Sorry this took so long guys, but that same weekend, we got major thunderstorms, and I found out the hard way that my surge protector wasn't as good as I thought it was... The power supply in my computer got fried! I had to wait till I got it fixed, then I had to wait to get through the with all the family stuff at X-Mas, but, hey, better late than never, right? Anyway, here's chappie 3, and I'm still writing, it WILL get done soon!

I own nothing. Enjoy!

Kurama was having problems. In addition to not having his list, he also noticed that there wasn't a shopping cart left. The greeter was just standing there with her back against the wall where they should have been. It was just a long empty corridor. How was he supposed to carry all those things? Mountains of toys, clothes and a new jewelry box for Shiori, a TV for Kokoda... It was going to be impossible.

Wait- Shizuru had the only buggy in that group, yet they were all planning to go off in different directions, and he knew he'd heard each of them talking of at least one item that would require a shopping cart. How were they planning to do it? Was there another place they knew of to find one?

"Shizuru, is there anywhere else in this store where I might locate a shopping cart?"

"Hmm?"

Kurama turned his head to look at the frightened greeter in the deserted area next to the door.

"As soon as the sale starts, just look for an empty one, and grab it."

"Grab it?"

"When the sale starts everyone here is going to leave their cart to get to the palettes. When they do, snatch one and run."

"Palettes?"

Two emerald green eyes were once again filled with questions. Shizuru hadn't seen him this confused since Yusuke and Kuwabara had tried to explain how one derived pride from winning a belching or peeing-for-distance contest. The only difference was that, this time, there was a lack of disgust on his face.

"Those...," she said as she motioned toward the big squares in the middle of the aisles. They were all covered in brown paper, and some had employees climbing up on them. Upon closer inspection, these employees were wearing the same expressions as the humans he'd seen cornered by several demons back in the era that demons referred to as "the good ol' days," before there were barriers between the worlds. These sale items were like big slabs of red meat, and the customers were the equivalent of half-starved pit bulls, the poor employees were just praying they could stay out of the way when the feeding frenzy started...

Shizuru continued to explain things to the clueless fox. "They only get so many of each of the items on sale, so they spread them out like this. They keep them covered until the sale starts, so you don't know exactly where anything is going to be...-" She kept talking, but Kurama was only half-hearing. Don't know where anything is going to be? And no list? He was going to just go to the department of the things he needed, and pick them up as he saw them, but, if they weren't in the right department... Was he going to have to go through this whole store? And try to remember every single thing he had on that list? And if quantities were limited, could he get to them in time?

Oh the horror...

It was then that Yusuke spoke. Noticing the confusion on Kurama's face, and hearing the talk Shizuru just had with him, told him all he needed to know. "This is your first time at the Blitz isn't it?"

"The Blitz?"

"Thought so."

"First time?" Kairi gasped. She put a hand on his shoulder and hung her head."Oh you poor fox."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kurama was getting looks of sympathy from all his friends now. What did they know that he didn't?

"You'll see at 5," Shizuru said.

"Speaking of which," he started, trying to appear as calm as he could, "it is now 7 minutes after." Kurama showed Shizuru his watch. "Why hasn't the sale started?"

"You're runnin' a little fast there, pal," Kairi said. "Look." She pointed to a large Coca-Cola clock above the frightened greeter's head.

4:57

Kurama looked at his watch again. This was the watch he always wore to school! He'd set it 10 minutes fast deliberately, so he wouldn't be late. That meant that this wasn't the worst of it! Things were going to get hectic in about 3 more minutes. He had to wonder just how hectic. He wouldn't have thought it was gong to be that bad, if not for the way his friends were acting. And as if that wasn't enough, that fox nose could smell something other than all the bad breath.

Fear.

The employees wreaked of it. What kind of madness was possessing these people?

"We better start fighting, or we'll never get anywhere folks...," Kairi said to the other three. They gave nods of approval, then, off they went. Kuwabara and Yusuke shoved people away from the cart, making enough room to land as they hopped to the ground. They started pushing, elbowing, and cursing their way through the crowd, followed closely by Kairi, who didn't need to do half as much work to get through. One look at how she was dressed and all but the most obnoxious of shoppers got out of her way. Kurama was starting to think that may have had something to do with her selection of clothing this morning. Human or demon, there was something about the "Manson-ite" look that worried people. Those who didn't move didn't matter, thanks to the street-fighting "dream team" in front of her. Shizuru had adopted a strategy that looked much the same as that of the blonde behind him. Her cart was being used as a battering ram to get the people out of her way.

