Chapter 7: Secrets and Surprises
Hi friends! Okay, so this is the part where I hang my head in my utter shame because this has been done for like 3 years, but my real life is overly complicated sometimes and posting fell to the wayside. I apologize for the wait for anyone who is still reading this out there!
I hope not to disappoint with this chapter, as we FINALLY get more insight on what happened to Haruka. SEXUAL ABUSE AWARNING! Please do not forget to review! If I don't get reviews, I will forget even more!
A week had passed and there was yet to be any other news of a youma attack anywhere else in the world. Once more, Sakara felt the urge to chalk it up to a fluke, some wayward attack of some lingering youma long-since forgotten, but she knew deep down that it wasn't true and that her mother's words were. There was an enemy out there somewhere, although what they were after was still a bit of a mystery. Sakara knew that the girls were secretly discussing these theories as well, for more than once she walked into quickly-changed conversations.
And to top all of these new things off, Sakara was suddenly finding herself with a new reason for wanting to stay in Japan.
"Hey Sakara-chan! Can you hand me the scissors?" Moriko asked. When there wasn't an immediate response, Moriko shot Sakara a glare. There was no way anything had gotten lost in translation, and even if it had Sakara could have at least answered.
"Sa!" Moriko began to admonish before Chikako cut her off with a giggle.
"She's distracted," Chikako whispered.
Kumiko looked beside herself with excitement. "Oh this is too cute!"
"What are you two talking about?" Moriko snapped in annoyance.
"Are you blind? Look!" Chikako said.
Moriko looked back over at Sakara and noticed that she was looking a bit dreamy eyed. Confused, Moriko followed Sakara's gaze and just about puked.
"Oh Kami-san, no!" Moriko groaned.
Sakara was practically drooling watching Takeshi move some flats around in only his khaki's. She was used to seeing men without their shirts, she grew up in Florida after all, but seeing Takeshi's bare chest…
"Sakara!" Moriko growled.
Sakara snapped to attention and blushed. "Wh—what?"
"Look at her, she's so cute!" Chikako giggled.
"So adorable!" Kumiko agreed, the two giggling together.
"What—what's going on?" Sakara asked, embarrassment sinking in.
"Please don't do this, Sakara-chan! I already have one friend dating my brother, I don't need this is be an awkward habit!" Moriko pled.
"Don't deny their true love!" Kumiko insisted.
"Follow your heart, Sakara-chan!" Chikako encouraged.
Their dreamy-eyed-ness was enough to make Sakara now laugh.
"Girls, come on, I was only looking!" Sakara said.
"That's what I always said," Hotaru teased as she approached the counter, Daichi in tow.
"You're late," Moriko snapped at her older brother. "I had to recruit my friends to help me this morning because your lazy butt didn't get out of bed on time."
Daichi just smirked and looked at Sakara. "So you are falling into the trap of the fabulously handsome Taji men, huh?" He ran his hand through his wavy brown locks dramatically. "I suppose our charms are hard to resist. It captured me this beauty, after all, and you're far more than adequate for my little bro."
Sakara turned scarlet. "Umm-."
Hotaru hit her boyfriend's arm just as Moriko swatted at the other.
"Go work!" Hotaru and Moriko both said.
Daichi laughed and kissed Hotaru's cheek before heading into the back room.
Once he was gone, Hotaru smiled sheepishly at the girl who could have been like a sister to her. "Sorry about him, sometimes I don't know what to do with his stupid attitude. Will you come over here?"
Hotaru and Sakara went away from the counter where the girls were and behind some shelves, far away from the hearing distance of anyone else. "So, you think you like Takeshi-san, huh?"
"Why does everyone keep talking about this like it's a big deal? So I think he's cute, so what? It's normal to like looking at attractive men at my age!" Sakara said, defensive and embarrassed.
Hotaru giggled a moment. "It's alright to like someone, Sakara-chan, even if they are the brother of your friend!"
Sakara smiled sadly. "But so what if I like him? In a little while I'll be back home in America. There's no point in encouraging anything if nothing can really come of it."
