Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Hana-Kimi. The name of the college is made up.

Sorry for the long wait guys! Busy with school and all. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. R&R!

Chapter 4

In a luxurious all white furniture and room, the captain of the cheerleader Alisa sits down in front of her mirror and brushes her long brunette hair as she gets ready for school. She can't help remembering the Japanese boy, Sano and wonders if he would come to pick up that girl from practice again today. She would make a move on him if he does come and will easily make him hers.

"I can't wait to see my new boyfriend today." Alisa confidently said still brushing her hair.

This morning, Mizuki wakes up with a fresh mind because she had a good night sleep. Then she remembered that she have not asked Sano how long he is going to stay in the U.S. the most crucial question of all. She quickly leaps out of bed and knocks on the guest room's door. No one answered so she slowly turns the knob and sees her boyfriend still peacefully sleeping while sunlight is starting to creep inside the room. He was wearing a plain white shirt and his track pants with a serene look on his face. Mizuki, entranced slowly walks over to the bedside and kneeled to look at his sleeping face closely.

"His eyelashes are so long. He's perfect." Mizuki whispered to herself.

Before she knew it, her head was resting on Izumi's warm, broad chest and their legs intertwining with each other. Izumi apparently grabbed her in his sleep and now she's stuck.

"I.? You're awake?" She stuttered.

No answer. Mizuki's face is getting warmer from the embarrassment. But suddenly she calmed down as she listened to his steady heartbeat and unintentionally snuggled closer to him because she felt so comfortable and eventually fell asleep.

Hmm..? It's so warm and nice. Izumi thought to himself as he's stirring from his sleep. He recognizes this sweet flowery smell and slowly opens his eyes. Shocked, Izumi looks at his sleeping girlfriend who is snuggling up to him early in the morning, wondering if this was all just a dream. He pulled himself together and realizes that he needs to find a way to wake her up before she's late for school. Izumi can't help but admire her face and how her body fits perfectly in his arms. He gently strokes her hair and finds it very soothing to do so.

"Mmm?" Mizuki is starting to wake up from her short nap. Izumi was starting to regret the fact that he's going to lose her warmth soon.

"Good Morning." Izumi said with a gentle smile. Mizuki starts to rub her eyes and realizes the event that is unfolding before her. Mizuki starts to panic and is struggling to get up. Izumi starts to chuckle looking at her so flustered so early in the morning.

"Relax.. I'm sorry I accidentally grabbed you like that. But it is nice waking up seeing your face so early in the morning. Now, if you don't hurry and go down your brother might come up here and what would do you think he might do if he sees us like this." Izumi said calmly to Mizuki.

She quickly jumped back and sat formally on the hard-wood floors looking down with her face all red. Izumi can't help but think that she's so cute when she's acting that way and sat up on the bed.

"I was just going to ask how long you're staying in the U.S. for. But you were still sleeping so.." she said and trailed off. Her face getting redder by the second.

Just as he was going to answer, "Mizuki you're going to be late for school!" they hear Mizuki's mom shout from below. The couple stared at each other and Mizuki checks her watch and panicked because she has only got 10 minutes before homeroom starts.

"Let's talk after I get back!" She quickly stands up and runs downstairs leaving Izumi in the room.

"Feels like a tornado just passed." Izumi said to himself and chuckled. He washed up and came down to eat breakfast with the rest of Mizuki's family. It feels so natural to do it now, like he's a part of the family. Everyone was eating peacefully, well except for Shizuki who's still giving him death stares. He's used to it now, he'll take it as a form of affection from his future brother-in-law. Izumi was washing the dishes when Mizuki's mom comes over bringing a letter with her.

"This one's for you Izumi" Mizuki's mom said with a smile.

Izumi dries his hands and takes his letter thanking Mizuki's mom with a smile. It's the letter he's been waiting for and it's finally here. The content of this letter will decide how long he's going to stay in the U.S. with Mizuki. He walks over to the couch and sat down, takes a deep breath and starts opening the letter. Izumi skimmed through the introductions and got to the good part.

Congratulations. We welcome you to St. John's College and we are excited to see you as our new exchange student.

He smiled brightly and just couldn't wait to tell Mizuki this really good news. This means he can stay longer in California and have great experience as a high-jumper at the same time. St. John's college is well-known for their high-jumping activities. It was finally time to pick Mizuki up from her after-school activity. Izumi quickly changed and walked down the path that he knows so well.

Mizuki was stretching when someone tapped her shoulder and turned to find a finger poking her cheeks. A tall dark brown haired boy smiled playfully at Mizuki and started laughing.

"Got you! Again!" he said with a big smile.

"Ren! Stop poking me with your finger like that!" Mizuki pouted because she always fell for it.

"Sorry Mizuki it's just that I can't believe you keep falling for the same trick! I'm just trying to gain strength before my jump." Ren said with a laugh and starts running towards the high-jump station.

"You gain strength from playing a joke from me?" Mizuki looked up and starts to chase Ren all over the field. They've been friends ever since she moved in because he came to her and spoke fluent Japanese to her. His mom is Japanese and his dad is American so that's why he can fluently speak both languages. She was really surprised and was happy because he's her first friend other than Julia. They were like little kids playing chase in the field until Mizuki was called over.

Izumi walks to the field and saw someone doing high-jumps. He was impressed to see the jumper's figure as he easily passes the bar. Now he really wants to jump so he can see the sky in that split second he's up in the air. Mizuki was checking her record when she saw Izumi sitting on the bleachers. She ran to him and Izumi notices his girlfriend running towards him and stood up. She wanted to hug him but realized she was sweaty from her previous run and slowed down. He realizes that she slowed down and went over to her.

