Aria walked into Sayoko’s Bookstore, feeling the cold breeze of the air-conditioning hit her as she walked up to one of the shelves located at the front of the store, where most of the new books were.

Sayoko’s Bookstore was one of the finest and oldest bookstores in Sunagakure that she knew of. The owner, Sayoko Funabashi, had started the company when she was just nineteen-years-old, and in all the thirty years of the bookstore’s business, she had gotten nothing but good reviews from every customer who had ever purchased a book from her store, and that was why Aria had chosen this to be her go-to bookstore whenever she needed new books or reading material.

It was also the reason she was currently there, flipping through book after book as she skimmed through boring synopsis after boring synopsis trying to find a book that caught her eye. If even the synopsis was unable to catch her interest, she heavily doubted that anything inside, interesting or not, would be able to help the book keep its dignity, and she had very high standards for her books.

“Anything I can help you with?” asked the girl at the cashier, apparently seeing the obvious frustration written on Aria’s face as she put down the seventh book that had been labelled ‘hot’.

Aria turned to look at the girl and recognised her as Satomi Funabashi, Sayoko’s adopted teenage daughter. Satomi had attended the Academy, according to gossip, but because of her part-time job helping her mother out at the bookstore, she hadn’t been able to get as much training done, and as such had failed the graduation exams by a slight amount. It had discouraged her from the life of a ninja, and instead Satomi had decided that the life of a cashier was the one for her, helping her mother in her bookstore. It was a very welcome help to the woman who was now entering her forties or fifties.

“Yes, actually,” Aria replied from her position at the front of the store as she walked up to the girl who she had, from all her visits, gotten familiar with. “I’m looking for any interesting novels that you have that just came in? Fiction? Possibly romance, mystery, and crime?”

“Hmm…” Satomi put a finger to her chin, deep in thought, before her eyes lit up in realisation. “Oh! I have the perfect book! Last week, we received a shipment of the eighth volume of the Detectives’ Secrets by-”

“-by Risako Shimada, yes I know,” Aria said. “I finished that book three days ago, and in case you haven’t read it, spoiler, Kagetoki doesn’t get together with Misato in the book unlike what Risako promised three volumes ago. And before you suggest Thriller in the Shadows by Kaii Miyazawa, I’ve already read that too, and let me explain my disappointment that the female lead Tomiko Tenshin was shown up by her male counterpart Tokaji Shinoya not one, not two, not three, but seven times throughout the course of the book! Sexism in literature these days…”

“Wow,” Satomi awed. “Ignoring the fact that you just spoiled two books that topped my reading list, I really have to applaud you for finishing them quickly, as both were just released a week ago. Hmm… I’ll go to the back and see what new books we have. We just received a new shipment last night, but I haven’t actually had the time to go through all of them yet. Mom wants to be the one to tag them, but to our number one customer, I’m sure we can make an exception.”

Satomi shot Aria a friendly wink as she left to go into the back. Meanwhile, Aria went back to the front of the shop and continued browsing, though none of the books succeeded in keeping her attention.

WC: 659

‘What am I doing at a bookstore, exactly?’ Fiore asked herself for the milliontht ime that day, even as her two feet automatically brought her to the location titled ‘Sayoko’s Bookstore’.

After a little asking around in town, Fiore managed to find out that this was a very recommended place, and she had decided quickly that this was the place she wanted to go to. Fiore herself didn’t read though. Books were interesting, but they were not her cup of tea. Some times, Fiore couldn’t lug through an entire book without feeling the least bit tired, even if this entire book spanned weeks. Her mother, however, was interested in books and novels, so Fiore found herself outside Sayoko’s Bookstore trying to pick out a new book for her mother.

It was her birthday party tonight after all, and Fiore wanted to buy a little special something for her while her father was busy setting up the surprise birthday party for their small family of three.

