The Best Laid Plans
Masae put on her cleaning apron and, feather duster in hand, began to
dust the house she and her husband lived at. She found herself in the
study staring at the Butsudan, the family altar that many Japanese used
to display tablets inscribed with the names of ancestors and deceased
family members. As she dusted, she did her best to avoid looking at one
of the tablets on the display. It was too shameful.
In the living room looking out towards the street, Masae's husband
Kaname was watching the television and relaxing after his night shift at
the factory job he held down. As he was about to reach over for the
remote to try to find else to watch, he noticed something out of the
corner of his eye. Turning towards one of the windows, he saw a taxi
slowly drive up to the front lawn.
"Masae," he called out, "Are you expecting company?"
His wife came out into the living room, "No, not today." As both husband
and wife watched, a young girl exited the taxi. She was wearing a school
uniform consisting of an almost plaid blue and green skirt with matching
bow on her maroon blouse. She had a pale complexion, with straight black
hair and dark purple eyes. She looked at the house, a momentary look of
pensive uncertainty showing on her face before she turned back towards
the cab and retrieved her book bag from the back seat and paid the taxi
driver. As the cab took off, she reached into her bag and pulled out an
inhaler. She took two puffs, put it back in her book bag, and began to
make her way towards the house.
Masae looked from the window to her husband. "Kaname, what do you make
of that? What do you suppose she's here for?"
Kaname shrugged his shoulders. "Well, she's wearing a school uniform.
Maybe she's here selling tickets to a school charity event."
"Oh, not another one," Masae sighed, "I just donated money to the Juban
High bake sale three weeks ago," she said just as the doorbell rang.
"Go in the kitchen," Kaname said as he used the remote to turn the TV
off. "I'll handle this." And with that, he got up to answer the door as
his wife left the room.
--
Hotaru Tomoe took out the piece of paper once more and studied it. Yup,
she was at the right place all right. As Sailor Saturn, she'd fought
Pharaoh 90, Queen Nehelenia and Sailor Galaxia. She was powerful enough
to destroy the Earth if it ever came to it.
So why was she so nervous now?
She grudgingly acknowledged to herself that it was because she was out
of her element, and she knew it. She wasn't extroverted or outgoing, and
truth be told she wasn't normally very daring when she wasn't Sailor
Saturn. She was a shy introvert who preferred spending time with her
Michiru-mama in the garden or taking care of her lamp collection to
going up to strangers houses and accosting them.
But oh, if her little plan worked, wouldn't her Haruka-papa be happy. It
would be the best birthday present ever.
With a smirk, she realized that what she really needed right now more
than anything was a certain pink-haired best friend behind her, pushing
her towards the door as she gave one of her overly enthusiastic pep
talks.
Standing in front of the door, Hotaru smoothed out the pleats of her
Mugan Academy dress skirt. She decided not to go home after school to
change for two reasons. First, she just knew that one of her parents
would've been home, and she really didn't want to have to explain what
she was up to or deal with having to make something up. And secondly,
almost all her clothing was black. She wasn't morbid, she just liked the
color. That being said, she didn't want to scare these people off by
appearing to be some sort of goth chick or, worse, emo. Besides, Mugan
Academy was her Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama's alma mater, and there was
a small sense of pride in wearing the uniform (though she'd never admit
it to her parents).
Hotaru suddenly realized that she'd been standing in front of the door
stalling for far too long. Taking a deep breath, she reached up and
pushed the doorbell.
A man in his mid-forties answered the door, wearing a cardigan and
casual kakis. His hair was graying at the temples, and as Hotaru studied
him she noted the familiar shape of the mouth.
"Hello," he said rather curtly, hoping to send her on her way soon, "I'm
sorry, but we've already donated to..."
"Tenoh-san?"
Kaname blinked in surprise. "What?"
Hotaru looked again at the slip of paper in her hand, "Are you Kaname
Tenoh-san?"
Kaname was now perplexed. "Hai, I'm Kaname Tenoh. Why? What's this all
about?"
Hotaru felt uncomfortable under his questioning stare, and she fidgeted
a bit with the paper she was still holding as she tried to force a
smile. "Tenoh-san, my name's Hotaru Tomoe. I... I'd like to speak with
you about your daughter Haruka."
