Blossom Among Flowers (Published)

Chapter 1. Hobby

Hikaru Saito heaved the glass door of the bookstore open, cheeks puffing with the effort, sounding the wind chimes. The cold morning frost tumbled inside with her.

"Good morning!" Eriko, the shop girl, called from the counter.

"Good morning!" Hikaru called back. She jogged in place and wagged her arms in circles as if swatting away the cold.

She was the first customer today, as she was every Saturday. Miss Okari, the bookstore owner, knew all of her avid customers by literary preference, by the float of their steps, and by their names, in that precise order. To her, Hikaru was romance and samurai manga; heavy, uneven stomps.

"Heeee-ka-ru," Miss Okari sang, gliding through her silkscreen blinds in her auburn kimono. "You're late today."

"Miss Okari." Hikaru bowed her hello. "I was jogging."

"Oh-hoh, really now," Miss Okari chimed in her hummingbird voice. "Eriko already wrapped it for you." Her thin lips slid into a knowing smile before she turned and flitted back to her office.

Hikaru waited, fidgeting, until Miss Okari disappeared behind the patterned blinds. When she was sure the bookstore owner was gone, she zipped to the counter.

"You know we have glass doors, don't you?" Eriko leaned toward her as Hikaru stood tapping her fingers against the wood panel.

"I was jogging," Hikaru repeated, grinning. Her messy hair should be enough evidence.

"In a circle in front of our store? Since seven thirty in the morning?"

Hikaru hopped on her toes. "It's good for the heart."

"Oh yes. A seventeen-year-old girl like you really needs extra cardio." Eriko nodded, a smile lurking at the corner of her lips. "That's a cute jogging suit by the way."

Hikaru pinched her nose, looking down at her fluffy pink hoodie and matching jogging pants, the hem showing two inches of white socks. It was the only athletic garment she owned and she'd had it since seventh grade, but she had to make do since her mother believed she was training for Physical Education class; the only valid reason to be out of the house by sunrise on a Saturday morning.

"Won't Mrs. Saito wonder why you haven't made the track team yet?" Eriko read her mind.

"I told her I have a lazy knee..." Hikaru muttered, remembering the awkward conversation.

Behind them the wind chimes sang again, and Miss Okari emerged from her office to greet the second customer of the day. Eriko gave Hikaru one last stony glare, then gave in and pulled out the package.

"Thank you!" Hikaru pressed the Boys Over Flowers issue between her palms. "My 214th..."

"214." Eriko whistled, chin in her hand as she watched Hikaru caress the small rectangle with unbecoming love. "That's a lot of manga."

Hikaru looked up and grinned. Eriko Tsukui had been working the Saturday and some afternoon shifts at Miss Okari's bookstore for the last two months. With her thick waves of black hair, porcelain face, and seat in the prestigious Waseda University, she couldn't be more out of place in this mecca of comic book geeks.

Comic book enthusiasts, Hikaru corrected her thoughts.

But no one else could draw in more male customers of all ages and manage the counter with intelligent precision like Eriko did. Miss Okari was quick to point this out.

Hikaru had been trying to explain her hobby to Eriko since their first meeting at the counter: the vivid images from the drawings, that satisfying crunch of the binding as you cracked a manga open for the first time, the distinct tree-and-ink smell on the pages...