Chapter 50: 50 – Cover your tracks, John!

John cautiously left his Heavenly Realm and reappeared in his apartment. As he did, he carefully took a look around, casting diagnostic spells on his karma and the surroundings.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he let out a sigh and relaxed. "Finally."

It seemed like things would settle down for once now that he had everything sorted out.

...Well, there were still those stray karmic threads scattered about, but John could deal with those when they came up. At the least he wouldn't be dealing with a dozen women trying to either get him to be their lover, adoptive father, or older brother.

He hoped.

John quickly knocked on his wooden table for good luck and then surveyed his apartment.

Since he had left it for a week and pretty much forgot he even had one, the place was dusty. It seemed like no one had complained or anything though- Ah, that was a lie. There was a note by the door, probably slid underneath by a neighbor.

John flicked his wrist, cleaning his apartment and then summoning the note into his hand. A quick scan showed the usual complaints. Apparently they thought he was making too much noise... which was ridiculous considering he wasn't even home for the past week.

"Always blame the foreigner, huh?" John muttered, remembering the days back in the Three Realms where his appearance caused him trouble too.

He shrugged and got rid of the note. If it got to be an actual issue, he'd resolve it then. For now though...

"Let's see." John muttered and then pulled out his phone to check the time. "It's past noon and Rin's not streaming right now- Ah, she already streamed. Gotta remember to clip and translate that privated archive later."

And that reminded him that he should probably check his email too. Considering how much of a splash Hana made, there would probably be local news outlets or something reaching out to him since everything was under his name.

But that was a future John problem. Right now...

"I should probably grab the girls some treats."

John muttered and then walked over to his door, lost in thought.

Alphy definitely could use some warm hot cocoa to cheer her up. Betty had done a lot of work, so he should probably grab her another order of her favorite caffeinated beverage. And something for Rin would be good too... probably something with caramel. That seemed like something she would appreciate.

John opened the door and walked out. At that moment, someone bumped into him. A woman with bright eyes and wavy shoulder-length black hair. Her bangs were in a casual side-part and a few strands were sticking out of place. She wore a form-fitting skirt, revealing a developed body, but she also had on a white lab coat- No, a doctor's coat. She wore a white doctor's coat that prevented the outfit from being too lewd.

"Oh my!" The woman staggered back and the responded in English. "My apologies."

John froze, realizing what he had just done, and then he groaned.

"S-Sir?"

John shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. Have a good day." Saying that, he quickly walked back inside his apartment and shut the door, locking it.

He could sense the woman outside was befuddled by his actions, but she quickly went on her way.

When she did, John sighed and muttered, "Gotta be more careful, John. Karmic protections don't mean anything if you go out of your way to sow karma in the first place..."

Thankfully he didn't let the encounter with that woman turn into anything more than a random coincidence, but he'd have to be more careful in the future.

This time, instead of walking out of his apartment, John changed his clothes and warped down, ducking into a side alley. After that, he started walking to the nearest Starbox.

A peaceful and uninterrupted trip.

There were people out enjoying the freshly fallen snow... a lot of couples as well, walking hand in hand.

And, as always, John drew attention, even from those couples.

As he walked past, the guys moved a little closer to their girlfriends. At the same time, the girls turned slightly more in his direction, their gazes lingering.

Seeing that, John hunched over, lowering his gaze. To avoid attention, he was even dressed casually. A plain black hoodie, jeans, sneakers... But apparently he stuck out even then.

"...Maybe I should have waited a bit for Yue to be ready too before coming here."

If he had his wife with him, he could at least deflect a bit of the attention.

Though he didn't know how he'd feel if guys started coming up to her and trying to flirt... It'd end poorly.

For him. Mostly because he'd have to clean up the mess when Yue chewed them out and shattered their fragile egos.

At that time, John sighed. "Dammit. It hasn't even been a month yet."

He wanted to get some time to himself, enjoy his old habits, live the proper single bachelor life on Earth for a while before settling in.

