Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing except Tomoko, her family, and the concept of Nagareboshi Cafe.

Note that the new kimono dress Tomoko wears here is something akin to a winter outfit and is also from Darling Army under the title of "Ruby and Black Hooded Cosplay Kimono Dress". Just length the skirt to go past the knees, add black stockings and boots with red laces, and downsize the outfit to fit a 5 year old, and there you go! Please check Darling Army out for yourself — everything looks lovely!

For this chapter, the song I would recommend would be Animenz Piano Sheets' cover of This Game from No Game No Life. The opening sequence was one of the many highlights of the show for me, so I wanted to honor that here. Please enjoy! :)

Author's Notes: To those who have reviewed so far — thank you so much! I really do appreciate all the positive support you guys are giving me. This story has come pretty far in my opinion for just a few days, and I hope you'll stay with me for quite a while!

And for the Guest who mentioned the 'pronoun rule,' thanks for the feedback and here's an explanation for you. The pronoun rule was something I came up with based on some of my interactions with people in the LGBT community. Usually when trying to get to know someone personally, I learned that by addressing the pronoun issue first, it would avoid a lot of accidental boundary stepping, so that's why I included in the previous chapters. Tomoko and her family don't really follow this rule in the general customer service sense — if anything, it's more of a guideline when getting to know the regulars at Nagareboshi, so that's why it's there in the first place. Thanks anyway though and I hope you continue to enjoy Civilian Pianist! :)

Chapter 6: This Game

My third customer was Kakashi Hatake. And honestly, if I didn't know any better, I would have pushed off the occasion for being the usual 'piano request to celebrate something'.

Not that I minded though — no, no — honestly, playing a song for someone in honor of some kind of celebration always puts a smile on my face. But this little event was different.

It was about a month or two after my first performance for Kushina-san. Since the air was starting to turn cold with the passing of autumn, Mom and Dad had recently given me a new kimono dress to wear while at the piano. It actually resembled Ruby Rose's original outfit from RWBY, with an entirely black jacket and obi complemented by red knee-length skirt, hoodie, and lace trimmed sleeves. Black stockings and boots accompanied by red shoelaces replaced my old white stockings and pink flats. Heck, even my white hair ribbon went red for the sake of keeping warm!

Honestly, I felt a bit like a cosplayer — and strangely, I liked it. Then again, I never got the chance to cosplay in my past life and now I could easily do it without anybody judging me! Hooray!

Thank you, Mom and Dad.

…Anyway.

It was around noon when I first saw them come in. The first thing I noticed was the bright silver hair glinting in the sunlight. To my surprise, the silver came from two heads, one the height of an adult and the other a centimeter taller than me. At least, I think.

The White Fang?

I rubbed my eyes with a hand before blinking to readjust my vision. The figures were a bit clearer now, clearly showing an adult and a boy about my age.

Wait…

The two walked up to me with the man lighting pushing the boy to sit down in the chair next to me. Just by looking at the two up close, I knew that it was the Hatake father-son duo - the silver hair was kinda a huge giveaway. Surprisingly, Kakashi resembled a cherry with a silver stem with his embarrassed face while Sakumo-san grinned cheerfully at me, hands on his son's shoulders. "So, are you the one who takes song requests?"

I blinked for a moment, stunned.

Cute father-son scene! KYA~!

…Dealing with emotional difficulties…Rebooting in 3...2...1…

"U-Uh, excuse me?" The sudden voice made me jump a little and almost hit a stray key, flushing red.

"I-I'm sorry about that! Y-yeah, that's me. What would you like me to play?" Sakumo-san blinked again before grinning once more, lightly nudging Kakashi in the chair next to me.

"Just something to celebrate my son's graduation from the Academy!" Sheesh, I could hear the love in Sakumo-san's voice. Even if I didn't have a grasp on chakra, I could swear that I saw sparkles in the background. Hopefully I was over-exaggerating things in my head.

…Please.

But even then, I could tell Sakumo-san really did adore his son and I had to mentally push away some…ahem, disturbing thoughts to concentrate on what he was saying. Hopefully things won't end as badly as they did before. "Kakashi's only 5, yet he was able to graduate from the Academy early!"

At this, the aforementioned new Genin facepalmed, fingers lightly marking his new Konoha headband while his ears turned red. "…Dad, enough. Please."

"E-eh? Why not, Kakashi? It's a big day for you — the day you graduate from a student to become a full-time ninja!" Oh my gosh, was the White Fang actually whining like an adorable, clumsy dork? "Of course I want to celebrate it with you here, with such lovely music!"

Oh dear, now he was grinning at me. I think I'm starting to understand how Kakashi feels, and I was the one who was originally a fan of the silver-haired ninja when he was a Jonin!

…Whether it was father or son didn't matter at all to me. Don't question me on this.

Why does it seem like all Hatakes have the ability to act like adorable dogs and put on some of the best puppy eyes?!

I flushed, voice coming out squeaky and somewhat high-pitched. "Th-Thank you so much, sir. But what kind of song would you and your son want?"

Sakumo-san blinked again before grinning happily.

Oh my god, I think these Hatakes will be the death of me one day from fluff. So cute….!

"Whatever you think fits, alright?" It was another vague request, but I forced myself to take a deep breath before facing the familiar black and white keys, closing my eyes in concentration.

"Alright then — one celebratory song coming up." Despite my initial emotional turmoil, I was able to pick out a song immediately, playing the tale of two siblings stranded in their ideal world, working to become rulers. It was a rather upbeat song, but a part of me played it hoping things for these two would be better.

Whoever's up there, please let these two have happiness at least. Sakumo-san doesn't deserve to die alone the way he did. Kakashi doesn't deserve to lose his father and loved ones the way he did.

With each new note, I internally prayed.

Please — let these two smile for as long as they can!

It was only a 5 minute melody, but with my praying and the slight soreness in my hands from having played so much, it felt like an eternity to me. Opening my eyes, I turned my head only to see both Sakumo-san and Kakashi looking at me with some awe. If anything, I could've swore they were staring at me a lot more intently than they were before.

"U-Um…h-h-how was that?"

…Ugh, awful way to cut through the tension. Sakumo and Kakashi both blinked before looking at one another and sharing a look. It almost appeared to be a staring contest of wills from my corner of the group. After a moment, Kakashi visibly sighed before turning to me, hints of pink on his cheeks peeking from his black mask.

"…It was good. Thanks."

It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I couldn't help the beaming smile I sent back towards the new Genin. For some reason though, Kakashi didn't want to meet my eyes, preferring to look in another direction. Despite this, I couldn't help myself.

I put my hand in front of his vision, offering it for a handshake while giggling. "I'm Hoshino Tomoko, pianist of Nagareboshi Cafe. What's your name?"

Kakashi looked back at me in slight surprise, glancing at my outstretched hand for a moment before returning the gesture, putting his hand in mine to shake. "…Hatake Kakashi. Nice to meet you."

Judging from the happy gazes of Sakumo-san as well as Mom and Dad, I had the feeling it was the start of a great friendship.