Michiru sat in the dressing room, shoulders shaking from her nervousness. She really didn't want to go out and play for all those people. She'd never shared her music with so many people at once. She stared into her reflection, carefully made-up, her hair in an intricate style, wearing the most elegant dress her mother could find. Outwardly, she looked beautiful, poised, mature, skilled... She wanted to throw up. She took a sip of water from a glass sitting on the vanity, and tried to calm down. Fifteen minutes till she had to go play. Her siblings had chipped in to buy her a bouquet after some prodding from her parents, and it sat next to her glass. She carefully touched one of the roses, sliding it from the vase, and turned it around in her hands. It was strange how even little things like this made her think of Haruka. Something about the scent of the flower, the way the petals were arranged... She sighed and slipped it back in with the others. She suddenly reeled backwards. "not again..." she whispered. Red, red like blood... the sky was so dark... The sharp sting of the gales blowing, bits of debris... Shattering figurines, frozen with looks of horror... Her own body clad in a strange suit... Screaming, unheard, and a bright light appearing... There was a knock on the door, and Kanpeki walked in. "Um, hi, Michiru-chan," she said as she shut the door. Michiru stirred, looking up dazedly. "K-Kanpeki, what are you doing here?" "I... I was kinda disagreeing with okaa-san and otou-san... So I thought I'd check up on you." "Oh? What happened?" "They... it's nothing. Really... You look really nice." "Thanks, so do you." "Yeah, right," Kanpeki muttered, sighing as she leaned against the doorframe. "Kanpeki, stop being so negative." "I can't help it." They'd argued over this before. Michiru tried to ignore her sister's moods sometimes, but other times... "Kanpeki... I don't mean to offend you, but... you really need to get some help." "I'm fine!" she snapped, quickly turning her head away. "You're crying." "I-I am not..." Michiru walked over to her and lay a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, it's going to be ok." She felt a wrench in her gut. Here she was, all dressed up for a public showing, thanks to her parents wanting to show her off, and her little sister was being completely ignored by them. They showered Michiru with attention but ignored her. They said they "wanted the best for all their children." _All_ their children?... Hypocrites. "Look, I have to go out but... you want to stay in here?" Kanpeki nodded. "Anything I can do?" "Um, Murasaki came with me... if you see her, could you tell her to come here?" "Sure." Michiru gave her a hug, grabbed her violin, and turned to leave. She paused a moment in thought. Kanpeki and Murasaki had really hit it off when they met and had quickly become best friends. Aside from this recent display, Kanpeki had been in a good mood all week, which was quite unusual for her. Ah well. She opened the door and was surprised to see Murasaki leaning against the wall outside. She stood up straight, a bit startled. "Oh, hi, Michiru-chan. Kanpeki's in there, right?" "Yes, she wanted to see you..." Just 'Kanpeki'?... Hadn't Kanpeki called her just 'Murasaki' earlier? "Break a leg," Murasaki said with a wink, shutting the door behind her. Michiru nervously walked backstage. Some people nodded to her. The curtain was shut still. The crew made some movements and opened the curtains, and some lights turned on. Someone gave her a gentle shove. "You're on," he whispered. Michiru took a deep breath and gathered herself up, and slowly walked onstage. She could feel a spotlight trained on her as she approached the center of the stage. She stood there a moment, then curtsied. She couldn't quite see the audience due to the lights, but she knew they were there, and in great numbers. She lifted her violin under her chin and took another deep breath. Here goes nothing... She closed her eyes and started playing, losing herself in the music. She ignored everything else except for her hands, the bow, the violin, the notes. She didn't care anymore about anything else. She just played. The first piece finished, and she lowered her instrument, opening her eyes. Her senses returned, and she was stunned when she was met with a thunderous applause. She felt a pleasant warmth in her cheeks. They really liked it? That silly thing that her mom had made her play? Eventually, she raised the violin for her second piece. A sudden hush descended upon the crowd. She was excited now, forgetting how nervous she'd been earlier. She played with great enthusiasm, quicker than she thought she could. She lost track of how many songs she played, how many times the audience stood to cheer