Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

- Chapter 3: Sightings and Meet and Greets -

"That was a wonderful performance, Michiru-chan!"

Michiru was in the second floor bar lounge looking out towards the bow of the ship. The lounge was closed off as the green room for the performers and their entourage. Everyone around her was relaxed in jovial chatter with drinks in hand. There were people congratulating others regarding their performance, musicians networking with other musicians for potential future collaborations, while the on-deck stylists and make-up artists were marketing themselves to other performers for potential new clients; it was all business and industry related talk.

Michiru just arrived back home from the last leg of her worldwide tour just a day ago and was in no mood to discuss business. She hadn't had a chance to catch up on sleep and was still jetlagged from the travel home.

"Thanks Okaa-san." She replied softly, giving her mother a small smile. She sipped on a glass of red wine to relax her body.

"What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?! You should be mingling with the other artists here! You will be back in the studio in three months. You should have some contacts ready for the next album." her mother quietly scolded.

Michiru briefly closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Okaa-san, stop worrying so much. The next three months is my vacation from all of this." She made a large circular motion with her glass of wine, pointing towards the crowd of people in front of them. "I told you earlier this was the last performance before my vacation starts and seeing I'm done with the performance, I am done with anything that has to do with business for the next three months." She paused a moment, looking her mother in the eye. "This also means you are on vacation as well." She gave the older woman in front of her a tired smile.

"Oh, child, as your mother and manager, I am never on vacation," her mother gently chided. "I'm going to go get a drink then and talk business on your behalf. Three months is a long time and we don't want to lose out on any future opportunities."

Her mother paused and looked around in the crowd and spotted the person she was looking for. "Well, if you're not going to talk business, why don't you go talk to Daisuke-san over there?" Her mother motioned towards a crowd of people by the door.

A tall athletic-looking man with short black hair and dark blue eyes stood wearing a black tuxedo and white bow tie. As if on cue, he glanced over in Michiru's direction, smiling as he made eye contact. She smiled back then turned her head and looked at her mother.

Her mother continued, "I hear he's interested and not in a business sense either." Her mother gave her a wink.

"Okaa-san!" Michiru had a light blush spread across her cheeks. "It's not like that! We're just friends!"

Her mother laughed and waved her off as she walked away, "Of course, dear!"

Michiru still flushed, sighed in exasperation as she took another sip of her wine. She turned around towards the window behind her staring at her reflection from the glass. She saw tired eyes staring back at her. She could tell she had small bags under her eyes due to lack of rest. Her skin didn't look as healthy as it used to either. Her facial features looked loose to her, almost as if she were aging at great speed. She vowed silently to herself that would change once she receives well-deserved rest which includes sleeping, spa treatments and swimming. She smiled at the thought of not worrying for three months.

A white flicker caught her attention and her sight focused past the pane of glass to a white triangle flag flapping about outside on a pole. It looks windy outside. She silently noted, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

She turned her attention to movement on the deck below. She saw a blonde man making his way to the front of the ship, one hand in his pocket, walking against the wind. She watched as he stopped before the railing and closed his eyes. She saw his chest heaving as if taking deep breaths of air. He leaned forward and gripped the railing for support. His head turned as he observed the scenery in front of him. She caught a side profile of his looks.

He's handsome. She thought to herself.

His hair danced crazily about his head. She smiled. It strangely made her happy that he was enjoying himself without having the company of anyone by his side. She wished she could have a moment like that right now.

She couldn't stop staring at his eyes. Even though it was a side view, she could see he was completely content with a glint of determination in his eyes.

Strange, I wonder why he looks determined.

He brought his left hand holding a drink to his mouth. She wondered how he didn't spill any of it in the rugged weather condition outside.

"Hey."

A deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts and made her jump a little.

"Ah! Yes?"

"Woah! I didn't mean to scare you."

She turned to face concerned deep blue eyes. It was Daisuke.

"Daisuke-kun! Oh no, that's okay. I was just-I mean, hey, how are you?"

He chuckled as she fumbled with her words.

"I'm doing well and yourself?"

"Good. I'm doing good."

He leaned in and gave her a hug. She hugged him back.

"Congratulations on finishing your tour. You must be happy to have that over with."

"Yeah! I didn't realize how exhausting it was until I was neck deep in it."

"Well, don't worry, you'll get used to it. You'll handle the fatigue better your second time around." He smiled.

Michiru silently groaned at the thought of a second world tour. She was extremely tired now and just the thought of another round made her want to pass out. Not showing any of her internal thoughts she smiled back.

"I don't have to think about that just yet so let's not discuss that!"

Daisuke laughed. His eyes getting smaller as his grin grew wider.

"Okay. We won't talk about that. So you're going to take a break for three months huh? That's one long break. What do you plan on doing for three months?"

