20
He accepted the champagne glass the nice waitress offered him and took a small sip, shoving his free hand in his pocket and looking around, letting out a sigh.
He didn't really like this kind of events. Or any event, for that matter, that include him in it, doing some major kiss ass to some prominent, important member of society.
But both his brothers had pretty much dragged him there, and, well, at least it was for a good cause. Fancy dinner, a small musical performance by Japan's most respected violinist -and he was grateful for that one; at least the bad, boring conversations would be highly compensated by exquisite music-, and then maybe some ballroom dancing -he was definitively not doing that-, all in the name of charity and raising money for a well known, none profit, cervix cancer association.
Yes, it was for a good cause. But that didn't necessary mean he was actually enjoying the -quite sickening- lovey eye an old, fairly over weighted lady wrapped in a cream colored dress that most certainly didn't favor her, and with more makeup than all the other women around put together, was sending his way.
To put it simple, he was bored out of his mind. Taking another sip from his glass, he turned to face his brothers, tossing his long, silvery ponytail aside. And a smile came to his face then.
A mocking, teasing one, but a smile none the less.
"So," he started to say. "No date tonight, huh?" he teased. His smile widening when midnight blue eyes blinked at him.
Against all odds, and to everyone's surprise, Seiya and Haruka had been going out for a little over three months now. And they were actually happy, and pretty much alive, with no broken bones, black eyes or bleeding noses along the way.
Go figure...
Granted, they were nothing like the typical, normal couple. Meaning, they argued a lot.
Their stupid, crazy, sometimes completely pointless arguments were pretty famous by now. They would argue about any given topic, from food to sports, going through music, books, fighting techniques, art, and even freaking mythology. Of course, Yaten had the very valid suspicion that they fought just for argument's sake and the fun of it. And maybe even for a good make up sex session -but that was truly just a theory, and he wasn't really going to prove himself right on that one anytime soon...-, specially considering the way their weird battles of will and words always ended. A simple 'whatever, Windy' coming from Seiya in a rather low, sensual tone of voice, or a grunted out 'shut up, Space Boy' coming from Haruka with a victorious and -disturbingly- playful smile in her lips. One of them would say that, and then Haruka would grab the collar of his shirt, pull from it rather strongly, crushing him against her, and then promptly kiss him, hard on the mouth.
That was it. End of the argument. A -demanding- kiss, Seiya's hands around her waist, and stupid, loving smiles on their faces afterwards. And it never ceased to amaze him how easy they went from calling each other names -ridiculous ones at that- to being all sweet smiles and kisses, holding hands and all.
But they seemed to be pretty happy in their weird relationship. And they were both really defensive about each other, never letting anyone get their noses in their business, and throwing killer looks to any outsider who dared speaking badly of the other in front of them. And, considering how physically strong they both were, Yaten could only imagine what the end result could be if it ever went beyond a killer look and a deathly serious warning to shut up.
So they fought, argued, and called each other names; teasing each other, and probably killing each other in more ways than just verbal. They just didn't really appreciate someone else getting in the middle. Haruka had even told him once that she was the only one allowed to mistreat Seiya. And although she had said that in a rather joking tone, the teasing gleam in her eyes told the shorter man there was a story in there. Again, one he didn't want to know the details of...
In the past two months, he had been to the Outers' house more often than in the past four years. Along with Taiki, and Haruka's brand-new boyfriend, they had shared more than one family dinner or sunday barbecue with the peculiar family of four. And he had come to know sides of them he'd never even considered before.
Like Setsuna's never-ending, highly entertaining stories of family vacations and special holidays, and the way she would always get what she wanted -like inviting the brothers over for dinner to have an 'official', proper introduction of the 'new boyfriend' to their family, according to her own words-, by simply and teasingly stating she could easily send any of them back to the Stone Age and then just forget about them. Later on, Michiru had told to him the olive skinned woman had never really done something like that, but the violinist had also confessed neither Hotaru, Haruka or herself were willing to actually put that threat to test. Setsuna was, after all, the guardian of Time...
