17/05/05 - First of all, thank you all for your support, guys!
Keep on reviewing my work and I'll keep on writing more, that's for sure:D
RaynaDarkstorm: I'm sorry, but I can't answer you. I would just spoil things... keep on reading and you'll find out soon enough ; )
ma. grazia: Un'italiana, non ci credo! This is the first time I got a half-Italian review (well, it wasn't perfect, but still
understandable... grazie mille!). Hope you'll enjoy next chapters as well : )
Kuga-chan: Then I should say welcome in (or to? damn doubts...) the wonderful world of H&M! You'll find a lot of interesting stories, even better than mine : )
Disclaimers: Time to say it again... Sailor Moon, Haruka & Michiru are not mine, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I should say the same thing for Jounouchi Sai (a great character...), who belongs to CLAMP. I've just borrowed her for this chapter as a special guest ;)
Chapter 17: From a Different Point of View
When she woke up that morning, the alarm clock hadn't even gone off yet. It was a special morning for her, because she could finally go back to school.
Of course, under ordinary circumstances she would never have considered going to school something special, but after ten days spent at home because of a dislocated shoulder, she was more than willing to see again her friends, classmates and yes, her teachers (even Takashi-sensei!).
She rose from her bed and looked at herself in the full-length mirror.
Her red hair was rather ruffled, but she didn't care right now. Her eyes focused on the sling cradling her injured arm... the accident during the basketball match between Mugen High and Ohtori Institute had been a real misfortune for her...
She shook her head and then looked at her own image with resolution: thinking about the past was useless, now she should worry about her recovery and nothing else.
It was then that she heard a familiar voice calling from downstairs: "Nami, breakfast is ready!"
"I'm coming!" she replied, but didn't move at once.
There was another reason that she was so impatient to go back to school, she had to admit it.. and that reason was Tenoh Haruka.
The last time she had spoken with the tall blonde, he had been having problems with his graceful partner and she didn't know what had happened after her scolding to the stubborn racer.
Had they managed to solve the matter? Were they officially together now?
"Nami!"
The red-haired girl turned to the door and shouted back: "Coming!" before finally left the room.
That morning her mother drove her to school, letting her out right in front of the huge skyscraper where she attended Mugen High.
The girl took her school bag, said goodbye, and walked at a slow pace (she had to be careful with her shoulder), but when she spotted her friends in the hall, she sped up calling their names: "Sai-chan, Tsubaki-chan!"
The two girls immediatly stopped and turned to face their friend.
Jounouchi Sai was a serious looking, thin girl with shoulder length brown hair. She was a very controlled and quiet person. Nami had never even seen the girl get angry...
Ayame Tsubaki was an extroverted person with short black hair and bright, big eyes. She was a little vain sometimes, nevertheless Nami considered her a good friend. The three of them had been in school together for a very long time.
"Ohayo, Nami-chan." Tsubaki spoke first, then Sai asked with her usual detatched tone: "How do you feel?"
"Better. In about two weeks my shoulder will be all right and I'll go back to train with the team!"
"Good." again the brunette didn't show any emotion, but Nami didn't notice. She knew the girl well enough to understand her behaviour.
"So, tell me... what happened while I was gone?"
"Oh, man.. that's right... you don't know!"
"Don't know.. what?"
"There is bad news for you.. actually, for all the girls in our school... for all the teenage fans living in Tokyo!" another thing to say about Tsubaki: she was prone to exaggeration, -always-.
"What?"
"The most handsome car racer ever seen... the best piano player in our school and of all the schools in the world... the boy with the most charming smile and suave voice... the-"
"Haruka-kun and Michiru-san are engaged." when Sai interrupted her, Tsubaki glared at the brunette (who just ignored her), before focusing on Nami.
"Well.. that's not exactly breaking news..." observed the red-haired girl with a smile as they kept on walking towards their classroom.
