a/n: before taking this story any further, I should probably note that this is also in a universe where the whole "brave new world" thing didn't happen... or if it did, everyone just kind of... collectivelly forgot about it I guess...
Since his first encounter with Anzu, Hiro had avoided going to the comic book store where she worked, instead opting to make his comic-related purchases at the store on the other side of town. However, it occurred to him while he was on his way home from work one day that he had no reason to avoid her. He kind of wanted to see her, actually. They'd been texting back and forth for a while now, and it didn't seem like she was getting any closer to guessing the real truth about Hiro. So he decided to stop by the comic book store as an excuse to talk with her.
Anzu was tidying an arrangement of Funko Pops that had been knocked off their table when Hiro walked in. As soon as she saw him, her whole face lit up in a grin. "Hey," she called, waving. "Nice to see you, Nakamura-san!"
Hiro was startled to hear her address him so formally. Even at work, people generally used formal honorifics when talking to him—if they used honorifics at all. "Hello, Anzu-kun," he said, hoping he was correct in using the boyish honorific since she presented in a traditionally masculine way. To his relief, she smiled and jumped into a conversation without comment.
"What are you looking to buy?" Anzu asked. "Something for yourself, or were you thinking of getting your boyfriend a present?"
"Myself," said Hiro, even though he wasn't really planning to buy anything—he'd just wanted an excuse to talk to his future sister-in-law. "Ando isn't really into the stuff I'm into—although I have dragged him into a couple fandoms."
"Oh, really? Like what?" Anzu leaned across the table she was tidying, holding a Funko Pop in one hand and a roll of paper towels in the other.
"Well, the main one is Star Trek—can you believe he likes the reboot movies best?— but I've managed to get him pretty into the MCU as well."
Anzu's eyebrows shot up. "You guys watch a lot of superhero movies?"
"Well, yeah," Hiro said, suddenly wondering why he'd gone and brought it up. "But those movies are pretty mainstream nowadays, right?"
"It's kind of fitting, though, isn't it?" Anzu pressed. "I mean, you were the inspiration for a comic book character, and—"
Before Anzu could finish her thought, one of her coworkers spoke up, interrupting her. "Oi, Noguchi-san!" he called from the backroom where he was carrying a crate of comics. "Quit yammerin' with yer boyfriend an' get back ta work!"
"I told you a million times, Takeshi, I'm a lesbian! I don't have a boyfriend!" Anzu shouted back; her coworker simply grunted and shrugged before moving on with his work. Turning back to Hiro, Anzu wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out. "Man, I hate that guy," she muttered. "I mean, hello?! I'm dating your sister, not you!"
Pushing aside the Funko Pop display, Hiro sat himself down on the display table. Obviously he wasn't supposed to do that, but Anzu wasn't supposed to have stopped working to talk to him either, so they were about even when it came to complying to rules at the moment.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone previously engaged to Kimiko ended up with me instead," he reminded her. "You and Ando could start a club."
Anzu's brow creased and she tilted her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, I was just joking, of course," Hiro said quickly, wanting to be certain that she didn't think he was actually trying to flirt with her. She was honestly quite good-looking, so she may well have had to deal with men trying to pick her up left and right. "I know you only like girls."
"No, not that," Anzu said. "I mean¸ what was that about Ando and Kimiko?"
Hiro realized with a jolt that he'd never actually gotten around to explaining that whole situation. "Well, you see, they…" He gulped, deciding he may as well just put things a simply as possible. "My boyfriend was dating my sister a few years back, and they got engaged, but they broke it off when Ando and I realized our feelings for each other."
Anzu's face was filled with a thousand questions, but before she could open her mouth to speak, a gray-haired man who looked like the manager popped out of the back room.
Hiro knew he'd be furious to see one of his employees slacking off (not to mention allowing him to sit on the display table), so to save Anzu some hassle, he decided to prevent the manager from seeing her. Hopping off the display table, Hiro grabbed her shoulder and froze time without giving it much thought.
It was a fairly slow day at the comic book store, with only a couple customers, so there wasn't a sudden quiet upon him stopping time as there sometimes was in louder places. Because of this, it took Anzu a moment to notice. "Hiro-san, what…" she began, glancing at his hand on her shoulder. Then she looked past him at a customer who was flipping through a comic, the pages of which were suspended mid-flip along with the motionless customer. Anzu's eyes grew increasingly wide as she looked around the store, and the paper towel roll she was holding fell from her hand and dropped to the floor, where it rolled until it reached the foot of the suspended customer.
"Whoops," muttered Hiro, dread knotting in his belly as he realized the repercussions of his actions.
Anzu stared at him, jaw agape, for a long moment. Finally, she spoke, her voice coming out in an uncharacteristically girlish squeak. "You… you're actually him," she cried, taking a step backwards and bringing a hand up to her head in disbelief. "Mendez-san didn't just base his character off you—the character is you!"
