-Michiru-
Michiru had just woken up and needed a moment to remember where she was. She was still lying in her bed, when someone knocked at her door. She got up and opened it to reveal a slightly hung over Minako.
"You look like you need some hangover cure." Michiru told her and Minako just nodded in agreement.
"Come in and have a seat. I just grab you something." Michiru signalled to the couch in her room.
"Thank you Michiru." Minako answered as she sat down on the couch.
"How come you didn't go to Ami for this?" Michiru asked curious.
"She isn't in her room. I think she went to the clinic, that Taiki promised her a tour of yesterday." Minako explained with her head in her hands.
Michiru passed her glass of water and a couple of tablets, which she took gratefully.
"Rest here until they kick in. I just get ready. Mission preparation and training starts in an hour." Michiru told Minako before she went to the bathroom.
"Ok." Minako responded sluggishly before she leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.
Michiru just finished getting ready to go down for breakfast, as she thought back to last night.
It was a very quiet ride down with the elevator when they left Haruka's apartment.
When they reached the communal area, the rest of the group had already split up into various couples, well immersed in various activities. Yaten and Minako were singing Karaoke in the viewing room. Seiya and Rei were playing billiard. Taiki and Ami were talking about the latest science research at the dinner table and Makoto and Kakyuu were exchanging recipes in the kitchen.
As soon as the elevator doors opened Haruka walked purposefully into the kitchen and sneaked one of Kakyuu's crème Brules out of the fridge with her trademark mischievous smile on her lips. That didn't stop Kakyuu from scolding the blonde, though that didn't stop Haruka from eating it either. Michiru had joined them as well and ended up talking with Kakyuu and Makoto for the rest of the night about random things that came up.
Haruka had not lost another word with Michiru for the rest of the evening but moved around easily between the small groups, making sure they were faring well and had bid everyone a good night first, reminding them all that they still had a long day ahead of them before she returned to her apartment to sleep. Michiru thought back to Haruka's eyes that night, how they lost a bit of that shine they usually held since she told Michiru about her brother.
"Michiru, I am going to get ready now myself." Minako told her through the bathroom door before the blonde left her room.
"Ok and hurry. We don't want to be late." Michiru called after her.
It was exactly 8:30 when Seiya turned up on their floor to pick them up.
"We are passing by the clinic so I can show you our facilities and to pick up Ami and Taiki for breakfast." Seiya explained as they were all in the elevator.
The elevator doors opened on the clinic floor and Seiya showed them the various treatment rooms and high tech equipment they carried. There wasn't anything that was missing here that wouldn't qualify this from being a highly equipped hospital.
"We try to be as self-sufficient as possible, so in case anything happens, that we are prepared for it. So please rest easy. In case that anything happens to you in training, I believe we can fix anything, except death." Seiya said nonchalant as they walked through the hallways to the last laboratory where Ami, Taiki and Kakyuu were standing in.
"Time for breakfast!" Seiya called them and they all went together to the communal floor.
Kyoko Yamaguchi, the grandchild of Atsuko Yamaguchi, whom they had met the day before was talking vividly with Haruka in the kitchen as Yaten and Hotaru set the table for breakfast.
"Good morning everyone!" Haruka greeted the late comers. "Please have a seat and eat well. We have a long day ahead of us." Haruka indicated for everyone to get seated.
"Please tell obaa-chan that I will see her later and send my regards to your mother Kyoko." Haruka said to the girl who had brought their breakfast before she sent her off.
They had just finished breakfast before Haruka led them down to the training floors.
"Welcome to hell" Haruka introduced them as they got off the elevator. "To your right you have your normal gym equipment and here to your left we have five floors of obstacles, fighting robots and fight simulators. Today we will just do a general fitness test before lunch, combat tests and a compatibility test will be held afterwards. If everyone could please go through the full body scanner to get your physicality scanned for the system to accurately calculate your combat strength." Haruka pointed to a big black box, next to which Yaten had already sat down to begin the scanning process.
As everyone slowly went through the scanner, Minako went to Haruka.
"And what will you be doing while we are going through 'hell'?" Minako asked Haruka.
