Fourteen Days with my Family by Hotaru Tomoe.
Chapter Eleven: Tuesday II.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sailor Moon characters.
Another relatively quiet day at school today, the only highlights being another pleasant lunch with Kenji and a not so pleasant run-in with my old friends Keiko and Megumi during science class. I'd tell you about the former but Haruka-papa is currently in the room looking over my shoulder as I type this.
This is Haruka-papa; Kenji if you touch my daughter, I will hunt you down and…PAPA! I can't leave her alone for a moment. Grrr, now I have even more editing to do, thanks Papa.
Anyway, back to the Keiko/Megumi incident in science class. Kimyo and I were in our science class, the only class other than gym we have together, and we usually partner up for lab assignments. Luckily this is the only class we have with the two of them. I have a history class with Keiko, while Kimyo and Megumi have a computer class together.
For the most part they leave us alone but they point us out to their friends and try to make trouble for us. I say try because on a few occasions it's backfired on them and a few of the other girls have realized what kind of people Keiko and Megumi really are and won't have anything to do with them either. Some of them have become friends of Kimyo and I. This doesn't sit well with Keiko and Megumi as you might imagine.
But seeing as our science teacher seems to have a lousy short term memory, or is oblivious to what is going on around him (which explains the burn marks and holes in his lab bench), he tried to pair Kimyo and I with Megumi and Keiko again. He tried it a few months ago for a big project and the four of us went to my home. Four hours of arguing, accusations, name calling, and other stuff, later Haruka-papa threw them out and Michiru-mama told them in no uncertain terms to never come back. I was about to raise my hand to say something but Megumi beat me to the punch.
"With all due respect Sensei, we would prefer to not be partnered with those two for this assignment." Megumi stated. And just what does that mean?
"Is there any particular reason why not?" Sensei asked. The class got very quiet at this moment.
"Those two are extremely selfish and difficult to work with, if not impossible." Kimyo said. Please! Try listening to yourselves sometime. I saw Kimyo sitting there rolling her eyes.
"I am afraid that is not an adequate reason young lady." Sensei stated. "The four of you will do the lab assignment together as instructed." He turned around and went back to the blackboard.
"You can't make us work with those dykes!" Megumi shouted. There was a stunned gasp from the rest of the class as Sensei whirled around so quickly that Megumi and Kimyo took a step backwards. I rose to my feet to go over there and demonstrate a few of the moves that Haruka-papa, Makoto, and Rei have been teaching me, while Kimyo was content to beat them to death with a textbook. We were both restrained by a few of our other classmates.
"What did you just say?" Sensei demanded angrily. Keiko and Megumi went pale. Sensei doesn't loose his temper often, but when he does, run.
"Uhh, well…" They both stammered. Sensei set his book down and glared at them. You could hear a pin drop in the room.
"I think it would be best if the two of you came with me to the principal's office where we can get this sorted out." Sensei walked over to the door and opened it while Keiko and Megumi gathered their books and such and marched out of the room quietly, heads bowed. "The rest of you study…something. Miss Tomoe, Miss Hoshi, I will speak with you when I return." With that he closed the door and left. We collectively exhaled when we were sure they were a safe distance down the hall.
"Oh God, Hotaru, Kimyo, are you okay?" Risa asked in concern as she came around to face me as did a few others.
"Yeah I'm fine." I replied. I looked at my hands and they were still shaking. "Kimyo?"
"I'm all right." Kimyo replied. I noticed that her face was red and she was crying. "Damn them!" She suddenly shouted, knocking her books to the floor. Everybody jumped again. Keiko and Megumi were once her really close friends. The look of betrayal on her face was indescribable. "I'm all right! I'm all right!" She said as she waved everyone off who tried to help her. I reached down and picked up her books. She smiled gratefully as I placed them back on her desk.
"Serves them right if they get suspended or kicked out of school!" Someone shouted.
"Yeah, I'm sick of those two stuck up bitches! Who do they think they are anyway?" Someone else commented. Several others joined in at this point. One or two tried to stick up for Megumi and Keiko but were shouted down. Finally Risa blew a shrill whistle.
"Will you people shut up?" Risa shouted at them. "Can't you see that Kimyo and Hotaru are hurting and need our help?" Everyone looked down and mumbled apologies. Risa turned and smiled at the both of us.
"Thanks Risa. I really appreciate your help." I said.
"Me too, thank you Risa." Kimyo added. Risa smiled and took both of us by the hand.
"That's what friends are for right?" Risa asked. At that moment we heard Sensei's voice outside the door and everyone quickly returned to their seats. The door opened and Sensei poked his head in.
"Miss Hoshi? Miss Tomoe? I would like to speak to the two of you outside for a moment." Uh-oh, this can't be good. I thought as Kimyo and I stepped out of the classroom to find the Principal standing there looking concerned.