A few seconds later, Kurama was alone. He had tried to follow Shizuru through the sea of shoppers, but those beside him had tried to cut in front of him while there was an opening, and by the time he had gotten past them, the path Shizuru had cleared was long gone. He'd be stuck navigating this mess all by himself. He decided it best to just start looking for open spots in the crowd and move to them as he could. Not that he had a choice. The crowd behind him was forcing him forward whether he wanted to go or not.

Then, the voice...

A booming voice came on the loud speaker, announcing that there was only one minute left until the sale started. The frenzy began! People were going ballistic, shoving and cursing, slamming buggies into each other, trying to make a mad dash to whatever items they had come for. He was slammed in between two of said buggies, and for a split-second, emerald turned to amber. Kurama knew it would take restraint to keep Yoko from coming out in the heat of battle, but shopping? That one had never entered his mind! This was going to be a long day...

Then, the voice came back. It was a countdown.

10...9...8...7...6...

Kurama saw the employees grabbing the brown paper that covered the palettes, and their faces began to contort with a mixture of fear and dread...

5...4...

Shoppers took ready stances, looking like some strange martial artists. The poses some had assumed looked like football players standing at the line, others more resembled the "tiger" position. In either case, they were ready to rumble...

ONE!

Paper ripped! People screamed! Kurama caught a glance of the palette beside him. Sirius radios. Both Kokoda and the eldest of his new cousins had asked for one. He saw how the people were scrambling, this was pure, unadulterated insanity! Would he let himself be brought to this level? Of course not!

But, when he saw how fast those things were disappearing...

And the people elbowing and shoving him...

Then there were the people stepping on his feet...

And the buggies in his back...

He dove!

He got his hand around one, just to have it snatched by a 10 year old boy! Now that was an insult! He grabbed at another.

'I think I've got -'

Pain shot through his head! Someone had pulled his hair!

"OUCH!" someone shouted from behind him. "FREAK!" He turned to see another poofy haired blonde holding her hand as a few drops of blood dripped from it. On the ground lay a mangled rose. Now normally, Kurama would have tried to think up some excuse for this. Someone finding out that he carried a rose in his hair would have been a crisis.

But, this wasn't normally...

He grinned as he turned back to the radios, grabbed two, then gracefully zigzagged back between the people. The ocean of people was ebbing and flowing every which way. Some were moving quick, some were jammed up completely. He was starting to see that this was not going to be easy. Just then, he saw an empty cart. The blonde who had pulled his hair had her back turned, telling her friend about that little freak with that "horny rose" in his hair. He grinned broad as he snatched her cart and headed in the other direction. He'd never heard a rose called that before... He started weaving in and out of the people, pushing some out of his way.

Until he got to the toys section...

Children everywhere! He couldn't possibly hurt these little angels! The poor things were probably terrified! Most of them were cranky, and no wonder! What kind of parent would drag these sweet innocent little darlings out of bed this early, and fan them in and out of the cold, and then expose them to this kind of madness! Just then Kurama saw a little girl, about 4, sitting in the child seat of a cart, left unattended! She was rubbing her eyes and sniffling, and clearly about to start wailing. He brought his cart as close as he could to her, then walked the rest of the gap. He knew someone would have to calm her down.

"Hello. What's your name?" He thought that maybe talking would work, but her lower lip began to quiver even more... "Where's your mommy?" He hoped she would answer that one, he needed to find her parents. There was no telling what could happen to a child this small in a place like this. And when he found her mother and/or father, he planned to give them an ear full on responsibility! But, no dice. She wouldn't speak. One more try. "Little girl, Can you tell me where your mommy is?" This time, it looked like she might respond. She opened her mouth, then, to Kurama's surprise...

"STRAAAANGEEEERRRRRR!"

All heads turned to Kurama! He started stuttering. "No- No- I was just- I, mean, I-"

A woman rushed from the other side of the toy display and scooped up the little girl. "You sicko! Oh, baby, are you OK? Did this man do anything to you?"

"Ma'am, I was trying to-"

"You get away! You pervert! I've heard about people like you!"

"I was onl-" In Kurama's efforts to explain the scene, he didn't see the man come around the other side of the display. He walked up right behind him. The only words that had reached the ears of the young girl's father were sicko and pervert. And now this guy was arguing with his wife, who was clearly trying to protect their precious little girl...

Hmmmm... This looks like an interesting little predicament, does it not? Still writing, but tell me what you think so far! And thanks for being patient with me.