"Oi, Michi!"
Michiru turned back to stare seriously at Haruka. She had been very serious this morning. Haruka was getting worried about her friend; it hadn't been a week since Michiru turned six and she shouldn't be this sad, after getting all those nice presents.
"Ohayo, Ruka."
"Michiru, you never say ohayo." Haruka was rather worried. "You just pounce at me..." Michiru was showing a lack of emotion that would be distressing to any other kindergarten boy. Haruka, however, kept calm. "Is there something wrong, Michi?"
Michiru sat down in the floor. In the rest of the classroom, their classmates played with their toys; in a corner, a small girl tried slowly to read. Haruka kneeled in front of Michiru. Her face paled when she noted Michiru had started weeping. "Michi! What's wrong?"
"It's my papa, Ruka... he's not alright."
******
"Moshimoshi?" Tenou Masaouichi passed his hand over his face after a surely nice, long nap. Unfortunately, there was always the phone...
"Papa!"
"Haruka?" He looked at his clock and worried. "It's barely past eleven! Is there something wrong?"
"Papa, please, I need to go with Michiru in the evening!"
"Oh, youkai, you want to sleep in her house again?" He sighed in relief; so that was why she had borrowed the school phone? Quite the unpredictable little girl, he had said in the past.
"No, papa! Her daddy is very sick. He's in the hospital and she's been crying all day. I want to help her daddy to get alright!" She sounded like she was quite worried.
Masaouichi paled. Tsukime was sick? The man had grown to be a surrogate father to Haruka while he was on business trips; he felt he couldn't pay for all the favors the Kaoih family had done to the Tenou family. He thought cooly, then; if Tsukime was in the hospital, he was either seriously injured or very ill.
"I'll pick you both out of school, Haruka."
"But..."
"No buts, Haruka, I'm talking to Michiru's mother."
He heard Haruka sigh quietly. "Okay, papa, we will be waiting here." Masaouichi hung up the phone, to call Kumori and ask for permission to pick up Michiru.
On the other side of the line, Haruka looked at Michiru. She hung up the phone, jumped down from the chair she was standing on, and slowly walked over to Michiru. She sat by her side.
"Are you okay, Michi?"
Michiru sobbed quietly, but looked at Haruka and nodded, trying to smile a little and failing miserably.
"Care to tell me what happened?"
Michiru sniffed. Haruka, almost giggling, took a tissue from her front pocket and handed it to Michiru, who forced a smile
"Papa... he fell down... from the st-stairs..." She cleaned the tears from her small face. "It was... three days... ago... He... he was going to... st-start up the car... when mama found him, his... his eyes... Oh Haruka, his eyes were white! There w-was blood over his eyebrow... I was scared, Haruka! He was very p-p-pale..."
Haruka embraced her friend. "If you don't want to tell me what else happened, it's okay..." She whispered.
Michiru couldn't muster the strenght to nod; she only burrowed deeper into her friend's hug and cried.
******
"Thank you so very much, Masaouichi-kun." Kumori said. Dark circles surrounded her eyes and it was noticed by Haruka's father that with the brief change of climate when she dropped Michiru off at the kindergarten, she had been in the Hospital many days in a row. "I've been here so much time I lost my count of the hours. Thank you for taking Michiru here."
"This has been surely horrifying to her, Kumori-san." Masaouichi said. "She barely speaked on the way here, no matter how Haruka tried." He shook his head. "What is it, anyhow? What has Tsukime-kun got?"
"Tsuki... Tsuki was a very sick boy when he was younger... doctors could never find a reason for his weaknesses." Kumori motioned for them to sit down, away from the children, who were being entertained by the headnurse; Michiru was smiling, thought barely. "He started getting stronger and stronger when he grew up, of course. Great proof of it is Michiru." She weakly smiled when she turned to see her child. "However, in the last year, Tsuki returned to having great migraines; so hard on the head they forced him to stay in bed. Just last month..." Kumori seemed to loose her strenght at words. "... our family doctor... he found a big tumor in his brain." Masaouichi could only offer a shoulder so Kumori could sob privately. He helped her to her husband's room. " It's possible... he.. he won't make it."
