Well peeps, here you have it:
The . . . *drumroll* SHOPPING SCENE *with obvious confetti and much celebrating*
OH YEAH! Please note: I'll be writing responses to your reviews, in a review, about 3 days after posting a chapter. Hopefully, I will sound a bit more, well, "down to earth" with you all *pulls out clipboard* Alright, time for a psychiatric exam . . .
o.O
Bitter? Naw . . . but I am serious about the "reader responses" thing. You guys are totally worth it!
So, please enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was an ominous sight that greeted her gaze by the time she looked up. Large and brick, with model-like teenage girls practically skipping with delight, as their boyfriends held their faces low, trying to imagine themselves anywhere but there.
Rei wondered how it became so crowded, so early on a Sunday morning.
It wasn't precisely ~early~; Mai had spent hours finishing Rei's new hairdo and oily make-up (or so it seemed), but ten-o-clock was not exactly a comfortable or even acceptable time to be out. On summer vacation. On a Sunday.
She sighed into the light breeze flowing through the window, 'survival of the fittest' she supposed.
Mai smoothly parked in a convenient and freshly painted spot in front of one of the massive department stores, the keys jingling a merry tune to compliment the same one that Mai had been humming lately. She looked over to the girl in the passenger's seat with a confidently reassuring look.
"Ready?" she asked breathlessly.
/How could she be so excited to go to a place like this?/ Rei wondered, but betrayed nothing in her nervous appearance /I hate malls./
"I suppose . . . " she replied in a strained voice, which Mai aptly ignored. Immediately, the blonde opened an exited the door of her beloved Corvette, making sure the metallic purple paint flashed beautifully in the sunlight.
Her chosen mode of transportation was truly a sight to behold, as even Rei, who knew absolutely ~nothing~ about cars, observed its beauty breathlessly. Before she saw this one, she would have thought of Corvettes being profoundly masculine, with a player in the front seat, and two bleach- blondes in the passenger's seat.
But this one was so feminine; it would be easy to pick the driver out of a crowd.
The curves, the sleek form, and most of all the COLOR, were very feminine in this case, and very 'Mai'.
Speaking of which, the proud owner flicked a speck of dust off of her violet corset before turning to the now obviously unenthusiastic girl with a stern look.
"Come on Rei."
So, they set off to the chosen haunt and haven, of girls just like the one Rei appeared as.
Mai had chosen a lacy handbag to compliment her appearance, which was already attracting looks from nearby males. Each step of hers swung to a familiar rhythm, with her rounded hips swaying smoothly from foot to foot. She flicked a few curls back to expose faintly lined eyes, and spoke to the girl next to her calmly, with a strategic level of authority to prevent any second thoughts.
"We'll have to move fast; the school year starts in a week, and we need to pick out a suitable wardrobe for you, ASAP."
"S-school?" Rei's mouth twisted nervously, as she clasped her hands behind her to prevent fiddling with them. It was an awkward position to walk in, but at that moment, she couldn't have cared less.
"Yes ~school~. I need help with my homework, you know?!" she said this with a joking smile, and though the other girl would have normally been even more uncomfortable with an open joke, she was already getting used to relaxing at that voice. It was more natural than the sarcastic jokes she was normally used to.
Rei quickly came up with another type of response, covering up what now seemed like ridiculous point. /Cooping up won't solve my problems./, she was just thankful that Mai had realized this before she did.
"Aren't you going to Domino High?" she questioned "You . . . we have to wear uniforms."
Her shopping companion gave a very unlady-like snort.
"Free dress on Fridays, Rei."
She mentally smacked herself; how could she forget that girls take that day, MUCH more seriously than guys? "So--ah, bloody--"
Mai's high laugh drowned out her curse, and the fact that they were both astonished the pained girl would dare to use it.
Rei recovered quickly as she humorously shook her head while saying: "Well anyway, why are we so early here?"
It was a question that had been bugging her for some time now. Mai smiled mysteriously.
