A/N: Hello! This is my first attempt at writing in the Hana-Kimi fandom. I usually write for Tokyo Mew Mew, but I just started reading this manga a few days ago and fell in love with it. So, please tell me what you think. ;3

Janitor's Closet

xXx

“Are you coming Mizuki?” Sano called from across the room as he threw a jacket around his slick shoulders.

“Yeah just one second,” Mizuki was fiddling with her unruly hair, trying to get it under control to be seen in public. “How about you just meet me there?” She stated with a smile, trying to find her frustration.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone,” Sano replied.

“No, I’m sure—it’s totally fine,” Mizuki gave him a big smile.

“Okay then. I guess I’ll see you there. Just be sure to look for me, okay?” Sano stated while swiftly closing the door behind him.

Mizuki sighed after he left.

The school was having an annual assembly about “sportsmanship” and encouraged all in the dorms to attend—only meaning the place was going to be entirely jam-packed by sweaty teenage boys with big mouths. However, for some reason, this didn’t seem to bother Mizuki at all. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she was going to be able to sit by Sano the entire time.

She picked up her comb and dipped it in a little wax, combing down the strands of her hair, to keep them from sticking up.

“Ah, whatever, it looks good enough!” She put down her comb and grabbed her small jacket, heading out of the dorm.

She got ten feet down the hallway and noticed someone coming around the corner.

“Oh, Mizuki, is that you?”

By the flowing black hair, calming voice, and poised appearance, it was obvious it was none other than Minami Nanba. He was caring two heavy-looking boxes in his hands, and it seemed almost as if he were struggling with them, but held himself together, not showing strain. “Would you mind giving me a hand with one of these? I’m supposed to take them to the janitor’s closet before the assembly and I’m a little behind…” He smiled.

It seemed just about impossible to say no to him.

“Um, sure I don’t mind,” Mizuki smiled back. She cuffed her hands around the sides of the top box and slid it off the other one, carrying all its weight in his arms. This is a lot heavier than it looks, she thought as she tried to not look drained already.

“Come on, it’s this way,” Nanba said, walking further down the hallway, Mizuki trudging along just feet behind.

They walked past at least ten dorms and she walloped in agony in her mind. What the heck is in this thing? It feels like they stuffed rocks inside of it, she thought.

“It’s just around here,” Nanba spoke up. Mizuki could say nothing, but just nod to herself.

They soon turned a corner and Nanba stopped, Mizuki, not noticing and staring at her feet, stumbled and fell on her butt, the box landing heavily between her legs. She stared half-dazed as the box as a sweat drop fell down the back of her neck. Nanba laughed. He sat down his box and helped her up. She blushed as she stood to her feet.

“Don’t worry, they are quite heavy, I’m surprised I didn’t fall myself,” he smiled, just making her blush more.

He turned to the door and reached into his pocket, pulling out a jingling set of keys. He flipped them around until he found a small silver one with white tape on it labeled with a “J”. Holding it between his first finger and thumb he pushed it into the keyhole and turned it, then pulling it out halfway, while it dangled loosely.

“Just set yours down in here,” he picked up his box and walked into the closet. It was a pretty decent size for being just a janitor’s closet. Although it was only filled with mops, brooms, cloth, and cleaning supplies. But instead of smelling clean, it wreaked of old fast food mixed with ammonia.

Nanba walked to the right corner next to a wall of shelves and laid his box against the floor. Mizuki picked hers up and walked in, placing it over top of his.

“There, finally,” Nanba spoke up. “Now, I suppose we should head to the assembly. I think we’re already a bit late, and being a dorm advisor that’s not a good thing for me,” he smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

Shut. Click.

“Hm?” Mizuki turned around and looked behind her. The small amount of light that once filled the room from the hallway had disappeared and her vision was erased with black. “The door must’ve closed behind me.”

“Oh no,” the words fell from Nanba’s mouth.

“What is it Minami-san?” Mizuki turned to where his voice came from in the corner, assuming that’s where he was in the dark.

“The janitor’s closet automatically locks when it’s closed. And unless you grabbed them, my keys are still on the outside…”

As soon as Mizuki heard those words she got a cold chill over her.

“And everyone’s at the assembly, so until they get out, we’ll probably be stuck in here… and that thing is supposed to last two hours,” he explained.

Mizuki’s mouth fell to the floor. “Are you saying I’m stuck in here until someone rescues us?” she squealed.

“Pretty much,” he replied. Even through the current situation, Nanba’s voice stayed calm and motionless.

