Tag: harumichi

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Senshi crime AU

Michiru is the head of a high crime empire. Her personal interest is art theft, both for the thrill and because the masses do no deserve what only a true artist can appreciate.

Usagi is her secretary who is utterly clueless the business she works for is a front. Michiru has stopped expecting her to figure it out and counts it as a brilliant stroke of luck.

Ami was recruited after she was expelled from the medical community for extensive insurance fraud. While she can sometimes tend towards righteous, her hacking skills are invaluable to Michiru’s operation.

Michiru’s current recruitment target is Minako— a brilliant con artist it’s taken months to track.

What Michiru doesn’t know is Mina has no interest in crime that benefits the wealthy. She’s running a small Robin-Hood style operation (sometimes, she is the poor they are helping, but a girl’s gotta eat) with two bleeding hearts, ex-Yakuza Makoto and petty thief/street racer Haruka (the latter of whom she may have met while they were both running from the cops, Haruka had luckily been willing to take a passenger and had modified her car well enough that the police couldn’t catch them)

Meanwhile Rei is a fresh investigative journalist determined to make her name by blowing open Michiru’s operation, and she’s willing to cut a deal with the likes of Mina to do it

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Quick light HaruMichi fluff piece, 700 words

———————————-

Michiru’s mother had always been a hard woman, and over the years Michiru had watched that stiffness become literal. The slow progression of stony maintenance, chiseling away each flaw as it manifested so that she might become a statue of the woman Michiru saw in her parent’s wedding photos. When she had last seen her mother, she could not raise her eyebrows again yet, and she asked if Michiru had considered starting ‘getting work.’

She’d been appalled at the suggestion, she’d always promised herself she would be different from her parents in so many ways, bult as she leaned into the mirror now…

Michiru had thought it would happen so much later. But the lines around her eyes extended like a dozen little liner wings, and creases on her forehead would not dissipate no matter how she relaxed the muscles beneath them. The bones of her shoulders, elbows, knees, the lines of her neck, they had all grown more pronounced, seemingly overnight.

She opened her phone to look through pictures. When had it began? Wasn’t she still so young? Her mother hadn’t… but how was she to know when things began for her mother? She was nearing sixty, and Michiru had never seen as much as a gray hair appear unchecked. Perhaps she had the right of it. It was the only way, surely, turn to stone to bear the weight of age. Michiru would have to make some calls, and then—

“Michi?”

She straightened, smoothed her dress, fixed her hair. “Yes?”

“You’re taking awhile, the show…”

“Oh, yes.” Michiru looked in the mirror again. She had not even begun her makeup, and she needed it now more than ever. “Perhaps you could go ahead of me, I’m going a bit slow today.”

“I’m not going without you.” Haruka cracked the bathroom door. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, love.” She grabbed her foundation and unscrewed the cap in a hurry. “I merely got distracted.”

“Michiru.” She opened the door further and stepped inside. “I know you. You can talk to me.”

It wasn’t fair—Haruka was every bit as handsome as the day they’d met, while she… while she…

Michiru faced her reflection. “I’m old.”

Haruka’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I’m old.”

Haruka laughed, though not unkindly.  “If we’re old now, we’re gonna be ancient in a few years.”

“I will. You’ll be fine.”

“What?” Another laugh, this time with the slightest edge. “I look older than you.”

Michiru could not find the words respond. Haruka stuck her face in the mirror beside her.

“Soon I won’t even be able to call myself blonde.” She gave her hair a good-natured shake. “And Mina likes to say I’ve begun the slow morph from butch noodle to ravioli.”

Michiru met her eyes in the mirror. It was all true, in a strict sense, and yet…

“But it’s handsome on you. You look just as good, better even, than before. And I…”

“You’re beautiful, Michu.” Haruka took her gently by the shoulders and turned her so they faced each other. “You’re the most beautiful woman to ever live.” She smiled sheepishly. “I kinda like see you get older. For a long time I thought I wouldn’t get to.”

“Oh, Haruka.”

“I know, I know, but really.” She stroked her face with her thumb. “I wouldn’t want you looking younger. This is where we are now, and I like it.”

“You don’t think…” Michiru glanced back to the mirror. “You wouldn’t have me get anything?”

