A/N: ^^ Happy grins, everyone! (hint: half snow day and fallin' on my butt about six times pickin' up snowballs is worth anything bad happening to you- let it snow, let it snow, let it snow- until I miss the heat again!) ^^
DISCLAIMER: Situations that I've made Haruka and Michiru (creator, lovely Naoko Takeuchi ^^) are pretty much popping out of the air from nowhere right now, so missing animals may have come from my head also. ^^
Unless It's Important. . .
(Keep It To Yourself- Kiroto)
Michiru was looking around at the many cages of animals, her body on autopilot work mode as she allowed herself to marvel at the immense beauty of the insides.
That was ALL she could marvel at, she thought, snapping another picture with the lens of her 'reading glasses.' There were no animals inside the grandly-decorated cages. Haruka was on the opposite side of the room, looking professional and sleek as she scoured the metal bars.
They'd agreed to search every room methodically and together. The crime master might just be a labeled title come from high pot luck and hit-and-go dealings with big fatcats with money, but they'd seen Kiroto when she'd entered the house.
On edge and ordering unseen hands to divest of the evidence.
No matter, they had to find SOMETHING before the other woman woke up and found them rooting around in her house like a couple of foxes sniffing down rabbit holes. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Michiru beckoned to her partner and silently opened the door.
Only to find a screaming blonde running towards her, triple-speed, like the devil himself was hot on her heels and licking the very ground beneath her.
Kiroto's arms were pumping like crazy, and her legs were beating out a fast rythm as she struck out across the floor. She was sweating, and Michiru didn't blame her. Behind her was a herd of parading animals, all shapes and sizes. They looked like they were in a marching band and Kiroto was the lead drummer.
Well, at least they knew where the animals were; Michiru was sure they were the right ones they were looking for, because the markings were the most unique she'd ever seen. They only problems were. . .
1) . . they were busted, and
2) . . , Kiroto was headed straight for them.
Michiru did the only thing she could think of.
She slammed the door.
Haruka knew something was up the minute her usually-calm partner slammed the heavy oak doors to the study, her dark eyes flashing with frantic messages.
She could get lost within those churning depths any day, any night, and she'd be happy as a nice fat, red cherry on top of a smokin' hot cherry sundae, but now seemed not the time to get lost within her fantasies.
Maybe later.
Right now, though, Haruka briskly jogged over to her side in an instant, pulling insistently at the knob herself, trying to ignore Michiru's frantic grip on her wrist. Peering out the crack she made, Haruka only had the time to 'eep!' in shock before-
*BLAM!*
-she flew backwards like a mouse avoiding a rattrap, Kiroto on top of her and screaming with every thrash and jerk she made.
Which, needless to say but OH-SO-NOT-FUN to FEEL, hurt.
They fell to the floor in an undignified heap.
Haruka uttered a low curse, roughly shoving the slightly shorter blonde off of her. She knew she should be scared or just a slightly bit alarmed at getting caught, but faced with those tired eyes that grinned sheepishly at her, she found herself yelling.
"What the HECK are you trying to do, KILL us? Get yer butt out there and calm down your animals, Kiro-chan, 'cause I swear, ohohoho yeah, I'll throw you out myself if you don't!"
Towering above her childhood friend, Haruka felt the first pangs of fear when Kiroto looked away. The mischievous blonde would only look away when she was going to let out something big, or keep in something she thought the person she was talking to should know.
Haruka hoped to the skies above Kiroto had dropped that give-away habit, or that something big was something silly. She couldn't take it, not since the first and last time she'd seen that expression. Now may have not been time for a flashback, but it came, and it was pretty amusing, if only they weren't in danger all the time.
"Haru-chan! I-I didn't, I-I think I SWEAR. . .!"
"What? Kiro-chan, how can you THINK you swear, c'mon admit it already. I know you told, so tell me- see, you're looking away, I can tell real easy, Kiro-chan. . ."
"B-But you'll get real mad-!"
"Kiro-chan, I'm getting madder with every second that you're NOT telling me, now SPILL IT!"
". . ."
"Kiro-chan. . .!"
"Y-Your mom accidentally threw Kijinko into the blender when I fell and landed on her toe this morni-EEEYAAAH! Haru-chan-owowowowow! Y-You said you weren't mad. .!"
"KIROTO YOU LITTLE RABBIT CHOMPING FUR TAIL BUN! KIJINKO WAS THE LAST MEMORY I HAD OF SETS-CHAN, YOU KNOW THAT, AND WHY THE HECK DID YOU HAVE TO RUN AND MAKE ME SWIM IN THAT IDIOT SWAMP JUST SO I COULD STRANGLE YO-get BACK here, Kiroto!"
And the yellow streak blurred right out of her hands and back into the murky mud of the swamp they'd both practically grew up on. A splash, and Haruka tried to squish down her anger at the blonde's antics.
