DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Las Lindas and other products set in the same universe are all owned by Chalo/Chalosan and SoulKat.

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Chapter 2: Admitting Flaws

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

It was a new day and I couldn't help but feel perplexed by Shin's behavior.

"It's my dad. He wants me to be there to make sure none of his students get hurt in the upcoming competition, and he wants someone to keep track of them today," The young shopkeeper explained as he finished telling me how he would be leaving the shop to me for another day. "I will be back after lunchtime, so if there is any trouble, I can be there to handle them."

It was just an anomaly that I had some issues grasping my head around. But let's slow down for a moment so this can become clearer for anyone listening in: Shin Aryoko was what one could find in a… stereotypical shounen hero… minus the hero part. He was kind, polite, trustworthy, hard-working, yet unable to notice clever sarcasm, dense with romance, and really submissive with his current girlfriend… I couldn't blame her for taking charge with how indecisive the guy was known to be. Maybe it was just me, or maybe it was the false expectation his appearance might create to anyone befriending him. He wasn't the tallest, his blond hair was shoulder-length and always pulled in a ponytail due to how unruly it tended to get without proper care, and he was... a White Tiger Prime. White fur with black stripes and all of that. His green eyes were highly-perceptive and held an impressive awareness of his surroundings. He was a good friend, a kind fella and also a decent boss. So, when it comes to suddenly dropping duties at work twice in the same week both being apart a single day… yeah, it felt a bit jarring.

"I don't mind, but… let's try to not make it a habit."

"I'm not, I swear I'm trying to really get this done so… the rest of the work week is clear."

I could only nod and hope he meant it. I trusted Shin, but I didn't trust his backbone at times. He was too easily pushed around when pressured to bow at people's requests. One would say it is his kindness, but that shouldn't become a reason to trust a stranger you just met a few hours before offering a job opening that shouldn't have existed to begin with. That and offering to buy lunch for three days in a row. Free food is nice, but it sure felt dickish to exploit this situation any further. I just knew that it wasn't right and so decided to outright tell him to stop doing it. He looked 'hurt', but he was quick to recover from that horrible 'rejection' by focusing on more legitimate topics that had greater importance about buying me lunch.

Still, once again, I was left to work alone and there was no way I was going to get as lucky as the day before. After her visit, Hope actually called to chit-chat some more. She mentioned how she had to get her new career started by being 'serious and stuff', which dignified her somewhat childish nature at times and… I heard her mentioning she had something important to do the next day, so I didn't ask if she was free to pass by. Truth be told, I wondered what were the chances of Hope visiting again. She would have definitely learned the lesson from her mistake and called Shin before going to try and check for him here. I was so sure that this lonely day was going to remain as such for the duration of the shift but… just as Shin left and I was setting down some boxes to get sent for our most recent orders, I paused as I noticed someone standing already by the corner. She had changed her clothes to new pairs, but the style and the kind of outfit was still the same.

"Hello~!"

I could only blink at the surprise visit, but then I managed to frown at the unusual circumstance.

"Hello? I thought you were going to be busy with something important today," I remarked, getting a snort out of her.

"Yeah, I was going to be busy with something like this, which is quite important since I am going to make you… bite the dust!" The girl exclaimed giddily as she raised up a stack of poker cards. "I hope you're ready for some games of truth."

I frowned at what she just said, remembering only that this was tied to the banter from yesterday. As I finished getting the boxes ready to be given to the courier to pick up, the Gazelle Prime happily got herself comfy by setting one of the unused chairs right beside mine and using the counter as the table for the game. Shaking my head, I sat down to find out that the game we were playing wasn't going to revolve around money.

"You lose, you have to answer a question. I lose, I get to be honest about anything you ask back. Sounds good?"

I shrugged. "I mean, I'm not the one that is about to get their ass kicked."

"Oh, cocky aren't we?" Hope rebuked jokingly, winking cheekily as she handled the first round of cards. "Still, I'll have you know that I have experience with this stuff."

"Singing helped you in Poker?"

The girl grinned. "As if. Dad's workers – he has a shipping company by the way – they taught me this game whenever I was around because it tends to get boring to wait all the time. And trust me when I say that I'm about to learn many juicy things about yourself."

"Bring it on, Hoppers."

And despite the giggles and chuckles, the next few hours were pretty chill. While the point of the game, at least in Hope's own remarks, was to get each other's intimate secrets out in the open, the questions that were directed against one another were fairly tame.

