Disclaimer: I do not own Haruka and Michiru's characters, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. All other characters and this story belong to me.
Note: This is rated "M" for a reason. If you have issues with coarse language, girl on girl action and substance abuse references, do not indulge yourself in this.
Chapter 25
Change
"I have a feeling that our friend is going to set up traps and see which ones get leaked out. That's my best guess." Daiki sipped on his wine.
They were standing as a small group at a political function and it was rather hard to discuss business when all of them knew that the man they were talking about was lurking around. Haruka personally kept an eye on Eiko, knowing that the woman was by her husband's side, serving as a perfect warning in case of his approach.
"Then we need to be especially alert in the weeks to come, in case the leak doesn't reach our ears." She removed a nonexistent speckle of dust from her black suit's shoulder.
"It was brought to my attention that the protocol was broken at the last event." Sasake looked straight at Haruka.
She let her hand fall back down to her side and met the man's gaze levelly. "It was, there were no casualties and a premature finale to the event was prevented."
"You know as well as I do, Tenoh-san, that one exception leads to another until a total disregard of rules takes place."
"Don't worry, Sasake-san, the incident was one of a kind and will most likely not happen in the future. It was an isolated event."
"Would the outcome be different if it was someone other than your girlfriend who broke the rules?" Clasco asked, his light green eyes searching Haruka's unreadable exterior in vain.
"Even if it was, what does that have to do with this particular incident?" She was fuming on the inside, but none of her anger spilled to the exterior.
"It is quite uncharacteristic of you, Tenoh-san, to make exceptions in the first place," Clasco pointed out.
"That's my business, not yours, Clasco-san, your side of this matter has been clarified and is no longer a cause for discussion, so shall we leave it at that?" She gave him a menacing look.
Haruka listened to the discussion of their financials as her eyes followed Eiko, who stepped away from her husband to take a phone call. The older blonde walked to the side of the room not far from Haruka, but out of the racer's earshot, and flipped her cell open. Haruka brought her attention back to the conversation at hand, supplying the numbers she was asked, before her eyes checked on the woman clad in a simple navy evening dress again. Haruka's gaze fell on Eiko in the exact moment as the cellphone dropped to the floor, its back ricocheting a few inches away, and Eiko clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a scream.
A bad omen was written all over the older woman's posture and Haruka left her associates, coming to the now bending woman who was picking up pieces of her phone with a shaking hand, the other still firmly over her mouth. Haruka leaned down and helped Eiko up, concerned blues and water-filled ones meeting.
"What's wrong?" Haruka was already moving towards the nearest hallway out of sight of curious looks from the other guests of the function.
"…" A sob half-silenced by the hand was the answer.
Haruka stopped at a safe distance away from the large room, where she was sure no one could hear them. "Eiko, what happened?"
"M-m-m-ichi…" The sobs broke free as Eiko removed her hand and hid her face in Haruka's shoulder, shaking uncontrollably.
Haruka felt a cold vise wrap itself around her heart, her mind putting two and two together. It was a perfect night, Michiru was in one place, while Haruka was in another, which didn't happen often. Her heartbeat slowed as she took Eiko by the arms and shook her back out of hysteria.
"Eiko, what happened to Michiru?" Her voice was calm and low, she couldn't afford to make Eiko's state any worse than it already was.
"S-s-she's in a h-h-hospital."
Haruka breathed out in relief, at least her mermaid was still alive. She moved, grabbing Eiko's arm, and pulled her towards the exit. A ticket was thrown impatiently to the valet, who pulled up the Enzo and Haruka shoved the crying woman in, jumping behind the wheel a second later. She cut into traffic and pushed on the gas pedal, swerving between the cars and wishing she had one of Daiki's sirens.
"Which hospital?"
"St. Luke's," Eiko whispered, hugging her small evening clutch.
"Why there?" Haruka took a sharp turn, having expected to go to the Central Hospital before she had asked.
"I don't know."
