A/N: I want to thank my editor a lot for this chapter! :: Huggles Kaji-chan :: If I hadn't of kidnapped her, held her hostage at my house for three days straight, and forced her to look over this chapter, I doubt this chapter would of gone anywhere. :D; Thanks Kaji-obasan! (Lol. Gomen ne for the INSANELY long delay.)
-- You Get What You Pay For --
-- Chapter 3 --
-- Shopping and Sales --
An old, beat up, red truck shook as it slowly turned off. The door squeaked loudly as it was shoved open, and a young man, about twenty or so, stepped out into the hot summer sun and adjusted his hat.
Unnaturally silver hair was pulled back into a pony tail to prevent his neck from melting. Old jeans, a faded t-shirt, that sported the phrase "Big dog" on the front, - and his bulky arms - a hat, and decent looking sneakers, covered the rest. A leather-gloved hand reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with neat writing on it.
'Laundry detergent, storage bins, socks,' He read off the list mentally, 'and... biscuits!' The final item was written in a sloppier style, much different to the previous. With a canine-filled grin, the list was stuffed back into the pocket, along with a pen, and the man started to the giant building labeled: "Floor Mart".
-- -- Reow -- --
Kagome stood outside the van and looked around. She was in a giant, bigger than that, parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Well, she thought, it had to be somewhere because hundreds of cars wouldn't be sitting around for nothing. Not all of them were in poor condition, either, so Kagome's small fear of being trapped in a junk yard and possibly dying from the masher squishing her up like a PB & J sandwich dissipated quickly.
She walked around to the side of the van, sneaking at first to make sure the vehicle was empty, and looked for any distinctive markings. A cartoon picture of a yellow and black wasp was on the side, along with the words: "Saimyosho Sandwich Delivery". Kagome rolled her eyes, Oh please. She thought sarcastically knowing already there could possibly be no such company by that name. I've looked for a job all over, and that never popped up.
The girl caught a glimpse of something moving and turned toward it. A young woman, probably around the same age as her, was walking towards a building (A building she had just noticed). The woman wore blue jeans, an old short-sleeved shirt, and a black hat. She had hair that went to her mid-lower back and was either a very light blonde, or unnaturally white.
Kagome screamed at herself, Look, a normal person! Go find out where some police are and, more importantly, where you are! The out-for-the-summer girl started a small jog towards this new "White Haired Woman". But as she neared the woman, she noticed that the shoulders as well as the rest of "her" figure were more bulky and ... Masculine.
Maybe they're just that way because they were in some freak accident or something. Kagome tried to reason with herself. Or they work out a lot. She was about to ask the woman her whereabouts when a thought struck her: What if this person works for Mr. Creeper? They are walking away from the van, so they might have just come out of it.
She felt a headache coming on. All she wanted to do was find a safe way to get home and take a nice long shower, then eat some oden. Kagome made a face; why couldn't her summers, at least, be that simple?
The woman paused and started to turn towards her. Acting fast, she ran behind the nearest car. Kagome positioned herself so she could see the woman, but the woman would have a hard time seeing her, and received a shocking surprise: the woman was a young man. Not too bad looking, either.
He looked around curiously, as if she had literally vanished and he was imagining she was there. Kagome took note his hat said in yellow, bold letters: "security". Maybe he was patrolling around the parking lot, making sure no one vandalized, or broke into, the cars. He might also be wearing that hat to fool people into thinking that, Kagome contradicted herself, while he really works for Mr. Creeper!
She decided that she would lay off the criminal suspense dramas on television when she got back home.
She also decided a little ninja spy work wouldn't hurt and following him far enough would prove if he worked for Mr. Creeper or not. Kagome would wait until he was so far, even if he had one of those listening devices from the government, he wouldn't know she was following him.
She watched him walk into the store and get greeted by someone behind a counter wearing a blue vest. They chatted quickly then her prey moved on. When Kagome went in after him, she saw that the person he talked to was another person wearing the same "security" cap he was wearing.
