairly easy for both of them. They still had to be careful whenever they kissed so that it wouldn't lead to anything else. Instead, they switched to just giving each other quick kisses on the cheek. They missed the more intimate touches, but unfortunately they both wanted to win.
Another few days passed by, and the two lovers were starting to feel annoyed. Haruka tried to take her frustrations out on running, but it wasn't enough to distract her. She needed Michiru. Yet there was no way Haruka could give up. She had to win. She never won anything if Michiru was involved. Besides, it was Haruka's idea to have the competition in the first place, so losing was not an option. When she saw Michiru in her beautiful new dress that hugged her figure perfectly, Haruka decided that it was time to play dirty.
"Michiru, could you come over here?" Haruka called from the bathroom. Michiru sighed and put down the book she was reading.
"What is it?" she asked as she got into the bathroom. Before she got an answer, her eyes landed on Haruka. She was in the shower. Naked. With her blonde hair glued to her forehead and water dripping down her skin.
"Can you hand me the towel?" Haruka asked and pointed at the towel hanging on the wall. Michiru took it and handed it to her girlfriend, her eyes glued Haruka's body the whole time.
"Thanks," Haruka said and leaned in to kiss Michiru. The water was still running, and Haruka was all wet. Michiru felt some of the drops on her own clothes. Oh, how she wanted to just take off this stupid dress and join Haruka in the shower.
Michiru knew she had to leave now. Without a word, she left the room, leaving Haruka alone. The blonde turned off the water and started to dry herself. She had been so close to having sex in the shower. But unfortunately Michiru had managed to resist the temptation. She would have to come up with something else.
Michiru enjoyed seeing Haruka be frustrated. She would have enjoyed it even more, if she wasn't feeling frustrated too. Every time Haruka came back from running, slightly sweaty and with her hair all messed up thanks to the wind, Michiru had no other option than to look away. She missed Haruka's touch so much. But she would have to wait until Haruka gave in. Michiru wouldn't lose. She could already imagine the annoying yet handsome grin on Haruka's face if she happened to win. Haruka would become impossible to deal with. Michiru wouldn't let it happen. And if Haruka was playing dirty, then so would Michiru.
The morning light hit Haruka's face and she turned away from the window. She refused to get up yet.
"Good morning, love," Michiru's sweet voice said. Haruka grunted as an answer and cracked an eye open. She saw Michiru standing in front of the closet. Wearing very little clothes to begin with. Haruka opened both of her eyes and saw that Michiru was in fact naked, with her back turned to Haruka.
"What do you think I should wear?" Michiru asked. Haruka was unable to answer. She let her eyes travel up and down Michiru's curves, making her yearn for her even more.
"Well?" Michiru asked again, turning around. Haruka had a very hard time concentrating on the two dresses Michiru was holding.
"Uh… The green one" Haruka mumbled, gripping the sheets hard. She couldn't give up. Not now. If Michiru was ready to go this low, it had to mean that she was getting desperate.
It had now been a week and a half since the beginning of the contest, and Haruka was sure she would die from it. She couldn't focus on anything anymore. That made racing extremely difficult.
Haruka turned the car to the curve. She knew she was being slower than usual, but all her thoughts kept drifting back to Michiru and her beautiful eyes. Her sweet laugh that made Haruka smile. Her amazing body that-
Haruka realized she had just crossed the finish line. She didn't even have to know the results to know that she had been much slower than usual. At least this hadn't been a real race, just practice for the important race coming up soon. Haruka knew she would have to win the contest before that. But for now, she needed a shower. A really cold, freezing shower that would take her thoughts away from Michiru.
Haruka got out of the car and headed to the showers without saying a word to anyone. She was already regretting this contest, but it was too late to turn back. She had to win.
Haruka was just taking off her clothes when she heard someone banging against the door.
"Tenoh! What the hell is wrong with you? You were horrible out there!" a voice shouted through the door. Haruka decided to just ignore it and head over to the shower. She was so close to giving up already. So close.
The paint dripped from the brush down onto the floor. Michiru stood still, staring at the blank canvas. She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there. She was supposed to be painting, but she couldn't move her hand to let the brush draw the first line. Thoughts of Haruka had invaded her mind, so focusing on painting was difficult.