"Taiki and Yaten will be recording and assessing your performance and Seiya will be picking you up in case you give up and want to go home. Meanwhile Hotaru-chan and I will be eating pudding, won't we?" Haruka grinned at Hotaru who grinned back just as wide.
"How is that even remotely fair?" Makoto interjected as she got out of the scanner.
Haruka pointed at the score board behind her. "These are our scores, accurate as of last week. We do this on a monthly basis to adjust the difficulty of the training course."
Kakyuu noticed that Ami was getting nervous and spoke up "Medics only do two of the five floors, right Haruka?" Kakyuu asked rhetorically.
"Yes, due to the fragility of the additional equipment that you will be carrying, you will only be doing the last two floors with the focus on evade and evacuate." Haruka confirmed. "And that is why it will be crucial to find you two the best partners to give you extra cover you might need. So, we will be choosing from the best scores and compatibilities to pair you up. You all will start at the same time and your actions will trigger events for the other people taking this test to keep it random in matters of attack type and attack time that you will experience. The balance of those will be the same for all of you though, that is why it will be crucial for you not to lose your scanner bracelets with which we will be tracking you. Everyone please gear up. The safety glasses double as simulation projectors for you and alter the things you see. Mission instructions will be sent to you through them as well, so keep them on at all times, otherwise you will get lost. The communicators are there for you to ask for help if needed. Your weapons will be just on the other side of entry point. There will be no additional equipment unless you pick it up from your adversaries. Seiya will lead you to your various starting points. Passing this will be essential to get to the next stage. I know you expect me to say good luck for this test, but this is not about luck. Survival is 60% adaptability, 39% skill and 1% luck. So, I wish you endurance and wit." Haruka explained before she went with Hotaru into the control room where Taiki was already waiting for her and Seiya led them to back to the elevator.
At their first stop, he led Kakyuu and Ami to different doors on the floor that was two floors below the one they just came from and then they proceeded to the bottom level of the training floors. Seiya advised them all to wait for the green light above the door in front of them to light up before proceeding.
"Haruka might not wish you good luck, but I do, because I know you will need all you can get." He said before he went back to the elevator.
"As soon as you are in place, please tap your bracelets to confirm your position." Haruka's voice came through the communicator and everyone tapped their bracelets.
"Fortis fortuna adiuvat." were Haruka's last words before all the lights turned green and the communicators went silent.
-Makoto-
She remembered all sort of insanities Haruka and Haruto would take their trainees through, but this was a whole new level.
The simulated sewer with robot rats… ok, manageable.
Obstacle course through a forest in the pouring rain….also manageable.
A canyon wall climb in extreme heat….sure, why not.
But a barely loaded gun against 15 adversaries?
Makoto groaned.
She had just run out of bullets and was cowering behind a low wall to hide from the robots that were searching for her, when she heard Haruka chuckle come from her communicator.
"Didn't check your weapon Mako-chan?" She said with a smirk in her voice.
"Not fair captain, I thought you would give us fully loaded weapons." Makoto whispered in return.
"Never said I would. You always go so hot headed into confrontations Mako-chan." Haruka reminded the brunette.
"Six bullets were really little." Makoto argued.
"No bullets are even less…you better think of something fast, I can see Ami getting into trouble. Unlike you though she did check her weapon and even picked up another fully loaded magazine from the last robot she evaded. I can see why you like her. She is a very smart, agile and did I mention flexible, too? She is better than I thought…OOOOOOhhh" Haruka broke off midsentence.
"What?! What happened? What happened?" Makoto asked Haruka alarmed.
"Can't tell you. If this was a real situation with broken down communication, you wouldn't know it either." Haruka said evenly.
Makoto bit her lower lip. She knew Haruka was right and that she had to think of something fast.
She had seen three robots with machine guns, and two further in the back. Her mission was to kill all the robots with the green marks on their arms, to spare the ones without, to advance to the level above her via the stair case in the next room, to reach the next check point and to manage all that before the time she was given was running out.
Slowly and quietly she sneaked out of her hiding spot, overwhelmed the second passing guard robot while the other one turned around a corner and snap its neck. One down, three to go.
