An hour into the music lesson, Kiseki let out a long yawn. "Mama," she said quietly, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sleepy."

Michiru looked at her exhausted child and smiled. Normally, she would have asked for another 20 minutes but Michiru decided to let it go "Good job," she said before she kissed the top of her daughter's head and standing from the piano. When she noticed how slowly Kiseki was moving, she almost laughed as she bent over to pick her up. She felt the girl's head lay on her shoulder as she carried her back up the stairs. As she passed by the couch, she glanced at her wife. "Are you staying down here for a little while or are you coming upstairs?"

Haruka sat up and stretched before answering. "If you're going to bed, I'll join you. If not, I'm not moving," she said with a smirk.

Michiru nodded. "Then I'll put her to bed and come back down," she said before turning towards the stairs. After ascending the 13 steps and entering her child's bedroom, she let the girl down. "Get your pajamas on." As her little girl moved slowly to her dresser for some clothes, she sat on the edge of the bed and waited. Once she was ready for bed, Michiru helped her baby climb into bed and covered her up. "Do you want to go to Aunt Setsuna's house tomorrow?" Receiving a slight nod, she smiled. "Ok. Daddy and I have to go to your school tomorrow and talk to your teacher. We'll pick you up when we're done and we can all go to lunch. Sound like a plan?"

Kiseki nodded and pulled her blanket up to her chin. "Hotaru is home?"

Michiru chuckled and nodded. "Yes, she'll be home. Now, go to sleep, ok? We'll see you in the morning," she said before leaning forward to kiss Kiseki's forehead.

"I love you, mama," the young girl said before she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

Michiru smiled brightly. "I love you, too, Ki-chan," she whispered as she exited the bedroom and closed her door. She hesitated before going back to join her wife in the living room, standing in the hall and thinking of the day's events. Heading back down the stairs, she flopped down on the couch next to Haruka.

The racer chuckled a bit as she watched her wife. "Don't let it get to you. At least she didn't get hurt," she quipped as she placed her arm around the musician's shoulders.

Michiru looked slowly to her lover. "But she did get hurt, Ruka. She wouldn't have been crying about it if she hadn't." She sighed before continuing. "Have you called Sets yet?"

Haruka nodded. "While you were upstairs. She's going to come pick her up in the morning when she goes to get Hotaru from the palace." She squeezed Michiru's shoulders a bit. "Don't worry. We'll have this settled tomorrow and it won't happen again. If it does, I can go see Kouta's manager. Maybe that will get him to back off."

Michiru looked at her wife, confused about what her partner had just said. "Who is Kouta?"

Haruka then realized that she never mentioned her competitor to her wife but just as soon realized that Michiru knew who he was anyway. "You know who Kouta is. He's Yuikazi's father and Nashiko's husband."

Michiru's eyes widened in shock, surprised that she hadn't made the connection sooner. "No way! Nashiko would never have let this happen!"

Haruka nodded. "I thought the same until today," she explained. "I really can't stand that man." A few minutes passed without conversation before the blonde spoke again. "So when do we have to be at the school?"

Michiru shook her head slightly. "10 o'clock. I didn't want to make it too early but I wanted it to be over in time for us to have lunch with Sets and Hotaru. I miss them."

Haruka smiled before fully hugging her wife. "I know. I do, too. First thing's first though," she said as she let go of the aqua-haired woman. "We better get to bed. Setsuna will be here at 9 which means you need to be up before that to get Kiseki ready to go."

Michiru's jaw dropped in mock-shock. "Me? She's your daughter, too! I think you should get her ready tomorrow," she contorted.

Haruka shook her head. "Now, Michi. You know I won't be awake in time for that." She stood up quickly and walked towards the stairs.

The artist got up and followed her wife to their bedroom where they took their time getting ready for bed.

The Next Morning

The alarm went off at 7:30 and Michiru shut it off quickly, not looking forward to the day's trials. Looking over to her wife, she had to chuckle. True to her word, she wasn't awake but Michiru didn't need to have been told that would happen. Twelve years of being together told her that much. Moving carefully from the bed, she left their room and headed down the hall to Kiseki's door, which was open. "Ki-chan?" she asked quietly as she peeked inside, finding her already awake.

The girl was sitting on her bed attempting to put her shirt on but was failing miserably. Her head had somehow made it through one of the sleeves and she couldn't get it off. "Mama, help!"

Michiru tried not to laugh. Going into her daughter's room, she sat next to her on the bed and reached for the shirt. "Calm down," she said softly. Once her child stopped squirming around, she managed to gently pull the sleeve up and over her head. Turning it the right way, she helped the small blonde put it on correctly. "Nice try," she said encouragingly. Noticing that her pants were already on, she smiled. "You're getting better," she said, hoping to make the girl smile.

