Chaotic Waters Act 1, Chapter 17: The Storm and The Fall.
"So where exactlyarewe going to be doing for this "date"." Michiru asked, following her blond classmate as they walked through the streets of Juban. "You do remember it's supposed to be a fake one to help out Mayu right?"
"That was before I found out your "fiancé" if you could even call him that, never took you on any dates." Haruka grumbled, looking around. "Ah! There it is!" He exclaimed, pointing to a small food stall where an old man was making what appeared to be takoyaki.
She quirked her eyebrow before chuckling softly. "You take me from an arcade that sells food, to a food stall to get more food?"
"I mean, grampsdoesmake the best takoyaki you'll ever have, but no that's not why we're here." The racer said with a laugh as he jogged up to the older man. "Hey Gramps, got a minute?" He called out.
The old man lifted his head with a scowl, glaring at the younger boy with his right eye, the other sealed shut by a jagged scar that ran from the old man's temple down to his chin. "Hmm?" He grumbled questioningly, his voice rough and gravely like an avalanche. "What'dya want this time Brat?"
"I wanted to know if I could borrow the key." Haruka replied with a grin, clearly used to the old man calling him a brat.
"Why'd you want a thing like that?" The old man grumbled, scratching the top of his balding head, his glare seemingly intensifying. "You've already been in there, once is enough ain't it?"
"It's not for me gramps." The blond explained gesturing to Michiru who had just finished walking up and was giving the two of them a confused look. "It's for Michiru, she's new to town and I wanted to show her a good time."
"Michiru huh?" The scarred man turned his attention to her, looking her up and down with a scowl, something the cursed girl was starting to suspect was just his natural expression. "Nah, that ain't her name." He said with a growl.
Panic surged through her as her blood turned to ice in her veins. This old man knew her name wasn't Michiru? Did he know who she was?!
"Can't you tell? Her name's obviously Scarlet."
"He does know!"
Haruka didn't seem surprised at the old man calling her something other than her fake name, he just frowned and looked her up and down before shrugging. "How is she Scarlet old man?"
"Are you blind?! It's clear as day!" The old man roared, turning his head to glare at the racer once more. "It's the fire in her eyes boy! It's burnin' like a star, could forge steel in those flames o'hers!"
...what?
"Wait, then why do you call me Brat?!"
"Because you're a brat!"
No, seriously, what?
"The hell old man?!"
"What, you wanna fight Brat?!"
"Bring it on!"
The teal haired girl just stood there as the two men, one old, one young, argued with each other back and forth. All three eyes between them were sparkling with mirth and mischief as they sparred with their words. There was no real anger in their voices, nothing was being said to hurt the other person, they were just...poking fun at each other. Why? Why was what these two were doing making her heart feel like it was in a vice? Why were her eyes stinging?
Why did it make her want to laugh and cry at the same time?
"Michiru?"
Her eyes snapped to Haruka at the sound of his voice calling her name. He sounded...concerned?
"Ah, leave her be brat. Some things can't be explained to another person." The old man's voice rumbled as he looked at the teal haired hir with his sole eye. There was understanding reflected in that eye, but not an ounce of sympathy. Something in that single eye told her that the old man knew such a thing would only anger her...like he'd been through hell itself and had only gotten pity in return. "Take the key and show Scarlet here what you came here for, she looks like she could use it." He turned around, tossing the key behind his back, seemingly unbothered if the boy caught it or not.
The boy jerked forward and caught the key, looking at the old man incredulously. "Jeez...keep doing that and one day you're gonna lose this thing old man." The blond muttered, getting an annoyed grunt in reply. "Come on, it'll be dark soon and that's the best time to see it."
"To see what?" She asked, her face burning as the blond took her hand and led her away from the old man's food stall and around the corner.
They never saw the black haired man in a suit coming around the opposite corner, nor the dark storm clouds that slowly covered the sky.