for her. It was wonderful. When it was over, she curtsied deeply, met with loud cheers, and several flowers thrown on stage. She smiled and waved, and turned to leave the stage. She felt like she was walking on air. "Wonderful, simply wonderful!" Ki said as she walked over to kiss her cheek. "You were fantastic." "Excellent playing, Michiru," Tadashii told her. "Thank you, okaa-san, otou-san," she said simply. Ha! She showed them! Their little show-and-tell daughter was a lot better than they thought. She didn't need them. "Kaiou-san, Kaiou-san!" someone shouted, pushing through the throng of people that had gathered around. A business card was thrust in her face. "I'm a producer at--" he racked off a bunch of things she didn't care about, then finally got to the point. "You were amazing out there, and my company would like to offer you a record deal--" "She'll take it!" Ki exclaimed immediately. "You are her mother?" "Yes!" He handed her the card. "Call me and we'll work out the details." "Of course!" Michiru waved away her parents and walked off towards her dressing room. Forget them. This wasn't about them anymore. She had performed and loved it. She was doing this for herself. She opened the door and jumped a bit in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Kanpeki and Murasaki quickly pulled apart from their hug. "I-it's ok," Kanpeki stammered. "It's your dressing room, after all." "How'd it go?" Murasaki asked. "Great! It was really fun!" "Oh, um, glad to hear it." "Sorry I missed it," Kanpeki said, "but I really wasn't up to it after fighting with our parents." "That's fine. Well, I need to change..." "See you in a bit," Kanpeki said, quickly leaving with Murasaki. Michiru put her violin in her case and laughed for a long time. ********** Michiru followed Haruka every chance she got. She passed by her on the walk to school, and went out of the way at the end of the day to follow her home. She felt silly for doing it, but she'd sometimes climb up into a tree near her window, hiding in the leaves, and look into her room, watching her for hours. She never had a great deal of homework and it was always easy for her, so she didn't feel any real need to go home. Her excuse to her parents was that she was going to a park to study with some friends. Eventually, she would have to go home, eat dinner, then would quickly do her homework before rushing to talk to Teinei. If she had any free time afterwards, she'd swim in the pool and daydream. When she wasn't doing that, she performed on her violin for her fans or was at the recording studio. Recently, she'd submitted some paintings to museums, and those were on display, but she only rarely went for signings. On weekends, Haruka was in her room almost all the time, sometimes in plain sight but other times hiding in her closet, so there was no set pattern as to whether Michiru would get the chance to observe her or not. When Haruka's parents weren't home, she could occasionally go downstairs, so Michiru would go hide in the bushes and watch her through the sliding glass door. Either she wasn't there when it happened or the frequency had gone down, but Michiru rarely saw Katai hit Haruka, and whenever she stumbled across it, she'd quickly avert her eyes. Usually, she'd get there after the fact, and it broke her heart to see Haruka curled up in a ball in her room, trembling with pain. She learned a lot about Haruka just from watching her movements, the play of emotions across her face, and especially her glorious eyes. Michiru loved her eyes most out of all her physical features; they said so much about her through the tiniest movements and color shifts. Michiru wished she could talk to her, let Haruka see her, but she knew that it would be disastrous to show herself to her too soon. The strange visions had continued, while she slept and while awake. She had no idea what they meant, but they terrified her. After a few months, Michiru got more daring, and started sneaking out at night to watch Haruka sleep. Her family had a row boat they kept down at their dock, so she'd go across the lake, pull the boat up at the park, walk over to the house, and row back when she was too tired to enjoy it any more. She couldn't explain it, but she could somehow sense what it was that Haruka dreamt about, even what she thought. It was calming in a way to watch her lie under her covers and rest from the hell her life had become. Michiru wished this peaceful bliss could last. "Teinei-san! I'm here!" Michiru shut the door behind her and locked it. Teinei had started leaving it unlocked so Michiru could just come on in whenever she arrived. Murasaki was rarely over, she was usually over at the Kaiou's with Kanpeki, and when she was at home, Kanpeki was usually over. "I'm