Haruka heard faint music floating from the concert hall as she approached. Howard had given both woman keycards for the doors, so she could only assume it was Michiru. Coming closer to the door she stopped to quietly listen. The violin music held a haunting quality, drifting through the air to the ears of any who'd stop to listen.
Finally Haruka swept her keycard through the reader next to the door, opening it and stepping into the back stage area. Now the music was crystal clear, leading her over to the stage where the young violinist stood with her eyes closed. Haruka watched, silently, as Michiru played through the unknown song. The aqua haired young woman seemed to be at peace, calmly drowning in her own world behind those closed eyes. She gently swayed as she played, dancing with her violin much like a teenager would with a walk-man.
"Good morning, Ten'ou-san." Michiru spoke softly as her song ended. Her eyes opened to regard the blonde woman leaning silently against a wall as she played.
"Good morning, Kaioh-san. That was amazing, what was it?" Haruka asked as she grinned at the other woman.
"Half of a duet I composed two years ago. I was thinking of having it recorded but I've never found the right person to play the piano part." Michiru smiled as she gestured to the black grand piano placed on the left half of the stage. "Would you like to try?"
"I'd be honored." Haruka bowed before she walked over to the piano bench.
Michiru followed and sat quietly next to the tall blonde as she read quickly over the sheet music. For a moment Haruka's fingers drummed over the top of the closed cover over the keys, mimicking how to play notes in her mind. Teal eyes focused on to the hand written music, taking in the multiple pages with interest. After several long moments she gently set the sheet music back, face down, on top of the piano.
Michiru was halted from commenting when Haruka uncovered the keys and began to play. Music floated flawlessly from the grand piano as Haruka concentrated purely on the keys. She played the new piece as if she had played it for years, never missing a note or pause. After a moment Michiru stood, taking up a spot just behind the taller blonde and placing her violin once again to her shoulder. After a short pause violin notes joined, completing the duet in a hauntingly beautiful melody.
This continued until the two musicians reached the end of the piece. Both fell into complete silence, both perfectly still; as if to move or speak would ruin the music even after it had ended. With a small smile Michiru realized she'd found the person she wanted to take along on the tour. She had never run across a pianist who'd so quickly taken to a song before, or one who played with so much confidence the first time they played a song.
Several hours later there was a quiet knock on the door, which made both players, pause in their practice. Haruka stood and walked to the side door, a curious Michiru close behind her. After a moment Haruka opened the door to find Jill on the other side. Before she could ask a pet carrier was trust into her arms by the irate brunet.
"I swear, Haruka, that cat is a menace!" Jill exclaimed pointing at the gray carrier. " I didn't do anything, didn't get near her and she comes into the bedroom and bites me! If you wont get rid of her she is not staying home when you're gone."
"Jill, honey she's just a cat. How much damage could she have done?" Haruka half pled with the other woman. "I mean I'm not sure Kaioh-san really wants a cat running around the concert hall."
Michiru was doing an admirable job of not laughing at the poor blonde's back, though she couldn't hold in a small, amused smile. She could not see Jill but the tone of voice did make this cat sound as if it were a danger to human life. Haruka had set the carrier gently to the side of the door and she caught a glimpse of blue-gray fur and green eyes peaking through the bars curiously.
'You don't look like such a menace.' Michiru thought with another grin. She stepped up to Haruka's side, finally catching sight of the brunet whom was showing the blonde a number deep bite marks.
"Its alright, Ten'ou-san." Michiru interrupted the two. The brunet looked up and when their eyes met she looked shocked. Quickly Jill looked back toward her car as if in a hurry to get somewhere. "I'm sure the cat wont be any trouble, after all T-kun comes with me on all my tours."
"Thank you, miss Kaioh." She quickly turned and left before Haruka could say anything. After the car drove off the blonde closed the door and sighed. She closed her eyes as she leaned against the door, rubbing her temple. Sometimes the things Jill did could just give her a headache that would last for days.
She heard a latch open but didn't think much of it. A light shuffling was heard, clothe moving across the floor, then Michiru giggling at something. Haruka smiled a bit at the sound, it was a bit calming to hear. Soon she registered a new sound, loud purring. Her eyes snapped open only to find Michiru sitting quietly on the floor next to the open carrier. Her legs were folded under her, skirt carefully placed not to wrinkle or show anything. And on the floor next to her was Wind-Chaser.
The bluish-gray cat was rolling on her back, allowing Michiru to gently scratch at the soft fur of her belly, and purring in joy. The sight was so shocking that Haruka had to blink her eyes to make sure it was real. Finally she knelt and gently picked the cat up, holding it where she could lock eyes with it. For long moments the two stared at each other as Wind continued to purr. Michiru watched this all in silence.
"Who are you and what have you done with the REAL Wind-Chaser?" Haruka asked in pure shock. Michiru could no longer hold it in. Her laughter sounded to Haruka like musical bells. Wind seemed to almost smirk at her as she wriggled out of Haruka's grasp and plopped back down next to the laughing young woman.
The rest of the day continued with out anything happening. Wind took to sleeping atop the expensive piano as Haruka and Michiru went over the music for the concert. Wind took more than a small shine to Michiru through out the day, even sitting in the young woman's lap as she as she sat next to Haruka going over sheet music. It was well past five when the two decided to call it a night.
"Thank you, Kaioh-san, for letting Wind stay. I just can't understand why she dislikes Jill so much." Haruka said as they reached Michiru's suite. Haruka had driven her back to her hotel.
