A/N-Look I didn't forget about this one… ok I did, but someone reminded me so here we go… the next chapter of Family Life. Lots of love to Vanessa Riverton who helped me out on this one, you rock SK! Ok on with the show.
Family life Ch 5
The week passed and the tension in the Tenoh/Kaiou household was tangible. Haruka and Michiru felt as if they were walking on eggshells, waiting for everything to come crashing down around them.
Michiru had been more verbal then Haruka about her worry and the blonde tried to comfort her by telling her that no matter what happened, they would be alright. It seemed to the casual observer that Haruka was taking everything quite well and that she was calm and controlled. This was far from the truth.
Haruka hadn't slept all week. She often lay there staring at the ceiling while contemplating the seriousness of her situation. She could lose everything that she's worked her whole life for all because some people couldn't approve of her relationship with Michiru.
Not surprisingly all the stress traveled with Haruka to the track and it had started affecting her driving, which was not something she could hide as easily as her inner turmoil.
"Tenoh what the hell was that?!" her manager screamed as she pulled into the pit. Haruka removed her helmet and ran a hand through her messy hair.
"Sorry." She muttered as she pulled herself out of the car.
"Sorry?! That's all you have to say? We have a race coming up and all you can say is sorry that you're driving like an amateur? What the hell is wrong with you this week Tenoh?"
"Nothing's wrong." She mumbled as she walked past him. He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.
"Bull shit. Something's up?" Haruka turned to face him and if looks could have killed, her manager would have been on the floor in seconds. She pulled her arm from his grasp and stalked off to the locker rooms.
Her manager watched her go with a mixture of annoyance and concern. He felt a hand placed on his shoulder and turned to see the head mechanic, Soichiro, standing there.
"I'll go talk to her." He offered as he followed the racer.
He opened the door to the locker room slowly and saw Haruka sitting on one of the benches, head held in her hands. He walked in and sat next to her. She looked up when she felt his presence beside her.
"Come to give me a 'pep talk' to?" she asked bitterly. He shook his head.
"No… I've come to tell you to stop being such an ass." Haruka's eyes went wide at his statement.
"What?"
"I've come to tell you to stop being an ass. We're not stupid Haruka… we can see that something is wrong. You may not show it on your face all the time, but when your racing starts going downhill we can put two and two together. So what's up? It's obviously something big cause not much will mess up your driving." Haruka sighed. It was pointless trying to hide anything anymore.
"Last weekend Michiru's parents came for a visit… it didn't go as well as we would have hoped. They weren't too pleased to find out that their daughter is planning on marrying a woman."
"You mean they had no idea about you two?" Haruka shook her head.
"Michiru's parents spend most of their time in England and as a result they're not all that informed on what's going on in her life."
"Well then forget about them. If they weren't really a part of her life before they don't need to be now. Michiru will just have to deal with it if she loves you."
"She's already told them that she would rather be with me then have to deal with them if they couldn't be happy for her."
"So then I'm not seeing the problem?"
"Her father threatened that if Michiru didn't leave me… he would tell everyone that I'm a woman." Soichiro's face fell as he realized what that would mean.
"That would risk your sponsorship…"
"Yeah… yeah it would. We already saw what happened when one sponsor found out. This could effectively end my racing career." The finality of that statement left them in an awkward silence. Eventually Soichiro spoke up.
"What about a preemptive strike?" Haruka eyed the man next to her.
"A preemptive strike?"
"Yeah. If you think that Michiru's father is really going to go through with this then perhaps you should beat him to it."
"You want me… to tell everyone?"
"Look when the public finds out they're going to be pissed that they were lied to. I know that you didn't actually lie to them, but that's how it's going to feel. Now if you can still get your fans to back you up the sponsors should follow. No matter what your gender, or orientation, or any of that crap you're still Japan's number 1 racer and that's what matters." Haruka thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the action.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Well it can't be worse then the other one."
"What if he doesn't do it though? What if he just lets it go?"