But seeing those couples around-

"Wait." John narrowed his eyes and then quickly cast a karmic shielding spell and muttered an anti-charm sutra. Almost immediately, he heard something shatter and then his head cleared.

"...She's improving scarily fast."

While it wasn't like his feelings were a lie, they had definitely been magnified. It seemed like Wifey was getting remarkably better and accurate in her casting.

Which probably meant that she was even more upset than he thought she'd be. That particular spell that was just cast on John used the caster's own emotions to try and influence the target's emotions. Since he was almost swept up in the moment, she definitely felt lonely and upset.

"...I'll worry about that later." John decided to quietly set that minor pang of guilt aside and keep walking.

People kept staring at John as he passed, but perhaps sensing his mood the gazes didn't linger.

And then he arrived at Starbox.

John made his way over, reaching out to open the glass door. But before he could, a middle-aged man walked out.

John quickly stepped back and lowered his head. "My bad."

"Hm?" The middle-aged man looked over at John and then smiled. "Mister Smith? What a coincidence to meet you here."

John blinked, wondering who the man was. It wasn't Kai, and it wasn't Minato. But then the only other older gentleman he'd come across was... "Officer Kimura?"

"Please, call me Takashi. I'm off duty today, so let's not confuse anyone, shall we?" Officer Kimura- Or rather, Takashi smiled and walked over to the sidewalk, away from the entrance.

Like the other people walking around, Takashi was wearing a coat. It was a dark olive green, almost military color, and he wore dark gray pants with matching boots. A functional outfit, topped off with a gray scarf.

John smiled. "Then you can just call me John. But it really is a coincidence, huh?"

Or so he said. But it seemed like he was eating his words again about accepting karma and its consequences, huh...?

Takashi nodded. "Indeed. But how have you been?" He tucked his hands into his coat pockets and said, "Has settling back into Japan gone well? I presume that you managed to find a proper apartment if you are still here."

John nodded. "I didn't use the exact agency you referred, but I managed to meet the right people as a result. Things are actually going well now and I'm getting my business off the ground here too."

"That's wonderful to hear." Takashi smiled, genuinely happy for John. "It's good to see the youth working hard and living well."

John chuckled. "I don't know about living well..."

After all, flags kept popping up everywhere to stop him from just taking it easy.

"...But I am indeed working hard."

"Well," Takashi said. "Remember to take breaks. Ah, and do you still have my contact information? We should-"

The door to Starbox opened again, letting a small chime ring, and then a teenaged girl walked out.

Red-rimmed glasses framed calm brown eyes and an aloof face. Her hair was long, a pure black color that was almost blue, and she had straight bangs cut just above her eyes.

In short, a smart looking girl that was a cool beauty, emphasized by her dark blue coat and blue jeans.

She glanced at John briefly but quickly turned to Takashi and held up a drink tray. On that, there was a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a pure black French roast. "Papa. I got it."

"Oh." Takashi turned around and let out an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Chi-chan. I forgot to help you carry the drinks."

The girl, Chi-chan, shook her head. "It's fine. Shu-senpai gave me a drink holder." Saying that, she pulled out the French roast and plopped a straw in it before handing the tray over to her father.

Takashi took it and then pulled out the hot chocolate.

Seeing that, Chi-chan reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, idly tapping away at its screen.

Takashi sighed, tucking the drink tray under his arm. After that, he turned to John and said, "Don't mind her. Chi-chan- That is, my daughter Chihiro, isn't too good with strangers."

John shifted his gaze away from the girl and nodded. "I know how that is. My daughters are the same."

Though that was mostly because they were beautiful enough to literally and figuratively start cosmic wars vying for their hands...

Except for Omega. His youngest daughter was a bit too much like her dearest mother in that regard and let her fists do the talking far too often.

"Oh?" Takashi blinked and then said, "You have children, John? I was under the impression that you were quite young..." He frowned.

