Disclaimer: I do not own Haruka, Michiru or the other senshi. This story is based on a manga series called Superior/Superior cross but plotwise it moves into a really different direction.


Superior

Chapter ten

- Here in my own little bubble -


It hurts.

It hurts so Much.

''Do you want to live, little girl?''

''I do not want to die.''


It had been two days ago since Minako died when she tried to protect Haruka from the priestess. Two days since Michiru told Haruka she willingly made love to her. Haruka couldn't be more frustrated. She saw Michiru everyday and they spoke casually as if nothing happened but that's not what she wanted or needed right now. She had to know what Michiru felt for her even if it could ruin everything.

Haruka wasn't quite sure how she felt about Michiru herself. She liked being with the demon girl and she would even go as far as saying she enjoyed her company but part of her found it difficult to trust her companion. Haruka witnessed with her own eyes how Michiru got burned by the priestess flames, there was no way an ordinary demon could survive something like that. Not to mention the relieved expression Michiru wore when Haruka mentioned knowing her real name. It was as if Michiru had been afraid Haruka found out something deeper and more dangerous.

''Penny for your thought?'' Haruka looked aside slightly, facing a young blue haired woman. Her hair color and color of her deep blue eyes resembled those of Luxuria but her face was softer, white as snow, smiling sweetly.

''Just thinking,'' Haruka replied casually. She'd never seen this girl before and yet didn't bother to make introductions. She was too tired. This girl didn't seem like a demon, she wasn't outstandinly pretty either like most demons. Not like Minako and Michiru. Or even the priestess for that matter. This girl looked too human. If there was even such a thing as 'too human'. ''I have to make an important decision and it depends on someone else which path I will choose.''

''Does this decision affect that other person's life?''

''Possibly.''

''Does it affect yours more than theirs?''

''No.''

The blue haired girl sighed as if she had to think really hard about her next reply. Then she rested her head in her hands and leaned against the railing of the stone bridge just like Haruka was doing. ''My name is Ami Mizuno.'' Why she had picked this reply would forever remain a mystery to Haruka. Maybe Ami just didn't know what else to say or maybe she'd just realized the conversation they were having wasn't really meant to be held between them.

''Haruka Tenoh.'' Wasn't there anything else she was suppossed to say or ask? God, she was too tired to even think. Too much had happened and most of it was nothing but a blur to the blonde. Michiru had told her what happened during the fight between Haruka, the priestess and Minako but nothing sounded familiar at all. As if it really wasn't how it happened.

''Our savoir?'' Ami's voice sounded curious now.

''In the flesh.'' This girl was probably from this town if she had heard about Haruka's hunt to kill the demon queen. She'd probably gotten to this town a little while after Haruka left. The blonde wanted to ask whether Ami had known Hitomi or not but she was too scared to ask. She still hated talking about Hitomi because the subject made her feel like a failure. Maybe if Haruka had killed the queen Hitomi would still be alive and Satoshi would've never lost his arm.

''Your decision is about your mission, isn't it?''

The blonde tomboy didn't reply and just nodded. Ami barely noticed the movement of the other's head from the corner of her eyes. ''I think all demons deserve to be killed. It's been a long time since they started living among us. They've had their chance to change but instead they hunt us down like animals.''

''Sounds like you lost a lot in this war.'' Haruka whispered while gazing at the small blue haired girl. Ami was a little smaller than Michiru. Why she noticed something unimportant as that she didn't know. ''Me too.''

''A demon killed my sister. It was only us even before that. Our parents died a long time ago and we got raised by family in another town. The people who took us in died of old age not because of demons. We were aware of them but we kept hidden in the forest. When we received news about demons heading into our direction we moved again. Eventually it was just me and her.'' The blue haired girl spoke, never making eye contact with the blonde next to her.

''My sister got killed as well,'' Haruka swallowed hard. ''So I can't really say I don't know how you feel.''

''I feel like I should've done something different, that maybe I could've saved her from being..'' Ami decided not to finish her sentence. It was simply too hard to pronounce that simply little word. ''I'm sorry for your loss.''

''She's probably better off now anyway. If there really is a god and a heaven I'm sure that's were my sister is. Yours too.''