"So...why did we need a key from that old man to get into an old building?" Michiru asked as they walked in from the front door, taking off their shoes. They'd only been walking a few feet before the blond had pointed out the building, it didn't look like anything special...
"Before I answer that, what do you think Old Man Fuji's passion is?" He asked with a knowing grin.
The teal haired girl paused, sending the sometimes girl an odd look. "I mean, he was running that takoyaki stand...isn't that it?"
"Nope, that belonged to his wife. He just runs it as a last favor to her." The blonde said with a smile, leading the girl up a set of stairs. "His passion...is this!" The blond opened a door at the end of the stairs, flinging his arms in a manner that made Michiru half expect him to shout "Ta-da!".
Inside, the room was littered with glass in various shapes, sizes and colors. Every one of them a work of art, every one of them masterfully crafted, every one of them giving of a sense of purpose.
"What...is this?" She asked in awe, trailing her index finger over an elaborate piece that softly curved.
"This is his passion, took him five years to get everything just right." She heard Haruka say as he closed the door behind them, cutting off the only source of light. She tensed, hearing his steps get closer and closer. He wouldn't try anything...would he? Haruka didn't seem the type but...they were alone, in a pitch black room.
"Gimme a second to find the other...ah!" She heard him whisper. A second later, the sound of a switch being flipped hit her ears before the room lit up again.
This time, instead of the bright light of the house outside the room, beams of light reflected off of the glass pieces over and over in a beautiful display, lighting up the room softly in a cool glow. "This is..." She faltered, unable to find the words.
"If you think this is good, you should look up." The blond said, with amusement.
Confused, Michiru looked up and gasped, her eyes widening.
There, on the ceiling was the night sky. Hundreds of small colored pinpricks of light made up the stars, forming a sight she hadn't seen since her time on the road with her father. Countless constellations dotted the ceiling while a band of light formed a part of the milky way. Tears filled her eyes at the sight of this man made marvel.
"You know, there's a story behind this room." Haruka softly said as he moved behind the teal haired girl. "According to Gramps, back when he was a kid he lived out in the country." He spoke softly, as if the sight before them demanded them to be quiet. "There was a girl there he didn't get along with that absolutely hated him. One night when they were teenagers, they both snuck out to get away from their parents and ended up at the same place." Slowly, the blond wrapped an arm around Michiru's waist, hesitating when the teal haired girl froze up for a moment before relaxing and leaning into him. "They fought, and the girl told him no-one would ever marry a bastard like him, especially not her." He said, drawing an amused snort from the girl he held. "Apparently, that was the night he fell in love with her and this-" He gestured to the light show around them. "-is the sky from that night."
"That's...amazing" She whispered, not daring to take her eyes away from the beautiful sight. "He did all this, to recreate that night?"
"Yeah, he started working on it when he got back home, drawing the sky so he'd have a reference, though he swears he never needed it. Two years into working on it the two started dating and then, three years after that he showed her this on the night he proposed." The blond laughed quietly and shook his head. "He says that, according to his wife, that was the one and only romantic thing gramps ever did for her, but it was worth a lifetime of romance."
"Yeah...something like this would be."She mused. This moment, under the night sky from years ago, felt more special than anything she could remember. More than any celebration, more than any triumph, more than anything at all. The cool light of the room created goosebumps on her arms that were washed away by the warmth of her companion. In that moment, she knew two things.
The first was that leaving Nerima had been the best decision she'd ever made.
The second, was that whatever this feeling she got around Haruka was, it was better than anything she'd ever felt before.
They stood there for a while, just soaking in the view and each other's presence when, with a start, Michiru noticed that the blond was swaying side to side. "Haruka?"
"Hmm?" The boy's voice sounded...confused, like he wasn't all there. She shifted around to look up at him, was it just her or did his face seem a bit...flushed in this light?