in the kitchen; could you come help me?" Teinei was busily preparing a meal, and was rushing around like she had very little time to finish. She handed Michiru a bowl before rushing to the oven. "Mix that up if you would... I have to get this finished." Michiru looked down at the bowl, partially filled with the beginnings of a salad. She sat down at the table with it after washing her hands, grabbing some spoons to toss it with. "What's the rush?" "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you..." She closed the oven door and set the timer, then grabbed a bowl of a dough mixture and started stirring quickly. "Sunao-chan called a few minutes ago and said she had to go to a dinner meeting and was sending Haruka over to have dinner and spend some time with me... she'll be here in half an hour." "Really?!" "Yes... hurry up with the salad if you could... it's her favorite... I have to get everything cleaned up and Murasaki isn't here cuz she's spending the night at your house with Kanpeki--" Michiru set the bowl down and grabbed Teinei's arms and tried to get her to settle down. "Teinei-san! You're just going to wear yourself out if you keep moving at this pace." Teinei sighed. "I know, I know, but I want everything to be just right--" "She'll appreciate it if you do, but you have to realize that everything's fine as it is. She'll probably be too busy enjoying the fact that she's not at home to notice whether or not everything's tidy." Teinei started stirring the dough mix again. "You're probably right... Boy, you sure do have her figured out, don't you?" Michiru colored a bit and went back to work on the salad. "Well..." "I know you do; can't have watched her this long without learning a thing or two about how she thinks." Michiru nodded a bit. "Hey, why don't you stay over, too? See the 'vent' covers up on the walls near the ceiling? They're really just up in the attic. The ceiling panel in the guest room opens up and a ladder drops down so you can climb up into it. You could see and hear everything from up there without anyone noticing you. I know you don't watch to approach her yet, so why not do what you always do while she's here?" "Sure! Thank you, Teinei-san!" Teinei laughed a bit. "You're welcome... now c'mon, I have to at least feed her! If we have time after cooking, you can help me straighten up." Michiru worked hard to help Teinei finish the meal, preparing everything the best she could. Teinei teased her a bit about her eagerness to make it perfect, and Michiru just ignored the comments. While they cooked, Michiru asked, "Teinei-san? I have an... odd question to ask you." "Eh? Um, okay." "You've... you've noticed how Kanpeki-chan and Murasaki-san spend a _lot_ of time together, right?" "... Right... -san? Oh yes, she's older than you three by a bit more than a month..." "I... Well, I have my suspicions... Do you think that... They might be... you know...?" "Ask them yourself," Teinei replied immediately, turning away from Michiru. Michiru was a bit surprised at the answer, but shrugged and went back to work. With only a few minutes left till Haruka was due to arrive, they quickly rearranged the chairs, tossed things that were lying around into the hall closet, then sat by the window to wait. "Here comes Sunao-chan's car, you better go ahead and get up there," Teinei said. Michiru nodded, casting one more glance out the window before leaving the room. She had to struggle with the ceiling panel a bit to get it open, and stepped back to let the ladder slide out. She climbed up, pulled the ladder up, and pulled on the string that connected to the panel so she could close it again. It was so dark up in there... she felt around as she crawled towards the dim light coming from the covering in the kitchen, making sure she didn't accidentally break through the ceiling. She then sat there and waited. Not long afterwards, the doorbell rang, and she heard what she assumed was Sunao's voice along with Teinei's. Haruka wasn't saying anything. The door shut soon after, and then she could hear their footsteps as they walked into the kitchen. Teinei was talking excitedly, telling Haruka how happy she was to have her over and how she couldn't wait to talk, and that she was sorry Murasaki wasn't over to meet her. Haruka mumbled "me too" a few times but otherwise said very little. When they entered the kitchen, Michiru pressed her face up against the vent as much as she comfortably could to get a better look. Since it was a Saturday, Haruka didn't wear her school uniform; she instead wore loose pants and a dark colored sweatshirt. Typical of her, Michiru thought sadly to herself. She never wore anything fitted in public, trying to hide her figure from everyone, probably to avoid having boys