A story!!
“You broke the rules,” Michiru spoke clear and firmly, her gaze hard as stone, cold as a ferocious tidal wave.
“Yes, I did. It won’t happen again.”
There was only one option with Michiru, and that was the truth. The couple had agreed long ago - before even meeting Usagi and the others - to an open relationship so long as they knew in their hearts that at the end they only loved each other. It worked out fine given how often they were separated due to career demands. The times they did have with each other was mostly spent in life or death situations, making the precious moments where there was no need to fight very rare and special then any night they could spend in the arms of another.
Still, this was the first time the consequences of an open relationship were laid out so clearly before them. Michiru knew Haruka would have had to do have been with someone last week, when she was in Otaku composing music with Nana Mizuki for her new album. She was grateful that Haruka had been thoughtful enough not to sleep with someone in their bedroom on their bed, but to see how sloppy she and her lover had been simply unnerved her.
“I’d like to know who it was.” It wasn’t a demand, only a request that was still being respectful to Haruka’s privacy, which had been one of the most important things they agreed to when it came to supporting their kind of relationship. Honestly and communication had to be kept open and clear.
Haruka’s bottomless blues looked to Michiru’s stern face with surprise. Seconds crawled by, Haruka almost refused to answer but changed her mind just when Michiru was about to speak again, “Aino Minako.”
“Of course…who else could be such an airhead as to forget her own panties on the way out the door?”
The venom in Michiru’s voice made Haruka cringe. The boyish blonde couldn’t recall if her life partner had ever shared anyone else’s bed, and if she had there was no telling how often she did. The need to defend herself rose in Haruka’s throat, adding quickly and calmly, “She had a change of clothes because she needed to go to her new job afterwards.”
Silence followed. Michiru’s gaze went back to the panties on the floor, so red they were hard to look at for too long. They were crotchless, see-through, perfectly suited for porn - so like Michiru’s worst expectations for the leader of the sailor senshi.
“I don’t like it. I don’t want you doing this in our home, not when we’re raising a child.”
Haruka took a step back, her composure drowned in Michiru’s words. “What are you suggesting? That my parenting is unfit because I slept with one of our friends, a person we both know and trust with our lives, in the privacy of my home? Hotaru’s not even a child anymore, nor is she the kind of girl to poke around in our guestroom looking for things that shouldn’t be here. I admit it was careless of me to not notice what Minako left behind but you’re making it sound as if I put Hotaru in some kind of danger with this?”
“I just don’t like the idea that-“
“But we agreed to this a long time ago.”
“That’s just it! It was a long time ago. We were younger, lonely, and it was just us-“
“All I needed was us, and that’s still all I need. I may have given my body to others, but do you honestly believe I would ever give my heart to someone else? That I would not want to go back to bed with you, not just for sex but to be close to you and to have you near me and know you want me, all of me, and not just my body?”
Michiru’s eyes felt hot and she quickly looked away. The couple rarely disagreed, and almost never raised their voices to each other. What was happening now seemed too alien to believe. The growing sensation of wanting to cry was so old that she couldn’t remember the last time she had shed tears. Even during their trials, their deaths, she had been strong enough never to cry once, to not shed a single tear of sadness or regret. Her hold on her emotions was slipping.
“What if Hotaru had found them…?”
“…well, if she had, she’d assume it was yours. Or maybe Setsuna’s. She wouldn’t be scarred for life from it,” the sarcasm was thick like honey in Haruka’s voice, and the calm manner in which she spoke only added to Michiru’s annoyance. “Now tell me, why does this really bother you?”
Michiru swallowed and shut her eyes. When she opened them her eyes lashes felt wet, but no tears were shed. She rubbed them quickly as a precaution. “I haven’t done it.”
“Done what?”
“I’ve never been with anyone else. All this time. I’ve flirted of course, with men and women, but never went any further than words. I never felt the need to. I would stay pent up until we could be alone. I never needed anyone else to satisfy my body.”
