Disclaimer: Don't own anything
"The last event for the morning session! Participants of the obstacle race, please proceed to the center of the field!"
All the students snapped their attention back as the loud voice bored into their skulls. Numerous students rushed from their little circular groups to watch the final event of the morning. Judging by their excitement, one would think they already knew the prize or whatnot.
However, not all the students were excited for the upcoming race.
"Eeshesheee" Usagi snivelled as she sat on a throne with tears flooding her eyes at a rapid face and a crown perched precariously on one of her odangos. One might have wondered why she did not escape, when she was obviously unhappy with the arrangement, but small ropes tied her wrists tightly to the throne. She let out an unintelligible wail that seemed to have no end only to be drowned out by the hormone driven guys in front of her. She was looked at with a mixture of worry and pity by Ami, who shook her head in dismay. She had tried her best to protect Usagi from the horde of boys who had come to put her on the throne but the sheer number of boys had overwhelmed her.
"There are no restrictions to who may participate! Just get through all the obstacles on the field! Who will win the much desired prize?"
A fresh burst of yells erupted from the crowd as they pumped their fists into the air, ready to compete. Suddenly, they felt chilled and they stopped cheering, almost trancelike. They dreaded the sight to come, for they knew it would be one of her most dangerous faces yet.
And indeed, their premonition was right. Behind them stood, their president in all her glory, stretching at the start line. As if she had known they were going to look at her, she swept them a cool glance that could have frozen the hottest of days. Her eyes pierced the whole male population like daggers, and a murderous aura exuded out of her.
More than a few boys felt lightheaded, as they backed away, all previous thoughts about the glorious prize forgotten. Yet, there remained a large number of boys, who seemed willing to do anything to be the first one across the finish line.
-0-0-0-0-
Haruka paid no attention to the loudspeaker; it wasn't worth her time to waste her energy in prizes that didn't interest her in the least. After all, she knew that if she wanted to, she could beat all of them with her legs tied together. And besides, she didn't feel like breaking all those hearts bent on getting the prize, seeing as how they were going to anyway by the Prez.
However, her eyes were drawn to a lone boy, her instincts telling her that he could be a potential threat to her prez. His eyes, looked shifty, or rather his glasses looked shifty. Just by the way he stood, she knew automatically, that he was planning something.
Sighing in irritation, she slowly got up from her position in the shade to get ready to participate in the event.
-0-0-0-0-
"And they're off!"
The second the students could hear the start pistol, they let their arms and legs jump into action. It seemed that all of them were taking this seriously, but then again, the reward was probably every guy's fantasy.
"The first obstacle participants need to cross is….the high vertical wall trap!"
The wall trap was merely a tall and wide piece of wood propped onto its side with hand holes placed sparingly. Though the overall appearance was rather crude, it did its job perfectly: of taking out contestants. There were several ways in which the students attempted in crossing it. One or two tried simply to walk around it, but they were caught and kicked out of the game by the judges who stood on the sides of the wall.
Then, there were the overly enthusiastic ones who plainly threw themselves against the wall, attacking it with the ferocity of hormone driven boys.
Of course there were rule breakers other than the smart-aleck ones: one tried to get over by climbing on top of his friend's –it was obvious that the friend had been roped into this- shoulders and another who decided he would eliminate others by throwing rocks at the others. Thankfully, he was carted off the track by the judges instantaneously. It was in that moment, that a single boy wearing glasses darted around the wall, without any judges to enforce the rules or any eyes on him.
However, there still were honest competitors, who followed the rules and simply climbed the wall. But the fastest one, be them a cheater or a truthful fellow, had to have been Kaioh Michiru. She had not faltered in her step at seeing the wall, and she seemed to vault herself using the hand holes effortlessly. In less than the course of a minute, she was on the top of the wall, jumping off using her hands as springs.
Yet there was something off. And this was something that only the spectating students were able to notice. Instead of one shadow behind the current leader, there were two, and upon further scrutiny, they were able to discern a certain tall blond following right behind in an easy jog.
Surmising that their entrant had not noticed, the girls' team decided to amp up their cheerleading, with even the seemingly shy and timid Amy joining in.
Hearing the jubilant cheers, Michiru smiled to herself, and she sped forward with Haruka still keeping up with her easily.
"Next up is the rope course! Acrophobic people should NOT try this at home!"
The next obstacle was also an easy win for Michiru. Rather than the suggested and common way of scooching across the rope, she calmly walked on top of it with ease, causing more than a few of the girls below to come close to fainting with worry. This also made the rest of the boys watching or competing to gape in silence as she readily hopped down the platform of the second course except for one.