flirt with her. Being slender and well-developed was a combination that would lead to a lot of problems with the opposite sex, and Haruka didn't want to be involved with guys. Teinei helped Haruka fix a plate before they sat down at her table on opposite ends, Teinei with her back to Michiru and Haruka facing the vent. Michiru smirked a bit. Teinei set her up to be sitting there, just so Michiru could stare at Haruka all she wanted. Thoughtful... Michiru worried at first that she could be seen, but she remembered Teinei assuring her she wouldn't. Haruka still hadn't said anything. She just sat there as if she wasn't going to eat anything, but Michiru could tell she was very hungry. Teinei had started eating and looked at Haruka with a puzzled look. "Excuse me a moment," Haruka said softly, then she bowed her head, her lips moving in a silent prayer. Ah yes, she attended church after all, she was supposed to pray before eating. As soon as she finished, she grabbed her fork and started eating rather quickly. Michiru worried some about this; Haruka didn't eat much because of her father, so this must seem like a gift from Heaven to have all this food at once. "How's school going?" Teinei asked her niece. "Um, I'm making good grades... don't know how though... That's about all I can say for it. It's very... well, I hate it." She had such a wonderful voice! Michiru sighed aloud, then covered her mouth, hoping she wasn't too audible with it. If she had been, they must not have noticed. She felt silly... but then again, she thought, it's very understandable. Haruka's voice was so incredible; very deep but feminine, somewhat soft but with an almost forceful edge to it, and it made Michiru shiver with excitement whenever she heard it. "What about other things... socially and whatnot?" Wrong question, Michiru groaned inwardly. Haruka stiffened. "I... I don't have any friends, if that's what you're asking. Everyone hates me, thinks I'm weird, fears me..." "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked--" "No, you shouldn't." Haruka stared down at her plate, pushing her salad around with her fork. Michiru saw her eyes soften slightly; she felt bad about her comment. "This, um... this is really good... You're a good cook." Teinei was amused by that. Michiru could imagine her winking to her as she told Haruka, "Thanks, but I had some help. A, uh, a neighbor helped me." "Oh, well... it's still good." "I'll tell her that." Haruka was very uncomfortable... Teinei didn't know what she could talk about with her and Haruka was always nervous around other people anyways. "Oba-san?" "Yes?" "I... nevermind, it'll sound too weird." "It's all right, it probably won't faze me." "... I have the strangest feeling that someone is watching me." Michiru could have burst out laughing at that. So Haruka _did_ realize she was-- "A lot of the time when I'm at home, I get the same feeling. Practically every day. I swear, there's someone spying on me." Michiru froze up in surprise. Teinei fumbled for something to say, seeming very unsure. "Ummm... that's odd..." Haruka lightly touched the gold cross she always wore around her neck, looking down at her hands. Apparently, Teinei took this as some sort of sign, and commented, "Maybe you have a guardian angel?" Haruka looked up sharply at her and said, "It sure doesn't seem like it most of the time." She fell silent and looked away, but she seemed to be considering what Teinei said. She ate quietly, seeming to not notice whatever it was she put in her mouth. Michiru could feel her heart pound and she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Guardian angel, huh? Teinei's fast thinking might have kept Haruka from investigating too much into her feeling, but it was still a lie. "I'm going to put the dishes away... are you done eating?" Haruka nodded and got out of her chair. "I... I should leave--" "No, no, stay! We haven't spent any time together in three years! Why are you in such a rush to leave?" Haruka had a scared look on her face as she whispered, "I need to get home before my father does... He, uh, he doesn't like... coming home to an empty house..." Both Michiru and Teinei easily saw through the lie, and Teinei played innocent. "Oh, well, if you need to get home, I'll give you a ride... just tell me when." "Please... I'll come over some other time, if I can..." "Um, just go on out to the car, I'll be out in a minute." Haruka nodded weakly and went outside. Teinei looked up at the vent. "You should probably go home as soon as we've pulled away, all right? Wait a few minutes." "All right... thanks for letting me stay over..." "You're welcome. Sorry that it was so short, but it's better to keep Haruka out of trouble. Tell Murasaki to remember to be home by noon