"What was that?" Claire punched him in the arm after tryouts were over.

Han rubbed his arm while feigning innocence. "What was that for?" He asked.

She immediately punched his arm again. "Don't pull that with me.

You know what I'm talking about!"

"I just tried my best. Don't know why you're reacting like this." He tried to defend himself.

"I'm acting like this cause I watched you blow away everyone as if you were a professional football player. That doesn't come from trying your best." She accused him. "Have you been playing sports this entire time and didn't tell me or any of us?" Claire stared at him long and hard.

Putting up both hands as if he was trying to fend her off, he exclaimed, "Of course not. How in the world would I be able to hide that kind of stuff?" He said.

Her eyes seemed to be looking all over his face as if to spot any lies. Satisfied that he wasn't lying to her, she sighed, and her body relaxed. "It looks like you'll be playing on the football team," Claire said.

"I don't know. There were a lot of talented people trying out for the team." He said. The two of them were walking towards the main road where he would meet his sister. With her on the Basketball team, he usually waited for her to finish practice and head to the middle school. The timing of when tryouts ended and when she was done was perfect.

"Are you actually being serious?" She looked at him with eyes wide open. Seeing him with a grin on his face, she smacked his chest with the back of her hand looking annoyed.

"So... Since I'll be the MVP of the team... Does that mean I get to see you in a cheerleaders uniform?" He asked casually with both his hands in his pockets.

Claire stopped walking the moment she heard his question.

"I'm just repeating what you said you'd do if I became the MVP," he continued to tease her.

She looked back at him with fire in her eyes.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to. I just thought you would look cute in that outfit." He continued, acting oblivious to the heat coming off of her and looking away. Peeking from the corner of his eyes, he saw her lose the fire in her eyes though it looked like it went into her cheeks instead.

"I-I said if you became MVP, not if you got onto the team," Claire stammered before stomping away from him.

Watching her storm off in such a manner made him grin. "If you have such a reaction, I don't know if I can stop teasing with you," He whispered.

Once they reached the main road, Han sat down on the curb and enjoyed the lovely weather as he waited for Jennifer to show. Claire wasn't talking to him after storming off and instead stood a couple of feet away from him.

Reaching down and grabbing some wild grass growing between the cracks in the asphalt, he rolled the blades between his index finger and thumb. "I miss having a smartphone," he quietly said to himself.

"What did you say?" Claire asked, overhearing his words.

"Just thinking how convenient it would be to have a handheld device to view The Wire with," Han said. Twisting his upper body to stretch, he looked back and saw a dandelion growing. Unwinding himself, released the grass in his hand and watched it fall to the ground.

He could hear Claire's footsteps as she walked towards him. "Could you imagine a computer being as small enough to fit in your hands?" She laughed at the idea. "What would you even do with such a device?" Claire asked.

"I'd probably just roam The Wire, reading about things happening in the world, reading novels that were wired, and watch silly videos," He chuckled at the last part as he looked at the road and remembered the amount of time he wasted on the Internet.

As he just enjoyed the view of the industrial road contrasted against the open field, he sensed Claire sitting down next to him. "Sometimes you act like a stupid guy making me frustrated, but then you say silly things like this," She bumped her shoulder against him.

"Does that mean if I were like a stupid guy... you'd stop being my friend?" He turned his head and looked at her a severe expression on his face.

"W-what? N-n-no, that's not what I-I meant." She looked taken aback by his serious expression. Dropping her head, she said, "I would still be your friend, even if you were a stupid guy."

"Phft!" He tried to hold back his laughter.

Claire's head whipped up, and she had a look of horror on her face, which quickly turned to rage. "Y-you! You were making fun of me!" She accused him with tears forming in her eyes.

He began laughing loudly at seeing her expression. His shoulders were shaking as he tried to stop laughing. Several moments passed and his laughing soon died down. Claire still looked angry at him smiling at her. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." He chuckled some more. When it looked like she was going to storm off again, he said, "It makes me happy to know that you'd still be my friend even if I were some stupid guy."