"Survival of the fittest."
~*~*~*~
Indoors, it was actually quiet. Strangely quiet. So quiet, it was scary.
"Alright, shoes first!" Mai stated enthusiastically "I doubt anything is open yet anyway, but shoes are a must, too."
Shoes. Rei felt her gaze trail down to Ryou's worn leather loafers, which looked especially out of place considering her outfit. Ryou rarely shopped at the mall if he could help it, and Mai seemed quite familiar with the place, so it didn't take long before she found herself following her with long mellow strides.
The oily smell of leather could be distinctively smelled about one hundred feet away, and made Rei's stomach turn with something unrecognizable.
"Why are you so quiet, anyway?" Mai asked thoughtfully, and adjusting the strap of her seemingly glamorous purse as she turned toward her.
Rei shrugged "Is there really that much to talk about?"
"That's not the point. Any girl your age should be the ~mistress~ of starting conversations without anything to talk about. Silence is ~way~ too awkward." She sounded like she was giving a lecture in some twisted class about social habits, then she gave a silent snort of amusement "Let's try this for example:
"So Rei, what is your favorite type of juice?"
Somehow, she felt obliged to reply "Cranberry juice, it's much more tangy than other types."
"Ick! Too sour for me. But one time I had this carbonated grapefruit stuff, and it was really great. I sometimes have these weird cravings in the middle of the night." She went on, and for some reason, it just seemed ~natural~ to say
"I think I've had that stuff! Father and I used to get it back before," Rei made a pathetic choking sound, /why is it that everything I say, I seem to somehow connect it to . . . /
"Well anyway," Mai swiftly pounced onto the case before she had much of a chance to wade in her emotional burdens "not bad. But we'll need to work on it."
They continued to walk.
"Umm, Rei? Do you mind if I ask something, ah, personal?" ~she~ seemed rather uncomfortable, but no matter how hard she tried to imagine, Rei couldn't figure out anything that would be more uncomfortably 'personal' than the murder. Ryou never had much of a social life.
"Not really." She was still worried though.
"Were you--was Ryou . . . well . . . ~gay~?"
Her stomach could have spilled onto that beige tile floor, and she wouldn't have been surprised. " . . . a . . . "
Mai bit her lip, and averted her eyes as they stopped walking at a reasonable distance from the shoe store. "It's just that, well, you're really too good-looking to avoid the guys like that and--"
"I'm . . . not really sure." Her face turned a million shades of red in that pregnant pause, but thankfully, no one walking by seemed to notice. "I never loved anyone like that . . . "
"Well, that's good enough for me!" Mai said quickly with a jaunty jolt of her head, and grabbed the girl's elbow to steer her into the shoe store.
Rei turned confused. /Why do I have the feeling that she's more uncomfortable about this than I am?/
"Mai? How about you?" with a guilty smirk, she felt it was only fair to ask the same question back at her. /I mean, she DOES seem to really hate guys to an unhealthy degree . . . /
However, she gave only a fortunately relieved sigh, turning back with wide eyes "No, ~unfortunately~, guys are still the ones that make my knees wobble. Sad, huh?"
Rei pondered her answer carefully, trying her hardest to sound as comforting as Mai had sounded to her, in the past.
"We'll see," she smiled, finding the look on Mai's face quite humorous "I might have inherited the hormones along with the body."
The blonde slapped her forehead. "How come I never noticed you could be so sarcastic?!"
The two of them laughed at a degree of understanding, and entered the snobby-looking shop with corresponding strides.
~*~*~*~
Only FOUR, BOLDED AND GRUELING HOURS LATER, and Rei was already a little weary. Please note her condition with extreme sarcasm.