"Hey, are you okay?" She reached up and pressed the back of her hand to the racer's forehead drawing it back with a hiss. The boy was burning up, his forehead hot and clammy with fever. What could have...the rain! Her eyes widened, that had to be it, when the two of them had gotten caught in the rain the blond must have caught some kind of bug. Shehadnoticed him looking a little off earlier, had he been sick then? "Come on, let's get you out of here." She said softly, taking him by the hand and gently leading him out of the room.
She had just closed the door behind them when the blond pitched forward. She jerked her arm out and around the boy just before he fell down the small flight of stairs and pulled him close against her chest, the both of them falling on the floor.
Now that she knew to look, his entire body felt warm, too warm for comfort. "Right." She muttered to herself, shifting the blond until the taller boy's legs were supported by one of her arms.
"What're you-" The blond let out a rather feminine squeak as Michiru stood up, holding Haruka in a princess carry.
"...Ok that was adorable."The teal haired girl thought in amusement, watching as the blond's face turned even redder. "What, you thought I was lying about practicing martial arts for years?" She said, some of her amusement leaking into her tone.
"Uh, no but could you maybe put me down?!" Wow this girl was strong, wait why did her binder suddenly feel wrong? Was she a girl again...shit, when didthathappen?!
"Not when I can't trust you to walk without falling down." Michiru said with a grin as she carried the taller girl down the stairs.
"Ohmygodsohmygodsohmygods"Guy brain gone now, only girl brain remaining.
"Now..." She looked down at her classmate, looking the boy in the eyes with an intensity that sent shivers down the boy's spine. "I don't think a guy like you would like to be seen carried like this, so how to get you home? You don't seem bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital..."
"Oh! Uhm girl now, I mean m'not a guy at the moment!" The blonde stuttered out. Was the room spinning from her being sick or from the teal haired girl's muscles?
"Ahhh, sorry about saying you were a guy then...still I doubt you want our classmates or your sponsors to hear about this." She frowned and chewed her lip in thought."I can't carry her and use the Umi-sen ken at the same time...I guess I could roof hop. It's not like her place is that far away."Nodding to herself, she walked over to the side of the window, glancing out of it while keeping the racer out of view."I don't see our stalkers anywhere, are they watching the front of the house?"
"What're you...?" Haruka asked, her words coming out slurred like the Tendo patriarch after too much sake.
"Ok yeah, I definitely need to get you home." Michiru muttered. She walked away from the window and made for where the two of them had left their shoes, slipping hers on with ease. She glanced at the blonde's shoes and then at the blonde before using one of her feet to kick the racer's shoes up and onto where the other girl's body curved. Turning she looked around and walked to where she guessed the back door was, smirking when she found she'd guessed right. Carefully, she used her foot to slide open the door, closing it behind her.
She looked down to check on the racer and frowned, the blondes eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. Without another word or thought she jumped onto the roof and sped across the district quickly, only speeding up more when the sound of rumbling thunder reached her ears.
-Usagi's House-
"That new senshi never showed up. I thought for sure she might come by the shrine another day after it rained the day of the meeting."Usagi mused, turning the page of the manga she was pretending to read just in case Luna woke up from her nap.
"It's not like we actually expected her to."
"Yes, but it would have been nice to have another team member...I'm still surprised you completely took over when she was having her panic attack. That's not like you."
"I...she reminded us of Shingo, I couldn't just let her suffer like that."Her other self shifted uncomfortably in the back of her mind.
"I know...do you think we'll have to fight again?"
"...Yeah, I think we will. It can't be a coincidence that not one, but two new senshi showed up."
"I just wish the fighting would stop for good."A cold-yet-warm feeling that was there and not at the same time spread throughout her body, her other self's version of a hug."Thanks."
"Anytime."
"Usagi, Come down for dinner!" They heard their mother call from downstairs.
"Coming!" She set the manga down on her bed, not bothering to mark the page, she'd already read this volume of Black Wings Kaminari after all."I wish you would let me tell people about us. It's not fair that you have to remain in the shadows."