Haruka pursed her lips and sped up again, hitting the breaks only as she spotted the walkway above the street and took a sharp left shortly thereafter, not caring that the bottom of her car brushed the cobblestones below. She pulled into the concrete enclosure and found a parking spot, using the drifting skills Ichiro would have envied. After jumping out of the car, Haruka helped Eiko out and both briskly made their way to the general information area, only to find out that the emergency unit was in the building next door. Haruka dragged Eiko there, swearing at the hospital's layout, the incompetency of medics to take Michiru somewhere Haruka was familiar with, and the world in general. As they finally made it to the fourth floor of the right building, Haruka inquired into where her girlfriend was and what condition she was in.
"Kaioh-san has been taken to the Intensive Care Unit, the doctor is with her now." The young woman in hospital attire explained politely.
"Which way is it?" Haruka's eyes were searching her surroundings as she asked the question.
"It's on this floor, down the hall, but the visiting hours are over for the day, you can come back at ten tomorrow morning." The nurse swallowed as the most menacing look she had ever seen was sent her way, cold gray eyes capturing her own. "Are you a family member?"
Haruka's mouth fell open at the incredulity of the situation. Her brain screamed that no, indeed she was not a family member, nor could she be according to the current law, but her entire being resented the notion that she could not see Michiru because of a stupid thing like that.
"I'm her mother." Eiko finally regained her composure, realizing that situation was about to get out of hand even more. "Haruka is coming with me, I believe I have that right."
The nurse sighed in relief and bowed slightly. "Certainly, Kaioh-san." She showed them the way to the room. Both blondes felt their hearts sink as they walked down the hallway. Eiko reached out and grabbed Haruka's hand, surprised to find the palm cold and clammy. She threw the racer a quick glance, but her face was unreadable, her obvious worry hidden deep inside. Eiko turned back to the white hallway and watched with dread as the nurse stopped in front of one of the doors. She thanked the woman as the door opened and she walked inside.
Eiko was glad that Haruka was right behind her because she would have fallen backwards without the support of the blonde. The sight that met her was worse than anything she could have imagined. Michiru seemed even smaller than her actual petite size as she lay in bed, surrounded by machines and wires. An oxygen mask was placed over her broken lips, stitches covered abrasions on her swollen and multicolored face. She was barely recognizable, her hair being the main indicator of who the woman in front of them was. Heart, blood pressure and oxygen monitors were connected to her chest and right arm, an IV inside her elbow. The other arm was placed on a raised plate connected to the bed, a large bandage wrapped around her hand adjacent to a device that held each of her four fingers in place, her thumb being the only unmarked piece of flesh. Blankets covered the rest of her body, only the dark brown color of the urine bag indicated the damage underneath.
Eiko held her shaking hand to her mouth, this time preventing herself from gagging, and faced the doctor who was by Michiru's side with what looked like a nurse and a medical student.
"How is my daughter?" Eiko finally forced, her pale blue eyes meeting the dark browns of the doctor.
"She took a brutal beating. Her jaw is broken and will require further surgery when she is more stable, she has internal bleeding that we are monitoring closely, hopefully it will subside without need for any surgical intervention. She has three broken ribs, multiple abrasions all over her body that have been stitched-up, and a deep wound on the back of her hand. Fortunately, the object that made the wound did not touch the nerves and veins in the hand, so it should heal over time without any further consequences. Her fingers were not as lucky. Her index finger has a crack, the other three are broken. We have aligned the bones and secured them in place; again, it is a matter of time before they heal. She is currently stable, but she has not regained consciousness since before she was delivered here."
"Will she regain the full use of her fingers?"
Both the doctor and Eiko turned to Haruka who was standing next to the bed, her face hidden by the bangs, her hand holding Michiru's healthy one. Her thumb was caressing each finger in turn, avoiding the scratched areas.
"The bones should heal fine, but I cannot tell you anything about the agility. Generally, once a bone is deformed, it is never the same, but Kaioh-san will most likely be able to use her hand as an average person would with the help of some rehabilitation exercises."
"She's not an average person!" Haruka almost shouted, momentarily losing her composure. "She is a violinist, she needs her hand fully functional. Otherwise it's like asking you to perform surgery without one."
"I understand," the doctor said gently, putting a hand on Haruka's shoulder. Her spine became rigid from the touch, but she didn't bother to release herself from it. "We will do everything we can to make her whole again."
