Disclaimer: I don't own any Sailor Moon characters.

A/N: Again, thank you for your reviews! Now brace yourselves. I had plenty of fuel for this chapter and some if it won't be pretty.

Italics are inner thoughts or flashbacks.

Chapter 5: Crash and Burn

Michiru walked out of the school library to head back to class. She began going over her list of things to do today after school in her mind. With swim team practice cancelled all week, she figured she'd have plenty of time to practice for her violin concert, finish her paper on 20th century European art, and, last but not least, find a birthday present for Haruka. She knew Haruka had been eyeing one of those racing videogames and remembered her talking about some new steering wheel accessory. It seemed the blonde's world revolved only around racing. Racing and that confounded little girlfriend of hers. She'd never forget the look on Shigeko's face when she showed up for swim team tryouts. Shigeko was clearly intimidated by Michiru. Needless to say, she beat Shigeko in every competition, officially making them rivals. Naturally, Haruka was also at the tryouts to watch and support her girlfriend, but Michiru liked to think she commanded the tomboy's attention that afternoon. Besides, what would people think if a cousin were to stare at another cousin so flirtatiously?

Speaking of which, as Michiru entered the courtyard, she saw Shigeko walk hurriedly across the open area. Michiru stepped back and waited till the girl entered the building through the doors on the other side. She wasn't in the mood to cross paths with her. Once the pink-haired girl was out of sight, Michiru continued her way through the courtyard. A sound came from nearby. Michiru stopped and listened. It sounded like sniffling, like someone was crying. She turned curiously towards the sound, trying to pinpoint the location. She spotted someone sitting on a bench. He was bent over and his back was turned to her. When he sat up, Michiru smacked herself mentally. She only assumed it was a boy because of the uniform, but she could recognize that disheveled blonde hair anywhere. Slowly, she approached the sniffling form.

"Haruka-chan?"

The sniffling stopped and Haruka coughed in an attempt to cover it up while she quickly wiped her face.

"Haruka-chan, what's wrong?" Michiru rushed to Haruka's side. She thought of Shigeko leaving the scene just as she had arrived. If she hurt you…

"Nothing, nothing, I'm fine," Haruka shook her head and took a deep breath. "I, uh," she cleared her throat, "I got bad marks in modern Japanese. I think Anzai-sensei hates me." Haruka tried to laugh. "I hate that class so fucking much."

Michiru searched Haruka's eyes for the truth, but then noticed the blood on Haruka's lip. "Kami-sama, your lip is bleeding!" She quickly opened her bag to find something to wipe the blood.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"Hold still," Michiru said sternly.

Haruka froze while Michiru dabbed the blood off her lip with a handkerchief. "I guess I was a little too rough on myself," she said once Michiru was done. She couldn't look Michiru in the eye.

"I saw Shigeko-chan just before I got here," said Michiru. She tried to see if she could provoke something from Haruka.

"Oh, yeah, she was comforting me, but she had to get back to class."

It doesn't look like she did a great job, Michiru thought. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Haruka tried to smile then winced at the pain from her lip.

"Oh, that looked really convincing, Haruka-chan," said Michiru sarcastically.

Haruka let out a real laugh and then winced again. "Stop making me laugh, it hurts."

Michiru smiled apologetically. "Big baby."

"How about this?" Haruka made a grotesque sideways smile that looked more painful to look at than her previous attempt.

"Now that's charming!" the other girl giggled.

Haruka heaved a sigh. "Okay, I give up."

Michiru's face turned serious. "Explain to me one thing: how did you bust your own lip?"

The scene moments before Michiru arrived flashed through Haruka's mind. "You know, I just did." She swung her fist in slow motion and stopped it right at her lip.

"And since when do you beat yourself up over bad marks?"

Haruka directed her stare to the ground. "I just don't wanna get kicked out, okay? I need to keep my grades up in order to stay on the track team too," she simply said. She wasn't angry at Michiru, but she didn't want Michiru to know the truth. She didn't even want to face the truth herself.

Michiru moved closer to Haruka on the bench, put her arm around the tomboy, and let Haruka lean her head against her shoulder. "You'll be okay, Haruka-chan, don't worry," the girl said consolingly. "Cheer up. Besides, I believe someone's birthday is coming up next week."

Haruka started to smile then scowled at the pain. "This sucks."