It worked. Kiseki couldn't help but smile triumphantly despite the incident with her shirt. Looking over to her dresser though, the smile faded. "I can't find socks," she said after looking back to her mother.

Michiru nodded and stood, heading for the dresser. "That's ok. You don't need them quite yet." Pulling a pair from one of the drawers, she turned back to her daughter. "Let's go get some breakfast."

Kiseki's smile returned quickly. Jumping from the bed, she started to walk towards the door but stopped. Turning around, she went back to her bed and started straightening her sheets.

Michiru smiled again, amused at her daughter's attempts to make her bed even though she was too small to reach it completely. "Want some help?"

"No," was the quick response. Kiseki grunted a bit as she reached as far as she could. She managed to make her bed by herself for the first time. She clapped her small hands together as she turned around with an almost-cocky grin.

Michiru knew that grin; it was Haruka's. "Good job," she said as she knelt down and hugged her baby. Standing back up, she took her hand and headed for the stairs, descending them behind Kiseki.

The little girl let go of her mother's hand at the bottom of the steps and ran for the kitchen. Knowing that she couldn't reach the cereal even if she tried, she waited patiently for her mom.

Michiru suppressed a laugh at her child's antics this morning. Going to her Aunt's house always made her this giddy in the morning and Michiru loved every second of it. Placing her hand on top of Kiseki's head, she told her to sit down. She went about getting her daughter's cereal ready and set the bowl on the table in front of her quickly. Glancing at the clock, she sighed. "I'll be right back." Heading back up the stairs, she went back to her bedroom only to find Haruka out of bed but not in the room. "Must be in the shower," she thought. Going across the hall to their bathroom, she heard the shower running and nodded. Deciding to take a shower that night, she went back to the bedroom and headed for the closet, picking out a long skirt, dress shirt, and a jacket. After dressing quickly and leaving the jacket in the room, she went back down to join her daughter.

Kiseki looked at her mother and smiled. "You look pretty, mama," she said with a mouth full of cereal.

For what seemed like the millionth time that morning, Michiru smiled. "Thank you, Ki-chan. Now finish your breakfast. Aunt Setsuna will be here to get you soon." She watched as the girl took a big spoonful of cereal. She moved to the front door and opened it, watching as parents walked their kids down to the bus stop. After locking the screen door, she went back to the kitchen to make herself some tea.

Once she was finished with her cereal, Kiseki got down from the table and handed her bowl and spoon to her mother before going to the living room and sitting on the couch.

As soon as she set the bowl and spoon into the dishwasher, Michiru heard a car pull into the driveway. Looking through the screen door to affirm her suspicions, she picked up Kiseki's socks from the counter top and went to the living room. "Here," she said as she tossed the socks at her child and smiled.

Kiseki scowled at her mother for a second before putting her socks on. "Is Aunt Setsuna here?" Her mother nodded and she jumped down from the couch, going over to the door.

Setsuna saw Kiseki standing at the front door and smiled. After Michiru let her inside the house, she picked the girl up and hugged her. "Hey, kid."

Once her aunt set her back down, Kiseki looked around, confused. "Where's Hotaru-ane?"

"Well," Setsuna said as she knelt down in front of her niece. "We have to drop Daisuke off at school and then we have to go to the palace to pick her up. Sound like fun?" she asked as she handed Kiseki her shoes.

Michiru watched the exchange and kept herself from laughing. She heard the water upstairs stop running and knew Haruka would be joining them shortly.

Setsuna stood back up and regarded her friend after Kiseki's shoes were on. "Haruka told me what happened yesterday. You ok?"

Michiru nodded. "A little upset, sure, but we're both fine. We're more worried about her." She motioned to her daughter.

The fashion designer nodded. "Understandable." She heard footsteps over-head and knew their source. Glancing at her watch, she was almost surprised. "When is your conference?"

"Ten," Michiru answered, waiting for her wife to join them. "I'm not looking forward to this but it has to happen."

Haruka came down the stairs slowly and smiled when she saw Setsuna. "Morning," she said as she came up next to her wife.

Kiseki went over to her father and hugged her leg. "Morning, daddy."

Setsuna watched as Haruka picked up her child and smiled. "How can anyone think this is wrong?" she thought. "We better get out of here," she said more to her friends than her niece.

Haruka nodded and set Kiseki down. "We'll see you later," she said to the girl. She gently ran her hand over her daughter's hair, as did her wife, before they watched her leave the house with Setsuna.

