Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Everything You Want -Book One- Everything You Want ❯ Everything You Want (1992) ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: OrchydConstyne 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 09.03.2002 | Updated On: 09.03.2002 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 270 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama | Type: Songfic | Uploaded On: 09.03.2002 | Updated On: 09.03.2002 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 270 | Status: Completed
*Somewhere there's speaking
*It's already coming in
*Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
*You never could get it
*Unless you were fed it
*Now you're here and you don't know why
Michiru sat at her vanity brushing her hair, looking at her perfect
complexion. Glinting in the dim lights of her room was a two-carat
diamond resting on the third finger of her left hand. Kanpeki Ichiro
was her father's named successor since Michiru was his only child.
Ichiro was the Vice-President of several of her father's sub-companies
and would inherit the Kataomoi Corporation upon her father's
retirement in 5 years.
She and Ichiro were engaged, arranged years before while Michiru was
still just a child. Ichiro was 38 and had never been married. Michiru
had the ring placed on her finger three weeks ago, at her 14th
birthday celebration. In two years she was to marry Ichiro in a large,
public wedding. Michiru looked at the ring, feeling trapped by her
duty as her father's daughter. Michiru let the brush softly fall to
her lap, bringing her left hand to meet her right. Gently she pulled
the ring from her finger, looking at it closely.
In the light of her lamp the platinum and gold inlayed ring glittered
brightly, reminding her of the choices that had been made for her
years ago. She had never understood what her mother had said to her
when she was nine that she had been given to Ichiro. She had asked if
she had to move out. Her mother had looked at her funny and asked what
she meant. Michiru, being the child she was, looked up into her
mother's clear blue eyes and said that if she was being given to
Ichiro-san...
Michiru chuckled at the memory. Of a naive childhood she longed to
have again. Now she was bound by honor, by her father, to marry
Ichiro. Trapped. Not that Ichiro was a bad man. He was kind and gentle
toward her, giving her everything she wanted, saying everything she
needed to hear... he would be an ideal husband.
If a husband had been what she wanted.
Michiru had dreams of being a violinist and painter, not a wife and
mother. Michiru sighed and placed Ichiro's brand back on her finger
and turned the light out, crawling into bed, hoping tomorrow would
dawn with a different destiny for her.
But under skinned knees and the skid marks
Past the places where you used to learn
You howl and listen
Listen and wait for the
Echoes of angels who won't return
Her leg was numb. She'd been sitting on it too long again. Michiru
slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Instead of her
eyes opening to the living room where she was sure she had fallen
asleep again, she saw a playground. Filled with laughing children.
"Michiru-san!"
Michiru gasped at the voice that called her. She turned and looked
over her shoulder and there stood Sanae-san with dried tears on her
cheeks and chocolate milk drying on her uniform. Sanae-san had been
her best friend in the schoolyard when she was... nine. Chocolate
stains... Sanae-san, who had passed away in an accident a year ago...
Michiru looked down at herself.
She was in her elementary school uniform. This was the day when she
would go home with the high grade on her test and be sat down and told
she had been given to Ichiro. This was the afternoon recess. Tears
stung Michiru's eyes as she looked on Sanae-san's face. She had missed
her friend so much. Michiru jumped up and ran to the brunette, her
arms wrapping around the chunky waist and laughing.
"Sanae-san!"
Laughing, not wanting to let her friend go, Michiru opened her eyes
again, glancing at the school. She noticed the blocks of the school
building had a red tinge to them. Like spilled punch seeping onto a
napkin, the red began to spread slowly. It got dark and crept up the
building, engulfing it in maroon, dripping like blood.
Beside her, Sanae-san seemed stiff. Michiru looked over and her friend
was frozen, solid like stone. There was a deep rumbling far away, and
Michiru turned back to the building. Buildings collapsed -- not a
sound made as they fell. Her friends and classmates were frozen, as if
stone, fear contorted their young faces. Michiru's eyes widened as the
whirlwind of silence approached the school, the schoolyard and her.
