EHHHH EHHH EHHH my cellphone goes off with loud obnoxious alarm ring on the early Saturday morning. I slowly open my eyes and try to press on the snooze button without moving my body too much from its comfortable position. After what seems like an eternity, I finally touch the right part of the screen and my phone turns silent.
“What the heck was I doing setting the alarm at 6:45? Oh well, I’ll go back to sleep.” I mutter lazily.
*dun…
“Huh?”
*dun…
I could have sworn I put my phone on silent already.
*dun…
*dun…
*dun…
*ping…
My eyes open instinctively to the last one because that sounds like… a cracked window…?
And then it is as if everything is in slow motion. With a loud bang the window on the wall next to my bed shatters with force, and then as the curtain is being blown inward, thousands of deadly shards starts coming at my face.
“WUAHHHHH!”
I stumble out of the way in time to avoid all the glass and land hard on my butt on the ground next to the bed.
Eh? …. EHHHHHH? What is this!?
I slowly sit up and look out into the bright and early sun through the now broken window for an answer, and suddenly, something dark comes into view and approaching me at a high speed, blocks the light.
I flinch and right in the face I get taken down by something heavy. The back of my head hits the ground with a stud and I can feel something warm and soft on my face.
“Oww..”
I try to open my eyes to assess the situation but what appears in front of my eyes is a linear pattern of blue and white strips.
“Wait… this warmth…. This pattern… oi, don’t tell me…”
One name instantly pops into my mind, Aoi Tsubaki.
The person in question then removes herself from my face effortlessly. My neighbor, standing at 166 cm and with the measurements of 92-61-88 stares down at me with her cold eyes as if I'm worth less than the ground beneath her.
“Did you just figure out my identity by my underwear pattern? Just how low can you get? Despicable, Truly a pervert!”
“Hold on a second here… you broke my window, used me as a cushion to break your fall at an ungodly hour and the first thing you did was to call me out for being observant? If I have to…”
“You idiot! Why are you not dressed yet! You knew today was going to be an important day for me and you promised you would help me!!”
At least let me finish my sentence, woman. I narrow my eyes and sigh.
"Geez, would you calm down already? I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
I massage the back of my head from the impact earlier while stealing a look at her.
"I knew it." She narrow her eyes. "You good for nothing pervert have already forgotten about our promise and I was right about using alternative method of entry since you never pay attention to me!”
A vein on my head pops out of anger after hearing what she just said.
“Alternative method of entry!? Is that your fancier way of saying ‘breaking and entering’? My door is still partially broken from last time when you kicked it down!”
“You had that coming because you didn’t answer your door or your phone for 30 minutes!!”
“How is that any reason to kick down someone’s door!? Besides, you promised you’d pay for it, and before you do that you come and break the window too… Are you trying to make me homeless?”
“I told you I’d pay for it as soon as I have my royalties from my novels, right? Stop being so impatient?”
This woman… there really is no reasoning with her. I let go with my gritted teeth and try to calm down, at this rate we won’t get anywhere.
“Ok, whatever, so at least tell me what is this thing I was suppose to get dressed so early for?”
“Do you seriously not remember? Today is the summer CWT and you promised you’d help.”
Ah so that’s why I set my alarm early. Wait… if I remember correctly it doesn’t start until 9:30 though.
“Say… doesn’t your anime thing start pretty late? Why did you… AUGH!”
I try to calmly ask, but before I can finish my sentence I am interrupted again, this time by a powerful kick to the stomach.
"Listen up, pervert.” she points at me
“CWT is NOT just an ‘anime thing’. It's an important convention where artists gather to collaborate and sell their works. A loser such as yourself wouldn’t understand.”
Coming from a closet shut-in who sells her light novels under a pen name, you’re not being very convincing…
“Alright alright, I got it, I’m sorry for hurting your otaku pride with such belittling words.”
She drops her arm with a hmph at my words.
"Anyhow, You better get ready in 30 seconds and meet me in your living room, there are a lot of important preparations to be made. “
She turns to the door but stops in the doorway, and turns around.
“I’m going to make some coffee by the way, your coffee beans better not be stale.”
Then she slams the door behind her enough to shake everything in my room. I hear her angry footsteps echo from the floor as she walks to the living room/kitchen.
A hot summer morning breeze rolls in and hits me in the face, reminding me not only do I not have an A/C in this room, now my window is gone too...
