A/N-So yay for reviews. You guys so totally rock. So before the week begins with its fun, much similar to last week what with the apartment hunting, physio and work, here is the next chapter. I will try to get the rest up shortly, but who knows if I'll have time… stupid life… tee hee… life. Get it? Ok I'm tired sorry. Anyways… on with the story.
Life Ch 8
'Ex?' The word floated around the inside of Michiru's head as she continued to stare at the black haired girl in front of her. Haruka noticed that Michiru still had a confused look on her face so she decided to explain.
"Remember I told you that I use to live in the states?" Michiru nodded her head. "Well back then Arian and I were going out. We broke up when I left to move back to Japan. Which leads me to my next question." Haruka turned away from Michiru and stared at Arian. "What are you doing in Japan?"
"My father got a job offer here and he decided to take it. We moved here two weeks ago. I've been coming to this school since then, but I never saw you until today. I happened to be studying at the library till a little while ago and as I was leaving I saw you walking to your car. I of course had to come and say hi."
"Well I have to admit I was shocked to see you. I really never thought I would see you again." Haruka said.
"Well we have to catch up on what's been happening. It has been more then three years now. How about we go grab a coffee?" Haruka turned to look at Michiru and then back to Arian.
"Umm, I would really like that, but I promised Michiru that I would give her a ride home so how about another time?"
"No Ruka it's ok… You should go. I'll walk home."
"Michi I really don't think that you should walk home alone. I'll take you, Arian and I will…"
"No." Michiru cut Haruka off. "I insist that you two go have a cup of coffee and catch up on old times. Seriously I'll be fine. It's not that far of a walk and it's a not so cold tonight." Haruka looked at her and Michiru could tell that she wasn't convinced.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Haruka asked as she looked at Michiru seriously. Haruka really didn't like the idea of Michiru walking home alone. What if something happened?
"Honestly Ruka I'll be fine. I'll see you tonight when you get home, ok?"
"Alright then… but call me if you need me for anything. I mean that ok? Anything." Michiru nodded her response and then turned to Arian who had been watching this exchange with a small smile on her face.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Arian-san." Michiru said as she bowed to the girl, who laughed at her a bit. Michiru looked at her confused as to what was funny.
"I'm sorry I'm still not use to all this Japanese formality stuff. It makes me feel a little awkward. Please from now on just call me Arian."
"Alright. Arian it is. It was a pleasure meeting you. I guess I'll be seeing more of you in the future seeing as you are going to the same school." Michiru smiled.
"It was nice meeting you as well. And I do assume we'll be seeing a lot of each other since you and Haruka seem to be so close." Both Haruka and Michiru blushed a bit at this comment and tried to hide it, but Arian caught it. "I guess I'll see you late then. Have a good night."
"Good night to you as well. I'll see you later Haruka."
"Ok I'll see you when I get home." With that Michiru turned to start walking home, but stopped and turned back to Haruka.
"Haruka?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I get my violin out of the trunk? I would like to practice tonight."
"Oh. Yeah sure." Haruka quickly opened the trunk and grabbed the violin handing it to Michiru.
"Thanks. Well have a fun time you two." And once again Michiru left. Haruka stood there watching Michiru walk away with a frown on her face, but was soon pulled out of her thoughts by an elbow to her side.
"Ow. What the hell was that for?" Haruka asked looking at Arian while rubbing her side.
"I wanted to get your attention." Arian said with an innocent look on her face.
"Well you could have just tapped me on the shoulder instead of hitting me, geez."
"With the way you were staring at Michiru I don't think a tap would have gotten your attention. It looks like I'm going to be hearing some interesting stories tonight." She said with an evil smile as she pulled open the passenger side door of Haruka's car. "Shall we?" Haruka nodded and they both got in the car.
