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PLEASE TELL ME HARUKA STILL HATES SEIYA THO
Haruka hates Seiya EVEN MORE because along with her canon insecurity and distrust, there’s also jealousy because a) she’s meeting Seiya at the peak of her self-hatred and b) Seiya gets to have this ease in her eyes, Seiya doesn’t have to make the hard choices Seiya gets to just throw in with the inners and be fine, and even after she knows what Seiya’s gone through it doesnt go away
AU where Yaten and Haruka work the same shitty retail job to get by and Haruka throws herself into it and cares deeply while Yaten is like can you PLEASE tone it down the more you do the more they’ll expect from the rest of us
“Now, almost kiss… hold it right there.”
Michiru was used to being posed. To her family, she’d been
more doll than daughter, always set to impress at their tea party of a life.
She’d preened for journalists covering the latest Kaioh project, she’d modeled
for art classes when it was her turn. This was no different.
But it was entirely different.
She’d never been posed before her wife. Her wife of only an
hour, in her sharp gray wedding suit and blue tie, the sun in her hair
sparkling like a god’s laurel crown. Haruka’s body was warm and inviting under
her hands. Her breath alighted on Michiru’s face with the ghost of the kiss
they were holding back. And her lips… Michiru fought to stay still for the
photo. She could not say she’d never noticed how sumptuous Haruka’s lips were, she’d
drawn them too often to be anything but intimately familiar, but now her desire
for them all but over took her.
The camera clicked and clicked again. Her lips began to
tremble. They’d kissed, their first kiss and many more after, but Michiru
wanted, needed more. She wanted Haruka’s lips on hers, on her neck, down her
body. She wanted her wife. The reception could wait, surely. She needed her
wife, to feel all that was hers, to seal their promise everyway she knew how,
she needed, she needed—
“Okay, good.”
Michiru could not hold back. She kissed Haruka deeply—briefly,
compared to what she wanted, but deeply. Haruka lingered as she pulled away,
eyes closed.
“God, Michi,” she whispered. “I want you so bad.”
Michiru smiled, glad at least to know she was not suffering
alone. “You have me, love.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do indeed.”
“Here, in front of these flowers,” the photographer called
to them.
Michiru sighed and resigned herself to a very difficult
evening.
YOUR CORRECTION MADE ME SNORT
This is rough, but my goal was to get something out and I did that.
——
It reminded Haruka of a time long past, when she’d run to
purposefully get caught in the rain. She’d run until she felt the first drops
start, feel them mix with the sweat on her skin, and wait for the sky to open
for her fully. Walking miles in the rain was a misery, but a simple misery. She
could strip down at the end and say she was stupid for getting caught, that her
shoes would be soaked for days and it pissed her off, and for a little while
she had an easy pain to focus on.
The drops got more frequent, sprinkling dark dots into the
sand. Haruka breathed deep to let the scent wash over her.
“Papa, it’s raining!”
Haruka snapped to attention and rummaged through the bag
she’d put in their wagon. “You want your coat, sweetie?”
“No, it’s warm.” Himeka sat down on the jungle gym bridge
and let her feet dangle. “But nobody’s here.”
“That’s true. They’re all a bit smarter than your papa.”
“No! You’re the smartest. You made me queen of the
playground, see?” She stood up and held out her arms. “It’s all mine.”
“Just be careful, it might get slippery. Your highness.”
Himeka laughed. “I’m your highnest!” She came down the slide
and hopped over to Haruka. “That means you got to pull me all the way home.”
“Does it now?”
“No questions. Highnest!”
Haruka chuckled and scooped her into the wagon. “I suppose
you’re right. Onwards, then.” She pulled the wagon along, somewhat regretting
packing the equivalent of a second Himeka’s worth of stuff into their bag.
“Through the puddles, Papa! Puddles!”
