Guilty Pleasures [Kiku]

The graphic novel section of the library was deserted, a strange occurrence for a weekend and Clementine was grateful for it, after all, it would not do at all if someone caught her here, especially reading one of these. Running her gloved fingertips across the well-worn book spines that advertised every tale from those of brave heroes battling mystical creatures to those of delicate princesses, waiting for their Prince Charmings.

Finding the volume she desired, Clementine deftly pulled it from its spot on the shelf, being careful not to disturb the other volumes sitting next to it and pushed the rest of the books to replace the gap made by the missing book. Clementine was not taking any chances in being discovered, after all, what would they think of her, a grown woman, a university student no less, if they saw her curled up in a corner, fully engrossed in a trivial, sappy story about two fictional characters going from complete hate to utter love. Clementine mentally scoffed at herself as she made her way to a plush chair, conveniently tucked away in the corner of the section, the whole story had no plot whatsoever and was so full of sap and fluff that it would turn the most disciplined mind into pure mush within half a chapter, which was why Clementine was reading it.

It had simply started out as an innocent curiosity, for a child, graphic novels were easier to read and understand than other novels which were far more intimidating and these 'manga' were more interesting than most of the illustrated children's books. All had been well then, with her reading he more child-friendly ones with magical princesses and a whole menagerie of cute, cuddly, not to mention sparkly, talking animals. Then she discovered shojou manga, and with that the needlessly dramatic love stories that always went along with them. Clementine had, unfortunately, completely fallen for the whole thing, angsty male heart-throb, helpless heroine, love triangles and all.

Ideally, Clementine should have been studying and collecting data for her psychology thesis that was due at the end of the semester and that was what she was appearing to be doing, intently studying a large hardback book on the effects of nutrition on the human psychology. However, a more practiced eye would see that, laying open inside the large textbook was a smaller, more liberally illustrated graphic novel, from which Clementine's eyes were now reading from. It wasn't the most ideal of set-ups and she certainly would have had more time to study if not for manga, she thought to herself as she silently flipped a page, but everyone had to make allowances and sacrifices for that one guilty pleasure.

Kiku looked around, keeping an eye out for anyone that could possibly see him. Luckily for him, the section he was in seemed to be free of people. Still, he wouldn't let his guard down. Who knows who could see him here? In the back of his mind, Kiku thought he was being a tad ridiculous. He was just here to look up some manga and here he was acting as though he was in an espionage manga.

'It's not as though someone I know could see me,' Kiku thought, suddenly being overcome with a feeling of homesickness before he pushed it back. He wasn't as though he were going to be living in London forever, right? He shook his head and walked to the manga section. There was nobody there save for a young lady. Kiku looked over her quickly. She looked a little younger than he was with pretty delicate features. Would it be strange to say that she looked like a girl out of a manga? Kiku shook his head again, disturbed by his own thoughts.

She was reading a manga intently, one that Kiku knew very well. In fact, one that Kiku liked very much. It was his favorite volume too! He shifted a little. On one hand, here was this complete stranger that was obviously going about her business, but on the other hand, said complete stranger was reading one of his favorite mangas.

"Ano, Sakura is rather impulsive, don't you think? She's very fortunate to have Syaoran at her side, though," he said, staring at the girl. He mentally slapped himself in his awkwardness. He should have at least some social skills!

Clementine had been far too engrossed in the panels of the manga to notice the Asian man approach, much less anticipate his greeting. Simply hearing him surprised her enough that she quite literally jumped out of her seat. However, upon processing what he had said and by extension, the fast dawning realization that he had seen her reading the shameful book made her blush a bright crimson. Clementine's first instinct was to run away and hope that he wouldn't remember her at all, but unfortunately, being seated in an alcove and surrounded on all sides was not an ideal location for escapes. So instead, Clementine pushed herself as far back into the chair as possible, almost hoping that it would be able to swallow her whole, closing the textbook that held the manga at the same time.

Trying to act as if nothing had happened, Clementine, still heavily flustered lifted her head, avoiding the male's eyes " I-I'm afraid you may have mistaken me for someone else" she spoke quickly, trying to think of some valid excuse, oh why hadn't she thought this part of the plan through? "I am simply trying to study for my coursework that is due later on" she tried to make up some vain excuse in time, pointing to the textbook as if that would be the clinching fact that would make him believe the outrageous lie. Unfortunately, since the graphic novel was rather thick, it did not quite fit within the pages of the textbook, leaving a rather noticeable gap between the two pages of the textbook. Almost in a state of panic, she quickly added "and there was no space in the rest of the library" gesturing to the largely empty library, as if were a perfectly acceptable reason as to why she was reading a manga concealed within a textbook in a concealed corner of the library. The whole situation was just absurd, but that certainly didn't stop the blood rushing to her cheeks and a sudden rise in the wish for the earth to swallow her whole.