Fiore let out a breath as she stopped outside Sayoko’s Bookstore. She had no clue what to do with books and she could only hope the cashier could help her out here; she felt so out of her element and not used to the conditions of being surrounded by pieces of paper instead of pieces of weapons. She opened the doors to the shop and walked into the air-conditioned room, seeing various shelves stacked parallel to each other and slightly tilted so they slightly faced the customer when they entered the shop.

A purple girl was directly to her right. It seemed like she hadn’t noticed her presence yet. Curious as to what she was doing, Fiore peered over her shoulder and saw that the young girl was pouring over books, flipping through each one quickly, stopping at a page, and then returning them to the shelves. Fiore thought she was a civilian school girl, given the way she dressed and the way her eyes scanned the book like a professional.

It looked like how Fiore was when she scanned weapons when he rparents brought her shopping in the ninja districts of Sunagakure.

Fiore took another look at the bookstore, trying to find the cashier, only to realise that she and the purple-haired girl were the only ones in the room. Was this girl the cashier? Fiore had never come here, so she was making the closest guess she could, and she would need someone’s help - anyone’s help - to find the book she wanted, since she herself was a clutz when it came to books.

“Excuse me,” she asked the purple-haired girl, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. “Are you the cashier here? What’s your name?”

WC: 463

Aria remained in the store as Satomi dug up her books in the back, trying to find a new series that would keep Aria’s attention for hopefully the next week before she breezed through it and threw the book into her pile. Her eyes were currently scanning this book ‘They Came From Below’, which was a romance novel with detective elements. She was fairly intrigued by it, but the one manjor point that made her not want to buy it was that it had extremely gory elements of horror, and she was really not into that stuff.

She sighed in disappointment as she read past the first two pages. The writer was okay, and the way it was written was unique, but she decided that ultimately the prospect of gore and horror and the unknown were too much for her, and she closed the book, shoving it back into its place on the shelf before looking at yet another one.

It was as she was reading halfway past the synopsis of this book, ‘We Met in the Bookstore’, by upcoming male author Korechika Kitamura, that she felt a hand tap on her shoulder.

Thinking it was Satomi, she turned around with a bored look on her face, only to realise that it was most certainly not Satomi, but rather a blonde haired girl dressed in far too little for her tastes. It was a very pretty blonde haired girl too, and her nice figure only complemented the lack of clothing she seemed to have on. A white tube top with straps was all that covered her upper body, while her lower body was concealed only by a pair of tight black short shorts, and Aria’s eyes accidentally drifted down her long, slender legs which ended in a pair of ninja sandals, before she realised that she was staring and her eyes shot back up to meet the newcomer’s with a blush now adorning her face.

Her head reeled as she realised that the girl had been saying something.

“Excuse me,” she had asked, and Aria had faintly picked up on it even during her recent… um… never mind. “Are you the cashier here? What’s your name?”

‘My name?’ Aria thought, blood rushing to her cheeks once more as her heart pounded louder. “Uh, uh… I’m not the cashier, no. The cashier’s Satomi Funabashi, and she just went to the back to look for some boobs - I mean, books!”

Aria nearly spluttered at the end, her eyes having wandered down once more and seeing the girl’s breasts. A little cleavage was showing from the top of her tube top, and Aria just hoped that she didn’t notice the growing blush on her cheeks.

“My name is Aria,” she finally introduced. “It’s Aria Otsuka. If you’re looking for something, I could help you out? I’m familiar with the books here, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

As part of her mind engaged the girl, the other part recited the synopsis she had just read.


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Fiore had tapped the girl lightly on the shoulder, and waited for her to turn around. When she did, though Fiore drank in the looks of the classic schoolgirl, and caught her own breath as her trained ninja eyes scanned her black and white uniform, and cute little yellow tie, as well as the inviting black socks that went all the way past the hems of her blouse. Even her purple hair seemed to shine in the light, unnaturally reflecting it, but not in a way that wasn’t completely stunning.

