Episode 2: Hot Stuff
Michiru sat in her room, in front of her laptop, reading through the latest newspaper articles with great interest. Her attention got drawn away from her laptop though when suddenly somebody knocked her door, making her jump. "Yes?" the aqua haired girl called out as soon as she had calmed down again. The door opened, revealing the blue haired head of Ami Mizuno, doctor and scientist of Special Unit 2. "Ami." Michiru greeted, smiling at the slightly younger woman. Ami smiled back and spoke: "Hey, Michiru. Usagi sent me to get you, for a meeting in the conference room." Michiru nodded and shut down her laptop, following Ami over to the big room where all meetings where held. Upon entering, the aqua girl say that all the other members of Special Unit 2 already were there; even Haruka, who normally showed up too late for all meetings. The blonde ex-commando stood in the far corner of the room, leaning against the wall, her bangs falling into her face and hiding her eyes. Unlike Haruka, the other members of SU 2 where sitting at the long conference desk; Michiru greeted them all warmly before she sat down next to Hotaru Tomoe, the newest – and, with her eighteen years, youngest – member of the team. "Haruka, please sit down." Usagi softly spoke. Haruka looked up at the voice of their leader, shrugged and sat down next to Michiru, staring down at her boots. Michiru shot her a worried glance; ever since the two women had caught the bank robbers, Haruka's mood had became worse with every day that passed. No one knew what was wrong with her, since she refused to tell anyone; not even Michiru managed to find out what was bothering the blonde so much. Now, Haruka started to play around with the sheet of paper that laid on the desk in front of her, her eyes refusing to meet those of anyone else in the room. "The reason why I made you all meet here", Usagi now started, finally causing Haruka to look up. The blondes intense teal eyes focused on the younger woman while she spoke. "According to recent newspaper articles – which you surely read by now, Michiru – there's a new drug circulating. You all probably wonder now why this concerns us", at this point Haruka mumbled "Damn sure", though nobody really paid attention to her, "but I will tell you right now why." Usagi continued, ignoring the comment the blonde had made. "Special Unit 2 cares about that drug because it is killing people. And with that I don't mean the regular drug deaths, I mean that everyone who takes it dies." "Then why do people still take it?" Minako asked, frowning. "Because they don't know that they are swallowing Hot Stuff, like Ami calls it." Usagi replied, looking at her blonde secretary smiling. "The drug dealers who sell it mask it as LSD or Ecstasy." "So somebody is killing off drug addicts, and you want us to find out who does this, and why?" Michiru threw in, earning another smile and a nod from Usagi. "Exactly, Michiru. But first, we have to get one of those pills into our hands." "Leave that to me." Haruka mumbled, looking up once more. "I have enough contacts to get one of those thingies before the night comes." Usagi nodded, leaning her elbows on the desk. "Alright, Haruka. Take off as soon as possible…Michiru, will you come with her?" Michiru just nodded, smiling at her taller partner, though she didn't receive a smile in return. "As soon as you have one of the pills, come back here." Usagi ordered before ending the meeting. The members of Special Unit 2 left the conference room, Haruka stomping down the hallway towards her apartment immediately. Michiru followed her, determined to find out what was bothering the blonde.
Haruka of course noticed that Michiru followed her, but didn't bother to slow down. She really wasn't in the mood to talk about anything right now, and that was what Michiru probably wanted. The blonde finally reached her apartment and unlocked it; while she did so, the aqua haired girl managed to catch up to her. "Hey, Haruka." Michiru softly spoke, looking up at the taller woman. "Hey." Haruka replied, her hand resting on the doorknob, but not opening the door yet. Michiru just took in a breath to ask Haruka what was wrong with her when the blonde spoke up. "I know that you want to know what is bothering me. Don't mind to ask, I won't tell you." Michiru looked at the taller woman, a hurt expression in her eyes. "Haruka..." she started, but the blonde just glared at her and opened the door to her apartment. She walked in and slammed the door close, leaving Michiru behind on the hallway alone.
