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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 1: Unexpected Friendship
Beta-Reader: Ant0nius
'Always look both ways crossing the road.'
I swear Mom, I tried. I really looked, but that damn Lamborghini came out of nowhere.
Even after three months have passed since that whole shit happened, I still couldn't wrap my head over the fact I got killed in a car accident involving a sports car. Sure, I lived in the countryside, and those were generally the best places to test out the speed of these fast vehicles. The thing is that the place where I lived lacked any form of straight road needed for that kind of testing.
In fact, I was as furious about the whole matter as I was shocked by the mere idea that a sports car this fast managed to get through all the kind of tight turns to reach my home. I was even surprised that it happened right as I was done checking on some rare package that managed to make its way to where I live, and yet I was also furious it happened.
H-How am I supposed to react to all of this calmly?!
It had to have been budget increase Truck-kun. It had to. But then it meant that someone was behind my current 'isekai' situation. I doubted it could actually be called as such due to the lack of standard medieval/feudal circumstances, but, then again, there were elements that stood out in this world that didn't exist back home. Also, this may look like Earth, but it couldn't actually be Earth. Neo-Earth to be specific and even after three months of being around, I just couldn't accept the reason why this was a bigger planet with a whole new continent added to it.
Imagine my surprise when I learned that the planet humanity called home had been destroyed a few centuries ago by a super-strong villain of the sore loser kind? And even crazier, that there were some 12 Kamen Rider-esque heroes that stood up and faced the big bad Chaos-driven bastard and killed his ass. I was just mind-boggled by this whole matter. I sure was, and then... Gods. Dragon Gods. There are actual deities in this world.
Was one behind my current situation? The concept of godhood would suggest so, but I also learned through books that they weren't active and that they were mostly spending their days lazing about life. No, I doubted my presence here was some local divine providence. In fact, by all means, I would have been quick to fail and get myself a safe net had I not wandered around the city I ended up in to try and find an available job.
Which wasn't the best, but it actually gave me a lot of time and space for my personal affairs. Such as securing myself a flat with bearable rent and some extra funds for other projects. Like setting up plans to buy my own mansion and live with smart plans to reduce the bills to a minimum and make it one of the most awesome second lives ever.
Of course that plan wasn't... attainable due to three solid reasons:
1) I worked in a bookstore... in a society which focused on digitized culture and stuff. I was literally working within a dying industry that barely made enough to sustain itself. Even the owner, which I was a close friend to after just this time spent in the new world, was convinced that the only reason we were pulling this through was due to the limited editions we were selling to collectionists. Despite how some books could be retrieved for cheap, we managed to capitalize on that kind of market with ease. But this wasn't the only trouble I found;
2) Prism is a big city with numerous quality buildings... and little to no available buildings to go and live in. Even the availability of free plots of lands by the outskirts was limited by numerous governative restrictions. I just wasn't going to get anything done with just my ID and my charming smile. Because yes, I just had my ID as a valid documentation with me. No birth certificate, no school degrees- I was stuck with just the basis at the moment;
3) Humans were a... minority on this continent. Yes, you've heard me correctly. Ever since the creation of Neo-Earth, Primes (or 'Anthro Animals from outer space which were all mammals despite some of them looking more like reptiles') were another race which occupied this rock. Relations between all classic human nations and the 'Queendom of Prism' were pretty warm considering the fact that there was a degree of discrimination and limitations towards Humans. Not out of racist, that is, but because of the specific elements which were deemed too 'dangerous' to be spread around so indiscriminately. Like the biological AIs that the High Prime had been responsible for. And- Oh yes, while the nation is called a Queendom, there was no Queen. The position was left mostly vacant as the High Prime, which I had the chance of seeing up close twice now, was the one dealing with both internal and foreign affairs.
So, any big plans were currently out of reach in the distant and possibly unhappening future. A bit of a grim situation, but I lived well regardless of that bleak expectation. Plus, the owner, Shin, was roughly two years my junior. It was freaking hilarious to tease him about it, especially when it came up about 'wisdom' and all of that stuff. Things were doing nice and well... then 'Love' struck.