The heavy bags whose handles were folded over, dug into her palms and lower fingers; a ridiculously demand of 'SHOP YOU FOOL!!! DON'T STOP, BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FAULT YOU FEEL THE SLIGHT PAIN OF SHOPPING!!!'. /Oh great,/ she thought hopelessly, /even my mind is against me. That can't be healthy./
She tried shifting the weight of four packed bags, but exposing the angry red skin only made her grimace with more pain. The soles of her new lace-up 'Doc Marten' boots (Mai had insisted!) seemed to smash her heel unmercifully, which was saying something since they were some of the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn.
It was now a matter of trailing behind Mai in the crowded walkways of 'heaven'. If Rei hadn't of known that the things she was carrying were indeed ~her's~, she would have suspected of turning into a frightened packhorse, because that was precisely how she felt. Conversation was basic and sparse because of the sheer noise that surrounded them in a cloud of animated socializing, not that Rei wanted to risk any distraction from her high-matinance bags.
The girl before her slowed her pace a hesitation, rubbing an ominous glaze to Rei's guess. Her mouth moved deliberately, but she couldn't make out just ~what~ deliberation that may be, so she followed regardless. Not like she had much of a choice anyway.
A seemingly fruitless chase/dance led Rei passed such a contrast of people, it made her head spin.
Then she noticed the obvious destination. Not that it was hard, considering the two shops on either side were only ((AN - I know what you're thinking . . . "only'?!)) a Suncoast, and a musty-smelling comic shop. Oh the irony, if only Rei had noticed it before she felt the most obvious reaction to the store they were walking up to.
"NO WAY!!!"
Mai pursed her lips back towards the flushing girl. "You're being immature about this you know . . . " The gal in violet absolutely ~hated~ the types of startled looks they were attracting right now, further accelerating her annoyance at humankind in general. "Don't tell me you're already getting immature about this!"
Rei's (now shortened to avoid strange 'you look like this guy I used to know' questions) hair fluttered in distress, as she shook her head vigorously.
"Mai. No way, this is TOO much!" her voice came out in a pathetic plea, and Mai only shook her head.
"It's not that bad you know." She attempted to take her hand, but found her slipping out of the grip like a frightened kitten, as Rei's face reflected a state of pure terror at the prissy cream columns on either side of the entrance, and the seemingly intimidating fiery-pink carpeting. She tried at her hand again "C'mon Rei, this is important!"
The girl didn't answer, only stared ahead; terrified.
So Mai took the obvious initiative, by pushing her unmercifully . . .
. . . Into the pink depths of Victoria's Secret.
Fortunately, one of the blonde and smiling ladies picked her up from there.
"So, have you ever shopped at VICTORIA'S SECRET," Rei was certain she stressed that line as much as possible "before?"
The perkiness was sickening, so to avoid possible retching opportunities, she shook her head slowly and deliberately.
"Well, let's get to the measuring then!"
Rei surveyed her for a moment.
"May I ask just ~what~ we're measuring?" she asked, doggedly.
Mai groaned from behind her.
~*~*~*~
"Finally, food!" Mai sighed as she relaxed blissfully to the norm of the mall's cafeteria.
Rei didn't reply, for at 2:30 PM, even the greasy-grilling of McDonald's seemed tempting. Now that she thought of it, it had been about a day since she had eaten last and that one instance yesterday could have ~hardly~ been considered a meal.
"Chinese?" she ventured to Miss Moneybags over there, as her eyes rested on those disgustingly scrumptious egg rolls laid out in front.
"Yum." Automatically, she briskly strode toward the sparse line, and guess what? Added her esteemed presence to it. Their gazes both averted from the food; the lady in front of them seemed to be speaking in Spanish, and the pimply teen over the counter didn't seem to have much luck in decoding the extravagant hand motions, and rolling tongue.
The snowy haired one found this place oddly comforting, as weary girls bobbed their pony-tails and curls as they spoke happily to their companions, and settled their stances for a bite to eat. Rather un- extraordinary, but it was much easier to settle in at a place where no one was looking out for, well, looks.
Mai however, was rather bored. Her stomach was grumbling in discontent, which was hard enough to stifle.