"Hey, don't think like that, you should just focus on living in the present! Listen, Takeshi is a really great guy. Kind of quiet and super serious at times, but he is so sweet and a great listener. And clearly he is bad at flirting, but at least his topless act did what it was supposed to do and caught your attention."
"You think he was doing that for me?"
Hotaru almost laughed too loudly. "If you only knew! He's way too shy to do something like that for just anyone, I'm sure he had to work up a lot of courage for that! He clearly likes you, so you two kids might as well give it a chance." She reached into her purse and pulled out a set of tickets. "Daichi and I were going to go to a race this afternoon and we were going to have Isamu-kun and whatever flake he is going out with right now join us, but I think it would be much more fun if it was you two instead. After all, Isamu-kun tends to date these complete idiots of girls and as I usually get stuck talking to them, I'd rather my female companion be someone I know."
"Isamu-kun has a girlfriend? But I thought Kumiko—,"
"Oh she does! Kumiko is head over heels for that boy, but she's never really said anything to him. Besides, he's a young and handsome teenage boy; of course he's going to date a bimbo or two!"
Sakara nodded but also felt bad for Kumiko. It wasn't fun liking a guy but being too afraid to really say anything to him. Sakara knew without Hotaru saying anything that Kumiko hadn't approached Isamu romantically because of Kohaku. Sakara was likewise sure that Isamu liked Kumiko as well but because of his sister's dislike for all of the girls, he was taking the easy route and avoiding the topic of actually approaching Kumiko.
"Well, come on, let's go invite Takeshi!" Hotaru said brightly, grabbing Sakara by the wrist and dragging her back out by everyone else. "Takeshi-san!" Hotaru called out.
Takeshi looked up and Sakara was sure he was almost blushing. She could hear some giggling and looked back to shoot a quick glare at Kumiko and Chikako, while Moriko looked both annoyed and happy. When Sakara turned to look back at Takeshi, she blushed again, taking in his softly muscled form. He was sweating a bit from moving all the heavy flats, helping accent his arms and abs. Sakara wondered what kind of work outs he did and wondered for a moment if perhaps his legs were just as strong. She'd always wanted a boyfriend who could keep up with her pace, or at least someone who appreciated a good work out. Most of the boys at home were intimidated by her strength.
"Takeshi-san, you've met our new friend Sakara-chan, right?" Hotaru said sweetly.
Takeshi gave Sakara a sweet and nervous smile. "Good morning, Sakara-san."
Sakara returned the greeting in the same small voice.
"So, I'm sure that Daichi told you that we were going to that race today, right? Well we have two extra tickets and I know how much you like racing, and Sakara here is actually the daughter of a racer and a bit of a speed demon herself, aren't you Sakara?"
"Oh! Um, yeah, I guess." The awkwardness and embarrassment began to sink in again.
"Oh, that's cool," Takeshi said.
Awkward silence.
"So do you want to come with us?"
"Definitely!" Takeshi replied, nearly blurting it out.
Sakara looked up at him in surprise, wondering if perhaps she mistranslated. "You do?"
Takeshi shot her another smile, this time more confident. "Yes, I do." He was about to say something else when he looked down and realized his state of dress. "Oh! Um, forgive me for being so rude! You know, it's hot in a greenhouse and it's usually just the family in here and I didn't know that Mori-chan would have guests so I was working like I usually do!"
Hotaru did her best to hide her giggle while Sakara gave him a shy smile. "It's alright, I—um—I didn't mind." 'Great, real smooth, Taylor!' Sakara chastised mentally.
"I guess we'll see you later then!" Hotaru said, pushing Sakara away. As soon as they were far enough, Hotaru burst into laughter. "Oh you two are too cute!"
"Be quiet!" Sakara groaned, but she couldn't help but giggle as well.
And all at once, they both stopped. They couldn't help but realize how easy their banter was, how natural their conversations. They would have made great sisters, would have grown up to be thick as thieves, not once caring that they shared no blood as they went through everything together. Without knowing it, they both wondered if it was still possible to create the relationship they never knew they were missing out on, to have the other as a sister. As they walked back to the other girls, they silently mourned the relationship they never got to have, and yet vowed to somehow make it up.