Haruka looked away, hands balled up into fists inside the pockets of her slacks, her back slightly hunched forward as if a unseen weight of responsibility was on her shoulders. She sighed out of sadness and annoyances. “Do you want to change our relationship? Make it a closed one? I’m not a nymph in any way, I don’t need to be with other people, and if it scares you this-“
“I’m not scared of you having sex with whoever you want. Things are just different now than they were before. We’re practically married now. We’re far past the girlfriend stage that people like Minako and Usagi both like to stay rooted in. We have responsibilities that are different and demand different things from us, more so now with Hotaru. Yes, she may not be a true child, but she’s young, too young I think to know her parents don’t always sleep in the same bed.”
Haruka thought about her words carefully before she answered. Her thoughts strayed to the window facing the guest bed which had been neatly folded to look as if no one had laid on it. The sun was setting, the room felt colder. Hotaru would be home from school soon, another twenty minutes perhaps if not less. Dinner wasn’t started. Michiru was clearly fighting a need to cry, which shook Haruka like the worst possible earthquake happening just in her heart.
“Our daughter is a smart girl, with parents that love her dearly, and love each other dearly. That doesn’t change and I’m not ever going to fall out of love with you. That isn’t how real love works. Real love takes honesty, and I’m going to be honest with you right now; in the last year I’ve been with three people, one of which was Minako. The other two are part of my pit crew, and both times with them were simple one night stands, one of which was played on me. The situation with Minako is simple - she’s experimenting. Oddly enough, it seems all of them are. I don’t know if it has something to do with the connection we share with the others or just typical teenage experimentation. She’s not going to fall for me, and while she is a good friend she’s too much girl and not enough of a woman for me. Now you didn’t answer my question earlier; does our open relationship scare you?”
Michiru bit her lip, struggling with her need to cry. Standing where she was, arms holding herself, squeezing tightly at her sides, she knew the real reason all this bothered her. There was no doubt that Haruka had been in the beds of other women, and it never bothered her before until she saw the evidence of it, the passion-red lace of forbidden delights hiding nothing and inviting everything, completely limitless. It was a garment she herself wouldn’t feel the need to even look at in a lingerie store.
“No,” Michiru answered honestly, “Not for the reason you think. I’m not scared of losing you to some other woman. You’d sooner sleep with a man before that happens. I’m scared that…I’m not enough for you.” She toed the panties with the heel of her sock-covered toe, “I wouldn’t wear this. I can’t imagine how wild she would have been, what she would agree to while, experimenting, as you call it, but it scares me to think that maybe if my limits were fewer…”
Haruka took Michiru’s hands in her own, holding them firmly, protectively. Their eyes met, reflecting emotions and desires and words and actions, one pair bottomless as the sea and the other vast as the sky.
“No. I would not want you to change. Not for me or any reason. I love you as you are. You are sexy beyond words, so much so that you’ve left me breathless more times than I can remember. A fling with a virgin is nothing compared to the love I share with the person that knows my soul. You’re not losing me, ever. I don’t need anyone else, and we don’t need an open relationship anymore.”
“Haruka you don’t-“
“No I don’t. I know you trust me. I’ve earned that trust and I’m not going to lose it. You’re right, things have changed. We aren’t apart as often as we use to be. We are raising someone now, putting the role of parents on ourselves, and good parents are home often to be there for their child. If we’re around more, we should take advantage of the time we have together. If we aren’t, maybe we can surprise ourselves with early meetings, do more travel together.”
Downstairs the door opened, followed by a cheerful greeting from their daughter and her best friend.
Haruka and Michiru didn’t move right away, but when they did it brought them closer.
“I’m sorry I made you so upset…” Haruka whispered.
“I’m sorry I got jealous.” Michiru whispered back.
“It works out for the best.”
“No, I’m secure enough to still want an open relationship. I do trust you. Myself though…I don’t always trust myself to be enough…”
“I’ll always trust that you’re happy with me, despite all the trouble I cause.”
Michiru cracked a smile. “And all the trouble you cause others too. What would you do without me? You should be grateful I put up with you,” Michiru’s voice had returned to the familiar teasing tone that blonde loved to hear.
