Shopping with Nefertiti was an… experience, Christina decided, only an hour into the excursion. For starters, it wasn't just Christina and Nefertiti. No, green eyed woman had apparently called a few of her friends and coworkers, the group meeting at the mall.
"Christina, I'd like you to meet Kuro Blackheart. She's a private investigator, and her younger brother works at Chris' bar," Nefertiti introduced Christina to a tall woman with black and silver hair. Golden brown eyes raked over Christina's form, and the blonde felt as though she were a bug under a microscope.
"So you're the girl Chris dropped everything for and went running to," Kuro commented, voice flat. "Last time he did that, he ended up getting married to crazy over here."
Nefertiti swatted Kuro's shoulder, and the woman smiled, holding out her hand, "Hi. So you must be Chris' sister. As Neffy here said, I'm Kuro."
"Um… nice to meet you?" Christina shook Kuro's hand, aware of just how strong she was… "I think Chris mentioned this morning that you board your mare at the farm?"
"Moonriser," Kuro smiled. "Sometimes I'll use her on search and rescue missions, despite the fact she's a retired officer."
"Moving on!" Nefertiti chirped, and gestured to the next woman. "Christina, Jasmine Laize, a coworker of mine. She's a nurse. Jazz, Crissie."
"Hello," Jasmine smiled. "It's nice to meet you. You can call me Jazz or Jasmine. Doesn't matter to me."
"Christina or Crissie is fine," Christina felt her shoulders relax a little. "I love your hair."
The raven haired woman smiled, and ran her hand through her neon streaked locks, "Thank you. I fell in love with the punk and emo scene for a while as a teen, and I've kept the hair since."
"As well as the spiked shoes," Kuro commented, and knocked the toe of her own boot against the spiked platform Jasmine was wearing. "Could do some damage with those things."
"Says the woman who wears steel toes every day," Jasmine shot back.
"And this is Hikaru," Nefertiti introduced the final woman. "Her husband is a police officer and a frequent patron at the bar. Hikaru works as a secretary at a law office here in town."
"Hi," Hikaru greeted, shaking Christina's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice… to meet you… too…" Christina trailed off, eyes flickering between the four women, suspicion creeping up her spine as she finally met Nefertiti's eyes.
Nefertiti's eyes were bright with joy, interest, and anticipation, but just under that, Christina saw something else. She saw the scheming look of a snake, sighted on its prey and ready to go in for the kill. It was a look Christina was familiar with, from her time in prison and… before, as a victim. Unlike with the criminals that she had been subjected to, though, Nefertiti's look was more from concern than it was malice.
The second thing about Nefertiti hit Christina like a bolt of lightning: She was a sly fox who knew how to kill two birds with one stone.
"Nefertiti?" Christina asked, quietly. It was enough to get Kuro and Jasmine to stop bickering, as the four women focused their attention on the blonde, "It's not by coincidence that you invited people with connections to law enforcement on our shopping trip, is it?"
Nefertiti's smile froze, her eyes widening minutely. She seemed to stop breathing.
Kuro barked out a laugh, "Hah! Caught red handed, Nef! I told you if she was anything like Chris, she'd call you out within five minutes!"
"Oh, shut it, Blackheart!" Nefertiti snapped over at the older (was she older? She looked it) woman.
"It's not by coincidence, no," Hikaru said, gently, smiling sadly. "Nefertiti told us what you told her, and well… we just want to help, Christina. Of course, today is more about you getting to know us, deciding on if you trust us enough to tell us more than you started with."
"Hikaru! Don't tell her that!" Nefertiti exclaimed.
"At least she's being honest," Christina said, flatly. "I would have liked to know your plan from the get go instead of being blindsided by it."
Kuro snorted, "Yeah, Neffy isn't good about picking those cues up, yet. She's working on it, though." She waved a hand, "Anyways, let's get off the pity and angst train. Aren't we here to do some shopping?"
Kuro and Jasmine gravitated towards stores like Hot Topic, Claire's, and Spirit Halloween. Somehow, this didn't surprise Christina, though it was highly amusing to see tall, dark, and scary Kuro standing in the middle of a neon and pastel store like Claire's, while Jasmine ran around. At least until Kuro zeroed in on the studded earrings and fishnet arm warmers and it suddenly made sense.
