Michiru had gotten used to the gunner's seat, but she wasn't fond of it; and now, with whatever it was Haruka and she had, she liked it even less, and much would have preferred to be right next to her instead, where she would be able to touch her, take in her scent and feel the warmth of her body.
Apparently though, Haruka had built her vehicle without a possible passenger who might want ride next to her in mind, and so, there simply wasn't enough room; and so, Michiru had to sit up there again, holding on firmly to the machine gun mounted in front of her, comforting herself with the thought that, at night, she'd get more than enough chances to touch Haruka.
"You okay up there?" the blonde called out to her, as if she had somehow picked up on her thoughts – and, to her dismay, had decided to interrupt them before they might get too kinky –, prompting her to give back that she was doing fine, holding back a remark about how she'd prefer to sit next to Haruka though, not wanting to distract her from driving by putting the thoughts she was harbouring into the taller woman's mind, as well – at least not while she was driving.
The car bounced as Haruka drove over one of the larger stones littering the wasteland they currently were travelling through; there was no proper road leading to their destination, so they had to drive over quite rough terrain, not making the whole thing more enjoyable… and her comfort decreased even further when she picked up the sound of another engine, somewhere in the distance.
"You hear that?" Haruka called out to her a second later, "sounds like we're about to get company."
"Why don't I think they're going to be friendly", Michiru replied, and as if that had been a cue, the car came into view, looking remarkably similar to the ones they had battled back at Grandpa Hino's farm, the way the two men riding it started yelling and gesticulating at each other immediately making it clear that they had noticed them, as well.
Apparently, the men weren't very fond of communication, since the one in their gunner seat immediately aimed the gun at their car; in response, Haruka swerved without missing a beat, a move Michiru had anticipated, and thus had adjusted her aim accordingly, smiling darkly when, after just a brief burst of bullets from her machine gun, the man in the car's gunner seat slumped forward, lifeless.
As if in retaliation, the driver stepped down harder on the gas pedal, speeding up; Michiru didn't need any special Siren powers to figure out what he wanted to do, but before she could call out to Haruka and warn her about it, the blonde was increasing the speed, as well, momentarily making Michiru feel quite foolish – after all, this wasn't the first time Haruka was dealing with bandits like that, and surely, it wasn't the first time that her opponent had decided ramming her vehicle was the best option they had.
She might not have had the training and mentors you had, she then reminded herself, simultaneously tracking the bandit's car with her gun, but she's far from dumb.
Focusing fully on the task at hand again, she took a moment to aim, then squeezed the trigger; just as she did so though, the right front tire of the car rumpled over another large stone, jostling her just enough to let her shot gone wild, her eyes briefly widening when the bullets hit the armoured chassis instead of the man she had been aiming for.
It was the first time she had missed in fifteen years, and it stunned her so much that for a few precious seconds, all she could do was stare.
"Michiru!" Haruka called out to her when no shots followed the ones which harmlessly had pinged off the vehicle, "sorry bout that, but you gotta keep shooting!"
The urgency in the taller woman's voice snapped her out of her stupor, and she grit her teeth as she took aim again; this time, she didn't miss, and after another brief burst of bullets, the vehicle began to veer left and right uncontrolled as the driver hung dead over the steering wheel.
To her surprise, Haruka didn't stop the car to go through the belongings of the bandits, but kept driving, at high speed; curious, she called out to the blonde, asking why she wasn't stopping, having to admit that the answer made sense.
"They hardly ever are alone", Haruka let her know, raising her voice to be heard over the roar of the engine, "there might be a second car nearby, and I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on getting into a firefight if it can be avoided."
"Good point", Michiru gave back, glancing around as if she expected another car to appear any moment; they were left alone though, any other bandits which might be around not attacking them, and not too long after, Haruka judged that they were far away enough now, slowing down a bit again, making the ride a bit more comfortable for the sniper, the high speed having jostled her around quite a bit up in the gunner seat.
Making a mental note to reload the machine gun once they'd stop, Michiru relaxed as much as it was possible; she kept an eye out and her ears open for the sound of engines, but no other cars crossed their path, and they drove on without interruption until the sun started to set and Haruka suggested setting up camp for the night.
After Michiru had voiced her agreement, the blonde drove on a bit longer, until she found a place she deemed secure, an outcrop of rock in a half-circle shape, forming a natural barrier around a spot just big enough for them to put up their camp; with the car as big as it was, just using the rocks wouldn't help much with keeping them hidden, but if someone should try to attack them, they'd be limited to doing so from one side only, making it easier to defend themselves.
"Good choice", Michiru called down to her, "hand me up some bullets for the machine gun before I get down?"
In response, Haruka dug through their supplies, until she found one of the magazines for the gun; she tossed it up to Michiru, and the sniper quickly reloaded the machine gun, then climbed down from the gunner seat, stretching once she stood on firm ground again.
"Let's set up the camp first", she then suggested, already beginning to remove said bags from the car, "then we can get a fire started and warm some of the food Makoto packed for us?"
