Disclaimer: Check Ch. 1

The Misted Glass of an Angel

We were soon off the ferry and traveling towards the financial district. From time to time, Mutsumi and I would point out various buildings that Mitsune might be interested in. She seemed all right with them. Once in a while, Mitsune would stop for a few moments in front of a certain window and stare for a few moments, whatever it was. It didn't bother me.

As we headed to a small, discreet building, Mitsune looked at the street sign and commented.

"Would there be hospital nearby?" I nodded. "The NYU Medical Center."

We stopped outside that small, discreet building that happened to have a huge line in front of it. A huge line. I looked at it warily then made my way up to the bellboy.

"How long do you think this is going to take?"

"What?"

"The line into the office to see the creditors. I have to see them because these are late." I showed him my bills.

"Well, ma'am, the lines are pretty long. This lady here," He motioned to a young girl. It was Naru. "She's been here for over two hours now. She's been ranting about it all along." He whispered the last part. I didn't blame him.

I nodded and grimaced. I'd come all the way over here and was not going to let some long line stop me from paying these bills. I went over to Naru, spoke a few frustrating words with her then took my place in the line with Mutsumi and Mitsune.

Mitsune was still looking around but now she would occasionally refer back to a little piece of paper in her hands. This caught my interest. I looked at her for a few more seconds before a small smile appeared on her face and she turned to me.

"I'm going to leave for a while. I…want to explore, if that's all right with you. I'll be off now." I nodded. Mutsumi looked after her.

"Won't she get lost?" I looked back at the retreating Mitsune urgently.

"Mitsune! Why don't you have Mutsumi come with you?"  She shook her head and continued on. I sighed and waited for the long line to diminish.

.~.

"You're leaving?"

Nod.

"Why?"

"More opportunities there. Much more. I can't be anyone here."

"Well then I'm coming! Where are you going anyways?"

"No you're not coming. I'm going to the to the U.S."

"I want to come!"

"You're staying. And that's final. No complaints. I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"I want to come! You can't stop me! Why are you leaving so early?"

"You can't come! You'll get in my way! I can stop you. You'll stay or this will come true."

The paper was waved threateningly.  "And I'm leaving early because that's the first available flight. Love you. Bye."

"Love you."

It was a whisper that wasn't heard.

.~.

I was soon allowed to see the creditor. Wait, I lied. It wasn't soon. It was three hours later. Mitsune still wasn't back yet. But that wasn't that bad. It was Mutsumi going on about…Jerko? That was bad. I don't think that was his name but he can just deal with it because I was bored.

"And his eyes! Did you see his eyes? They looked like…chocolate cookies! Don't you love chocolate cookies? I think they're lovely! Especially when you get that extra bite of-"

"Excuse me?" It was the bellboy. I looked over at him, smacking my bills into Mutsumi's face. She looked at them and exclaimed, "Why, it must be raining envelopes!"

"I-It's your turn ma'am." I nodded politely and made my way inside. I was led to an office at the back where I met with the creditor. The meeting was pretty short. I had to pay extra because my bills were so late. But at least I got them paid. The guy was actually pretty nice about it. That was a change.

I exited the building, hoping to God that Mitsune was back. I must be psychic (or my prayers were answered) and she was outside waiting for us. She was chatting with Naru, who seemed to have just left eh building.

I interrupted and asked Naru if she would like to join us. She politely declined, stating that she had to go off on a date with someone. I was guessing Keitaro, but don't mark my words.

Soon, the two of us, Mitsune and myself were off. Mutsumi decided to go home and rant to her parents about her new relationship with this Jerko guy. Heck, I was happy for her but she was extremely happy.

Mitsune and I made our way down to the park, where I had promised Seta I would meet him. On our way there, we grabbed a hotdog. As we made our way to the spot where I would be meeting Seta, I questioned Mitsune on where she had gone.

"Where'd you go?" She looked over at me, chewing. She bobbed her head to the amount of times she chewed, and then proceeded to tell me.

"Somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"Somewhere…important. Are there any churches around here?" I wasn't deceived.

"Yeah. We can go later. Why was is so important?" We had reached the waiting place. We stopped and sat down on the dry grass.

"It…had to do…with…my…well…" She pondered how to phrase it, screwing up her face in the process.

"It had to do with Japan." The finality in her tone told me the conversation was over. I nodded and waited for Seta to arrive. As usual, his punctuality was off by five, ten minutes. He jogged up to us, wearing his business suit. Apparently it was his lunch break. As his eyes landed on Mitsune, I could have sworn he was about to whistle.

"Hey Haruka! Don't you ever smile? Your friends name is?" I skipped to the second question.

"Seta, this is Mitsune-"

"Kitsune, please. It's for close friends."

"I'm glad you consider me a close friend, Kitsune."

"The question you asked her," She jabbed a finger in my direction. Seta sat down next to her. "Isn't it true? She never smiles!"

"Never! But you, my fair lady, have a lovely smile."

"Do I detect flirting?"

"If you would allow just a hint."

"I allow. But not too much. I am alone after all."

"I can fix that. How about-" I had had enough. Had I suddenly become a ghost or something? Did the not see me sitting right here? Hello??

"Seta? She can't go out with you. She's…tied down at the moment." Mitsune looked at me, mildly shocked.

"But, I'm sure Haruka would allow the three of us to go to a night club Friday." Both of them looked over at me. I shook my head. They could go. I wasn't.

"You have to come Haruka. You've never gone to one before." Seta argued.

"You haven't gone to a night club? Shame on you! C'mon, you're going. But we'll need to buy you some clothes because there is no way you are wearing that to the club." Mitsune pointed disdainfully towards my burgundy sweater and olive pants. I thought it looked good.

"Yeah, Haruka. You look like you're fifty." Initiating self-defense mode.

"I do not! I look like a normal twenty seven year old!" Mitsune made gagging noises and Seta laughed.

"How about this? We ask a complete and random stranger, how old you look. Okay?" I nodded hesitantly at Seta's proposal. It wasn't too bad of an idea.

"Also, if you do look older than…thirty, we have to go shopping." Mitsune said.

"But I have no money!" Like that was going to deter them. They both pointed to themselves and said, "I do." They began laughing after that.

A stranger soon came by and Mitsune pulled him aside with her 'womanly charm', as she like to call it. She pointed to me, and the man nodded. She stepped back and asked him The Question.

He replied. Mitsune thanked him and walked back over to Seta and me, no change of expression on her face.

"Well?" Seta questioned.

"Haruka, you look forty-five." I was stunned. That was almost twenty years older than my real age! I looked down at my clothes, pulling at some of the edges. "Do I really look that old?" Both nodded. Seta then checked his watch.

"Well, it's been fun but I must be off. Lunch break is almost over. See you tonight, Haruka. Bye Mitsune. See you Friday." He left, whistling to an unknown tune.

.~.

I think I was still in shock because when I came to my senses, I found myself in a nearby department store. Mitsune was pushing a cart that toted many, many clothes. There were dresses, slacks, shirts, sweaters, everything.

"Will this fit me?" Mitsune paused in going through racks of clothes. She eyed the clothes then my figure. Nodding, she returned to her job.

I began to sort through the various clothes in the cart. I found a red dress that came to about under the knees. I kind of stared at it. It was daring, being sleeveless and with a deep v-neck. But then it was modest too. Oh great. Now I was freaking out over a simple dress.

It was just that I'd never really dressed myself up. There wasn't much to dress up for. I considered school and work to employ casual clothes. But then after today, I figured that my clothes weren't meant for casual. They were meant for the grave.

Mitsune dropped a few more items into the cart and we made our way to the dressing room. She had me change into the various clothes. All of them fit very well, and I have to say that I was comfortable in most of them.

"How'd you know my size?" I asked, as I stepped out of the dressing room to show her the Red Dress.

