5/4/2019

It's Children's Day in Japan (5/5) as well as Hibari's birthday! Happy birthday, Hibari, even though I originally forgot. But then I wouldn't be able to write this fun chapter!

I'll be doing some kind of Karaoke Neighbor art tomorrow (when it's actually 5/5 in my country) so be sure to follow my art accounts! Link in profile. Also, play the Karaoke Neighbor dating sim I made last year for PC! Link also in profile.

Much love!

Karaoke Neighbor

Chapter 21

Just For Now

Saturday afternoon left Estell feeling slightly accomplished as she leaned on the counter of her little convenience store and gazed at her workbook. Earlier, she was able to figure out her TV dilemma by calling a provider she remembered seeing ads about around town. Within a half hour, the rep that she had talked to (almost comfortably) was able to send whatever magic TV thing to her home. Estell had no idea how it worked, but she was glad it did. All she had to do was ensure that the cable was properly connected to her TV. And speaking of, she had almost been late for work because she was so entranced by all of the content that she now had access to. She was sure that it would help her study as well. Was she going to do that? Hmm..

She was in the middle of flipping a page when someone came through the door.

"Welcome!" She said with fake enthusiasm. Honestly, she wished that she was home with her new love.

"Ah. It's you again."

She finally looked at the source of the voice and dropped her fake smile. It was those two freshmen she had met earlier. The brunette seemed nice enough, but the silver haired boy was kind of rude. Not that that was a problem, seeing as she could also be described as that.

"Hello. Please take your time."

The boy only shrugged and started heading towards one of the aisles.

"Hello, senpai," the nice one said and bowed. Estell waved and he was off after his friend.

She shrugged and went back to reading her book. A few minutes later, the boys were ready for checkout and then on their way.

She checked the time. It was after 5 PM, and for some reason she had a sudden thought. She opened her LINE app and looked at her newest contact. He had given her his ID to discuss a birthday gift. Did that mean that after the task was over, she couldn't contact him anymore? She was tempted to stall it for longer, but then that wouldn't be nice. He got nothing for his birthday (probably) and spent it with no one. He didn't want her food, but he was fine with her giving him something. It was finally time to talk about that.

'So…how do I go about doing this?'

She was staring at her screen as the door chimed. She clicked her tongue briefly before greeting the customer. Her eyes widened a little when she saw who it was. "Ah!"

"What are you screaming for, weirdo?"

"Oh. Haha. Nothing."

"Didn't know you worked here." The girl approached the counter and glanced at Estell's book. "Studying, I see. Good."

"Yes. That was the condition for me to work here. The manager is my friend, though."

"Ehh? Oddly enough, this suits you," she said and smirked. Estell rolled her eyes, and the girl went off to get whatever it was she came here for.

Estell returned to looking at her phone. 'Okay. It's gonna be easy.'

She started typing out her message. 'Hi Hibari-san! I've been thinking about-'

The door chimed again. 'Dammit!'

"Welcome."

"Esteru-chan!"

"Q…" she wanted to roll her eyes, but she remembered how much of a big help he was yesterday. "Thank you so much for helping me, Q. You are the best!"

The orange haired boy laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. "It's no problem! I'm glad I could help!"

She smiled. Q was actually really precious. A shame that she had her sights elsewhere.

"Hey, Kiseki, grab me a pack of smokes." The other girl said, throwing her fake ID down on the counter before looking Q's way. "Who's your friend?"

'Wait… I did want them to meet, actually…'

"Oh, Tsubaki! This is my friend Q. He's from another school. Q, this is Tsubaki from my school."

"Yo," she said and nodded her head.

Q nodded his head as well. "Hey…"

Estell watched closely to see if there was any chemistry between the two. Q had smiled, but Tsubaki was looking at her again.

"Give me the Cherry."

"Ah, right." She turned around and looked for the cigarettes for the underaged girl. Of course, she was underage too, but technically she was legal back in America since she was 18, but that didn't count. "Checking out?"

Tsubaki nodded and put the few things she grabbed on the counter. Estell checked her out, but she hung back.

"So how exactly do you know him?" Tsubaki asked quietly. Q had gone down one of the aisles to start shopping.

"I ran into him one day when I was-" She paused. She was about to say 'stalking Hibari', but that would sound creepy. "-just walking around. I saw him doing something sketchy, so of course I wanted in."

The other girl smirked. "Interesting." She started looking at the workbook on the counter while Estell pulled her phone out.

'I've been thinking about…'

What to write?

'…about the gift I said I'd get you, but I don't know what you like. Can you give me some hints?' That sounded pretty natural.

