p a r t f o u r
Sweat finally built up enough upon Haruka's brow to where a drop fell into her eye. Reluctantly, she stopped running to wipe at it. This was the fourth time she had been interrupted by the fluid. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, because she realized the exertion she put herself through in her legs. Even though this was a potentially dangerous occurrence, it felt incredible; she knew she had done what she planned to do. Walking a short distance to slow her breathing and heartbeat, she couldn't help but think of everything. Why would Galaxia come back and not Chaos? Did she resurrect the Sailor Animates? Since she and Michiru weren't physically together at the time, would she attack sooner? Would she attack? Where was Michiru?
Thinking of her wasn't as frustrating, since the running helped calm her down. Maybe they could meet each other halfway. A sensation of cold washed over her skin. Sweat had dissolved into small salt crystals upon her arms when she stretched one last time. She needed to shower before she left. Not wanting to waste time as always, Haruka made haste to the locker room, passing her locker. When she arrived at a shower stall, she ran the water to nearly scalding temperature. Leaving her clothes in a messy pile, she promptly entered the stall. Unlike Michiru, Haruka did only what was necessary — she scrubbed until she knew that all sweat and grime was gone. When she finished with the soap, she put it away and bent down to rinse suds from her shins. Blinking a few times, she put a hand to her head and closed her eyes. I'm losing it. I really am. She could have sworn she had seen strands of Michiru's hair caught in the drain. After brushing suds from her skin in one simple swipe, she stepped out of the shower. It took her a minute to find a towel rack that actually had towels on it, but she eventually took one and dried off. She walked around with it on for a few seconds before arriving at her locker and taking her clothes out. With this, she took out her cell phone, wallet, and watch. Once she was dressed, she put her cell phone and wallet into her pocket and donned her watch after that.
"Shit, she's already been here." A little ticked, mainly at herself, Haruka threw her workout clothes in her bag and took off once she locked her locker. How could it have been four-o'-clock already?
Getting ready quickly really wasn't a favorite pastime of Michiru's, but if she wanted to make this meeting time, twenty-five minutes was her maximum time for staying in her room and bathroom. She didn't have to shower; she was happy that she had swum earlier. After tending to a few household chores, she saw that she only had ten minutes. Scampering around her room, she gathered her make-up and jewelry. Michiru hurriedly applied make-up after running to her bathroom. She took a second to decide which perfume she was to use and then undressed before spraying it upon her chest, neck, and arms lightly. The rest of her body didn't need this, since it still smelled like the nice-scented soap at the health club. Making haste to her closet, she threw it open and looked at what she had. She smiled to see that her 'little black dress' was still in there. It was, of course, a black dress, with simple but elegant and attractive design. Since it was a halter dress, she had to tie the top of it together behind her neck after putting it on. The neckline came down pretty low, the show stopping an inch or so past her bustline. She was thankful that she had many types of bras. Shoes weren't an incredibly hard decision for Michiru, unlike with many others; she chose elegant, black, sandal-like shoes that contained straps crossing up to her shins. Because of the dress being short, and a sudden want to not show off her legs too much, the idea was perfect. Well, she thought so, anyway. The last thing she did before leaving was don her jewelry: a simple silver pendant with a black stone, a silver charm — that's funny, she didn't have it. She found a silver bangle and wore it, instead. After she made sure she was completely ready — by a quick glance in the mirror — she turned off all of the lights and locked all the doors in the house, closing the last one behind her as she walked out of it. In two minutes, she was gone, and in forty-five minutes, she'd arrive at Seven Green. She figured that it didn't matter that she was two minutes late getting out the door.
Haruka was glad that she took good care of her brakes, because she used them most definitely when she pulled into their driveway. If it wasn't obvious that she wanted to talk to Michiru through her hurried movements, dazed expression, and overall distressed appearance, then one must be looking through the wrong looking glass. She put the car in 'park,' yanked the keys out of the ignition, and got out of the car by jumping out; it was a convertible after all. Locking the doors with the small remote, she looked around. Damnit.
Haruka opened the door and entered, closing it directly behind her and standing still just inside the doorway. Exhaling, she looked around. No one is here . . . why do I do that? She walked around the living room, thinking of where Michiru could have gone to, then suddenly felt like taking a nap. Perhaps she was dreaming. Perhaps if she went to sleep in this dream, she would wake up to Michiru her side in reality. Who in the hell am I kidding? She shook her head and went into their bedroom. Once she caught sight of the bed, she couldn't help but stare at it; she thought of all the pillow talk they had engaged in, then of more . . . strenuous activity. At that point in time, she figured that that exact bed would be the iciest place in the galaxy. When that feeling hit her, she knew that she had to get out of that house again. So, she drifted to Michiru's vanity and opened the second drawer to find her love's sticky pad, only to become even more upset. The note Michiru received earlier was 'stashed away' in there. Livid wasn't even half-enough to describe her mood. Again, she was gone, the clock reading five-twenty-seven.
I wonder why she's doing this . . . Michiru thought, as she pulled into a parking lot across the street. Since it was only five-forty-nine, she had a good few minutes to reflect upon whatever she wanted. So, she stared wondering what hijinx Haruka was up to. The woman smiled, thinking about it all. The woman even chuckled while imagining a few . . . sillier things. Before she knew it, it was six-o'-one. Oh well . . . 'fashionably late' people never get scolded.
Seven Green was a restaurant that had opened not very long before Michiru's meeting, just a few months prior. The spot gained popularity quickly and by the way it was kept up, and of course, the prices, it was considered 'upscale.' One of the things that many liked to do at Seven Green was invite their dates to the place anonymously. If the host is given a name upon the list, he or she would mention the table number and the person could see who invited them there on their own, since the table numbers were actually displayed.
Very nervous now even though she didn't show it well, Michiru walked into the front door of the establishment, ravishing. The host smiled to her and opened his book, flipping to a certain page.
The man finally seemed ready as she approached him. "May I help you?"
"Yes. I am meeting someone. My name is Kaioh, Michiru." She flashed him a polite smile.
He searched the page for her name and eventually found it, grinning. "Ah, here we are. Room A, to your left, and table fourteen. Enjoy your meal and have a good time."
"How kind. Thank you, sir." said Michiru, giving a more genuine smile. She followed his instructions and eventually entered the door to the left of the kind host.
Inside, the place was beautiful. Candles were everywhere, people were dressed up, elegant music was playing . . . it was like a dream. Having finally woken up from this dream a few minutes after standing in the doorway, Michiru looked for table fourteen. One, two, three . . . eventually, she came to twelve. At that time, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them . . . and gasping to her surprise.