Michiru laughed lightly. "You know what you should do to make it stop hurting?"

Haruka looked at her, waiting for the answer.

"Stop beating yourself up."

Haruka carefully made a sinister smile. "No, I think I have a better idea," she contradicted and moved her face closer to Michiru's.

"And what might that be?" Michiru asked, returning the smile and keeping her blue eyes on the green ones. Her heart rate began to rise.

"There's only one thing that makes all boo-boos go away." Haruka inched closer and said, "Gran Turismo 5: Prologue! That's what I want for my birthday."

Michiru playfully shoved Haruka off her shoulder and left the blonde by herself on the bench. She hated it when Haruka leaned close to her like that, but at the same time she loved it. The only thing she was afraid of was not being able to control herself one of these days. Haruka quickly grabbed her bag and chased after her, like she always did.

As soon as the bell rang, Haruka darted out of the classroom and headed straight to Shigeko's class. She was standing outside the door when her girlfriend walked out. Shigeko looked right at her, but continued to walk past her as if she wasn't there.

Haruka grabbed her arm. "Shigeko-chan."

The girl yanked her arm away.

"Stop, please." Haruka tried to step in front of Shigeko, but she moved to the side.

"Shigeko-chan!" she said more firmly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shigeko said through clenched teeth. "You want people to see us? Leave me alone!"

"Will you please talk to me? I hate when you do this silent treatment!"

"That's why I do it, you dumbass!"

Haruka stood her ground in front of Shigeko. "Why do you have to be so spiteful? I said I was sorry!"

The short girl moved around Haruka and kept going.

"Fine," Haruka said and let her walk away. If you want to be angry, then be fucking angry. She started to go in the other direction.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Haruka turned to face Shigeko. "Where else? I have track practice."

Shigeko glared at Haruka. "If you go, don't expect to hear from me for a long time."

"I have missed so many practices already!"

Shigeko grabbed Haruka's wrist and dragged her into an empty classroom. "Do you want to fix this or not?"

Weren't you the one avoiding me and walking away? It took every ounce of willpower for Haruka to control her temper and keep her cool. "I do, that's why I have been apologizing all day. I am sorry I didn't do your homework right. I was up all night, so I'm sorry if I made some mistakes." I mean, you asked for help and I thought I was going to help you, not actually do the homework for you!

"Not good enough. I want you to quit track."

Haruka looked at Shigeko as if she had lost her mind. "What?"

"You heard me, I want you to quit track. Choose: me or track?"

Haruka snapped. "What does track have anything to do with this?" she yelled.

"Do you want me to smack your face and bust your lip again?" Shigeko threatened.

Haruka couldn't believe what she was hearing. She lowered her voice. "No, I don't! But—"

"Then don't you ever yell at me!" she screamed at Haruka. "Now choose! Me or track?"

Haruka's eyes burned with anger and frustration and her hands balled up into fists.

"What, are you going to hit me?" Shigeko taunted. "You gonna be like my ex-boyfriend? First you yell at me, and now you're gonna hit me?"

"No, I'd never."

"Then choose!"

Haruka tightened her jaw and tried to slow her breathing down. This can't be happening. Is she PMSing again?

"You're taking too fucking long, I'm leaving. You won't hear from me."

Haruka slammed her fists down on a desk. "Fine! I'll quit track!"

Shigeko sneered. "I don't care, do whatever you want. I'm still not talking to you," she said and left the classroom.

"Shigeko-chan!" Haruka ran after her and ended up colliding with Elsa in the hallway.

"Whoa, hey, are you coming to practice today? Coach has been asking about you—"

"I quit, Elsa-chan. I quit track," said Haruka.

Elsa stared at her friend in shock. She could see something was wrong by the look on Haruka's face. "What?"

"I can't talk now, I gotta go."

Elsa watched Haruka disappear around the corner after Shigeko and shook her head. She didn't understand why Haruka couldn't realize what that girl was doing to her.

"Shigeko-chan!" Haruka kept calling out to her. By then they were several blocks down the street from Mugen.

Shigeko stopped and turned around. Haruka saw her hand go up and she swiftly dodged the blow. Unfortunately, it made Shigeko angrier. "If I want to hit you, you better let me fucking hit you! Come here!" She grabbed Haruka's arm.

