Chapter Six: Rumors and Reputations
By the next day the typhoon had blown itself away and it was business as usual at St. Lulim Academy. Despite being up late Michiru did not feel tired. Like the day before she was in the clubroom standing in front of an easel; but unlike yesterday the portrait before her sat untouched as she stared out the window. The sun shone down upon the trees, grass, various plants and students all across the campus. She thought being out in the sun might feel a lot like how she had felt when Haruka had looked at her.
"It would have been nice to say goodbye to her at least," Michiru muttered to herself as she bit the tip of her finger. A light pink flushed her cheeks when she thought it was one of the very same fingers used to touch the blonde in intimate ways.
"Oh! Our dear Miss Michiru is staring off into space with a most interesting look on her face, Hikari!"
Michiru looked to her left to find her classmates Nagi and Hikari looking at her in an intrigued manner. A friendship between the women had developed naturally as all three shared many of the same classes, but Michiru liked the shorter dark-haired Nagi more than the tall blonde Hikari. She just could not bring herself to trust the standoffish Hikari as readily as she did the warmer Nagi. Michiru always considered herself a good judge of character and listened to her instincts when it came to allowing people into her life, but she could not just disregard Hikari out of respect for Nagi: the two were cousins, even though they did not share a family resemblance.
Mischief lit Nagi's elfin features as she continued her jesting, and in a teasing voice asked, "Have you gone and fallen in love now?"
Michiru laughter rang a little false to her own ears and she hoped the women in front of her did not notice. "Love? Oh, not at all. Although I did meet someone cool yesterday."
Nagi squealed and even Hikari looked interested. "Do tell! What did he look like? What's his name? Is he a student here?" the shorter woman assaulted Michiru with questions.
She laughed again, with real mirth at Nagi's exuberance. "You couldn't just ask one question at a time could you? Alright, alright. He is actually a she. Her name is Haruka Tenoh and she's tall and blonde..." Michiru trailed off when she realized Nagi had gone pale and refused to meet her eyes while Hikari's lips twisted unpleasantly.
"Both of you know her?" she asked as the realization dawned on her.
"I wish I didn't. She has a bad reputation," Hikari replied in obvious derision. "That whole Tenoh family is no good. Her father is a jailbird. Constantly in and out of jail. Her mother is a thief and Haruka is a violent sociopath."
Michiru could see Nagi had tried to butt in when Hikari spoke but quickly closed her mouth. She would have preferred then and there to be alone with Nagi during this discussion.
"How do you know all that?" she voiced her doubt at Hikari's words, she did not want to believe that the person who saved her could be capable of any such violent deeds.
"Tenoh's mother used to work for my family as a maid. One day she stole some of mother's jewelry. She denied it, but mother knew it was her. The day we fired her, Tenoh came over and tore the place apart. She even injured our butler. She should have gone to jail for it, too, but mother was convinced not to press charges."
Hikari's face twisted ugly, her words dripping venom as she spoke before she walked away, "Psycho dyke. Stay away from her, Michiru."
Michiru became even more confused when Nagi muttered an apology and ran after her cousin. She couldn't quite comprehend what she was being told. Yes, she didn't know anything about Haruka but something within her doubted the woman could have done something without provocation. Who was the real Haruka? The one who hurt someone or the one who cradled Michiru in her arms yesterday before she drifted off to sleep?
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