Disclaimer: I don't own anything of importance in this story.

Chapter 27

Friday passed rather uneventfully, but Yugi had plans for Saturday. He had talked to Grandpa and got some spending money for both he and Kenshin. Yugi had decided that he was going to help Kenshin relax, and what was the best place to just kick back and hang out with your friends? The mall, of course!

"So, where are we going, Yugi?" Kenshin asked as he walked beside the shorter boy.

"The mall," Yugi replied.

"Gomen, Yugi, but what is 'the mall'?"

Yugi stopped for a moment before he resumed walking. "That's right, I keep forgetting your from the Bakumatsu. The mall is basically a whole bunch of stores put together in one building. Instead of running all around town to go to all those stores, you can just go to the mall instead." Yugi explained.

Kenshin nodded his head in understanding. "So, it's basically like the market place."

"Uh, I guess so. I don't really know, actually." Yugi admitted.

"Well, we'll find out when we get there, suppose."

They walked on in silence for a few minutes before coming to a very large building. Kenshin was impressed by the size of it, but was hurried inside by Yugi. Kenshin walked up to the glass doors and stepped inside. Immediately to his left was a room that looked similar to the arcade Yugi and his friends liked to go to. Further down on the other side there was a place that looked like it sold some sort of circular bread with a hole in the center (Author Note: Kenshin is describing a doughnut). Beyond that, the room opened up quite a bit. Kenshin walked up to the railing and found that he was standing on the second floor. There were more stores across from him, all lined up on after another, displaying what they were selling. He then noticed they all had bright signs above the entrance, saying what the name of the store was. He looked down and saw more stores on the bottom floor, but there were also booths set up in the middle of the walkway, displaying more merchandise. Just then, Yugi came over to him.

"Come on, Kenshin! Don't just stand there staring all day. Let's go down there!" Yugi said, pulling his arm.

Kenshin allowed the short boy to lead him to a set of stairs. Much to Kenshin's surprise, the stairs were moving! He pulled back instinctively, but Yugi just stepped on and allowed the stairs to take him down to the floor below. Kenshin, after a little more hesitation, followed Yugi's example. Kenshin stepped onto the moving staircase with closed eyes and waited. Oddly enough, it didn't feel like he was moving. Opening his eyes he saw that yes, he was moving, but it felt as if he were standing still. Very strange indeed, he thought to himself. When he reached the bottom, he stepped off. Not realizing that while he wasn't moving, the stairs were, and that gave him a little extra momentum. As a result, he almost fell from the extra momentum when stepped off the stairs and stopped. He caught himself, only stumbling slightly, as he realized his mistake.

Kenshin looked around for Yugi. He saw the short boy disappear into one of the stores. Kenshin started to make his way over there. He was walking past one of the booths in the middle of the walk way when he happened to glance up and make eye contact with the vendor. Kenshin stopped, staring. Battousai, who had still been asleep, woke up when he felt Kenshin's anxiety.

/./Kenshin, what's wrong?/./ Battousai asked, concerned. Kenshin was not one to be scared easily.

/This man--he has two different colored eyes! One of them is green, and the other one is red!/

/./What?!/./ Battousai asked, incredulously. He looked through Kenshin's eyes. Sure enough, there was a man with one green eye and the other one bright red. Kenshin's left hand unconsciously strayed to his sword.

"What is wrong with your eyes?" Kenshin asked, wondering exactly what this man was.

The vendor laughed. "I have one red contact in! My eyes are actually green, but you can change the color of your eye by putting colored contacts in them," he explained, gesturing to a display case. Kenshin looked and saw a lot of small, colored circular objects displayed against a white background.

"You put these things in your eyes and they change the color?" Kenshin asked, a little intrigued.

"Yup. And today, we have a special. For every pair of contacts you buy, you'll get a carrying case and two bottles of cleaning solution free!"

"Is it permanent?" Kenshin saw a pair he wanted to buy, so he wanted to make sure that it didn't have any ill effect.

"No, but you do need to take them out every night and store them in the cleaning solution."

"Alright, then I'd like to purchase a pair," Kenshin told the man.

/./What? Kenshin, I thought your eye color didn't bother you,/./ Battousai said.

