Killings: My Left Hand
Sailormoon (Haruka) fanfiction
immo - immo@hamena.org
rating:PG-13
Well, someone said I should continue. And I'm still on my creative streak, so here we go!
~~~
"Mr Slobodianik," Haruka stood there respectfully. When she reached into her pocket, the man that stood at
the mob boss' side, reached for the gun in his shoulder holster.
"No need for that now, do we?" Haruka smiled, what was meant to be a reassuring smile, but only managed to
make the man a tad more skittish.
"Serge."
The bodyguard lowered his hand, but still eyed Haruka nervously. Haruka chuckled, and pulled out the late
Mr Maximoff's personal effects.
A watch, that had dried blood crusting on it. A silver chain. A wallet. Two rings.
Slobodianik reached for the rings. The wedding band, he tossed aside; it was the second ring he was
interested in.
"Tenoh."
Haruka inclined her head slightly.
"You have done me a great service." Sacha Slobodianik's thick russian accent laced his english. "I am...
pleased."
"Thank you, Mr Slobodianik."
"You see this ring?" Slobodianik held up the thick platinum band. "Look inside."
The boss tossed it over to Haruka, who caught it easily. Engraved on the inside were some undecipherable
characters.
"Sir?"
"In russian, it says 'my left hand'." Sacha regarded Haruka with a cool grey eye. "That man killed for me,
as this one does--" Nikolai motioned to the bodyguard beside him, "He was close as family. I have forgotten, that
even family betray each other. You can keep that ring."
Slobodianik pulled open a drawer, and took out a small manila envelope. Pushing it across the desk, he
motioned for Haruka to pick it up.
"It is your payment."
Haruka picked it up and smiled apologetically to Slobodianik before she opened the envelope and counted out
the money inside, slowly, meticulously. Then, when she was sure she had the right amount, slipped everything into
the inside of her coat.
"You don't trust me, Tenoh?"
"It's not that, sir." Haruka answered smoothly. "People are liable to make mistakes, sir. And I don't want
to suffer for a mistake. If I get out of this office and I make a mistake and think you haven't given me my due, for
example. And I come back here, furious and accusing, why, that would be a very embarassing situation for me."
"Of course." Slobodianik smiled at the way Haruka had handled that.
"If there is nothing more, sir--"
"There is, one more thing." Sacha stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of Haruka. "You are
an unconnected woman, are you not?"
Haruka let out a bitter laugh. Yes. She was. Most of the leaders of the underworld were men. The society was
mainly patriarchal. Some have offered connections at the lower levels, but after experiencing some of the prejudices
she was subjected to because of her being a woman, she decided to go it alone.
"No, I suppose not." Sacha patted Haruka on the shoulder companionably, and the alarm bells in the blonde's
head went off. "You are a woman, with no family connections. You are good at what you do though, yes?"
"Of course, sir."
"Carl was one of my best men, and I wonder, how you managed to kill him so easily?" Sacha Slobodianik looked
her over. "You do not have even a scratch on you."
"Sir, he was distracted."
"By what?"
"He wanted to protect his wife and child. That was the man's weakness. He panicked."
"Ah." Sacha nodded sagely. "Now I have an opening, Tenoh. Would you be willing to hear my proposition?"
When Haruka didn't answer, Sacha continued along. "My left hand is gone, Haruka. I need a replacement. I
have been watching you some time. The idiots, the stupid wops cannot see your worth. They see you are a woman, and
nothing more. The other ragtag groups are not worthy of your notice. I want you to put on that ring."
There was a moment of stunned silence, before Haruka blurted out, "Are you joking, Mr Slobodianik?"
"No." Sach shook his head. "Nono. I am dead serious. You will have the respect you deserve. And that money I
gave you just now... you can make so much more, so much quicker!"
"Mr Slobodianik, I don't know what to say--" Haruka laughed a bit, still half-expecting it to be a joke.
"I'm not even russian!"
"I don't care!" Sacha laughed, exasperated by the woman's disbelief. "You are not russian, that is true! But
I don't care. You have skill, and I will look beyond everything if you are loyal. Your track record is clean, you
will be a welcome member of my organization."
"Sir?"
Sacha laughed again, and sat Haruka down on the chair in front of his desk. He opened a wooden box that was
on his desk and took out a cigar. Snipping one end of it, he offered it to Haruka. "When I consider someone, I want
to make sure they are best suited for the job. You've never ever screwed up a job, Tenoh. You are loyal to the
people who have hired you. You have an unbelievable sense of honour and some kind of code you live by... that is in
the old days. Actually, even the old days had no honour."