Ami smiled sadly. ''I hope you are right.'' Her words didn't sound so convincing though. She didn't seem to believe in it. Haruka couldn't blame her, the only reason Haruka hoped for heaven to be real was to give herself some peace of mind.


''You were the queen who brought our worlds together. How do you think my parents met? Who did you think ordered them to be killed by those royal soldiers? It was you and that priest!''

Someone was trying to set her up. She hadn't thought about it that much when Minako mentioned it first but now even that Rei demon talked about getting order from the queen Michiru was sure she'd never given. How could she even order her own assasination when she had been travelling with Haruka ever since she left her palace. Someone else was giving orders in her name.

''But unfortunately I too have my mission. The queen of all demons ordered me to kill the aqua haired demon and her companions.''

Michiru didn't have any brothers or sisters who had the power to rule the demons nor any relatives. The only person she had was her advisor and he surely wouldn't betray her. Everyone knew, especially her servants, that if Michiru were to die they all would die.

Minako.

'You idiot.' Michiru covered her face with her hands, sitting down on the wooden chair behind her. Michiru had been so jealous of the relationship between Minako and Haruka that she had forgotten all about the reason she brought Minako in the first place.

When Minako and Michiru had fought in the old church in the forest Minako told her about how she lost her parents because of who they were. Minako's father fell in love with a human a long time ago and for that they'd been punished. Satoshi mentioned something like that before too. That's how Makoto died.

''It was you and that priest!''

Minako's words still echoed in her head. What priest? Michiru hadn't even heard about half breeds before meeting Minako, she never thought it was possible for humans and demons to coexist in the first place. It was unthinkable. And now Michiru was falling for a human too. For as far as Haruka was human. The blonde didn't seem to be aware of her other half yet and if she was, she was a pretty good liar.

The aqua haired queen still couldn't explain what happened two days ago but she was sure the reason why Haruka couldn't see ghosts or wasn't aware of her power was because her demon half and human half were two different people at the moment. Atleast, that was her first theory. Her second theory was that Haruka was traumatized about what happened and just blocked the memory.

But Haruka just didn't seem to be that kind of woman. 'I hardly know her and here I am pretending to know her.' She didn't even know the blonde's age.

She didn't even know Minako's age or if she had any loved ones, who her friends were or what kind of food she liked to eat. Stupid little questions that seemed important to Michiru all of a sudden. Minako was prepared to die for them and she didn't know anything about Minako.

''You idiot!'' The queen now yelled out loud and smacked her hands on her lap in frustration. Tears were streaming down her face now and she was unable to make them go away what frustrated her even more. ''You idiot! How could you just die so selfishly?''


It hurts.

It hurts so Much.

''Do you want to live, little girl?''

''I do not want to die.''

We will regret our decision forever, won't we? I'm sure I will. And I won't stop until that bitch that killed you dies as well. I promise. I promise. 'I'm so sorry.'


It was almost night when Michiru had made her way to Haruka's old room. She hadn't exactly entered the room yet and just kept staring at the doorknob as if waiting for it to open out of its own. She had come her with the intention to learn more about the blonde's past, what she liked or what she used to play it. Stupid little stuff. Minako had left a big hole in Michiru's heart and for some reason the aqua haired girl believed she could fill it again by not making the same mistake with Haruka.

It was really, really stupid. She and Minako fought about every little thing and Minako never stopped being annoying or calling her 'Michi' with that strange playful tone in her voice. On the other hand Minako was more reliable than anyone Michiru had met in a long time. Not once did the blonde goddess mentioned to anyone about Michiru being the demon queen and she was always there to listen or give her opinion about things. Even when no one asked for her opinion.

How long had they traveled together? Not that long. It was strange how one person could just creep into your life and leave a permanent mark in just a few days.

Finally Michiru started to reach for the rusty doorknob but before she made contact with it a man popped up from the corner of the stairway. He had black hair and for a moment Michiru didn't recognize him until she noticed the metal arm that come from underneath his sleeve. ''Mind if I join you?''

The aqua haired girl just smiled a little and then opened the door, revealing the livingroom of the Tenoh Family. Or atleast, what was left of it. The once clean, white paint on the walls had faded to yellow and peeled off places. showing the concrete wall underneath. Both Michiru and Satoshi spent a while walking through the deserted living room in silence.