It happened at the middle-point of a simple day's shift. I was alone, handling business as usual since Shin was out for a sudden date. Not an unusual occurrence but definitely one I minded since I get paid extra for the situation, however it definitely left me with little to do for many hours. I expected nothing exciting to happen due to the fact I was... well, alone. And bored. Books were nice, but it wasn't the same as playing some gacha or even doing stuff with a Laptop.
I don't know even now if what happened that very 'normal' day was tied to Murphy waking up bored too, but I sure felt this was a set-up against myself. I was calmly resting by the counter, enjoying half-a-nap when I opened my eyes at the noise of the door-bell ringing. I turned to see that someone had entered the shop. I quietly shifted back to the counter, my move catching the attention of two curious green eyes which were soon aimed at me.
"Good morning and welcome to Bookworms Associated, how may I help you?"
Standard procedure, the introduction was executed flawlessly and yet the possible client gave me a rather confused look. It definitely wasn't one driven by any mistake I could have made as I've been reciting this introduction for a while now and I could repeat it perfectly. No, her confusion must have been caused by something else. Something that saw the young woman approach and allow me to get a good look at her.
The lady was smashing in terms of frame and overall beauty. Her hourglass figure was accentuated by the lovely curves on both chest and child-bearing hips. One Gazelle Prime with a... fluffy tail. Maybe one of those 'hybrid' cases. She had shoulder-length dark hair which reminded me of a soft-spiked cloud with the way those were styled as. She was wearing a pink jacket over her white shirt, light-blue shorts were also matched by knee-long black stockings and pink sport-shoes.
"I-I'm sorry. Is this... Does Shin work here?"
Soft, quiet, a bit uneasy and... kind of adorable in her own way.
"Shin is the owner, but right now he is out due to family affairs," I replied, nodding at her question and seeing her quickly calm down before stopping a little closer to the counter.
"Thank you, I... Is he going to be out for long?"
Glancing down to my watch, I hummed as I thought back to the hours he would get back. Shin would return roughly around the end of the long shift, so around seven, and now we were close to lunchtime. That's about five hours at best.
"Possibly yes," I admitted truthfully. "Is there anything urgent that I can relay? I understand you're in a bit of a hurry."
"N-Not really. But I can't exactly wait for too long with my own things. I was just trying to get a surprise visit, I guess I didn't take into account him being busy elsewhere," She sheepishly admitted. "Still... I guess I can try and wait for his return?"
I thought about it, and I knew that it wasn't really going to do much to 'quicken up' his return.
"Miss, I'll be honest about this. I don't believe he will be back anytime soon."
"And I got that, but I just... Well, I don't know if I should say. It's a bit embarrassing," The young woman commented shyly. "I may have... cleared up my schedule for the next few hours. Just because I wanted to give this talk some time since the last time we saw each other was a year ago."
"Oh." That sounded like an awful amount of time between a seemingly good friendship. "I suppose you were... occupied?"
"I sing. And I used to have a career tied with a few concerts that took me all over the globe. Nothing too big but... yeah, I'm now trying to tone it down," She explained with a small smile. "Just a bit. I'm also opening a new business grounded in Prism."
"...You don't like the singing career that much, don't you?"
She frowned, "I just said I like singing."
"But you said nothing about the career. And I know enough to be aware that making a job out of this quality isn't a pleasant affair in the long run," I argued, gaining a curious look out of the Gazelle Prime. "Plus, you don't look like the usual 'fake' artist."
"Nope. This 'Hope' is as natural as she can get," She mirthfully replied. "By the way, I'm Hope."
"John."
Her lips twitched at the quick reply. "Nice to meet you, John. And, I want to say that I'm sorry if I sounded a bit stiff a while ago. It's been a while since I talked with a human. I don't mean no disrespect but... it was a bit of a surprise."