“God no.” Haruka kissed her on the forehead. “You’re perfect, Michu. And you won’t ever not be.”

“You’re very sweet,” she said, but she felt her spirits lift. “I’m sorry I’ve made us so late.”

“It’s okay, I was gonna sleep through most the show anyway. I’m so old, you know, I can’t stay awake anymore.”

Michiru laughed. “You’ve been old a very long time then.”

“I suppose I have.” Haruka grinned. “Though you know, if you’re worried about being late, we could go now. You’re more than beautiful enough already…”

“I’m going to put on my makeup, Haruka.”

“I figured as much, but it was worth a try. Someday you’ll believe me on that front, too.”

She kissed Michiru’s cheek and let her be. Michiru selected a lipstick with a lightness in her heart, a feeling that could never turn to stone.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

@awashsquid said:
PLEASE WRITE THIS OMG

@paksenarrion-reader said:
bonus points: horses get skittish around people who are nervous
                                                    

TUMBLR WOULDN’T POST A REGULAR REPLY POST RIGHT, BUT HERE’S ABOUT 2400 WORDS ON THIS ENJOY

Haruka was not entirely sure how she’d gotten here. Michiru saying she had a surprise had honestly sounded like a sex thing, and the outfit she’d told Haruka to change into had only supported that in Haruka’s mind. Small pants, a jacket with a lot of buttons, high boots? Seemed like one of Michiru’s weird fantasies to her, and then Michiru had been in a matching outfit, but with a whip… what was she supposed to think?

Maybe the fact that they then left the apartment should have tipped her off. Michiru was a private person. Even a hotel seemed too gauche for her tastes, but Haruka hadn’t wanted to say anything. They’d only been together a little while, and by Haruka’s guess they only had a little while longer until Michiru realized she deserved something better, so she didn’t feel it was her place to ask questions.

Now, staring into one dark eye of a large beast, she realized she should have asked a lot of questions.

“Isn’t she lovely?” Michiru asked, brushing the mane of another horse. “Noir has long been a favorite of mine, I requested she be brought out for you.”

Haruka made a motion of patting the horse’s side without actually touching it. “Oh, uh. Thanks. She’s… great.”

Michiru smiled. “I’ve been thinking about all the things we have in common, and I realized I was overlooking such a wonderful thing we share. I grew up taking riding lessons, you grew up in the country, we did the same thing as children even though our backgrounds were so different.”

“Yeah,” Haruka croaked. “Amazing.” It had been Michiru’s mission to find their common ground lately. She wasn’t ready to accept that they came from different worlds and would end up in different worlds. And here, she thought she’d found something they really shared, beyond their attraction to each other.

But Haruka had never been on a horse. She’d never even been near a horse, except that one time a school friend’s uncle had taken them to a race and asked if they’d pitch in on his bet. When Michiru heard the drawl of Haruka’s accent, she pictured open pastures and grazing cattle, but the trailer Haruka had grown up in barely had yard enough for a sandbox.

Haruka tried to pet the horse for real. It shied away from her hand.

She had to tell her.

“Uh, Michiru…”

“Michiru!”

Another woman strode up, a brilliant white horse in tow. “I haven’t seen you out here in months, how are you?”

Michiru’s face morphed into the placid, polite expression Haruka had come to recognize as her socialite mask. “Oh, Rina, how nice to see you. It really has been too long.”

“And who is this… charming gentleman you have brought with you?”

Haruka stiffened.

“She is my companion for the day, Haruka. She’s quite good at riding, I’m not sure you’ll be able to keep up with us.”

Haruka swallowed hard.

Rina smiled. “I’ll just have to try my best.” She looked at Haruka’s horse with what Haruka was sure was faux concern. “Noir seems skittish today, did something happen?”

Michiru’s eyes narrowed. “She does dislike negativity.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She pulled gloves over her manicured hands. “What trail are we riding today?”

“We haven’t decided, perhaps you should go on ahead and pick one yourself.”

“Oh, nonsense. How could I miss this opportunity to catch up with you?” Rina flashed a glance at Haruka. “And your companion seems so interesting.”

