Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Russian Roulette ❯ Chapter 8

Haruka sat in the principle's office, next to Makoto and across from Moshi, who was next to the principle's desk. Makoto had sustained virtually no injuries, and Haruka only had two cuts on her elbows and a small bruise on her face. Moshi, however, had not fared so well. He sat there with his hand held queasily over his stomach, an ice pack on his head and drips of dried blood where apparently Haruka had nearly cracked his nose.

 

"What happened here?" Michiru asked sternly as she walked in. Haruka looked down at the floor and tried to push her wheelchair back farther in hopes that she would somehow slip through the wall and disappear.

 

"Haruka?" she demanded of her daughter. "Haruka, look at me." Haruka reluctantly glanced up. "Well?"

 

"He started it," she muttered under her breath.

 

"I did not!" the boy across from her yelled.

 

"Yes, you did, I saw you!" Makoto piped up.

 

"Calm down," demanded the principle's voice behind the desk. He was a large bulky man who wore a gray business suit and a bristly mustache that made him look very rich and authoritative. The three children hushed their voices.

 

"Ms. Kaiou?" the principle asked of Haruka's aqua-haired mother.

 

"She was playing at the basketball court," he explained. "And apparently she beat one of the boys up pretty badly." He indicated the bruised and beaten child sitting at the side of his desk.

 

"Only because he started it," Makoto still insisted. Michiru glanced over.

 

"And who is this?" she asked.

 

"Her name is Makoto. She was on the court when this happened. Apparently she and the boy exchanged some blows, but mostly it was Haruka doing the fighting."

 

"Makoto..." Michiru mused to herself. She looked over the girl's brown ponytail, her rose earrings, her unusual height. Maybe there was some truth to what Usagi had said after all. "Care to tell us what happened?" she asked, trying to hide her emotions as best she could.

 

Makoto was only all too happy to spill her detailed witness account. Haruka had come over to shoot hoops with her and some of the other children. Moshi had said she couldn't play, but Makoto countered that it was school's playground, not his, so anyone could play if they wanted to. She then passed the ball to Haruka who took a shot and made a basket. She caught the rebound and was prepared to shoot again when Moshi had kicked the back of her chair, pushing her forward. Nothing happened except that Haruka dropped the ball, but she still wasn't happy about being pushed. Moshi replied that she could go tell the teacher if she wanted to make something of it, but instead Haruka came up and slapped him in the face. After that was when it got ugly. Moshi tried to punch Haruka, but she caught his hand and held it still, giving him another blow in the gut. They continued smacking each other back and forth until Moshi took it a step too far and wrestled Haruka forward out of her wheelchair, sending her falling to the ground. That was when Makoto jumped in, but by then the fighting had drawn the attention of the teachers and forced them to break the fight up.

 

"And that's what happened," Makoto said, very satisfied that she had finally had her say.

 

"Thank you, Makoto," said the principal. "You can go now."

 

"I wanna stay with Haruka," Makoto said, but the look from her teacher told her she had better not argue. Reluctantly, she got out of her seat and walked out the door.

 

"Haruka, why on earth didn't you tell a teacher?" Michiru asked angrily. "Isn't that what I told you to do?"

 

"I couldn't tell a teacher, Mama," Haruka insisted, tears starting to form in her eyes. "If I told a teacher, he would just make fun of me more. I had to show him I could fight for myself."

 

"Well, you certainly showed that," Michiru said. "And now look where it's got you." Haruka said nothing, so Michiru continued, "What made you think you had to prove yourself to him?"

 

"Because," Haruka said with red teary eyes. "Because he said a dumb crippled girl can't fight."

 

The principal's eyes instantly fell to Moshi.

 

"Did you call her that?" he asked sternly. The small boy fearfully felt the tide turning against him.

 

"I don't remember," he quickly lied.

 

"You had better remember, or I'll keep you after school every day until you do."

 

"I...I think I might have said that."

 

"Then I think you got what you deserved," the principle said. "You do it again and I'll finish what she started." He cracked his knuckles and the boys' face turned pale. The principle looked back at Haruka. "I can understand you wanting to defend yourself," he said. "But there are times to do it and times to get someone to help you. Remember that next time before you give a kid a bloody nose, okay?"

 

"Yes, sir," Haruka answered quietly and with that she left with Michiru out the door.

 

As soon as they arrived home, Michiru sent Haruka straight to her room to start on homework. She wasn't being punished, she told her, but she also thought it would be a good idea for her to concentrate on something to relax her mind a bit. She also put some medicine on Haruka's skinned elbow that stung a bit, but Michiru said it would make her feel better. Of course, it was not just to calm Haruka down that was Michiru's reason for sending her to her room. She also had an important phone call to make to Usagi.

 

"What?" Usagi exclaimed when Michiru called her. "Michiru, you saw Makoto?"

 

"Yes," Michiru said calmly. "She's a student in Haruka's class. I think they've actually gotten to be fairly close friends, considering it's just the first day and all."

 

"Good, that's good," Usagi said slowly, trying to calm herself down. "But jeez! Makoto's back! I wonder if the others are in that school too."

 

"I don't know," said Michiru. "Haruka brought home a school directory, I can look it up in that. Don't get too emotional, Usagi. Makoto doesn't remember anything more than Haruka does."

 

"Yeah, that might be kind of odd."

 

Michiru was about to respond to Usagi's comment when there was a knock at the door.

 

"Oh, I've got to go," she said quickly. "I think Nathan might be home." With that, she bade Usagi a quick farewell and went to answer the door. Only, when she opened it, she didn't see Nathan. Who she saw was much more of a surprise, even a shock.

 

"S-Setsuna!"