"I'll be right over!" Lenalee squealed as she shut her purple Timcampi(1) phone and dashed into her room to grab her purse. She streaked by her brother, causing his papers to scatter. "Ah, sorry Nii-chan, I'm in a hurry!" She exclaimed, as she reached her room, bursting through the door.
"Where are you going, my precious Lenaleeeeee?! You aren't going out with any boys are you?" He asked, pouting. She spotted her purse on her desk and scrambled to pick it up, hooking it onto her pleated skirt when she finally obtained it.
"No, I'm going shopping with some uh girl friends!" She lied; well it wasn't a complete lie if what Lavi had told her was true… "I'll see you later!"
"Noooo! My precious Lenaleeeeee!" Komui yelled after her, but to no avail as she was already half way down the street catching a taxi to 5th Avenue.
"LENALEE! OVER HERE!" Lavi shouted all while vigorously waving and attempting to get on Kanda's back to get more leverage. This of course, was a terrible idea (not that he really gave it much thought…) as he was immediately bucked off onto the cement sidewalk. He just jumped back up though and continued to wave at Lenalee. Kanda rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He still couldn't believe he was doing this.
"Hey Lavi! Hi Kanda! What's the agenda?" Lenalee asked in a chipper voice when she reached them.
"We'll leave it to you! After all, you're the expert here, right?" Lavi asked, winking. Lenalee laughed at his failed attempt – eye patches tended to complicate winking – and agreed to help them out.
"So, where to first, Ms. Lee?"
"Hmm…we'll start at the very beginning, the basis of becoming female!" She replied a little too loudly as she began to receive some curious looks from passerby's.
"And what might that be?"
"Underwear of course!" He gaped at her.
"No. I refuse to stoop that low." Kanda was drawing the line. As if the skirts and dresses weren't bad enough already! There was no way he was going to let them dress him up in a bra and panties. He shuddered, even thinking about it disturbed him.
"Too bad, you already agreed! Unless…you forfeit the bet and I win? Though that wouldn't do you much good because the outfit I picked out for you is pro-"
"Ugh, where's the fucking store?" Kanda groaned. It seemed he had no choice. When all this was over, Lavi was so dead.
"Follow me!" Lenalee said, beckoning them to follow. She knew exactly where she was going now; the entire day's plan had already been worked out in her head.
After roughly five minutes of chasing those spritely ponytails through the New York crowds, they finally stopped. The two boys looked up to their destination, both reacting extremely. The redhead looked about ready to explode from excitement, while the raven-haired one looked like he was going to deflate any moment from dread.
"Here we are!" Lenalee informed them as she pushed open the door to Lotto's Undergarments.
"Yipeeee!" Lavi yelled as he ran into the store to….explore. Kanda looked after him in disgust.
A brown haired lady came up to them, looking down at her feet and bowed. "Umm, Hello! May I help you two with anything?"
"N-" Kanda started, but was cut off by Lenalee.
"Yes! Thanks so much! We need to get a fitting for her." She jabbed a finger towards the wilting figure known as Kanda. The lady gave them a confused look, noticing the slight masculinity of the 'girl', but quickly ushered them over to a fitting room.
"T-This w-way please." She led them through rows upon rows of undergarments. You name it, they had it; pink and frilly to black lace, it was all there. She finally stopped at one of the many fitting rooms. They were small cubes with a black polka-dotted hot pink curtain draped over the front. "Go ahead in." She said, releasing a timid smile. "I'll bring you some selections. Do you have any uh preferences? What are you guys looking for?"
"Thanks, Miss…uh, sorry what was your name again?" Lenalee asked politely.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! My name is Miranda, Miranda Lotto." The woman exclaimed in apology, completely flustered.
"It's fine, it's fine!" Lenalee waved her hands to calm Miranda down. "I'm Lenalee Lee and this is uh Leiko(2) Kondo…Yeah…" Kanda shot a glare her way; she was going to pay for that one. "Soo…um, we're looking for top and bottom. We need as much padding as possible for the top, and …uh design doesn't really matter."
"Certainly, what size would you like?"