Haruka ran so water splashed up the sides of the wagon. The
aches started sooner now, almost as soon as her socks soaked through. In the
days of the war, she never thought she’d ache as much as she did then. It was a
different wariness now, but it made Haruka chuckle. She’d been so miserable in
the midst of it, and now the ache in her bones was a happy one.
She and Himeka stripped out of their clothes together when
they got in. They sat in front of the dryer wrapped in fluffy towels. “I used
to run in the rain a lot you know.”
Himeka nodded. “It’s fun. Like trouble, but without getting in trouble.”
“I didn’t think of it that way.” Haruka laughed. “I think it
was more like putting myself in time out.”
“That’s silly, Papa.” Himeka frowned. “You didn’t do
anything bad.”
Haruka smiled and ruffled Himeka’s hair. There was little
point, she found, in explaining her guilt, especially to a five year old with
no idea of what had happened. “Your papa is a bit silly sometimes.”
“It’s okay, I’m silly too.” She lifted her towel around her
and scooted over into Haruka’s lap. “We can be silly together.”
Haruka pulled her into her arms. “You’re the best girl, you
know that?” She leaned against the laundry room wall and let the hum of the
dryer lull them both to sleep.
Sometimes, even the most dutiful soldiers dream of the impossible
———————————
“Sometimes I think we should just.” Mina took a long drink. “Just hop in your car and leave it all behind.”
“Blaze away like outlaws?” Haruka laughed, and wasn’t quite drunk enough not to feel the strain on her bruised ribs.
Mina sloshed her drink around her bottle in a circle. She had a way of making beer look glamorous, if sometimes also tragic.
“You know who I was before all this? Who I could have been? Could still be if we just–” she gestured widely into the ether. “Don’t we deserve our lives? Our happiness?”
Haruka took a deep drink. “Let’s do it. Jet off at first light, not tell a soul.”
“You’ll do freelance mechanic work at truck stops to keep us going.”
“You’ll pickpocket the truckers and I’ll pretend not to notice where our money really comes from.”
Mina laughed, big and wild. “You’ve gotten too smart. This whole thing is ruining you.”
“We’ll have time to undo it. A simple life will make me simple.”
“We’ll never do any of this,” she indicated their bandages, “again. We’ll never fight, except for your stupid ego, we’ll never deal with damn premonitions of doom. Our future will be ours to make.” She hiccuped. “We won’t have duty, or destiny, or– or /her/.” Mina shook, but not from hiccups. “We won’t have a princess, we won’t have to protect her.” The tears started, big gobby tears that ate their way down her checks. “We won’t have stupid beautiful Usagi, or Rei breathing down our necks, or Mako throwing herself in dangers way, or, or, or any of it.” She wrapped her arms around herself. Haruka pulled her head onto her shoulder and let the tears soak through her shirt. “We’ll be free,” Mina sobbed. “All we have to do is leave.”
“We’ll be free,” Haruka whispered as gentle as she could this tipsy. “We’ll leave in the morning. First thing.”
She rubbed Mina’s back as she cried, offering empty promises until they both fell asleep on the couch.
Haruka has always classified herself as unlovable. With her
mother she was alternately an asset and a burden, but never a beloved child.
(She was absolutely the kid who dreamed her father was a good man who loved
her, but was kept away and one day would swoop in and make up for everything he’d
missed. Her mother was absolutely the woman who squashed that out of her.) Growing
up she never had friends that stuck around, both because many were fair-weather
friends and Haruka’s life rarely had fair weather for long, and because by
nature Haruka felt she had to hide things—her financial situation, her budding
lesbianism, the way girls’ clothes felt so wrong on her body. By the time she
meets Michiru, she can’t believe anyone would love her.
And Michiru doesn’t break that in her. Even as Haruka begins
to believe Michiru loves her, it’s so big and intense that sometimes Haruka
doesn’t feel like it’s about her. There’s desire and attraction and high stakes
and who wouldn’t fall in love when it
might be their last chance to.
