Tag: ask

Michiru and Rei, “Are you flirting with me?”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

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.

Minako and Haruka, “Everything’s going to be fine” YOU COULD MAKE THIS ONE ANGSTY IF YOU WANT

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

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.”

Rei and Mina, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

This one is on AO3 too, since it’s over 1K

—

“So then she leaned over, and said—“

“Mina, I really don’t have time to listen to this.”

But Mina would not be deterred form her plan so easily. “Aw,
come on, Rei, you’re great at listening while you work. And this girl is so perfect,
I—“

“I don’t think she sounds that great.” Rei grabbed a broom
and headed out to the front of the shrine. Mina followed with a huff.

“Well you wouldn’t, no one’s good enough for the almighty
Rei Hino.” Rei swept faster. Mina trotted along. “But for me, she’s wonderful, an
absolute ten.” She extended her arm in an arc for emphasis, like this girl had
all the goodness in the whole world.

Rei merely flicked her eyes over. There were days when her
fire burned close to the surface, threatening to consume everything, and other
when she buried it deep under an affected coldness. Mina was unsure if it was
lucky she’d caught her in the latter or not. “So what you’re saying is you’re
settling.”

“That is the opposite of what I’m saying, actually.” Mina
grabbed the broom from Rei and spun it around in a dance. “I’m saying I like
her a lot. More than I’ve liked anyone before.”

“Oh please.” Rei snatched the broom back. “You’re not going
to stay this happy with her. She’s flawed like everyone else.”

“Well, Rei, the thing is, it’s actually possible to see
someone’s flaws and like them anyway. We do it all the time. Look at Usagi, we
love her to pieces, and she’s got flaws the size of an ice cream truck.”

“That’s different. Usagi is good.”

“And my animal-shelter volunteer hottie isn’t?”

Rei made a non-comital noise and moved to the stairs. Mina
followed, her own temper starting to flair. “Nuh-uh, don’t just walk away. I
want an answer. I want to know what your problem is with someone you’ve never
met and who you literally only know good things about.”

Sweeping the steps apparently took all of Rei’s focus.

“While we’re at it, let’s also throw in your problems with Yomi
and Torako and Mik—actually, I’ll give you a pass on him, being a man and all.
But everyone else.” Mina slid down the rail a little ways to land in front of
Rei. “I want to know.”

“I actually liked Miki best,” Rei said, with all the disinterest
of someone considering different toothpaste brands. “He just wasn’t right for
you, like all the others.” She skirted around Mina to get to lower steps. “And
you can’t disagree with me, because you
broke up with them all in the end.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Like a preschooler, Mina was
overcome with the urge to yank Rei’s long black hair. If they hadn’t been so
precariously arranged on the stairs, she might have done it. “You know why I broke up with them. I was stupid
enough to think you had a reason to dislike me dating. But you kept proving me
wrong.” She wanted Rei to turn around so badly, to take this face to face. “So
today I thought maybe you really were holding my partners to high standards, and
I made a girl up. A lovely, perfect girl. But you couldn’t be happy for me
then, either.”

“So you’re mad your lie didn’t work.” As she spoke her voice
lowered to a growl, anger breaking through her cool act.

“I’m mad because I can’t do it anymore. Either give me a
reason, or stop fucking doing this.”

Rei paused, but still did not turn. “Fuck you or fuck off,
then?”

There had, of course, been times in Mina’s life when she’d
felt this angry. She’d faced true evil with all the hatred Usagi could never
muster. But this was worse, somehow, in that she’d expected something else. “That’s
all you see in me then. Fine.” She would not let Rei invoke her inner demons. Mina
ran down the stairs without care, the childish thought that if she did fall,
Rei would feel as bad as she deserved to, occasionally running through her mind.
Fortunately, perhaps, she was too sure-footed for that. She arrived at the
bottom upright and out of breath. Part of her wanted to look back, the rest of
her urged her to keep going.

But something clattered down the stairs behind her. Rei’s
broom rolled to a stop against her heels.

Mina took a breath and waited. The sound of Rei’s footsteps
soon drew near, uncharacteristically hesitant. She stopped short of picking up
the broom.

“You and I also have truck sized flaws.” Rei paused, but
Mina wasn’t ready to give her anything, not even acknowledgement. “It’s easy
for me to focus on that. You’re loud, and ridiculous, and sometimes you test
people in stupid ways, because you can. And…”

She went quiet for a long while. Mina waited. Rei’s softer
feelings were like a deer hiding amongst barrels of gunpowder, a wrong move could
do much worse than scare them off for a bit.

