Sparkle Sparkle It’s a Fic!

My sparklee this year is @tallangrycockatiel, who asked for Mina “helping” Haruka propose. I hope you enjoy it!

It’s Very You
~2K words
AO3 Link

There were times Haruka almost felt smart, or at least knowledgeable.
At the shop, finding the problem with an
engine. Fixing a kid’s bike chain. When she found the best deal at the supermarket,
she felt almost academic, math fell into place and numbers made sense.

But she’d never felt more stupid than in this moment.
Numbers and cuts and prices swam around in the jewelry cases, the over-bright
lighting making everything sparkle, even the price plaques. The salesman looked
down his nose at her. “What is it that you’re looking for?” he asked, as though
she had no business being there. She ought to have cleaned up more, not come
straight from work. She’d changed her shirt, made sure there were no oil stains
on her pants, but the smell gas and smoke clung to her skin and uncombed hair.
But the second the week’s paycheck had landed in her account she’d needed to
come. She couldn’t wait any longer.

“Well, a ring. An engagement ring.”

“Let me know if you have any questions.” He moved away,
keeping his eyes on her until another customer got his attention.

Haruka had a thousand questions, none of which she could ask
him. What is the difference between white
gold and silver and platinum? Why do all the diamonds look so gaudy? What is
a princess cut? Will Michiru like what I
get? Will she say yes? Why won’t anything stay still?

There was only one person she trusted to give her at least
mostly honest answers. She slipped outside to make a call and not fifteen
minutes later, Minako rolled up. She kicked out the stand on her bike and slid
her sunglasses up over her hair and she had never looked more like a hero.

“Trying to save the environment?” Haruka asked with a weak
chuckle.

Mina grinned. “If Rei is gonna chew my ear off all the time
about it, I just have to outdo her. But now buddy, I’m saving so much more than
the ozone layer.” She slung one arm around Haruka’s shoulders. “I’m here to save
you from yourself.” She swung her other arm wide and stared into the distance.

“Mina.”

“Please. Your dramatic lesbian ass has no room to talk,” she
said with an eyeroll, but then she gave her hand a squeeze.

The nice thing was, Haruka supposed, Mina looked like
someone you’d expect to see in a jewelry shop. Maybe not for nice reasons, and
certainly not for true reasons— Mina’s money was all her own, however little
she had—but she looked the part. Her hair was long and silky, her clothes
looked straight out of next month’s magazines. The man behind the counter gave
her a very different look until she looped her arm into Haruka’s.

“So what’s your budget?”

“Well.” Haruka felt her cheeks warm. “Just about two
thousand.”

“Ah just—“ Mina stopped. “Just two thousand?”

“It’s below the average, but—“

“Where did you get two thousand dollars? I know your butch
pride won’t let you touch a cent of the Kaioh millions.”

“I saved. For a while. A couple years.”

Mina let out a low whistle. “Christ. Every time I think you’ve
reached peak sap, there you go, sailing to new heights.”

“It’s important.”

“Oh Haruka.” She rubbed her back between her shoulders. “I
know. We’ll find you a good ring.”

---

It wasn’t, at the end of the day, the fanciest ring. It hadn’t
even reached the top of Haruka’s budget; prices jumped instead of increasing
gradually. But she’d been able to insure it, and Mina assured her it was nice.
A simple silver band with a single small diamond, set off by two smaller
sapphires.

“She’ll love it, buddy,” Mina assured her in the car after
they’d strapped her bike to the back. “You did good.”

“Yeah?” Haruka let herself relax into her steering wheel,
but the weight of it all still consumed her.

Mina smiled and patted her shoulder. “Yeah. When are you
popping the question?”

Warmth crept up under Haruka’s collar. “Well. I don’t… I’m
not quite sure.”

“You bought the ring without a plan?”

“Not without a plan, I have lots of plans. I just… I just
don’t know what one is right.” Haruka swallowed hard. She’d been trying to plan
for months, but everything felt subpar. “I want it to be perfect.”

Mina snorted. “You’re ridiculous. She’s saying yes no matter
how you ask.”

“That’s not the point!” Haruka glanced over. “Do you really
think so?”

Mina looked up a raised her hands in plea. “God save the
lesbians from themselves. I’m sure the only reason Michiru hasn’t asked you to
just get hitched already is she knows it would wound your fragile butch
sensibilities.”

“You think I waited too long?”

“Christ, Haruka, not the point I’m making. I’m trying to say
she’d marry you in a heartbeat. You’re soulmates or whatever sappy thing you
want to call it. You’re going to ask in some amazing way, and she’s going to
say yes.” She pulled the lever to recline her chair. “And if you’re nervous,
you’re lucky enough to have me here to help.”

“Would you?”

“I’m not about to spend the next sixty years of my life
listening to you brood about how your proposal wasn’t good enough.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Buddy, I’ve known you too long to believe that. Now—“ She sat
up and folded her hands over her knees. “Pretend I’m Michiru and we’ve just sat
down after a beautiful moonlight walk on the beach.”

Haruka could picture it—the salt smell of the sea spray
dancing with Michiru’s perfume, the wind floating through Michiru’s hair and
dress. The waves crashing in time with the thump thump thump of Haruka’s racing
heart, Michiru turning to Haruka expectantly and every word, every breath
catching in Haruka’s throat and—

Haruka pulled the car to the side of the road. “I can’t do
this. Nothing I say can be good enough.”

“So we’ll work on it.” Minako tossed her hair. “I have a
plan.”

---

The shrill of a whistle cut through Minako’s apartment. “Alright
soldiers. Welcome to proposal camp day one.”

Rei crossed her arms. “I didn’t agree to this.”

“And I’m pulling rank as your commander so you don’t have
to.” Mina grinned. “I needed a stand in snooty lesbian, and you fit the bill.”