-----------------
Fragrance of my most expensive coffee beans lingers in the air as I walk toward the living room from the hallway.
That devil women… how dare she drink my special beans that I had my uncle imported from Kobe.
There she is, sitting on my sofa, legs crossed like an elegant lady, sipping on my high quality coffee with her eyes closed. When I sit down on the sofa adjacent to her with a noise, she finally opens her eyes and she turns to me.
“It's about time, took you a total of 4 minutes and 35 seconds not including the time i walked here from your room. That's 4 minutes and 5 seconds late you pig.”
Eh?
I think about it for a second,
4 minutes? That doesn't even make sense. To grind the coffee beans and brew it using my hand drip coffee maker it would at least take about 13 minutes to do.
And that's when I smell it, the burnt smell of coffee mixed with iron…
*sizzle
I turn around toward the kitchen when a frozen expression… and there it is, a pot burning on my stove with lots of smoke coming out of it. No doubt she just threw the beans in and turned on the pot with water in it.
Wuahhhh
I rush over and turn off the stove, throw the blackened pot into the sink, and turn on the water to cool it down.
Meanwhile Tsubaki sighs with contentment and says
“Ah, the smell of coffee sure is nice when you drink tea to go with it.”
“HEY YOU! You burnt my best coffee just for the smell as you drink tea!? What kind of stu--”
“Stop playing around in the kitchen and come over to help me carry the boxes of books for the convention. We’ll figure out your punishment for being late another time.”
“Listen to me damn it! I'm trying to ta-”
*thud
My front door closes, leaving me the only person in the room, angry at thin air. Then my manly tears start rolling down my cheeks.
“What did I do in my past life to deserve this…”
My own voice echoes in the air as I remember the first time I met Aoi Tsubaki.
------
It hasn’t even been that long. Two to three weeks ago to be precise.
I was straight out of college and decided to move back to my hometown, but because both my parents moved abroad, a relative let me stay at their rundown apartment as long as I could keep the place clean. The place was so unbelievably old, and in need of repair, that the locals started spreading rumors about it being haunted and no one would rent it.
It was a Friday afternoon, I got out of the taxi with my two duffel bags of clothes and as I looked up at the apartment building, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad about this place I was going to call home. Even though it was a standalone two story building with a storage area on the first floor and the living area on the second, but because the buildings surrounding it were taller, more modern, and so much nicer, it made this place look haunted.
Is this place really safe…? Sigh… I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.
The apartment reeked of mold so the first thing I did was to open all of the windows. Then I headed to the smaller of the two rooms to begin unpacking. I picked this one instead of the master bedroom because it actually came with shelves on the wall and had wooden floor installed.
I can’t deal with the cold tile floor that the rest of the apartment has. Not to mention, the smaller room has a small balcony. Although I would have to climb out of the window to get to it.
I paused from opening a box and took a quick a break by sitting down in the middle of the room. I took a glance out the window and noticed it was already dark at 3 pm because of the building next door blocking the sun.
“That’s the city life for you. Huh?”
My thought was interrupted by the sight outside my window.
Since my room is so close to the apartment next door, If the curtain is not closed, you can see what your neighbor is doing. And it seemed like my neighbor had just entered her room.
This girl looked like she was around my age. She had long, straight aqua blue hair and from what I could see, she had an elegant air about her. On top of all that, she was easily one of the gorgeous girls I have ever seen.
“Hmm, definitely my type, uh I mean, I suppose I better go introduce myself.”
I climbed out of my room’s window onto the balcony and tried to casually wave at her, but her attention was devoted on something at the moment and she didn’t see me.
Is that a box? A package perhaps?
She opened the box and pulled the content out it in a hurry. A dress it seemed. Weird design though, it looked like something a princess would wear, but had some kind of armour plates all over the outside. She put the dress on the side and began taking off her shirt.
Hmm I guess she’s going to try her new dress on… wait WHAT!? Without pulling the curtain close, or checking to see if anyone is outside her window!?
A bead of sweat formed around my temple as I found myself not able to take my eyes off of her. It’s not like I wanted to keep peeking, but any man would have done the same. Her silky blue hair falling on her fair skin after the shirt has been lifted off her shoulders, the slight pinkish color of the bosom, and the bra which matched her hair color…
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
That’s gotta be at least a C cup, no a D, NO what am I thinking!? It’s definitely bigger than that! Damn it, what am I doing! I’m suppose to be a gentleman here and avert my eyes when a lady is changing. Wait not even that! I need to get out of here before she sees me!
