Dedicated to: My 18 year old baby brother for being nice enough to try to teach me to board, and go with me to college registration. Oh, and for offering to tell the guy that keeps calling and waking me to back off. Siblings are great, even though I told him no.
Chapter 14: Studio Time
Haruka tried her best to pout that night as they walked down the corridor to her apartment. Michiru giggled up at the taller women and they slowed to a stop before the racer's door. Haruka leaned back against her still locked apartment, losing her pout and smiling over the day they'd spent with Setsuna. She had to admit that Michiru's friend was interesting, though a bit odd at times. A hand gently touched her cheek and she came back to the present to find blue eyes gazing up at her.
"What's on your mind this time, Ruka?" Michiru whispered as she moved her hand to rest on the taller women's shoulder and leaned against her. Haruka fought down a hint of a blush and glanced briefly both ways, the hall was deserted.
"I can't believe you two made me ride back on your horse." Haruka complained jokingly, her eyes dancing as Michiru giggled again.
"But I thought the ride was very enjoyable." Michiru teased and this time caught the slight blush on the taller woman's face. She smiled again and leaned up to whisper as close to the blonde's ear as she could. "I hope you enjoyed the distraction all the same."
"Are you trying to flirt, Kaioh-san?" Haruka quirked an eyebrow at the smaller woman and smiled as Michiru looked away for a moment. Haruka's grin became almost evil as she quickly pulled Michiru a bit closer and spun so the shorter woman now had her back to the door. With amusement Haruka leaned down very close to Michiru's ear and let her breath wash over the musicians ear for a moment. When the blonde spoke her voice was husky and low. "If you want I could show you a few tricks of the trade."
"I supposed you spent your high school years flirting with all the girls." Michiru said quietly as she failed to fight down a bright blush. She had to admit that it made her heart rate spike to be standing so close to Haruka with no way out. The rush wasn't one of fear, but it could rival any feeling Michiru could describe at the moment.
"Oh, I perfected my technique only on the cute ones." Haruka winked at Michiru as she stepped back with a cocky grin. "But if we'd gone to the same school you would have had no competition."
Someone cleared their throat and both women jumped and looked over toward the elevator door. An older couple stood there and the woman glared just slightly at the two. The man one the other hand fought a grin and nodded slightly to Haruka as both women bowed and apologized. Once they were inside her apartment Haruka collapsed onto the couch as she laughed. Michiru sat down next to Haruka with a happy smile even though her cheeks felt as if they were on fire.
"I think I'd forgotten what it was like to get that look." Haruka said as she calmed down and Michiru leaned against her shoulder. The blonde sneaked an arm around Michiru's shoulders and brushed an aqua lock from the woman's face. "Now I really remember what it was like to be in high school."
"I've never gotten that look before." Michiru said quietly as she watched the last rays of the sun's light dieing out through the glass doors across the room. She felt Haruka squeeze her shoulders lightly. "Of course I've never been caught in such a position before."
"Oh, so you were always so reserved and polite?" Haruka asked and watched embarrassment flashed across her girlfriend's face. She smiled and gently made Michiru look up at her. "Hey I always found the quiet school girls cute."
"And I'm sure they all thought you were that bad boy their mother's feared." Michiru smiled brightly, forgetting her embarrassment from only a moment before. Haruka kissed her lightly before winking again.
"Oh I can be very bad when I want to be." The blonde relaxed back into the cushions of her couch and took one of Michiru's hands into her free right hand. She started to play with the delicate fingers as she gazed up at the ceiling. "Thank you for today."
"Maybe you should thank Setsuna, I only asked her if I could bring you." Michiru responded and laid her head one Haruka's shoulder. She felt Haruka's chuckle more than she actually heard it.
"I think I will call and thank her." Haruka leaned her head on top of Michiru's and took a deep breath, just taking in the moment. She let the breath out slowly as she felt Michiru relax even more. "I have to thank her for some advice too. The answer did come once I let it go."
"Answer?" Michiru questioned but only got another laugh in return. She smiled, what ever the answer was, or for that matter the question, she was glad Haruka wasn't still trapped in her own thoughts.
"Michiru?" Haruka's voice brought her back to the present. She nodded to show she was listening and felt the arm around her squeeze her once more. Haruka's voice was low as she spoke. "Would you go to dinner with me Friday?"
"Do you even have to ask anymore?" Michiru replied as they both settled into a comfortable silence.
