It's my turn to go and see her now, Honoka thought. A few days had passed after their last encounter in her flower shop. The last few days were quite busy in the shop and with all the paper work she had to do and the preparations for the deliveries that she barely had time for herself during lunch break, which meant that she hadn't found the time to go and meet Maki over a lunch that was never going to be consumed. Well, she could have gone to the library the day after their last meeting, it was not a busy day so she had some time on her hands, but she decided not to go because she didn't want come off as clingy. Needless to say she regretted it when a whole week went by without getting to see her.

No matter how much she loved working in her shop, talking to her clients, recommending the most suitable set of flowers depending on what the client needed them for, and witnessing her customers' blissful faces as they full on sniff a bouquet of roses, Honoka wasn't too sad about the lack of clients today. The weather was nice, the sun was out and people were given the present of a polluted yet fresh little breeze. Perfect weather to stay indoors and enjoy Maki's presence.

After her last small round of customers before lunch break, even though it was a "chill day", Honoka did not wait five or ten minutes in case another client showed up and instead took off her double-sided apron, carelessly threw it on the little cash desk, reached for the "Closed (you can still admire the flowers though, it's also what they're for)" sign on the shelf, hung it on the glass door and headed out.

Honoka was in a good mood, thrilled to finally be able to see her again after a week. Now that she thought about it though, a week didn't seem like much, but somehow, it did with her. She missed her even though they only met twice, during lunch break, in their respective workplace. She also wondered why she hadn't offered Maki her phone number, she felt like they had already reached the point in their relationship where calling and texting were options they deserved to have. Obtaining her phone number also meant that they could text or call each other to meet somewhere other than the bookstore or the flower shop, this thought made her wriggle of impatience.

After getting past the popular hairdresser and the toy shop on her street, Honoka turned right and nyoomed. It was one of her little quirks, sometimes when she changed direction she would whisper "nyoom!", it made her smile every single time, and that was also a way to give her some confidence because "if you can say that out loud, you can do anything".

She was two minutes away from the bookshop when she recognized the figure of someone familiar walking in her direction, clothed in a pair of blue skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt, her simple outfit embraced her curves in the most natural way, nothing looked forced. The little breeze going against her made it so that Honoka thought her crimson hair floated on their own at each side of her face, as if pulled by strings from the sky. She could never get enough of this view.

"Ah, Honoka!" Maki called out, waking her up from the dreamy sight she imagined for herself. "I was just on my way to see you," she pointed out, eyes wide and mouth semi-open.

"No way!" Honoka blurted as she caught up to her, "I was on my way to see you, it was my turn after all," she said.

They both stayed in the middle of the sidewalk staring at each other for a few seconds as passersby did the thing they were best at – passing by and giving weird and annoyed looks as they went around them. After a few seconds, Honoka tilted her head to the side and blinked, a simple and innocent gesture that made Maki chuckle, which obviously made Honoka laugh in response. Chain reactions, they happen more with some people than others, and they were each other's "some people". They calmed down and leaned back on a wall so they didn't bother the pedestrians anymore by standing in the middle.

"So, where are we going now?" Honoka asked.

"Mmmh, let me see..." Maki started, pondering over the question. "Well, you did walk more than I did, so it's not like we're going to go back to your flower shop when we can clearly see that my bookshop is closer," she stated. "Besides," she added, lifting her forefinger the way a calligrapher would with their feather quill pen as they made the first bottom curve of the letter M, "you did say it was your turn."

"Fine by me," she agreed.

They both nodded and walked towards the bookshop. For a tiny moment, no one said anything, they were silent, and it did not really bother. They were already comfortable with each other's silence.

"You know?" Honoka broke the silence, "You didn't have to make such a big deal out it," she said, turning her face away from her and making it obvious that she was laughing by putting a hand to her mouth.

"Eh?"

"Besides," she repeated, with an exaggerated mimic of the finger motion she did earlier, "you did say it was your turn."

"Oh my God!" She blurted, faking being outraged by this impersonation, "I didn't say it with such a haughty voice, you almost sounded like a duck there," she exclaimed, yet unable to withhold her high-pitched laugh.

