Chapter 2: May I present, Kaioh-san.
Haruka pulled her car into the driveway of an expensive hotel at 8:30am, Monday morning. As she locked the driver's door she paused to once again check her tie in her car's side mirror. Today she'd chosen to wear a black suit, white collared shirt and black tie. With her hair combed neatly she seemed to look very professional, at least to herself.
The lobby was large and quiet as she entered. It was decorated in soft cream and dark wood colors, the entire atmosphere seeming to be well suited for a hotel with mostly rich clients and businessmen. A receptionist sat at a desk speaking to a uniformed guard. The two seemed to be oblivious to the new visitor, continuing their discussion about some unknown topic. Haruka strode over and cleared her throat in order to make her presence known. Both looked up at the blonde, the receptionist jumping a little in surprise.
"How may I help you, sir?" Asked the receptionist, once she'd gathered herself again. She did her best to regard Haruka with a professional, calm look while collecting her wits.
"I'm here to see Kaioh, M." Haruka replied, not bothering to correct her about the gender, it wasn't like it didn't happen all the time. When the woman gave her an odd look she continued. "I have an appointment but they didn't give me the room number."
"Oh." The receptionist typed something into her computer. She read the screen and smiled up at the tall blonde before her desk. "Here we are. She's on the tenth floor, room 1014."
"Thank you." Haruka replied, with a polite smile as she turned toward the elevators.
The elevator ride to the tenth floor was short and when the shiny, silver doors opened Haruka stepped out into a warmly lit hall with a large window at one end. Doors lined both sides of the hall, each with well-shined golden numbers. She began to walk down the hall, checking each door's number as she went, and entirely missing the young woman standing before her in the hall.
"You must be Ten'ou-san." An amused voice quietly spoke into the silent hall, just before she could walk into the shorter woman. Haruka nearly yelped in surprise as she heard the young woman, she could have sworn no one was in the hall a moment ago.
Laughter was heard as an older, white man stepped from the doorway of room 1014. He smiled good-naturedly at the blonde from behind the young Asian woman. She was four inches shorter than Haruka, with shoulder length aqua hair and deep blue eyes. She smiled kindly at the taller woman before her.
"Ten'ou Haruka, may I present, Kaioh Michiru." Howard indicated the aqua haired woman with one hand. He fought a wicked smile back as he spoke his next words. "She is the one I have sold your soul to."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Haruka spoke in English, bowing politely to the woman in front of her. As Michiru returned the gesture Haruka spoke again, this time in Japanese. "Please forgive Howard-san's bad sense of humor. We are nice enough to let him think he is funny."
"But Ten'ou-san, he did sell me your soul." Michiru returned in Japanese with a shy smile. "I put it in a box in my mini refrigerator."
Howard cleared his throat, reminding the two women that he had no idea what they were saying. He gestured them back into the suite, leading the way after a brief pause. The two women smiled at his back before also entering the suite.
Once inside, Howard began to fill them in on the details of the Vegas concerts and practice sessions. He informed both that the convention center's concert hall had been reserved for the entire month. The next two weeks they would have access to it to practice at all hours of the day, and Haruka would be paid a salary for the month to avoid having to use a time card system. The last two weeks the hall was theirs before and after the concerts.
"I think that covers everything." Howard said with a smile, finally covering all the small details. He regarded both women for a moment longer. "The hall is yours starting tomorrow, we wanted it today but they needed to finish a convention or something. Today is yours to do as you two please, but I suggest you get to know a little about each other."
"Thank you, Howard-san." Michiru said quietly. Howard grinned at her, finding the new title cute. He gave a poor attempt at a bow and left the two alone.
"So, what should we do today, Kaioh-san." Haruka grinned at the other woman after Howard's footsteps were no longer heard in the hall. "After all, you are the boss."
"Perhaps we could get some lunch and, as Howard-san said, get to know each other." Michiru smiled up at the blonde. Haruka had to stop for a second; taking notice for the first time that Michiru was, in fact, a very attractive young woman.