Michiru laughed, "sleep!"

Daisuke laughed again. "Ok, well, I'll be in town for the next couple of months. We should hang out when you're not sleeping."

"Yeah, sure. I'd love that."

"Great! Then let me…"

"Endo-san!" A young crew member called out from the doorway.

Daisuke looked up towards the person shouting, "Yes? Over here!"

"Endo-san, you're up in five!" The young man held his hand up signaling he was due on stage in five minutes.

"Okay! I'm coming!"

The crewman turned his attention towards a hand-held radio letting the other end know the performer was on his way down and then left.

Daisuke turned his attention back to Michiru.

"Well, it looks like I'm up. I have a feeling that I won't be back up here for the rest of the evening. I think my manager wants me to mingle with the donors. If I don't see you later, can I call you so we can meet up sometime this week? Dinner perhaps?"

"Sure."

"Is your number still the same?"

"Yeah, call me."

With another hug, he departed for the door with his manager tailing behind him.

Daisuke was nice. He was polite, tall, handsome and a marvelously wonderful violinist. He, like Michiru, was one of the top violinists in the world. He came from a wealthy family much like Michiru. They both met when they performed with the Saito Kinen Orchestra when Michiru was 16 years old and Daisuke, 18. They were both considered prodigy violinists, however, Daisuke's rise in popularity increased faster than Michiru's.

He transferred from orchestra to orchestra, moving up quickly within the ranks. He performed with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and most recently the Royal Concertgebouw. He played for the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam four years ago which then launched him on a solo career with four platinum records, three world tours and crowned the King of violinists amongst the classical music community.

Michiru could not fathom how he was able to accomplish so much in such little time. She didn't know when he had time to compose new pieces along with planning world tour after world tour.

Gossip swirled three years ago between the two when Michiru was working on her first solo album. She worked on a couple of duets with Daisuke thus creating a friendship with the young man. Outside of the studio, they were seen together often eating lunch, dinner and accompanying each other to publicity events. The classical world thought the King found a princess to crown his Queen.

Their time together stopped when Michiru started her second album and world tour planning two years ago. The gossip eventually died away. Michiru never figured out what they were. Most of their time together was work related and a few personal but their intimacy never went further than a hug and side kiss on the cheek. She concluded it was all a professional friendship and nothing more.

Daisuke, now 29 years old, was considered to be one of the most eligible bachelors in town. He has been spotted with celebrity women from all walks of the entertainment business from movies to music. Being involved in numerous fast and flashy affairs, Daisuke built up a reputation as a playboy no one could tie down.

In different interviews he stated he was still looking for "Ms. Right." Many of his previous flames described him as an arrogant, flirtatious and charming man with a heart melting smile. It was all the qualities of a heart breaker. Despite all the public descriptions and accusations of Daisuke, Michiru knew him to be a kind, sweet, brilliant, and well-spoken man. He has not shown anything to her to make her think otherwise.

She looked back out the window seeing the blonde man still standing at the rail. The wind was still unrelenting against the stranger's body.

It looks cold.

Goosebumps spread across her body as a chill ran through her at the thought of the cold air outside. She wondered how the handsome stranger could stand it. His hair is going to be a mess when he walks out of there. She mused to herself.

She noticed two other men, one tall in a black suit and one shorter in what appears to be a tuxedo, approaching the blonde from behind. Curious about the upcoming interaction, she continued to watch.

"Dinner next week? That was fast."

Michiru turned to see her mother, holding a glass of gin and tonic smiling at her. Her cheeks felt warm, indicating another blush forming.

"Okaa-san!"

Deep in her comfort zone she didn't hear yelling behind her. Howling winds filled her ears muting any sounds around her. With her eyes still closed, she realized something had joined her. It was a distant sound.

What is that?

"Ha…ka! … do… here?! …ey!"

Suddenly a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She spun around finding Ryouji's hand on her shoulder with a confused look on his face. She furrowed her brows in.

"Hey," she calmly shouted.

"Didn't you hear us? We were yelling at you!" Ryouji was still yelling, trying to talk over the wind. "Are you okay? It's been thirty minutes since you left."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed a breather."

"What the hell are you doing on this side of the ship? It's windy as hell over here!" Jun added.

"What?" Haruka leaned forward trying to hear what he was saying.

"I said what are you doing over here?! It's windy!" Jun said a bit louder.

"What?" Haruka had an annoyed face on.

"I SAID IT'S WINDY!" Jun yelled, shortening his previous statement and also annoyed.

"Hey, okay, you don't have to yell!" Haruka grinned back.

"… Oh screw you!" Jun realized Haruka heard every word. She liked messing with her friend.

