A/N: Ok, because it was requested, and I've finally come up with the plot for it, I've decided to make ONE more chapter. This story is officially a 2shot (unless I get another inspiration).
SETTING: 1983- A year and a half since we left off
Ren finished applying her makeup and putting on her earrings, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door. Before she left, someone interrupted.
"Mama, where are you going?" It was 2-year-old Akito, now able to walk, and almost mastered at talking.
"To the mall." Ren spat out as she gave her daughter a dirty look.
"Can I go, too?" Little Akito asked.
"Have you no brain, child? Of course you may not go! The mall is not a place for little brats like you." Ren snarled and slammed the door. Akito whimpered and tears rolled down her cheek. Conveniently, Shigure was walking by, and spotted her. He saw her crying and ran over to her and cuddled her.
"Aw, Akito, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He said as he wiped her tears.
"Mama wouldn't wet me go to the mall with her!" She cried into his shoulder.
"Oh, Ren can be so cold. Don't worry! I'll take you to the mall, sweetheart!" Shigure said comfortingly. Akito stopped crying and hugged Shigure tightly.
"You will?! Thank you, Shiguwe!" She shrieked happily. Shigure went to go get their coats in the living room.
"We'll go in just a minute, I have to call Ayame; he'll want to come, too." Shigure said.
"Awww, I don't wike the snake! He's cweepy!" Akito whined.
"Now, now, Akito, It's VERY unwise to go to the mall without Ayame. Last time I went without him, he locked me in his closet and refused to let me out until I proclaimed him as the Super-Ultra-Mega King of the Universe 100 times." Shigure recalled.
"You did WHAT?!" Akito gasped at the thought of the snake taking her place as Shigure's Lord and Master.
"Don't worry, I was only kidding!" He laughed and called Ayame on the phone. As quick as a flash, Ayame arrived in his metallic, glittery, magenta coat and met the two outside the main house.
"Alas, there is no need to fear! I am now fully prepared to set off on our long, perilous journey to the end of the earth!" Ayame announced proudly.
"We're just going to the mall, Aaya." Shigure giggled.
"You're going to the mall, with Akito, by yourselves? Without any adults?" Hatori suddenly walked by and obtruded into the conversation.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine! What's the worst that could happen?" Ayame asked.
"You could get robbed, kidnapped, mauled, lost, or worse, you could lose Akito!" Hatori panicked.
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart, Hari! If you're so concerned, you should come with us!" Shigure suggested.
"You know, maybe I will. Someone has to take proper care of you guys." Hatori said.
"Shiguwe, Shiguwe! I want Kuweno to come, too!" Akito said tugging on his coat.
"Oh, Shiguwe, God can't go anywhere without her bird!" Ayame teased Shigure with the way Akito pronounced his name.
"Alright, alright. Let's go get the rooster, and then we go." Shigure said as he led the way to Kureno's house.
The group arrived at Kureno's front door, but he wasn't there. Since Akito would not leave without him, they were forced to search almost all of Sohma property for the missing rooster.
Meanwhile, Kureno was perched on a tree branch hovering over a lake in his zodiac form. A female servant had accidentally tripped and fell on him, transforming him a few minutes ago, and the first thing he did was fly to this tree branch. He had wanted to do this for a while now, but he never had nearly enough courage to try it before. This morning, though, he woke up with a rare sense of boldness, and decided to try it. He spread his wings and glided gracefully over the water. It felt amazing to float on air, and he was so caught up in the moment he didn't notice the Mabudachi Trio and Akito passing by.
"There he is!" Akito shrieked in triumph. Shigure looked out onto the lake to see a small bird flying over the lake.
"Well, it's a bird, but how are you sure it's Kureno?" He asked Akito. POOF! Suddenly, the small bird that was flying a second ago transformed into a naked human boy falling into the lake.
"That's how she knows." Hatori said wryly. Everyone rushed over to help the poor bird. Kureno lay face down in the cold water shivering his skin off. He had decided to fly over water so that, in case he transformed back, he could land in soft water. However, had he paid ANY attention in his biology class, he would've remembered surface tension and that because of it, hitting water after a hard fall feels just as bad as falling on a concrete slab, except now he was very wet. Ayame lent Kureno his jacket while they headed back to his house to get Kureno a towel and some clothes.
"What the heck were you doing out here?" Shigure asked.
"Flying." Kureno muttered in his shame.
"And you didn't think of bringing spare clothes?" Hatori commented.
"I don't know what I was thinking; I'm never doing that again." He said shivering.