"Michiru? You ok?" Makoto asked upon entering the spare time room, how Usagi called it, only to find the aqua haired girl sitting at the small table, staring off into nothingness. At the brunette martial arts masters voice, Michirus head came up, and she nodded. "Yeah. Sorta…" "Haruka again?" Makoto asked, sitting down next to the aqua haired woman, who nodded again in reply. "Exactly. She's just so…" "Cold?" Makoto offered, earning a sigh in reply. "Cold, exactly. And she won't let me get close to her…no matter how hard I try. The only time she really talks to me is when we are on a mission, but other than that…" "You know nothing about her, right?" Makoto suddenly asked, catching Michiru completely off-guard. "What…of course I know things about her!" "Really? Then when is her birthday?" Michiru just opened her mouth to answer the question, only to shut it again after a few moments, realizing that she didn't know. "I…I don't know." She finally admitted, at the same time realizing that Makoto was right. She knew nothing about Haruka…knew shit about her life before Special Unit 2, her family, whatever. "The only one who knows some things about her is Usagi, and she won't tell. The only thing we all know is that Haruka used to be in the army before." Makoto now spoke, gaining the aqua haired girls attention again. "Our grumpy blonde is making a secret out of herself, and only Kami-sama knows why." "I wonder why she left the army…" Michiru mused, leaning back in her seat and staring up at the ceiling. Makoto shrugged and got to her feet again. "I don't know. Anyway…I still have to train Hotaru, so I guess I'll see you later?" Michiru nodded and smiled at the brunette, who smiled back and left the room. The aqua haired girl followed soon after, the growling in her stomach making her head directly for the kitchen.
Haruka stood in front of the fridge, rummaging through it in search for food when Michiru entered. "Hungry too, I see." The aqua haired girl remarked, causing Haruka to jump. The blonde whirled around and stared at the aqua haired girl for a few seconds before the hard expression in her eyes vanished, only to be replace with a much softer one. "Yeah." The ex-commando then admitted, letting out a sigh. "There's not much here to eat though…at least not for someone with my cooking skills." Michiru couldn't help herself, she just had to giggle at that remark. Haruka gave her a small smile and shrugged, closing the fridge. "I wanted to cook something for myself, it won't make much difference if I make more for you." Michiru now offered, earning a surprised look and a nod. "Thanks then." Haruka spoke, sitting down at the kitchen desk while Michiru started to gather what she needed for a decent lunch. Soon, the food was cooking on the stove, while Michiru sat down next to the blonde, looking at her. "Can I ask you something?" she finally asked, causing Haruka to look up from the newspaper she had been reading. "You can ask anything." The blonde replied, but before Michiru had a chance to smile at that, she continued: "I just can't promise that I will answer your question." Michiru gave her a short glance before she asked: "What's bothering you?" Haruka sighed and looked at the aqua haired girl. "I told you that it's none of your business." She then spoke, her eyes getting cold. "And I think that it is." Michiru softly replied, capturing the blonde ex-commandos eyes with her own. "We've been mission partner's for almost a year now, Haruka, and I know nothing about you. Not even your birthday. But I like you, and I worry about you. So why can't you tell me?" Haruka shrugged and let out a sigh. "It's private." She finally spoke, hoping that this would be enough to make Michiru give up. Slowly, the blonde rose from her chair and started to leave; before she walked out of the room though, she looked back at the aqua haired girl once more. "Oh, and my birthday is on January 27th." With that, the blonde walked off, while Michiru just stared after her.
Haruka let herself fall down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Then, her eyes wandered until they landed on the photo that stood on the working desk she used. It showed herself standing next to two older people; one of them female, with long, dark brown hair, the other one male with short blonde hair, very much like Harukas own. All three of them were grinning into the camera, the man who stood in the middle having his arms around Haruka and the other woman. Slowly, Haruka sat up, her eyes never leaving the picture while she did. Her hand shook when she reached out and took the photo, pulling it closer to her and turning it around. On the back of the photo, somebody had written the words "Yamato, Mariko and Haruka Tenoh – Spring 2000". Upon reading the delicate handwriting of her mother, Haruka could feel her how her eyes filled with hot, salty tears. This had been the last time that she had seen her parents alive; two weeks after that photo had been taken, they had been killed by a burglar after surprising him in their home. Next week, this had happened exactly two years ago, and as always, Harukas mood sank when the date of her parents death approached. Letting out a heavy sigh, the blonde put the picture back to where it had been before and wiped out her eyes before she checked her watch. Deciding that it was time to get Michiru and try to get her hands on one of the deadly pills, the blonde left her apartment, locking the door behind her.