"Fuck that!" Haruka said enraged and tried to escape Shigeko's grasp. Shigeko held onto Haruka's uniform jacket sleeve and used her other hand to pinch Haruka's arm. "Ow, let go of me!" Haruka pried Shigeko's fingers off her and slipped out of her jacket. Shigeko threw the jacket onto the ground and came after Haruka with fists. This time Haruka didn't try to evade the blows. She caught Shigeko's fists and tried to keep them from hitting her, but then Shigeko began kicking her shins. Haruka dropped down to grab her legs in agony and that's when Shigeko's blows fell upon her. Haruka submitted herself to the beating and waited for it to be over. She couldn't tell where she was being hit anymore. A small pool of tears formed on the sidewalk where they fell from her face.

Once the punching stopped, Haruka slowly looked up. "There, are you happy?" she asked in a raspy voice. "Do you feel better now?"

"Get up," Shigeko said.

Haruka stood up. Her body was trembling and she could feel it starting to ache in all the places Shigeko struck her.

"Look what you made me do," she said. "I hurt you!" Shigeko's rage was suddenly replaced with remorse.

Haruka forgot all about her own anger and shook her head. "No, it's okay, it's my fault."

Shigeko embraced Haruka and buried her face in Haruka's shirt. "I'm so sorry, Haruka-chan!"

The blonde could feel wetness soaking into her shirt and saw that Shigeko was crying. She painfully put her arms around her girlfriend. "No, it's my fault, I'm sorry."

"Please don't leave me, Haruka-chan," Shigeko sobbed.

"I won't, I'm here," Haruka said soothingly.

"I just get so defensive."

"It's okay, I understand. Hey," Haruka said to get Shigeko's attention. "I'm not your ex-boyfriend."

Shigeko sighed. "Will you walk me home?"

Haruka kissed the top of Shigeko's head. "Sure." Haruka picked up her jacket from the ground and they walked together to Shigeko's house.

The next morning, Haruka grimaced as she got out of bed. Every movement she made was agonizing and her head hurt like hell. She closed the bathroom door and began undressing to take a shower. The reflection in the mirror made her cringe. Dark purple blotches covered her arms and her back. When she stepped underneath the showerhead her body cried out in anguish at the water hitting her skin. The slightest touch on any of her bruises was torture. Haruka sucked it up and quickly showered herself, then got dressed, which was another miserable process in itself.

She went to her usual morning spot at the beach and changed from the girl uniform to the boy uniform. As she gazed out at the ocean, Haruka realized how burned out she felt. She had immediately fallen asleep the night before, but she felt like she didn't get any rest at all. Part of it was because whenever she moved in her sleep, the pain in her body woke her up. The other part was her own nagging thoughts. She told the sea what happened the previous day and it responded with its usual lulling waves. It's stupid, isn't it? But it doesn't matter what I think, it's all about what she thinks. Another wave rushed to the shore and Haruka's eyes grew heavy. She lay back and gazed up at the sky. I know she doesn't mean to hurt me. She's just had her share of pain too. And I guess her temper is even shorter than mine, she told herself. Soon she drifted into unconsciousness.

Michiru waited outside for Elsa. She hadn't seen Haruka all day. At first, she thought maybe Haruka was running late when she didn't see her in the morning, but then the rest of the day went by and the tomboy was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if Haruka could be sick. Or worse, she thought as she recalled Haruka's condition yesterday when she found her in the courtyard.

Elsa finally appeared and she saw the concerned look on Michiru's face. "Nope, I haven't seen Haruka-chan all day either," she said. "And there's more I think you need to know."

Michiru had a bad feeling about what Elsa was about to say.

"Yesterday, on the way to practice, I ran into Haruka-chan. I think she and Shigeko-chan were fighting because she looked really upset and she was calling Shigeko-chan and running after her. I asked her if she was coming to practice 'cuz she hasn't been in a while, and she said she quit."

"She quit? Why would she quit? Yesterday she was worried about not being able to stay on the team because of her grades," Michiru said in shock.

Elsa shrugged. "I don't know, but…" Elsa stopped talking. Both she and Michiru saw the pink-haired girl approaching them.

"Act natural and smile," Michiru whispered quickly to Elsa. "And don't say anything smart! I know you."

Elsa grumbled, but followed Michiru's lead.