Michiru waited until her friend and child were in the car before speaking. "I wish we didn't have to do this," she whispered.

Haruka nodded sadly. "But we do have to, so let's go." She moved about the house getting ready to head to the school, to deal with her rival. "This ought to be interesting."

At ten o'clock, the racer and the artist sat in the principal's office with Yuikazi's parents. The two rivals glared at each other, neither saying a word but both wanting to tear the other apart. It took all in Haruka's power, and Michiru's hand on her arm, to stay in her seat and not beat the man that had started all this into oblivion.

"Now then," said Mr. Fujiwara, the principal, as he sat at his desk. "Why don't we get straight to the point? What happened here yesterday was completely unacceptable," he said as she shifted some papers. "I know that Mr. Takachi and Mrs. Tenoh are both racers and that there is a rivalry but to bring your children into it?"

Kouta jumped from his seat. "Why should we listen to you? My son shouldn't even be in the same room as a child from a gay couple!"

"Sit down, sir," Mr. Fujiwara warned. "Sit down or I will have you removed by the police."

Nashiko watched as her husband shot a menacing glance towards Haruka and Michiru before he sat down. She waited until he was back in his chair to speak. "Before anyone gets the wrong impression, I had no knowledge of this, of any of it. I didn't know that my husband had told my son. For that, I am truly sorry." She looked over to Michiru with sadness in her eyes.

"Please, calm yourself," Mr. Fujiwara said to Kouta. "I did not ask you here for violence. I need to know that this will never happen again. I have already seen to putting Kiseki into a different class but that won't stop Yuikazi from coming after her outside of classes. I will not have this again in my school. I will be forced to remove Yuikazi indefinitely should I hear of this again."

"Indefinitely?!" Kouta yelled from his chair. "Why would you remove my son? Their kid is the one that needs to be removed! At least my son is normal!"

Michiru was the one to jump up this time. "How dare you! There is absolutely nothing wrong with my daughter! She's just as normal as your son, you bastard!"

Haruka stared at her wife, speechless and impressed at the same time. She'd never heard her go off on someone so strongly before.

Kouta scoffed and took a step closer to Michiru. "How can you call her normal? She has no father. She's unnatural!"

"She may not have been born in ways that you can understand," Michiru retorted, also taking a step forward. "But she has two parents that love her and that's all that should matter. She does well in school. She has lots of friends. She plays sports. She gets hurt. She heals. She laughs. She cries. I don't see what's so 'unnatural' about that."

Nashiko could see the tears that threatened to fall from her best friend's eyes and decided that enough was enough. "Kouta! Sit down right now!" She stood up and looked him straight in the eye. "If I had known how you were raising our son, I would have said something sooner and this never would have happened. I won't let you corrupt him anymore."

Kouta turned to his wife but said nothing due to being surprised.

Nashiko moved to her friend and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Michiru. This never should have happened." Once she let go of the musician, she turned to their son's principal and bowed deeply. "I'm truly sorry, Fujiwara-san. This will never happen again. You have my word."

Before anyone could say anything, Kouta was being dragged out of the room, down the hall, and out of the school by his extremely irate wife. Inside their car, their own discussion continued. It ended with the threat of Nashiko leaving him.

Back inside, Michiru sat back down and took Haruka's hand, entwining their fingers tightly. Her tears slowly disappeared as she closed her eyes and took calming breaths.

Mr. Fujiwara shook his head and sighed. "I'm very sorry to have put you two through this. After everything you've done for us as Senshi, you shouldn't be forced to put up with this kind of abuse."

Haruka shrugged. "It would have happened whether we were Senshi or not. We just weren't prepared for it." She squeezed her partner's hand. "We were hoping we wouldn't have to deal with this until Kiseki was older but I guess there's a good thing about it happening now. At least she knows what to expect"

Mr. Fujiwara nodded. "I do agree, but I also believe that people should just let things be. On a happier note, I've made arrangements to have Kiseki put into a more advanced class. I don't think she was being challenged enough in the other one anyway. Kiseki is a wonderful girl and I truly enjoy having her here. I would hate for her to get hurt anymore than she already has." He stood and walked around his desk. "I guess this matter has been handled for the moment. Is there anything else I can do for you two? Anything at all?"

Haruka shook her head and stood, pulling her wife up with her. "I think we should get back to Kiseki and talk to her. We didn't really say anything to her about it yesterday."

"I think that's wise," Mr. Fujiwara stated as he moved towards the door, opening it for them. "Let me walk you out," he offered.