Kaname's eyes narrowed as he now glared at the school girl in front of
him. "I have no daughter."
Hotaru frowned. "Are you talking figuratively, or do I really have the
wrong house? Are you the Kaname Tenoh whose wife is named Masae and..."
"No, no, no," Kaname interrupted tersely, "I'm talking figuratively.
Yes, my wife and I used to have a daughter named Haruka, but she's dead
to us now. Why?" he asked as he now studied the young girl before him
suspiciously, "How do you know my daughter?"
"I'm her daughter."
Kaname raised an eyebrow at that. "Come again?"
"I'm her daughter. Well, adopted daughter."
"I see," he answered coldly. "Tell me, how did you find me?"
"An internet search. Look," Hotaru said, looking past Kaname into the
living room behind him, "I'm usually not this bold, but rather than
standing here like this in the door frame why don't I just come in and
we can talk?"
"Kaname?" a feminine voice called from the kitchen, "What was it? Is
everything alright?"
"I'm taking care of it," he called back, turning away momentarily from
Hotaru as he did so. "It's nothing to worry about."
"Masae-san?" Hotaru called out.
Kaname turned angrily back to Hotaru. "Now see here," he said irritably
as his wife came into the living room, "I don't know what your little
game is, but..."
"Kaname, calm down," Masae said as she removed her apron and came up to
her husband and Hotaru, "Can't you see your scaring the poor girl?"
Looking at Hotaru, she smiled, "Forgive my husband, he can be an ogre at
times. Now what school charity are you collecting for?"
"I'm not," Hotaru responded, noting the similar eyes and nose, "My
name's Hotaru Tomoe, and I'm your granddaughter."
Masae's jaw dropped, "My... my what?"
"She was just leaving dear. Pay no mind to..."
"Kaname," Masae admonished, pushing past her husband as she grabbed hold
of Hotaru's arm and pulled her into the house. "You said your name's
Hotaru?"
"Hai."
"You're a little... old to be Haruka-chan's daughter, aren't you?"
"I'm adopted."
"Oh, I see. Here," she said, leading the young teen to a chair, "Sit
down for a bit. Would you care for some lemonade?"
"Yes, please," Hotaru said, feeling a bit more at ease around Mrs. Tenoh
than her husband, "I'd like that."
"Be right back then." Masae said as she scurried back off into the
kitchen, leaving Hotaru alone once more with Haruka's father. Neither
spoke, but Hotaru could feel herself shrinking under Kaname's scathing
look.
Masae returned (not soon enough for Hotaru) and handed the girl a tall
glass of lemonade. "You say your Haruka's adopted daughter?"
"Hai."
"And who's your father?" Kaname asked, "Or is there one?"
Masae give him a disapproving look and Hotaru to look down. Did her papa
really grow up in a family like this?
"Actually," she answered, avoiding eye contact with either of the
Tenoh's in front of her, "I... I tend to... to think of your daughter as
my papa." Taking a sip of lemonade, she looked back up at the two
adults. "Your daughter is... she's... you would be proud of her,
she's..."
"Proud?" Kaname growled, pushing his wife aside as he stared down the
young girl in his house, "Proud?!"
"Kaname," his wife interjected, "Don't..."
"I gave her everything," Kaname growled, years of pent-up and suppressed
anger now finding a displaced target in the young schoolgirl before him.
"Do you hear? Everything! I worked overtime, multiple shifts mind you,
to see her through private school and private piano lessons. I bought
her the prettiest dresses to go to Sunday school in, and I went to all
her track meets. And what does she do? She fights us, every damn time we
try to get her to wear her dresses I worked so hard to buy her. They
weren't good enough I suppose. She then breaks our hearts, getting
caught behind the school ground doing filthy things to another girl..."
"Kaname!" Masae cried.
"No! Let her hear about her 'papa.' She should know how Haruka disgraced
us, both of us, and then has the nerve to ask us to accept her. Accept
her? She's dead to us now. I personally added her name to the Butsudan
altar of the family dead, do you understand?"
Hotaru shrank down further in her chair, unable to meet Kaname's gaze.
"I... I'm sorry... I..." her voice began to choke up as she stared down
at her lemonade. "I thought that, with my Haruka-papa's twenty-first
birthday today, that..."
