“Hah, you really wanna do this girlie? You still have like, three seconds to back out.”

You grit your teeth and glower up at the smirking face of S’s renowned anti-hero Shadow. “Oh, I’m sure all right. And when I win—and I will win, you apologize to Reki-kun for not only humiliating him but destroying his skateboard that he worked so hard on.” You took your sleek oak wood skateboard that was littered with stickers of your favorite animes and bands on it out from underneath your arm and place it on the ground in front of you.

You feel a comforting hand on your shoulder, but you don’t even have to look to know it’s Reki. “Reki, I don’t need you to try and talk me out of this. Yea, it was satisfying to see Langa beat Shadow and cream him in the race,”

“Hey!”

“But as your childhood friend and self-proclaimed sister, I need to do this.”

Reki just let out a sigh and you saw Langa cock his head in curiosity. Then a smile crosses Reki’s features as he lets out a tired sigh. “I know, but I had to try. Go get ‘em (Y/n). I believe in you!”

You hear Shadow let out a snort. “How sweet. It makes me wanna puke. Are we going to race or what?”

Rolling your eyes you can’t help but feel pure irritation for the anti-hero. He was cocky, self-centered, and the complete opposite of everything that you were. That’s why it will be even more satisfying to beat him in this race. Even more so seeing that you can say that the great Shadow was taken down twice, once by a total newb and the second time by a girl. Oh, the look on his face will be so worth it! You thought.

You hop on your board and send a glare Shadow’s way. “Ready whenever you are, jerk.” Shadow just simply gives you one of his signature sneers in response.

*** Time Skip brought to you by Cherry choking out Joe ***

“And the winner is (N/n)!” The announcer yells as you and Shadow pass the finish line, all eyes glued to the screen watching the reply of the race.

You jump off your board putting it back under your arm and run over and hug Reki and Langa. “See guys! I told you I could do it.” You giggle as you hold the two boys tighter.

Reki makes what sounds like a pained grunt while Langa starts feeling like a limp noodle, making you let go of them immediately. “Hehe, sorry boys, sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”

“Yea, no kidding,” Reki mutters.

“Hey!” you let out a sigh but then turn to Shadow with a smirk as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s on your face. “So…. Shadow,” you start as you walk up to him pulling Reki along with you. “I think you owe my friend here an apology.”

You had to do everything you could to hold back the laughter that was quickly making its way through you as you look up at Shadow—seeing as he dwarfed your small, or as you liked to call it ‘fun sized’ stature. The look on his face was priceless. He looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel or crack a tooth with how hard he was grinding his teeth. And the scowl on his face was the cherry on top. Nothing is better than bringing a cocky jerkwad who thinks he’s the king of the skatepark down a few notches.

“Well, I’m waiting.” You say in a sing-songy voice.

Shadow let out a growl but then turned to Reki. “I,” he let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m sorry for breaking your board. You’re not totally a shitty skater. You actually have talent.”

Reki lets out a small chuckle. “Thanks, you aren’t so bad either.”

You couldn’t help the giggle that passes your lips which immediately caught both skaters’ attention. “What? I thought it was actually kinda sweet that you two complimented each other like that. All I was aiming for was an apology, but you went the full nine yards. I’m impressed Shadow.”

A look of shock passes over Shadow’s features along with what you thought looked like a blush. But as soon as it came it was gone. “Just get outta here. You already won. No need to rub it in.”

You just shake your head. “Sometimes I just don’t understand you, man. C’mon boys let’s get going.”

The Next Day…

“Ugh, I knew I should have taken aspirin or some kind of pain meds when I got home last night. My legs are killing me.’ You grumble as you steadily climb the ladder you were on to get some fertilizer for a customer.

“Hah! Gotcha’—whoa!” You yell as the fertilizer bag slips from your grasp, the momentum of the bag sending you toppling towards the ground. You cringe and wait for the painful fall…but nothing happens. Instead, you hear a soft grunt and feel warm arms encasing your small frame.