"Well, I'm surprised a Gazelle Prime has a fluffy tail."
The aforementioned extension from her rear shifted tensely at my words.
"Oh? You noticed?"
She looked surprised that I did, seemingly not expecting it to become the topic of this conversation.
"Why shouldn't I have? It's quite fluffy."
"And high-maintenance," Hope lamented quietly. "Still, John, I suppose you're happy with the job. I know for a fact Shin is an all-around good guy."
"Oh, that I agree wholeheartedly to," I answered mirthfully, gaining a happy smile from the girl and... we kept on chatting.
The conversation eventually kept on being as cordial as it started. She even picked a chair so we could share a decent discussion without her having to stand up for the time and I actually find that a pleasant circumstance. It definitely kept me entertained and amused over this character. The funniest bit was when it came to younger siblings. I discovered she had a younger sister- Like I did. And it became a matter to exalt the times where 'older siblings are the best'.
"And then she just started to bite at my arm, driving me to tears. I swear, she is a walking bite-machine."
"At least you got her to stop biting," I chuckled mirthfully at that tale. "My sister used to pick things and throw them at me. One time she threw a dinosaur toy at me and part of the scales got stuck on the back of my head."
Hope flinched at the story. "Ouch."
"It really hurt back then, and I sure didn't react nicely to that. It was a little bit before I finished Elementary school, so I was a bit of a brat myself and quick to get pissy."
"Who didn't even get that moment when they were kids, John. Don't paint yourself a victim, you drama queen."
I scoffed playfully, "I am not the one that wailed over cannon-balling into an ice cold swimming pool after confidently accepting that as a dare."
Instead of being offended by the throwback, she giggled.
"The water was horrible, you bastard. How about I throw some cold water right now and see how you react."
"Now, now, there is no need to destroy this fine library... even so, you would first have to find the means to do that."
"Is this a challenge, Johnny?" She inquired, narrowing her playful eyes at me. "Because I can still get you off-guard if you want."
"I didn't stutter, Hoppers. And I can assure you I will not underestimate your prank threat level."
"Fool!" The girl jokingly exclaimed, her smile widening as she was incredibly invested on this silly subject. "Before you know it, I will have you wrapped in my fingers and turn you into my toy to play with. In a totally non-sexual way."
"Wasn't expecting anything beyond that, princess."
"Gods no," Hope groaned at the new pet name I gave her. "Dad already calls me that too much. Call me something else. How about 'your majesty'?"
"Queenie?" I suggested and she almost fake-slapped my arm.
"Sthap, you jerk," Hope was giggling hysterically at this point, but she managed to sober up as soon as she got a quick look at her phone. "Fuck... I think we should wrap this talk up. Kind of got this thing to get done or my pretty butt is getting skinned. How about I call you later?"
"If you manage, sure. Don't make it a life mission."
"Oh, I will make it a life mission, buster," The girl proclaimed happily. "And I really hope you don't forget about your greatest hope… you hopeless moron!"
"Arrogance isn't your flavor, Hope."
Her smile exuded smugness and delight at that comment. "Oh! That's a new one. Still... Bye!"
"Bye."
As she left from the door waving back at me, I found myself once more alone and... to grasp at what just happened. I normally wasn't this socially-active and I definitely missed something. Glancing back at the watch, I realized that I skipped lunch... by three hours. I barely noticed how time had run this fast and... how amazing that chick is.
I was stunned, mostly because I never clicked so much with someone like this and I felt a bit distracted for the rest of the shift. I told Shin about what happened and he just mentioned that Hope was his first but also briefest girlfriend from college. He didn't say why they broke up, only that it wasn't anything big to ruin their friendship and that they just agreed to back down from that attempt at the same time. Still, as I retreated to my flat, waiting for her call, I couldn't help that the beautiful person that was Hope Ravenhurst was a bit more than just that.
After all, I saw her best. I surely didn't see her worst coming when her visits became more frequent and more centered around me.
AN
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