A/N: I'm planning a really fun story that's going to tackle a few different things, and I'm planning on writing a series of these love letters to set the stage for when I finally write the story so that no one has to sit through all the lovey-dovey letters if they'd rather not.

Birthday Bash 2022

20th Anniversary!

Prompt 4

Love Letter 1

xxXxx

'It should be raining,' Haru couldn't resist sulking as she stared straight at her lap, which swayed slightly in time with the bus as it rolled down an unfamiliar road. 'Or an overcast, at least. I'd even settle for after sunset.'

She wouldn't have to wait long for that last one at least. But the unadulterated cheerfulness of the day seemed like an offense almost equal to the one that had made her run from her life.

Not just her home. Her life.

The teenager's lip attempted a curl of a smile as she side eyed the old woman sleeping against the window on her side of the seat. 'If my life were a manga, I'd be in that seat, staring into a storm full of rain and thunderclaps.'

Never mind that she had intentionally picked a seat that already had a window occupant. The last thing she was willing to risk was flashing her face around when the bare minimum of the police were out looking for her. Her thumb tapped against her leg, wondering if her situation would warrant 'super help'. She knew that mere runaways were below their interest, but because of her dad…

Her heart seemed to break anew with the painful pounding. She swallowed hard and did her best to fight back tears until she could disguise them with a sneeze.

Ryu Yoshioka never would have wanted her to walk this path, especially underage with barely more than pocket change at her disposal. But he'd have probably preferred this path over the one the world seemed determined to shove down her throat, no matter her personal feelings.

Haru felt like a terrible person for it, but her traitorous mind wished yet again that it was her mother that died instead of her father. Her father had always protected her from others' expectations. Her hand clenched angrily against the pant leg as it hit her yet again that it really was her against the world, now. Bruce would have likely helped if he could, but Haru knew that the law would be watching him closely for clues about her whereabouts.

All her mother had to do was love her daughter more than money or public opinion. She wouldn't have needed to run away if her home could have been a safe zone from the world.

"Comet City in five minutes!" the driver called out, slightly snapping her out of her depression.

It was a bigger city than what she wanted, but Haru was depending on being able to blend in with the crowds, even if someone were to recognize her. It was also one of the quieter cities, especially compared to its neighbors of Gotham and Metro. She had to physically restrain herself from checking that her more uneven locks were still tucked into her baseball cap to give the illusion that she was some tomboy returning home from a weekend trip.

It took all of her willpower to not rush out first or to be the last one off when the bus arrived at its stop, since her plan depended on being part of a crowd. She looked up and around at all the tall buildings, scowling a bit at how Comet City didn't seem too different than the city she had managed to escape from. She shoved her hands deep inside the pockets of a red hoodie she had stolen from a clothesline and started marching as if she knew the direction she was going.

But without warning, a manilla envelope bounced off her head. Even as she raised a hand to where the slightly heavy envelope hit her and crying out, 'hey!', she saw that there was a normal envelope carefully taped to the front of the larger one.

And it had her name on it.

Haru quickly scooped it up while hoping that no one saw her name, looking around frantically around the surrounding buildings for who could have known she was coming here, let alone prepared something to throw at her.

For once, she was disappointed that no one was standing out, though she was getting jostled a bit by people eager to get home for dinner or anything else they wanted a bit before sunset.

The seventeen-year-old managed to duck just inside an alley and carefully open the smaller envelope, which had the outer flap facing outward to make it as easy as possible for her to get at her mail.

I will keep this short since I want you to get somewhere safe as soon as possible, and there's a longer letter inside the packet explaining more thoroughly what I have done.

I am your friend, and I want nothing more than for you to find happiness again. Since I was able to track that you would arrive in Comet City-

"How?!" Haru growled in disbelief, even though she was grateful that the writer hadn't ratted her out.

