Chapter 1
Hybrid Moments
"Sometimes I can't stand you" Michiru said with playful anger in her voice. Haruka looked up from the pan with the milk she was going to warm up. With concern, her eyes wandered between the milk and her wife. Michiru punched gently Harukas shoulder. "I told you about the problem with the late night snacks." Haruka pressed her lips together before she put on her apologetic face.
"But I can spend some quality time with our daughter, you know?" Michirus face softened and she grabbed the cacao container. While Haruka stirs the milk, the other woman poured the powder into the pan. "You want to tell her how we met?" It was rather a conclusion than a question. The undertone in her voice made Haruka look up again.
"Do you think it is a bad idea? Telling her all this traumatic stuff at this young age?" They looked each other deep in the eye. Michirus lip curled up to a light, loving smile. "You forgot, she is Sailor Saturn. Guardian of life and death, who was killed by her loving parents, that one time. Remember?" Harukas guts tightened after this hard truth. From day to day, she suppressed some of the memories. The dark ones which visit her at night in her nightmares.
"You're right. I think it's time to tell her about this. So, maybe we… I can process some of this… stuff." Michiru put her hand on Harukas shoulder again, leaning in to a quick kiss on the cheek. Haruka smiled. It was time to put the cacao in the mugs and get up to Hotarus room.
"So, then let's go, little princess" proclaimed Haruka while she gave her daughter the mug and placed herself on the chair next to her bed. Hotaru settled herself with the mug in one and a stuffed animal in the other hand. It was a little octopus Michiru gifted her when she first came as a little child into their lives. A warm sensation filled Harukas chest at this view.
Haruka sets the blinker, put her foot on the gas paddle and left the idiot who cut her line seconds ago far behind. She changed the gear and felt the wind tousling her hair. Hopefully, she won't get another ticket for speeding on a public street. Michiru would kill her. Literally. Money was never a problem for Haruka. But for her partner it was. Her childhood was hard with a lot of cutbacks. With this in mind, Haruka drops the speed of her car to the prescribed limit. She was also on her way to the workshop. Pushing this old Mustang to the limits before it was checked was not the best idea. Haruka turned down from the expressway to the inner city road. Now that the wind calmed down, she heard the music from her cassette recorder again. It was a tape Michiru made her for their first day of collage. The last song was one of Harukas favorite ones. 'History' by Compound Red. It was a band she saw live while she lived in the US for a school year. It brought back some bittersweet memories of her time so far away from home. For her, it was still weird driving through the streets of Tokyo again. She did not leave on good terms with her family, and reconciliation was a long process. Besides, Haruka was stubborn. Very stubborn. At the workshop, she had the chance for a quick chat with the owner before she left the keys on the counter and walked outside. It was a sunny day. With a short look on her watch, she realized that there was plenty of time to kill. Michirus violin lesson just started, and it would take an hour and half. Haruka sighed and looked around. There was a game center down the street she remembered. She shrugged her shoulders and strolled along the pavement.
The music was loud and fast. Just like the young racer liked it. There was no limit. The con-cert room was dark with some flickering lights. She did not know who the band was, but it was good enough to get her head empty. Another fight with her uncle brought her to this place. A recommendation from a classmate. She never thought that a brat from a private school for rich kids would visit an underground club like the Jigoku. Maybe he was here for the cheap drugs. Even the upper class knows its tricks. But Haruka was not here for the short satisfaction of pills and powder. She was here for the loud, hard music she learned to love whilst her time far away from home. The American hardcore scene was extreme. But the Japanese did its best to get her the thrill she got in the small clubs in Boston and elsewhere. Three bands in one night, and the first hardcore enthusiast were shattered at the second one. Haruka put an arrogant smile on. No one can outrun her. Not even in the mosh pit. The last band of the night was a local phenomenon, when the rumors were true. A young band with a charismatic man as vocalist. Something between emotions and wild screaming. For this night, there was a special announcement. The vocalist has a younger sister who plays violin. She would get on stage for one song they performed together. Haruka was not a big fan of classical music. The weekly piano lessons made her hate it. In this time, she could train for the next motocross tournament.
Before the last band started, Haruka grabbed a soft drink bottle from the bar. The bartender, a big guy with suspicious tattoos, crocked his eyebrow at this request. But without any com-ment he handed her a coke bottle which had some dust on it. Haruka pressed her lips together and tipped the guy generously.
Walking away from the bar, Haruka observes the room. The smell and the look of this place matched perfectly. Sweaty guys in black clothes with grim faces stood on the dance floor waiting for the roadies changing the equipment on the almost floor level stage.
Haruka was amused at this view. So her white Compound Red shirt was not the only thing that made her stand out this night. But those men could not scare her. She was ready for the pit.
