Tag: minako

~ 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

Mina-Mamo hatemance is stuck in my head now, not just as its
own thing but as a competing thing with Haru-Seiya.

Like, one day Haruka stomps around and throws up her hands. “Seiya
is such a jerkass! Why does Usagi have to keep bring her around?”

And Mina’s just like, “Buddy I’ve had to deal with Mamoru
for years. Seiya’s not that bad you can relax.”

“Seiya is THE WORST HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT. And what’s the
problem with Mamoru? He’s chill.”

“Only your dramatic gay ass would call a douche who runs
around in a tuxedo all night chill.”

“But he doesn’t bother anyone and he’s never hit on Michiru.”

Mina puts a hand on Haruka’s shoulder. “I know this is hard
to believe, but there are far worse things than hitting on your girlfriend.
Seiya has never endangered the planet and the princess across two life times,
and she has the decency to have a personality.”

“A PERSONALITY THAT SUCKS.”

Mina shrugs. “Just how I see it. Honestly if it wouldn’t
fuck up the future I’d rather Usagi end up with her. And maybe if it would too.”

“WHAT NO.” Haruka immediately starts drafting a list of
romance tips to give to Mamoru.

Mina wonders how out of line it would be if she let Seiya
know all Usagi’s favorite foods and date spots.

They work very hard to prove their respective points, but
before they can bring anything to Usagi or her suitors, she lets them know she’s
trying that polyamory thing, and will be dating Seiya too now.

Haruka and Mina collapse in on each other in despair.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

On the Night of the Ball

My entry for the prompt party, Harumichi Cinderella! Mine is a modern take, about 2600 words. Enjoy!

The phone rang just as Haruka had settled into the couch for
the night. She untangled from the blanket and dove for the old landline, the
long braid of her hair smacking into her back. The answering machine was in her
mother’s room, and it was best not to disturb her.

“Hello?”

“So you know how I bet you fifty bucks I’d get you to go to
the Halloween dance?”

“Mina, the dance is in an hour—“

“And I’ll call off the deal if you come over right now.”

Haruka sighed. “So I can either stay in pajamas and get
fifty bucks, or drag myself out and get nothing?”

Mina clucked into the phone. “You can either stay in, have
me come make a scene and pay me fifty bucks you don’t have when I get you to
the dance, or you can come over here and not have to worry.” There was a pause,
Haruka knew she was twirling her hair with her free hand. “How about this, if
you come over, I’ll still pay up if you don’t go. And I’ve got the movie butter
popcorn you like.”

“Fine, Mina. But I’m not changing my clothes.”

“Didn’t ask you to, buddy.”

Haruka slipped on her shoes without leaving a note. Her
mother would assume she was at Mina’s, if she even noticed. And unless Haruka
did something wrong, she didn’t notice.

They lived mercifully close, Mina just a few blocks away in
a marginally nicer house. Her mother would be out, and father home, but it
amounted to them being alone anyway. Haruka tucked the loose strands of her
hair back as she got to the door. It was never easy to know what to expect with
Mina. This could end with Mina literally dragging her to the dance, or it could
be a wild plan that mysteriously ended in the school gymnasium, and whoops,
look at that Haruka, you’re at the dance. Haruka gripped the door knob and
resigned herself to losing the bet in a night of misery.

Mina stood in the foyer, dressed in a long robe she must
have found at a thrift store. “Dahling, you made it,” she said in her best
old-movie actress voice, leaning against the wall with a hand on her head. “I
was beginning to worry.”

“What’s the plan, Mina?”

“Don’t look so resigned!” She smiled, big and devious. “I’m
going to give you the night of your life.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Haruka shoved her shoulder as they filed down
the hall to Mina’s bedroom. “You say that every night.”

“And compared to how you’d be without my stunning influence,
it’s true.” Mina hopped onto her bed, smushing several stuffed animals. “But
tonight is different. I’ve been saving up tips from the salon to pull this off.”

A new dread settled in Haruka’s stomach. “Mina, you shouldn’t
waste your money—“

“You say now, having been willing to rob me dry in a bet.”
Her eyes flashed, she knew she had Haruka. “I’ve still got my wages in the
move-out fund, don’t you worry. But tonight’s not about what we need, it’s
about what I want. And I want you to have a good time.”

“Then why can’t we stay in and watch movies?” Haruka did not
do dances—not the dresses, not the shoes, not the hair, and certainly not the
dancing, not where everyone could see her.

