Just to make a note, personally I've got nothing against Fords, my first car was a 1996 Ford Taurus, and I loved it. It had 144,000 miles on it before I got rid of it, never once had a problem with it. I'm actually wondering if I should have kept the damn thing. I traded it in for a 2006 Nissan Sentra, but have had more problems with that in the two months that I've had it then I ever had in the nearly 3 years I had the Taurus. Anyway, a majority of people out there either love Fords or hate them, so I figured a person like Haruka would be one to hate them. Especially having always had sports cars and such.

Oh, just so you're aware, this is not going to be in journal format, you'll find out why when you read it.

And uh...sorry about the double post for those of you getting alerts, I was reading through it after I posted it and realized I had the wrong gender refering to Haruka later in the chapter, I guess it's just a habit to put 'her' instead of 'him' lol

Struggle
June 25, 1999 - Friday

I stepped from my rental car and hit the alarm button, the BMW's horn beeped twice in response. I picked up my briefcase and walked into the conference hall, Michiru at my side. She was very proud of me for what I'm doing. She knows it will help so many people who went through the same struggle as I did.

Over the past few weeks I've been working on my presentation. It helped me learn a lot more about the surgeries and how exactly they're performed. Especially my surgeries coming up in a few months. I only have $10,000 left to pay on it, so I can relax for a little bit, the first surgery isn't until November. I did have images in my presentation, but when I ran it through with Mr. Schilling, he recommended that I remove most of them, some of the patrons in the audience may be squeamish. I went through it and removed most of the actual surgery photos, but I kept most of the before and after shots, including my own for the bi-lateral mastectomy portion.

"Don't be so nervous honey, they're just people. Think of this as one of your races." Michiru leaned up to fix my tie, then fixed a stray piece of blonde hair that would not stay out of my face. She then smirked and ran the back of her hand over my cheek. "I thought you shaved this morning."

"I did!" I frowned and turned to look at myself in the mirror. She'd lied to me, there was no stubble on my face. I think she just wanted to help me to relax a little bit. I playfully swatted at her and smiled. It was amazing how well this woman could calm me down. She's always had that skill.

Suddenly a sly grin came across her face and she leaned up to whisper in my ear. "If you do well, I'll make it worth your wild tonight." she placed a warm, moist kiss on my neck, just below my ear. She knew it was my sweet spot, I couldn't help it as a low groan came from my throat. I hated her when she did this to me, especially right before an event such as this. It did have it's effect, it took my mind from the task at hand.

Slowly but surely the convention center started filling with people of all ages, from children who were forced to come with their parents, and who wouldn't listen to a word I was saying, to grown men and women who worked for the San Francisco GLBT organization. I hope that I make a good impression that they'd be willing to invite me back.

Three Hours Later

I swear I had never been so scared in my life. After each of my slides it was so quiet, I swear I could have heard a pin drop down the hall and around the corner. It turned out that they were so amazed with how far I had come in my transition and how willing I was to share it all with them. The whole presentation was only suppose to take an hour and a half, but the other time was full of questions about me, my life, and the surgical proceedures. It was such an amazing feeling to know that these people trusted me to answer their questions as best I could. As I watched over the crowd I saw a huge number of them taking notes. Who knows, they could have been doctors taking notes to help their own patients.

"Haruka, that was wonderful. More successful then I had imagined it to be." Mark shook my hand as I walked back stage. "We would love to offer you and your lovely wife a place in the Convention Center's parade float."

Michiru and I both turned crimson at the 'wife' statement. It was as if we read each other's minds, we both stumbled over words "We...we're...not..." I was finally able to finish the sentence. "We're not married yet."

He simply smiled. "My apologies then. I just assumed from the ring. Sorry. Let me treat you both out to dinner. I know this amazing Japanese restaurant. My way of trying to help you feel at home." He handed me a bottle of water.

I glanced at Michiru, giving her a questioning look, when she nodded I answered him. "We'd love to, but I'd like to go back to the hotel first to change into something more comfortable. What kind of attire is this restaurant?"

"Casual. So you could wear jeans and a t-shirt if you really wanted to." Jeans and a t-shirt...what does he think I am. I don't own a single pair of jeans, and t-shirts are kind of tacky for me. They're all full of strange phrases or oddly colored logos. I'm quite happy with a regular polo shirt and slacks. "I'll pick you two up from the hotel at say...7 o'clock tonight then, is that OK?

Definitely sounded fine to me. It would give Michiru and I some time to do some 'relaxing.' I nodded "That sounds perfect." I looked at Michi. "Are you ready to go honey?"

"Yea." Was all she said as she laced her arm in mine and we headed toward the door. Once we were outside the door that I realized just how many people filled that room. Every space in the parking lot was full, except for a few spots of vehicles that were at the exit, waiting to be able to make their turn onto the main road. Not even this many people turned out for any of the races I was in. A few people stopped me to ask for an autograph. Which, of course, I had no problems signing for them. They were nice enough to come and listen to me talk, it's only the least I could do in return.

A tall man approached us, he was reaching into his jacket pocket, I had just assumed he was fumbling for a pen to ask me to sign something. "Haruka Tenou?" He questioned me, he voice seemed a little shaky. I thought nothing of it, a lot of my fans can't find words whenever they have the chance to speak with me.

"Yes. What can I do for you sir?" I threw him a polite smile.

"Burn in hell."

Two consecutive gun shots rang out across the parking lot. He never removed the gun from his pocket as he fired both rounds into Haruka's stomach, then chest. He slowly sank to the ground, the life draining from his body and forming a puddle around him on the concrete parking lot. Michiru became oblivious to the world around her, her screams echoed just as loud as the shots had. The man who pulled the trigger looked down at her for a moment, as if with a slight remorse for killing the woman's love, then ran off through the crowd. He was quickly taken down and overpowered by a few gentlemen who had attended Haruka's presentation. They held him until the police were able to arrive.

The paramedics had to pry Michiru from Haruka's nearly lifeless body, never before had the aqua-haired woman cried so much. She was allowed to ride in the ambulance with her love. She watched frantically as the paramedics tried to stop the bleeding, then it happened, the heart monitor flat-lined. Haruka died in that ambulance, Michiru holding his hand. The vehicle's sirens were shut off and the truck slowed down, then Michiru saw the lights turn off. When she questioned why, she was told that it's procedure, Haruka had been dead for nearly 3 minutes, there would be only a 5 chance that he could be revived. Michiru looked away, attempting to hide her tears. She was told that once they arrived at the hospital, they would find a doctor for Michiru to speak with, to help her cope with the loss.

OK...well...I didn't realize this chapter was going to turn out so long, so there's going to be one more. Please don't kill me, we're still in the holiday season. The genres from the beginning said Tragedy...well now you all know why it's marked tragedy.