Author's Note: This was my attempt at humour...though I don't think it turned out quite the way I wanted to. But I'm happy with it. One-shot Crossover with Hana-Kimi. I wish there were more fics about that manga...
Hana Furuba
Hokuto took a deep drag of his cigarette and offered the packet to his companion.
"You want one?"
Hatori accepted gratefully. He lighted it with his own lighter and breathed in the comforting smell deeply. He sighed, expelling the smoke.
"Stupid rat, look what you've gotten us into!"
"Me? It was you who ran into her, idiot!"
Hatori took a deeper drag of his cigarette. Hokuto kindly pushed a cup of steaming green tea across the desk until it was within the dragon's reach.
"EH? EH? EHHHH?"
"A-ano, Ashiya-san? Eh, are you…a…um…"
"Honda-san, I think you better calm down yourself."
"What's a girl doin' at a boy's school anyway?"
Umeda poured himself another cup of tea before settling himself next to his friend again.
"At least Sano-kun is out with Shigure to the get some drinks from the vending machines."
"Aa."
Sohma Hatori and Umeda Hakuto were actually friends since they were young. The Umeda family wasn't as well known nor as rich as the Sohma family, but Hakuto's father was actually the brother of a woman married into the outer circle of the Sohma family. Their meeting had been an accident.
Hakuto's sister, Io, was in one of her moods. She dressed 'Hakuto-chan' up in a frilly pink dress (with a lot of lace), pulled his hair back into a low ponytail with an equally pink hair tie (she abhorred short spiky pigtails, surprisingly), slipped him in a pair of shiny black leather shoes and let him loose inside the Sohma family grounds while she toured the large place with a handsome Sohma man.
He was four.
Naturally, he got lost. He was old enough to realise that all those clothes his sister often dressed him in was not what he was supposed to wear, but couldn't do anything about it. His onee-san was scary.
He stumbled into a courtyard. Unbeknownst to him, he was now in the area dwelled by the inner circle.
"Who are you?"
Hokuto turned and stared into solemn amethyst eyes.
"Hokuto. Who are you?"
"I'm Hatori." The boy eyed the pink dress dubiously. "I thought Hokuto was a guy's name."
"Who's that, who's that?" Another boy peeked over Hatori's shoulder before Hokuto could reply.
"This is Hokuto." Hatori introduced. The new boy beamed.
"Hi! I'm Shigure!" Brown eyes stared at the dress in curiosity. "Say, Hokuto's a funny name for a girl though, isn't it?"
Four year olds being four year olds, they never questioned what Hokuto was doing in the inner family's courtyard.
Little Hokuto opened his mouth to argue, wanting to say that he was most definitely not a girl! But Shigure took hold of his wrist and dragged him off before he could say anything. Hatori followed. They arrived in a area where a group of kids were playing with a ball, Shigure abandoned them and rushed off, leaving Hakuto and Hatori alone.
"So, who are your parents?" Hatori asked.
"Umeda Azuma and Umeda Seira, why?"
"…from A Little Princess?"
"…"
Hatori froze for a second before whirling on the red head.
"Umeda?"
"Er…yeah?"
"Ah! Hatori-kun! Come play ball with us!" A girl around the boys' age threw herself forward to hug the solemn boy, but tripped over herself and went staggering into Hakuto instead.
"Careful, Aoi-chan!" Hatori cried, going to assist but froze when Aoi went up in a puff of smoke.
Hakuto blinked through the cloud of smoke, only to find a tiny boar in place of where the girl used to be.
"EHHHHH?"
Hatori stared at Hakuto.
"You're not a girl?"
"I NEVER SAID I WAS! MY SISTER DRESSED ME IN THIS!"
Fortunately, no one but Hatori and Aoi knew. Hatori kind of liked his new friend, and Aoi promised she'd never tell, seeing no harm in keeping the secret. Of course, Hatori told his best friends Shigure and Ayame, and they welcomed the funny boy dressed in a girl's dress in their little group warmly.
They went to different schools, but they constantly kept in touch. After a long while of Hakuto being submitted into dressing in Io's fashion sense, little Hakuto swore of girls, and became gay. He was not afraid to admit the fact, but the 'Mabudachi Trio' were only amused by it. Come to think of it, the inspiration for Ayame's shop may be stemmed from Hokuto's cross-dressing in his childhood…
Aoi-chan died in a car crash with her family two years after meeting with Hakuto though. The new boar seemed to be someone called Kagura.
The doctors felt two puffs of smoke behind them. The high-pitched squeal from Mizuki was heard.
"EEEEEK! YOU'RE NAKED!"
Naturally, being good friends, Hatori kept Hakuto up-to-date of what was happening in his life and vice versa. Therefore Hakuto knew all about Tohru, and similarly, Hatori knew about Ashiya Mizuki, the cross-dressing girl who came to Osaka for the sake of her high jump idol.
Yuki, as the Student Council President, came to Osaka high to liaison with the three dorm heads, as the schools' principals decided to affiliate with each other and plan a combined festival. Shigure had called Hatori for a ride, despite Yuki's protests that he could catch a bus. Hatori agreed, decided to visit Hakuto. Shigure tagged along for the same reason. Kyo tagged along to visit the school's karate club, which was rumoured to be one of the best. Tohru tagged along because she was invited.
"We're dressed now."
"Y-Yuki-kun…"
"What was that?"
"It's…it's…err…a…a magic show! A-ha-ha-ha…aren't they great?"
"…"
"…"
"…Honda-san, that…" a cough "I can tell you're lying…"
"EH?"
Hokuto eyed his fellow doctor beside him.
"What are you going to do now?"
The door slid open with a bang.
"Oh, my little flower, I've brought you a refreshing drink! I got one for Haa-san and Yuki-kun too!"
"Hey, what about me?"
"…ah, yes, yes, I got one for Kyon Kyon too."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Ashiya, here's your peach drink…"
"Ah! Thank you Sano-kun!"
"Ne, ne, Haa-san, why is Ashiya-kun and Tohru-kun all red?"
Hatori sighed, and decided to ignore him, opted for the tea instead.
"AH! I KNOW! You were being naughty with them haven't you? Ah! Haa-san! I knew you couldn't resist my little flower!"
Hakuto choked on his tea, while Hatori splashed his onto the dog.
"Haa-san, so cruel!"
Hatori massaged the bridge of his nose, brows furrowing. Hakuto eyed the bangs covering the dragon's left eye, and felt the familiar bubbling of anger towards Akito, but he suppressed it. Hatori glared at the novelist.
"Moron."
When Shigure went away, Hakuto brought Hatori's attention back.
"So?"
Hatori sighed again.
"I suppose this will just have to be another little secret."
Hokuto smiled a small smile. The two friends sat in silence, absorbing in the chaos around them. Despite their dislike for the noise, they knew that such an atmosphere can not last forever, that children would have to grow up, and they savoured it when they can.