"I thought you were gonna tackle me cause you miss me so much." Izumi said frowning.

"I do! But I'm really sweaty right now so I'll hug you when I'm changed." She replied shyly.

"Mizukiiii" Ren called out to her as he jogs towards them.

"Mizuki?" Izumi repeated looking at the girl in front of him.

"I have to introduce you to him. He's my first friend when I moved here." Mizuki looked up to him smiling.

"Hey. I saw you run just now and I bet you broke your previous record right?" Ren said as he put his arm around Mizuki's shoulder.

Izumi was irked looking at this guy being all friendly with his girlfriend. Ren finally realizes Izumi's presence and asked Mizuki, "Hey who's this?"

Mizuki quickly replies, "This is Sano Izumi he's from Japan.." and as she was going to say that Izumi is her boyfriend, Ren interrupts speaking in english to Mizuki.

"Is this guy the boyfriend you always talk about?"

"Yeah. I'm that guy and my name is Sano Izumi." Izumi answered in english.

Ren smiled and answered in Japanese, "Well nice to meet you Sano, my name is Ren Miller. I high-jump too."

"Yeah. I saw you jump just now." Izumi answered cooly.

The situation was getting tense and Mizuki being the naive girl is not understanding why. Izumi pulls Mizuki closer to him and put one arm around her waist. Mizuki blushes by his sudden affection and stayed put. It was a warning for Ren to stay away from Mizuki. Ren smiled confidently, "I want to see you high-jump Sano and pass my current record."

"I'll take you on." Izumi answered coldly.

"Ehhh?" Mizuki was really confused right now and looks at Izumi and Ren back and forth. They started walking towards high-jump station. Izumi starts to stretch and borrowed shorts to use. After he's all warmed up, he did a test-jump and passed easily. Mizuki was looking from the side and Izumi's jump took her breath away. He improved so much since the last time she saw him jump but his form was still as elegant as ever. It was beautiful like a painted picture as if he had wings on his back. Everyone was impressed by his jump and the coaches raised the bar higher as Izumi passes easily. He was finally at the same height as Ren's record and got ready. Mizuki walked over to him and said, "Good luck! You'll do great!" She smiled brightly to him and moved to the landing pad. Izumi sprinted and jumped. He passed the bar gracefully and as he landed on the pad Mizuki was blushing like mad and was smiling happily at Izumi. He was happy that he could make her smile like that and loved the feeling of jumping again after awhile. After he changed back to his clothes, Ren walked over to Izumi and Mizuki.

"I guess Mizuki wasn't lying when she said that you are really good at high-jumping." Ren said to Izumi.

"Why would I lie about something like that? He was the reason I went to Japan in the first place." She said confidently with a smile. Mizuki handed Izumi a towel and water just like old times.

"I'm gonna go change for a minute kay? I'll be right back!" Mizuki dashed off to the locker room.

"Obviously you know that I have the hots for your girl right? I fell for her the first time I saw her in the classroom. She's really pretty, funny, innocent, and so much fun to hang around with. I'm going to take her away from you." Ren said confidently with a smile. Izumi gave him a cold look and was about to retaliate until he was interrupted again for the umpteenth time today.

"Hey! I saw you high-jump just now! You are so cool when you did that." Alisa said with her sweet "I will make you fall for me" smile. She stands with one of her hands on her hips and her toned stomach showing because of her cheerleading uniform.

"Hmm..Thanks." Izumi answered.

"Wow your english is pretty good for a foreigner. Hey what are you doing after this? I want to know more about you." Alisa gave him her best puppy eyes look. Ren watched this interaction with great interest and finally walked away.

Mizuki just came out of the locker room carrying all her bags. She was kind of struggling with them.

"My name is Alisa. What's yours?" She asked keenly.

"Sorry." Izumi walks away from Alisa and runs to Mizuki to help her with the bags.

"What the hell. He ignored me and ran to her? He's the first guy to do that to me. I'm gonna get back at him for embarrassing me like this!" Alisa stomped her feet and walked towards the locker room and glared at Mizuki.

Mizuki felt a chill down her spine and saw a brunette haired girl with a cheerleading uniform going inside the locker room.

"Hmm..maybe it was just my feeling" she said to herself.

"What did you say?" Izumi asked.

"Oh. Nothing. Did you wait long? Thanks for picking me up again today. I was so excited to see you jump again after a long time." Mizuki said with a satisfied smile.

"I'll be picking you up everyday from now on Mizuki." Izumi said turning to her.

"What do you feel like eating today Izumi?" His statement was not processed for awhile. "Ehh? What do you mean? Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you about this morning! How long are you staying in the U.S. for?" She asked hurriedly.

"Well.." Izumi takes out the letter from St. John's College and handed it over to her.

Mizuki looked confused and read through the letter. Slowly she smiles and finally shouted, "Congratulations Izumi! I'm so happy for you!" She hugs him tight. This is definitely a perfect day Mizuki thought to herself. So many good things happened today. They walked hand in hand back home. However, what this happy couple didn't know is that a storm is coming and they better be prepared for it.

Ren waited outside the girls' locker room until Alisa came out.

"I see that you're interested in that guy huh? We should help each other out. I want the girl you can get the guy. How about a deal?" Ren asked Alisa.

Alisa smiles, "That's a pretty good deal. I'm Alisa and you are?"

"Ren." He smiles back and walks away.

"Looks like I got myself a good partner. I can see it from his eyes how much he wants her. Definitely a win-win situation." Alisa said to herself and walks toward the gate where her car is waiting.