A/N: Hey! Thanks for the positive response guys. :D I had a bit of trouble deciding which story to post next, since I didn't want too much exposure of the same characters... hope you still like this one tho.
"Ooh, what do you think about this one, big brother?"
Badd grunted his response to the pink dress his sister was pointing at. He was already carrying three shopping bags, and boy they were heavy. Why Zenko wanted all this stuff, Badd didn't know, but he was happy to buy it for her. Some might say he was spoiling her, but hey, hero duties took up a lot of his time, and he knew his grandparents were strict on Zenko. She deserved a break, right?
"I like the red one, too," Zenko said, frowning thoughtfully at another dress. "Which one should I get?"
"How 'bout both?" Badd asked. Why not? Otherwise Zenko would have a meltdown over which dress she wanted.
Zenko excitedly picked up the two dresses. "Yes! That's a great idea!"
Badd slung the dresses over his shoulder, his sister skipping after him. After paying for those, the siblings visited a few more shops. Zenko seemed to want to visit every shop the mall had to offer, and only after trying on some high-heels that were way too big for her did she decide it was time for a break.
The siblings were walking over to a couch, when Zenko stopped and gasped, pointing at someone.
"Bro, look!" she cried. "It's Poppy!"
She was pointing to the young girl in question, who was standing nearby her older sister. Lily was on the phone, and Poppy couldn't have looked more bored.
"Poppy!" Zenko yelled. "Hey, Poppy!"
Poppy looked up, and her face lit up with joy when she spotted Zenko. The two girls waved at each other. They then ran over to give each other a hug. Badd was so moved his sister was making new friends he almost started crying. He blinked quickly and wiped his eyes when he saw his sister running back. She gave him an odd stare.
"Big bro, were you crying?" she asked.
"No way," Badd replied hastily. "How's your friend?"
"She's good," Zenko said. "Can she come shopping with us?"
"Sure," Badd replied. "She'd probably better tell her sister, though."
"Right," Zenko agreed. She turned to Poppy and yelled, "Hey, my brother says you can come with us, but you should ask your sister first!"
Poppy sighed. She walked over to her sister and tugged her sleeve.
"That's going to cost $1000," her sister said into the phone, seemingly ignoring Poppy. "Just add it to the group tab."
"Sister," Poppy, again, tugged on Lily's sleeve. "I'm going shopping with my friend and her brother. Is that okay?"
"Yeah yeah, that's great, have fun," Lily said while waving a hand dismissively, not even making eye-contact. She went back to discussing finances.
Poppy shrugged at Zenko. "Let's, uh, just go."
The kids (and teenage boy) visited many different shops. They tried on lots of silly clothes, some of which definitely did not fit them.
"Bro, take a picture of us!" Zenko told her brother, giving him her phone. The girls were wearing some very frilly and colourful dresses. Zenko put her arm around Poppy as Badd took a picture of them. He was almost brought to tears again since his sister and her friend looked so cute together.
Badd cursed himself. Why was everything his sister did so cute?
The girls saw some hero-inspired outfits which got them talking.
"Who's your favourite hero?" Zenko asked Poppy.
"I'm not sure," Poppy admitted. "Sweet Mask, maybe?"
"Sweet Mask is my favourite too!" Zenko cried. "Isn't he so cool?"
"That guy is so overrated," Badd grunted.
"No way," Zenko gushed. "He's so dreamy! I wanna meet him some day!"
"Me too," Poppy agreed, eyes glazing. Badd rolled his eyes. What people saw in that pompous idiot, he really didn't know.
"I need to go the bathroom," Zenko said, after the girls had gotten back into their regular clothes.
"It's right next door," Badd replied. "Want me to wait outside for you?"
"Nah, stay here," Zenko shook her head. "I'll be right back!"
She ran off to the bathroom, leaving Badd alone with Poppy. Poppy was staring wistfully at a mildly-expensive t-shirt.
"You want that?" Badd asked her.
"Huh?" Poppy jumped. "Oh, uh, no, I was just, um, looking."
Badd had been around his sister long enough to she was lying. "Hey, if you want it, I can get it for you. You've made my sister very happy - it's the least I can do."
"Really?" Poppy asked, her face once again lighting up. God, the excitement of children was contagious. Badd found himself smiling as well.
"Yeah," he said. "Don't you ever go shopping with your sister?"
The joy drained out of Poppy's face. "Not really. She's always too busy."
Badd tilted his head. "What about with your parents?"
"They don't want to," Poppy replied, her face sagging.
Badd was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Zenko coming back.
"Can we go get lunch?" she asked.
Badd nodded. The trio headed over to the food court. There were a ton of different places to choose from, but Zenko and Poppy wanted to go to some fast-food place.