"How old are you?"

I frowned. "25?"

"Seriously? I'm 24," The girl answered surprised. "Could have sworn you were younger."

"Yeah, I didn't change much in the last two years..."

She grinned. "Oh, is someone trying to appear more mature to ladies?"

"...Maybe?"

"Nah! Trust me, Johnny Boy, you're better with that ravishing beauty you got."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I'm not going to go easy on you if you keep flattering me."

"Really? Shucks, then your beard is so not nice, jerk."

Ouch!

Then there was the time where the topic shifted into something a bit more… interesting.

"I thought you had some serious work to deal with, how did you get so much free time to be here with me?"

"That's actually simple," The Gazelle Prime admitted proudly. "My work shift starts after lunch, so I get from morning up to lunchtime to spend how I like. And thus you have me here kicking your little round butt."

I narrowed my eyes. "We're even-"

"Barely, and that's because I'm holding back my amazing self from obliterating you."

"Oh really? Prove it!" I challenged with a giddy grin, and Hope was grinning as she held her cards tighter in response.

"You know what? I'll do that just to get you convinced that you're about to be drowned in questions. And trust me, I am going to ask some 'fun' questions."

Despite the clear taunt and threat, I couldn't help but smile at the counter-challenge and the game did in fact become more intense… enough for me to stop playing around myself. One thing that the girl had failed to see was that I had left her win twice before the pace picked up, just so that she didn't go super-serious early on and made the game too intense. It just felt… nice to treat this simple and yet heartfelt game too seriously too early on and I appreciated learning a few more things about Hope. I knew that she started to sing from very young, getting lessons at twelve and starting something a bit more serious at fifteen before hitting big while she was still dealing with College. But as the game progressed so were her own victories as she got a few questions that left me in some awkward spots more times than just a few.

"Ah, I knew it!"

I was covering my eyes with my left hand, trying to hide away how annoyed I was at the moment.

"I mean, it's not that bad-"

"You just had a single girl and no one else? Really?"

I shrugged. "Apologies for thinking more with my head than with my crotch."

"Bah, one thing is being selective, another is not trying once again with other girls because you are chickening out from any other break-up. Romance might be difficult to get through, but you definitely have the chance to find some girl to settle down with."

"Well, what about you then? I assume you have a lot of boyfriends and girlfriends yourself?"

Earlier than this question, Hope confessed to being… open to both males and females. She just liked to have a 'broad' spectrum of people to 'care' for. Still, after what sounded like a lengthy silence, the Gazelle Prime hummed in brief frustration, clearly not expecting that kind of counterpoint.

"I don't... exactly have a boyfriend. Hadn't one since..." She closed her eyes to think about what she had to say and then she went all in as honestly as she could. "Shin."

I was actually surprised by that, knowing that the way she carried herself with others didn't feel fake enough for this personality to be a mask. So… why didn't she get a keeper at any point in the past few years?

"Really?"

"Yeah, Shin was the first and… last guy I tried to do anything big about that wasn't… just bed stuff."

I took a small pause to consider what I heard and, while it was kind of against the rules, I decided to press on about what I just heard.

"So you just… just do 'bed stuff' and nothing else?"

"I-It's not that simple. At times it's fake-dating, at times it's just going right into the main part," She answered truthfully, holding herself transparent about the kind of situation she was stuck with. "It's more like… how do I put it- people want to think there is some romance in this kind of interaction. They know I'm not interested that way, but they want to feel like it's more meaningful than it is."

I slowly nodded. "But are you happy with it?"

"Well yeah, I bang a lot of guys and girls left and right," The young woman replied flatly. "It's not like that could ever leave me sad or something. I literally have a pseudo-harem after my ass."

We both shared a laugh at that notion. She had mentioned how many people saw her as some sort of unreachable individual that they would want to get close to but… Hope didn't allow that. She was more than happy to be intimate at times, but never in the romantic sense of that situation. And while she was raising compelling points as to why she achieved more from this, she admitted none regarding her own take on this situation and I could see that it wasn't exactly the circumstance she wanted to be stuck with forever.

"I don't think… you are in the wrong with that. But can I say that you really are not fooling me about being happy with this whole mess?"

Her lips parted, perhaps an attempt to protest that view I had on what she just told me but she didn't speak. She merely stared, pondered about a response and… backed away from the question.