Slobodianik picked out a cigar for himself, lit it, and inhaled a lungful of rich smoke. "I need someone I
can count on."
This was a great honour. Haruka knew it. And knew that she wouldn't be able to back out even if she wanted
to. "Of course, Mr Slobodianik. I accept."
"Put on that ring, Tenoh." Slobodianik clapped Haruka on the shoulder again, and watched, satisfied as
Haruka did as she was told. "You are one of mine, now. You are my left hand. Anybody insults you, I will take it
personally."
~~~
The investigation blew over quite quickly, as it always did when the mob was involved. Most of the police
were on the take. Everybody knew it was one of the russian mob, but there was insubstantial evidence for an arrest.
Nobody really demanded justice, anyways. To them, justice had been served. Who cares if criminals died? Carl
Maximoff would not be missed. And the child and mother? They were nothing. Buried in things that mattered more.
Haruka reflected on the events, sitting quietly opposite Sacha in a limousine that was currently on its way
to taking the occupants of the car to a hotel.
"Haruka, what's wrong?" Sacha had taken to calling her by her first name. She felt welcome, very welcome in
the first few months of her initiation into the family. Everybody was extra careful around her. She felt their
dissatisfaction rolling off them in waves. A woman! An outsider! Taking a place that should have been given to
someone on the inside!
But Sacha's decisions were not questioned. Haruka, Serge and Gary, the boss' accountant for both his legal
and illegal businesses; rode with the boss to a formal function this night.
"I'm just thinking, Mr Slobodianik," Haruka replied courteously. "Of how grateful I am of the chance you
have given me."
Sacha nodded and patted Haruka's knee, as the car rolled to a halt in front of a hotel where the function
was taking place. Just really, a shareholder's meeting, but it was best to always be prepared for anything. That was
why Sacha brought his bodyguards.
"Stay close to me, alright?" Sacha ordered. "Serge, you spread out a bit. Get a bigger picture of the room.
Gary, you stay close to me too."
Gary nodded. In truth, Sacha had three bodyguards. Gary had a glock hidden on his body, and was a deadly
shot. Haruka respected the man.
"Sir," Serge got out of the car first, giving the area a quick lookover, and held the door open. Gary exited
from the other side, as did Haruka. There was one car in front of the one Sacha and Haruka were in, and another
behind them. Filled with Slobodianik's men. Security was of the utmost importance. Right now, even though the the
entire corporation seemed as steady as a rock, the foundations were just repairing itself. This was the time when
the Slobodianik family was at its weakest. A close member of his outfit had been leaking information to the other
families, and now the few trusted were weeding out any signs of weakness in the organizations. Even the trusted were
being watched carefully.
Sacha didn't live this long to be careless.
"I'm going to point out various people to you, Haruka." Sacha smoothed down his suit. "It'll be something
like an orientation... Serge knows what I'm talking about."
Serge nodded. "There's going to be many families here. Bungario might even show up if he's not hiding his
ass somewhere."
"We know he was the one Carl was reporting to mainly." Gary's face darkened. "Remember when we hired you,
Ms Tenoh, that an assassination had just been attempted on Mr Slobodianik and his immediate family's life. That was
the work of the Italian mafia, but we don't have enough hard evidence. We don't want an all-out war without good
reason, it'll upset the other families."
The doorman held the door open for them, various people were lingering in the foyer, while some had already
entered the banquet hall that was booked off for this event.
"Over there, at my 10 o'clock," Sacha whispered, barely moving his head. Haruka's eyes darted to the side,
and she caught site of a man with black hair, asian descent. Speaking fluent english, he was talking animatedly with
a portly gentleman.
"That, is Mamoru Chiba." Slobodianik smiled cordially, when Mamoru turned away from the man he was talking
to, and catching sight of them, raised a glass of champagne in greeting. "Remember him. He heads the Chiba family,
and we will be doing business with him a lot, it seems."
The carpet underfoot was plush, and Haruka had to force herself to keep her eyes ahead, and not wandering
around. She allowed herself a glance up at the ceiling, briefly admiring how the light danced in the thousands of
crystals that made up the chandeliers that hung above her head.
