Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Haruka Tenoh or any character from Sailor Moon.
Haruka sat against the looming building. It had been hours since Yoshiro had left. How could buying medicine take this long? She clutched her stomach as her queasiness hadn't left her as fast as she thought it would. What if he just took the money and left? No he wouldn't do that... There's no way… Haruka shook her head and denied such a thought.
The sun began to set and Haruka began questioning when Yoshiro might return. She had felt awful all day and had just sat around waiting for Yoshiro to return. Haruka had not gotten anything to eat and threw up several times throughout the day. Too exhausted to stay awake, the blonde fell asleep and hoped he'd be back by the time she got up.
The street brightened as Haruka's eyes slowly opened. She immediately looked about her surroundings and to her surprise Yoshiro still hadn't arrived. She mumbled to herself;
"Where in god's name could he be?"
Groaning, Haruka leaned back and shut her eyes once more. I'm not feeling any better. What could be taking him so long? Maybe he stole the money, got killed, robbed... Haruka's mind raced with possible explanations for what could have happened, but none satisfied her. She was now very hungry but didn't want to risk upsetting her stomach either. Instead, she opted to doze off hoping for Yoshiro's return.
The sun rose and the sun set as the blonde began losing hope that Yoshiro would return. He was supposed to be here last night. I've been waiting here for well longer than that so what should I do?Confused, Haruka had no idea what to do. She laid there for two days awaiting his return, but to no avail. Should she fight back her sickness and move on? Or wait for her companion? Without a resolution the blonde finally withdrew herself into a slumber.
Haruka felt herself wake, almost entranced, in her dream. Confused, the blonde got up and walked about. What a strange place! There were dark clouds everywhere and it was hard to tell what was going on about her. She walked about before she was halted by a dark silhouette.
"Tenoh Haruka."
Haruka paused, how did he, or she, or whatever it was know her name?
"Haruka you come here because you are confused, am I right?"
From the shadows the figure stepped forward revealing an older woman with dark green hair and a pair of purple eyes. She appeared to be wearing some sort of sailor fuku. It looked somewhat like one used at her old school, however, it was different, as it featured the colors black as well as maroon.
"Who are you?"
"That's not important now, but what's important is that you need help making a decision."
"How do you know?"
"That also is not important."
Haruka blinked. What was going on? Was this really happening?
"I can tell you are very confused. Your friend Yoshiro will not be returning."
"What? Why? Why isn't he returning? And how do you know who we are?"
"That isn't important, what is important is that you must move on with your life and leave."
"But... Why?"
The lady frowned.
"I'm sorry Haruka… But I cannot tell you that. I can only tell one so much as to not alter the future."
Haruka couldn't find a response to tell the green haired stranger.
"Haruka, Yoshiro will not be coming back for you. You must move on and live without him, I am sorry."
Before Haruka could say a word the lady raised some sort of staff as she began to fade away from the blonde's vision. Suddenly, Haruka woke up once more.
What... What just happened? Was that a dream, or was I awake? Or is this a dream? Haruka's head throbbed with pain thinking about it. Who was that lady who had talked to her? She wore a strange outfit and seemed to know what was going on. She told me to... leave? This doesn't make any sense.
Haruka rubbed her tired eyes and finally got up. This was the third day... I hardly have a choice. If Yoshiro won't come back, I've got to find a way to live on my own and fend for myself. Whoever that woman was, she told me I must leave.. Perhaps that is my only option. Still very confused over the subject Haruka collected her things and began walking on without a second thought, her head still hurt thinking about the whole ordeal.
She walked on for awhile and began entering another one of her usual train of thought. How come I can never get close to anybody? My class mates were always mean to me because I was different. I prefer to wear pants, so what? Church taught me that differences were a good thing, not something to be frowned upon or picked on for. I was always subject to bullying everywhere I went.
My parents.. Why were they so abusive and mean to me? I know my original parents never had gotten along. I overheard them shouting once about me and how if it wasn't for me they wouldn't have married eachother. I heard them even call me an accident once. Maybe that's what I am, an accident. Something that wasn't meant to be put on this Earth. Even my other two 'parents' hated me as well.
I know Yosei constantly drank and was constantly angry because of it. He had a stressful job and tried to end all of his problems by drinking. Eventually it turned into a habit of making me his personal stress reliever. And Satsuko... Why had she hated me so much? I never had gotten that as well as I did the others. She always seemed so hateful toward me and without a reasonable purpose. Maybe she hated the fact that I existed, she always tried to ship me off to do god knows what. Perhaps she just never wanted me as a kid and sought to keep me away from the house as much as possible. They all just seemed to hate me.