Nothing special really came to this break, until a simple glimpse had Mai gawking.
The white shade among blacks, oranges and browns would have been startling normally, but Rei was right where she thought she was; standing idly and tracing sights with her finger.
When she saw it again, the hardened eyes accenting the exotic look, it was almost too ironically horrid luck to be true.
"Shit," her eyes widened in remembrance, and instinct had her roughly shoving the spacey girl beside her into an overweight crowd of McDonald's junkies.
"Hey--" Rei protested, but her voice was muffled quickly in the stubborn consumers.
Mai stomped up, determined to waver this ridiculousness as much as possible. How ~dare~ he show up here . . . bastard . . .
She yelled that out to him, and bless her luck, he actually got it. Looking almost impassively, and strangely young-like he turned with his lips slightly parted and wide eyes.
"You . . . I know you, h-have you seen Ryou?" his lip was trembling. Hah. Like ~Mai~ was going to fall for that kind of 'innocent' game.
"And now ~why~ should I answer that?" her eyebrows were raised dangerously high into her hair.
"Please!" he sounded almost frantic now "I must . . . I can't find him!"
Rei's ears perked up at the muffle of the raised voice nearby, sensing the disturbance to be of importance. She paled thinking /Oh dear, I hope Mai hasn't gotten into any trouble./ Her arms waved in a just of making room for herself to get by, but she somehow only found herself up at the counter.
"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order?" the faceless voice droned, unpleasantly ignoring her attempts to get out of the way.
"You hear 'im, girl!" another voice boomed "Ansaw!"
Her eyes narrowed, gaining a convenient amount of learned cockiness "Just. Get. Out of the way!"
Mai placed a hand on her hip menacingly "Why?! So you can abuse his presence like you always did?!" she threw her arms up into the air "You don't even know ~anything~ about the kid!"
"Actually, I do." He hissed back, finally letting that uncontrollable pride obscure the way.
That was the first line Rei heard, once she found her way out of the crowd.
She stared.
Mai replied "Yeah, sure. You just want him back because, even though you can't admit it, you can't do jack without him there cleaning up your shirt.
Rei stared. Yami Bakura turned to look at this curious onlooker, instinctively reaching into her mind for an answer to her odd behavior . . .
. . . Only to be bounced back out, neatly in a mental heap. He was profoundly shocked that a normal human could create such reliable shields. /Something must be protecting her, but why? Who is this?!/
"Who are you?" his voice echoed softly. He cursed under his breath, that stupid Ryou must have been rubbing off on him. A jolt ran through his body. /No! He's not 'stupid, he's wonderful . . . /
Wonderful.
The girl did not shift, the girl did not falter. Her mouth twisted into a hardened line, and she spoke clearly and coolly:
"I'm Rei." She looked to Mai "I'm here with her. Get out of my way, or I'm going to ~make you~."
And before he had a chance to respond, she, and a startled Mai bumped past him rudely.
He stared after her.
/Yes, but who is protecting her? A strong mage he must be . . . /
~*~*~*~
Far, far away, but closer now than it seemed, a little girl giggled at the projected image in front of her.
"Not 'he' silly," Rinnie of the Sanctuary giggled "'she'.
"Me!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That turned out reasonably well! *applauds herself* The ending was a sort of spur-of-moment sort of thing, that will change this sloooooooooow plot, drastically. Ah yes, in the exact word of many-an-author . . .
. . . the plot thickens ^^
Teehee, hope you enjoyed your SHOPPING SCENE, which as a matter of fact, was amusing to write. But if you liked this, heh heh, wait until I describe her clothes!
^____________________________________________________________^
. . . Now, did that look evil/creepy, or what?
Hope you find time to review . . . *sniffle* can we shoot for . . . 56 reviews this time?
Toodles.
giggleplex
IMPORTANT!!!!!!! 56 REVIEWS, AND I POST OUT A NEW CHAPTER! REVIEW!!!