And she heard nothing.
***
"Michiru."
Michiru gasped and sat up in bed, the sweat trickling slowly down her
back and between her breasts. The cool air caused goose bumps to rise
on her damp skin. Gulping down mouthfuls of air, Michiru scanned her
room for the voice that had called her from that dream.
Sitting at her vanity was the owner of the cool, soft voice that had
rescued her from the torment of the dream. Long green hair, falling to
the floor, was what caught Michiru's attention first -- then the
flashing crimson eyes. In her hand was a long staff, topped with a
softly glowing orb.
"Who are you?" Michiru whispered, her throat rough and dry.
"I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of Time. Awaken, Neptune." The woman
extended a glove-clad arm that held a mirror, simple and beautiful.
Michiru saw herself reflected, and blinked a few times when her image
shimmered. Her image was replaced by the charming looks of a
sandy-haired man, and she watched him in the mirror.
"Who is he?"
The woman smirked slightly. "She is the one you must find. The dawn
brings your new destiny, Kaioh Michiru. Find the one. Find her."
***
Michiru sat up suddenly, a feeling of deja vu. She looked around the
room, the first rays of dawn dancing through her curtains and across
the foot of her bed. All a dream. The whole thing was a dream. She
sighed and threw the covers back. The blonde woman with the sad green
eyes was still vivid in her mind. Too bad it was just a dream. She
smiled and stretched, allowing the cobwebs of a restless night to be
swept away with the light of a new day. She reached over for her glass
of water, and a soft cry left her lips. Laying on the nightstand was
the mirror that Sailor Pluto had brought her.
It had not been a dream.
And she needed to find the woman with the sad eyes.
She was the one.
*He's everything you want
*He's everything you need
*He's everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*He says all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But he means nothing to you
*And you don't know why
Ichiro put his napkin down, watching the green-haired woman he had
watched grow up. She had become such a lovely woman and they would
have beautiful children. But, tonight, she was so quiet and distant,
not truly eating what was before her. She was constantly glancing
around the room, almost nervous.
"Kirei-chan. What is wrong tonight?"
Michiru put her napkin down and smiled at Ichiro. "Nothing,
Ichiro-san. I am just... tired... lately."
"Perhaps we should put our trip this summer aside for now so that you
can rest up and be healthy again. You look pale and thin, Kirei-chan."
Every time he said that name to her, Michiru wanted to twitch. Looking
at Ichiro, Michiru knew why her father had chosen him as his heir. He
was 5'6, he had normal, straight hair, light brown, with deep, intense
brown eyes. Ichiro was slight in build, unassuming but a quiet power
emanated from him. Her father could not have chosen a more perfect
heir.
They made an elegant couple. Very normal. Very perfect.
Michiru sighed again. "Ichiro-san, would you mind taking me home? I
think I would like to rest."
Ichiro nodded, smiling as he stood and walked to her to help her up.
"Of course, Michiru."
The drive home was quiet. He gave her space, asking her if she was all
right periodically. He offered to stop by the house later in the
evening to check on her... he was the concerned fiancé and she felt
nothing for him. That was what made her feel so ill. This man she was
bound to be with, she felt no emotion toward. And she felt cheated.
Wronged.
She felt haunted, too. Late at night she had taken to looking in the
mirror, spying on the woman she was to look for. She had also found,
next to the mirror, a wand. She didn't know what to do with it, but
she was sure she would find out soon enough.
*You're waiting for someone
*To put you together
*You're waiting for someone to push you away
*There's always another wound to discover
*There's always something more you wish he'd say
7:00 am. The alarm went off. Michiru's mother opened the blinds,
talking about the day's activities, while the upstairs maid placed her
try of food on her night table. Flipping out her napkin, Michiru
regarded the food. The same meal every morning. Had been that way for
the past five years. Nutritionally balanced. Michiru sipped the soup,
munched on the rice.