"Umm…" Lenalee thought about it. "How about…" She sized up Kanda. "38D"
"Of course, I'll be right back with some options!" Lenalee thanked her, and then turned back to Kanda.
"What the fuck? Leiko?!" Kanda exploded. He didn't need an alias! Those were for like criminals and undercover people! …Never mind, but still, Leiko?!
"Shh!" The olive haired girl scolded, putting her fingers against her cherry lips. "Someone could hear you!"
"Too late!" Lenalee screamed and shot up ten feet into the air while Kanda…stood there unamused as Lavi ripped open the curtains.
"Done fucking around?" Kanda asked, annoyed. He was in a bad enough mood already. The Usagi really wasn't helping.
"Awwww, don't be like that, Yuuu-Chan! I know you love me more than that." Lavi informed the irritated samurai, and attempted to hug him. In the end, all he got was a good punch…in his only good eye.
"Hello? I have a few options for you to try out!" Miranda had returned.
"Thanks so much!" Lenalee exclaimed and parted the curtains. "Uh…Miranda?"
"Hmm?"
"Isn't that a few too many?" Her arms were full of bras and underwear – mostly fairly girly ones. There had to be at least fifty items in all.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't really sure what you wanted, so I just grabbed everything!" She replied.
"It's okay, Ka- uh Leiko let's start trying these on. Miranda, if you don't mind, h- uh she's kinda shy."
"Huh? Oh! Yes, yes. Pardon me!" She exclaimed, and backed up.
"Oi, Usagi!"
"Mm?"
"Get the fuck out of here!" Kanda commanded the idiot rummaging through the large stack of female undergarments on the bench.
"Aw, do I have to?" Lavi pleaded, his puppy dog face on.
Kanda could feel his eyebrow begin to twitch. "Yes. Now, or you'll be sliced by Mugen!"
"Fine, gaaaawd." And with that, Lavi was gone.
Lenalee giggled. "Kanda, take off your shirt."
"Che, no thanks, I'd rather not face the wrath of your brother." He snorted.
"Come on, Leiko." She gave him an icy glare, eliciting a shiver from the other teen. Kanda sighed as he tentatively slipped his shirt off. "That's better! Now, where to start…" She picked up a red laced bra and handed it to him. "Put this on." Kanda stared at it for a long time, and then stared at it for a bit longer, convinced that if he stared at it long enough it would disappear. It never did.
Kanda plopped down onto the couch and plugged in his earphones, drowning himself in the music. He officially loathed shopping. Absolutely loathed it with a fiery passion. In the end, he had spent nearly two thousand dollars on what was, as far he was concerned, a bunch of crap. He stared silently at the bags from the miscellaneous stores they'd visited. It had turned out that Lenalee was an extremely talented guide. He had dresses, skirts, panties, bras, blouses - all of that shit. What was the point of all of this? A fucking bet. He was spending thousands of dollars, putting himself through demoralizing experiences (he was never going to be able to forget the bra shopping…ever), and going against every fucking principle he had in life…except one. He was still going against Lavi. As long as that principle was still intact he supposed he would live, well…most likely anyways.
He sighed. What was he doing? He had always looked down upon people that had self-pity, but what he doing now? Oh, only wallowing knee-deep in the crap. He checked the clock and grabbed his black jacket, turning off the lights of his shared apartment as he left. It was 7:43.
The outdoors had always provided great comfort for him, and it was no different now. His breathing slowed and his body calmed as he walked down the stairs to the street. He inhaled the sweet smell of the air. Some people would argue that air had no smell, and he supposed after a great deal of persuading himself, that there was truth to that – it was not the air itself, but the scents surrounding you carried by the wind. He continued walking at a leisurely pace, closing his eyes for a moment as if meditating.
"OI! YUUUU-CHAN!" Kanda's eyes shot open at the familiar voice, and a tick soon formed on his forehead. He however, walked on. "YUUUU-CHAN! DON'T IGNORE ME!" This time, he could hear faint giggles following the pleads of his…acquaintance. Actually, to be more precise, his roommate. He stopped and turned.
In front of him stood the baka Usagi roughly fifteen feet away, and surrounded by a small flock of heavily exposed women. He wondered how they weren't freezing their asses off.