Nefertiti was high maintenance. That much, Christina knew from the get-go. Stores with shoes that sold for over sixty bucks, or a shirt that sold for over forty left Christina bewildered. But, as a doctor, Nefertiti had the money to throw around, so Christina let her do her own thing.
Hikaru, though, was sensible… somewhat. She was perfectly fine with Rue21, JCPenney, or Shoe Carnival. Still a bit expensive, especially considering Christina didn't have much money on her to begin with. But, while Nefertiti, Jasmine, and Kuro were bickering amongst themselves, Hikaru took Christina's arm and lead her to said stores with a smile.
"We'd be here all day if we kept following them," Hikaru said, with an exasperated sigh. "And you haven't got a single thing for yourself."
"I… don't have that much money," Christina muttered, sheepish.
Hikaru rolled her eyes and waved a hand, "I'll pay." She lead Christina into JCPenney, "Now, let's find you something to fill your closet with. Experience tells me you probably only have the clothes on your back and another outfit or two."
Christina grimaced, but with Hikaru by her side, the two went through the racks, picking out clothes for the blonde. It took another half hour before the rest of their group found them, grumbling good naturedly at being left behind. Hikaru only pinned them with a look, and they shut up and started browsing themselves.
"How do you do that?" Christina asked, awed, "Get them to just mind you like that?"
Hikaru laughed, "Years of experience from dealing with Ryuga's younger brother, plus our own kids."
Christina blinked, "You have kids?"
"Yes," Hikaru smiled, as she fished her phone out of her purse. "Their names are Ryke and Ryssa, and they are twin hellions like nothing you've ever encountered."
Hikaru handed her phone over for Christina to see the picture she had pulled up. The image was of Hikaru holding a little boy in her arms, while a man with red and white hair balanced a girl on his shoulders. All four were looking at the camera, various expressions of surprise or joy on the family's faces.
"They're beautiful," Christina smiled, handing the phone back to Hikaru. "How old are they?"
"They just celebrated their fourth birthday," Hikaru chuckled. "I left Ryuga with them today, so I half expect that the house will have a few new marks when I get home this evening."
"That bad, huh," Christina commented, dryly.
"Ryuto, that's Ryuga's brother, is a bad influence on them," Hikaru shook her head. "He got them a Beginner's Pranks 101 book for their birthday and I think Ryuga would have figured out a way for justifiable homicide if I hadn't talked him down. They're bad enough without being talked into pranks." Her face twisted, "And then when Kakeru comes over…"
"Kakeru? Who's that?" Christina asked.
"Ryuto's boyfriend. A member of the live band that plays at your brother's bar. His brother is Ryuga's partner at work, and he's just as bad as Ryuto," Hikaru turned, smirking. "Isn't that right, Nef?"
"Huh?" Nefertiti perked up from a dress rack, "What's right?"
"Kakeru is as bad as Ryuto in terms of attitude?"
Horror crawled over Nefertiti's expression, and she shook her head, "I salute Kyoya for dealing with him for twenty six years. I barely manage twenty six minutes!"
"Sounds like you guys are all in quite the crowd," Christina stated. "How is it you all… know each other?"
"Your brother," Kuro answered, having come up behind Christina. The blonde jumped and scrambled away, "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"It's… it's fine. Just a little warning next time," Christina pressed a hand to her chest, exhaling slowly. After a moment, she perked up, "What do you mean, my brother?"
Kuro laughed, "Just that. Chris took over that bar when the owner retired. Chris took the place and made it into a… a sort of safe haven, for anyone and everyone." Her smile turned into something like nostalgia, "Heaven knows everyone that we've been talking about have some sort of debt to owe your brother."
Christina raised an eyebrow, tilting her head.
"Chris is a good person. Maybe he has a bit of a sketchy past, but almost everyone who works for him or he knows does," Kuro said, quietly. "He's got a good heart."
"I think most of it stems from what happened with you," Nefertiti stated, as she walked over, Jasmine following. She gave Christina a look, "Guilt over not being able to help you when you needed it, and his own past mistakes."
Christina's throat suddenly felt dry, her eyes wide.
