Chapter 3: Save Tonight
Haruka entered the town's store, whistling a happy tune. The elderly owner of the shop, Satoshi, immediately came hurrying over to her. "Hello, hello." He greeted, smiling. "You have to be the new night watchman…or should I saw watchwoman?" Haruka laughed and shrugged. "Whatever your prefer." She then replied, earning another bright grin from Satoshi. "Well then, Tenoh-San…what do you need?" Haruka told him the few things she needed – basically bread, milk and tons of convenience food – and he packed them for her. Quickly, the blonde paid and made her way back home.
After eating macaroni and cheese, Haruka luckily found some more sleep before her shift started. Soon, the blonde found herself walking around on the empty, nightly streets of Daisuka again. "I wonder where Michiru is." The blonde spoke to herself, not awaiting to receive a reply. Thus, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a melodic voice came: "Right here." Haruka twirled around, staring wide-eyed at the slightly smiling Michiru who stood behind her, the blondes hand already gripping the handle of her gun. "Don't shoot!" Michiru quickly called out. Haruka breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the gun. "Don't scare me like that." She then said. "I'm a little…jumpy." Michiru raised one eyebrow at the blonde. "How come?" she then asked. Haruka sighed and shrugged. "I had the same job in Tokyo before, and caught a burglar one night. He shot me, now I'm jumpy. End of story." "He shot you?!" Michiru cried out, her sudden sympathy amusing Haruka. "Oh my God, where?" The blonde pointed to her rib cage and shrugged again. "It healed. Nothing to worry about." "That surely was a terrible experience." Michiru spoke thoughtfully, more to herself than to Haruka. Finally, she returned to the world of the living and looked at the tall blonde, smiling. "Haruka…I wanted to apologize for sending you away so rudely yesterday night. In fact, I would be pleasured if we could spend the night together." Harukas mouth fell open, her eyes widened, and she blushed. Michiru realized what the blonde thought she had meant with her words and blushed, too. "Not like that! I meant…hang out together during the night. You know?" Harukas face slowly returned to it's normal color while she nodded. "Sure. Hang out together. Sure thing." "Haruka, you perv! She didn't mean it like that, so stop thinking in such a sexual way!" the blonde scolded herself. She was torn out of her thoughts when she heard Michirus soft giggling. "What's so funny?" Haruka asked, eyeing the smaller woman suspiciously. "Oh, nothing. It was just…so cute when you blushed." Harukas eyebrow twitched. "Cute? I'm not cute." She protested while she slowly started to walk. Michiru strolled along next to her, smiling up. "Okay, so you are not cute. Let's say…" Before the aqua haired girl could finish her sentence, a male voice interrupted her. "Oh look, the freak has herself made a friend!" Both Haruka and Michiru looked up, only to find themselves staring at a group of three young men, all being around twenty. Michiru sighed and just wanted to turn around to leave when Haruka suddenly took her arm. "Stay." She whispered. "I'll get rid of them." Straightening up, the blonde took a step forward. "And? Isn't she allowed to have any friends? Besides, I would appreciate it if you could refer to her as 'Kaioh-San', and not as freak." She spoke, trying to keep her voice as calm and cool as possible – which was hard, since she was practically fuming with anger. "And who do you think you are, telling us what to do?" the leader of the trio asked, smiling. "Haruka, stop. I don't want you to get into a fight." Michiru whispered, but Haruka didn't react to her words. "I'm just the new night watchman. Got any problem with that?" she replied to the young man, who hollered with laughter. "The new night watchman! Man, our town must need one really urgent, since they hired a woman!" Haruka growled, forcing herself to stay where she was and not simply lunge forward and beat the crap out of the group. "Anyway", their leader now talked on, "you better not stick your nose in things that are none of your business. That's between the freak and us." Not bothering to waste another look at Haruka, he slowly started to make his way towards Michiru, who was obviously frightened. "We didn't finish last time, but this time, we'll get what we want." The man mumbled, already reaching out to grab the aqua haired girls arm. His hand froze in mid-air when he felt the barrel of a gun pressing against his temple. "Better think over your next move." Haruka spoke, grinning in triumph. "If you do something stupid, I might accidentally pull the trigger." "You wouldn't!" the man spat, rolling his eyes in a vain attempt to look at Haruka. "You sure about that?" Haruka asked while she slacked the gun, a loud "Click" echoing through the night. Slowly, the man's hand sank down again. "Good boy." Haruka spoke, pulling the gun away. "And now get moving. Before I change my mind and shoot." The trio ran away, and Haruka turned to look at Michiru again, who was shaking. "Hey." The blonde softly spoke, putting a gentle hand on Michirus shoulder. "Don't worry. You are safe tonight." Michiru nodded, but couldn't keep herself from shuddering. Haruka put one arm around her shoulders and led her over to the next bench, where both sat down. Michiru leaned against the taller woman, wanting nothing more than someone who held her right now. And Haruka gratefully satisfied that need.