Harumichi BatB Chapter 16!

So maybe I felt a little bad about that last chapter. Here is a VERY EARLY UPDATE (it’s getting harder for me to wait a week between posting chapters). Masterpost link

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Haruka was no stranger to fucking things up. Mina loved to remind her of their teenage years, the mailboxes she’d run over and the relationships she’d torn herself from, that trail of destruction they could laugh about now because they had been young, even if Haruka was barely any different now.

Michiru did not hit the floor. Usagi was there, suddenly, and caught her with a shriek, cradled her head in her lap while she cried. She stroked her hair, stroked the wound, hands covered in–

Haruka was no stranger to fucking things up. She always believed she knew the way, always believed she could fix things, never realized when she was wrong until far too late. It got her here, it got her into plenty of bad situations before, and–

“This is why I said it was a bad idea.”

“We weren’t doing so poorly–”

“Hotaru’s lucky to be alive right now!”

Haruka was no stranger to fucking things up. But this was different. This made the whole world stop. Her ears rang, everything was too bright. She should have… should have tackled Michiru aside, when she saw the other woman, should have said something, should have stopped it.  Her breathing was wrong, out of sync, it didn’t reach past her throat. She should have never said she was leaving, should have–

She was being pulled somewhere. It took a moment for her to ground herself enough to realize Mina had taken her hand. The other woman was trying to lift the first woman by the shoulders. Haruka let herself be led to grab her feet.

She’d thought she could help. She’d thought she could break the curse, and then she’d just thought… she’d been selfish. She’d got carried away, and here they were.

They tugged at her to move, but she could not. Haruka’s whole body was cold. She stared back at Michiru, limp in Usagi’s arms. If she stared long enough, it looked like she was still breathing. Like Haruka hadn’t fucked up so irreversibly. Like–

“Haruka,” Mako whispered, appearing next to her. “You promised me you would leave.”

Haruka looked up to her, feeling like Mako spoke the first words she’d heard in years. “But…”

“Please. You’ve done enough.”

“I’m sorry.” Haruka moved as Mina pulled at her arm, feet like lead in every step. By the time they made it outside, her arms were shaking. She let the woman she held down on the grass and collapsed.

“You killed her,” she said to the other woman. The shock and grief wound tight inside her snapped. She began to cry and could not hide it. Her hands made fists in the dirt beneath her, needing something to grab hold of and finding nothing. “You didn’t need to kill her.”

The woman threw up her hands like she might want to kill Haruka, too. “You all want to make me the bad guy, fine, whatever, but I saved all your stupid lives.” She marched over to the car. “And I’m going to save more.” She retrieved a gas can from the trunk.

Haruka could not piece it together. The woman did not take the gas down the road to Haruka’s truck. She took it to the house and began pouring it down the side, walking along to trace the outer wall.

Mina knelt down and put a hand on Haruka’s shoulder, rubbing her back the way she always did when Haruka broke down. “It’s going to be alright, buddy.”

“What’s she doing?” Haruka asked, feeling like a child.

“You’re not the first person to be taken, Haruka. We found out a lot. Some people never made it out. But some did.”

She blinked, uncomprehending.

“Other people have thought they killed the monster. But it apparently has someone who can heal it.”

Haruka thought a moment, then leapt to her feet. “Of course! Usagi heals people, that’s why everything felt better. So then… so then…” She grabbed Mina by the arms. “Michiru’s not dead? I didn’t kill her?” She wanted to cry more, almost, at the prospect.

Mina looked into her eyes. “Oh buddy, no. You didn’t do this. It’s… Oh fuck.” She sighed and pulled away. “Rei, stop!” She ran towards the woman. “We can’t do this.”

Rei turned, gas can in hand. “What?”

“Whatever has happened, Haruka–”

“Has clearly suffered trauma and isn’t thinking clearly.” Rei pulled the gas can away as Mina tried to make a grab at it. “You wanted me to believe in the witch, well, I believe in her. We saw what she can do, and heard more of it, and that makes it our duty to stop it.”

“That’s not–”

Rei threw the gas can in a window, the sound of breaking glass bringing clarity to Haruka’s mind seconds before she lit a match. Mina lunged for it, but the woman was quick. With just a flick of her wrist she tossed it against gas-soaked wall.

The whole thing roared into flame quicker than the blink of an eye.

Haruka was already running.

“Haruka!” Mina yelled after her. Haruka could not make out the rest of what she shouted, though she faintly registered that she turned on Rei. Haruka barreled back through the door moments before the flames swallowed it. She could not yet think about how she would get back out. She could not think of how the smoke pulled at her lungs, made her stride unsteady. She could not think of the heat, the flames at heels, the sweat already dripping down her back. Only one thought consumed her, beat through her body steady as her pulse, and then steadier.

Michiru was alive, and Haruka was not going to let that change. Haruka was going to make this right. Haruka really would save her this time.