"Please drive safely. By the way, here's my number. Give me a when you get back." Michiru said and gave the racer her number.
"I will." Haruka promised.
Haruka waited outside as she watched the violinist walked into the apartment. As they grew farther apart in physical distance, the more their hearts missed each other.
Michiru could not fall asleep that night; she tossed and turned many times and still found herself wide awake. She rarely experienced insomnia, not even after a successful violin recital or art exhibit, but tonight her mind was playing mental images of the racer's handsome face over and over, and the scene of her being embraced by the racer and comforted by the heartfelt words repeated countless times in her head.
Haruka's story was completely different; her mind and body were overburdened by multiple intense moments during the day. After dropping Michiru off safely, she could barely stay awake during the drive back to her own apartment. As soon as the racer stepped into her apartment, she took out her phone and tried to dial Michiru's number, but instead fell asleep before the violinist even picked up the phone. When the aqua-haired beauty answered, all she heard was the sound of the racer's breathing from a deep sleep.
When Haruka awoke the next day, she found herself lying on the couch, still in the same clothes from the day before. It was midday already, and she obviously missed her classes for the day. She felt that the long rest was totally justified given how taxing yesterday was to her body. She reached for her phone but the battery was dead. She vaguely remembered that she tried to call Michiru and did not have any recollection of the rest. She did not know that as they connected, the aqua-haired beauty stayed on the other line until the racer's phone ran out of battery. The tall blonde had her phone connected to the power to check new messages and voicemails. Most of them were congratulatory messages, but one voicemail caught her attention. It was from Setsuna, and she immediately remembered Hotaru the little girl from the car incident a few months ago.
The greeting started with Setsuna's voice. She was very formal and wished the racer well, and then she said Hotaru had a few words for the racer.
Then Haruka could hear a young, innocent voice excitedly said, "Good afternoon Tenoh-sama, it's Hotaru! I hope you still remember me from 2 months and 2 days ago..."
Haruka chuckled at how exact the little girl was with the date, "…but anyway, I am so happy that you won yesterday. Congratulations! Do you still remember that you promised to take me out for a ride when I get better? Well since it's been 63 days already so I am much better. Ok...what was I about say? ...hmm...Oh I remember now! So It'd be great to see you, yeah perhaps Kaioh-sama too! Do you think she'll want to see me?" the racer would hear Setsuna trying to ask Hotaru to be more polite in the background, "...ok mama..." the message then became a little unclear until the time limit was reached.
"That's a cute little girl." Haruka thought. She had indeed made a promise and wanted to keep up with it, so she called Setsuna back to arrange a date. It was close to the summer break which meant it was exam time. They tentatively scheduled for one of the Saturdays towards the end of July, and Haruka promised to check with Michiru on her availability.
The racer then ate a quick lunch and returned a couple of other calls. After that she felt a bit bored. She didn't feel like getting behind the wheels today so she decided to go for a run, something she'd often do early in the morning. She planned to do a quick run to Infinity Academy to see if she could catch a glance of Michiru in her afterschool clubs. As Haruka approached the football field, something caught her eyes. The American football team had the field that day for practices. The person who caught her attention was the quarterback. She had never seen him in school before. He seemed to be one or two years junior to her - an energetic young man with bluish black hair, tied up in a long pony-tail. His throws were fast and accurate, he had great speed and could outrun the defense line himself; he also seemed to be able to read the game well and adjust his strategies quickly. The tall blonde thought the boy had great athleticism. As she looked over, the young quarterback took notice. He requested for a small break and ran over to the racer.
"Good afternoon. May I ask if you are Tenoh-sama?" The young boy asked politely.
"That's me." Haruka replied.
"It's such an honor to meet you Tenoh-sama." The boy made a slight bow, "I really admire your racing skills. Congratulations to your win yesterday!"
"I've never seen you before." The blonde commented.
"Yes. My name is Kou Seiya. You can simply call me Seiya. I'm a newly transferred student. Actually I transferred here with my two fellow band members. We're the Three Lights."
"Three what?"
"Three Lights. We're a pop band." Seiya answered.
The racer wasn't interested in the pop group. She didn't make a comment.
As they interacted, a group of female students gathered next to them.
"Seiya-san. Welcome to our school. We're really looking forward to becoming your classmates! Would you mind giving us an autograph?" One girl asked.
Haruka didn't look too excited and decided to continue with her run.
"Sure thing. Just give me a second." Seiya ran up to the racer and along with her. The racer sped up but he was able to keep up with her pace.
He looked at the racer and said, "Tenoh-sama, I know that not only you are a talented racer, but also an accomplished runner and a great martial artist. You've been named the youth athlete of the year two years in a row, but this year I would love to compete with you for that title."
Haruka glanced over at this young man, and her competitive nature told her that there wasn't a challenge she wouldn't take.
"Bring it on." Haruka looked straight ahead and said coldly.
"Looking forward to it!" Seiya said, then stopped running along and returned to his cheering supporters.
The tall blonde continued her way to the track, and saw a few female students that she used to tease with. They went up to her.
"Haruka! We missed you today. We heard you won the race. Congratulations!"
"Aw thanks! Why weren't you girls there cheering for me?" The tall blonde had toned down her flirts with girls.
"We wished! We were at a concert last night!"
"Oh yeah? More exciting than my race huh?" Haruka teased them.
"Sorry but we couldn't miss the Three Lights!" the tall blonde was immediately taken back after hearing that name again. The girls continued, "Did you know that they transferred to our school too?"
"Yeah. I heard." The racer was indifferent about it.
"Seiya is already on the American football team so I'll be sure to go to all of his games." One student excitedly said.
"I heard Taiki is really smart. I'm going to join the academic clubs that he's joining." Another one said.
"I know Yaten likes photography but he might be too introverted to join any club."
Haruka didn't feel like hearing more about the band, so she said, "Alright girls, I've gotta run, literally. Catch you later."
"Have a great day!"
Haruka couldn't find Michiru anywhere. She had gone to the pool, the studio, and the practice room looking for Michiru. The aqua haired beauty had actually left early so she could get some rest. The racer was a bit disappointed and headed back to her apartment. Later that evening, as she surfed through the channels on TV, she came across a segment about the Three Lights. It was about how the group rose to fame quickly and their staggering statistics of album and ticket sales. They were apparently the most popular group amongst teenage girls. The racer had no idea why she kept coming across the name "Three Lights" all of a sudden and she really had enough hearing about them, so she turned the TV off and headed out on her motorcycle for a relaxing ride.
In the next few weeks, both Haruka and Michiru were busy with their term exams. Professionally, Michiru was occupied in planning her schedule for the summer – a few TV appearances, a small concert, and the summer series with the orchestra. On top of that she had one art exhibit, and a few charity events. Haruka on the other hand, had 2 races scheduled, but she also had to attend a few events hosted by her sponsors. Personally the racer planned on boosting her training. It'd not only prepare her better for the races, and more importantly she aimed to defend her title for the youth athlete of the year.
Sorry to those wanting for more Haruka/Michiru. Needed to introduce the Three Lights here and tried to put my spin on why Haruka didn't like 'popular men' lol. The Three Lights are female in this story but obviously Haruka didn't know yet.
Review/comments are appreciated as always.