A/N: Hello everyone! I apologize for the really late update. Things have been catching up with me fast, the new school year, classes... drama... all that good stuff. Haha. This chapter is longer then the other's, and it's more plot based then anything, but next chapter you WILL get your Haruka and Michiru fun tiemz. You have my word on that. I'm sorry if this chapter is boring though, but I put a lot of effort into it since Writer's Block has come into play again. Still, I was determined not to leave ANOTHER story unfinished, and this was was reviewed fairly well so... Enjoy!
-0-
With their first morning of training done, the two women had taken residence in Michiru's room. Michiru had gone to her bed almost immediately, falling onto the softness and sighing softly at the comfort it gave her sore muscles. She closed her eyes as she heard the door close softly, feet shuffling against her carpeted floor. Michiru decided to relax. Haruka, on the other hand, was doing anything but that. The blond was standing up, silently brooding over something that Michiru wasn't going to ask about. Eventually the girl would tell her and the aquanette had no intention of rushing that. Her body was sore and she was exhausted, so she just laid still and listened to the constant shuffle of Haruka's feet as she paced back and forth.
"I left the lanterns out." Michiru barely moved when she heard the bed creak and sink slightly at the added weight when Haruka sat down. She heard the blond let out a soft sigh, almost as if scolding herself silently. The problem was quickly understood by Michiru, though she did nothing and just propped herself up on her elbows, staring at her annoyed friend.
"Don't worry about it, Haruka." The artist murmured softly, although she clearly knew why the girl would be distressed. If anyone saw the lanterns then they would know that someone had been up late – or very early – training. The notion could come across as suspicious to anyone, the two knew that, especially Haruka. Haruka, who in all honesty, wasn't sure what she would do if she got caught training the planet's famous Princess. Whom, by the way, they had not trained nor had any intention to train. And what did that say to Haruka? It said that she would most get in a big mess if they caught them.
However, as the blond turned her head down to stare at Michiru's exasperated stare, the aquanette's hands gently gripping her's, she realized that she was in a big enough mess just being friends with the princess. She couldn't help but let out a big, long sigh, allowing her tense muscles to relax completely as she fell back on the bed. She held back another huff of dislike, feeling Michiru adjust herself so she was laying down next to her, aqua orbs staring at Haruka with slight amusement. "Have you calmed?" The words were accompanied by a soft giggle at the sound of Haruka's small grunt.
Getting herself comfortable in the bed, the blond couldn't help but smile as she swung her arm loosely around Michiru's waist, pulling her closer to herself in a half-hearted hug. The Princess didn't tense, only relaxing more and snuggling into Haruka's side with a soft breath, a smile painting her lips. Biting her lip softly, Haruka held back the temptation to shake her head, closing her eyes and going silent while she held the female.
"You did a good job today," Haruka managed to murmur softly into the girl's hair as the other continued to snuggle up against her.
"Of course I did, Haruka." Haruka laughed.
-0-
Over a week had passed since the two begun their early-morning training routine, and nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, much to Haruka's delight. The lantern incident hadn't been questioned, making the memory fade in Haruka's mind. Although once she had caught Michiru's two brothers staring at her in the dining room, nothing was too out of place and the castle was quiet for most of the time. Both of the girls had continued on with their routine, and in all honestly, Michiru picked things up as fast as Haruka taught then. Briefly, the woman had wondered why her friend had never been taught before. She would have been a skilled warrior if they had trained her when she was younger. Then again, Haruka always had to take in account that Neptune had their own rules and regulations.
The blond was currently walking down one of the several halls in the castle. Her intentions were mostly pointless and she was mostly walking wherever the corridors led her. Not that she was worried about getting lost – no, of course not. Michiru had easily taught her how to decipher the different halls.
