Chapter 18: Shopping a la Kira

It was February 6th. A sunny Saturday.

Veronica opened her eyes, only to close them again from the bright sunlight. She stirred a little and jolted as she felt something tighten on her waist. She looked and found a pair of hands wrapped around her firmly. For a short moment she went into panic, but relaxed as she remembered. She slowly started moving the hands from her waist. She was almost free as she was suddenly pulled back.

"Where do you think you're going... Kitten?" Rei asked.

Veronica giggled at the pet name.

"I was thinking about getting out of bed and helping Anya with breakfast," she answered and turned around to face him.

Rei pulled her closer possessively. "It's only 8.30 am," he said.

"I know," came Veronica's sympathetic reply.

She leaned closer and stopped only an inch away from Rei's face and looked him in the eyes, before she quickly closed the gap and kissed him.

It was a slow and definitely pleasureable kiss. A light reddish color made its way to Veronica's cheeks as they kissed, making her look almost radiant – literally.

"You look cute like that," Rei stated as he smiled widely at her.

"What do you mean?" Veronica questioned.

"Look in the mirror," Rei responded.

Veronica went in front of the mirror and she noticed immediately her reddish cheeks.

She blushed, making her cheeks even redder.

"I had no idea..." she muttered sheepishly.

Rei walked to her side and grabbed her into a sweet embrace.

Veronica felt like melting in his arms. Somehow they managed to end up on the bed again.

"You know," Veronica said as Rei was kissing her and moving slowly up her neck. "I should go before the others lose their patience."

"Why?" Rei asked between kisses.

"Why? Because you know Kira," Veronica answered.

"But Kitten..." Rei complained.

At that moment there was a knock heard from the door.

"Hurry up Kitty!" they heard Kira yell.

"You see?" Veronica said and went to get dressed, leaving Rei a little dazed.

When she noticed he wasn't leaving, she turned around.

"Rei, you should go now," she muttered.

A slight blush came to Rei's face as he realized the situation.

Veronica guided him to the door and kissed him lightly before closing it.

"Well, well, well..." Kira said as Rei came out.

"What?" Rei asked.

"You sure have gotten some new sides out from Kitty," Kira stated. "You have even managed to get rid of some of the innocence."

"Well, I don't think I'm the only one who has had that kind of influence on her," Rei retorted.

"Watch your mouth Cat Boy," Kira replied, with a smirk and walked away.


"Finally," Kira snorted as Veronica appeared into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Veronica apologized immediately.

"What were you doing that made you late?" Kira interrogated. "I can't remember a single time that you were late for something before."

A blush appeared on Veronica's cheeks. "Umm, Rei was with me."

"I know that," Kira stated. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Hey, Kira. I think it isn't our business," Anya cut in.

Kira made a pouting face but let the subject go.

"Okay, we have stuff to do today," Hilary stated. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten."

"Yeah, shopping," Anya replied. "After all there's only one week until Valentine's Day."

"We'll have to go to the mall," Hilary said.

"I have a better idea," Kira declared. "The mall has a small and not so good selection of clothes for these kind of purposes."

"What are you suggesting?" Anya asked.

"You'll just have to find out," Kira answered with a wide smile on her face.


Hours later at an airport...

"I can't believe this!" Hilary exclaimed. "Paris!"

"Yes, Paris!" Kira stated. "The city of elegance and romance."

"Romance? Kira, is there something going on with you?" Anya questioned.

"No! What are you thinking!" Kira replied in shock.

"Why Paris then?" Anya asked curiously.

"Well, if you want to get my brother back, you have to be at your best and nothing less," Kira retorted.

"So, let's get going," Anya said.

"Hold on, not so fast," Kira cut in. "We won't get any shopping done like this."

"What now?" Hilary complained.

"Let's divide into pairs," Kira ordered. "Me and Anya, Hilary and Kitty."

"We'll have to meet later," Hilary replied.

After going separate ways they went into shops to look for proper clothing. Kira made Anya dress up in at least 20 different dresses. All of them looked extremely good on her but the problem was that Anya felt none of them really suited her.

"I'm telling you Anya, we're never going to find anything like this," Kira stated in frustration.

"I'm sorry," Anya said.

She felt guilty because Kira was giving her all this help, yet she chose to be picky.

"You're impossible!" Kira yelled and left.

This made Anya feel even worse. 'Great! Now I've pissed off Kira.'


Later they met in a café. Anya was the last one to arrive.

"Any luck, Anya?" Hilary asked.

"Well, actually yes," Anya answered.

Kira glanced quickly at Anya but turned away before anyone noticed.

"Umm, Kira," Anya said. "I was wondering if you could come and look at it."

"Sure," Kira replied with an icy tone.

"What about you?" Anya asked. "Has anyone of you found anything?"

"Kitty has found a dress," Hilary stated. "She is still going to keep looking though, to consider all the possibilities."

"What about you Hils?" Anya questioned.

"Hilary has found something too but she hasn't decided to buy it," Kira cut in.

"It's so expensive," Hilary explained.

"Hilary, if the price is a problem then I'll help you out," Anya offered.