It’s years later, in a bar with Mina, that Haruka gets the
tiniest inkling that she’s really worth something. The friendship between them
has developed into something comfortable and constant, and Haruka’s sure any
day now Mina will lose interest. But then she says something that makes Mina
laugh, and Mina sets down her drink and says “God, I love you buddy.” And
Haruka feels it down to her toes. She wants to ask if she means it, but doesn’t,
but it’s not the last time Mina says it and it’s not the last time Mina shows
it, and Haruka comes to the slow and quiet realization that if two people love
her, in two very different ways, that maybe it’s at least a little to do with
her, and she’s maybe not as broken as she’s always believed.
Same Prompt Party, April 2017 (Haruka and Michiru go to Europe)
While Michiru has visions of an oncoming battle, Haruka takes her on a surprise trip. ~3400 words
AO3 link
(As a disclaimer, I’ve never been to Greece, I researched what I could, but at the end of the day my images are based on watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants way too many times)
Michiru leaned back and
watched the steam rise up off her tea. It danced with the first glimmer of
sunlight peeking through the curtains as she tried to calm her still racing
heart. She couldn’t stay in bed in times like this. She couldn’t listen to
Haruka snore and feel her warm body with the memory of the lifelessness to come
on still on MIchiru’s skin. It was always jarring to come out from a vision. Now, though, it
was unbearable. Michiru would almost– almost – rather stay in the
future where Haruka was lost than come back and look at what she could not
save.
She spent these mornings
picking through what she saw, trying to find something she’d be able to change,
always knowing there was nothing. Rei had mentioned, attempting to be offhand
in her particular way, that she had seen things too, and in her particular way
all she let onto was that Usagi would be okay. It was the only thing that
Michiru ever despised Rei for, that stubborn loyalty to the princess. Michiru
would throw her to the fire if it would mean saving Haruka, if it would be
anything to her but a different damnation.
“Michi…”
Haruka padded into the living
room and Michiru fought to keep her breath from catching. She stood in that
first sliver of sun on the carpet, feet in fuzzy pink slippers that Mina had
bought her as a joke and that Haruka loved without any hint of irony. Her long
white tee all but covered her boxers, her hair was mussed with sleep, she
looked so ordinary but so painfully alive that Michiru could do nothing but dig
her fingers into the underside of her leg.
Haruka rubbed her eyes.
“You’re up too early. I miss you.”
“I haven’t gone
anywhere, love.”
“But you’re not with
me.” Haruka sat at the foot of the armchair and nuzzled her head into
Michiru’s lap.
Michiru stroked her hair. She
could not stay hard when Haruka was so soft. “I’m sorry, Haruka, I’ve been
quite inconsiderate.”
Haruka nodded into her legs.
“You have. Now I’m all sleepy and lonely and you’ll have to make it up to me.”
“And how shall I do that?”
Haruka looked up, her eyes no
longer blurry with sleep. “I want to go on a trip!”
“A trip?” She had the
faintest feeling she had been set up, and she could not help but smile. Haruka
had surely been hanging on to the idea, waiting for the moment to spring it.
“Wherever to?”
“I don’t want to say yet.
Somewhere far away.” Haruka rocked back. “I know you said what’s yours is mine,
and I don’t feel comfortable with that, but this is one thing I’d like help
with. I want to plan us a trip I can’t do on my own.”
“Of course, Haruka.”
Their eyes met, and Haruka
broke into a sheepish grin. “I promise you it’s nothing strange. I just want to
surprise you. And Mina’s given me assurance my idea is something you’ll like.”
Michiru smiled and withheld a
laugh. Mina’s involvement could swing broadly in either direction. They could
end up at a nude beach, or worse, a tour through all the museums Michiru had
been dragged through as a child. Or they could have a wonderful, peaceful
vacation.
Michiru did not get a sense
of which it would be until two and a half months had passed and Haruka handed
her her ticket in the airport.
“I’ve never been to Greece.”
