A/N: Sorry this update took forever. A lot of things have happened. Life-changing things. And all for the better too. But I did promise a couple people I'd have this update by December. I swore to impersonal that I'd do it even if I posted right before I got on the plane. So here it is. It's much shorter than the previous chapters, and for that I apologize. I also apologize if it sounds rushed. Thanks to VR for bitching and rambling at me. It's her fault I've got all these loose ends to tie up in this fic haha. That's why I made her beta it. Show her love! I'm off to London and Singapore!

Chapter 11: Picture Perfect

When morning came, Haruka woke up a little disoriented and her head was spinning. She wasn't in her room, nor was she in Elsa's room. Suddenly she became aware of the weight on her shoulder and the warm breath gracing her skin. Her eyes drifted down to the young maiden sleeping in her arms serenely. Gently she kissed Michiru's forehead, causing her to stir. Michiru's eyes slowly fluttered open and she smiled dreamily at her.

"Ohayou, Michi," she said, kissing her girlfriend's lips.

"Ohayou, Ruka," the other girl replied. "How's your head?"

"My head?" She thought for a moment, then recalled the events of the day before. "Oh yeah, my head. It's better."

"Good." Michiru lifted herself up on one elbow and leaned over Haruka. "Maybe we can finish what we started last night?"

Haruka's eyes roamed over the naked curves that outlined Michiru's body, a hungry expression spreading across her face. "Do we have time?"

Both of their eyes turned to look at the bathroom. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Kill two birds with one stone."

Michiru squealed with surprise as Haruka suddenly swept her up from the bed. She grasped her hands behind Haruka's neck and held on as she was carried bridal style to the bathroom. As soon as Haruka kicked the door closed behind them, Michiru pulled herself up to her lover's face and claimed Haruka's lips. The tomboy allowed herself to indulge in the kiss while carefully stepping into the shower stall. She did so slowly so as not to let their mouths part then she lowered Michiru down. Michiru reached behind Haruka and turned the water on. The initial burst of frigid water drew a gasp from the two girls, who stood right underneath the showerhead, and yet they didn't move from each other's embrace. The water warmed up, and the desire between the two burned feverishly.

Haruka kept her eyes on Michiru the whole time they were in the shower together. She didn't want to see anything else but her beloved making love to her and only her, nobody else. Only after Michiru rendered her helpless to the surge of ecstacy crashing through her body did her eyes close. It was then that yesterday's events slowly crept into her vision again. She saw Seiya with his arms wrapped around Michiru.

My Michiru.

"Yes, Ruka, I'm yours." Michiru's voice called Haruka from her thoughts and she was back where she belonged with her arms wrapped around her Michiru. They stood under the showerhead for a while longer, letting the water stream down on them.

Haruka's mind remained torn between what she saw yesterday and what she so badly wanted to believe. She couldn't bring herself to confront the issue like she thought she would. Furthermore, she wanted Michiru to come clean without her having to bring it up. If Michiru wasn't hiding anything, then Haruka wouldn't have to drag it out of her.

I just wish I never knew so I could be blissfully ignorant, Haruka sighed inwardly.

The water began to turn cold and Michiru shivered slightly against Haruka. The taller girl shut the water off then slid the shower door open to grab the towels hanging from the rack. She wrapped one around Michiru and both girls began drying themselves off.

"After you," Haruka said, gesturing out with her hand.

Michiru stepped out first and Haruka followed, doing her best to ignore the negative thoughts and act like nothing was wrong. Standing beside Michiru as they brushed their teeth, however, she suddenly felt alone again. It was a feeling she could never quite get over, but it wasn't a strange feeling. She was just used to it, dealing with issues on her own. There was nobody she could talk to, not even Elsa. For all she knew, as Michiru's lifelong best friend, Elsa was more likely to deny Haruka's suspicions, whether they were true or not. Then again, there was the possibility that Elsa could be clueless to it all, her mind too preoccupied with her boyfriend. Speaking of which...

"Hey Michi, guess what," Haruka said after spitting toothpaste out of her mouth.

"What?" Michiru asked.

"I caught Elsa-chan in the act yesterday."

Michiru's eyes bulged. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, you know, when I went back to her place to grab some stuff."

"That must have been awkward," Michiru giggled.

"More like traumatizing actually. They were in the shower. The last thing I need to see is my best friend getting her freak on with her boyfriend," Haruka said and rinsed her mouth.

Michiru also rinsed her mouth, then said, "You're going to tease her for the rest of her life about it aren't you."

"Of course!" Haruka stated proudly. "She's not getting off that easily."

"Of course not, but I'm sure Hiro-kun handles that part well enough."

