Class had finally ended after the longest, most boring school day in history, and Sarie was ecstatic to leave. She was planning to meet her friend after school because the two of them were to go out together, this particular day being Friday. She leaned up against a wall outside of her school, fiddling with a strap on her side bag and twirling her reddish hair.
"Where is that girl?" she asked herself impatiently. As a breeze blew by, she instinctively pulled down on the skirt of the uniform she hated so dearly and sighed in anger. Then she looked up to finally see her friend frantically running towards her.
No no no, I'm late again! Sayomi thought as she sprinted towards the meet up spot. She had gotten distracted and completely forgot they were meeting up today, she saw her teacher carrying a large pile of books and wanted to help out. She always did stuff like this hopefully Sarie will understand, you're only a few minutes late.
Sarie shook her head, disappointed, as Sayomi stood panting in front of her, unable to speak. Sarie pointed at her watch.
"Do I NEED to tell you how late you are, or can we just get going to the... wherever we're going first?"
"Jus-" Sayomi paused take a big breath "Skip it." She brought her hands up and started fixing her long braid, it always got all tangled up if she ran too far. Easily fixed though.
Sarie rolled her eyes playfully and sighed. As soon as her friend finished fixing up her hair, the two began walking towards the bus station.
"Hey, so, where did you want to go first when we get to the mall... the bookstore or the music store? Wait- actually, let's go to the bookstore, I need to double check if my club can still use the space for our presentation on Sunday."
"Oh yes that sounds good, I've been wanting some new books to read anyway I've been reading the same ones over and over." Sayomi linked her arm with Sarie's "You know, I don't know why but I have a feeling today's gonna be a good day!"
The two friends happily walked to the bus stop, making it right on time, which was not usually something that happened for the two when they went on outings together. The bus was nearly empty, too, which meant the two friends could talk loudly without feeling the guilt of being obnoxious in a large crowd. Everything DID seem to be going wonderfully on this particular day, despite the boring times had at school earlier.
When they finally reached the mall, Sarie and Sayomi went straight to the bookstore. The two gazed around, never quite finished being amazed at how large of a selection was at the bookstore in the mall of all places. Suddenly, though, Sarie pointed at a particularly familiar young man who appeared to be looking over a comic book.
"Hey, Sayomi," Sarie teases, nudging her friend with her elbow. "I can see a 'selection' you might like over there, why don't you go check it out?" The boy happened to be a schoolmate, Hiroku Shirokawa, of whom Sarie enjoyed teasing Sayomi about, only after witnessing one miniscule incident. "While you do that, I'll go talk to the manager real quick." she said while giving her friend a light shove.
Sayomi blushed when Sarie pointed out Hiroku, "W-wait you don't expect me to go alone with you, do you?" She got her answer when Sarie walked away with a sly smile. Sayomi sighed before walking over to the manga section and picking up a random one, only to quickly throw it down when she realized it was a hentai manga. She heard Hiroku let out a small laugh, "I don't think that's what you're looking for,"
"I-I didn't mean to pick it up, the cover didn't look bad!" Sayomi's face got even redder and she backed away from the section.
Hiroku laughed. The two had talked a little bit at school, but were only friendly acquaintances. The teen picked the manga off the floor and quickly put it back on the shelf, hiding it behind some other books.
"You know, that's not even supposed to be here, it should really be in the 18+ section. Think someone's sneaking 18+ stuff back here for some minor to read?" He snickered at his own theory, then picked up a much more innocent looking volume. "Here, you should read this, I don't know if you're into the fantasy genre but I thought it was really good." He held it out generously to the shying away girl.
"Excuse me, miss, My name is Sarie Murasaki, I was wanting to make a confirmation on the use of your facilities for my club's presentation on Sunday? Oh, and it's the Club for the Protection of the Arctic Wilderness. CPAW, or Club PAW. You know, like a polar bear's paw? Hehe..." Sarie struggled to talk to the manager, having a serious problem talking to any adult around the age of 20. If they were in any older range, however, she was fine.
"Oh... hold on, let me check." the cashier replied, beginning to type into a keyboard. "Uhh, sorry, but it's been canceled. You should've received a cancellation text from... someone..." The girl was obviously distracted by whatever was on the computer monitor. Sarie felt a ping of distress.
"But, uh, miss, I don't even have a cell phone, I was told that I would receive an email if something went wrong! I mean, uh..." Sarie sighed. She knew it wasn't normal for someone her age to not have a cell phone, but pay phones were still widely available in her town, so her mom always made sure she carried change with her. Sayomi was always with her as well, and she had a cell phone. "Yes, thank you. I understand." She turned to leave the counter and see what her friend was up to with Hiroku.
"Oh," Sayomi giggle taking the manga and flipping through it. "Yeah, sure it looks really cool!" She turned to see if Sarie had finished her business with the manager to find her peeking at her from behind the counter. She smiled at sight then turned back to Hiroku "Would you like to hang out with me and Sarie for a while? We would love you're company!"
"Sure, why not?" Hiroku said happily, walking over to Sarie with Sayomi. Sarie looked up suspiciously at the two as the approached.
"Picked up a little companion on the way, I see?" Sarie asked her slightly blushing friend.
"It's just for a bit, hope you don't mind, Murasaki-san." Sarie nodded, then looked around for a moment.
"You know... I don't really need anything here. Could we just go to the food court? I'm kind of hungry..."
