Episode 9: (You Drive Me) Crazy

It was mid-August, and the girls were still experiencing their first summer vacations with their superpowers. It was also a Friday, specifically after the second scheduled club meeting.

To Mimori, summer vacation was a better opportunity than any to kick back, relax and watch some stupid Youtube videos while playing some online games, and maybe, just maybe, doing some drawing.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

She had to go and start constantly thinking of her crush again.

Hank. Hank Williams. AKA, the guy she hadn’t seen since, like, the springtime.

They texted each other once in a while, sure, but Mimori hadn’t ever gathered up the courage to see him face-to-face again ever since it was discovered that he was the writer of the spell book and was possessing his body.

That was it. Mimori’s raging hormones were getting the best of her. Not only that but…

She wanted to confess her love to him.

Because he had been gnawing at her brain the past few days, she decided to call one of her best friends, Naoko, for help on how to confess her love to a guy that was a few years older than her.

Brrrring. Brrrring.

“Hello?” A stoic, familiar-sounding voice answered the phone.

Mimori was suddenly put on the spot. “Uh… hi, Naoko-chan! I’ve got a question. Um… how do you confess your love to your crush?”

Naoko, her voice still emotionless, said, “You’re asking me? Well… this is interesting, except as you know, I wasn’t in the same predicament as you.”

“Oh…” Mimori’s voice faltered. “Right.”

“I’ll still help you though, even though my boyfriend isn’t exactly possessed by a guy who practiced witchcraft in ancient times and also goes to college in a different country.”

Mimori blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed. “No, but thanks…” She was then reminded of something. “Oh, yeah! How was your most recent date with Nathan? How did that go?”

Naoko paused a bit before she talked. “Oh, you know. Dinner at a fancy restaurant. Afterward, we went to his house and did a humorous commentary on Insurgent. Oh, but something crazy did happen when we were at the restaurant… our waiter came up to us and started to sing ‘I Found a Way.’”

Mimori’s mouth dropped. “No way! They knew me and Kasumi’s inside joke?!”

“Just kidding. That was me being a dirty liar.”

“Well, I ain’t callin’ you a truther.”

Mimori sighed heavily. Geez. If only I had a boyfriend. One that talked to me and cared about me and stuff.

“D-do you think I could set up a date with my crush so I can confess my love to him there? Perhaps we could eat outside so that there’s no need to look at us if I get rejected, or… even yes-ed to.”

There was silence on the other end for a second again.

“Well if that’s what you want to do,” Naoko said finally, “then so be it.”

“Hm?”

“I think you’ve got everything under wraps. I believe in you.” A voice was heard from the other end that was not Naoko’s. “Op, that’s my dad. He needs me for something. Gotta go.”

Naoko hung up and so did Mimori.

How is this gonna work? Oh, now I’m suddenly super duper mega nervous!!

That was when Mimori began to sing.

“‘Baby… I’m so into you,’” she began, a bit unsteady at first as she hopped off her bed like she was in a music video. “‘You’ve got that something, what can I do?’”

Mimori, as she was singing the song, decided that the ‘something’ that Hank had was his impressive My Little Pony collection.

“‘Every time I look at you, my heart is jumping—what can I do!?’”

Thankfully, as that musical moment was happening, she was the only one in the house. She only imagined that if her dad was home she would get made fun of to no end.

“‘You drive me crazy, I just can’t sleep. I’m so excited, I’m in too deep! Crazy, but it feels alright! Baby, thinking of you keeps me up all night!’”

After the first chorus, Mimori felt like she had done her job. For whatever reason, she really enjoyed hearing the ringing of her voice throughout her room—the acoustics were just that good. Also, singing just felt so therapeutic to her.

“Alright!” she said aloud, pumping her fist in the air. “It’s time to summon Hank! Or Henry! Whatever, who cares!”

Turns out, that was all she needed to say.

Poof! Right after Mimori said that sentence, she felt a presence existing behind her.

Sure enough…

When Mimori turned around, she saw her crush staring at her, looking a little uncomfortable but smiling still.

Oh, no no no… This is way too soon!!

“Um, uh, oh my God, I’m so, so sorry!” Mimori shrieked while shaking her head and hands back and forth briskly.

Hank shrugged like it was no big deal. “Eh, it’s fine. I wasn’t doing anything interesting anyway.”

“Oh.” Her face was still flushed.

An awkward silence enveloped Mimori’s room. The boy and girl both tried to talk, but utterly failed to.

“So—”

“Uh—”

Both of their eyes were averted from each other.

Mimori tried to talk again.

“Um, how do you speak Japanese when you’re, um—”

Hank raised his eyebrows. “Well, magic.”

“Oh.”