"Well, that was exactly how you sounded," she walked faster and stopped in front of her, "Milady," she said, as she bowed before her. As Honoka had her head facing down, Maki grabbed the opportunity and gave her a nice flick on her forehead. An amused "Ouch" was heard.

"You earned that," Maki snorted.

Honoka just went back to her side and gave her a friendly push on the shoulder with her own. They kept on walking and laughing for ten more seconds before they reached the bookstore. Maki reached in her purse and took her key ring on which were 3 keys and what looked like a smiley face pendant. She used the key that was in the middle and turned it twice in the lock to open the door.

"After you... servant," Maki joked.

"Oh, my Queen, what an honour!" She rejoiced, skipping in the bookstore. Maki snorted and followed after closing the door behind her.

At her own surprise, Honoka realized that she missed this place, even though she had only been there once. She thought it was probably because of this, the thrill she felt the first time she met her was similar to that of a new amusement park, it had been scary, she had been nervous, there were moments where she thought she couldn't breathe, but she would lie if she ever said she didn't want another ride.

"Make yourself comfortable," Maki suggested, dropping her purse on the chair behind the cash desk.

Honoka did as she was told and hopped on the cash desk. The difference between her first time there and now was baffling, she had gained so much confidence, she wasn't all that anxious anymore, after all, Maki was her friend now. The fact that she was gorgeous was an added bonus she did not complain about. Well, she was his friend, but she still had this attraction/feelings thing to figure out. Everything has its time, Honoka thought, and now was their time.

"Since we obviously won't eat, I supposed it would be good to drink at least, so I bought some orange juice," she said, as she put two little juice boxes on the cash desk.

Honoka liked that Maki acknowledged the fact that they never ate once when they were together, and it didn't bother her, she just accepted it. Some of her old friends would tell her to eat even when she wasn't hungry. Actually, Honoka loved to eat, but for some reason, not eating with Maki by her side was more than manageable. With her, time flew by in the blink of an eye, she didn't have the time to worry about the needs of her stomach.

Maki hopped on the cash desk as well and they both pierced their juice box with the straw that was attached to it. They sat next to each other and proceeded to sip on their orange juice. It tasted like orange juice, which she guessed was the whole point of the thing, it tasting like orange juice.

Honoka suddenly decided to enjoy some sightseeing, indoors, sitting on a cash desk. She looked around the whole shop and was still surprised by the number of shelves it contained. She suddenly remembered the rant she had done at the flower shop, about how passionate she got when she talked about flowers and the way it makes people feel when they smell them. She wondered if those books were ways for Maki to feel home too, even though she felt like it was hardly possible. They were just books after all, and it's not like she had read all of them anyway.

"Remember last week?" Honoka asked, with the straw tickling her lips, "you told me that my flower shop smelled like home, then you corrected yourself and said that it smelled home. Period. I wanted to ask, do you feel the same way about your bookshop?"

Maki clearly didn't expect to be asked this kind of question. She stopped sipping on her orange juice, put it down on the cash desk and started to think. Honoka understood that she needed to concentrate, so she gave her some time and didn't say a word, she wasn't in a hurry, she was willing to give her all the time in the world – well, all the time in the world before the end of lunch break.

"Mmmh, I don't think I would use the word "home", I would say... safe haven," she answered, with a sigh of relief at the last two words.

"Safe haven?" Honoka echoed.

"See? This bookshop contains knowledge, sure, this knowledge is minimal compared to all of the knowledge this world... no, compared to all of the knowledge this universe has to offer, but some of it is still here," she said, opening her arms to the general direction of the bookshelves. "I feel safe with knowledge, I feel like I could do anything, save everyone, I feel at ease, at peace with myself. They say "food for thoughts", but nah-uh, not for me, I prefer to say that learning is food for my soul. Learning nourishes my soul, it cleanses it even," she confirmed. "But it's not just about knowledge," she quickly resumed, "it's also about storytelling. Humanity needs stories, or else it would never have been able to live this long. We can learn from our mistakes thanks to the stories that are being passed on everyday, whether they be by books, news TV, movies, TV shows, etc, thanks to those we can learn about new concepts and values. Storytelling is important, but good storytelling is vital. Books give you the power to be anywhere in time and space while still being in your bedroom in pajamas. Also..."

