αγάπη μου, my love

"Mine!" (EruHan AU)- Phillia

“Y-you mean the Encyclopedia of the World’s Amphibians?” Her eyes widened innocently behind her glasses.

“Tha’s the one.” She smiled. “Why don’t you go see our new Harry Potter release instead? It’s the Chamber of Secrets. All the other kids your age love ‘et.”

Hanji shrugged. “Science,” she merely replied. She didn’t really feel the need to explain that she adored biology far more than the silly stories other kids read. She was a little different that way.

The assistant nodded and went on her way. Whether she understood or not, Hanji didn’t know.

As soon as she was out of sight, Hanji’s face split into the widest grin she could muster. For an entire week she searched around London, and here it was all along!

She strode in, dodging other shoppers (and failing a few times). She nearly ran into the huge frog mascot, but Hanji really didn’t care. All she had on her mind was the Encyclopedia.

There it was: her book stood on display and sparkled as though the spotlight was on it. It was, in a way. For the moment, this large, green-and-gold book was all than Hanji could think of.

She didn’t even see the other person who had taken it.

“Hey-!”

“Huh?”

Soon Hanji was staring up at the face of the same boy who rolled his eyes at her earlier. They locked eyes for less than a second and then looked at the book in their hands and then back up.

“I took it first,” Hanji blurted.

“No you didn’t,” he replied. She realized from his tone that, despite his school uniform and platinum blonde hairstyle, the boy was not British. He spoke in a slightly American dialect that Hanji recognized from telly shows and the complaining wails of tourists. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll understand that I need it pretty badly.”

 “Well, I’m,” she yanked it back, “more than sure that you don’t need it as much as I do.”

Now the boy’s icy-blue glare was rimmed with disgust, like the sight of the girl in jeans and her best yellow t-shirt with a dancing mouse silhouette in the front wasn’t worthy of his precious time and this more precious book.

“Don’t be an ass,” he sneered, pulling it back. “It’s fair and square.”

“Fair doesn’t matter!” Hanji tried snatching it back but succeeded only in bringing both herself and the book closer to the boy.

In regular circumstances, Hanji would have colored up at being this close to a boy, but now her temper was so high that her heart wasn’t in the program.

“It does too. Finding’s keeping.” He narrowed his eyes malevolently. “Besides, it’s rude.”