******
Masaouichi stared down the window. Kumori had fallen asleep in a chair at Tsukime's room, almost drowned by her own tears. Haruka and Michiru had just been given permission to enter, under the promise not to make any noise.
Michiru had just asked Haruka to help her push a chair to sit by her father's side; Haruka complied and sat on one of the handles while Michiru sat in the chair. Haruka knew why Michiru was so sad; she had felt just as sad when her mommy died; thought, she was younger when that happened and the only explanation anyone would give her was that her mommy was in Heaven.
A year later, much older and wise, Haruka knew the truth; her mother had been badly injured in a car accident. Maybe that was why she loved car racing so much? To beat the cause of her mother's death?
Haruka noticed that while Michiru carressed her father's hand, Masaouichi had also fallen asleep; it was late, after all, many hours past their sleep time. To tell the truth, she didn't feel like sleeping. And she was sure Michiru wasn't feeling like it, too.
Michiru felt like there wasn't any other reason to cry; her eyes felt swollen and dry; everytime she felt like she was going to sob only a very dry cough or hiccup left her sore throat.
She climbed into bed; if her papa was going ANYWHERE without her, she just wanted to say goodbye, no mater what doctors said.
"I'm... sorry, papa." She hiccuped out. "I don't... want you to leave me. But, if you're going somewhere... please say goodbye." Her eyes stung as one more tear ran over her cheeks. "I'll be here. And mama will be here. Haruka and Haruka's daddy will be here to take care of us if you're not here." She leaned on her father, trying to embrace the big but fragile man in her small arms. She kissed his cheek, trying to hang on the longer she could. "Goodbye."
Haruka felt sorry for Michiru. Having to say goodbye in this horrible way when Michiru wasn't sure her father would be hearing her, and couldn't answer. She flung off the chair and took hold of Tsukime's hand.
"Sorry, Tsukime-san."
******
Nurse Tachikawa felt like falling asleep in the line of duty. It was one of those early mornings in which you had to wait for your day to get started. Even thought she had only started her shift, she felt like leaving it.
A couple of minutes later, she saw what she considered no one would see on the early shift.
Kaioh Tsukime, male, 37. His diagnosis had been terminal brain cancer fifty eight days ago. Three days ago, many parts of his brain had shut down; he fell into a coma by falling face first from his house stairs.
And today he was walking around in the waiting room, with a stern look on his face, carrying his passed out wife on one hand, and taking his happy daughter's hand with the other.
"Can someone help me?" He asked out; as soon as he spotted Nurse Tachikawa, his eyebrows lowered in a worried way. "I think she passed out..."
******
Thirteen years later, Haruka let herself float in the marvelous hands of her lover. Who would ever know that Michiru could give such relaxing massages? Counting the fact that without clothes, skin against skin, the feeling was more intense, Haruka felt like she had flown to the seventh heaven; and she was most definitely staying there.
"So you really think it was us?"
"Who else? He had cancer, for all gods aches, Haruka. Terminal." Michiru asked, touching a point in which Haruka was so tense that she flinched.
"Ow!" Haruka took it like Michiru wanted to emphazise her point; still, that really hurt.
"That's the crybaby I know and love..." Michiru joked, leaning against her lover's body. Haruka instantly relaxed; feeling Michiru's slim body against her own always had a soothing effect. And an arousing effect. And many things more; still, Haruka was so deep in her cloud that she couldn't quite understand them all.
Owen and Mr. Snuggles rested over the pillow on Michiru's side of the bed; the poor bear and octopus seemed to be abandoned by their owners. But on the other side, who had a better seat to hear that story than they had?
Haruka pressed her body against Michiru's warm one; with only one look at her eyes, Michiru just knew what Haruka intended for the rest of the night.
And it was alright with her.
-----------------------------------------------------------
So much for ending Kindergarten, but what the hell, it's given me more satisfaction to write this than I had in a couple of months.
Then, I guess you WILL HAVE your part five... even if it costs me my fingertips.
Oh, and I will have Mr. Snuggles give you a kiss if you tell me who said "Can someone help me? I think she passed out." before I did.
Ari, fer yeh!
Washu, thank you so much for the fanart! This goes for you too!
And I'm sorry for the rest of the readers; I'm pretty much sure this wasn't the best of Kindergarten, so I promise to make up for everything in Part Five, ok?