"Please be careful." Usagi spoke while handing a freshly loaded net gun to Haruka and a second gun with narcotic arrows to Michiru. "You never know what drug addicts or drug dealers are able to do." Both Haruka and Michiru nodded, Haruka putting the gun in the waist band of her jeans while Michiru tugged hers into the inner pocket of her jacket. The two women quickly said their goodbyes to the young blonde and left, walking over to the garage and getting into the car they always used for their missions. "Where are we heading first? The Black Hole?" Michiru asked while Haruka started the engine and drove out of the garage. The blonde nodded in reply, speeding down the street. "Exactly. I hope to find some information there." Michiru just smiled at Haruka and leaned back in her seat while the blonde drove on, over to the bar. As soon as they had reached the rather old building, Haruka stopped the car and looked at Michiru. "Wait here. It won't take long." Michiru just nodded, knowing that it was always the same when it came to The Black Hole. For some reason, the ex-commando didn't want her partner to go in there; Michiru didn't know why, but she trusted Haruka enough to just obey her and wait. Letting out a small sigh, the aqua haired girl turned the radio on and waited for Haruka to come back out.
Haruka entered The Black Hole, surprised to find it almost empty. The only customers where two men sitting at one of the desks, drinking beer and discussing something. The barkeeper, Stu (A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know that Stu isn't a Japanese name. He's American, so there ^_~), stood behind the counter, cleaning some glasses and looking at Haruka nervously. The blonde sat down at the bar, greeting him: "Hey Stu. Not much business today, ne?" "Get out." Stu whispered, shooting a nervous glance to something behind Harukas back. The ex-commando frowned at him. "Now that's a nice way to say hello. What…" She stopped talking when she felt something cold and hard being pressed against the back of her head. "If you like your brains where they are, don't move." A deep, male voice spoke into her ear, hot breath stroking over her cheeks. "I hope you know that I used to be a commando." Haruka pressed out between gritted teeth, clenching her fists. She still was waiting for a reply when suddenly one of the two men kicked against the barstool she sat on, causing the stool to fall over and Haruka to crash to the ground with a loud thump. While Haruka still tried to regain her balance, she heard how one of the men approached her, probably to kick her or to hit her with one of the other barstools. The blonde waited until the very last moment, then she suddenly rolled herself on her back and caught the barstool that came crashing down to her, causing the attacker to let out a surprised yelp. Haruka gritted her teeth and yanked the stool out of the man's hands, at the same time kicking forward with both legs, her boot-clad feet crashing against the guys kneecaps. The man screamed in pain and fell to the ground, suddenly finding himself unable to stand anymore; before his partner had a chance to react, Haruka had sprang to her feet with the agility of a well-trained fighter and rammed the four chair legs into his stomach. The man let out a gurgling "Ooff"-sound and sank to the floor, pressing both hands against his stomach. Haruka put the barstool she had used as a weapon down, her breath only a little faster than usual. Stu, who had been standing behind the counter all over the time, stared at her wide-eyed. "Haruka, that…that was awesome!" the barkeeper then cried out. Haruka looked at him and shrugged, lightning a cigarette. "Have an eye on those two for a second." She then mumbled before walking over to the front door of the bar and opening it. She looked over at the car where Michiru sat waiting and called out: "Michiru!" The aqua haired girl soon poked her head out of the window and yelled back: "What?" Haruka motioned for her to come over; surprised, Michiru got out of the car and hurried over to the blonde. "What's up? Trouble in the bar?" the aqua haired girl asked. Haruka slightly smiled and shook her head. "Took care of that. I just have to guys here that I think you should see." One of Michirus eyebrows shot up until it almost met her hairline, and she followed Haruka into the bar. Stu was keeping an eye on the two still disabled men, like Haruka had told him; besides keeping an eye on them, he also aimed a shotgun at their heads, much to Harukas amusement. "Well done, Stu." The blonde spoke, and the barkeeper let out a relieved