I turned my back to her in a hurry and tried to climb back into my room, but that’s when I noticed something unfortunate.
Huh? Did I close my window when I came out?...
Huh…? Why is it locked?...
Huh…..?
Right on cue, the voice of my aunt started playing in my head:
“Oh yeah, since the house’s foundation is very old, the whole building is slightly tilted. So make sure you are careful when it comes to the sliding windows and doors. The windows slide down on their own and automatically lock. Your dumb uncle locked himself out on the balcony a few times and had to wait till I get home to save him. Hahahaha…”
This is bad… and I can’t even jump off because the first floor is surrounded by sharp fences. Guess I can only hope she doesn’t notice me here, she looked very focus anyways…
I turned around back toward her window and that hope was shattered. Because said person was looking straight at me with a shocked expression. Both of her arms were in the middle of pulling off her pants, barely just revealing her panties.
She calmly pulled her pants back up and opened the window. Then with a deep breath she asks with a shaky voice.
“How… much…?”
“Huh…?”
“How much... did you see…?”
“Uh… good afternoon. I’m sure as you can see, this is a misundersta...”
“I SAID HOW MUCH DID YOU SEE!???”
Unable to maintain her composure then she shouted at the top of her lungs with her eyes closed and her face in bright red.
“I’m so terribly sorry! Please forgive me! I only saw a glimpse of your bra and I swear I wasn’t mentally guessing how big your amazing boobs are! I’m truly sorry!” I shouted
Crap, I accidentally said too much, now I’m really done for.
“Not that you idiot! Did you see what I was pulling out of my box before I started changing?”
“Huh!? …. Uh… the dress with the weird armour plates on it?”
With her face turning even redder, she started stuttering under her breath
“Done… for… I’m done for… everything I’ve done up to this point.... My reputation…”
Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and she looked like she was ready to cry, leaving me completely confused and scared standing here.
“You stupid pervert! I’m going to sue you for being a peeping tom and attempting of sexual harass me!!”
She quickly closed her window and pulled the curtain over too before I could defend myself further.
Wait… at least come open my window for me...I’m still stuck out here...
I was finally rescued that night when my aunt came to check on me. And of course I left out the bit where I’m potentially going to be sued by the girl next door.
“Say aunt Stella, do you know what the neighbor is like on the other side of my room window?”
“Oh, you mean the household with the lime green curtains. Not much actually. When we lived here that person was never really home, we only saw lights behind the curtain once every few days.”
“Is that so…?” I looked down at my unfinished dinner. How could I eat at a time like this when something like that happened…
Guess the only thing to do now is to bring myself over and ask for her forgiveness.
-----
The next day I went over to the building next door to ask about the mysterious girl who lived across from me. Apparently none of her neighbors knew who she was either, so I gave up for the time being.
My chance came a few days later one night when I was out moving the trash bin after the trash truck came. There was a suspicious person walking down my street. This person had a brown hoodie over their head and was doing a really terrible job at not drawing attention to themselves.
“Good evening there, uh… can I help you?” I initiated the conversation.
But as soon as the hooded person noticed me, she quickly turned away, and answered in a harsh voice
“Non… none of your business. Pervert.”
“Eh?”
And that’s when I saw it, one strand of blue hair escaped the confinement of the hood for a brief moment when she was turning, but she quickly tucked it back in.
“Wait… you’re that girl!” I suddenly shouted upon realization.
She froze for a moment after hearing that, and started moving away again.
“I’m sorry for the other day! I didn’t mean to watch you change! I’ve been wanting to find you, but nobody knows who you are!”
This time she stopped for good, and when she turned to face me, her face was back to the tomato red that I last saw.
“Shhhhh!” she hissed “stop being so loud in the middle of the night! You trying to embarrass me in front of all of my neighbors!?”
“I just wanted to apologize for the other day that’s all” I lower my voice at her demand.
“ sigh… come inside my house, whatever. I give up, you already know. What’s the point?”
Eh? What is she talking about? Why do I feel like we’re still talking about two different things here. But at least she’s going to hear me out, maybe I won’t be sued after all…
------
My hands started to sweat as I was walking up the stairs behind her to her apartment.