Haruka was doomed, plain and simple. Noir’s ears flicked back and forth as she pawed at the ground. Haruka was going to have to ride her. Her heart pounded in her ears. As if the horse could hear it too, she whinnied and side stepped as far as the bridle would let her go.

“Let us not delay any longer,” Rina said with a smile that seemed malicious to Haruka. “It’s too nice a day to waste it in the yard.”

Haruka watched as she mounted on her horse with ease. Left side, foot up, and then… she was just magically atop the saddle, looking smug.

Haruka took a deep breath. “Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.” She slowly drew close to Noir. “You don’t like me, and I don’t like you, but we gotta do this, okay?” She put a hand on the horse’s neck, and she finally didn’t pull away. “Okay. We can do this.” A horse couldn’t be that different from a car, really. Both were big and scary, but when you knew what you were doing they were the safest thing in the world, practically. Haruka just had to ignore that she didn’t know wht she was doing.

She positioned herself on the left side, as she’d seen Rina do. Foot up, that seemed good, sturdy, yes. And then she just had to lift herself, it wasn’t scary, she wasn’t terrified, she was doing just fine…

And then Noir bucked. Haruka hit the ground and skidded on her back. Michiru would be so mad about the grass stains, shit.

“Haruka!”

“I’m fine.” She sat up as Michiru rushed over. “I didn’t hit my head or nothin’.”

Michiru brushed her off and looked into her eyes. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this today, Noir seems out of sorts, and–”

“Naw, I want to.” Haruka stood. “Little rough start never meant nothin’.” She smiled, and the knot between Michiru’s brows dissipated.

“If you’re sure, lo… Haruka.”

Haruka turned back to Noir. The good thing was, she supposed, that she was stupid and stubborn more than she was ever afraid. She remembered hearing once that horses could smell fear. “Well,” she whispered to Noir was she readied to try again. “Let’s see if you can smell determination too.”

And maybe they could, or maybe it was just a miracle, for Haruka settled into the saddle with only a few sickening moments of fear that she might tip over. Rina watched her with a cocked eyebrow. She knew, Haruka was sure. How Michiru hadn’t caught on was the only real mystery.

Rina led the way towards the wooded trails. Haruka was grateful that Noir knew to follow without guidance.

Michiru angled her horse to be stride for stride with Haruka’s. “I’m so sorry she’s here,” she whispered. “I wanted it to be just us.”

“It’s fine,” Haruka lied. “We can be alone later.” That was a true comforting thought, confessing everything to Michiru when they got back to her home, where Michiru would maybe offer her tea Haruka didn’t really like but appreciated the gesture, and wrap her in a blanket and stroke her hair while promising they’d never have to do it again.

“She just…”

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Rina pulled back on her reins, slowing until her horse was between Haruka and Michiru. “I’d love to hear whatever you’re gossiping about.”

“Oh, have you heard that my mother might not be able to attend this year’s charity gala? Quite tragic, I’m afraid…”

Michiru led her into mindless prattle, and Haruka took the opportunity to focus on her bearings. Riding was wholly uncomfortable, bumpy, and she felt as though she might wobble too far to one side at any moment. But the horse was calm, for now, so Haruka figured she should be grateful.

“Wouldn’t you agree, Haruka?”

“Oh,  yeah, um, what?”

Rina looked at her expectantly. “We should really pick up the pace. I’d love to see your true skill with riding.”

“Yeah,” Haruka said, her stupid pride jumping off her tongue before her brain could catch it. “Definitely.”

“We ought to have a race to the edge of the wood.” To her other side, Michiru frowned.

“Surely after the incident earlier…”

Rina waved her off. “Oh, Michiru, it’s all in good fun. And Haruka wants to, don’t you Haruka?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well there you have it. You aren’t going to deny us our fun, are you?”

“I just wouldn’t want to bruise your ego too much, Rina, you’ve never been able to outride me.”

Rina’s expression crossed into contempt for a moment. “Overconfidence is a dangerous trait.”

“I don’t believe I’ve been overconfident.”

“We’ll see about that.” She took off, and Michiru quickly overtook her.

Haruka’s heart sank as Noir merely stopped.

“Run,” she tried.

She pressed her legs into the horse’s sides in what she assumed was the right way. Noir began to walk, but only at the same pace they’d been going before.