A frown appeared on Haruka's face as she walked, her stride slow and gaze anywhere but in front of her. Michiru was out doing her own things, which mostly meant having to hang around the Prince. About two days ago her parents had told her to actually make an effort to spend time with her egoistic brother. Something about the entire thing bothered Haruka. Of course, having her close friend hang around an irritating jerk like Titan was enough to bother her, but that hadn't just been it. Instead of Titan teasing Haruka like always, his gaze had turned solid as he looked at her most of the time. The usual glint in his eyes that served to tease Haruka, to make her feel as if she was nothing but one of his play toys that he loved to anger, was gone. Lately the predatory gaze had been fixed on Michiru, and once Haruka saw that, she didn't like it one bit.
Titan wouldn't be planning to do anything, would he? No matter how selfish and horrible the male was, Haruka was sure that her brother would never try to hurt anyone, especially not Michiru. If he did, however, Haruka had no qualms in jumping in to protect the aqua princess. Not that fighting her own brother was a pleasant thought either, but still, it was Michiru and—
"Ow! Hey, watch where you're going!"
At the sound of the particularly high voice, Haruka's eyes widened as she snapped out of her reverie, head tilting down to see who she had just hit. The sight of aqua hair caught her attention, dark blue orbs narrowed in annoyance at her. The orbs were so cold she swore that she probably would have been affected by it if Titan hadn't already gotten her accustomed to the stare. "Sorry." Haruka apologized, outstretching her hand for the girl to take. The female seemed to contemplate grabbing it for a minute, and right before Haruka considering retreating her hand, the smaller girl grabbed it and let Haruka pull her up. She dusted off her clothes, a noticeable scowl on her face as she did so, before she looked up at Haruka, arms crossed.
Haruka took the small chance to examine the appearance of the girl. She was obviously a bit younger then her, probably by a year or two. Her gaze was exactly the same as Michiru's, albeit more heated. It was obvious that this one was quick to anger, and Haruka wasn't sure whether she should be amused or not. Her straight aqua hair confirmed Haruka's thoughts; this was definitely Michiru's sister, the one she hadn't gotten a chance to meet properly. The obviously shorter girl brushed her bangs behind her ears, huffing.
"Of course you're sorry. What were you doing, staring off into space like that? I could have been seriously hurt!" The girl's words came out rushed and angry, making Haruka have to fight down both a sigh and an amused smile.
"I'm sincerely sorry." Haruka decided it was better not to rush into an argument with her. She doubted it would do any good, considering the fact that she could get into an insane amount of trouble if she did so. It was better to not get involved with any of Michiru's family anyways, wasn't it? She still caught the brothers staring at her, and even that was a bit awkward at moments. She didn't want to end up rousing the sister's suspicions either… so instead of saying anything else, she just nodded at the smaller female, walking past her.
"Hey, wait!" The high pitched call made Haruka freeze in her tracks mid-walk, and she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her from behind. Haruka rose a slim eyebrow when the smaller girl came to stand in front of her again, blue eyes examining her thoroughly. The blond wasn't bothered by the gaze in the least; it looked more like the gaze of a curious child meeting a stranger for the first time, not a condescending stare that was meant to judge her.
"… yes?" Haruka finally responded, eyebrow raised up in question. She hoped that whatever Michiru's sister wanted to tell her would be something quick that she didn't have to hang around for. Even though she didn't feel threatened by this girl's presence, she kind of preferred to… not catch the interest of any of Michiru's siblings.
The reason for that was completely simple. First of all, even before the entire ordeal she had never counted on meeting any of the aquanette's siblings. The notion struck her as completely stupid. And now, the statement still held true in her mind. In fact, it was even strengthened. Her relationship – friendship – with Michiru was risky enough. Even if they were just friends, the fact of the matter was that she had already broken quite a few rules just with the friend boundary. The playful banter and friendly cuddling ( although rare ) was enough, but what really set the line of dangerous was their late night training sessions.