“Because we do that all the time. Tonight should be
different.” Mina cracked her knuckles. “See my plan through, and then you can
decide, okay? If you don’t like it, we’ll stay in and I’ll see what I can
return to the store tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

Mina jumped up and grabbed Haruka’s wrist. “We’ll start with
your hair.”

“Hey, wait, no. Off-limits. You promised when you started at
the salon—“

“That I’d never use you as a guinea pig for styling.” Mina
yanked her into the bathroom. “I’m not styling your hair, Haruka, I’m cutting
it.”

“What?”

“I’m cutting your hair.” She pulled out a clipper set. “That’s
always been part of the problem, hasn’t it?”

“I…” Haruka pulled on the end of her braid. “My mom…”

“Tell her it’s for a costume, and if she kicks you out
anyway, you’ll stay here.” Mina softened and put her hands on Haruka’s
shoulders. “Halloween is about being whatever and whoever you want to be. I,
for one, want to be a slutty, slutty vampire, forever young and beautiful. You
want to be something else. You can try it, for tonight, and if it’s not right
you say it was all play and let your hair grow and no one will bat an eye.”

Haruka looked in the mirror. She wanted it. Always had. Her
mother had caught her as a child, cutting her hair with the kitchen scissors to
look like a boy’s. She had not been allowed anything more than a trim ever
since. “Do you think it would look okay? You don’t think I’d look too…” She
meant to say boyish, but couldn’t. Part of her wanted that, too. Not to be a
boy,  but to look and exist in that space
she’d rarely seen occupied, of being a different sort of woman.

“This might not be the right thing to say, buddy, but I
think you might look kind of…” Mina stretched back, forcing nonchalance, “well,
kind of handsome.”

Haruka bit her tongue. She leaned closer to the mirror,
covered the start of her braid with her hands, a poor approximation of how it
might look. “I wanna do it.”

“Okay.” Mina pulled out scissors and held them to the base
of the braid. “Ready?”

Haruka took a deep breath. “Ready.”

The scissors snipped, hacking through, once, twice, three
times, and – thump! The braid fell to the tile like a dead animal. The bob of
Haruka’s remaining hair fanned around her face. Her head felt light, the smallest
motion made easier and bigger without the weight of the braid. Mina trimmed it
shorter, then switched to the clippers.

“This might tickle some.”

Just the sound as she turned it on sent shivers up Haruka’s
back. It vibrated the air with a magic she’d lusted after through barber shop
windows. Mina ran it up her head from her neck, and Haruka had to fight to keep
still. She couldn’t mess up her chance to look how she dreamed.

Slowly more hair fell to the floor in feathery clumps, until
Mina turned off the clippers and dusted Haruka off. Haruka tried not to cry—the mirror
now showed a woman standing tall even in her giant hoodie, hair just long
enough to be fluffy on top but shaped on the sides. “Mina…” she swallowed hard.
“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, buddy. We’re only half done.”

Haruka had no more words of protest or question. Mina led
the way back to her room and threw open her closet.

Haruka’s breath caught as she pulled out a suit.

“I can’t promise it will fit great, men’s sizing isn’t the
same. But, you know, I tried and it should be close.” She rummaged through her
drawers and pulled out a brilliant navy tie and a matching masquerade mask.

“This is too much, I can’t accept…”

“If this is a money thing, Haruka, don’t worry. I’ve been
planning this long enough that I had time to get good deals.” She opened the
suit jacket to reveal a big red stain on the lining. “Somehow, this has been in
Goodwill for a long time, even though they insist it’s only ketchup.”

Haruka laughed in spite of her awe. “I ever tell you you’re
too good to me?”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘Thank you Mina,
you’re the best and I’ll never doubt your judgement again.’”

“Thank you, Mina.”

Minako rolled her eyes. “Now, I’m going to change into my
vampire dress, and give you a moment. We’ll have to leave in a few.” She
grabbed her costume and vacated to the bathroom.

Haruka ran her hands along the suit sleeves. She’d worn men’s
clothes before, flying under the wire with hoodies and tee-shirts that weren’t
great but kept her from wanting to crawl out of her skin. This was something
else entirely. She rubbed at the base of her neck, where her braid had been
replaced with fuzz. She’d enter the dance a different person from the one who’d
left school that day. Even if it was only for tonight, she’d be the woman she’d
always dreamed of.