"Well there is that possibility, but you can't be sure… until it's too late. Look at it this way, at least it's out there and it can no longer hang over you. No one can ever use it against you and I'm sure you're going to feel that an enormous weight has been lifted off your shoulders." Once again Haruka took a moment to mull over the idea. Suddenly she laughed and looked at Soichiro.
"Since when have you been this brilliant?"
"Hey I have always been this brilliant… you just weren't listening."
"Perhaps. Alright well I need to go talk to Michiru before I do anything."
"A wise move, my friend. Get this all sorted out before Sanada-san kicks your ass. He really wants to win you know."
"I know… and I'll win. Don't you worry. Just need to get all this sorted out and then I can focus on my racing."
"Well what are you still doing here? Get going." Haruka smiled at her friend.
"Thanks Soichiro. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. You know that I'm always here for you and you don't need to deal with everything yourself. Sometimes it's good to get some help."
"Yeah… Thanks again."
"Take care Haruka and get this worked out." Soichiro left Haruka in the locker room and walked back to the pit. When she got there Sanada was awaiting him.
"Well?"
"She needs to go work something out, but it'll be fine." He patted the manager on the shoulder and turned to his crew. "Alright let's make sure this car is perfect for when Tenoh gets back."
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Haruka entered the house and threw her bag to the ground. She removed her shoes and walked further in. She came upon Hotaru sitting at the coffee table in the living room doing what looked like homework.
"Hey Hime-Chan."
"Haruka-papa!" Hotaru jumped up and hugged Haruka around the legs tightly. Haruka bent down and picked her up.
"Where's your Michiru-mama?"
"She's at a rehearsal."
"A rehearsal? I didn't know about that."
"She said it was last minute."
"So who's looking after you my little one?"
"That would be us." Haruka turned to the voice coming from the door. She looked over and saw Riska walking in. "Michiru-san called Arian earlier and asked if she could look after Hotaru till you got home. She said that she had to go to a last minute rehearsal for a concert that's tomorrow or something like that. Anyways she said that she would be home late tonight if the rehearsal goes the way she thinks it will."
"Ok then. So where's Arian?" Haruka looked around expecting the raven haired woman to pop out of nowhere.
"Oh I think she's hiding in the kitchen at the moment. She heard your car pull up and… panicked a bit. She thinks that you're still mad at her… are you?" Riska asked as she sat on the couch. Haruka sighed and placed Hotaru back on the ground, and watched as she jumped on the couch beside Riska.
"No I'm not mad at her. I was just frustrated with everything that had happened… I suppose I should go apologize before she escapes through a window or something." With that Haruka left Riska and Hotaru and went to the Kitchen. She found Arian cutting up some vegetables, and looking rather nervous. "Arian?" Haruka couldn't help, but laugh at Arian as she jumped ten feet in the air, dropping the knife and clutching at her heart.
"Holy crap Haruka you scared me." Arian looked at Haruka and after she had calmed down spoke to the blonde again. "Listen Haruka I'm really sorry about last we-" Haruka raised her hand, signaling Arian to stop talking.
"It's alright Arian. It would have happened anyways, but it could maybe have been approached with more… tact. Look I know I ask a lot of favours of you, and I appreciate you always doing them, but next time there's one that important please, please, don't get distracted by your girlfriend again." Arian blushed at this.
"I'm sorry Haruka. I really am."
"I know." Haruka hugged Arian and when she let go looked at what Arian had been working on. "What's all this?"
"I figured with Michiru not here I would have to feed you and Hotaru. We all know what happened last time you cooked."
"I would appreciate if that event was stricken from the record, thank you very much."
"I don't know Haruka… I don't think Michiru's going to forget that birthday. Ow!" Arian rubbed her arm where Haruka had just smacked her.
"Careful or I will have to kick your ass… but thank you for supper."
"You're welcome. It's going to be done soon so can you tell those two to get washed up and help me set the table?" Haruka nodded and left.
After a delicious meal Hotaru had gone upstairs to finish her homework while Haruka, Arian and Riska sat in the living room talking. Haruka had just finished telling them about everything from what happened with Michiru's parents to her talk earlier that day with Soichiro.
"So you're going to bring everything out first? Before Michiru's father can?" Arian asked.