"She wasn't any trouble, Ten'ou-san. Bring her any time you'd like." Michiru smiled up at the woman beside her. "Jill is welcome to, if she'd like to come listen."
"I doubt it, but I'll invite her." Haruka sighed. "She doesn't seem to like instrumental music. Or racing."
"Racing?" Michiru gave her a curious look. The blonde instead of answering merely bowed to the violinist.
"Maybe I'll explain tomorrow, Kaioh-san." Haruka winked at the shorter woman before turning away. "Sweet dreams."
It wasn't long before Haruka was walking through the door of her house, eyes skimming over sheet music she held in her hand as she walked toward the kitchen. All the house lights were off as she quietly carried Wind's cage in her free hand. She entered the kitchen and put the carrier down on the tile floor as she set the music on the table. Before she could open the cage however, the light clicked on.
"You're late." Jill said dryly. She stood next to the light switch, dressed for bed with a robe on. "I was waiting for you."
"We had to finish practice, Jill." Haruka replied calmly. She crouched to open the carrier and allow Wind some freedom again. The small gray cat practically zoomed out of the carrier; she hated to be locked up for any amount of time. "And what you did wasn't very polite."
"Oh, why didn't you tell me your boss was a woman?" Jill asked, drastically changing the topic. She had a very accusing tone as she took a seat at the table. "She's very pretty I might add."
"She is still my boss, and Howard didn't tell me either." Haruka reasoned as she took out the canned food, placed it in a cat dish, and gave it to the starving Wind-Chaser. She then took a seat across from Jill at the table. "What does it matter if she is good-looking, Jill?"
"So you admit she's 'good-looking'!" Jill hopped to her feet stabbing a finger toward Haruka from across the table. She sounded like an insulted teenager. When Haruka sighed and rolled her eyes Jill seemed to just get angrier. "You're attracted to her aren't you?"
"What?" Haruka blinked at her wife, caught completely off guard. What bothered her most was that, eight years ago she'd have been right. Eight years ago when Haruka didn't have a wedding band on her finger, or a wife waiting for her at home she would have found the short violinist very attractive.
"You heard me, Haruka Ten'ou!" Jill was livid at this point. "I heard how you addressed her, isn't san a way to address someone close to you?"
"Actually, I think you mean chan. Jill san is more like mister or miss." Haruka paused in her explanation when she saw another angry look cross Jill's face. Haruka tried once more to calm her wife down. "There's nothing going on, love."
"Oh, so that's why you're home five hours after work. And don't explain those Jap terms to me!" Jill glared and said one last thing before storming from the room. "You sleep on the couch tonight, Ten'ou!"
Haruka winced as the kitchen door slammed loudly into its frame. She looked down to see that Wind had jumped nearly a foot from her food bowl and the little cat's fur was standing on end. After a moment her horrible sense of humor kicked in and she looked at the cat with a defeated and grim half smile.
"Maybe I should have excepted, Kaioh-san's offer of the couch in her suite. And here I thought that would give Jill the wrong idea." She shook her head as the cat mewed at her. "I know, Wind-chan I know. Your owner used to be good with women, you know."
The next morning came early to Haruka. She woke to Wind's continual purring from atop her stomach; the furry blue-gray body doing it's best to wake its master. She opened her eyes then glanced around. After a full five minutes she remembered why she was on the couch instead of in her bed.
A glance at her watch sent Haruka's eyes wide and she put Wind on the floor before running for the up-stairs bathroom. Minutes later Haruka emerged, marginally cleaner and more awake though wearing the same clothes. Jill, it seemed, had locked the bedroom door while she was angry. Haruka walked into the kitchen, quickly gathering some cat supplies and food into a duffle bag as Wind walked into the carrier and curled up for a nap.
With out time to even grab breakfast the blonde jogged out the door, Wind's cage in one hand, keys and sheet music in the other and a duffle on her shoulder. She probably broke a number of state laws as she sped toward the convention center. Traffic was mild but when you drive at eighty miles an hour in a thirty-five zone, well it doesn't make other people happy. She managed to avoid police cars through out the short trip and pulled into the large empty parking lot still at high speed.
The car's tires screeched as Haruka came to a sort of spinning halt in a reserved parking place. Seconds ticked by after the screech died down and Haruka shut off the engine. She put her head against the steering wheel, contemplating what she should say about her tardiness to the violinist waiting some where inside. A knock on her passenger side window made her jump in her seat, until she noticed whom it was.
Michiru opened the car door as the lock clicked. She sat down and pulled it closed again as she regarded the disheveled blonde next to her. She'd been a bit surprised the woman was late, and far more surprised when she drove into the parking area at speeds most people would only use on a high way. Now, looking at her up close she had to wonder about the clothes from yesterday and the somewhat wild, just out of bed appearance.
"Is anything wrong, Ten'ou-san?" She finally asked with noticeably concern in her voice. The blonde flinched visibly.
"No, nothing." She shot the other woman a falsely confident grin. "Sorry I'm a little late."
"Three hours." Michiru commented lightly. She glanced back and saw Wind-Chaser again caged in the back seat and was surprised to see the cat fast asleep. Finally with a small smile she looked back at the blonde again. "I was going to leave for lunch, I ate breakfast a bit early today. Would you like to come?"
"Sure." This time Haruka's smile was real, happy that the subject had been dropped. She turned her car back on, Michiru quickly grabbing and fastening her seatbelt. "Where to?"
AN.
Thank you for the reviews, I promise all questions will be answered in time.