A/N: To those of you who had nearly given up on seeing an update, thank you for your patience. To everyone else, you got lucky, for now, but also thank you for your time. Long story short, life happened, but the mood struck, so why not. Props to Vanessa Riverton for beta-ing the earlier version of this update from tiiiiiiime ago.

The intersection was heavily populated with the ever busy crowd of Shibuya making their way across the crosswalks. It was an unusually nice day too, so more people were out and about, taking advantage of the warmth before the cold really set in. There were even some tourists, stragglers who waited till the last moment to do their sightseeing.

Haruka sat in her car, impatiently waiting for the light to turn green. With only one car in front of her, she was determined to make it through this time. Stop and go traffic was the worst, especially when only one lane was open due to roadwork. When the light finally turned green, the last few pedestrians quickly scurried out of the way and Haruka prepared to move forward.

"Come on!" muttered Haruka when the car in front of her didn't budge.

Haruka tapped her horn, but the driver ahead remained still. The driver refused to move even after she beeped a few more times and revved her engine. She kept her hand on the horn, drawing out the sound, then the driver's door opened and a man stepped out. When he began walking towards Haruka, she unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of her own car. Haruka was not prone to road rage, but she was prepared to exchange some choice words with the man if it came down to it.

"Are you serious? What the hell, man?"

The man ignored Haruka and walked past her, staring her up at the sky. That was when Haruka realized everyone around her was looking in the same direction, all with a look of awe on their faces. Darkness quickly fell upon them as Haruka drew her attention to the sky, which was turning into a deep shade of red.

"What's happening?" a woman nearby asked.

Soon the ground began to quake, rousing everyone out of their catatonic state. Panic erupted and screams began to fill the air as an unseen force began to tear through the city. Lives were claimed as buildings collapsed and some were just merely trampled to death. Glass shattered everywhere and while the citizens ran every which way, Haruka stood paralyzed, watching the destruction. She had to be dreaming again. There was no way this was actually happening.

"Uranus, wake up," a voice echoed inside her head. "It is time."

Haruka jumped back, looking around bewildered, and caught a reflection of herself on the window of her car. All of her clothes had been replaced with a senshi fuku of blue and gold, but when she looked down at her own body, her normal clothes were still in place.

"You must find the Messiah," the mysterious voice continued, "or the world will end."

"What? Me?"

"It is your destiny. You are Sailor Uranus."

Haruka keeled over as her mind was suddenly rushed with images. She saw herself as Sailor Uranus, battling enemies with two others like her. She was powerful, strong, and she commanded the forces of the wind. It was their duty to protect the solar system, but after the destruction of the kingdom they were to defend, the Soldier of Silence was awakened and she brought about the end of the world, bringing death to everything.

Leaning against her car for support, Haruka stood back up and as she watched the city crumble to the ground, she had an undeniable feeling this was real, this was very real. This was the future if she failed to find the Messiah.

Haruka opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when she found herself in a sunlit room still in bed. The incredibly vivid dream still left her feeling disturbed, but that's all it was, just a dream, no matter how real it felt. She just needed to shake it off like any other nightmare. Besides, recurring nightmares weren't so uncommon. She always had nightmares of her teeth falling out, or being chased, or even being back in school and somehow forgetting her clothes. Even April still haunted her dreams occasionally, so there was probably a reasonable explanation for dreaming about apocalypses.

Beside her, Michiru lay asleep, breathing peacefully. A blissful look spread across Haruka's face. She had no idea how long they were up last night, but she remembered every bit of it. And enjoyed it as well. Haruka had always hoped deep down in her heart that she and Michiru could be together again, but she had felt unworthy, undeserving, and just plain selfish. After everything that's happened between them, Haruka was grateful just to have their friendship back. Now here they were, lying naked in each other's arms. And she might as well face it, she couldn't be just friends with Michiru now, not after this. If there was something still holding Michiru back, fine, but at least Haruka would tell her what she should've said long ago.

Haruka leaned forward and placed a kiss on Michiru's forehead.

"Mm, good morning, Ruka," said Michiru. She snuggled closer to Haruka and lifted her head to meet Haruka's lips. "How are you feeling?"

"Not hungover."

"That's good." Michiru rested her head back on Haruka's shoulder in perfect contentment. "You can still say you have yet to experience a hangover then."

"Yeah. I had a really crazy dream though."

"Oh?"