The glasses were just the cherry on top.

Of course, as it would turn out, the girl took longer to check Fiore out than she did her, so Fiore was left to feel slightly uncomfortable when she caught the girl staring at her legs, but then she shrugged it off when the purple-haired girl turned to meet her eyes once more, red flushing to her cheeks. It was only fair, she supposed, that she got oogled, since she also did do it, albeit much more subtly than the girl she was currently talking to.

The blush seemed cute to Fiore, though.

Fiore knew she was into girls. It was no secret to her, and it was no secret to her parents, and it had not been a secret for a very long time. Her parents had been shocked at the revelation, but after a little coaxing they had supported her as every parent should support their gay children. It was also luck that the modernising world saw a greater number of people willing to open their minds to the prospects of same-sex relationships, and it took a lot of pressure off of her back to ‘act normal’.

Unfortunately for Fiore, even if she had it smoother than most, having the support of her parents in this delicate issue of her sexual identity, she had never been in a relationship before. Most other girls who were in her shoes didn’t enjoy the same luxury she did, and the ones that did often weren’t cute enough to pop up on Fiore’s radar and stay there. The others who were girls were just civilians and they didn’t find having a ninja girlfriend too interesting because Fiore could die in the field any time, even if she was just a genin. This caused her number of options to dwindle severely, and the few cute ninja girls she knew who were also into other girls were just too busy to pursue a relationship, and Fiore had to admit that maybe she too was in the same boat, given how hard her parents liked to push her training sessions despite their support.

“Uh, uh… I’m not the cashier, no,” she stammered. Fiore thought it was cute. Very cute, and she had to suppress a small racing of her heart, which only showed as hitched breathing for a second. “The cashier’s Satomi Funabashi, and she just went to the back to look for some boobs - I mean, books!”

This girl here, Fiore knew was cute. Even her little slip-up which had given a little away had been cute, and Fiore almost giggled. This girl was one of the few women that had caught Fiore’s eye, and Fiore would be damned if this girl also fell in the category of  ‘no, I don’t want a relationship’. Whatever the reason, whether it was because she didn’t want a ninja girlfriend, or on the off chance she too was a ninja that she was too busy, Fiore would be damned if it didn’t work out like all the rest.

Knowing her, it could go either way, and this knowledge was comforting to Fiore.

Then again, knowing her luck and how much of it she probably used by then, it could also go south very quickly.

Speaking of going south, it also seemed as if the girl in front of her was unable to keep her attention on Fiore’s face, as her eyes had quickly gone south, eyeing her somewhat concealed chest area noticeably before her senses screamed that she was being improper, and she straightened up, leaving only a reddening blush on her cheeks as the evidence that her eyes had wandered somewhere they shouldn’t have.

“My name is Aria,” the girl finally introduced. “It’s Aria Otsuka. If you’re looking for something, I could help you out? I’m familiar with the books here, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

Aria. It was a cute name, fitting for a cute girl. Her last name caught her off though. While the Otsuka weren’t too well known in Sunagakure, being a clan found throughout the nations instead of actually staying in any one village, it didn’t mean that there were no written records of them. If her last name revealed her true heritage, this girl was a girl who specialised in explosions, and damn she was already looking explosive-

This time, Fiore shook her head, though very subtly and would only seem as if she had been awoken from a trance, which she technically just had. Her mind tended to go places they didn’t, even when she didn’t say anything - a side effect of keeping her thoughts to herself. Fiore was also quite confident that it would be very soon before Aria managed to bury herself so deep in Fiore’s head that the latter wouldn’t be able to get the thoughts of the purple-haired girl out of her head.

Bumping into her was good fortune, though, and not just because Fiore thought that the girl she was developing a silly little girl crush on was absolutely stunning. Aria had said she was familiar with this store and its books, and in the absence of Satomi the cahsier, she was probably Fiore’s best bet at finding a book that her mother liked. She tried to think back to the types of books her mother liked to read. Was it adventure? No, definitely not. Was it the romance? Yeah, she was sure that was it. Her mother always did like reading books with romantic adventures and imagining her and her husband having met that way, just as a sort of playful fantasy with herself since she couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else.