The . . . *drumroll* SHOPPING SCENE *with obvious confetti and much celebrating*
OH YEAH! Please note: I'll be writing responses to your reviews, in a review, about 3 days after posting a chapter. Hopefully, I will sound a bit more, well, "down to earth" with you all *pulls out clipboard* Alright, time for a psychiatric exam . . .
o.O
Bitter? Naw . . . but I am serious about the "reader responses" thing. You guys are totally worth it!
So, please enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was an ominous sight that greeted her gaze by the time she looked up. Large and brick, with model-like teenage girls practically skipping with delight, as their boyfriends held their faces low, trying to imagine themselves anywhere but there.
Rei wondered how it became so crowded, so early on a Sunday morning.
It wasn't precisely ~early~; Mai had spent hours finishing Rei's new hairdo and oily make-up (or so it seemed), but ten-o-clock was not exactly a comfortable or even acceptable time to be out. On summer vacation. On a Sunday.
She sighed into the light breeze flowing through the window, 'survival of the fittest' she supposed.
Mai smoothly parked in a convenient and freshly painted spot in front of one of the massive department stores, the keys jingling a merry tune to compliment the same one that Mai had been humming lately. She looked over to the girl in the passenger's seat with a confidently reassuring look.
"Ready?" she asked breathlessly.
/How could she be so excited to go to a place like this?/ Rei wondered, but betrayed nothing in her nervous appearance /I hate malls./
"I suppose . . . " she replied in a strained voice, which Mai aptly ignored. Immediately, the blonde opened an exited the door of her beloved Corvette, making sure the metallic purple paint flashed beautifully in the sunlight.
Her chosen mode of transportation was truly a sight to behold, as even Rei, who knew absolutely ~nothing~ about cars, observed its beauty breathlessly. Before she saw this one, she would have thought of Corvettes being profoundly masculine, with a player in the front seat, and two bleach- blondes in the passenger's seat.
But this one was so feminine; it would be easy to pick the driver out of a crowd.
The curves, the sleek form, and most of all the COLOR, were very feminine in this case, and very 'Mai'.
Speaking of which, the proud owner flicked a speck of dust off of her violet corset before turning to the now obviously unenthusiastic girl with a stern look.
"Come on Rei."
So, they set off to the chosen haunt and haven, of girls just like the one Rei appeared as.
Mai had chosen a lacy handbag to compliment her appearance, which was already attracting looks from nearby males. Each step of hers swung to a familiar rhythm, with her rounded hips swaying smoothly from foot to foot. She flicked a few curls back to expose faintly lined eyes, and spoke to the girl next to her calmly, with a strategic level of authority to prevent any second thoughts.
"We'll have to move fast; the school year starts in a week, and we need to pick out a suitable wardrobe for you, ASAP."
"S-school?" Rei's mouth twisted nervously, as she clasped her hands behind her to prevent fiddling with them. It was an awkward position to walk in, but at that moment, she couldn't have cared less.
"Yes ~school~. I need help with my homework, you know?!" she said this with a joking smile, and though the other girl would have normally been even more uncomfortable with an open joke, she was already getting used to relaxing at that voice. It was more natural than the sarcastic jokes she was normally used to.
Rei quickly came up with another type of response, covering up what now seemed like ridiculous point. /Cooping up won't solve my problems./, she was just thankful that Mai had realized this before she did.
"Aren't you going to Domino High?" she questioned "You . . . we have to wear uniforms."
Her shopping companion gave a very unlady-like snort.
"Free dress on Fridays, Rei."
She mentally smacked herself; how could she forget that girls take that day, MUCH more seriously than guys? "So--ah, bloody--"
Mai's high laugh drowned out her curse, and the fact that they were both astonished the pained girl would dare to use it.
Rei recovered quickly as she humorously shook her head while saying: "Well anyway, why are we so early here?"
It was a question that had been bugging her for some time now. Mai smiled mysteriously.