“No, listen, this is gonna let them know I’m a fraud. You gotta run for me.”

Noir did not seem interested. Haruka gave the reins a shake. “Please, come on.”

Nothing.

She had an idea. A bad idea, she knew, but an idea, and the only one she could think of. She couldn’t embarrass Michiru in front of that insidious woman anymore than she already had. So she took one shaking hand off the reins, leaned back a little, and slapped Noir near the tail.

Noir launched forward, nearly throwing Haruka off. Her heart leapt to her throat, every frightened beat seeming to drive Noir to go faster. Rina and Michiru came back into sight, she was going to pass them. She could say her delay was to make it more fair, that was good.

But, she realized as Noir careened closer and closer, she didn’t know how to maneuver around them. “Watch out!” she half-screamed, making Noir press on even faster.

She barely caught Michiru’s gasp as she pulled her horse to the side of the trail to let Haruka pass, but she could have sworn she heard Rina chuckle.

The woods passed in a blur, Haruka barely being able to duck under low branches fast enough. The end appeared before her, and she realized the most important thing she didn’t know.

“Stop!” She yelled as they broke into the sunny open trail. “Stop!”

That, apparently, was not the way to stop a horse. She squeezed with her legs, and then pulled on the reins.

Noir reared up, and for a second the forward momentum Haruka still had made her feel like she’d stay on, she leaned into the horse’s neck with all her strength, but her balance was too wobbly and she slipped to one side, feet coming out of the saddle and the ground suddenly rising up to meet her shoulder, hard.

Noir trotted to the side to graze the grass, seemingly proud of her work.

Haruka lay splayed on the trail, half worried the next horse to come by would trample her and half too consumed by pain to care.

She didn’t budge as hoofbeats thundered towards her.

“Haruka!” Michiru practically leapt from her horse and ran to kneel at her side. “HAruka, are you alright?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into Noir today, something must have happened while I haven’t been coming, I–”

“Is she alright?” Rina had the decency to look sheepish.

“Ride back and get help, she might be hurt.”

Rina’s face went white. Haruka wondered what she had expected to happen. “I… yes, right away.”

“Did you hit your head?”

“No, I landed on my shoulder.” She was lucky, she knew, but it hurt like hell. “Michiru, I have to tell you. There’s nothing wrong with the horse. I’m the problem. I’ve never done this before.”

Michiru put her face in her hands. “Oh Haruka, I’m so sorry. I wondered, when we first arrived, but then you didn’t say anything, and…”

“No, it’s my fault, I was pretty stupid about it.” She pushed herself up to sit with her good arm, and felt around her shoulder. Nothing felt broken, she might get off with just a hell of a bruise. “I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to be too…you know… poor to have a good time with.”

“That’s not…” Michiru looked at her, her eyes shockingly wet. “So many of the things I like are boring to you. Art is too static, and you always fall asleep during foreign films, and…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I understand, I can’t pay attention at all when you turn on a race.” Michiru pressed her lips together. “But I like being with you, and I want to show you there are things we can do together, because I love you. And I’ve done this all wrong, and–”

“Wait, back up a little.” Haruka swallowed. Her throat was suddenly very dry, and her heart pounded harder than it had at any moment on the horse. “What did you just say?” Had the pain made her hallucinate? Surely, it couldn’t be that Michiru had really just said…

Michiru’s eyes went wide and she cast them to the ground. “I… it’s okay if you don’t feel it too, especially after what a fool I’ve been today, I understand. But I love you, Haruka, and if there’s any way I can find to keep you, I’ll do it.”

“Michi, I’m not nearly good enough for you. I don’t have the things you need. I can’t even ride a horse.”

“The fact that you tried is proof enough that you’re too good for me.” She gave a small half smile, more vulnerable than Haruka had ever seen her. “Maybe we don’t have anything in common, and maybe it won’t work, but I’m in love with you, Haruka.”

Haruka swallowed again. “Well, you know, I guess that’s one thing in common we have.”

Michiru looked at her in askance.

“I’m in love with you, too.”

She sighed. “You don’t have to say it just because I did, I’ve had quite enough of social niceties for the day.”