'One day,' Sakara thought, 'one day we will all be the way we were meant to be.'
As the race was in the evening, Hotaru had insisted that their little group go out for dinner first. While Kumiko and Michiko were practically begging to be able to dress Sakara up as cute as possible, Hotaru had to remind them that they were going to watch cars zoom around a track a few dozen times with a bunch of other screaming fans, nothing to get too dressed up for. Michiko still managed to get Sakara into designer labels while Kumiko was able to curl Sakara's ponytail. Chikako helped Sakara learn the vocabulary necessary for the race as well as the names of some of the more popular men and a few facts about them.
Sakara had settled with texting her mother that she was going to hang out with some friends that evening, not wanting to complicate too many things by explaining that it was actually a date and that date was with the son of one of her old friends. Haruka had responded that it was alright and that she had plans of her own anyway (leaving Sakara to wonder what those were).
Dinner was a fun, if not slightly awkward, affair. Daichi seemed to be going out of his way at attempting to embarrass Takeshi while Hotaru did her best to steer the conversation in a way that allowed the nervous couple to get to know one another. Sakara was grateful that she understood almost all of what was being said, and luckily Hotaru was able to translate most of what was missed. On the way over to the race, Takeshi even got bold enough to walk next to Sakara, although holding hands still seemed to make him nervous.
"So you're a runner?" Takeshi asked.
Sakara nodded. "Yeah, I do track and cross country at school."
"I could—um—I could tell. You know, your legs and all," Takeshi said.
They both immediately blushed.
"Not that I was checking your legs out or anything! I mean, not that I wouldn't want to! I mean, ugh!"
Sakara began to laugh. "It's alright, I know exactly what you mean." Feeling bold, she captured his hand in her own. Takeshi looked at her in surprise and then immediately smiled. Sakara's heart began to race and she prayed her palms weren't too sweaty or that he couldn't feel her heart beating so quickly in their grasp.
When Hotaru looked over her shoulder at them, she couldn't help but beam. They really were the cutest couple!
"Too bad it can't last," Daichi sighed.
"You never know what could happen in the future," Hotaru replied wisely.
"I just don't want to see my little brother get hurt," Daichi explained.
Hotaru smiled softly. "Aww, it's so sweet to hear that you care. What a good big brother you are, looking out for your little bro!"
Daichi cracked a smile. "Don't you dare repeat that to anyone."
Hotaru laughed and hugged his side. He could really be so sweet sometimes!
"Hurry up, you two! There's quite a crowd!" Daichi shouted back as they neared the stadium.
Sakara and Takeshi made easy strides to come walk alongside the other couple and they made their way with the other excited fans into the arena. When they settled into their seats, there was a moment's debacle as Hotaru tried to arrange everyone into ideal seating, wondering if it was best to have the girls in the middle or just let the boys talk. In the end, Takeshi had decided that girls in the middle was best and took a comfortable seat right next to Sakara, this time taking her hand as they all got geared up for the race.
"That was the best!" Sakara cheered after the race was through.
Hotaru shrugged. "I suppose."
"C'mon, nothing makes you feel more alive than watching them zoom on by!" Sakara urged. She laughed and whooped into the air along with a few other close fans.
"You are your mother's daughter," Hotaru murmured with a smile, no one else hearing.
"Well I'm glad you all had fun, but we should get going before the crowd to get out gets too thick," Daichi urged.
"That time has already passed, we might as well hang out a bit," Takeshi shrugged.
They took their seats again and Sakara continued to gush about how much fun she had had.
"She's almost more obsessed then you two," Hotaru laughed as Sakara begun to wind down.
"There's nothing wrong with loving some competition," Daichi said. He then got a wicked gleam in his eyes. "A great competition would be to see these two race one another."
"What! No way! That's not fair!" Sakara protested. She nearly said that the reason it was unfair was that she had always been able to outrun anyone (except her mother) but she decided to leave Takeshi's manliness intact and stopped her sentence short. Still, one glance at Hotaru had her realizing that she hadn't gone misunderstood.
"Oh c'mon, there will be a perfectly empty hallway downstairs soon. I say we let you two see if you're really a good match for each other," Daichi said.
