I love how Haruka is lying to Mina, and Mina BELIEVES her, or at least doesn’t ask more questions
And that Mina admits that she is scared, but only in whisper
You know, initially when I saw this prompt, I was going to do Haruka dying, but I flipped it because I feel like they’re both prepared for that possibility, as much as they can be. I mean, I don’t think Haruka WANTS to die, but I think if she was told one of them had to die, she’d want it to be her, if that makes sense. And Mina has run through the possibility of all the girls dying in her head so much, she’ll do anything she can to stop it, but she suspects it’s going to happen sooner or later. But I can easily see Haruka letting herself believe Minako (and Michiru) is invincible, because she’s smart and fast and powerful. Mina is just too MUCH to die, she is lively and vibrant and too damn loud for Haruka to be able to imagine a world without her.
I love how Haruka is lying to herself and how she’s imagining other outcomes than Minako’s death
CONFESSION TIME. Even tho I wrote this, and I know Mina is dead BECAUSE I wrote this, part of me has been telling myself the same lies as Haruka. MAYBE SOMEONE DOES FIND THEM, AND CALLS AN AMBULANCE, AND MINA IS VERY HURT AND PROBABLY HAS SPINAL DAMAGE, BUT SHE’S ALIVE AND SHE STAYS ALIVE AND IT’S FINE, SEE.
And I LOVE how your story flows, it feels like misic, and I love the little details, like the one about Mina’s ‘ha!’ or Haruka thinking the redness of the cliff has something to do with nature
I love that you’ve shown that Michiru sincerely wanted it herself, and Haruka’s race might have been just an excuse
Ahahaha I see two possibilities, either MIchiru NEVER ASKED Haruka, or she guided Haruka into giving her this answer like “Oh dear, I booked us this spa day but that race you like to watch is on, I’ll have to take someone else” “What? No, I can go.” (I see Haruka being super into being pampered, plus seeing Michiru look so peaceful) “No, no, it’s alright, please watch your race” “I can record it and watch it later! Really!” “Don’t you want to watch it live? I was thinking of asking Rei.” “:(((( Fine”
REI’S STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS THOUGH AHAH
SAY BEFORE, THINK AFTER
REI IN A NUTSHELL
I LIKE TO THINK LATER MICHIRU TAKES REI TO HIGH SOCIETY EVENTS JUST TO SEE WHAT SHE’LL SAY AND TO WHOM
I really love how you write them, so in character, like I could tell who is talking just by their phrases
Ahhhh thank you, I’m so glad that I did alright with Rei! I feel like Michiru’s way of speaking is an easier one to capture for me, I “hear” her voice very clearly, but less so with Rei.
NO I REALLY LOVE THAT IT’S SO GOOD
DID I SAY THAT I LOVE IT BECAUSE I LOVE IT
I ALREADY SAID YOU WERE TOO SWEET BUT REALLY. YOU ARE THE KINDEST OF SWEETHEARTS
I’M SWOONING OVER MICHIRU’S THOROUGHLY PLANNED LACK OF CARE
SHE DOESN’T CARE SO MUCH. THERE WERE DEFINITELY NOT SEVERAL SECONDS WHILE WAITING FOR REI’S ANSWER THAT SHE DECIDED FRIENDS WERE OVERRATED AND SHE WAS NEVER TRYING TO MAKE ANY EVER AGAIN. (And she definitely did not feel a strong wave of relief and joy when Rei said yes. Nope, not Michiru, she is above such things)
Day 2 of C25K done! I figure being self-congratulatory can only help. (Especially since these first days don’t feel as easy as I want them to. I’M BARELY RUNNING AND YET. But hey, I’m doing it.)
And now I’ll be catching up on replies and doing my last prompt and also FOOD. Definitely food.
Aw this was lovely, one has to wonder how Michiru felt deep inside when she waited for Rei’s answer to her question about them being friends 😀
Thanks! Ahaha I imagine she tried very hard to convince herself she didn’t care, but Rei is one of what, five? maybe? people she genuinely likes, so I doubt it worked.
oh gawd Michiru testing the ground with all the shields up. With a shade of emotional blackmail into not hurting her feelings. AND THEN OH GOD THE SHIELDS COME DOWN AAAAA. I never knew I needed this until THERE IT WAS
I’m glad you liked it! When I first saw the prompt I assumed whatever I wrote would be pretty funny, but then I got thinking about how they became friends, because I can’t imagine them having an easy time facilitating their connection. And the idea of Michi being the one to reach out stuck.
This either post-S or post-stars, depending on when you feel like having their friendship begin. (translation: I can’t decide between the two whoops)
—
The crowd had finally dispersed. Rei began packing up the
unsold charms and double-counting the money. “I’m sorry,” she said
automatically as someone approached. “You’ll have to come back tomorrow if you
want a charm.”
