Blossom Among Flowers (Published)

Chapter 1. Hobby

It may be embarrassing to some (her brother), wasteful to others (her mother), and unfathomable to the rest (her father), but to Eriko, Hikaru's hobby was fascinating, and at that moment she announced that they were going to be great friends.

Hikaru just nodded then, thinking Eriko was her senior and was too tall and beautiful to be friends with a pale shrimp like her.

"I can't wait to read it," Hikaru murmured, poking a finger through the wrapping.

"Don't you have exams on Monday?" Eriko asked as she rang up the purchase.

"I'm studying for that, too."

Eriko's perfect eyebrow arched up, recognizing the promise as an afterthought.

"I'll just look at The Shelf on my way out," Hikaru mumbled, turning away before she received another scolding.

She wove through the empty aisles, inhaling the crisp scent of paper and spicy incense. Miss Okari's store was an intricate map of many shelves and coffee tables that carried more books than they were allowed. Always, like a ritual, Hikaru's last stop was the largest shelf that occupied the entire back wall of the shop. It spanned three meters across and stood twelve layers of comic books from floor to ceiling. It was The Shelf.

Hikaru planted herself in front of it now, her eyes skimming the titles she owned in her miniature version at home and memorizing the ones she did not yet have. "So little time..."

"Hmm."

Hikaru turned at the low hum. A golden-haired head inclined towards her, dark hazel eyes probing her surprised expression.

Takeshi Hinata was standing behind her. "Hello," he said.

"Hello," Hikaru responded, her eyes wide.

He kept looking at her until she had to blink once, a flutter more times. She had always been terrible with eye contact games. When the silence and the staring started to feel awkward, she turned towards the exit.

"I'm going now," she muttered, the words coming out like a question.

Takeshi nodded. "Okay."

Hikaru stumbled on the coat rack on her way out. Looking back, she caught Takeshi staring at her with a new crease on his forehead. Soon, he turned away, and then Hikaru was out on the street, the chimes whistling, the morning frost reprimanding her for forgetting her coat.

*****

"Takeshi Hinata is in Miss Okari's bookstore." Hikaru mumbled to herself as she turned the last corner to their house. "But why?"

Takeshi was not an easy boy to miss at school, not when the geniuses had been separated from the geeks and were now way up on the social ladder. Takeshi came with a gaggle of admiring girls and a procession of fawning teachers in his wake. Maybe it helped that he had a socialite for a mother and a business mogul for a father, and that his golden-haired head floated like a halo a few inches above every other boy in school. His pale, pointed face framed a pair of dark probing eyes that seemed able to read minds.

Hikaru shivered when a sudden gust of wind hit her face. Some people were so smart they had crossed over to the Weird Side.

"I'd have thought he would be home solving a Rubix pentagon or something."

Her shoes shuffled on the pavement, her back arched against the cold. An old sedan zoomed past her as she took a turn, the winter air mingling with the scent of frying eggs.

At least his fans had not found him in the bookstore yet. The place would be a tangle of giggles and limbs between shelves.

"HI-KA-RU."