“Really?” Haruka’s chest
swelled as she grinned. “Our first time will be together then.”
“Has Mina sent us to pay
respects to the temple of Aphrodite?”
“She tried to convince
me on that detour.” Haruka laughed. “But my plan is much
better.”
“Is it now?”
Packing, Michiru had thought,
would surely give an indication of what they’d be doing. But Haruka had been
careful in her guidance. The weather had been her main point. She had not
advised any dress clothes, though Michiru packed a simple black dress and
pearls just in case Haruka was relying on the fact that “she looked
elegant in anything.” Haruka’s only requests were Michiru’s woven
sun hat, because she liked it, some painting supplies, and two swimsuits.
Haruka, however, took swim suits on every vacation, if only to sit at the side
of a motel pool.
“I suppose it’s moot to
ask what we’ll be doing, then?”
“Very moot.” Haruka
kissed her cheek and lifted her suitcase. “All I’ll say is our hotel for the
first night isn’t where we’re staying, I just want us rested before the
surprise.”
That, Michiru was sure, was
Mina’s benevolent hand at work. Judging by the tickets, they had twelve hours
in the air, and then a wait in Munich for another two. Haruka was always eager,
even at her own expense. “You’ve been very thorough, it seems.”
Haruka grinned. “I’ve tried
to think of everything. Maybe I’m not quite there, but I tried.”
“I’m sure you did, love.”
And as they arrived in Athens
nearly a day later, it truly seemed she had. A car waited for them as they
stumbled out of the Athens airport; their hotel room was warm and quiet when
they got in. Haruka had even reserved them a table at the hotel restaurant.
Travel-weary as they were, Michiru could not help but be touched.
She tried to remember that
when her jet-lag heavy sleep was broken before dawn.
“Michi, we gotta get up.
There’s a ferry to catch.”
“This would of course be
the one time you’re up before me.”
Haruka took Michiru’s hand.
“It’s important. Get dressed with me.”
A car took them to the port,
where a red and white ferry welcomed a small crowd of tourists. “There’s
another that’s supposed to be nicer,” Haruka whispered as they boarded,
“but this one takes three less hours.”
“A good choice
then.”
The wind ruffled Haruka’s
hair as they started moving. Her knuckles went white against the rail, but she
did not step back even as the shore grew distant. She was always especially
handsome in these moments. Michiru was charmed by her stubborn bravery when it
didn’t matter. The knowledge of what would happen when it did matter, though,
reared in her mind. Would that Haruka had some other trait, she might survive.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course, love.”
Michiru looked out to the sea. It was pure blue, like fresh acrylic on a
pallet. “It’s beautiful here.”
Haruka smiled. “I
thought you might like to paint where we’re going. It’s supposed to be the most
beautiful place on earth.”
Then I’m glad you’ll get
to see it in time.
Michiru pulled Haruka into
her arms. “You’re very good to me, love. What you’ve done is
amazing.”
Haruka laughed and hugged her
back. “You haven’t seen it yet.”
“Yes, but I know
you.” Michiru kissed her cheek. “Whatever lies across the water is
sure to be wonderful.” She pulled away. “I’ll be back in a moment, love. I
just need the powder room.”
In a stall, Michiru put her
head in her hands. Haruka, cold, dead, and broken flashed through her mind.
She’d seen her die so many times, in different ways, but was never shown a path
where she lived. The future cast an unshakable shadow over the present, over
what was an undeniably beautiful trip. It tainted the pure blue of the water
and the pure joy of Haruka’s pride.
It felt even worse, hours
later, when the ferry docked and she stepped onto what truly seemed to be the
most beautiful island in the world. White square buildings speckled the
hillside, leading up to a sky was the same blue as the water. Some doors and
roofs were painted in a perfect echo of that blue.
Haruka slipped her hand into
Michiru’s. “What do you think?”
“It’s stunning.”
“I arranged to have our bags
taken to our villa,” Haruka said with a smile. “But I thought we’d go in
style.”