"Daichi!" Takeshi exclaimed, turning scarlet.
"What? I'm just trying to keep it real, little bro," Daichi said with a simple shrug.
"But neither of us has stretched," Sakara said.
"So stretch right now. There's still some lingering people, I'm sure you've got a good ten minutes."
Sakara wanted to protest some more, but Takeshi gave her a sheepish smile as if asking her to just humor his brother. Sakara understood and they began stretching.
"You're so ridiculous," Hotaru scoffed.
"They were bound to do this on their own, might as well encourage it," Daichi explained.
"You really think Sakara-chan would invite competition like this?" Hotaru asked.
"No, but I know Takeshi is always looking for a girl who can keep up with him. I've seen him with girls he likes, he will always eventually suggest a race. I figure, they only have a little bit of time together, why not speed things along?"
"You said it yourself that you don't want him to get hurt, and yet you're forcing him into speeding the process of liking her along?"
Daichi smirked. "You said it yourself, who knows what the future will hold?"
Finally, the group made their way out of the stands and down into the hallway. Just as Daichi predicted, it was mostly empty, perfect for a quick run.
"Alright, first to the trophy case at the end of the hall is the winner. Ready, baby?"
Hotaru was already waiting at the case. "Ready!"
"On your mark, get set, go!"
Sakara contemplated going at her jogging pace, letting Takeshi just have the win to spare his male pride, but was immediately shocked at how fast he actually was. Annoyed that she had even let herself hesitate a moment, she quickly took up her fastest pace, coming right up on him. Takeshi sensed her nearness and increased his speed, spurning Sakara to increase her own. Soon enough they were neck and neck, closing in on a shocked but amused Hotaru. Just before they reached Hotaru, Sakara tapped into her reserve and pushed herself even harder, beating Takeshi but mere moments.
"Wow! Talk about your photo finish!" Hotaru laughed.
"You're amazing!" Takeshi gasped as he caught his breath.
"Thanks, you're awesome too!" Sakara gasped in kind.
She glanced at the trophy case and couldn't believe her eyes.
"Hey, that's my mom!"
"What?" Hotaru gasped.
Sure enough, there was a picture of Haruka holding a trophy and beaming, the caption underneath explaining how Haruka was the first woman to win the grand prix in the stadium's history.
"No wonder you're a speed demon if that's your mom," Daichi said as he came up from behind.
"She looks so young," Sakara mused. "I had no idea she ever raced here. This is crazy. I have family history here and I never knew it."
"Your mom looks like she's an amazing woman," Takeshi said.
"You're kidding me, right kid?" A gruff voice said from behind.
The group turned around and saw that a few of the racers were standing behind them.
"Excuse me?" Daichi asked.
The racer came closer and glared at the picture then at Sakara.
"You're fucking with me, right? That's your mom?"
"Um yeah, it is. And seriously, excuse you," Sakara said brusquely. "Let's go."
"There's no way that bitch is your mom! She's a dyke!" The racer said, some of the other men laughing.
"Hey!" Sakara snapped. Mentally, she praised herself for being able to translate everything he had said. But those thoughts were buried far beneath a bubbling anger.
"Sir, you need to realize that you're in the presence of ladies and watch your language," Takeshi said, holding Sakara's hand tightly.
The racer ignored Takeshi and continued to laugh in Sakara's face.
"That fucking dyke had a kid, I can't believe it!"
"Shut up about my mom, you asshole!"
The men roared even louder.
"Ugh, I'm over this. Fuck you!" Sakara snapped, turning to walk away.
"Psh, I fucked her, I guess I can move on to you."
Sakara stopped dead in her tracks. No. There was absolutely no way. But as she whirled around and looked at the awful man, she knew there was no doubt about it. Tears instantly rushed to the surface and her rage reached its maximum point. In a move too quick for anyone to see, Sakara smacked the man as hard as she could.
"You asshole, you raped my mother!" Sakara screamed.
"You little bitch!" The man raged.
As he went to hit Sakara right back, Takeshi was already in the way, easily tackling the man and flipping him onto his back. The other racers stood in shock that this teenager had so easily overcome a grown man. And if they had even thought of retaliating, Daichi was instantly at his side, the brothers in defensive fighting postures. Hotaru was immediately at Sakara's side, holding her as Sakara let the tears flow.