Haruka didn't respond, she was in her own world, watching the small woman in bed and holding to her hand as though it was a lifeline through which Haruka could send her energy. Michiru's terrible state was not surprising, neither was the brutality. Haruka was immune to those things, what she wasn't immune to was the fact that it happened, and the despair Michiru would have to face when she realized that her hand was damaged. The medical staff left shortly after giving further information to their patient's mother. Eiko watched the steady numbers on the monitor and her unmoving daughter before she looked at the blonde who was frozen in place, like a statute, holding Michiru's hand and watching her face with an unreadable expression. Eiko pulled a chair from the side of the room and put it behind Haruka.
"Sit down, I'm going to go find Jun and let him know how she is." Eiko left, quietly closing the door behind herself.
Haruka stood for another long moment before lowering herself into the chair. She kissed the hand she was holding and put her forehead on top of it as her eyes closed, the images of her beautiful mermaid reduced to a pile of abused human flesh forever etched in her mind. Haruka didn't even realize as the warm salty liquid dripped down the small hand she was holding, falling to the sheets and the floor below. Michiru had done nothing to deserve this, nothing but love her… her, the person who had never been loved before and probably did not deserve to be, if this was the outcome. She raised her head at the slight twitching motion of the fingers under her forehead and her wet dark blue eyes met half-opened ocean blues.
Haruka got up and brought her face to Michiru's, kissing her forehead and then leaning against it, their eyes locked. Both knew Michiru couldn't talk, but no words were necessary, they both read everything they needed to know in those deep blue pools, bathing in the security of having each other. Michiru's eyelashes batted before her eyes closed, as she was pulled back under the covers of sleep. Haruka slowly pulled away, wiping her face dry, her own eyes no longer blue.
When a storm is about to break above the ocean, there are minutes of eerie peace, when the water gets darker, reflecting the black clouds, and the sky meets the sea, creating a line that separates the two, just before the storm breaks and the water and air meet together, becoming a dense, menacing gray. Haruka's eyes were the color of the line that separates the two elements in that eerie moment. Whether she deserved this woman or not, Haruka had her and she would be damned before she let anyone do this to her mermaid.
After a short walk Haruka found herself in the bathroom, washing her face with cold water and staring at her own reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy, a rare occurrence that Haruka witnessed herself. She let the water have its effect and calmed herself down to the usual collected exterior. She shut the water off and dried her face.
Eiko was already back in the room, sitting in the chair Haruka left when the racer got back. "Call me if you need anything or if her condition changes."
"Where are you going?" Eiko turned to face the blonde, disapproval clearly written in her face.
Haruka didn't answer, she just shifted her eyes to the fragile woman in bed and her features hardened.
"She needs you. She needs you here when she wakes up."
Haruka looked back at Eiko and shook her head. "She knows I won't be here."
Eiko watched in amazed silence as Haruka closed the door and left, mixed emotions running through her system, only to settle at confusion. Her pale blue eyes turned back to the machines before they settled on her sleeping daughter.
x x x
The cold night air met Haruka as she exited the building and made her way to the car. Her house was at least half an hour away, which was much too far for her liking. She opened the door and took out a set of keys that were always kept under the driver's seat. She could have taken a train from here, but the bottled up emotions made her restless, unable to sit or stay still. She needed a quick release, but she didn't have time for a leisurely drive. She looked sadly at her suit and dress shoes, stripped the jacket, threw it in the car, and shut the door. Running in dress shoes was as bad as she imagined it to be, but the wind in her face was worth it. Just three more blocks. She wasn't far enough to get blisters, so she might as well put all she had into it.
She stopped in front of a door, her breath hardly labored. Running seven blocks was nothing compared to her daily running routine, but it was a nice diversion. She unlocked the door and walked through the lobby, making her way to the elevator. The bell chimed on the seventeenth floor and the doors opened. The steps were muffled by the carpeted floor as Haruka made her way to the door at the end of the corridor. At the turn of a key the metal door opened freely, and an alarm box lit up, asking for attention. Haruka put in the code and disabled the alarm, closing the door behind herself and locking all three bolts.