"Konnichiwa, ladies," Shigeko said and smiled pleasantly.

"Konnichiwa, Shigeko-chan," Michiru said.

"Have either of you seen my cousin by any chance?" the short girl asked.

"Nope," Elsa stated.

"Neither have I," Michiru confirmed.

"Maybe she's sick," Elsa suggested. "She didn't look too well and she wasn't at practice yesterday. In fact," Elsa stroked her chin in a thoughtful gesture, "she hasn't been to practice in a while."

Michiru wanted to smack Elsa. She had told her not to get smart.

"Oh," Shigeko replied, acting mildly surprised. "Well maybe she just has other things she needs to be more focused on."

Michiru prayed Elsa wouldn't say anything more that might provoke Shigeko.

Elsa didn't. Instead, she simply shrugged and said, "It's all good. Now I can win some races for once. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to practice." Elsa bid the two girls goodbye and left them.

The two rivals stared at each other for a while, then Michiru said, "I hope your cousin feels better."

Shigeko just smiled and walked away without saying another word.

Michiru turned to leave as well. She knew exactly where she'd find Haruka.

After almost an hour of walking around, Michiru was about to give up. She hadn't been there since that night Haruka took her there, but she thought she recalled the way to the beach and looked for any signs of familiarity. The only problem was things looked different at night. She knew better than to wander around at night, though, and she wasn't going to risk it. She took one last look around. A gust of wind blew past and Michiru caught the scent of the ocean. She was closer to the beach than she thought and soon she heard seagulls. Michiru continued forward and eventually arrived at the beach, where she saw a form lying on the sand.

Michiru rushed to Haruka and saw that she was merely sleeping, but at least she was there, just like she promised she'd be. Relieved that nothing bad had happened to Haruka, she sat down beside the sleeping tomboy. The blonde's chest slowly rose and fell and her eyes were moving rapidly underneath her eyelids, indicating she was dreaming. Michiru leaned a little closer and lightly giggled at the slight snores coming from Haruka. It occurred to her that now would be the perfect time to draw the tomboy, who had always refused to model for her sketches. Michiru took out her sketchbook and pencils and began drawing. Suddenly Haruka took a deep breath and started murmuring. The aqua-haired girl froze and held her breath.

"Michi," the girl uttered in her sleep. "My Michi," she repeated and then her steady breathing resumed.

Michiru waited a few moments before letting her breath out. She gently caressed the blonde's face. "I'm here, my Ruka," she whispered endearingly. Haruka made no further sign of waking up. Michiru wondered what caused Haruka to be so exhausted for her to have crashed and slept so deeply like this. She was also curious to know what she was doing in Haruka's dreams.

Her musings were interrupted when the wind picked up a few loose pages from her sketchbook and carried it towards the ocean. Michiru gasped and went after the pages to retrieve them before they landed in the water. She managed to collect all but one page. As she bent down to pick up the last page, a seagull swooped down near her. Michiru let out a startled cry and took a step back into the water. The freezing sensation encircling her ankles further startled her and she involuntarily took more steps into the cold water. Now she was more or less wading, but before she could get back to dry ground, a wave came and knocked her off balance. There was a splash as Michiru fell into the water. Shivering, she quickly dragged herself out, still holding the now soaking runaway pages. She cursed the pages through chattering teeth as she realized they weren't even worth saving. Fortunately for Michiru, she had decided to bring her swim bag home today, which contained a towel and dry clothes. She just hoped Haruka didn't wake up while she was changing.

The blonde slowly opened her eyes and blinked as she saw the sun in its late afternoon position. Kami-sama, did I sleep all day? She began to sit up then cursed at the pain she had forgotten about. She tried to sit up again more carefully and that's when she noticed the neatly folded girl uniform beside her. Haruka didn't remember folding her uniform. In fact, she never folded her uniform. She usually just stuffed it into her track bag. She reached for the uniform and felt it was damp. Did it rain? she wondered. She touched the clothes she was wearing, but they were completely dry. Haruka took the uniform and held it up curiously. "This isn't mine, it can't be. It looks too small," she said aloud to herself. Something dropped from the uniform as it unfolded. Haruka picked it up and gawked at it. It was a white lacy bra with a floral design on it. "This is definitely not mine!"

"That's because it's mine, you hentai!"

