Chapter 5: At The Racetrack
As soon as the two women had finished breakfast, Haruka leaned back into her chair and let out a happy sigh. "That was the best breakfast I ever had, Michi-chan. Thanks for preparing it." Michiru gave her a shy smile. "That's the smallest thing I can do…after all, you let me stay here." Haruka smiled back and rose from her chair. "I need to drive over to the racetrack now. You wanna come along?" Michirus smile turned into a frown. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?" she finally asked. "I mean…what if Kenshi finds us?" "He won't." Haruka promised. "He won't find out where I live…my name's not in the phone book." That seemed to convince Michiru a little, though not completely. "And what when he's waiting at the racetrack?" she asked. Haruka flashed her another smile. "He won't do that, either. Only the racer's and mechanics are allowed to enter, he won't get in." "Okay then." Michiru decided. Haruka beamed. "Great! Let's get ready then, we'll leave soon." Michiru nodded, and the two women headed into Harukas bedroom, since Michiru didn't have any clothes with her and needed to borrow some from her taller friend.
"Awesome!" Michiru cried out, her blue eyes wide, while Haruka led her over the racetrack, showing her everything. The taller blonde chuckled at the obvious happiness of her friend. "You like the track?" she then asked. Michiru nodded, looking around fascinated. "Hey Haruka-kun!" a deep, male voice suddenly called out. Haruka looked around and saw Takeshi, waving to her. "Hey Takeshi-kun!" she called back. Michiru gaped at the second famous racer, and she nearly fainted when Takeshi stopped in front of Haruka and gave her a hug. "Takeshi-kun, meet Michiru Kaioh." Haruka then spoke, motioning towards the still gaping Michiru. "My pleasure, Kaioh-san." Takeshi spoke, bowing. "Please…call me Michiru." The aqua haired girl replied, smiling. She turned to look at Haruka. "How come you hug him? I thought that you are enemies." Michiru spoke, looking slightly confused. Haruka smiled. "Well, we are…on the race track and for the press. But don't tell anyone." She winked, and Michiru blushed. "I won't." she then promised. Haruka gave her a smile and motioned towards the locker room. "I need to get something from my locker, you're coming?" Michiru nodded, said goodbye to Takeshi and followed Haruka over to the locker rooms.
Haruka opened the door, wondering for a second why it wasn't locked, entered and turned the light on. Following her, Michiru walked in and closed the door behind her. Haruka moved over to her locker and was just about to unlock it when a strong hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and smashed her head against the metal surface of the locker door. Haruka let out a strangled sound and nearly fell, but regained herself fast and spun around. She found herself facing six tall, muscular men standing in a half circle around her; behind them, two more guys held Michirus arms, keeping her from running out of the room and getting help. "What do you want?" Haruka asked, angered. Her head hurt from the blow she had received, but she forced the pain down and concentrated. "Kenshi sent us." The tallest one of the six men spoke, smiling cruelly. "We are here to deliver a little message." "And that would be?" Haruka asked. Instead of answering her question, the man stepped forward with a move as fast as lightning, and in the next second, his fist crashed into Harukas stomach. The blonde let out a gasp and doubled over, her belly convulsing in pain. "No!" Michiru cried out when the other five guys stepped closer to her friend and started to hit her. "Shut up." One of the two men who held her hissed, glaring at her. Haruka tried to fight back, and she even landed a few punches; then, one of the attackers managed to hit her solar plexus, and the blonde went down, gasping for air. "Kenshi isn't pleased about the fact that you have his wife at your home." The leader of the group spoke before he landed a strong kick, his boot-clad foot crashing into Harukas stomach. The men surrounded the blonde and joined their leader in kicking her. "No!" Michiru cried again, tears streaming down her face. "No, please! Please stop hurting her! Please!" One of the group gave her a cruel smile before he kicked Harukas back, hitting her right in the kidneys. A terrible flash of pain ran through the blonde's body, and she cried out, convinced that she would find blood in her urine the next time she went to the toilet. "She's already on the ground!" Michiru cried on, desperate to make the friend's of her husband stop beating Haruka. "You cowards!" "Shut your ugly mouth, bitch." One of the two who held her warned her. Finally the men stopped kicking down on the nearly unconscious Haruka and stepped back, admiring their work. The leader looked at Michiru, a cruel smirk on his face. "You have one day to get your things. If you're not back home by tomorrow night, 9 P.M., we'll come after your racer friend here again. And this time, we'll have baseball bats with us. So think about what you'll do." Michiru just nodded, crying heavily. The group left, and as soon as they were gone, Michiru hurried over to where Haruka laid on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp. "Oh God, Haruka, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" She knelt down next to the blonde, who now opened her eyes. "Are…are they gone?" Haruka whispered, her voice clearly showing the pain she was in. Michiru nodded, more tears running down her cheeks. Haruka tried to sit up, moaned in pain and fell back, blood running from her nose and her busted lips. Michiru gently pulled her into her arms and held her, crying into her shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "So sorry…" Haruka gave her a weak smile and replied: "Don't be." And then, she fell unconscious.