Not This Year

-for-

Ten no Kasou

Chapter Five: Misunderstanding

There had been countless times in Haruka's life that she had been lost, confused and simply out of place. But now, more than ever she couldn't seem to calm herself down. Christmas Eve had approached faster than she thought it would and, as a result, she had gained an immense amount of anxiety. 'I don't know what I'm going to tell her. I could tell her that I love her, in front of everyone. Or, I could write her a note. Maybe I could simply give her the gift and hope that she might return my feelings.' Haruka willingly placed her hands within her coat pocket.

"Haruka…" The blonde came out of her thoughts, spinning around to the sweet voice of her closest friend. Her smile faded into the night when she realized that Michiru didn't call her in a positive way, she called her as if she were lost. "What's this?" Michiru held out a newspaper, with a picture of her and another woman on the front. "Star racer, new girlfriend?" Michiru read aloud.

"Uh, it's not what you think." Haruka was red in the face. How could she possibly talk her way out of this one? What were the chances that Michiru would actually read the news but worse, what were the chances that Michiru would read the paper on the day her story was to debut. "Listen… I can… explain." Haruka noticed that Michiru was no longer as joyful as she normally was, instead Michiru seemed to be hurt by the picture.

"You didn't want to spend time with me, really?" Michiru questioned the blonde. Haruka was about to stop her from saying anymore but Michiru threw her a glare. "You could have simply said that. I don't know you were to the point of making excuses for yourself… I'm sure I would have understood." Michiru handed the paper to her friend, a bit distant in behavior. "It's not like you don't have an army of girls waiting at your beck and call." Michiru walked away from Haruka, not wanting to face the girl that she had deep feelings for. 'I hate this. Why do I care so much? She is not mine! And yet I want to shed tears at the sight of her with another woman.' Michiru recalled the intimate images, flooding her mind.

"Michiru, can I please explain what happened?"

"I don't need your explanations. This has nothing to do with me. You are free to date who you want."

'Date? Why is she so hurt by this stupid picture? Baka, Haruka!' "I'm not making any explanations! I'm trying to tell you the truth!" Haruka tried to grab hold of Michiru but was surprised when the other girl pushed her back unexpectedly.

"Save it for your new girlfriend." Michiru replied coldly as she walked out of the park to head home.

Haruka kicked a can by her foot. She had to think. How could she give Michiru her present now? There was no chance in hell Michiru would give her moment out of her day, not since she was full of anger.

"Excuse me, do you have a rose?" Haruka asked as she walked into a flower shop.

"Ah, a rose? What on earth would you want a rose for?" The clerk asked Haruka with concern. "Do you know what a rose means? It carries several meanings." Haruka bit her tongue. She wanted to tell the man that she simply didn't have time to be listening to his rubbish. There wasn't much time left in the night. Haruka glanced at her watched and relieved a sigh. She might not have had time but, she had to choose the right rose. "Excellent! You will stay. Okay, let me grab some roses." The man brought back five colored roses, each extremely different in their own way. "What sort of rose are you trying to give?"

Haruka blushed at the thought of Michiru. "I think I like someone." Haruka admitted hoping that her response would give him enough information to choose the right rose for her.

"Well, a white rose means: Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, I am worthy of you, Heavenly." The man looked up at her with a questioning look. "Any of those?"

"Not exactly." Haruka replied, sheepishly. 'Although she is heavenly and innocence…' "How about one that says--"

"A burgundy rose means: Unconscious beauty."

"What?" Haruka cut back, bewildered by the statement. "I'm not sure--"

"Not right? A pink rose? It means Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, Gentleness, Please Believe Me." He asked again. Then he pulled a few more colored roses from a drawer, sensing Haruka was going to be really picky.

"Not quite. I just need one that would express how I--"

"How about a coral rose? It means desire!" The man almost growled at the thought of desire. This, of course, merited another wild expression from his blonde customer. "Okay, okay. How about a black one? It represents DEATH." The man made a signal with his hand that was supposed to indicate an ominous feeling.

"STOP!" Haruka finally yelled. She couldn't stand to be cut off one more time. This guy was a nut. Who would give a death rose on Christmas? "I only need one that says I love you."

"Oh?" The man asked, a bit disappointed. "You should have said that before. What kind of love is it?"

"Do you have something that describes a multiple year friendship, with one of the friends developing deep feelings of love for another, then the other friend gets mad because the friend gets with a girl who she doesn't like but ends up kissing her just to get a ring back?" Haruka laughed at her stupidity. 'Yeah, that's a flower that exists.' "Oops, sorry. I've went off for a moment. How about a rose that means love from a friendship?"

"You know … what…" The man walked back into the cooler and pulled out a special rose. "Here." He handed Haruka a yellow rose with a red tip. "This means falling in love. I'm sure you'll be content with it."

Haruka examined the rose for a few moments before she decided it wasn't enough. She had to get more roses, the one rose looked too lonely to give to Michiru all by itself. "Can I get a dozen red roses, thornless, please."

