I was feeling kind of productive today, so I pulled this out of my as- I mean head. It's a bit short, but I hope you enjoy. :)
Note: You probably already figured this out since I'm sure you're very smart, but they're speaking Japanese if it's italicized.
Karaoke Neighbor
Chapter 11
Kill Em With Kindness
Estell felt like she was seeing Tsubaki everywhere since their last encounter. Instead of holding a grudge, (she still had no clue what was said about her mother, just that something was said) she decided to act like the bigger person and be friendly. When Wednesday rolled around and she still saw her in the halls, she'd smile or wave, and sometimes made comments about the weather. Tsubaki would either ignore her, glare at her, or yell at her to shut up and stop talking to her. Of course, it only made Estell want to get under her skin even more. Maybe 'being the bigger person' weren't the proper words.
Takahiro slowly walked Estell to her tutoring class after school as she told him about the fight she had with Yamane Tsubaki the other day. She was one of his acquaintances, and although he couldn't say that he really knew her, she was mostly friendly with him. They had been in the same homeroom the year before, and he'd sometimes allow her to copy his Math homework. Now that he thought about it, he probably allowed her to do that because of her threatening aura, though she never verbally threatened him.
"She's honestly not that bad," Takahiro commented, "Maybe she just feels antagonized by you. You're someone new who has come into her territory who is similar to herself. Show her that you're not a threat. I'm sure you two will be fine."
Estell stopped and stared at him. "Waah, your English is really good." He rolled his eyes at her remark. "But… maybe you're right. Even though she probably insulted my mama, I think we can be friends. I only have you two dudes as friends and no offense or anything, but being surrounded by boys is no fun." She paused. "Wow, who would have thought that I would say such words? What is the world coming to?!"
"Lower your voice, Kiseki."
Estell turned to watch Hibari pass by. "Hai, Hibari-san! Have a good night if I don't see you later." He stopped and turned around, looking from Estell to Takahiro, back to Estell. He probably didn't want anyone to know that they lived in the same vicinity. Her mistake. He then sighed and continued on his way.
"What…?"
"Oh, I'm Hibari's next door neighbor. Don't tell anyone."
"That's… rather surprising. Wow. Who would think that he is a normal person and has neighbors and such? I'm baffled."
"Huh? I didn't catch like, most of that."
Taka sighed and pushed Estell into her classroom. "Get in there. You need all the help you can get."
Miles and their tutor were both looking at them. She turned back around to Taka. "Aww, well, see you tomorrow, Taka-kun!" she winked.
"Aa. Later."
She walked to her desk next to Miles and set her bag down, getting her books from inside her gray messenger bag.
"Let's commence!"
Estell rested her head on the wall of the elevator after pressing button number 7. Tutoring was the same as always, except that maybe there were less advances being made. She guessed that was an improvement. As the doors began to slide closed, a hand slid through to stop them, and they opened once more. The boy was about to board when he saw the girl in the corner. Estell smirked at Hibari, and he walked to the opposite corner, deciding to ignore her. She lifted her head from the wall and positioned herself in his direction, still smirking.
When he finally decided to acknowledge her, he turned his head and found her staring at him. He gave her a look, as if to say, 'What are you staring at now?'
"Did you go somewhere?"
"Doesn't concern you."
"Have you finished your homework?"
"Why?"
"Do you have a part time job?"
"….what are you doing? Practicing your Japanese on me or something?"
"…maybe. But really, how do you afford your apartment? You got some sort of inheritance or something?"
"That's also none of your concern."
"Do you have a sugar mama?"
He looked at her incredulously before the elevator 'dinged' and he walked off, with her smirking close behind.