The two girls shared a fit of laughter and began getting dressed for school. Michiru was glad to see Haruka back in her bright mood. She really hated to see her upset over Seiya, but the circumstances involving Seiya were quite incriminating and she couldn't blame Haruka for her actions. Her thoughts turned back to the day before when Seiya showed up unexpectedly and decided it wasn't important. There was no point in getting Haruka upset again over what happened. And after what Haruka did to Seiya, she didn't think Seiya would try to stir anymore trouble.

Once they finished dressing, Haruka and Michiru stood in the foyer in front of the mirror to make final adjustments to their uniforms.

"You ready?" Michiru asked.

Haruka gave her tie a final tug then frowned at her reflection.

"What's wrong, Ruka?"

The furrow on Haruka's brow deepened. "I just can't seem to keep my face bruise-free for a day."

"Oh, Ruka, let me."

Haruka looked at Michiru curiously as she dug through her bag. Her eyes grew wide when Michiru pulled out a compact case. "Michi, what are you going to do with that?" she asked apprehensively, as if she had just pulled out a knife.

"What? It's just concealer."

"You intend to put make-up on me?"

"Yeah."

Haruka made a sour face. "Nevermind, my bruises are my battle scars."

"Don't be silly. Let me cover it up."

Haruka opened her mouth to protest further, but Michiru quickly silenced her with a kiss.

"I promise, nobody will notice," Michiru whispered sweetly.

Finally accepting defeat, Haruka muttered, "You're lucky I love you, Kaioh Michiru."

Michiru giggled. "I love you too. Now hold still."

The tomboy silently held still while Michiru applied the cosmetic on her face. It only took her a few minutes before she stepped back to survey her work. Haruka looked at her reflection in the mirror again.

"Wow, I'm impressed," she said in awe.

"As you should be," Michiru said. "You think I don't know how to use the cosmetics I collect?"

Haruka could only shrug and offer her lover a smile.

"Come on, let's go before we're late."

Haruka took Michiru's hand and they approached the front door. Just as Haruka reached for the doorknob, the doorbell rang. Haruka and Michiru exchanged questioning looks.

"Maybe my mom or dad forgot their keys?" Michiru offered as an explanation. She prayed it was that and not a repeat of the previous evening.

Haruka's hand rested hesitantly on the doorknob for a moment longer before she stepped up to the peephole. Michiru held her breath, watching the expression on Haruka's face turn from confusion to surprise.

"It's your godfather," she said and opened the door.

"Ohayou," the unexpected visitor greeted them.

"Oji-san!" said Michiru. "Is something wrong?" she asked, her face becoming worried.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong, don't worry," Nakagawa quickly assured her. "I'd just like to borrow Haruka-chan for a while. There are a few things I'd like to talk to her about. Alone."

Haruka regarded the man standing in the doorway carefully. "I'd like to walk with Michiru to school, if that's okay."

Nakagawa gave Haruka a warm smile. "Of course, I thought you'd say that, which is why I took the liberty of bringing your best friend along with me."

He stepped aside and behind him, a little ways down the path to the house, stood Elsa and Hiro. Elsa grinned and waved to Haruka and Michiru. It gave Haruka little comfort though. She wanted to stay with Michiru herself, but at the same time she didn't think it wise to argue with the chief of police.

"Don't worry Haruka-chan. I wouldn't dare keep you and our Michiru-chan apart too long," said Nakagawa.

Haruka nodded obediently and let Michiru step outside the house before closing the door behind them. They joined the other two high school students and walked down to the sidewalk where they would part ways; Michiru would go with Elsa and Hiro towards Mugen Gakuen and Haruka would follow Nakagawa.

"I'll see you at school, Ruka-koi," Michiru said, giving her girlfriend a kiss.

Haruka returned the sentiment and bid her friends farewell before following Nakagawa to his car. It was an unmarked car, having no indication that it was part of the police force, but inside the vehicle the dispatch radio crackled and two voices were communicating with each other. Nakagawa turned the volume down on the radio as they got inside the car. Fixing his eyes on the road ahead, he put the car into gear and began driving. Haruka shifted uneasily in her seat.

"Relax, Haruka-chan. Help yourself to some doughnuts."

Haruka tilted her head and looked at Nakagawa quizzically.

"They're in the back," he said, answering Haruka's unasked question.

Haruka turned around in her seat and saw five Mister Donut boxes sitting in the backseat. Immediately her stomach grumbled. If there was anything besides Michiru that could bring Haruka to her knees, it was Mister Donut doughnuts. But she didn't forget her manners.

"No, thank you, Nakagawa-san," Haruka politely refused.

"Please, have some. In fact, would you mind getting me one too while you're at it?"

