Disclaimer: I don't own Yami no Matsuei. I do own a nickel or two. Jealous now? ^_^
A/N: I'm working on a Tekken Jin/Hwoarang fic at the moment, but I got writer's block so I did this short and fluffy piece. This is supposed to poke fun at Hisoka's motto – 'economy'. Anyway, please r/r!
It's worth paying for by hiyak3
Hisoka could not fathom just why he had agreed to accompany Tsuzuki do some shopping. Yes, accompany Tsuzuki do some shopping. In any other person's case, shopping would be the right word, but with Tsuzuki…? Hisoka simply could not consider what they were doing shopping. Wasting what's left of his salary is more like it, Hisoka thought.
The pair had gone to every shop offering pastries and sweets in their district. Hisoka's feet were dead tired by now. Tsuzuki had been nagging him the minute they were out the door. To add icing to the cake, the empath was developing a headache.
The two had stopped to rest. The older (but presumably less mature) man was ogling his edible treasures.
"Tsuzuki… I'm tired. Can we go home now?"
The man's eyes widened then began to water.
"But no, no, no, Hisoka-chan! We can't home until we've been to the Beauraing Pastry Shop! I saved the best for the last. C'mon Hisoka, pleeeaaase?"
"Betura-what!?"
Tsuzuki flashed a 100-watt smile. He was always waiting for moments like these where he could display his wide knowledge of sweets and various pastry shops. If all but anything, he knew every bakery's geographic location by heart.
"It's a pastry shop catering foreign delicacies! Let's go, ne?"
"Idiot."
Tsuzuki faked a sniffle.
"Does that mean yes?"
"Idiot…"
"If Hisoka-chan says 'idiot' again, it means yes!"
Tsuzuki was grinning from ear to ear and anticipating Hisoka's response, completely oblivious to his partner's twitching eye.
"Stupid."
~*~*~*~*~
Once again, Hisoka could not grasp the reason why he had succumbed to Tsuzuki's pleading. The boy had regretted ever agreeing since they were a few yards from the shop. Tsuzuki's beloved pastry shop turned out to be right smack in the part of town where drunkards, gangsters, and generally the bad sort of people frequent. However, the emerald-eyed boy kept his thoughts to himself.
Upon entering the shop, they were greeted by an enthusiastic young woman.
"Tsuzuki-chan! What will you have today, hmm? Oh, and is that your boyfriend? He's kinda hot in a cute kind of way…"
Hisoka immediately turned scarlet at the mention of the word 'boyfriend'. Trust Tsuzuki to have friends with the same gift of gab as his.
"Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend… yet. Anyway, I'll have the usual, apple pie and… oh! What's that?"
Tsuzuki eagerly pointed to a suspicious-looking cake bathed in confectioner's sugar, candy sprinkles, and some more that Hisoka couldn't identify. Each partition was a different color with different icings, and, Hisoka assumed – different flavors.
The woman began to squeal. Hisoka found it annoying, but Tsuzuki egged the girl on.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"I thought you'd never notice, Tsuzuki-chan! It's the Beauraing Super Special! It's a cake with different characters. You see, one slice is Black Forest, another is Dark Chocolate, and there's even a slice with three tiers of different pies," the girl stopped to take a breath, "AND, it only costs thirty dollars! A piece of heaven for each slice, my, what a bargain!"
Even from a mile, you could see Tsuzuki's jaw drop. A vein threatened to pop in Hisoka's forehead.
"But – but! It's so expensive! Why?"
The girl pouted.
"But we had to pay thousands of yen to buy the recipe, Tsuzuki. It isn't exactly cheap for us too, you know."
Hisoka was just about to tell Tsuzuki to drop the whole matter off when Tsuzuki cleared his throat rather dramatically.
"Alright! Since the Beauraing Super Special looks so heavenly, I'll buy it! I, Tsuzuki Asato, will spend my remaining thirty dollars on that cake!"
Hisoka almost felt shame for Tsuzuki's speech. Well, almost…
"Tsuzuki! That's not worth paying for!"
"Ooh! Your boyfriend has a temper! He might want to try one of our super sweet cupcakes," the girl teased.
"Well, his temper won't change my mind."
Hisoka felt himself turn red from anger. Just why was Tsuzuki so stubborn?
The boy sneered.
"Well, you can go meet me at home when you return to your senses. And tell your girlfriend there that I don't want any cupcakes."
Hisoka walked off grumbling.
Tsuzuki felt his chest go cold. Was Hisoka really mad at him? Over a cake? The friendly chatter of the salesgirl interrupted his thoughts.
"Your boyfriend's really pushy there, ain't he?"