"Did you forget? You are the light and I am the dark. Two halves that make up the moon together."Her other self hugged her knees."Besides...I don't want us to end up in a mental hospital, I'm content with the way things are for now."
"We can't keep "us" hidden forever you know."She replied, sending the dark her own warm-yet-cold hug as the two of them walked down the stairs.
"...I know."
-Haruka's Apartment-
Getting to the apartment building had been a snap, but getting the blonde's keys out of her pocket, unlocking the door, and getting inside without being seen had been much,muchharder.
She set the other girl down on the bed, moving the blankets the girl had and shifting them onto the sheet. She took the girls shoes, and walked over to the entrance to the apartment, setting them down there neatly before grabbing a glass of cold water and bringing it to the blonde.
It was almost...scary how easy and natural it felt to take care of the other girl. Like it was just something she was made to do.
She took off the girl's socks, setting them down on the floor before looking the girl over before sighing."I'm probably gonna catch hell for this, but whatever she's wearing to push down her breasts cannotbe good for her when she's sick."Using a technique of the old pervert shewishedshe didn't know, she removed the other girls binder and jacket without taking off her shirt, taking special care not to look at the articles of clothing she held in her hand. She set them on the opposite side of the bed and pulled a lighter blanket over the blonde. It was then that she made what she would later call the best mistake of her life.
She looked up, and saw the two framed photos on the other girl's nightstand.
There was nothing special about them, some childhood photos by the looks of it. One of them just had Haruka with another girl and the other was a group photo with four other kids, just two completely normal photographs in plain frames.
They made her skin crawl and her blood turn to ice.
There was no reason for it, they were just normal childhood pictures and yet they terrified her.
She walked around the bed to the nightstand to get a closer look, setting the glass of water down, her hand trembling as she reached for the group photo. There was Haruka in a yellow dress, a blond boy in a red shirt and blue shorts that kind of looked like a younger Hibari, a black haired boy in a green shirt and jeans, and...
The last two children in the picture tore a gasp from her lungs as what felt like an anvil fell in her stomach. One of the two was Chihiro, wearing a cream colored dress with a giant grin on her face hugging another girl that could only have been Haruka's old friend Kasumi.
Except she knew that girl.
She knew those eyes, she knew that hair, she knew those scars on the child's arms.
Every single one of those things could be found on her birth form.
She shuddered and slammed the picture down on the night stand, knocking the other picture off and shattering the glass of the frame as her breath came out in short panicked gasps. What was going on?! This didn't make any sense!
Haruka stirred and groaned for a moment before settling back into her restless slumber, pulling her blanket over her ears to guard them from the noise.
Her heart was beating in her chest so hard it felt like her ribs were going to break. She could hear her blood flowing throughout her body. Her throat felt tight and constricted. Every single part of her was begging her to walk away now and forget what she saw. Her eyes fell on the second picture on the floor and, with her hands shaking, she reached for it and pulled the picture away from the broken frame.
The image was of two kids, one of them clearly Haruka while the other one was...was probably her friend Kasumi! Yeah, that was it, it was just a strange coincidence she happened to look like her classmate's old friend, that's what it was!
Right?
Slowly, she turned the photograph over and froze. If her blood had been ice before, it might as well have become liquid nitrogen at what she saw. There, on the back of the photo was writing.
Tenoh Haruka and SaotomeRanmaKasumi, 1984.
She had already fled the apartment by the time the photograph finished falling from her fingers.
-Ōzora Compound-
Hibari frowned as she examined the nail polish she'd just finished applying to her left hand. It wasn't her best work to be sure, but it would have to do for now."Not like you haven't been slipping a bit when it comes to your appearance, Jusenkyō has made you a bit sloppy."
And why wouldn't it? She didn't need her breast forms anymore, she didn't have to tuck anymore, she didn't have to fake having a period anymore...ok that last one sucked, but she'd still take this form over her other one.