Haruka woke the next day to the ringing of a phone. The blonde grumbled as she rolled over and fell out of her bed. With a grimace she sat up and grabbed the cordless hitting the talk button and blinking blurry teal eyes at the wall.
"Hello?" Haruka stood and rubbed her free hand through her short blonde locks as she glanced at the clock. "Hey Tom. News? About what? Oh, I almost forgot that. What did she say?" There was a long pause in which Haruka's expression shifted through several things. "Well that's great in the end. It's when? Sure, I'll tell Michiru today. Oh, I gotta go Tom! I'm late as it is!"
Haruka hung up the phone and raced around the room looking for what she needed to change for the day. The blonde skipped her shower, luckily having taken one last night, and ran to the kitchen to feed Wind-Chaser. The gray cat tilted her head as Haruka placed the food bowl quickly on the floor and ran out the door. She was too impatient to wait on the elevator so instead the blonde ran down the staircase and made it to the garage in what seemed record time. She grinned as she vaulted the door of her convertible and started the car quickly.
'Time to put my racing skills to use.' Haruka thought.
Half an hour later Haruka arrived at a small recording studio and spotted Michiru and Setsuna standing outside waiting for her. She parked and fought back the slight growl and resigned to mentally cursing Tokyo's traffic. Haruka pulled her glasses off as she reached the other women and smiled sheepishly.
"Traffic was murder." Haruka said apologetically and smiled again at Setsuna. "Its nice to see you again, Setsuna-san."
"Thank you, but I think your manager is ready to lose his mind if you don't both get inside soon." Setsuna chuckled a bit as Haruka again gave a sheepish look. Michiru grabbed the taller blonde's arm and led her inside past a doorman who held the large glass door for the three.
"He'll be alright, he just worries too much." Michiru tried to console.
"He might worry himself into an early grave if he reacts the way to every problem." Setsuna commented mildly as they reached an elevator. They silently entered the elevator; the ride up was short as the top level of the building was only four levels above the lobby. They emerged into a large hall where Kishu-san paced up and down. Kishu-san wasn't very old, only about thirty, but his short dark hair already held a streak of gray. Other than his wire glasses he had the build of a track runner and Haruka thought maybe the man ran in high school. Dark eyes caught sight of the three and he started toward them with a scolding look.
"Kishu-san, yell at your clients later." Interrupted a voice behind him. A young woman stepped out, her long brown hair braided down her back and a set of small silver rimmed glasses sliding down her noses. This one looked like a tall teen in her black slacks and Gundam Wing t-shirt. Brown eyes regarded them carefully as she walked over, passing a disgruntled Kishu. "My name is Ann Reed, sorry to be speaking English but I just got here and my Japanese is horrible."
"Nice to meet you, Reed-san." Michiru said as all three women bowed a bit to be polite. To their surprise Reed mirrored the gesture and waved toward the sound booth down the hall. "I'll be doing the recording today, and for a while in fact. The last guy retired and I was picked up at the last minute. I think Kishu-san is convinced that I don't know what I'm doing, so he's asked we record the whole thing three times."
"Three times? I assume you mean three with no mistakes." Haruka questioned, teal eyes a bit uncertain. They were now following Reed into a recording studio. "That seems like a lot for one song."
"Okay." They entered the room and Reed turned to regard all four of the people who had followed. "Here's what we are going to do. The first recording will be both of you in here together, to get the full song in one recording. The second one we are going to do, when we finish the first, will be Kaioh-san by herself on the same song. After that one we'll record Ten'ou-san by herself."
"She's doing this to torture me." Kishu muttered dryly as he walked through the next door into the sound booth. Reed smiled at the guys back and winked as she adjusted her glasses. "He's right of course, though I think the separate recordings and the whole are a good idea I am messing with his head. We have three songs to get through today and I refuse to let anybody else in here until we're done. Are you two ready?"
"As soon as I make sure that's tuned." Haruka commented with a smile. She kind of liked Reed who she was sure was American. "Give us a few minutes to tune and we'll be ready."
"Sure thing." Reed looked over to Setsuna and held open the door to the sound booth. "Care to join us ma'am?"
"As long as you agree not call me ma'am again." Setsuna said mildly as she passed through the door. Reed waved and disappeared into the large booth as well. Haruka sat down behind the black grand piano the studio provided and started to play tuning notes and listen to make sure the piano was in good order. Michiru went about tuning her violin as Haruka's eyes drifted to the booth window to see Kishu-san all but yelling soundlessly at Reed who just smiled and pointed to a part of the board before her. Setsuna stood behind the two and shook her head in amusement.