"In my dream, I drunk-dialed my ex-girlfriend, drove over to her apartment, threw up in her bathroom, and then she kissed me."

Michiru made a face. "How unfortunate for her. The taste must've been very unpleasant."

"Well, she let me freshen up first."

"And what's so crazy about this dream?"

"The crazy part is it actually happened." Haruka took Michiru's hands into hers. "Never in a million years did I think I'd be here with you, let alone waking up beside you."

Michiru reached up and placed her hand on Haruka's cheek. "Ruka."

Haruka shook her head. "If you can't say it, then don't. It's okay. But I just want you to know that I love you. I have loved you all along."

"I know. And I love you, Ruka. I never stopped loving you."

"Alright, this is it. You are gonna make it to the top this time!"

Hanako tilted her head up at the looming wall in front of her. "Maybe I should stick to climbing the shorter walls a little more."

"Oh no, you're climbing this one. And you're not gonna stop halfway, you're going all the way!"

"But it's so high and scary!"

"It's not! Come on, I did it."

"Easy for you to say, Haruka. You're fearless."

"This is indoor climbing, Hanako. It's not like we're climbing actual outdoor rock structures," said Haruka. She finished checking the knots on Hanako's harness, then proceeded to secure the rope with the carabiner and belay device on her own harness. "You're not backing out on your own deal now, are you?"

"The deal was you had to go climbing with me, not make me climb the tallest wall."

"Enough talking. I don't wanna hear it."

"Fine," Hanako sighed heavily. She sized up the wall one last time before stepping up to it. "Belay on."

Haruka pulled the rope taut and responded, "On belay."

Hanako placed her hands on the holds. "Climbing."

"Climb on!"

The rope slacked as Hanako began lifting herself up, moving from one hold to the next, and Haruka quickly pulled the rope taut with every step, her brake hand ready to catch the rope should Hanako lose her grip. It was a steady ascension until Hanako neared the halfway point. Haruka could see she was fighting the temptation to look down with all her might.

"Come on, Hana, you got this!" Haruka called up to her.

Hanako reached for the next hold and pressed on, earning her a few more feet of elevation, then stopped again, struggling with her mental barrier.

"You're almost there! Just keep going!"

"Take!" Hanako shouted. It was the command for Haruka to pull the rope as tight as she could and either meant Hanako needed to rest for a bit or she was getting ready to be lowered. Haruka was not going to allow the latter.

"Gotcha!" Haruka shouted back up.

Hanako held on to the rope, leaned back slightly, and shouted down, "Lower!"

"No!" Haruka said frankly.

"Come on, Haruka! Let me down!"

"No, you're so close! You can do it!"

"Haruka!"

"If you need a break, take it, but I'm not letting you down!"

Hanako grabbed onto the holds again and surveyed the path ahead. Keeping one hand on a hold, Hanako shook her other hand out to relieve the lactic acid building up, then switched hands to relieve the other. She hung from the rope a moment longer, gauging the remaining wall and planning her route to the top. Finally she resumed her climb and Haruka continued pulling the rope, shouting more encouragements.

As Haruka watched Hanako advance toward the ceiling, she caught sight of the sky through one of the skylights and noticed something peculiar. The sky was darkening, a severe thunderstorm appearing eminent. Haruka didn't recall any rain in the day's forecast, but then she heard the faint sound of rustling wind and it gave her the chills.

Haruka quickly clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, and when she opened her eyes the sky was a clear blue again.

"I really should get more sleep," Haruka said to herself and turned her attention back to Hanako, who had finally reached the top of the wall.

Hanako rang the bell and cried out triumphantly, "YES!"

"Awesome, Hana!"

"Now get me down from here or I swear, Haruka!"

"Alright, alright. Lowering!" Haruka loosened her grip on the rope and gravity took care of the rest as Hanako slowly came down. Just before Hanako reached the bottom, Haruka held the rope so that Hanako's feet hung inches from the ground.

"Haruka!"

Haruka gave Hanako a playful grin and let the rope go, allowing Hanako to stand.

"You're so evil."

"I couldn't resist, you know I had to," she said and began to untie the knots on Hanako's end of the rope. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it."

"I can't believe I made it! Oh my God, I'm so happy!" said Hanako, her voice bursting with delight.

"And I'm proud of you!"

"We should celebrate. Me for finally conquering this wall and you for gettin' back together with Michiru."

