Disclaimer: The lovely ladies of HaruZuke do not belong to me. They are the ultimate mission of my life, and they're on my mind constantly. But alas. They are not mine.

Author's Note: This story contains graphic depictions of HaruZuke loving. Which means Haruka and Shizuru. Which means girl on girl. If there's any part of that you can't handle, gtfokkthx.

Proposition: Prologue

"Sleep with me."

Simple.

Straightfoward.

Stupefyingly blunt.

Shizuru Fujino barely registered the hastily muttered sentence before a dead weight shoved her backwards.

The door to her dorm room slammed shut with a bang, and her back collided with the wall so hard, the air was momentarily forced out of her lungs.

Out of instinct, she tried to shove her unexpected visitor away, but within moments, her hands were pinned roughly above her head, smooth and sharp fingernails digging into the white skin of her wrists as a pair of rather sizeable breasts pressed firmly against her own. Warm lips sucked greedily at her pulse point, and just as a jolt of shock and pleasure tore a faint whimper out of her throat, she recovered her wits enough to twist her head to the side, breaking contact for a brief moment.

Bewildered crimson eyes swiveled around to meet the intruder's fiery amethyst gaze as it seemed to burn a hole into her skull.

The Kyoto woman felt a damnable rush of excitement at the sheer, fiery intensity, and disguised it with a mild grimace, cursing the circumstances that had led up to this point, and strongly cursing her own lack of self-control.

It had been three years since the last time she let herself believe that she was in love. Three years since she'd staggered through Fuuka in a state of disarray, drunken with bloodlust and despair. Three years of new life and old nightmares. Three years in which she'd tried her best to move on, but never quite managed to shake off the fear of it happening all over again.

Three years of getting to know Haruka Suzushiro as someone other than a person to be manipulated and overlooked.

At first, she did it out of guilt and shame. She'd wronged her old classmate in so many ways, both before and during the Carnival, and a large part of her yearned to make amends. She'd started by taking her position as Student Council President more seriously, and over the next few months, gradually regained her respect. By the time they left for college, they were both ready for a brand new start.

Well, almost.

Shizuru had known even before going off to college that the outspoken blonde was attracted to her, and about a year after leaving Fuuka, she'd started noticing her as well. She didn't exactly know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, she'd learned to respect and even appreciate the conservative woman's various quirks. As they spent more time together, appreciation turned to friendship, and friendship to... something more.

But ever since her fall-out with Natsuki, feelings of romantic attachment always came hand in hand with a deep sense of shame. Although she flirted as she always did and was even physically intimate with other women, she didn't truly believe that she deserved to be loved. Not in this lifetime and especially not by Haruka. She'd forfeited any right to pursue her affections the moment she destroyed Yukino's child, knowing full well the consequences of her actions. She had watched the girl she'd known since middle school disintegrate before her eyes with a sickening sense of calm, though the image still haunted her in her nightmares.

So she contented herself with remaining her friend, and hoped that between her conservative upbringing and her tendency to be a little dense on emotional matters, Haruka would never consciously consider her as anything more.

The problem was, Haruka had never been as good at dealing with bullshit as Shizuru was. She'd never learned the art of pretending to be any different than she was. So when the ex-Kaichou heard about her joining a gay-awareness group about a month ago, and noticed a thoughtful, softer change to her normally hot-headed demeanor, Shizuru knew that the peace would soon be broken.

Since then, the Kyoto woman had tried to distance herself. There were a few times she'd purposefully cut their phone conversations short, and whenever Haruka wanted her alone, she'd always found some excuse to either put it off or bring another friend along.

Shizuru had sensed, with a rising amount of guilt, that the young Suzushiro was becoming increasingly frustrated as time went on. But she'd convinced herself that it was for the best. It had nothing to do with her own troubles opening up to people, and certainly nothing to do with her deep fear of rejection. She only hoped that some dramatic confrontation could be avoided.

Oh, who was she trying to fool? Where Haruka Suzushiro was involved, confrontation was inevitable.

But never in the world would she have imagined that her schoolmate would have gone about it in this way.

"Haruka," Shizuru started, taking a fair bit of effort to keep her voice even and calm, but the rest of her words were muffled by the other woman's soft, insistent lips, and she felt herself being kissed, hard.