“Michi, I got thrown off a horse trying to prove myself to you, I wouldn’t do that for just any girl. I love you.” She leaned forward and kissed her, soft and slow. “I love you, Michiru.”

Michiru’s eyes traced up from Haruka’s lips to her eyes. “I love you, Haruka.” She shook her head. “We’ve both been such idiots today, haven’t we?”

Haruka laughed. “Hey, there’s another thing we’ve got.”

“I suppose that’s true.” She smiled. “Now, let’s get your shoulder checked out, and then never come back here again.” She stood and offered her hand to Haruka.

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

They walked off together, hand in hand.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Scenario:

Michiru wants to prove to country bumpkin!Haruka that they really DO have things in common, and she decides that horseback riding is obviously one of them

Haruka has to either try to find a way to explain a) her childhood home was a trailer, not a farm b) she’s never been on a horse and c) horses are in fact, rather frightening (without embarrassing herself or Michiru in front of other socialites), OR FAKE KNOWING WHAT SHES DOING AS BEST SHE CAN

And of course she chooses the latter

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

A Wedding, For Love

Michiru’s mother visits her on the morning of her wedding. A pretty short companion to A Wedding, For Real at just 900 words.

She’d sent Rei away on a series of menial missions—- call
the caterer one last time, check on their bouquets, go to the hall early to
ensure Haruka was in no amount of trouble. Setsuna, she told she wanted to be
left alone. The truth always worked with her.

Michiru stared herself down in the mirror. She was supposed
to be feeling things, she knew. She was supposed to be happy and dewy with
tears over the day and how beautiful she looked. But her reflection looked like
a doll, the fitted bodice of her dress and the arrangement of her hair too
perfect to be quite real. She’d been a doll for all her childhood. The urge to
be real and the need to be a beautiful bride worthy of marrying Haruka battled
within her. If she loosed just one strand of hair, snagged just one edge of
lace…

The door opened with a creak.

“I assure you I’m fine, Rei, and I do need you to—“

“You’ll find I can’t be kept away so easily.”

Michiru stood straighter and cleared all emotion from her
face. “Mother.”

“You look beautiful, though I do wish you’d let us help pick
the designer.” She came close and smoothed the lace over Michiru’s collarbone. “I
suppose I should be happy she didn’t take you to a department store.”

“If this is what you’re here for, I will have you removed.”

Her mother smiled. “You are still the woman I raised after
all.”

MIchiru said nothing.

“I merely wanted to get a picture with you before the
ceremony.”

“I’m to expect a photographer stationed outside the door,
aren’t I? The shot will be in the papers before I say ‘I do.’”

“Well, Michiru, there’s very little we’ve been able to put
out, lest anyone look into your choice of… partner.”

“Yes, I know I’ve quite ruined your plans. It’s so appalling
that I’ve fallen in love with someone who works for her living, isn’t it?”

“Have I taught you nothing? Love isn’t what’s important
here.”

Michiru let herself have a derisive laugh. “Yes, mother, if
there’s one thing you’ve taught me, it’s that.”

Her mother sighed and sat down, folding her hands over her
lap just so. “I suppose it’s easier for your kind.”

Michiru watched her in the mirror. “I’m not sure what you
mean.”

Her mother gestured vaguely with her hand, oddly
uncharacteristic. “To throw it all away for love. You all put so much into
getting marriage, you must feel like you have to marry whomever you want.”

Michiru froze. This was territory she’d never entered with
her mother.

In the mirror, Mrs. Kaioh rubbed her thumb against her
wedding ring. “It’s standard, for the rest of us to marry for other reasons.
Even people like your partner. You see it in the papers all the time. They
marry for insurance, or for tax reasons. It’s always been a business
transaction.”

“Did you love someone?” she dared ask, very quietly.

Her mother looked off, away from the mirror and away from
Michiru. “There was a boy, yes, before I met your father. Looking back, it was
very juvenile. He played polo with my brother. It was all a great secret. We
believed in it then, that we would find a way to bring the idea to our parents.
He wouldn’t have been a terrible match.”

“But then father came.”

