Chapter 2

I grasped my wakizashi from beneath my clothing. If it were to fall, then I would be exposed. Blades were forbidden to be in possession in Japan along with other weapons. I told Brad about this. It wouldn't fit in his sack so he suggested we find another sack for me to put it in.

We were also in search of clothing. The ones we were wearing now were too revealing. We wanted to look casual if we wanted to fit in with the crowd. Besides, Brad wasn't wearing any shoes . . .

The ninjas would run along the rooftops to look for me. They wouldn't enter the city as a normal citizen. It was part of the code. I wasn't sure if we were being followed when we were in the forest though. Hopefully, we weren't. But the clan is smarter than that. The ninjas from last night would go back to the clan & inform Hayate that they last saw me in the willow forest near the city. So they would probably be here in the city.

Brad & I were in the city of Kofu. It was very crowded. There were people all around us, viewing the little shops. They sold all sorts of things, mostly jewelry. But we hadn't found any clothing. There were even children, carrying around baskets of strawberries. It was spring, the strawberry season.

We were walking through the crowd, trying our best not bump into anyone. I was hoping that they wouldn't bump into my side & cause my wakizashi to fall. We were also getting looks from some of the people, because of our clothing. Brad said that if anybody asked, we just came from a costume party. But I knew nobody was going to believe that. I was moist & sort of dirty. I was sort of a mess. On the way to the city, we had to hike up the terrain. If you were to fall, you wouldn't get severely hurt, because grass was all around the terrain. Brad had sung the whole way. Sometimes, he would hum & sometimes he would whistle. He kept looking behind him at me. I was taking my time. I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to the city or not. He saw that I wasn't smiling even when we looked each other in the eye. I would have, but I wasn't in the mood. So he told me to sing with him. I told him I didn't want to, but he kept telling to despite that. So I tried to sing the rhyme with him. I didn't know the song very well, but I sang. Not very loud though. But it made him happy.

"You're such a sad girl!" he told me, "You'd look beautiful if you smiled."

I tried to hide my blush from him, but he saw & laughed. Kept singing, too.

I shouldn't give him a hard time.

"Hey, look!"

I looked up from the ground to see Brad, pointing straight ahead towards a store across the street. There were sacks & clothing in the display window. But they were heavily decorated.

"Those look too expensive," I told him, "We should look elsewhere."

He looked down at me & I couldn't tell if he was mad or confused, "How poor do you think I am?!"

I was surprised by his outburst. The crowd was getting even more suspicious of us.

"Brad, keep your voice down."

"C'mon, they're very pretty."

He took my hand that was holding my wakizashi & led me towards the store. I had to use my other hand to hold it in place. I probably looked really suspicious holding onto my clothing that way.

As soon as we were in the store, he let me go then went off to explore. A store attendant walked up to me & greeted me with a huge smile on her face. I said thank you in reply. Then she asked me if I was looking for something in particular. I didn't really know what I wanted. I didn't shop often so I just told her I was looking for a bag & maybe a dress. She seemed to know where to find them, because her eyes lit up.

"Follow me."

She led me through the bundles of clothing, passing Brad on the way. We came to a wall possessing a couple of purses. Before she could tell me about any of them, I told her they were too small. So she led me a couple of steps away to another wall with sacks. I looked through them then found a pink sack with a flower on the side. I couldn't help, but smile at it!

"I'll take this!" I told her while holding up the sack.

"Okay, then!"

She walked off towards the counter.

I don't have any money . . . Where's Brad?

I looked around the store in search of him, hopping to see over the bundles of clothing. Then I saw him near the dressing area. He was in front of a mirror in a white outfit with blue jeans. I went over to him to tell him that I found something. He spun around to look at me, startling me at his sudden movement.

"You like it?" he asked me with a smile on his face, then he turned back towards the mirror, "Or is it too original?"

Original?

"It's fine. Just fine."

He gave me a look.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," he said with sarcasm, "Is that what you're getting?"

He was pointing at my sack. I told him yes. He stared at it, pondering.

Is something wrong?

"I picked something out for you. It's over there."

He picked something out for me?

I could only imagine what it was. I was afraid to look behind me, but there it was, a kimono & some zoris on a bench.

"I wasn't really sure what you like," I heard Brad say.

Well, it's . . . not bad.

I held it up, looking it over. It was white with a light blue obi sash. It was actually very beautiful! But when I turned it around, imprinted on the back was "Look, but you can't touch!" I just stared at it, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me. I never knew they made clothing like that.

"Brad?"

"Yeah?"

He had his usual grin on his face. Then I noticed the letters on his shirt: "Role Model" They were so huge, they seemed to be stripes.

What kind of a store is this?!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I sat, staring out the window while resting my head on my hand. In my other hand was the shake Brad bought for me. I asked him where he got the money for these things & he replied that he had been fighting & doing simple tasks for money back in China.

So that's how he gets his wine . . .

It was dark out. Streets were all across the city. There were only a few people out now. I looked up at the sky while taking a sip of my shake. The sky brought back memories. Memories of my brother & I playing around the oak tree. Playing you run, I chase. I would chase after him around the oak tree trying to tag him. But since he was older, he was faster & would tease me while I chased him. But when I fall, he would pick me up, asking if I were okay. Fireflies were fluttering about all over the place. They were our only light. Hayate taught me how to catch them under that sky. When I caught my first one, I was so happy. I wanted to take it home & keep it, just to watch it glow.

"Without fireflies, Kasumi," Hayate had said, holding the jar I used to catch the firefly, "Who would light the forest for us?"

So I had to let it go.

"They're free spirits, Kasumi."

I watched the firefly fly away under the same sky I run.

"Aw, no . . ."

I had been daydreaming & some of the shake slipped onto my kimono. Yes, surprisingly, I was wearing it. I tried to wipe some of it off with a napkin when Brad came back.

"Looks like you made a mess."