Crap, this is going to be my very first time entering a girl’s apartment and I’m not mentally prepared for this. What kind of reaction should I have if there’s random bras or panties lying around the place? Should I act like I don’t see them or should I point them out? How does a girl’s place even smell like?
But when she opened her door all of my expectations went completely out the window.
You can’t really call this place an apartment. Sure it’s only a studio type so the space is supposed to be small, but there are just too many things in here. Boxes piled up in the kitchen where you would normally stand, posters all over the wall and ceiling, and a small table sits in the middle of the room. One wall is taken up by a rack full of bizarre looking clothes while the other three have shelves.
No sign of bras or panties… I sigh to myself disappointingly. What is this storage looking place...
“Have a seat here.” she gestures to the spaces next to the table. “Want something to drink?”
“Hmm… What do you have?”
“Coffee, tea, or water.”
“Water is fine.”
“Ok. I shall have myself some tea then.” she answers and turns to face the kitchen counter which has a coffee maker and water boiler.
I took the chance and started looking at my surroundings a little bit more.
So she’s a reader huh...
I scooted over to the bottom shelf to get a better look at some of the titles of the books there.
Let’s see… “Harem online”, “no date no live”, “God’s curse on this despicable world”… strange names.
“HEY YOU!” she suddenly shouted and I jumped at her words
“Woah!” I turned and she’s staring at me with that embarrassed expression again
“I didn’t say you could go through my collection like that. Just sit and wait for your water.”
“Uh… sorry.” I answered and lowered my head.
Almost forgot I’m here to apologize. Better not get on her bad side now.
And then I tried to not say anything and just sat there in silence for the next five minutes. But it was getting too quiet so I try to make small talk.
“Uh… ahem… so… What’s your name?”
“Aoi Tsubaki.”
“Ah, is that so…”
“Yeah.”
“My name is Kon Chuji."
“Hmm.”
“...so... Aoi-san, ”
“Yeah?”
“How was your day?”
“...good.”
“Ah… I see…”
“...”
“...”
I tried… I really tried… but I’m not good with making small talk!
Good thing by that point she was done with the tea and sat down in front of me and pushes the cup of water in front of me.
“So… you were saying about an apology?”
“Yes! I’m truly sorry for what happened last time! And I’ll do anything to make up for it”
I got on my feet and bow to show my sincerity and continue without raising my head.
“I wanted to come say hi when I saw you since I just moved in next door and well… I didn’t notice you were about to change, and then I got locked outside so I couldn’t go back in… I wasn’t trying to sneak a peek at your body!”
And then what happened next made no sense at all...
“HUH!?” She demanded. “Stop joking around, you stupid pervert. No way you came all the way here to apologize over such a trivial thing. I’m sure you’re forgetting something else, aren’t you?”
Eh?
“Uh… Aoi-san… I’m not sure I know what you’re trying to say…”
“Really? Then let me entertain you with my idea, shall I?”
“Uh.. ok.”
“You saw what I was changing into, did you not?”
“Yes…”
“And now you’ve seen my room. And all of my collections.”
“Uh huh..”
“So..? Let’s hear it.”
My mind was completely blank at that comment. What was I supposed to say here?
“I’m sorry about your hobby?”
Her tighten face showed that it’s not the answer she wanted to hear.
“So not only do you refuse to apologize, you are purposely dancing around with your words so you can judge me even more as an otaku!”
Wait… otaku? Like those shut-in people who read comic books and watch anime all day?
Pieces of puzzles finally started falling into place as I realized this woman in front of me was embarrassed about me finding out her hidden hobbies and not because of her changing…
“O..of course not! You have it all wrong! I actually have no idea how an otaku looks like and so until now I had no idea that’s what you were! Ha.. ha..”
Her face changed from an angry one to a confused one.
“Eh..? but impossible. Who doesn’t recognize the infamous armour dress of Rapier. You are mocking me still, aren’t you?”
“I swear! I don’t know a single thing about your kind or what you like!”
“Your kind!?” What do you mean by your kind?”
Oh crap, I’m making this worse… I need to do something.
“Uh.. What I meant was, it’s all very interesting, your kind of hobby. I’ve always wanted to learn more about it, but I never had a chance, so that’s why I don’t know how to address it.”
Her face again changed from anger to uncertainty.
“Is that so…?...”
Yes It’s working! I need to keep going!