"You're a size smaller than me. It's no problem." I nodded and tried on the rest of the clothes.

We were soon out of there, toting quite a few bags. They almost clashed with my drab clothes. We were walking back towards the ferry when I remembered an earlier request of Mitsune's.

"Oh! Mitsune! Don't you want to go to a church?" She looked at me, surprised that I had remembered and nodded.

I changed directions at the next street and we made our way over to the nearby church. It was pretty empty but it was one of my favorites. Mitsune walked ahead of me, obviously in awe of its beauty.

"All places of worship are like this." She whispered. "Beautiful." I stepped forward too, getting ready to pray. Might as well since I was there.

I sat down next to her. Mitsune finished up her praying quickly, waiting patiently for me to finish. I suppose the reason I took so long was because I had so many things to pray for.

Thanking Him, I opened my eyes and looked over at Mitsune. She nodded and we left solemnly. Once we entered the hustle bustle on the outside street, Mitsune asked a question.

"What did you pray for?"

"What?"

"What did you pray for?"

"Well…Lots of things. Like Shinobu to be happy, my grandmother to be nice, me to be happy, mom to be happy…everyone to be happy." She nodded and let a small smile grace her lips.

"That's nice." I looked at her. "What did you pray for?"

"Hmmm…a long life. For everyone…and me…" I looked straight ahead. That was a nice prayer. I said so and we boarded the ferry, weighed down with all of our shopping.

.~.

We soon reached home, where Mitsune weakly handed me the bags and walked across the street. I think she was seasick. I opened up the door with one hand and was immediately greeted by World War III.

I shook my head and dropped off my bags upstairs. I ran downstairs where I met Kanako, Keitaro and Shinobu.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Motoko got a boyfriend and grandma doesn't like it." I nodded gravely. Obviously, he wasn't Japanese. "What's his name?"

"Ehhh...I think itsh Bwian.

"Brian?" They all nodded. Building myself up, I entered the war zone.

Motoko and my grandmother were on opposite ends of the room, both yelling at each other as loud as possible. I had to stop it. I was barely home for five seconds and someone was trying to kill my grandmother. I wouldn't be surprised if I called the funeral home tomorrow asking for a jar for cut up bodies.

"Just because he's not Japanese-"

"Makes him horrible! He won't know-"

"He can learn, damn you!"

"Don't be disrespectful to-" My turn.

"Shut up!" Immediate silence. I love my power. "Grandma, go upstairs and read your book on overcoming stress with onions-"

"It's not onions!"

"Your room sure smells like them!" Motoko shot at her. I gave her The Glare. "Motoko, you need to go talk with this Brian guy. Maybe you can calm down then."

All of them dispersed, though grudgingly. I sat down with my head in my palms. When would my wishes come true? Probably never.

But Mitsune wouldn't let that happen, now would she?

.~.

…I think that except for the ending, this was a pretty strong chapter. I've set up most of the plot in this chapter so look out people. I know you all think its just about healing Haruka but…hehehe…. Don't expect anything big though. Just a simple story to go with this. Thanks for the reviews!! LOVED THEM ALL!!

Reviews:

mr-winkie- I liked the argument because it was long. Something I have trouble doing. And it was something smart that I wish I could come up with in times of need.

velocet- If you want to review than be my guest!! ^.^ I'm almost mad at you. You're too good at guessing! I was holding off on the plot because I wanted to establish a few things that aren't major but need to be known. And as for this chapter, there are plot hints everywhere. And yes, I'm not telling you a lot of stuff *.*  …* dramatic music inserted here *

Brian, Warrior of Time- Hope you don't mind but from your review, I got the hint that Motoko or Mutsumi is your favorite. So I inserted you into my fic. Hope you enjoy and I always look forward to your reviews!

Book of Doom- Awww…Thanks! My take on Mutsumi is really just her being a complete airhead. So hope you like! How's your mugendai coming along?