"Okay guys let's head back to the dining area. I think we got enough fresh air up here!" Ryouji suggested.

The three began to head back towards their table. The blonde glanced up to the windows above and noticed people. One person stood out in particular; an aquamarine haired woman to be exact. Her back was turned to the window. She looked like she was talking to someone. Seeing the woman was not going to turn around anytime soon, Haruka turned her attention back to the two friends in front of her and shook her head.

After they escaped the fury of the wind, the blonde ran her fingers through her windswept hair in an attempt to tame it. She smoothed out her suit and straightened her tie, trying not to look too disheveled. Taking in a deep breath she felt refreshed. Her face was numb from the cold winds, she felt awake and no longer tired.

Seeing the dining tables coming into view, she gave her now empty glass to a passing crew member, and placed both of her hands on the shoulders of both of her friends. "All right, let's do this!" Shocked by their formerly tired friend's new disposition, the two gentlemen looked at each other and shrugged as they entered the dining area.

An hour later all of the performances finished and everyone on board were socializing with one another.

Ryouji was chatting it up with various artists and donors. He was no doubt marketing and networking since this event is in direct correlation with what his program does. He was constantly looking to make new connections to help further improve his program and gain new opportunities for his students. He was also always looking for donations from new donors. He was no longer bothered with the previous unknown donation Jun made on his behalf. He'll just write it off as an investment to gain more opportunities.

Jun was also busying himself with networking. He was a well-known events promoter and was known as the go-to guy if you need an event promoted. He owned his own promotion company called Velvet Rope Promotions. His company promoted the hottest concerts, clubs, restaurants, charity events and everything else in between in town. If it wasn't the hottest, his company will make sure it will be the top event to attend by event day.

He recruited the best promoters in the cities his company was in. His company was the best in Japan and was found internationally in major cities in Europe, North America, and Asia. Tonight had a lot of international music artists in town and could help benefit his company with future promotional events.

Staring off in boredom, the last of the trio was sitting at the table surrounded by a small group of talking women. The blonde had zero reasons to talk to anyone. It wouldn't benefit her team since no one here were the type to sponsor Formula 1 racing.

The group of women around her was blatantly flirting with her. Usually in situations such as this she'd flirt back but she felt like she had cabin fever and wanted off this ship. Flirting was the last thing on her mind. The crowd of women made the air around her more suffocating.

Loud feedback was heard over the speakers, grabbing her attention.

"Attention all guests. We will be docking in thirty minutes. Please be sure you have all of your belongings before you disembark the ship. If you have a coat check ticket, please remember to head to the coat check counter inside the ship on deck level to retrieve your items. On behalf of the crew of Bay Star Cruise Liner, we thank you for your time here with us and we hope you will sail with us again in the future."

The speaker clicked signaling the end of the message.

"Oh! We're getting off soon! So, Haruka-san, what are you planning to do later tonight? Anything or anyone in particular?" The red head at the table was bold the blonde thought. If she was in a different mood than what she was in now, she would have said her but instead replied, "I'm heading to Oyama tonight." She lied.

"What's in Oyama? Can I come?"

She's persistant.

"I'm visiting family. Sorry, this is a solo trip." She replied coolie.

The girl vocalized her disappointment, "Aww! Well, that's too bad. I'm good company in the car."

I bet you are.

Haruka glanced over to her friends finding they were both having a conversation with one person. Jun caught sight of the blonde and waved her over.

"Well, ladies, it's been fun. It was a pleasure to meet you." With a bow and before anyone could protest, she quickly left the table and met her friends.

"Ah! Haruka! I want you to meet someone!" Jun exclaimed. "Haruka, I want you to meet Endo Daisuke, world renowned violinist."

"Ha! There's no need to throw that title in!" Daisuke laughed.

Haruka looked at the gentleman standing before her. He was a little taller than her, short black hair, midnight blue eyes, broad shouldered but lean.

She stretched her hand out. "Nice you meet you, Tenou Haruka." He extended his hand giving and receiving a firm hand shake. He eyed her up and down.

"Tenou Haruka? The racer?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"So you're my competition huh?"

Caught off guard by his statement. "I'm sorry, your what?"

"My competition. It looks like there are two playboys on this ship. Did you find a companion to take home tonight?" He grinned.

She looked at him in disbelief. Is this guy serious?

Noticing her silence he added, "Well, I am definitely no competition for you on the race track so I'm not referring to speed."

"No one would've mistaken you for that," she mumbled but Daisuke didn't seem to notice.

"I saw you were working a small crowd earlier. Any takers?"

The more this guy talked, the more she wanted to punch him in the face. This guy was an asshole.

"No, I thought I'd give you a chance with someone tonight." She gave him a cocky smile.