Her cheeks got a little red from hearing his words, but she was suspicious about his words expecting him to laugh at her some more.

"I'm serious. Knowing that you're friends with me not because I'm smart or special means a lot." He smiled at her.

"Of course I'd still be friends with you," She said in a soft voice like she was nervous about speaking such things out loud.

The two of them sat on the curb, just watching the field across the street. While he was thinking about the moment, he felt a weight on his right shoulder. Claire had rested her head against his shoulder, making the event alive with childlike innocence. This was something he never got to experience before, just being with someone and not having it connected with tainted adult emotions. He thought about how at a certain age, kids would start seeing one another as separate genders. Girls will understand what it means to be a woman and guys will begin to think more like men. There would no longer be the moments where a girl can just rest against a guy and not have it mean anything other than friendship. Han did notice that Claire was starting the process of seeing herself as a woman as she grows, but for now, they could just be friends and leave the extra stuff behind them.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"What do we have over here?" a teasing voice called out to them.

Claire immediately lifted her head off of his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Jennifer walking up to them. Her dark hair looked slightly damp, not completely dry from her usual post-practice shower. "Took you long enough," Han joked at his sister.

"Sorry about that, I ended up talking with a new girl that just moved in with her mother. She seemed a little bit of a loner, so I introduced myself and said she could check out the Basketball team in case she was interested in playing." Jennifer said, running her hand through her hair.

"Did you know that Han tried out for the Football team?" Claire mentioned.

Jennifer paused and looked at Claire and Han. "Wait..." Jennifer said, looking like she needed a moment to collect her thoughts. "You tried out for the Football team?" She asked looking at Han.

Han just raised one of his shoulders. "I was wondering what it was like to be part of a sports team like you are," he answered.

Jennifer raised both of her hands and exclaimed, "So how did you do?! Did you make the team?" Her face looked excited.

"He's going to be the Quarterback though as the second string," Claire filled in. Her voice indicated the disbelief she felt over the entire thing.

"You're going to be the second string quarterback?!" Jennifer ran over to Han and hugged him, toppling the two of them onto the grass. "I need to tell mom!" She broke away from Han and stated.

"It's nothing that amazing, I'll be on the bench for almost all the games and the likelihood I'll play in a game is low," Han tried to downplay it, though he did feel happy to hear how excited his sister was over the news.

Turning to look at him, she placed both of his hands on either side of his face and whispered, "What do you mean that it's 'nothing that amazing'? My little brother is going to be a quarterback on his football team!" Bringing her head close to his, she rested her forehead on his, "I'm not going to allow your usual apathetic self to downplay such a great thing. I'm proud of you, little bro."

Han's cheeks warmed from hearing her words. It was one of the few times he ever felt himself blush due to someone else's words. "Enough, an older sister shouldn't be behaving like this," he said trying to escape from Jennifer's grasp.

Jennifer laughed and gave Han a kiss on the cheek, her moist lips pressing against his skin and leaving behind her mark. "I'm lucky to have such an adorable little brother," Jennifer remarked as she got up.

"You're going to make your boyfriend jealous if he hears about you randomly kissing people," Han said to her grinning.

Turning her back to him she lifted both hands in the air and said, "He's just going to have to deal with my adorable little brother being first in my heart."

Getting up and brushing his pants, he looked at Claire and said, "Let's leave this crazy woman with a brother complex. I'm curious as to whether Alex is still being held captive at the library by Hannah or if he managed to escape."

"Saying that your sister has a brother complex is a bit much, don't you think? You're just trying to hide how embarrassed you are." Jennifer teased him.

"I don't want to hear that from a brocon like you!" Han yelled back. "You're better in the mornings when you're still waking up."

Jennifer covered her mouth and haughtily said, "this coming from the famous morning corpse?"

Realizing that he had met his match, he walked away from his sister with Claire chasing behind him.

"Did you forget that we have to go in the same direction, little brother?" Jennifer called out.

"Han your face is red," Claire pointed out as she giggled.

