Chapter 12: Sudden Problems
The next day, Michiru entered her office all happy and grinning. Her boss, of course, noticed her mood and smiled. "What is it, Kaioh-san?" he asked, smiling. "I'm in love." Michiru sighed. Her boss smiled even broader and asked: "And who is the lucky guy?" Michiru gave him a happy look. "Not a guy, it's Haruka Tenoh. The one who saved my daughter." Yakida gave his secretary an odd look. "A woman?" he asked, frowning. And suddenly, Michiru had the feeling that it had been a terrible mistake to tell Yakida about her relationship with another woman. "I see…" Yakida now spoke. He looked up at Michiru, an odd look in his eyes. "You can leave now, Kaioh-san." Michiru nodded, glad that her boss accepted her relationship with Haruka. "If you need me, Sir, I'll…" "You don't understand, Kaioh-san." Yakida interrupted her. Michiru gave him a worried look. "You are fired." Her boss now said, his voice stern and unfriendly. "What?" Michiru cried out. "But Yakida-san…why?" "Do you really need to ask why?" Yakida replied, getting louder with each word. "Do you think that anyone will choose my company for their work when they find out that my personal secretary is gay?" "But…but…" Michiru stammered, tears stinging in her eyes. "No discussion!" Yakida barked, causing Michiru to flinch. "Pack your things, collect the personal items you have on your desk, and leave. You are fired!" Michiru didn't say anything more, but walked over to her desk, collected her things and left, tears streaming down her face.
Haruka blew into her silver whistle, giving the starting signal for her students to start their warming up laps. "Haruka!" A well-known, loved voice suddenly called out. Haruka turned her head to see Michiru standing at the gate, a feeling of déjà vu coming over her. Until she saw the tears that streamed down her lover's face. Shocked, Haruka ran over to the gate and unlocked it, pulling Michiru into her arms. "Love, what happened?" "I got fired." Michiru sobbed, hiding her face in her lover's chest. The students stopped running and stared at the scene, but Haruka didn't really care about that at the moment. "Fired? Why?" she asked, her worrying increasing with each second. Michiru looked up at her with eyes, red from crying. "Because of my relationship with you. My boss is a homophobe." She whispered. "Oh God." Haruka spoke softly, closing her eyes. "Michi, I'm so sorry…" She wanted to talk on when Michiru silenced her by putting her index finger over the blonde's lips. "Don't, Haruka. It's not your fault." Haruka gave her a weak smile and pulled her closer. "But still…you lost your job now, because of me." "No, not because of you." Michiru protested. "Because of the intolerance of my boss. That's why I lost my job. Not because of you. I'll find something better." Haruka smiled at the sudden mood change of her lover and nodded. "That's the right way of thinking, honey. You'll surely find a better job than the one you had until now." Michiru nodded, the tears drying out and being replaced by fighting spirit. "And until you have a new job", Haruka spoke on, "I will support you and Hotaru as good as I can." "Oh, Ruka, you don't have to!" Michiru cried out. Haruka just smiled and ran one hand over her lover's hair. "I lived alone for a long time now, Michi. I saved enough money, don't worry about that." Michiru smiled, pulled Haruka down and kissed her. "Thanks." She whispered into the blonde's ear as soon as they had parted again. "You're welcome." Haruka whispered back before they kissed again, ignoring the wolf whistles and the howling of the students who stood on the racetrack, watching the loving couple. Finally, the two of them broke the kiss, and Haruka turned to look at her students angered. "Now, who told you that you could stop running? This is not a peep show!" Most of the students blushed, some of them just grinned, but they all started to run again. Haruka shook her head and turned back to look at Michiru, who was giggling into her hand. "And what is so funny, if you don't mind me asking?" The blonde asked, a faked frown on her face. "You." Michiru replied. Haruka growled at her, and Michiru shrieked in mock horror. The blonde grinned at her lover and pointed over to a bench. "Wanna sit down?" "Hey, I have a déjà vu." Michiru joked, and Haruka laughed and nodded. "I had one, too, when I saw you standing at the gate." Michiru giggled again, all her bad mood vanished. "Oh, Ruka." The aqua haired woman thought to herself while she walked over to the bench next to her lover. "It's amazing how you can cheer my up by just looking at me." They sat down and chatted about various things, shared kisses and held hands until the first period was over.