So he DOES work here! The girl decided pleased with herself and the fact that the man wasn't an enemy she had to worry about. But she still had the urge to follow him. And if she was around him and Ms Army-Woman found her, she wouldn't be able to take her away.
Mr. Prey grabbed a shopping cart and headed towards the house goods section. Why would he need a basket? Kagome mused. Maybe he's undercover, posing as a normal person to catch creeps unaware. Or, he's about to get off work and is picking up a few things for his home. She toyed with a few more ideas of what his home looked like, and if he was married or engaged. Not in this girl's fantasy!
He grabbed four of the biggest storage bins, and tried to balance them in his small cart. When the bins fell a fifth time, the man angrily shoved them back on the shelf and stormed off another isle. Kagome paled where she was hiding behind a sports drink stand. That guy needs anger management. She thought.
Kagome got more and more bored following him around. In truth, it was very boring to watch someone shop from afar. You couldn't even see their butt that well. Eventually Mr. Prey got very man basic things: socks, biscuits, detergent (surprisingly enough), and those blasted bins.
While he was checking out, Kagome caught sight of a familiar lady looking around like someone had stepped on her toe and she was going to punch their lights out when she found them. The girl paled. Oh crap. She ducked beneath the case of children's books earning an odd look from a little girl. The little girl stood up from her reading spot and peeked over the shelves.
"Are you running from the lady with the green earrings?" The little girl asked.
"Uh, yeah, I am." Kagome replied shakily. Wow, this girl caught on quickly.
"Well, that man-woman is leaving now..." The child adjusted her small glasses.
"The one with white hair?"
The child nodded. "And the lady with the earrings turned around." She added.
"Thank you!" With a small bow, Kagome scurried after Mr. Prey. Bless the tiny, little, children! Her heart was going a mile-a-minute; she was following a guy she didn't know only because she had the feeling he could help her, and she was being tracked down by some crazy "sandwich delivery service" for unknown evil reasons.
The white-haired man was putting his purchases into the bed of a red truck that had seen better days. He grunted in effort as he lifted three of those containers up over the lip of the truck bed, dumping them into the trunk and frowning at the mess.
Kagome watched him from behind the safety of another vehicle, blinking as he jumped into the bed and shoved the bins into a near row at the back of his truck. She stood on her tiptoes, peering over the top of the van to glance into the truck bed. It seemed to have enough space back there for a person or two... maybe she could "accidentally" hide in the back of his-
Ack! Kagome thought with a gasp and slap to her head. No, no. That was a BAD idea! What if this man-woman-thing really did work for Mr. Creeper? But, at the moment, he was her only way out of here. Unless she instantly developed the skill to break into family minivans...
With an irritable expression practically plastered to his face, he tossed the other items in one of the bins, along with the final storage bin into the back, before kicking the shopping cart behind him into the chart holding area and slamming the gate shut in the back, and finally decided to kick the fender for good measure before walking around to the driver's side. Kagome winced for the third time that day from behind the safety of the van. Seeing his violent nature, the idea of stowing away in his truck bed was now looking a bit dim.
He opened the door and plopped into the set, slamming the cab door closed and jamming the keys into the ignition. Kagome bit her lip in contemplation. She had to make a decision, or Mr. Woman would drive off along with the possibility of her escaping. Maybe I should sleep on this, Kagome thought absently.
The sound of heels against concrete sent the option of her completing her thoughts out the window as she turned around and realized something...Mrs. Army-Woman was approaching with a bundle of shopping bags cradled under her arm like she was holding some lumpy demon baby. Kagome didn't have time to frown at the fact the Mrs. Army-Woman had locked her up in the back of a van to go shopping, because she had realized something else: she was hiding behind a certain black van that she should have been putting a helluva lot of distance between... it being the black van that said "Saimyosho Sandwich Delivery" on it and all.
Not really having time to think, she vaulted over the front of the van's hood and bolted for the back of the red truck bed. Mrs. Army-Woman must have seen her...since she was screaming her army butt off trying to get Kagome's attention...not that she would listen, anyway. With a sudden spurt of adrenaline, Kagome vaulted over the lip and into the trunk.