It was like a body swap, last week, Maki was the one staring at Honoka with bemused sparkling eyes, but now it was Honoka's turn to be blown away by Maki's passion. If Honoka's passion was burning, Maki's was refreshing. The words escaping from her mouth felt like a small yet powerful breeze in Honoka's soul, opening windows she never thought existed before. Maki, however, could not see what was going on in Honoka's mind, and couldn't look at her in the eye, she seemed embarrassed by how long she went on her rant about her love of books, she had just asked a yes/no question after all.

"Hey, Maki," Honoka said in a low voice, breaking the fifteen seconds of silence, "you really are something!"

"Eh?"

"Yes! This whole talk about how much you love books, it really moved me. This kind of thing always moves me to be honest. When someone talks about their passion, something or someone that they love, they have those shiny eyes and those blissful sighs... I wish I could listen to you for days on end."

This last part made both of them blush, Maki didn't think her speech would provoke such a reaction, and Honoka could not believe she had just said that with a straight face.

"Th-Thank you," Maki stuttered, "I'm really glad to know that my passion got to you as well," she whispered, so low that Honoka could not quite make out what she said.

"Eh? What-"

"You know?" Maki interrupted, without necessarily wanting to cut her off, "there's something else that might speak to you even more," she said, slightly tilting her head to the side with a soft smile.

"Oh?"

"Yes, just give me a second." She hopped down the cash desk and lost herself behind the bookshelves. Honoka wondered what she was up to, but was excited to know that she had something else up her sleeve. When Maki was made herself visible again, she was smiling and had an old-looking book in her hands. She stood in front of Honoka who was still on the cash desk and handed the book to her.

"Here, now, I want you to bring this book close to your nose and flip through the pages."

Honoka opened her eyes wide in shock, "You want me to... smell it?"

"No, of course not," Maki snorted, "I want you to sniff it," she added, emphasizing on the sniffing part.

Honoka immediately laughed at that, "Are you kidding?"

"Nope," she answered, smiling. "Your Queen gave you an order, do as you are told," she said, with a haughty duck-sounding voice.

"Oh, if my Queen says so, I can't refuse," she answered, giggling at the thought of her being a servant and Maki being a queen, it would be a fun alternate universe.

Honoka did as she was told, she brought the book up to her nose, flipped quickly through the pages and took a deep and long silent breath through her nose. She flipped through every single one of them and sighed in relief when she was done, even though it sounded exactly like a moan.

"Wow, okay, I had never done that before!" Honoka blurted. "It smells like... eh?"

"You can't pinpoint it, right?" Maki rhetorically asked.

"Hum, it does smell good, I love the smell but..."

"You have a hard time finding the words to describe it," she finished. "It's okay, it happens a lot, I couldn't exactly describe it the first time I sniffed a book too. Actually, I don't even think I could objectively describe it now, that's why I like to use metaphors. There are things you just can't talk about directly, so you try to talk about those things symbolically, with metaphors, that way, instead of being abstract, those things become more powerful and somehow more observable," she explained. "You did it yourself last time, maybe without even being aware of it when you said that a jasmine smelled like calm and beauty at nighttime."

Oh, she remembered that.

"To me," Maki continued, "an old book smells musty – the good kind – with a smell of yellowing and creaking pages, stories growing old but never dying, the scent of the days of yore. New books have this smell of new paper and ink, fresh, refined plastic fragrance, sign of a book that hasn't been touched, unturned, a virgin just waiting to be felt, fingered and flipped over. Books have the aroma of untold stories, disclosed secrets, and mystery."

The flow of words coming out of her mouth felt like the wind blowing through the leaves of the tallest trees, music to her ears. She was mesmerized. She never thought books could be described this way, she never thought anything could be described this way. So metaphorical, so lyrical... so sensual.

Maki woke up from her trance and realized once again that she may have gone on another rant about books. She blinked a few times and looked at the agape Honoka.

"Sorry about that," Maki sighed, "I just keep on talking about books and I don't even give you the time to let you speak," she said, feeling guilty.