And it was just as well. She had no idea what in the world she would say after that, and her deeply-ingrained training from childhood forbade her from fumbling around for words uselessly. Her heart raced painfully in her chest and the next few seconds stretched on like minutes as she was bombarded with the urge to part her lips against Haruka's and kiss her back for all she was worth, and another urge to struggle as if her life depended on it. Finally, she twisted her head to the side again, and drew in a breath to speak, only for her throat to close up on her as a hot tongue slid up the side of her neck. A small, indecipherable sound escaped the brunette's lips, and she felt her legs threaten to buckle from underneath her.

It was like something from an illicit fantasy, and a wave of heat flooded her cheeks that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. But guilty daydreams in the privacy of her one-person space were one thing, and losing control in the presence of Haruka Suzushiro was another.

That was the irony of it all, wasn't it? The one person she had trouble keeping her self-control around was also the one most hell-bent on testing it, on more levels than one. And unless she put a stop to this, it would quickly prove to be a losing battle.

Shizuru shoved forward with her body the same time she wrenched her reddened wrists against Haruka's hold. Her shoulder collided with Haruka's mouth, causing the shorter woman to hiss in pain, and there was enough sweat on her palms that Shizuru was able to slip out of her grasp.

But before the brunette could even take a second step, a pair of arms locked around her torso, pinning her own arms in place as she was pulled back into Haruka's intoxicating heat. Even as she struggled, she picked up on the faint smell of her perfume, and it brought her mind to places she was definitely not ready to face.

"Haruka, this isn't how it usually goes," the Kyoto woman protested somewhat drolly as she was half carried and half walked to the bed, trying hard to ignore the sensation of teeth nipping lightly at her earlobe as warm lips sucked on it. "As wonderful as it is that you've become more open-minded over the years, it usually doesn't hurt to -" Shizuru drew in a sharp breath as Haruka flicked her tongue over a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear, and let it out in a soft, shuddering sigh when she did it again. And again.

The ex-Kaichou attempted to jerk out of Haruka's grasp, inadvertently rubbing herself against the blonde's body, and shivered when she heard a soft growl in her ear. Embarrassment prickled like tiny little needles of heat across her skin as she dizzily contemplated her next move.

Her thought process was cut short, however, as the front of her thighs hit the edge of the bed and Haruka made a fist in her blouse before smoothly ripping it open.

There was a rush of cool air against Shizuru's suddenly exposed torso, as her buttons scattered like a handful of Skittles. One of them bounced off of the metal bedpost with a ping. Crimson eyes widened in confusion, unwilling to believe that her friend would actually do her any real harm, but also starting to wonder what in the world she was trying to do. Certainly, Haruka was infamous for her lack of tact and subtlety, but this... this was a bit much.

"Haruka," she spoke again, a rare hint of urgency in her voice. "Haruka, stop for a second and just listen to me!"

"No you listen to me, Shizuru," came the hissed reply as the blonde tightened her arms around her almost painfully, her hot breath fluttering against the skin of the taller woman's neck with each spoken syllable. She did stop what she was doing however, and seemed to focus on what she was going to say. Shizuru stood tense in her tight embrace, filled with a strange, creeping sense of excitement and dread as her heart pumped wildly in her chest. Every one of her nerve endings seemed to be hypersensitive as she waited for the words that tumbled out of Haruka's unseen lips.

"I've wanted you for years, and for years, you were this infuriating, tea-drinking dreamer no one could reach except for that no-good daiquiri. After we started spending time together in college, I finally started thinking you were okay, and it made me begin to question my own beliefs. And just as I finally realized that I'm in love with you, you go right back to being that fake, worthless hippie I knew back in high school."

For all of five seconds, she stood there in a cold daze, her heart constricting, her lungs begging for air, and her head empty but for the echoes of I'm in love with you. Only when she opened her mouth to respond, did she realize that Haruka was still talking.

"...Girl after girl after girl," she was ranting. "Like that one in the shanty tank-top I saw you leave the party with two nights ago. You probably didn't even know her name."

Shizuru did actually, but couldn't yet bring herself to reply. As loathe as she was to admit it, the blonde woman had a point. Her lack of reaction, however, seemed to enrage Haruka even more, and she spun her around and shoved her to the bed, pinning her in one smooth motion. The blonde's face was inches away from her own, and the only thing she could do was look up at her.