Little Hotaru and Michiru would always be right behind the dark green haired woman, adding their own funny stories and even showing them family albums filled with goofy, funny, cute, silly, tender family shots. Some of those stories and pictures would make one tall blonde woman scream out, cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment, to then jump up and chase down either Michiru or Hotaru -or both- around the house. The end result of that would be a strange looking mass of legs and arms sprawled over the floor, screams and laughter all mixed together, and Setsuna simply rolling her eyes at them.
And Yaten couldn't help but wonder exactly how did they manage to live together for over five years without any casualties... But then again, it was a wonder Taiki, Seiya and himself were still pretty much alive after living together for so many years, chasing imaginary creatures while growing up, fighting monsters and each other on a daily basis, and playing pranks on one another that could have easily started World War III if not for Taiki's intervention.
But besides the embarrassing stories on the new couple's past they all seemed to enjoy -except for the couple in question-, there was this completely new side to the powerful, proud, strong, serious, sophisticated Senshi of the Winds -and to the rest of the Outers, too-, that he had just now started to see; one that was easy going, relaxed, homely, laid back and even funny. And Yaten was surprised to find himself growing to like her, not only because she obviously made Seiya happy, but also because he found she was a rather loyal, nice, caring person. One that was fun to be around.
So Haruka and Seiya were together, they were happy, and no one really knew how exactly had that happened. No matter how many times any of them would ask, to the point of begging, exactly how and when had this romance of theirs first started, all they would get as an answer was a vague and simple 'it just did'. Secretive smiles and winks being sent back and forth between the two.
"I thought she was coming tonight," came Taiki's comment, as he too frowned at the black haired singer.
"She is," Seiya said, nodding his head.
Again, a mean, teasing smile came to Yaten's lips. "What? Is she ashamed of being seen in public with you?" he asked, mockingly.
"Why would she be ashamed?" Seiya asked back, arching an eyebrow at him. "She's dating me, not you."
.-.
"Then why isn't she with you?" Taiki was fast to ask, putting a strong hand over Yaten's shoulder, preventing him to answer that last comment with one of his own, inevitably leading to one of their arguments.
"She already had a date for tonight," Seiya answered, before taking a sip from his glass.
Taiki frowned at that, ignoring Yaten's sudden hit on his arm. "And you're ok with that?" he asked, completely surprised.
"Sure, why wouldn't I?" the black haired asked, shaking his shoulder.
"Because she's your..." Yaten hitting his arm repeatedly interrupting him, and he looked at the shorter guy; lime green eyes wide opened, and his jaw pretty much hitting the floor, "girlfriend..." he trailed off, now following Yaten's pointing finger.
And his own jaw hit the floor.
There, standing at the entry door, wearing a bronze colored dress, with an elegant but quite sensual cowlneck cleavage as the satin material gently kissed her curves, was the most shocking sight in the form of one tall blonde woman.
And he was sure he had been cured of the shocking factor after she had started dating Seiya. But as she stood there, with her blonde bangs combed to a side and falling over her green eyes in a youthful, elegant way, she proved him wrong once more as she turned around. The satin dress hugging her body in all the right places, with a flowing skirt gently dancing around her legs and kissing the floor, was only the beginning. The low opened back, with small gold chains cascading all the way down to her lower back exposing her white skin, left him blinking in pure surprise.
He had always known she was not exactly hard on the eye. And he had a fair idea of her general anatomy, considering how many times he had seen, first hand and every time she was in her Senshi form, exactly how long her legs were. But now he could fully understand why Seiya was so crazy about her. At least in the physical sense...
The woman was gorgeous.
"You know," came Seiya's amused voice, forcing him to take his eyes off the golden beauty, "any other guy would beat the crap out of you for drooling over his girlfriend so openly."
Not really knowing what to answer to that, and still in a bit of a shock at the sight, he simply nodded his head. A frown soon coming to his handsome face when he noticed the tall, light brown haired man in his mid forties, dressed in an impeccable black tuxedo coming to stand right next to the tall woman. Putting a hand over her waist and kissing her cheek; a smile coming to her lips as she looked at him, before the mysterious man offered his arm to her.
"Who's the dude?" Yaten asked, just as disconcerted as Taiki was.
Smiling, and patting the back of them both, Seiya pointed at the newly arrived couple with his head. "Come on."