----------

Han sighed as Claire and he walked towards the library. It had been only a couple of minutes since they split off from his sister, who kept saying embarrassing things.

"Your sister really cares about you," Claire said suddenly.

Looking away from Claire, Han scratched his cheek and said, "I know."

Walking down the street, memories of his sister interacting with him surfaced. The entire time he's known Jennifer, she's acted like the typical doting sister who showered him with affection. Whenever his mom needed to leave to go to the grocery store, Jennifer would happily volunteer to babysit him. Having an older sister was a different feeling from having an older brother. Thinking back, he often remembered his older brother acting cold towards him, though Han knew that his brother cared for him. His family was never good at displaying their feelings openly, which took him a while to understand. With his mom and sister, everything was different especially the way they interacted with him.

Having people who cherished him made him understand what those pop songs on his previous Earth were always singing about. There was no other feeling better than being valued. It was a different feeling of love compared to the girls. His mom and sister gave him the feeling of wanting to act like a traditional male, instead of how he was like with the girls.

"I don't think I've ever really seen you act that way before," Claire said again as they were walking.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Whenever you're dealing with other people, you act somewhat apathetic like nothing really matters. Even the emotions you display seem to be dialed down." She said. "It makes me a little jealous."

They ended up walking the rest of the way in silence, not knowing what to say afterward. Going into the downtown area, there were more buildings and people walking about. Han looked at some of the buildings, seeing the usual grocery store, bookstore, and clothing store. All of them were locally owned businesses, giving it a more welcoming feel to it.

The only thing he used to notice was how the majority of people were of Caucasian descent, making his Asian features stand out. His mother was a first generation Asian and came over to the Nation after meeting his father overseas. He imagined that if he weren't a reincarnated man, being biracial would likely have been difficult with the looks he would often get even at school.

He did admit to himself that this place was a lot more accepting than the home he grew up in previously. Even though the people looked at him differently, they didn't say racial slurs.

"Hey, Han! Looking nice on your date!" Mr. Evans, the owner of the bookstore, called out to him.

"I'm going over to see if Alex is still at the library!" Han called out to him.

Mr. Evans laughed loudly after hearing this. "I saw that lass, Hannah, dragging him to the library earlier. It doesn't look like he'll be able to escape from that one, anytime soon." He smacked his belly as he continued to laugh. After calming down, he yelled out, "I'll be getting some new comics, so you tell Alex that he should stop by! I also got some new books that you'll enjoy, too!"

Han waved at the store owner as he continued heading towards the library. Occasionally, Han would see one of his mother's friends and would wave to them. Most of the mothers in this area knew one another and formed a network to help one another out.

With how his dad used to treat his mom, Han was concerned with her mental health but her friends had been a good source of support. He soon learned that this was not an isolated thing and many wives had to deal with abusive husbands. Divorce wasn't a readily accepted solution, so women found solace with one another. It made him realize that destroying his dad wouldn't really solve anything, making him wonder if all societies were like the one he was in. Even in the previous Earth, Han had often seen girlfriends being stuck in abusive relationships.

Passing by the many rectangular buildings made out of brick with the occasional one covered in cement, the two of them saw the library beginning to emerge. Compared to the rest of the town, the library looked intentionally aged with its cement columns. It didn't seem exactly like the Roman-influenced government buildings in his past world, but there were some similarities. There were some images of fairies and other mythical creatures dancing across the slate on top of the columns.

Reaching the library, the two of them walked up the marble steps. At the top of the stairs were the main doors into the library. With his left hand, he grabbed the vertical bronze bar and opened the door. Going through the first set of doors, he looked at the decal on the glass with the words, "Cherry Grove Library," and the hours of operation.

Opening the second set of doors, he felt the air rush towards him from the difference in pressure. The entrance was completely open, with a giant globe above the welcome desk. Han nodded his head to the assistant librarian who was a guy attending school to become a librarian. It wasn't until he came to this world and going to the library that he learned that becoming a librarian was a challenging job.

