Here we are, we are about to see the meeting with our 'best man'
ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
Impregnable fortresses
Military Hospital "Edward Dewenish VA medical centre"
Portsmouth, Virginia
19 April, 2008
Day 1
When she came in what, once, had been her own office, Michiru was feeling as if she hadn't never stopped working.
Some faces were changed, maybe some schedules, but for her it was as if those three years had never passed. Of course the room was all tidied up and smelled of cleaning, the moquette had been changed and those portraits on the walls were no more there, like when she put them there.
But the familiarity she had with this place overwhelmed her and she just hoped she didn't have to be overwhelmed by those remembering.
She took a deep breath, then she approached to her desk putting her things there. With Mamoru, in the end, they had come down to a compromise: thanks to the rigid administration of the hospital, which could offer a contract not exceeding four months for the re-admission of Michiru, they decided that at the end of that period the girl would decide on what to do.
If she really had been able to solve the case, very well. But if Mamoru had overestimated her - and she was convinced - this four-month exploit in Middle-earth between her own psyche and Major Tenou had led to a mere de facto nothing, the contract would have been torn up. Friends as before, toasting 'to health' during one of the dinners with his friend and his wife Usagi. So what was the point in giving a personal touch to that room, if in four months' time, in all likelihood, would she leave?
The door being knocked stopped her thoughts.
The first thing she saw was a hand holding a cup of something, coffee maybe. Remembering about the same routine she had at the place time ago, she hoped, prayed that that hand weren't owned by the body and the face she thought.
By her dismay, it was immediately denied.
"Back coffee, 9:30am, like the old times." Said the man with short brown hair and grey eyes while handing the cup to Michiru. She accepted showing her brightest smile. Or better her false smile.
"Samuel..."
"Welcome back Michiru, I couldn't believe it when they told me that."
Dr. Samuel Foster was another member of the Dewenish psychiatric wing. He was only a couple of years older than her, and it was no mystery to anyone that handsome Foster - a past as a football player and a brief modeling experience to pay for his studies - had taken a loud wave for the charming doctor Kaioh. It was no mystery even for the same Michiru, who had tried in every way to make others understand that was not her type, and that there was really no need to bring her coffee every morning. Then the thing had happened, she had fired herself and in three years he had sometimes looked for her. In all honesty, Michiru hoped he would not work there anymore, since Foster still did not was the type that interested her. To be honest, she was no longer sure what her type was, exactly, since her social life and sexual one had been the last of her thoughts in recent years. But the moment she had seen the glass of coffee she had understood that her hopes were practically dead, and she only prayed that her patience would not have the same end.
"You look good." Said Samuel looking at her colleague's mise which was made by a light blue shirt and a grey skirt, then he added: "you are a fairy tale."
"You always are the usual adulator Samuel. You didn't change."
Michiru turned away from her colleague and put on the gown she had left hanging from the coat hanger.
"If you don't mind I'd go, I don't want my patient to wait for me."
"Sure. I'll come with you."
Shit...mentally cursed Michiru, while with paper sheet and coffee in her hands she started walking toward the office with Samuel.
"Why did you come back?" Asked him not bothering to go away.
"Doctor Chiba needed me, so here I am."
Samuel smiles. "Who's your patient?"
"Major Tenou."
"Mm, wow. Doctor Chiba sent you in the lion's jail, uh?"
Michiru smiles. " guess you already know him."
"I had a session there a few days after he got in. He was pretty badly dressed, I understand he was involved in a fight down in Virginia Beach." 'I assure you that he has given more', thought Michiru, returning with her mind to the record contained in the Tenou file. So, according to praxis, the Major had already done psychoanalysis, but only she and Mamoru knew the details well.
"I'm sure he deserved them all."
"Excuse me?"
"He is very unpolished, arrogant, full of himself."
They just got to the room 4 where was supposed to be the meeting between Michiru and the Major Tenou.
"Good luck, then." Samuel wished her, and while he was trying to kiss her cheek, she quickly hurried into the room closing the door without bothering to answer him.
And once she was in, she saw him.