The sound of a phone going off next to her bed startled her, thankfully not enough for her to smudge the polish on anything. She reached over, grabbing the phone with the hand she hadn't started on yet and pressed it against her ear. "Yes?" She asked, only getting the sound of heavy breathing in response. "Who is this?"
"...did you know?" The sound of Michiru's voice came from the other line, her tone short and clipped even as she continued to breathe heavily.
"Michiru? Why are you calling me, I thought we were going to avoid contacting each other until you figured things ou-"
"DID YOU KNOW?!" The teal haired girl snarled, cutting off the yakuza princess.
"Did I know what? What in the world is she talking about?"Hibari sighed and shook her head, holding the phone in place with her shoulder as she rubbed her temples with her un painted hand. "I really have no idea what in the world-"
"Saotome Kasumi. Did. you. Know?!"
Oh. Oh shit!
She needed to stall, she needed to figure out exactly how much the teal haired girl knew and she needed to figure that outnow.
"Who..." She hesitated, licking her lips to give herself even a little more time. "Who is that?"
"That's what I want to know! I just saw two pictures in one of my classmate's apartment. And in those pictures-" She hissed. "-was me, in a dress. As achild!"
Pictures of Michiru as a child in a classmate's apartment? Who would even have...oh no. Blood drained from her face as she gripped her blankets with her freshly painted hand, smudging the polish.
Haruka, that was the only possible explanation.
"Even more mysterious was the fact that I could swear that two of the kids aside from me in the picture were that classmate and you! Maybe you've heard of her, you know, Haruka?!"
Fuck! Screw stalling she needed to do damage control now! "Listen it's not what you-"
"And if that's the case..." The cursed girl said, cutting her off once more in a tone so cold the void of space would have felt like a bonfire. "...then I don't think it was a coincidence that I ended up at that exact school, in Haruka's class no less, whenyouwere the one to set up my fake identity's schooling!"
"Look I just-"
"Were you and Haruka just screwing with me? Making me think someone actually gave a shit before you used me like everyone else?!"
"Haruka doesn't know anything about you other than what you've told them!" Hibari snapped, cutting off the teal haired girl's rant.
"...what?"
"It's true, I manipulated and lied to you, but not to use you, I did it to help you!" The blonde exclaimed, jumping off of her bed and quickly moving down the hall. She took the phone from between her neck and shoulder, meeting eyes with one of the boys and glancing at her phone before looking them in the eye, mouthing "find her" to him. "You were looking for a way out of Nerima before we even met and...and I felt like I could help out my sis...my sibling! Damnit the four of us were heartbroken when you disappeared, and then, when we finally meet again you don't remember me, remember any of us? Do you have any idea how much that hurt?!"
"...you could have told me."
"You wouldn't have believed me!" Quickly she moved to her shoes, hopping on one foot as she put them on. "I did my research, anytime anyone evensuggestedthat you might be a girl you freaked out and immediately denied it, how was I supposed to tell you that we used to call you our sister?!" She looked over, her father's man was holding up a piece of paper with the girl's apartment address on it. "I'm telling you the truth, the 100% gods-honest truth, Haruka didn't know about this!"
Good, it wouldn't take them too long to get to-
"What about Chihiro?"
What.
She froze, her words coming out in a whisper. "What...did you just say?" She couldn't have heard that right, could she?
"Chihiro, was she in on it too?!"
No. Nonononononononononono, this was not happening. Not now, of all times why did she have to ask about Chihiro? "I...she..."
"Well?! Was she or wasn't she?!"
"Michiru...Chihiro died three years ago."
-Michiru's Apartment-
No...that couldn't be true. Chihiro was dead? For three years?
"She's lying, she has to be! Chihiro can't be gone!"
"She'd been sick for years, lung cancer." She heard Hibari speak, but the words didn't make sense to her. How could Chihiro be dead? She...she'd only just remembered her! How could she keep her promise to her memory of the girl if she was already gone?