"Sounds good." Haruka stood and couldn't help but fall back into her habit of flirting, even if this was her 'boss'. She opened the door and held it for the other woman, bowing yet again. "Right this way, my lady."
Michiru walked out the door with a warm smile, Haruka not far behind.
The two didn't speak again until they reached a small restaurant. Haruka had chosen it because she knew few of the tourists came here. As they entered she saw Michiru's surprised look. The entire restaurant was painted red with golden dragons sprawled across the walls.
"This is one of my favorite places." Haruka spoke near the shorter woman's ear. They were still near the entrance. "They serve Japanese and Chinese food, plus not many people even know it's here."
"You must bring dates here all the time, I see." Michiru joked playfully as an Asian woman beckoned them over, calling Haruka by name.
"No, actually I'm married and she hates Asian food." Haruka watched for any reaction as she led Michiru toward the worker. All the shorter woman did was raise one aqua colored brow.
"Haruka! You finally brought someone with you!" The older woman exclaimed, sounding maternal toward the tall twenty-four year old. She came over to give the tall blonde a hug and bowed to Michiru. "I was afraid I'd never see you with a date."
"No, no." Haruka waved her hands in front of her as Michiru stifled a laugh with one hand. "Really Kari, she isn't my date, you know I'm married." Haruka pointed at a gold band on her left ring finger as proof.
"Yes, yes, but its still nice to see you not sitting alone for once." The older woman smiled at Haruka like the tall blonde was a child. "And who is your lovely friend?"
"Kaioh Michiru, this is Kari Carter." She watched Michiru bow to the older woman. "She and her husband own this place, she was the first person from Japan I meet after I moved here."
"Its nice to meet you, Kaioh-san." The older woman smiled and pointed at a white man over behind cash register. He seemed to be taking care of tabs for various tables. "That would be my husband, Robert. He doesn't know how to make or pronounce most of the foods, but he likes to help." This brought a small laugh from both younger women and a warm smile from Kari.
After a bit more time they were lead to Haruka's usual table. As it turned out it was in the back, nearly invisible to the rest of the dining room. Michiru looked around a moment, taking in the way that Haruka seemed to enjoy isolation or solitude. She pondered the difference until a waiter popped up to take their orders. Curious about her new co-worker she asked Haruka to order for her.
"Howard-san hasn't told me much about you." Michiru commented across the table. She looked up into a pair of clear teal eyes. "So you're married?"
"Yes." Haruka seemed to pause. She looked away for a moment, staring at nothing in particular as she avoided eye contact. "Her name is Jill, we met when I was seven-teen."
Michiru smiled as she realized what must being going through her new friend's head. 'She probably thinks I am going to fire her. If she only knew.' Michiru thought as she patted Haruka's hand.
"Its good you found someone, Ten'ou-san. And all the way over here, Howard-san did say you were from Tokyo." Michiru was relieved as Haruka relaxed into her chair. Her eyes seemed to light up a bit and she looked somewhat excited.
"I came for a vacation when I was finishing high school. I was in my last week here when I met Jill and decided to stay." A small look of sadness started to cross through Haruka's eyes. "I do miss Tokyo now and then."
Before anymore could be said their food arrived and the two began to eat. There was silence until they had both finished the meal and were walking toward the front. Haruka paid mister Carter and led the way back to her car while showing Michiru a picture of Jill. It was snapped when they were just starting off together and you could tell Jill had no idea it was being taken. The young woman's brown hair was disheveled and she looked to be just waking up. Michiru had to cover her mouth to restrain a laugh.
"So, now that I have spilled information about my love life, what about you, Kaioh-san?" Haruka asked her after they were back on the road. They had no destination so they just drove around Vegas.
"Well, the only special person in my life right now is in my hotel suite." Michiru commented mischievously. "He was in the bedroom earlier, would you like to meet him, Ten'ou-san?"
Author's note:
Sorry if this chapter seems a bit short. I am trying to write with out using borders or spaces to separate sections of the story. I seem to have problems with and those. Thanks for reading.