When she looked back down from the ceiling, she was caught in the stare of the most crystal blue eyes she
had ever had the pleasure of being ensnared in.
"That, is Usagi Tsukino." Sacha noticed where Haruka was looking. Haruka nodded slightly at the other
blonde, smiled when she saw an answering smile and blush blossom on Usagi's cheeks. Usagi Tsukino had the most...
distinctive hairstyle.
"She's the daughter of one of our most prominent businessmen, Mr Tsukino. Japanese man who owns quite a bit
of stock in ECS." Sacha informed. "He's who we need to win over. Very important... there he is..."
A japanese gentleman blocked Haruka's view of Usagi. He nodded at them, and entered the hall.
"The dinner's going to be starting soon, sir." Gary informed.
~~~
The meeting began first, and Haruka felt bored out of her mind. One hour had passed already, and she didn't
want to be rude, but she felt like this meeting was dragging on forever. Company profits were quoted, new things
that stockholders would like to know... but Haruka was not a stockholder, and she really didn't care. She pretended
to be interested because Sacha was totally engrossed with the presentation. At one point, the lights dimmed, and
Haruka stirred, thinking that the meeting was over. She was disappointed to see that they were showing graphs and
other charts on a projection screen.
Haruka shifted in her seat a little, and looked around the room. Immediately, she caught sight of Usagi
again, and stiffled a chuckle when she saw that the girl was nodding off. She watched as Mr Tsukino shook the
teenager awake, and Usagi fidgetted in her seat, irritated.
Then she caught Haruka staring at her in the dark. Slobodianik's left hand woman smirked a bit, when Usagi
flushed and turned away. A few seconds later, she was glancing back to look at Haruka. Haruka hadn't looked away,
and smiled a bit more when Usagi didn't look away this time.
'Are you bored?' Haruka mouthed.
Usagi rolled her eyes, and motioned at the projection screen discreetly.
'Yes!'
Haruka grinned, and looked around. Discreetly, she motioned for a waiter to come to her, and she slipped a
piece of paper to the waiter and instructed for him to pass the message. Acting nonchalent, the waiter meandered
around filling water glasses before stopping at Usagi's table and dropping the note into her lap. Usagi read it
quickly, and let out a loud laugh, and quickly clamped her hand over her mouth when almost the whole room turned to
look at her.
"I admit, the idea is foreign," The presenter had been presenting a proposal, and he looked slightly hurt.
"But I believe it would increase the company's profits by a significant percentage."
Usagi's father frowned at his daughter, and she grinned sheepishly, her weak apology made the neighboring
tables laugh lightly. Everything settled down again, and concentrated on the graph again.
When the attention shifted from her, she bent down her head in concentration, scribbling something down on
a napkin and waited as the waiter made his way back to her. The napkin was passed to Haruka. The blonde opened it
and chuckled at the drawing of a chibi-Usagi shaking her fist at Haruka.
"Haruka, is something wrong?" Sach leaned towards her.
"Sorry, Mr Slobodianik." Haruka shook her head, quickly crumbling up the napkin in her fist and stuffing it
into her jacket pocket. "No, nothing's wrong."
After that, Haruka avoided looking at Usagi, and tried her best to keep her eyes on the presentation.
Thankfully, the meeting was finally over, and dinner would be served. A live band replaced the presenters and
representatives of ECS, and the aroma of food wafted to Haruka's nostrils.
The meal started off with a salad, which Haruka ate with relish. The main course, a choice of steak or fish.
The steak Haruka had was a bit dry, and the gravy was watery. As she was polishing off the last of her strawberry
cheesecake, Sacha nudged her.
"On stage."
The band had stopped briefly, and a violinist and pianist came on stage. A grand piano had been sitting on
the stage for a while already, and the pianist sat down. Without further ado, he began the piece with a little
flourish. It was not until the violinist began to play that people started looking up.
'What have we here?' Haruka regarded the violinist curiously. The aqua-tressed girl obviously had skill. A
lot of skill. And who was she that she garnered Mr Slobodianik's interest?
"That," Sacha breathed softly, so softly that Haruka had to strain to listen. "That, is Bungario's niece,
Michiru Kaioh. Watch out for her."
Caught in a stare again. Michiru's eyes, though blue, were not the crystal blues of Usagi's eyes. They were
the turbulent blues of an ocean deep. Haruka couldn't help it but look away, and was appalled that she did so. She
felt embarassed, at being caught staring. Embarassed that she was embarassed.