7:30 am. Shower. Slipped on her pale aqua robe and sat in front of her
vanity, brushing out her hair. Make-up next. Eye shadow, lipstick,
mascara. She slipped on her panties, fastened her bra, and slipped on
her dress. She tied the patent leather shoes and checked herself in
the mirror. She was ready.
The door opened. Her mother walked in again.
"What are those?" her mother asked, looking at Michiru's feet.
"Shoes," Michiru responded weakly.
"No. You need to wear the light brown ones with that outfit and they
should be the matte ones, not the patent." And she walked out. Michiru
changed her shoes before heading downstairs.
8:30 am. Violin practice. This lasted 2 hours. It was her first of two
sessions she had everyday. And she had a third one today, since today
was special. Today was Sunday. Her father came home on Sundays. And
she was expected to entertain him and his associates. So, she
practiced under her instructor and mother's watchful gazes.
10:45 am. Late morning snack. Michiru had a plate of 3 pieces of
sashimi placed before her and a bowl of mushroom soup served. She
hated mushrooms. The cook knew this. But, Michiru swallowed the horrid
broth, saving the sweet sashimi for last.
11:00 am. Michiru is walked upstairs by her mother and stripped by the
maid, her mother choosing a soft nightgown for Michiru to wear. The
bed is turned down and Michiru is helped in, a glass of water placed
next to her on the night table. Kaioh-san leaned down and kissed her
daughter, told her to rest, that she can awaken in 2 hours, refreshed.
But you'll just sit tight
And watch it unwind
It's only what you're asking for
And you'll be just fine
With all of your time
It's only what you're waiting for
11:15 am - 1:00 pm. Michiru sat wide-awake, staring in the mirror,
wondering when she had given up her life to all those around her. What
had she done today that was for her? She smiled at the blonde in the
mirror, feeling an instant connection. Michiru would bet her life that
no one told her what shoes to wear or when to take a nap. A knock at
her door brought her out of her thoughts and she hid the mirror away
under the mattress quickly and pretended to be asleep.
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Another 2 hours of practice. Flawless. No, not
quite. The instruction reprimanded her about her fingering, not quite
perfect enough. Then again, when was she perfect enough?
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm. Sunday studies. A review of the previous week in
school. Overseen by the tutor hired to come to the house once a week,
she went over all the work she had done at school. It was tedious and
she found it a draining hour. She always had thought the studies
should happen before her nap. But, it was not her decision to make.
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm. She ate. Alone in the dining room. She had to eat
before everyone else. After that, she knew she had to perform her
morning rituals all over again, but late in the evening so that she
would look her best for her father.
8:30 pm. Practiced, clean and dressed up, 14 year-old Michiru stood in
the foyer, violin perched under her chin, starting the first piece of
her hour set. Before her sat her father, Ichiro and 3 other
businessmen. They were sipping sake and watching her. She played as
she had been taught. Dressed how her mother dressed her. Engaged to a
man that had been chosen for her. Her life was not hers.
10:00 pm. Her father has her stand there for half an hour after her
set, smiling, standing between him and her mother. The perfect family.
Ichiro smiled at her, told her he hoped she'd feel better. Michiru
felt like her face would crack.
11:00 pm. Michiru's mother closed the bedroom door and Michiru cuddled
under the blankets, exhausted. Not a moment of her own. Not one moment
of her day had she chosen. She was lonely. Her life was dictated by
her mother, her father, her fiancé, her tutors, her teachers... She
had no control. Well, did she ever? Could she ever live if she had
complete control of her life? So many questions. Heavy on her mind.
Michiru stared into the mirror beside her on the bed, looking into the
blonde's eyes, Michiru wished the woman would come a rescue her from
this life. Whatever it had become. She did not want to marry Ichiro.
She wanted this woman in the mirror. Her partner, Uranus. How she knew
this, she couldn't say. The only thing she knew for certain was this
person was so important to her that the world needed them, and she had
to find her.
She would not marry Ichiro.
Now she just had to tell her father.