"I've seen you look at me the same way you once looked at Kuga," Haruka continued quietly, sadness and longing shining in her beautiful amethyst eyes. "You don't think that I notice, but I do. But you don't even want to see me anymore, and you never pick up my phone calls, and when you do, you're always busy." She clenched her teeth in frustration as a tear slid off her eyelashes and fell against Shizuru's cheek. "So what's it gonna take to get you to look at me, huh? Do I need to be one of those fangirls who know nothing about you? Do I need to become another anonymous screw? If that's what it takes for you to pull your pretty head out of whatever awful place you've shoved it in, then that's exactly what I'll do."

The brunette felt a confusing wave of emotions she herself couldn't even discern, and looked up at the other woman pleadingly, her stomach sinking with regret. Why was it that whenever she fell in love with someone, she never brought them anything but pain? "Ha-"

"Is it about the Carnival still?" Haruka asked, another tear and then another falling onto the Kyoto woman's pale skin. She let go of one of Shizuru's arms to wipe her eyes, inadvertently smearing her brightly-colored eyeshadow across her cheek. "I forgave you a long time ago," she continued, a beseeching tone in her voice that sounded as foreign as it was utterly heartbreaking.

"Don't lock me out."

"Haruka," Shizuru whispered, her soft voice thick with emotion even after she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. The brunette reached up to gently stroke the back of her head as she buried her face into Shizuru's shoulder and shook with sobs, releasing the slew of emotions that had haunted her for weeks... months... years. She wrapped her arms around her and allowed herself to give her whatever measure of comfort she could, self-enforced punishment be damned.

Shizuru had always had a way of overcomplicating things, didn't she? She'd always somehow managed to convince herself that she was doing something for someone else, when she was really being controlled by her own demons. Perhaps if she'd been more honest with Natsuki all those years ago, she wouldn't have spent so much time mulling it around in her head, and it wouldn't have spiraled downward into an obsessive cycle. Then, she could have prevented a lot of pain and guilt for just about everyone involved.

But as it stood, she'll never know. It was all in the past, and Shizuru realized with some amount of surprise, that even if she had the power to travel back to the past and do things differently, she wouldn't. Not if it meant erasing the time she'd spent together with Haruka.

All she wanted right now was for her to know just how much she meant to her. All that really mattered was Haruka's happiness.

Even if it meant taking a humongous leap of faith.

"I can't lock you out," Shizuru said honestly, softly tracing soothing patterns across Haruka's back, meeting her tear-streaked gaze with a wan smile when she raised her head. "I can't lock you out even if I tried. Don't you see? I'm yours."

For a few seconds, Haruka gave no sign of a reaction. Finally, a ray of sunshine seemed peek out in the storm behind her eyes, growing brighter as the clouds slowly parted. As her expression softened into gentle acceptance, Shizuru released a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

Tentatively, almost timidly, Haruka shifted her weight a little, her face tilting up toward Shizuru's. It was a stark contrast to the aggressive confidence she'd shown just a few minutes ago. Then again, Shizuru hadn't really been frightened of her. She knew, just as surely as the sun rose in the East, that Haruka would never really hurt her. Shizuru fluttered her eyes closed and craned her neck a little to meet her halfway.

Haruka's lips were full and soft against her own, and for a moment, the two of them stayed gently pressed together. Shizuru was sure that she had forgotten to breathe.

Then, timidly, hungrily, she parted their lips, feeling Haruka do the same, and gently surged against her in a searingly tender kiss.

A hand stroked up the side of Shizuru's neck to tangle in her hair, sending pleasant shivers down her spine as an entirely unfamiliar feeling of warmth infused her chest. Haruka subtly shifted her weight, kicking off her shoes, and crawling up so that the lower half of her legs were on the bed. Reluctantly breaking their contact for just a moment, Shizuru followed her movement, scooting further in before gently rolling over on her side and letting Haruka settle into the space next to her.

Their eyes met across the few inches of air that separated them, reflecting a shared feeling of fierce tenderness.

Haruka smiled softly as she reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind Shizuru's ear. "Mine, huh?"

"All yours," Shizuru murmured, before closing the gap between them again. She didn't know where this was going, and in all honesty, she didn't care. All that mattered was that she was going there with Haruka. That was enough.