Haruka smiled at the mention of Michiru's name. It had been a couple of weeks since she made that midnight run to Michiru's apartment and she was still in disbelief that they were together again. It felt so unreal to her and she wondered how she could ever deserve such happiness. Truly, life for her just kept getting better and better, but then again, she didn't expect it could go any lower than what she now thought of as the other life.

The two friends gathered up their climbing gear and returned them at the front counter. When they left the climbing facility, Haruka took a weary glance up at the sky, but saw nothing alarming. Somewhere in the back of her mind, though, she knew she hadn't been dreaming. She had researched apocalyptic dreams and found that to dream it is the end of the world suggests she was under a tremendous level of stress and that she may be feeling vulnerable or helpless in some situation. On the contrary, Haruka was anything but stressed, and for once she felt in control of life. Everything was going so well. Besides having the love her life back, she was doing what she loved best: racing. And she wasn't going to let anything stop her from fulfilling her dream.

They decided to go to Mos Burger to treat themselves and talked excitedly about the next weekend when all their early morning and evening runs would pay off at the Tsukuba track and field event. Hanako was participating in the long distance event while Haruka took part in the sprints. Haruka always liked the quicker, fast-paced sprints more than having to pace herself. The competition wasn't an issue. It was the lack of fulfillment for her need for speed and distance running simply left her feeling bored. She had only signed up for the Osaka Marathon because Hanako dragged her into it, even though she would've been happy to just accompany her for moral support. But now Hanako could run as long as she wanted, Haruka could run as fast as she wanted, and they could both offer each other moral support for their respective events. Naturally, Michiru would be there to watch the event as well. Hanako liked Michiru and thought she was really good for Haruka, but should she ever do anything to hurt Haruka, Hanako would be quick to serve some justice. Haruka told her she doubted that would be necessary, but played along and gave her consent just the same.

The sea was growing restless on the beach where Michiru spent her nights. She knew she was running out of time and she was nowhere closer to finding her partner or the Messiah. She had become so caught up with being happy with Haruka and that's all that seemed to matter to her right now, but she also knew that the path before her was not one she wanted Haruka to take with her. She was a soldier who would stop at absolutely nothing for her mission and she would never be able to forgive herself should something happen to Haruka, yet she couldn't bear the thought of willingly letting her go again.

The wind lifted Michiru's hair from her shoulders and she looked up curiously. She couldn't see the wind, but she could see the effects of the wind, and for a second, she thought she had seen the shape of a hand formed by the fine grains of sand being tossed around by the wind. Michiru dared to think it even looked like it was beckoning her towards it.

Follow the wind, she recalled. It still didn't quite make any sense to her, but at this point she didn't have any better ideas. Michiru stood up and waited for the wind to reveal its presence again. The trees swayed and Michiru's eyes followed the direction in which they leaned. She walked inland, leaving the shore behind her, allowing the wind to lead her. Eventually the sand gave way to soft, springy grass and soon Michiru was brought to a small grove of trees. She could hear the sound of the ocean coming from within the alcove, similar to when you held a conch shell up to your ear. As she approached the center of the clearing, something shiny glistened on the ground. Small blossoms fell from the surrounding trees and swirled around the mysterious object, spiralling down in a ritualistic dance. Michiru knelt down and discovered a gold handle jutting out from the earth. She took the handle, moving it from side to side until the dirt around it loosened enough for her to pull the half-buried object out. She held in her hand what appeared to be a mirror, although covered in dirt, its reflective properties were very dull and she could hardly see anything in it.

Michiru decided to bring the mirror back to the shore so she could rinse the dirt off. With the hem of her shirt, she carefully scrubbed the grime off, revealing the symbol of Neptune engraved into a deep aqua green enamel on the back side of the mirror. It seemed she was meant to find this forgotten treasure. She dipped the mirror into the ocean when suddenly it shimmered with light, startling Michiru. Power surged from the mirror up her hand, spreading throughout her body, enveloping her, awaking another part of her soul just like the first time she had touched her henshin stick. She withdrew the mirror from the water and the light subsided, but in the mirror was the fading silhouette of a sailor senshi wielding a sword.

Sailor Uranus.

She didn't know how she knew, but somehow she just did, like a long forgotten memory being restored. It was her partner, the one with whom she would find the Messiah, the one she was bonded to by destiny.

