A/N- Ok so I was originally only going to post this tomorrow because I wanted to wait for more reviews cause I'm so damn greedy, but instead I offer this as a gift to gottoluvanime… You know why. So that having been said this is the second to last chapter. I was originally going to make this the last, but I found a way to stretch it so I did. I hope you all enjoy it.

Life Ch 9

After dropping Arian off Haruka decided to take the long way home to give her self some time to think. She knew that Arian was right. She had to do something and she was going to have to do it soon or she was just going to hurt herself more.

'How do I tell her I love her… especially after what just happened to her? I know this isn't really the best time, but I have to… If I don't do it soon I know I never will and then it's really going to be too late. Although it is possible that it's too late even now…' Haruka sighed as she finally pulled into her parking spot. She looked at the clock in the car before killing the ignition and saw that it was almost eleven. 'Wow… I didn't realize it was so late. I'm sure that Michi is going to be asleep by now. I guess that gives me more time to think about how I'm going to go about this. I don't think I've ever had to do something this tough before.' Haruka got out of the car and proceeded up to the apartment. When she got there she took her keys and found the right one within seconds. When she installed the new lock she needed to make copies of the keys and the man at the cutters had offered her a design to be printed on the key itself. Haruka agreed instantly and the house key now had a flame designed stamped on it. She knew it was lame, but at least it didn't take her five minutes to find the right one. Now she just needed to get the other keys done so she could distinguish those as well. She opened the door to complete darkness aside from what was coming in from the windows. Not surprising since it was so late. Michiru was surely in bed by now. She walked in and hung up her jacket. She turned to go down the hall, but something caught her eye on the couch. She walked over and found Michiru curled up and fast asleep. Haruka knelt down beside her and brushed the aqua hair out of Michiru's face. The moonlight that shone on her illuminated two tear stained cheeks. Haruka frowned at this as she continued to stroke Michiru's hair. 'Still thinking about it eh? God I wish I could take all this pain away from you Michi… maybe then some of my pain would lessen. It kills me to see you like this.' Haruka sighed as she stood up. She stayed there looking at Michiru for a few moments and then stooped over placing one arm under Michiru's legs and the other under her back. She lifted Michiru and carried her to her bedroom carefully laying her down on the bed. She covered the violinist in the blankets and placed a small kiss on the girl's forehead. 'I love you so much Michi… and soon… you'll know it and I only hope you can forgive me for it.' Haruka quietly left the room and went back to the living room and out on the balcony as she usually did when she needed to think. She stayed there for at least half an hour leaning against the railing and looking out over the lights of the city. Finally a small smile graced her lips. 'That's it!' With that final thought Haruka went back inside and went to sleep.

The next day Michiru woke up and was surprised to find her self in her own bed. She wondered how she had gotten there considering the last thing she remembered was crying on the couch. Shortly though she knew the answer… 'Haruka… How else?' She got up and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hall. She looked towards the bathroom as she heard water running and realized Haruka was in the shower. She decided that she would go make breakfast for the two of them and walked off to the kitchen. About twenty minutes later Haruka walked into the kitchen with her uniform on, minus the jacket, and was drying her hair with a towel.

"Smells good in here." Haruka said as she sat down at the table. Michiru came by and put a plate with eggs on it in front of her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Michiru said as she sat down across from Haruka with her own plate. She stared down at her plate as she ate. Haruka watched her for a few minutes until she decided to break the silence.

"How are you doing today?" She asked softly. Michiru looked up into Haruka's concerned eyes.

"I'm alright… Thank you for bringing me to my room last night by the way." Michiru said as she returned to her study of the eggs on her plate.

"You're welcome." It was again silent until Michiru spoke again.

"Did you have a nice time last night with Arian?"

"I did actually. It was good to see her again. I never realized how much I've missed her." Haruka said smiling as she thought about the previous night with Arian. Haruka didn't notice, but Michiru had gone incredibly pale at these words. "And last night it seemed as if we had never really been apart… she still knows me so incredibly well."