The floor creaked with every step they made and the plants that decorated the balcony had withered to nothing. Only the cracked pots remained under the nebulous moonlight. Michiru stopped in front of a room which had a dusty H made out of wood on it. It must've been either Hitomi's or Haruka's room. She gently pushed the partly closed door open, revealing an almost empty room. The only thing that was still there was a mattress that lay on the floor with no bedding on it. Most of the furniture must've been destroyed or carried off.

She now walked to the end table and carefully picked up a photo frame that had been left facedown on top of it. The fotograph inside the rusted metallic frame had turned to milky white and she could no longer make out anything except that there were four people in it.

''Sorry about what I said earlier. I know I talk too much and you probably don't care.'' a quiet voice addressed her from behind and Michiru looked up from the photo. Satoshi leaned in the door frame.

''Oh no,'' The young demon wanted to say something else but the black haired man interrupted her.

''I'm going to visit her grave. Wanna come?''

Michiru nodded and followed him down the building again, back to the streets and into a what seemed like deserted area. Who's grave were they going to visit? Hitomi's? Instead of asking she decided to find out by just following him quietly. For some reason asking him just didn't feel right. Michiru kept staring at the back of his grey jacket, noticing how he limped a little with his left leg when he walked. You hardly noticed it if you weren't looking for it.

Lately Michiru had just come to find humans interesting. Their habits, their emotions or their need of sleep seemed interesting to her. And although the were really different from her kind they didn't seem different at all. Not only by looks but they were driven by their will and need as well. But instead of a constant need for power they needed something else. They wanted to share moments, feel loved.

A long time ago when she was little Michiru had believed she didn't need to feel love since she was loved by her people already. But once her world and the human world merged she'd happily bursted out that little dream bubble. She wasn't loved at all. No one needed her, humans wanted her dead and now even her own kind was turning against her slowly.

There was an abandoned church in a corner of the upper level of the vertical inner wall that made the old city so complex. And the open lot next to it had become a public cemetery for the towns people, Satoshi explained. The concrete walls that surrounded it were half crumbled and a cold breeze blew between the rows of the stone grave markers.

In the farthest corner of the cemetery lay a simple tombstone belonging to Makoto Kino. ''I thought they took her away from her and you never saw her again.'' Michiru wondered out loud, recalling their conversation from a couple of days earlier.

''They did. There's no body buried here.'' Came the reply. Satoshi's voice sounded so fragile to Michiru. His profile wore no expression though as he looked down at the grave and her stood there, motionless for a while as Haruka seemed to do a lot as well. Michiru hesitated to speak to him, he blinked a couple of times and then turned his usual indifferent gaze toward her. ''Right now my life isn't really bad so don't worry about me.''

Apparently Michiru had been looking at him with a worried look on her face to make him say that.

But,'' He crossed his arms. ''I'm fed up with it already. Everyone around me is dying. I wish the grim reaper would come for me as well and takes me away. I'm so tired, Michiru.''

Why was he telling her this?

Michiru got the awful feeling he was going to ask her for something impossible. She suddenly regretted coming here although the idea of paying her respects to Makoto was a lovely thought. She shouldn't have followed Satoshi blindly.

''Will you protect this town and Haruka for me?''

''Stop dropping all your cares on me.''

Satoshi laughed, half amused. ''You'll do it anyway, right? I don't have to ask you.''

Michiru muttered something inaudible.

''I don't have to ask, right?'' He sounded unsure.

The aqua haired girl groaned in annoyance. ''Do it yourself. I have enough problems as it is. I'm in love with a human. At least I think I am, Minako is dead and I can't stop crying and Haruka wants to kill me, well, she will want to kill me when she finds out who I really am, I'm probably being framed by one of my so-called servants and now you're telling me to protect this long forgotten town?''

''Yes.''

''Do it yourself.''

''I can't do it anymore.''

''Then you are weak.'' The aqua haired girl turned around to face another grave. It had a few unreadable names engraved in the tombstone.

''Yes.''

To Be Continued...


Sorry to those who didn't want Minako to die. It just seemed fitting. Well, atleast Ami made an appearance. She'll have a small role though because this story will be about Haruka and Michiru getting together. Not about the other senshi. Anyway, let me know what you think!