Slowly, she pulled off her sweatpants, then her hoodie. She
slid on the pants, happy to find them only slightly too short. She stole a pair
of black socks from Mina’s drawer to hide it. The shirt, on the other hand, was
long, but tucked in it made no difference. Haruka pulled on the jacket slowly,
suddenly worried it would make it all farcical, she’d be the ordinary gangly
girl, dressing up like someone she wasn’t. But it settled onto her shoulders, tight
but not too restrictive, and she turned to Mina’s full-length mirror with bated
breath.

It didn’t fit perfectly. But it wasn’t glaring, and she
looked… real. Or she felt real. She couldn’t think of how to say it. She
fumbled with the tie until Mina came back in.

“Damn, buddy, you clean up nice.”

Haruka chuckled, then choked into tears. “Will you help me?
I don’t know—“

Mina took the tie and stood behind her. “Now, you be sure to
tell everyone I’m very good with my hands.” She smoothed Haruka’s collar and
centered the knot. “The ladies are gonna eat their hearts out.”

“Do you think…” She hadn’t allowed herself to think too much
about anyone who might be at the dance, committed as she had been to not going.
But there was the girl, from homeroom, who’d sometimes caught her eye, and…

“Drag your gay ass back to earth now, buddy, you can either
dream or make it happen. If we don’t leave, we’ll be much more than fashionably
late.” She pulled the mask on Haruka’s head and they set out together into the
night.

The gym was pulsing and packed when they arrived. The only
lights came in flashing colors and through the door to the hall. Haruka pulled
at the ends of her jacket.

Mina rubbed her back. “Don’t worry buddy, you’re gonna be
great.”

“Nice suit, bro!” A footballer called as he passed.

Haruka swallowed. “They don’t recognize me.”

“Drastic haircuts and masks will do that. You okay?”

“Yeah I just… I feel different, too.”

Mina smiled. “Be who you wanna be, Haruka.” She paused. “Split
up or stay together?”

Haruka scanned the crowd, looking for the green hair of
homeroom girl. “Can we… Can I try being on my own?”

“Spread your gay little wings, buddy. You can find me if you
need me.”

 —–

Michiru wondered sometimes why she attended dances.
Homecoming and prom she understood—they were appearances, she would be crowned
Queen and have her picture in the papers, and her family would have one more
thing to brag to their friends about. But the mid-year frivolities… She sighed
and nodded as Rei chewed out a boy for asking her to dance. Why Rei came was perhaps
a bigger mystery– though she faced a different side of the same pressures as
Michiru, she was less apt to playing along. She knew Senator Hino oft wished he’d
had a son, so that his child might court the Kaioh prodigy rather than compete
with her. That Rei would have better luck as she was was lost on him.

Michiru supposed the night would go as it always did—accept a
dance from her homecoming king, and then a few from those who might be her
match for prom. Perhaps it all came down to training, the sweaty gym was the
young version of a high society gala, the attendees not yet skilled in hiding
their crude underbellies.

But then someone caught her eye. At first it seemed a boy in
a sharp costume, going for a formal masquerade rather than any of the silliness
others sported. But then she noticed the slight curve of chest and hip, the
uncertainty in movement, the charming line of the chin.

It was a girl, and a girl the way the partners of Michiru’s
dreams were girls. Their eyes met through her mask. There was something
familiar, though Michiru had never met anyone like her before. She rose from
her seat on the bleachers, not bothering to let Rei know where she as going. She
needed to know the stranger. She needed to meet this woman.

As if on cue, the dj announced the first slow song of the
night.

“Um, hi,” the other girl said as Michiru drew close.

Michiru could feel her nervousness. There was something
endlessly charming about it. “Hello.”

“Would you, well, would you like to dance with me?”

“I would.”

The butch’s hand was sweaty as she took Michiru’s, her
fingers shaking slightly. Michiru guided her other hand to her waist. As their
eyes met again, close enough to feel each other’s breath, Michiru felt a
familiarity she hadn’t expected.

“We’ve met, haven’t we?”

“Sort of.” She flushed red under her mask.

Michiru thought of the tomboy in homeroom, blushing whenever
the teacher called on her, playing with her long hair like she wanted to
disappear. Michiru had thought of her, looked at her, more than she cared to
admit. They’d sort of met, hadn’t they? Having never spoken, but seeing each other
every morning… Michiru ran her hand along the edge of the girl’s hair, wondering
how recently it had been cut. “I don’t want to be wrong about who you are.”

