A/N: ACK! Yet again… it's taken me much longer than I had hoped to get this chapter out. *sigh* Oh well… at least it's here, ne? And I shall save the thanks for the end of this chapter, as it's long enough without having to scroll through them…

The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet

**Chapter 6**

"You'll never believe what happened to me!" we cried in unison.

"What happened to me? What happened to you?" we both replied.

"We got stuck in an elevator!" this talking in unison thing was getting interesting.

"Us too!" Wow… Ironic…

"Really?" Okay… enough of this twinish thing…

"Stop THAT !!!!!!" we cried, still speaking in unison. As soon as the words left our mouths however, we took one look at each other and burst out laughing.

Through my mirth, I happened to notice Vash standing next to me, mouth agape in shock. He turned to Stephie's rather odd companion, and asked incredulously, "What the hell was that?"

Lockhart looked equally as flummoxed and turned to Vash, "I haven't the foggiest."

Vash turned back to look and Stephie and myself, still obviously bewildered by our uncanny ability to think almost exactly the same way, and muttered, "Maybe it's some kind of weird code..."

Lockhart simply continued to stare, entirely confused.

As soon as I had stopped laughing long enough to notice Vash and Lockhart's confused expressions, I turned to my friend with a grin, "Er.. Stephie... I think we should save the explanations for later..."

"Yesh, I do believe you are right. Well, since most of the day has been wasted because of those ruddy elevators, maybe we should just start the shopping." she said with a look of complete agony upon having to stay in the mall for such a long time.

Poor Stephie, she really isn't into this whole shopping thing… I thought to myself upon seeing her pained expression. "Yes, maybe we should start with something simple... like shirts or some such?"

"Sounds perfect, put off the harder task for later. "

I nodded in agreement. "Right then, where to first?" I asked, looking at the various shops and store we were surrounded by.

"Well, er ..." she suddenly looked completely lost, "maybe we can go look at the directory thingie that lists all the stores?"

I frowned, staring at long lists for hours on end was not exactly something I enjoyed. "Perhaps we should start off with the more major stores... such as 'Pennys?"

"Sounds fine to me. Let's lock and load." she said as she began to head towards the nearby department store.

Next to me, Vash rolled his eyes and muttered something about overused cliches.

I snorted, "Not what she meant, Donut-boy." I said, entirely amused by his perceptive skills.

"Oro?" Stephie exclaimed, looking entirely confused. Huh… guess she missed that one.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's go." I said, flashing her a grin and grabbing Vash to drag him, by force if necessary, to the nearby store.

"Hey! Can't you be a little more gentle?" he cried in a mocking tone, looking slightly amused by the entire situation while a playful look flitted behind his eyes.

Stephie merely laughed and turned to her wizard companion. "Well, let's get moving. "

We moved over the few feet to the store, each of us dragging along our respectful companions, though Lockhart looked far move pleased at his surroundings than the rest of us.

Upon our arrival, Stephie immediately began perusing the shirt racks. "Well let's see ... shirts ... hmm" She then spotted the Dockers section and grabbed a few button down blouses at random, looking at the tags for their sizes before handing them to Lockhart.

"Take a look at these ... " she muttered, thrusting the shirts towards him before looking around for more.

Unfortunately, Lockhart didn't seem too pleased with her selection. Holding them at arms length, he uttered a statement that I was sure would cause my friend to destroy him, "Stephie, I do believe you are mistaken. I would never be caught wearing such unfashionable clothes."

"Excuse me?"

"How am I to look handsome and dashing in ..."he held up the shirts with a sickly expression, "these?"

Moron… he's about to get creamed… I thought quietly as Vash and I watched the scene unfolding before our eyes. For a minute, I thought it was like watching a car accident on the freeway, terrible, but you can't stop watching.

Stephie sighed, and turned to Lockhart, "Gilderoy ... we've been through this before. The whole point of this little expedition was to find you muggle things so you wouldn't stick out. Do not undermine the plan. I've been stuck in an elevator for three hours with you and we still have to shop in this blasted mall and I really want to get out of here as quick as possible. Work with me here."

Unfortunately, the wizard didn't seem to be picking up on the bright red WARNING! signs right in front of his eyes. "B-but ... still ... even when you say muggle I am sure some dress sharp and keen. "

"When they can ACTUALLY afford it. I am a poor college student!!" she said, barely raising her voice, though with that tone she really didn't need to.

I suddenly felt a little sorry for the egotistical jerk, and, deciding I'd rather not see blood spilled in the middle of a department store, came to his rescue. "Erm... Stephie?" I said carefully as I tapped her shoulder to gain her attention.

She took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. "Yes?"

"Perhaps I should take Lockhart shopping for you?" I suggested, glancing at Vash, "You wouldn't mind follow Stephie around for a bit would you?"