John suddenly remembered his half-baked story that he made up on the fly before, mostly about him getting citizenship at 25 and then heading overseas... Thankfully he didn't mention how long he was overseas.

He laughed and said, "I'm flattered that you got that impression, Takashi, but I'm actually older than I look. I have a few daughters around your own daughter's age, actually."

Well, in terms of appearance at least.

Takashi's eyes widened and then he chuckled. "You've aged quite well then, John." He sighed and then rolled his shoulder, wincing. "If only this old man did the same..."

"Anyway." John stepped towards the door and said, "I should get going. I'm here to grab some drinks and pastries for my daughters actually, so I shouldn't stay too long."

...Because knowing his luck recently, something would happen and lead the officer to start investigating John's background.

"Ah." Takashi let out a knowing smile. "Running errands, I see. Well, don't let me keep you." He bowed and said, "Stay well, John. And let's share a drink some time."

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"Will do!" John waved and said, "Take care, Takashi! Chihiro-chan!"

The officer waved and his daughter gave a short nod of acknowledgement before the pair walked off.

John let out a sigh of relief at having dodged that particular bullet and then walked into the Starbox cafe.

A soft chime signaled his entrance. Shortly after, a bright and wavering voice called out. "What can I- Ah!"

John looked at the speaker.

Another teenaged girl, but older. From a casual glance, John guessed she was around... eighteen? The upper end of high school at least.

Her hair was cropped short, tomboyish, and she was also fairly muscular, revealing that she trained quite a bit.

But at the moment, she was wearing the typical Starbox uniform and manning the counter... and apparently everything else too considering how empty the place was.

The girl coughed and then said in English, "Mister! You want what?! Tell me, I give!"

John chuckled at the awkward but cute English as he walked forward. "I appreciate the effort, but Japanese is fine."

"Oh." The girl seemed a bit disappointed. "I wanted to practice my English... But okay!" She smiled and said, "What would you like, Mister?"

John glanced at the menu and said, "Two caramel frappuccino, a mocha, and a hot cocoa." He glanced at the pastries on display in the glass countertop and said, "Also some cake pops if you don't mind."

"Hai!" The girl gave an energetic response and then walked off to prep the orders.

Seeing her do that by herself, John rubbed his neck and said, "Sorry to be a bother. You were probably expecting a slow day and then I come here with all of these drink orders..."

"No, no!" The girl... Ah, it seemed that her name was Shu from her nametag. Anyway, Shu shook her head while she ground up coffee beans and said, "I like keeping busy. It makes me feel like I'm earning my salary instead of just getting a handout."

"Mm. Can't say I completely relate..."

After all, John would rather just laze away and play games instead of deal with the mayhem that seemed to keep flying his way.

"...But that's a good mindset to have."

Shu smiled, prepping three coffee grinders and then reached into the fridge to pull out a gallon of milk. "Where are you from, Mister? Your Japanese is really good!"

"Oh... Here and there." John gave an evasive answer to not get too involved. "And you tend to pick up languages while traveling, you know?"

Shu set up the hot cocoa ingredients and then opened the glass countertop while waiting for the other drinks to prep. "That's amazing! I traveled overseas too, but I only remember basic English." She laughed and then put on a plastic glove. "How many cake pops did you want?"

John glanced at the half-dozen sitting there and said, "Just give me all of them."

"Okay!" Shu picked them up and then neatly tucked them away in a box, placing it on the countertop. When she did, the coffee grinders clicked, so she went back to finish making the other drinks.

Seeing that, John took a look around. "You know, for a Starbox, it's surprisingly empty today. Is it always like this on the weekends?"

He remembered it being packed when he grabbed Betty's order yesterday.

Shu poured the first caramel frappucino into a cup and said, "It's not. And I usually have other people working with me too, but they ditched today."

"Hm?" John glanced over and said, "For what?"

Shu shrugged and poured out the second caramel frappucino. "Beats me! I think they said something about watching something on UTube... A girl?"

