And now, for a special treat: chapter four! But seriously, it is a special treat for you guys. I wanted to give you a break from all that mystery and suspense and stuff, plus I think I needed a break from actually writing it, and thus was born chapter four.
Before I start it, I'd like to personally dedicate this chapter to Lilyrose44 for being such a faithful reader/reviewer, and to my sissy titansgirl-otherstuff for finally starting to read my story. I wrote this chapter especially for you two, so I hope you like it!
Well, I don't want to keep you waiting, so here you go!
Since Garu had only eaten half of his breakfast, and had been fighting the memories of that morning, his hunger and shock were both starting to get the best of him. Minutes blurred together and time itself seemed unimportant, and Garu was lucky if his memories lasted five minutes. He hadn't taken much in at his own house. He only remembered the Vagabonds had followed Tobe inside, and, once again, the door locked him out. He hadn't bothered to try to listen to their conversations or Shaman's chants (none of it would have interested him normally anyway), nor had he tried to open the door again. Instead, he had just let his mind wander, letting random thoughts drift through his mind, lingering only for a few seconds before disappearing.
I wonder if this is really going to work; I mean, Shaman isn't really the most skilled-
Maybe they could find out who the ghost really is. What does he know about my father?
Tobe shouldn't have gone in with them. If I got scared that much, he's-
Where could Pucca be? It's almost lunchtime, plus she should have heard something by now…
One by one, thoughts had come and gone like this for what seemed like hours to Garu, until they were interrupted by the four walked casually out of his house. Shaman had said something like, "Okay, Garu, you're safe now. You won't have to worry about him anymore; he can't get back into your house." The Vagabonds started walking away, but before Tobe left, he came up to Garu wearing a smug grin and handed him a black ninja suit.
"You start Monday," he'd said.
"Garu! Will that be the usual?"
Garu was jerked out of his recap of the morning and back into the present, and it took him a minute to remember what was going on. He was sitting at his favorite table in the Goh-Rhong restaurant, with the lunch rush already beginning, and Dada stood in front of him, ready to take his order and tapping his foot with slight impatience. Garu nodded once, and his stopped its tapping.
"Alright, sir, your order will be ready in a minute." With that, Dada rushed back to the kitchen. Almost immediately after the doors swung closed, there was a loud crash, followed by complaints from the chefs. Garu just sighed and rolled his eyes, then stared off into space as he again became lost in thought.
A few minutes later, Dada came back out, balancing his usually high stack of dishes. He stopped at Garu's table first, delivering a bowl of steaming hot Jajangmyun noodles.
"Enjoy," he managed to say, before the tower of noodle bowls tipped to one side. He followed underneath it, balancing it as best he could so that it didn't fall over.
With Garu's first bite, his mind instantly began to clear. He closed his eyes, focusing only on the taste: the sweet and tender noodles, the perfectly roasted vegetables, and the warm, savory black bean broth. He went on eating like this for a few minutes, slurping the delicious noodles one by one, his mind filled only with the taste, when he suddenly felt something on his lips other than noodles. He opened his eyes and, sure enough, Pucca sat in front of him, leaning over the table and kissing him as they had just shared a strand of Jajang noodles.
Garu pulled away immediately and stared at Pucca, briefly surprised by her sudden appearance. The shock only lasted so long, as he grabbed his bowl the next moment and took another large bite of noodles defiantly.
Pucca giggled at the sight, but then, a look of worry crossed her face. She had obviously heard about Garu's latest ghost problem.
Garu groaned under his breath and rolled his eyes, then looked back at Pucca and gave her a half smile. You shouldn't worry about that, he thought. It's been taken care of.
Pucca cocked an eyebrow and stared at him, looking uncertain.
This made Garu think for a moment. Maybe she was right to worry. Maybe Shaman hadn't done anything, or worse: maybe Tobe had made him cast a spell or something that would make the ghost try to kill Garu. And even if Tobe had decided to stick to their deal, maybe it simply didn't work. After all, as he had thought before, Shaman wasn't the most experienced…
Garu shook these thoughts out of his head. He could cross that bridge when he came to it, but for now, he could assume there was nothing wrong. He looked at Pucca, giving her a reassuring smile.
Pucca still looked concerned. She glanced down at the floor, then looked at Garu and pointed to herself. Garu understood this to mean, still, maybe I could-
"Mm-mm," Garu said quickly, shaking his head.
"Oh," said Pucca, caught off guard and a little hurt.
The two's silent conversation was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Pucca's uncles calling her into the kitchen. Garu motioned his hand to the double doors, as if to say, go on, they need you.
Pucca looked over her shoulder to the kitchen and got up to leave. She walked slowly at first, taking small steps away from the table, when she suddenly ran back, kissed Garu softly on the cheek, and ran into the kitchen.
Garu found his hand rising to touch his cheek, where the warmth of her kiss still lingered. It was strange; instead of the usual feeling of obsession, it seemed like a warm and caring gesture. Garu smiled. It was actually touching for once. He wasn't sure how, but for some reason, Garu knew now how much she cared, and that, regardless of whether he wanted her, she would always be there for him when he needed her.
CONGRATULATIONS! You've just finished reading chapter four! Your prize: chapter five! All you have to do to claim this prize is leave a review saying what you thought of the story and/or suggestions of how I could improve it. Until then: Flatbed cool ranch Alabama shoes!