"You're...you're lying, she's not gone! She can't be!" If she was gone, if she was really gone, then...then...
Then she would never see her sister again.
A lance of pain ripped through her skull as a feeling she could only compare to tv static flashed behind her eyes, bringing her to her knees. Young children playing tag, a painful blow to her jaw, five children laughing, glass breaking underneath her small body, the feeling of her lips on a another child's cheek, fangs and claws tearing into her. Her teeth clenched as her fingers grasped her hair tight enough to rip strands from her scalp. What was going on, what was that?!
"S, still, you and Haruka..." She grit out past the pain.
"I told you, Haruka didn't know, she'd never go along with something like this, they're in love with you, you idiot!"
What? Haruka was...in love with her?
"Why do you think they were always with you back then?!"
Back then? Right...they knew each other back then, before she...before she forgot.
Before she changed.
Her hand fell limply from her head as ice settled in her stomach, chilling her to the bone. "She loved me...back then?"
"Of course they did you idiot! When are you going to-"
"She loved Kasumi, but I'm not her...not anymore."
"Michiru-" She hung up, there was no point in talking, not anymore.
-Haruka's Apartment, 45 minutes later-
She was so cold. Even with three blankets, she couldn't stop her teeth from chattering or her body from shivering. She curled up, desperate for just a little bit more warmth to take away this frigid cold.
...Come to think of it, how did she end up in bed?
She was on her date with Kaioh-san, with Michiru. At first it was supposed to be a fake one but then...they'd both had so much fun and everything felt so...natural, so right between them. Everything had been going great and then...then she started feeling dizzy? She'd fallen and Kaioh had caught her...had carried her? Something about that had made her switch into girl mode, which had been more than a little annoying since she'd still been wearing her binder. Next thing she'd known, they were in her apartment...had Michiru carried her all the way here? It was hard to believe such a tiny girl had the strength to carry someone almost a foot taller than her with seemingly no issue. Still...it had felt nice, to feel like the girl in the relationship for once, even if it had been on a fake date.
The sound of wood breaking pulled her from her thoughts as she watched the door to her apartment explode off of it's hinges from her bedroom. Hibari stomped inside, panic clear on her face as she looked around Haruka's apartment. Her eyes snapped to the blonde as an involuntary cough turned into a fit. "Haruka!" The yakuza princess exclaimed, turning around and running into the racer's bedroom.
"Hibari...did you just break my door down?" She asked hoarsely, rubbing her eyes. It certainly looked like her old friend had done so...how much was it gonna cost to replace it?"Huh...there goes my security deposit."
"Forget about that, have you seen Michiru?!"
"Wait...you know Michiru?" Hibari really did know everyone.
"That's not important right now, have you seen her yes or no?!"
"Not since our date earlier...kind of passed out on her." She closed her eyes before pulling her blankets over her head, she definitely didn't have the energy to deal with her hyper active friend. "M'tired...fix my door when I wake up." She mumbled, whining when her blankets were torn away from her.
"Damnit Haruka, this is no time to be sleeping! Michiru's in trouble!"
Groaning, the racer reached out and made a grabbing motion for her stolen warmth. "What are you talking about? Kaioh-san's fine...I saw her earlier on a date...didn't I just say that?" Her nose scrunched up in thought as she tried to remember past the fog in her mind. "Yes. No, wait..." For a moment she stopped reaching for her blankets as she thought before nodding hesitantly. "...Yes I did tell you."
"You know what? Fuck it. I'm already in deep shit with one of you, might as well go for the set." With a grunt of effort she grabbed the front of her friend's shirt and jerked her up before slamming her faintly glowing fist into to the racer's face.
Not the most conventional way to use a healing spell, but it worked. The Guardians weren't the only ones to remember their past lives after all.
Pain ripped through Haruka's jaw, the impact clearing out some of the cobwebs filling her head. "What the hell Hibari?!"