"Survival of the fittest."
~*~*~*~
Indoors, it was actually quiet. Strangely quiet. So quiet, it was scary.
"Alright, shoes first!" Mai stated enthusiastically "I doubt anything is open yet anyway, but shoes are a must, too."
Shoes. Rei felt her gaze trail down to Ryou's worn leather loafers, which looked especially out of place considering her outfit. Ryou rarely shopped at the mall if he could help it, and Mai seemed quite familiar with the place, so it didn't take long before she found herself following her with long mellow strides.
The oily smell of leather could be distinctively smelled about one hundred feet away, and made Rei's stomach turn with something unrecognizable.
"Why are you so quiet, anyway?" Mai asked thoughtfully, and adjusting the strap of her seemingly glamorous purse as she turned toward her.
Rei shrugged "Is there really that much to talk about?"
"That's not the point. Any girl your age should be the ~mistress~ of starting conversations without anything to talk about. Silence is ~way~ too awkward." She sounded like she was giving a lecture in some twisted class about social habits, then she gave a silent snort of amusement "Let's try this for example:
"So Rei, what is your favorite type of juice?"
Somehow, she felt obliged to reply "Cranberry juice, it's much more tangy than other types."
"Ick! Too sour for me. But one time I had this carbonated grapefruit stuff, and it was really great. I sometimes have these weird cravings in the middle of the night." She went on, and for some reason, it just seemed ~natural~ to say
"I think I've had that stuff! Father and I used to get it back before," Rei made a pathetic choking sound, /why is it that everything I say, I seem to somehow connect it to . . . /
"Well anyway," Mai swiftly pounced onto the case before she had much of a chance to wade in her emotional burdens "not bad. But we'll need to work on it."
They continued to walk.
"Umm, Rei? Do you mind if I ask something, ah, personal?" ~she~ seemed rather uncomfortable, but no matter how hard she tried to imagine, Rei couldn't figure out anything that would be more uncomfortably 'personal' than the murder. Ryou never had much of a social life.
"Not really." She was still worried though.
"Were you--was Ryou . . . well . . . ~gay~?"
Her stomach could have spilled onto that beige tile floor, and she wouldn't have been surprised. " . . . a . . . "
Mai bit her lip, and averted her eyes as they stopped walking at a reasonable distance from the shoe store. "It's just that, well, you're really too good-looking to avoid the guys like that and--"
"I'm . . . not really sure." Her face turned a million shades of red in that pregnant pause, but thankfully, no one walking by seemed to notice. "I never loved anyone like that . . . "
"Well, that's good enough for me!" Mai said quickly with a jaunty jolt of her head, and grabbed the girl's elbow to steer her into the shoe store.
Rei turned confused. /Why do I have the feeling that she's more uncomfortable about this than I am?/
"Mai? How about you?" with a guilty smirk, she felt it was only fair to ask the same question back at her. /I mean, she DOES seem to really hate guys to an unhealthy degree . . . /
However, she gave only a fortunately relieved sigh, turning back with wide eyes "No, ~unfortunately~, guys are still the ones that make my knees wobble. Sad, huh?"
Rei pondered her answer carefully, trying her hardest to sound as comforting as Mai had sounded to her, in the past.
"We'll see," she smiled, finding the look on Mai's face quite humorous "I might have inherited the hormones along with the body."
The blonde slapped her forehead. "How come I never noticed you could be so sarcastic?!"
The two of them laughed at a degree of understanding, and entered the snobby-looking shop with corresponding strides.
~*~*~*~
Only FOUR, BOLDED AND GRUELING HOURS LATER, and Rei was already a little weary. Please note her condition with extreme sarcasm.