"Texting your boyfriend?"

She looked up at Tsubaki. Incidentally, Q was standing right behind her. "Aha! No. I don't have a boyfriend silly. Ah, you're silly."

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Aren't you going for Hibari, though? It's kind of obvious."

"Oh, I didn't know you liked someone, Esteru…" Q sounded kind of down.

"Ah! Don't sneak up on me like that, dude."

"Sorry…" He bowed slightly to Tsubaki.

"Well, maybe I have a crush on someone from school. Can't be helped." Estell said as she waved Q closer so she could start checking him out. The sooner the both were gone and out of her hair, the better. She really just wanted to send her message to Hibari.

"I see."

"But… umm.. hey! Tsubaki-chan! Don't you need someone to walk you home?"

"No..?"

"You sure?" Estell asked with a huge smile on her face, looking at both young people.

"I'm sure, loser. Bye," the other girl said in English before turning on her heel and leaving the store.

"What did she say..?" Q asked confused. He didn't understand.

"Oh, nothing important. You have a great night, Q!"

"Uh…yeah. You too. Bye." He still looked confused, but left the store all the same.

Estell sighed a huge sigh. Before anyone could distract her further, she pressed the send button. Now to wait. And look at the screen and see if it was read. She started reading her book, but every so often looked at the screen.

Read.

Her eyes grew large as she stared at the device in anticipation, her tongue playing with her lip ring.

'I don't care.'

She rolled her eyes. Really? Then what was the point of their conversation in the elevator? He had to have wanted something.

'I'm sorry, I cannot take that as an answer.'

'Then don't get anything.'

'No!'

'No?'

'You have to tell me. What do you like?'

'Nothing.'

'Okay, I'll get you a porno magazine when my shift is over.'

'!'

Estell laughed then. She wished she could see his face. He was probably flustered. Or annoyed. Either look was hot on him. She waited for him to say something else in retaliation, but he never responded.

She read a few pages of her book before she heard the bell.

"W-"

"The hell is wrong with you?"the male asked, coming closer to the counter.

Estell opened her mouth to say something, but it stayed open and words didn't come out.

"Cat got your tongue?" he smirked. "Heh."

"I didn't expect you to appear, Hibari-san. Good to see you. How was your day?" It was becoming their thing; him speaking in English and her replying in Japanese.

He shrugged and looked around, giving Estell a chance to look at him properly. He looked like a snack. But that was to be expected. He wore his signature black jeans with a white shirt and, to her surprise, a purple cardigan.

"Oh, I like your outfit today, Hibari-san! Purple is my favorite color," she said smiling.

He looked down at his outfit before looking back at her. "Ah…" He nodded, and then walked away.

She smiled again and went back to her book. About five minutes later, she was interrupted by a plushy being thrown at her head. "The hell?" she asked and looked at the thing that fell back onto the counter. It was a small, yellow bird. It was actually really cute. She looked up at culprit in question.

"Buy me that," he simply said.

It took her a few seconds to process what he had requested (more like demanded.) He wanted his birthday gift to be a cute, animal plushy. And he seemed serious.

"Of course…" Still taken aback, she fiddled with the cash register for a bit until her employee discount was activated, then scanned the toy and threw in some yen from her wallet. "Here you are. Though it's late, Happy birthday, Hibari." She smiled fondly.

He hesitated for a second before taking the bird from the girl's outstretched hands and looking away. "Ah…thanks." He remained in his spot, and the girl continued to smile at him. "…yours?" he finally asked.

"Huh?"

He sighed. "When's yours?"

"Oh! My birthday? It's in the winter. January 11th."

"I see.." He started to walk away. "Later." Before he had exited, he paused. "And don't you dare tell anyone about today, less you want to get bitten to death…" He smirked at her before leaving.

"Bye!" She yelled after him. "Oh, my God…" she mumbled to herself when things were quiet again. Today was a very interesting day. All she needed now was for midnight to roll around so she could leave and go camp out on her couch. The TV was calling for her.

Thanks for reading! It's summer break for me now, but I wonder how much I'll end up writing... You know me. Probably will be not at all. I'll try my bestest, though.

Also, I keep making a fuss about it, but please play the game I made! It doesn't really follow this story, and the art is kinda trashy, but I thought it was kind of fun (a bit too repetitive in some places, but hey. I only had a month.) I've been posting new sketches of the characters on my Twitter and Instagram pages. I'll have to finally design Hayate-sensei, Tsubaki and Q since I want them to have sprites, too.

Song:

Just For Now - Imogen Heap