Disclaimer: I do not own Sailormoon.
Warnings: Shoujo-ai. OOC?
Notes: This chapter just flowed out from my keyboard after seeing your encouraging reviews. The next one will be hard to write though, especially with tests around the corner. Everyone say hi to my new beta-reader, KaptainSarcasm, to whom I owe much gratitude.
Vocabulary: See previous chapters. "Ara" is an expression Michiru often uses, and is equivalent to "Oh."
A Quiet Scene VI
Michiru Kaioh shivered. It was deep into the middle of spring, but the weather had taken a strange turn and the air was chilly and cold. It didn't help that she was clothed in a too-thin yellow summer dress, or that the park was currently cast into shadow by the colossal Mugen skyscraper a few feet away. She should have listened to her partner.
"You're wearing that?"
"Of course, Haruka. What else would I wear?" The sea senshi cast a critical look over Haruka's jumpsuit. It was covered with oil patches. Haruka's beloved motorcycle was acting up again.
A blush spread across Haruka's cheeks. She tried to draw attention away from her appearance by changing the subject; "The weatherman said it might get cold from winds that are supposed to blow from up north. I think he's right."
"The weather seems fine to me," Michiru said, peering out their apartment window.
"Put on a jacket."
"No."
"Put on a jacket."
"Hmm, let me see…No!" Michiru put a fist under her chin, making a mockery of the pose adopted by Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker". Any of her gravity was destroyed when a pink tongue briefly stuck out in rebellion.
"Put on a jacket. The sleeves are too short."
"Ara, are you saying I'm wearing something too revealing?" One eyebrow lifted.
"Michiru, will you just put on the jacket?" A sigh.
"No."
Haruka Tenoh pouted.
Goosebumps appeared on Michiru's arms although she tried to rub some warmth into her limbs. Michiru peeked around; with no one around the park's fountain she could finally break the elegant façade. Michiru sighed and began mumbling to herself, "I must be one big idiot, not heeding the words of the wind senshi when she talks about the weather."
"ACKCHUU!" Tenoh Haruka sniffed miserably. Her nose had behaved badly since the couple's visit to Tokyo Tower. It seemed this sneeze further heralded the coming of a nasty cold. But pending sickness or not, Haruka had work to do. She strode towards her bike, getting ready to stow away an extra part of machinery that had been acquired in anticipation of any future problems. The mechanic had charged too much for something that was simple enough for Haruka to fix herself.
"Tenoh-san!" Down the street, a blonde girl was yelling to her.
"Huh?" Haruka wracked her brain, trying to recall why the long hair and the red bow were so familiar. A few girls were running behind the stranger, trying to catch up to their friend.
"Look, I told you he was handsome!" Minako Aino shouted back to her companions as she made it into glomp-able range. With a flying tackle she flew into her dream boy's arms. After much internal debate, Minako had decided that she would seize Tenoh-san before some dimwit with all her cards in the looks department could take him. The lagging girls watched the scene with wide eyes. The one with blue hair had the shiest gaze. Haruka smiled, trying to put Ami at ease…although with Minako crushing her on the ground, she wasn't very comfortable herself.
"Do you mind?" Haruka took hold of Minako's arm. Minako's elbow was digging into her ribs.
"Huh?" Minako drew back in surprise. Haruka pushed up from the concrete, thinking the girl was trying to help her up. Instead, Haruka's extra momentum careened her into the unsuspecting Minako who raised her arms in an act of self-defense. A thick silence followed as Haruka realized Minako was now pressed against her. The teenager snuggled against Haruka's chest, blushed, and looked up.
Wait a minute.
Minako's smile began to waver…why was the area beneath her cheek soft?
"AHH! PERVERT!"
The two embracing parties jumped three feet apart.
"Oh my god…h-he's a g-girl," Minako stammered, pointing at Haruka in horror while the accused blinked naively.
"But I've always been a girl."
"Minako-chan…I can't believe you thought this girl was a boy," Makoto rolled her eyes.
"It's perfectly obvious," Rei nodded in agreement while Usagi's eyes remained saucer-wide and Ami blushed in mortification.
"I'm so sorry," Ami bowed.
"But she was the one that crashed into me," Haruka said, pointing to the guilty party. Minako blinked rapidly in an attempt to keep up her mask of innocence throughout the whole scandal.
"But I, ah, I also assumed…" Ami was too nervous to finish her sentence.
"Hey, it's okay," Haruka said her gentlest voice. The wind senshi enjoyed making girls flustered, but not from embarrassment. She smiled and the other girls blinked, trying to clear the romantic shoujo bubbles from their eyes. Haruka's gaze drifted down to her watch. "I'm late, Michiru's going to kill me!"
The inner senshi watched as Haruka ran to her motorcycle. Their gaze held until they could no longer see her driving down the asphalt.
Usagi bawled, "Such a waste!"
"You already have Mamoru!" Three girls spat in fury, while Ami made her statement a kindly reminder.
"Oh yeah, that's right." The reincarnation of the Moon Princess, the defender of Justice, the great Sailor Moon, broke down into unstoppable giggles like a toddler who had just been told a corny joke. The others sweat-dropped.
"Michiru!" Haruka dismounted from the bike quickly and put her coat over her partner. Michiru was hugging herself against the cold. "Why didn't you go inside?"
"And let you spend an hour searching for me in the mall? I couldn't make you suffer such an inconvenience," Michiru graced her partner with a small smile, "You're carrying all the bags anyway."
The wind senshi sighed, "I suppose."
"Ah, my own shining knight in armor, come to rescue me," Michiru leaned against Haruka's shoulder. Haruka looped their arms together and entwined her fingers with Michiru's.
"I don't think I'm as perfect as they say."
"Really?"
"There's at least one girl who can contest to that. She bolted away from me screaming." Something like hurt flickered through Haruka's face, but it disappeared in an instant. Michiru was baffled by Haruka's statement, but she knew how to soothe her partner's injured pride.
"To me you're absolutely perfect," Michiru tightened her hold around Haruka's hand as the truthful words were spoken. The sun shifted behind the clouds so that the Mugen's shadow no longer fell on the couple.
"Michiru," Green eyes looked adoringly into blue ones – their wonder would never fade as long as they stared into that particular shade of azure. Haruka hoped it would be forever. She smiled, and brought them nose-to-nose. "Ditto."
(Most likely) TBC …
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