She could still feel Michiru's eyes on her, and her eyes darted around discreetly for a way out.
"Loosen up a bit, Haruka." Sacha patted the woman's shoulders. "Why don't you go dance? Find someone nice
you'd like to dance with. Take a break. Serge will sit with me."
"Of course," Haruka stood up, and excused herself, recognizing the dismissal in Slobodianik's voice.
Still felt those eyes on her.
The music was quivering around her, as if the violinist was laughing through the strains of her violin.
Haruka saw Usagi out of the corner of her eye, waltzing--or what she tried to pass off as waltzing--with a
guy who was realizing it was a mistake to ask this young, beautiful, but terribly clutzy girl to dance with him.
The blonde watched for a few seconds, before heading towards the disastrous couple. A dance with the pretty
girl would take her mind off of Michiru. The violinist, Bungario's niece... troubled her.
"May I cut in?"
The guy Usagi had been dancing with willing let Haruka take the dance.
"I don't think I want to dance anymore," Usagi's face was red from the tip of her ears to the end of her
nose. "I-I'm not that good."
"Nonsense," Haruka took the girl's hand, in her own, and squeezed it reassuringly. "He just didn't know how
to lead. And ytou've probably never waltzed before. Its pretty simple, just follow my lead, okay?"
And it did seem pretty simple, as Haruka whirled her around the dance floor. It was as if Usagi was a
totally different person as she danced with the dashing left-hand woman of the Slobodianik family.
"My name is Usagi Tsukino."
"Haruka Tenoh," Haruka smiled. "I work for Mr Slobodianik. One, two, three, twirl! Good. See, its not that
hard."
"You're a very good dancer."
"You're very beautiful."
Usagi laughed delightfully. "Those two things are entirely unrelated."
"It is so related," Haruka shot back playfully. "You're beautiful. Which is the truth. I'm a good dancer.
Which is also the truth."
"A tad bit conceited?" Usagi swayed to the music, which Haruka noticed, had become a piano solo. It was
morphing into a slow piece, too slow for waltzing. And Usagi instinctively stepped closer, when Haruka's hand
pressed against the small of her back.
"Haruka," A hand stopped their dancing, and Haruka turned around and almost glared at Gary. "We are
leaving."
"Of course." And she was just beginning to have fun. Parting slowly from Usagi, Haruka leaned down,
hesitated a bit to see if Usagi would shy away from her. But when the younger girl didn't, Haruka placed a kiss on
the side of Usagi's face. "Good night, Odango-atama. Maybe I'll see you again."
"You know japanese!" Usagi blinked in astonishment, then she pouted at the meaning of the words. "Don't
call me that!"
Haruka laughed, and gave her dancing partner a flourishing bow before leaving with Serge.
Sacha Slobodianik was already at the doors with Gary and a few other of the family men. And when they heard
voices being raised, Haruka and Serge quickened their steps.
"--an't go blaming other people for your people's disloyality, Mr Slobodianik."
Sacha's eyes flashed angrily, as Haruka reached his side. "You just tell your uncle he and I will have words
as soon as he crawls out of the hole he hides in."
"You are not very different from my uncle," Michiru gestured airily, then her eyes looked over at Haruka,
and the blonde fought to not blanch in the light of that gaze. "He hides in holes. You, hide behind women."
She didn't notice she had moved until she felt Slobodianik's arm shoot out and stop her from lunging at
Michiru.
"Oh, the tiger has claws." Michiru purred. Mocking her. Toying with her.
Haruka forced herself to calm down, but could not help herself, shooting back a sharp retort. "Better a
tiger than a bitch."
"That was really classy." Michiru raised an eyebrow.
"The truth is never kind." Haruka was a bit satisfied, when she saw Michiru look away. The violinist wasn't
quick enough to hide the anger that crossed her face.
"That's enough," Sacha said, but the smug smile on his face contradicted his play as peacemaker. It was
obvious who he wanted to win in this argument. The group walked past Michiru.
Haruka held the door open for Sacha, and was about to make her exit when Michiru called out to her.
"Ms Tenoh." The tightness in that lilting voice told Haruka that Michiru was holding onto a magnificent
amount of anger using all the self-control she could muster. "This isn't over. I will be seeing you again."
"I'm looking forward to it, ma'am." Haruka said with a wry smile, that bordered on a sneer.