"Good. You're not a zombie anymore. Listen, Michiru is in trouble and you need tohelp me find her!"
"Kaioh's in...wait how do you know her?"
"Damnit Haruka do I need to punch you again to get you to focus?!" Hibari snapped. "I know she told you she was running from her old home!"
"Wait how do you..." Suddenly it clicked. "She registered at our school under a fake name, I wondered how a girl like her could get ahold of something like that, she got it from you!"
"Yes, and I've had the boys keep an eye on her and people she knows ever since." The yakuza princess growled, jumping back as her old friend climbed out of her bed. "Of anyone I've ever known, she needed to get away from...well everything. Unfortunately, the one person I couldn't keep her from was herself!"
"What do you mean?"
"Before she left her old home she was hurting herself. I don't know how exactly she was doing it, but I know she was, I'd know that look in someone's eyes anywhere."
She stumbled for a moment behind the other girl, she couldn't have heard that right...could she? But then, she'd seen it herself, how low of an opinion the teal haired girl seemed to have of herself. First with putting her family's honor over her own wants and then again when the rumors about her sleeping around started, she seemed used to, no sheexpectedpeople to think the worst of her. "But...wait if you've had your people keep an eye on her, then shouldn't you know where she is?"
"She gave them the slip, that's why I need you tohelp me, you'll have a much better chance finding her than we will."
"Don't know why I'd have an easier time than the yakuza." The racer muttered, following the other blonde as Hibari led her to the front door.
"Because, unlike the boys, you can use the wind to find her,Sailor Uranus."
She froze, her fingertips inches away from her shoes, and slowly turned to look at her longtime friend. "How...?"
"How I know what I know isn't important right now!" Hibari snapped. "Whatisimportant is that Idoknow and that you find her before she gets herself seriously hurt or worse,hefinds her." The pronoun left her lips like a poison, as if referring to whoever this "him" was pissed her off. In fact, she'd only ever heard the girl talk about someone like that when it came to...
A statue would have marveled at Haruka for how still she became as her mind raced, making connections that were impossible, should be impossible to reach. A sick dread settled in her chest and she fought the urge to throw up, it couldn't be. "Hibari. Why are you doing all of this for her?"
"Have you seriously not figured it out yet Haruka?!" Hibari whirled around and glared at the taller girl, still bent over to grab her shoes. "After all this time with her you still missed it, are you kidding me?! I told you she'd forgotten who we were! I told you I almost didn't recognize her! But since you obviously are so gods-damned dense that you missed it let me spell it out for you! For fuck's sake Haruka, you two were practically inseparable back then, did you really not realize that Michiru was Kasumi?!"
-?-
She sat on the roof of a building, his feet dangling over the edge as the rain poured down on her, soaking him to the bone. She wasn't sure how he'd gotten here from in front of her apartment, he couldn't remember anything past her phone call with Hibari. Chihiro was gone. On top of that Hibari had manipulated her, used him, and all to turn her into some...girl! She'd said that she was just trying to help him to escape Nerima, but she couldn't have been telling her the truth! He couldn't have...she wasn't...
She gripped her head as broken images flashed through her mind like static on a tv. Chihiro jumping off of a swing set with a huge smile, Hibari running away laughing from a blurry figure that she justknewwas the young girl's older sister, Yusuke sticking his tongue out, Haruka covered in some kind of batter getting scolded by an older woman while a man laughed in the background, and so many others. Falling back onto the roof, her body curled up into a ball in a vain attempt to protect him from the torrent of images assaulting her mind. Why was he seeing all of this, she didn't want to remember, didn't want to become someone else! If she was someone else...if he were to change then...then...
Then she wouldn't be able to stay with Haruka and Mayu.
His heart clenched painfully at the thought of having to leave her two friends behind, but he couldn't stay, not after her mom had found out where he was! "It's only been a few days...they'll get over you quickly. It's not like they know the real you anyway."That was true, they only knew the fake that she had pretended to be...if he were to go away then it wouldn't hurt those two for very long.