“I’m not—“

“Michiru isn’t—“

Mina blew her whistle again. “No sass. I trained you better
than this.” She pointed at Haruka. “You need to find the right way to propose.
We’re going to roleplay scenarios until you find the right one.”

“I’m not sure—“

Mina blew the whistle.

“Okay.”

“Scenario one. Dinner.” Mina shuffled them into chairs on
either side of a TV tray. “Now. I know my dear butch puddle, and I’m vetoing
any ring-in-a-drink or food thing. It would go to the wrong table, and you
would cry for a month.”

Haruka’s stomach sank as she realized the logic. It had been
an idea, a leading idea, and it was bad. Were all her ideas wrong?

“Now. Imagine. You’ve just finished eating. The waiter has
not yet brought the check—“

“That’s important,” Rei cut in, “because they may waive the
bill for the occasion.”

“Thank you Madame Cheapskate. Now. You’re in candlelight, you’ve
just eaten a nice meal, the ring is in your pocket. Go.”

Haruka looked across the tiny table at Rei. Her heart raced
even as she tried to focus on how different she was from Michiru. “I… I um. I
have something to ask you.”

“Shoot.”

Mina cleared her throat.

Rei huffed. “Fine. What is it, love?”

“Well. There’s something important I want to ask.”

“Yes, you said.” Rei crossed her arms. “What is it? …Dear.
What is it, dear?”

“I… I love you very much. And I will love you forever. So
what I want to say is—what I want to ask is…” Haruka swallowed hard. “Will you
marry me?”

“No.”

Tears welled up in Haruka’s eyes. “No?” It was Rei, but Rei
knew Michiru. Rei knew what Michiru would want, probably, and it wasn’t this.

Mina blew the whistle. “Penalty to the snooty lesbian.
Unrealistic answer.”

“Oh please. I’m not saying yes to anything less than
perfect.”

“Not you. Michiru.”

Rei tapped her fingers on the table. “If the point is to teach her how to propose, then she’s not
going to learn unless we’re hard on her.”

“That is not the point.” Mina put her face in her hands. “You’re
dismissed. I have a better idea.”

---

By the time Haruka had dried her eyes, Rei was curled on the
couch and Mina had changed outfits. It took Haruka a moment to process the
pants, the button-down, the way her hair was pinned up…

“Oh no. Mina…”

“No no.” Mina gestured widely. “Right now, I am Haruka. And
you—“ She hooked a string of fake pearls around Haruka’s neck—“are Michiru. And
I, Haruka Tennoh, most romantic of noodles, have just taken you out to a nice
dinner, and now am inviting you on a walk about town.” She offered Haruka her
elbow. Haruka took it in her best attempt at a lady-like fashion.

Mina led her around the couch. “Did you enjoy dinner, my
love?”

“Um. Yes.”

“Good good. The moon is beautiful, just like you.” Mina
touched Haruka’s nose. Haruka grimaced. “There’s been something on my mind
lately, you know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Indeed, my beautiful mermaid flower. I think we’re ready to
take the next step in our lives.” Mina threw herself down on one knee. Haruka
tried to remember if she every called Michiru a beautiful mermaid flower. It
sounded ridiculous. Maybe she was ridiculous, maybe the whole thing was
ridiculous.

“Will you marry me?”

Rei snorted from the couch.

“What now, flame brains?”

“It all seems very unromantic. Stiff.”

Mina stood up. “And how would you do it?”

Rei snatched up the ring box and dragged Minako by the wrist
over to the TV stand. She slammed the box down. “Well?”

Mina burst out laughing. “It’s very you, for sure.”

“You’d marry me if I asked.” Rei’s face flushed red.

“Then I’m lucky you’ll never ask, aren’t I?”

“Guys.” Haruka grabbed the ring and stuffed it back in her
pocket. “I think I’m good. I’m going home.”

“You got a plan, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Haruka lied. “I got a plan.”

---

She got in her car feeling even less sure than she had at
the beginning. Rei had been right; everything was artificial. Haruka couldn’t
propose the way Rei had, but something in it rang truer than the rest. It wasn’t
fireworks spelling out the question and it wasn’t a band swelling at the perfect
moment, it wasn’t even a planned evening. It had been Rei, pure and simple. And
right.

Haruka mulled it over on the drive. There had to be a right
way. Not asking wasn’t an option. Waiting didn’t even feel like an option. She’d
waited for the ring. She could wait for a thousand other things, or she could
be through with waiting. She could do it now. She could. She would.

She stopped at a corner store for some roses. When she got
home, Michiru was already there, reading on the couch with her legs curled
under her. She rose an eyebrow and smiled over her book at the flowers. “What
occasion have you found today?”

Haruka smiled back. The words caught in her throat, again,
but she’d push through this time. She snuggled into Michiru and let her look at
the flowers. “Do you like them?”

“They’re lovely, Haruka.”

“And this?” She pulled the ring box from her pocket to open
before Michiru’s eyes. “Do you like it?”

“Haruka,” Michiru said in a gasp. She reached up to the
ring, her hand stopping just short.

“Michiru.” Haruka’s heart raced. “Will you marry me?”

“Oh Haruka. Yes.”
Michiru pulled her in to kiss.

Haruka broke into tears the moment their lips touched. “Do
you mean it?”

“Nothing would make me so happy as having you as my wife.”

“I want to be your wife.” Haruka pulled her close. “I’m
going to be your wife.” She slipped the ring onto Michiru’s finger. It slipped
around, a little too big. Haruka had not thought to check Michiru’s size.

“It’s perfect.”

Haruka looked down. “I tried.”

Michiru pulled her face back up and wiped her tears. “Haruka,
love, I couldn’t be happier.”