-0-0-
"What the heck? Was this track made for her?" Shiroyan demanded angrily his eyes to the heavens. He was one of the unlucky ones who had dropped out early; he had been the one trying to throw rocks.
"I-I can assure you this track was made without any thought of the Kaichou," Shingo stuttered as he yelled; he had turned off his speakerphone to reply as he didn't want to distract anyone.
-0-0-
Though she didn't seem fazed, with a closer inspection, a sheen of sweat was breaking out on her clear forehead. She could feel the beginning of an immense headache, and that was the only explanation she could think of, for the perspiration. This normally would not have been so effort-consuming; after all she had taken those ballet lessons when she was little and they had told her that she had an exceptional sense of balance. The thought that her body was at its limit, did not occur to her.
Following behind was still Haruka, who had done the same without breaking a sweat, unbelievably.
However the rope was not as easy for the rest of the participants.
Many fell off immediately onto the cushion below with an oomph and the shrill sound of a whistle, courtesy of the watching student judges.
To be entirely truthful, the reason most of them fell was because of a single vision impaired boy. Following Michiru's incredible example, he had done the same as her. Well, not exactly. He had ran across the rope with his eyes closed shut, stepping on quite a few fingers of the boys who had been scooching their way across. One would ask, would this not have been considered cheating? The answer was yes, but being rather clever, the boy had pointed somewhere in the sky with an oh! of surprise, causing everyone to look that way while he crossed. Surprisingly, he was able to finish the course, although unceremoniously landing on the ground in the end. However, he got up, without a second's thought to the dust on his uniform, and kept on running.
Ahead, Michiru was still running as fast as she could, her face once again a bright cherry red, with her shadow right behind. To incredible eyes, the blond suddenly stopped, kneeling, and to several eyes she was finally noticed, eliciting quite a few gasps from the crowd.
"W-What is happening? One of the leading competitors has stopped…..to tie his shoe!"
As Michiru ran, a look of amusement with hints of indignation came onto her face.
Stupid sap, stopping right before an obstacle
However, the more she thought about it, she felt anger start to seep into her mind. Did this person so strongly think that he was going to beat her, that he could stop to tie his shoes? Suddenly infuriated, she urged her legs faster with the sight of the next obstacle just visible, invoking a silent groan from the boy who had already been giving it his all.
"….Continuing with the race, the current leaders of the remaining participants are 3-2's Umino-sempai and Kaichou Kaioh!"
Haruka had not yet returned to the race, entirely focused on her shoes.
"Continuing with the race, the two have reached the swimming pool obstacle! In this round, those who fall into the water are disqualified!"
Suddenly, Umino who had been behind the aqua haired girl ran forward with a spurt of energy. He was so close to the prize! He could already imagine it, her plump lips coming forward to meet his….. No, he would not think about it anymore; he was going to win and make it a reality!
Michiru frowned at the brazenness of the boy in front of her; did he really think he could go in front of her unscathed? Seeing as how they were just about to go onto the floating steps in the pool, she decided that she would jump just before him, and regain her place as first.
But then, she felt a sharp wave of pain course through her head, as though someone was drilling a hole into the recesses of her mind, and she stumbled as she jumped. Noticing, Umino shoved her, desperate for an opening so that he could win. As he ran ahead, he muttered a prayer for himself and also Michiru because he actually did feel bad.
The pain making her feel as if she was split in two; half of her saw herself falling into the somehow unfriendly looking waters, while the other experienced it. Then, suddenly, all of her was falling, and she found herself closing her eyes, accepting the fact that she had let down Usagi, but welcoming the water; she had always felt an affinity towards water. But, after just a fraction of a second had passed, her eyes flew open; she wasn't going to lose. Somehow, she would find a way to balance herself, and she would win.
And then suddenly, she felt weightless, being supported by a pair of arms. With a sharp exhale of breath, she shiftily raised her eyes to see who her savior was, which was none other than….
"Haruka! What are you doing here?" it was one of the rare moments, when Kaioh Michiru was truly befuddled; in fact the pain had ebbed away to a quiet throbbing.
"Oh-ho! Umino-senpai has a huge lead now!"
Both Haruka and Michiru turned their heads forward, to see the back of a running Umino. They were still close enough to hear his chortles of delight, causing the aqua haired girl to narrow her eyes, and also make a promise: that when this was all over, she was going to have a long, unpleasant talk with Umino.
"That bastard."