"OH MY!?! Do you know what thornless means?"

"Uh, not entirely." Haruka replied. She was starting to get used to this man's odd behavior.

"It means love at first sight. Is that what you mean to tell her?"

"Well--"

"Because, if she finds out what that means, then you'll have to deal with the consequences of her knowing what the rose means."

"I don't think she's going to know." Haruka stated firmly. "Michiru never expressed a whole lot of interest about roses. She might like them but surely, she doesn't know about them." The blonde glanced at her watch again. "Here. Do you know what this is?" Haruka laughed as the man's eyes got wide. "That should pay for a whole shop of roses. Thanks for your help!"

"Hai!"

Knots were forming in Haruka's stomach. All the way home she couldn't stop thinking of the aqua-haired girl. It had taken her all night to come up with a game plan. Honestly though, for as brilliant as she was, she couldn't come up with anything extravagant. In fact, it was simple.

All she needed to do was gather enough courage to make two confessions tonight. Not just one. She couldn't forget that Michiru had questioned her many times as to why she was always sad; Haruka would never allow the aqua-haired girl to go without the truth, thus she had to come clean tonight.

Haruka managed to escape everyone in the house as she made her entrance. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to them or that she was trying to be rude but she couldn't help the fact that she simply didn't have the time nor thought to spare. She was sure they would question her as to why she had a bundle of roses and the only excuse she could come up with is that someone gave them to her for free. 'Yeah, right.' Haruka disappeared upstairs on the second floor, away from the other girls. 'I have to do this.' Haruka glared at the knob to Michiru's as if it were supposed to turned itself. 'Maybe I'm not ready?' The blonde shook her head with determination. 'No, tonight is the night.' With one dramatic blow to the door, Haruka threw herself inside of the room. Before she could come up with a good excuse, she realized that no one was in Michiru's room. Haruka sighed. 'There goes my plan. I'm not genius enough to come up with another one.' The blonde, in defeat, set the red roses on Michiru's bed along with a tiny box. She traced her fingers along the box, as if she were going to miss it for some reason, and then she helped herself to Michiru's bed. 'Well, I might as well as wait here for her… though it is getting pretty late, I wonder what's taking her?' Haruka didn't mind. She would simply rest here for a moment… or two.

Michiru made her way through a strangely quiet house. It had taken her the rest of the evening up until close to midnight for her anger to be quelled. She felt terrible that she left Haruka in such a hurry. There was nothing that the blonde had done particularly wrong, except to accidentally hurt her feelings. But even then, Haruka was allowed to date whoever she wanted; it was out of Michiru's power to try and tell her how to live her life. 'So then why did I act as if Haruka had committed a terrible act?' Michiru hadn't seen Haruka's car outside which caused a great deal of worry within her but she would never act upon it so rashly. First, she had to get to her room.

'It's darker than I left it.' Michiru opened the door quietly and was about to turn on the lights when she noticed a figure had been laying on the right side of her bed. Michiru could tell immediately that the body belonged to Haruka: it was unmistakable. 'I wonder what she's doing here?' Michiru placed her things on the floor and walked over to the bed. 'What's that--?' Michiru thought as she noticed Haruka had been holding on tight to a large set of roses. 'I shouldn't wake her.'

Michiru decided to find out what Haruka had been interested in protecting by prying the roses from her hand. 'Red roses! And…' Michiru picked out a single yellow rose, tipped in red, from the middle. 'Nani? Does this mean 'falling in love'? She must have received them from her girlfriend.' Michiru was about to pull away, feeling some of the anger from before return, when she noticed two small boxes that Haruka had been protecting with determination. Michiru decided to go for the smaller one.

"Michiru?" A soft murmur came from the blonde that startled Michiru enough to make her jump. "You're late." Haruka mentioned as she took a look at the clock. "Later than I thought you would be anyways." The blonde sat up, reluctantly. She was extremely tired.

Michiru felt stupid for trying to open something that was clearly Haruka's to begin with. 'I hope she isn't too mad.' "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you--"

"No." Haruka placed a finger on Michiru's lips. "There's no need to apologize." Haruka smiled with encouragement. "I needed to talk to you, that's why I'm here." Haruka felt like the butterflies in her stomach had multiplied by a million. "There's a few things I need to clear up with you. One, I didn't do as the newspaper suggested." Michiru was about to apologize for her accusations earlier but was only gently hushed. "I was simply trying to get back something that I believe belongs to you." Haruka handed the smaller box to Michiru. "Open it."

The aqua-haired girl wasted no time in opening it. "Haruka--" Michiru felt tears come to her eyes. "I thought I had lost this forever. Where did you get it?"

"From the lady in the newspaper. She told me you traded it for something. For what, I can't quite figure out. How could you trade something so important?"

Michiru's eyes softened at the memory of her mother. "I, well…" The smaller girl stood and walked over to a bag. She pulled out a trinket and box. "Here." Michiru handed Haruka the trinket first.

"Michiru? Is this what I saw in the shop?" Haruka felt a wave of sadness burn her happiness away.