"That's the plan right now. I need to talk to Michiru about it, but at this point I think it's the best."
"But you don't even know that he's going to say anything."
"That's true, but Soichiro is right. This will always be something that can work against me and I should just get it over with."
"Well we wish you the best of luck with it Haruka-san." Riska said as she stood up, extending her hand to Haruka. "We really should be going now though." Haruka stood too, shaking the offered hand.
"No problem. Thank you guys, for looking after Hotaru. Michiru and I really appreciate it."
"It's always a pleasure Haru-Chan. You know we love Hotaru. Good night."
"Good night guys." Haruka watched from the door as the couple drove off and then headed upstairs to put Hotaru to bed.
When she got the child's room she found that Hotaru was already changed and in bed, waiting. Haruka walked in and sat on the edge of the bed.
"You brush your teeth?" Hotaru nodded her head. "Good girl. Alright then lights out." She got up and kissed Hotaru. She was almost at the door when the child called out to her.
"Haruka-papa? Is everything alright?" Haruka returned to the side of the bed.
"Yeah, everything's fine Hotaru… Why?"
"Cause you an Michiru-mama looked sad this week. And I overheard you talking to Auntie Arian about losing your job." Haruka smirked at the child.
"You overheard eh? You weren't by any chance on the stairs eavesdropping were you?" Hotaru blushed a bit. "Well there's something that we have to deal with, but it's all going to work out ok? So don't worry about anything ok Hime-Chan?"
"Ok… good night Haruka-Papa."
"Good night Hotaru-Chan." Haruka once again placed a soft kiss on the child's forehead and then got up, shut off the lights and left the room, closing the door behind her.
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It was a little past ten when Michiru entered the mansion. She placed her violin on the floor while she removed her shoes and jacket. The rehearsal had been particularly exhausting and frustrating, but in the end it was worth it. They now sounded quite good and were ready for the concert the next night.
Michiru picked up her violin and went upstairs. She noticed that Hotaru's door was closed which meant that the child was asleep. She walked to the music room and put her violin and music bag down before exiting and walking to the master bedroom. The lights were off and Haruka was not in bed, which meant that the racer was probably in her office.
Michiru made her way there and sure enough found the blonde typing away at her computer. She looked up though when she saw Michiru in the doorway.
"Hey, how was rehearsal?"
"It was what I expected." Michiru walked over to Haruka and stood behind her, wrapping her arms around the blonde's neck. "What are you doing?"
"Writing something that I never really thought I would have to." She turned her chair around so she was now facing Michiru. "We need to talk."
After Haruka had explained to Michiru everything about what she had discussed with Soichiro and about what she was planning to do there was a silence while Michiru took it all in.
"So you want to hold a press conference and tell the world that you're a woman… before my father can do it?" Haruka nodded. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"
"No I'm not… but I think at this point I have limited options. We have to face the fact that we can't keep living like this… I can't. I can't stop thinking about what will happen if he does come forward and the repercussions it will have on us… on our family. At least if I come clean then it might soften the blow… although… we'd still have to be prepared for the worst. I could very well lose my sponsors and then I'll be out of a job." Haruka looked down at her hands, until she felt a warm hand on her cheek. She looked up to Michiru.
"Ruka… you're the best racer and I'm sure there will be sponsors who, no matter what, will want to have you as their racer. They'd be stupid not to."
"Maybe so, but it's still a possibility. I've already had one sponsor back out on me." There was a silence again. "There's also another thing… you."
"Me? What about me?"
"Well if I tell everyone that I'm a woman then everyone will know that you're a lesbian."
"So?"
"You don't think this will hurt your career as well?"
"Ruka I know you love racing… and you know I love the violin, but those aren't nearly as important as you and me and our family. We will get through this. Just do what you have to do and we'll see what happens." Haruka pulled Michiru into a hug and kissed her.
"I love you Michi."
"I love you to Ruka."
A/N-Alright… so what do you guys think? Let me know in the form of reviews cause me ego ever so likes it when they're good. Thanks for reading and for those of you who reviewed… well you're just super awesome. Ja ne!