Michiru let out a sound of confusion as Haruka's growled words made her remember where she was, which was….in..the arms of Haruka. She jumped out of her arms, and suddenly the air was filled with tension as the blond looked upon Michiru with an unreadable expression.
"Will he become victorious?"
Suddenly visible was Shingo, who had come down from his little box, as he was no longer able to see the race. He panted as he ran, trying to keep up with Umino. The words broke the tension, and Michiru started trying to sprint to catch up to Umino. Trying to.
Because now she was in the awkward position of running while Haruka's arm had latched onto hers, effectively keeping her in place.
"What…" her question died in her mouth as she saw Haruka's face. It was the most primal she had ever seen it as, even more dangerous looking than when the blond flirted with her.
In fact, Michiru had never seen anyone look hotter.
Yes, Haruka's face was a magnified blushing red, and her touch was like fire to the aqua haired girl's usually cool skin. But her eyes were dangerously cold, and Michiru had to admit, it rivaled and almost bested her own gaze. However, when those darkly alluring eyes went to her, she noticed that they considerably softened, but not too much so that it was obnoxiously obvious.
"I've told you something like this before, you need to take a break sometimes. Even, if you're hurt," Haruka's last words were dry and sarcastic and her tone betrayed it. Blushing, the smaller girl looked away; so she had noticed.
"I already took one," she replied, outwardly exuding defiance and confidence. Just because her head was hurting, did not mean Haruka could treat her like a little kid who had scraped her knee.
Letting a small smile onto her face, the blond shook her head good naturedly.
"Forget it. I knew it would turn out like this. In any case, regarding the upcoming obstacles, leave them to me."
And with those words, she bounced away, leaving behind a shocked Michiru who regained her composure as quick as she had lost it, and quickly followed.
"No matter what, I'll win."
-0-0-0-0-
"And they've reached the last obstacle! Leading the race now, is 3-2's Umino-senpai!"
Umino ran, his shirt completely soaked with sweat, his breathing labored. He laboured ahead, and he couldn't help but revel in the thought that he was ahead of the Kaichou once again. That meant he would for sure win the kiss of his lovely Usagi, because honestly, other one or two remaining competitors were frankly losers, depending on only their strength on winning. You had to use your brain! Still chortling, suddenly he felt an ominous presence right next to him.
"That wasn't nice of you, Umino," Haruka's whole demeanor was light but she emphasized his name, highlighting the fact that she had used no honorifics, and in turn showing that she was the superior of the two. Sparing a closer glance at the blond without responding, simply because he had no breath to spare, Umino realized with a climbing distress that he showed no signs of exhaustion. And then it hit him, Haruka was there.
"Oh! Haruka! This is a shock! Can this guy teleport? Tenoh Haruka is now leading!"
No words could explain the grief Umino was feeling. His kiss, his KISS was going to go to Haruka! Oh, woe was he!
"Oh, wait! Kaichou Kaioh is also catching up!"
Umino's mouth opened in a silent shriek. He had been first for the majority of the event, and now in the course of a few seconds, both Haruka and the Kaichou had caught up with him. But, no he could not forget what he was fighting for.
"AHHHHHHH! I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE MY KISS!"
Umino sped through the ferocious barrage of volleyballs coming from their school team, most of them somehow finding a target on his forehead, without stopping. Sure, he was feeling light headed and probably had a concussion, but that was the price for love. Now as he got back onto the track, he spared another look at Haruka to find to his complete surprise that she had not a single mark on her.
Oh, that was not fair.
"It's going to be hard to guess the winner!"
As Michiru ran through the somewhat less brutal attack, another fierce pain wracked her head. Resisting the urge to simply lie down and sleep, she pushed herself, forcing her aching legs to keep on moving.
"The first two have gotten back on track! There's only a small distance to the finish line!"
Exerting himself, Umino tried to charge Haruka back, only to have Haruka move ahead of him once again. Blind in his determination, he bellowed in his voice, which made it clear that he was not quite through puberty, "I'm gonna trip you!"
But then, he felt a strong, hand press down on his head, and he turned to see an airborne Haruka break the red ribbon in half.
"Too bad."
"Arriving at the finish line! The winner is 2-2's Tenoh Haruka! Second place goes to Kaichou Kaioh! Umino-senpai has given up!"
As Michiru made her way cumbersomely, she could not help but feel slightly smug at the sight of the clearly disheartened Umino. He had the look of a boy who had just seen his parents at 'work' in the bedroom, or in other words, distressed for life.
"Just like that, a magnificent win by Tenoh Haruka, who has won the right to have a kiss from Tsukino Usagi!"
