I heard the sound of a siren nearing, and saw a familiar silhouette in the doorway. "Big" Al dismounted his scooter, strolling in with his arms crossed. Kaito gulped and allowed his eyes to stray around the room, wrapping his arms around himself protectively. A smirk grew on the mall cop's face as his gaze fell to my blue-haired friend,
"You again?"
Kaito tightened his grip around himself, "No you got it wrong!" he was sweating bullets, "It-it was Piko!"
"That sweet silver haired kid?" The large man's eyes grew wide in shock, "No way." He narrowed his eyes, "I don't trust you." His head swung around now facing me, "Or you." He spat.
"W-what did I do?" Shuddering, Kaito tried to steady me by gripping my shoulders.
"You wore, those pants."
"But, they weren't stolen remember?"
"I'm not sure anymore." He waved his hand in the air, "Anyway, that's not what we're after. Apparently that kid who almost got in trouble at the Apple Store, got in trouble at the candy store instead. Correct?"
"Y-yes." The cashier stuttered, finally using his voice.
"Okay. Describe the boy to me one more time."
The cashier's voice was smooth, deep, close to the same as Al's. He had a goatee across his chin and his mop of black hair was tucked under a bright neon green baseball cap. Clutching the hem of our apron he began to describe our friend,
"He had a pokey thingy coming out of his head."
"That sounds right." The cop nodded, stroking his chin.
"And he was crazed, with a sugar high." He turned his head towards his shoulder, "Gosh I wished I had a metabolism as fast as that."
"What?"
"OH nothing." He rubbed his stomach, "I just, need to go the gym that's all."
"You know…"
Al rolled up his sleeve and flexed his arms; before I could take a look Kaito shielded my eyes.
"They don't call me "Big" for nothing!" Al chuckled.
"I-I see." The slightly smaller man shifted uncomfortably, "I should be going back to work now."
"Yes!" The cop sheathed his impressive arm, "return. To whatever. You were doing."
"Heh. I will." Muttering something, the man returned to his spot at the register.
"I wouldn't imagine a guy like that working at this store." Kaito whispered in my ear.
"Well, I didn't expect you to be a barber."
"About that, I kind of need to go, but you can come with."
"Dude! Piko's gone insane we can't just-"
"What are you two blabbing about?" Al resumed his mount on his scooter, "Not being conspirators are you?"
"Nope." Kaito cut me off before I could reply, which was probably a good thing. "I need to go to work."
"Work?" I hissed.
"Yeah, work!" Kaito smiled believably.
"B-but isn't this small boy your friend?"
He's older than me…"Well yes…" Throwing an index finger in the air, Kaito proceeded, "but we should still attend work. Why," His right hand flew dramatically to his chest, "If you broke your arm, would you still be a cop…"
"Of course, but I can't understand how…"
"Exactly! C'mon Kiyo let's go to work." He shoved me out the door.
"I can't understand something either…" I asked once we were well away from the sweet shop, "I didn't think you had a job."
"I didn't think so either."
"Wait, what?'
He chuckled nervously, "Wanna know a story?"
"Why is it you who always needs to tell the story?" I let out an exasperated sigh, "Anyway, Piko's on the loose. And, oh god…" I gripped Kaito's collar, "What if-what if, he meets Gumi?"
"Relax," Kaito gently wriggled his way out of my grip, "It'll be fine."
"How can you be so cool about this?" I began to feel my chest heaving unsteadily, "This is Piko Utatane we're talking about! The same person who terrorized dozens of children, and adults at the age of 10!"
"Breathe in, breathe out." He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly and directed me towards the barber's store, "I have to go to work." He rolled his eyes, "and since I couldn't tell you the exact story," he winked, "you have to guess it for yourself."
"K-Kaito wait!"
"Kaito, there you are!" A boy in absurdly short shorts came trotting out the door, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, "You're late!"
"Oh, sorry Lui." Kaito ducked his hand behind his head, "Stuff came up."
"Don't worry about that." He brushed off Kaito's outfit, adjusting everything he could. "Just forget about changing into your uniform." He looked up and cocked his head, "And who is this?"
"This is my best fr-"
"BFF eh?" This new person adjusted the bow on his shirt "I'm Lui! I work with Kaito." His strawberry blond hair swayed up and down as he walked back into the store, dragging Kaito behind, "Sorry I couldn't talk to you longer, but we need to get working."
Shrugging, I followed them in. And people though it was hard to tell if Piko was a boy…. Finding a chair in the small compact waiting room, I watched Kaito being led to his station. A girl with highly styled hair came strutting in straight to the register, twirling a strand of the half of hair that was brown on her fore finger. Leaning an elbow on the small table, she dug into the pocket of her white sweatshirt and slapped a bill on the desk.
"The usual." She declared, whipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Sure." A girl with light blue hair ducked her head ever so slightly, "Right this way."
"Why aren't you pretty?" Kaito winked, as the girl took the seat adjacent to his mirror.
"You're not here to flirt. You're here to work. And anyway," she crossed her legs, "Your job is to make me prettier. Do anything to make me prettier."
"Whoa there. I was just trying to be pleasant." Seriously, this is what he does? "So, back on topic, bangs are a must."
"I told you, just make me more pretty than I already am." She batted her eyelids, "I know that may be difficult to process."
Conceited much?
"You bet it is." Assessing her multicolored hair for a few seconds, he began to get to work.
I better go find Piko…for all I know he's plundering the Corn Dog shack…
I took a last glace at Kaito, "Sorry bud." I shoved the doors out of my way, "I'M COMING PIKO!"