For a split second, he looked almost… disappointed, but then his face switched back to that carefully programmed grin of his. "Sure!" he replied, almost too cheerfully.

I mouthed a quick "Thank you!!!" in response, and turned to my friend. "So what do you think?"

"Er ... I don't think Vash is happy with the idea and besides I feel bad ... I can do this ... really ..." she said, tensing a bit.

I snorted, shooting her a meaningful look. "Right. Trust me... you were about to rip the poor man to shreds. I'll take him off your hands for.. oh.. an hour?"

"Shreds?" she questioned with a smirk, "And here I declawed my fangs just the other day ... odd." She shrugged, "If you insist, you may, but seriously I can do it."

Good enough for me… I thought with a roll of my eyes, "Come on..." I said, grabbing Lockhart's sleeve and dragging him off to another store. "One hour! Front of the Disney Store! Bye!" I called over my shoulder.

Once we were in yet another section of shirts, this time in a different store, I whirled to face him. "You do realize that you were about to become a speck on the pavement simply over a set of shirts?" I said, giving him an accusing look that I accompanied with an actual physical growl.

He gulped, "Er ... are you two perhaps related?" he asked, laughing nervously.

I sighed heavily, and took a calming breath. "Alright look. Let me explain something: A) I am FAR more frightening than anything you may have seen from Stephie, I just generally try to control it a bit more. B) I do NOT like you anywhere near as much as she seems to, I simply saved your butt because I don't necessarily believe in killing without just cause..." Not that you weren't real close to deserving a good butt-kicking… I thought, glaring at him, "and C) Just because you think it looks good on you in Potterverse doesn't mean you won't get laughed at for wearing it here. In other words, your sense of fashion does not apply in this reality, so get over it." I finished, turning huffily back towards the shirts, intent on finding something he could live with.

He gulped once more. "It's just a lot to get used to. People don't know I exist here and I am told I am not real. Might as well be ghost ... everything I am used to is upside down. Even my memory."

Damn… he would have a good reason for being a jerk, wouldn't he? "Well, you could do yourself a favor and try NOT to act so pompous all the time... it's alright to be confused and lost, just don't be so arrogant about it."

He sighed, "Right. "

I gave him a quizzical look, "Hey... look I'm generally not all that bad." I said with a sigh of my own. "I just tend to be very over-protective of my friends... nasty little habit it is..." Grabbing a few good looking yet reasonably priced shirts, I tossed them his way. "Here. Try these."

"All right, but ... er ... there are changing rooms right?"

I laughed, gratefully letting go of any remaining anger. "Yes baka. They're over there." I said pointing, when a mischievous thought entered my mind. "Unless of course.. you prefer to get dressed in public?" Ugh… not that I'd want to see that anytime soon…

He quirked one eyebrow at me, "I'd just as soon as spare the public." he said, as though reading my mind, and headed off to the changing rooms.

I snorted, muttering "Thank Kami for that... for a second I thought he might actually think he'd be TREATING the public..." Shaking my head, I continued to peruse the shirt rack, all the while shaking with silent laughter.

After a few moments, he returned, holding the pile of shirts I had given him. "Just how many are we getting?"

I glanced up from the racks. "Just a few, once you have them you can always come out and get more should the need arise. I'd say three at best for now."

He glanced at the pile, "Well ... I say ... I'd say this blue and grey ones are nice, but these other ones ..." he trailed off, holding up a white, beige, and a green shirt. "Which do you think is my color?"

I was forced to hold back a laugh. "Well... I personally like green... but that's just me."

"Green it is. A lady's opinion is always the better one."

I smirked, "Ah... flattery will get you everywhere. Here." I grinned, handing him a stack of pants. "Try those, while I put these back..." I said, taking the rejected shirts from him.

"It wasn't flattery!" he stated, albeit a bit huffy, and stalked away with the pants.

I rolled my eyes, "My, but aren't we defensive..." I muttered at his retreating form, stifling a giggle.

A few moments later, he returned once more. "Well, these three are fine." he said, gesturing to a pair of denim and two pairs of khaki pants.

"I approve." I said, slightly surprised. Grinning, I led him towards the cashier. "Let's go pay for these and then we can get you some decent shoes."

Grabbing the bags, and doing my best not to wince at the small bit of pressure I was putting on my right hand, which was still pained from the elevator, damned metallic contraption! Curse you!

Ignoring such thoughts, I decided to try for idle conversation. "So... what do you think of it here?"

He paused, "It's different I'll say ..." He looked at me for a moment, before asking, "So you and Stephie are close friends?"

I smiled and shifted the bags. "Yes. I'd have thought that to be fairly obvious."

"Well you can be friends with someone and not necessarily be close ..." he said, somewhat seriously.