"Hai, it was the last snow globe. And, the way you were looking at it, Haruka… I couldn't let it out of my sight. I knew it was something you treasured from the moment you set eyes on it." Michiru watched as the blonde shook it gently. "It was the last one and the lady I had traded my ring to, wouldn't sell it or trade it for anything less than ring my mother gave me." Michiru replied with a hint of sadness.

"Why would you do something like that?" Haruka asked, concerned. "That ring is the last thing your mother gave you."

"Because… because I know that this snow globe reminded you of your family. I can't quite figure you out Haruka but if you would just give me the chance… I could be a good friend."

Haruka's heart split in two at Michiru's tone. "You are always a good friend, regardless Michiru." The blonde's eyes averted back to the globe. "It's a long story."

"Hai, it's okay. You don't have to tell me. I know you get sad when you tell it." Michiru was about to get up when she felt Haruka pull her back down. "Haruka, it's-"

"Shh." Haruka placed a finger on Michiru's lips again. She was beginning to like every moment she could touch Michiru. "Michiru, my mother died before Christmas one year. And, shortly after death, I thought that it would be best to get her a snow globe for Christmas. Unfortunately, my father didn't think it was appropriate to do so…" Haruka paused, feeling tears fall down her cheek. "You see, after that Christmas, every Christmas was filled with sadness and despair. My father tended to isolate himself, refuse to see family and absolutely refuse to have Christmas. It was his way of mourning… up until I was teenager." Michiru remained silent, knowing that her friend needed an ear, not a response. She gently squeezed Haruka's hand, feeling a spark of desire light within her. "Then my father ran away." Haruka laughed. "He simply ran away. He left me in a hospital to fend for myself. No letters, no phone call, nothing." Haruka palmed the snow globe in her hand, remembering as much of her mother as she could. "I don't care so much that he ran away. But, every time I see a snow globe and every time December rolls along, I simply can't be happy."

"Your mother was to you, what mine was to me?" Michiru asked, knowing that she had told Haruka about her late mother, some time ago.

"Hai. They were very much alike." Haruka admitted. The blonde raised her eyes to the smaller girl's and smiled. "It's Christmas."

Michiru, surprised at the change of subject, checked the clock. Sure enough it was 12:01 A.M. "Haruka, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I'm glad I told you about all of this because I think we're both in the same position. I have my mother's snow globe, you, your mother's ring. Now that we have their memories so fresh in our mind, I think we should put our past behind us." Haruka offered both of her hands to Michiru, who only stared at them, questioningly.

"That sounds like something I would love doing, so long as it's with you." Michiru took Haruka's hands into her own and the two shared a long, intense moment before both of them confessed:

"I have something to tell you!"

Michiru and Haruka laughed at each other. "Ah, my little mermaid, why don't you go first?" Michiru shook her head. "Okay… then I guess… I shall go first." Haruka looked over at the clock, thankful that it was midnight. "Since it's already Christmas, it will be perfectly acceptable if I give you your present."

"I thought that --"

"Shh!"

"Hey! When did you start cutting me off!? You've been doing that--"

"Shh!" Haruka motioned with her finger in a playful manner. "I learned it from the man who told me that the roses I gave you meant that I loved you." The blonde felt as if she had said it much too fast, especially since Michiru stared blankly at her. 'Shimatta! I knew she didn't return my feelings.' Michiru's face softened after a couple moments and she giggled. 'What? Is she laughing at me because I am ridiculous?' Haruka pouted for a minute as she folded her arms across her chest. "I didn't think it was --" Before Haruka could finish her sentence or thought, she felt a set of soft, gentle, lips press against her own. It wasn't long before Haruka invited Michiru into her arms, securing her in a warm embrace.

Michiru pulled away with a smile so wide, she couldn't help but laugh at herself. "Gomen, Haruka. I couldn't help myself… you see… before I tried to kiss you, I meant to say that I love you too." Michiru blushed and Haruka grinned in response.

"My little mermaid, you can always say I love you with a kiss. Or … even a … back massage." Michiru pinched Haruka for trying to ruin the romantic mood. "Okay, okay! How about this?" Haruka handed her second box to Michiru, only to find that she had received one as well.

"Haruka, it's beautiful!"

"Hai! I could say the same about yours!" Both of them seemed to be dazzled at the beautiful rings they both received. Finally, Haruka looked at the clock once more. "Michiru…" The blonde growled, feeling some of that pent up desire kick in. "We still have a long ways to go before everyone gets up!"

"Oh… is that so…?" Michiru purred. "It seems as though you can read my mind!" Michiru was about to wrap her arms around Haruka's neck when she faked it and fell into the bed. "I am tired too! Good suggestion, we should get some sleep before the others wake up."

Haruka groaned as she turned her back to Michiru. "You're a bad mind reader…" Michiru giggled as she returned to her blonde lover and pulled her viciously under the covers.

Never had Haruka or Michiru had such a wonderful Christmas day…

THE END

AN: Happy holidays, everyone.