Chapter 3: Lunch Together
It had gotten dark outside. Michiru laid in her bed, desperately trying to sleep, but it wouldn't come. "He can't enter your room anymore." The aqua haired girl thought to herself. "He doesn't know where you are. You are save, so you don't have to be afraid of sleeping anymore!" Michiru knew that her thoughts were true, but it didn't help: she couldn't sleep. Before her escape from home, she only had been able to sleep after her stepfathers…visit each night. The aqua haired girl closed her eyes when fresh tears welled up in them, and she buried her face into the pillow. Finally, after a seemingly endless time, Michiru fell asleep.
While Michiru cried into her pillow, Haruka laid in her bed, smoking a cigarette and thinking about Michiru. For some reason, the aqua haired girl refused to leave Harukas mind. "If I only knew what bothers her." Haruka spoke out loud. "When I asked if she lives with her parents, she got all stiff and uncomfortable. Maybe they just died…?" The blonde sighed and threw her cigarette into the ashtray. She turned off the light and soon fell asleep.
"HARUKA!" The blonde sat bolt upright in her bed when an all too familiar voice screamed her name in front of the door. Haruka groaned and fell back into the bed, checking her alarm clock. It was quarter past seven; for some reason the evil thing had refused to beep at half past six. "Oh no." Haruka sighed while someone banged against her front door. "Hey, you Japanese moron, get out of bed!" Joe howled in front of the door. "Yeah, yeah, American, I'm coming!" Haruka replied while she literally jumped into her school uniform. She ran one hand through her hair to make it look more or less good, hopped into her shoes, grabbed her rucksack and pushed the door open. A weird *BONK* sound could be heard, followed by an "Oooff" from Joe. Haruka just stared until she realized that she had smashed the door into her friends face, then she started to laugh. "Don't laugh at me, dumbhead." Joe growled. "Let's get into that nifty car of yours, otherwise we'll be late." Haruka nodded, and the two of them hurried down the stairs, into the garage where Harukas car parked.
When Haruka and Joe arrived at class, Michiru was already there. She was sitting at her desk, reading a book, not caring about the things that happened around her. "Hi Michiru", Haruka greeted while she walked over to the desk and sat down next to the aqua haired girl. "Hi Haruka." Came the soft answer. "How's life?" Joe butted in while she took a seat on the desk. "Fine." Michiru answered, but Haruka immediately saw that she was lying. Her skin was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, showing that she hadn't been sleeping much last night. Before Haruka could think more about the aqua haired girls condition, the ball rang, and Joe dashed out of the room to reach her class before the teacher. Right then, the teacher of Harukas and Michirus class entered, and the lesson began.
Michiru tried to concentrate on the things the teacher babbled, but she was distracted when Haruka shoved a note over to her. "Wanna have lunch with me today?" it read. Michiru grabbed her pen and scribbled on the paper before she handed it back to her. "Yes, thank you." Haruka read. She smiled at Michiru and returned her attention to the lesson.
Finally, it was lunchtime. Haruka patiently waited until Michiru had packed her things into her rucksack, while Joe was drawing various grinning faces on the blackboard. "Are you done?" the American asked, and finally, Michiru nodded. The three of them made their way into the cantina, where Joe offered to reserve three seats. Haruka nodded, and the American dashed away, while Haruka and Michiru entered the line at the food release. Haruka was kind enough to take Joes food with her, and the duo sat down at the desk Joe had reserved. Haruka and Joe started to eat, but Michiru just shoved her food around and didn't talk much. "Hey", Joe finally spoke to the silent girl, "did you swallow your tongue, or what?" "Joe!" Haruka hissed, shoving her elbow into the Americans ribs. Michiru looked up, and the corners of her mouth twitched upward a little. "No, I didn't, don't worry." She then said. "I just…prefer listening to your conversation." Haruka flashed her a stunning smile, causing her heart to perform a little leap. "No problem, Michiru." Michiru nodded and finally started to eat a little, while Joe kept babbling on about the stupidity of her various teachers. At least until a female voice interrupted her: "Oooh, look at the three dykes!" Haruka and Joe rolled their eyes in unison, and Joe shoved her plate away. "There you go, Noriko, I lost my appetite. And it's your fault." "Oh, I'm so sorry." Noriko answered before she walked over to Michiru. "Seems like I thought the wrong thing about you." She started. Haruka shot the aqua haired girl a worried look, but Noriko talked on. "Seems like you're no better than Haruka and Joe. You are one of those carpet lickers too, aren't you? Maybe I should send a guy who shows you what a man can do to…" before Noriko could finish her sentence, Michirus head shot up, and Haruka had to see that her eyes were glistening with tears. "Shut up, now!" Haruka commanded, jumping up. "Can't you see that you are hurting her?" "Awww, do you care about her?" Noriko taunted. Haruka clenched her fists to keep herself from hitting her and pressed out between gritted teeth: "Shut the fuck up and go. Before I hurt you." "Yeah, come on!" Noriko yelled, all her hate against Haruka blurting out of her. "Come on and hit me, you fucking sick dyke!" That was all Haruka could take. She let out a roar and threw herself at Noriko while Michiru gasped in shock.