-Rei-
When she met Haruka and her group yesterday in person, she only thought that they were a bunch of overgrown children, playing at the game of spy craft. Today though, they earned a whole new level of respect. Haruka wasn't joking when she called this hell and Minako, for a change, didn't exaggerate when she called Haruka a heartless daemon, when it came to training and tests. As if crawling through a mud maze in the heat wasn't bad enough, now she was being chased by a dozen rabid robot dogs up into a dead end and had to resource to climbing a steep wall to avoid being torn to bits.
'And this is why I like cats, they can't be bothered chasing anything unless it's food and even then they are lazy about it.' Rei thought to herself as she was hanging off edge of the wall with grip only on a couple of her fingers. Desperately she scraped the wall with her feet, to get some sort of footing again and to overcome this wall. She had barely gotten her face over the wall when Minako joined her and helped Rei by pulling her over the edge.
"What are you doing here?" Rei asked her breathless.
"My current task is to help you out." Minako grinned. "What is yours?"
"I am supposed to pick up a package." Rei said as she straightened out her clothes.
"And what does it look like?" Minako asked curiously.
"A gun with red and white candy stripes, I have killed at least 15 guards on the way here to find it, but so far, no luck." Rei said frustrated.
"You mean like this one?" Minako held up her weapon.
"Yes! Where did you get that?" Rei asked.
"I took it off one of the robots I killed earlier." Minako explained.
"Why would you pick it up in the first place if it wasn't your task?" Rei asked incredulously.
"It looked cute and it is fully loaded." Minako smiled wide.
"Great, that was easier than expected, let's swap." Rei suggested.
"Oh oh…" Minako's face had gone pale.
"What oh oh?" Rei asked alarmed.
"Dogs…RUN!" Minako started to sprint off with Rei close behind.
-Ami-
Ami had successfully trapped three robots and evaded twelve while keeping her med pack safe in the process and now she was slowly approaching her next check point where she was supposed to pick up an injured combatant, but no one and nothing was in sight there. Perplexed she looked around some more when suddenly Makoto appeared from a trap door from the floor beneath.
"Makoto what are you doing here?" Ami asked surprised.
"This is my fifth check point." Mokoto said just as surprised. "And you?" Makoto asked.
"I am supposed to pick up an injured combatant." Ami explained.
"I don't see anyone. What is the injury supposed to be?" Makoto tried to help.
"A shot to the leg." Ami continued to explain.
"Well then it can't be…"Makoto started to say just before a shot could be heard and a big red ink mark was on Makoto's leg.
"Focus!" Haruka's voice sounded through Makoto's communicator as Ami pulled Makoto away from the spot where she was standing and out of the sniper's view behind the next wall.
"Looks like you found me." Makoto scratched her head sheepishly.
-Michiru-
Michiru couldn't believe that Haruka would voluntarily go through this once a month. It was THE most exhausting obstacle course she had ever encountered, dotted with random tasks and murderous robots.
Cautiously approaching the next door, she slid it open quietly. It was completely dark inside and only shallow breathing came from the inside.
"Who is in there? My weapons are still fully loaded and I am prepared to shoot." Michiru called into the room.
"It's me Kakyuu, don't come a step closer. This room is wired to explode." Kakyuu's familiar voice called out.
"What are you doing here?" Michiru asked.
"I think I am your package. My instructions were to get here to grab an antidote. So, I defeated the guard robots and got in here, but when I grabbed the antidote I must have triggered the bomb system and all lights turned off." Kakyuu explained her situation.
"Did you see any switch for this?" Michiru asked
"There is one on the other side of you from where I came from." Kakyuu recalled.
'Going through the room blind will cause an explosion but going around it will cost time.' Michiru thought to herself, there had to be another way.
-Haruka-
It had now been four hours since the girls went onto the training grounds and Haruka watched all of them carefully on the screens in front of her.
Yaten was occasionally adjusting robot responses and Taiki kept track of all their movements and heart rates to assess exhaustion levels.
Ami and Makoto kept their heads down well and kept evading detection. Yaten had difficulty sending robots that could find them to chase after them.
Minako and Rei on the other hand were more offensive, seeking out easy targets to take over their equipment to eliminate even more of the robots than initially intended for them. They had good chemistry, but something still stopped them from working in perfect harmony.
Any moment now the first ones were going to reach the exit platform and Hotaru watched it all spell bound.
