References:

Okaa-san - mother
Tadaima - "I'm back…" or "I'm home…"
Konnichiwa - "Good afternoon…"
Gomen ne - "I'm sorry…"
Doozo yoroshiku - "Pleased to meet you…"
Itadakimasu - "Let's eat…"
Iie - no

----

"Uhm, we need this, that…and that one…" Haruka pointed at random seafood products at a local fish market.

"Haruka…for the last time, are you really, really, really…sure about this?" Beside her, Michiru had her eyebrows raised, her heart filled with anxiety at what they were about to do.

"Yeah, Michi." She smiled as the vendor handed her a plastic bag. "Trust me. My mother will like you." And together, the blonde took her beloved to the Tenoh household. With their hands linked, of course.

----

"Okaa-san! Tadaima!"

"I'm at the kitchen, Haruka." A voice, coming from somewhere, answered back.

"Michi, I'll leave you here for a minute, okay?" Kaioh was tugged along inside the living room. "I'll just help her out." Haruka stole a quick kiss before padding towards the cooking area.

The Tenoh house was quite small, simple, yet neat and warm. Pictures of Haruka and another older blonde were spread out above the fireplace. Trophies of track competitions composed a small cabinet at a corner. And along the walls, a few artworks were displayed, signed by a certain M. Tenoh.

M. Tenoh? But we're not even married yet. Michiru laughed at her own private joke.

----

"Ehem, Michiru."

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the slight cough coming from Haruka. She spun around and came face to face with two blonde's who look almost alike, one with greyish hair compared to the other.

"Okaa-san, I'd like you to meet the love of my life, Kaioh Michiru." Haruka beamed with pride, her grin reaching from ear to ear as she introduced her girlfriend. "Michiru, my Okaa-san, Tenoh Miyuki."

The two bowed at each other to show respect. She was about to say 'Nice to meet you', but Michiru was held stiff frozen from the stern gaze coming from Haruka's mother.

What do I do? What do I do?

She could feel cold sweat beginning to form on her back, her heart beating rapidly from nervousness. She didn't dare speak, nor move an inch. She looked towards Haruka to ask for some help, but the blonde just shrugged.

Some help you are! She glared at her girlfriend. "Anou…--" Michiru's statement was rudely interrupted.

"Haruka, where did you find this girl?" Miyuki appraised her from head to foot.

"Okaa-san…uhh, we're both from Mugen Gakuen…"

"Kaioh-san…where did you come from?"

"I…I live at…at Juuban district…Ma'am…" She gulped in fear. She sent Haruka an I told you so! scowl.

"Ah. I see. Very well, then. Haruka, I want you to break off any relationship you have with girl. She doesn't look nice. I don't like her. I don't ever want to see the two of you together again!"

"Hai, okaa-san. As you wish." The younger blonde dragged her outside the house despite her protests and struggle. Haruka gave one last pitiful glance before closing the gate on the green-haired girl. "Goodbye, Michiru."

----

"But…But Haruka, I love you!"

"Whoah there… uhm, Michi…you don't need to say that out loud." She felt someone shake her shoulders, followed by a nervous laugh.

She blinked. Once, twice, thrice. She felt her head throbbing, her eyes filled with unshed tears. The haze blurring her vision, seem to clear…

"Kaioh-san…are you alright?"

She spun around and came face to face with…an old lady watching her with obvious concern. Michiru looked around and found herself inside the house, once again.

"…"

The woman placed her palm at Kaioh's neck, stepped back, and gave Haruka a strong smack at the head. "Haruka, your girlfriend has a fever, and you didn't even tell me about it!"

"Gomen, ne…Okaa-san…"

Wait a minute…Okaa-san?

"Get me a towel and a basin of cold water, you little clueless child!" She commanded, and Haruka was gone in a flash. She kindly asked Michiru to sit down at a nearby chair.

"I apologize for my daughter's carelessness. Kaioh-san, I am Haruka's mother, Tenoh Yohko. Doozo yoroshiku," she smiled at the green-haired girl. But that was the last that Michiru could remember before the world came black…

----

A few hours later, or so she assumed, she waked up to the sweet smell of different aromas. She walked around the house to search for her girlfriend, and she found her, along with the older Tenoh, busily arranging the dining table.

"Oh, Kaioh-san, you're up already! Why don't you get settled in? Lunch is almost ready." Yohko gave her a friendly hug and made her sit.

"Here we go…I hope you like my cooking…Itadakimasu!"

The food was absolutely delicious. Michiru couldn't remember the time when she ate that much, so much that her stomach almost felt like bursting. But Yohko's cooking was simply one of a kind, and she can't really turn down the old woman's offer to 'have another plate please, Kaioh-san'.

----

"Okaa-san, how do you like Michiru so far?" Haruka addressed her mother from the other side of the table. She and Michiru were sitting closely, and were spoon-feeding each other with the blueberry cheesecake they had bought earlier at the market.

"She's a good catch, Haruka. I swear, if you let Kaioh-san go, I'll hang you upside down on the lamp post outside our house." Yohko laughed merrily, but Haruka gulped in fear.