"I'm guessing you're looking for your friends?" The guy said.

"Yeah. Are they still here?" He asked.

The assistant librarian chuckled, "the guy was protesting about coming into the library, but that girl looked like she was on a mission. They're on the second floor, likely still in the study section over by the reference books."

"Thank you," Claire said to the guy as we walked past and into the main floor of the library.

"Since we know that Alex and Hannah are here, maybe..." Han began heading towards the section with fantasy and science fiction books.

Claire grabbed his arm. "No. You also could do some studying, especially with how you, likely, didn't get full marks on today's Pop Quiz and Math test." Claire stated.

Han's shoulders slumped from hearing her words. "I'm going to be fine. You know that our grades reset once we start high school." He attempted to rationalize with her.

"Absolutely not. With your study habits, it could be any moment where you slide too far back and get left behind with the course materials before you leave middle school." Claire stated with certainty.

Staring at the fiction section he was leaving behind as Claire dragged him behind her, he said, "I'll be back to read with you guys." He imagined tears trailing behind him sparkling in the air as sad music played.

"You're so melodramatic," Claire groaned as they passed by the children books section and reached the elevator.

Once the elevator doors opened and they stepped in, she pressed the button for the second floor. Above the controls was a sign that listed the contents on each of the levels. "How about we go to the third floor and check out the computers or videos?"  He said excitedly reaching his hand to press the third-floor button.

Claire smacked his hands but didn't say anything, making it clear what she thought of the idea.

"Teacher Claire, you are being too strict. I just finished trying out for the Football team and need to relax my body." He said.

She looked at him and gave the same scary smile that all girls seemed to know instinctively. "All the better for you to sit down in front of a book and study, to let your body rest," she said.

As the chime indicated that they reached the second-floor, Han stepped out first with Claire following. Walking forward and grasping the railing where you could look down and see the ground floor, he thought it was cool how they hung glittering balls that were arranged to look like the constellations.

"It's cool how they look like actual stars when the sun sets and they turn on the lights." Claire approached and rested her arms on the rail next to Han.

"I kind of miss laying under the night sky and watching the stars like I used to do when I was a kid," Han commented as he stared at the stars.

"Looking at the stars always made me feel like I was a tiny person, just watching them up in the sky," Claire said, her voice indicating her imagining the experience.

"When I'm laying down, I just imagine us floating in space in a wide universe, looking like a speck in space," Han said.

"As usual you're such a romantic," Claire nudged him with her shoulder.

Brushing his hair back with his hand, he grinned. "Maybe I should become a writer?"

"You tried out for the Football team and became a second-string quarterback, and now you're going to become a writer?" Claire giggled.

The two of them laughed at the idea as they walked towards the study area.

As they approached the tables, they could hear Alex's voice, "Hannah, I've been here for several hours now! My brain feels like it's going to leak out of my brain and onto the textbook!"

Alex and Hannah were sitting at the table, piles of textbooks surrounding them. Laying on top of one of the textbooks, he was complaining to Hannah who was diligently reading one of the reference books and writing down notes on a notepad. "If you spent more time reading instead of complaining, you'd be caught up with what you should have been studying before the exam," Hannah said unsympathetically.

"If your brain leaks out at least we'll know that you have one," Han said, surprising the two of them.

Turning to look behind him, Alex saw the two of them walking towards the table. He grinned and said, "Han, help me convince my warden that I should be released early for good behavior."

"I'm in the same position as you are in," Han said pointing at Claire, who sniffed with disdain at his attitude.

Alex pretended to use a napkin to dab at sympathetic tears. "You've also been captured," he said with sorrow.

As if remembering something, Hannah asked, "how did it go?"

Claire sighed at hearing Hannah's question.

Seeing her best friend's reaction, Hannah expression slumped. "I'm sure that if you try next year, you'll be able to..."

"He made the team and is a second-string quarterback," Claire announced, interrupting Hannah.

"What?!" Alex and Hannah erupted.

"I guess I have a slight skill in sports?" Han said offhandedly.