28 - The truth comes out

Makoto was chewing the tip of the pen she had in her hand, frowning, and staring at the crossword puzzle she had in her other hand, while sitting on the kitchen table.

She couldn't understand, for the life of her, how Setsuna was ever able to figured those damn things out so easily.

Or maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was the simple little tiny fact that she couldn't quite concentrate on anything.

She was just so worried, and she had absolutely no clue as of what to do. She had seen Haruka's red puffy eyes when she and Mamoru had come home from their jog two days ago. And ever since then the blonde seemed to be in some kind of painful trance.

It was actually worst than when she had been acting like a robot a few days before.

I wish I could do something, she said to herself, She looks just so...

A knock coming from the front door interrupted her thoughts.

She looked down at the impossible crossword puzzle still in her hands, let out a frustrated breath at the damn thing and just threw it across the table, before getting up and to the front door.

Stupid puzzles, and stupid Setsuna, making me stay home to wait for...

And she froze. Right there, standing on her doorway and looking at her with a somewhat fearful look upon her face, nervously hugging herself, was the girl she was just thinking about

"Michiru" she called, surprised to no ends "You... you came"

"Hi. Um.. yeah, I um..." she was nervous. But she took a deep breath and looked up at the tall brunette "I came for my stuff. Can I come in?"

Makoto opened the rest of the door for her, and let her in. She saw her wondering her eyes around, still hugging herself, and she smiled sadly at her.

"She's not here" she said.

"What?" Michiru asked, turning around and facing her.

"Haruka" she explained "She's not here"

"Oh" she said "Good. It's better this way"

"Don't be like that..."

"Look, Makoto, I know she's your cousin, and I know you'll try to talk on her behalf" she interrupted her "But just... drop it, ok? Just don't"

Makoto blinked at her, surprised at the younger girl.

And then she just got angry. No wonder Haruka liked this girl! They were both so freaking stubborn, they were actually perfect for each other!

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, counted to ten, and then looked at the girl again.

"Look, I like you" she started "You're a nice girl, really, you are. But right now you are the reason my stupid cousin is a complete mess, walking around as if she's some kind of freaking zombie!"

Michiru started making her way towards the stairs, making her point of not wanting to listen to the brunette as clear as water.

But the tall girl was nowhere near letting her go. So Makoto simply grabbed her by the arms, and made her turned around to her again.

"I'm not finished!" she exclaimed "Like I was saying, you're the reason she's heartbroken and lost. And I'm willing to bet my life on you being pretty much the same. So that means that you're not just hurting Haruka, but you're also hurting yourself. And tell me, honestly, just how stupid is that?"

"Let me go, Makoto, I told you I don't want to hear..."

"I don't care! You're gonna sit tight and listen to me, before I kick your ass. 'Cause I really don't want to!" she exclaimed, surprising the girl she was holding.

She took a breath again.

"Like I said, I like you, so please stop being so freaking stubborn and listen to me, will you? Geez, you're almost as bad as that dumb blonde you love so much!" she finally exclaimed, frustrated.

"I don't..." Michiru started, but a simple glare from the fuming brunette made her shut her mouth.

"You don't love her?" Makoto finished for her "Who are you trying to fool here, me or yourself? 'Cause really, it's not working"

Michiru took a deep breath, desperately trying to fight down the tears she could already feel filling her eyes.

It was a wonder she hadn't run out of tears and simply dehydrated herself to death...

Of course she loved the dumb blonde! Even if she was trying incredibly hard not to! She loved that girl so much, that she spent half the time fighting with that part of herself that desperately wanted to just forgive the blonde and be with her again.

And she spent the other half crying her heart out.

"Look, whatever it is that that stupid blue bitch told you, it's not true" Makoto said, in a softer tone of voice.

Michiru looked up at her again, frowning.

"What did she tell you, anyway?" the brunette asked.

Michiru lowered her eyes again, the tears she had been fighting finally rolling down her cheeks. She vaguely wondered if there were permanent patterns her tears were now following, after all the crying she's been doing lately. Like a river, always following the same marked way...

"She said she's her girlfriend" she answered, in a low, broken voice "And they've been together since high school"

Makoto had to blinked a couple of times at that.

"What a fucking lying bitch!" she finally exclaimed "That fucking little piece of... God, I want to punch her teeth out!" she yelled.

Michiru looked at her confused, and somewhat scared of how seriously mad the brunette just sounded.

"Oh, don't worry" Makoto said when she noticed the way the aquamarine haired girl was looking at her "After I tell you everything you need to know, you'll be more than happy to take her teeth out yourself. Trust me!"

And then she told her.

She told the younger girl how Haruka had first met Kiho. She told her about the girl practically throwing herself to the blonde, and how Haruka had finally asked her out. She told her about them being together and hiding themselves and their romance from the world. She told her about her uncle's death, and how broken Haruka had been, and how Kiho had comforted her like the loving girlfriend she was supposed to be.

And then she told her about them being caught on the school's bathroom floor, kissing each other. She told her about all the rumors that came right after that, not sparing any detail, and about Kiho simply disappearing into thin air with the blink of an eye.

Michiru just sat there, listening to the brunette's words, suddenly understanding Haruka's fears, and understanding why the blonde had kept her at a distance for so long –why she had kept herself away from any human contact, for that matter-, and why she was so hard to reach sometimes.

And she felt a desperate need to go to her, and hold her, and kiss her senselessly, and tell her she loved her so damn much she just couldn't breath anymore without her by her side. She just needed to be with her.

"She was so hurt" Makoto said "And we never heard a thing about Kiho again up until last week, when this whole mess first started"

Michiru was crying softly, silently, and Makoto went to her, her heart softening at the girl's sad crying face.

"I know it's not my place to tell you all this, and I'm sure Haruka will definitively kill me for ever telling you, and bury my sorry ass so deep into the ground I will actually find Atlantis" Makoto said "But this whole mess is a huge misunderstanding that has gone way too far"

Michiru nodded her head, mindlessly. She was trying to tell me. She tried to tell me, and I told her I hated her, she thought.

And her eyes went wide open, and she stood up suddenly.

"Oh, God, I told her I hated her!" she exclaimed "I told her I hated her and that I didn't want to see her again!" her hands went to her face, and she was obviously panicking "God, I hurt her! She was trying to tell me the truth, and I just hurt her so much...."

"Hey hey, there, take it easy" Makoto told her, holding her "I didn't just tell you all this for you to die of a heart attack on me"

"You don't understand! I hurt her!" she exclaimed.

"Um, yeah, I know that" the brunette said "I've seen it, and trust me, it ain't pretty"

Michiru cried harder at that.

"Oh, God, she'll never forgive me!" she exclaimed "She must hate me so much now! I lost her! I was so stupid, and now I lost her!"

"Ok, breath!" Makoto exclaimed, taking the younger girl's face in her hands and making her look at her deep green eyes "Breath, nice and easy" she instructed "She doesn't hate you, and you didn't lose her, ok? Ok, you kinda did... but you can get her back!" she quickly said when Michiru's eyes went wide open again "She's just so crazily in love with you she'll take you back in a heartbeat!"

"I need to see her" Michiru said "I need to talk to her"

"I know" Makoto said, smiling.

"And I do love that stupid blonde" she mumbled.

"I know that too"

"But she's my stupid blonde" and a soft smile came to Michiru's face.

"Trust me, you can have her all to yourself. I'll even put a little ribbon on her and all" Makoto joked, grinning "Now, just listen to cute little auntie Makoto, ok?"