Haruka chose not to respond with words.
“Yes, I did. It won’t happen again.”
There was only one option with Michiru, and that was the truth. The couple had agreed long ago - before even meeting Usagi and the others - to an open relationship so long as they knew in their hearts that at the end they only loved each other. It worked out fine given how often they were separated due to career demands. The times they did have with each other was mostly spent in life or death situations, making the precious moments where there was no need to fight very rare and special then any night they could spend in the arms of another.
Still, this was the first time the consequences of an open relationship were laid out so clearly before them. Michiru knew Haruka would have had to do have been with someone last week, when she was in Otaku composing music with Nana Mizuki for her new album. She was grateful that Haruka had been thoughtful enough not to sleep with someone in their bedroom on their bed, but to see how sloppy she and her lover had been simply unnerved her.
“I’d like to know who it was.” It wasn’t a demand, only a request that was still being respectful to Haruka’s privacy, which had been one of the most important things they agreed to when it came to supporting their kind of relationship. Honestly and communication had to be kept open and clear.
Haruka’s bottomless blues looked to Michiru’s stern face with surprise. Seconds crawled by, Haruka almost refused to answer but changed her mind just when Michiru was about to speak again, “Aino Minako.”
“Of course…who else could be such an airhead as to forget her own panties on the way out the door?”
The venom in Michiru’s voice made Haruka cringe. The boyish blonde couldn’t recall if her life partner had ever shared anyone else’s bed, and if she had there was no telling how often she did. The need to defend herself rose in Haruka’s throat, adding quickly and calmly, “She had a change of clothes because she needed to go to her new job afterwards.”
Silence followed. Michiru’s gaze went back to the panties on the floor, so red they were hard to look at for too long. They were crotchless, see-through, perfectly suited for porn - so like Michiru’s worst expectations for the leader of the sailor senshi.
“I don’t like it. I don’t want you doing this in our home, not when we’re raising a child.”
Haruka took a step back, her composure drowned in Michiru’s words. “What are you suggesting? That my parenting is unfit because I slept with one of our friends, a person we both know and trust with our lives, in the privacy of my home? Hotaru’s not even a child anymore, nor is she the kind of girl to poke around in our guestroom looking for things that shouldn’t be here. I admit it was careless of me to not notice what Minako left behind but you’re making it sound as if I put Hotaru in some kind of danger with this?”
“I just don’t like the idea that-“
“But we agreed to this a long time ago.”
“That’s just it! It was a long time ago. We were younger, lonely, and it was just us-“
“All I needed was us, and that’s still all I need. I may have given my body to others, but do you honestly believe I would ever give my heart to someone else? That I would not want to go back to bed with you, not just for sex but to be close to you and to have you near me and know you want me, all of me, and not just my body?”
Michiru’s eyes felt hot and she quickly looked away. The couple rarely disagreed, and almost never raised their voices to each other. What was happening now seemed too alien to believe. The growing sensation of wanting to cry was so old that she couldn’t remember the last time she had shed tears. Even during their trials, their deaths, she had been strong enough never to cry once, to not shed a single tear of sadness or regret. Her hold on her emotions was slipping.
“What if Hotaru had found them…?”
“…well, if she had, she’d assume it was yours. Or maybe Setsuna’s. She wouldn’t be scarred for life from it,” the sarcasm was thick like honey in Haruka’s voice, and the calm manner in which she spoke only added to Michiru’s annoyance. “Now tell me, why does this really bother you?”
Michiru swallowed and shut her eyes. When she opened them her eyes lashes felt wet, but no tears were shed. She rubbed them quickly as a precaution. “I haven’t done it.”
“Done what?”
“I’ve never been with anyone else. All this time. I’ve flirted of course, with men and women, but never went any further than words. I never felt the need to. I would stay pent up until we could be alone. I never needed anyone else to satisfy my body.”
