Chapter 4: Shopping
Three large bags of chips, a pack of cookies, three boxes of crackers, two boxes of popcorn, five bars of chocolate, a gallon of ice cream, five boxes of moon pies, two dozen cans of soda, and… a houseplant? Kaede picked up the brown jar holding a small, leafy plant before carefully setting it back down in the shopping cart. She raised an eyebrow at its contents, none of which were on her short list. Canned foods, water bottles, rice, and granola bars were nowhere to be seen.
"Kaito!" Kaede called out, her soft voice echoing in the high rafters of the grocery store. Shuffling steps and rustling as a bag dropped to the floor came from the next aisle over. Kaede rolled her eyes before a man poked his head around the shelf separating them.
"What's up?" He asked as he walked fully into view, holding another bag of chips, a large package of ramen, and a box of cereal. He dumped them from his arms into the cart without another word.
Kaede sighed with a look into the cart and its unhealthy combination of food. "You were the one who told me we needed this-" She turned the list, written on a slip of paper, towards Kaito "-kind of Apocalypse Food'." She referenced the bold sharpied title on the list.
Kaito flashed her a wide grin. "Of course, I know all about that kind of stuff!" She didn't need to be reminded of his accounts of astronaut training. Or his wild tales of survival on the ocean with the pirate boss, or in the jungle, fighting giant snakes, or even the story of the underground empire. Kaede had heard her friend repeat them to practically everyone he met, which was not any small amount.
"I was just thinking, y'know, all this food is gonna go to waste either way. So why not eat it ourselves?" Kaito shrugged, still smiling.
Kaede shrugged herself. He had a point, she guessed. It wasn't like the situation was life-or-death, either. They could still take a few moments to relax and live like normal teengers.
A normal teenager was what Kaede Akamatsu had always expected to be. She got average grades in school, had a decently large group of friends, and spent lots of time on her personal hobbies, like playing the piano. In fact, that hobby which was the most routine for her was what she had been doing when her life became anything but routine. How ironic.
It was during study hall. Late morning at Shining Star International High School on a Monday. After a stressful first few periods, Kaede just wanted some time to unwind before the afternoon's rigorous classes began. She headed to what was nicknamed "Kaede's Lab" by those who knew her well: the practice rooms. The first one on the left was her favorite. Its soundproofing was the highest quality and remained empty for the most part. Even when there was another student inside, they would scamper out mumbling apologies when they saw Kaede. She had always wondered why her musically-drawn classmates seemed so intimidated by her. Maybe it was her enthusiasm? Or that she didn't fit the stereotype of a "piano freak"? That was what some of her friends called her. She was used to it now, though.
Anyways, Kaede had settled into a nearly hour-long session of piano playing. Each strike of a key would soothe her and draw out the stress and anxiety which plagued her mind during her school days. The music was more amazing and magical than anything else she had ever experienced. Depending on which song she played, she could find herself floating above the clouds, nearly touching the sun, or suspended deep below the ocean, with the moon shining through its murky depths. The key was letting your mind go and your fingers wander.
Hearing her phone's alarm go off, signaling the end of her free time, was like the harsh hand of reality tearing her out of the wonderful world the piano created. With regret slowing her movements, Kaede put her phone back in her white backpack and strode out of the music wing to join the rest of the crowds as they dispersed to different classrooms. Except today, the crowds were gone. Once, the sea would have swept Kaede away, but today, the waters were calm.
She found herself frozen in time in that hallway. Maybe time had frozen inside that school. Broken free from its spell, Kaede darted from classroom to classroom. Maybe she had missed an announcement that all classes had let out early. Or an assembly was happening without her knowledge. But if that was the case, why hadn't any of her friends come to get her? She knew she told them where she was going. They had laughed about their beloved "piano freak" as she left. Clearly, it wasn't either of those solutions, seeing as the gym and teachers' offices were just as lifeless as the hallways.
So, if it wasn't that… Maybe something horrible had happ- No, don't think like that, Kaede! The girl shook her head. That wasn't possible. The soundproofing panels were good, but not that good. If something had happened, she would have undoubtedly heard it. That left only one possibility: This was all a dream. The girl nodded her head. A dream, one that she would wake up from very soon upon realizing its truth.
...But nothing happened. When Kaede blinked, she was still staring at an empty school. It was still silent. And no one was going to be there. Kaede felt her heart drop. What does someone do in a situation like this? It was like something straight out of a TV show.
Kaede's answer came in the form of a chiming tone in her backpack. She grabbed her cellphone, alive with the image of an incoming call. Kaito Momota. Kaede picked up without hesitation.
"Oh my god!" Came the scream from the speakers. Kaede flinched and moved the phone away from her ear as victorious shouting continued on the other end. It pierced through the silence like a bullet.