"I know, I know... they have always been together since they arrived.. but now it's different! Now there is no doubt about their relationship!"
"And.. why is that?" Nami asked in a strange tone. If that was true, then Haruka had made up with Michiru... of course she was happy for 'the-most-handsome-car-racer-best-piano-player-etc.', yet there was a part of her that had still hoped to have a chance with Haruka and wasn't too pleased to know what had happened during the week she had spent at home...
"Now they are always together and from time to time, they disappear somewhere to do only Kami-sama knows what!" Tsubaki said in a knowing way and she had a wicked glint in her eyes.. "Not only that, they are already acting like a married couple.. and they are only sixteen!"
"Again, Tsubaki-chan, they have always been that close, they are a perfect couple and people like to day-dream about their closeness..."
But the short-haired girl wasn't going to give in: "Again, Nami-chan, I'm telling you: now it's different! The other day I was in the lift with them, before classes started and I saw Michiru-san adjusting Haruka-kun's tie. They were really close, but he didn't look embarrassed about it, not even a bit, as he smiled - oh, so cool! - and then, with that suave voice of his..." the girl concentrated and then tried to imitate Haruka: "'What would I do without you by my side?' and Michiru-san smiled back before she replied: 'You know, you're always welcome...' believe me, the air was charged with electricity.. it was like in a romantic movie! If I hadn't been there, I know they would have kissed! Aah, Michiru-san is so lucky..."
At that Nami had to roll her eyes: "That proves nothing! Haruka-kun acts that way with every girl. It is in his nature to always be so charming and gentle and since he is so close to Michiru-san.."
Nami stopped when she noted how Tsubaki was shooking her head: "No, no.. believe me, there much more to it than that... believe me, Michiru-san is Haruka-kun's girlfriend now, the whole school is talking about it."
"The whole school?" Nami was skeptical and this time it was Sai's turn to speak: "Tell her about the track accident."
"Oh yeah!" a bright smile formed on Tsubaki's lips as she spoke again: "During the training of the ladies athletic team, a girl sprained her ankle and Haruka-kun, who was there too, offered to carry the girl to the sick-room - oh, Haruka-kun is such a gentleman! I wish I was that girl..."
Tsubaki was obviously lost in her own day dream, as Nami tried to bring her back: "Well, I don't see how this proves their relation-" but the short-haired girl didn't give her the time to finish her sentence: "It was then that Michiru-san arrived and wasn't too pleased to see what was going on. Of course, Haruka-kun tried to explain how he couldn't just leave the injured student, but Michiru-san said it was only because the student was a pretty girl and then they started to argue.."
"That's not true." with her unbreakable calm, Sai stepped in, interrupting her talkative friend, trying to explain: "I was there too when Michiru-san arrived. She said something about how Haruka-kun was always available to pretty girls and that it was a problem since they were deceived by his attitude..."
"Exactly what I said... they were arguing! It was a love row!"
Both Nami and Sai looked at their now swooning friend and decided to ignore her, as the brunette continued: "Then Michiru-san said they had to leave and walked away with Haruka-kun without a second thought."
"And don't forget how she took his arm as they left... aah, they are such a perfect couple! But I'm still certain I would be a better match for him... that's for sure..."
And with that not very humble comment from Tsubaki, the three girls stopped in front of a classroom... it was Nami who spoke first: "Well, we'll talk about this later..."
"Have a nice day, Nami-chan!"
"See you later."
"See you guys later." replied the red-haired girl, before moving to her own classroom. Once there, she took her seat and waited for the lesson to start.
It was then that she heard the husky voice that always made her heart pound faster (even though she was now able to hide her inner turmoil): "You're finally back, ne Nami-chan."
"Haruka-san!"
"Konnichiwa." the tall blond smiled as he took his seat, right in front of the red-haired girl... then another familiar soft voice spoke: "It's nice to see you, Nami-san."
"Arigatou, Michiru-san."