I frowned, remembering such 'friends' of my own. "Yes... That's true."

"So, where did you to meet?"

What's with all the Stephie-related questions? "In English class at school." I replied, grinning slightly at a few memories, "We discovered we had a shared interest in a particular group of actors..." Oh Python boys, how we love you…

"Oh. How long have you known her?" he asked curiously.

Maybe he likes… nah… "A few months now I believe." I glanced over at him, but perhaps...

"And Vash ... he's not from here either is he?" he asked, the same curious tone still present.

I sighed, knowing where the gunman was from and what he'd been through, "No... Even though where Vash is from isn't all that much different from here... it's not exactly the best of places..." I grinned ruefully as another ironic thought entered my mind unbidden. "Though you know... he's famous where he's from too."

He glanced up at me "Really now?"

"Yes. But not in a good way..." I sighed once more. "You're lucky... most people that recognize you don't want to kill you." Poor Vash…

"I should hope not!" he cried, looking scandalized.

I laughed lightly, "Yes, well, Vash isn't quite so lucky. Basically every living person wants him dead... at least where he's from... though there are a few exceptions. That is why Vash tried to give you that false name when you first met, remember?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "False name? Oh! Yes!"

I grinned, he really does have a short-term memory… "We're here." I declared, moving to enter the shoe store.

Frowning, I realized I might have a bit of a problem, "Hmmm... I've no idea what size you are..." Glancing around, I grabbed a pair I thought might fit, and handed them to him. "Try these."

He tried them on, and looked at me curiously. "You know, you're kind of scary when you do that."

"Do what?" I asked, entirely confused.

"Pull something off at random that actually suits me."

I laughed, "Just one of my many talents, Lockhart."

"Right, I'll say."

"So I take it you like them then?" I said as I eyed the pair of shoes.

"Yes, I do. Will that be all here?"

I glanced around the store, not seeing anything else I thought he'd need. "Yes... I think so..." Checking my watch, I turned back to him. "Well... we've got about half an hour before we need to meet Stephie and Vash... Anything you'd like to do?" I asked as I paid for the shoes.

"Not particularly, though I am curious about that store over there..." he said simply, pointing towards a store across the way.

Oh dear Kami… The store that Lockhart just happened to be pointing at, was apparently the "Bath and Body" shop. I snorted, completely amused. "You really want to go into a shop dedicated entirely to bathing supplies?"

He looked slightly peeved. "Well, can I help it that I wish to stay cleanly and fragrant. I am sure I am not the only one."

I laughed, he was being entirely too defensive. "Calm down, Lockhart. I didn't mean anything by it. We can go if you wish." I headed towards the aforementioned store, wincing ever so slightly as I added the extra weight of the shoes to my injured hand.

Unfortunately for my pride, my wince wasn't as discreet as I had hoped. "Would you like me to help you carry those?" he offered. He's probably just mocking me…

"No, thanks. I'm good." I replied, my pride getting in the way as usual, never bother to break my stride.

"No, I can see you're lying. As those packages are for me, what kind of gentleman wouldn't help carry those?"

I stopped and turned to look him square in the eye a moment, trying to judge the sincerity of his statement. "Well I'll be damned…" I muttered with a small smile as I handed him a few bags. "And here I though chilvary was supposed to be dead..."

He smiled, and shook his head, relieving me of the offered bags. "You thought wrong, gentle lady of the world of reality."

Okay, now I was really laughing. "Gentle?" I started, an amused glint gracing my features, "You looked a bit frightened by me not too long ago."

"Work with me here, will you?"

"You've been hanging around Stephie far too long my friend." I said with yet another laugh.

"Yes. I still find it strange that I ended up in her closet. Weirdest thing that has happened to me thus far ... excepting that incident in this tunnel thing ... can't remember what happened ... but it was dark and my memory has never been the same since." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Nodding, I replied, "That, I can understand." I gave him a sympathetic smile. "But cheer up. Everything will turn out all right in the end."

"I hope." he said with a smile of his own.

" 'Our ticket to the future is always open'... you'll be fine." I stopped. "We're here."

For all intents and purposes, I can honestly say that until that point I had never truly understood the phrase, "like a kid in a candy store." He just looked so excited… by bath soap. Go figure.

I grabbed a bottle of my favorite body wash, I was running out and we were right there afterall. "Anything you want?"

He looked around a bit, and after a moment, spotted something that obviously caught his eye. "Merlin!" he exclaimed before composing himself. "This will be fine."

Hmmm… 'Juniper breeze…' "Who'd 'would've thought someone could be so amused by body wash?" I muttered, shaking my head as I went to pay for the items.

"It's the fragrance I like!" he said in a mock huffy voice.