"Alright! I have a manga to purchase before we go though," Sayomi held up the book, then looked over to Sarie "You alright? You seem a bit off, are they going to let you use the space for club?" Sayomi asked her while walking to the counter.
"Oh... no, they said we can't use it... but o-oh well, it's fine, we can hold a seminar some other time..." Her words drifted off as she gazed to the side, walking beside her friend as she re-approached the counter to pay for her book. When she was finished, the three left to head for the food court. "Hey, I'm going to head to the bakery, you guys coming or you going to go elsewhere?" Hiroku shrugged.
"Whatever's good with you guys. I don't really have a preference." He turned to Sayomi. "How about you?"
"Oh... no, they said we can't use it... but o-oh well, it's fine, we can hold a seminar some other time..." Her words drifted off as she gazed to the side, walking beside her friend as she re-approached the counter to pay for her book. When she was finished, the three left to head for the food court. "Hey, I'm going to head to the bakery, you guys coming or you going to go elsewhere?" Hiroku shrugged.
"Whatever's good with you guys. I don't really have a preference." He turned to Sayomi. "How about you?"
When the three reached the bakery, they picked out their assorted treats (Sayomi picking the most), paid the cashier, and headed out to the open area filled with tables of people eating their fast food meals. They picked their table and began eating their snacks. To break the silence of eating, Sarie stepped in.
"So, where do you guys want to go next? The music store?" Hiroku cleared his throat.
"Actually, I kind of wanted to go to that one store that sells all those stuffed animals. But don't get me wrong, I'm not into that kind of stuff, there's just a... certain person I wanted to buy something for from there."
"That's so sweet! whoever the person is they're very lucky! But after that we really should go to the music store there's a few albums out that I want to get!" Sayomi smiled, she was right today was great. She hoped that Sarie was having just as good of time as she was.
As the three began walking again, Hiroku began leading the way, Sarie pulling Sayomi back next to her to talk to her in private.
"You're not upset about that or anything? I mean, I know you're good at hiding your emotions, but I thought you actually DID like him!" she whispered extremely quietly once Hiroku got a bit ahead of them.
"Oh calm down, I'm allowed to have just friends too you know! If he likes a girl, he likes them it doesn't matter, I'm just glad I get to spend time with him and you of course because as longs as I have friends I'll always be happy you should know that by now~" She gave Sarie the most genuine smile she could, sometimes her smiles weren't for her, but they eventually became hers with the fact that it made her friends worry less and have a good time. She skipped back up next to Hiroku
"So who is this lucky person you're going to the plushie shop for?"
"Oh, it's my younger sister. She's been... sick lately, so I promised her I'd buy her something next time I came to this store. There's this one stuffed rabbit I know she's been wanting for a long time."
"Oh my gosh I'm sorry she's been sick! I'm sure she'll be super excited to get a gift from her awesome older brother! I hope she gets better soon!" Sayomi gave him a big smile "You know it's very sweet of you to do this for her, I don't know many guys who would be willing to go into such a girly store, especially not for their siblings."
"My sister means a lot to me. She's the only one I have, I couldn't imagine losing her." Sarie and Sayomi stood staring at the seemingly melancholy boy, shocked by the sudden information they had received from something they only talked to every so often. Sarie stirred uncomfortably.
"Hey, well, we could go help you find it, you know." she said, turning to Sayomi with a hopeful glance. Hiroku nodded in agreement and the three went to the store.
When the three got there, they began looking around for the generic white bunny description as given by Hiroku. After finding a corner filled with dominantly white stuffed animals, Sarie found something she thought might be the key.
"Hey, Shirokawa-san, is this what you're looking for? It's a bit more... unique than the other rabbits. It might be something a girl would want to pick out." She pointed at a stuffed animal that didn't exactly resemble the normal rabbit. In fact, she wasn't certain it was even supposed to be a rabbit. Hiroku walked over.
"Uhh... what rabbit? You mean this?" he asked, picking up a white dog stuffed animal with long floppy ears. "This is a dog, Murasaki-san, not a rabbit!" He was laughing, but Sarie looked honestly confused.
"No, no, not that... hey, Sayomi, come over here and look, this is a rabbit, right?"
Sayomi stood by Sarie and looked to where she was point "Aww, yeah of course it's a rabbit it's so cute!" She looked over and smiled at Sarie "It would be something a little girl would pick out especially with those cute little eyes!" When she looked back, it was gone. "Hey where'd it go...?"
Hiroku stood there staring at the two, looking extremely confused. Then he spotted something in the pile and pulled it out.
"Hey, here's the rabbit she was talking about! She showed it to me one time! Did you guys really spot this buried in the pile? I barely saw the little guy's ear!" Sarie and Sayomi still looked at each other with confused looks, certain they were going insane. Except that they apparently had both seen it, so they didn't know what to think. They decided to drop it and followed Hiroku up to the counter to pay.
"Hey, Sayomi! Hey!"
"Yeah? Oh my gosh Sarie please tell me I'm not crazy! You saw that too right, because it was just like there, and the POOF it was gone." Sayomi frowned and looked around trying to find the stuffed rabbit once again
You are not crazy, I was actually there but I am not a bunny nor am I stuffed.
She looked around, trying to find the source of the talking, but it kind of sounded it like it was coming from inside her head, she grabbed onto Sarie's arm, trying to hide behind her. "Sarie that's it I'm going insane what do I do?"
Don't fret, I'm not a figment of your imagination, I'm really here!