*Out of the island
*Into the highway
*Past the places where you might have turned
*You never did notice
*But you still hide away
*The anger of angels who won't return
Another Sunday. Quiet this time. Michiru entered her father's study.
She had made her decision. She also had come to terms with the
consequences. Michiru had spent the last 4 weeks preparing for this
moment. The door creaked open slowly, her throat closing slightly,
fear taking hold of her heart. She had never taken anything in her
life, and when she finally decided to...
"Chichi? May I speak with you?" she asked in a quiet voice. She
cleared her throat and stepped into the office.
"Come, Michiru. What do you need?" He looked up from the mass of
papers on his desk to glance at her then back down to his work. She
always knew she was a low rung on his priorities, it was just that she
never knew how low.
She stood in front of his desk, hands clasped tightly, and she looked
at the floor. "Chichi, I..." she waited a moment and then placed the
engagement ring on her father's desk. "I do not want to marry
Ichiro-san and I will not marry him. I have other dreams and I want to
follow them, not be a wife with children to a man more than double my
age and with whom I am not in love."
She waited a moment. Let out a deep breath, and looked up. Her father
sat there, she could see the red creeping up his face. Oh, boy.
"Michiru, you will marry him. You have been pledged to him for over 8
years! You will marry him to preserve the honor of the Kaioh name! You
could grow to love him, Michiru, and dreams can wait for a later time.
You are the perfect wife and I will not allow you to make such a fool
of me by making me take back my promise to this man!" His hand hit the
desk in a hard rap and he stood up, glaring at her.
This was the moment.
Did she defend her independence or did she cave.
And she did what she had to do.
"It was not my pledge, and I have done nothing to bring dishonor to my
name. You brought the dishonor, Chichi, and I will not bear your guilt
or your embarrassment. I am of my own mind, with my own desires, and
none of them lead me to Ichiro-san!"
Her father stood there, stunned. His quiet, unassuming daughter,
defying him... and in such a way. And she continued.
"You can accept my decision, Chichi, or we can part ways. I would
rather be your daughter than nothing, but I will be my own woman and
no one else's. Not anymore," she finished quietly.
Kaioh-san sat at his desk, the rage boiling, thinking of what he would
say to Ichiro. He glared at the ring. And he loathed the woman before
him. No daughter of his would dishonor him in such a way.
"Leave, Kaioh Michiru. Make your own way in this world. But, do not
come back here. I have no daughter." He rotated his chair and looked
out over the garden, fighting the tears as he heard his daughter
softly close the study door, knowing she would never come back.
And it was all her fault.
*I am everything you want
*I am everything you need
*I am everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*I say all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But I mean nothing to you and I don't know why
*And I don't know why
*Why
*I don't know
It was raining. How appropriate. At her foot was a suitcase, filled
with necessary clothes. Nothing too fancy, nothing too heavy. She only
needed one. Before she left the house, she had called a local hotel
and set herself up a room and called a taxi. Lucky for her, she had
emptied her bank account that morning. Plenty of money... but all
alone. She was her own woman.
Standing in the rain. No umbrella. Looking at the massive gates of her
father's home. It was just now that she realized that it had always
been her father's home, never hers. She had been born to fulfill his
destiny, not her own. All she had known, all the protection and all
the expectations, were left in that room on the third floor, among the
children's toys and sea foam paint.
A sniffle. Her heart broke a bit. She loved them. She loved them both
so much. Why couldn't he have just let her be herself? She had been
everything he wanted, everything he needed... done everything he asked
and it had meant nothing in the end. All that mattered was his bruised
pride. And now, she had no family.
Michiru was her own woman. In the rain. Suddenly, the rain stopped
beating on her... she looked over her shoulder and met sad green eyes.
"You should not be out in the rain without an umbrella. Are you
alright?"
The tears just sprung out of her eyes. She wept. The woman pulled the
soaking green-haired girl against her, offering her a dry
handkerchief. In between sobs, Michiru said, "I... am just... waiting
for my... taxi."