She only thanked Uranus that it wasn't one of Michiru's brothers she was talking to. Personally, she found that they were rather inquisitive… or at least the one with the glasses was. Naiad himself didn't seem to be much of a threat, and probably wouldn't be able to see through Haruka. But the bookworm? Haruka could easily hide her emotions, but something about the brother made her nervous. His stare was the ever constant one.
"You're the Princess, right?" The question was dumb but Haruka caught the mischievous glint in her blue eyes. Okay, so maybe… maybe that worried her just a tad bit. Now that she thought about it, Michiru's sister seemed like quite the kicker.
Haruka allowed herself to nod, a chuckle bubbling from her throat. "Why yes, I am, but you already knew that, didn't you..?"
A smirk answered Haruka instead. The smirk, matched by the devilish glint in glint in her eyes made Haruka tense up for a second. She knew that look. She knew it from when she herself had been a child. This girl had a plan, and the blond dreaded not watching where she was going now. Too late now.
"Are you going anywhere?"
The question came out of nowhere and Haruka didn't know how to reply for a second. Most of her thought process was going to wondering why the question was even asked. It didn't seem like a suspicious question either, just an actual, sincere one… no matter how demanding the tone came out.
Sadly enough… the answer was no. Haruka still didn't want to reply with that, though, because who knows what would happen? "Unfortunately, yes, munchkin." The Uranian responded with an apologetic smile, rubbing the back of her head and hoping the girl would just leave her be. Just before the girl was going to reply, she took it upon herself to explain before the obvious question of, 'Where?' was about to escape. "I was just going to go out and train."
The snort that followed surprised her. "I doubt it. After all, you trained early this morning, didn't you?" Haruka froze at the smug tone, blinking back her surprise as she stared down at the shorter girl. The slight feeling of panic built up, though she fought it down with ease and let out a light chuckle. Wonderful. How the hell did she get to that conclusion..?
Haruka opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off. "I'm right, right?" The girl's lips curled up into a grin as she continued to speak, amusement flashing in her eyes. "But that's okay though, I'll keep it a secret." She winked and put her finger on her lips, before a snicker left her lips at the Uranian's surprised expression. Haruka, on the other hand, was less then okay with all of this. In fact, she was kind of panicking. Kind of.
Haruka opened her mouth to speak, stopping, before letting out a loud breath through her nostrils and letting a slight laugh leave her lips, showing outwardly that she was perfectly fine with this turn of events, even if on the inside she was practically exploding. "I suppose you got me… how'd you know?" she played it cool, amused smirk playing on her lips.
"You left the lanterns out a few times already, stupid." Her eyebrows tugged down into an expression that Haruka placed as "evil" in her mind. What was this, blackmail? Was the girl seriously blackmailing her? Then again, Haruka was surprised that she hadn't already mentioned the late-night routines with Michiru. Most of the training was for the aquanette anyways…
Rolling her eyes and sighing softly, the Uranian closed her eyes before moving her shoulders up in a shrug. "Well then fine, you caught me." All the girl wanted was for her to tag along, right? How bad could that be? And if it was at the price of keeping that secret, then why the hell not? The younger could always be bluffing. Maybe she didn't know the details.
Still, Haruka learned a long time ago, during her training, that it was better safe then sorry.
-0-
Michiru let out a soft sigh as she sat down in front of the familiar table, rolling her aching shoulders and straightening her back, frowning at the tinge of soreness she felt as she did so. Right now she'd rather be laying in bed, or at least just be in her room instead of having to come out. The past week had taken quite a toll on her. Not in the sense that it was hard, more in the sense of how her muscles had started to ache as a reminder of the training. Haruka wasn't a bad teacher, just the opposite. She was harsh and soft in all the right places, but sometimes Michiru felt that Haruka's demands were lacking.
She wondered if Haruka went as easy on her as she did with all the other soldiers. Or if she was even harsher, barely showing any mercy. At first glance Michiru would have certainly thought so, but when the blond opened her mouth her thoughts turned just the opposite, sometimes. It was like Haruka's personality would change sporadically; one moment the Uranian was flirty and playful, the other she was serious and quiet.