Michiru slumped to her knees in a rare moment of weakness in front of Usagi who still had the cape and crown on. Her crying had ceased, and now she was the one who was comforting her friend, patting her back.
"I'm so sorry, Usagi-san."
"It's okay. Michiru-chan did her best."
At her friend's words, Michiru thought that Usagi must have had the biggest and most caring heart in the whole universe. Honestly, here she was, a pathetic attempt of a 'guardian' and yet Usagi was still treating her kindly, trying her best to console her.
She must have been a princess in one of her past lives.
"I don't want it."
Despite being in their own little bubble, both girls turned around to stare at the source of the bold words; they weren't the only ones. Most everyone was now gaping at what seemed to be the stupidest blond in the world.
"Here," Suddenly, Haruka was at their side, and offering Michiru the coveted white envelope. Hesitatingly, she took it, looking suspiciously at the blond; after all nothing in life was free, right?
But Haruka walked away, pausing only to say,
"Rather than being kissed, I prefer kissing people. That's more my style," Aiming an open wink at the aqua haired girl, she left the courtyard, leaving behind quite a few flustered students.
"What a unique personality"
"Why is my heart pumping?"
"You're blushing" "You too"
Michiru and Usagi were virtually the only female students there blushing, in the mass of males. The rest of their team had reluctantly gone to help prepare the refreshments for the lunch break.
"Then… the chance of being kissed goes to second place, Kaichou Kaioh!"
Usagi giggled, delighted at the outcome, and the fact that she would not be betraying her Mamo-chan anymore. Going on the tips of her toes, she leaned in to kiss her friend's cheek, when suddenly, she was kissing a hand. Extracting herself, she looked, hurt evident in her eyes, asking silently what was wrong.
Smiling softly, Michiru said, handing her the envelope, "There's someone else here I'm sure you'd rather kiss."
Frowning, Usagi looked around, her eyes finally landing on a certain crying boy who was lamenting about how he should have crossed the finish line. Smiling weakly, she turned back to Michiru; though she did feel bad for him, he was Naru-chan's boyfriend, not to mention she already had her own boyfriend, "Um…"
The aqua haired girl giggled, a melodious sound rivaling her friend's," At the gate."
Looking at suspiciously at Michiru, she looked back, only to have her eyes light up with the purest emotion in her: love.
Running, her cape falling off, she threw herself at the tall dark haired boy leaning against the gate with his arm crossed. "Mamo-chan!"
"Usako!" he replied with the same tone she had, twirling her around in his arms instinctively, letting out a laugh. "You're here! I thought you were going to be busy!"
"My class ended early, and I thought your festival might still be going on. Say, Usako, with that crown on, you look like a princess," he said, a twinkle of mirth in his eye. He meant this quite honestly because the image of his girlfriend as a princess and even a queen came quite easily to his mind, though of course the crown was different and she wasn't wearing her gym uniform.
"Mamo-chan, here!" Saying this, she pressed a small white envelope into his hand, causing him to look down at it, curious. As he tilted his head down, she brought hers up, and their lips met in a short but sweet kiss.
"What was that for?" Mamoru was pleasantly surprised.
"Just a prize," Usagi winked at him, then suddenly jumped as she remembered something, "Mamo-chan! You've gotta meet my friends!"
Dragging him by his arm, she brought him to the sides of the track where Michiru stood, instructing students where to put things standing on top of a table. Seeing her friend come back with a handsome man, she already knew as her boyfriend brought a wistful smile to her face. Their love was perfect to her, and it just felt right seeing them together. But she couldn't help but want that love for herself, though she doubted it would be found in a man; perhaps Haruka…
Blushing, she jumped gracefully down to see her friend. Usagi, noticing the blush, narrowed her eyes, as she clutched Mamoru's arm closer.
"Michiru-chan! You're not thinking about Mamo-chan are you?"
"W-what? No, I'm just thinking…about something," Michiru replied distractedly, trying to fan herself discretely.
"Oh," Usagi's eyes softened; she was more attentive than people thought, she had noticed what was going on with her friend and Haruka, "Anyway, Michiru-chan, this is Mamo-chan, Mamo-chan, this is Michiru-chan."
"You. Your eyes are remarkable in color. Noble. As if you were a prince in a past life,"* Michiru spoke, her face abnormally blank and her tone less accusing than stating a simple fact. Her blue eyes suddenly lacked in depth, as if she was looking into his eyes but was in a different place, reliving a past memory, seeing the future, indulging in her own world.