Michiru submerged the mirror once more, cleaning off the last remaining bits of dirt, then held the mirror up, gazing intently into it.

The mirror gleamed in the moonlight, then Sailor Uranus slowly came into view again. She was a tall woman with short, blonde hair, and she was running at a speed that was humanly impossible, her fuku fluttering in a blur, without even breaking a sweat. It was unclear why Uranus was running, but there was something peculiar about her that struck Michiru as vaguely familiar.

"Uranus," Michiru said thoughtfully.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

In the blink of an eye, Michiru was back in her conscious realm. Haruka's arm was around her and she still had her eyes closed, but her eyebrows were lifted in a question. Michiru always found it amusing how Haruka could carry a conversation while half-asleep.

"Nothing, I was probably just talking in my sleep," Michiru said and adjusted her position to fit with Haruka's. Haruka's bed wasn't that much smaller than her's, but Haruka had a tendency to take up space. She settled back into her pillow, ready to resume her sleep when she felt Haruka's hand reach across her hips.

"Ruka!" said Michiru and caught Haruka's hand. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was," Haruka replied with a devious smile..

"Well, you should go back to sleep. You need your rest for your race tomorrow."

"You mean today, and don't worry, I'll be fine," Haruka said as her lips lightly traced a path down Michiru's neck.

"You know, during the World Cup, England's football team is only allowed to see their wives and girlfriends after a match."

"Good thing I'm not English, nor do I play football."

By then Haruka was below Michiru's waist and Michiru couldn't resist even if she tried. Haruka just needed to distract herself from the nightmare she was having before she heard Michiru muttering in her sleep. Her dreams were getting worse, and now one of the senshi from the memories of her past life was showing up in her dreams. Haruka could never get a good look at her since the senshi's identity was always shrouded in shadow, but she didn't want to wait around and find out who she was anyway, so she always ran. She wanted nothing to do with this absurd destiny bullshit. There was nothing she hated more than being forced into something, especially under the guise of a choice. There are other senshi, they can save the world. Maybe it was selfish, but she'd had enough of giving up herself. That alone should be reason to disqualify her from her so-called destiny.

Michiru fell asleep almost instantly after Haruka had her way with her, but Haruka found herself unable to sleep for the remaining hours before dawn broke. She was eager to run. She was eager to escape into the world where nothing could catch up to her, not even destiny. Haruka diverted her thoughts to Michiru as she watched her sleep. Assuming this destiny business was real, what would that mean for her and Michiru? She didn't know. All she knew was that she loved Michiru more than anything. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for Michiru, and she vowed she would never lose her again.

Haruka may be born with the destiny of a soldier, but, in her heart, she didn't want to acknowledge that fact yet because she had a hunch that if she did she was pretty sure that everything around her would change.

The Tsukuba track and field event yielded a crowd that was much larger than expected. Athletes from all over the region came to compete, and with them came their entourage of coaches, supporters, and fans. The distance running events had already started earlier in the day and the runners were starting to near the end of the race. Haruka and Michiru stood on the sidelines, waiting for Hanako to appear. As soon as they spotted her, they cheered at the top of their voices. Hanako was neck to neck with another runner and it became a mental game of knowing when to sprint that home stretch to the finish line. Haruka knew Hanako would be impatient and kept telling her to keep her pace steady just a little bit longer, but Hanako broke out into a sprint once she saw the finish line and the other runner immediately followed. Haruka ran down the sideline with them, shouting encouragements to Hanako, but she could tell Hanako was quickly losing gas. She burned out just before the finish line, enough for the other runner to take the lead and cross first. Past the finish line, Haruka stepped out from the sideline and caught her best friend from collapsing.

"I lost," Hanako panted.

"What're you talking about? You got 2nd place, Hanako," said Michiru as she joined them.

"Yeah, you almost had it," said Haruka.

"What's that quote from your favorite movie? 'It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile; winning's winning.' I did not win."

"Shut up, Hana. That's street racing. But you did bust out the Nos a little early," said Haruka.

"I know," Hanako agreed painfully.

"But look on the bright side, you broke your own personal record."

"I did?" Hanako looked up at the official time keeping board and saw that her time was just under three hours. "YES!" she shouted and began dancing, but she was interrupted by cold water being poured over her head. "Gah, Haruka!" she cursed.

"Congratulations!" Haruka said with a smile.

Michiru shook her head and gave Hanako her towel. "Here you go, Hanako."