"I don't know Anya," Hilary said. "I don't want to be any trouble."

"Hey, we are friends! Friends are supposed to help each other," Anya exclaimed.

"Besides, I'd much rather buy you that dress then see you wearing some cheap, second-class rag!" Kira exclaimed.

The girls finished drinking their coffees and left to continue their shopping spree.


Now that they had decided on clothes, it was time to think about other accessories, like shoes, jewelry and cosmetics.

"So Kira, what are you wearing?" Anya asked as she was changing clothes after she had shown Kira what she planned to wear.

"It's a surprise," Kira answered. "The dress isn't ready yet. I wanted some modifications on it."

"How are you going to get it then?" Anya questioned.

"They're going to send it to me," Kira revealed. "It should arrive next Friday."

"Isn't that risky?" Anya pointed out.

"Maybe," Kira responded.

"I mean, what if the dress isn't good?" Anya worried.

"Then someone is going to lose their head for that," Kira replied as her eyes flashed.

Anya and Kira left the small boutique and headed to another one, this time to look for shoes.

"Now, back to the main subject – you," Kira said as they entered.

"What about you?" Anya questioned.

"I have already figured out everything that concerns me," Kira stated.

"Someone sure is secretive," Anya muttered.

"Hey! I have a right to be secretive," Kira exclaimed.

A saleswoman walked to them.

"Can I help you?" she asked as her gaze scanned them from head to toe.

You could clearly see she disliked the way Kira dressed.

"My friend needs a pair of shoes," Kira answered with a venomous smile on her lips.

She had noticed the look the saleswoman had given her.

They answered a few more questions and after that the saleswoman started suggesting different kinds of shoes.

Kira became more disgusted with each pair of shoes they saw.

Finally she burst out. "Do you have any idea of what you're doing!"

"Excuse me?" the saleswoman responded with a fake smile.

"Excuse you! You're nothing but a pathetic excuse yourself!" Kira raged.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" the woman said in shock.

"I say exactly what I want," Kira informed her coldly. "Don't bother to kick us out. We're leaving anyway."

With that she grabbed the hand of a shocked Anya and dragged her out.

At the door, Kira turned around before leaving. "Remember, the costumer is always right."


Anya recovered once they were on the street.

"Someone sure lost her nerves," she stated.

"The woman was an idiot!" Kira responded to her.

"You're right," Anya admitted.

"It's amazing how many idiots there are in this world," Kira stated.

At that moment a man came running around a corner and almost ran over Kira.

"Watch it!" Kira shouted at him but did go after the guy.

"So, what now?" Anya asked.

"I'm too tired to go after him. We'll just head to the mall. I know a good shop there," Kira answered.

"You think we'll find something there?" Anya questioned.

"They haven't let me down yet," Kira replied confidently.

It turned out that this wasn't going to be first time they let her down. Anya didn't walk out of the boutique with empty hands.

"You know, this isn't fair," Anya stated. "You know exactly what I'm going to wear and I don't know anything about you."

"Quit complaining. You'll see on Valentine's Day, just like everyone else," Kira retorted.

Anya made a pouting face.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you that I'm still missing the proper lingerie," Kira admitted.

Soon Anya found herself with Kira, looking for lingerie.

Kira was busy looking at a bra when a voice made its way to her hearing.

"Ya buying that?" a sneaky voice asked.

"Don't think so," Kira answered without looking at the person.

"Pity. It would have looked good on you," the male responded.

"And how would you know?" Kira snapped as she turned around.

"With a body like that..." the man answered and whistled at Kira.

Kira's eyes widened as she realized who the person was.

"You!" she exclaimed.

Anya was coming back to Kira as she noticed the man that had literally ran into them earlier. The whole world just seemed to stop as she saw Kira slap the guy.

"Now, get lost," Kira growled.

"Or else?" the man asked in a mocking tone.

"Kira!" Anya cut in. "Let it go. The guy isn't worth it."

Kira looked at Anya with a calculating expression and then at the man.

"Whatever," she said and started to walk away, Anya following.

"Look at the little girl getting scared," the man said mockingly.

That was the last straw that drove Kira over the edge. She turned around and slammed the man against the wall.

"Look you idiot," Kira snarled. "I don't like to hurt people but you're making it really hard for me to resist the temptation."

"Like a PUNY girl like you could do something," the man responded, trying to get free from Kira's grasp.

His facial expression changed rapidly as he realized he wasn't able to do it.

"Am I sensing a little panic?" Kira asked with an evil smirk on her face.

"Okay Kira, you scared the shit out of him, now let's go," Anya cut in.

"This person deserves a punishment," Kira said, getting serious.

20 minutes later they left the store.

"Okay, now that we're done with shopping we can head home," Kira stated.

"Good. I hate to think about what kind of trouble you could get us in," Anya joked.

A smirk came to Kira's face as she punched Anya playfully on the arm.

"I wonder if Hilary and Kitty are ready?" Kira said.

"Let's call them," Anya replied.

They met at the airport and took one of the Hiwatari jets.

"You wouldn't believe what happened to us!" Anya burst out as the plane took off.