Michiru found it interesting. It was an endearing trait of Haruka's, she supposed. Just as the girl released a soft sigh at the thoughts, closing her eyes, she sharply jolted back up in her chair when she felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders. The warmth disappeared just a quickly as it came, and the sound of a certain Uranian's low chuckle met her ears right after. Michiru couldn't help the frown that slipped onto her face; it wasn't the Uranian she wanted right now.
… or ever, for that matter.
"Sorry, sorry. Did I scare you, Michiru?" The words were whispered in her ear and Michiru was grateful when she felt the other move away, even if the person just retreated to sitting in the seat next to her. She turned to look at him with a faux smile. It was something she grew accustomed to.
"No, not at all." Michiru replied, watching him turn the chair slightly to fully face her. He flashed her a smile and she turned back to her cup of tea, lifting it up and taking a slightly sip of it. "What brings you here?"
Titan shrugged. "Do I need a reason to be here? I wanted to see my fiancé." He didn't catch the slight mood shift Michiru went through at the reminder, too focused on staring at her with a smirk to read the air she radiated. Michiru still wasn't too pleased with the idea of marrying this man.
"I suppose you have a point then." Michiru murmured, not really having any other input then that.
"You look a little tense." Titan suddenly said and she heard the male take a stand, dusting off his pants. He walked around the chair to stand behind her, and Michiru watched him carefully until he was standing behind her.
"What?" She questioned, about to say something else until she felt Titan's hands upon her shoulders. She straightened in the chair again at the unwanted touch, before feeling fingers gently push against the muscles in her shoulders.
"Aha," Titan laughed with a smirk as he continued to knead the muscle gently. "I knew that when I touched your shoulders they were tense… " Michiru fought for words to say, only to be more then lost when she actually realized that Titan wasn't all too bad at the job. Still, the feeling of the man's hands was foreign and she didn't like it one bit.
"Ah… you don't need to do this for me, Titan, it's really okay." Michiru finally managed to say after a moment, rolling her shoulders to hint that she wanted his hands off of her person. When Titan kept his hands in place, instead moving his other down her back to press against her spines, Michiru held back a huff.
Titan smirked wolfishly as he continued to massage her back, despite the protest heard from Michiru earlier. He wanted to make a snide remark so badly, but decided to hold it in for just a while longer. "No, of course I do. It's the least I can do for my future wife. I don't want a stressed out woman, after all…" He heard Michiru sigh and took it as one of content and not annoyance.
Unfortunately, it was the latter. "Really, this isn't necessary, Titan…"
"So, what have you been up to that's got you all messed up? The knots in your muscles are incredible…"
Michiru didn't reply. What was she supposed to say anyways? Instead she just ceased her squirming, knowing that it was practically useless. Titan didn't seem like he was going to stop whether she did or didn't protest. "Well…" She started to make an excuse, stopping the sentence immediately after the word.
It wasn't really necessary to stop though, because Titan would have rudely cut her off anyways. He spoke again in a clearer, deeper tone, his head moving down to whisper into Michiru's ear. "Or more like… what have you been doing with my sister while you've been avoiding me?" Titan's tone was snide as he said this, and he unintentionally dug his fingers into Michiru's shoulder.
Michiru gasped softly at the pinch of pain from the move, standing up quickly enough to have Titan's hands fall from her shoulders. She turned to look at him, taking in the sneer that showed on his lips and the jealous glint in is eyes. She let her own blue orbs narrow at him.
"Just what are you implying?" She coldly inquired.
Michiru knew what was going through the Prince's mind; she only wanted to hear it for herself, though.
-0-
A few minutes later, Haruka was following the shorter one through the halls of the palace, not taking any note of where she was going. She kind of didn't care all too much, and it seemed like the younger knew either. Basically, it was more of a blind walk throughout the multiple, lavish hallways. Haruka would have at least preferred a walk in the garden, or hell, even the front of the palace was nice.