Her KIJINKO! What RIGHT did she even have to touch her fluffy bear-ear-chewed panda left from her childhood friend who had moved away, how many years ago. They had played, had fought, had did things no 'respectable' girl in those days would do- they hadn't cared.
Setsuna. Setsuna Meioh.
Time had seemed to stop when they'd climbed mountains, swam the rivers, traversed the fields of wheat and rice paddies and sloshed through dozens of muddy places. It had been fun. And now that she had gone, to move to another place, Haruka had missed her.
So Setsuna had given her a wierd hybrid of an animal that resembled something of a bear and panda born under the full moon. A miracle pup, the long-haired girl had said. Grinned that beaming grin, the one that made her dimples come out and her red eyes gleam in the way that spoke fun to come.
'To remember me by.'
And then she'd left.
Haruka had pretty much cried herself to sleep the next night, then snuggled Kijinko and fell into deep slumber. The next day, and all her days after that, she'd probably always hold that ear-chewed toy close to her whenever she slept.
Until now.
"KIROKO!"
*splashity, glub!*
"H-Haruka-a! HELP!"
Oh, no.
And ten year old Haruka remembered nine year old Kiroko couldn't swim worth sheepdip, half the time floundered on dry land, and was probably now splashing like crazy and nearing something like quicksand in the muddy swamp.
Fear hit her right in the gut.
No, not Kiroko. First Setsuna, then Kiroko-
"WAIT A MINUTE, Kiroko, HANG ON! I'M COMING, HOLD ONTO SOMETHING-!"
And Haruka about dived headfirst into all the mud and sticks and brown gore; it covered her overalls, got into her hair, messed up her eyes- but then she wrapped her arms around a scrambling Kiroto's waist, and all was clean again.
Clear.
Haruka had dragged that dumb crybaby out of the mud and lugged her all the way home, where she dumped her straight into the tub, after a nice worry-scolding by her mom. It was then, Haruka's mom said, a small smile gently gracing her lips,
"Kiroto brought me Kijinko, Haruka. He needed a sew-check-up, but I threw him in the washing machine first, so he would be nice and clean for you."
Haruka then proceeded up the stairs and over to the bathroom, where a sniffling blonde was drying her nice fluffy blonde hair, blue eyes bloodshot and squeezed shut when Haruka came near.
And she gave Kiroto a big bear hug and got her all dirty again. It didn't matter. Besides, Kiroto got the washing machine and blender mixed up all the time, anyway.
It still didn't explain her shoe, though.
And that, to Haruka, was a dear memory. One she'd always treasure. Especially when Kiroto got that habit again.
"Look at me, Kiro-chan. I'm serious, here. WHAT are you not telling us?"
That shifting again, the slight alert of breathing gone a tad faster. Haruka resisted the urge to grab at the blonde's shoulders, but did it anyway. A decade of not seeing her was something that could be erased with a familiar touch, or so she figured.
It worked.
"'s not m-h-use.."
Old habits died hard, too. Squinting down at the suddenly-sheepish blonde, Haruka ground out in a not-so-patient manner. Remembering Michiru was behind her and her partner- not to mention she wouldn't be any more if she did her target any unecessary harm- restrained her against any random acts of violence.
Just.
The sentence was barely a murmur, not even hardly a mumble, but Haruka felt that odd deja-vu sensation she'd felt when she was a kid and Kiroto had hidden things from her. That feeling wouldn't ever be forgotten, no matter how long she lived. Her insides were a messy twist right about now.
"What, Kiro-chan? C'mon, tell me, it's now or later, but I'm warning you-"
"It's not my house!"
Haruka gaped at the woman, her head bowed. Pointing at the cages around them, she yelled, "You got us IN here, Kiro-chan, now EXPLAIN to me-!"
"I'm-a-member-of-a-secret-organization-and-I've-got-to-get-some-proof-that-this-'crime master'-is-doing-illegal-things."
All this was said in about five seconds, but Haruka never really had any trouble understanding the hyper chitty of the blonde. Growing up with her had had its perks, good and bad, she had to admit. Yet this positively knocked her over. Kiroto. . . WASN'T the one they needed to tail and follow?
Haruka stared in shock over at Michiru, her eyes widening. If so, how did HER secret organization come up with the information and lead Kiroto was the crime master behind all this? And how did Kiroto even fit IN? A member of a secret organization? What?
Looking back to Kiroto and seeing the panicked look in those blue eyes she'd once known so grudgingly well, she whispered,
"I'll be damned."
Behind them, the knob started to turn.
00000000000000000000000
A/N: That last sentence is really creeping me out. (hint: I was writing this when the power went out at five in the morning- on paper- NOT a good way to go, but good non-the-less ^^) For people wondering where I'm getting my ideas (you're out there, right? ^^), I'm like a magician- I pull them out of a tall hat. If it bites me, I write it. ^^
So, basically, I'm really random. Being a libra can do that to ya. ^^