"Haruka-papa." Hotaru said as she sat on Haruka's shoulders, leaning her head onto the blonde's.
"Hmm?" Haruka responded, her eyes still focused on Michiru.
"When will everyone come back out again?" Hotaru asked pensively.
"Soon." Haruka replied confidently.
"When is soon?" Hotaru whined, clearly annoyed that she was missing out the action.
"When they are ready to work together. We should go and greet them, shouldn't we?" Haruka suggested and Hotaru cheered. "Yes!"
They walked together out of the control room and went down to the exit platform.
Rei and Minako were the first ones to stumble onto it, closely followed by Amy and Makoto. Both couples looked positively exhausted and battle worn.
"Welcome back ladies." Haruka greeted them cheerfully. "You have nearly made it. As you can see, nearly all of you are back and this is where the rest of you are." Haruka pointed at the screen behind her and on which they could see Michiru and Kakyuu. Night vision cameras showed them both in a dark room where Michiru was trying to reach Kakyuu without setting off any of the explosives surrounding them, by moving along each wire and defusing each explosive in the dark under Kakyuu's instructions.
"We are lucky that Kakyuu has quite the remarkable memory. Once she has seen something, she doesn't forget about it so easily, so they might be able to defuse them all, maybe even in the given time period. So, you all could go up and rest, or, one of each group has the chance to go back in there, and flick this switch." Haruka pointed at a switch in the next room to Michiru and Kakyuu. "That would defuse them all at once." Haruka explained.
"I go" All of them said in unison without hesitation as they looked at the screen.
"No, Makoto, I go, you are injured." Ami insisted as Makoto was about to protest.
"It's not even a real wound. It is just a mark." Makoto interjected.
"In a real scenario it wouldn't be just a mark." Ami noted. "I go and you guide me."
She turned to Haruka "We do get working communications between us now, since we reached the safe zone already and theoretically could re-establish communication, right?" Ami reasoned.
"Sure. Yaten, switch on the lines between these four." Haruka called out.
"Roger that." Yaten responded promptly.
"You stay Rei." Minako told Rei. "You can keep my back free with your sniping skills from here while I keep Ami safe." Minako explained.
Rei couldn't believe her ears that Minako could be so reasonable and just nodded in agreement.
"Well then that this is all decided. You have 30 minutes to get in and out, before I release more robots." Haruka smirked.
"Come back soon!" Hotaru called after them as they went back onto the training grounds.
-Makoto-
Makoto was mad at herself for being 'injured' so easily. It was supposed to be her on the field and not Ami. She would be way better in directing them through this maze and instructing them what to do when they encountered enemy forces.
"You just have to be better next time." Haruka told her while she stood next to Makoto, watching Ami's and Minako's movements.
"What if I fail again?" Makoto asked quietly.
"Then you try again. You just keep doing your best, improve on your shortcomings and no one can fault you for whatever the outcome is." Haruka stated nonchalant.
Makoto tried her best to steer them clear of enemies but still felt utterly inadequate.
"Focus Makoto, there is no time for self-pity." Haruka reminded her from time to time when her focus shifted.
Eventually Ami and Minako reached their target and flipped the switch. Hotaru cheered and praised Makoto, but Makoto knew that getting in was one thing, getting back out a whole different one, especially with Haruka's twisted plans.
-Michiru-
Suddenly the light switched on and she was temporarily blinded by it. 'Was this it?' she thought to herself until she heard Ami calling out.
"Are you alright?" Ami called from the adjacent room.
"I am not sure; did you turn on the light?" Kakyuu responded.
"Yes, we did. Everything should be defused now." Minako called over.
Michiru got up from her crouched position and Kakyuu finally moved again from her uncomfortable spot that she was stuck in. Michiru could see that Kakyuu's legs weren't stable yet as she tried to stand upright. She walked over to help Kakyuu to get her bearings just to be pushed down by Kakyuu.
A robot had entered the room and was firing wildly around with an assault rifle. Kakyuu took it out with a straight shot to its head.
"Thanks." Michiru managed from under Kakyuu.
"No, thank you for the soft landing." Kakyuu winked. "C'mon let's get out of here, before some other brilliant idea spark's our blonde Nemesis." Kakyuu chuckled.