Haruka looked away, hands balled up into fists inside the pockets of her slacks, her back slightly hunched forward as if a unseen weight of responsibility was on her shoulders. She sighed out of sadness and annoyances. “Do you want to change our relationship? Make it a closed one? I’m not a nymph in any way, I don’t need to be with other people, and if it scares you this-“
“I’m not scared of you having sex with whoever you want. Things are just different now than they were before. We’re practically married now. We’re far past the girlfriend stage that people like Minako and Usagi both like to stay rooted in. We have responsibilities that are different and demand different things from us, more so now with Hotaru. Yes, she may not be a true child, but she’s young, too young I think to know her parents don’t always sleep in the same bed.”
Haruka thought about her words carefully before she answered. Her thoughts strayed to the window facing the guest bed which had been neatly folded to look as if no one had laid on it. The sun was setting, the room felt colder. Hotaru would be home from school soon, another twenty minutes perhaps if not less. Dinner wasn’t started. Michiru was clearly fighting a need to cry, which shook Haruka like the worst possible earthquake happening just in her heart.
“Our daughter is a smart girl, with parents that love her dearly, and love each other dearly. That doesn’t change and I’m not ever going to fall out of love with you. That isn’t how real love works. Real love takes honesty, and I’m going to be honest with you right now; in the last year I’ve been with three people, one of which was Minako. The other two are part of my pit crew, and both times with them were simple one night stands, one of which was played on me. The situation with Minako is simple - she’s experimenting. Oddly enough, it seems all of them are. I don’t know if it has something to do with the connection we share with the others or just typical teenage experimentation. She’s not going to fall for me, and while she is a good friend she’s too much girl and not enough of a woman for me. Now you didn’t answer my question earlier; does our open relationship scare you?”
Michiru bit her lip, struggling with her need to cry. Standing where she was, arms holding herself, squeezing tightly at her sides, she knew the real reason all this bothered her. There was no doubt that Haruka had been in the beds of other women, and it never bothered her before until she saw the evidence of it, the passion-red lace of forbidden delights hiding nothing and inviting everything, completely limitless. It was a garment she herself wouldn’t feel the need to even look at in a lingerie store.
“No,” Michiru answered honestly, “Not for the reason you think. I’m not scared of losing you to some other woman. You’d sooner sleep with a man before that happens. I’m scared that…I’m not enough for you.” She toed the panties with the heel of her sock-covered toe, “I wouldn’t wear this. I can’t imagine how wild she would have been, what she would agree to while, experimenting, as you call it, but it scares me to think that maybe if my limits were fewer…”
Haruka took Michiru’s hands in her own, holding them firmly, protectively. Their eyes met, reflecting emotions and desires and words and actions, one pair bottomless as the sea and the other vast as the sky.
“No. I would not want you to change. Not for me or any reason. I love you as you are. You are sexy beyond words, so much so that you’ve left me breathless more times than I can remember. A fling with a virgin is nothing compared to the love I share with the person that knows my soul. You’re not losing me, ever. I don’t need anyone else, and we don’t need an open relationship anymore.”
“Haruka you don’t-“
“No I don’t. I know you trust me. I’ve earned that trust and I’m not going to lose it. You’re right, things have changed. We aren’t apart as often as we use to be. We are raising someone now, putting the role of parents on ourselves, and good parents are home often to be there for their child. If we’re around more, we should take advantage of the time we have together. If we aren’t, maybe we can surprise ourselves with early meetings, do more travel together.”
Downstairs the door opened, followed by a cheerful greeting from their daughter and her best friend.
Haruka and Michiru didn’t move right away, but when they did it brought them closer.
“I’m sorry I made you so upset…” Haruka whispered.
“I’m sorry I got jealous.” Michiru whispered back.
“It works out for the best.”
“No, I’m secure enough to still want an open relationship. I do trust you. Myself though…I don’t always trust myself to be enough…”
“I’ll always trust that you’re happy with me, despite all the trouble I cause.”
Michiru cracked a smile. “And all the trouble you cause others too. What would you do without me? You should be grateful I put up with you,” Michiru’s voice had returned to the familiar teasing tone that blonde loved to hear.
Haruka chose not to respond with words.