Sailormoon (Haruka) fanfiction
immo - immo@hamena.org
rating:PG-13
Well, someone said I should continue. And I'm still on my creative streak, so here we go!
~~~
"Mr Slobodianik," Haruka stood there respectfully. When she reached into her pocket, the man that stood at
the mob boss' side, reached for the gun in his shoulder holster.
"No need for that now, do we?" Haruka smiled, what was meant to be a reassuring smile, but only managed to
make the man a tad more skittish.
"Serge."
The bodyguard lowered his hand, but still eyed Haruka nervously. Haruka chuckled, and pulled out the late
Mr Maximoff's personal effects.
A watch, that had dried blood crusting on it. A silver chain. A wallet. Two rings.
Slobodianik reached for the rings. The wedding band, he tossed aside; it was the second ring he was
interested in.
"Tenoh."
Haruka inclined her head slightly.
"You have done me a great service." Sacha Slobodianik's thick russian accent laced his english. "I am...
pleased."
"Thank you, Mr Slobodianik."
"You see this ring?" Slobodianik held up the thick platinum band. "Look inside."
The boss tossed it over to Haruka, who caught it easily. Engraved on the inside were some undecipherable
characters.
"Sir?"
"In russian, it says 'my left hand'." Sacha regarded Haruka with a cool grey eye. "That man killed for me,
as this one does--" Nikolai motioned to the bodyguard beside him, "He was close as family. I have forgotten, that
even family betray each other. You can keep that ring."
Slobodianik pulled open a drawer, and took out a small manila envelope. Pushing it across the desk, he
motioned for Haruka to pick it up.
"It is your payment."
Haruka picked it up and smiled apologetically to Slobodianik before she opened the envelope and counted out
the money inside, slowly, meticulously. Then, when she was sure she had the right amount, slipped everything into
the inside of her coat.
"You don't trust me, Tenoh?"
"It's not that, sir." Haruka answered smoothly. "People are liable to make mistakes, sir. And I don't want
to suffer for a mistake. If I get out of this office and I make a mistake and think you haven't given me my due, for
example. And I come back here, furious and accusing, why, that would be a very embarassing situation for me."
"Of course." Slobodianik smiled at the way Haruka had handled that.
"If there is nothing more, sir--"
"There is, one more thing." Sacha stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of Haruka. "You are
an unconnected woman, are you not?"
Haruka let out a bitter laugh. Yes. She was. Most of the leaders of the underworld were men. The society was
mainly patriarchal. Some have offered connections at the lower levels, but after experiencing some of the prejudices
she was subjected to because of her being a woman, she decided to go it alone.
"No, I suppose not." Sacha patted Haruka on the shoulder companionably, and the alarm bells in the blonde's
head went off. "You are a woman, with no family connections. You are good at what you do though, yes?"
"Of course, sir."
"Carl was one of my best men, and I wonder, how you managed to kill him so easily?" Sacha Slobodianik looked
her over. "You do not have even a scratch on you."
"Sir, he was distracted."
"By what?"
"He wanted to protect his wife and child. That was the man's weakness. He panicked."
"Ah." Sacha nodded sagely. "Now I have an opening, Tenoh. Would you be willing to hear my proposition?"
When Haruka didn't answer, Sacha continued along. "My left hand is gone, Haruka. I need a replacement. I
have been watching you some time. The idiots, the stupid wops cannot see your worth. They see you are a woman, and
nothing more. The other ragtag groups are not worthy of your notice. I want you to put on that ring."
There was a moment of stunned silence, before Haruka blurted out, "Are you joking, Mr Slobodianik?"
"No." Sach shook his head. "Nono. I am dead serious. You will have the respect you deserve. And that money I
gave you just now... you can make so much more, so much quicker!"
"Mr Slobodianik, I don't know what to say--" Haruka laughed a bit, still half-expecting it to be a joke.
"I'm not even russian!"
"I don't care!" Sacha laughed, exasperated by the woman's disbelief. "You are not russian, that is true! But
I don't care. You have skill, and I will look beyond everything if you are loyal. Your track record is clean, you
will be a welcome member of my organization."
"Sir?"
Sacha laughed again, and sat Haruka down on the chair in front of his desk. He opened a wooden box that was
on his desk and took out a cigar. Snipping one end of it, he offered it to Haruka. "When I consider someone, I want
to make sure they are best suited for the job. You've never ever screwed up a job, Tenoh. You are loyal to the
people who have hired you. You have an unbelievable sense of honour and some kind of code you live by... that is in
the old days. Actually, even the old days had no honour."