“Don’t guess.” Her eyes widened, like hearing the wrong name
might break her. “I think… Monday, if you want to find me, you’ll be able to.
And if you don’t, it’s okay.”

I’ll want to find you.
But Michiru said nothing and sank into the girl for the rest of the song. She
could feel their heartbeats mix in their fingertips, the other girl’s pounding hard
even as she got more confident in her movements.

“Tell me something that isn’t your name,” Michiru said
finally as the music faded into another DJ announcement.

“Um. My favorite color is blue, which I know isn’t original,
but it’s nice.” Michiru nodded for her to keep going. “And… I like flowers, but
not how people perceive liking flowers. Besides right now, running is about the
only time I really feel good.” She blushed again, and swallowed hard. “And
maybe this goes without saying, but in case it doesn’t, I’m… I like girls. And
I am a girl.”

Michiru stepped into what little space remained between
them. “I have one more question.”

The girl swallowed again. “Okay.”

“Can I kiss you?”

Her eyes went wide, but she nodded. Michiru stood on tip toe
and, gently as she could, placed her lips on hers. For a moment, the whole
world was still, narrowed down to the two of them.

Michiru rose a hand to the girl’s face as she pulled away. “I
want to know who you are.”

“I think you’ll be disappointed.”

“I don’t.” Though she wondered—if it wasn’t the girl she’d
been watching, would she be? “Whoever you are, I want to see you again.”

“Well. If that’s true, you’ll see me at school. And if– if
you still want to… you can ask me then.” She took Michiru’s hand and kissed her
knuckles. “I think I should leave. This… I want to keep this night beautiful.”

Before Michiru could protest, she was gone, taken from
Michiru’s sight in the crowd of bodies.

She closed her eyes, committing every second to memory. Come
Monday, she’d find the girl.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Alrighty here is my entry for Doc’s birthday contest, for the prompt “I won’t leave you.” T e c h n i c a l l y it’s a sequel to a much older fic, because that’s where the idea took me, but I did my best to make it stand on its own (especially because the old fic is… not so good looking back on it now).

The Edge
~1100 words
After a battle that wipes out Usagi and most of the Senshi, all that’s left of Minako is Venus, or so it seems. Haruka won’t accept Mina’s gone for good.

Haruka had
thought the hardest part was behind her. She’d dragged herself through the
despair, she’d kept going, she’d gotten what help she needed to get here. But
now, seeing that long blonde hair in the moonlight, she knew the hardest part
was yet to come.

“Mina!” she
yelled, to no response. The wind blew strong here on the cliff, but she feared
it hadn’t swallowed the sound. With a deep breath and a heaviness in her gut,
she tried again: “Venus!”

Venus did
not turn, merely rose a hand over the space beside her. Haruka walked up
slowly. The terrain felt uncertain under her feet, each rock ready to tumble
into the ravine below. Venus stood right on the edge. The toes of her shoes
curled over. Haruka had the obscene urge to make a toe the line joke.

“Why are you
here, Uranus?”

“I came for
you. Why are you here?”

Venus stared
up at the moon. Her eyes had gone gold, a pale, inhuman yellow that spoke of
power. “I don’t know.” Her face contorted, but the gold eyes did not tear.
Haruka wondered if they even could. “Last time it was quick. She died, we
failed, our right to exist ended until we could try again to prove ourselves
worthy.”

She shifted
her weight back and forth. Haruka reached for her hand, but Venus tolerated no
touch. “There was nothing we could do.”

“You would
say that.” Venus looked at Haruka for the first time, and even though her face
bore nothing but contempt, Haruka felt relief. “You never were cut out for
this. But I’m not like you. I could have saved her. I exist to save her.”

“I don’t
think that’s true,” Haruka said, slow and careful. “I think you exist for more
than that.”

“There is
nothing more.”

Venus turned
back towards the moon, and despair washed back over Haruka. There had been
things she could have done, she could have saved Usagi and Michiru and the rest
of them. But she was here and they were gone and all the hold she’d fought to
have on keeping on started to slip away. She’d ostensibly come for Mina, but really
she’d come for herself. She needed Mina, needed to know she could save
something. And she couldn’t. She looked over the cliff. It didn’t call to her,
the way holing up and drinking until she slipped away had. Part of her felt
almost cowardly for it.