And whatever fantasy she tried out from those books Fiore hoped was purely coincidental.

Fiore always felt that way too, never imagining herself with anyone other than her crush. Or, that was her state of mind until her crush would fall apart and Fiore would wait and fall for the next one, and the entire cycle would repeat itself. So, in a sense, Fiore could imagine marrying a lot of people, which rendered her beginning statement null, and it was probably going to stay that way until she met someone for real who didn’t turn her down.

“Hello, Aria,” Fiore greeted politely, closing her eyes and giving Aria a gentle smile as she tilted her head, ignoring the beating of her heart, before straightening up and looking her in the eye again. “I was looking for a birthday present for my mother. Maybe you can help me? She likes romance novels,” Fiore ended short and concise, just as she always did with her words.

1231 out of 1694

At first, when the girl had shaken her head, Aria was slightly worried. However, she then realised that the shake had been very small, almost unnoticeable, and the girl’s eyes then lit up as if she had been awaken from a sleep, or from a deep thought. It was at this realisation that Aria herself sported another blush. The girl was cute, she knew that, but her mind had begun to imagine things, and right now, it was imagining that maybe the girl had been fantasising about her the same way she had been fantasising about the girl before. Even processing this thought intensified her blush, and she suddenly felt weak in her knees when the girl locked eyes with her again.

“Hello, Aria,” the girl said politely.

The girl, the girl, the girl. Aria still didn’t know her name. Of course, with a face like that distracting her, it was little surprise that the once sharp Aria couldn’t even remember such a courtesy as to ask for the other girl’s name. No, her mind was too preoccupied, and whether it would be whatever the girl was trying to find, or the girl herself, Aria was sure that all of the neurons in her brain would be far too busy working and trying to make her happy to actually remember about Aria herself right now.

“I was looking for a birthday present for my mother. Maybe you can help me? She likes romance novels.”

Romance novels, huh? Aria certainly knew her fair share of romance novels, since they were also part of her favourite genre. Of course, Aria didn’t know if the girl’s mother was interested in detective stories, which were also deeply embedded in most of Aria’s favourite literature works. Grasping at straws, she decided to offer one - the same one that she had claimed she had read to Satomi just moments before - blindly.

“How about Thriller in the Shadows by Kaii Miyazawa? It’s an interesting romance book with some elements of crime, mystery, and detective work in it. I’m not sure if your mother is into that, but I can personally say that it’s leaning more towards the romance side of the story, since even the book ends with a wedding- Ooops! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have spoiled it!”

Throughout her explanation, Aria had almost felt a surreal sense of pride well up within her. Here she was, talking to what was probably the most stunning girl she had seen in Suna for, well, for her entire life living here, and she was doing so well, giving a small description of the Thriller in the Shadows, written by a young, aspiring author as well. She had even been planning to advertise Kaii’s other works, the prequels to Thriller in the Shadows, notably the second book in the series, Woman in the Shadows, since that had been the one to catch her eye the most.

Unfortunately, at the end, she had gotten carried away with herself and had accidentally spoiled the ending. Now the girl was never going to enjoy the book as much as she should have if she ever planned to read it. Aria knew that the girl was buying the book as a present for her mother, but it wasn’t unusual for her and her guardian to trade books after they were done reading them, even if they were bought for the other as presents for a special occasion. Aria just thought that maybe the girl she was currently talking to may have had some interest in books as well. Well, now it was all ruined. Mostly, anyway.