"Get the fuck out of here and never approach this girl again!" Takeshi threatened. When the racer on the ground just sat there groaning, Takeshi took another step towards him, causing the racer to immediately scramble away.
"You kids are lucky!" one of the other racers yelled at they retreated.
"Yeah!" Another added just before they were gone.
"We better get out of here before someone calls security on us," Daichi advised.
"Are you okay to run?" Takeshi asked. Sakara gave him a shaky nod and he grabbed her hand, the quartet running at their fastest to get as far from the stadium as they could.
When they finally reached a nearby park, Daichi admitted that he had to rest and they found a bench.
Sakara curled up on the bench, her knees tucked under her chin as she thought about what she had just learned, about the horrible truth that had brought her into this world. Not only had she ruined her mother's relationships, but she had been brought into this world by nothing but brutality and hate. It was far too much for a 14-year-old to contemplate.
"Sakara?" Hotaru asked.
"Let's just let her think," Takeshi suggested. "Is it alright if I put my arm around you?" Takeshi asked softly.
Sakara nodded deftly and she allowed herself to lean into Takeshi's embrace.
"Okay, I know a lot of bad shit just went down, but I have never been more proud of you, Takeshi! And I'm sure Mama would be proud the way you defended your girlfriend," Daichi praised.
"No, Mama can never know this happened," Takeshi instantly replied.
"She will find out," Sakara mumbled quietly, picking at her shoes.
"I'm sorry this happened," Takeshi said.
"Me too." Sakara sighed heavily. "I have to tell my mom."
"I know," Hotaru replied. "I will come with you, if you want."
"So will I," Takeshi agreed.
"I'm not sure if you should," Sakara said, looking up at Takeshi. When her gaze was met with nothing but tenderness and affection, she receded. "Or maybe I'd like some more moral support."
When they arrived at Sakara's hotel room, Haruka was momentarily stunned at who Sakara had brought along. Hotaru had instantly rushed into Haruka's arms while the Taji brothers introduced themselves respectfully.
"I know who you are," Haruka said with a soft smile. "I was there the day both of you boys were born."
Daichi smirked, giving a proud snap of his fingers. "I knew I recognized the name! Haruka Ten'ou, you were one of Mama's best friends."
"Yes, I was," Haruka replied. "Now Sakara, would you mind telling me why you've invited more people in on our secret without telling me?"
"Because I found out a secret of my own tonight," Sakara replied. She looked up at her mother with bloodshot eyes and took a shuddered breath. Takeshi reached out and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, encouraging her to continue. "I met my father tonight."
Instantly the blood drained from Haruka's face. She looked at Hotaru for confirmation.
"Unfortunately this is true," Hotaru said softly.
"Oh Kami-san," Haruka sighed. She looked at the other teens. "Would you mind sitting in the living room while I talk to my daughter alone?"
"Are you sure you won't need any of us?" Hotaru asked Sakara.
"Please," Haruka pressed.
Hotaru nodded respectfully and the teens settled on the couch while Haruka and Sakara made their way into Haruka's room.
"This is not the way I ever imagined you'd find out. Honestly, I prayed you never would," Haruka began.
"Honestly I can't say that I blame you. After all those years of wondering, I'd gladly go back to being ignorant. He was so terrible! Oh, and Mom, I can't believe you went through that." Sakara began to cry again. "I'm so sorry."
Haruka enveloped her daughter in a hug. "What are you sorry for?"
Through her tears, Sakara laughed. "I'm not exactly sure. For being born, I guess?"
Haruka held her daughter at arm's length. "Never say that again."
Mentally, Sakara remembered her mother throwing something along a similar line of thought in her face mere days ago, but decided that now was not the time to be a smart ass.
"The situation of your birth wasn't the best, I'm sure a smart kid like you has known that for many years. But I never will regret having you. Sure, I would like nothing more than to kick his ass from here to hell, but I have to be grateful that I at least got you out of the deal. I never once dreamed in my entire life, or any before it, that one day I would have a child of my own and now here I am with the best daughter in the world. You're so strong and so smart and so beautiful I swear I have no idea how I managed to make you, but I couldn't be more proud."