"Are you both all right?" She asked.
"Yes we are." We replied.
"Good. I have sent the two of them home early today. Tomorrow I would like to see both of your parents in my office tomorrow afternoon where I will discuss the situation with them along with their parents. I will have a note for each of you to take home to your respective parents outlining the situation. I wish to see this situation resolved as soon as possible." Her voice softened. "I'm truly sorry that this incident occurred and I'm hoping that it will never happen again. Both of you are exemplary students and I am proud of both of you. Please feel free to come and talk to me at any time." She smiled at the both of us and placed a reassuring hand on mine and Kimyo's shoulders.
"Thank you, I'd appreciate that." Kimyo replied.
"As would I. Thank you." I said. She smiled again and went back to her office. Sensei stood off to the side with his arms folded, a smile on his face.
"I'm sorry that this happened as well. I realized that there was some friction between you two and those two, but I never dreamed it was that bad." He said.
"It's all right. You couldn't have known. We were surprised as well." I said. Kimyo just nodded.
"All right then, let's return to class shall we?" He smiled and opened the door and we went back inside.
The rest of the day passed quietly, other than the gossip buzzing around the school. Kenji was very concerned when we met for lunch but otherwise NOTHING HAPPENED. Okay Haruka-papa?
Haruka-papa: okay. (She leaves.) Honestly! She goes way over the top sometimes.
After school, Kimyo and I picked up our notes from the Principal and headed for our bus. As we boarded there was a smattering of applause. I guess not many others liked them either. Kimyo and I just talked about our lab assignment for tomorrow and the movie we were hopefully going out to see together on Friday evening with our families. Neither of us wanted to talk about Keiko and Megumi. Luckily we managed to grab the seat up front where no one pestered us about it either. The driver didn't like people running around his bus while he drove. We got to my stop where Kimyo and I promised to call each other later this evening.
I saw Haruka-papa was home already. She was taking Michiru-mama and Hoshiko down to the racetrack today. She even hinted that she may even take Hoshiko for a ride. Hoshiko looked excited as they left after dropping me off at school this morning while Michiru-mama looked rather worried. I hoped what happened to me didn't happen to poor Hoshiko.
As for Setsuna-mama, she was up at the Time Gate doing what she did up there. (Boy that sounds vague doesn't it?) She promised that she would check the progress of the other Animamates that Hoshiko had returned to their own worlds or other suitable planets.
When I got inside and went into the living room, I saw a blanket covered figure on our couch. Oh dear, I hoped I was wrong when I went over and looked under the blanket at one end and found a pair of feet clad in white socks. I blinked and went over to the other end. Sure enough it was a pale, frazzled, and somewhat queasy looking Hoshiko who glared back at me.
"Um, hi Hoshiko." I said. Silence.
"Are you okay?" She shook her head.
"Papa kind of overdid it huh?" Nod.
"You'd like me to go away and leave you alone now right?" More nodding. I replaced the blanket and quietly headed for the kitchen where Michiru-mama was lightly scolding Haruka-papa.
"I do not believe you Haruka Tenoh! Doing something like that to poor Hoshiko. She's our guest and our friend for heaven's sake! I just hope she isn't too angry when she recovers." They noticed me entering the room at that moment. "Oh, hello Hime-chan! How was your day?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Is Mama home yet?"
"No, but I think Setsuna should be dropping in any moment now." Haruka-papa stated as she glanced at her watch.
As if on cue, we heard the sound of a time portal opening up in the living room, followed by 'AAAAAA!' *Thump* 'Owie!' We waited to see if there were any screaming and loud explosions which would indicate that Setsuna-mama had landed on Hoshiko. We heard nothing except for what sounded like muttered apologies and we each breathed a sigh of relief. Then Setsuna-mama walked into the kitchen with a frown on her face.
"What did you do to her Haruka?" Setsuna-mama asked accusingly.
"Hey, she asked if she could go for a ride like Firefly did last year. Not my fault she couldn't handle it!" Haruka-papa shot back. Insert collective exasperated sigh from the rest of the cast. Haruka-papa just folded her arms and pouted.
"You said that you wanted to talk to us about something Hotaru?" Michiru-mama asked. I nodded and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy.
"The three of you might want to sit down for this…" I began as I told them about the day's events.
Several minutes later Setsuna-mama had her arms around me while Michiru-mama was desperately trying to keep Haruka-papa from going off and hunting the two of them down and doing things to them that would have made Torquemada* queasy (at least that's what Setsuna-mama told me later as she was busy covering my ears at the time. Hoshiko had come into the kitchen as well, no doubt alerted by the yelling and Haruka-papa slamming her fist against the counter.