Slobodianik picked out a cigar for himself, lit it, and inhaled a lungful of rich smoke. "I need someone I
can count on."
This was a great honour. Haruka knew it. And knew that she wouldn't be able to back out even if she wanted
to. "Of course, Mr Slobodianik. I accept."
"Put on that ring, Tenoh." Slobodianik clapped Haruka on the shoulder again, and watched, satisfied as
Haruka did as she was told. "You are one of mine, now. You are my left hand. Anybody insults you, I will take it
personally."
~~~
The investigation blew over quite quickly, as it always did when the mob was involved. Most of the police
were on the take. Everybody knew it was one of the russian mob, but there was insubstantial evidence for an arrest.
Nobody really demanded justice, anyways. To them, justice had been served. Who cares if criminals died? Carl
Maximoff would not be missed. And the child and mother? They were nothing. Buried in things that mattered more.
Haruka reflected on the events, sitting quietly opposite Sacha in a limousine that was currently on its way
to taking the occupants of the car to a hotel.
"Haruka, what's wrong?" Sacha had taken to calling her by her first name. She felt welcome, very welcome in
the first few months of her initiation into the family. Everybody was extra careful around her. She felt their
dissatisfaction rolling off them in waves. A woman! An outsider! Taking a place that should have been given to
someone on the inside!
But Sacha's decisions were not questioned. Haruka, Serge and Gary, the boss' accountant for both his legal
and illegal businesses; rode with the boss to a formal function this night.
"I'm just thinking, Mr Slobodianik," Haruka replied courteously. "Of how grateful I am of the chance you
have given me."
Sacha nodded and patted Haruka's knee, as the car rolled to a halt in front of a hotel where the function
was taking place. Just really, a shareholder's meeting, but it was best to always be prepared for anything. That was
why Sacha brought his bodyguards.
"Stay close to me, alright?" Sacha ordered. "Serge, you spread out a bit. Get a bigger picture of the room.
Gary, you stay close to me too."
Gary nodded. In truth, Sacha had three bodyguards. Gary had a glock hidden on his body, and was a deadly
shot. Haruka respected the man.
"Sir," Serge got out of the car first, giving the area a quick lookover, and held the door open. Gary exited
from the other side, as did Haruka. There was one car in front of the one Sacha and Haruka were in, and another
behind them. Filled with Slobodianik's men. Security was of the utmost importance. Right now, even though the the
entire corporation seemed as steady as a rock, the foundations were just repairing itself. This was the time when
the Slobodianik family was at its weakest. A close member of his outfit had been leaking information to the other
families, and now the few trusted were weeding out any signs of weakness in the organizations. Even the trusted were
being watched carefully.
Sacha didn't live this long to be careless.
"I'm going to point out various people to you, Haruka." Sacha smoothed down his suit. "It'll be something
like an orientation... Serge knows what I'm talking about."
Serge nodded. "There's going to be many families here. Bungario might even show up if he's not hiding his
ass somewhere."
"We know he was the one Carl was reporting to mainly." Gary's face darkened. "Remember when we hired you,
Ms Tenoh, that an assassination had just been attempted on Mr Slobodianik and his immediate family's life. That was
the work of the Italian mafia, but we don't have enough hard evidence. We don't want an all-out war without good
reason, it'll upset the other families."
The doorman held the door open for them, various people were lingering in the foyer, while some had already
entered the banquet hall that was booked off for this event.
"Over there, at my 10 o'clock," Sacha whispered, barely moving his head. Haruka's eyes darted to the side,
and she caught site of a man with black hair, asian descent. Speaking fluent english, he was talking animatedly with
a portly gentleman.
"That, is Mamoru Chiba." Slobodianik smiled cordially, when Mamoru turned away from the man he was talking
to, and catching sight of them, raised a glass of champagne in greeting. "Remember him. He heads the Chiba family,
and we will be doing business with him a lot, it seems."
The carpet underfoot was plush, and Haruka had to force herself to keep her eyes ahead, and not wandering
around. She allowed herself a glance up at the ceiling, briefly admiring how the light danced in the thousands of
crystals that made up the chandeliers that hung above her head.