The two women sat beside the road, huddled under the umbrella, in
silence, waiting for a taxi to arrive.
*It's already coming in
*Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
*You never could get it
*Unless you were fed it
*Now you're here and you don't know why
Michiru sat at her vanity brushing her hair, looking at her perfect
complexion. Glinting in the dim lights of her room was a two-carat
diamond resting on the third finger of her left hand. Kanpeki Ichiro
was her father's named successor since Michiru was his only child.
Ichiro was the Vice-President of several of her father's sub-companies
and would inherit the Kataomoi Corporation upon her father's
retirement in 5 years.
She and Ichiro were engaged, arranged years before while Michiru was
still just a child. Ichiro was 38 and had never been married. Michiru
had the ring placed on her finger three weeks ago, at her 14th
birthday celebration. In two years she was to marry Ichiro in a large,
public wedding. Michiru looked at the ring, feeling trapped by her
duty as her father's daughter. Michiru let the brush softly fall to
her lap, bringing her left hand to meet her right. Gently she pulled
the ring from her finger, looking at it closely.
In the light of her lamp the platinum and gold inlayed ring glittered
brightly, reminding her of the choices that had been made for her
years ago. She had never understood what her mother had said to her
when she was nine that she had been given to Ichiro. She had asked if
she had to move out. Her mother had looked at her funny and asked what
she meant. Michiru, being the child she was, looked up into her
mother's clear blue eyes and said that if she was being given to
Ichiro-san...
Michiru chuckled at the memory. Of a naive childhood she longed to
have again. Now she was bound by honor, by her father, to marry
Ichiro. Trapped. Not that Ichiro was a bad man. He was kind and gentle
toward her, giving her everything she wanted, saying everything she
needed to hear... he would be an ideal husband.
If a husband had been what she wanted.
Michiru had dreams of being a violinist and painter, not a wife and
mother. Michiru sighed and placed Ichiro's brand back on her finger
and turned the light out, crawling into bed, hoping tomorrow would
dawn with a different destiny for her.
But under skinned knees and the skid marks
Past the places where you used to learn
You howl and listen
Listen and wait for the
Echoes of angels who won't return
Her leg was numb. She'd been sitting on it too long again. Michiru
slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Instead of her
eyes opening to the living room where she was sure she had fallen
asleep again, she saw a playground. Filled with laughing children.
"Michiru-san!"
Michiru gasped at the voice that called her. She turned and looked
over her shoulder and there stood Sanae-san with dried tears on her
cheeks and chocolate milk drying on her uniform. Sanae-san had been
her best friend in the schoolyard when she was... nine. Chocolate
stains... Sanae-san, who had passed away in an accident a year ago...
Michiru looked down at herself.
She was in her elementary school uniform. This was the day when she
would go home with the high grade on her test and be sat down and told
she had been given to Ichiro. This was the afternoon recess. Tears
stung Michiru's eyes as she looked on Sanae-san's face. She had missed
her friend so much. Michiru jumped up and ran to the brunette, her
arms wrapping around the chunky waist and laughing.
"Sanae-san!"
Laughing, not wanting to let her friend go, Michiru opened her eyes
again, glancing at the school. She noticed the blocks of the school
building had a red tinge to them. Like spilled punch seeping onto a
napkin, the red began to spread slowly. It got dark and crept up the
building, engulfing it in maroon, dripping like blood.
Beside her, Sanae-san seemed stiff. Michiru looked over and her friend
was frozen, solid like stone. There was a deep rumbling far away, and
Michiru turned back to the building. Buildings collapsed -- not a
sound made as they fell. Her friends and classmates were frozen, as if
stone, fear contorted their young faces. Michiru's eyes widened as the
whirlwind of silence approached the school, the schoolyard and her.
And she heard nothing.
***
"Michiru."
