Disclaimer: I own nothing. And most likely, I never will.

Misaki: Well, that was easy.

Chey: Yes, it was, wasn't it.

Misaki: Yep. We can start the chapter now.

Chey: We can indeed.

Misaki: …This isn't as fun as arguing.

Chey: No. No, it's not.

Misaki: Should we go back to arguing next time?

Chey: Yeah.

Romantica Act Five and a Half

Misaki hummed. They stood in front of a table stacked high with Marimo. "I want a bunch of them."

"Why? What are you gonna do with them?" Akihiko asked.

"Raise them," Misaki replied. "I want thirty of them."

The shopkeeper's eyes went wide and round. "Yes, sir." She immediately began boxing the small jars up.

Akihiko thought he was the impulsive one. Maybe not.

After they dropped the marimo at the hotel Misaki had procured, they went to get lunch. "Are we going to buy anymore marimo?" Akihiko asked.

"Not at the moment. What do you want to do?"

Akihiko considered this. He didn't really know what he wanted to do. They'd also gotten a tourist guide at the hotel but nothing really appealed to him. He'd just spent a week in Osaka doing the tourist thing. He was sort of ready for a break.

Misaki seemed to understand. "We're not staying long. Would you like to go back to the hotel or just wander around the city?"

Akihiko thought about it then nodded.

Misaki's head twitched. "Are you sure? We could just go home."

Akihiko shook his head. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I feel like we're only doing what I want to do."

Akihiko shook his head. "It's fine. Really. I don't know what there is to do out here."

"Come on, you're a student. Don't you want to learn something?" Misaki took the guide from Usagi's hands and flipped through it. "Ooooh! How about the Abashiri Prison Museum?"

Akihiko stared at his delighted face for a moment then laughed. "What?" Misaki whined, feigning hurt.

"Nothing. I've just never traveled with anyone so…cheerful."

"What about your family?"

"We barely went anywhere," Akihiko replied. "And when we did, it was for work and I was stuck in the hotel all the time."

"That's sounds boring," Misaki replied. "Why didn't you just wander around on your own?"

"I didn't want to. I just wrote a lot."

"Wrote?" Misaki asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I used to write stories and stuff. I got a novel I tried to publish a while ago. Nothing ever came of it though."

"Really?"

Akihiko nodded. "It's nothing. I'm not good."

"How do you know?" Misaki pressed.

"I was rejected." He said it with finality and Misaki let the topic drop. For now, anyway.

After lunch, they headed out onto the main street, Akihiko took Misaki's hand in his. It was sweaty and almost nervous but he kept it there and dared anyone to comment on it. Misaki just smiled and squeezed it reassuringly. "Come on, there's another place selling marimo a couple of blocks from here. I saw it."

Two hours later, Akihiko watched from a window seat while Misaki and a postmaster tried to figure out how to transport live marimo to Tokyo.

End of Act Five

Chey: Gah, finally. Next is EGOIST!

Hiroki: …Greeeeaaaaaaat.

Chey: Oh stop. You know you love it.

Nowaki: I love it.

Hiroki: Shut up.

Chey: Anyway, readers, please review and thanks for putting up with me in my uselessness.

~CheyanneChika