sigh while he lowered his gun. "You…bitch." The guy who had met the barstool personally now groaned, glaring at Haruka with hate-filled eyes. The blonde just growled and stepped closer to him, grabbing his collar and pulling him to his feet roughly. She slammed the man against the next wall, holding him there. His companion, who still found himself unable to stand up, or even bend his legs, was kept quiet by Michiru and her threateningly-looking narcotic gun in the meantime. "Who are you, and why did you attack me?" Haruka now growled, her cold teal eyes capturing the slightly scared blue ones of her victim. "I…I'm just a small dealer." The man now stuttered, seriously scared by now. "And we attacked you because the boss told us to…" "Where can I find your boss?" Haruka asked, shaking the poor guy when he didn't answer immediately. "Where?" "In an abandoned factory hall outside of town!" the dealer finally cried out, nearly wetting his pants in fear. "Is Hot Stuff produced in that factory?" Haruka continued her interrogation. The dealer nodded, hoping that this would be over soon; that blonde was really scary. "Do you have Hot Stuff with you?" Haruka asked, and the man nodded again. He started to move his hand towards his pocket, but Harukas death glare stopped him. "You keep your hands where I can see them." She then ordered while she started to search through the guys pockets on her own. Finally, she found a tiny plastic bag, filled with a dozen or so white pills. She threw them over to Michiru, who caught them easily and put them into the inner pocket of her jacket. "And the last question…tell me the name of your boss." Haruka spoke, grinning at the nearly crying man, making her look even creepier to him. "His…his name is…" he stuttered, only to be interrupted by his comrade: "Don't tell her!" Haruka turned her head and shot her most evil glare at the man, barking: "You shut up, or I will make sure that you will never walk again!" Scared, the man shut his mouth, while his partner finally stammered out the name of his boss. "His name is Keiichi Aoshima."
"Haruka! Haruka, for Heaven's Sake, wait!" Michiru shouted, running after her colleague. After the dealer had spit out the name of his boss, Haruka suddenly had let go of him and had stormed off so fast that Michiru didn't even realize what was happening until the door had of the bar had been slammed close. The blonde ignored her, simply running on, until she suddenly fell to her knees next to the street, her fingers digging into her grass. "Haruka…" Michiru softly spoke, slowly approaching the blonde and kneeling down next to her. „What's wrong?" she gently asked, putting one hand on her partner's shoulder. Haruka's eyes were squeezed shut; she clenched her teeth so hard that the muscles of her jaw stood out visibly, and her whole body was shaking. "Haruka, tell me…come on…" Michiru literally begged, squeezing Harukas shoulder. Finally, the blonde looked at her, and what she said next shocked Michiru more than anything else could have: "The boss of those drug dealers…he's the one who killed my parents two years ago."
"Oh my God." Michiru whispered, shocked. "But…if you know that it was him…why isn't he in prison?" "There wasn't enough proof." Haruka replied, digging through her pockets until she found her cigarettes. She lit one of them, her hands shaking while she did, and took a deep drag to calm herself down. "Police had to let him go again…and the night after he had been allowed to leave the prison, he called me and told me that it was him. Still, it wouldn't have helped if I had told that to the police…there was no one else who had heard him admitting it to me, and it would have been his word against mine…" "I'm so sorry." Michiru softly spoke, her hand moving away from Harukas shoulder to take her hand. "So that's why you were in such a bad mood…the death day of your parents." Haruka nodded, looking at the aqua haired girl, her eyes suddenly filled with so much hate and anger that Michiru almost backed away. "You take those two to the HQ. I have a murderer to kill." She then spoke, getting up and walking over to the car. Michiru ran after her, shocked at what the blonde intended to do. "Haruka, no! You can't kill him, we need to hand him over to the police!" Haruka ignored her and opened the glove department of the car, taking out a Colt M11 and tucking it into the waistband of her jeans after checking if it was loaded. "We will hand his corpse over." She then spoke, looking at Michiru once more before she got into the car and drove off, ignoring the pleas Michiru yelled after her.
