Hobby

The next thing Kosaki knew, she was slowly opening her eyes to see a concerned Anadama standing before her. She was nowhere near the bookcase, and instead laid on his large bed.

"Anadama? What are you doing here?" Those were the first words out of her mouth as she tried to regain her senses once more.

"This is my room." He answered directly. "And I was the one who knocked you out. So please don't sue us."

"I thought you were taking a bath." They had just seen each other in the hallway. So she knew he couldn't possibly have taken a bath so quickly.

"I forgot something, so I went back to my room." He explained. "When I saw you, I thought you were an intruder trying to steal stuff. So I grabbed the book on my nightstand and hit you on the head… I'm sorry about that, by the way."

"It's my own fault anyway." She was the one who invaded his personal space to attempt to satiate her curiosity. "You're not going to get me in trouble with the school, will you?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone I hurt you, I'll let this slide." There were many things Anadama could accept for his reputation. Being known as someone who beat a girl was not one of them. "But tell me, how much did you see in my room?"

"You have a surprising collection of… Romance novels." She answered, assuming the one book she saw was representative of his entire collection.

"Of course you saw that." He turned his head down in embarrassment as he sat down on the bed besides her. "Well, go ahead and make fun of me."

"I don't know why I would do that." She could discern the difference between the kind of romance books that boys would read back in Japan compared to the more shojo style stories targeted towards girls like herself. Kosaki didn't care what people read for fun. "I guess you just never struck me as someone who would read this."

"Call it a bad habit." He answered, shaking his head in disappointment. "But you're really not going to insult me? Or are you just going to go out and expose me so I can be mocked by the people?"

"I would never blackmail anyone." She assured him. "I don't know why I would ever want to do something so mean."

"Heh, you really are peculiar." He couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of her actions. "There are a lot of people who would like to see me fall. A lot of enemies I've made too, like Chiffon."

"I don't know if you two are actually enemies." She couldn't deny that her friend wasn't fond of him. In fact, she was certain if she learned this truth. That she would do exactly what he believed she would do and expose him to be mocked.

"And I've only ever been mean to you. So why would you care about my feelings if I haven't cared about yours?"

"I've always said I don't hate you." She couldn't tell what he had been trying to do with his words. It almost seemed that he wanted her to hate him, but she wouldn't budge one bit. "And you haven't been that mean to me."

"Are you kidding me?" He stood back up, moving his hands about to point to everything as if there were an imaginary broad before her. "I don't think most people would confuse what I do to you as nice."

"What are you talking about?" She stared at him blankly. "You baked something for me."

"Because it was your birthday."

"And you tutored me so I could pass my exam."

"Because I'm your teacher."

"And what about earlier tonight? I do appreciate you helping me out with that person."

"Again, it was just an excuse to get away from some girl." He had countered each and every one of her points, yet it didn't seem as though it meant what she has said prior any less meaningful. "You shouldn't mistake me doing logical things as being kind. Those are totally different things."

"But it still made me pretty happy anyway." She gave him a smile, her only way of repaying him for what he had done for her so far.

"Don't play so cute." He crossed his arm and avoided having to look at her. If he had to see her wonderful smile any longer, he didn't know what he would do. "I swear, you're a lot like those girls I read in my books."

"Actually, if you don't mind me asking." She took a look at the book on his night stand. "Why do you read them? I… Don't mean that in a judging way or anything."

"It's because of the male leads." He answered. "They're all rich CEOs for some reason. So when I was younger, I just thought they were meant for people like me to enjoy. I didn't even realize I wasn't close to the target audience until I was much older." This also had the result of him being much more ashamed about it as well. "And you're an awful lot like the female leads in these stories because you're all really plain for some reason too."

"Guess it's not so different from Japan after all." She gently giggled, thinking about some of the stories she had read back home. The pair were silent for a few moments as the comparison he had made about both of them in regards to his romance novels sank in. Then, as if synchronized in mind, their faces grew red as they both turned their heads to avoid meeting the other's gaze.

"If you're feeling better, then perhaps you should leave my room so I can finally have my bath in peace." He said, trying to push her away so they wouldn't have to deal with such awkwardness any longer.

"You're right." She silently agreed with his true meaning as she got up from the bed. "And again, I'm sorry about going into your room." Said Kosaki, turning and bowing to him in her plead for forgiveness. "I won't do it again."

"I'd hope not." He was cold in his response, but did forgive her anyway. At this point all he really did care about was getting a bath to wipe away all the grime and sweat from the long day. So after she left, Anadama grabbed what he needed and made his way to the bathroom.

It was a luxurious bath, as expected from such a nice mansion with a wealthy family. As much as he might've complained about his situation, he was grateful he was afforded some nice things, such as being able to strip off all his clothing to lay down in a freshly drawn bath with all the assorted soaps and lotions to maintain his clean smooth skin.

Being able to lay back in the bath with some light classical music on in the background gave him plenty of time to think as well. Unsurprisingly his thoughts tonight all centered around one girl. That darn Kosaki, he thought.

She truly was a thorn in his side ever since she arrived. Despite his best efforts, she wouldn't decide that her life was better off just by avoiding him like other people did. Yet at the same time, she was very much different than the girls he met along in Hollywood. Those girls typically bugged him because they wanted to get close, but it had less to do with him and more to do with his status.

Kosaki didn't appear to care that he was some well known celebrity. And it wasn't like he had misunderstood her either. She hadn't known who he was before, and why would someone from Japan feel that way? So her attempts at getting closer to him were more akin to someone hoping to make a friend.

"I'm not someone who anyone should want to be friends with." He said aloud, staring at his own reflection in the water before splashing some water to wash his face. "I really can't see why a girl like her would want me of all people." She really was like those girls he read in his novels. They also had their romantic interests in guys who were cold towards them. As much as the comparison embarrassed him, he couldn't help but think of how true that was.

Again, he felt his body heat up from something that wasn't the hot bath he laid in. Anadama had to reign in his logic on how absurd those romance novels were. After all, it was just fiction. Those sorts of things never happened in reality. More importantly, there was no reason for him to believe his life was anything more than bitter reality. It was fair from the fairy tale everyone else believed his life to be.

But seeing her face light up when she believed so, he couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for happier times. There was an air of innocence to Kosaki when he looked at her face being so bright in seeing the city lights. Or being impressed by his baking skills when she tried them. When she mentioned her taste buds being good, he could tell from her ability to sense difference flavors to be on par with his own talent.

Anadama sank downward into the water, keeping only his nose above the surface to be able to breath as he continued to think about her. How some random girl he hardly knew could occupy his entire mind so easily was upsetting. He tried to come up with other subjects to avoid her, but every time he could see her popping up in his brain.

"Kosaki, I really hate you." He muttered to himself as he picked himself up from the water. Though it was less him hating her, and more about his disdain on her effect on him.