But the one friend I seemed to have, Yoshiro.. Why had he left me? I just can't make ends meet. He always seemed over-caring for me and he also was the one that insisted on leaving to get me medicine. But he never returned. That lady never did tell me why he left. Perhaps she didn't want me to know why he left. I bet that ass took my money and ran off! Laughed as he stole the last bit of a homeless girls' money! Haruka quickly became frustrated and angry at the thought but little did she know was that Yoshiro was dead. The man died to a group not known at the time that would later be called the heart snatchers.
The blonde kept on walking as her stomach began to growl. She had to stop neglecting herself and eat. She pulled herself over to a garbage can and while nobody was looking she grabbed the first thing she could reach. Luckily she find herself a nice looking chunk of seafood, just recently discarded. She smiled to herself, how could people be so wasteful with such nice food! The blonde happily ate as she continued on walking.
It was now night time as she kept walking, determined to find a new place to settle in. Eventually she found herself a nice looking park to sleep at. She found herself a tree and contently fell asleep.
Haruka woke up once more and with haste gathered her things and began to travel once more. As she was walking, Haruka noticed her ankle injury now seemed to have faded away and to top it off her sickness was now all but gone. The wind blew against her and she smiled at what she thought was the beginning of a nice day.
Haruka wandered about and continued to find more lucky stashes of food. Thank god for all these people discarding all of these wonderful meals! She had the strength to move on with great speed through the streets. Not before long Haruka came upon a promising looking alleyway.
She investigated the area and it seemed perfect. Not too far was a nice park with some fountains supplying water. It did not seem to have too many people. And to top it off it was close by to a few restaurants and diners. Haruka decided this looked like the perfect place to stay for now.
She walked about the alley happily observing over everything she had just found. It was all hers. She opened the lid to one of the dumpsters only to be startled by the shout of a strong looking man.
"Hey son, get away from that dumpster."
"W-Who? Me?"
"Yeah you, don't want some trouble now do we?"
"But I was here first."
"Well why don't you get the hell out of here before I kick your ass."
"We can share. I don't see a big deal."
Haruka reached her hand into the dumpster only to have the lid clamp down onto it. Before Haruka could react the man slammed his fist into the blonde's jaw. She desperately tried to release her hand from the dumpster but to no avail as the man began to pummel her. He finally let go of the lid ready to finish her off as the blonde quickly darted off into the distance. She was the fastest looking person he had ever seen.
Tears flinging from her face Haruka continued to run off as far as well as she could get from that place. I hate boys, I truly do! How can one be straight when they are all so cruel and uncaring?
Haruka traveled the streets of Tokyo trying to find herself a new place to call home. She tried wide spacious parks but only to be cast the gaze of the suspicious eye. She journeyed beneath several bridges only to overtaken by the cold air that swept beneath them. The blonde traversed several paths and alleys only to be driven out. Nothing seemed to work in favor of the nomadic girl.
It was now Spring and the weather finally began to favor Haruka. The blonde was now growing tired of wandering and wanted a place to settle in even if for only a few weeks. She kept walking and distancing herself from her home in fear of being caught by her parents when ironically they never made a serious effort to bring her back. Haruka was now fully isolated from her old life and for some reason she didn't feel that way.
Haruka walked into yet another park and though it looked like any old park, this park just seemed different. She could not place her finger on it but this park seemed like the one she could stay at. She didn't see a single soul out there, nobody to beat her or arouse or suspicion. There was a nice little pond surrounded by a few trees near the center of it. The park had gently rolling hills as the wind swept through the park gently. Haruka knew she had found the place.
It was roughly noon as Haruka lay upon one of the park benches. She loved the way the wind blew over her body, and she was at one of those rare occasions when she was at peace. The park was lit up with an array of pink as cherry blossom season had started. For Haruka life seemed fine at the time. Nothing negative was happening to her. Haruka had found her own place to live and everything was starting to go her way once again.
Haruka contently lived at the park in the upcoming months. She was able to live off food off her usual garbage diet and as usual she was very underfed. Haruka was very skinny but began to grow tall as well. With all of her spare time in the spacious park the blonde brought back her old habit, running. In her spare time Haruka loved to jog whenever possible. She had not lost a step and little did she know that she was much faster than she made herself to be. Haruka lived contently this way. That is, until winter began.