I rolled my eyes at him "I'm sure it is." I didn't bother to hide my amusement this time. "Is there anything else you'd like to do?"

"Not particularly, will we go back to that Dizney store and wait out front?"

I nodded once more. "Yup." As I led him back, I decided to indulge my curiosity, just this once. "So....you seemed very interested in Stephie before..."

"Well I was curious. She seems to be so independent and so solitary, I was curious as to how close you two were. I know she still lives with her parents, but it seems like ... she may as well be an orphan. It's strange really."

"I see." I said softly, suddenly finding myself immersed in thoughts brought up by Lockhart's simple observances.

"Galleon for your thoughts?" I heard him say through the fog currently clouding my mind.

Shaking myself to get back to reality, I formed some response. "Hm? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking... how we all seem to be similar in that way...."

"I beg your pardon?" He looked a bit confused.

"Well... it's just what you said..." I frowned, damn my lack of verbal skills… "I mean, each of us, you, Stephie, Vash, me... we all sort... function independently and yet...."

"Yet ... ?"

"And yet... we really all seem to sort of need companionship... though it seems that all four of us have a tendency to try and distance ourselves from anything meaningful... friendwise..." I shook my head, ruddy philosophical moments. "Or perhaps I'm reading a bit too deep into things."

"You're making sense ..." he said, actually serious for once.

"It's sort of ironic when you think about it..." I released a soft laugh. "I really need to stop trying to analyze everything, don't I?"

"No, but Stephie was right when she said you were the brains of the group." he said, grinning.

Right… I thought with a laugh. "Not really. Most of the time I'm quite moronic, I assure you." I said playfully.

"I find that hard to believe." he retorted, flashing me what I'm sure was a roughish smile.

"Right." I said, rolling my eyes. "Oh hey! There's Stephie and Vash!" I waved, relieved to see that they both seemed to be in good spirits. "Looks like you'll be rid of me sooner than you thought, eh Lockhart?" I grinned.

"Now why would I want to be rid of you? You're relatively harmless." he said with a laugh.

I snorted, " 'Mostly harmless'... now where have I heard that before..."

I grinned as Vash and Stephie approached. "You two have fun?…"

~~~*~~~

A/N: *insert evil laugh here* Sorry minna, but you've got yet another cliffie on your hands! ^_^x And I'm pretty dang sure the next chapter will be out much sooner, especially since I'm already halfway done! *big, goofy grin* Sooooo…. on to those of you who reviewed….

IMPORTANT NOTE: I know some of you might be a bit disappointed with the lack of Vashie-goodness in this last chapter… but trust me it was necessary. And besides… I'm hoping you'll all be quite happy with what I have in store for the next chapter… *sly wink*

Thestral1: Everyone MUST go read her fic… NOW!!! *sheepish smile* Well… okay… you don't have too… And thanks again for the wonderful ideas Thestral. *wink*

Saberpilot: Oooooo… good idea, I just might do that. Any suggestions? ^_^x But I am glad you realized that it was just there for a bit of fun.

Pudding333: I LOVE the name! Very Milly-ish! And I hope I continued soon enough for you…

LadyVenom2: ORO! *falls over anime style* WOW! I can hardly believe you actually read all that! I really don't deserve such wonderful attention… but thank you very VERY much! *big rurouni grin* And yes, it does make sense. Oh yeah… and I really like my little Vash pic too… you know… I actually made it from a very drool-worthy photo that's nice and big… he looks MUCH better in that one….

LifelongStampededK: *dances for joy along with you* Well… you'll just have to wait for that in the next chapter, though I can promise that the only jeans he even come close to wearing will be like the ones he wore in that one episode of the anime.…

Aaringo: Well… you wanted an encore… ^_^x *blushes* And thanks much for all your reviews! They bring my spirits up much the same way my story seems to do for you, so it's an even trade! And as for your ideas… *giggles* I know! I know! But you'll just have to wait and see… oh yes, sorry but the cliffie is necessary here. And good luck with your fic!!! Like I said before, let me know when you get any part of it posted, because I'd love to read it! And if you have any other questions feel free to email me!

doomsdaybringer: I'm sorry! but look! no knives bashing here! And really… I don't hate Knives or anything… In fact he makes a really good bad guy… but like I said I'm biased towards Vash… But darn… Knives is such good looking pyscho…

The Vash The Stampede: Oooooo! A dozen! *drools* AHEM! Sorry… I think I like donuts as much as Vash… And I did read your fic, and I think it's excellent!

Hurricane Jenn: *winks* Just you wait for the sequal…

Sailor-Armitage: Yay! glad you liked them! And I hope you like this one as well!

Koya Maki: *blushes* Sessha does not deserve such praise… but I'm glad this seems to have given you inspiration! I hope you liked this chapter!