"Sounds like a plan", Haruka smirked, earning a smile from the sniper; with them working together, it didn't take long to set up the tent, and not long after they had found their camping spot for the night, the fire had been started and they were warming up their dinner, food Makoto had insisted on giving them before they had headed out earlier that day.
"If we make as good progress tomorrow as we did today, we should arrive at the Trash Coast tomorrow night, or the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest", Haruka let her know after they just had eaten in comfortable silence for a while, "did Ami's file say anything about where exactly the key piece is there?"
"No", Michiru replied, interrupting herself with another forkful of food, only having realized how hungry she was when the smell had hit her minutes ago, "only that it is there. Hopefully, we'll find some clues once we made it there, or someone who might be able to point us into the right direction."
"Or your Siren powers will help out", Haruka gave back, shrugging when Michiru raised an eyebrow at her, "what? It's possible, right?"
"I don't know", the sniper had to admit, frowning to herself as she once more had to realize how little she knew about what she was, "I didn't even know I am a Siren until yesterday afternoon, so… I have no idea what I can or can't do. And I'm not quite sure how to find out."
"Perhaps you can find someone to teach you", the blonde suggested, "another Siren, or a scientist like Ami… after you've found and opened the vault."
This made Michiru think of the fact that their time together was limited again, and made her feel quite dismayed; if Haruka felt the same, she didn't let it show, merely giving her a brief smile before she focused on her food again.
For a while, they just sat there quietly, both focused on eating; again, the silence wasn't uncomfortable though, Michiru feeling content and somewhat relaxed when she had cleaned her plate and leaned back against the rock she used as support, Haruka finishing her portion just a few moments later.
"Man", she then said, looking at the plate almost sadly, the look on her face prompting Michiru to smirk, "if I had known what an awesome cook Makoto is, I would have talked her into coming with us."
"I doubt Ami would have been happy if we'd taken her along", Michiru pointed out with a small laugh, "they did seem quite… close."
"Good point", Haruka smirked, then raised an eyebrow when Michiru put her empty plate down and moved around the fire, to her side; she took the blonde's plate from her hand and put it aside, then moved even closer, until she was practically pressed up against her, the taller woman's breath quickening when Michiru ran a tender hand down her front.
"Not as close as we are though, perhaps", she said out loud, somewhat thoughtful; Haruka just had a moment to smirk at her, then Michiru was kissing her quite passionately, her hands simultaneously moving to the blonde's belt and undoing it with ease.
"Should we move this into the tent?" Haruka suggested in a breathless voice, earning a brief nod from Michiru – before the sniper took hold of her hand and they quickly got into the tent together, where they embraced again and kissed hungrily, eager to make the best of the time they'd have together.
In the next morning, after a quick breakfast, they both got into the car again and continued their way to the Trash Coast; to Michiru's relief, there weren't any more bandit attacks, making her wonder if by now, the two of them had built up a reputation which had begun to spread.
Couldn't hurt, she thought to herself as Haruka drove, the car eating the miles between them and their destination, none of those bandits lived to tell the tale, but who knows how many they informed of their plans, and when they didn't come back…
She smiled to herself as she imaged the outrage of the bandits; she'd met her share of them, on other planets she had travelled to before she had ended up on Pandora, and they'd all had two things in common: they had all been male, and all had been at first condescending when she had approached them, then outraged when she had turned out to be a skilled shooter – and then, usually just before they'd died, they'd been shocked and disbelieving, unable to cope with the fact that a small and petite woman like her had ended their life with such ease.
Perhaps, she pondered, with a slight smirk, they sat around their campfires at night, telling stories about the new team travelling the planet, tales about the ruthless sniper and her blonde companion; she wondered if they knew about what was between Haruka and her, and, if they did, if they cared, or if they just shrugged it off, the way people had done on other planets she had visited.
Not that you had anything like what you have here with Haruka anywhere else, she then realized – she had taken her share of women to bed, especially ever since she had left her home planet and had been away from her parents' watchful gaze, but she never had spent more than a night with them, always leaving early in the morning after.
"We'll be there soon", Haruka called out to her, distracting her from those ponderings, "an hour I guess, two at the most!"
"Quicker than expected, then", Michiru gave back, earning a vaguely agreeing noise from Haruka; glancing around, just to make sure no other vehicles were approaching, Michiru got as comfortable as she could in the gunner seat, then let her gaze focus on Haruka again as no threats were in sight, a smile curling her lips as she took in the way her short hair got even more tousled by the airstream, her eyes moving on then, to the hands resting on the steering wheel in a casual, but still firm grip, remembering how these hands had touched her the previous night, and how good these touches had made her feel.
You have no idea how special you are, she thought to herself, her eyes never leaving Haruka, I might be a Siren, but there's another five of those in the universe… While you are the only one who makes me feel the way you do.
She smiled to herself, then looked up ahead again; all she saw was empty landscape though, with no threats anywhere in sight, and she allowed herself to relax, confident that things would work out just fine, especially as long as she'd have Haruka by her side.