"I think we know how to get on Kishu-san's bad side now." Haruka pointed out, as she held a hand over her microphone and spoke softly. Michiru nodded and tried to hide her own amusement, as the manager seemed to be pouting in a corner now.
"Ready when you are, Reed-san." Michiru said quietly into the microphone near her. Reed looked up and grinned at the two. She nodded to her male assistant and held up three fingers. Slowly she counted down then pointed at them and the two started into their own count.
"Breathe, will you please Kishu-san?" Reed was saying as the group walked into the lobby. Reed carried two large envelopes, which held some kind of recordings and data for the actually record company. She smiled and handed them to the receptionist with a few quick words. After that was done she spun to face them so fast that her braid seemed to fly a bit. "See, out of my hands safe and sound."
"All the better, why they ever hired someone so young who can't even speak or write in Japanese I will never know." Kishu said as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. In his gray suit he looked like a trial lawyer after a bad day in court. " I mean how qualified can you be?"
"For your information, Kishu-san I am older than you clients and more qualified than the man I replaced." Reed glared a bit; clearly he'd found a way to her buttons after trying all day. She fished out her ID and showed them the birth date, which clearly put her at twenty-eight years old. As she was slipping it back into her pocket she grumbled and started to walk toward the exit. "Good afternoon to you all."
"She's off already?" Kishu seemed shocked. He looked over toward the receptionist who smiled a bit. "What?"
"They make her take a Japanese course on the clock, Kishu-san." The women said, having met the man at previous recording sessions. He groaned a bit and she laughed. "She's is actually very nice if you give her half a chance."
"They really are going to keep her then?"
"I'm afraid so."
Haruka held back a remark but winked at Michiru when the violin player gave her a questioning look. Haruka started edging toward the door when Kishu spotted her and glared.
"Ten'ou-san." He began in an outwardly calm voice. He smiled at the blonde as she turned back to look at him. "My dear piano playing friend."
"Is there something you wanted, Kishu-san?" Haruka asked as if she didn't know what was coming. Michiru and Setsuna merely watched the happenings in silence. Kishu seemed to be turning red as they spoke but the man did a good job of restraining himself as best he could.
"Ten'ou-san." He took a deep breath and seemed to return to his normal color slightly though you could almost see a vain popping out of his head. "The next time we have a recording secession I'd appreciate it if you were on time."
Haruka watched as the man strode quickly from the building and blinked.
"It seems you have been saved by Japanese manners." Setsuna commented lightly as the three started their own way toward the door.
"Have a good day!" Called the receptionist. Once they were outside Haruka looked over the two women with her and smiled.
"Either of you have anywhere to be now?" Both women shook their heads and Haruka's smile grew a bit. "Why don't we all go to a café and get some lunch? I skipped breakfast."
Soon the three were seated at a near by out door café. Haruka watched cars pass as Michiru and Setsuna spoke about some new dress style. The blonde was so focused that she jumped when a waitress appeared in front of her and held a plate before her eyes. Setsuna grinned and Michiru giggled as the blonde's eyes crossed comically. The food set down on the table the waitress quickly retreated back inside.
"We didn't mean to bore you, Haruka-san." Setsuna said kindly to the blonde. Haruka just grinned and shook her head as she started eating. "So, why were you looking for a new dress, Michiru?"
"Oh!" Haruka tuned back in to the conversation and two sets of eyes became focused on the blonde. She used a napkin to wipe her mouth quickly and gave yet another sheepish look at the two. "I almost forgot that Tom called this morning. Jill said yes and the wedding is going to be next month."
"I'm sorry, but I'm a bit lost." Setsuna said with an uncertain look in her eyes.
"Jill is Haruka's ex-wife and Tom is Haruka's friend." Michiru offered kindly. She smiled at the interested look this got from Setsuna's red eyes. "Tom and Jill are getting married and Haruka was invited to see there wedding."
"Slight change there, Tom invited both of us." Haruka said lightly as she began to poke at her food again. She noticed Setsuna's somewhat odd look. "Okay, what questions are going through you head Setsuna-san?"
"First, you were married before?" Setsuna said. The archeologist was beginning to feel like she needed a scorecard or a summary to keep up with these two. "And second, you're invited to your ex-wife's wedding?"