“I’m really sorry for ruining it,” Aria apologised. “If you want, I can also suggest Detectives’ Secrets by Risako Shimada? It’s an interesting book, but it features almost a boring amount of detective work and forensic science that might bore you…”

Aria’s voice trailed off at the end, since she knew that Detective’s Secrets was meant for people who were into crime and mystery. Any and all romance within it had been added for the sake of adding it, with no real tie to the story at all. One could even remove every single romantic scene and the plot itself might not be damaged whatsoever. If it was damaged, then it was small enough to cover with a simple excuse; definitely not something a romantic reader would appreciate.

Then, her mind clicked and she realised she was holding onto a rather interesting romance book right now, and lifted it to her eyes, to see the cover title again. The title of the book sent shivers down her spine and another blush to her cheeks as she once again acquainted herself and the girl in front of her with the two girls in the book, and she tried to push away such thoughts before her legs turned to jelly again-

Oh, too late. Even so, she turned the book around, holding the sides with both her hands so that the girl in front of her could read the title, ‘We Met in the Bookstore’, while she herself read the next line of the synopsis.


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“How about Thriller in the Shadows by Kaii Miyazawa?” the girl had offered almost immediately. Almost enthusiastically, too. Fiore almost mistook her for being excited to answer her question. Almost. “It’s an interesting romance book with some elements of crime, mystery, and detective work in it. I’m not sure if your mother is into that, but I can personally say that it’s leaning more towards the romance side of the story, since even the book ends with a wedding- Ooops! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have spoiled it!”

Fiore gave it some thought. She could see the title of the book, ‘Thriller in the Shadows’, with the author being the same Kaii Miyazawa, on the shelf next to them. She believed this was where most of the new titles were, so to hear that the girl in front of her was already so faimiliar with the multitude of genres that were present in the book came as a surprise to her. Nevertheless, she didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, and took the book out, flipping past the first few pages to the synopsis, before looking at some of the critical reviews. She didn’t recognise any of the names that gave this book a ten out of ten, but she wasn’t a book connoisseur, so that was to be expected.

She also wasn’t mad in any way that the girl had accidentally spoiled the ending of the book. As likely as she was to get bored and end up wanting to read the book, it was also equally likely that she was probably not going to be bored at all, given how much she focused on training, and how much her father liked to push her in their daily duels, leaving her too exhausted to pursue any other sort of hobby afterwards, instead just dropping nearly dead onto her bed.

““I’m really sorry for ruining it,” Aria apologised. “If you want, I can also suggest Detectives’ Secrets by Risako Shimada? It’s an interesting book, but it features almost a boring amount of detective work and forensic science that might bore you…”

Fiore eyed the aforementioned book, which she could also see on the shelf beside them. It must have been another newly released title, and she had to admit that she was more than a little surprised that Aria had been able to recount the book’s details from pure memory. She knew she would definitely not have been able to do that, at least not without memorising the book multiple times, let alone finish reading it when it was only just released for not even upwards of two weeks.

“It’s okay,” Fiore said, holding both books in her hands before putting the Detectives’ Secrets away. “I’ll go with Thriller in the Shadows. You were a big help. We should-”

She had been about to ask the girl out, when suddenly, her eyes caught onto the title of the book that Aria was holding onto. It was ‘We Met at the Bookstore’ and on the cover page were already two reviews lauding the book for giving a spin on a classic favourite. It was as it the reader herself would know what would happen even as they read the book, but they wouldn’t know how everything would unfold, and the suspense of waiting for this, as well as the interesting ways that the book portrayed romance, even going as far as to view it from the perspective of one of the owner’s dogs, gave the entire genre a very refreshing makeover.

“‘We Met in a Bookstore’? That title does look good,” Fiore said. “But it seems as if it’s the only copy, and I think you want it. It’s okay, I’ll make do with Thriller in the Shadows. I’m sure my mother will love it! Anyway, it’s been nice meeting you. Bye!”

