Tuesday

"Haruka, I have nothing to wear tonight!" Michiru said with worry and exasperation.
"I would suggest a dress, but I'm not sure how my parents would react to my "boyfriend" in a frilly pink dress." Haruka said with a smile as leaned against the headboard on the bed.
"Haruka, this is serious! I have some pantsuits, but they're too feminine for me to pass as a man while wearing them." Michiru cried.
"Well, maybe with a belt and the sleeves and legs rolled up a bit, you could fit into one of my suits." Haruka suggested and got up from the bed to retrieve a white tuxedo shirt, black slacks and a jacket from the closet for Michiru.
"What are you going to wear tonight?" Michiru asked, a little calmer as she received the clothing and began to climb into it. "A frilly pink dress?" Haruka blushed and pulled something in a black clothing bag out of the closet.
"You, my dear, will have to wait to find that one out. Now, do you think you'll be able to wear that tonight?"
"I don't see what choice I have in the matter." Michiru said as she rolled one of the sleeves up quite a bit. "We'll just tell your parents that I've lost a lot of weight since I last wore this outfit due to illness earlier this year." She decided.
"You're actually very good at lying, Michiru." Haruka said with grin. "I might be worried, in fact." She teased Michiru.
"And I might be worried by the fact that your parents are due to pick us up any moment and you're still not dressed." Michiru countered softly as she walked out of the bedroom.
"What?" Haruka looked at the clock on the nightstand next to bed and ran into the bathroom to get her outfit and make-up ready.
"See you downstairs," Michiru called with a light laugh. Haruka didn't bother to respond as she stripped quickly out of her usual clothing and pulled a silky golden dress out of a garment bag on the bathroom counter.
Haruka quickly and carelessly forced the dress onto her body. She took a moment to put a minimal amount of make-up, light blush and lipstick, onto her face before grabbing a pair of golden pumps from the shoebox also on the counter and running downstairs with them in hand.
"I'm impressed, Haruka," Michiru said. "That took you less than a minute, and with perfect timing as well." She motioned out the window next to the door; Haruka's parents were just getting out of their little rental car.
Haruka grinned breathlessly and opened the door for her parents.
"Hello, Mother, Father," Haruka called as she put on her shoes and walked out to greet her parents. Michiru smiled and placed her shoes on before stepping out of the house, locking the door and going to join the threesome.
"Haruka, you look gorgeous!" Haruka's mother gushed and she proudly pulled her daughter into a hug. After releasing her daughter, Haruka's mother looked at Michiru and frowned, but she didn't say anything, much to Haruka's relief.
"Thank you, Mother," Haruka said graciously.
"Haruka, our car is a little small for four people. Why don't we take your car?" Arashi suggested. Haruka nodded silently and the group walked around front of the house to the garage holding the gorgeous yellow sports car and Haruka's motorcycle.
"So," Arashi started, "How do you decide which of you two gets to drive when you go somewhere, Haruka?"
"Ara, Haruka has always been a better driver than me." Michiru said quickly. "I, unfortunately, don't have any depth perception. Besides, I don't have a driver's license." Michiru giggled softly. Haruka looked at her lover uneasily.
"Mom, Dad, will you wait for us in the car. I need to talk to Mamo-chan for a moment." Haruka said as she handed her father the keys and pulled Michiru out of the garage by the arm. They walked over to the other side of the house so that Haruka's parents wouldn't hear them.
"Haruka, what?" Michiru looked slightly annoyed. "We're going to lose our reservations at the restaurant if we don't get there soon."
"You've got to stop using the feminine forms of our language. Remember, until Thursday you are my boyfriend!" Haruka stated angrily. "If you don't start acting like a man then my parents are going to start suspecting something and I'm the one who will have to live with that!" Haruka, by this time, had started shouting.
"I'm doing the best that I can, Haruka!" Michiru responded heatedly. "You're going to have to excuse me if I slip up once in a while. Besides, it's you I'm doing this for. If you had the courage to simply tell your parents then -!"
"Michiru, you don't understand! If told my parents -!"
"They might disown you? How don't I understand, Haruka? You seem to forget that I've gone through this experience too. Not everything went perfectly, Haruka, but at least my family knows who I really am. Until you learn something about love, you can continue this charade on your own. I'm not going with you tonight." Michiru wiped away the tears running down her cheeks.
"Michiru..." Haruka tried but her lover was already walking away.