"Kaito?" Kaede asked in a quieter tone than she intended. After the man in question didn't respond, Kaede repeated his name in a louder tone. The shouting on the other end stopped, and normal, if rapid, talking took its place.
"Oh my god, Kaede! You have no idea how happy I am right now!" His voice cracked between sentences. "I tried calling everyone, and…" He trailed off into silence before resuming in a more serious tone. "I don't know what in the world is going on right now. I was just at lunch, and then… I don't know, man. Everyone disappeared."
Kaede's fingers went numb, nearly dropping her phone from their grasp. She felt a lump form in her throat as dread filled her body. "Disappeared?" Was the only word her lips were able to form before falling silent again.
"Yeah…" Kaito sounded almost regretful saying it. "Like, I mean they literally disappeared. One second they were there, the next they weren't. Like they just turned invisible." His laugh was dry, humorless.
"So…" Kaede started slowly. "What do we do?" She glanced over her shoulder. She wasn't sure if she would be more relieved or scared if she saw someone standing there now.
Kaito hummed through the speakers. "Meet me at Rocketpunch as soon as you can." He hesitated. "We should hang up now. Gotta save our batteries. If you need to change the plan, or if you see anyone else, call me. See you soon, Kaede." After another moment of hesitation, the call hung up with a quiet beep.
For the next half hour, Kaede walked through ominously still streets to the downtown section of Hope City. Not that the rural streets leading to Shining Star International were ever busy, but to see them this quiet was strange, at the very least. When she finally reached Rocketpunch Market, on the edge of Hope City, and inside found Kaito Momota waiting for her, she didn't think she'd ever been happier.
That led them to their current situation. After talking over what each of them had experienced, they decided that the best plan of action would be to gather all the materials they needed to survive for a week or two, and stay together in one of their houses, which turned out to be Kaede's after arguing over who had the better home. Kaito proclaimed himself a survival expert, something Kaede doubted, but was willing to go along with just to lie to herself that everything was going to be okay and return to normal…
A return to normal seemed the furthest thing from reality as they stood in front of rows of empty cash registers with a shopping cart full of food and drinks. Maybe if they stood long enough, someone would appear to check them out. Looking down into the cart, Kaede didn't think she had even half of the money needed to pay for their haul.
Kaito pushed the cart through the aisle without stopping. Kaede trailed behind him, fishing through her bag for her pink wallet. From that, she withdrew a quarter of what they most likely owed and set it next to the unused cash register. She stashed her wallet away before jogging after Kaito.
"What was that for?" Kaito asked her, turning over his shoulder to give her a questioning look.
"Well, I was thinking, in case - no, when - somebody comes back to work here, they'll appreciate seeing at least a fraction of what they needed from us." Kaede chuckled and shrugged.
Kaito frowned at her. "Whatever you s-" Before he could finish, he was cut off by his shopping cart being abruptly overturned, its contents flying out in a scattered heap on the ground. Kaito yelped and jumped back into Kaede, bringing them both to the ground. Kaede screamed with the weight that landed on top of her. When she was able to look up, she saw a figure in black weakly rising from the remains of their shopping trip. She grimaced at some of the packages, which had split open from the impact. But the now-standing figure was more concerning than any food.
The figure, a boy, wore a baseball cap which covered much of his face. From what she could see, though, he was a pale, thin boy, with a strange blue color for his hair, and an even stranger yellow color for his eyes. She felt hope spark in her chest before it quickly faded to suspicion. Who was this boy and why did he come charging into them like that?
Before either Kaede or Kaito had a chance to, the stranger spoke first. "I-I'm so sorry!" He cried out as he rounded the shopping cart and dropped to his knees in the mess. He quickly grabbed a few items, turned the shopping cart right side up, and tossed them back in. Then, he froze. It seemed he too realized that seeing other people was now a one in a million chance. One that could either lead to the ultimate hope or death, depending on what you believed.
The three stared at each other in complete silence. Kaito hadn't moved from his uncomfortable position on top of Kaede, pinned to the hard ground, since he was first knocked down. The stranger also hadn't moved. He still had one hand on the shopping cart, the other frozen in midair from where he had dropped the groceries.
Kaede, finding her courage quicker than the other boys, finally raised her voice. "Um… Well, this is weird, isn't it?" She sheepishly grinned as she pushed Kaito off of her and stood, brushing off her pink skirt. "Do you have any idea what's going on right now? About the whole disappearing thing?" Kaede knew the answer before the stranger answered.
"No, I don't… Sorry…" He stammered, quickly averting his eyes from Kaede and staring at a spot of dirt on the ground. Kaede smiled at him, even if he couldn't see her. He was shy. It was endearing, in a way. That shyness made her believe that seeing another person was hope rather than death.
"I'm Kaede Akamatsu," She said with her hand outstretched to the boy. He looked at her carefully before giving her his own hand. It was damp with sweat, and he barely gripped at all as she shook his hand.
