Disclaimer: Don't own any characters.
A/N: I wanna thank gabicg93 for the help on this story.
Warning: There is a mention of child abuse in this story. Don't read if it will trigger you.
Haruka sighed as she walked into the house, finding it too quiet since her breakup with her girlfriend. She sighed as she went over to her answering machine which was flashing, pressing the play button only to hear the sound of her ex's voice and the sound of crying in the background.
"I'm going to bring this little brat to you, she's just as stupid as you are anyway."
Haruka didn't know rather she wanted to strangle the woman or drive all the way across the city to personally pick up the child.
That bitch doesn't need a kid to begin with.
She thought as the message switched over to another one, this one a musical, soft voice.
"Hey, Haruka. I was wondering if you had anything planned for tomorrow night?"
Sighing she quickly wrote down the later's number and then hit clear all on the machine before heading toward the kitchen.
It's been a month since she left you, you have all the right to start dating again.
She reminded herself just as the doorbell rang.
Opening the door she saw a familiar, sniveling little girl standing on the step holding nothing more than a suitcase.
"I'll tell the lawyer that I sign all my rights to the brat away! I don't need her!"
Haruka had to remind herself that the crying child needed her, else she would have murdered the woman already.
"Fine! Do that!"
She called, putting a hand on the child's shoulder and leading her into the house.
"Hotaru? What happened?"
She asked once they were inside, kneeling down to help the child remove her jacket and shoes only to see a faint bruise on the side of the child's face.
"Did she hit you?"
The little girl nodded, earning a groan from Haruka.
"Well you don't have to worry about that here."
She stated, trying to control her temper as so not to scare the child.
Once she had hung up the child's jacket, Haruka lifted Hotaru up into her arms and carried her toward the kitchen.
"I was just about to make dinner, does mac and cheese and chicken tenders sound good?"
She asked, earning a nod.
She remembered Hotaru talking more when they had first gotten custody of her after her father (a friend of Haruka's ex) had been killed in a car accident so she assumed that whatever had happened within the last month was the cause of the sudden lack of speech.
"Why don't you take your backpack up to your room then come down and you can help me with dinner?"
She asked, watching as the little girl's eyes lit up.
"Okay!"
Haruka chuckled at this and sighed, picking up the phone to call the number she had taken down while she waited on the child.
"Michiru? Yeah, it's me. I may be on for tomorrow if you don't mind making this a dinner for three."
She stated,
Michiru tried to hide her disappointment as she replied
"that'll be fine."
Haruka however picked up on it and sighed.
"Remember the ex I was telling you about? The one that gave me joint custody of the seven year old? yeah...well...Evidently she couldn't handle having a kid around so now Hotaru's living here and there's no way I can find a decent babysitter in such short notice."
She explained, noticing that the little girl in question was paused in the stairwell, seemingly frozen in place.
Michiru felt relief when she heard that it was just that.
"It's fine Haruka...I'll tell you what, I'll let you go and get her settled in, I'll meet you at your place around six tomorrow?" She suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Haruka responded.
Once she finally hung up she turned to Hotaru and smiled slightly.
"Now for dinner."
She stated standing up, only to feel the little girl tug at her pants.
"Was that your girlfriend?"
She asked, earning a blush from Haruka who glanced up.
"Well…..not exactly….it's complicated. Why don't you not worry too much about that okay Hime-chan?"
Haruka stated, ruffling her hair only to notice how the girl flinched slightly at the playful gesture.
Damn, what did that hag do to her?
She wondered as she added softly
"How about you pick out what we have for dessert while I shred the cheese?"
The little girl's eyes grew wide at this before she nodded.
Why do I have the feeling that I will want to strangle that bitch by the end of tonight? Seriously, she never looked this surprised at the idea of actually having a say in dinner before.
Sighing Haruka just headed toward the kitchen, followed closely by Hotaru.
Haruka busied herself with making dinner while Hotaru helped by setting the table and by pouring drinks for the both of them.
"Can I help with anything else?"
Hotaru asked meekly, wincing when Haruka turned to face her.
what the hell? she took a full step back, she's never done that before and I always move fast!
Haruka thought, biting back the sound that built in back of her throat because she could only imagine what the little girl had been put through.
"Well...I need someone to help me make the cake. How would you like to do that?"
she asked
As they put together the mix Haruka was relieved to hear the little girl laugh when the mixer splashed some of the contents up onto Haruka's shirt.
"Ah! C'mon! my favorite shirt!"
Haruka exclaimed, earning more laughter from the child.
Haruka grinned at this and ruffled the child's hair.
"Now all that's left to do is put this in to bake." she stated, pouring the batter into a pan before glancing down at the young girl.
"If you promise to actually eat most of your dinner I'll even let you have the rest of the batter in this...though it is pure sugar."
she stated mischievously, knowing that this was probably a bad idea but still, seeing the little girl actually smile was well worth it.