"I see…" Michiru mumbled quietly. Haruka finally looked at Michiru and her smile disappeared.

"Are you ok? You don't look so well." Haruka asked as she stood up and went around the table. She placed her hand on Michiru's forehead to see if she had a fever. She was surprised to feel that it wasn't too hot. 'Then why does she look so pale?' Haruka was a little shocked when Michiru pushed her hand away.

"I'm fine." She said quietly as she stood up. "I'm going to take a shower and then we can go to school." Haruka nodded as she watched Michiru walk away.

'What was that? Was she…was she jealous? Was she jealous of Arian?' Haruka stood in shock watching the empty hallway. 'Holy crap… Maybe Arian was right. Now I really owe her. And God I really am dense.' Haruka thought as she started to clean up the dishes from breakfast, with a smirk plastered on her face the whole time.

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Michiru turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. When it was warm enough she slipped out of her clothes and entered the shower. The water cascaded down her body and matted her hair to her skin. She stood stock still for a few minutes, before slowly she wrapped her arms around herself and sunk to the floor of the shower, her tears mixing with the water from the shower.

'Why? Why couldn't I say how I feel? Now it's too late. It's obvious she still has feelings for Arian. She hasn't smiled like that for weeks. I can't do this anymore… I can't.' Michiru stayed like that for awhile before realizing that she had to get ready for school. She quickly shut off the water and got out, wrapping a towel around herself and going to her room. She heard a knock on the door and Haruka's voice.

"Are you alright Michi?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Well then hurry up… we're going to be late."

"Hai. I'm almost ready." She pulled on the jacket to her uniform and after checking herself in the mirror opened her door. She was met by Haruka who was still standing there and her eyes looked into concerned teal ones.

"You sure you're ok?" Haruka asked raising an eyebrow.

"Hai. Really. Thank you for your concern, but I'm just tired." Haruka still didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.

"Alright then. Let's go." Haruka said gesturing with her hand for Michiru to lead the way, which she did. Haruka followed closing the door behind them. As usual there was an awkward silence between them. Haruka looked at Michiru from the corner of her eye while they were in the elevator.

'I'm sorry if I'm the one making you feel this way, but if that is the case… I will make up for it… soon. I promise. Just wait a little longer for me Michi.'

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The bell rang signaling the end of classes and Haruka bolted out of her class running down the halls. Earlier she had gone to the office and asked for a copy of Arian's schedule. At first the secretary didn't want to give it to her, but after some shameless flirting she gave in to Haruka's charm. Arian and Haruka didn't have any classes together so Haruka found out what class Arian had left with the help of the schedule and ran to it hoping to catch her as she left. She rounded a corner and screeched to a halt near the classroom door as she searched the crowd that was pouring out. Shortly she saw jet black hair walking by. She snatched Arian's arm and pulled her to the side.

"Ow. What the… Haruka? What the hell." She asked as she jerked her arm away from Haruka's grip and started rubbing it. "That hurt."

"Sorry about that, but I really need your help. I think you were right."

"Well duh, but about what in particular."

"Michiru. I think she's jealous of you and me." Arian raised an eyebrow at this.

"Oh really?" She asked as she placed her arms around Haruka's neck and pulled her closer in mock seduction. "Does she think that there's still a spark of romance between us?" Haruka only raised her eyebrows at this.

"Well that's what it seemed like this morning." Haruka said prying Arian's arms from around her. Arian could only laugh. "Anyways the point is that I've made my decision."

"So you're finally going to tell her?" Arian asked as she started walking towards her locker with Haruka in tow.

"Yep and you're going to help me." They continued walking neither of them noticing the pair or teary blue eyes that followed them.

A/N- Alright so one more chapter left. I hope you guys are still enjoying this enough to review…. Reviews make me happy…. And recently I've been running off of them and not sleep. Honestly I've had only 4 hours sleep in the last 36 hours and yet have written two chapters in that time. I'm waiting to keel over and pass out, but that luxury still eludes me. Lol. Anyways almost done so keep reading and reviewing.