Haruka eagerly obliged and reached for the top box, carefully lifting it and bringing it to the front of the car along with some napkins. The sweet smell of the fresh doughnuts wafted throughout the car as soon as she opened the lid. Inside were a variety of doughnuts, including Haruka's favorite, the pon de ring.

"Which one would you like, Nakagawa-san?"

Nakagawa stared pensively ahead of him, then said, "The chocolate filled one."

Using one of the napkins, Haruka wedged her way inbetween two doughnuts to pluck up the chocolate one for Nakagawa. She handed the sweet to Nakagawa, who took it gratefully, then got another napkin and took a glaze-covered pon de ring for herself. Her teeth sank into the doughnut and her anxiety dissolved instantly in the same way the pastry was melting in her mouth.

"Feel better now?" Nakagawa asked.

Haruka nodded contently.

"Good. Have as many as you want. The boys at the precinct don't need anymore sugar."

"We're going back to the precinct?" Haruka inquired inbetween bites.

"Hai. As I said, there are some things I'd like to talk to you about. Actually I'd just like to get to know you more so I can better protect you."

Haruka swallowed the last of her pon de ring. "What would you like to know, Nakagawa-san?" she asked before reaching inside the Mister Donut box for another one.

Nakagawa caught a glimpse of the doughnuts remaining inside the box and was shocked to see that Haruka had already devoured almost all of the pon de rings. He laughed out loud.

"It can wait till we arrive at the precinct, Haruka-chan. You just enjoy the doughnuts."

A half an hour later, Haruka found herself back in the office of the chief of police. Awards for deeds of valor graced the white walls and she spotted a few pictures frames on the desk where she recognized a younger version of Michiru's father standing with Nakagawa. Haruka leaned forward from her chair to take a closer look and saw Michiru's father holding an infant proudly in his arms. It reminded her of a photo she had with her own father, the one where he had hoisted her over his shoulders after she had won her first track race. He was so proud of her then.

But now he won't even acknowledge me as his daughter, Haruka thought dejectly.

She sat back in the chair and a few minutes later Nakagawa entered the office.

"Sorry that took a little longer than expected, but now we shouldn't have any interruptions," Nakagawa said and sat down at his desk across from Haruka. "Now tell me, Haruka-chan, what's your story?"

"My story?" Haruka repeated the question.

"Yes. Tell me a few things about yourself."

Haruka looked down at her hands, uncertain where to begin.

"Here let's try starting with this. When did you meet Michiru-chan?"

Nakagawa didn't fail to notice the smile that spread like wildfire across Haruka's face at the mention of the girl's name.

"I met Michiru when I was eight. And I know this sounds crazy, but I fell in love with her the moment I saw her," Haruka said enthusiastically, then her face went downcast. "I tried telling my mother about how I felt, and she told me it wasn't normal to have feelings for another girl."

"I see. Are you an only child?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's understandable." Nakagawa nodded for Haruka to continue.

Haruka thought for a moment, then said, "I also tried telling someone who I thought I could trust, but she ended up telling everyone. And because she was Michiru's friend, I figured she told Michiru too and that Michiru wouldn't want to be anywhere near me. I didn't think anyone wanted to be near me actually. Then I met Elsa-chan."

"Ah yes, Elsa-chan is quite the character, and I'd say she is Michiru-chan's most loyal friend."

Haruka nodded in agreement. "It was because of her that Michiru and I became friends again. But by then I had already met another girl. I never imagined Michiru could ever feel the same way about me, and I thought I could move on with this girl."

"So this other girl was your first girlfriend before Michiru-chan?"

"Hai, Nakagawa-san. But she turned out to be a nightmare!" Haruka's voice began to rise slightly. "She's psycho! There was almost nothing she didn't get mad at me over. And she would beat me and give me all kinds of bruises and the worst part is I let her!" Haruka said bitterly. She had moved up to the edge of her seat and Nakagawa could tell the subject was making Haruka fired up. "And when I finally broke up with her to be with Michiru, she still found ways to make my life miserable. She sent a picture of me and Michiru to my parents and that's how they found out. And then she trashed my car."

"Your car?" Nakagawa asked with intrigue.

Haruka slapped both of her hands over her mouth.

Nakagawa laughed. "I should've known. You don't think I know about Elsa's cousin and the street racing scene?"

Haruka began blushing profusely.

"Don't worry, you're not here under interrogation. Anything you say is off the record, so to speak," he said with a warm smile.

Haruka breathed a sigh of relief and settled in her chair. "Well, yeah, this madness with Shigeko-chan is one thing, and now there's Seiya-chan I have to worry about too."

Nakagawa suddenly leaned forward and raised his hand. "Shigeko? Is that the other girl's name?"

"Hai."