“I can’t do
it either,” Venus said, her voice barely loud enough to cut through the wind. “It’s
what I’m supposed to do, isn’t it? Die for duty, or the loss of it.” For a
moment, Haruka saw Minako, the nights they’d stared down what it all meant, the
secret tears Mina had shed knowing her whole life wasn’t really hers. “I’m not
the soldier I’m supposed to be.”

“Mina…”

A misstep.
Venus slammed back to rigidity. “You may go.”

“I won’t
leave you.”

“It wasn’t a
question, Uranus. I’m your commander and I’m ordering you to leave.”

“Well, I’m a
bad soldier, aren’t I? That’s what you always say.” Haruka felt tears sting in
her own eyes. She wiped them away. “I need you, okay? I don’t have anything else
left. And neither do you, maybe. Just me.”

She waited
for Venus to tell her she was nothing. She heard it in her head, that she was
worthless, that she shouldn’t have the audacity to think she could mean
anything, but the words never came aloud. Venus’s shoulders slumped.

“Do you remember
being Mina?” Haruka dared to ask in a whisper.

“I wish I
didn’t.”

“Well, Mina
wished she remembered less of being you, so I guess you’re even.”

Venus shook her head. “I never should
have been that girl. She made me weak.” She spat into the abyss. “I
lost sight of the important things.”

Haruka sat and let her legs dangle and stared
at the distant dark line of the horizon. “You used to tell me there was
nothing more important than a good time.”

“I know that,” Venus
snarled. “I know who I was, I know all my failings.”

“They’re not failings to me. And they
weren’t to her, either.”

“Of course they were, Serenity is dead.”

“But she lived, and she loved you.”
Haruka looked up. There was a knot in her chest, she couldn’t help thinking of
Michiru and her own failings. “And I still love you. And Rei–”

“Don’t.”

“Rei and Usagi would both kick your ass
for this. Or well, Rei would try and Usagi would cry on you. But they’re not
here, so I have to do it for them.”

“As if you could.” Venus sniffed,
halfway between a sob and a smile. There were
tears in her pale eyes. 

“I could do it Usagi’s way. There’s
plenty to cry about.” She looked at Venus, daring to see Minako still
inside her. “You miss them, don’t you? Who they were this time?”

Venus sat down, seeming to shrink into a more
human form. “Isn’t it enough that I failed? The grand golden soldier has
fallen. Isn’t that enough despair? I don’t want to be the girl who feels more
than that.” She put her head on her knees. “I’ve been through this
before. I loved Serenity as my liege.”

And now you love her and everyone else as
people, but Haruka knew better than to
say it so plainly. “I don’t remember that life much. But I understand
some.” She picked up a rock and bounced it in her hand. “I was gonna
let myself disappear, in that little house Michiru bought us. Just hide out
until the world went on without me. Because how can I go on without Michiru?
And the rest of them?” She threw her rock hard over the edge. “But
I’ve got you, and if I can do anything for you, that might be enough for
me.”

Venus’s chest heaved. “I don’t know if I
can do this, Haruka.” She sobbed and clawed at the frayed edges of her
skirt.

“Neither do
I. But I’m gonna try for you.”

“It’s easier
to let Venus take over. She’s always been ready, and this… she can get through
this.”

“Maybe we
can too.” Haruka rubbed her back as Mina’s transformation faded and the
tattered material of her fuku turned to soft cotton under her fingers. She sat
in the t-shirt she’d been in before this whole mess started. It would have been
like nothing had happened if not for the bruises and cuts making abstract art
across her skin. “I love you, Mina.”

Minako
sobbed, big heaving sobs of a kind even Usagi had never matched. Haruka pulled
her close. She clung on, like Haruka was all she had in the world, and maybe
she was.

“Don’t let
me go, Haruka. Don’t let me go.”

“I won’t.”
Haruka held her tight. “I can’t promise we’re gonna be okay, but I promise we’re
gonna be here.”