Standing next to the reinforced glass window overlooking the bay stood the figure of Major Tenou. He was giving her the back, and he kept his hands tucked into the pockets of faded jeans; he wore a black sweatshirt with which she could see the hood, and from the curved pose she deduced that his forehead was resting on the glass.Michiru opened her mouth to speak and break the ice, but she did not have time. A low, slightly hoarse voice reached her ears. "You should get rid of that one there, you will not be able to sneak away forever."
She watched Tenou straighten up to break away from the window, and the first thing that struck her was the physique, thin but clearly athletic. The second was the height, which she estimated at no less than six feet. Was it possible that this lanky boy was able to do what she had read and seen in the police report photos?
"As?" Asked Michiru, intrigued by that statement. Tenou turned, and looked her straight in the eye. Michiru immediately registered the magnetic intensity of that emerald look; then she expanded the spectrum of analysis. Tenou's face was flawless, except for a small dark spot at the left cheekbone that she interpreted as the aftermath of the fight. The delicate features, almost feminine in some respects, made him undoubtedly fascinating. The short blond hair assumed, in the reflection of the sun, a shade so clear as to make them look almost white, and Michiru blamed that very clear coloration to the months spent in the Iraqi sands. But what struck her most, on the whole, were Tenou's eyes. Because if in a moment they were of an unbearable intensity, and a flash of amazement - or something else, which she could not identify - he had just raised his eyebrows as light as his hair, now they were veiled with a cold indifference that it was also extended to the rest of the face.
"The one who walked with you, since the way he wished you good luck. And probably he even tried to kiss you judging by the way you ran in there."
Michiru was sincerely surprised. Then shook her head, put the coffee on the nearest table lifting her hand toward her patient introducing herself.
"I'm the doctor Kaioh, your psychologist. Nice to meet you."
The other one stood at attention. "Major Tenou Haruka," he introduced himself then handed his hand shaking the smaller one of the doctor aqua heired, "at your service."
When they give up the hold, she noticed the peculiarities of his hands. They were long, tanned and calloused.
She sits down and found for the other one a chair in front of her.
"You should be the prodigal son" said Tenoh making her look up from her notes, "the one who is back after a lot of years."
Michiru looked surprised. "How did you know that?"
"I've never had trouble getting information if I'm interested in something."
"And what would be the object of your interest?" "My health, and therefore, by extension, you." The girl smiled. "I must be flattered, then."
"I would not be if I were in your place, and you were me." She heard herself be answered. Michiru registered a bit of bitterness as Tenou spoke, which disappeared as it had arrived.
"Why do not you tell me a little about you, Major?" Michiru proposed, crossing her legs and placing her hands clasped on her knee. She watched the other rest his head on the back of the chair and look at the ceiling, tapping his fingers on the armrests. "Where were you born, where you grew up"
"They say you came back thanks to Dr. Chiba." Tenou interrupted her, still staring at the wall above them. "Well, that's it."
"You did not understand. They say she's back thanks to the fact that Dr. Chiba is fucked by you." Michiru remained stunned. But after a moment she composed herself.
"They also say you're an arrogant rude, full of yourself." Tenou raised his head and looked into her eyes. Green on Blue. Then he smiled.
"Well, mine is true, yours?"
"Dr. Chiba is happily married, his wife is my friend." "As if it were a reason ... I saw people selling their mother, a sordid story among colleagues would not disturb me too much."
"Well, put your heart in peace, because the sordid story, as it calls it, does not exist."
"If you say so." Now Tenou looked at her amused. "Do you repeat your name, please?"
"Kaioh, Michiru Kaioh."
"Michiru Kaioh ..." he repeated, looking back at the ceiling.
"Not exactly a Virginia name."
"Like Tenou, on the other hand."
"I assume your a Sansei like me, then."
"You assume well." They remained silent, then Michiru heard him repeat her name again. She saw the blow start and prepared to receive it. "Do you have a relative in the army, Dr. Kaioh?"
"No."
"A brother, a cousin, or maybe a husband, Kaioh is your married name or da-"
"There is no Kaioh in the army." Michiru interrupted him, trying not to alter her tone of voice. But the other noticed that thrill, and just tilted his head. "And anyway, we're not here to talk about me."Poined out the girl.