Thankfully, rationality soon kicked back in and as she found herself again, a quiet voice reasoned that the male certainly wasn't going to leave through sheer wishful hinting and it certainly wouldn't cause him to forget the even. In fact, thinking back to what he had said, he certainly had no mockery or menace in it, rather, he sounded almost ... nervous. Drawing her eyes back to the figure standing in front of her though still not meeting his eyes, she tried her best to sound a little more collected " I'm sorry, she certainly is impulsive but, they are so well suited to each other". Her voice had come out much smaller and much more timid than she had hoped and the furious blush was still present in her cheeks but it was a start, at least. And maybe, just maybe, he'd forget about the whole situation.

Kiku almost felt guilty as he watched the girl fluster about. It wasn't his intention to startle the girl. He just happened to see the art of Sakura fighting a Clow Card, the same art that was currently squashed between the pages of a rather large textbook. He took a step back to give the girl some air to breathe, for he wasn't sure if she would start hyperventilating or not.

"My apologies for startling you," Kiku said, bowing slightly out of habit, before focusing back at the topic at hand. "My name is Kiku Honda, but please just call me Honda." The last part he said quickly and somewhat forcefully, but hoped that the girl didn't realize it. "I have always been a fan of CLAMP's work. Their plot lines are intricate, especially Cardcaptor Sakura. Especially the ending when-" Kiku cut himself off, not wanting to spoil the plot for the girl, nor wanting to seem like an obsessed fan, which he absolutely was.

Hoping to distract, Kiku looked curiously at the textbook the young lady previously pointed at. It was not the sort of book that one would read for pleasure if the thickness of the text or the topic was anything to go by. "Forgive me if I seem nosy, but are you a student?" he inquired.

Seeing the male take a step back in what she thought was surprise, Clementine tried her best to collect herself and calm her breathing. It would not do at all to make an even bigger fool of herself than she had already done. Drawing the manga carefully out of the textbook, silently hoping she didn't end up creasing any of the pages when she had previously shoved it in so coarsely. Laying the thankfully un-creased book in her lap, she sat up straighter and looked in Kiku's general direction, still too embarrassed to meet his eyes. "No no, I should be the one apologizing for reacting so violently like that. I had not been anticipating anyone to approach me..." She trailed away, blush ever prevalent on her cheeks.

" It's very nice to meet you, Mr Honda. My name is Clementine Bonnefoy" Clementine tried her best to smile and meet his eyes just briefly, but flickered them away soon after that. " I agree, the artists at CLAMP certainly are very talented and I do think they did do a good job with Cardcaptor Sakura, especially with the ending. They do have a gift for weaving the most intricate of plot lines, like the Tsubasa Chronicles for exampl-" Clementine covered her mouth quickly, cutting herself off. It was already bad that he knew that she read manga, but now that he knew this wasn't a rare occurrence, this would be a difficult situation to talk herself out of. Her fingers certainly weren't sure whether to fiddle with her braid or to compulsively smooth out the aged cover of the manga.

Thankfully, he was better at steering conversations away from awkward silence. Clementine nodded at his question " It's no intrusion. I am a Psychology student at the University..." hesitating at the end of the sentence, should she continue? It was a common subject for students but she wasn't very certain about what others thought of it. She hoped it was an acceptable answer.

"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Bonnefoy," Kiku said, nodding at the girl. For someone in a university, Kiku thought that Clementine held the poise that of a high-class lady. He took in the straight back and the tentative posture, along with the very nice dress that she wore, and came to the conclusion that the lady's family certainly had money. Not that it was any of his business, but it was certainly an interesting observation.

And what Kiku found even more interesting was her major in the University. Psychology - the study of the mind - is certainly something that can't just be taught like something as inflexible as math or English. Said subjects have set rules that must always be followed. But the mind was different in every person. The subject certainly piqued his interest. He himself enjoyed studying different people - abet, mostly manga characters.

"That is quite fascinating. Psychology is certainly a hard subject, but I am sure that you will be able to learn a great deal about it," Kiku said, deciding not to relay all the information in his head out to Clementine. "Do you want to be a psychologist?" Kiku continued and asked, trying to be social.