Two

Umi and I took different routes home. Umi had gotten a permit and was working at the local video game shop, and I walked straight home to freshen up before helping Umi with her shift.

As I walked out of the vicinity of Osaka Peach and into the home tracts, a hand fell upon my shoulder. I smiled as I kept my eyes leveled with the ground.

"What did you slip in my backpack this time, Umi…?"

I turned around to see Minami Nanba. I blanched.

"What are you doing here?" I practically demanded. I really didn't want to talk to him, not after he almost destroyed my social life in front of my classmates.

"You seemed a bit… irked with my interruption in class," Nanba explained. "Is it because of what I said?"

I frowned. "Of course it is! I don't want my friends to know that Dr. Umeda and my brother are… are… man, just leave me alone!"

I attempted to walk ahead of him, but he just grabbed the collar of my sailor suit uniform, effectively stopping me. I coughed a few times, and then I turned to face Nanba directly.

"What do you want?" I asked violently. The frown that contorted my face meant business, and everyone that had been on the receiving end on that business… let's say that they never bugged me again. Unless you counted Mii, of course, who never learned a thing.

"Actually, it's not a matter of wanting anything," Nanba grinned weirdly, "I find myself… helpless in your wake, Haruka."

My head imploded. Helpless… in my… wake…? That meant he liked me! I would have rather coughed up blood than become Nanba's girlfriend! His family was trouble, and I seemed to be the only one that realized… hello, this guy's uncle ruined my life!

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I inquired as I stopped at a crosswalk. To my dismay, he stopped with me.

"I like you," Nanba answered bluntly. "And by the looks of it, you don't seem to share my feelings."

"Damn right!" I yelled as the crossing light turned green. I tried to walk fast, but Nanba caught up with me.

"It's hard for you to accept the fact that your brother's gay, isn't it?"

I gulped. Nanba had hit the nail right on its head.

"A lot harder than you'd think," I retorted in a disdainful tone. "Umeda destroyed my family life. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Nanba's eyes flittered as he inspected my frame. "No. I was wondering if you would like to meet me at my house tonight."

I choked back some bile in my mouth as my feet hit the sidewalk, and hit Nanba with my book bag.

"Creep!" I threatened as I ran down the sidewalk as fast as I could. Nanba didn't attempt to follow me, however. He instead stayed put on the single block of cement.

I didn't look back. His leeriness was rather scary to me. I bit my lip as I ran up to the house's door and slammed it shut.

I remember throwing the book bag crossly onto a chair and dashing up to my room. A note from my mother was taped to my door, reminding me that I had to work an hour overtime. I smiled at the note, and ripped off my school uniform to change.

The frilly cosplay uniform I had to don that day was definitely tailored to fit me. The bottom layer was a long lacy dress, and above it I would place an aquamarine-colored pleated skirt and a white shirt with puffy sleeves. I tied the 'Video Extreme' apron over this cosplay uniform and took a good look at myself in the mirror. Slowly, I put my hair into four ponytails.

Every Monday, I was a character I had created myself: a confused night princess named Miyo. I felt like Miyo at the time. I was confused, and it was all because of…

"Nanba!" someone shrieked happily. I looked out my window. Mii was trying to hit on Nanba, who was mildly interested… or scared… or some combination of the above…

"Now that he's distracted…" I sighed to myself. I took a short walk down my staircase and opened my door precariously. I did a double take to make sure that Nanba was still distracted, and dashed out the door, up the street, jaywalked between the corner of Main and 7th, and was out of breath by the time I reached Video Extreme.

Pushing the door open, I saw my 'other half': Miyo's counterpart, Sahra. Of course, it was just Umi in her beautiful light blue and white contrast to my outfit, but she was like the other half of me.

"Hey, Miyo," Umi teased. She found my cosplayer's name hilarious for some reason. It sort of irritated me when she did that.

"Hello, Sahra. Are you going to act like I'm not Rabi-en-rose to your Dejiko?"

"Ha!" Umi smirked, then burst out laughing. "That was pretty good, Miyo… but if we keep talking and don't unload these tapes, the boss will kill us."

So I helped unload thousands of anime tapes, live-action movies, American movies, American anime movies, American CGI movies, Canadian animation… the boss loved being touted as having 'the biggest video selection in Osaka'. For the most part, I liked my boss fine, but when he managed to find a ton of legitimate copies of videos… oh, how I hated him…

Of course, no one really came to our store between four and five. That was when kids tuned in to see live-action versions of their favorite anime, so Umi and I usually traded insults – and the store's only footstool.

"So, what about Nanba and you?" Umi smiled broadly. Umi would never be so feisty and hyper at school. When she was cosplaying, no one knew who she was, so she became a totally different person. I didn't mind. I was still the same.

"I hate him," I said stoically as I put some Fist of the North Star in the kid's section of the store as a joke, right next to Pokemon and Beyblade.

Umi noticed this. "Miyo, you're going to get in trouble with the boss again."

"Fine."

I took Fist of the North Star to the Anime Classics part of the store, and had the sudden urge to put Akira in the kid's section.

The bell on the door rang open. Both Umi and I ran to the door and curtsied. "Welcome to Video Extreme!"

I looked up. The three guys at the door were Nakatsu, his American friend named Mizuki, and the legendary high-jumper Sano.

Sano kept a cold face. Mizuki looked around frantically, thinking we were nuts. He probably had never seen cosplay, being from America. Nakatsu just smiled widely.

"Cute," he smiled. "I like cosplay."

"What's cosplay?" Mizuki asked.

"Do you live in a closet!" Nakatsu cried.

"No," Sano replied truthfully.

When the three of them walked away, Umi fell onto the stepstool.

"Oh my God," she murmured. "Oh my God…"

The bell rang again.

"Today must be a good day," I mused before me and Umi went back to do our routine.

"Welcome to –!"
I cut off. It was Minami Nanba.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hey Nanba!" Nakatsu called. "I found a show you might like!"
Nakatsu held up Puri Puri Poemy. Nanba blanched.

"No…"

"What are you doing here?" I asked again. I wasn't about to let that go.

"I was looking for a movie," Nanba responded with a smile. "You look beautiful."
I narrowed my eyes and went for a broom behind the counter. "Will you stop hitting on me?"

"Depends," Nanba responded. "Will you go out with me?"

I screamed and hit him with the broom. I hadn't noticed Mizuki waiting near the counter, two videos in his hand.

"Um, can I buy these…?" Mizuki petered out.

Nanba and I turned to face him. I put the broom back quickly, and Nanba wandered down to the romance anime.

"Very sorry, sir!" I smirked. "I assure you that you will not be hit with a broom by me!"

Mizuki laughed. It sounded almost girlish, but I found it cute. Seeing as I was not one for men, I didn't fall madly in love with him, but the laugh was still one of the only bright spots of the day.

I looked down at the two videos. In my hand was the latest Pokemon movie and a dubbed version of Finding Nemo. I smirked and began to ring up the cash register.

I guess I didn't think about it at the time, but I glanced back at Nanba longingly for three seconds before taking Mizuki's money, smiling the entire time.

Meanwhile, I could still hear Umi gasping for air. She was very much in love, as it were.

A/N: It appears as if I haven't been entirely faithful to Hana-Kimi with my story, but… I'm gonna continue it anyway. I know this chapter hasn't much to do with anything, but I'm getting there, I promise!

DISCLAIMER: What do Hana-Kimi and I have in common? Nothing. I don't own it.