.-.
The sight of her breasts freely dancing under that dress was more than enough to make him want to take her into some dark back room and have her desperately moaning out in pure pleasure into his ear.
A small, sided, manly smile coming to his lips the second he noticed one blonde eyebrow going up in a warning manner, letting him know she had guessed his thoughts -not that it was such a hard thing to do, really. And the hint of that sided, sensual, playful smile of hers tugging at her lips as she slightly arched her back, straightening her shoulders, made the massage crystal clear; she would not let him say a word about it -at least not in public- but she had absolutely no problem whatsoever in letting him do a very visual appreciation of her outfit. Along with the rest of her anatomy.
That woman drove him crazy. In every single, possible way.
She knew it. And he let her. Gladly.
The group of three approached the couple, but when the president of the association in charge of the fund raising event beat them to it, they patiently waited along side.
"Kuuya!" the short, bald man with a round belly and a gray mustache exclaimed, excitedly shaking the tall, light brown haired man's hand. "So glad you could make it!"
"Of course," the man said, smiling handsomely and politely. "Wouldn't want to miss it."
"You never do, you never do," the president said, smiling too.
"You remember Haruka, right?" the tall brunette said, turning to his side and smiling to the tall blonde woman standing right next to him, with her hand gently resting over his arm.
"Yes, of course, of course!" the shorter one said, now extending both his hands and shaking Haruka's. "A pleasure to see you, as usual," he said, winking at her.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Tanaka," she said, smiling softly. And Seiya didn't have to look that close to know she was giving him a big fat fake one.
"Congratulations on your last win," the president, Mr. Tanaka said. "Not that it was a surprise."
"Thank you," Haruka said, slightly nodding her head.
"Excuse me, Mr. Tanaka?" came a female voice, coming from the tall, slender red headed woman, as she had just approached them. With her hair pulled up in an elegant bun, and wearing a deep red dress that seemed to be her second skin, she put a hand on Tanaka's shoulder, smiling at him.
"Oh, yes, yes," Tanaka mumbled, turning back to the tall couple. "This is my secretary, Aina," he introduced them. "You'll have to excuse me now, as there are some business that need my attention," he said, shaking hands with the tall light brown haired man one last time and kissing Haruka's hand. "A pleasure to see you both, enjoy the night!" he exclaimed, turning around and taking the hand of his secretary in one of his, the other going around the lady's waist in a rather intimate way none of them missed, as Seiya took the final few steps separating him from Haruka.
His brothers following closely.
One blonde eyebrow went up. "Secretary?" she asked, leaning in to the man beside her. "Yeah, right."
He chuckled, taking her hand again and gently nesting it in his arm. "In my days, they were called 'the darling'," he joked.
She smiled at that, slightly tilting her head. "That's just to avoid mixing up the names," she pointed out.
"Probably," he agreed, nodding his head. "I wouldn't really know..."
"Sure you don't," she teased, rolling her eyes.
"You must be the famous Seiya Kou," the tall man said, completely ignoring Haruka's last comment and extending his hand towards the black haired man instead. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you," he said, with an honest, charming smile on his face.
"It's an honor for me to meet you, sir," Seiya said, shaking his hand and returning the smile.
He frowned for a moment, doing a small check up. "You seemed like a pretty decent guy," he said, now glaring at Haruka. "I trust you're being nice to him."
"Dad!" she exclaimed, as a light blush came to her cheeks and she hit his arm. "You're supposed to say that to him!" she added, pointing an accusing finger at Seiya.
"True," he agreed, nodding his head. "But I know you..."
She narrowed her eyes at him, and he chuckled.
"Don't give me that look," he warned, playfully. "You know I love you," he soon added in a cooping tone, tapping the hand he was still nesting in his arm, only to make her roll her eyes at him.
And Seiya couldn't help but laughed good heartily at the scene.
Right there, standing in front of him, was yet another side of Haruka. One he had already heard of, but that was by far, more surprising than her evilly sexy, playfully naughty one.