"Oh, settle down you three!" Jasmine exclaimed, as she rushed over to Christina, "Poor girl looks ready to faint- don't just spring that on her…"
Jasmine's voice faded off into the background, as Christina got lost in her own head. Her thoughts were jumbled and not all complete, but one thing did make itself known.
Just how much had Chris changed in her absence?
Chris looked up from his phone when he heard the front door bang open. Seconds later, he heard Nefertiti call, "We're back!"
A moment later, Nefertiti and Christina- the latter looking rather drained- walked from the coat room and into the living room, the both of them carrying bags a plenty. Chris felt a headache forming as he stared at the amount of packages, before he raised his eyes to meet Nefertiti's amused gaze.
"There's more in the car, dear," Nefertiti smiled, at ease.
"Of course there are," Chris sighed, locking his phone and standing from the couch. Bast, on the other end of the couch, flicked an ear and opened one eye to glare at him. Chris glared back, "How many are actually for Christina?"
"Um, less than half," Christina said, sheepishly. She set the bags on her arms down on the floor, shifting from foot to foot. Nefertiti vanished down the hall and up the stairs.
Chris sighed, done, "Wonderful. Can't keep her from going overboard on any type of shopping trip."
"I caught on," Christina giggled. "Um, care to help me with the rest of the bags?"
"Why not?" Chris shrugged, and followed his sister out the door, "Did you enjoy the afternoon out, at least?"
Christina perked up, and nodded, "Yeah. Nefertiti invited a few of her friends."
Chris tilted his head, "She didn't mention anything about doing that to me… Who did she invite?"
"Kuro, Jasmine, and Hikaru. I was told you know them?" Christina brushed her bangs out of her face, as she pulled open the back hatch of Nefertiti's SUV. Chris nearly facepalmed at the bags that greeted him.
"Yeah, I know them. Kuro's brother works for me, Jasmine is Nefertiti's coworker, and Hikaru's husband stops by on his lunch break, sometimes," Chris sighed, as he began to slide the bags on his arms.
"… They told me what you did for some of your patrons, too," Christina said, quietly.
Chris paused, only for a brief second, but Christina noticed it. She also noticed how Chris kept his voice carefully even when he replied.
"Did they? Hope they mentioned all the good things," He was going for a joking tone, Christina knew it, but it fell flat. Christina stared at him, and Chris eventually began to squirm, "… Guess they also told you why I do all the stuff I do, too, huh?"
Christina nodded, "You got quite a bit of a guilt complex, huh?"
There was no denying the slight edge in Christina's voice, as she began to gather up some of the bags herself.
"… Yeah," Chris admitted. Christina straightened up so fast she banged her head on the top of the car. With a curse, she jerked back to stare in shock, "I do. I felt… really guilty, about you leaving. Why I didn't stop you… how it was that you ended up making the decision to leave. It was all on me and… I haven't forgiven myself for that." He sighed, looking heartbroken as he continued, "You told me what happened after you left. When you were kidnapped and then ending up in prison."
It was more than just being kidnapped, Christina thought with a flinch, but she kept her mouth shut. She had told Nefertiti part of what had happened, not the full story, and then sworn her to secrecy. She'd tell Chris the full story when she was ready.
… She just wasn't ready now.
Maybe she never would be.
"… ties back to me," Chris was saying, when Christina refocused on him. "You went through much… and it was because I was too much of an idiot to just face my own problems. I ran from them instead."
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," Christina muttered, bitterly. "I shouldn't have stormed out. Should have calmed down and tried talking again."
"You've always had problems with your temper. Can't exactly fault you there," Chris trailed off, thoughtfully. "Though, I haven't seen that since I picked you up."
"Seen what?"
"Your infamous temper that would send normal people running for the hills," Chris squinted at Christina.
"… I've had a few years to calm down," Christina slammed the SUV hatch door shut, and started back towards the house. She paused half way up the porch steps, "Hey… Chris?"
"Yeah?" Chris raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever happens…" Christina turned to look at her twin, her eyes full of emotions that Chris couldn't quite pick apart, "I just… I wanna say thank you."
Chris stared at her, before replying slowly, "You're family, Christina. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Christina sincerely hoped Chris meant that.
I'm sorry I missed last week's chapter. Shit happened, but I hope you liked this chapter!