Hoshido 4
"I'm not a child." Takumi argued. "I can go to the mall alone."
"Not with what Mom found out." said Hinoka. "Besides, I need to do some shopping, too."
"Great." Takumi grumbled. "So I get dragged to all the damned girly stores and can't go where I want."
"You could have asked Ryoma to come." Sakura suggested.
Takumi gave them an icy glare. "Not after he pinned me."
"You're supposed to be taking those meds, you know." Corrin interjected.
Takumi frowned, but said nothing. It was the stubborn, obstinate way his family treated those of Club Nohr that made him this moody. Why couldn't they see that the two clubs were totally different?
As they headed through the mall, Takumi was proven right. Clothing shops, makeup stores, and even the lingerie shop. He had enough at that point and had just stormed off, leaving his three sisters and Azura in the store.
"Well, this is a surprise."
Takumi looked over. It was Leo, Xander's younger brother, and also one of Takumi's classmates. "Hey."
"Xander's a bit upset."
"How so?"
"Seems his friend hasn't been by the club lately." Leo glanced over at him. "He misses you."
"What makes you think it was me?"
"Kamui's a technical genius. When my mother was over, he not only managed to manipulate the music to make it seem alive in the room, but he hacker he phone."
Takumi raised an eyebrow.
"Here. I haven't heard it, but Xander said to give it to you. Since we're not at work, this is just an exchange between class mates, alright?"
Takumi took the memory stick. "Why are you doing this?"
"Xander's my older brother. I hate seeing him depressed. If you sneaking into the club for a few minutes is what it takes to make him happy, I'll see it done."
"Thanks, Leo."
"There you are." Hinoka stormed over. "What are you doing here?"
Takumi sighed. "We're not at work." he reminded her. "In case you forgot. Leo and I attend the same classes. He was just giving me the notes for the class I missed because Mom decided I needed to see the quack."
"Yeah, those are on the key I gave you." Leo said. "Well, before your sister blows a gasket, I'd better go. See ya in class." Leo walked away, subtly whispering a prayer that Xander's plan would work.
"Why were you talking to him?" Hinoka growled.
"Like I said, we share the same class set. He's the only one who'll talk to me, so I asked him to get me the class notes. Normally I would have picked them up tomorrow, but he just happened to be here today." Takumi sighed, his hand closing tightly over the memory stick.
"Well, we're done, so it's time to go home." Corrin said.
"And I haven't had a chance to go get or do what I needed to do." Takumi snapped back. "Now it's your turn to be dragged around." With that, he headed to the nearby electronics store.
"Ugh, electronics?" Hinoka complained.
Uh-huh." Takumi replied. "There we are."
"That a microphone." said Sakura. "Why do you need it?"
"I don't." Takumi replied as he paid for the item. "But the one Azura's using at the club is starting to make a weird warble every so often. A replacement is going to be needed." He left the store and headed to another store, this one filled with video games.
"Why here?" Corrin asked.
"Pickup for Hoshido." said Takumi, ignoring his sisters.
"Yeah, two games, right?"
Takumi nodded, showing his membership card.
"Ok, here you go." The man at the counter smiled. "Oh, Takumi."
"Yeah, Laslow?"
"You going to be on Saturday?"
"Wouldn't miss it." the silver-haired youth replied. "Chrom's going to be on, too."
"Sweet! I'll see if I can get Effie and Kaze on."
"Great. See you then." Takumi walked back out.
"What were you talking about?" Sakura asked.
"A game." Takumi replied.
"Speaking of, what sort of crap did you pick up?" Hinoka asked.
"Hey, the games Yillese makes are not crap." he returned. "This is the next part in the Fire Emblem series the company's been making."
"But, two games?" Azura asked.
"Yeah. The game has three stories, but the third version isn't out yet." Takumi replied. "As it is, I've got Birthright and Conquest so far."
"And what's the third one called?" Sakura asked, actually sounding interested.
"Revelation."
"That sounds so lame." said Corrin.
"I play it, you don't." he returned. "Moment." Takumi stepped into a music store and tapped someone on the shoulder.
The person turned and smiled at him, giving Takumi a warm hug.
"How you been?"
The person made a hand motion that meant 'so-so'.
"They treating you good?"
He nodded.
"Good. I worry about you. You're still my brother."
The other nodded again, making a more subtle hand-sign.
"Saturday."
He nodded, then motioned that the four girls were starting to get antsy.
"Take care of yourself." Takumi stepped out of the store.
"And what were you doing?" Corrin asked.
"Hey, you may hate him, but Kamui is still our brother." Takumi returned. "It's alright to check up on him outside of the club, isn't it? Or did Mother forbid me to do that, too?"
The girls were silent as Takumi finished his shopping, which basically involved getting some more school supplies before they headed back out to the car.
"so, how'd it go?" Ryoma asked, even as he finished the prep work for opening.
"Here's the new mic." Takumi replied.
Ryoma spotted the game bag. "What's that?" he asked.
"The new games from Ylisse." Takumi replied with a grin.
"Don't stay up too late playing." Ryoma called as Takumi vanished into the back. Because it was a school night for him, he was exempt from being out in the club.
"He was talking to Leo." Hinoka said as she tied on her apron.
"About what?"
"Apparently Leo's the only one to talk to him in class, and he was handing off class notes to Takumi. But I didn't see any."
"Leo said the notes were on a memory stick he gave Takumi." said Sakura. She finished tying her apron on. "We're ready."
