Story Title: Klepto
Disclaimer: I don't own Yuu Yuu Hakusho.
Author's Notes: This is a cute little one-shot I came up with in the middle of a boring medieval women mystics lecture. Basically, it's about baby Shuuichi, Shiori, and old habits of thievery dying hard (or just becoming), and baby Shuuichi is just too cute not to write about. Enjoy.
For a baby of eleven months, Shuuichi's first trip to the grocery store was a new world for him. First of all, the fluorescent lights were very bright, brighter than even the lamps in his house. It hurt his eyes when his mother Shiori first walked in, but he didn't cry, and soon he didn't notice the discomfort anymore.
Because there was no much else to look at.
Shiori set him in the shopping cart and buckled him in with the faded old seat belt, something he didn't like all that much. Though it was fun dangling his feet, the plastic belt restricted him from slipping out of the seat and exploring. There were so many things Shuuichi wanted to look at but his mother hardly stood long enough for him to take everything in. She kept taking things and putting them behind him in the bigger part of the metal cart. Things like packages covered in the clear, shiny wrap Shuuichi liked to poke holes in at home until his mother eventually finds out, scolds him, and takes it away. There were boxes with pictures on the cover, with words in large print, and with bright, interesting colors. She put in one of those bags filled the white powder Shuuichi knocked over and played in while his mother was baking a cake. It was so soft, and he made a huge mess, but it was fun. His mother wasn't as happy as he was though.
His mother stood in front of him and held a funny-looking orange ball in front of him,"Shuuichi, this is an orange. An orange. They're good for you. Can you say orange?"
His lips were moving. You could almost see him thinking, and trying to say it, but he was just too young yet. He reached out hands and said the one word he did know, "Mama…"
Smiling, she put the orange back into its bag and into the cart. It wasn't fair in Shuuichi's mind, how come he didn't get to see anything! He crossed his little arms over his chest and puffed out his cheeks. What's so fun about this place if he couldn't do anything?!
Just then, he saw something and his eyes lit up. It was small bright red toy car, one of many in a pile on the shelf. There was something about this one car Shuuichi liked, maybe because it was the only red one, or that it was shiner than the others. His mother came closer and closer to the shelf. Just as she passed, Shuuichi grabbed the toy car, squealed, and held it to his chest.
"No, no, Shuuichi," Shiori took the car and set it back.
Shuuichi turned red and whimpered. He stretched his arms out and reached for the car. Tears welled in his little eyes. His mother playfully tussled with his hair and kissed his forehead. A young man stocking shelves dropped a jar of pickles. The jar shattered and water and pickles splattered all over the floor. Distracted only for a second, Shiori checked on Shuuichi.
He was fine now. Smiling, clapping, and laughing, Shuuichi was amused by the accident and now after noticing Shuuichi, the young man was making faces at him. He had forgotten all about the toy car.
Shuuichi had fallen asleep in the car ride home and was resting in his crib while Shiori was downstairs cleaning up and sometime paying attention to the news. Checking to see if she was near, and she wasn't, Shuuichi pulled out from underneath his shirt the toy car. Smiling and cooing, he rolled it back and forth, and the sunlight sparkled off its bright red paint.
—end story
Author's End Comments: Well, I prefer doing longer stories with more depth, so this one was actually a challenge for me. Its simplicity is what bothers me. Kelpto is one of those stories that are supposed to leave a "fuzzy, feel good" feeling at the end. It's cute but kind of pointless…maybe it just proves I should stick to longer stories…