"That what?" Kaname yelled, "What, that all of a sudden we would rush to
her, forgive her for disgracing us and ask her back? Welcome to
real-life," he said acerbically as his wife began to weep. "No one asked
you to come into our lives, to remind my wife and I of painful memories
of a daughter who turned out to be a pervert. And this isn't some
imaginary TV show where everything ends on a happy note. She's made her
choice, and she can damn well live with it!" His tirade over, he stormed
out of the room, leaving his wife and Hotaru in a stunned silence.
After an uncomfortably long period of time, Hotaru put the glass of
lemonade down and stood up. Taking out a small slip of paper, she set it
on the coffee table. "This is your daughter's address," she said in a
low tone of voice, "You're both welcome to the birthday party tonight."
She turned around and silently left the house as Haruka's mother stared
at the address.
"Has she left yet?" Kaname yelled out from the other room.
"Y... yes," Masae called back, wiping her tears away as she pocketed the
slip of paper. "By the way, I... I forgot to tell you. I'm going out to
Akio's tonight to play bridge..."
--
"Happy birthday, Ruka-kun!"
"Arigato, Usagi-chan," Haruka said as she hugged her princess. Shaking
Mamoru's hand, she took their present and put it with the others
littering the loveseat in the living room. "The others are all out in
the backyard already. Help yourself to the sweets and..."
"Ooh, sweets," Usagi cooed as she grabbed Mamoru's arm and yanked him
out of the room towards the back door.
Haruka just shook her head and chuckled. Her princess would never
change. She was about to follow when the door opened and Hotaru came in.
"Firefly, your late," she admonished. "Usagi and the rest of your
'aunts' are already here. If you were going to be late, you should've
called or..." her voice died off as she saw a tear slowly trickle down
Hotaru's cheek. "Firefly?"
The girl looked up at her papa and opened her mouth, but no words came
out. After a few seconds, her lower lip began to tremble and she ran to
Haruka, burying her head in the blonde's strong shoulder as she sobbed.
"Hotaru-chan," Haruka said, wrapping her arms protectively around her
daughter as she held her close, "Hon, what's wrong?"
"Ruka-kun?" Michiru called, the aqua haired young woman coming in from
the back, "Is Hotaru here yet? Usagi-chan was asking about her, and..."
she stopped cold when she saw her daughter crying on her love's white
blouse. "Taru-chan, what's wrong sweetheart?"
Hotaru pulled her head away from her papa's shoulder and, between sobs,
whimpers and sniffling Haruka and Michiru began to piece together a
fairly accurate picture of what had occurred. "I... I just wanted to
give you something special for your birthday, papa."
"Oh, firefly," Haruka whispered, her voice softer than normal as she ran
her fingers through her daughter's hair, "Do you remember, after Sailor
Moon defeated Galaxia, when we were all leaned up against my car, and we
watched the shooting stars as the Princess Kakiou and the Sailor
Starlights left?"
"(sniff) Y... Yeah..."
"You and your Setsuna-mama each made wishes upon the shooting stars, but
your Michiru-mama and I didn't. Do you know why?"
"You... you said, you already had everything you could want," she
mumbled. "But... but I thought if... if your family..."
"You're my family, firefly," Haruka said, smiling warmly at Hotaru. "You
and your Michiru and Setsuna-mamas, to say nothing of the quirkiest
extended family one could imagine out in the backyard right now," she
said, getting Hotaru to chuckle in spite of herself. "Besides, would you
really want someone like that in our family?"
"I suppose not, I... Oh," she said, pointing at the tear stains she'd
left on her papa's blouse, "I ruined your shirt.
"Here," Michiru said as she took Hotaru's hand, "While your papa changes
her shirt, let's get you cleaned up a little bit." As Haruka went
upstairs to change, Michiru led Hotaru over to a box of tissues. "Blow
your nose hon, and try to calm down. Soon you'll be overheating, then
you'll be coughing, then you'll be having an asthma attact if you're not
careful."
"I don't get it," Hotaru pouted after she blew her nose and sat down on
the easy chair, "Why would he act like that? Your father is accepting of
you and papa."
Michiru chuckled sweetly. "That's because he's gay too."
Hotaru looked taken aback. "Really?"
"Haven't you ever wondered why your Grandpa Kaioh always travels with
'Uncle' Jiro?"