"But I think it's much more stimulating to talk about her, Dr. Kaioh." It was Tenou's answer, which leaned forward towards the doctor, looking for her gaze.
"It never happened to you, huh?"
"What?"
"Being the ant under the magnifying glass." Michiru felt put on the corner. She had lost some enamel, certainly, in the years of inactivity, and certainly had a completely wrong approach. To show herself to be friendly had somehow led her to leave her bare side: Tenou had noticed and, under an equally friendly mask, had struck mercilessly. She had to regain control of the situation.
"Nobody wants to burn her with a ray of sunshine, Major. If I'm here, it's just to help her."
"A help I did not ask."
"Your recent actions say exactly the opposite." She held the other's gaze for a long moment, and Michiru understood what lay ahead of her: a grinding wall against the wall.
"I know you are taking rather heavy medicines, I will ensure that the quantities are reduced." The young woman smiled before continuing.
"As you see, your not the only one to worry about your health."
"You misunderstood." The other answered, bothering to smile back. "I said that my health is the object of my interest, not that I am interested in healing."
x
Michiru came out of the bathroom, where she had taken off make-up and brushed her hair, and came back for the umpteenth time in the living room to grab the recorder. Then, exhausted by the day ended with the famous dinner at the home of the Chiba family whose invitation, so to speak, had triggered the whole, taken to the bedroom intent to let Morfeo welcome her in his comfortable arms. Not before putting on tape the impressions of that first day, which were many. Maybe too much. Tenou was without a doubt ... something. It was intriguing, in its way of doing. Indisponent, arrogant, certainly. But anyhow, he had a certain aura. "Michiru Kaioh, 11.27 pm on April 19, 2008. The endless day." She began after lying on the bed. "Today I met Major Tenou. Aesthetically speaking, if that guy wanted to leave the Army to give himself to fashion, he would have no problems whatsoever, angelic outside, as diabolical inside ..." she remained silent, recalling the events of the day . "Point one: taken like this, as I have known it today, it would not seem a typical case of the Disorder. An admission of self-destructive behavior has emerged, that yes, and yet I have found it hard to believe that the person sitting in front of me was able to unleash himself in the extremely violent manner I know of: Point Two: Tenou is a player, and he makes indifference his strength, he is detached and does not bother to tell you what's on his mind. He is extremely skilled at understanding where he can hit, creating the most damage, and with me he has almost succeeded ... " She covered the tape recorder so as not to leave the yawning sound she could not hold on the tape. "But, point four, he heard Foster's advances and he showed up, giving me advice .. He had no trouble telling me that in the hospital rumor that Mamoru and I go to bed together, but not even that he was informed about my account ... " The slow opening of the bedroom door turned Michiru away from her ruminations. She hastened to turn off the recorder and sit down on the bed, while the small figure appeared in the doorway, rubbing her sleepy eyes with one hand and holding the stuffed bunny in the other. "Mom..."
"What's up, angel?" Michiru asked, approaching the raven-haired little girl wearing a helmet and kneeling in front of her.
"It's very late, you know?" Two violet irises planted on the blue ones of Michiru. "Luna is afraid." Michiru watched the child lift the cuddly toy, and smiled.
"Then it will be better if you and Luna sleep here with me for tonight, what do you think?" The child's face lit up, and Michiru lifted her up, returning to the bed. She considered that it was not entirely unexpected: between her and the little Chibiusa, at Mamoru's house, they had taken out a whole ice-cream tub. A nightmare could also be there. They settled under the sheets, the little girl clutching her puppet, Michiru holding both.
"Goodnight Hotaru," the girl managed to murmur, kissing the girl's hair, before fatigue took over.
Author's notes: wow, I did it today too! I don't think I'll be able to update this fiction that fast as I'm doing right now, I have school and personal business. Anyway, I'll try to update sooner possible, thank you so much reader and remember to leave a small review to let me know about any doubt or anything else you'd like to understand. Until next time this is Milla23 ;)