"Thank you, Michiru. At least somebody is nice to me."

"Excuse me? Don't get me started on nice. You're the one dragging me to go running early in the morning. I don't even think you can call it morning. It's still dark, the moon and stars are still out—"

"Alright, alright!"

"—And we should be sleeping!" Haruka finished anyway.

Hanako turned to Michiru and said, "Your girlfriend won't let me hear the end of it."

Michiru just smiled and shrugged. "But we love her anyway."

The three women headed over to the track where the sprint events were going to take place. Michiru and Hanako went up to the bleachers while Haruka prepared for the race. It had been years since Michiru watched Haruka run. The last time she saw Haruka run was when they were still in high school. She had never been able to attend Haruka's track meets when she was in college because either her schedule wouldn't allow it or her senshi duties got in the way. She prayed that of all the days to have an attack occur, this would not be one of them. Nevertheless, inside her purse was her henshin stick, ready to summon planetary power if needed. Michiru knew she wouldn't be able to hide this part of her life from Haruka forever, but more than anything, she didn't want Haruka to get involved. This was her destiny, not Haruka's.

Haruka glanced up at the bleachers and waved to Michiru and Hanako. She removed her tearaways and joined some of the runners for a few warm-up laps around the track. With just a few minutes remaining before the race started, Haruka stood on the side and stretched. She closed her eyes, relaxing her muscles with every exhale to get the full extent of her stretch and counted to thirty. She shut off all the sounds around her as she prepared herself mentally for the race, but then there was the sound of the wind.

And it was deafening.

Haruka opened her eyes and she stared out in shock. No! Not again!

She was seeing that vision of destruction again. The cries of dying innocent people filled the air beneath the burning red sky as an unseen force tore the city asunder. Haruka stood and watched helplessly, waiting for the vision to end, and then a bright light caught her eye. She turned towards it and before her, descending from the sky, was a sailor senshi enveloped in an aqua glow, no longer shrouded in shadow. Haruka recognized her as one of the senshi she had supposedly fought alongside with.

"The silence is approaching. We must find the Messiah quickly," said the senshi. She looked directly into Haruka's eyes and said, "The ones who can do that are you and I."

The vision quickly faded and Haruka was back on the track circuit. She blinked a couple times, then held her head in her hands.

"That again," she muttered.

"Hey, Haruka, what're you doing? You okay?" It was Hanako. She had come down from the bleachers.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"The race is about to start and you're just sitting here looking all dazed. Michiru and I were starting to worry."

"No, I'm good. Just gettin' in the zone, you know."

"The zone is about to leave you behind, so you better get out there!"

"Right," Haruka said and started jogging towards the start line.

"And good luck!" Hanako called after her.

"I got this!" Haruka shouted back.

Hanako settled beside Michiru back up on the bleachers as Haruka lined up with the other runners. Haruka spared one more glance at Michiru and blew a kiss. Michiru blew a kiss back, and then Haruka took her position on the starting blocks. After a few moments, the racers were off at the sound of the gun. Michiru watched in awe as Haruka quickly took the lead, flying past all the runners.

"Go, Haruka!" Hanako shouted, then said to Michiru, "She makes it look so easy, doesn't she."

Michiru beamed with pride. "She does. She's amazing."

"Oh, now she's just showing off," said Hanako as Haruka put distance between her and the runners behind her after the first bend. "Look at her! She runs like the wind!"

The image from the mirror in Michiru's dream flashed into Michiru's mind. "What did you say?" she asked without taking her eyes off Haruka.

"She runs like the wind. I mean, she's always talking about wanting to become the wind, wrestling free from the domination of gravity and plunging forth into the vast reaches of the sky," Hanako explained while waving her hands in the air to convey some abstract, grand idea. "Something like that. At least that's how she puts it."

Just then, Haruka ran past the finish line first and suddenly Michiru was overcome with joy. She couldn't believe it, but she had no doubt. Haruka was the one.

Haruka was Sailor Uranus.

Haruka looked up at Michiru with a huge grin on her face as she received her medal, and Michiru realized destiny couldn't have picked a more perfect partner. In everything she did, Haruka had always given it her all, sometimes to a fault, but it was that kind of quality that was required of a senshi. They had a mission, and after what Michiru had encountered so far, there was no room for giving up. Many sacrifices would be made and there wouldn't be any way around it.