Their pressed closer and closer to each other, so that not an inch of space separated them as their lips and tongues met in a slow, passionate embrace.

Hesitantly, Shizuru slid her hand against Haruka's side and was rewarded by a soft shudder. Emboldened, she continued the motion and traced the smooth contour of her hips.

Haruka sighed into their kiss and began to slowly explore whatever parts of Shizuru's body she could reach. The brunette let out a moan as she ran her fingertips across her collarbone and down to her breast, gently cupping it through the silken fabric of her bra.

Greedily, they drew even closer. Shizuru felt herself tumbling forward, and supported her weight on an elbow as she straddled the blonde. A trill of pleasure sang through her body as Haruka moved her hips slightly, the somewhat stiff texture of her skirt rubbing her through her panties. Warm hands slid up to her shoulders and gently pushed down on the ruined blouse, and Shizuru sat up slightly so that she could take it off.

They broke apart breathing heavily, their eyes fluttering open to seek each other out again.

Shizuru's breath caught in her throat as she took in the sight before her. Thick, golden hair splayed out against her pillow, framing a delicate yet well-defined face she had always longed to touch, lusty and candid... mesmerizing her in all its fiery glory. Normally bright eyes had darkened to a deep, sultry purple as Haruka ran her hands all over Shizuru's exposed torso. Her body writhed wantonly toward her touch almost of its own accord, as she reveled in every pleasurable sensation that skittered across her heated skin.

With a hungry look, Haruka sat up, shifting Shizuru in her lap. The brunette couldn't repress a soft moan at the delectable friction between her legs right before their lips crushed together again, dueling for dominance as they breached every barrier of fabric that separated them, each article of clothing rustling to the floor forgotten, leaving them utterly exposed.

Strong arms clasped around Shizuru's smooth back and fingernails dug into Haruka's tensed shoulders. The brunette bathed in a surge of ecstacy as her bare body pressed flush against Haruka's for the first time. A husky moan broke the soothing whisper of skin against skin. She wasn't sure if it was she or the other woman who had made the noise, nor did she care. They melded together in such a way that she could no longer distinguish where Haruka ended and she began. It was a terrifying, exhilarating sense of vulnerbility, this desire to give of herself entirely. Shizuru, for all of her worldly experience, had never really felt it until now.

And there was nothing she could do but sucuumb to it.

Shizuru lightly ran her fingertips up the back of Haruka's neck and felt a patch of goosebumps rise in the wake of her touch. The blonde trailed kisses across her collarbone and up her neck, and she tipped her head backward to give her more access. She very lightly raked her fingernails across the side of her breast, eliciting a gasp from Haruka as she drew teasing little patterns around the little pink nub of flesh, but not quite touching it.

There was a flash of fiery yellow. And then the Kyoto woman found herself pinned. A tinge of amusement shone in her eyes as Haruka let out a small growl of frustration, forcefully shoving their bodies together as she leant down to kiss her. Haruka's breasts pushed up against hers, drawing out a moan as Shizuru involuntarily arched into the soft contact. The young Suzushiro was famously impatient... and she supposed bedroom activities were no exception.

But the thing about Shizuru... was that she hated being rushed.

Without any warning whatsoever, the brunette flipped the blonde over and trapped her between her legs.

"Ara ara," Shizuru murmured, smiling down at her impatient lover as she braced her hands against her shoulders, "Haruka should learn to play nice."

Haruka met her gaze with a withering, lusty expression tinged with a gleam of playfulness. "That's hypothetical coming from you, bubuzuke."

Shizuru laughed affectionately at the other girl's verbal slip-up, but chose not to correct her on it. Instead, she planted a soft kiss on Haruka's smooth forehead, then another at the corner of her eye, and then another on both her cheeks. She shifted downward slightly and continued to her jawline, lightly sucking right above her pulse-point. Haruka's skin was faintly salty, and Shizuru gave in to her desire to taste more of it.

Strong muscles tensed lightly underneath her hands as she explored every arch and curve of the blonde's torso, and she soaked in every little sound she made. Finally, she flicked her tongue toward her nipple... and turned her head at the last moment to gently lick an area several centimeters to the side of it. Above her, Haruka let out a soft whimper, her hand tangling in the brunette's hair as she gave her a guiding push.