"What is going on? Why are you all yelling?" Hoshiko asked looking extremely agitated. Wordlessly I handed her the note from the Principal. Hoshiko read it once and gasped in shock. She looked over at me with tears forming in her eyes. "Is this true?" She whispered. I nodded and Hoshiko came over and hugged me as well.
This stopped Haruka-papa's ranting and pacing and she came over and hugged me as well along with Michiru-mama. This would be one of those wonderful families bonding moments you see on TV except for one tiny problem.
"Um, hello? I kind of need to breathe." We all laughed sheepishly and broke apart slightly. Still I was extremely grateful to them for their show of support. "Thank you, all of you."
"You're welcome Firefly." Haruka-papa replied. Then her face contorted in anger again. " I knew those two were trouble even before I threw them out of the house that day, but I never thought they'd go this far."
"Haruka and I are used to dealing with idiots like that on a regular basis ever since we went public with our relationship. We had hoped that people wouldn't attack you because of it Hime-chan, but it's not to be it seems." Michiru-mama added.
"I know Mama, I know." I replied sadly as I hugged her. "But I love both of you so much. And I accepted your relationship long ago even before you explained it to me. You shouldn't have to apologize to anyone."
"It is not right that Hotaru should be persecuted for a choice that the two of you made long ago. I do not understand why people should be so, so, stupid." Hoshiko commented, looking baffled.
"A man named Albert Einstein spoke a universal truth when he said; 'there are two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not so sure about the universe.' It's a sad comment about the human condition, but it's true." Setsuna-mama commented. "Trust me, I've had a long time to observe and experience it firsthand. Some people just can't accept things as they are." She shook her head sadly. "I've long since accepted the relationship between Haruka and Michiru. True they tend to be a little overenthusiastic about expressing their feelings, but I still love both of them and support them fully and I always will."
"Thank you Sets." Michiru-mama said as she hugged Setsuna-mama. Haruka-papa did the same. "And don't worry Hotaru, we'll be down to see your Principal tomorrow afternoon and get this sorted out. And afterwards we'll go over to the Crown and see the others. I know that'll make me feel better." Michiru-mama said with a smile. I smiled and hugged her again. Naturally the phone rang just in time to spoil the moment. Haruka-papa answered it.
"Hello? Oh hi. Yeah Hotaru was just telling us about it. Yes she's okay, how's Kimyo? That's good. How are you coping? Yeah we were pretty damn steamed here too. Oh don't worry, we'll all be there tomorrow and hopefully those two will get what's coming to them (Michiru-mama scribbled something on a piece of paper and showed it to Haruka-papa). Oh, and Michiru wants to know if you and Kimyo would like to go over to the Crown afterwards. You would? Great! We'll see you tomorrow then. Yes I'll tell her. Thanks for calling. Bye." Haruka-papa hung up. "Kimyo and her Mom are okay, but they're both really upset. And Kimyo wants you to call her after dinner Hime-chan."
"No problem Papa." I replied. I was glad to hear that Kimyo and her Mom were all right and that my family was behind me. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have a family like mine.
Hoshiko looked both relieved and happy for a moment then she started looking a bit pale again as she put a hand to her forehead. "I think that I need to lie down again." She announced.
Setsuna-mama shot Haruka-papa an annoyed look before helping Hoshiko out of the kitchen. "I saw the other Animamates off to their homes…" She began as they left.
"Well I think I'll go tinker with my car a bit before dinner." Haruka-papa announced. It was one of her ways of relieving stress, the others being fighting and, well I'll leave it to your imagination as it involves Michiru-mama. She left the kitchen.
"I guess that leaves the two of us to make dinner Hime-chan." Michiru-mama said with a sigh.
"I don't mind at all Mama." I replied proudly. She smiled and kissed me on the forehead. Then we set about preparing dinner. Then the phone rang again while I was making a salad. I just hit the speakerphone button. "Hello?"
"I know your secret." Oh look it's the creepy voice again.
"Stuff it jerk." I replied and hung up.
"What was that about?" Michiru-mama asked.
"I have no idea." I replied honestly. We shrugged and went back to preparing dinner.
After dinner I came up to my room feeling a lot better about the day's events than I had been earlier, and was starting to type when Haruka-papa came into my room suddenly.
"Hang on! You had lunch with, that, that, that boy?" Whoops, I knew I'd forgotten something. There went my quiet evening. Sigh, parents. They just don't understand.
*Thomas de Torquemada (1420-1498) was a 15th Century Dominican Friar and a General in the Spanish Inquisition. His name has become a byword for acts of unspeakable cruelty and fanaticism in the service of religion. If what Haruka was thinking of doing could make him queasy, I'd worry for the safety of Megumi and Keiko.