What should I do? thought Mimori, biting her lip. I don’t wanna keep putzing around like this!

After Mimori shut herself up with her constant worrying, Hank spoke to her to try to calm her down.

“So, uh, I figured it would be easier to talk to each other if, um...”

Mimori’s eyes brightened. “Oh yes, please do! I like it when you’re my age, it makes me feel less, um… awkward. And wait—who are you right now?”

“Both Henry and Hank,” he stated. “We decided to combine our minds together because it would be easier for the both of us. And yeah, yeah. I’ll do that right now.”

And with that, Mimori turned her back to him, crouching down on the ground in excitement. She could hear him snapping his fingers.

After a few seconds, Hank spoke.

“You can look now.”

Mimori got off the floor and looked around.

Needless to say, she started squealing uncontrollably.

The boy who stood there looked a lot like Hank but was a bit smaller than Mimori. Not to mention that his hair traveled a little past his shoulders, which was a bit longer than it appeared on the adult version of him. His clothes were also pretty baggy on him now.

Poor Hank must have noticed her excessive drooling because he handed her a box of Kleenex seemingly out of nowhere.

“You might need this,” he added.

“Eep! Eep! I’m so sorry, I can’t control myself!” She shrieked in a voice that was almost like she was trying to impersonate someone but forgot how.

After giving Mimori a weird (but still understanding) look, he continued on as if nothing happened.

“So… how’s life?”

Mimori, who was trying her best to wipe the drool off her chin, paused for a moment. “What spell was that?”

“What spell?” Hank asked, tilting his head to the side. He then must have noticed that his voice sounded a bit higher-pitched than usual because he added, “Oh, that one. It’s actually a shrinking spell.”

“A shrinking spell?” Mimori echoed, putting the Kleenex box on her dresser. “Does that explain why you look the same, just, well... smaller?”

“Yeah. It’s also the one that you guys use on Nathan. There isn’t one that’ll make you look exactly how you looked how many years ago without taking your memories away… yet.” An edge crept into Hank’s voice towards the end of that bit.

“Oh. Well, good luck finding it!” Mimori cheered. “I salute you!”

Chuckling, Hank looked around Mimori’s room curiously. “You have quite the pony collection,” he said.

Mimori smiled warmly. “Well, you see… God, I say the word ‘well’ a lot. Uh, um, eep! I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!!”

The target of Mimori’s affection looked straight at her.

“This I know. I know everything, Mimori. I’m a wizard of sorts. I can see into the future and I can read your minds when I want… so I know this.”

Mimori’s face contorted, not knowing what to express.

Was she angry? No. Sad? No. Happy? Not really… Shocked? Sort of.

“That’s kinda creepy,” she decided to reply.

“I know. I only use it when I need the answer to something, but that’s it. I don’t even do it very often.”

“Then, um… What are your feelings for me?”

Hank, the probable wizard, looked wistful. “I honestly don’t know. You’re a smart, talented, beautiful girl. But you’re also five years younger than me, and… dating you is something that makes me feel uncomfortable. I’d rather we just stay friends.”

Whoops. Friend-zoned again. (Again? What do you mean by that?)

Mimori gulped and nodded.

“Yeah. I get it,” she said softly. “You’re older than me and probably even older, Henry.”

“I’m actually only two years older than him,” Hank (er, Henry) chuckled. “So don’t worry about that.”

“ … Oh.” Mimori looked down at the ground and ultimately sat down on it. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

Hank sat down on the ground as well, and Mimori curled up in a ball even more.

“ … I don’t know what to do,” she cried.

“What do you mean?” Hank tried to speak softly to her.

“You… you are…” Mimori gulped. “My crush is two different people now. In the same body. And he’s also older than me.”

“Mimori-chan.”

The girl looked up at him and saw that he was smiling a small, yet understanding smile.

She whined, uncomfortable at him looking at her in the eyes… but she still liked it.

“I get it. I love you too, but not in that way. You know why?”

“W-why?”

“Because I know you’re gonna find someone in the future who will love you. Trust me, you two will be perfect together.”

That made Mimori cry even more. “R-r-really…?”

“Yup. So don’t worry.” He patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. “Oh. I know something that’ll cheer you up, maybe. Wanna see what I looked like as Henry?”

Mimori made a show of wiping the tears off her cheeks with her sleeves and blowing her nose with tissues.

“Sure. Why not?” Her voice still sounded whiny in the way it is when you’re still recuperating from crying. “Hold on, just let me wash my hands first.”

“No worries,” Hank said. “I’ll just change into him while you’re doing that. And, since I’m still smaller, I guess it’ll be Henry, age 15, kinda.” He laughed.

“A-alright.”

