Author's Comment: Another chapter, a little bit sooner than usual. This is another pre-written one, so I couldn't help myself... It's a little different than the other chapters, but there is sweetness in it! Again, thanks to ASiriusReader for the helpful and reassuring review and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! :)
Chapter 9: Yams for Yams
"Whaddya mean I'm banned again?! I didn't even steal anything this time!" Sokudo yells indignantly at the Kecleon store owner, Kowai hissing beside him. Sokudo has decided to begin his lessons of romance by telling Kowai that they oughta get Yams something nice to reward her for all the trouble she's gone through, like flowers or chocolate. However, when they arrived to the market to get those gifts, they were stopped by the owner, who has just broken the news to the insect duo. The said lizard in front of them fixes his glasses and apron, trying to look unintimidated as he glares at the two insects.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sokudo, but we're getting really tired of all the property damage you and your brother has been causing," the owner tells him. "Plus all the products we lose because you two break them,"
"Kowai breaks them!" Sokudo makes no hesitation in shifting the blame, the Shedinja doing nothing to object to it seeing as how it's true. But the Kecleon continues his list of offenses.
"Plus frequently disturbing the peace,"
"Kowai's the one always screaming its head off!"
"And let's not forget the murders here and there..."
"Hey, it's not murder if Kowai's hungry!" Sokudo continues to defend. "Besides, it hasn't killed anyone in DAYS!"
"Brother, I'm hungry now..." Kowai whispers darkly, continuing to glare at the Kecleon hindering their entry to the store.
"Shut up, Kowai," Sokudo barks without even glancing at it or hearing what it has to say. "Grown-ups are talking." He crosses his arms as he goes on with his angry protests. "This is bullshit, man! Ban Kowai, but not me!"
"That Shedinja is your shed, Mr. Sokudo, and your responsibility," the Kecleon continues firmly before sighing. "Look, I understand that you're trying to keep him under control, but my employees and customers have spoken."
"Fuck them!" Sokudo interrupts with a scowl, the reptile trying to ignore this as he continues.
"I'm sorry, but until you teach your brother to behave, you're not allowed to come back here."
Silence as the Ninjask and Shedinja continue to glare at the owner before Sokudo looks up at the massive building. This is just perfect, now how the hell will they get their groceries and stuff? Well, there is always one method... Smirking a bit, he snickers menacingly at the chameleon before backing away a bit. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way then. Put out as many Patrat Patrol officers that you like to guard this stupid building, as it'll only make this more fun." He turns away, beckoning a claw to his shed. "Come on, Kowai."
With those rather ominous words, the two leave the owner wondering anxiously what's to come. Kowai certainly seems to be getting excited by the implications as it coos to its Ninjask.
"Brother, does this mean...?"
"Yup," Sokudo mutters, his smirk still present before he glances at the husk. "Tell Yams you're going to be running late tonight, 'cause we got some serious ninja business to attend to."
Hearing this, the Shedinja shivers in ecstasy, already eager for darkness to fall...
"Kowai, I told you to use Bug Bite to knock them out!" Sokudo hisses sharply at his shed as they hover by the roof of the market that very same night, several bodies of Patrat and Watchogs littering the ground below.
"I did!" the Shedinja exclaims defensively, not understanding why its brother is so angry at it for doing what he told it.
"You aimed for their throats!" Sokudo tells it pointedly, staring at his shed in disbelief that it apparently doesn't see what's wrong here.
"So?" Kowai responds carelessly.
"Then you tried to steal their souls!"
"No witnesses..."
"Goddamn it," Sokudo curses. "You're just lucky I intervened or that really would've been murder and a HELL of a lot more difficult to explain!" Shaking his head, he sighs as he gives up trying to explain the situation's severity to his brother. The little psycho obviously doesn't get it. "Whatever, they're still alive and that's the important thing. So let's just do this."