"Interesting. I wonder…" Nakagawa stood up and walked around his desk to a filing cabinet that sat in the corner of the office. He pulled open the middle drawer and leafed through the folders until he found what he was looking for. Haruka recognized it as it was only yesterday that she had seen the file containing her and Seiya's case. Nakagawa put on a pair of spectacles that he pulled out from his front breast pocket and began reading over the documents within.

"Yotsukura Shigeko," he said finally.

Haruka's jaw dropped. "How did you know?"

"She was charged with domestic violence, but Kou-san didn't want to press charges."

Haruka asked, "What does Seiya-chan have to do with her?"

"Ruka, where are we going?"

"Archives," the blonde replied as she led Michiru through the corridors towards the school library. They had just left Michiru's homeroom and Michiru had yet to find out what was going on.

"Ruka, there's not enough time. Homeroom will start soon. Besides, there's always someone in the archives."

Haruka looked at Michiru with a bit of shock. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'm not taking you to the archives for that!"

Michiru stared at Haruka in confusion. "So why are we going there then?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, but I'm hoping to find some answers. I need to talk to our school's editor in chief."

They entered the library and made their way through the maze of stacks till they came upon the door with the word 'Archives' printed on it. Haruka opened the door and they both entered the cramped space where copies of past school publications from the entire district were kept. The room was a bit stuffy and smelled of age, but well organized. Not too far from the door was an upperclassman with short green hair standing atop a ladder putting away journals on a top shelf. Michiru immediately noticed how loosely the uniform clung to the upperclassman's body since she saw the similar effect everyday with Haruka's uniform. It was no surprise then when she thought the upperclassman looked like a green-haired Haruka.

"Senpai, sumimasen," Haruka humbly requested the upperclassman's attention. "Can you tell me where I may find the editor in chief?"

"You found her!" the upperclassman said. "Just give me one minute."

Haruka turned to Michiru with wide eyes and whispered, "She's a girl? But she's wearing the male uniform!"

Michiru just stared incredulously at Haruka and eyed her lover from head to toe.

"Oh, right," Haruka said sheepishly.

The editor in chief came down the ladder and stood in front of Haruka and Michiru.

"So how may I help you?" the other tomboy said.

"I'd like to see the past yearbooks for Juban High, please," said Haruka.

"Juban High? Not a problem. Wait right here," the green-haired girl said.

Haruka and Michiru waited as the older student disappeared to the other side of the room. There were more boxes on that end, probably because they were more recent and still needed to be cataloged properly.

"Here we are," the upperclassman said coming back with a few books in her hand. "Any year in particular?"

"Just this past year," Haruka told her.

The upperclassman pulled the book from her stack and handed it to Haruka. Michiru leaned in closer to get a better look as Haruka flipped through the pages. Impatiently, she passed the class photos until she found the sports teams section. When she got to the football team spread, she heard Michiru gasp beside her and she knew she saw the same thing Haruka saw. Filling up a quarter of the page was the Juban football team's quarterback being embraced by a short pink-haired girl.

"I took that photo myself," said the upperclassman. "I was the school photographer before I got transferred here. Those two were quite an interesting couple."

Haruka shook her head in disbelief. "It all makes sense now," she muttered.

"What was that?" the green-haired girl said.

"Nothing. Thank you, that's all I needed," Haruka said and gave the yearbook back to the other girl. She took Michiru's hand and reached for the door when it opened from the other side and a young girl with dark hair came bounding in.

"Kiyo-chan!" the girl cried out, ignoring the couple standing by the door that she nearly ran down.

"Hota-, er, Tomoe-san, what—"

Haruka and Michiru watched as the other tomboy got glomped by the young girl. They suddenly felt awkward being in the presence of their shameless display of affection and left the archives room quietly, closing the door securely behind them.

"That was… odd," Michiru said as they left the library. "Now you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Seiya-chan is Shigeko-chan's ex boyfriend. She's got him wrapped around her finger and I bet she's using him to make me think you're cheating on me."

Suddenly Haruka pulled Michiru into a deep kiss.

"Wow, Ruka, not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"I'm sorry for doubting you, Michiru. It's just that with the note in your locker, and seeing you with Seiya last night—"

"Ruka, it's not how it looked," Michiru said quickly. "I didn't think it was worth making you upset—"

"I know, Michi. You don't have to explain. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay."

They were standing in front of Michiru's homeroom by then and Haruka held Michiru's gaze with her own. Her vision of Michiru was no longer tainted by insecurity and she just couldn't stop staring. Michiru blushed slightly.

"Go to class, Ruka. You'll never get off probation if you're always late. And then you'll never be able to participate in the races."

"I'll see you soon then," said Haruka as she left to go to her own homeroom.