AU where Michiru is the princess

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment
  • Mina’s whole life is suffering
  • She is a good soldier she knows her duty but goddamn she wants to put a knife in her princess’s back
  • Usagi/Serenity is selfish, absolutely, but Mina can handle it and let love outweigh resentment because it comes from naivete, she sees her as a child. Michiru has none of that, she is cold, her selfish moments have no pretty wrapping
  • Michiru’s life is also suffering, she goes from being her parents’ porcelain poseable doll to the perfect protected princess, and there’s no room for her to ever be a person
  • She tells Beryl to take the crystal, take the kingdom, take the whole goddamn world because there’s never been anything in it for Michiru
  • Well, there was one thing, but she died alone in the snow for a destiny Michiru doesn’t even want
  • (On Haruka’s lips she tasted a simpler life, but even that she couldn’t trust because they were princess and knight, and what feelings were real and what were Haruka playing her assigned role?)
  • Beryl has everything she wanted– not the crystal, but the moon laid low
  • she doesn’t take the crystal. she sees now her greatest revenge– the moon princess gets to live on, knowing her soldiers died for her, knowing she gave up, knowing she’ll never have the life she wants
  • there is no resurrection, the crystal too is cruel at times
~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

I’M ACTUALLY FOLLOWING UP ON THAT VIGILANTE JUSTICE TEAM POST I MADE. THIS WAS WRITTEN ENTIRELY ON MY PHONE BUT I DID IT.

The Night Team, Part 1
1200 words

Mina pressed her back against a
wall as a shadow ghosted through a streetlight. The whole block was empty
besides her and whatever that was.

Everyone knew strange things
happened at night. Everyone knew not to go out if they could avoid it. But she
couldn’t avoid it. Her parents had been screaming again–well, her mother had
been screaming, her father had been taking it silently as he always did– and
she knew that if she opened the front door, the screaming would turn on her.
Mina could handle it, but in recent days the threat had turned from being
grounded to being kicked out, and it was safer to risk a few hours on the dark
streets than sleeping on them.

The shadow rippled through another
street light. Its shape was indistinct but large. Mina couldn’t track its movements
with her eyes. It was close, and then yards away, and then close again. The
working streetlights were too far apart. She pulled her book bag off her
shoulder. It wasn’t much– for once she wished she’d actually brought school
books home– but if she could startle whatever it was, she might be able to run
for it.

She pulled the strap short and
tight in her hand. She’d have one swing, if she was lucky. “Show yourself!
You know you have me corned.”

A shadow came into the nearest
streetlight, and another in the next, on her other side.

“Fuck.”

Fear shot down her stomach and
curled her toes. She had to try something. Bag in had, she charged towards the
further shadow. As the nearer one turned, she pivoted towards it, threw her bag
at what she hoped was its face, and ran past it. 

Minako heard them give chase. She
needed to find somewhere– a store, a library, anything that was open. Not much
would be at this hour. There was little sense in enticing people to be out in
the dark. There was no where to go. It was dark street after dark street every
where she turned. It would be a matter of who could run longer and as for as
Mina might have been she wouldn’t bet on winning that one. The thought made her
noticed the ragged measure of her breath. Her heart beat up against the wall of
her chest. Girls like her had died like this. What picture would the paper use?
What picture would her mother give them?

A flash of light came out from an
alley as she passed. “Keep going!” Someone yelled from behind it.

Mina knew the smart thing to do
was keep going, but she stopped to watch as a lanky girl with short hair
sprinted out from the alley with a flashlight. The shadows shrieked in the
beam. Lit from below, they didn’t look like shadows at all– just bulky,
misshapen creatures with fur and teeth and claws. Frightening, still, but not
the same mysterious terror they had been.

One of the monsters charged. Mina
saw immediately it was a mistake. The girl sidestepped, quick as a feather in
the wind, letting momentum bring the monster low and ramming her elbow into the
back of its neck. It crumpled to the ground.

But there was still the second. It
stood back. Watching. Learning.

“Come on,” the girl
taunted cocking her head to the side. “You scared?”

The monster did not take the bait. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Mina
said.

The girl snorted. “I’ve been
dealing with these guys for a while. You should have kept running.”

Mina didn’t take her eyes off the
monster. 

“No one runs when they
should.” The girl’s fists balled around the baggy ends of her tank top.

The monster’s stance
changed.

Mina braced herself. “Shut up
and get ready.

"What?”

But the monster was already
moving. It zig zagged towards the girl, light on its oversized feet.

Mina launched herself forward,
tackling the girl down just as the monster swiped at her head. 

“Stop distracting me!”

“Distracting you? I just
saved your stupid ass. Now move.” She pulled the girl up into a run before
the monster could bear down on them. 