“Neither I nor my parents could say no to his proposal.” She
ran her fingers along the hem of her dress, just as she had chided Michiru for as
a child. “I always thought we would find a similar proposal for you. It being a
woman is no great obstacle. You have an acquaintance, even, who is the daughter
of a senator…”

Michiru laughed—genuinely laughed in front of her mother for
the first time since childhood—unsure if it was funnier to hear her maid of
honor called her acquaintance or to hear it suggested that she could marry Rei.

Even her mother smiled. “I do suppose, with what I know, the
two of you would have a messy and expensive divorce.”

“That would only be if there wasn’t a messy and expensive
murder first.” Their eyes met in the mirror. “Haruka has something better than
money or status. She’s going to take care of me, even if you can’t understand
how.”

“You’re certain?”

“More than anything.” Michiru pressed her lips together,
mindful not to smudge her lipstick. “I thought for a long time I would marry
your way, and then hoped that I would not marry at all. But she… she shows me
there’s something more to life. There’s something worth it under the charade
and under the horror. I love her, and for that love I’m going to marry her.”

Mrs. Kaioh closed her eyes and sighed with the slightest
smile. “With all my love for you, I wish you the greatest happiness.”

“Thank you.” Michiru turned to face her.

Her mother immediately straightened in her chair and crossed
her ankles. “Well then, are you quite ready to leave? I will not have you cause
the spectacle of being late for your ceremony.”

Michiru turned back quickly, loosing one strand of hair near
her ear. She made sure that side faced the photographer as they passed him
outside, but she squeezed her mother’s hand tight, knowing they’d never have a moment
like this again.

Sam you got any Harumichi or Seiusa (or both) winter headcanons?

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Yessssssss. Also lmao these are so different in tone,
whoops.

Harumichi

  • Winter is the hardest season for them
  • Haruka gets RESTLESS. Running and driving are technically
    things she can still do, but they’re not the fast freedoms she needs. She can’t
    just drop everything and run. It’s a process.
  • (Do not suggest Haruka get on a treadmill when it’s snowy. She
    can’t explain why it doesn’t work for her, but it makes her feel even more
    stuck.)
  • Once she’s working as a mechanic it gets a little easier,
    because she has so much to throw herself into at work in the cold
  • (She accidentally charms so many young women as she puts on
    their snow tires. A lot of business comes her way through word of mouth.)
  • For Michiru, winter has always been the time of year her
    family cared most about putting on a good face for each other and the public
  • The Kaioh family Christmas shot somehow always gets “leaked”
    to the press
  • Michiru has zero interest in playing along once Haruka is in
    the picture, especially since the rest of the family does not want Haruka in
    the literal picture
  • It’s a fight every year. Every single year.
  • Whenever she can convince Haruka to leave the mechanic shop
    in someone else’s hands, she jets them off to some distant, warm vacation spot where
    she “doesn’t get service” and screens all her family’s calls until well into
    January
  • It’s healthier for both of them. Haruka runs on the beach
    while Michiru relaxes by the water
  • (They’re always back in time for Haruka’s birthday though.
    Michiru treats it as the only real holiday)

Seiusa

  • Can you say SNOW BUNNIES
  • These two love winter
  • To Usagi the season is all about cookies and hot chocolate
    and snuggling and those are three of her favorite things
  • Seiya is the SNOWBALL FIGHT CHAMPION
  • (That no one WANTS to be in a snowball fight with her is not
    important)
  • They are the couple that always builds ridiculously detailed
    snowmen together
  • It gets to the point that Usagi actually shops for
    accessories. They have a whole drawer of snowman hats and scarves and knickknacks
    that no one but Usagi would think of even putting on a snowman
  • The moment they go back inside is Seiya’s favorite, Usagi’s
    all rosy cheeks and cold hands and Seiya just always scoops her up in her arms
    to warm her back up
  • They have so many matching ugly sweaters, because Usagi
    thinks they’re cute and Seiya thinks they’re funny
  • Usagi is also a gift-giving champion. Seiya is STILL flabbergasted
    everytime she comes home on wrapping day and sees the carnage of Usagi wrapping
    everything for all her friends and family
  • Usagi has to give Seiya gifts in private because Seiya tends
    to get “just a bit teary” over her thoughtfulness and never wants anyone to
    know
  • Also just picture these two losers falling asleep on the
    couch under a big flannel blanket, Seiya slumped down with her head nuzzled
    into Usagi’s shoulder as the snow falls outside
~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Harumichi looking for their first apartment: a very fraught process, Haruka’s delicate feelings re:cost battle against her desire to fill Michiru’s every need, after a few tearful discussions they end up in something modest but modern and Michiru has the grace to let Haruka put in a decently fair share of the rent every month