"You are afraid, just like I am. That you are going to mess up."

…

"You know, you're asking numerous questions now for winning just once," She pointed out weakly, trying to sway the focus of the situation back on the game, but I wasn't planning to let her do that.

"What if I don't want to play and understand what's up with you?" I pressed on, my face sporting a genuine concerned look that clashed with her annoyed look. She looked so angry at first, so ready to just explode on me and… I would have understood it. Yet, what I didn't catch was that she just calmed down and actually laughed at my face.

"T-That's perhaps one of the most serious things I've got coming my way in a long time. Heck, I think this is way worse than when mom picks up I'm not that happy," Hope admitted, smiling eye-to-eye. "Still, I deserved it. I was the one that pushed the sore button first and… yes. I think I'm a bit unhappy with how things are. I would say that I like what I have now, but wouldn't mind having someone to be… stuck with. Someone that is open to that."

I slowly nodded at this, and then I saw something flash in her green eyes as she stared right at me… which made me particularly suspicious as she was eyeing me funny.

"What?"

"Now I have to ask, are you actually interested in me that way?"

My jaw dropped. "W-What? I was just asking that."

"Yeah but…" She paused, leaning closer towards me and placing her palms on my chest. "If you play your cards right-~"

The girl was purring in delight at my uneasy reaction, but before I could have said anything more or she could have finished what she was trying to tell me, I heard the door of the store open up.

"John, I'm back!"

Hope jumped in fright at Shin's sudden arrival, her wide eyes matching the surprised but nonetheless calm ones owned by the shop-keeper as he stood by the doorstep.

"Oh, Hope- I didn't know you were visiting."

"Y-Yeah, I was just… checking on John. No biggy."

"I see. Well, I'm done with my appointment with dad so we could-"

"I have to really go," Hope quipped quickly, sounding really nervous here. "I just… work hours and I don't want to turn up late."

It was still fairly early for lunch, but I guess it would be best for her to get back to her workplace early so she can get things set up without worrying about any traffic.

"It's alright. I heard from John that you have started a new job," Shin replied with a smile. "That's some noble work you're doing."

Her cheeks flared in… embarrassment. "I suppose it is, but… I have to go."

"Got it. Have a good day?"

The girl nodded, muttering 'good day' back as she bolted for the entrance. As she left and Shin started to check on the current situation during my shift, I couldn't help but notice that she had forgotten the cards. I got them back in their box and I rushed up outside to catch up with her just before she could leave with her Vespa.

Hope was stunned by the sight of me running towards her and she paused for a moment to wait for me. "John? What are you-"

"The cards," I replied quickly, passing her the stack so she could put it in her purse.

"...Oh," The young woman looked a bit disappointed by this but I wasn't done with it.

"Also… you're a jerk," I added, stunning the girl on the spot.

"What?"

"You were trying to get me to ask you out, weren't you? That whole teasing and flirting, don't think I got firsthand experience with that stuff," I explained with a mirthful tone, walking up to her and lifting her helmet's visor to boop her nose. She tensed up, stunned by the forward but simple gesture. "But no. I see you as a really good friend, but don't expect me to become part of your 'pseudo harem'."

"Oh hell nope, you ain't harem material, bud," She argued back cheekily while pulling her visor down. "And trust me, you and I are going to have a lengthy talk tomorrow."

I frowned. "Tomorrow? Are you planning to just check on me on a daily basis now?"

"Maybe?" She said while shrugging, smiling happily at that notion. "Why? Already getting overwhelmed by my dashing figure?"

"More worried by the lewd questions you're going to ask me to answer."

"Nah, I don't think I'll bring cards" Hope argued softly, soon her voice turning more flirty compared to before. But I will be more than happy to share stories if you want~."

"Deal," I replied happily, ignoring her tone and getting a pretty sigh out of her.

"Good then... see you tomorrow, dumbass~."

"Call me if you need."

Hope nodded and soon she left the parking spot before taking the lane of the nearby road with her motorbike. I looked as she left and I couldn't help but feel like I glimpsed as something not many knew about her. Maybe I was seeing some silly things but… Heh, it was alright. I had a job to get back to, and I didn't expect any big things to happen anytime soon.

Of course, things happen- especially when some girlfriends tend to get 'worried' about some unusual visits.

AN

It's about to get spicy!