They joined Ami and Minako only moments later and rushed through the maze with ease behind Ami and under Makoto's guidance, encountering only few robots that tried to kill them and a few of those robot dogs Minako seemed to loath.
Out of breath but in once piece, all four of them made it onto the exit platform and Hotaru ran towards them, hugging each and praising them all.
"I would say we all deserve some really late lunch after getting cleaned up a bit." Haruka grinned as she picked Hotaru off the ground again.
They all went to their rooms and got cleaned up and changed before going to the communal area again for their lunch.
Haruka wasn't present but Hotaru did her best to keep everyone distracted from the soreness that had started to settle in their muscles.
"By the way Hotaru, where is your Haruka-papa?" Michiru casually asked Hotaru as they were nearly done with their lunch.
"Missed me already?" the familiar husky voice chuckled from the doorway.
"I am just surprised you would forgo food." Michiru stated evenly.
"I wasn't, Hotaru and I already ate earlier." Haruka grinned broadly. "I just went to pick up dessert." Haruka explained as she held up a tray of red bean and mochi bowls, topped with fresh fruits.
She passed them around before sitting down at her spot at the head of the table.
"I hope you are sufficiently warmed up for what is coming next." Haruka said into the round and a slight atmosphere of dread was rising from the side of the table where all the girls were sitting, still sore from their previous exercise.
Haruka couldn't suppress a laugh and continued. "Well since you are clearly not all used to this intensity of exertion. Let's call it a day. I just wanted to show you all our own pool and sento area, in case you want to go for a soak or a swim later and since lunch was so late and the weather is so good tonight, I have prepared a grill on the roof top for dinner with fresh seafood, marinated meat and vegetables. Anyone who wants to join me up there for sunset, food and drinks as part of their dinner is welcome to do so later. Till tomorrow I would say we just enjoy ourselves. It is Saturday after all." Haruka explained.
"Will we have ice cream, too?" Hotaru asked.
"Yes, there will be ice cream, too." Haruka confirmed.
Most finished their lunch with a sigh of relief and everyone helped cleaning up afterwards, before Haruka took them to the pool and floor.
-Kakyuu-
"Here we have the big swimming pool with a diving end and on the other side is our sento." Haruka explained as all the girls followed Haruka through the right door marked for women.
"You can leave all your clothes in the lockers here and through there we have three different soaking pools, with different temperatures and different mineral soaks." Haruka explained further. "Here on the left are always fresh towels that you are welcome to use and the blue chute there on the wall is for the used towels, so they go straight down to the laundry. For everyone with aches and sores, I recommend you the pool on the very left, since that temperature will help your bruises, the most." Haruka continued.
"Ne Hotaru, want to go for a soak right now?" Kakyuu asked the little girl who nodded enthusiastically.
"I leave Hime-chan in your care then Kakyuu." Haruka gave Hotaru a kiss on her forehead before she handed her the small girl. "You behave well, ok?" Haruka reminded the small girl who gave her a kiss on the cheek back.
"Of course Haruka-papa" Hotaru grinned.
"A soak sounds amazing." Makoto agreed as she stretched her sore shoulder.
"There are various yukatas in the cupboards next to the towels. Please feel free to use them as you like. Well, I am sure you all can figure out the rest for yourself or just ask Kakyuu. I am going now to return all the dishes to Yamaguchi-obaa-san." Haruka excused herself before she left them to their own devices and Kakyuu led Hotaru to the changing area.
"Kakyuu-nee, will you wear a yukata when we go grilling? Then Haruka-papa might let me wear mine, too." Hotaru asked her excited and Kakyuu nodded.
Soon all were scrubbed clean and soaking luxuriously in the big hot water pool to the very left and only Hotaru was playing around happily in the medium heated water of the centre pool.
"Haruka hasn't changed much in her training methods, hasn't she, Makoto?" Minako noted.
"Can you even imagine what Taiki, Seiya and Yaten went through if they survived the black program and this is just their monthly test?" Makoto agreed with apprehension.
"I don't want to." Minako admitted, gliding deeper into the water.
"I remember our training in Nagoya being hard, but this was insane." Rei joined the conversation.
"Oh, this is probably just a couple of notches worse than the selection test to get taken into their course that we went through, isn't it, Makoto?" Minako told Rei. "I remember being so worn out just from the selection process, that even sitting down hurt for the rest of the week." Minako reminiscent.