tomorrow; she has a piano recital." "Mm hmm... see you later." "Bye." Teinei left, and Michiru carefully got out of the attic and went home. Haruka waved Teinei goodbye, waiting to go inside until she'd left. She was scared, numb all over from terror. Katai was home, she could feel it. He was watching her from the window. Damnit, why did her mother have to make her go see Teinei?! If she hadn't, she wouldn't have to face _him_... She walked up to the front door, afraid to enter. The door swung open, a deeply frowning Katai standing there. "Come inside. You have some explaining to do." Haruka shakily walked in, trying to keep from crying. "I'm sorry, okaa-san made me go see Teinei-san while she went to that dinner! I would have come home sooner but--" The door shut with a loud slam as he led her to the family room. "You better not have told her anything." "No! Of course not!" Katai scowled at her. "Why are you so jumpy?!" Haruka trembled and avoided meeting his gaze. "I... I..." "Stupid coward... you better not have made her suspicious..." "I didn't--" "I bet you did! Why don't you listen, you're such a fool!" "But I--" "I've had enough." Haruka whimpered and ducked down to avoid the first swing he threw at her. He growled with anger. "Don't you dare try to get out of this! You're going to get punished even more if you try to stop me!" Haruka started sobbing, instinctively raising her arms in defense whenever he tried to hit her. Teinei said she had a guardian angel watching her?... yeah, right... Michiru went to Haruka's house as soon as she'd checked in at home, and saw that she wasn't in her room. Climbing out of the tree and into the bushes, she saw Haruka in the family room, and Katai pummeling her mercilessly. Michiru could feel all the blood drain from her face and tears pour down her cheeks. Her fingers twitched spasmodically, wanting to reach out and stop what was happening, but the risk to Haruka... Michiru had hidden in the tree again, slipping a few times from the blurred vision her tears caused. Haruka stumbled into her room after several minutes, too weak to do anything besides collapse into her bed and pass out. Michiru could hear the blood pounding in her ears, her throat go dry. She had to do something... Haruka could bleed to death if no one helped her... She heard a car pulling away, and after straining hard to see, saw that Katai had left the house. Sunao was still at that dinner... that left Haruka alone, unconscious, unable to stop the bleeding... Michiru fumbled for the key to the house after slipping down the tree trunk, sliding open the door before rushing upstairs quickly. She found Haruka's room with ease, the door being unlocked and therefore not an obstacle. Michiru stopped when she first entered the room, standing there for long moments. Haruka looked terribly fragile as she lay there, hopeless, desperately needing help. Michiru haltingly stepped forward and lay her hands gently on her shoulders, sliding her up the bed to a better position that would be more comfortable for her when she regained consciousness. She had to look around for a bit to find the bathroom, but once it was found, she gather up heavy amounts of cotton balls, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, ointments, a few washcloths, and two large bowls which she filled with hot water. She brought them all into Haruka's room, laying some items on the nightstand and the rest on her bed. She found a large, clean shirt in the closet, and fought to keep her hands from trembling as she carefully slipped off Haruka's bloody shirt and jeans. Michiru was horrified by just how so pale she was from blood loss, her skin seemed almost as white as her undergarments. She washed all her wounds carefully, dipping in one bowl to rinse the cloth and the other to wet it with clean water, applying hydrogen peroxide to all the cuts, then smoothing ointment on them with as much care as possible, and finally wrapping gauze where it was needed, then slipping the clean shirt on her. Michiru pulled the sheets carefully over the tall girl before replacing all the items she'd taken out, then going back into her room. She gazed at her wistfully, smoothing her blond hair back from her face, letting her hand linger on her cheek. She sighed, wiped away her tears, then whispered, "Please get better... please live, Haruka... I love you..." She stood there a few more minutes, just looking down at her. She was very startled when she heard a very weak, choked groan and saw Haruka's eyelids fluttering open slightly. Michiru quickly backed away as Haruka, not quite coherent, rested a hand on her forehead and made a pained, muffled sound. She rushed downstairs and out the door, locking it behind her, then ran down to the lake, climbing