Then it began.
"Michiru Arisu Kaioh! You get in here right now, young lady!" Her mother called in a loud, but still semi-lady-like tone.
Michiru's head was swimming with excuses for Haruka's act, but her father grabbed her arm and pulled her into the mini-mansion before she could come up with anything good.
"Sir! Please stop, you're hurting me," Michiru cried. Her father's fingers were digging deep enough into her arm to leave bruises for weeks.
Michiru's father slammed the door shut. "You be quiet, you repulsive girl!"
Hiroshi Kaioh's heavy hand crossed Michiru's face when her pleading didn't cease.
"What were you thinking? Somebody could have seen you!" He shouted. "We have already made arrangements with a fine man that will have you. How dare you disgrace our family with that...that filthy boy! I want an explanation now!"
Aiko folded her arms and stood beside her husband, also waiting for her story.
Michiru backed slowly against the wall, rubbing her bruised arm. At least they didn't know that Haruka was a woman.
"He just drove me home, you see. I was pretty far from here at that...library. The one that just opened? I was trying to find something for my studying...and the car broke down. He helped me and drove me home. I don't know what he was thinking, maybe he wanted to date me or something, but I've never seen him before. Truly. I apologize. I am so sorry for this misunderstanding, Sir, Ma'am."
Michiru bowed low before her mother and father and waited for her judgment.
Hiroshi gave a low grunt. "If I see you with him again, there will be consequences. Now hurry and get ready."
Michiru nodded, bowed again, and went up the spiral staircase that led to her room.
Michiru started to cry the moment that she closed her door behind her. She didn't know what she was going to do. Haruka was a very oblivious person. Sweet, but unaware of nearly everything she said and did. Knowing her, Haruka would probably come to her house to take her to school the next morning. She thought if calling Haruka to ward her off, but the phone in her room shared that of her parents, and they would hear the entire thing. Of course, she couldn't very well drive over. Michiru just sighed and stepped into her bathroom.
The cool water was more than refreshing, but the moment that Michiru stepped out of the shower, she realized that she would soon be dinning with her parents and two of their guests. It was probably going to be some sort of a business deal. Michiru dabbed her body dry with a towel, quickly blow-dried her hair, and slipped on a green evening gown. She sprayed on a bit of one of the expensive perfumes that her mother insisted that she wore and pulled a sheer green shawl around her arms to cover up the marks her father had made.
Michiru went downstairs. She took the best china and silver from the cabinet and set the grand table in the dinning room before her mother could complain about how lazy she was. When it came of time, she let the guests into the house in the place of the doorman and humbly offered them seats at the table. Then she served the guests: two men with the same smug, down-to-business expression her father had. Michiru finished setting the food she and her mother had prepared and took a seat. She ate as fast as a fine lady was permitted and then was excused early from the table by her not-so-reluctant parents. She then redressed more casually and took her car to the seminar for the extra studies that were forced upon her. Michiru would have gone to warn Haruka, but her parents would know if she was not at the seminar and it would take her a suspicious amount of time if she went to see her. Instead, Michiru returned home two hours later, took another shower, bade her parents a good night and went to be after yet another tiresome day.
Haruka came to the Kaioh estate the next morning to bring Michiru to school.