He paused a moment at her reply. He began to laugh, "You're funny! I like you!" He slapped her hard on the shoulder. "You know, men like me and you should hang out more. We could conquer a lot side-by-side. You know, be each other's wing man."

Annoyance was beginning to creep over the blonde. She eyed her two friends on the side. Both of them also seemed uncomfortable with the conversation but kept a smile on their faces because they had to keep up appearances with a potential client or donor.

Ryouji looked right at the blonde with a fake smile and gave her a subtle head shake warning her not to lose her temper with the laughing man in front of her.

The blonde reached over and grabbed Daisuke's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer huh? Nice tactic but I'll pass. I can get women without your… help. You might slow me down."

An awkward silence fell upon the four. Noticing Daisuke's eyes no longer laughing, his face fell into an almost serious expression. Haruka looked at both of her friends who were wide-eyed and had pale expressions on their faces. Realizing she might be compromising her friends' position with the violinist, began a hearty fake laugh, "Oh c'mon! Can't you take a joke?!" She grinned, imitating Daisuke's move earlier, she slapped his shoulder to jolt him out of his dark mood. "Just give Jun a call when you want to attend a big event, I'm sure I'll be there," forcing another grin.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds great." Daisuke trying to bring back to happy mood he was in earlier. Seconds later he was grinning just as wide as Haruka.

"Endo-san!" An older lady in the distance waved towards Daisuke. He looked over smiling politely, and waved back.

"Well, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure. I'll see you guys around. Jun-kun, we'll keep in touch? Yano-san, Tenou-san, it was nice to meet you." Jun and Ryouji politely nodded back while Haruka didn't move. With a quick bow he walked off to the woman who waved him over.

Haruka's gaze followed the proud walking man.

"What a jackass."

Ryouji and Jun released a large sigh of relief.

"Oh man, I thought you were going to knock him out!" Ryouji exclaimed.

"I was pretty damn close," grumbled the blonde.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't! I've known him for a few years now and he helps with business." Jun replied.

"Jeez, and I thought you were arrogant." Ryouji looked at the blonde.

"I am but I don't over flaunt it. Do me a favor, if I ever act like that in public, please smack me."

The other two numbly nodded in agreement as they continued to watch the black haired man laugh at a bad joke amongst a group of older women.

After exiting the ship, and fist bumping her friends goodbye, Haruka walked to the valet and handed over the ticket stub. She looked at her watch. 10:46 p.m. She yawned just as her car pulled in front of her. She tipped the valet boy for driving her car 50 feet to her, getting in her car, she drove away.

The streets still had a decent amount of traffic for a Friday night so she couldn't drive as fast as she would have liked. As the street lights overhead rushed over the car, with the wind blowing through the open window, she paddle shifted gears to accommodate traffic speeds. She relaxed as she eased back into her element.

She began to recap her night in her head. The food and group of girls were okay, that Endo Daisuke was an asshole, and she always enjoyed Jun and Ryouji's company. The thirty minutes she was alone at the bow of the ship was her favorite part.

She smiled as the wind whipping her hair around reminded her of that moment on the ship. The late October air was warmer in the city than in the bay but it was still cold.

Suddenly, sea green hair flashed through her mind. Oh yeah, and there was her, she thought fondly of the beautiful woman she saw perform. What was her name again? Kaioh Michiru was it?

Now she was trying to decide what the best part of her night was: being alone on the bow or watching the aqua-haired goddess perform. A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth as she realized she couldn't decide. Her thoughts came to an end when she reached her apartment building's parking entrance.

Upon entering her apartment, she flicked on the lights. Noticing she had a message on the answering machine, she pushed the 'play' button.

"You have one message. BEEP! Haruka-chan, it's Okaa-san. I know you're leaving next week to America, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. I want to see you before you go. I haven't seen you in so long. Well, you're probably out right now. Call me tomorrow when you wake up. Ok, good night and be safe! BEEP! To delete this message, pre…" Haruka hit the delete button. "Message deleted. You have no more messages."

She smiled. Looks like she didn't completely lie to those girls after all, she really is going home to see family this weekend. She walked to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading! Please R&R. I salute you for it. I noticed the first two chapters had really blocky paragraphs so I tried to cut up the blocks in this chapter. Hopefully, it wasn't as straining to read. I know the progression of the story is kind of slow. Please bear with me.

Hitomi: Thanks of the review! I hope I can continue to keep your interest in this story.

Also, some info about places or groups mentioned:

Saito Kinen Orchestra is an actual orchestra in Japan that performs in an annual festival. All the other mentioned orchestras are also top rated orchestras around the world.

When I refer to "Oyama," I am referring to Oyama in the Shizuoka prefecture. It's a small town located at the foothills of Mount Fuji and home to the Fuji Speedway.