into the row boat, frantically turning the oars so she could get home. It didn't take as long as usual for her to climb up to her window. She was very shocked when she reached to open it and it didn't budge. Why wouldn't it open... open open open-- She let out a scream when Suteki and Kirei's angry faces appeared in the window, then it flew open and they grabbed her, dragging her back in. Suteki slid it shut and pushed her to her bed and Kirei locked the door. Michiru let out several choked sobs then cried, "What's going on?! What was that for?!" "We know what's going on," Suteki hissed. "We have to do something about it." "W-What do you mean--" "Michiru," Kirei growled, "we aren't stupid. You've spent more time away from home in the last few months... ever since that when we were walking to school and you saw that Ten'ou girl... And now you leave at night, too." "I don't know what--" "Oh _shut-up_!" Suteki snarled. "You're a dyke and in love with that psycho, you can't deny it. You were there several minutes ago, we saw you coming from her house using Kanzen's telescope. We want to know why the hell you're doing something like this." Michiru paled and looked away. "I don't have to tell you anything. You have no idea--" "What we know," Kirei interrupted, "is that you have a lot of explaining to do, and we better get some good answers." Michiru buried herself under the covers, and they were quickly snatched away by her oldest sister. "Leave me alone!" she snapped. "You have no right to butt into my life!" "Well what have you been doing with it, huh? Look at you, you've got blood stains on your clothes and skin, where did that come from?!" Suteki demanded. "We have a right to know, you're our _sister_, or have you forgotten that you have a family?!" "Why don't you--" "Damnit, give us some answers!" "Leave me ALONE!!!" Michiru shouted at her, grabbing for her alarm clock to throw at Suteki, when Kirei gripped her wrists and held her back. "Michiru, stop it! Calm down! Look, we're just mad because you've been going behind our backs for months... some of us," she glared at her other sister, "are overreacting. But we deserve to know. Please, let's all just be rational, okay? Michiru-chan, please just tell us what's going on." Michiru sat crying for a few minutes while they just stood there. "Fine... fine... you want to know? You really want to know? I love her; I admit that much. I love her dearly, completely, and she means everything to me. I follow her and watch her because there's nothing I'd rather do than be in her presence. I don't care if you don't approve of that, because quite frankly, your opinions won't affect me a bit." She let that sink in a moment, before Kirei quietly whispered, "Do you want us to let the rest of the family know?" "Not okaa-san and otou-san... I could care less whether you know..." "...The blood, Michiru? Where did that come from?" Suteki asked. "None of your concern." "Michiru-chan..." Suteki started. "Leave me alone," Michiru said, getting out of bed. She stood there with a determined look on her face. "Get out of here, _now_." They turned and left, and she shut the door quietly behind them and locked it, before sliding down along it to the floor. She lay there, crying herself into exhaustion, whispering, "Why... why... why..." She apparently had fallen asleep for a little while; she woke up hearing someone lightly knocking on her door. She groaned and opened it slowly, and saw Kanzen there. He politely asked to come in, and she grumbled a bit but consented. He closed it, and said quietly, "I just wanted to say... Suteki told me what happened, her version at least, and... Well, you're my sister, and I love you. You'll always be my sister, and this doesn't change anything. I support you in this, so if they give you a hard time, don't worry, I'll be here for you." Michiru hugged her oldest brother, crying a bit against his shoulder. "Thank you, Kanzen... I love you too." He smiled at her when he pulled away. "Well, I have more studying to do, as always." He laughed a bit, then said, "I think Genki and Kanpeki want to talk to you too... you _are_ triplets, after all." "As if I could forget... Bye..." Sure enough, Genki came in when Kanzen left, and he shyly shut the door. "Michiru-chan?" "Hmmm?" "I, uh..." He blushed a bit and coughed, then started again. "Well, I heard about, y'know, and... You're not alone, you know. There's other people in the family that are... y'know..." Michiru's eyes widened a bit. "Are you saying..." He smiled sheepishly. "I only told Kanzen... trust him more than the others... we've always gotten along." Michiru smiled at him and hugged him. She winked as she commented, "I always wondered about all those male movie star posters in your room..." He