"That is just because we weren't as well trained as we are now, but I have to admit even breathing hurt for a while, and we started training right on the day after the selection." Makoto said with dread in her voice.
"What did Haruka made you do?" Michiru asked them curiously.
"Besides the usual training, we had extra everything. Extra target practice, extra combat training, extra endurance training, did I forget anything?" Minako asked Makoto.
"Extra chores? Their insane errands?" Makoto suggested.
"Oh yea, like buying food at 3 o'clock in the morning at the convenience store without being seen by the store's clerk only because they were bored." Minako shook her head.
"Haruka's training tends to be very hands on, so it is not surprising that instead of doing normal diving exercises, we would be cleaning the shark tank in the Aquariums of Osaka and Okinawa." Makoto laughed.
"Haruka can be pretty difficult. If you survive her regime though, you can survive anything." Kakyuu chuckled.
"By the way, why did you have to join us today Kakyuu? I thought you are part of Haruka's permanent team. Shouldn't you need to have gone through this for this month then already?" Ami asked shyly from her corner.
"I haven't been in an active field mission for over three years now. Haruka wouldn't let me join unless I pass all tests and retrain with all of you." Kakyuu explained. "To her, all agents who are incapable of pulling their own weight and some extra, are useless in the field and are of better use somewhere else." Kakyuu continued.
"Why re-join the action now?" Minako asked curiously.
"Because she asked me to." Kakyuu smiled. "Also, it is good to keep up with the training. Would be a waste to just let it be forgotten." Kakyuu shrugged.
"I just hope the worst is behind us." Rei said, as stretched her arms.
Suddenly Minako and Makoto burst out with laughter and even Kakyuu had to chuckle.
Ami looked distraught at the implication.
"Don't get your hopes up, Rei. Luckily, as doctors, we only get pushed to our limits and not beyond it like you, right Ami?" Kakyuu looked at Ami, who sighed with relief.
"Kakyuu-nee, can we go now? The sun is soon setting and I want to wear my yukata." Hotaru asked as she leaned over.
"Ok, wait there for me Hotaru-chan. I'll see you ladies later on the roof." Kakyuu said as she left the pool to fetch Hotaru.
-Haruka-
The sun was slowly starting to set as their guests reached the roof top together, all wearing very flattering yukatas that they found in the cupboard that Haruka had shown them earlier, enjoying the early summer breeze. Hotaru was already happily wearing hers and the guys were busy building her a small game in which she had to hit some cans with a ball while Haruka was attending to the charcoal grill.
Haruka kept a watchful eye over Hotaru and the food she was grilling while talking to Kakyuu, trying hard not to look at Michiru.
"I've got to say, she is extremely attractive." Kakyuu commented as she passed Haruka a cold bottle of beer.
"Who?" Haruka asked distracted.
"You know exactly who I am talking about Haruka-chan. Want me to take Hotaru for tonight, so you can make your move?" Kakyuu asked her suggestively.
"You don't have to worry about that. There is nothing is going to happen on that front. I already told her what I did to Haruto. Anyway, shouldn't you be taking care of your own love life and be flaunting that nice yukata of yours to your boyfriend instead of distracting me from looking after our dinner?" Haruka asked under her breath before taking a sip from her beer.
"First of all, did you really tell her what happened or did you leave out all details as you usually do? Secondly, he is not my boyfriend and I do not want to distract the guys while they are building that booth for Hotaru-chan. They might hurt themselves." Kakyuu chuckled.
Minako reached them first and cut their conversation short.
"Welcome ladies. You all look beautiful tonight. What may I get you?" Haruka grinned as she beckoned them to come closer and have a seat at the benches that were set up for them.
-Michiru-
A breath-taking view over Tokyo revealed itself, as they reached the rooftop. The summer breeze was nice and refreshing and the air was filled with the delicious smelling food Haruka was cooking over her grill. Haruka and Kakyuu seemed very intimate when they arrived on the roof but as soon as they reached them, Haruka was back to her aloof self and Kakyuu had moved to tend to Hotaru. Michiru had to admit, they did look good together, but then again, with whom wouldn't Haruka look good?
