Chapter 6

Freak, violin peace treaty and keyhole incident

Michiru was kneeling on the bed. The expression on her face was easy to read: she was horrified. Inside, it was not really what she felt… she just had the impression that she had been slapped, or that very cold water had been thrown at her… Her mind was racing… She was married… to a woman… It was impossible and totally incorrect. This wasn't legal, or good… Haruka pulled back her bandages and shirt.

« I knew you would freak. I'll wait some time then I'll leave, don't worry, I don't expect anything from you. I just came because everyone would have noticed if I didn't. Now you'd better keep this for you, we're married, so imagine the scandal and the shame on you too if it was to be discovered. » said Haruka in the coldest voice Michiru had ever heard coming from her.

So Haruka sat in an armchair and waited. The atmosphere was tensed. Michiru couldn't take her eyes from her… A woman… No one could guess when she was dressed like this, but the minute she had put off the bandages it had been so obvious. It meant that she had been wrong… She couldn't be in love with Haruka since she was a woman…

« You could have told it earlier… Before kissing me for the first time, or before getting married for example. »

« Hey! You searched for it remember. »

« You went to me first, I'm a young lady, an innocent maiden, of course I wanted to marry you… You're handsome and all and you tried to seduce me first! »

« I seduce everyone, I'm a flirt. And don't talk to me about innocent maiden and young lady… You're too smart for that, we both know you aren't that innocent… I saw girls harder to convince. You fell in my arms at the first nice words I said. »

« Don't be too confident… Besides, it isn't legal to marry like we did… this marriage isn't valid. » said Michiru.

« It is, believe me, it is… No one knows I'm a woman, my father told everyone I'm a man since birth. That's a story of inheritance. He was disappointed because my mother didn't give him a boy. So how do you feel out of your fairy tale, princess? Now I think you know why I wasn't married, and why I didn't want to marry you. »

« Of course… I think you won your revenge on me. It was what you wanted, wasn't it? I think it's satisfying. Right now, if you had been a man, I would have slept with you as a wife does on a wedding night. And I would have been glad to do it. I would have sworn you were in love too… You looked so different today. But I think it was on purpose, you thought the disappointment would have been worse after. »

« Exactly… »

« You are disgusting. I hope you'll never approach me. A woman… I kissed a woman. People like you are freaks. »

« I knew you would say something like that. But kissing a woman seemed to please you, back then. »

« I thought you were a man. »

Haruka was feeling hurt by Michiru's words, though she had foreseen them. Now she wanted to hurt Michiru as much as she had hurt her.

« Good excuse… So let me describe the situation for you… First you won't have fun in bed with your husband like the other women, but of course nothing forbids you to join Lord Longley… Second you won't have children, even if I slept with you I obviously can't… Guess you know how make babies?… Well… and you'll be rather alone… Aquitaine is far from everything and the house is in the countryside… but maybe I'll make you go back to Toscana… I didn't decide yet. You were right, I'm a freak, but not because I'm a woman dressed as a man and married to another woman… This is just the way I am. »

« You are, when you talk like this you are... It is sad. »

« What? »

« The way you act… Why do you need to tell all this? Why do you need to be mean like this? »

« When you say someone is a freak, don't expect flowers from this same person. »

« It's not only this… You're complicated but I'll break your armour someday. »

« Don't overestimate yourself. You're just a silly woman. »

« You're a woman too… And those silly women we are attract you. »

« Let it fall, will you? Well I think I can go now. Please can you mess your hair a bit and give the bed an untidy look…»

Haruka exited the room. As soon as she left, Michiru began to cry. All the things Haruka said her were right… She would be alone and frustrated and she would never have children, which has been her dream for years. But she didn't have the strength to hate Haruka… After all it was her error… But a singular thought crossed her mind… Why was she still thinking of Haruka in this way, this so sweet way? She was a woman; she couldn't admire her as she would admire a man… Haruka was no longer a prince on a white horse… « But she's the same… Haruka is Haruka… She's a prince… But a prince I CAN'T LOVE! Without her armour… She's a princess. »

Outside the room, Haruka was angry… She knew Michiru wouldn't be glad, but she had received the word freak as a slap in her face… Why did this silly girl had this effect on her? Why her words meant so much? She had had a good day, and for a moment, she had thought that Michiru and her could be friends perhaps… But her reaction had made her understand how 'normal' Michiru was… At least Melinda, even if she wasn't in love, accepted, even liked who she truly was… She was open-minded. Why Michiru couldn't be the same? But as she thought this, a question crossed her mind « Why do you care if she likes you or not? You don't like her yourself. » She went to bed very troubled.

Next morning, when Haruka awoke, she heard a violin playing… Who was playing? Why so early in the morning? And the melody was so sad… She got up and began to search for where the melody came… She finally arrived to Michiru apartments… She opened the door slightly; she didn't want the girl to notice her presence… Of course it was Michiru playing… She was a gifted artist, how could have Haruka forgot it, besides she was the only person in the house that was able to play violin… and she played so well… Her face didn't seem concentrated like the others violinists she had seen in her life… She seemed more… Absent, as if she wasn't really in the room. Her face had a very sad but incredibly beautiful look… Haruka felt submerged by the sad melody, she was as though drowning in it… She had a strange impression, as if she entered another world, Michiru's world… her secret garden, so she had a universe for herself… She's might be deeper than I am…

Suddenly the charm broke, Michiru had seen her… She stopped to play.

« Sorry, did I awake you? » asked Michiru.