Sakara sniffled and Haruka laughed as a tear escaped her own eyes.
"You know, we've been way too feelings-y lately. This is definitely not like us at all," Sakara laughed, wiping her snot on her sleeve. She could practically hear Michiko screaming in agony at the action from far away.
"Japan has done strange things to us," Haruka agreed with a laugh of her own.
"I really like it here, Mom."
"And you seem to like someone here, too." Haruka gave a sly smile.
Sakara blushed. "Mom!"
Haruka laughed. "You know, there couldn't possibly be a better match. Makoto always gave me a run for my money when we were kids, I can only imagine that her son would have some of her strength."
"He defended me today. It was strange, I've never had a boy stand up for me like that before, and yet he was so ready to throw himself in harm's way on my account. We barely know each other, and yet everyone seems so ready to defend me, and it's weird because I feel the same way about them. I mean, I was the one being attacked but once he looked like he was going to go after them, I knew I wanted to defend them as well. I may not have been in the best mental shape to do it, but I still felt the urge."
"That's the spirit of a senshi," Haruka said with a faraway smile, "it isn't surprising that it is in our children as well. We come from long lines of defenders, those who are constantly at attention to protect those around them. Whether it was our ancestors who were actually senshi or those who were mere royalty, it is in our blood to protect and defend."
"Gosh Mom, you say 'mere royalty' like it's such a throw away! I can't believe I'm really technically royalty!"
"Why do you think I nicknamed you Sarah?"
"So wait, does that mean—"
"Don't even think about it kiddo, no special treatment at all!"
Sakara snapped her fingers in jest, muttering a playful 'darn'.
"It was nice of your friends to come here and support you. That's another senshi trait: they will always have your back."
"Speaking of, did you approach them at all today? I mean you said you had plans of your own, was that what you meant? Is the secret finally over? Can we finally all be normal people, or at least as normal as this kind of a life means?"
"No, I didn't. When I said I had plans of my own, I meant really boring mundane ones like cleaning and grocery shopping. I'm sorry sweetheart, but you're all going to have to keep the secret a bit longer. I'm not exactly thrilled you added Makoto's boys in the mix, but it isn't going to be too much longer."
Deflated, Sakara sighed. "How much longer? You already approached Michiru, what else could be left?"
"I wanted you to meet Michiru before I introduced you to everyone else, same as I would like to meet her daughter before I have met the others. I don't want to create this large awkward moment when we all finally do come together, so I figure if I do it in little parts, it will become easier."
Although Sakara wanted to argue that it would easier to just get it all over with, she found she couldn't argue too much with the little parts logic, especially when it comes to exes.
"So when will we be doing that?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet. I've left that up to Michiru to decide."
"Well, I'm sure she won't take too long. I'm too amazing for her not to want to meet as soon as possible!" Sakara smirked in mock-pride. "I guess I should go let everyone know we're okay in here, huh?"
Just before Sakara could leave the room, Haruka called to her again.
"Sakara, I am sorry that you met him. And I'm sorry that was the way you found out." Haruka paused. "Wait, how exactly did you find out?"
Sakara gave her mother a quick run-down of the situation, after which Haruka sat there in a momentary silence. Several emotions had run across her face, most of them associated with complete rage. But finally, her mother settled on a look of pure amusement.
"You slapped him?"
Sakara smiled proudly. "My hand still hurts a bit from it, even!"
Haruka hugged her daughter and laughed. "I'm so proud!" She then turned serious again. "But I am going to hunt his ass down and kill him for the way he talked to you!"
"There's no need, Mom! Takeshi-kun scared the shit out of him. Man, I've never seen someone of his size take down someone twice as big! It was amazing, like a piece of moving art of something! He was so swift and confidant, it was amazing!"
The dreamy look in her daughter's eyes did not escape Haruka's amused attention. However their situation ended up, she was glad that her daughter could experience some happiness here, especially knowing Sakara's sad history with boys back at home. They were scared of Sakara's strength, didn't understand how to handle someone who looked like your stereotypical pretty dumb blonde who could in reality kick your ass if you weren't careful. Haruka hadn't been lying when she said that a match between the Uranus and Jupiter kids was nothing short of perfect.