“No.” The girl yanked
her arm away. “I don’t run. I fight.” She stood to face the monster
head on, met it hand to hand. She’d lose. She was tall, and even fairly strong
looking, but wiry as hell. She braced with her legs as it pushed her back. She
held her ground better than Mina expected. But then the tension left her legs.
The girl smiled, clearly thinking she was winning.

 It’s going to throw
her. 

 Mina knew better than to shout.
She launched herself quick as she could towards them, though even if she made
it in time she wasn’t sure what she could do. 

 The monster pulled the girl off
the ground and flung her back.

Right into a figure Mina hadn’t
seen approaching– taller still than the first girl, but built like a tank. Her
hair curled out wild in a ponytail behind her head. A baseball bat clattered to
the street as she fell back under the weight of impact, but once on the ground
she set the first girl to the side with ease and picked it back up. 

“Consider this payback for
last time,” she said, her voice deep and reassuring.

The monster started to run, but
not quick enough. The bat gave the second girl reach. Its skull gave a
sickening crunch.

 "Thanks,“ said the first
girl, getting up with a wince. "But I had it handled.”

The bigger girl snorted. “You
helped me so I helped you. That’s all there is to it.”

“I don’t need help.”

“Wait a fucking second.”

They both turned to Mina,
bewildered.

“If I’m getting this right,
you both fight these things out here a lot.”

They nodded.

“And you’ve encountered each
other before.”

Nods.

“And you’re still both going
it alone? You’re gonna get killed.”

 They both had the decency to look
sheepish. 

 "Well I–“

 "It’s better to not bring
other people into this–”

 "She could get hurt–“

 "And I do better
alone–”

 Mina held up her hands. “Not
having it. You both saved me tonight. Without both of you, I’d probably be dead. And
you–” she pointed at the lanky girl. “Would be dead without the two
of us. So from now on, we’re gonna team up." 

 ”We?“
The two girls looked down at her. 

"Oh please. I can’t say as
much for you…”

“Makoto.”

“Makoto, but yo-”

“Haruka.”

 "You need someone clever and
observant. A strategist.“

 Haruka crossed her arms with a
huff. "And that’s you?”

 "Yeah. That thing was
learning as it fought you. I might not be as strong as the two of you, but I
can see what you miss.“

Makoto looked her up and down.
"What’s your name?”

 "Minako. You can call me
Mina.“

 Her shoulders rose. She scratched
the back of her head and looked to the ground. "You really want to be out
here with me? Er, us?”

 Mina shrugged. “What else am
I gonna do at night? Homework?”

 Makoto smiled. Even Haruka gave a
small puff of a laugh. 

 "You know,“ Makoto said,
putting a strong callused hand on Mina’s shoulder, "I think this might
just work out pretty good.”

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

AU where no one has powers but there are still monsters so Mina, Mako, and Haruka form a vigilante justice crew to take care of them.
And by form a crew I mean Mako and Haruka both started doing it alone because they’re stubborn hero types and Mina encounters them by chance, immediately realizes they need to team up and have some strategy if they’re gonna survive long term, and declares herself team leader before anyone can argue.
They’re all rough and tumble kids society gave up on, but they might just save the city.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

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.

~ sittingoverheredreaming ~ Leave a comment

Sparkle Sparkle It’s a Fic!

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

It’s Very You
~2K words
AO3 Link

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

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

“Well, a ring. An engagement ring.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Mina.”

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

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

“So what’s your budget?”

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

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

“It’s below the average, but—“

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

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

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

“It’s important.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You bought the ring without a plan?”

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

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

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

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

“You think I waited too long?”

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

“Would you?”

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

“That’s an exaggeration.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m not—“

“Michiru isn’t—“

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

“I’m not sure—“

Mina blew the whistle.

“Okay.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Shoot.”

Mina cleared her throat.

Rei huffed. “Fine. What is it, love?”

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

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

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

“No.”

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

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

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

“Not you. Michiru.”

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

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

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

“Oh no. Mina…”

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

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

“Um. Yes.”

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

“Oh yeah?”

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

“Will you marry me?”

Rei snorted from the couch.

“What now, flame brains?”

“It all seems very unromantic. Stiff.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You got a plan, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Haruka lied. “I got a plan.”

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

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

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

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

“They’re lovely, Haruka.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s perfect.”

Haruka looked down. “I tried.”

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