When she looked back down from the ceiling, she was caught in the stare of the most crystal blue eyes she
had ever had the pleasure of being ensnared in.
"That, is Usagi Tsukino." Sacha noticed where Haruka was looking. Haruka nodded slightly at the other
blonde, smiled when she saw an answering smile and blush blossom on Usagi's cheeks. Usagi Tsukino had the most...
distinctive hairstyle.
"She's the daughter of one of our most prominent businessmen, Mr Tsukino. Japanese man who owns quite a bit
of stock in ECS." Sacha informed. "He's who we need to win over. Very important... there he is..."
A japanese gentleman blocked Haruka's view of Usagi. He nodded at them, and entered the hall.
"The dinner's going to be starting soon, sir." Gary informed.
~~~
The meeting began first, and Haruka felt bored out of her mind. One hour had passed already, and she didn't
want to be rude, but she felt like this meeting was dragging on forever. Company profits were quoted, new things
that stockholders would like to know... but Haruka was not a stockholder, and she really didn't care. She pretended
to be interested because Sacha was totally engrossed with the presentation. At one point, the lights dimmed, and
Haruka stirred, thinking that the meeting was over. She was disappointed to see that they were showing graphs and
other charts on a projection screen.
Haruka shifted in her seat a little, and looked around the room. Immediately, she caught sight of Usagi
again, and stiffled a chuckle when she saw that the girl was nodding off. She watched as Mr Tsukino shook the
teenager awake, and Usagi fidgetted in her seat, irritated.
Then she caught Haruka staring at her in the dark. Slobodianik's left hand woman smirked a bit, when Usagi
flushed and turned away. A few seconds later, she was glancing back to look at Haruka. Haruka hadn't looked away,
and smiled a bit more when Usagi didn't look away this time.
'Are you bored?' Haruka mouthed.
Usagi rolled her eyes, and motioned at the projection screen discreetly.
'Yes!'
Haruka grinned, and looked around. Discreetly, she motioned for a waiter to come to her, and she slipped a
piece of paper to the waiter and instructed for him to pass the message. Acting nonchalent, the waiter meandered
around filling water glasses before stopping at Usagi's table and dropping the note into her lap. Usagi read it
quickly, and let out a loud laugh, and quickly clamped her hand over her mouth when almost the whole room turned to
look at her.
"I admit, the idea is foreign," The presenter had been presenting a proposal, and he looked slightly hurt.
"But I believe it would increase the company's profits by a significant percentage."
Usagi's father frowned at his daughter, and she grinned sheepishly, her weak apology made the neighboring
tables laugh lightly. Everything settled down again, and concentrated on the graph again.
When the attention shifted from her, she bent down her head in concentration, scribbling something down on
a napkin and waited as the waiter made his way back to her. The napkin was passed to Haruka. The blonde opened it
and chuckled at the drawing of a chibi-Usagi shaking her fist at Haruka.
"Haruka, is something wrong?" Sach leaned towards her.
"Sorry, Mr Slobodianik." Haruka shook her head, quickly crumbling up the napkin in her fist and stuffing it
into her jacket pocket. "No, nothing's wrong."
After that, Haruka avoided looking at Usagi, and tried her best to keep her eyes on the presentation.
Thankfully, the meeting was finally over, and dinner would be served. A live band replaced the presenters and
representatives of ECS, and the aroma of food wafted to Haruka's nostrils.
The meal started off with a salad, which Haruka ate with relish. The main course, a choice of steak or fish.
The steak Haruka had was a bit dry, and the gravy was watery. As she was polishing off the last of her strawberry
cheesecake, Sacha nudged her.
"On stage."
The band had stopped briefly, and a violinist and pianist came on stage. A grand piano had been sitting on
the stage for a while already, and the pianist sat down. Without further ado, he began the piece with a little
flourish. It was not until the violinist began to play that people started looking up.
'What have we here?' Haruka regarded the violinist curiously. The aqua-tressed girl obviously had skill. A
lot of skill. And who was she that she garnered Mr Slobodianik's interest?
"That," Sacha breathed softly, so softly that Haruka had to strain to listen. "That, is Bungario's niece,
Michiru Kaioh. Watch out for her."
Caught in a stare again. Michiru's eyes, though blue, were not the crystal blues of Usagi's eyes. They were
the turbulent blues of an ocean deep. Haruka couldn't help it but look away, and was appalled that she did so. She
felt embarassed, at being caught staring. Embarassed that she was embarassed.
