Alexia’s POV

I had barely managed to send Colin a quick reply, letting him know that I was in Japan and I wouldn’t be at school for the remainder of the week, before Lee dragged me off into the crowd of excited shoppers. 

It was a lot of fun; especially after the whole shrine thing went wrong. Lee appeared to have fun too, maybe even more fun than I did. 

He bought me a new dress yesterday, a simple rose dress that stopped at my knees and had floral patterns on it. 

I twirled in front of the mirror, my hair and makeup done, the rose dress simple yet flattering on my figure. Lee had convinced me that we should go out to a karaoke bar today as a date after he was finished with his morning meetings. 

“Lexi? You ready?” Lee’s voice carried through the door, and I gave one final look before exiting the room. 

“Yup.” 

Lee was doing something on his laptop, wearing a simple pair of khaki’s with a typical button down and blazer. As soon as he looked up however, his eyes widened, taking in my appearance. I fidgeted under his gaze. 

“Wow.. Lex, you look amazing.” 

My face bloomed into a smile, and I gingerly touched the curls of my hair. 

“You think so?” I mumbled. 

“Yeah, definitely. Now come on, the limo’s waiting downstairs.” Lee extended his arm out to me from where he had moved to the doorway, and I quickly made my way towards. 

I grabbed my black jacket and shoes, slipping both on as I walked with Lee down to the lobby and out of the hotel. 

I was a bit jittery ever since he mentioned the limo, and I felt a bit underdressed to be riding in one. I had always imagined the people in limos were always wearing suits and designer dresses that probably cost thousands of dollars. Not a fifty dollar dress that could be worn on an everyday basis. 

Although the ride was nice, when we got to the karaoke bar, I felt kind of agitated due to the number of people staring at the black limo pulling up. 

Lee got out, and offered his hand to me with a smile that any girl would swoon at. I took his hand, and he helped me out, before we walked inside, hand in hand. 

“Kushitsu matawa paburikku?” (Private room or public?) a lady in a kimono asked us when we entered. 

“Kokyo kudasai,” (public please) Lee answered, and in the meantime I was thoroughly confused. 

The lady nodded, motioning to a door. “Sugu soto o toshite.” (Right through there.)

“Arigato.” Lee took my hand, and lead me towards the door. We went in }} and immediately I saw that the room was bathed in a purple-y blue light, with everyone laughing and talking as someone sang up on a stage. The singer looked a bit tipsy, but still having a grand time under the spotlight they had places on him. 

We sat down at a table, our faces shadowed by the dim lighting of the bar. 

There was a touchscreen device on the table with all the food we could order programmed onto it with pictures. 

“What would you like?” Lee asked, tapping on the device as if this all came naturally to him. 

“Uhm, that looks good,” I said, pointing out what looked like miso soup and a platter of some sort of chicken dish. 

Lee nodded, and put our orders in. As soon as he hit another button, a message popped up that said, “Arigatogozaimasu! Go chumon ga oka rete imasu.” (Thank you! Your order has been placed.)

“The food should be here in a bit, why don’t we watch the people sing for a while?” he asked, eyes already trained onto the stage. 

I nodded, following his lead. 

Singer after singer went, and there was a screen showing us the lyrics. Luckily they had English subtitles written under the Japanese characters, so I had almost no trouble understanding what they were saying. 

Eventually our food came, and we ate, talking and laughing. 

“So,” Lee began, “you should go up there and sing a song.” He had this twinkle in his eyes, and I nearly snorted. I realized how un-lady like that would be around Lee, and how he’d disapprove. 

So covering it up with a cough, I replied in a teasing voice, “You first.” 

Lee was thoughtful for a moment, lips slightly pursed. Then his lips stretched wide in a smile, and he shrugged, discarding the napkin he had so carefully placed on his lap as he stood up. 

“Sure, why not.” 

Walking up to the guy managing the singers, they spoke for a bit before Lee pointed to a song in the book they kept. The man nodded, and Lee walked onto the stage as soon as the current singer was done. 

“Kore wa watashi no fianse, arekushia tame no monodesu.” (This is for my fiancé, Alexia) Lee pointed to me, and people clapped, whistles bursting through the crowd as everyone turned to look at me. 

I blushed nervously under everyone’s gaze, their eyes only being pulled away when Lee began to sing. 

“Soba ni itekureru, jyounetsu no sukima de sotto.” (Will you stay by my side) Of course, Lee had a great singing voice, capturing the audience’s attention immediately.

Recovering from my momentary embarrassment, I realized that I had missed a few lines. 

“My love,” Lee sang, and I felt the blush come back, full force. He looked at me while he sang, sending my heart thumping.

I almost felt as if my heart leapt out of my chest when I felt a sudden vibrating in my hands, and I jumped visibly. 

Then I wanted to face palm as I realized it was just my phone buzzing. 

I looked, and my smile grew bigger. It was from Colin. 

Colin: Alex, I miss you so much.

My phone buzzed again before I had a chance to reply. 

Colin: I wrote a poem for you in the time that we were supposed to study together

Colin: It goes

Colin: Wishing you were here

Colin: I miss you

Colin: Sitting in this chair

Colin: I need you

Colin: With your midnight hair

Colin: To hear your laugh

Colin: Nobody else could compare.

Colin: To see your smile.

Colin: I’m a fantastic poet I know (:

My cheeks were darker than dark at this point, and I couldn’t help the fluttering in my chest or the smile that dominated my features. 

He wasn’t actually bad, although he could use some work. 

I was about to reply, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. 

“So by the way you’re grinning like crazy and blushing, I’m assuming you enjoyed my performance?” 

Startled, I looked up to see Lee sitting down. He was done already? I must've missed it...

Covering up my surprise, I replied, “Uh, yeah, that’s totally it.”

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a bit shorter [okay a lot shorter] than my other chapters, but what could've been a better ending to this chapter? XD can anyone say awkward lol

has something similar ever happened to you?

and i know that karaoke bars in japan aren't actually like this, and i know that you get your own private room but i figured i'd model it after an american karaoke bar instead to make it more.. romantic? public? idk what the word it ._.