Haruka's house was her home, she had built it to be a fortress where she felt safe and secure. However, having the experiences that she had, she didn't get attached to material things and always had a back exit. The apartment was one of those 'just in case' strategies. No one knew about its existence, no one but the blonde. It was a small studio apartment and nothing in it would identify it as belonging to Tenoh Haruka. A double bed sat on the side of the room, serving as both the bed and the couch. A square coffee table occupied the middle of the room, few cushions lay on the floor around it. A small flat screen TV hang on the wall opposite kitchen cabinetry that occupied the length of the wall to Haruka's right. Heavy, navy blue drapes were the only accessory, other than the pillows. Three doors lined up on the wall to Haruka's left, opposite from the kitchen. Those three doors were the reason why Haruka bought this flat, as opposed to any other. The first door led to a bathroom, the other two had closets.
Haruka walked to the middle door and slid it open, exposing even rows of clothing of subdued colors, not one suit or dress shirt present in their midst. She grabbed a black turtleneck, midnight blue jeans and one of her racing jackets and threw the clothing on the bed. She stripped the suit off, followed by the bindings, and walked to a drawer inside the closet, where she pulled out a bra. Putting everything on, she looked at herself in the mirror to the side of the closet. The jeans hugged her hips and thighs and fell down the rest of her legs in a straight fashion; the turtleneck hugged her every curve, hidden by the more conspicuous racing jacket. Satisfied, she closed the door shut and opened the one to its right.
When Haruka first got this apartment, she needed it to keep things in case of emergency. Some things were more exposed than others, such as the medical supplies that filled the kitchen cupboards. Others were hidden a bit more. Once she slid the door open, another rack of clothing met her; only this one had evening dresses. Haruka had never worn a dress in her life, but she found the length very useful for her purposes. It covered the fake wall behind perfectly. Haruka parted the dresses and unlocked the enclosure, exposing a wall full of firearms, cutlery and electronics. Daiki thought that she exuded power in her most feminine form when she wore a leather outfit, Haruka could only imagine his face if he knew that her weapons were hidden behind evening gowns. She thought about it when she assembled the closet all those years ago. Giving the menacing weapons a longing look, Haruka grabbed a thin silver laptop and made her way to the table.
Haruka, the woman sitting on the floor of her apartment, was a loner; but Haruka, the racer, had a lot of so-called friends and connections. She rarely used those connections outside of the Wings of Night business, but she knew she always had the option to. Today was the day to call in some favors. She never once doubted who was responsible for Michiru's assault, nor did she need to think about what she wanted to do about it. What she needed to find out, however, was who did Yasu's dirty work because they deserved her revenge as much as the woman herself did. Haruka pulled the information she was looking for on the screen, picked up her phone and dialed the first number on her list.
x x x
Michiru opened her eyes fully in the evening of the next day. She saw the white ceiling first and then the memories slowly filled her vision, making her shut her eyes closed and mentally check her body. She was expecting to be in a vast amount of pain, but instead felt like her body was in a vacuum. Everything felt uncomfortable and out of place, but it did not hurt, not like she expected it to anyway. She tried to turn her head sideways, but a bandage across the side of her face prevented her from doing so and she groaned in annoyance, except that her groan came out as a low cry to those in the room. She heard a shuffling noise and her mother's concerned face appeared in front of her.
"Michi… You're awake." Eiko stroked her head gently.
Michiru made an attempt to answer, but the pain finally shot through her system as she tried to move her mouth. Her oxygen mask was gone, replaced by a tube in her nose.
"Shh… they operated on your jaw, it was broken. You have to give it time before you can talk again." Eiko's eyes watered as did her daughter's. "Do you want to come up?"
Michiru blinked, unable to do anything more than that. Eiko nodded and pressed the button on the side of the bed, bringing Michiru to a semi-sitting position. Michiru's eyes traveled the length of her body and the tears fell freely as she saw her left hand. Eiko grabbed a tissue and gently wiped the wetness away before it stained the bandages on Michiru's face. The mother watched as her daughter's eyes roamed the room, finding only Hideo in a chair opposite the bed. He smiled at her encouragingly, but she did not react, her ocean blue eyes coming up to the pale blues. Eiko swore internally and shook her head. "She's not here."