But did Haruka know? Had she been awakened yet?

When Michiru and Hanako met up with Haruka just outside the entrance to the track, Michiru thought she had a way to find out, so after congratulating Haruka on her win, Michiru tested her theory.

"You aren't sweating at all," Michiru said to Haruka. "Perhaps you were holding back quite a bit," she teased, but based on what she remembered seeing in the mirror, she knew that Haruka could've run so much faster.

"What do you mean?" Haruka asked without thinking twice about Michiru's comment.

"Can't you hear the sound of wind rustling?" Michiru asked, hoping she was getting straight to the point.

Haruka stared hard at Michiru. No way! she thought, but she knew without a doubt exactly what Michiru meant. And that was when Haruka realized Michiru was the person, and she knew exactly who Haruka was, too. Neptune. Sailor Neptune is her name, Haruka suddenly recalled, and she knew that Haruka was Uranus.

Haruka picked up her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder. "You're weird," she said, feigning ignorance, but her eyes remained cautiously locked onto Michiru's.

"Oh, I told Michiru about your whole 'I want to become the wind' thing," Hanako piped in, completely oblivious of the tension that had ensued, "so if anyone's weird, it's you, Miss Sky King. How's that going by the way? Can you fly yet? 'Cuz I could use a lift to the car. My legs are dead."

Haruka forced out a laugh. "Just wait by the main entrance then. I'll go get the car."

"I'll walk with you," said Michiru.

"No," Haruka almost snapped. "Just wait here with Hanako." And without another word, Haruka quickly left.

Michiru knew she got through to Haruka, but she wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. She didn't expect Haruka to just come clean about her senshi identity, especially in front of Hanako, but she didn't expect to upset Haruka by confronting her about it either. She thought Haruka would be just as happy as she was to discover that they were partners, destined partners, but apparently not. What was Michiru supposed to do now?

During the ride back, there was an awkward silence between Haruka and Michiru for the first time ever for as long as they'd known each other. Hanako was knocked out in the backseat, so without her being talkative, there was nothing to create a diversion from the issue that Haruka was obviously trying to avoid discussing. Even after they dropped Hanako off, the car ride continued in silence.

"Ruka?" Michiru finally dared to break the silence. "About what I said earlier—"

"Don't," Haruka cut her off.

"Ruka, it's real," Michiru pressed.

"I said don't," Haruka said, resisting the urge to let things escalate. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You want to know why I lied back then?" Michiru burst out. "I was busy fighting to protect the world! To protect you! The silence is approaching and if we don't find the Messiah—"

"There is no 'we!' I am not who you think I am!"

"You are Sailor Uranus!"

"Stop it!" Haruka whipped the car over to the shoulder of the road and parked, and then stormed out. Guess it escalated quickly after all.

Michiru watched as Haruka took a few steps ahead of the car, picked up some loose gravel from the ground, and threw it into the trees lining the highway, yelling in frustration into the open air. Michiru's gaze dropped down to her hands and she recalled the fateful day when she grabbed her henshin stick. She didn't even have a choice. Under the circumstances, it was either grab it or let the monster kill her college roommate, or worse, be killed herself. Would she have resisted the way Haruka was doing now if things happened differently? Although she had constantly blamed the appearance of the henshin stick for throwing her life into shambles, she never did regret accepting her destiny. At least that's what she always told herself in order to avoid admitting how she really felt. She was scared. Terrified. The last thing she wanted was blood on her hands. All she wanted to do was become a violinist.

The car shifted into motion again, stirring Michiru from her thoughts. Michiru didn't even notice Haruka getting back inside the car, but she realized the sky had gone dark and brooding. Not too long after they had gotten back on the road, torrential rain pelted down from the clouds. At Michiru's side, Haruka kept her focus on the road. The silence between them was more deafening than the tempestuous noise of the storm.

When they finally arrived at Michiru's apartment, Haruka kept her car engine idling.

"Thanks for coming out to the race," Haruka said.

"Of course, I'm glad I got to finally see you run again," Michiru said as cheerfully as she could, but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her otherwise. It was clear that Haruka wasn't staying that night, but maybe it was better that she gave Haruka some space. "So, I guess I'll see you later?"

Haruka's voice caught in her throat, begging not to expel the words, but she forced them out. "I don't know when I'll be free, and I'm sure you've already got your hands full, so don't let me get in your way."