After that episode, the group of five finally got on the bus to the mall. Hatori didn't really like the mall, but there was no way he was letting Shigure and Ayame be in charge of Akito and Kureno. He felt like the only one in the group with common sense. When they first arrived at the mall, the first place Akito wanted to go was, shocker, the toy store.
"I don't see how small children can find this stuff amusing" Hatori said as he picked up a slinky.
"Hatori, if you don't like it, you can leave. We'll be fine!" Shigure said.
"Alright, but if anyone needs me I'll be in the…"
"…bookstore, next door?" Aaya finished Hatori's sentence.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"You're so predictable, Hatori!" Aaya said playfully. Kureno just amused himself with the rubber band balls the store was selling. Akito had stumbled along some electronic toys, things that were becoming more common as time passed by. One particular toy that caught her eye was a spinning toy that taught little kids about animals. She pressed the big red button, and the arrow began to spin. When it stopped, it landed on a cow, and a voice said "The cow goes 'Mooo!'" Akito laughed at this funny toy.
"Do you like that toy, Akito?" Shigure said.
"Yes."
"Would you like me to buy it for you?"
"Yes, pwease!"
"Alright, then." Shigure giggled at her little voice. The Akito's face turned curious.
"Shiguwe? Why don't I have a cow?"
"Excuse me?"
"God is supposed to have a cow." Akito said unknowingly using a popular metaphor.
"The cow hasn't been born yet. Don't worry, you'll have a cow someday (ba-dum chhh!)" Shigure answered. Ayame, during this whole time, had been running through the store looking at all the colorful toys, and trying to pick out one.
"Oh, there are so many choices! It's impossible for me to decide!" He shrieked.
"Hey Aaya, didn't your mom just have a baby? Why don't you get something for the little tyke?" Shigure suggested. Ayame looked confused for a moment, but then it finally hit him that he indeed had a little brother now.
"Oh, yes, little…Yuki! That's his name! Hmm, do baby boys like Silly Putty?" Aaya asked. Shigure ignored him and bought the animal toy for Akito. As Akito got her new toy, she rushed to Kureno to show him.
"Kuweno, Kuweno! Look at what I got!" She showed him the electronic. Kureno looked up from his rubber band ball to look at the toy. Akito pushed the big red button to make the arrow spin. This time it landed on a rooster and the voice said, "The rooster goes Cock-a-doodle-doo!" They both laughed.
"Why don't you make that noise?" Akito asked.
"Um…"
"You're the Wooster, make the noise!" Akito demanded.
"Indeed, Kureno, please do." Ayame said. Kureno sighed and proceeded to make rooster noises. He looked like an idiot right now, but it was what Akito wanted, so he had no choice.
Then, they met up with Hatori in the bookstore. That's where Hatori spent all his time at the mall. He claims that he might run into girls if he goes into other stores, but really, he just hated shopping. He didn't understand how people could spend hours in a giant building even if they didn't plan on buying anything. Ayame enjoyed all stores. His parents often complained about the credit card bill they'd get. Aaya looked for his favorite fashion magazine, and found Shigure peeking at a romance novel.
"Shame, shame, Shigure! Didn't your mother say that you're not allowed to read that stuff?" Aaya wagged a finger at him.
"I would put it down if I could, but these are so interesting! I want to write stuff like this one day." Shigure said.
"Pfft. The day you become a writer is the day I get an emo haircut." Hatori scoffed.
"Shiguwe! Shiguwe! I have to go potty!" Akito said jumping up and down. Shigure was leading her to the bathroom half-way across the mall, but then a group of young girls sidetracked him.
"Oh my gosh! It's Prince Shigure Sohma!" The lead girl whispered loudly to the large group of girls behind her. They were the Mabudachi Trio fan club. The legend says that the Prince Yuki fan club evolved from this group. Shigure was the only one who acknowledged them because Hatori honestly didn't give a flying fish and Ayame was preoccupied with himself.
"Well, hello ladies! I hope you are all having a wonderful evening." Shigure said with his teasingly romantic voice. The group almost fainted. After an awkward minute of complete speechlessness, one girl said,
"Oh, what an adorable little child you have with you! We didn't know you were so wonderful with children!"
"Well, yes. This is my cousin, Akito. I decided to take the little darling out for a stroll in this mall." Shigure said pulling Akito to the front.
"Oh, is that a boy or a girl?" One of the dumber fan girls asked. The rest of the group slapped her on the back of the head.
"How dare you be so rude! Apologize to Prince Shigure, right now!" The lead fan girl shouted.
"No, it's quite alright, ladies. We get that a lot." Shigure said.
"Daddy says I'm a girl, but Mama, she says I'm a boy." Akito answered the girl's question in the best way she could. The whole group of fan girls was dumbfounded.
