Chapter 2: The First Session

The next day, Michiru came back for her first psychological session with Haruka. When the blonde was led into the small room, Michirus eyes went wide. It was clear that Haruka was in pain when she walked; she haltered a little, and from time to time, her hand would come up and rub her back. "Are you alright?" the psychologist asked when Haruka sat down on the chair really slow, holding her back all the time. "Yeah." The blonde pressed out between gritted teeth. "I'm fine." Michiru sighed at the obvious lie of the convict and asked: "What happened to your back?" "Nothing." Haruka replied softly, her eyes staring on the surface of the table in front of her. "Oh, so you just wake up with an obviously hurting back, huh?" Michiru asked, angered that Haruka refused to tell her the truth. Haruka mumbled something, and Michiru frowned. "Could you repeat that, please?" "Ran into a baton." The blonde now spoke louder. Michiru decided that this was all she needed to know and made a mental note to herself: "Talk to prison headmaster about officers beating convicts." "Okay." The psychologist now said. "Haruka, I'd like you to talk about what happened that night you were arrested." Haruka sighed, leaned back in her chair and covered her eyes with one hand. "I've gone through this for a thousand times now." The blonde sighed. "And no one believed me anyway. Why go through all of it again?" "Because there could be facts which help me to prove your innocence." Michiru replied calmly. Haruka sighed again, took her hand from her eyes and looked at Michiru. "Okay, I'll do it...but just because you are a beautiful woman." Michiru blushed heavilly and quickly stared down at her clip board to avoid looking into Harukas eyes. "Good." She finally said, glad that her voice wasn't shaking. "So, let's start from the beginning. Okay?" Haruka nodded and started to talk.

~*~ Flashback ~*~

"What is taking her so long?" Haruka grumbled to herself, checking her watch once more before she looked up at the facade of the huge office building. There were about one hundred windows, but only behind one of them was light. That was were her girlfriend Mizuki was discussing something with her dad. Haruka sighed and got out of her car. "Time to check on my girlfriend." She spoke to herself before she straightened out her slightly crumpled jacket and hurried into the building. Inside, the blonde had a short, but exciting search for the elevator; when she finally had found it, she pressed the button to make it drive downwards. The elevator arrived in the floor where Harukas girlfriend was supposed to be, and the doors opened with a little "Bing" sound. Haruka stepped out of the elevator, turned to the left and...

"Wait." Michiru interrupted Harukas talking, earning a little glare from the blonde. "Yes?" she finally asked. "Did you hear anything?" Harukas eyebrows wandered upwards, and Michiru sighed. "Anything. Like screams, or rumble, or something like that." Haruka shook her head. "No...there was complete silence." "Damn." Michiru muttered before she smiled at Haruka. "Okay. Go on."

Haruka stepped out of the elevator, turned to the left and walked down the corridor, over to the closed door of Kimoshi Hazakis office, the father of Mizuki Hazaki, the one Haruka loved. Carefully, the blonde laid her ear on the door, trying to eavesdrop. Silence. Haruka frowned and knocked the door. Nothing. Frowning even more, the blonde knocked again – and again getting no answer. Finally, Haruka grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. It wasn't the first time that Haruka visited the father of her girlfriend; the two of them shared a very warm relationship, much to Mizukis happiness. The blonde already prepared to look at the ugly green carpet again while she opened the door. Her eyes went wide, and she let out a heavy gasp. Instead of the normal spinach green, the carpet was red. "Kimoshi-San?" Haruka now whispered, not daring to talk loud for some reason. "Kimoshi-San? Mizuki?" She finally opened the door completely and stepped into the room. What she saw nearly made her heart stop. In the middle of the huge office, Kimoshi laid on the floor, face down. The handle of a butcher knife protruded from his back. Harukas eyes slowly left the dead man's body and stopped at another corpse which laid on the desk Kimoshi always had used. "No." Haruka whispered. "No..." The blonde literally hurried over to the desk, leaving a bloody footprint in the puddle of blood on the carpet. "Mizuki!" Haruka stopped at the desk, staring down at her girlfriend in horror. Mizuki laid on her back, her brown hair hanging over the edge of the desk. The letter opener she had given her father on his fiftieth birthday had been rammed deep into her chest. Without thinking long, Haruka grabbed the deadly object and pulled it out, not caring about the fact that her fingerprints were left on it when she did so.

"I tried to save them." Haruka had been staring down on her legs during the last five minutes of her story, and Michiru wondered why. "I tried to save Mizuki...to reanimate her...it didn't work." Finally, the blonde looked up, and Michiru saw the two small rivers of tears that ran down her cheeks. "The observation camera taped me. That and my fingerprints on the letter opener were enough evidence to prove my guilt." Michiru let out a little sigh, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that, Haruka." "Does that mean that you believe me?" the blonde asked, surprise in her voice. Michiru gave her a gentle smile. "Yes, Haruka, I believe you. In fact, I'm convinced that you are telling the truth." "You're the first one." Haruka replied softly. "Not even my lawyer believed me. He told me that I better confess everything, since it would keep me from death penalty. As you can see, I didn't confess." "And that was the right thing to do." Michiru replied. "I'll get you out of here, Haruka. Trust me." "Why?" Haruka suddenly asked, catching Michiru off-guard. "W-why?" the psychologist stammered. "Why do you want to get me out? Why not somebody else?" Haruka asked. Michiru avoided her eyes when she replied: "Because your case is special. The court probably condemned you harder than usual...because of your sexual orientation." "Because I'm gay." Haruka repeated, wide-eyed. Michiru nodded and sighed. "Think about that, Haruka. I'll come back tomorrow, okay?" Haruka nodded, and Michiru left the room.