"What are you girls gonna get?" Badd asked, as they waited in line.
"Burger," they both said, simultaneously. They started laughing.
Badd made it up to the register. The employee seemed a little distracted. Something about her seemed very familiar as well.
"What can I get you today, sir?" she asked.
"Wait," Poppy stared at her, and her eyes went wide. "Lily?"
"U-uh," Lily went bright red. "Maybe?"
"You work here?" Badd asked.
"Yep," Lily replied, still very red. She was wearing the restaurant's red and black uniform with the logo on her right breast pocket. A cap, also with the logo, was sitting on her head.
"You never told me you worked here, sister," Poppy said.
Lily shrugged. "Well, I only got the job last week. Why else did you think I wanted to come to the mall?"
Poppy groaned. "You already have two jobs!"
"Fubuki-sama needs the money so we can buy another car," Lily retorted. "The first one got destroyed by a monster."
"Of course, because Fubuki-sama said it," Poppy muttered.
Lily sighed. "Look, sister, I have customers to deal with. Are you going to order?"
"Whoa, girl, Lily," a random employee in the background laughed, taking a sip of his water. "You know these people?"
"Yeah," Lily replied. She pointed to the group. "That's my sister, her friend, and Metal Bat."
At the mention of 'Metal Bat', the employee began choking on his water.
"Damn it Christopher!" another employee yelled. "Not again!"
Lily sighed, the lily flower on her head deflating in defeat. "Just give me your orders."
After getting their food, Badd and the girls sat down at a table.
"So your sister works here?" Zenko asked. "Do you think she'll give us free food?"
"I hope," Badd muttered.
"She probably won't," Poppy said. "She takes her jobs very seriously. She won't give us free stuff just because we know her."
"Wow, she's harsh," Zenko said, eating her burger. "Uh, no offence."
"None taken," Poppy replied, quietly. She'd barely touched her burger, which sat in a sad pile with a small bite taken out of the side. Badd stared at her for a bit. He wasn't an expert on emotions, but he spent a lot of time around another little girl. He could tell something was up.
"You seem down," he told her. "You okay?"
Poppy nodded, pushing her food away. "I'm just… not hungry."
Badd didn't believe her, but he didn't push it. Kids were sensitive, after all.
After lunch, Badd took the kids to a playground in the centre of the mall. They spent some time running around, laughing, and having fun. They also spent time curled up inside a little tunnel, away from other screaming kids.
"Your brother is so cool," Poppy told Zenko.
"He's not always cool," Zenko replied, waving her hand. "A lot of the time he's busy with hero stuff. And he always cries at my piano recitals."
Poppy laughed. When she stopped, her voice had that hurt edge to it. "At least he's there."
There was a silence.
"Your sister seems cool too," Zenko said, quickly.
Poppy frowned. "She's not. She doesn't take me shopping, or hang out with me, or buy me stuff…" She sighed. "You're so lucky."
"I'm sure she really cares about you," Zenko replied reassuringly, putting on a smile.
Poppy's face sagged again. "I think she cares more about the Blizzard of Hell."
Zenko decided to change the topic. "We should have a sleepover sometime."
"A… sleepover?" Poppy asked.
"Yeah!" Zenko agreed. "My grandparents won't mind. Well, they might, but I'll convince them! We can stay up all night!"
Poppy almost smiled. "I'd like that."
The girls climbed out of the tunnel, still talking about sleepovers. Badd immediately felt nervous when he heard such discussion.
"You two wanna have a sleepover?" he asked.
They both nodded.
"At my house!" Zenko cheered. "We're gonna stay up all night!"
Badd wanted to laugh. They'd probably try to stay up all night, but fall asleep by ten. Kids were like that.
Suddenly, a familiar teen girl in a business suit ran up to the group, panting heavily.
"There you are!" Lily panted. "I've been! Looking all over!"
"Aren't you meant to be at work, sister?" Poppy asked.
Lily breathed out, grabbing her knees. "We finished early. Christopher got a heart attack when two other Class S heroes showed up."
Zenko gasped. "Is he okay?"
"He'll be fine," Lily replied. "He just has a weak heart." She looked up. "Anyway, Poppy, we need to go. Right now."
"What?" Poppy asked. "Why?"
"I can't explain," Lily said, firmly, but she let out a quick shiver. "We just need to go."
Poppy tilted her head. "Is it because of M-"
"Hey, thank you for looking after my sister, it's an honour to meet you, etc," Lily interrupted, quickly shaking Badd's hand. He just stared at her. "But we really need to go. Have a nice day!"
Poppy kept protesting as Lily grabbed her hand and dragged her away.
"I feel like that's going to happen a lot," Zenko said.
Badd nodded. "Yeah. I get that."