Michiru walked along the road, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her mind was too preoccupied with what had just happened. Haruka's ex had moved to Japan and was in the same school as them… What are the odds? (A/N-I would assume pretty damn slim, but in the world of fanfiction 100 probability to add drama.) She seemed like a really nice girl. She was certainly beautiful. Thinking about this made Michiru feel sick.
'What if Haruka still has feelings for her? They broke up because Haruka moved, right? So it's entirely possible that Haruka is still in love with her. I don't know if I'll be able to stand losing her to someone else. Wait what am I talking about? She was never mine to begin with… all because I'm too damn chicken to open my mouth. No even that doesn't matter because she doesn't have feelings for me anyways. God why does this hurt so much?'
Michiru looked up from the pavement, surprised to see that she was already home. She hadn't realized how fast time had passed or how she had really ended up home because she didn't remember taking any of the turns she needed to, but apparently her feet had known where to go. She sighed and went upstairs. As soon as she was inside she leaned against the door and slid down it crying into her hands.
Haruka and Arian were sitting in a small café not far from the school. They had been talking for the last hour about things that had happened such as Haruka and her racing and why Arian's father had transferred. The conversation had lulled to a stop after Arian had asked about Haruka's hand. Haruka went over the story she had told at school, about how she and Michiru had been in a motorcycle accident and then she sat there staring into her tea. Arian was looking at Haruka, who seemed to be in deep thought about something. She smirked as she started talking.
"So what's the deal with this Michiru girl?"
"Hmm? What about her?"
"Well you two seem to be pretty close."
"She's been my best friend and roommate since I moved back here three years ago." Haruka said not really looking up from her tea.
"Uh huh. And…"
"And what?" Haruka asked finally looking into Arian's eyes.
"Oh come on Haruka. We dated for a year and were friends even before that… I know you. At least I like to think I still do. You like her."
"What?" Haruka asked as she blushed profusely turning her eyes back to her tea trying to hide it. 'Does everyone know?' "Why would you say that? We're just friends."
"Uh huh. And that's why you blush anytime someone mentions anything about you two being together right?" Haruka only blushed harder at this. "Yep… looks completely platonic to me." Arian said smiling wickedly at he friend. "You know I've never seen you blush before… ever. She must be special to make the great Haruka Tenoh blush so much. Usually it's the other way around."
"Look it doesn't matter. Even if I was in love with her she would never return my feelings. She's straight."
"Ok first… You are so in love with her it's ridiculous. Second how do you know that she doesn't have feelings towards you? From what I saw she blushed just as much as you did back at the school. And all I did was say you guys were close. It was your minds that took you guys somewhere that made you both blush. From where I sit… I'd say she likes you too."
"Well you always had a crazy imagination. She is definitely straight. She had a boyfriend." Haruka frowned as she said this, and for more then one reason.
"Had? And now?"
"Well now she's single, but that's because the guy was a complete jerk." 'Understatement of the year.' "But as soon as she's over what happened I'm sure there will be guys falling in line to date her."
"Well if the guy was a jerk wouldn't she be dating one of her many suitors now? I don't think I would be heartbroken over some asshole."
"The situation is a little more complicated then that. I wish I could tell you why, but I can't. All I can say is that when she is ready to start dating again she'll have her pick of any guy… She would never choose me."
"Well you'll never know unless you say something. God how could I have ever dated you? You have no self-esteem or backbone." She stared at her blonde friend and sighed. "Look Haruka, I can see this eating you up inside and you're going to have to do something about it because if it were me I don't think I would be able to handle living with someone I was in love with and not having that affection returned. I'd go nuts. How long has this been going on? How long have you been in love with her?" Once again Haruka said nothing and stared downwards. "Haruka?"
"Since the moment I met her." Haruka said in barely more then a whisper. Arian frowned at hearing this. Three years of being so close to the one you love and never being able to say that you love them or kiss them. It would be the worst torture ever.