Mimori walked into the bathroom, hands, and legs shaking. A future love? A younger Henry…?

It was a lot to take in at once.

After madly washing her hands, Mimori came back into her room, and…

Sitting right there on her bed was Henry, who…

Well, honestly. He still looked a bit like Hank, especially since he was still wearing Hank’s clothes, but also because they both looked nerdy yet cute. The only real difference was Henry had light brown hair that was in a bit of a bowl cut, turquoise eyes, and different shaped nose and lips.

Dang. This guy’s pretty cute too.

“U-uh, hi there, Henry-chan! H-how is it going?!” Mimori then froze in her place. “‘He lied.’”

“ … Um, hi? Are you quoting something?” Henry smirked.

“Mm-hm! How did you know?” Mimori pretended that smoke was coming out of her nose like an anime character.

“Because you awkwardly paused and said something in a different voice. It’s not that hard to guess.”

“Yeah, yup. You’re right. I was quoting Ashens.”

“Who?”
Mimori waved a hand in front of her face. “N-never mind!” She clapped her hands together. “I know! Not to totally change the subject or something, but how about we hang out together some more? And you can stay how you are too, I don’t want you to constantly change, especially if you don’t need to.”

“Sure.” Henry (let’s just call him that while he’s in this form, whatever) nodded. “What did you have in mind?”

A frown began to stretch across her face. “Uhh… let’s watch YouTube videos! In fact, let’s watch some Ashens!”

Henry snorted. “Alright. YouTube it is.”

★

After that random (but not really) hangout, Mimori was left to herself for the rest of the day, doing what she usually did best—Internet, reading, and maybe some drawing and writing if she was lucky and had enough time. But even still after those things, she couldn’t get the idea of Hank/Henry and her future love out of her mind.

As Mimori was doing some drawing before she went to bed, she was ruminating about what her future love would look like and how they would meet, and all those worthless details.

“Aughhhh, Mimo! Stop thinking about stupid love! Love is stupid! Boys are gross! Gross and groggy! Screeeeee!” Mimori said all of that as quietly as she could because her parents and little sister were asleep in the same general vicinity as she was.

Suddenly, Mimori heard her iPod Touch that was next to her vibrate, indicating that she had received a message.

It was Hank (and Henry).

Stop worrying about it, please. Just remember that I have foresight into the future and it will happen at some point. I won’t tell when, where, how, and with whom though. I want you to come across it yourself.

Mimori’s facial expression changed from excited to disappointed to excited again, ultimately falling on a flat face.

You just have to be patient. It will take some time to happen and you will have various crushes on other boys before that, as you do, but let me tell you something… it’s going to happen.

Mimori giggled lightly. She was going to sing “it’s gonna take some time to take some time”, but that was the most cliché thing to do at the moment.

After receiving that message, Mimori thought about what she was going to say before she decided to type it out.

Nothing too embarrassing, please…

Henry, I know it’s you! And really?! I’m not really that surprised lol.

Mimori’s eyes waded up and down on the screen, waiting for the Three Dots of Patience to pop up.

That’s all I will say about it. Let’s talk about something else, okay?

Well “bleh” to you, too! Mimori thought as she turned off her computer and leaped onto her bed, the iPod Touch still in hand.

Alright then! Let’s talk about ponies for a little while! And then I gotta go to bed, okay?

It was already close to midnight but Mimori thought that talking for at least half an hour more would suffice. After all, she and Hank barely talked enough as it was, on account of Hank being a university student with a YouTube channel and her being a middle schooler and not having a job.

But even still, she was lucky enough to talk to him now. As a friend, and as a wizard from two centuries ago.

How many other girls get to have that privilege? Only me…

She was now at ease with the idea of Hank not being her boyfriend.

Mimori’s eyes felt heavy as she smiled at her touchscreen, her head sinking deep, deep into her pillow…

★

How Mimori completely forgot about what was going on on Sunday, she’ll never know.

I swear, am I coming down with dementia at fifteen or something?!

At some point the week before Tomo asked Mimori if they wanted to do a partner review together for her YouTube channel. The girl had been warming up to the idea of showing her face on camera, as she was now feeling more comfortable with herself. Mimori also guessed that showing her face at VidCon also had something to do with it.

That week, the girls spent their time during the Can Do Anything Club meetings to come up with a script together that would work, as well as rehearsing it in the green screen area of the A/V room, which was of course allowed by the supervisor for that club. Perhaps the reason why Mimori forgot about the recording of the video was that she was busy playing around with the green screen options, which Tomo got more than a kick out of…

The movie they chose to review? The ‘80s My Little Pony movie. It was a childhood favorite of Tomo’s, and Mimori knew more than enough about it because she saw it as a child as well, and also went down many online rabbit holes regarding that motion picture…

Mimori’s mom dropped her off at Tomo’s house, which gave her quite a bit of nostalgia considering the reason she went there last time. Nevertheless, she rang the house’s doorbell with only a hint of hesitation.