blushed again and laughed. "Well, I'm going now... Heh heh, you're piling up the guests; Kanpeki's here with Murasaki-chan, and I think you'll find this very... interesting. It's quite a neat phenomenon we triplets have... Bye." "Bye." Michiru had to wait several minutes for her little sister to appear. When she finally peeked in through the cracked door, Michiru had started sketching a picture of Haruka. She didn't notice Kanpeki and Murasaki at first. "Is that Haruka?" Michiru jumped and dropped her sketchbook. Kanpeki giggled and picked it up, flipping through it and showing some of the drawings to Murasaki, who had asked the question. "The drawings of Haruka-chan seem pretty accurate... I've only seen photos of her but they look like those..." "Um... thank you... I enjoy drawing her very much." Kanpeki looked up abruptly with a grin. It always surprised Michiru when she did that; she had gotten used to Kanpeki's happy-to-sad phases and she'd been pretty steadily happy once she'd met Murasaki. After years of the other way, it was taking Michiru awhile to adjust. "I draw too, you know," Kanpeki commented. "I never show them off because... well, everyone ignores me anyways... and you probably notice I paint, but noooo, do obaa- san and otou-san ever notice mine, only yours... I'm just the younger of us three that most forget exists--" "Kanpeki!" Murasaki interjected. "Stop talking negatively about yourself." "Well, Murasaki, it's true... isn't it, Michiru-chan?" Michiru blushed a bit. She never had been close to her siblings... Wait a sec, they used just first names with each other? Huh? Murasaki whispered in her ear, and Michiru barely picked up the words, "How could they forget _you_?... Silly..." Kanpeki handed her the sketchbook, as well as a well-worn, blue bound volume. "Want to flip through mine? Michiru carefully turned the pages, surprised by how well her sister drew compared to other people she knew. Hmmm, guess the art talent is a family thing... There were an awful lot of pictures of Murasaki... Michiru looked up at her with wide eyes. Were her suspicions right?... "Kanpeki-chan... may I talk to you alone?" Kanpeki looked over at Murasaki, who smiled and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving and shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" "You just happened to come talk to me when all this talk about me is going on... Do _you_ have something to say to me, too?" Kanpeki blushed and looked away quickly. "Well... yeah..." She coughed a bit and said quietly. "I'm a lesbian, too." Michiru was quick to hug her sister tightly, crying openly. "Oh my gosh... first Genki now... I suspected it for awhile... my gosh, all of us! All three of us!" They drew away, and after a pause, Michiru asked softly, "Kanpeki-chan, you... have feelings for Murasaki-san... don't you?" Kanpeki nodded and whispered, "She doesn't know." "Are you afraid to admit what you are to her?" Kanpeki laughed weakly and looked up at the ceiling. "Oh... no, she knows that I... have other interests, so to speak... and she does as well... she just doesn't know that she's the one I'm in love with." "Are you going to tell her, or are you waiting to see if she returns your feelings?" Michiru asked in a concerned voice. Kanpeki sat down and sighed. "I want to wait for some sign that she is interested in me, too... I'd feel stupid if I just told her and she didn't." "I take it you've given this a lot of thought?" "A _great_ deal of thought." Kanpeki curled up in a ball. "She's what makes my life worth living," she whispered. "She's the reason I've gotten over all those wacky emotional problems I used to have. I'm just so scared I'll lose her friendship if I tell her..." Michiru hugged her and said, "It's better to wait then... but somehow... I don't think you have to worry." Kanpeki looked up at her with wide eyes. "Y-you think so?" "Well, I always thought that you _were_ a couple! And she does seem to like you a lot... I think she's just as nervous as you are! If you two could just get up the nerve, you would make a great couple!" Kanpeki laughed and hugged her back. "Thanks, Michiru-chan! ... Funny how two Kaiou sisters both fall for two girls who are relatives, isn't it?" Michiru winked. "It is, isn't it?" "They've just got good selection amongst them, I suppose." "Very," Michiru said with a grin. "So gorrrrrgeous..." Kanpeki sighed deeply and clasped her hands tightly under her chin. "Mmm hmm!" They both giggled. "Well... you should probably go now... don't want to keep her waiting." Michiru smiled at her sister as she said this. "Yeah... sleep well, Michiru-chan." "You too, Kanpeki-chan." Michiru sat still for several moments after she left. "She forgot her art," she murmured, setting it aside