Fiore then walked to the front of the store, where Satomi had already come out. As the cashier scanned the book and she paid for it, she couldn’t help but realise that something had gotten in the way of her liking another girl again, and while it was as small as that, Fiore knew deep down that the underlying obstacle had been her mother’s birthday and the present she wanted to give her. She wasn’t mad at all, but maybe just a tad bit disappointed, even as she bid the girl farewell on her way out of the store.

[Thread exit]
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Aria’s mind was still trying to wrap itself around what holding up a book like that would mean, when suddenly Fiore thanked her.

“It’s okay,” she said, holding both Detectives’ Secrets and Thriller in the Shadows in her hands, before putting the Detectives’ Secrets away, going with Aria’s initial suggestion. “I’ll go with Thriller in the Shadows. You were a big help. We should-”

It was at this point that Aria’s heart picked up. A small part of her wanted it to be ‘We should hang out’, though that was just one out of a million things she may have wanted to ask her, some of them more likely than the others. And she was quite sure ‘We should hang out’, which was basically tantamount to a date (stupid, stupid head), was probably not one of the more likely ones. Nevertheless, she remained still on the outside, ignoring the racing heartbeat within her chest that threatened to burst out, with the only worry on her mind whether that would be the question, as well as if Fiore could hear her pounding heartbeat.

It was also about this time that Fiore’s eyes had caught onto the book, ‘We Met in the Bookstore’, that Aria was still holding up. She looked at it closely, and Aria vaguely realised that she was reading not just the title of the cover or the adequately conceived artwork that plastered the front cover of the book, but instead was examining the reviews on the front cover. Most books had a simple ‘Must read’ comment by a famous critic, but this author had managed to get so many that it was impossible not to boast about it by throwing out reviews even on the front page, especially since it debunked the notion that this was just any other romance novel.

“‘We Met in a Bookstore’?” Fiore had recited. “That title does look good. But it seems as if it’s the only copy, and I think you want it. It’s okay, I’ll make do with Thriller in the Shadows. I’m sure my mother will love it! Anyway, it’s been nice meeting you. Bye!”

After that, Fiore had walked to the front of the store, where Satomi was already waiting. Aria could only watch as Fiore paid for the book before bidding her goodbye, and she then idly realised that she was still standing in that same position, the book ‘We Met in the Bookstore’ still in her hands, before shaking her head and snapping out of it and walking to the cashiers to pay for it.

“Looks like someone’s caught your eye,” Satomi teased as she ran the scanner over the book. “‘We Met in a Bookstore’ is a very good book. Almost seems reminiscent of the two of you, actually.”

“B-but that’s-” Aria stammered, only to be cut off.

“Oh, don’t worry hun’,” Satomi answered. “I’m sure she’d love you. I’d like to point you in her direction, but I’m sorry to say this is the first time she’s come here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before.”

“I… It’s okay, I guess,” Aria said, her eyes looking out of the bookstore, where she had last seen Fiore, still trying to cope with her racing heart and jumbled thoughts.

“What will Orino think of this?” Satomi asked.

Orino was Aria’s caretaker, or basically mother-slash-sister-like-figure, who had raised her ever since she was still in the Academy, fresh out of her life of running away from the Otsuka troupe that she had originated from. It had been years since she had even thought of her parents, as she had basically begun to look at Orino as her own family, and one that had actually loved her for who she was, rather than try to shape her how they wanted her to be like.

“I don’t know,” Aria responded.

She didn’t know if Orino would even approve of her bisexuality. To her knowledge, Orino only knew that she liked boys, not that she didn’t like girls. A part of her was worried that Orino, the only family to have treated her as such, would reject her views on the matter, but another part, the more rational one, reasoned that someone like Orino wouldn’t let something like this get in between them, and she placed her faith in this as she walked out of the store.

She thought about the last line of the book even as she closed the door behind her, and the heat of Sunagakure hit her face, a stark difference from the cool air-conditioned interior of Sayoko's bookstore.


She and Orino were going to have a very big talk tonight.

[Thread exit]

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