She pushed that thought aside and focused on the food and the surrounding she was given.
They had a good dinner time, happily chatting about random topics, watching the sun set and enjoying freshly grilled food with sake and beer.
Once the sun had set and the food was gone, Haruka pulled out small fireworks for them all to enjoy. Hotaru seemed particular delighted and stayed close to Haruka the whole time so that she could watch it all close up. Her laughter filled the air and her delight over the smallest of things was contagious.
For a moment Michiru hoped this moment wouldn't ever pass, seeing Haruka happily playing with Hotaru, with no care in the world.
She was standing alone at the west side of the Tenoh tower, the last rays of sunlight had already disappeared long ago when Kakyuu joined her.
"Not going to light some fireworks yourself?" Kakyuu asked nonchalant.
"I want to leave my share to Hotaru-chan, she seems so thrilled by it." Michiru answered evenly.
"Haruka still has enough for her that it will last till the end of summer. I wouldn't worry about that, too much." Kakyuu chuckled.
"Why are you really re-joining the field Kakyuu-san?" Michiru asked the doctor calmly.
"You don't believe me that Haruka asked me to, Michiru-san?" Kakyuu asked her evenly in return.
"I do, but I don't think that would be enough for you to do it for her. You are a well renown and requested doctor. Many people need you and I am sure many people are asking for appointments with you and yet you are leaving that all behind for Haruka." Michiru turned to face Kakyuu.
"I know her well and I know she wouldn't ask anything of me unless there was no other way around it. She is always considering everyone around her and every possibility that might present itself. She doesn't explain things when she doesn't want to even if you ask her a million times. But I trust her and her choices. I don't need explanations on why she needs me. I am there for her whenever she needs me and however she needs me, because I trust her and her judgement, but most of all because I want to be there for her because she is always there for me when I need her." Kakyuu explained calmly.
Suddenly there was a little cry from Hotaru. It seemed she had slightly burned herself by touching the hot ash and Kakyuu rushed to her and Haruka who picked up the little girl to quickly cool her hand with water.
Michiru watched the little girl going from slightly teary to laughing again in moments and Haruka keeping a protective arm around her when they lit another sparkler.
-Haruka-
It was getting late and Haruka wanted them all to get adequate rest for tomorrow so she sent all the girls down first so they could get a good night's sleep.
"I know you want to help the guys to clean up quickly." Kakyuu told Haruka as
she approached her and took a deep sleeping Hotaru off her arms.
"Thanks, Kakyuu." Haruka smiled gently and noticed that Kakyuu was observing something from the corner of her eye. But before she could look at what Kakyuu was looking at, Kakyuu pulled her down on her shirt and kissed her suggestively on the cheek.
"What was that for?" Haruka asked her quietly and slightly surprised.
"Don't you know? Jealousy is a strong aphrodisiac. You may thank me later Ruka-chan. I am taking Hotaru-chan to my place tonight." Kakyuu whispered in her ear before she let go of Haruka's shirt.
'Someone understand women.' Haruka thought to herself before turning around and helping the guys to put everything away in the roof storage room near their helicopter.
"I am going to lock up and clean up the fireworks. You guys go and get some rest." Haruka told the guys as they carried the last bench into the storage.
"Ok. Don't sleep too late yourself." Taiki told her.
"Yes mum." Haruka chuckled and patted Taiki's back. "You worry too much."
"Night Haruka" Seiya said before entering the elevator.
"Sweet dreams, guys." Haruka replied while locking up the storage.
"Sweet dreams to you, too, when you get there Haruka-nee." Yaten added before the elevator door closed.
Haruka was just sweeping the last of the fireworks away when she heard the elevator doors again.
She turned around, just to see Michiru standing there, seemingly waiting for her.
"Did you forget something?" Haruka asked her surprised after she put away the broom.
"Tell me why I should let it go, that you killed your brother?" Michiru asked her.
"You don't have to. I never did." Haruka said indifferently. "What is it that you want from me?" Haruka asked evenly as she turned to face Michiru.
"I don't know." Michiru admitted.
"Oh well, let me know when you do. I am sure you will figure it out event..." Before Haruka could finish her sentence and turn away from the violinist again, Michiru had pulled her down for a deep kiss.