Michiru gasped and sat up in bed, the sweat trickling slowly down her
back and between her breasts. The cool air caused goose bumps to rise
on her damp skin. Gulping down mouthfuls of air, Michiru scanned her
room for the voice that had called her from that dream.
Sitting at her vanity was the owner of the cool, soft voice that had
rescued her from the torment of the dream. Long green hair, falling to
the floor, was what caught Michiru's attention first -- then the
flashing crimson eyes. In her hand was a long staff, topped with a
softly glowing orb.
"Who are you?" Michiru whispered, her throat rough and dry.
"I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of Time. Awaken, Neptune." The woman
extended a glove-clad arm that held a mirror, simple and beautiful.
Michiru saw herself reflected, and blinked a few times when her image
shimmered. Her image was replaced by the charming looks of a
sandy-haired man, and she watched him in the mirror.
"Who is he?"
The woman smirked slightly. "She is the one you must find. The dawn
brings your new destiny, Kaioh Michiru. Find the one. Find her."
***
Michiru sat up suddenly, a feeling of deja vu. She looked around the
room, the first rays of dawn dancing through her curtains and across
the foot of her bed. All a dream. The whole thing was a dream. She
sighed and threw the covers back. The blonde woman with the sad green
eyes was still vivid in her mind. Too bad it was just a dream. She
smiled and stretched, allowing the cobwebs of a restless night to be
swept away with the light of a new day. She reached over for her glass
of water, and a soft cry left her lips. Laying on the nightstand was
the mirror that Sailor Pluto had brought her.
It had not been a dream.
And she needed to find the woman with the sad eyes.
She was the one.
*He's everything you want
*He's everything you need
*He's everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*He says all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But he means nothing to you
*And you don't know why
Ichiro put his napkin down, watching the green-haired woman he had
watched grow up. She had become such a lovely woman and they would
have beautiful children. But, tonight, she was so quiet and distant,
not truly eating what was before her. She was constantly glancing
around the room, almost nervous.
"Kirei-chan. What is wrong tonight?"
Michiru put her napkin down and smiled at Ichiro. "Nothing,
Ichiro-san. I am just... tired... lately."
"Perhaps we should put our trip this summer aside for now so that you
can rest up and be healthy again. You look pale and thin, Kirei-chan."
Every time he said that name to her, Michiru wanted to twitch. Looking
at Ichiro, Michiru knew why her father had chosen him as his heir. He
was 5'6, he had normal, straight hair, light brown, with deep, intense
brown eyes. Ichiro was slight in build, unassuming but a quiet power
emanated from him. Her father could not have chosen a more perfect
heir.
They made an elegant couple. Very normal. Very perfect.
Michiru sighed again. "Ichiro-san, would you mind taking me home? I
think I would like to rest."
Ichiro nodded, smiling as he stood and walked to her to help her up.
"Of course, Michiru."
The drive home was quiet. He gave her space, asking her if she was all
right periodically. He offered to stop by the house later in the
evening to check on her... he was the concerned fiancé and she felt
nothing for him. That was what made her feel so ill. This man she was
bound to be with, she felt no emotion toward. And she felt cheated.
Wronged.
She felt haunted, too. Late at night she had taken to looking in the
mirror, spying on the woman she was to look for. She had also found,
next to the mirror, a wand. She didn't know what to do with it, but
she was sure she would find out soon enough.
*You're waiting for someone
*To put you together
*You're waiting for someone to push you away
*There's always another wound to discover
*There's always something more you wish he'd say
7:00 am. The alarm went off. Michiru's mother opened the blinds,
talking about the day's activities, while the upstairs maid placed her
try of food on her night table. Flipping out her napkin, Michiru
regarded the food. The same meal every morning. Had been that way for
the past five years. Nutritionally balanced. Michiru sipped the soup,
munched on the rice.
7:30 am. Shower. Slipped on her pale aqua robe and sat in front of her
vanity, brushing out her hair. Make-up next. Eye shadow, lipstick,
mascara. She slipped on her panties, fastened her bra, and slipped on
her dress. She tied the patent leather shoes and checked herself in
the mirror. She was ready.