“And how’s that?”
Haruka nodded towards a vespa
rental booth. “May I take you for a ride, my lady?”
“You certainly may.”
Wistfulness washed over Michiru as she climbed on a little white scooter behind
Haruka. It felt like a lifetime ago that they had sped through Tokyo on that
first terrible mission. She never thought she’d feel nostalgic for that time.
Death hadn’t felt real then, not as a possibility for them. She watched the
buildings pass as they wove through the hills. Occasionally an older local would
wave with a smile that recalled their own young love. Michiru could not help
but wonder if she or they were closer to loss.
The sun had begun its slow
arc towards the horizon as they slowed to a stop. Haruka helped Michiru
dismount and walked the vespa through the gateway of a low, white stone wall.
Inside was a patio of the same stone, rising into a villa with a modest gray
door.
Haruka cracked it out with a
smile. “Do you want to see?”
Inside, there was simply a
bed in the same white as the stone, and a small kitchenette set up with yellow
flowers on the table providing the only splash of color. Beyond that, though,
double doors showed a small terrace, and beyond that, the sea. Michiru found
herself drawn back outside. She would indeed like to paint this place.
“It’s the caldera,” Haruka
said, putting a hand on her back. “It’s actually a volcano.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Here,” Haruka pulled a
sketchbook out of her sidebag. “For until our suitcases come. I know you’re
itching.”
“Oh Haruka, I couldn’t
possibly waste our first moments here, we should…”
Haruka laughed. “I planned
this, Michi.” She pulled out a Greek phrase book. “I figured I’d use this time
to try talking to people, find out what I couldn’t from the travel sites.”
Michiru almost wanted to
follow her, half to watch her attempts and half to console her when she
couldn’t understand a word. But for now she’d allow Haruka her pride.
She sat to sketch the
landscape, but the dark lines morphed to a darker scene. Haruka, limp and
broken in a fallen city. Mina behind her, turned away, cradling the knowledge
of necessary sacrifice. Michiru’s own hand reaching from the bottom of the
page. Too late.
Michiru tore it from the
book. She could give Haruka this one trip, she could. She would. When
their luggage arrived, she painted with an insistence of color, blues and
yellows that could never see death. She painted the sun getting low in the sky,
the water sparkling with evening light, the little fishing boats skirting
around the shore. She painted untouchable life until Haruka tapped on the patio
doors.
“I got us a little dinner, if
you’d like.” She held a large paper bag in one hand and a champagne bottle in
the other.
Michiru set down her brush
and smiled. “What did you get?”
Haruka pulled out a deep bowl
of rice, what seemed to be a roasted whole fish, and a little foil-wrapped
plate of baklava. “A man at the port told me I had to get you a fish, or else I
didn’t love you.”
Michiru could not help but
laugh. “And do you?”
“What?”
“Love me.”
“More than anything!” Haruka
abandoned the food and swept Michiru up in her arms. “I love you so much I want
to give you the most beautiful experiences, right down to this fish.”
It turned out to be a rather
good fish, and a good dinner. Michiru had worried Haruka might have been
conned. “It seems you’re getting on well with the locals.”
Haruka flushed pink. “Well,
sort of. One guy appreciated I was trying with the book and had me type in what
I wanted to say into google translate. We had a whole little conversation and
he told all his fishing buddies I was a good lass.”
Michiru felt a calm wash over
her she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She could see Haruka struggling with
unfamiliar words, see the old man being charmed, see him taking her under his
wing. Haruka was soft and good and it shone through sometimes, no matter how
she might hide it.
“Haruka?”
“Hm?”
“I would like to make love to
you.”
The morning that followed was
the first in recent memory Michiru slept through a vision. It happened
sometimes, the way a nightmare may not wake you, even though the memory stays.
She woke to bright sunlight and the warmth of Haruka’s body and she did not pull
away. She put a hand on Haruka’s side. She could feel the long, lean muscles of
her runner’s body. The slow and heavy rhythm of her breathing. Her heartbeat
faint against Michiru’s fingertips.