“And worst of all, you know all my flaws better than anyone.
And maybe they’re more of a semi than an ice cream truck, and if you’re
standing so close it must be impossible for you to see anything else.”

Mina felt the real crux of the matter still coming.

“Maybe I don’t want you to see anything else,” Rei said, her
voice barely above a whisper. “Isn’t it easier if we don’t?”

“I don’t quite have your talent for that.” She tried to
judge if now was the time to turn around, but decided not to risk it. “I don’t
think it’s easy at all.” Mina could feel how close Rei was. The distance
between them felt electric, though if it was a current drawing them together or
a fence keeping them apart she couldn’t tell.

“Maybe I can work on it.” Rei picked up the broom. “Maybe I
will.”

Mina finally turned to look back as Rei started up the
stairs. In spite of everything, she found herself smiling.

Michiru and Seiya, “That;s a good look for you”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Just for you, this takes place in Olive Garden.

—

There were times when Michiru envied women with no class. A
woman like that might have a little flask in her purse that she snuck a long
drink from in times of hardship. If Michiru were brash enough to carry such a
thing, she’d fill it with wine—good wine, not like what they served here. She’d
drink it now, in the bathroom stall, let the real flavor wash over her tongue
and momentarily forget the atrocities occurring just outside. Haruka would be
none the wiser of her reprieve, and Michiru would be able to give her more
genuine smiles.

But alas, she had none to fortify her, and a flask would
hardly keep the notes of a good wine intact. She exited her stall and settled
for reapplying her lipstick. It was a simple trick; paint on your smile and
your mask is complete.

The door opened, just then, and Michiru found herself privy to
a greater atrocity than the restaurant’s food. For a moment, she didn’t
recognize the woman beneath the thick-framed glasses and jaunty cap, which she
assumed was the point. Her shirt as nicely tailored, but a frilly shade of pink—Usagi’s
doing, most likely—and marred by a large tomato stain beneath the collar—Usagi’s
doing, definitely.

“Ara, Seiya, that’s a good look for you.”

“Shut it.” She removed her fake glasses and dabbed at the
stain with paper towels.

“It’s very sweet that your girlfriend’s marked her
territory.”

Seiya glared, but a grin spread across her mouth. “Oh, you
can joke about how I’m whipped, and be absolutely right, but remember, dear Ms.
Kaioh, a woman of your tastes got yourself dragged here, too.”

“We all must make sacrifices for love from time to time.”
They met eyes in the mirror. “Though I daresay my sacrifice is made with
integrity. I have no need to hide.”

“I hate when fans interrupt a date.”

“If only there were a way to let them know you’re not to be
disturbed.”

Seiya snorted. “We can’t all be as perfectly cold as you.”

“Indeed you can’t.” She turned and fingered the stain. “You
need dish soap to be rid of this.”

“Uh, thank you.” Seiya’s cheeks went light pink. “You know,
sometimes I still wonder if you’re flirting with me.”

Michiru raised an eyebrow. “Oh no, it’s merely that kindness
puts you more off kilter than anything else.”

“You’re bad natured, Michiru.”

“So you’ve said.” She left the bathroom with a smile,
fortified after all. And Haruka’s face later, when Michiru pointed Seiya out,
was far better than a good wine.

Michiru and Haruka, “Can we just pretend I didn’t say that?”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

It felt silly, but sometimes it was the little things Haurka
enjoyed most—the ordinary things, everyday life but a way she hadn’t been sure
she’d ever experience it. Right now, for example, she and Michiru were merely
walking through a department store, ostensibly there for a sauce pan but
looking at everything, since Michiru knew Haruka liked to. There was a certain
delight to be had in imagining uses for things, and even more in having Michiru
at her side.

“Would a bookshelf like that look good in my apartment?”

Michiru laughed and leaned in close. “I think you’d look
good carrying it up the stairs.”

Haruka blushed. 

They wandered up to the top floor, where a little corner was
walled off with glass. Inside were racks of white dresses with a mannequin wearing
one in front. Lace sloped off its plastic shoulders, a ribbon cinched at its
tiny artificial waist.