« No… not really… Don't… Don't stop because of me… »

Michiru smiled. She looked so peaceful. Playing the violin had emptied her from her anger and deception for the moment.

« I've been told that you play the piano. »

« The piano? Yes, but I didn't touch one for years… I preferred to train my swords skills, more masculine you see? »

« I see. I think I have to apologize for last night, I shouldn't have said you are a freak. We are married, whoever you are, so I'll act as a wife must. I promise to act with you as if you really were a man. »

« I… I understand why you said it… and that wasn't entirely wrong, I've been a freak with you. »

« Maybe we could play a duet together. » said Michiru.

« What? Oh yes… But there's no piano in here… But if you want, there is a music room on the first floor, I will make reopen for you, it will need a huge cleaning before you can use it, it hadn't been used for years. »

« Why? »

« The only ones to use it where my mother and I. She played the piano too; she's the one who taught me. When she died my father closed the room, but he won't see any problem for you to use it. I think he likes you very much. »

Haruka felt ill at ease… She liked this calm Michiru but it was strange… When she had left her last night, she was angry and mad at her. Now she was smiling to her, though there was sadness on her face… And she talked in a so nice and understanding way… It troubled her too much, so she decided to leave.

Haruka avoided Michiru as much as possible after this moment, the calm of the girl made her loose her confidence, she impressed her… And Haruka didn't like to be impressed. They left in the afternoon for Aquitaine, where they spent a week, then they headed for Toscana, as it had been planned… For a moment, Haruka thought she may let her stay in her homeland. But letting Michiru in Italy made her feel very bad, without knowing why. So she came back with her, still choosing not to ask herself why she needed her presence so much.

Back in Paris, Haruka's father, who found that Haruka didn't cared her wife and seeing Michiru all alone and bored, entrusted her with the huge task of redecorating the manor… He was amused by the little game they played… Haruka didn't go out as often as before, she stayed home, but not with Michiru, though she was never very far… Especially when his daughter-in-law began to play the violin. He was glad to have Michiru in the house, her presence gave a new life to it, after his wife died, the house seemed to have died too.

That morning, he discovered Haruka, the ear stuck at the door of the music room. It was the first room Michiru had rearranged. When Haruka noticed her father presence, she straightened and took an innocent look.

« You listen at the doors now? »

« No… I was just passing by when I heard the violin… »

« She plays the violin in here every morning… And you know it. Why don't you enter and look openly? I think she won't mind. »

« I don't want to disturb her… And I don't want her to know I'm interested in what she does… »

« This is stupid… You're married and you clearly like her. »

« No, how many times will I have to tell it, I don't love her, she's not even a friend! » shouted Haruka.

The violin stopped playing. Haruka returned to face the door and she saw Michiru standing at the door.

« Could you please be a little more discreet, or if you really want to scream, could you do it somewhere else? I'm practicing. Besides if you really hate me so much then why didn't you left me in Toscana as you said you would? »

Haruka wasn't very proud of herself… She hadn't wanted Michiru to hear this… But as she had taken it so coldly… Her face was incredibly empty of emotions; she had been quick in developing a skill to not let her feelings appear when it came to Haruka.

« You're right maybe I should have… You're useless and boring, your violin annoys me! I can't think properly. »

« That's why you were listening at the door? » said Michiru, this time with a smile on her face.

This time Haruka became red. She tried to defend herself but nothing crossed her mind so she just left.

« Why is she so stubborn? » asked Michiru.

« She is bad tempered, and as you said stubborn, and also proud. »

« We could be good friends, but each time the things seem to improve, she kind of… steps back and becomes mean… »

« She will become your friend someday… you already changed some things by being here… Did you notice? »

« Not really? »

« Haruka was never home before; she just came to dine with me. Now she spends all her time in the house… She doesn't show herself at the court anymore, which means she doesn't break hearts anymore, she looks more like she was when her mother was alive… she becomes back the gentleman she was. »

« Haruka once was a gentleman? Let me laugh. »

« Don't be too hard on her. She had a hard time when her mother died, I think that's after this that she began to see Lady Longley and that she developed her bad habits… Before she was the kind of « son » you can be proud of, she was exquisite with everyone, and so talented. Her gifts for the piano were worth yours at violin, she was already an excellent swordsman, and she read a lot… Now she is a jerk, she destroys people's life and is known for it… And I wouldn't be surprised if she was a drunkard. »

« How did her mother died? »

« Illness. Haruka caught a bad virus, and her mother caught it a week after, Haruka survived it, but not her mother. »

« I'm sorry. »

« She found the ideal wife for sure, you're exceptional, you're a kind and smart person. »

« If I was so kind I wouldn't be so hard on her… I don't know why I so much need to tease her and to argue like this… »

Haruka was leaning against the wall and listening… All this complicated her life, this way she had to be influenced by Michiru's presence… She needed a distraction; she needed to think of something else… To get away from Michiru. She left for the Longley's manor.

« Oh, by the way, Haruka received a letter from the palace, she left it open on the table so I read it… The king wants you to attend the court… I guess Haruka forgot to tell you about this. You'd rather go; you have an invitation to spend a week there. »

« I don't know if Haruka did accept this… »

« Surely she did. No one can refuse this kind of invitation. I think she wanted to tell it to you, but since she left you will just have to go there by yourself. If you don't, the king will be pissed. »

Michiru felt her heart freezing… So Haruka had sold her to the king… She felt like vomiting…

« I will go. »

« I'll make your carosse ready. »

« Lady Tenoh! Lady Tenoh! » yelled Setsuna from behind. Michiru returned in surprise.

Setsuna was holding something in her arms…