That first day, three months ago, in his apartment, in between sweet, passionate love making, a nap, and a late dinner, they had also spent a good few hours laying over the couch, talking. With Haruka wearing nothing but her panties and a shirt she had openly stolen from his wardrobe -and looking sinfully beautiful in it-, and him wearing his underwear, holding one another and gifting each other with lazy, soft caresses, they had took their time to get to know one another better, sharing stories of their childhood and families.
She was an only child, and her mother had died of cancer when she was only four years old. She barely remembered her, but every single memory of her childhood and early teenage life had her father around. Always smiling, loving her, encouraging her, advising her, and even spoiling her a little. He had been the one taking care of her wounded knee when falling off a tree. Teaching her how to ride a bike, and helping her with her homework. Lecturing her when she got into a fight with the bullies from her elementary school, and instilling in her a deep sense of responsibility, loyalty and respect towards others. Taking her to her martial art lessons, gymnastic class, piano lessons, and any other activity she had ever been interested in, including her early beginnings as a teenage racer.
They had a rather deep connection, father and daughter. And though the subject had never been brought up, Haruka had a feeling her father somehow knew about her identity as a Senshi, because of the way he would never ask about her mysterious disappearances, or sudden, nasty wounds that would completely fade away in a matter of a few days.
Her father had always been there for her, supporting her in her every decision; offering his advice, but never judging her. Not when she had told him about her sexual identity, or when she had decided to live on her own at the tender age of fifteen. Not even when her seventeen year old self decided to adopt a child.
That night, Haruka had said to him that if she could be to Hotaru even half of what her father was to her, then she would be happy. Because her father had been a constant, supporting, loving figure throughout her entire life.
The cervical cancer association's annual charity was an event father and daughter always went to together, ever since she was fourteen years old. And every year, she would willingly get herself into night gowns and extremely feminine dresses, just for him. She had confessed to Seiya -rather proudly- that her father was the one and only man she had always dressed up for. Of course, now she dressed herself up for Seiya every now and then too, though the state of clothing on those occasions could hardly be classified as 'dressing up', and he was sure, that was something Haruka's father -or anyone else, for that matter- was blissfully unaware of.
With her in elegant dresses, and her father in impeccable suits, all smiles and charming, they would go together to the annual event, and secretly laughed with each other about some of the attendants' constant show of money and power. He was an important, wealthy, renowned architect, and she had fame and wealth of her own. But neither one of them agreed with high society's strict, old rules of putting up appearances while hiding all the dirty laundry under the rug.
She had always looked up at her father, and now that Seiya met him, he knew, she had inherited not only his green eyes, height and husky voice; she also had a few treats from his charming personality. So now here he was, seeing this new, utterly surprising side of her.
Haruka Tenoh was a daddy's girl.
And as the proud woman that she truly was, she was very, very proud of that fact.
"Whatever," she mumbled, shaking her head, before looking at them, placing herself in between the brothers and her father, right next to Seiya. "Dad, these are Seiya's brothers, Taiki and Yaten Kou," she introduced them. "Guys, this is my dad, Kuuya Tenoh."
Yaten was the first to shake hands with him, smiling politely, and Taiki soon followed, nodding his head in sign of respect. "A pleasure, sir," the tall Starlight said.
"Sir?" he asked, frowning. "Your brother just hooked up with my daughter. I think we can skip the formalities and go to first name bases," he joked, making the three brothers laughed along with him.
"Yes, I think you're right," Taiki agreed, smiling.
"And really, how surprising is that?" Kuuya joked, frowning lightly.
"You have no idea," Yaten answered him, rolling his eyes just to make a point, and then chuckling when Seiya poked him in the side.
"You should have seen how nervous she was when she first told me," he said, in a light, joking tone. "For a moment there, I thought she was going to tell me she killed someone..."
"Dad!" she complained, hitting his arm again. "See if I ever tell you anything again..."
"You know, there comes a moment in every man's life," he started to say, completely ignoring his daughter's last comment and looking at the black haired singer, smiling at him, "when your daughter brings you a boy, and you know for sure, you're getting old."
"Funny," Haruka said, folding both her hands in front of her and putting on a thoughtful face. "You said the exact same thing when I graduated from high school."
"Exactly my point," Kuuya said, nodding his head. "I'm getting older."