"No," she whispered, "it's not that, it's not that you don't give me... time?... Time!" she blurted, turning around to look up at the clock behind her, "Time! I have to go!"She exclaimed, looking panicked as she hopped down the cash desk.

"What? Already!? I feel like it's only been ten minutes!" She exclaimed, looking offended by time itself.

"I know," she said, dragging the "ow" sound the same way she did with her feet leading her to the door.

"Wait, at least let me go with you, I'm opening the bookshop a bit later today so I have some time."

"You don't have to d-"

"I want to," she interrupted, " I know I don't have to but I want to," she said, smiling.

Honoka smiled back, "Thank you."

Maki took her purse and headed out of the bookshop with Honoka, making sure she closed the door behind her. As always, they walked side by side, but this time they appeared to be a little closer than usual.

"Sorry again, Honoka, for ranting earlier. Twice. I just can't stop talking when it comes to books and knowledge and stories, etc... I should have controlled myself."

Honoka frowned, "Eh? What are you talking about?" She asked. "I told you already, I loved everything you said, I love listening to people talking about their passion, it's a turn o- I love it! I love it when people do that!" She exclaimed, wiping a sweat off her forehead.

"Are you sure?" She asked, worried.

"Of course I am," she asserted, "and it also helps to know that you too go on speeches about your passion, that way I don't have to feel bad when I do it," she added.

Maki sighed in relief, "Oh, good then."

"By the way, it has nothing to do with what we're talking about but, can I give you my phone number?" She asked, trying to sound as confident as possible, task that happened to be impossible since she couldn't directly look at her. "Like, we could tell each other when or where we're meeting, who comes to whom, that way we would avoid what happened earlier when we both went out to go to the other's meeting point," she explained.

"Oh, good thinking, Honoka, didn't think about that," she said, unable to repress the big smile on her face.

Honoka said her phone number out loud and Maki typed it on her phone. Honoka left her phone in the shop and had forgotten her purse so she couldn't type or write Maki's phone number anywhere, she would have to wait for Maki to contact her.

In no time, they were in front of the flower shop.

"Once again, it was really nice to see you," Honoka said.

"Same here," Maki replied, "I'm glad you came."

They both looked and smiled at each other, waiting for the other to say goodbye first.

"Well, goodbye then," Maki said, knowing that Honoka had to open her shop soon.

"See you," Honoka waved before walking in her shop, and as she closed the door, she heard "I'll call you." That made her smile.

Honoka took the sign indicating that the shop was closed off the glass door and put in on a shelf behind the cash desk. She put on her double-sided apron and got to ready to welcome her clients. Before the first early client walked in, Honoka giggled because of two things, the fact that Maki had her phone number, and the fact that Maki could also mean "book" in Japanese.

The glass door opened.

"Welcome!"

Maki was ecstatic as she went back to her bookshop, she had Honoka's phone number and she was delighted to know that her love for books wasn't problematic. Not that she would have changed it if it happened to be a problem for Honoka, but she was glad she embraced and accepted it. She was happy.

However, when she turned right, her mood violently changed. Her eyes grew wider and the heavy breathing started. Her fingers tensed and she started to ransack her purse. She digged out a pen and a notebook, in which she ripped out a post-it note. Her hands were shivering as she scribbled on it using the notebook as a support. When she was done writing, she shoved her pen and notebook in her purse and smacked the post-it note on the windshield of the car that triggered her reaction. This action calmed her down a bit, but she was still in a state of shock nonetheless.

"Hey! What did you just do to my car?" A middle-aged man shouted from across the street.

Maki ignored him and decided to walk away. The man carelessly crossed the street to check if his car had any damage. He noticed the post-it note on his car and read it.

"Miss!" He blurted.

Maki stopped.

"I'm sorry, thank you for pointing this out, I'll fix that immediately," the man shouted, as he proceeded to execute the traditional Japanese bow, an apologetic gesture.

Maki nodded and continued to walk to her bookshop. "Thank you," she whispered, with a tear dripping down her face.

A/N: Well, that took longer than I expected, sorry about that. It's the chapter I had the most fun writing so far, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please review, I'd love to know what you thought about it! :)