Here’s my fic for @docholligay‘s Birthday BroTP Contest Extravaganza. The prompts I tied together in this one are “talismans” and “I won’t leave you.” Roughly 1,740 words and based loosely around Doc’s wonderful Silverleaf series she’s doing for her Patreon, Mina swoops in to take loving, tender care of Haruka in her time of fevered need. I know I don’t post a lot (if any) fics so…it’s rough. Please be gentle.

“Haruka, where the hell are your knives?”

Mina pulled open each drawer in the small kitchen, rifling through the contents with increasing vigor. Sandwich bags, tupperware lids, a small pack of toothpicks, those silly chicken potholders Usagi had given Haruka

as a welcome gift–all were on careless, loving display but the cutlery in question was nowhere to be found.

“Seriously, where are all your bloody knives?” she called over her shoulder. “I can’t chop the veggies if you don’t- have- any-!”

She punctuated each word with a newly opened drawer before throwing

the last one closed with an exasperated flick of her hand and whirling towards the couch, her finger stabbing the air in a move clearly (if not subconsciously) copied from Rei. “And if I can’t chop the carrots the normal way, I may have to resort to using a spoon, ‘Ruka. Is that your move? Are you sure this is how you want this to go?” She lowered her eyebrows into a fierce furrow, eyeing a blue checkered afghan carelessly thrown over the edge of the couch as if it had all the answers in the world and was choosing to withhold vital information.

The only answer she got was weak groan of protest and Haruka’s wobbly hand rising above the dusky brown couch cushions like a pale flag of truce.“Mina, no…not my spoons… I don’t have many left after the last fiasco.”

There was a soft rustling sound as Haruka turned over on the couch, trying to maneuver herself into a sitting position so she could see Mina better. She sweated for a moment, struggling against the blanket, but Mina had done her job too well. Haruka had gone from being a sick, feverish human and become the impossible: she was now a burrito. “Mina c’mon, I can’t move. Why…why did you wrap me so tightly?”

“Because, my crusty baguette, you should be resting and getting over whatever this-” Mina moved to the couch and waved her hand over Haruka’s prone form “-is.”

Haruka tiredly puffed her bangs off of her face and looked up at Mina with a raised eyebrow. “You just indicated all of me.”

“Well yeah, I mean, who knows how deep that sinister monster lurks inside of you? Even now it’s spreading throughout your body, silently weakening you from the inside! Today it’s a runny nose, tomorrow it’s D e a t h.” She leaned forward as she spoke, her hands rising in slow, dramatic claw towards her throat. “Really Haruka, I’m doing you a favor here. Nurse Minako will save you from the evil within!” She gave another graceful twirl and landed in a signature anime pose, but the move was completely lost on Haruka as she turned away and buried her face in her shoulder, coughs wracking her thin frame.

Haruka wasn’t 100% sure where the cold had come from, but she highly suspected one of her students from the school, even though most of them had seemed the picture of perfect health. She gazed over at her school-issue badge on the table, with it’s beautiful silver leaf picked out in delicate curls. The symptoms had been light that

morning–a

slightly runny nose, a few coughs here and there. Haruka had gone to the nurse’s office to request a face mask, but she’d run into the dean who had promptly turned Haruka right around and gently but firmly ushered her out the front door, assuring her that they would fill out the proper PTO forms later, but ‘Please for the love of god get out of here before any parents see you.’ Haruka, born into a world where you went to work no matter your condition, had stared at the tall gilt glass doors before turning and trudging back home to a hot cup of tea, a soft couch, and her loving cat.

Thinking of him, Haruka turned to the foot of the couch where he’d last been snuggled up against her cold toes. His tiny grey body was still there but he’d moved, draping himself carelessly over her ankles, a position comfortable only to animals, small children, and a certain person called Minako Aino. She smiled lovingly down at him and stroked his tail with her foot.

“I don’t understand how they don’t break their backs, the way they contort like that,” Mina declared, having followed the line of Haruka’s eyes down to the cat.

“Oh, it’s ‘cause they have special disks in their spine that makes them all bendy and flexible. I dunno how you do it though.”

Haruka grinned up at Mina, who laughed loudly and ruffled Haruka’s hair gently

before turning back to survey the kitchen.

The carrots and onions she’d bought at the store waited patiently on a wooden chopping block next to a stainless steel pot sitting on the stove. Assorted small spice jars dotted the counter like little colorful soldiers next to a block of butter she’d pulled out to sauté the onions in. Mina sighed and considered her options again; last time she’d used Haruka’s spoons it really had been a disaster, and she’d gone out and bought a new stock pot and frying pan to make it up to her.

