Bad at hospitals

“Can you tell me your name please?”

“Haruka Tenno.” She sighed grumpily and crossed her arms. She had been difficult the whole time,, barking at the nurse for making her take off her sweater so she could get a heart rate, and now this poor young resident was at her mercy.

“Haruka, sort of an unusual name. How'd your folks come up with it?”

“Why my mother does anything is a mystery to us all.” She pulled her legs up onto the table and laid her head against her knees, closing her eyes.

He quietly put a cover on the otoscope, and leaned over the table, looking into Haruka's ear. The second he touched it, she batted him away and nearly fell off the table. “Warn me before you do that!”

“I-I'm sorry..” he flipped through her chart “Ah, it uh, says you have a ruptured eardrum, but I don't see a record of the incident..”

“I got into a fight.”

“You didn't seek medical attention.”

“Sure didn't. Moving on.”

He wrote something down in the chart, and Michiru touched his arm gently. He looked up at her, and she smiled kindly. “Would you mind terribly if I had a moment alone with her?”

He nodded assent, and picked up his chart, leaving them alone.

Michiru walked over to Haruka and put a hand on her knee.“Haruka. I know you do not like hospitals. I know you are exhausted and hungry. I know you are on edge. I know you do not particularly like having your ear touched. I know you would like to go home. Please bear in mind that I know all of these things, and love you very much, and listen to me very carefully.” She took Haruka's face into her hands and looked her in the eye. “Stop. Fighting. You are being a combative toddler, and if you don't stop acting like one this instant, I will tell them this is completely out of character for my docile, gentle lamb, and they will keep you overnight.”

“Michi!”

“ I will do, whatever it is I have to, to keep you safe.” She face softened, and she rested Haruka's head on her shoulder. “Ruka, just do what they tell you, and I will take you home. I'll even stop and get you some chicken nuggets and a milkshake.”  

Haruka nodded into her shoulder.

But sometimes, the cards come up wrong

And suddenly, they were surrounded. Mina and Haruka stood back to back, Mina making a quick calculation of how they were going to do this. It wasn't going to be easy, for sure, but it was possible-

Haruka interrupted her planning. “I'm gonna hit the one on the right, and you run.”

“Oh fuck you, Haruka. I'm not leaving you here.”

“Great, we'll both die.”

They swung out, and to their surprise, the enemies fell faster than they'd imagined. They moved in perfect harmony, cutting through the enemy, Mina making a metal note that she would need to polish the hell out of the Holy Sword when she got home. Mina finished off one of the last footsoldiers, and looked over at Haruka, currently being held by the jaw, her eyes misting over in a haze. Mina leapt across the room. She didn't want to try the sword, if she killed the woman while she was inside Haruka's head, she wasn't sure what would happen, but if she could break the connection...she looked at the orange spark licking the end of her fingertips and smiled. She loved his part.

She grabbed the woman's arm, and it her hit her full force. She withdrew from Haruka, who fell to her knees. Mina focused, thinking harder and harder, trying to go deeper down, and then, the woman looked up at her, here eyes still filled with pain, but a rage there, too. And then Mina felt cold steel go through her. She dropped to the floor, surprised as much as she was anything. The woman stumbled away- Mina had made a mark, at least.

Haruka was at her side in an instant, as the blood pooled around her. “Kiddo, it's gonna be fine.”

Mina looked up at her and managed a half-smile. “I guess I should have slept with Rei when I had the chance, huh?” She faltered, and Haruka held her.

“It's gonna be okay, It's gonna be okay.”

“Ruka...I don't want you to get, how you get, okay?” She tried to take a deep breath.

“Mina, please, please.”

Mina summoned up the last of her strength, and touched Haruka on the arm, a small spark going off.

A thousand happy memories of Mina flashed through Haruka's mind. Birthdays and nights out, every reassuring chat they'd ever had out on the back patio, buying Haruka's suit for the wedding together, Mina tearing up on the day of their wedding, the lunch they'd shared not 30 minutes ago.Haruka opened her eyes, still alight in the pleasantness of the memory, and looked down to see Mina was gone.

"Oh, Kiddo."

**

“You were supposed to be WITH THEM!!” Michiru was screaming at her. Actually screaming. It was something Rei had never seen, and never cared to see again. She felt guilty enough. She had canceled on Haruka and Mina at the last moment, and they had gone on without her. The rule had been not being alone, though, not a requirement of three. Michiru was crying now, and Rei's felt the full flavor of her guilt blossom.

“I know, Michiru.”

Michiru braced herself against the chair, still standing. “What do I do? What do I do? Oh God, Haruka...”

“Haruka'll be okay, it'll just take awhile.”

Michiru hung her head. “No, you don't understand...Mina was supposed to live. She had to.”

The aftermath

Rei knocked on the door of the house and took a deep breath when Haruka answered.

“I owe you an apology.”

Haruka nodded . “I accept.”

“You’re not gonna make me talk about it?”

“Return the favor someday.”

“Done.” They shook hands, satisfied, and Rei turned and left. Another excellent talk

Epilogue

Mina loved the feel of the crackle on her fingers. Pluto was always lecturing her about the necessity of using her gifts for good, but Mina didn't really think you could do much more good than taking out the trash that God had oh so negligently left on the world. Pluto could focus on more important things, as far as she was concerned, like maybe figuring out how to get Usagi to use her powers or understanding flirting between humans.

Frank was curled up in the corner, crying. Maggie lay on the floor, eyes wide with sadness, as Mina gathered up the two small boxes and lay them by the door. She went and sat by Maggie, crosslegged against the couch, and lay her hand on her chin thoughtfully.

“Okay, so, here's the thing.” Her voice was bright and peppy, even as Maggie gave a whimper of pain. “I need you to like, never contact Haruka again, kay? Becaaaaaaaaause,” She was, admittedly, enjoying the silence for her moment of dramatic flair. “when you upset Haruka I have to deal with it for like 3 weeks. And she is, you know, already a grumpy asshole, which is also mostly thanks to you. And THEN, it also makes fucking MICHIRU grump as fuck, and, lady, I just don't have the patience. Please stop breaking my lesbians.” She grabbed Maggie's purse and rifled through the wallet. “Fuck, you already spent most of the money.” She took out the forty dollars left from Haruka's payoff. “Okay, so, this is mine. I am treating the fuck out of myself.” Maggie made a grab at the cash and Mina licked her index finger and shocked Maggie again, smaller this time, but it was enough to down her.. “No no no. Wrong idea.” She stood up. “In conclusion. Let's not forget what we talked about today, okay?” Her voice was singsong, like a children's recess game, and mocking as she continued. “If you can find Haruka, I can find you.”

She picked up the boxes and slammed the door behind her, skipping away as she dialed Michiru's number on her cell phone.

“I got them! No, no, big deal Michi, it was actually pretty fun.”