Michiru felt suddenly that
she was watching golden sand slip through her fingers, but rather than grasp at
it all she could do was watch it sparkle.
She grabbed her sketchpad,
glad it was in reach of the bed, and drew right atop her pillow. She kept it
loose, for movement, and let the pencil lines blur to softness under her hand.
It came out messy, messy in the way all her teachers would have scolded her
for, but it was Haruka. Sleepy, messy Haruka. Alive Haruka. She flipped the
page and did another, from memory and imagination instead of life. And another.
And another. By the time Haruka stirred she had a handful of sketches– Haruka
sleeping, Haruka running, Haruka speaking to an old man about fish.
“Mmm.” Haruka rolled over to
press up against Michiru. “You stayed with me.”
“I’m learning, love.” Michiru
kissed her forehead. “I love being here with you.”
Haruka beamed. Sleep clung in
her eyes and made her tender. “I told you you’d like the trip.”
“I do, but that’s not what I
meant.” She stroked her hair. “What do you have planned for today?”
“I want to take you around
one of the villages. Fira. It’s supposed to be fun.”
They took the vespa out as
the morning light bounced around the hills. Every breeze smelled like the sea
today. Michiru leaned close to Haruka’s back around every curve of the road. An
unusual giddiness mixed with an even stranger calm inside her. They were alive.
Alive. Alive. The word became the song of her heartbeat, the steady
lyric of the rhythm. Alive. Alive.
She felt it still as they
walked along the streets of a market, Haruka walking the vespa with one hand
and holding Michiru with the other. Haruka offered to buy her something from
every shop, even the one selling pots shaped like melting faces. She succeeded
in ignoring Michiru’s protests long enough to get a simple bracelet, made of
beads that were the same white stone of every walkway, save for a single blue
one, rounded into smoothness among its rough companions.
They dined facing the
caldera, at a restaurant Michiru considered barely passable but Haruka loved
every morsel from. They sat a long while with coffees, looking out onto the
water.
“You know the myth of
Atlantis?”
Michiru smiled. “That I do.”
Haruka often connected ocean legends to her, sometimes even to the point of
being nonsensical.
“Some people think it
was based on this place. Not this island, but islands that were here before.
The volcano erupted, and even though it made new islands, old ones were lost.
Towns like this were lost to the sea.” Haruka looked down. “I just thought that
was interesting.”
Michiru laced her fingers
into Haruka’s. “You did a lot of research into this.”
“A little, yeah.”
“Well, thank you. It’s been
so lovely.”
“We still have a few days
before we go back!” Haruka stopped, embarrassed. “Do you really like it?”
“I really do.”
She had Haruka pose that
night when they got back. As much as she was her favorite subject, Haruka did
not often sit for Michiru. Now she sat on the balcony, backdropped by the
hillside and sky. Her top buttons were undone just enough to let the wind catch
her collar. She sat for hours as Michiru painted, only fidgeting every now and
again.
“This must be boring for
you.”
“No,” Haruka said, clearly
trying not to move her mouth too much. “It’s fun to see you like this. You get
a light inside.”
Michiru smiled. The stars
were made triple in her painting, reflected in the water and mimicked by the
white houses on the hills, but still they were outshined by Haruka’s eyes.
“Sometimes I ache to capture you. I know I never can.”
Haruka finally broke the pose
and frowned. “I think your paintings of me are beautiful.”
“But they’re only the
faintest shadow of you.” Michiru hid behind her canvas, pretending to mix
paint. “No matter what I do, they’re missing huge parts of you. They’re flat.
You’re lovely in more dimensions than any medium can capture. But I still want
to hold onto it.”
“Hold onto me.” Haruka came
to her, put her arms around her. “Hold onto me, I’m here.”