For all of her efforts, Haruka received a smile, and pointedly arched eyebrows. The indignant glare she sent her only served to made the smile widen. The Kyoto woman leisurely rested her chin against Haruka's cleavage, and didn't budge when the blonde tried to jerk out of her grasp.

"My my, such valiant efforts," she murmured, tapping her finger against Haruka's shoulder playfully, and trying not to giggle at her expression of outrage, "but surely my Haruka knows the magic word."

For a moment, they stared each other down, a blood vessel popping out on the blonde's forehead as she tried for the last time to flip Shizuru over - but as before, her efforts were in vain. Haruka huffed in vexation. "Y-you..."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow, and softly blew at the small patch of saliva glistening over the spot she'd previously licked, smirking in satisfaction as Haruka's mask of outrage slipped into pleasure for just a second. "Me?"

Realizing that she'd been had, the blonde deflated, a glorious blush spreading over her cheek as she sullenly muttered a single word. "...Please."

With a last little smile that was more affection than triumph, Shizuru complied, and sucked Haruka's straining nipple inside her mouth, moaning softly at the exquisite taste as Haruka arched into her touch. The blonde groaned loudly as she light raked her teeth across it before teasing it with her tongue.

As her hand went lower to caress the other woman's thigh, Shizuru couldn't help but let her eyes linger over her sculpted form. Haruka was... Haruka was a work of art. A breathtaking fusion of power and femininity shone through in every curve and contour, as if shaped by sheer imagination.

And Shizuru was completely and utterly hers.

"Beautiful," the brunette breathed, before shifting slightly to the side, supporting part of her weight on an elbow and tentatively stroking her other hand up the inside of one of the blonde's slightly parted thighs, hearing her breath hitch slightly in anticipation.

Delicately, she cupped her hand against the faint, blondish triangle of hair, feeling her fingers coat with fluid from just that one tiny touch. Her cheeks grew warm with desire as Haruka trembled beneath her.

Amethyst eyes were half-lidded with need as Shizuru gave the blonde a gentle smile. "Is this really okay?" she asked, her voice coming out softer than she'd intended.

The blonde swallowed and quickly nodded, and for a moment, Shizuru was blown away by the amount of trust that simple movement must have taken. Their lips met in a tender kiss as she teased lightly at her entrance before slowly entering with a finger.

Haruka's flesh parted around her readily, and the brunette nearly swooned at the sensation of her warm sex gripping her finger as she gently stroked her. A strangled moan tore its way out of Haruka's throat as she began to slowly rock her hips into Shizuru's hand. As Haruka deepened their kiss, Shizuru felt her arms twining around her neck.

Fingers clutched desperately at her back as she eased another one in, delighting in Haruka's lusty cry as she gently curled them. Shizuru began to pump her harder and faster, and at this point, they were no longer sharing a kiss so much as sharp, shallow breaths, their foreheads pressed together, their eyes closed and their lips parted centimeters away from one another as they lost themselves in a sea of sensation.

Soon, Haruka's movements before more and more erratic, and when Shizuru reached her thumb up to stroke her clit, she threw her head back...

And screamed.

A split second later, Shizuru felt Haruka's walls contract, and shuddered in unrestrained passion for the woman beneath her as nails tore across her back hard enough to break skin.

For a lofty

timeless

moment

they hung suspended in utter silence.

And then, they collapsed, clutching onto each other and gasping for breath. Shizuru slowly extricated her fingers, resting her weight on her side and drawing Haruka into her arms, pressing her lips lovingly against the top of her head as they held each other tightly.

"Shi... Shizuru," Haruka panted, giving the brunette a squeeze and lifting her head slightly to look at her, her expression a mixture of affection and anxiety. She seemed to want to say more, but Shizuru pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"It's okay," the Kyoto woman said, smiling at her gently and pushing her head back down so that it rested comfortably on her shoulder. "Just stay with me. Alright?"

After a second, she felt the blonde nod, and held Haruka close as she slowly came down from her post-orgasmic high. Before long, her breaths deepened, and as Shizuru pressed another kiss to the top of her head, she found herself truly happy for the first time since she could remember.

A/N: Thank you, everyone, for the delightful feedback the first time around. I have decided to make this into a multi-chaptered fic, so I've run through this chapter again to make a few minor yet necessary changes. Sorry about the mailbox spam nonetheless.