“Careful there (Y/n), you should have asked me to get that bag for you. I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.”

You blush and chuckle softly as you look up into the sweet face of your red-headed coworker and much to your own embarrassment crush, Hiromi Higa. Not that he would ever know though you’d rather lose a thousand races to Shadow than admit your crush.

“U-uhm thanks, Hiromi. That would have been a pretty bad fall huh?”

Hiromi gently puts you down and swings the fertilizer bag over his shoulder as the both of you walk out of the storage room and into the lobby to hand the bag to the customer. “It would have. So promise me to be more careful yea?”

You give a scoff and thwack his side playfully. “Look whose talking. Sometimes you come into work with a bruise or a cut mister. And you never tell me what happened.”

He just turns away with a bashful look on his face and rubs his neck. “Ah, I guess I’m just clumsy myself.”

“Uh-huh.”

You then hear Hiromi’s phone ding and as he takes it out his sweet features turn to that of a scowl. Almost reminding you of the scowl Shadow gave you last night when you creamed him in the beef. You chuckle to yourself at the comparison. There couldn’t be more people so unlike each other. The comparison was absolutely hilarious.

“You ok there Hiro-Chan?” You ask, using the nickname you gave him once the two of you became close after all the years working in the tulip shop.

He immediately pockets his phone and turns to you with a smile. “Heh, yea it’s nothing.”

You quirk an eyebrow. “Oh, yea? By the way, you were strangling that poor phone it sure didn’t look like nothing. C’mon, lemme see!” You jump and try your best to get to Hiromi’s phone, but he keeps holding it just out of your reach chuckling at your futile attempts to get it.

“With that height, you’ll never get it, my small fry.” He says, using the nickname he has for you. You just pout and cross your arms in response.

“Hmph.”

“You know, I’m surprised you two aren’t dating yet. You’d look too adorable as a couple.” The manager of the Tulip shop says popping out from behind a tower of yellow tulips to the right of you.

Both you and Hiromi stammer and turn as red as the tulips sitting on the counter in front of you. “I—we—How did—but”

She just giggles. “Hiromi. Just ask (Y/n) out already. It’s obvious she likes you back. And clearly, the girl is too stubborn to make the first move.”

Your eyes go wide at her declaration. “M-manager-san!”

She just smirks at you. “It’s true and you know it. So c’mon already everyone knows you two like each other don’t keep us waiting now.”

Turning your head back to the front of the shop you see a bunch of the regular customers nodding and giving encouraging smiles.

Ookay I think this is much, much worse than losing a race to Shadow or any skater for that matter. Please let there be some kind of black hole that swallows me up right now.

Hiromi clears his throat making you turn to him. “Well, um. She isn’t wrong I do really like you Small fry, you’re sweet, funny, no to mention the way you care about everyone, and make sure to go out of your way to make everyone happy. It makes me want to take care of you and look out for you. And make you happy for once. So uh, will you go out with me? Say, Friday night at this new Italian bistro that just opened up?”

You bite your lip in shyness and muster all of your courage to look up at Hiromi’s equally blushing face. “Well, with a confession like that, how can a girl say no?”

Then the next thing you know your being picked up into Hiromi’s strong arms and swung around in a big bear hug. “I’m so glad you said yes. I was actually kind of worried.”

You just smile up at him. “No need to be worried Hiro-Chan, I’d always say yes to you.”

A/N: Oh Kami, this is going to be one interesting date isn’t it guys? Heh. What will happen when little Reader-Chan finds out that Hiromi is actually Shadow? But better yet, what will happen when he finds out that Reader-Chan is the same skater that beat him in the beef? Will they still like each other and get over their differences of their supposed alter egos? Can love truly conquer all? And why is Rebel Fae asking so many questions? XD We will find out in the next part! So see ya’ll there and thanks for reading!