"I'm Shuichi Saihara…" He said quietly. He flinched as Kaito rose behind Kaede.
"And I'm Kaito Momota!" Kaito shook Shuichi's hand the same way Kaede had, but Shuichi seemed more shaken up by him than he had her. Kaito flashed him a toothy grin as he let go.
"Nice to meet you two…" Shuichi glanced between them. Hints of suspicion still remained in his eyes, despite the warm greeting. After another awkward moment of silence, he said "So I suppose neither of you know anything about this, either?" The tiniest bit of hope remained in his voice.
"Nope," Kaede and Kaito answered in unison. Shuichi nodded sadly.
"I figured…" He sighed.
Kaede and Kaito shared an understanding glance. They smiled as they turned back to Shuichi, whose face turned frightened. Two optimistic people was an overwhelming thing, apparently, to nervous teenagers. "Well, that doesn't really matter. I'm sure if we work together, we can figure it out. Right?" Kaede said in the most cheerful tone she could muster.
"Yeah, you could be our partner. We've got plenty of food to go around…" Kaito gestured towards the items on the ground. "And it's better to have three people than two. We could explore the city and figure out what's going on."
Shuichi studied both of them before dropping his gaze again. "Sorry… I promised my… friend… that I'd be back before night. I don't think she'd appreciate me bringing more strangers home." He began picking up the fallen items again and placing them in the cart.
"There's more?" Kaede gasped.
Shuichi looked up from his task. "Yeah, I met two girls today. None of us know what's happening though…" Shuichi promptly shut his mouth. Had he given away too much information? How did he know he could even trust these two?
"So that makes five of us… Maybe more, who knows?" Kaito rubbed the back of his neck before joining Shuichi at the same time as Kaede. Together, the three were able to clean up all of the spilled items and have them back in the cart in less than two minutes. Kaito only frowned at the small spiderweb cracks in the pot of his houseplant. When it was all done, Kaede beamed.
"Well, Shuichi, I think it was really a great thing that we met. We should meet up again soon. I'm sure one of us will have figured something out by then. Oh, and-" Kaede pulled out her mauve-colored phone and handed it to Shuichi. "So we can keep in contact," she said as Shuichi quickly entered his contact information. He did the same to Kaito's galaxy-patterned phone. He soon got two texts from two new numbers, identifying their owners.
Shuichi felt comforted by the two, even if they were complete strangers. Kaede Akamatsu… he was sure he'd heard that name somewhere before. Regardless, she was a dazzling sight, with her shining golden hair and deep violet eyes. He couldn't help but feel an encouraging aura radiating from her barely shorter frame. And Kaito Momota… he was surprised he'd never heard that name, with how much the taller man stood out. His purple hair was spiked up in a way Shuichi was sure drew attention, and his lilac-colored eyes were certainly not an average color. Shuichi forced himself to ignore their quirks, not that he didn't have enough of them himself. Even though they were strangers, it seemed strangers were becoming his best allies recently.
But he still had one question. "How can you guys trust me so easily?" He asked, trailing behind the duo as they exited the store's automatic doors. They both looked over their shoulders at him.
Kaito waited a second before answering. "I just wanted to, I guess," he said with a shrug. "You seem like a good guy." He grinned.
"And, no offense, you didn't seem like you could do much to us," Kaede giggled under her breath.
"Ah… thank you?" Shuichi looked torn between accepting that as a compliment or insult. They were now outside. The air had dropped another ten or so degrees since they entered, the wind biting through all of their clothes. Kaede suddenly wished she had chosen to wear leggings under her skirt that day, and Kaito drew his purple jacket, resting on his broad shoulders, closed. The sun was visibly setting now, its bottom edge grazing the top of the skyscrapers of Hope City.
"Good luck getting home, Shuichi!" Kaede said as she picked up half of the bags from the cart. Kaito grabbed his share before kicking the cart back in the general direction of the doors.
Shuichi suddenly exclaimed that he nearly forgot what he had come there for: food. He began to run back in the store before Kaede stopped him. She insisted he take some of theirs, and Kaito agreed, less reluctantly than Kaede had thought he would. Shuichi rejected their offer multiple times before Kaede forced the bags into his arms. She was glad to let the boy take some of the weight off of her hands.
"And call us if you need anything, partner," Kaito winked as the two began stepping away.
Suddenly, Shuichi remembered an important detail. "Wait, guys!" The duo stopped. "Watch out for… strange things… wandering the streets… " Shuichi couldn't say monsters out loud. They would think he was insane.
"Of course, you too!" Kaede cheerfully called out as they split ways. Shuichi, carrying his parting gifts from them, and Kaede and Kaito happily chatting about their new friend. No one noticed the pair of eyes following their movements into the rapidly growing shadows of night.