"Tom is my best friend, I would be there even if he were marrying someone from another planet." Haruka lightly shrugged at that fact. She took a bite and made sure to swallow before she spoke again. "Yes I was married. I'd rather not talk about it too much to be honest."
"Okay." Setsuna nodded and turned back to Michiru with a serious look in her eyes. "I assume you need a dress for the wedding?"
"That's right." Michiru said as she smiled at Haruka. The blonde coughed a bit and went back to her food.
"We should go looking today, then." Setsuna commented as she stood. Haruka looked up as Michiru nodded.
"But there's a whole month until the actual wedding." The blonde said with wide eyes. Both women looked at her in amusement and Haruka felt like she'd just said something very stupid.
"I take it you never wear dresses." Setsuna commented. Haruka shook her head and Michiru giggled again.
"I think she'd look rather nice in one though." Michiru whispered conspiratorially to Setsuna. The tall archeologist nodded in agreement and Haruka narrow her eyes at both.
"It sometimes take a very long time to find the right dress for a special occasion and a wedding is very special indeed." Setsuna commented in a wise tone. Michiru leaned down to kiss Haruka's cheek and whisper a farewell into the blonde's ear. Haruka smiled after that and nodded to the two.
"Okay, you two handle dresses and I'll make travel arrangements."
"Dresses?" Setsuna asked playfully and watched the blonde choke on her water. She glared at Setsuna who just smiled and waved a quick good bye. As soon as the two were gone Haruka paid the bill and started off toward her own car. If those two were going to be distracted all day Haruka might as well put the time to use.
AN:
I'm sorry, didn't mean for it to seem like I had just shifted my attention over to "Bottom of the Bottle". Actually that was originally going to be a one shot but it somehow became a chapter story. I think that one is almost done, as what inspired its creation is ebbing a bit. "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is going longer than I thought, as it's taking a bit more to get people where I want them. Bringing Setsuna in opened up a number of things that keep tempting me to stray from the main story, but I am not letting myself do it for now. If I feel up to the challenge I may write another involving Setsuna as she is seen in here but for now I just seem to be mounting things on my plate. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading.
Review responses:
Rebekah: Thank you for the review.
Animeprincess056: Well, I am not sure about Hotaru just yet. I love the girl but this story is winding down and if she appears it will probably be for only a scene or two. Ironically I almost brought her in with Setsuna but it didn't work right.
Haven't broken the board yet but I have made a few dumb mistakes. I got a few friends laughing the other night at a gas station when I "Ejected" from the board. I was kicking off and when I brought my lead foot back up it was too far forward, I launched off the board and landed on my feet. The board itself slid back toward a friend who stopped it for me. (Grins happily) Still it has given me reason to get outside and that's good. I haven't and am trying to be careful not to break any bones.
By the way, update both "B.o.t.B." and this one tonight. Hope you enjoyed it.
Knight of the Wolf: (Grin) No need to bow your head to me, reviews themselves make me feel really happy. I almost gave Setsuna a different career but this one was so much more fitting. When it came to naming her mansion, will I was trying to give Haruka a reason to think it was just a place of business. For some reason I can never separate Setsuna from that deep connection to history and the past. Thank you again for the review, and for the detailed on to "Bottom of the Bottle".
Moonjava: Glad you liked it and I hope you are doing well. Take care.
Bahamut's King: Oddly, "Bottom of the Bottle" was supposed to be one chapter. The night I wrote it I wasn't satisfied with the amount of feeling and thought I expressed from Haruka so I added another chapter, which of course left a few more things unresolved. Sorry it sidetracked me so. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for the review.
Moon-Daisuki: Haruka on a run away horse actually resulted from a conversation with a friend while I was writing the chapter. I have two friends who call me Haruka constantly and they go by Setsuna and Michiru. I called "Michiru" and asked her who out of the three she thought would be best on a horse. She told me Setsuna, than put in that she could see Haruka trying to go too fast and being thrown. I put it in for her benefit and got a laugh from her too. (Shrug) I love to get her to laugh, last time I did it was with my skateboard. She felt bad for tripping over a vacuum in her house so I told her about my first try at "boarding".. I feel backward and barely kept from hitting my butt on the ground in a crowded public park. She said that made her feel better somehow.
Take care; I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
That's all for tonight. Thank you for reading.