Disclaimer: I do not own HanaKimi or any of its characters they all belong to the author.

Steam pours out from the bathroom as Sano walked out with a towel on his head. He just sat down on the guest bed when he heard a soft knock on the door. Before he could say "come in" Mizuki's head popped at the door frame with a huge smile on her face. Sano can't help but smile with her because he wanted to see her too.

"Can I come in?" Mizuki asks shyly.

Sano nods his head and sits on the floor and Mizuki sits across from him and smiled.

"This reminds me when we were roommates in Osaka High. I miss those days." she mentions.

"Yeah? You miss crashing on my bed and sleeping beside me as if it's nothing? Aren't you thankful I had enough self-control and sense not to attack you?" Sano asked with sly smile.

Mizuki's face burned with embarrassment and quickly changed the topic.

"Sano how's high jumping in Sapporo? Do you still practice when it gets really cold? You should take of yourself more if you are okay? Take more time when you're warming up. Wish I can see you jump again. Are you training with Shin?" Mizuki asked without stopping to breathe.

"Wow you weren't kidding when you said you have a gejillion things to talk about. But, first and foremost how come you're still calling me Sano? You can call Shin by his first name but not me? Your boyfriend?"

"Sorry, it just slipped. I-i-i-izumi. Nooo! it feels awkward to say your first name!" Mizuki covered her face as she rolled around on the ground.

"Pfft. Mizuki Mizuki Mizuki Mizuki! There I'm calling you by your first name. So you have to call me by my first name too. If you call me by my family name again I'm gonna penalize you."

"Penalize me? That's so mean! What are you going to do?"

"That's a secret that's for me to know and for you to find out." Sano sticks out his tongue after saying it.

"So to answer the rest of your questions, yes I still practice when it's cold but not long. And I'm also training with Shin. My turn to ask. How's your school here? Do you like it here?"

"Yeap! I like it here. I joined the track team and all that. But I wish I could've graduated with you guys together in Japan. I miss everyone so much." Mizuki places her head on her knees.

As Sano was gonna reach out to pat Mizuki's head like he usually does, there was a loud bang.

"MIZUKI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN A GUY'S ROOM THIS LATE? ARE YOU CRAZY? GET OUT AND GO TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOWWW! NOWWW!" Shizuki hysterically yelled in Sano's room with fire burning from his blue eyes.

Mizuki pouted, "I don't want to..I still have a lot to talk about with I-i-i-zu..mi" she whispered the last part.

"WHAATT? YOU DON'T WANT TO? YOU DARE TO DEFY ME NOW BECAUSE HE'S HERE? ONII-CHAN IS SAD MIZUKI!" Shizuki ran crying a river as he went out.

Sano snickered and looked at Mizuki who's still pouting.

"Now he's gonna tell on me and I'll really have to leave." she whined.

"Well, it's getting late anyway, and I'll still be here for a while you know. We have lots of time to talk." Sano gently comforted her with a pat in the head. "Guys have a limit to their self-control too you know." He added.

Mizuki looked up and caught a glimpse of Sano looking away with his hand over his mouth face all red embarrassed. He looks at her again and opens up his arms to her. She quickly went over and leaned her head on his broad chest. Sano wrapped his arms around her and just enjoyed her warmth against his body. Thump Thump Thump. Mizuki can hear his quickened heartbeat and giggled. She inhaled deeply taking in every scent of him and numerous flashbacks of her life in Osaka High flashed back on her. She felt so safe and loved just being in his arms like this. Without knowing it, her eyes start to droop and she eventually fell asleep.

Sano was just enjoying her petite figure in his arms and before he realized that she was falling asleep, it was too late. She snuggled herself closer to him and he puts a hand over his face and sighed. "Oh great. Look what I've done."

"mmm..Izumi" Mizuki mumbled in her sleep.

"So you can call me by my first name in your sleep comfortably; but, you can't say it to my face?" Sano sighed and smiled.

He gently strokes her hair and easily picked her up princess style. A whiff of her sweet familiar scent caught his nose when he opened the door to her room. It was pretty girly and surprisingly neat for her standards.

Hanging on the wall he sees a board filled with various pictures from when she was in Osaka High to the most recent picture of her family. Curiously, there's no single picture of them together. Sano didn't let it get to him and walked over to her bed where he softly put Mizuki down. As he was about to get up, he realizes that Mizuki caught hold of his sleeve.

"Great. Now what. Maybe I can slowly peel her hand off my sleeve" Sano was trying to get his sleeve back from Mizuki's clutches when he saw two frames sitting on a bedside table. One was of him high-jumping and the other was a picture that they took together during high-school. Sano can't help to let a smile creep up to his face and then he suddenly got chills. He slowly turn his head towards the door and he can see a gloomy shadow by the door.

"Get out..Now..Or I will stab you with pins" Mizuki's brother said carrying a voodoo doll.

"Okay! Okay! I was about to leave too. Don't worry so much..Brother" Sano added at the end to tease him.

"Who the hell gave you permission to call me brother? I've not given you my consent to date my sister you crazy Japanese boy!" Mizuki's brother retorted.

Mizuki stirred in her sleep. Mizuki's brother shuts his mouth and was staring daggers at Sano.

"Look what you did!" he whispered, you almost woke up Mizuki from her sweet sleep!

"It was your voice that stirred her..Brother" Sano can't help but tease him a little and finally got up from her bed. He slowly walked over to the door and closed it behind him. Shizuki was standing a feet from him holding a cross in front of him so he can try to ward off Sano. As a last parting good night, Sano confidently say to Shizuki,

"I love your sister. I'll do anything to make her happy and I'm very serious about this relationship. I hope you'll be able to accept us soon." With a smile and a bow he went inside his room with a clack.

Shizuki was dumbfounded, "I can't believe he said that to me. I know I'll be able to depend on him to take care of my beloved sister. I guess my job is coming to an end very soon huh Mizuki? You might not need your brother to protect you anymore."

He walked back to his room feeling kind of sad that his cute little sister might leave him. The whole ordeal kept him awake all night and he just couldn't sleep. It's just that Shizuki is a little jealous of Sano.

Sano on the other hand, was also lying wide awake on his bed for two reasons. One is because he is jet-lagged. The other is because he keeps thinking of Mizuki. "She looks like she bloomed while I was away. What if I get too over-protective of her and she hates me for it? She is very naive for her age. I'll think about it tomorrow or something." He forced his eyes to close and finally drifted off to sleep.

Note:

Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for the review bree4931 I appreciated it. =]