"So, what did you want me for?" Haruka finally said after a moment of silence.
"My name's Thalassa," She turned to look at the blond, walking backwards and turning when she deemed appropriate. That same grin was on her lips, and Haruka frowned slightly once she was sure the girl couldn't see her face. "I wanted to know more about you."
"Awfully blunt, aren't you?" Haruka responded before she could stop herself, and she played it off with a smirk, not wanting to sound rude even if the Neptunian certainly was.
Thalassa snorted softly and ran her fingers through her hair, shortening her steps so that she could walk in sync with Haruka. Well, as in sync as one could get with someone inches taller then them. "I've gotta be, right? And after all, I don't see why you should be complaining."
Haruka's eyebrow shot up again and she couldn't help but let the amused sentence of, "And why not? I was practically dragged here, remember?" slip past her lips.
"Dragged where? I didn't drag you anywhere." Thalassa shot back with another one of her smug smiles, gesturing to the different halls they constantly were walking through. Haruka tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the sarcastic remark. "And you owe me for being so clumsy and bumping into me."
Haruka didn't know whether to feel annoyed or amused by her antics. Her reasoning wasn't legit in any way. This girl was a fuss, and Haruka was already tired of it. She was reminded vaguely of her own brother. Though when the thought popped into her head, she fought to shake it away. "Could we at least talk about something productive?"
Thalassa seemed to think about this, and it didn't do anything to make Haruka's mood better. "Fine," She smiled and stopped in front of a huge door that Haruka pinpointed as the door to the gardens. Well at least they wouldn't be mindlessly walking through multitudes of hallways that tended to blend with each other. She opened up the door, heading out first and making Haruka catch the door and head through.
Haruka sighed.
"What's with the guy get-up?" Thalassa asked, taking the lead once again. She walked mindlessly through the garden again, so much energy in her steps that Haruka doubted she'd stop even for a second. Her own murky, green eyes warily stared at her and then scrolled over to the bench. The bench they were passing and leaving behind right about now.
'I don't have a clue as to how that's supposed to be a productive question,' The thought rang in Haruka's mind, although she stayed silent for a minute and only followed the other. There were a lot of ways to answer that question. Of course, the answer the aquanette was probably thinking of was probably something crude, something like preferring the same-sex. Not that it was all too far from the truth, mind you, but there were far better reasons then something like that.
"In Uranus it's good to be tough." She stated simply, not feeling up to explaining it to her. She heard Thalassa hum in response, the hum bordering satisfied and curious. "And it's hard to be tough when you're…" she didn't finish the statement, only shrugging and laughing softly, only to be good-mannered.
Thalassa suddenly stopped, smiling thinly at Haruka and making the blond skid at the sudden stop. The taller one blinked down at Thalassa, expression turning into one of confusion. "Is that really it?"
"… what?" Haruka mumbled back dumbly, tone dubious as she looked down at the younger girl.
"Is that really it, or is there more?" Thalassa seemed to be searching for a certain answer, and Haruka wasn't really sure what exactly the girl wanted. The tone didn't sound questioning; it sounded more like a demand. A demand that Haruka wasn't sure she could or wanted to meet, and quite frankly, it caught her more off-guard then she would have liked. It didn't help that her dark blue eyes were glinting again, and a part of Haruka's lip threatened to fall in a half-frown. She kept it from doing so.
A sheepish chuckle left Haruka's lips. "More? Were you expecting more?" She rubbed her shoulder when the girl continued to stare her down, and she took it as a cue to continue talking, mostly to break the – probably onesided – tenseness she suddenly felt. "You're a curious kitten, aren't you..?"