~*~*~*~*~
Hisoka was steaming mad. How immature could his partner get? Tsuzuki had dragged him around town, brought him to a dangerous place, and then… and then… that idiot valued an annoying girl's opinion more than his! The nerve, Hisoka thought. But then, Hisoka thought it was a bit childish of him too. How Tsuzuki spent his money and whom he hung around with wasn't his concern… right?
Pah, the empath thought. He might as well marry that witch, anyway.
Hisoka fixed his eyes on the pavement and kept on grumbling. Just then, he bumped onto someone.
What the --!?
"Hey you fucking brat! Watch where you're going!"
The speaker turned out to be a drunk man in his mid-thirties. He had a protruding potbelly. In his hand was a large bottle of gin. He was stupidly waving it around like a toy.
"I'm sorry, mister. It won't happen again."
Hisoka turned to leave, but the man grabbed his wrist. The man's fingernails cut into the young empath's sensitive skin.
"I said I'm sorry. May I leave?" Hisoka asked impatiently. He really didn't want to deal with a drunk, possibly dangerous, guy right now.
The emotions the man projected pierced through Hisoka.
"I…I…"
"You know the trouble with you bitchy kids these days, huh?"
Hisoka tried to pull his hand free. The man's grip was too strong.
"I… uh… no. May I leave now? I really need to –"
"You shitty dickheads have no respect for us 'old geezers'! Isn't that right, Martin?"
The man tightened his hold. Hisoka took a big breath.
"Sorry, but I really am not Martin. You have to let me go sometime! Just what is your problem, anyway!?"
The drunkard ignored Hisoka.
"That's what they all say, Joe! In fact, it's your fault I got fired today. You fucking walk all over me and your fucking father fucking fires me after only a week. You asshole!"
With that, the man raised his other arm and prepared to strike Hisoka with his bottle. Hisoka's eyes widened in terror. With a great pull, he yanked his wrist free from the man and took a step back, barely avoiding the blow.
The man waved his bottle and tried to strike Hisoka again before he stopped upon hearing a voice.
"You bastard better leave him alone."
Hisoka knew that voice. It was unmistakable. Tsuzuki.
The drunkard sneered and ran a crooked line in Tsuzuki's direction.
Tsuzuki punched him the way the heroes in fairy-tales do to wicked villains.
The drunkard laughed as he came tumbling down. Getting up on his feet, he gave Hisoka the finger.
"We'll meet again, kid! And the next time we meet, Martin, grow up! Don't drag your daddy along! Fucking immature brat." The man then ran off.
Hisoka felt his knees shake. Grow up…? Just what did he mean by that…
A tear trickled down the boy's chin, followed by another, and another.
Tsuzuki rushed over to help Hisoka.
~*~*~*~*~
An hour and three cups of tea later…
"Hisoka? Are you okay?"
Hisoka looked away. He was okay. He'd gotten past crying half an hour now, hasn't he?
Why shouldn't I be fine? Am I really going to believe that drunken bastard? Hisoka contemplated.
"Yeah, I'm fine…"
Tsuzuki didn't look convinced.
For a long moment, neither said anything.
Out of the blue… Hisoka was on the receiving end of a kiss on the cheek.
"TSUZUKI! WHAT THE HELL…!"
Tsuzuki gave the boy a goofy smile.
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"
Hisoka started to hit Tsuzuki repetitively.
Tsuzuki raised his hands in defense.
"But Hisoka!" Tsuzuki pulls money from his pocket. His remaining thirty dollars to be exact. "It's worth paying for."
Tsuzuki gently pulled Hisoka's fist open and set his bills there.
Hisoka looked at Tsuzuki, surprised.
"But… the cake and…"
Hisoka stared at his palm for a long time and returned Tsuzuki's money.
"Aa, Hisoka, didn't I tell you it was worth paying for?"
Hisoka met Tsuzuki's gaze.
"Maybe some other time."
Right now, money really wasn't all that important to Hisoka anymore.
A/N: So did it suck so, so bad? I've no time to proofread this for errors and whatnot because my mother is yelling at me to get off the computer. Oh and I'm so sorry if the storyline has some clichés in it. ^_^ I swear it wasn't on purpose. I'll edit any mistakes I might see sometime, ne?
Btw, I'm too lazy too look up how much thirty dollars is in yen. But it sure is a tad pricey for a regular cake that you can make yourself at a considerably cheaper price. ^^ And I really had no idea on what I should name the pastry shop so I just picked something out from my last year's Pilgrim Passport. It was lying around while I was typing this. PAH.
Anyway, please review! (Reviews are like pocky! Only inedible!) *hearts*