Michiru set the brush on the table. There was no way she could paint right now. She almost wanted to just call Haruka and ask her to come home so that she could give up. But this was a competition, and Michiru Kaioh didn't lose. She couldn't.
Michiru sighed and got some paper towels to clean the floor with. There were some stains on her shoes too, but it didn't really matter since she was wearing her painting clothes; simple slippers that she had bought years ago, a long skirt that didn't match any of her other clothes and Haruka's old shirt that still smelled like Haruka. Well, Haruka and dried paint. Michiru knew she had to get this shirt off, because smelling Haruka on her skin wouldn't help her win.
After cleaning the floor and throwing the paper towels away, Michiru looked at the empty canvas. This contest had to end.
Later that evening Haruka and Michiru were cuddling on the sofa and watching television. Setsuna and Hotaru were already sleeping in their rooms. Moments like this were like torture for Haruka and Michiru, since they were so close to each other, yet they couldn't do anything more than kissing.
Michiru leaned her head against Haruka's shoulder.
"Haruka?" she asked.
"Yeah?" the blonde answered, her eyes fixed on the TV.
"What would you like to have for lunch tomorrow?" Michiru asked casually. Haruka shrugged.
"I don't care. Anything is fine," she said.
"Alright. Oh, by the way, I masturbated today," Michiru admitted, but kept her tone casual. Haruka just nodded. It took a few seconds before she realized what Michiru had just said.
"Wait. You… But… Really?" she asked, turning to look at Michiru.
"Yes. We can end this competition now," the violinist said calmly. She was trying to be casual and not make a big deal out of the fact that she had lost.
"Oh, we'll certainly celebrate that. But do you know what this means? I won. And you lost. But more importantly, I won," Haruka grinned. Michiru knew that this would not go well.
"Since you won, you now get a wish. What do you want?" she asked, still pretending like everything was normal.
"I don't know yet. I'll have to think about it. But I won," Haruka repeated. She still couldn't believe she had actually won. She reached for the remote and turned off the TV.
"Yes, I know you won," Michiru sighed. She knew Haruka wouldn't stop bragging about this for a while.
"Say that again," Haruka said and stood up. She took Michiru's hand and started leading her to the bedroom.
"I lost. You, the amazing Haruka Tenoh, won," Michiru sighed. She could see that Haruka was enjoying this way too much.
"Oh, that sounds so great. So, what did you think about when you were masturbating?" Haruka grinned while leading Michiru up the stairs.
"Seiya, of course," Michiru teased, but kept her voice serious. Haruka stopped and tightened her grip on Michiru's wrist.
"What?" she growled. Michiru knew that just hearing Seiya's name made Haruka's blood boil.
"I'm just teasing. I was thinking about you. Only you," Michiru smiled, and Haruka started to walk again.
"Good. But don't do that again," Haruka said, opening the bedroom door.
"I won't," Michiru promised. Haruka pushed her on the bed and started tugging her clothes off.
"I've missed you so much," she breathed and kissed Michiru's neck.
"I've missed you too," Michiru replied. She buried her fingers into Haruka's hair and pushed her lower. It had been a week and a half. They were both weak. But Michiru didn't care about that. All she needed right now was to get rid of these clothes. Luckily Haruka was already working on it.
"You're so hot." Haruka was already sounding so desperate. She bit down on Michiru's nipple and the smaller woman arched against her. Yes, this was what they both had needed.
"Can you say it again?"
Haruka and Michiru were both already out of breath. They were lying on the bed, with Michiru's legs wrapped around Haruka's and Haruka's arm holding her closer.
"Fine. I lost. You won," Michiru sighed, but she couldn't help but smile. Haruka grinned and kissed Michiru's forehead.
"This was amazing. We should have contests like this more often," she laughed.
"No. No more contests," Michiru said.
"Why? Are you afraid you'll lose again?" Haruka teased. Michiru leaned up to kiss Haruka.
"No. But still, let's not do this again."
Haruka just pulled Michiru closer and closed her eyes. She still had her one wish to use.