"Haruka, where's Mamoru-san?" Arashi stepped around the corner and came into view. Haruka grew frightened and hoped to whatever deities listened from above, that he had not heard the argument.
"He's been feeling ill all day, so I told him that he may as well just stay home." Haruka lied easily. She smiled nervously at her father who appeared disappointed, but said nothing about it. "Let's go," Haruka said. "Mom's waiting for us in the garage." She hurried over to her father and in silence they went back to the car.
"Where's Mamoru-san?" Haruka's mother asked as Arashi and Haruka got into the car, Haruka in driver's seat and Arashi in the passenger's.
"He's sick." Arashi explained.
"Oh," Haruka's mother said in a disappointed tone. "What a pity. I had something I wanted to ask him."
"He'll be fine." Haruka said coldly in a tone that had no room for argument. "He always is."
***
Michiru sniffled and wiped away tears from her cheeks. She watched Haruka maneuver her yellow convertible out of the garage and zoom away. Arashi seemed to enjoy the quick start, but Haruka's mother barely managed to keep ahold of her flowery hat.
With a heavy sigh, Michiru moved away from the door and slowly climbed the stairs so she could remove Haruka's tuxedo. It hurt her to see Haruka in such pain, but Michiru knew she could do nothing.
From downstairs, Michiru heard the door unlock and Setsuna came in with Hotaru.
"Haruka-papa! Michiru-mama! We're home!" Hotaru called exuberantly. Michiru rubbed the last of her tears away and forced a smile onto her face as she turned around and started back down the stairs to greet her daughter and friend.
"Hello," Michiru said. Her voice wavered slightly but that fact went unnoticed by Hotaru who laughed.
"Michiru-mama, why are you wearing that?" Hotaru pointed a small finger at the tuxedo. Michiru smiled weakly at her young daughter and shrugged.
"It's a game your Haruka-papa and I are playing, Hotaru. You should have seen her. She went out in a dress!" Michiru tried her best to sound enthusiastic.
"Hotaru," Setsuna said, "How about you go take a shower right now since you didn't get to last night."
"Yes, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru nodded and she grabbed her backpack before running up the stairs. Silence fell over the two women for an awkward moment.
"Ara...how did the camping trip go?" Michiru asked. She felt tears beginning to well up in eyes again now that she didn't have to put on a brave front for Hotaru.
"Hotaru's class had a lot of fun. I'm glad I chaperoned too. It was nice to spend the time with Hotaru." Setsuna answered.
"That's good."
"Michiru, did something happen between you and Haruka?" Setsuna placed a hand on Michiru's shoulder.
"We had a fight. Her parents are here to visit, and she's not out to them, so we came up with a scheme to keep Haruka's parents from knowing, -."
"Which involved you wearing a tuxedo?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow at Michiru.
"Yes, I'm supposed to be her beloved boyfriend Mamoru, but I slipped up and used a feminine form of a word versus a masculine form. She yelled at me for that and I told her that she should just tell her parents and that I wouldn't help her. Setsuna, I feel so horrible!" Michiru cried.
"I think you did the right thing, Michiru." Setsuna said. "Playing elaborate tricks isn't going to help Haruka, and she's going to have to realize this. You're doing exactly the right thing, Michiru."
****
Dinner had gone well. Haruka had managed to keep the topic off Michiru/Mamoru and on relatively safe things, like cars and her grades.
"Sometimes," Haruka's mother said as they got into the car to return home. "I wish you still lived at home, Haruka. I would have liked to watch you grow more, but now I'm content in knowing the beautiful young woman you've become."
"Mom," Haruka murmured guiltily.
"Is something bothering you, Dear? Do you feel bad for leaving Mamoru-san at home."
"No, no, Mamoru's fine." Haruka said hastily. "It's just that...I have something to tell you, about Mamoru and myself." She kept her eyes on the rode as they sped through Tokyo's streets. "We...I..." Haruka heard her voice crack and she stopped speaking.
"Haruka?" Arashi placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We're...we're going to get married!" Haruka finished quickly and damned herself. Haruka's mother gasped with joy and Arashi gave a disappointed grunt.
"Haruka, that's wonderful!" Haruka's mother babbled and she began to spout ideas for dresses, dates, and flowers.
Haruka sighed. Inwardly, she felt so separated from her parents. They had never been particularly close as family, but she loved them so desperately, yet she could not show them her true self. She had faced countless demons and battled through near-death situations. None had scared her as much as this, as much as the idea that for being herself she could lose her parents forever.