Okay…that was uncalled for…

"But I won't ever let her go…" was the young blonde's surprising reply, earning her serious looks from both her mother and her girlfriend.

"That's becoming unexpected from you, my child. Have you been eating jelly beans again? You know, Kaioh-san, when Haruka was around 5, she got hospitalized due to diarrhoea by eating 10 boxes of jelly beans. People were wondering where she stored all that food in her thin frame."

Haruka shook her head in defeat. Sometimes her mother just creeps the hell out of her. Beside her, Michiru wasn't doing any help at all. The girl joined her mother's laughter, finding amusement in the weird joke, if it was any joke at all…

"Honestly, my children? You two look great. Do I hear wedding bells, hmmm?" Yohko chuckled loudly from the red faces of the two teenagers. "Oh, relax…will you? I was just kidding…not…" And again, her voice rang around inside the small house.

----

"Kaioh-san…can I address you as Michiru-san?"

"Of course, Tenoh-san…"

"Okay…here goes the interview…" Haruka whispered in her left ear. "Good luck." She felt her hand being squeezed lightly.

"Michiru-san, what do you really like about my daughter?"

"Anou…she's really sweet Tenoh-san…--"

"Just call me okaa-san."

She already accepted me as Haruka's wife…

"Hai, okaa-san." Kaioh's eyes twinkled with profound joy. "Oh, and she's a good kisser too."

"Michi…don't you give her any ideas. Mom...stop it...stop asking her those kind of questions..."

The younger Tenoh grumbled and crossed her arms in front of her, while the older Tenoh laughed aloud at her daughter's expected reaction.

"What do you have to hide to me, Haruka? You are my child, I just want you to be happy. You love her, and I can see that reflected in Michiru-san's eyes. You have all my support…" Yohko couldn't stop the tears coming from her eyes.

And in that afternoon, at the small house near the seaside, three women cried. Not from sadness, of course…but from immense happiness for a relationship, that will soon be tested by fate itself.

----

Tokyo Airport. 1700 H.

"Flight 131 has just arrived from America at Terminal 9." A voice announced on the speakers.

A middle-aged woman folded the newspaper she was reading, discarding it on a nearby trashcan. She stood from one of the benches, stretched her limbs and started towards the gate of Terminal 9.

"Konnichiwa, Chiba-san."

A handsome young man, around his late teens, with short black hair and a killer smile, addressed his escort.

"Konnichiwa, Meioh-san. Nice to meet you." Chiba Mamoru and Meioh Setsuna shook each other's hand. He bowed and tried to kiss the back of Setsuna's, but was rudely slapped away.

"I agreed to escort you for business, and not pleasure. The chairman is waiting for you. We should not let him wait."

Together, they rode at a black limo, the last rays of the sun striking the large emblem of Mugen Gakuen at its hood.

----

"Ruka…do you have something in your mind?" The pair was walking along the sands of the beach just outside the Tenoh house.

"Iie…it's nothing. We should get you back at the dorm, Ami-san might already be worried."

"Ami-chan? But she knows I'm safe with you." Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka's waist. "Tell me, what's bothering you?"

"I don't want to. I know it sounds selfish."

"Please, Ruka."

The blonde turned around, her hands too, were now entangling her girlfriend, hugging her close before she dropped the bomb.

"It's just that…we've already been together for more than a year now. And I was just wondering…when will you let me meet your dad? I've already told you about everything there is with my family…and today, you've just met my mom. But how about on your side? I want to get to know them too…" The girl pleaded with her loved one.

Kaioh's eyes were downcast, trying to avoid Haruka's. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about the topic, so Tenoh decided to just shrug it off. She continued walking and left the other girl to her thoughts.

But why? Am I not yet deserving to meet your family? Do you not think that I could be the one for you?

As if reading her mind, Michiru answered back. "Aishiteru, Haruka. I really do. But I don't want you to meet the man who made my life worse. I'm just afraid…" Tears filled her eyes, and she broke down. And as always, Haruka was there in an instant, catching her fall.

"Gomen ne, Michi. If you don't want me to meet him, it's fine." Tenoh showed her girlfriend the trademark grin.

"But I really want you to…" Michiru trailed off, her mind seeming to consider the thought. "Next week…on Sunday, is his birthday. Come with me to our house."

"Really?" The blonde's eyebrows shot up.

"Yes, really."

"As in, really…really?"

"Ruka, stop acting childish. Yes, I want you to meet my father."

"Wohoo!" She pumped her fist in the air and jumped in joy. "I am going to meet him! I am going to meet my future wife's father!" She repeated the action, over and over again. And finally, when she calmed down, she kissed her girlfriend, full on the lips, never caring about the people who were looking at them, wondering what the 'crazy blonde' was screaming about.

Michiru blushed for the nth time on that day.

----

Author's Note:

Sigh. I'm still busy with a lot of stuff these days. I could only pray for a break.

And yeah, thanks for the reviews. :)

Disclaimer:

Haruka, Michiru, and the rest of the BSSM gang belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
And SBS owns the Korean TV series Green Rose.