The heavy bags whose handles were folded over, dug into her palms and lower fingers; a ridiculously demand of 'SHOP YOU FOOL!!! DON'T STOP, BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FAULT YOU FEEL THE SLIGHT PAIN OF SHOPPING!!!'. /Oh great,/ she thought hopelessly, /even my mind is against me. That can't be healthy./
She tried shifting the weight of four packed bags, but exposing the angry red skin only made her grimace with more pain. The soles of her new lace-up 'Doc Marten' boots (Mai had insisted!) seemed to smash her heel unmercifully, which was saying something since they were some of the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn.
It was now a matter of trailing behind Mai in the crowded walkways of 'heaven'. If Rei hadn't of known that the things she was carrying were indeed ~her's~, she would have suspected of turning into a frightened packhorse, because that was precisely how she felt. Conversation was basic and sparse because of the sheer noise that surrounded them in a cloud of animated socializing, not that Rei wanted to risk any distraction from her high-matinance bags.
The girl before her slowed her pace a hesitation, rubbing an ominous glaze to Rei's guess. Her mouth moved deliberately, but she couldn't make out just ~what~ deliberation that may be, so she followed regardless. Not like she had much of a choice anyway.
A seemingly fruitless chase/dance led Rei passed such a contrast of people, it made her head spin.
Then she noticed the obvious destination. Not that it was hard, considering the two shops on either side were only ((AN - I know what you're thinking . . . "only'?!)) a Suncoast, and a musty-smelling comic shop. Oh the irony, if only Rei had noticed it before she felt the most obvious reaction to the store they were walking up to.
"NO WAY!!!"
Mai pursed her lips back towards the flushing girl. "You're being immature about this you know . . . " The gal in violet absolutely ~hated~ the types of startled looks they were attracting right now, further accelerating her annoyance at humankind in general. "Don't tell me you're already getting immature about this!"
Rei's (now shortened to avoid strange 'you look like this guy I used to know' questions) hair fluttered in distress, as she shook her head vigorously.
"Mai. No way, this is TOO much!" her voice came out in a pathetic plea, and Mai only shook her head.
"It's not that bad you know." She attempted to take her hand, but found her slipping out of the grip like a frightened kitten, as Rei's face reflected a state of pure terror at the prissy cream columns on either side of the entrance, and the seemingly intimidating fiery-pink carpeting. She tried at her hand again "C'mon Rei, this is important!"
The girl didn't answer, only stared ahead; terrified.
So Mai took the obvious initiative, by pushing her unmercifully . . .
. . . Into the pink depths of Victoria's Secret.
Fortunately, one of the blonde and smiling ladies picked her up from there.
"So, have you ever shopped at VICTORIA'S SECRET," Rei was certain she stressed that line as much as possible "before?"
The perkiness was sickening, so to avoid possible retching opportunities, she shook her head slowly and deliberately.
"Well, let's get to the measuring then!"
Rei surveyed her for a moment.
"May I ask just ~what~ we're measuring?" she asked, doggedly.
Mai groaned from behind her.
~*~*~*~
"Finally, food!" Mai sighed as she relaxed blissfully to the norm of the mall's cafeteria.
Rei didn't reply, for at 2:30 PM, even the greasy-grilling of McDonald's seemed tempting. Now that she thought of it, it had been about a day since she had eaten last and that one instance yesterday could have ~hardly~ been considered a meal.
"Chinese?" she ventured to Miss Moneybags over there, as her eyes rested on those disgustingly scrumptious egg rolls laid out in front.
"Yum." Automatically, she briskly strode toward the sparse line, and guess what? Added her esteemed presence to it. Their gazes both averted from the food; the lady in front of them seemed to be speaking in Spanish, and the pimply teen over the counter didn't seem to have much luck in decoding the extravagant hand motions, and rolling tongue.
The snowy haired one found this place oddly comforting, as weary girls bobbed their pony-tails and curls as they spoke happily to their companions, and settled their stances for a bite to eat. Rather un- extraordinary, but it was much easier to settle in at a place where no one was looking out for, well, looks.
Mai however, was rather bored. Her stomach was grumbling in discontent, which was hard enough to stifle.