"I'll be sure to give him my thanks for protecting my daughter from her scumbag father."
"Ugh, please Mom, let's never refer to that assbag as my father ever again."
Haruka could not agree more, although the idea of giving him a piece of her own mind was still a tempting offer. Perhaps one day, if the fates allowed them to meet again, but for now she would just be happy that Sakara had gotten to at least slap him.
"Are you two okay?" Hotaru had leapt up the moment Sakara and Haruka appeared.
Haruka's easy smile assured her once surrogate child. "Things are perfectly fine, Hotaru-chan." Haruka looked at Takeshi. "Thank you for defending my daughter."
Takeshi flushed with equal parts pride and embarrassment. "I will always do all I can to defend the honor of the Ten'ou women. Not that you need much defending, I've heard from my mom that you're perfectly capable of that on your own, and not that women in particular need to be defended, but um, you know, what I mean to say is."
Thankfully, Daichi cut in. "What my brother means to say is that our family will always be at the side of yours, whatever distances there have or ever will be. Jupiter stands proudly with Uranus as it always will with all members of the Silver Alliance from here to eternity."
For a moment both Haruka and Sakara were stunned at how easily Daichi threw out a reference to the senshi secret. His ease of conversation was so formal, so much like a young soldier, or a young monarch. Haruka had often wondered what the other girls told their children about their pasts and now it seemed clear that at least Makoto was raising her eldest to be the true future monarch he was meant to be, should those days ever come.
"Spoken like a true prince," Haruka praised. When she noticed Takeshi's look of shame and embarrassment, she offered him a parental smile. "The grace of a monarch comes to all in its own time, I promise. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I never quite took to my role as a princess, but in my own time I found my style and ran with it."
Hotaru giggled at the joke that no one else seemed to quite catch on to.
"Is this really how conversations go between us?" Sakara whispered to Hotaru. It all sounded so funny and alien, all words she never thought would come out of her mother's mouth.
"When it's serious-senshi-time, yeah. I mean, no one has been trained or anything, but there are many history lessons and etiquette lessons and all that stuff. It helps having mostly influential parents, so everyone gets to sort of practice being future princes and princesses and all that stuff," Hotaru whispered back.
"We must now take our leave. Mother will be expecting us soon, and I do not dare bring Hotaru back late," Daichi said.
"Hotaru, will you ask your mother if she has decided yet?" Haruka asked.
Hotaru looked confused but nodded and promised to tell Sakara what the decision was.
As everyone headed towards the door, Sakara shot her mother the universal look of 'I want to say goodbye to a boy, so please leave!' which, thankfully, Haruka understood. Daichi and Hotaru didn't even need to be told, and soon it was only Takeshi and Sakara standing in the foyer.
"I really can't tell you how much I appreciate-!"
"I'm so sorry about what happened today—!"
They both stopped and paused awkwardly, not sure who should be given the chance to speak first.
"Go ahead," Takeshi urged.
"Oh! Um, yeah, I'm really grateful for what you did for me today! No guy has ever stood up for me like that before and I cannot believe that you barely even know me but you did and I thought that was the bravest thing ever because that jerk was huge and you could have gotten hurt but you didn't even think you just protected me and that was so amazing and I'm just so!"
Takeshi silenced her with a gentle kiss, barely a touch but still enough to make Sakara go a bit dizzy afterwards.
"I'll see you later," Takeshi said softly.
Dazed, Sakara could only manage to agree and shut the door behind him.
Gently touching her lips, Sakara could not believe the ups and downs of her day.
Was life always like this for children of senshi?
With a small smile, she decided that that was alright with her, and she immediately set off to tell Melissa all about her day.
END OF CHAPTER SEVEN!
I hope that was worth the wait! And now you finally know more about Sakara's parentage. I regret having to go about it the way that I did, but it was always the way I'd laid it out (however, when it comes to future!Sakara's birth, I have a muuuuuch different plan)
Please review!
-Serenity