“Yes yes! I’m very curious so that’s why when I saw you with the dress I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
She listened to my sentence carefully and started talking under her breath..
“Hmm..so it doesn’t really count then… maybe I can… huh.. “
And then with a “hmph”, Aoi turned her face away from where I could see and says
“Well… I guess it can’t be helped then. Since you didn’t mean it.”
“Thank you! I really didn’t mean it! All of it!”
“Then… I guess it also can’t be help that I must educate you about my culture so you don’t get the wrong idea again.”
“Yes, yes, yes please teach me all abou… wait what!?”
“Well you said it yourself right? You wanted to learn about being an otaku?”
“Uh well…”
“Or did you lie to me so you can secretly judge me?”
“Nope! No a chance! Haha you’re totally right. Teach me!”
Crap crap crap crap crap crap what am I saying!? I was soooo close to getting off the hook.
“Well… ahem… if you insist, then. Just remember, I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for the greater good of all otakus, so that one less person will misunderstand us.”
I honestly couldn’t care less about the greater good of otakus… I just want to make sure this whole thing ends peacefully. Is there no other way out of this…?
“Say…Aoi-san, it sure is getting late haha… How about we can start this otaku education another day? I’m sure you need to get up early for work tomorrow as well, right?”
“Huh, day job? Uh yeah I guess so… well then we shall start tomorrow night!”
My face turns green at the suggestion… this is not what I signed up for…
----
I went through my next day like every other day: Got up at 6 am, get to work, delivered pizzas on my bike, ate lunch, delivered more pizzas… so by the time I was home of course I was dead tired and just wanted to go to bed. Except when I got home, The blue haired girl was waiting for me outside my own apartment.
The dimmed street light, the locked door, and the beautiful girl leaning against the wall waiting for the owner to return while resting her chin on her chest, and her eyes closed. This would have been such a wonderful sight for any guy, Except I know why she’s here.
*sigh*
“Good evening, Aoi-san.”
“Ah, pervert, there you are. You know… I’ve been waiting for quite some time now…”
“Well nothing I can do about that. I deliver pizzas for a living, and we always close around 10 pm or later.”
“Sounds like a drag… anyways let’s go. The night is still young and you’ve got a lot to learn.”
She starts walking towards her building and expects me to follow.
I suppose I’ll humor her tonight, and make sure I say no to any further “lessons”. I decide, then I left my bike on the side of my building and walk after her.
We arrived at her apartment and I sat down at the same place as yesterday while she looked for something in the big pile of boxes in the kitchen.
“Hmm… I thought I left some extras here somewhere… ah ha, here it is!”
She brought over a small box, put it on the table and opened it. I leaned forward and I realize the box was filled with books. Aoi Tsubaki neatly set a few books aside and closed the box.
Turning to me, she said
“This shall be your first assignment, to read through these novels that is. And since these are extras that I keep, don’t worry about returning them.”
“Um… ok so you want me to join your book club or something?”
“No idiot, these are not just regular books. They are called light novels. Also you need to change your condescending tone.”
And you need to learn to not call people you just met random insults…
But some to think of it, light novels… I’ve heard of them. There’s usually a small section in the bookstore with them. But I thought they were just books for kids because they always had cartoon illustration on the cover.
“Light novels are like teen fiction right?”
“Wrong again. The word ‘light’ means it is easier to read, so the literature is not as strict and it allows people who are younger in age to read it, but many of them contains 18+ content, so it’s not always suitable for teens. Besides, it’s heavily influenced by Japanese culture so it’s pretty much a genre on its own.”
Surprisingly, when she talked about this kind of stuff, her tone of voice completely changed. It’s like she’s a different person…
“So why show me books? I thought the center of all things otaku are the cartoon shows that you watch.”
But then that’s when I realized I probably said a trigger word. Because the air of the room suddenly changed, and Aoi Tsubaki was replaced by a demon.
“Don’t… you… dare… call… them… cartoons...again…”
“Eh..?”
She stood up, and circled around the desk toward me. I backed up instinctively until I hit the bookshelf behind me and had nowhere to go. I could feel cold sweat dripping down my face, I mean why wouldn’t it, I was literally staring death in the face.
This is bad… I have to do something…
Just then, a book caught the corner of my eye, and I turned to quickly grab it. I held it up in front of me like a shield.
“Look… look here, isn’t this a tv show? Why is it also a novel? That’s what I was trying to ask…”
That question froze my assailer and she stopped to answer it normally.