Haruka had lived happily at her little recluse from the public, as it was rare that it had regular visitors. However as the cold winter season set in this would change. Apparently new managers had bought the rights to the public park and began renovating it. Haruka was sleeping on her park bench one morning as two businessmen approached her.
"Excuse me sir."
Haruka jumped as she was startled.
"W-what? Who goes there?"
"Excuse me sir, but we have to ask you to leave. This park is now privately owned."
"What? By who?"
"By a rich businessman that owns the rights to this park. Now how about you go run along back home where you belong."
Haruka wanted to protest but remembering what had happened in the past when she had done so had caused her to abstain this time. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and trudged out as she was kicked out of her home.
Hmm. Now what do I do? Do I go back to wandering again? It's only getting colder though, and I have to find a new place to live at. But why did I have to be kicked out? It's not like anybody was using that damn park! Everybody is always out to get me I swear. God knows my parents may actually find me and take me back home. Haruka shuddered at the thought.
Wandering once more Haruka noticed the temperature steadily got lower and lower. This was one of the coldest years she could ever remember Tokyo having. Every time she muttered to herself the cool crisp air revealed her breath as little wisps of smoke. Haruka's frustration quickly turned into sorrow. She had been wandering once more about the city, but nobody seemed to care that some child was out there freezing at this time of year. Finally she sat against a low wall in a run-down portion of town as she brought her head to her knees.
It's so damn cold.. And nobody cares. Nobody ever cared about me regardless of where I was at or what I am doing. I, Tenoh Haruka, am merely a waste of space. Even if I make it out this season what's it matter? I will continue to live my miserable life wandering about, I will continue to starve and get sick, tire from walking, and of course get into more street fights.. Everything seems so hopeless.
Haruka fought back tears as the few that fled from her eyes immediately froze to her cheeks. This weather wasn't getting better and strangely it was never usually this cold at this time of year, at least to her. Haruka even began to contract the flu but this time she had nobody to care after her. She would continue to wander about hopelessly as the cold winter months kicked in.
As she wandered the streets Haruka noticed it had started to snow. Damn snow. It never snows, why must it snow today? She swung her right foot out and struck a soda can as it was sent flying down the street. As a result Haruka had gained the attention of several random people. Haruka hated people, she trudged on trying to ignore the glances that were cast upon her. As she walked by she noticed a young couple publicly exchanging gifts. Fools. Why must they celebrate some stupid western custom? Why should two people give each other gifts for such a stupid reason?
Frustrated by the world Haruka kept walking on until something unusual caught her attention. Hidden in a scenic area was some sort of track. Fascinated, Haruka walked towards the railing of the track and peered inside. Within the track was several racing cars and the area was bustling with excitement. Haruka just had to be a part of this.
Walking over to the entrance she tried to enter but was halted immediately by a man in a booth.
"Hold it right there sir, you can't just barge in without paying."
"Oh right.." Haruka mumbled as she fumbled around her pockets for money. She then realized that Yoshiro had stolen it ages ago. Dismayed Haruka walked away from the booth. There just had to be a way I could get in.
Haruka wandered about the perimeter of the track until she could find a loose railing. She sized herself up and let up a big grin. Further investigation found that she could fit inside. Squeezing herself into the track Haruka immediately ran for cover in the large crowds of people in fear of being followed.
Haruka took a seat in the stands to observe what was going on. She was amazed by the speed at which the racers raced at. How great must it feel to be racing at such speed with the wind blowing against her face. Though Haruka barely knew what racing was she knew it was love at first sight. She just had to find a way to get involved in this, but how?
Haruka watched the race all the way until the end. As the crowd filed out Haruka stayed with no desire to leave. By now most of the racers had left except for one, the one that had won the race. Against her virtue of hating men, she just had to ask him how she could become a part of this. Haruka walked over to the man and began to greet him.
"Hello." It was probably the first time she had properly greeted somebody in months.
"Hello there, I thought this place was supposed to be closed by now." The man said with a wink.
"Actually, sir, I was wondering how I could get involved in such a great sport."
"A youngster like you? A racer?" He chucked loudly to himself as he noticed the blonde's feelings were hurt by his comment.
"Aw, cheer up! You can't just start out a racer! You, uhh, have to work your way up from the bottom."
"How might one do that?"
The man scratched his head amazed by the kid's increasing curiosity.
"Well kid, you've caught me in a good mood. How's about you come back the same time tomorrow and maybe I can teach you a thing or two about this here beauty." The man winked at Haruka as he pointed at his race car painted in flashy colors of bright red and yellow.
"Sounds like a plan!" Haruka nearly leaped in excitement.