"And when I first got my driver's license," Haruka continued, now arching an eyebrow at her father. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you also said that when I started kindergarten."
"Ok, now," he said, glaring at her, while rearranging the collar of his tuxedo jacket. "Stop pestering this old man," he joked. "I raised you better than that."
She tilted her head to a side at that, looking up for a moment, humming lightly in a fake, thoughtful manner, before looking back at him with that sided, cocky smile of hers. "No, not really."
Someone from behind him called out his name, making the entire group to turn around for a moment, to look at the group of men sitting around one of the tables.
"Duty calls," Kuuya said, taking a deep breath, and then smiling warningly when Haruka rearranged his neck tie.
"Knock them dead," she said to him, returning the smile.
Her smile never leaving her features even after her father excused himself, making his way towards the men that had called out to him and leaving the group of four. But when Seiya raised his hand, gently placing it around her waist, she looked at him; her smile turning softer.
"Your dad seems like a pretty nice man," Yaten commented.
She arched an eyebrow at that. "Nice?" she repeated, frowning. "My dad rocks."
"Now I can see where you got your charming self from," Seiya joked, winking, and smiling widely when she simply shoved her nose up in the air, arrogantly.
Yes, Haruka was a very proud, quite the unconventional, daddy's girl.
.-.
He saw her there, standing tall, proud and beautiful, as she talked with the owner of a newspaper, his wife, and some young, charming lady he didn't really know. Dinner was long over with, and the dancing floor was already packed with couples; tables half occupied with business men closing deals or starting new ones.
A light, amused chuckle escaping him when he noticed the starry eyed look the unknown lady would throw towards the tall blonde, all soft, sensual smiles and soft giggles, every now and then. And although he had seen more than one man openly appreciating her beauty, her fame, her charming, flirty attitude and her past relationship with one particular violinist proceeded her, and well, her -mostly female- fan club had never been small in numbers.
He found it curious, really. The way no one seemed to notice she was no longer single. True, she hadn't exactly given any detail or information to the media. But then again, she never had. And yet, the sweet smiles and tender looks were hard to miss. Like the one he saw gracing her face right now, as her eyes traveled to a corner of the room. Small, soft, and sweet, with her green eyes shining with love.
He had always loved that smile...
Following the direction of her eyes, he excused himself from the group of business men around him, soon making his way towards the tall, black haired singer, standing next to him.
"There was this one time, when coming back from work and she came to greet me," he started to say, getting the black haired man's attention as he turned to look at him, "stumbling and jumping all the way... she was barely a year old..." he trailed off, smiling in remembrance. "And she looked up at me, with her eyes wide and shining, and she gave me this big, adorable, happy smile."
He chuckled when he noticed her looking at them. A smile still playing on her lips, and one single eyebrow slightly twitching, in a curious, and probably nervous way. And upon noticing the soft, loving smile Seiya sent back to her, his own smile widened, turning softer.
"I promised to myself I would do anything in my power to keep her smiling like that," he continued, as he looked at his daughter's face.
He could remember a few times, during the passing years, when she had lost her smile. She had never really said anything to him, probably not wanting to trouble him, and he never asked. He never pushed it, knowing there were certain things he couldn't really help her with.
But he had always known, because during those times, her smile was gone.
"As her father, that's all want. For her to smile like that. To be happy," he continued, now turning his face to look at the man standing next to him. "I never really thought she would ever date a man... no offense."
"None taken," Seiya was fast to say, chuckling lightly.
"But you know..." he trailed off, waving his hand. "She gave me this loving to hate each other and friends in common babble as to how you two met," he said, smiling when Seiya laughed at that comment. "And I'm not exactly sure of whatever happened in between to make you go from there to being together, but... you make her smile," he said, now looking at the blonde woman he still saw as his little girl. "You make her smile, and that's all that matters to me."
"Thank you, sir."
"No, thank you," Kuuya corrected him, shaking his head. "Thank you for that. And don't 'sir' me, I'm not that old."
.-.
She saw them standing on a corner of the room, talking to each other. A smile was playing on her father's face as they both would throw glances her way every now and then, and she frowned lightly at that, wondering what exactly were they talking about.