"How could you know such a thing?" he said, slightly perturbed at the peculiar words of the aqua haired girl. Although he had to admit that the girl was quite the looker, he was more concerned about the words coming out of her mouth than her looks, because to be frank, the words were less normal than an average greeting. Quite less normal. Still, her looks occupied a lot of his thoughts, not for the average hormonal reasons. Of course he was drawn to her right now, everything about her demanded to be noticed, yet in a more subtle way, as if asking to be taken in from far away, but never touched. But, he had not been able to read her expression as he could do so easily when it came to others. And her hair was of the most unusual color he had ever seen, her eyes seeming to pore into his though she was obviously thinking about something else right now; everything about her exuded off elegance and really, the sea. She seemed familiar, but only in that he had heard about her, not in meeting her.
"I'm sorry if I said something strange. I hope you won't think badly of me. Excuse me," she said, intentionally avoiding the question. She politely bowed to both her friend and her boyfriend before backing away and slipping out of their presence.
He still could not put his finger on it, so for the moment, he forgot about it. The silence that had ensued after the girl's departure suddenly shattered, as Usagi quickly dragged him to meet her other friends.
As the two lovers left, looking every bit the loving couple they were, they passed Umino who was still on his knees, sniveling. Because of her huge heart, Usagi leaned down to pat him on the head, "It's okay, Umino," before continuing on their little journey. Mamoru looked back, to give him a pitying look; some girl must have broken his heart. Poor sap.
-0-0-0-0-
Michiru walked over to Umino who had had his glasses knocked off as a result of his sobbing. Sighing loudly at the mess he was, she picked them up and put them on him. As a result, he paused his blubbering, to look wonderingly at her.
"Gurio Umino, of Class 3-2, our school's main and only reporter, do not think you will get off scot-free after the incident that happened today," her words were calm, but in her eyes there lay a promise that he would regret what had happened. He gulped, bracing himself for her next words, when suddenly he felt his ear get dragged, and in turn his whole body.
"Naru-chan! W-what are you doing?" his voice was full of surprise although he was the slightest bit relieved. But her next words erased all that.
"Gurio Umino! What did you think, competing for Usagi's kiss like that? Did you even think about how I would feel? I can't believe you would do this to me!" Naru, who was usually a nice, quiet girl in Michiru's presence, started dragging him off, with Michiru's unbelieving eyes on both of them. This was a first for her.
Suddenly, the brunette stopped, finally conscious of who was there. Blushing, she stuttered, "Michiru-san! I-I'm sorry, were you talking to him?"
A NO! came out of Umino's mouth before being muffled against Naru's hand who quickly stood back up with a smile.
Hiding a laugh with her hand, Michiru replied," No, he's all yours. May I ask, how you two know each other?"
Bright red splotches popping up on her cheeks, Naru muttered a reply with her eyes looking elsewhere, "He's my boyfriend."
"Who loves her very much! Naru-chan, did I ever tell you, you're my sun!" He began singing, off pitched, "Gomen ne sunao ja nakute"
Sighing, with both shame and a well concealed smile of forgiveness in her face, she dragged Umino off, who continued to belt out lyrics from his favorite anime, Sailor Moon.
Shaking her head, Michiru turned back to order the students once again with a smile. Suddenly, she felt a pair of lips press against the nape of her neck, making her shiver instinctively, before whipping around.
"Well, I don't think he needs any more scolding," Haruka stood there, with her usual smirk on.
Michiru opened her mouth ready to scold the unnecessary and forced upon kiss, when suddenly Haruka's lips were on hers in a short but ferocious kiss. Closing her eyes instinctively and allowing the sweetness of the blonde's lips to ravage her lips, she suddenly snapped her eyes wide open in shock, and quickly pushed Haruka away from her. The blonde, unfazed, stood with her hands in her pockets, looking like a boy who knew he was going to get punished but didn't care nonetheless. For a split second, she displayed a rare show of uncertainty and girlish innocence, before having it disappear quickly and transform into rage, which fueled her next action. She slapped Haruka on her cheek, discoloring the skin there momentarily, and Michiru stomped off, her blue eyes filled with shame, anger, and just the slightest bit of remorse.
Haruka looked after the departing girl, her face blatantly showing a mixture of shock and curiosity, until something hit her. That must have been her first kiss. Her teal eyes sparkling with mirth, Haruka also walked away, touching her own lips gently with her hand, a secret smile on her face.
A/N:To AzNeRd, petiyaka, and James Birdsong: I'm sorry I can't give you guys a separate reply, but I don't have time if I wanna finish before the new year ;P
Reviews and criticism are greatly loved!
*This line is taken from Michiru's first encounter with Mamoru in the manga.