The bra was snatched from Haruka's grasp and the blonde looked up to see the girl she had been dreaming about. Her face turned bright red in embarrassment. "It's not what you think!" she cried out in defense.

Michiru folded her uniform back up and put everything into her swim bag. "I turn around for a few minutes and you're already stealing my intimates!"

Haruka's face grew even redder.

"Oh, you're so easy to mess with, Haruka-chan," Michiru said as she started to blush with her own embarrassment of having her underwear found. She gave Haruka a light slap on her arm.

Haruka hissed and shut her eyes as she waited for the pain to subside.

"Haruka-chan?" A worried look came over Michiru.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just a little bruise," Haruka said and tried to smile.

"I'm sorry, let me see," Michiru said.

"No, really, it's okay. It's from yesterday."

Yesterday? First Haruka's bleeding lip and now bruises. Elsa said she and Shigeko-chan were fighting. "Tenou Haruka, let me see," Michiru said sternly but gently. She caught a glimpse of fear in Haruka's eyes.

Haruka decided resistance would only feed into Michiru's suspicions, so she rolled both of her sleeves up to her elbows. She hoped Michiru wouldn't ask to see more.

Michiru's hand went to her mouth and she gasped. "Kami-sama, what happened?"

"It's funny. No, actually it's stupid," Haruka corrected herself. "I was checking the power steering fluid in my car, but I didn't prop the hood securely so it slammed down onto my arms." Haruka saw the doubt in Michiru's eyes and decided to change the subject quickly before there was anymore questioning. "So, wait, what are you doing out here?"

Michiru let it slide. She knew all she had to do was make a phone call to Elsa, who would in turn call Keiichi to find out if Haruka was truly working on her car yesterday. "You weren't in school today. Shigeko-chan asked me if I had seen you. She seemed worried."

She did this to me. Haruka shook her head. A smirk crept on Haruka's lips. "She was worried or you were worried?"

Michiru stared at Haruka. "Of course I was worried! That's why I came here. I knew I'd find you here."

The tomboy grinned. "And I promised you I'd be here."

"That doesn't explain why you weren't in school today."

Haruka yawned and stretched her arms out. Pain shot through her limbs once more, but she tried not to let it show. "As you can see, I was in desperate need of a really long nap."

"I'm serious, Haruka-chan," Michiru said. "Does it have something to do with you quitting track?"

The blonde's grin suddenly disappeared and she hung her head in shame. "I don't want to talk about it."

That was probably the only truth Haruka told Michiru. It wasn't exactly the truth Michiru was looking for, but at least she didn't try to come up with another lie. "Okay," Michiru said. She respected Haruka's wishes and left it at that, but it only made her worry more. The sparkle in her green eyes was beginning to dull again.

Haruka hated lying to her. It seemed like all she did was either lie to her or keep things from her. She looked at the aqua-haired girl, who was busy digging her toes in the sand, and in that moment, the feelings that she had sealed away to make room for Shigeko escaped from their prison and it dawned on her. She was still so in love with the girl sitting beside her. "Michiru-chan."

The way Haruka said her name made Michiru shudder. It had the soft tone used when talking to a lover, and Michiru had to convince herself that she was just hearing things. "Hm?"

Haruka reached for Michiru's hand and the other girl gave it to her. "Thanks for being here with me," she said. Inside, Haruka pushed her feelings further down into the depths of her heart. I'm just upset. I care about Shigeko-chan. We'll work it out. Besides, I will not make Michiru the rebound girl.

Haruka stood in the middle of Juban Shopping Center and peered into her wallet. It was full of receipts and only contained a few small bills. She had just won the prize money of 75,000 yen from a street race only a few days ago, and now she was down to about 4000 yen. It puzzled her. Why am I always broke? I just got paid and I'm already broke? She couldn't even remember what she bought, but she didn't think it was that much. She pulled out the receipts and started calculating in her head. There were receipts for gas and auto parts for her car, but that wasn't much because Keiichi took care of most of it. She counted a couple more receipts here and there from McDonalds, but that wasn't much either. The rest of the receipts were from department stores and clothing stores. Are you serious? I spent over 60,000 yen in one weekend!? her mind cried out. She reviewed the items on the receipts. They were all things she bought for Shigeko. Haruka rubbed her hand all over her face in frustration. Kuso, it's like every time I get money, she wants me to take her shopping! What am I going to get Michiru for her birthday with 4000 yen? She must've spent at least 25,000 yen for my game and steering wheel. Haruka placed everything back in her wallet and into her pocket and looked at all the stores around her. It was hopeless. There was nothing worthy enough with her 4000 yen.