Reinako looking for their first apartment: possibly an actual battle, Rei wants the cheapest place but also has impossible standards, Mina keeps suggesting artist housing as she is a yet-to-be-discovered actress/singer/model/general star but Rei refuses to live in a building full of theater kids, they end up spending their first year in a cramped, dirty studio because they can’t agree on anything but neither is willing to back down from their decision to live together

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Growing Up Fast Is Hard To Do: An Unhappy Outers Family Fic

Part Three (Part One/Part Two) (Ko-fi)

This part is about 1500 words, and pretty angsty.

There had to be something wrong with her, Hotaru knew.
Haruka never took her to the same park twice, unless she was particularly wound
up, and then she was greeted at home with stern whispers. Grocery stores were
on a specific rotation. Hotaru got to go where she’d been before sometimes, but
only with a different mother. She was encouraged not to talk to other children.
They couldn’t stop her from observing. So she saw—there was a little girl who
passed by the front yard every Saturday morning in her stroller. The little
girl looked the same every week. The boys who shoved their parents’ quarters
into the kiddie ride horse outside the grocery stores looked the same, too.
Hotaru did not look the same. She grew every few days, pajama pants getting too
short overnight. She saw children she’d resembled just days before struggle
with tasks she could now do easily. Hotaru twirled a pen in her hand. She
wanted to do something with the knowledge she was different.  

But that was where her knowledge ended. She’d asked Haruka
first, knowing she was easiest to crack. They’d gone out toy shopping, Haruka
promising to buy Hotaru anything she wanted.

“How about this?” she’s asked, pulling out an extravagant
Play-Doh set in vibrant neon colors.

“It doesn’t look like much fun.” Hotaru took a breath. “Papa,
should I find that more interesting than I do?”

“Of course not, sweetheart, you can like whatever you like.”
Haruka picked her up, struggling some as Hotaru was too lanky to fit against
her hip as she once had. “You don’t let anyone tell you what you like is wrong,
whether it’s girl things or boy things or little kid things or adult th—well,
not too adult now, but we can get you video games if you like, or—“

There was no one besides her mothers to tell Hotaru
anything. Expressing that, though, would be a pointless diversion. “That’s not
what I mean. A week ago, I might have liked that. This would have been the
right aisle to take me to.” Another parent and child wheeled their cart into
the aisle. The child bounced between shelves while their father looked on with
resignation.

“I looked like that recently,” Hotaru whispered.

Haruka gave a wry chuckle. “You’ve never been that excited,
sweetheart.”

“You’re missing the point!” Hotaru balled her fist and
stomped her foot. “I was that size, and most kids stay that size awhile. Why
don’t I?”

Haruka’s eyes went wide. She looked from Hotaru to the other
family and back again. “Uh. Well. Um. Ah. Kids grow at different paces, I always
grew faster than my moth—we shouldn’t talk about this here.” Haruka took her
hand and led her out to the parking lot. “There’s nothing wrong with you,
Hotaru. Don’t let anyone make you think there is.”

Hotaru had never felt such rage. How could Haruka-papa miss
the point so badly?  How could she not
see Hotaru’s problem at all? She seethed in silence all the way home.

Setsuna had fared no better.

“People age differently. I have been the same for longer
than anyone, and I know a little girl who did not grow for a very long time,
and then grew several years’ worth all at once.”

“But is that normal?”

“Who’s to say what’s normal, little one? We’re all
different. That’s the beauty of life.”

“Some people are much less different.”

“That may be true.”

Setsuna-mama prided herself on knowledge, and on sharing
that knowledge, but she would not share what Hotaru wanted.

“Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on?”

Setsuna had the decency to look remorseful. “You will find
out in time. We love you, Hotaru, and part of loving someone in protecting
them.”