The graceful violinist moved to sit next to her partner and Haruka promptly pulled the chair back for her. The always perfect and polite girl thanked him with a smile.
"What about your shoulder?" Haruka asked, looking at the injured arm.
"Oh, I'll survive." Nami answered with a cheerful smile, to which Michiru replied with a soft laugh: "I'm glad to see it didn't change your good mood. Haruka was really concerned for you..." she said, shooting a strange glance at her partner.
Then the bell rang and the teacher arrived. The couple turned towards the blackboard, but the red-haired girl could still hear Haruka's reply: "Well, she is a good friend.. of course I worry for her."
"Only a good friend..?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Should I be?"
And then the teacher spoke, silencing the class.
So that was what they called the 'change' in the relationship of the famous couple. It looked like they flirted with each other an awful lot, even more than before...
Yet Nami couldn't help but think there was something wrong.
Often she had observed the young car racer, especially when he was looking at the unaware Michiru. Those were the only occasions when she had seen something different in Haruka's eyes, something tender that even the young violinist hadn't noticed, because her partner was very careful to hide it from her.
But now, if they were a real couple, why did they keep on acting this way? Of course, there was something different in their behaviour... it was as if they had gotten closer but nevertheless, something prevented them from achieving true intimacy... but what was it? And why did she worry about it so much? It was none of her business.
None of her business at all...
When the bell rang, finally signaling the end of the morning lessons, Nami took a deep breath and called Haruka into a corner: "So, tell me.." she began with a bright smile: "How is it going?"
"Nani?"
"Between you and Michiru-san, of course! You have talked to her and clarified everything.. right?"
"Oh.." Haruka didn't look very happy at the memory, as he spoke: "Yeah, we made it all clear..."
"Then she is your girlfriend now.. ne?" Nami had tried to sound as neutral as possible but she couldn't deny her displeasure at the idea of the handsome car racer being caught forever.
The answer she got, however, was something she would have never expected: "Girlfriend? No, nothing like that."
"But.. I thought you wanted to tell her about your feelings..."
"What I feel or don't feel doesn't matter right now... besides, we have no time for such things..."
Nami was speechless and blinked, clearly confused: "No time..?"
The handsome car racer opened his mouth to say something, but then he seemed to.. hesitate..? Not a second later, Michiru was right by his side: "Excuse me, Nami-san. But Haruka and I have to go now."
"See you later, Nami-chan."
"See you.. later.." came the soft reply of the red-haired girl as she watched the beautiful couple leave to go - saying it like Tsubaki did - only Kami-sama knew where...
In the meantime, the couple hurried through the corridors to get to the lift, when Michiru said softly: "It's in the park area, I can feel it."
Her partner just nodded: "Let's hurry and get out of here."
After a moment of silence, the aqua-haired beauty spoke in a less serious tone: "What were you talking about with Nami-san?"
The tall blonde seemed to think about it for a moment, then with a half smile, she shook her head: "Nothing important.."
What could be more important than one's feelings?
Nami tried hard to think of an answer to her own question, but she could't find a satisfactory one. From her point of view, it was almost impossible to live ignoring what one felt (was she too romantic, perhaps?), yet Haruka obviously was... but why?
With a sigh she left her classroom to join Sai and Tsubaki for lunch.
The short-haired girl spoke again about the latest disappearance of the charming, perfect couple, but Nami said nothing, knowing how much her friend (not to mention the whole school) was far from the truth about Haruka's true relationship with Michiru.
In fact, there were a lot of things people didn't see and didn't know about the tall blond... things not hidden, but people often saw what they wanted to... things she had figured out herself by observing him.
To her, Haruka wasn't the handsome car racer.. the great piano player.. the famous idol of all teenagers.. the fastest runner.. or the always charming student... to her, Haruka was just a wonderful woman.
And Nami really hoped Haruka could be happy with the lifestyle she had chosen for herself...