"Oh, kids! They say the darnest things! Really, he's a boy." Shigure giggled.
After getting past the fan girls and taking Akito to the restroom, he met up the rest of the group at the food court.
"Who were those girls you were talking to?" Hatori asked.
"It was our fan club." Shigure answered as he slurped his ramen.
"You actually talked to them? You didn't screw up anything, did you?" Hatori interrogated.
"Heavens, no! How could I screw up a normal conversation?" Shigure fell back offended.
"You work in mysterious ways."
"Why, thank you!"
"I wasn't complimenting you."
After finishing lunch, Akito suddenly had a craving for something sweet.
"Kuweno, I wanna go to the candy store!" Akito said.
"Kureno, go ahead and take her, but make sure she doesn't get too much candy." Hatori warned. Kureno put his rubber band ball in his pocket and took Akito by the hand. She was the one who pulled him to the candy shop. When she was after something she wanted, there was practically no way of stopping her. As soon as the got there, she browsed and inspected every type of candy for her favorite.
"Oooo, Kureno! I want the chocoballs!" She exclaimed.
"Uh, ok." The shy boy said.
"And the minty gum balls!" She continued.
"Um, I guess…"
"Can I get some pocky sticks, too?"
"Well, Akito, you shouldn't have that many sweets." Kureno told her. She held the sweets close to her heart and started to adjust her face. Oh no, please don't. Don't do the face! Not the face! Ah, man! She did the face! I'm going to go broke buying her all this. Kureno's conscious was telling him not to, but he gave in as he saw Akito give him the puppy eyes and trembling lip. That was just so irresistible. He sighed as he paid the cashier for all the candy Akito wanted. They met everyone at the food court, and everyone raised an eyebrow when they Akito and Kureno return with a giant bag.
"Akito? What's in the bag?" Shigure asked.
"My candy!" She said with a big grin.
"Kureno, don't tell me you bought her all that candy." Hatori slapped his face. Kureno just looked down and twiddled his thumbs.
"Kureno! If you let her manipulate you like that forever, you'll end up getting yourself in big trouble one day!" Ayame shook his head at Kureno.
"Sorry, she gave me the face." He tried to give the best excuse he could come up with.
"Alright, Ayame, it's your turn to take Akito." Hatori said.
Ayame took Akito to the media store. It had a bunch of movies, music, and all kinds of stuff. He went to get a video that a friend had recommended him. He let put a set of headphones on Akito and let her listen to the sample tracks while he looked. At first he had trouble finding the movie, but then he realized it was hidden behind a symbol of a bunny. Unfortunately, when he tried to purchase the movie, the clerk wouldn't sell it to him. In all his disappointment, he realized the only way to bring him back to cheery mode was to purchase a gorgeous gown that he saw at the boutique a couple stores down. He had not a moment to spare, for the dress may have been sold quickly. Luckily, he got there just in time. As he walked out of the store with his new outfit, he bumped into everyone else.
"Oh, hello gentleman! You absolutely must see the beautiful dress I just got!" He said proudly.
"Where's Akito?" Hatori asked. Aaya's smile turned into a look of worry.
"Oh dear. It appears I have left her back at the movie store." He said biting his nails.
"YOU LOST HER?! THE FAMILY IS GOING TO KILL US!!" Shigure yelled to the top of his lungs.
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure, she's right where I left her, in the music section." He said encouragingly. They all ran over to the store and into the music section, no Akito.
"She's GONE!! Uncle Akira is going to grind our bones and spread it over his soup!" Shigure got down on his knees like a total drama queen.
"Calm down, we just have look all over until we find her." Hatori said calmly.
They searched for about an hour, but they still had no sign of Akito. Finally, as they gathered at the center of the mall, they finally found her. She'd climbed to the top of giant tree in the display area!
"Ah! Akito! Get down from there! It's dangerous!" Shigure shouted to the toddler who was several meters away.
"Aw, I don't want to!" She clung tightly to the tree and looked away from her cousins.
"Great, she's not coming down on her own! One of us has to go up there and get her!" Shigure panicked to the group, but then he noticed Hatori had already climbed a great deal up the tree! He focused on the spot where Akito was, and for a moment, he felt like the Spider-Man from American comics. Some kid from school had brought it back after a vacation to the United States.
"C'mon Akito. Come to you dragon!" Hatori tried to lure her down. She decided to finally come down, so she tried to jump on his back, but the impact sent them both flying downwards. Hatori landed flat on his back, but luckily, Akito landed on his stomach so her landing was softer.
"Guys, let's go home. Now." Hatori said exhausted.