"Yes, Usagi?" He asked, impatience written clearly on his face.
"Come with me! The ladies and I were just heading to Lavo(3) to grab a drink!" Kanda scoffed in distaste. He didn't really like Lavo. It was too loud and crowded. Plus, it was fairly obvious Lavi had already consumed a few drinks…
"I'll pass." He replied in a cold voice. He didn't have the extra money to spend anyways.
"Drinks are on me!" Kanda's will crumbled.
"Fine." He snapped, and walked closer to his uh roommate, following him out of their dead neighborhood and into the core of the city. The place that radiated dreams, life and hope with its light aura.
But Kanda despised it. He hated the memories that rushed back into his head every time he saw the lightness. He was always trying to erase it from his memory, but it never worked. Not for him anyways. Who knew what he was doing. For all he knew, he was just another blurry figure in his past.
Once they reached 39 East – 58th Street, all feelings had left him, and could say with confidence that he needed to drink. To drink and forget – he only wished it was that simple.
"Ano'er" He slurred, slamming down his fifth drink. By now, the world surrounding had become blurred. The music, the seductive offers, the dancing, the people; none of them mattered as far as he was concerned. He closed his eyes as he started on his sixth drink.
"That's not such a good idea, you know." He turned to see a girl with bright white hair and pale skin looking innocently at him with her sparkling silver eyes.
"Yeah, whatever." He muttered. Did he even know this girl? Oh yeah…she was that strange girl he and Lavi had helped a few days back. He looked at her again, studying and memorizing the details of her face. She was actually very pretty. No…that word did her no justice. She was stunningly beautiful. Maybe it was just the alcohol, or maybe it wasn't, but he had the sudden impulse to kiss her. Being in the drunken state he was, he acted on it.
Her lips were delectable. He pressed hard against her, forcing his tongue into her mouth and sliding his hands to her thighs. She gasped and her eyes went wide. However, no matter how much she struggled, Kanda refused to release her.
Little had changed. He continued to ignore everything, but now, now he had company. This petite little girl he was currently snogging had slipped right through his barriers and he hadn't even noticed. Wait…he went back over that. He was currently snogging a random girl. He froze in realization, letting the girl break free.
"Shit…" He stammered in realization. He looked down once again at the now blushing girl in embarrassment. He may have been drunk, and the world may have been spinning, but he was now fully aware of his actions.
What happened next had caught him off guard.
The girl leaned up and kissed him. Kissed him. It was a sweet, warm kiss. Much unlike the previous one. "I'll see you around, umm…" He stared at her in complete awe until he realized that he had just been asked his name.
"Kanda, you?"
"Alice." She whispered to him before getting up to leave. "I'll see you around, Kanda." She finished as he continued to stare. He didn't look away until long after the girl had disappeared, fading into the crowd.
That's when it hit him. Tonight was not the right night to be partying. He should be resting! Tomorrow was the first day of school! September 1st had really snuck up on him… He needed to find Lavi now, so he could pay for the drinks and leave. Shit, where was he?
"Looking for someone?" He nearly screamed when he felt the hands wrap around his waist.
He was in denial. Quite honestly, he had no idea what had just happened. He had walked up to the handsome raven-haired teen, and then BAM! He'd been kissed. By a guy. The worst part of it was that he hadn't even struggled that hard. He'd even kissed the teen goodnight…There was no way he could let his master find out.
"Just another secret to keep…" He sighed as he made his way outside to prepare for the next day. School was starting after all. He supposed he shouldn't be out and about, but he was used to getting little sleep. The life of a celebrity wasn't easy by any means, so he was used to it.
1) I have made 'Timcampi' (I am aware of the spelling change) a phone company
2) I was looking up names and I found and chose this one because it said it meant arrogant. I don't know if that's true, but I thought 'what the heck' and used it.
3) As this takes place in New York City, I did a bit of research and ended up picking this bar.
And there you have it. Chapter Two X3 I'll try to update as much as I can this week, for next week high school starts…*gulp* Thank you so much for all the support! I appreciate it more than you could possibly imagine. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and don't forget to review ;)
-pathless
