“Person B outliving Person A due to Person A being in the wrong place at the wrong time because of something Person B did”
Warning for character death, obviously. ~500 words
—-
Haruka collapsed against a fencepost. She couldn’t say how long she’d been running. Long enough for her legs to be screaming. It had been a long time since they’d hurt like this. She stretched her calves before reaching for her phone. It was a small miracle she’d had it on her when she bolted out of the house, and a much bigger one that it hadn’t fallen out of her pocket. Her fingers shook as she dialed. If Michiru’s parents happened to grab her phone…
“Haruka thank god.”
Haruka breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I just…” Just couldn’t take their glares and progressively less veiled comments for another second. Just did the only thing she knew how to do when people echoed the things she thought about herself. “Can you pick me up?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
“Uh.” She looked around. “Somewhere with cows.” She walked to the street corner in spite of her wobbly legs. “I guess the corner of Perrine and Eastman.”
“How did you… I’ll be there soon.”
Haruka went back to the fence post and sat. She shouldn’t have run away. They’d think even worse of her now. What was she, that she couldn’t even endure one night with her girlfriend’s parents? Not even a single full meal? But god, as the hour got later they’d evolved from stage whispering “But Michiru, I thought you were bringing a girl” to directly asking Haruka what she had to offer Michiru and their family, just what did she bring to the table that made her worthy?
The answer was nothing. Absolutely nothing. She was a mechanic who’d just barely graduated high school, she had no special skills, nothing special at all. There was nothing she could offer Michiru that she didn’t have, and yet here she was, burdening her. Haruka clenched her fists. She loved her, couldn’t that be enough? Couldn’t the fact that Michiru loved her back be enough? She did everything she could to make Michiru happy, and if she shoved aside her doubt she thought she did a pretty good job. That should be what mattered, shouldn’t it?
Headlights appeared down the road. They’d taken Michiru’s little Lexus today; Haruka’s old modded pick up only would have given the Kaiohs more to scorn. She stood up and dusted herself off. Haruka would apologize to them for Michiru’s sake, not tonight but soon. Or maybe they’d just run away together, screw her parents and screw Haruka’s, just so long as they were together…
Two cars were coming up the other road.
Haruka’s heart stopped. She knew all too well the feeling of racing through cow country, it was supposed to be safe, deserted, but why didn’t they have their headlights on, oh god? They were arrogant kids, she’d known plenty like them, seen more than a handful get into bad accidents over refusing seatbelts, or skipping break checks, or leaving off their goddamn headlights.
She ran, but her legs were jelly. Her hands waved wildly as Michiru came to the intersection. She didn’t stop. The racers couldn’t stop.
Their breaks squealed, kept squealing after the first crunch of impact, and the second crunch as Michiru’s little car rolled, and then Haruka couldn’t keep track of anything but her own screams.
SittingOverHereDreaming 