He stood up and slowly shuffled to the edge of the roof, looking out on the city with dull, lifeless eyes even as the pain in his skull grew stronger and stronger.
"All this time...they were manipulating me. Hibari just wanted to turn me into Kasumi, mom only loves me if I'm "manly", and Haruka-" Her breath hitched at the thought of his blonde classmate. "-...Haruka loves Kasumi...not me." Why did that hurt so much? The blonde was basically a stranger, she could count on one hand the number of conversations they'd had with each other and yet...and yet!
And yet his chest fluttered at just the thought of being near the sometimes boy, her heart yearned to hear their voice, and his body craved their touch as if it were a drug. It had only been a few days, it made no sense, but it was true.
She loved Haruka. That's what that strange, powerful feeling in her chest was.
A noise from behind startled her and she whipped around in surprise. One of her shoes caught on the other and she fell backwards off of the roof, the city streets rushing to meet her.
...
...
...
This was fine...if she was dead, then everyone back home could move on, they could live their lives and not be held back by her inability to make a decision. Akane could take over the dojo without her. Ukyo could run her restaurant with Konatsu without her. Shampoo could go back home to China without her. No-one would be dishonored by her accidental death, after all she wasn't trying to die...she just wasn't fighting it either. Maybe she'd even get to see Chihiro again...
She closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath in with her nose to prepare himself for the inevitable impact with the ground.
The scent of apples made her snap them open in surprise a mere moment before she felt Haruka's arms wrap around her tightly.
"What are you doing?!" She screeched, struggling and flailing to free her arms from the blonde's arms, if she could just get them free, then she might be able to save this idiot girl!
"I'm not losing you again gods damn it! Not now, not ever!" The blonde girl growled, pressing Michiru's face against her chest, stirring something primal deep within Michiru as she pushed something small and hard against the teal haired girl's side. "Uranus Planet Power, Make Up" She snarled out, her eyes lighting up with power while a strange golden symbol flashed onto her forehead, glowing warmly.
For a moment, it wasn't Haruka that held Michiru but the very sky. She could feel every gust of wind, every cloud, every inch of the plant's atmosphere cradling and holding her close. Heat spread across her body, from every single place she could feel the blonde girl's touch like a hot bath, growing warmer and warmer until every part of her felt like it was burning away the cold of the pouring rain.
She didn't notice as the blonde's outfit changed into that of one of the Senshi, or that her own changed to match. She didn't notice the wind whipping past them as the blonde's power took them up away from the street and above the storm. She didn't notice the stars and moon shining down on them. All she could perceive was how verywarmthe other girl was making her feel.
"...Why? I'm not, I'm not her." She croaked, tears streaming from her eyes.
"No...you're not. You're not the girl I fell in love with all those years ago." Haruka murmured softly, making the cursed girl's heart drop like a stone. So she was right, Haruka did love the old her and not- "You're the girl who stole my heart away from her in just a few days. The girl who has been through so much and still stands taller and stronger than anyone else."
She lifted her head and looked into the other girl's eyes, shivering at the sight. What she saw there took her breath away and she didn't know if she'd ever get it back or even if she wanted to.
Love, sheer undiluted love radiated from the senshi of wind, stronger and fiercer than anything she had seen before. It wasn't twisted like Nabiki's love for money. It wasn't soft like Kasumi's love for her family. It wasn't conditional like her mother's love for her. It was free and burning brighter than any words she could come up with...no, that wasn't true. She'd heard something just earlier that fit perfectly! The blonde's love burned like a star in those dark blue eyes of hers.
Just like that her heart felt so very light. Fresh tears fell from her eyes as, for the first time in ten years, she gave into her feelings as she did oh so long ago. There, above the raging storm below, with the moon and the stars shining down on them, their lips met for the first time.
Chaotic Waters Act 1: Horizon. End~