Chapter 13:  The Sweetest Thing

Michiru stood there dumbstruck, unsure of what she should say.  'I'm a girl'  The words rang through her head like a gong.  After the longest minutes in Haruka's life passed by, she finally spoke up again, "I'll take you home." she muttered, pulling her keys back out of her pocket and walking to her car.  "Wait, Haruka."  Michiru reached her hand out and grabbed the blonde's, causing her to turn her head.  She could see the effort going into holding her tears back, "Michiru, you don't have to say anythin--"  The aqua girl put a finger over the girl's lips silencing her quickly.  "Neither do you.  No one has ever been this kind to me before, you've honestly done some of the sweetest things for me."  Michiru stood up on her toes giving Haruka a peck on the cheek, making her flush a vibrant red.  Haruka leaned down and closed her eyes, meeting Michiru's lips in a soft but passionate kiss.  "Thank you ..."

"How did it -- go?"  Makoto asked between mouthfuls of popcorn as Haruka walked into their apartment.  "Ahh, I take it very well."  She remarked, clearing her throat with a swig of pop as the blonde bounced her way into the living room.  "Not that I like to be the bringer of bad news, but there's a rather disturbing message left on the answering machine for you."  Haruka's ears perked up at Mako's last words, "From who?"  "Oh wouldn't you like to know."  She shot her a skeptical look before hitting the play button on the machine; *beep*  "I know your secret.  You better not come back to school unless you're ready to face the consequences."  *beep*  "Son ... of a bitch." 

Haruka walked as casually as possible into school the following Monday morning, prepared for the witty remarks and cheap laughs at her to come.  Surprisingly enough, no one seemed to know anything as of yet, otherwise there was a huge prank about to be pulled against her.  "Whew ..." she muttered to herself heading to locker to follow her usual routine of the day.  Maybe Brad really didn't know anything and was just trying to spook her.  All was well, until she got to football practice.  Their team had made it into the semifinals, and the game was in less than a week.  Fifteen minutes into practice, Brad made a ridiculous pass, but Haruka was determined to catch it.  She jumped to catch it, but once it was in her arms she was tackled down hard by the defensive line, smashing her into the ground eating grass.  Standing up a little shaky, she could see the smirk in Brad's eyes.  Nearly an hour and a half later, Haruka was battered and bruised, and the gleam in Brad's eyes seemed to be growing by the moment.  The coach let them off for a quick water break when the blonde overheard the quarterback talking amongst some other teammates, "Tenoh is totally slacking today, wouldn't you say?  I hear he tried to get that slut Michiru into bed with him over the weekend.  Apparently they went out to the movies and he was totally all over her!  Obviously he's not as pro as he gloats he is ..."

The blonde completely lost herself in a fury of madness and ripped off her helmet, tackling Brad off his feet digging him into the turf.  She punched him several times in the face, blood streaming out of his nose.  The other players immediately surrounded them, cheering on the better fighter.  There was a sickening crack as Brad's nose broke; everyone wincing and hollering as it happened.  It took all four coaches to break it apart, jumping in between the RB and Quarterback.  Brad had landed a few swings of his own, Haruka's lip had split on the side and was bleeding heavily.  Once the quarterback was on his feet he shook off those who were helping him and wiped his nose, turning to the coaches yelping like a dog pointing at Haruka, "She's freaking crazy!!!"  Everyone's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets; "She?"