Haruka nearly froze in place when she felt Thalassa's fingers wrap around her wrist, pulling her down roughly to her own height. The blond let out a low grunt of surprise at the sudden action, now bending over, back hunched as Thalassa flashed her another smile. "Curious, yes." She purred softly and Haruka suddenly felt the need to leave. She didn't though, instead staying put, teal-grey eyes widened slightly. "Because I know there's more to it then just the need to be 'tough'."
"Are you implying something?" The Uranian suddenly snapped lowly when she felt Thalassa's breath blow against her cheek, and she took the opportunity to lean away from the younger. The grasp was still on her wrist, and she knew that she could easily pry it off, only… she as more interested in hearing the girl's reply.
"This isn't Uranus, just to let you know…" Thalassa gave another smile that made Haruka's irritation flare up again, freezing after when she felt Thalassa's fingers graze her cheek. "A lot of people won't take kindly to your preferences…" Haruka jerked back sharply when she felt the girl lean closer to her, clear irritation spreading across her face.
"If you're aiming to say something, then say it." Haruka nearly snapped out again, only to calm herself at the last minute and have it come out evenly.
Thalassa blinked a bit at the sudden loss of contact. She then let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Don't think I don't see you staring at her; it's always so painfully obvious." She was suddenly grinning again at the blond who had shut up for just another moment. Haruka's heated anger had turned into the cool, collected and concentrated chill as she gazed at the younger, obviously straining to win against the burst of anger. Then it hit Haruka; the sudden rush of panic from the words.
Did the younger one know?
It was too bad when she opened her mouth to speak, Thalassa was already walking the other way, winking at the soldier.
Haruka furrowed her brows, irate, before turning and walking the other way. On the entire, mindless walk through the park, she thought of solutions to the problem at hand. They all were all unpleasant.
-0-
Michiru walked down the corridors, frustration running through her veins although the neutral, placid expression on her face betrayed her emotions on the inside. She briefly wondered where Haruka was, before realizing... that was where the problem currently lied. Suspicions were arising with Titan. They were fairly silly sispicions, to anyone who heard them, and Michiru probably shouldn't have been dwelling on them anyways. After all, all of his suspicions about her and Haruka were all just fueled by jealousy. That much was obvious. There was no truth or evidence to back it up.
The only problem was that the aquanette herself wanted them to be true in a way.
Her affections towards Haruka had grown a large amount since they met. It had taken a while for her to actually go along with the idea, but then Michiru realized she couldn't deny the fact that she did, indeed, have feelings for the tomboyish Princess. As she took a turn in the corridor, a slow, shivering breath left her lips at the thoughts. It was disgusting. Horrible. She could only imagine what would happen if anyone found out. Her family, the servants, or even worse...
The handsome blond herself.
"Ah!" The exclaimation left her as soon as she felt her body being slammed into something both hard and soft, and she automatically shut her eyes as she felt her equilibrium slip. That same something caught her though, and soon enough, she was being placed back upright onto her feet. Her eyes opened hesitantly, only to meet with murky, teal eyes. She was only slightly ataken back at the expression in them.
"Oh, Haruka. I apologize."
"Michi- Princess.May I have a word with you in private?" The words were hissed and calmly said at the same time, a feat that Michiru wouldn't have deemed possible if it weren't, well.. Haruka. She sensed the urgency in them though, and with a slow nod, she followed the Uranian towards her room.
-0-
A/N: And that's it. Reviews are appreciated. c: I really do hope you guys enjoyed this. I'll try my best to crank out another chapter very soon, since I definitely owe you guys, yeah? Also, if you're wondering why I'm putting up stories for Puella Magi Madoka Magica it's because, well.. more inspiration is spewing for that show then Sailor Moon! xD But don't worry, I would never abandon this beautiful fandom, nor would I leave my HarukaxMichiru. By the way, there may or may not be mistakes in ehre because I haven't had enough time to double read it. If there is anything, then just mention it to me and I'll fix it right up. Well, once again, reviews are extremely appreciated and welcomed. Thanks for reading!