"Haru-chan… You need to end this one way or the other. You're just going to hurt yourself more. Either tell her and see what happens or… well maybe it's time to move on and maybe find somewhere else to live." Haruka looked up into the concerned eyes of her friend and Arian could see that Haruka looked to be on the verge of tears, but wouldn't let them fall.
"I could never leave her. No. I made a promise that I would always be there for her no matter what… And I will be."
"Well then tell her how you feel. You never know until you try."
"And what happens when she rejects me huh?" Haruka said looking very angry and raising her voice a little. "What happens then? Will everything go back to how it was? Saying that I love her could ruin our friendship. I don't want to risk it… I don't want to lose her." The last part was very quiet.
"Haruka even if she doesn't love you… It's obvious that she cares for you very deeply. I don't think she would stop being friends with you if you admit how you feel. I'm not saying it won't be awkward at first… but you guys will adjust. Just think about it. Look if I'm right then she'll return you feelings… if not then you at least know and it might make it easier to move on. I know that you keep telling yourself that she doesn't love you, but I'm sure there's that faint glimmer of hope in the back of your mind telling you that maybe she does love you. Perhaps if that glimmer were taken away it would be easier. But don't keep deluding yourself that everything will be alright if you let things keep going as they are right now because it will just keep hurting more and more." Arian finished her little speech and sat back in her chair looking at Haruka. Haruka finally lifted her head and to Arian's relief had a smile, a small one, but a smile none the less, on her face.
"You always were really smart. Tell me again why we broke up?" Haruka asked and Arian just laughed.
"Cause you were moving to another country and I was just too damn smart for you apparently. It would never have worked if I had to do all the thinking for both of us. I just hope that Michiru can deal with you. I'm impressed I managed it for a year." Haruka glared at her friend playfully across the table and laughed a bit. It went silent again, but the air wasn't as oppressive as it was before and Haruka was still smiling a bit.
"I know that you're right about all this, but still… I need some time to think about how I should go about this. I really don't want to screw it up."
"Yeah, you should definitely take your time… although I don't suggest another three years." Arian said winking at the racer.
"Hey what happened to helping me? Now you're just insulting."
"Sorry, but I used up all my wisdom and helpfulness for the day. Now I'm just left with sarcastic insults." She answered sticking her tongue out at Haruka. "However after you've thought about how you want to proceed, I will gladly help… that is for a fee." She said grinning.
"A fee? And what pray tell would this fee be?"
"I heard there's going to be a festival in the city this Friday. I still don't have many friends…"
"I wonder why?" Haruka muttered playfully which earned her a kick under the table. "Ow."
"As I was saying I still don't have many friends so I was wondering if you would go with me. I don't want to miss it, but there is no way I'm going alone. I don't want to feel like a loser." Haruka opened her mouth, but shut it quickly as soon as she saw the death glare Arian was giving her. "So what do you say?"
"It's a deal. Besides I guess I do owe you for the advice."
"That you do. Well it's getting late. We should probably get going. We do have class tomorrow." The blonde nodded and they both stood up. Arian was about to leave some cash on the table when Haruka placed a hand over hers.
"My treat tonight. I do owe you." She said as she placed enough money on the table to cover both their bills. "Can I offer you a ride home?" Arian just nodded and they left the restaurant. While driving Arian couldn't help, but stare at Haruka.
'You really haven't changed have you? Still as stubborn as ever. I can't believe that you fell in love with someone as dense as you. How can you both not see how the other feels?' Arian laughed and shook her head a little. Haruka turned and looked at her.
"What's so funny?" The blonde asked looking from the road to Arian.
"You!" she laughed. Haruka looked at her confused, but then just smiled and continued driving.
A/N- Wooh. Nothing like late night/early morning (however you want to look at it) writing. What a rush. Well this chapter is much lighter then the others and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As you can see we are definitely getting to the end here. However it's not done yet so to get to that oh so wonderful conclusion that we all know will happen you know what to do…review, review, and review… the three most important words in fanfiction.lol. Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing.