“Do you think when we get married, you’ll wear something
like that?” Haruka looked down with a smile that fell as her own words hit her.
Her blood ran cold. “I mean. When you
get married, not necessarily to me, or maybe you won’t get married, I dunno, we
never– Can we just pretend I didn’t say that?” She willed herself the ability
to time travel, just once, to thirty seconds ago.

But Michiru took her hands. “I don’t like pretending much.”
She stood on tip toe to kiss Haruka’s cheek. “Maybe it’s time for us to talk
about it.”

“You think so?” Haruka fought down her smile, just in case.

“I do. It’s definitely getting silly for us not to at least
live together. And…” For the first time that Haruka had seen, Michiru blushed. “I
rather like the idea of a future with you.”

Haruka could not but laugh with joy and relief as she
wrapped Michiru in her arms. “I do, too.”

Harumichi s season “There’s something I’ve been meaning to say…”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

OKAY THIS IS SET DURING THEIR FIRST BATTLE AFTER HARUKA AWAKENS.

–

Michiru was unsure how to feel about Haruka never mentioning
her confession. Granted, she’d done her best to convey Haruka should forget
about it, that any feelings didn’t matter in light of their mission, but part
of her was consumed with wondering. Did Haruka think her frivolous? Did she
feel anything back? She’d walked away, that first day, but had it been from
Michiru or from Neptune?

Michiru felt frivolous worrying about these things, when
there was so much more going on. It played in her mind even now, in battle,
each time Haruka called her Neptune. What
do you think of me? She thought as Haruka called for her to watch out. Are we nothing more than partner soldiers?
She loosed an attack at the monster. It dodged, making a bound toward Uranus. Michiru
turned, expecting to see Haruka prepping an attack.

Instead, she saw Haruka looking at her. Michiru could not
tell separate her deepest hopes from reality, but it almost seemed as though…

The monster landed a hard blow to Haruka’s stomach, sending
her falling back.

Panic and rage united in Michiru. This time her attack did
not miss. The monster died with a scream and MIchiru dove to Haruka’s side.

“I’m alright, don’t worry,” Haruka wheezed. She sat up and
rubbed her diaphragm.

“You have to stay alert,” Michiru chided. “That could have—“

“I know, won’t happen again. Just.” Haruka looked up to the
sky. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to say.”

Michiru bit her tongue. She’d been trained all her life for
composure, but never had it been as hard as now. “What is it?”

“Well, ah…” Haruka apparently found the clouds very
interesting. “You… I mean I… do you…” She finally looked down, to Michiru.
Her face froze for a long moment. “Do you…” She blushed very red and turned
away. “Do you have any control over the outfits? Skirts aren’t really my thing.”

Hope she hadn’t meant to hold deflated in Michiru’s chest. “No,
I’m afraid to say I don’t.”

Haruka and MIna and literally ANY OF THEM, but also “I can’t unsee that”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

I WENT ROOMMATE AU FOR THIS I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND.

—-

On Mina’s road to stardom, she took the little blessings
amid the muck of long greasy days and rich patrons who never tipped. Today, her
blessing was being told to go home early. Granted, it was less because her
manager had taken pity on her and much more because her performance as the
exuberant, ever-gracious waitress had begun to crack under the weight of “Table
for fifteen” and “I said well-done not burnt,” but that didn’t matter. She had
a Friday night to do real Friday night things for once. The plan was to stop
off at home to change, maybe grab Haruka if she wasn’t busy, and hit the town.

And judging by the singing Minako heard as she put her key
in the door, Haruka was indeed not busy.

She didn’t notice Minako come in. Her laptop was on the
couch, the end credits of Titanic playing across the screen. Haruka had
apparently abandoned her blanket-nest in against the other sofa arm, now in the
middle of a dramatic dance as she sang along with Celine Dion. Her face was
still tear-streaked. She’d dug out a t-shirt that must have been nearly twenty
years old, her hand pressed against Kate Winslet’s face as she clutched her
heart.

“Whatcha doin’, buddy?”

Haruka froze for a full bar, then dove to shut her laptop. “Nothing!
Nothing. You saw nothing.”

“Ohoho, buddy, I can’t unsee that.”

Haruka crossed her arms over her chest, unable to hide the
design completely. “You’re never home this early.”

“Yeah, it’s a treat. God, do you do this every Friday?”

“No! Of course not!” But Haruka withered under her gaze. “Sometimes
Mako comes over and we watch movies together.”

“Oh buddy. My sweet, delicate friend. We’re going out
tonight, and I’m going to get you laid.”