"Ooh..."
Just then, the doorbell rang. Michiru looked surprised. "Everyone's here
for your papa's party already. I wonder who that could be?"
"I'll be alright," Hotaru said as she held onto the tissue box. "You can
answer the door mama."
Michiru kissed Hotaru lightly on the forehead and went to the door.
"Hello," she said as she opened it.
"Hello," a familiar voice nervously answered, "I, um..."
"Mrs. Tenoh?" Hotaru asked as she came up beside her Michiru-mama, not
believing her eyes.
Masae nodded slightly to the teen, "Hello, Hotaru-san. Is... Is my
daughter home?"
"Firefly," Haruka called out as she headed down the stairs, "If you're
feeling better, we can go out back to the party now and..." she stopped
dead as she saw her mother standing in the doorway. Both women stared at
one another, noting how much had changed as well as old familiarities.
"Hello."
"Hello," Masae answered as Michiru discreetly pulled Hotaru back a few
feet. "If... If your father found out I was here, he'd have a fit."
"I'm sure he would," Haruka answered as she slowly left the stares and
came closer. "Mom, why are you here?"
"Your daughter Hotaru stopped by today."
"Yes, so I learned."
"Well, I... It's been seven years, Haruka-chan..."
"Has it really?" Haruka asked, crossing her arms as she came over to her
mom. "I'm not going to apologize."
"I know. You're as stubborn and pig-headed as your father."
Haruka smirked at that. "Yeah, I suppose so." More seriously, she
motioned with her head toward Hotaru, the young girl's eyes still red
from crying. "Dad's people skills are as fine-tuned as ever."
Masae put her hand to her forehead, "I know, I'm sorry about that."
A few seconds silence crept in, during which the two studied one another
more closely. "I'm doing well," Haruka finally said.
Masae managed a smile. "I'm glad."
After another silence, Haruka allowed a sigh. "So, where do we go from
here?"
"I knew sooner or later it would come to that," Masae said, getting a
slight grin out of her daughter. "I'm not sure, Haruka-chan. I will
admit to not fully understanding how or why you are the way you are,
but..."
"But?"
"But I don't want to lose another seven years either. It... it's not
going to be easy, getting used to or accepting you like this, but... I'm
willing to try, if you'll be patient with me."
Haruka's face brightened as she smiled at her mother. "Mom, that's all I
ever asked."
With that, mother and daughter hugged. "I've missed you," Masae
whispered.
"You too mom, you too," Haruka answered, wiping her eyes with the back
of her hand. "Well," the sandy blonde said as she composed herself, "Now
that you're here, you might as well join the party. You've already met
my daughter Hotaru, but I want you to meet someone else special in my
life. Mom, this is Michiru Kaioh. If you really want me back in your
life, she's part of the package. Michiru, this is my mother."
Masae looked back and forth between her daughter and the violinist
before taking a few timid steps toward her. "You and my daughter, I take
it you're..." she said as she crossed her fingers.
"Hai," Michiru nodded, "We are."
"I see..." she said, suddenly looking more critically at the wavy haired
young artist in front of her. "So, what do you do for a living?"
Michiru was a bit surprised by the question. "I'm a musician and
artist," she answered.
Masae turned from Michiru to look back at her daughter. "That's a
living?" she asked suspiciously, "I thought most artists were starving."
"Mom..."
"You're not having to support her, are you?"
"Actually, my family's fairly well off," Michiru interrupted, trying
hard not to let her annoyance show. "And I'm quite successful."
"Ah," Masae said, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
"Papa," Hotaru whispered as she came over to Haruka, "When I start
dating, you're not going to grill any future dates of mine this bad, are
you?"
"Worse," her papa whispered back before turning back to her mother.
"Tell you what mom, why don't the three of us go out into the back yard
where the party is, and I'll introduce you to everyone."
"Oh, alright. So, tell me," Masae said, turning back to Michiru as
Haruka led the way, "Your friends, are they, you know, funny like you
and my daughter too?"
As Michiru rolled her eyes, Hotaru couldn't help but chuckle as she
followed them out the back door to her papa's party. Things definitely
didn't go according to plan, but at least in the end the whole affair
ended on a note of cautious optimism. And really, who could ask for more
than that?
-Finis-
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