Usagi and Rei both looked up in surprise when Michiru burst into the HQ, two handcuffed men behind her. "Michiru! Are you okay?" Rei asked, jumping up in concern when she saw the look in Michirus eyes. "Haruka…" the aqua haired girl stammered out, causing Usagi to jump up too. "What about her? Is she okay?" the cheerful blonde asked, worry shining through her voice. "She's out to kill the boss of the drug dealers!" Michiru cried in out reply, causing Rei and Usagi to let out shocked gasps before Usagi spoke: "Rei, get Makoto. We have to stop her."
While Michiru informed Usagi about what was happening, Haruka stopped her car in front of the abandoned factory the dealer had told her about. She checked her gun once more before she got out of the car and walked over to the big metal door, kicking it open violently. She entered the factory, her gun drawn and all her senses on alert. A small noise to her right caused her to turn around sharply, only to see a small grey rat running down the hallway. The blonde ex-commando let out a sharp breath before she continued her way, hoping that she would find the man who had killed her parents soon.
"So we meet again." Keiichi spoke, leaning back in his chair while Haruka aimed her gun at him, her eyes blazing with hate. "Seems so, Aoshima." The blonde coldly replied, releasing the safety of her gun which caused a loud clicking noise to echo through the hall. Keiichi flinched visibly at that, causing Haruka to give him a cold, humourless grin. "But I won't waste much time with talking." The ex-commando then spoke, aiming the Colt directly at the criminal's head. "Say your prayers, Aoshima." Slowly, Harukas finger started to bend around the trigger, when suddenly a well-known voice called out: "Haruka! Don't!" Harukas eyebrows shot up in surprise while Keiichi's eyes widened, and the blonde looked over her shoulder to see Michiru and Makoto running towards her. "Get out of here." The blonde now growled, her concentration returning to Keiichi. "You can come back in after you heard the shot." "Haruka, no…don't." Michiru softly pleaded, stepping closer to the blonde. When Haruka didn't react, she moved on until she stood next to her and whispered into her ear: "Killing him won't bring your parents back." Harukas hand tightening around the gun so hard that her knuckles stood out white when she pressed her reply out between gritted teeth. "I know. But I will have my revenge…" "When you kill him, you're no better than he is." Michiru continued, hoping to make Haruka change her opinion with that. "Who cares?" Haruka growled, not noticing how Makoto slowly sneaked up on her from behind. "I do." Michiru softly replied, but before she had a chance to say more, Makoto suddenly hit her over the head hard, knocking her out. The blonde fell to the ground unconscious, Michiru letting out a shocked yelp. "Makoto!" the aqua haired girl cried out, shooting an accusing glare towards her colleague. "I had to keep her from killing him." The brunette replied, almost apologetic, while she picked up Harukas gun and aimed it at the drug dealer. "And you be a nice guy now and let my partner here handcuff you." She ordered. Keiichi was a nice guy and waited until Michiru had put the cuffs on him; then, the two women called the police and waited for them to arrive.
Michiru slowly entered Harukas apartment, carrying a glass of water and a small pack of pills. "Here, I brought you some aspirin." The aqua haired girl spoke, putting the water and the pills on Harukas desk. Haruka just nodded, sitting at her desk and staring off into distance. "Thanks." She softly spoke. Michiru sensed that the ex-commando wasn't in the mood to talk and just turned to leave when the blondes voice came, causing her to stop. "If you wouldn't have come, I would have killed him." Haruka softly spoke, looking up at her colleague. "I know." Michiru replied, sitting down next to her partner and taking her hand. "But it's good that you didn't, Haruka." The blonde just shrugged and returned her gaze to the window. "Leave me alone now, please…I need to think." Michiru nodded and left the room, gently closing the door behind her. Haruka looked at the photo that showed her with her parents once more and let out a sigh, silently apologizing to her parents for failing her revenge. The sunlight that shone in through the big window fell on the photo, making the glass over it sparkle, as well as Harukas tears that landed on it.
End of Episode 2