“But I’m tired, today at the shop—“

“Please, if you’re tired, it’s because you just cried for
three straight hours.” Minako dragged her to her bedroom. “Now, pick out your
butchly best, and I’ll find us a nice gay bar.”

Harumichi cathedral aftermath for fandom sunday? :D

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

AW YEAH I LOVE S-ERA

—

So we didn’t have to
sacrifice anyone for the talismans.

It wasn’t, Michiru thought as she settled into bed, strictly
true. Even their near deaths aside, they were sacrificed for this. She set the
mirror next to her pillow and let her fingers rest on the handle. In the quiet,
she could feel the faint beat of her pulse in it. A part of her heart lay next
to her, a real slice of her life force made hard and cold and powerful.

She’d been foolish. Michiru had thought they had just one
thing to do, one terrible thing, and then they could move on, broken but free. The
mirror mocked her. It tied her to this life forever, unto death. And Haruka…
Michiru gripped the mirror’s handle, tempted to smash its glass against the
wall. She hadn’t been enough to save her. There would never be enough to get
her out of this mess. Michiru had failed in every mission save the one she
never wanted. She looked at her refection. What would it mean, to break the
glass of one’s own heart? Surely more than the prescribed seven years of bad
luck. But it couldn’t hurt more than what had happened in the cathedral when
Eudial shot it out, and before…

There was a knock on her bedroom door, so quiet she nearly
missed it.

Michiru tucked the mirror under a pillow and sat up. “Yes.”

“Are you awa—I guess you are. Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

The door opened, but Haruka hovered with her hand on the
knob instead of coming in. She always looked small in her sleepwear, the way
her t-shirts hung from her shoulders and her boxers accented the leanness of
her long legs, but she never looked so small as she did tonight. There was a
caved-in air to her, like much more than a piece of her heart had been removed.

“I’m sorry, I just… I couldn’t sleep, and I thought…”

“You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

“I think maybe I do.” The door creaked as Haruka leaned more
of her weight on the handle. Her hands shook. Rather than look at Michiru, she
curved her whole body towards the floor. “I wasn’t… I should have done things
differently. And what you did…”

“You owe me nothing for that,” Michiru said, perhaps a bit
too sharply. Would that she had stayed more composed through the whole thing,
let Haruka think she was merely looking out for her partner in the mission. She
wanted no gratitude, and certainly not pity.

Haruka let out a strangled sounding laugh. “What would I
even do to pay you back for that?” She braved a look up, and her voice got even
softer. “What did I do to make you do it in the first place?” Her chin quivered
and she didn’t wait for an answer. “When you… when it happened… I’ve been an
ass, I’d thought— I’d thought everything you’d said about doing whatever it
takes was true, I thought I couldn’t… so I am sorry.” She shrunk back into the
hall. “That’s really all I wanted to say, I’ll let you sleep. I’m sorry.” She
turned and made to close the door.

Michiru shot up. “Wait, please.” She stopped just short of
touching Haruka. “If there’s one thing you can do for me, it’s not feel this
way. This is my fault. I don’t want you to regret anything.”

Haruka did not turn around. She forced another laugh, even
faker than the last. “I guess I’m doomed to fail everything right now.” She
choked on the last word.

“Haruka.” Michiru’s heart pounded, even the piece still
tucked in her bed. She swallowed down every self-conscious feeling and fear and
wrapped her arms around Haruka from behind. Her head pressed into the space
between her shoulder blades and her hands found their way to the curve of her
ribs in the moment before Haruka took them in her own.

The taller girl’s body shook as she cried. “I thought you
were dead, and I hadn’t, I couldn’t—“

“I’m not dead. I’m here.” Michiru rubbed her thumb into
Haruka’s palm. “I’m here with you.”

“But what if next time… we still…”

“We’ll be fine. Whatever happens, I’ll be with you.”

Haruka raised one hand to her mouth and kissed it. “I’m going
to do better this time, I promise you.”

“You don’t—“

“I want to. I want to be good to you, Michi.”

Michiru felt a tear run down her own cheek. She wanted this,
badly, selfishly, more than anything else. But half Haruka’s heart now resided
in a sword, Haruka was tied to this battle. And if Michiru couldn’t save her
before, she’d never succeed now. Abandon
me, please, save yourself. She should have pushed her away, tried to change
her mind. But when Haruka turned to hold her in her arms, Michiru let her.