“Hey, you don’t have to stay if you have other stuff to do,” Haruka called over the back of the couch weakly. “I know you have papers to grade and-”

“Buddy, I’m not going anywhere. What kind of friend would I be if I left you in the clutches of the black plague? Nah, I won’t leave you.” Mina walked back to the head of the couch and smiled reassuringly down at the blonde mop poking out of the gray afghan she’d insisted on wrapping Haruka in as soon as she’d come blustering through the door. Haruka coughed again and craned her head back to give Mina a slight smile. Mina reached over and tucked the blanket more securely around Haruka, coming around to make sure the edges were safely pressed down into the couch itself; no fear of falling off on her watch! She smoothed one of the raised hearts down, thinking idly to herself that even they had more of an edge than the soup spoons in the drawer. Abruptly, her hand stopped as a thought caught her, and she stared at the little heart. “Haruka.”

“Mmm?” The answer was a vague mumble, Haruka already drifting off to sleep on a sea of teal waves and Vicks.

“Haruka, wake up! I have a great idea!” The excited younger blonde enthusiastically shook her shoulder and was rewarded by a groan and a bleary glare half hidden by both blanket and recalcitrant bangs.

“What Mina, I was almost asl-” the word died half-formed, as Mina leaned forward and squished her cheeks between her hands.

“Haruka. Give me your sword.”

There was a long silence as Haruka stared at her, wide-eyed. 

“C’mon, it’ll just be for a minute, that thing is plenty sharp!” 

The silence stretched between them as every possibility for destruction flashed through Haruka’s mind. Thinking of her kitchen subjected to Mina’s tender care coupled with the Space Sword made Haruka’s brain hurt; even with the better paycheck she was getting at this new school, there was no way she’d be able to afford to fix the damage that would cause.

The strangely named scimitar with its ornate golden hilt, nestled on a tattered cushion beside a beautiful mirror in the back of a curio shop she’d visited several years ago, had seemed to call out to Haruka. When she’d casually asked to see it, the owner had smiled knowingly and slid the cool hilt into her hand. It had fit perfectly, as if they were made for each other. A deep longing had filled her and, before she knew it, she was taking a wrapped package from the old salesman who had gripped her hand tightly and peered at her with world-weary grey eyes that made her feel as if he knew her, deep in her soul. Haruka hadn’t known what to make of it all as she stumbled out into the brilliant late afternoon sunlight. Mina had come out shortly behind with her own purchase, a long silver sword with a guard that had so many sharp bits poking out of it that Haruka was half afraid she’d end up hurting herself. Mina had laughed delightedly upon seeing the golden hilt protruding from Haruka’s arms, and had badgered her all the way home, declaring herself the One True Sword Master when Haruka refused to duel her.

“Mina I just….don’t think you’re supposed to use…those kinds of swords for cutting butter. Maybe there’s a drawer you missed-”

“I didn’t.”

“-or maybe they’re at your place, you borrow my stuff all the time.”

“Hey hey now don’t blame this on- oh wait, shit I do live two doors down. I guess I’ll just go grab one of mine. But if that cat in 309 mauls me you better write me a GREAT eulogy.” Mina poked Haruka gently in the shoulder before moving off to rinse her hands. “Feel free to extol the virtues of my magnificent ass. Oh and speaking of swords, bury me with mine. I’d hate to go to the next life unarmed.”

“Mina. You’ll be fine….probably.” Haruka raised her voice to be heard over the faucet, wincing when it rasped in her throat. “Besides, if you die, who’s going to go see fireworks with me at the festival in a couple weeks?”

Mina walked over, wiping her hands on a dish towel featuring several small adorable chicks parading across a faded green field as she considered the conundrum. “Hmm…oh! Take Rei for me. Show her a good time, in my honor! I’m sure she’d be very devastated by the loss of such a fine, upstanding citizen, so it’s only natural that you, as my best friend, take care of her for me.” Mina waved the towel in the air with a flourish before tossing it onto the coffee table. “Anyway, I’ll be back in a bit string bean. You just take a nap and let Nurse Minako take care of you.”

Haruka nodded drowsily and waved as Mina slipped out the door before burrowing down into the soft, warm confines of her cocoon. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered vaguely if Michiru liked festivals, and resolved to bring it up the next time she bumped into her.