She could still feel Michiru's eyes on her, and her eyes darted around discreetly for a way out.
"Loosen up a bit, Haruka." Sacha patted the woman's shoulders. "Why don't you go dance? Find someone nice
you'd like to dance with. Take a break. Serge will sit with me."
"Of course," Haruka stood up, and excused herself, recognizing the dismissal in Slobodianik's voice.
Still felt those eyes on her.
The music was quivering around her, as if the violinist was laughing through the strains of her violin.
Haruka saw Usagi out of the corner of her eye, waltzing--or what she tried to pass off as waltzing--with a
guy who was realizing it was a mistake to ask this young, beautiful, but terribly clutzy girl to dance with him.
The blonde watched for a few seconds, before heading towards the disastrous couple. A dance with the pretty
girl would take her mind off of Michiru. The violinist, Bungario's niece... troubled her.
"May I cut in?"
The guy Usagi had been dancing with willing let Haruka take the dance.
"I don't think I want to dance anymore," Usagi's face was red from the tip of her ears to the end of her
nose. "I-I'm not that good."
"Nonsense," Haruka took the girl's hand, in her own, and squeezed it reassuringly. "He just didn't know how
to lead. And ytou've probably never waltzed before. Its pretty simple, just follow my lead, okay?"
And it did seem pretty simple, as Haruka whirled her around the dance floor. It was as if Usagi was a
totally different person as she danced with the dashing left-hand woman of the Slobodianik family.
"My name is Usagi Tsukino."
"Haruka Tenoh," Haruka smiled. "I work for Mr Slobodianik. One, two, three, twirl! Good. See, its not that
hard."
"You're a very good dancer."
"You're very beautiful."
Usagi laughed delightfully. "Those two things are entirely unrelated."
"It is so related," Haruka shot back playfully. "You're beautiful. Which is the truth. I'm a good dancer.
Which is also the truth."
"A tad bit conceited?" Usagi swayed to the music, which Haruka noticed, had become a piano solo. It was
morphing into a slow piece, too slow for waltzing. And Usagi instinctively stepped closer, when Haruka's hand
pressed against the small of her back.
"Haruka," A hand stopped their dancing, and Haruka turned around and almost glared at Gary. "We are
leaving."
"Of course." And she was just beginning to have fun. Parting slowly from Usagi, Haruka leaned down,
hesitated a bit to see if Usagi would shy away from her. But when the younger girl didn't, Haruka placed a kiss on
the side of Usagi's face. "Good night, Odango-atama. Maybe I'll see you again."
"You know japanese!" Usagi blinked in astonishment, then she pouted at the meaning of the words. "Don't
call me that!"
Haruka laughed, and gave her dancing partner a flourishing bow before leaving with Serge.
Sacha Slobodianik was already at the doors with Gary and a few other of the family men. And when they heard
voices being raised, Haruka and Serge quickened their steps.
"--an't go blaming other people for your people's disloyality, Mr Slobodianik."
Sacha's eyes flashed angrily, as Haruka reached his side. "You just tell your uncle he and I will have words
as soon as he crawls out of the hole he hides in."
"You are not very different from my uncle," Michiru gestured airily, then her eyes looked over at Haruka,
and the blonde fought to not blanch in the light of that gaze. "He hides in holes. You, hide behind women."
She didn't notice she had moved until she felt Slobodianik's arm shoot out and stop her from lunging at
Michiru.
"Oh, the tiger has claws." Michiru purred. Mocking her. Toying with her.
Haruka forced herself to calm down, but could not help herself, shooting back a sharp retort. "Better a
tiger than a bitch."
"That was really classy." Michiru raised an eyebrow.
"The truth is never kind." Haruka was a bit satisfied, when she saw Michiru look away. The violinist wasn't
quick enough to hide the anger that crossed her face.
"That's enough," Sacha said, but the smug smile on his face contradicted his play as peacemaker. It was
obvious who he wanted to win in this argument. The group walked past Michiru.
Haruka held the door open for Sacha, and was about to make her exit when Michiru called out to her.
"Ms Tenoh." The tightness in that lilting voice told Haruka that Michiru was holding onto a magnificent
amount of anger using all the self-control she could muster. "This isn't over. I will be seeing you again."
"I'm looking forward to it, ma'am." Haruka said with a wry smile, that bordered on a sneer.