She tried to think and began picking at the band-aid near her right eye. The cut underneath the band-aid wasn't deep enough to require stitches, but it would leave a scar, and right now it was starting to itch. She still couldn't figure out how she got cut during her last fight with Shigeko. The cause of the fight was another thing she couldn't figure out. She just remembered they were in her car in the school parking lot because Shigeko was angry at her and wanted to talk to her in private.

Shigeko was screaming at her and hitting her again.

"I'm sorry!" Haruka said, shielding herself.

"No, you're not! You think it's that simple? I want to see you cry, then I'll know you're sorry!"

"I can't force myself to cry!"

"Then your apology isn't sincere!"

"How the fuck is forcing myself to cry going to make it anymore sincere?"

Shigeko threw her keys at Haruka, but Haruka dodged it, or so she thought she did. Between the hits and her own emotional uproar, her body was so numb she couldn't really feel anything anymore. Shigeko was the one that noticed the blood first.

"Haruka-chan, you're bleeding!"

Haruka looked at her dumbfounded, then realized there was a wetness near her eye that was trickling down her cheek. Her first thought was it was just sweat, or maybe she was crying so that she could prove her apology was sincere. She touched it and brought her hand before her face and saw the crimson liquid on her fingertips.

"Don't just sit there, go to the nurse's office, you stupid fuck!"

Haruka blinked, still trying to process everything that was going on. She glared at her girlfriend. She'd always been able to ignore any name-calling, but that's because she didn't care about the people who did it. Her own girlfriend was slowly chipping away her self-esteem and she felt powerless.

Shigeko got out of the car and Haruka quickly followed.

"I said go to the nurse's office! If you don't go, I will break up with you!" Shigeko laughed mockingly. "Or don't go. You can die for all I care. I hate you."

When asked where the cut came from, Haruka had said she fell and the nurse looked at her strangely. The student's face was streaked from tears and the nurse didn't believe students at this age would cry so much over a little fall. Unfortunately, there was nothing more she could do besides clean the cut, which was now starting to drive Haruka mad with itching. I guess the keys did hit me, but it's okay, Shigeko-chan and I are okay now, Haruka thought. Obviously, she added mentally as she thought of the remains in her wallet. Haruka resisted the urge to peel off the band-aid and pick at her cut and decided to go home.

She walked past a music store, the kind with instruments and accessories, on the way back to her car and stopped. Haruka took a few steps back and looked inside. There was a woman in the store talking to the store owner and she looked strangely familiar. Haruka tilted her head, trying to remember where she had seen her before. She was about to give up trying to remember when the woman turned and saw her too. The woman's eyes lit up in recognition and then it all came back to Haruka.

"Ruriko-san!" Haruka bowed to her former babysitter and piano instructor.

"Haruka-chan! My goodness, you've grown so much!" She grinned and gave Haruka a hug. "How old are you now?"

"Fourteen," Haruka answered.

Ruriko shook her head in disbelief. "The last time I saw you, you were up to here." She held her hand up about four feet above the ground and then laughed. "Now you're taller than me! How have you been? Do you still play the piano? I hope you do."

"Hai, I still play," Haruka said a little reluctantly.

"I'm so glad! Please, play something for me, for old time's sake," Ruriko requested. She motioned Haruka to follow her to the back of the store where there was a small studio. A piano sat in the middle of the room and she noticed recording equipment in a smaller room to the side.

Haruka sat at the piano and cracked her knuckles, which got her a sound of disapproval from Ruriko. Haruka apologized sheepishly and felt like she was eight years old again. She placed her fingers on the keys and played a piece she recalled from her time with Ruriko. It was the one that became a duet with Michiru. The last time she played it was that night Michiru kissed her, even though the performance was all under pretense, but she played it perfectly like she had learned it yesterday. Haruka sighed as she thought of that kiss. Michi, my Michi, all I ever wanted to do was love you. Out of the corner of her eye, the recording equipment caught her attention and suddenly she realized the perfect gift she'd give Michiru for her birthday.