Michiru knew Haruka wasn't there, the conscious moment she shared with the blonde was vivid in her memory. She was just hoping that Haruka would come back, unharmed and soon. She needed the woman she loved by her side, wanted to feel her protection, even though she knew that that was exactly what Haruka was doing right now: protecting her.
x x x
Haruka was just finishing her conversation with the security guard of a building across from the alley where Michiru was assaulted when her phone buzzed. Having changed the ringtone the night before, she knew exactly who was calling her, so she excused herself and answered the phone.
"Tenoh."
"She's awake," Eiko replied.
"How is she?" Haruka was looking at the empty alley as she quizzed the woman on the other end of the line.
"They fixed her jaw this morning once they figured that she was stable enough. She can't talk and can't move yet… She also needs to see you."
"She let you know that without talking?" Haruka jabbed.
"I don't need her to tell me to know. You should know that as well."
"I do." Haruka sighed, looking at her watch. "I'll stop by shortly."
"Alright."
She hung up and turned back to the guard who was already taking a flash drive out of the computer. It took her a while to figure out a way to place the faces on her girlfriend's attackers and a bit more to find someone who would help her without getting the cops involved. From her calculations, the camera at the front door of this building would have the best view of the alley, given that the angle was right. Her connections helped her in obtaining the video that was now on the small device and she was eager to find out what it contained. She thanked the security guard, passing him a rolled stack of bills as he handed her the flash drive. Haruka walked out of the building and hopped on her bike, making a detour on her way to the apartment.
Haruka walked the now familiar hallways, a visitor's tag proudly displayed on the side of her jacket. She was happy that she made it there before eight, the last thing she needed was another confrontation with the hospital staff about her right to see her girlfriend. She pulled the door open and her eyes settled directly on the ocean blues that grew wider than usual in surprise, Haruka was sure Michiru would be smiling if she could. The blonde made it to the side of the bed in a few strides and was happy to see the oxygen mask gone. She leaned down and placed a loving kiss on the unbandaged side of Michiru's mouth.
Michiru looked into the deep blue eyes of her girlfriend, enjoying the light touch of her lips, and grabbed the hold of her elbow with her healthy hand. Haruka stroked the sea-green hair with one hand, bringing the violinist's hand to her lips with the other. "Hi, mermaid."
"Hi," Michiru breathed out, ignoring the pain.
Haruka shook her head. "Don't… not yet." She kissed the healthy hand again, their fingers lacing together.
A sound of a chair being pushed back interrupted their moment and Haruka turned her head towards the noise. Hideo stood by the side of the room with a shocked expression. Haruka cocked an eyebrow at him in question.
"You're a woman?"
'Shit.' Haruka didn't need to look down at herself to know how the man was able to finally figure it out. "I don't remember ever indicating otherwise."
Hideo's mouth opened and closed a few times before he was able to put another sentence together. "You're a lesbian?" he sneered at Michiru.
Haruka's eyes narrowed as she straightened, ready to pummel the man into a wall for agitating her still recovering girlfriend. Michiru's hand tightened in her own, effectively keeping Haruka in place in response. "You have a problem with that?"
Eiko put a hand on her husband's arm, unsure how he would react, but not wanting a physical confrontation anywhere near this room.
"I do. You disgust me." He looked from one woman to the other.
"The door is over there, no one is holding you here," Haruka answered, her hand still firmly held.
"Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? This is my daughter, and she's not a lesbian!" he seethed through his teeth.
"She's not your daughter and who she's with is none of your god damn business. Just because you married her mother, doesn't mean you know Michiru or have any right to be a fatherly figure to her. So spare her, she's had enough, and leave."
Hideo brushed his wife's hand off of his sleeve and walked up to Haruka, ignoring the woman in bed altogether. "We will continue this conversation before either of you dares to show your face in public." He turned on his heel and left the room.
"No, we won't," Haruka whispered to his back, her attention back on the violinist. "I have to go and I don't know when I'll be back." She saw the tears well in the ocean blue eyes again and her heart hurt, but there was no other way. "But I will be back, I promise you."
