In spite of the whole "Naruka" thing, Gaara got a half-decent night's sleep and managed to get to work on time. His usual routine was going smoothly…that is, until he got called to Register Two. He wondered how and why it got busy the way it did sometimes. He managed to avoid throttling a man and a woman just for being a loving couple. Without hesitation, he made eye contact with the next customer.
"I can help you over…" (Oh no…)
Gaara cut himself off when he discovered who his next customer was.
"Gaara, I had no idea you worked here!" said Naruka.
(She remembered my name,) thought Gaara. (I'm impressed.) "Yes, unfortunately I do. What do you do to survive?"
"Nothing!"
Gaara glared at Naruka so intently that he almost failed to notice the contents of her shopping basket being emptied onto the counter. Said contents included an AMT Jack Reacher Chevelle SS, plus a tube of glue and some paints. When he finally stopped giving her the death stare, he scanned her items and bagged them.
"Are you a…"
"Believe it!"
Naruka whipped out a rewards card from her wallet, which had the same spiral leaf design that her green purse had. Disturbed by the speed and precision with which she interrupted him, Gaara nevertheless scanned her card. When it came time to pay, that was the thing that aroused his suspicion: she paid for her items with an American Express Centurion Card.
(OK, I'm done,) thought Gaara. In spite of his disbelief, the card reader approved Naruka's card, so he had no choice but to hand over her receipt.
"Have a nice day," said Gaara.
"Gotcha! See you later!" Naruka waved and winked at Gaara.
On his break, Gaara had his usual chat with Matsuri.
"You'll never believe who I had for a customer," said Gaara.
"Who?" asked Matsuri.
Gaara crossed his arms. "This blonde woman whom I met at a grocery store yesterday came in here and had the nerve to pay for her model kit and supplies with one of those American Express black cards."
"So? Quite a few people have those nowadays."
"Well, I asked her what she did for a living and you know what she said?"
"What?"
"'Nothing'! Absolutely NOTHING!"
"Gaara, you might not know her whole story. This is America; plenty of people live well and don't have to work."
Gaara held his breath as he tried not to rant about the disparity between him working and not earning what he felt he deserved while others coasted through life with the whole world in their hands.
"Gaara, stop that!" cried Matsuri. "You're going to hurt yourself!"
Gaara exhaled. "I don't care, Matsuri. There is NO WAY in HELL that that woman has no job and a card like that."
Gaara took another deep breath and continued to hold it.
"Look, I understand if you're mad, but there are healthier ways to express anger." Matsuri pulled out a strange cube. "Here, try my Fidget Cube."
Gaara exhaled, took the Fidget Cube from Matsuri and tried to squeeze as hard as he could. Matsuri tried taking the cube from him.
"Don't break it!" said Matsuri.
"I wasn't trying to break it," said Gaara. "I was just trying to express anger in a healthy and productive way."
Matsuri sighed. Nevertheless, she knew exactly what Gaara needed, so she got up from her seat and hugged him from behind.
"Now, do you promise not to break my stuff?" asked Matsuri.
Gaara smiled. "Of course!"
Matsuri returned the smile. "See? I knew you were a reasonable man."
When he got back home, Gaara went to see Kankuro in the dining room.
"Kankuro, I'm sorry about yesterday."
"Mm-hmm." Kankuro took another bite of his Salisbury Steak.
"No really, I am. I just ran into some trouble at the grocery store yesterday, and I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Hey, don't worry about it, man! I understand if you're having girl troubles!"
Gaara crossed his arms. "All right, who said it involved a woman?"
"Well, I kinda figured the way you were avoiding looking at me and all…"
"Jeez, give me a break."
"Come on, Gaara! I know when you're in love!"
"LOVE!? Lord above! Now you're trying to trick me with love!"
Kankuro laughed. "Gotcha!"
"Get THIS!"
Gaara grabbed Kankuro's steak knife and held it up to his throat, but stopped short of actually slitting it.
"I could've killed you," said Gaara. "Don't push it. Don't push it or I'll give you a war you won't believe. Let it go. Let. It. Go."
Gaara retracted the knife and slowly handed it back to a now-trembling Kankuro.
In his room, Gaara sat in regret of all the bad things he'd done to Kankuro recently. He considered calling a counselor, but decided against it, feeling that his troubles would consume him by the time he was able to see the counselor. Then, he heard somebody knocking.
"Come in."
Kankuro entered the room.
"Look man," said Kankuro, "I understand if you're angry, but you don't have to take it out on me!"
"You're right," said Gaara. "I don't have to take it out on you. Problem is, who else will I take it out on?"
"You do realize that we have a punching bag in the basement, right?"
Gaara contemplated Kankuro's words for a few seconds.
"Do excuse me." Gaara got up from his seat and went into the basement.
Though Kankuro had cleaned it recently, the basement still had a musty smell typical of what one would imagine a basement to smell like. Down here, Gaara took off his shirt, wrapped his hands in sports tape and had at it with the punching bag, which was sitting on the floor. With every punch, Gaara could feel a warm and tingly feeling. Having been denied a chance to discharge his violent impulses in a way that only hand-to-hand combat could do, he got an evil smirk, albeit different from the one he got from weight training in that he bared his teeth.
"YES!" exclaimed Gaara. "Die! DIE!"
In the midst of his overly charged slugfest, Gaara got an unwelcome surprise when he saw Naruka's face manifest itself onto the punching bag. His eyes widened, he let out a scream of surprise and he stopped short of landing another blow. His smirk gone, he tried to control his breathing, but was largely unsuccessful, so he slumped down on one knee and stayed there until he was able to cool off. When he did, Gaara took off the sports tape, grabbed his shirt and went up to take a shower.
For the rest of the night, Gaara read a book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to cool off. He fell asleep while reading the book. When he was deep into sleep, he had a strange dream: he was in a garden high up in the clouds, with lush green grass and the clearest, most drinkable water he'd ever seen.
"Hey there, boy!"
"N-Naruka?"
Gaara tilted his head when he saw Naruka dressed in a white strapless dress and wearing angel wings.
"I didn't die…did I?" asked Gaara.
Naruka giggled. "No, you're just in Super Fun Time Land! Believe it!"
"So who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"I'm your angel of desire! Come with me; we're gonna have SO much fun!"
Naruka took Gaara by the hand and led him through Super Fun Time Land. As they ran down the immaculate stone path, not once did he bother to question why she was even in his dreams. He'd heard so many theories about dreams and what they were supposed to mean, but in recent times, he'd come to the conclusion that dreams weren't supposed to mean anything; it was how they made one feel that really mattered. Eventually, they reached a statue that looked like Cupid, situated atop a marble pyramid of stairs.
"What's this?" asked Gaara.
"Why, it's ONLY the Shrine of Love, silly! Come on, we've got no time to waste!"
Naruka led Gaara up the stairs to the statue itself.
"Sit down, babe!" said Naruka.
Gaara sat down at the base of the statue.
"And here comes the fun part!"
Naruka straddled Gaara and undid the belt on his pants. She then removed his pants and kissed him as she mounted him.
Gaara gasped as he suddenly awoke to a warm, sticky feeling in his underwear. He recognized what was going on, and it bothered him. How dare Naruka invade his dreams like that!? At the same time, he wanted to go back to sleep and see her again. Maybe the dream was really trying to tell him something. Then again, Gaara mused that maybe Naruka could damn herself to the depths of Hell.
(I'll figure this out tomorrow…)
Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.