John froze and then carefully said, "It wouldn't happen to be Hana Homura, would it?"

"Ah!" Shu placed the cup down and then smacked her right fist into her open palm. "That's the one! They said that an amazing new streamer was going to do an unarchived karaoke stream so they wanted to watch it."

"I-Is that so...?"

Shu shook her head and said, "I don't get why it's enough to miss work... but I'm getting more hours, so I won't complain. Ah, and is this fine, Mister? I forgot to ask..."

John looked at the cups, filled to the brim with whipped cream, and then nodded. "That's good."

"It's a bit messy, but if you want a replacement-"

John smiled. "It's fine. My daughters like sweets anyway."

Well, Betty did. He wasn't sure about Alphy, but he was sure that the hot cocoa would do her good. And Rin would appreciate a caramel frappucino... probably.

Shu sighed. "That's a relief- Wait!" Her eyes widened and she pointed at John. "You're old enough to have daughters that drink coffee?!"

John chuckled. "I'd be an irresponsible father if I was letting primary school students drink coffee, so yes?"

"Wow. You're amazing."

A shift in atmosphere.

John's protective spells fired, warning him that he was raising affection points at a rapid speed.

Realizing that, he quickly coughed and said, "About the payment..."

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to keep you."

"It's fine."

Shu placed the drinks on a tray and then put them next to the box of cake pops. After that, she went to the register and started typing in the items. "Two caramel frappuccino, one mocha, one hot cocoa... and six cake pops." Shu looked up at John and said, "Are you paying in cash or-"

"Credit, please."

Shu nodded and typed on the register before sliding over the card reader. "Here you are, Mister. Just follow the steps and tell me if you need help."

"Mm." John nodded and pulled out his bank card... or rather, the bank card that Betty handily prepared for him earlier. He placed it in the chip reader and then followed the prompts on screen. The amount didn't matter, so he didn't pay much attention to it. But when it came to the tip, he paused.

"Is something wrong, Mister?" Shu tilted her head.

"No, but... Hm."

A dilemma.

Shu seemed to be a nice girl. Not only that, but she was hard working too, sticking around while all of her co-workers bailed to watch Hana's... or rather, Rin's stream.

Which meant that, according to what he read about karma earlier, he'd be compensating for that in some matter for the inconvenience in the near future.

Unless he settled it upfront.

"...Ten times should be enough, right?" John muttered.

"Mister?" Shu blinked.

"Nothing." John typed in the custom tip amount and then typed out 1000 in the custom percentage amount.

The card beeped and then John pulled it out.

Shu glanced at him and said, "Do you want a receipt, Mister?"

John waved. "That's fine." He picked up the drink tray and cake pops before turning around. "Have a good day."

"You too, Mister!"

John pushed open the door and walked out. As he did, since there was no one around and he didn't sense any surveillance, digital or otherwise, he immediately warped back.

-----AI|IA-----

After John left, Shu went to clear the register for the next order. Tapping a button, the receipt for John's order printed out.

Shu ripped it out to toss it away, but then she got curious about whether or not he tipped her.

He seemed fairly nice, better than most other foreigners, so he wouldn't have given her nothing, right? It'd be great to have a little more to help the bills after her house burned down.

Shu scanned the receipt.

John Smith... that seemed to be the man's name. The four drinks, the six cake pops. And then in the part where it listed the tip...

"E-Eh?!"

The number was off.

"O-Oi. Th-This number..."

It wasn't 10%. It wasn't 100%. It was 1000%. Ten times the order amount.

And considering that his order was around 3700 yen...

"37000 yen!?"

That was a whole week's worth of work!

Shu quickly pulled up the counter and ran out after the man. "M-Mister! I think you made a mistake!"

Shu opened the door, expecting to catch the man before he got too far...

But he was gone.

Almost like a ghost- No, exactly like a ghost. Because while there were footprints coming into the store and a fresh pair stepping out... they stopped. Like the man vanished into thin air.

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