He swoops down to land on the roof, Kowai following him as he carefully removes one of the grates for the vents. Casting a glance around, he slips inside with Kowai following, the stiff husk having some difficulty getting its wings through for a few seconds. Waiting for his brother to catch up, Sokudo holds in a snicker, remembering how often he used to sneak around like this as a Nincada. And this building used to always be his favorite target to practice his ninja skills. Good times...
Casting a glance over his shoulder to remind his shed to remain quiet, he moves deeper into the building's depths, very well familiar with the vent's lay out.
Silent as the shadows, he arrives to his destination and carefully removes the grate, setting it aside. He peeks out to see a couple of Patrats standing around in bored surveillance. He looks to Kowai, and signals for it to stay where it is before he glides down soundlessly behind an aisle, keeping to the shadows as much as he could. Landing delicately on the floor, he presses himself down onto the tiles and slinks around the unsuspecting rodents until he's several aisles behind them.
He casts a glance up at the vents to see his brother watching him intently and he gestures for it to stay put. Carefully shifting through his item bag, he pulls out his favorite item: his trusty Self-Defense Ring that he won as a reward on one of his Rogue missions. Its innocent, bright blue surface engraved with black and white lines and its two lovely pink gemstones concealed its sinister purpose. Projecting from it were two small thorns, both of which are designed to deliver a brutal dose of paralytic poison that'll completely immobilize the enemy.
How Sokudo loves using it...
Putting it around his right claw, he returns his attention to his targets and readies himself. Opening his wings, he lunges...
The two rats don't even know what hit them as they both feel a strike on their necks and they fall instantly, unable to move except for their breathing. They can only watch as Sokudo reappears, snickering a bit before he looks up at the vent, beckoning Kowai to join him. The Shedinja looks at the two incapacitated Pokemon with hunger before Sokudo pulls it away.
"Leave them," he whispers. "We're on a mission, not a hunt. Now come on." He leads the Shedinja through some aisles, looking them over. Sokudo casually picks up some tree sap and berries, as well as other groceries as Kowai looks for flowers and chocolate. It's never done this before, so it doesn't know where it should start and it strays away from Sokudo a bit, alert for any trouble.
Nope, no flowers here, but it does catch sight of something a lot more interesting. Pausing, it takes the object in its mist, purring softly to itself before it hurries to Sokudo. The Ninjask hesitates at Kowai's obvious eagerness and he looks at the item it holds out to him. Immediately, he grimaces and shakes his head.
"I don't think so. I hate that shit." he hisses at it softly, cautious of speaking too loud. At this, Kowai holds the item closer to its body, almost protectively.
"No, it's not for you, silly brother," it tells him in amusement. "This is what I wanna get the Yamask."
Hearing this, Sokudo blinks, looking in confusion at the object, then at Kowai. "It's a can of sweet potatoes..."
"No," Kowai grunts almost impatiently. "It says, 'Yams' right there." Its black mist points out the word and Sokudo shook his head, his claw meeting his face.
"Same difference, Kowai." He looks at the shed firmly. "Look, that's symbolic shit right there, I guess, but you can't give a girl sweet potatoes. It's... eh, whatever." He can tell the husk isn't budging, and he doesn't bother trying to argue with it. Kowai certainly seems pleased as it purrs to the can before tucking it into its body.
Casting a glare to the paralyzed Patrats, Sokudo calculates the time they have left in his head before the venom wears off and he checks what he's gathered in his item bag so far. "Alright, this should be good for a few weeks, long enough for me to teach you how to behave... or how to pretend to behave."
"But, brother," Kowai starts darkly, glancing towards the helpless security, and the Ninjask knows instantly where this is going. "They're witnesses. Should we not deal with them?"
At this, Sokudo winces a bit at the husk's obvious sadistic intentions and he looks towards the rats. Flying over to them, he lands beside them with Kowai following, the Shedinja purring in a more malicious tone. The two officers seem to understand the situation and barely managed to squeak out a few whimpers. Hearing this, Sokudo grunts before looking to Kowai.