“Oh that? I was about to explain it.”
Oh, thank you, it looks like she’s back to teacher mode…
She took the book from my hand and pointed at the bottom part of the front cover where there is a sleeve. On the sleeve it reads: “Animated adaptation confirmed! Begin airing in April”
“Ohh… so that’s how it is.”
“That’s right. Because of your lack of knowledge, you didn’t realize that most popular anime tv shows actually came from light novels. Not the other way around.”
So she uses the word anime instead of cartoon… I guess I’ll have to remember that so I don’t offend her again next time
“And the reason you’re showing me those books?”
“Well… since the ideas and the stories originally come from light novels, I figured this would be the best way to get started. For your to familiarize yourself with the culture by understanding the process of making it happen!”
Oh? It looks like she really has put a lot of thoughts into this.
“I see…”
“That’s right. And What better way to do that then to read a few stories?”
“I can see that…”
“Yeah, and also, to understand the process, watching a novelist make it happen is the best way right?”
“I suppose you’re right about that…?”
“Then it is decided! You’ll be my assistant!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
"Oh right, I haven’t gotten a chance to introduce myself properly. Aoi Tsubaki is not my real name, but my pen name. I am a doujinshi author.”
She put on a proud smile and let out a “hmph”, clearly expecting me to be impressed.
“I’ve heard of that word. That means you’re self-published right? Doesn’t that mean you’re not very well recognized?” I try to hide the disappointment in my words, but it’s just not possible.
I could tell she was not too happy about it either after what I said, but because she was still in her teaching mode, she just kept talking.
“Although it is true that doujinshi are self-published, more famous authors still have pretty big fan bases and they are sometimes regarded as celebrities.”
“Hmm I suppose that makes sense. Oh! Question.”
“Yes?”
“From what I’ve heard, don’t doujinshi usually get produced by groups of people instead of just one person?”
“Yes that is usually the case, especially if it’s drawn and not written. They are called circles.”
“Um… ok well then don’t you already have your circle to help? Why me too?”
This time her face took the shade of purple, almost blue immediately, her mouth stuck in an awkward half-opened position and she let out a nervous chuckle.
“Uh...heh heh.. Well.. that’s because I’d like to keep my writing hobby a secret so I couldn’t possibly ask any of the people I know for help.”
eh?
“Wait… exactly how many people know who you are and your identity as a writer?”
“Well, nobody. But now that I’ve introduced myself to you as such, you’re the only one.”
“...... Could it be that underneath the high and mighty attitude of yours, you’re actually embarrassed about being an Otaku, to the point that you’ve told no one about it?”
Sitting before me, Aoi Tsubaki lowered her head and answered in the smallest voice I’ve heard since I’ve known her up to this point.
“It’s not that I’m embarrassed, it’s just I know my family and friends wouldn’t approve of it, that’s why I went through the trouble to rent this place out only to keep my costumes and my books and all the other stuff. I even picked a location where I know the next door place is an empty, rundown place so I don’t have to be worried about being seen… and then you came along…”
*sigh* this girl… so that’s why she made such a big deal out of our first meeting. Judging from her demeanor and her looks, it’s no wonder if words get out about her hobby, her reputation would take a hit. I guess I had it all wrong when I thought she was just a bossy angry girl who always has to have her way.
Or so I thought…
She stood up once more and looked down on me suddenly with a renewed expression.
“Anyways… Now that you’re in on the secret and you’ve violated my privacy doing it, you’re going to be my accomplice and attend to my every need, which includes being my assistant!”
!!!
“Hold up here, I’ll agree that keeping your secret is reasonable, but I never agreed to be your assistant!”
“Well then who was it that said ‘I’ll do anything to make up for it’?”
“Did I really say that!?”
“Yeah, like literally only 7 pages ago when you were apologizing to me.”
“Huh.?”
“Nevermind that. The point is you’re going to help me or I’m going to sue you for peeping.”
This woman...I was definitely wrong about her…
“I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I? This is what I get for trying to be a good neighbor. Seriously…”
I got up out of my seat too and extended my hand out toward her.
“In any case, nice meeting you neighbor, let’s do our best together.”
She froze for a second, then smiled and took my hand.
“Aye, let’s do our best!”
At that moment, all I could think of was how I was probably never going to understand this girl. And I was right…