Nothing special really came to this break, until a simple glimpse had Mai gawking.
The white shade among blacks, oranges and browns would have been startling normally, but Rei was right where she thought she was; standing idly and tracing sights with her finger.
When she saw it again, the hardened eyes accenting the exotic look, it was almost too ironically horrid luck to be true.
"Shit," her eyes widened in remembrance, and instinct had her roughly shoving the spacey girl beside her into an overweight crowd of McDonald's junkies.
"Hey--" Rei protested, but her voice was muffled quickly in the stubborn consumers.
Mai stomped up, determined to waver this ridiculousness as much as possible. How ~dare~ he show up here . . . bastard . . .
She yelled that out to him, and bless her luck, he actually got it. Looking almost impassively, and strangely young-like he turned with his lips slightly parted and wide eyes.
"You . . . I know you, h-have you seen Ryou?" his lip was trembling. Hah. Like ~Mai~ was going to fall for that kind of 'innocent' game.
"And now ~why~ should I answer that?" her eyebrows were raised dangerously high into her hair.
"Please!" he sounded almost frantic now "I must . . . I can't find him!"
Rei's ears perked up at the muffle of the raised voice nearby, sensing the disturbance to be of importance. She paled thinking /Oh dear, I hope Mai hasn't gotten into any trouble./ Her arms waved in a just of making room for herself to get by, but she somehow only found herself up at the counter.
"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order?" the faceless voice droned, unpleasantly ignoring her attempts to get out of the way.
"You hear 'im, girl!" another voice boomed "Ansaw!"
Her eyes narrowed, gaining a convenient amount of learned cockiness "Just. Get. Out of the way!"
Mai placed a hand on her hip menacingly "Why?! So you can abuse his presence like you always did?!" she threw her arms up into the air "You don't even know ~anything~ about the kid!"
"Actually, I do." He hissed back, finally letting that uncontrollable pride obscure the way.
That was the first line Rei heard, once she found her way out of the crowd.
She stared.
Mai replied "Yeah, sure. You just want him back because, even though you can't admit it, you can't do jack without him there cleaning up your shirt.
Rei stared. Yami Bakura turned to look at this curious onlooker, instinctively reaching into her mind for an answer to her odd behavior . . .
. . . Only to be bounced back out, neatly in a mental heap. He was profoundly shocked that a normal human could create such reliable shields. /Something must be protecting her, but why? Who is this?!/
"Who are you?" his voice echoed softly. He cursed under his breath, that stupid Ryou must have been rubbing off on him. A jolt ran through his body. /No! He's not 'stupid, he's wonderful . . . /
Wonderful.
The girl did not shift, the girl did not falter. Her mouth twisted into a hardened line, and she spoke clearly and coolly:
"I'm Rei." She looked to Mai "I'm here with her. Get out of my way, or I'm going to ~make you~."
And before he had a chance to respond, she, and a startled Mai bumped past him rudely.
He stared after her.
/Yes, but who is protecting her? A strong mage he must be . . . /
~*~*~*~
Far, far away, but closer now than it seemed, a little girl giggled at the projected image in front of her.
"Not 'he' silly," Rinnie of the Sanctuary giggled "'she'.
"Me!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That turned out reasonably well! *applauds herself* The ending was a sort of spur-of-moment sort of thing, that will change this sloooooooooow plot, drastically. Ah yes, in the exact word of many-an-author . . .
. . . the plot thickens ^^
Teehee, hope you enjoyed your SHOPPING SCENE, which as a matter of fact, was amusing to write. But if you liked this, heh heh, wait until I describe her clothes!
^____________________________________________________________^
. . . Now, did that look evil/creepy, or what?
Hope you find time to review . . . *sniffle* can we shoot for . . . 56 reviews this time?
Toodles.
giggleplex
IMPORTANT!!!!!!! 56 REVIEWS, AND I POST OUT A NEW CHAPTER! REVIEW!!!