-- -- Meow -- --
What the hell just hit my car? Confused golden eye met angered red ones via the review mirror. Some lady wearing blue jeans and matching camouflaged tank top and high heels had her arm raised back holding a plastic grocery bag; apparently to throw something else at him. The man scoffed, I know my truck's ugly but you don't have throw things at it! He would have yelled that at her, but right now he just wanted to get home and take a nap.
The truck sped out of the parking lot and stopped at the exit to prevent wreckage. Kagome, in the back, took this opportunity to scramble into an empty bin and barely had time to cram a lid on it before the truck lurched forward onto the highway.
Kagome's mind raced. What the heck have I've gotten myself into now, stowing away in the back of a complete stranger's truck? A thought shot into her head and she felt like crying. I could have just gone to customer services and told them what happened and that I need a phone to call Mama! Oh God, I'm an idiot! She gave a tiny thanks that the bin was large enough for her to turn around and bang her head on the floor a few times.
In the cab, the man blinked. "Did I hit some rocks?" He wandered aloud.
-- -- Hiss -- --
A man with short, black hair tied in a small rat tail looked up from his computer as he heard the sound of a rickety old diesel engine pull up into the driveway of his town home. Well, not his alone: the town home he shared with his friend. The same friend just got home from the shopping trip. The man went out side to greet his friend and to make sure he got everything on the list.
"Inuyasha!" He called to the man slamming the car door and making his way to the bed to grab a rather large storage bin. It was close to the size of a garbage can. Inuyasha noticed his friend's blank stare and shrugged.
"These were on sale." He stated.
"Yes, but did you have to get the biggest ones they had?" The man asked, making his way over to help out. He tried picking up a bin that was about two times wider than him, and gasped at its weight. "Inuyasha," He called, "What the hell is in these? It's heavier than Sango's new toy!"
Inuyasha came out with a scowl and watched his roommate struggle to get the box in. "Damn Miroku, I only got what you told me to; you're so weak!"
Miroku sat down the bin next to the other and sighed, "Yes, but things that are "light" to you can weigh up to one hundred pounds..." He said to himself. Inuyasha came in with the remaining boxes stacked into each other and slammed them on the floor.
"I heard that, you know." He stated bluntly and started fishing through the top box. He pulled out a box of biscuits and grinned. Miroku rolled his eyes and went over to close the door before dragging the boxes into the spare bedroom. "Besides," Inuyasha started, talking around a few biscuits that had fallen into the vortex known as Inuyasha's mouth, "I got the biggest ones because I figured you'd need them for all your dirty magazines. I'm tired of seeing them in piles in the corner, it's disgusting."
And so is talking with food in your mouth. But Miroku decided against voicing his comeback.
-- -- Purr -- --
Kagome peaked out of the box. It seemed she was now in the living quarters of someone who collected magazines... Kagome shuddered as she remembered what Inuyasha had stated those magazines were. Men are disgusting! She thought as she climbed out of the box. Both men were in the main room, she deciphered with a peek through a crack in the door. The one called Inuyasha was on the couch, still munching away on biscuits, watching television and Miroku wasn't in plain site but Kagome heard the click clack of a computer keyboard.
Inuyasha's head swiveled in Kagome's direction and she threw herself back and scrambled to the closet.
"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" She heard Miroku ask.
"I thought I heard something." The white haired boy's voice was at the door. Kagome moved aside some coats and pressed herself against the corner. Inuyasha's footsteps came in the room and paced around.
"Inuyasha," Miroku whispered from the door, "What are you-?" Inuyasha shushed him. He stood in front of the closet, his hand resting on the handle. Kagome shut her eyes as the door was thrown open. Coat hangers were moved.
"Just because your eyes are closed, doesn't mean you're invisible." Inuyasha retorted dryly.
A/N: End of chapter three!!! :3 Next chapter: "Explanations Over Desert"