Not that her father was the ogre, ridiculously overprotective kind of man. But, well, she hadn't really dated a man before, so there really wasn't any background for her to know for sure her poor freaking alien wasn't being threatened in some sort of way.
"Stop worrying so much," came Michiru's voice from right beside her, and she turn to look at her.
"I'm not worried."
"Ok, nervous," Michiru corrected herself. "Same thing. But, come on, do you really think your dad's going to eat him alive or something?"
"Of course not," Haruka said, letting out a sigh. "Is just that..."
"One is your daddy and the other is your toy boy?" Michiru ventured, interrupting her, and giggling when Haruka arched an eyebrow at the choice of words. "Oh, I know you, so don't even try to deny it."
"Wasn't gonna," the blonde said, chuckling. "You know, you just made it sound as if I'm just using him or something..."
"Yeah, yeah, you love the guy, I know," Michiru said, waving her hand and completely dismissing the comment. "But that doesn't mean you don't play with him... does it?" she asked; the teasing smile playing in her lips widening upon Haruka's red cheeks. "There's nothing wrong in wanting your dad and your boyfriend to get along," the violinist pointed out, smiling at her tall blonde friend. "Just go over there already, you know you're dying to."
She chuckled again when Michiru put a hand on her shoulder, making turn around. Shaking her head, she followed her friend's advice and made the way to the two important men in her life.
She looked into Seiya's blue eyes first, trying to find any sign of discomfort that would allow her to scold her father. Discreetly, of course. But when he simply smiled at her, that loving light dancing in his midnight blue orbs, shoving his hands into his pants' pockets, she returned the smile.
"Everything alright?" she asked, now looking at her father.
"Oh, yes," Kuuya answered. "I was just asking this fine man here why he has yet to ask the prettiest lady in this room out for a dance."
"Liar," Haruka accused, unable to fight the light red from coming to her cheeks at both his father's words, and Seiya's agreeing smile.
"I think I might take your advice on that one," Seiya said, winking at her.
"Please, do," Kuuya said, nodding his head and smiling lovingly at her, as he cupped her chin with one hand. "Go in there and make papa proud by putting all the other couples to shame," he said to her. "Make me look good."
"Don't I always?"
"That's debatable," he joked, laughing when she poked him in the chest. "Anyway, I'll go and share a drink with the Mayor before calling a night."
"Are you sure?" she asked, now frowning. "I'll go with you..."
"It's alright, sweetie," he interrupted her. "I trust I'm leaving you in good hands," he added, tilting his head to a side and pointing at Seiya. "So you better take good care of my baby girl," he warned.
"I will," Seiya assured him, smiling warningly.
Green eyes rolled at both of them. "I'm not a baby," she grunted, complaining.
"You can get as tall and as old as you want," her father said to her, "but you'll always be my baby girl," he pointed out, before encircling his arms around her waist and holding her close, kissing her cheek. "I love you, honey."
"I love you too, daddy," she said into his ear, kissing his cheek back and returning the hug.
"Now go, you two, have fun," he instructed, breaking the embrace and tapping Seiya's shoulder in encouragement, before smiling one last time to them both and turning around.
She smiled after her father's disappearing frame in between the crowd, before turning back the man still standing next to her. And when he simply stood there, smiling warmly and lovingly at her, her smiled turned into a teasing, playful one as she rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and jerking from it.
"Come on," she said, practically dragging him to the dance floor. "Let's get this over with so you can take me out of here and I can turn you into my slave again," she teased.
Her smile widening when he grunted, lowly and sensually, into her ear at her teasing words. Remembering Michiru's words, she chuckled to herself. Yes, Seiya was her toy boy. Her very own, quite eager, highly satisfying toy boy. A little stubborn, sometimes unnerving one, but still...
So why deny it? Even though he surely knew exactly how to drive her nuts at times, she wouldn't have him any other way. She did love the freaking alien, after all.
.
.
A.N.: I do believe Haruka is a very proud woman, and I truly don't think she'd be ashamed of her chosen partner (be it a woman or a man). Why? Because it's Haruka; she simply doesn't give a crap what others think. So I'm making a statement here. :)
Kuuya: expanding sky