"No, Kowai. So long as they don't say anything," -Here, Sokudo casts both rodents an emphasizing glare- "we don't need to worry about them." Sighing, he starts flying for the vents. "You can eat when we get home."
Kowai watches its brother leave before looking to the rats, its black mist streaming forward to run tendrils through its victims' fur. They can't even shudder. "Say anything, and I can hunt you down and feast on your souls..." It coos innocently despite its predatory interests. "I do hope you both say something."
With that, it follows its brother up into the vents, the Ninjask replacing the grate. Glancing down both ways to get his bearings, he heads back the way they came, having a bit more difficulty staying silent with his heavy item bag but doing a decent job nonetheless. Arriving to the outside grate, he pushes it out and flies free, turning to help Kowai get through with its stiff wings. And as soon as that's established, he prepares to make a run for it...
"FREEZE!" A blinding light flashes in their face and Kowai hisses automatically. Knowing they were caught, Sokudo wastes little time reaching into his item bag and pulling out a small ball. He immediately throws the ball to the ground, allowing it to explode into a thick dark cloud of smoke. This sends the Patrat and Watchhog officers into a coughing fit, although some of the more determined ones throw themselves into the smokescreen.
"We got 'em!"
The smoke eventually clears and the officers blink as they stare at their supposed suspects:
Two plush dolls of a Ninjask and Shedinja, both with a note pinned into their backs. Casting confused glances at the others, one of the Watchogs carefully removes the Ninjask's note, squinting a bit to make out the handwriting in the flashlight's beam.
"'Fuck you'," he reads off that one before looking to the Shedinja plush. He removes the note, cringing automatically at the glaring dark abyss sewn into the plush's back. He looks away quickly and squints at this note. "'... If you try to arrest us...'" The note seems incomplete and the Watchog glances in confusion at his colleagues, all of whom shrugs, before he notices small red stitching in the very center of the plush's 'hole'. He leans closer to see that it is words, obviously meant to continue where the note left off.
The words send a chill up his spine, spiking his fur on end. "'... Your souls belong to me...'"
Yams wonders what it could be that Kowai and Sokudo are doing, as she rests on one of the higher branches of the maple tree. She's been waiting for a couple of hours now, losing herself constantly in her thoughts to keep herself busy. Sighing softly, she closes her eyes and leans back against the tree, about to indulge in a small nap. Although she doesn't truly need sleep anymore, she still holds on to this remainder of her past life, almost as fervently as her mask. Mostly because of the dreams she would sometimes have.
Of her mother's face...
Her father's smile...
The smell of her sister's cooking...
She feels a soft tear come to her eye and she sniffs a bit.
"Why're you crying?" She startles a bit, having been too distracted to sense the approach of someone. Looking over to Kowai watching her tears in fascination, she wipes her eyes a bit.
"Oh, just thinking regular Yamask stuff," she mutters before smiling. "So what were you doing with your brother, if you don't mind me asking...?"
Kowai doesn't answer for a moment, intrigued by the stray tears still falling from her eyes despite her wiping them away. It always did wonder why the Pokemon here had such a strange way of expressing their distress, but it pushes that aside to acknowledge her question. It grunts a bit, no doubt dealing with its lingering hostilities to answer her in a soft voice.
"I got something for you..." it tells her, trying to get used to acting like this. It pulls out the can and holds it out to her, refusing to look her in the eye as it does so. Last time it gave her something, it wasn't really with any personal meaning. But this time, it is and it feels odd to the little Shedinja. Hopefully, it'll get easier with time.
Blinking, Yams looks to the offering and can't keep back a small giggle at the sight of the sweet potatoes. It certainly relieves what lingering sadness she feels and she takes the can delicately. "That's so sweet of you. I love it, more than you can imagine. Thank you, Kowai."
The Shedinja can't help but snort a bit, biting back the urge to make a snappy comment as it remembers its brother telling it earlier to be pleasant, before it looks at her and forces its tone to be as kind as it can manage. "You're welcome..."
