A thin trail of sweat made it's way over the rough, scarred flesh of Harukas right cheek while the tall blonde concentrated on her cards. She currently had a ten and a seven; if you play Blackjack, you should try to reach 21 points, and with 17 you often lose. "Want another one, Haruka?" Shane asked, grinning. "Yeah." Haruka answered, and Shane handed her a card. Haruka dared to look at it, and much to her relief she found out that she had received a four – that made 21 points for her. "I've got enough." The blonde grinned. Haruka waited until the other players were finished, then showed her cards. "21, I win!" The other players made long faces while Haruka took their money and stood up. "Time to head for another game." Next to her, Michiru rose from her seat and smiled. "Right, love. You won enough here." The two women smiled at each other, and Haruka started to make her way towards the bar, to get a drink for Michiru and herself. The barkeeper, a tall blonde man with a piercing in his left eyebrow, smiled at Haruka and asked: "What can I give you, young lady?" Haruka was stunned and just stared at him for a few seconds before she found back into reality. "One whisky, with ice please, and one soda." She ordered. The barkeeper grinned and prepared the drinks before handing them to Haruka. "Thanks." The blonde paid her drinks and looked for Michiru; when she didn't see her love, she shrugged and raised her glass of whisky to have a first little sip. Suddenly, Haruka felt something hard hitting her wrist, she yelped and let go of the glass. It fell to the floor and shattered into thousand pieces, whisky splattering everywhere. "Hey, what the…" The barkeeper yelled. Haruka felt herself being grabbed, then someone turned her around roughly and pushed her against the bar, causing her to hit her back at the wood. Haruka gasped when a sharp sting of pain ran along her spine, and her eyes went wide when she saw who had her in his grip.
Michiru stood with a group of people, chatting with them; she had lost Haruka on her way to the bar, and a woman who had introduced herself as Satoshi's wife had stopped her for a little talking. The aqua haired woman was ripped out of the conversation when Goemon grabbed her arm. "Michiru, Michiru, come! Quick!" The old man yelped. Michiru eyed him, curious. "What is it, Goemon?" "Haruka…Satoshi…" The aqua haired woman didn't hear the rest of Goemons words. She quickly hurried over to the bar, and the sight that was exposed to her almost made her heart stop. A small crowd of people stood and watched, while Satoshi held Haruka against the bar. The blonde woman's nose was bleeding heavily, and Michiru immediately saw that it was broken. Satoshi just lashed out to hit the defenseless blonde once more when Michiru screamed: "Leave her alone!" Satoshi turned around to her without letting go of Harukas collar. The blonde moaned in pain, almost unconscious; her nose was still bleeding and sent waves of pain through her body. "Stay out of this." Satoshi now hissed. "That's between the freak and me." Michiru looked at Haruka helpless, not knowing what to do. That was when another female voice spoke up. "No, it isn't." Heads turned in order to look at the person who had spoken, and everyone could see that it was Shane who was making her way through the crowd, over to Michiru. "Leave Haruka alone." The teenager now ordered. "She didn't do anything to you." Satoshi just grinned. "Make me leave her alone, young girl." "Why are you doing this?" Sakura suddenly showed up next to Michiru and Shane, anger in her eyes. Michiru stepped out of the crowd, tears shimmering in her blue eyes. The other people in the bar just stared in shock when she started to talk. "You just attack her because she's different, don't you, Satoshi?" Satoshi didn't know what to say, and Michiru talked on, her voice getting softer and softer. "You attack her because she's easy to pick on, and because you know that no one will defend her. You made her live a living hell with the rumors you spread, and there was absolutely nothing Haruka could do about it. Your son and his friends attack her, just out of boredom, and you know that she couldn't fight back at all." By now, the whole bar had fallen silent, and everyone listened to Michirus words. Slowly, the village people realized that every word that left Michirus mouth was true. "You don't even know her." Michiru now whispered, the tears finally running down her cheeks. She calmly walked over to Satoshi, took Harukas arm and pulled her out of the man's grip. Haruka stumbled and almost fell, but Sakura quickly jumped to the blonde's side and supported her. "Let's go." Michiru said, her voice shaking from tears. Sakura nodded, and the two women took Haruka between them. After they had left, there was dead silence in the bar.