The three of them walked outside in silence. Once they were in front of the car, they said their good bye's before Haruka and Michiru got into the vehicle. As they left the school lot, Michiru called Setsuna to find out where they were and where they wanted to meet for lunch. Deciding on a restaurant with outdoor seating, they all met up there 20 minutes later.

Setsuna offered a small smile when she seen her friends' forced ones. "Things must have been rough at the school," she thought. She had Kiseki by one hand, Daisuke by the other, and Hotaru stood behind her.

Kiseki let go of her Aunt's hand and raced for her mother, jumping up into her arms and hugging her tightly.

Michiru held her baby close and stroked her hair as she tried to forget the conference. "You hungry?" The girl never let go but the artist felt her nod and she chuckled.

Haruka chuckled as well before turning back to Setsuna. "I thought you were going to drop him off at school."

Setsuna shrugged. "I was going to but I didn't think it would be very fair to let Hotaru stay home with Kiseki and not let him," she explained as she picked up her son. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."

Everyone laughed as they entered the restaurant. Haruka and Michiru's tensions eased quickly as they ate and talked with their family. An hour later, everyone was finished with their lunch and heading back towards their respective vehicles. After Kiseki was fastened into her seat and her parents were ready, they left the parking lot. Along the way, they stopped at a party store where only Michiru got out. After returning to the car, they were back on their way home. Kiseki couldn't see what her mother had gotten, if she had gotten anything at all. Once they were back at home, they all got out and headed inside. As Michiru put whatever it was she had gotten from the party store in the freezer, Haruka went with Kiseki to the backyard. "Let's play football, daddy!" A little while later, the two came inside to join Michiru on the couch.

Michiru stood from the couch and asked Haruka to join her in the kitchen. "We should make sure she's ok."

Haruka shrugged. "She seems ok. She was pretty happy when we got back." She seen the worry in her wife's eyes and gave in. "We should talk to her anyway." She and her partner went back into the living room and sat on either side of their daughter. "Hey, Ki-chan? You doing all right?" When her little girl nodded, she continued. "Good. You know that Yuikazi was just trying to make you mad right?"

Kiseki nodded again but looked down at her hands. "I don't like him, daddy."

Michiru reached over and took her daughter's hand. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. You're going to be in a different class than him now."

Kiseki looked up at her mother sadly. Before she could say anything, her mother continued.

"You're not being punished, baby," the artist said. "You've done nothing wrong. You're being put into a better class now. It'll be more fun."

Haruka admired how Michiru was trying to make their child feel better. Her lover had a way with words that almost made her laugh. "You're too smart for your class, Kiseki. That's why you're being moved."

The small blonde felt a bit better and smiled. "Will I get homework?"

Michiru laughed. "Maybe." She could not figure out why her daughter was so excited to get homework. She stood up and started walking to the kitchen, going for the freezer. After pulling out a box of ice cream, she got 3 bowls and 3 spoons, scooped some of the frozen treat into each bowl, put the carton away, and went back to the living room. She received a look from her wife and she smiled. "I know, I know. We haven't eaten dinner yet."

The three ate their ice cream in silence as they watched television. The rest of the night was spent in comfortable silence as they enjoyed each other's company. A little while after they had actually eaten dinner, Haruka took Kiseki up to her room to get her ready for bed.

Kiseki crawled into her bed and pulled her blanket up to her chest. "Good night, daddy."

Haruka smiled. "Good night, Ki-chan. Love you," she said before kissing her daughter.

"Love you too," Kiseki said before she yawned. She watched as her father turned out her light and closed her door before turning over onto her side and closing her eyes.

Haruka went down the hall to her own bedroom to join her wife, who already had her pajamas on and was already lying in bed. Putting on her own bed attire quickly, she joined her partner and sighed. "At least today is over with," she said as she relaxed back into her pillow.

Michiru nodded then shifted herself so that she was lying against the blonde. Wrapping her arm around the racer's waist, she smiled. She was asleep before her wife had a chance to say anything else.

Haruka smiled as well, chuckling at how fast Michiru fell asleep. It took her a few minutes longer to fall asleep as she thought about the day's events.

The next morning, everything was back to normal with Michiru getting Kiseki out of bed and ready for school while Haruka lounged in bed and waited for her wife to return home. Luckily enough for them, nobody in Kiseki's new class knew her parents so no one had anything to worry about for the rest of the year.

AN: About freaking time, huh? The ending sucks. I know this, but its 2:15 in the morning, I've been working on this for the past 3 hours, and I should have been in bed hours ago. I hope you enjoyed this nonetheless. Please review!!