It was a true statement and a false one, and Hotaru wanted
to rail against it but the dark suspicion that it was she herself that she was
being protect from ate her into acceptance.

It was precisely why she could not ask Michiru. If there was
some secret that made Hotaru horrible, Michiru would tell her. No dodging, no
sugar coating.

Well, Hotaru, the
Michiru in her head said, hands in her lap and uncaring placid smile on her lips.
The truth is you’re not a child at all.
You’re a monster. You’re too dangerous to be alone so we keep you here and
suffer.

Hotaru scribbled thick angry lines into the paper on her
desk. She could write and draw quite well now, but there was no satisfaction in
it. She wanted the truth, she wanted to destroy the lie, or destroy everything,
she wanted to tear down the world and make another, a better world, where she
was normal and could meet other kids and had a family that loved her in a way
she understood, and—

“Do you really want to know?”

Hotaru froze. The voice behind her was familiar yet foreign.
It was not from any of her mothers, yet she felt she heard it often.

“You had some of that, once,” the voice said. “Though you
were never quite normal.”

Hotaru braced herself and turned around. She saw not a
stranger, but herself, older and taller, dressed in a strange sailor suit and
holding something resembling a scythe.

“You were me,” the other said. “And we were sick, and we
were violated, and we were reborn.” She knelt so they were eye to eye. “You can
remember, but the truth can be hard. The happy parts as much as the sad parts.”

“I need to know. I need to know what’s wrong with me.”

The other smiled sadly. “There’s nothing wrong with you. All
there is now is you, and me. And I can’t exist unless you let me. You get a
choice this time.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. If you want to remember, you will. Now, are you
sure?”

Hotaru squared her shoulders. “I’m sure.”

The other touched her hand to Hotaru’s forehead. A wall in
her mind crumbled and the memories behind it surged forward in a wave. Her
father, the accident, the parasite that had grown inside her. The fragility,
the fear, the pain, the blossom of hope when she’d met Chibiusa. Her triumph
with Saturn. Her rebirth. The decision to rest, to try for a normal life. Her
father’s love, confusion, resolve to do better than the things he could no
longer quite remember. And—

Hotaru’s eyes shot open. She stood in her room alone. Her
pants were too short again, her sweater too snug, but this was no time to
bother adjusting to her new height. She stormed out of her room to find Setsuna
in the kitchen.

“You stole me.”

Setsuna stopped, dishrag in hand. “Hotaru—“

“You tried to kill me and then you stole me.”

Their eyes met. Setsuna was brave enough to not look away.

“I have only done what was necessary for the circumstances.”

“You said you loved me.”

“And I do.” Setsuna dropped her dish into the water and
faced Hotaru properly. “We were made for the good of the world, not ourselves.
As Saturn, you know that.”

“You want me to be Saturn, but I get to choose. It’s my choice, even if you try to take it
away.”

“I know what you will choose. That is why I took you.”

Hotaru wanted to hit her, to scream, to become Saturn then
and there and destroy the world. Worse still, she wanted these things because
Setsuna was not wrong. Pluto was not wrong. Pluto did do what she saw to be
right in the time stream, and how could Hotaru argue even as she hurt? She turned
to leave the kitchen, and there was Haruka.

“I know what you did.”

Haruka froze, fear settling in behind her eyes.

“I will not give you absolution. You will not find it in me.”

“Hotaru, please—“

“How can you ask anything of me?” Hotaru did scream, now.
Haruka was wrong, Haruka was human, Haruka had no right to understand her so
little. “You would have killed me, and nothing you do will erase that. Nothing.”

“Hotaru, sweetheart, I—“

“Don’t call me that!”

“That’s enough.” Michiru came up behind Haruka, the
terrifying picture of calm Hotaru knew she would be. “You can be angry, you can
be hurt. We did what we had to, and so did you.”

“I want my real family.”

“Then go.”

“Michiru!”

She held a hand to silence Haruka’s protest. “You may go, if
you’d like to explain all this to your father. If not, we will continue to
provide for you.”

“I…” Hotaru thought of her father, barely recovered from all
that had happened. He knew her now as a baby. Would he recognize her? Would she
make him remember all mercy had let him forget? “I hate you!” She ran to her
room, ignoring Haruka’s sobs behind her.