The door opened. Her mother walked in again.
"What are those?" her mother asked, looking at Michiru's feet.
"Shoes," Michiru responded weakly.
"No. You need to wear the light brown ones with that outfit and they
should be the matte ones, not the patent." And she walked out. Michiru
changed her shoes before heading downstairs.
8:30 am. Violin practice. This lasted 2 hours. It was her first of two
sessions she had everyday. And she had a third one today, since today
was special. Today was Sunday. Her father came home on Sundays. And
she was expected to entertain him and his associates. So, she
practiced under her instructor and mother's watchful gazes.
10:45 am. Late morning snack. Michiru had a plate of 3 pieces of
sashimi placed before her and a bowl of mushroom soup served. She
hated mushrooms. The cook knew this. But, Michiru swallowed the horrid
broth, saving the sweet sashimi for last.
11:00 am. Michiru is walked upstairs by her mother and stripped by the
maid, her mother choosing a soft nightgown for Michiru to wear. The
bed is turned down and Michiru is helped in, a glass of water placed
next to her on the night table. Kaioh-san leaned down and kissed her
daughter, told her to rest, that she can awaken in 2 hours, refreshed.
But you'll just sit tight
And watch it unwind
It's only what you're asking for
And you'll be just fine
With all of your time
It's only what you're waiting for
11:15 am - 1:00 pm. Michiru sat wide-awake, staring in the mirror,
wondering when she had given up her life to all those around her. What
had she done today that was for her? She smiled at the blonde in the
mirror, feeling an instant connection. Michiru would bet her life that
no one told her what shoes to wear or when to take a nap. A knock at
her door brought her out of her thoughts and she hid the mirror away
under the mattress quickly and pretended to be asleep.
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Another 2 hours of practice. Flawless. No, not
quite. The instruction reprimanded her about her fingering, not quite
perfect enough. Then again, when was she perfect enough?
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm. Sunday studies. A review of the previous week in
school. Overseen by the tutor hired to come to the house once a week,
she went over all the work she had done at school. It was tedious and
she found it a draining hour. She always had thought the studies
should happen before her nap. But, it was not her decision to make.
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm. She ate. Alone in the dining room. She had to eat
before everyone else. After that, she knew she had to perform her
morning rituals all over again, but late in the evening so that she
would look her best for her father.
8:30 pm. Practiced, clean and dressed up, 14 year-old Michiru stood in
the foyer, violin perched under her chin, starting the first piece of
her hour set. Before her sat her father, Ichiro and 3 other
businessmen. They were sipping sake and watching her. She played as
she had been taught. Dressed how her mother dressed her. Engaged to a
man that had been chosen for her. Her life was not hers.
10:00 pm. Her father has her stand there for half an hour after her
set, smiling, standing between him and her mother. The perfect family.
Ichiro smiled at her, told her he hoped she'd feel better. Michiru
felt like her face would crack.
11:00 pm. Michiru's mother closed the bedroom door and Michiru cuddled
under the blankets, exhausted. Not a moment of her own. Not one moment
of her day had she chosen. She was lonely. Her life was dictated by
her mother, her father, her fiancé, her tutors, her teachers... She
had no control. Well, did she ever? Could she ever live if she had
complete control of her life? So many questions. Heavy on her mind.
Michiru stared into the mirror beside her on the bed, looking into the
blonde's eyes, Michiru wished the woman would come a rescue her from
this life. Whatever it had become. She did not want to marry Ichiro.
She wanted this woman in the mirror. Her partner, Uranus. How she knew
this, she couldn't say. The only thing she knew for certain was this
person was so important to her that the world needed them, and she had
to find her.
She would not marry Ichiro.
Now she just had to tell her father.
*Out of the island
*Into the highway
*Past the places where you might have turned
*You never did notice
*But you still hide away
*The anger of angels who won't return
Another Sunday. Quiet this time. Michiru entered her father's study.