"By the way I never caught your name, as you probably know from the race I am Nagahama Okyotio."
"You may call me Haruka!" Haruka excitedly reached her hand out and shook the man's hand.
"Well Haruka, it's getting very late and I'd imagine your parents are worried sick about you. So be sure to come back here tomorrow around the time the race was, alright?"
"Yes, sir!" Haruka ran off, excited to meet the racer and even more excited to learn how to become a racer. She had forgotten all of her troubles and also she forgot about how cold it had gotten. For the night Haruka found a nearby wooded area to sleep by that was fairly close to the track. She could hardly sleep with her mind racing with dreams about becoming a racer.
It was finally morning as Haruka got up and found herself some breakfast. Throughout the day she struggled keeping herself entertained until it was finally time to head over to the track. Once more she had slipped through the loose railing to sneak into the race course. Unlike yesterday, there was no race currently going on. Haruka wandered about until she found Nagahama's garage with him inside it working on his car.
"Ah! Just in time Haruka! I could use an extra pair of hands working on this engine."
"Umm, so what do I do?"
"Here, just hand me that wrench."
"Sure." Haruka barely remembered what a wrench was but she found it among all junk in the tool box and tossed it out to Nagahama.
"The key to be consistently good at racing is to have a well managed car."
"And how might I do that?"
"Well you should make sure you have a nice engine, make sure everything inside is running smoothly!"
Nagahama continued to show Haruka the inner workings of the car as Haruka's fascination led her into further being entranced by the sport.
"Hey, Haruka."
"Huh?" Haruka jumped out of her trance.
"It's getting late again. I have another race tomorrow, so how about you come and watch? I can give you a free ticket if you'd like, and maybe afterward I can show you how to work one of these fine machines."
"Yes! Thank you Nagahama!"
Haruka once again left in another joyful mood, she was getting closer and closer to being able to join on this magnificent sport!
After another long day it was finally time for the big race! This time Haruka was actually able to enter the main gate with a ticket instead of sneaking in through the back. She was just as excited to watch this race as she to learn how to race. The race went on as Nagahama kept at first throughout the entire race, he was such a great racer. How lucky was I to have such a skilled racer as my teacher! Haruka thought. Finally the race was over as Nagahama was once again victorious.
Haruka walked back down to the garage to greet the victorious racer.
"Hey Nagahama!"
"Hello Haruka, did you enjoy the show?"
"Yes! You are unstoppable!"
"Nah, we all win and lose some. I'm just on a hot streak is all."
"So are you able to teach me how to drive?"
"I'm still reluctant because you are young… But I see no problem with teaching you fundamentals."
Haruka grinned as he led the blonde into his garage and into the passenger seat of the race car.
"Now this, is a beautiful machine! Now you see a lot of crap in here but it's actually relatively simple. You simply turn with the steering wheel and you hit this here pedal to go faster. That's pretty much the have to learn to park and use the brakes and all that good stuff but it's not really needed in a race."
"Sounds fun, how's about I take it for a spin?"
"I'm not sure, you're still very young and I've only been teaching you for a few days!"
Haruka sighed dramatically, trying desperately to get what she wanted.
"Okay fine, how's about you come here every time you're free at around this time and I'll continue to teach you all the basics. And maybe, just maybe.. I can let you drive!" The man said with a grin complemented by a wink.
"Sounds like a deal! Have a good evening Nagahama!"
"You too Haruka!"
Haruka was excited to have her own official race tutor, she eagerly came every day loyally and as promised by the racer she would be given lessons. Nagahama was yet to find out Haruka was homeless as always met well after most schools would typically end. Haruka caught on to the racing concepts quickly and throughout all of her lessons she knew the makings of a race car inside out. Nagahama was impressed by Haruka's eagerness as a student and how fast she caught on.
Winter ended quickly and the young Haruka could only dream of driving a race car. That is until one of her usual conversations with the racer yielded promising results.
"Geez Haruka.. I'm not sure that there's anything else I can teach you. It all seems to come to you naturally."
"But there must be something else Nagahama!"
"I'm trying.. You already can tell me about every part of the car and how to properly operate this race car, sometimes you even seem to know more than me!"
"So now what?"
"I think for our next learning session, we can let you get behind the wheel."
"You really mean it?"
"Yes, I promise."
Haruka could hardly wait. After all her training she was finally able to drive a race car! She had also made a great friend in Nagahama. Though she was still homeless she felt like this time she was truly starting to turn the corner.
*Special thanks to AwesomeSaucelv8 who kindly took the time to beta read this for me.