Michiru squeezed her hand in response for the lack of ability to speak. Haruka leaned in and gently kissed the tears away before she straightened out and left the room, throwing a curt nod to Eiko.
x x x
Fingers were tapping impatiently on the aluminum case of the laptop as it was loading the software. Haruka's fingers stilled as the video started playing. It was a six-hour long chunk of surveillance that started at six in the evening, an hour after Haruka dropped Michiru off at the studio. She watched it in fast motion, quite sure that she would see Michiru even at that rate. The angle of the camera was set for the entrance to the building, but the entrance to the alley was clearly visible on the other side of the street in the upper corner of the screen. People and cars passed as the video progressed, until a black limo caught Haruka's attention and she paused the video. It was parked on the same side of the street as the alley, just before the entrance. Haruka looked at the time stamp on the bottom of the screen, it was seven o'clock, the time she checked in for her meeting with the Wings.
After no one left the limo, Haruka put it in fast motion again, but slower than the last time. A little over an hour later someone got out of the limo on the side of the sidewalk and Haruka switched to slow motion, taking a screen shot as the man turned while walking down the street. She watched impatiently as he walked out of the frame. Shortly after the limo pulled a little forward, blocking the access to the alley and hiding it from Haruka's view. The driver and another passenger exited, and Haruka paused the video to get both of their profiles. As the footage resumed, she saw the man who exited the limo first carry a kicking Michiru. Haruka's hands balled into fists as she watched the woman she deeply cared for unsuccessfully fight her captor. She tried to hit him with her violin case and one of the other men ripped it out of her hand, throwing it towards the alley. The four figures disappeared in the alley behind the limo and Haruka could no longer see them. She watched the passing cars on the street, frustrated by the fact that all those people passed by without stopping the terrible things that were happening to her mermaid. But then again, that was the nature of the streets and Haruka, of all people, knew that nature well. She felt helpless, knowing how much pain was inflicted during the time she watched the footage, and being unable to help, to take Michiru out of her misery or prevent it in a first place. Her remorse withered away as another person stepped out of the limo, she didn't need to turn for Haruka to know who she was. The woman disappeared into the alley and Haruka wanted more than anything to see what it was exactly Yasu did to Michiru personally, even though she had a pretty good idea.
Just over five minutes later Yasu appeared in the frame again, followed by three men. Haruka could not see her face clearly in the grainy film and because of the darkness of the street, but she knew the exact look on the woman's face. She had seen it once before, the morning Ichiro walked out on their friendship. Haruka quit the video and looked through the frames she captured. They were far from perfect, but she was sure that they were good enough for the police database. She opened a window, connected to the police server and logged in, putting the three faces into the database one by one. Letting face recognition do its work, she set the computer on the table and leaned back on the bed, wondering how long she would have to wait to take an action.
Less than ten minutes later she had her first match, who happened to be Michiru's abductor. Looking through his file she was relieved to find out that he was Yasu's personal bodyguard. Since the moment she found out that Michiru had been hurt, Haruka was afraid that Ichiro was executing his sister's wishes, like he had in the past. She wasn't afraid of him per se, she was afraid that she was so wrong about him once that she didn't know him at all. Ichiro she thought she knew may have chosen his sister over his friend and did her bidding in life, it was, in the end, his responsibility as a brother. But Ichiro she thought she knew cared for her like she cared for him and would not harm the one person he knew was important to Haruka, especially not after he walked out on her. She was afraid that she was wrong about that and that Yasu convinced him to do a hit on Michiru, but then there would be no need for Yasu's personal bodyguard. Ichiro's methods were much more graceful, though undeniably lethal.
Haruka was looking through the other two results as all three profiles were printed on the small machine inside the closet. Her phone vibrated on the coffee table and she picked it up without checking who was calling.
"Tenoh."
"Would your recent activity by any chance have anything to do with an investigation one of my departments is handling in the matter of an assault against Kaioh Michiru?"
Haruka rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger and sighed. "How do you know?"
"Come on, kid, I'm not an idiot. I mean I can be pretty thick headed sometimes, but not when it's this blatant. You're calling people, you're using the database… I have your access flagged, I always know when you log in."
That answered the question she was about to voice, at least in her own mind. "Then you know that it does, what do you want?"
"See, if you called me first, I would've helped you. For example, one of the men in your search was arrested today in an unrelated matter."
Haruka's fist hit the coffee table as she moved the phone away from her face and breathed in deeply. The last thing she wanted was for either of the abusers to be apprehended.