She had made her decision. She also had come to terms with the
consequences. Michiru had spent the last 4 weeks preparing for this
moment. The door creaked open slowly, her throat closing slightly,
fear taking hold of her heart. She had never taken anything in her
life, and when she finally decided to...
"Chichi? May I speak with you?" she asked in a quiet voice. She
cleared her throat and stepped into the office.
"Come, Michiru. What do you need?" He looked up from the mass of
papers on his desk to glance at her then back down to his work. She
always knew she was a low rung on his priorities, it was just that she
never knew how low.
She stood in front of his desk, hands clasped tightly, and she looked
at the floor. "Chichi, I..." she waited a moment and then placed the
engagement ring on her father's desk. "I do not want to marry
Ichiro-san and I will not marry him. I have other dreams and I want to
follow them, not be a wife with children to a man more than double my
age and with whom I am not in love."
She waited a moment. Let out a deep breath, and looked up. Her father
sat there, she could see the red creeping up his face. Oh, boy.
"Michiru, you will marry him. You have been pledged to him for over 8
years! You will marry him to preserve the honor of the Kaioh name! You
could grow to love him, Michiru, and dreams can wait for a later time.
You are the perfect wife and I will not allow you to make such a fool
of me by making me take back my promise to this man!" His hand hit the
desk in a hard rap and he stood up, glaring at her.
This was the moment.
Did she defend her independence or did she cave.
And she did what she had to do.
"It was not my pledge, and I have done nothing to bring dishonor to my
name. You brought the dishonor, Chichi, and I will not bear your guilt
or your embarrassment. I am of my own mind, with my own desires, and
none of them lead me to Ichiro-san!"
Her father stood there, stunned. His quiet, unassuming daughter,
defying him... and in such a way. And she continued.
"You can accept my decision, Chichi, or we can part ways. I would
rather be your daughter than nothing, but I will be my own woman and
no one else's. Not anymore," she finished quietly.
Kaioh-san sat at his desk, the rage boiling, thinking of what he would
say to Ichiro. He glared at the ring. And he loathed the woman before
him. No daughter of his would dishonor him in such a way.
"Leave, Kaioh Michiru. Make your own way in this world. But, do not
come back here. I have no daughter." He rotated his chair and looked
out over the garden, fighting the tears as he heard his daughter
softly close the study door, knowing she would never come back.
And it was all her fault.
*I am everything you want
*I am everything you need
*I am everything inside of you
*That you wish you could be
*I say all the right things
*At exactly the right time
*But I mean nothing to you and I don't know why
*And I don't know why
*Why
*I don't know
It was raining. How appropriate. At her foot was a suitcase, filled
with necessary clothes. Nothing too fancy, nothing too heavy. She only
needed one. Before she left the house, she had called a local hotel
and set herself up a room and called a taxi. Lucky for her, she had
emptied her bank account that morning. Plenty of money... but all
alone. She was her own woman.
Standing in the rain. No umbrella. Looking at the massive gates of her
father's home. It was just now that she realized that it had always
been her father's home, never hers. She had been born to fulfill his
destiny, not her own. All she had known, all the protection and all
the expectations, were left in that room on the third floor, among the
children's toys and sea foam paint.
A sniffle. Her heart broke a bit. She loved them. She loved them both
so much. Why couldn't he have just let her be herself? She had been
everything he wanted, everything he needed... done everything he asked
and it had meant nothing in the end. All that mattered was his bruised
pride. And now, she had no family.
Michiru was her own woman. In the rain. Suddenly, the rain stopped
beating on her... she looked over her shoulder and met sad green eyes.
"You should not be out in the rain without an umbrella. Are you
alright?"
The tears just sprung out of her eyes. She wept. The woman pulled the
soaking green-haired girl against her, offering her a dry
handkerchief. In between sobs, Michiru said, "I... am just... waiting
for my... taxi."
The two women sat beside the road, huddled under the umbrella, in
silence, waiting for a taxi to arrive.