Chapter 4: Shopping!
[Just so you know:
All of the presents will be horrendously under-priced so that everyone gets at least something, Kay? Bye!]
After about an hour of placing and re-arranging, Kagome was finally able to find sleeping spaces for each person (and demon). She and Sami would take her room, Sango would get mom's room, the monk would take Sota's room, and the last two boys were given Gramps' room. 'What a day. First the hats, then the mistletoe, Christmas is weird,' Inuyasha thought quietly. Shippo had fallen asleep beside him, curled into a tiny ball. 'What about presents? Should I get a present for someone? What would Kagome want? Will she get me something?' Questions ran through his mind as he watched the Kitsune's steady breathing.
~*~*~*~*~
It was to days of non-stop snowing before the sun could be seen again. So when Sami suggested they go out to buy presents, the cabin-fevered group pounced upon the idea and headed out the door before the blond had even finished speaking. "Thankfully I've been saving up my spending money," Kagome said, "So I'll lend each of you $20 for presents." [I don't know how many Yen equal $20, so I won't try to pretend I do] "I guess all that time in the well was useful, otherwise I would have spent it all," She said as she handed out the bills.
"Well Kagome; since you seem to know your way around, why don't you point out some nice places for us?" Suggested Sami.
"Okay," began Kagome, "On this street there's a candy shop, a clothing store, and a place where you can buy plants. And further down there's a book store and the mall on the next street has just about anything else you want."
"I'm going to the candy shop!" cried Shippo.
"This 'mall' sounds interesting," Sango said.
"Clothing," was Miroku's reply.
'Hey, that's a great idea,' Kagome thought to herself. "I'm heading to the book store," she told the group. "Let's meet back here at 2, when the tall hand is at its highest point and the shorter one is two away to the right," she said, more to the four time-travelers than to Sami. "Oh, yeah. About you two," she stared at the half-demon and Kitsune, "Ears and tails might attract attention. Shippo, could you do something about it?" Kagome eyed Inuyasha, thinking carefully. "Just lose the ears and maybe some street clothes; like them." She pointed out two teenagers walking out of the clothing store to the Kitsune at her feet.
"Sure Kagome," Shippo replied, always ready to please his friend. "Now hold still you," he told Inuyasha as he pulled a leaf from one of the folds of his kimono. He placed it on the embarrassed half-demon's head and mumbled a spell. The half-Youkai was surrounded by smoke, and when it cleared . . .
"Nice," Sami said in a sultry tone. His ears were pulled the sides of his head in normal human fashion and his hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. Tight jeans with a T-shirt and a button-up long sleeve one over that replaced his red kimono. Sami licked her finger and poked Inuyasha's shoulder. "Tsssssssss. Hot. Nice job Shippo."
"I don't like em," the said quietly, looking down at himself.
"They look nice Inuyasha. Now let's get going." Kagome said, "Don't for get a disguise for yourself Shippo!" she called over her shoulder.
"Kay Kagome," the Kitsune replied and bounced happily down the street.
'"They look nice Inuyasha,"' Kagome's words rung in his head. A goofy smile spread over his face. 'They're not so bad.' He thought to himself. 'If Kagome likes em, then so do I.' Inuyasha watched his friends separate into different shops. 'Now what should I do?' He sank down to the snowy sidewalk.
"Tee Hee," Sami stood over the demon's shoulder, "You don't know what to get Kagome for Christmas, do you?"
"Gah! How'd you get over there?!" Inuyasha yelled and ran a few feet from her to perch on a bench.
"You do, don't you? Like Kagome I mean?" Sami quipped, stepping over to the bench. "In two days I'll be back in America and you'll probably never se me again, so if you need someone to confess to, other than Kagome of course; I'm your girl!" She said, smiling brightly.
The Youkai was stunned, 'How does she know?'
"Yes!" he choked, surprising himself, "Everything about her; her smell, the way she talks and moves. Gods, she's even cute when she's telling me to 'SIT'," he cursed, realizing what he had just done.
"I knew it. So, now that that's off your chest, you'll be able to think. Now what do girls like? Obviously you don't know, so I'll tell ya," Sami started, "Flowers and candy are the norm. And Since Shippo's in the candy store, I'd suggest flowers"
"Flowers? It's the middle of winter for crying out loud!" Inuyasha groaned. He had been following the plan and kind of liked it, not that he'd tell her. But now her idea seemed impossible.
"That's where flower shops come in. They have lots of different kinds of flowers sent to them from places that are warm, so you can get flowers for Kagome even in the middle of winter," the blond replied. "It's this way," and with a bounce of her pigtails, she was off down the street.
"H-hey! Wait for me!" Inuyasha started and ran to catch up with her.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile . . .
Our favorite Kitsune was busy in the candy store, acting, well, like a kid in a candy store.
"Need any help?" a smiling lady behind the counter asked.
"What can I get with this?" Shippo asked, holding up his $20. (He had turned into a 6-year-old before going in. *^. ^*)
"Well, you can take a bag from over there and fill it up with candy from these bins. Then we'll weigh it on this scale," she tapped the scale on the counter, "And when the arrow points to the five, I'll take 15 dollars from your 20. Kay?"
"So I can take as much as I want from any of these?" the Kitsune asked excitedly.
"As long as the bag doesn't weigh more than 5 pounds," she replied. Shippo was off in a flash; grabbing lemon drops, toffees, haystacks, jellybeans and anything else he could get his hands, (paws actually) on. Finally satisfied with his load, he hefted the dab up to the counter and the lady placed it on the scale.
"Just five pounds. Very Good. (Remember, she thinks Shippo is a 6-year-old.) Anything else?" Shippo looked around the store. There was something he was forgetting . . . He looked at the door and at the top there was a piece of mistletoe. The Kitsune's eyes brightened.
"Yeah! I gotta' get Christmas presents!" He counted off the names on his fingers. "I gotta' get 5 more presents. Do I still have enough?" he asked the woman with the scale.
"Why sure you do! There's a box over there of Chocolate bars; each of those is a dollar. Go pick out five for your friends," she smiled and watched Shippo scurry over the box she had pointed to. The woman took his twenty and placed all his candy in a big bag for him. "There you go. Have fun. Hope your friends like their presents."
Thanks, bye!" The Kitsune said and rushed out the door, his hands clutching his newly bought treasures.