Chapter 4

"Michiru wait!" Haruka grabbed her things and quickly followed the girl. "Hold on a second..." She grabbed her hand. "Let me help you."

"You can't even help yourself Ruka! How can you help me!" A river of tears ran down her cheeks.

"Just come with me, please." she led her to her bright yellow Ferrari. "Before you ask... it was my dad's before he died." Haruka opened up the passenger door for her.

"It's a very nice car Ruka. Your parents must have had a lot of money." she threw her books on the tiny backseat before climbing in.

"Yea. There's enough in savings that I never have to work to live." She forced a smile as she climbed in and drove into town, toward her apartment complex...

"Wow, this place is incredible... You live here alone?" she looked around the giant penthouse apartment.

Haruka set her school books on the coffee table, as well as her keys. "Yeah. I moved in when my parents died last year. It's much smaller then the house we used to live in. I couldn't keep up with that." She pulled off her shirt, showing off her well-toned stomach. She wasn't modest and Michiru quickly saw that she had no reason to be. "I think I can find you a new shirt, come on." She walked back the hall, going into the master bedroom. The walls were lined with absolutely amazing paintings, the bed, an Old-English style, oak, 4-post bed. There were two dressers in the room, as well as two closets. "Yes, I've got too many clothes. You can go through everything, find something you like." She pulled out a baby blue shirt from the closet and pulled it over her head before walking out to the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee.

"Mm... I love coffee." Michiru walked out of the room, wearing one of Haruka's button down black shirts which hung loosely on her smaller frame. Michiru smirked when she noticed Haruka blush, her eyes quickly avoiding Michiru's exposed skin on her chest. "I really liked those paintings in your bedroom. Who's the artist?"

"Kimi did them. Her mom let me have them after the funeral, as sort of a way of remembering her." The blond poured Michiru a cup of coffee. "There's sugar right there if you use any." She pointed next to the coffee maker as she turned her back to get her own cup. She gasped, nearly dropping her cup when Michiru pressed her smaller body to her back and reached around to grab the canister.

"You smell really good Ruka." she rested her head against her shoulder, frowning as she felt some tears. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. That you couldn't help yourself. I know you can. It's just those people are so horrible, we shouldn't have to deal with those people Ruka." She wiped her eyes as she pulled away.

"No, you've got no reason to be sorry. There is so much more that I could do to protect myself, but I don't." she turned around and reached up, wiping away a tear from Michiru's eyes. "No crying though, k?" She smiled at her.

"Okay." Michiru shyly looked down. "Do you mind if I stay the night here? If mom sees me now, she'll try to pull me out of school... again. I'm tired of changing schools because of being bullied."

"Yeah... that's fine, I've got plenty of room here."...

Michiru settled down next to Haruka after she put a movie in the DVD player. "Thanks for letting me stay the night. It gives us a chance to talk more too." she rested her head on Haruka's shoulder. "Ah!" she giggled as Haruka lied back and pulled Michiru against her. "You're comfortable, you know that?"

"I've been told a time or two before." The blond ran her fingers through Michiru's silky, aqua-locks as the opening credits were playing. "So tell me about you Michi."

"I'm a hopeless romantic." she giggled. "Well, I paint, I play the violin, as you already know, I have math and obviously school." She hesitated. "How long have you been taunted at school?"

The blond frowned, she reached out and flipped off the DVD player since they wouldn't be watching it anyway. "Since I was 12 and I figured out I was gay. A rumor was spread about me. And I've never really had a friend since Kimi." She smiled. "Thank you for coming into my live Michi. I don't know how much longer I could have survived without someone to talk to." she paused for a moment, waiting for Michiru to respond. "Michi...? Michi you awake?" she smiled when she saw her sleeping form. "Sleep tight angel." she kissed the top of her head and pulled a fleece blanket over both of them, allowing herself to fall asleep.