“Ding-dong!” Mimori sang. “‘I’ve been thinking about your doorbell when you gonna ring it, when you gonna ring it?~’”

Luckily, before Mimori did anything else remotely annoying, Tomo came down the stairs and answered the door.

“Hi,” she said warmly. “I have the camcorder all ready and set up. When we’re done, I’m planning on giving the footage to Nathan. Aren’t you psyched?!”

“Yes!” Mimori squealed, actually being honest.

However, when she walked inside, it felt like something was off in her house, and it wasn’t just because Tomo’s parents were off doing their own things (she was informed that they were gardening in the backyard).

“Um… is someone else here?” she asked carefully.

Tomo pretended to think for a moment in a cute manner. “Oh, yeah! There is. I got a phone call from Hank asking if he could be the cameraman for our set! He said that using a tripod would feel too stiff for this video.”

Mimori’s jaw dropping said it all.

“Hank… wants to film something for us.” Was all she could muster.

Tomo shrugged. “I said ‘Yeah,’ why not? He does do YouTube videos for a living, so he must know a thing or two about filming”

Okay, so I guess that answers my question then, Mimori thought.

As the girls wandered into the family room, where the filming would take place (on a big ol’ loveseat, no less), Mimori’s heart skipped a beat.

There he was.

Don’t freak out, she chanted in her head. Don’t freak out, Mimo!

“Do you have any ideas now for some different camera angles when looking at the script?” Tomo asked.

“Yeah, I got a few,” Hank said casually. “Hey there, Mimori!”

Mimori blushed. He noticed me! I guess this can count as a “Senpai noticed me” moment, even though we talked for a few last night.

Tomo and Mimori sat on either side of him on the loveseat. Hank didn’t really give a reaction.

“Alright, groovy!” Tomo cheered. “Let’s see what you got!”

Mimori noticed that her crush wrote everything down in rather poor Japanese.

Henry must’ve taken control of his writing, she mused internally. But it still looks like crap. Ah well, I bet he’ll get used to it eventually.

Mimori was just a bucket full of thoughts while Tomo and Hank were going over the script and what camera angles would be used when.

I shouldn’t be so nervous around him after last night’s conversation, but for some reason I still am. Must be my being boy-crazy.

★

After that slightly awkward recording session (where everything actually went without a hitch, ironically enough), the Can Do Anything Club was back to its normal business on Monday—whatever that normal business may have been.

Despite it being summer vacation, Erica thought it was still important to hold meetings every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as a check-up to see how the girls and their powers were doing.

The temporary location of the Summer vacation club meetings? Mimori’s basement, because it was spacious enough—and also, Mari wanted to learn how to play her dad’s drums.

“Okay, everyone!” Mimori shouted, bringing the basement/clubroom to order. “Did anything remotely interesting happen to anyone over the weekend?”

“What I did was boring,” Kasumi lamented. “I just binge-watched some TV shows on Netflix. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.”

Mimori groaned heavily, then focused her attention on the one boy in the room. “How did the upload go, Nathan?”

Nathan nodded, holding a thumbs-up. “It went fine. You guys did a great job with the video, though. It was pretty funny.”

“Glad you liked it, Nathan! We put a lot of effort into it! Hank was even there to do the camerawork for us! He did a great job, although I was questioning myself sometimes about some of the angles.”

“Like that one part when he kept going back and forth between you and Mimori was a bit jarring, yeah, that was pretty weird,” Nathan cringed.

“Every one of his videos ever!” giggled Mimori.

“True dat,” responded Mari before adding, “Yeah, I know next to nothing about camerawork.”

“Never mind,” Kasumi said, sighing. “Let’s just… do something. Something vaguely interesting.”

Erica brightened up. “Let’s make a music video! Whaddaya guys think? Sound cool?!”

“Why don’t we just chill out here and talk for a while,” Naoko said in a slightly aggravated voice. “We don’t have to go anywhere or do anything every time we hang out.”

Tomo thought for a second. “Hm. Sounds good. I kind of wanted to talk about the cultural festival that’s coming up, anyway.” She said this over some loud grumbling that was coming from Mimori.

“Ughhh…” Mimori cried. “That’s such a bummer, I really wanted to scope out some scenery from some of my favorite shows with you guys!”

“Your favorite shows.” Kasumi corrected. “Okay, and I guess a few of mine.”

Erica chortled as the girls (and boy) began to talk all at once like they usually did.