Author's Notes: This drabble is based on a lesson I learned about shopping over the summer. My sister was the one that taught me this lesson. Since school will be starting for me, I'll be busy with assignments and what not but, I will do my best to write more stories in between.
Something New
Ema's Chapter
"Hmm... this store doesn't seem to have anything here that suits us. Let's go to the next store then"
Ema and Wataru exited a designer brand store that had clothes for all ages and went on to another store that was a little further down. They were both on a mission. There was an upcoming party that the entire Asahina family had been invited. They were all required to dress up nicely for this event. Wataru had intended to wear that suit he wore to his mother's wedding but, it had grown too small for him due to him being at that age where he was now experiencing growth spurts. Ema and Wataru dropped by the mall after having finished picking up some ingredients for Ukyo for dinner tonight. They already phoned ahead to tell him that they were going to be a bit late coming home but, they will get home as soon as they can.
"What about this one?"
A moment later, Ema came out from some racks in the back to grab some child sized suits for her little brother to try on. They ranged in colour, cut and size. Although when he tried them on, he realized that they probably looked better on the racks than on him. Some of the colours looked revolting on him. One of them was a pretty horrible tux. It was like a dozen flamingos threw up on him and then shoved him into the mud. Another was too tight around the shoulders and the pants were way too short on him. And the one tux that finally did look good on him was way out of the price range of the budget allowance of a teenage girl. Wataru started pouting as they went into yet another store. His mood was beginning to sour as they kept turning up empty handed.
"Wataru-chan? what's wrong?" asked Ema as she plopped down beside the smaller boy.
In her arms, she found more suits for him to try on. She laid them down beside her on the bench and Wataru turned to look at her. He was normally very happy and enthusiastic when it came to everything. Seeing him look sad and frustrated was really shocking to the brunette.
"We go into store after store looking for a suit, and nothing seems to be just right." He said in a quiet voice.
Ema placed her hand over his own hand and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Well, sometimes we go shopping for things and find something we really like. And other times we wind up going home empty handed because nothing interests us. But you know what? that's okay Wataru-chan."
The smaller boy looked up at her, amber eyes big with confusion and wonder.
"Eh? why's that Onee-chan? why is it okay to go home empty-handed?"
"Because there will always other things out there waiting for us to be bought. We don't need to push ourselves. If you find something that gets your attention, then we can go buy it!"
Ema placed the suits in the smaller boy's lap.
"How about we go home after we finish looking at these clothes? If nothing here fits, we could always ask around to see if anyone has any old suits that they can donate to you."
The smile seemed to return full power to the smaller boy's face. Ema had only been his stepsister for a few months but she always knew what to say to cheer people up. The moment he saw her, she made life at the Asahina complex more exciting and lively than it ever was. She was, for a lack of a better analogy, the sun in their lives. They went home that night with only a new jacket purchased, not an entire suit much to their disappointment. But Wataru didn't feel upset at all. Because like Ema said, there will always be better things out there waiting for him to be discovered. And he wanted to discover those new things with his new stepsister no matter what. Afterall, shopping, like life itself, was always filled with adventure.