Sano, please realize I’m gone and come and save me, Mizuki thought as she pictured him in Superhero tights and flying her to the moon. She hugged herself with this thought and smiled while her eyes gleamed.

“What are you doing?”

Mizuki moved her eyes and realized Nanba had turned on the light switch and was staring at her. “Oh nothing, haha,” she smiled nervously…

In the assembly hall, all the boys had found their seats and the principle obtained the microphone and began to speak, his voice echoing through the large room.

Sano sat near the entrance on the second to top row of seats and constantly stared at the door. He narrowed his eyes. She should be here by now… what’s taking her so long? He thought…

Nanba sat himself down on the floor, with his back against a mop bucket. Noticing this, Mizuki felt compelled to do the same, but she sat near the other side of the closet, her hands encircled around her knees, hugging them against her chest. She kept her eyes to the floor, every now and then, looking up at Nanba to get a look at his expression. Suddenly, she noticed he had looked up and was staring at her. Her face lit up a bright red. She tried hiding it by turning her head a little away from the light and into the shadows.

“Sorry for getting you into this,” he said.

“Oh no, it’s okay. It was actually kind of my fault for closing the door behind me,” she smiled.

“Heh. Yeah. But I should’ve been smart enough as to put the keys back into my pocket,” he said.

“Oh just don’t feel bad about it. It’s not like you meant to do it right?” Mizuki said.

He threw his head back against the bucket and smiled. “Yeah…”

A silence fell upon them and Mizuki stared down at her feet, trying to keep away from the awkwardness that was sneaking upon them.

“It’s not like the assembly’s all that important anyway,” he spoke up. “It’s just a lecture they give every year about sports and sportsmanship, and so forth. Then they let the band play and invite a student to give a speech… you think it’d only take like an hour or so for them to do this, but they prolong to try and show the ‘importance’ of it, like we haven’t heard it all before…”

She looked up from her feet and over at Nanba.

“Well I’ve never been to one so I wouldn’t know,” she wasn’t sure what to say so she just stated the first thing that came to mind. She felt like a bit of a drag, not being able to keep up a good conversation. Although, there was something about Nanba that always piqued her interest. Everyone always said what a womanizer he was and that he could get a girl pregnant just talking to her. But she had never actually experienced this side of him, and this just made her a little curious. She wasn’t about to put herself in danger in order to see it, or even admit that she’d want to put herself in the position to see it. However, it was something she sometimes pondered upon, especially in this instance.

“So Minami-san, do you have… a girlfriend?” Mizuki blurted out, not thinking. She practically put her foot in her mouth after she spoke. Okay maybe that was a little weird to just ask… Maybe I should apologize, she thought. “Sorry, it’s not any of my business or anything,” she smiled nervously.

He laughed a little.

“No, it’s fine,” he said. “And no I don’t. Although that’s not to say that I haven’t…”

“Okay that’s all I wanted to know!” Mizuki stopped him in mid-sentence not wanting to hear what else he was going to say, even though she already had a good idea of what it was.

He laughed at her.

“You’re funny.”

“Yeah, well…” She smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. She quickly shifted her eyes back down at her feet.

“What about you? You have one?” He asked. She looked up.

“Do I have a what?” She replied, a little frazzled.

“A girlfriend?” He smirked.

“Oh one of them,” she smiled not knowing what to say, although the honest to God truth was no, it just felt weird answering it. “Oh, no, I don’t. I just don’t think I should…”

“Don’ think you should?” He laughed at this. She blushed.

“Why not? Girls are the most interesting things on the planet,” he said. “So many things you can do with them that you couldn’t do with just a guy.”

Mizuki’s face had a blank expression while he explained.

“Have you ever been kissed by a girl before?” He asked her.

“Um, oh, uh… does my mom count?” She asked, not thinking of how lame that sounded, but she just couldn’t think of what to say. She never prepared herself for a conversation like this.

“No, not really,” he said. “Well to be quite honest with you, it’s an amazing thing…” It seemed his face had lit up a lot from this current conversation.

“How… so?” She asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Well, it’s just the feeling you get from it. And just touching a woman’s lips…” with this said Nanba scooted a little closer to Mizuki without her realizing it. She looked up and noticed her was sitting quite close to her and his face neared hers.

“You take a woman by her chin like this,” he placed his hand under her chin and stared into her eyes. “Then you look into her eyes and smile as you near her lips with yours…” He closed his eyes as his face got insanely close to hers. Mizuki’s face turned crimson red and she flipped out, pushing him away and swaying her arms. She squealed.

He laughed at her, still sitting next to her. This made her blink while staring at him closely, making sure he was all right mentally.