-I arranged a place for you to not just stay but hide out until you come of age and the law won't be able to legally force you back to your 'mother'. Don't think of me as financing your accommodations as much as ensuring that your father's money goes toward something he would actually give approval for.

Haru blinked. 'Wait. Did this guy just admit to stealing at least some of Dad's money?' The notion of her father's money no longer being under her mother's thumb made her already like whoever it was that had dropped this on her head.

Rest assured that I gave a thorough background check to your new roommate, and I believe she will be a great comfort to you as long as you agree to answer to 'Jenny' and alter your voice enough to keep supers from finding you, for they have joined the search.

I will end this by admitting that I have every intention of convincing you to fall as in love with me as I am for you, but I am willing to wait until after you can show your face in public again and have had time to grieve on your own terms. I am morbidly certain that your mother has been scant help this past year, which is why I was able to move so quickly when your patience finally ran out.

I am not doing this in a bid to win your favor, though. It's out of the deep admiration and respect I feel both for you and your father.

Please be safe,

A friend.

"Jenny?" a sweet voice asked a bit hesitantly, making Haru's head snap up in response.

The speaker was probably the most beautiful woman that the young girl had ever laid eyes on, which was saying a lot considering her father's profession. Pale skin, nearly as pale hair with eyes that echoed the sky that was still untainted by the approaching sunset.

Haru couldn't help but gape as the woman did the same, as if not expecting to see her.

But after a while, the woman shook herself back to her senses and stepped into the alley with her while fishing through her handbag. "Trade me," she whispered while holding up a dirty blonde wig.

"Happily," Haru responded, altering her voice to keep somebody like Metro Man from finding her too easily. She pulled off the baseball cap, revealing her terrible job at cutting her hair with a pocketknife before snugly pulling on the wig.

The pale woman helped tuck in the few brown strands that still felt entitled to be seen after shoving the cap into her bag. "I should have guessed it was you, Jenny," she whispered before stealing a hug. "Your friend only told me what you would be wearing and which bus stop you would be at."

"Who is he?" Haru couldn't resist asking. "Who are you?"

The young woman, maybe only a little older than her, smiled sadly before handing over a pair of shades. "My name is Yuki Fuyu, but I can't tell you anything about your friend. He used a computer voice when he called me up and made an offer I literally couldn't refuse. Come on; I made sure your room was clean before coming to get you."

Haru wanted to cry from relief now that she had a pair of sunglasses on to mask her wild emotions, letting Yuki wrap an arm around her shoulders and guide her out of the alleyway and onto the streets. She'd more or less been resigned to being homeless until figuring something out, but the idea of a nice warm bed held more than a little appeal after such a rough forty-eight hours. "So, what are you getting out of helping me?"

Yuki gave her a guilty smile while keeping her voice low enough not to be heard by anyone else in the rapidly changing crowd. "Both of my roommates left me in a lurch, and if I didn't find at least one other person to share rent with, I'd have to find somewhere else, too. Sane, not-creepy applicants are hard to come by. Your friend is covering all of rent until you turn eighteen, as well as utilities and a monthly allowance for groceries. It'll be nice to have some savings for once."

Haru was able to give a haggard laugh. "Persuasive, isn't he?"

Yuki gave her another guilty smile. "But he promised over and over I wouldn't mind rooming with you. I'm glad I said yes, because I was really worried when you ran like that."

On national television. Even for the people that hadn't seen the moment she finally lost her temper, they were sure to hear the gossip about it.

Haru looked down, peeling one arm off the manilla envelope still pressed to her chest in order to wrap an arm around Yuki and squeeze. "I call dibs on cooking and cleaning. You have a job, right?"

"Yes, but only if you're up for those things," Yuki insisted in a stern but warm tone.

The kind of tone Haru wished her mother had adopted. She couldn't trust herself to answer that, but she couldn't help hugging Yuki again as she walked into the next chapter of her life.

She was just relieved that it wasn't her against the world, after all.