"I don't need your help."
"Haru, I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm offering my help."
"Why Daiki? So that you get your money back faster?"
"It's not about my money."
"Shit, be a bit more honest, at least with yourself."
"Fuck, kid, I care! That girl is the best thing that ever happened to you and you're gonna lose your head avenging what happened. I want to help!"
"I'm not gonna lose my head."
"Really? What are you intending to do? Take those guys out to dinner?"
Haruka stared at the monitor unseeingly.
"It's not you. You've always valued human life, you've never taken it before."
"People change."
"No, they don't."
"Then that's the way I've always been."
"Haru… don't go down to her level. Let us take care of them."
"NO! Stay out of my way, Daiki. Yasu needs to be put in place and your taking care of her goons will do nothing, it has no meaning to her."
"You will regret this, it will change you and it will change Michiru. Do you want to put yourself in the position of being unable to look the woman you love in the eyes?"
"She knows who I am! She knows what I'm gonna do!" Haruka breathed in and out, her temper contained behind a razor thin barrier. "And I never said I love her."
"Your actions speak for themselves."
Haruka's eyes widened as she heard his soft-spoken words. Her hand balled into a fist again as she shook her head. "There was a time I'd do the same for you… and I've never loved you."
Only the periodic static on the line broke the silence that ensued for the next few minutes. "You felt that you owed me, that's why you would've done it for me. You owe me nothing anymore and you're angry at me, so you're thinking with a clear head. But Michiru… she makes you lose your head, she's done that since day one, that's why you took her in. I understand how you feel, you may not think that I do, but I do. I just want to make sure that you understand the consequences to your own actions and that you have thought them through."
"I have thought them through. While I was standing in the ICU, looking at the beautiful woman that I held in my arms hours before reduced to a pile of abused flesh… The only familiar thing about her was her eyes… the color was hers, but the look in them… the look in them was mine. It was like looking in the reflection of my own soul, Daiki. I never wanted her to know what suffering was and I failed to protect her against it, the least I can do is see that it doesn't happen again."
"You think that she would prefer something happening to you?"
Haruka closed her eyes shut, Daiki hit the spot. "I'll get insurance before I visit with Yasu."
"How much is the premium going to be? I made a mistake of making a deal with Ichiro once when I was pissed about Oono, you're about to do the same. Don't play with fire."
"Unlike you, I have a card up my sleeve when it comes to Wadas and we have history, so don't worry about me." She stood up and walked to get the files she printed earlier, ready to end the conversation. "If you really want to help me, let the guy who was caught go."
"I can't do that, he's been transferred to holding."
"Then take care of him." She stared at the picture of the man in her hand, listening to the static again.
"Okay… Kid?"
"Hmm?"
"Be careful."
Haruka smiled at the saddened tone in his voice. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say that you've turned soft."
"Fuck you."
"Ah, that's more like it." She hang up the phone, not letting him respond or make her actually feel worried about her next action.
Haruka grabbed the files she had, changed and left the apartment. She needed to do some further research. She needed to know Yasu's schedule, how often her bodyguard and driver accompanied her, and where Haruka could intercept them in the future. There were some things the blonde already knew about her brunette ex, she just wanted to make sure that some things never did change. Like predictable habits.
x x x
Haruka contemplated skipping the race on Friday, but that would have caused questions and she could use the opportunity to assess the situation. It took her all of her self-control not to strangle Yasu when she saw her exit the car, but Haruka held herself in check. The two siblings walked towards the other racers as usual, joining their midst in preparation for the highway race.
"Evening, baby girl, where's your sidekick? Did she tire you out already?"
Haruka's spine turned into a steel rod as she turned slowly, facing her nemesis. "Why would she ever tire me, Yasu? No one has ever fucked my brains out the way she does." She smiled at the surprised expression on Yasu's face that turned into an angry one. Somehow it felt almost as good as slapping the woman, perhaps because it actually had an effect on her.
"I don't think she'll be doing that any time soon," Yasu mumbled under her breath and realized her slip only when Haruka's eyes got colder, there was no other indication that the blonde heard her.
"Enjoy the race, Yasu." Haruka turned to the rest of the racers to debrief them. 'It will be your last.'