“I guess you’re not interested in a demonstration either then,” he winked at her. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t actually going to kiss you. I’m not like that.”

Even though if he were a girl I definitely would have. It’s such a waste—so cute, and yet a boy, Nanba shook his head at this thought.

“… Now many of our students are involved in sports, therefore it is important to remember…”

Sano tapped on Nakatsu’s back, while he sat in front of him. He turned around and looked at Sano.

“Have you seen Mizuki at all?” Sano whispered.

Nakatsu stared at him with silence.

“OH MY GOD!!!” He yelled, catching a lot of attention. “I can’t believe I forgot about my beloved Mizuki!” He began to cry aloud, not realizing that the principle had stopped speaking and everyone in the audience was staring at him. Sano gave him the you-idiot-calm-down look.

“If you would be so kind as to take you seat and quiet down, I could continue my speech,” the principle announced over the microphone. Nakatsu’s face became flushed as he sat back down in his seat…

Sweat fell from Mizuki’s face and hit the floor of the closet.

“It’s getting quite warm in here,” Nanba stated. “You may want to take off your jacket or you’ll burn up.”

“Um, no I’m fine, really,” she put on a fake smile, as she knew she was burning up. But she refused to take off any type of clothing around Nanba, because even fully clothed around him she’d feel naked. She well knew this was all just in her head, but she felt comfortable just as she was, even though she could feel her body growing hot.

“Suit yourself,” he stated as he stood up and unbuttoned his shirt. Mizuki turned her head to face the ground, not wanting to stare. He relieved himself of his shirt and sat back down placing the shirt in his lap. He smoothed his hand through his hair and sat there quietly. He acts so shy, he thought. He almost acts like… a girl, he thought while he turned and looked at her staring at the ground. Perhaps it’s just me, but it doesn’t hurt to be curious right? He thought.

“You really should just take off your shirt as well. No sense in burning up. I see you’re already sweating, Mizuki.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“No, no, I’m fine… really.”

“… Now enjoy the music created by own very own band…”

I’m really worried about her she should be back by now, Sano thought. I have to go back and look for her.

Sano stood up from his seat and made his way through the audience, trying to be unnoticed by anyone of concern. If asked, he’d just simply say he was on his way to the toilet.

“Sano where are you going?” Nakatsu caught sight of him leaving and stood behind him.

“I’m going to look for Mizuki—come if you like,” he replied.

They made their way from the rows of students and down to the exit…

“Just don’t worry about me,” Mizuki said trying to shrug off how hot she really was.

“No, I know you’re hot. And I don’t need you getting a fever. I am your dorm advisor and I should look after you,” he said and stood up, walking over to her.

“No, no, really, please I’m fine,” she said, getting a little freaked out by Nanba getting closer to her.

“At least take off your jacket,” he tugged on her jacket, trying to pull it off.

“No, Umeda-san, I’m fine, quit it!” She tried pulling away from him.

“Come on, just let me—” Nanba lost his balance while fighting with Mizuki and fell over with her, his palms against the ground. He opened his eyes and realized he had landed on top of her, her eyes peering up at him.

Neither of them said a word as they stayed in that position with silence toppling over. He watched as Mizuki’s face blushed profusely.

“Sorry,” he pushed himself up and sat down, his eyes blank. He felt strange, and flushed but he didn’t know why—he never felt like this. Mizuki stayed lying on the ground for a few seconds, still in shock, until she finally sat herself up as well. Her face was still red and she still pictured him over her in her mind.

“…”

Mizuki, looked over at Nanba who said nothing. She pulled on her sleeves and slipped off her jacket, placing it beside her on the ground.

“I wonder if anyone’s dying of boredom at the assembly,” Nanba laughed a little. She was confused at his remark, assuming he said it to break the tension.

What just happened? He thought. I can’t let this get to me… I mean, he’s… a boy, right?

Nanba looked over at Mizuki, who refused to make eye contact with him.

Although, when I was on top of him I didn’t feel his…

Click.

Mizuki and Nanba looked up to find two faces staring down at them.

“S-Sano…” The name fell from Mizuki’s lips.

“Hey, why is your shirt off?!” Nakatsu yelled. “And Mizuki why is your jacket off! Put it back on you’re practically naked!!!”

Nanba faced the wall of the closet as he stood to his feet and smoothed his hand threw his hair.

“Here let me help you up,” Sano reached out his hand and helped Mizuki to her feet. As she walked out of the closet, she peered behind her and caught sight of Nanba. He just stood there with a smirk on his face…

The End

A/N: My first attempt at a Hana-Kimi fic! I hope it was decent and to your liking. Please review.