“I’m trying.” Michiru buried
herself in Haruka’s chest. She breathed in her scent, soap and sweat and a hint
of cologne still clinging on from the morning. “I want you in more ways than I
can have you.”
“Michi, you have all of me.
We have each other.”
“We do.” Michiru squeezed her
tighter. “That’s true. I… I just struggle sometimes. I’m sorry.”
Haruka pulled back just
enough to look at her. “Do you know why I wanted to come here?” She
stroked a single tear away from Michiru’s face.
“You said it was beautiful.”
“It’s more than that.” Haruka
took a deep breath. “I know you and Rei see things you don’t tell me
about. I know Mina’s prepared for things I can’t even conceptualize. It all
scares the shit out of me. The idea that our life and happiness could be
temporary, that this whole thing is so fragile the next battle could destroy it…
I don’t think I’ll ever know how to face that. But this place is the most
beautiful place I’ve seen, maybe the most beautiful place in the world. And
it’s on top of a volcano. People live over an active volcano. The bluest sky
could go grey with smoke and ash any moment, but until it does it’s still the
bluest. And that’s maybe how I have to live my life, it’ll be the happiest
until it’s not, but I’m happy with you now. I wanted to see this. I wanted it
to tell me how to do it. And I’m still scared. But I also feel a little
peaceful. I love you, Michiru.”
She pulled out a ring, a
silver band adorned with a tiny but stunning diamond. “And maybe I won’t be
your wife for long but if I get to for a moment, I want to for that moment.
Maybe that’s stupid, but it’s how I feel.I want to give you all of myself, for
however long I have.” Haruka got down on one knee. “I planned to do this
on our last night, but I’m gonna take beautiful moments when they come. That’s
how I wanna live. That’s how I wanna be your wife. I want to be your wife,
Michiru, I want to marry you. Will you have me?”
“Oh Haruka.” Michiru’s breath
was stuck, her chest felt filled with water and light and a burst of love she
could not contain. She saw the future, all at once, not the end but the rest, a
wedding and a life, everything she’d have instead of everything she’d lose.
They could have a life together. The end didn’t have to be the important part,
not now.
“I want nothing more than to
be your wife, Haruka.” She crouched to hold Haruka’s face. “I promise to give
all of myself to you, to do my best to make you happy all my life.”
“Marry me, Michi.”
“Yes.”
The little diamond glinted
brighter than all the stars, even as they were all outshone by Haruka’s eyes. Alive.
Alive. Alive. Michiru felt their hearts beat as one.
Sometime early but not too early in their relationship, Haruka is out to dinner with Michiru and her parents, because sometimes Michiru has to appease her relations. She’s coached Haruka through not ordering the cheapest thing on the menu, and not offering to pay (something Haruka is equal parts uncomfortable with and grateful for, because she can’t afford anything at the places the Kaiohs frequent).
So Haruka decides to show she can have good taste and be refined, and she orders lobster, because it is, in her mind, the ultimate rich people food.
Haruka has never had lobster.
Michiru is not quick enough to stop her.
The alarm bells start to go off when the waiter ties a bib around her neck. Haruka’s stomach drops as a whole little lobster, shell and all, is placed in front of her. She picks up the lobster cracker with no idea where to begin.
“That looks delightful, love, my I try a bite?”
Haruka wordlessly hands Michiru the crackers, and she expertly opens one of the claws.
“This is terribly rude, I know, but this is so delicious, would you like to share our dishes? Here, you can have some of mine.”
Michiru swaps their plates around, and Haruka is so relieved and so in love she begins looking at engagement rings the very next day.
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.”
Do you ever think about how while Haruka is a good fighter she’s a terrible soldier, all those instincts passed her by, and there’s probably a moment early on in her friendship with Minako when they have a sleepover and some noise jolts Minako awake. She’s on her guard ready to fight but Haruka stays peacefully asleep sprawled next to an empty pizza box and Mina finds herself tucking a blanket around her and hoping she’ll never change.
SittingOverHereDreaming 