as she lay down on her bed. She felt hot tears forming in her eyes. She was glad that her sister had found someone that made her happy, and that there was a good chance of a relationship developing, but she was incredibly jealous. Murasaki was right there, all Kanpeki had to do was work up the nerve to tell her. Michiru, however, couldn't even speak to the girl she loved or she could risk losing any chance with her. Michiru couldn't help it; she cried herself to sleep. She couldn't move much more than several inches, and that was only her arm. She was in great pain, confusion, and felt more tired than she ever had before. She couldn't sit up, couldn't speak, couldn't _anything_, it seemed. She was bruised and cut, swollen in places, her throat too pained from being choked to make a sound. Her vision was blurry, and she could feel a dull throb going through her body. But Haruka had her thoughts. All those thoughts, churning through her head. After all, at the moment, they were probably all she was capable of. She could vaguely remember the beating, thank God that it was only a vague recollection; Katai screamed at her for awhile before he started hitting her, then the rest was a blur of pain. What had happened to her? She could remember stumbling upstairs, then a swirl of colors and black, and a jolt of pain, but that was about it. Her eyes moved downward to look at herself. She was wearing a large, clean shirt. Her wounds had been wrapped with gauze, cleaned, done with obvious care. But who did it? No one was home-- White. Pure, blinding white. Like a light from heaven, perhaps. A faint blur of colors, a peachy tone framed by wavy aquamarine, the features hard to make out in the light, only the sad smile and the warmth of the blue eyes could clearly be seen. Beauty... she knew the figure to be beautiful, but she couldn't see... And then the wonderful being was gone. Was that an angel perhaps? A guardian angel... She let her head sink further into her pillows. She could have died tonight, she knew it. But she'd been saved from that by someone, who was it though? She could faintly recall-- A wonderfully pleasing smell, of vanilla, maybe a bit of rose mixed in, the warm and tender caress of a hand on her cheek, and a soft voice... What were the words? She couldn't make out the jumble too well... plesgtbterplselivhrukailovyu... Huh? That didn't make sense... Pleasegetbetterpleaseliveharukailoveyou... She thought she could make out words in there but-- i love you Her heart started pounding fast. No... that couldn't have been what she heard... she couldn't have heard that... I love you. A tear started making its way down her cheek. She could remember the voice though, and she could hear the beautiful voice saying it, in her mind. "...I love you..." She let out a tiny cry and let her tears flow freely. She _had_ heard that... she had heard... oh God... someone... someone had saved her life, someone had cared, a beautiful angel, and she loved her! _Her_! Ten'ou Haruka, of all people... She really _did_ have a guardian angel... "Haruka-chan! Are you up there?" Haruka froze, her breath catching in her throat. That voice... okaa-san... Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Her door was open she couldn't move to shut it footsteps echoed up the stairs her mother was coming up here she'd see-- "Oh my God..." Haruka shut her eyes, letting the liquid spill from the corners, as Sunao ran over to her with a sob. "Haruka! Oh my God, oh my God, what happened to you, you're--" Sunao pulled back quickly. "Haruka... you were home alone once you got back from Teinei's... I know you were here and didn't leave but..." She froze in place. "Katai was with you for awhile though... oh my God..." Her hands flew to her mouth as she started trembling. "Oh no... Oh no... Haruka... if you can talk... please, tell me the truth..." Haruka's eyes opened, a pleading look in them. "Did he-- Is he the one-- ?" Haruka's tears were overflowing from her eyes, and she let them flutter shut again as she tilted her head the best she could. But it was enough. Sunao swayed on her feet, resting her hand against the wall to steady herself. Katai... her husband... he'd beat his own daughter... he'd nearly killed their only living child... "Oh lord, how could he have done this, how could this have happened?" Sunao cried, coming over to Haruka. She carefully took her daughter's hand, wiping away both their tears. "I'm so sorry, Haruka-chan, I should have seen it sooner... Oh God, what are we going to do? If I try to tell someone, he could find out and hurt you more... What do we do... oh God..." She sniffled and turned away, curled up tightly. "What in the name of heaven can we do?"
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