"Hey! We are the Pretty Guardians, and we have two songs left for you" the frontman shouted in his microphone. Sweat dropped from the low ceiling. Haruka panted. Soaking but happy, she warmed up for the next round of pushing and dancing. "So, you know the drill!" Haruka looked up to the man on the stage. The whole band wore balaclavas and black clothes. What a show, Haruka thought. Why are they hiding their faces? But it was not possible to think further. The singer pulled on the fabric of his sleeveless Misfits shirt and screamed the title of the next song against the wall of shouting that came from the audience. It was a cover of 'Hybrid Moments'. A Misfits classic. The room started to shake after the drumming kicked in. Haruka lost her orientation in this mess of limbs and bodies. This was satisfaction. Adrenaline was pushed through her veins. And then a fist crashed against her face. For a moment she did not realize what happened. Then there was the taste of blood in her mouth. She felt particles of a tooth on her tongue. Stumbling and nearly falling, she got away from the pit and made a beeline to the bathroom.
"For fu…" Haruka spited the blood out in a dirty sink. The pain was not a new sensation. But until this evening, she got away with bruises. Losing a tooth stood not on her bucked list. She started to laugh. "Yeah, this is new" she said to herself. The dusty mirror showed her that she ruined her white shirt as well. Now it has a greater value, she thought. After she cleaned up herself, she realized that the show was over. She glimpsed back into the concert room, where a woman also wearing a balaclava bowed down to a cheering audience. "What a shame" muttered Haruka making her way back to the bartender. She needed some hard liquor to disinfect her wound. Without checking any ID, the guy gave her some Vodka and Haruka shoots the liquid in her stomach like it was water. She ordered another glass, emptied it again and walks away from the bar. Her knees were a bit weak, but she got herself together.
She was ready to call it a night and walked through the wide corridor of this old factory. Punks with beer bottles in one hand and a lover for the night in their arms lurked in the gloomy light. Haruka ignored them. She searched for the merchandise table on her way out. She needed a little treasure after this fulfilling night. And her old shirt looked like she got robbed. She could not call the family driver in this condition. After a few moments, she found a little table where a young guy just sold a shirt to a drunk looking girl. Without warning, she grabbed his arm and touched him a bit too intense. The mimic of the guy went stone-cold. Then another guy walked by and grabbed the girl by her shoulders. It was her not so amused boyfriend. Haruka giggled. "Hey, can I help you?" Haruka looked back to the young man behind the merch table, who was a little bewildered because the racer was still covered in her own blood. The two were overstrained for a few moments by this situation. Eventually, Haruka got back her confidence. "Maybe I need something to change." The young man smiled. He looked very handsome with his petite statue and the buzz cut. His left ear was filled with silver piercings, and he wore a sleeveless Misfits shirt which was quite sweaty.
"Hold on. Are you the singer of the last band?" The young man smiled. "Well, you guessed right." Haruka nodded. "Then I take this shirt on the left from your band." It was a black one with the face of a girl on it. It was half rotten and looked gory. "My sister drew the motive for us. I still don't get my head around the thought." Haruka stared blank at him, then he chuckles. "Yeah, I don't know how a pretty girl has such a dark and ugly fantasy." A bit sexist, Haruka guessed. "Maybe I can ask her one day for you." The guy snorted. "I think so. You are her type." The man got another blank stare from the young woman. It was not the time for more questions. She paid the guy and thanked him for the evening. Outside the factory, the already waiting limousine of her parents were surrounded by some punks who gazed at the vehicle like it was a pile of shit. Haruka had to admit that it felt like some.
After the fight with the daimon and the departure of Sailor Moon, Haruka sneaked back to the place they killed the ugly car thing. Her heart skipped a beat as she finally found her tape lying on the concrete. She put it inside the blazer of her school uniform and ran back to her motorbike. Michiru sat on top of it, waiting for her partner to reappear. "There was no sign of our enemies. My intuition was wrong this time." Michiru pinched her finger against Harukas blazer. It was a losing game trying to fool her. The racer blushed. "But I am glad you found your special treasure" she said in amusement. "Let's drive home." They put their helmets on and Haruka starts the engine. Michiru pressed herself against her body. Her grip was tighter than needed while Haruka drove slower than usual, enjoying every moment of their time together.
Carefully, Haruka closed the bedroom door behind her. A strain of moonlight fell through the curtains, bathing Michirus features in silvery light. With a smile, Haruka came nearer and placed herself next to her sleeping wife. The movement woke the other woman up. "You are here?" Her raspy voice was almost not audible. "Yes, I am" Haruka answered. "Take me in your arms." They both rearranged their position until they lay in each other arms. "I can hear your heart, It's calm" Michiru muffled in Harukas chest. "Maybe talking about some hardcore concerts made me calm." Suddenly, Michiru raised her head. "You did not…" With a growl, she rolled back to her side. "You plant stupid ideas in our little princess head." Haruka laughed at the pretended anger of her wife. In the moonlight, she saw that she wore the shirt of the Pretty Guardians with the rotting face print. After her overly dramatic outcry, she rolled back on top of Haruka. "You idiot lost a tooth, remember?" Haruka tapped her wife in the chest. "But I am glad you found your special treasure." She could feel the eye rolling of the other woman, even in the dark. After a long kiss goodnight, they both fell asleep.