“Ara, how unlucky for me.”
Rei looked up. “Oh, Michiru. I didn’t—is anything wrong? Why
are you here?”
“Well, I was so hoping to buy one of your charms.”
Rei blinked, unsure if Michiru was teasing her.
“Also,” Michiru continued in Rei’s silence. “I booked a spa
day for two next week. Haruka most unfortunately has a race she wants to watch
that day, which she assures me is too important to miss. I thought I would ask
you to join me in her place.”
“In her place?” Rei felt her cheeks warm. “Are you flirting
with me?”
“I believe the right word would be propositioning, and no.”
Michiru smiled in that mysterious way she had. “You’re not my type, I’m afraid.”
“Then why are you asking me?” Rei realized too late the
question was rude.
“We’re friends, are we not?”
She hesitated. Rei had not thought of Michiru in such terms,
though she supposed that of all the outer soldiers, she did like Michiru best. “Yes,
I’d say so.” It only occurred to her then that a different answer may have hurt
Michiru’s feelings, that Michiru had feelings that could be hurt at all.
“Well then, isn’t it natural we do things together?” Michiru
pushed her hair back behind her ear. “Have you ever been to a spa? They’re very
nice.”
For a moment, Michiru’s smile seemed less mysterious, and instead
almost shy. But in a blink the impression was gone, and Rei felt silly for
having the thought. “Yeah, sure, I’d love to go with you.”
“Most excellent. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Michiru’s smile
changed for real then, from something practiced to something genuine. Rei
had the strangest feeling she had experienced a great and rare privilege, and smiled back.
me: haha the girl has posted a pic of a flower, what if I commented “beautiful!” then she’d think I meant the flower but really I’d mean her.
me: actually I’m not gutsy enough to post any comment and am going to sit here debating whether or not to even hit like
Even though I’m only getting to it now, the angst possibilities for this have been swimming in my head since you sent this.
—-
In the back of her mind, Haruka had always known herself to
be one of the weaker fighters of the team. She didn’t think things through, she
sometimes let her emotions get the best of her, she had her speed and the
powers granted to her as a sailor soldier and that was it. She’d always known
if someone was going to get taken down in battle, it would be her.
Maybe that was why her brain refused to believe this was
happening. Mina was going to get up again any second now. She was fine. Another
second, and she’d bounce up with a smile and give a monster hell for
landing a hit. She was just being dramatic, or it was a tactic, let them think
they’d started to overwhelm the girls, and then ha! Haruka blasted monsters
back and waited for the ha!
It still didn’t come.
She fought her way over. Her mind offered increasingly
absurd reasoning. Maybe it was a terrible little prank, and Mina would bring it
up next time Haruka said no to barhopping or karaoke or skinny dipping. Maybe
Mina had dropped an earring, down between the rocks, and wanted to find it
before coming back up. Maybe. Maybe.
Haruka ran a monster through and looked down the little
cliff. The rocks were splashed with red. An accident of nature, surely. And
Mina’s uniform… but her eyes were still open, moving. They found Haruka’s.
She slid down carefully.
“Hey buddy.” Mina’s voice garbled a little at the end. Blood
seeped from her lips. “You gotta help me get up, I can’t—“ She coughed. “I
can’t move my legs, there’s something on them.”
Her legs bore only cuts and bruises. Haruka swallowed hard.
“I… I can’t. There… there are doctors coming, they’ll know how to move you.”
She pressed her lips together. When had doctors ever come for them? Ami, she
should have said Ami.
“No, I can’t wait, we have to fight.” Mina’s hands struggled
to find purchase, something to pull herself up with. “Usagi’s out there, she’s
gonna—“
“It’s okay, we won. The monsters are gone.” Haruka prayed
none would come find them. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Haruka took her hand. The blood hadn’t stopped, she
should have called for Ami, why hadn’t she?
“Usagi’s fine?”
“Barely a scratch on her.” Maybe it wasn’t a lie, Haruka
hadn’t seen her in what felt like ages.
“And Rei?”
“Rei’s too stubborn to get hurt.”
Mina’s mouth turned up at the corners, but her breathing
grew shaky. “And me?”
Haruka lay down next to her and brushed her hair and blood
away from her face. “You’re gonna be okay. I need you to be okay.”
“I don’t know if I can, buddy.” Her eyes lost their focus on
Haruka’s. “I’m scared,” she whispered.
Haruka held her close. Maybe the pressure would stop the
blood, just long enough for someone to find them. “It’s okay, I’m here.” The
blood was warm as it soaked into her uniform; she could feel Mina’s pulse in
it. “I’m here.”
“I love you, buddy.”
“I love you, too. So much.” Haruka bit her tongue to hold
back her tears. “Now don’t talk, save your energy. Someone’s going to be here
soon.”
SittingOverHereDreaming 