/They're not for me. They're for you./

/./What?!/./

"Which pair would you like?"

Kenshin pointed to a pair of purple contacts, slightly darker than the color of his eyes. "These ones," he said. The man pulled them out of the case and placed them into a carrying case. Since Kenshin obviously didn't know anything about contacts, the vendor showed him how to store them and clean them and explained how to put them into his eyes. Kenshin paid for them and placed the merchandise in one of the pockets in his coat.

/./What do you mean they're for me? I don't want them!/./

/I doubt you want to stay in my mind all the time, so whenever you come out, you have to put these on. The only way to tell us apart, aside from how we act, is our eyes. That way, if Yami or Ryou accidentally see you, they'll think you're me,/ Kenshin explained. Battousai couldn't argue with that logic.

Kenshin resumed walking towards the store Yugi had entered when he realized that he didn't know which one it was. He stopped, and looked at all the stores around him. Trying to figure out which one to go to he decided that he would just check them all. The stores seemed relatively small, and he decided that he could check them all rather quickly. The first one he went into had some rather odd items. They were made out of frilly, rather see-through material and they were very small. Some were shiny and they came in all different sizes.

/I wonder what these are for,/ Kenshin said, picking one up and examining it.

/./I have no idea,/./ Battousai admitted, equally stumped as Kenshin.

Kenshin turned and saw exactly what it was for. Towards the back of the store, there were three girls modeling the merchandise. A skimpy piece of material similar to the one Kenshin held in his hand was the only thing covering the top half of one of the girls. She smiled at him, winking, and motioned for him to come over.

Kenshin quickly adverted his eyes, dropped the item he held in his hand and quickly made his way out of the store. He found a bench and decided to wait for Yugi there. Not ten seconds later, Yugi walked up.

"Sorry, Kenshin, I didn't realize I had lost you," Yugi apologized. He paused, looking at Kenshin. His eyes were large and focused on the floor, while his face matched the color of his hair. "What's wrong with you?" Yugi asked, a little concerned.

"I decided to search the stores until I found you, but I entered the wrong store," Kenshin said, pointing vaguely in the direction of the store. He didn't dare look back.

Yugi looked where he pointed. He read the names of the stores, trying to figure out which one Kenshin had entered. "JC Penny's, Hallmark, Spencer's, Suncoast, Victoria Secret--" Yugi stopped as he noticed a sign outside of Victoria Secret. It said that they had models in there showing off the latest in lingerie. A smile spread over Yugi's face. He knew that's where Kenshin had gone. He was going to tease him about it, but the poor boy looked so embarrassed already Yugi just couldn't bring himself to do it. Deciding that the mall was no longer the best place to help Kenshin relax, Yugi decided it was time for a change of pace.

Fifteen minutes later, they were standing outside of the Amusement Park. Kenshin was staring at all the tall roller coaster rides before Yugi grabbed his arm and pulled him through the gate. Yugi dragged Kenshin over to an older roller coaster ride that was made of wood and got in line. Kenshin could hear the people screaming as the roller coaster raced along the tracks, taking sharp turns and loops that flipped the occupants upside down momentarily. The roller coaster came to a stop, and the people got off, some talking excitedly about the ride while others swore never to step foot in a roller coaster again.

The line was pretty short, and soon Yugi and Kenshin were first in line. Yugi paid for both of them and went and took a seat, motioning for Kenshin to follow him. Kenshin did, albeit a little hesitantly. They sat down and waited for the ride to begin. Kenshin, remembering the screams, had changed his mind and was about to inform Yugi when suddenly a bar came done across their laps, preventing them from moving. Kenshin turned to Yugi sharply.

"What's going on?!" he demanded a little more harshly than he'd intended, indicating the bar. Yugi looked at him and smiled reassuringly.

"That's to make sure you don't fall out. The ride's about to begin," Yugi explained.

Sure enough, the car began moving forward sluggishly, but picked up momentum pretty quickly. It wasn't that bad until they went around the first corner at high speeds. It was then that Kenshin's sharp hearing picked out the sound of the wood creaking in protest under the pressure and felt the wood give a little. He kept his eyes forward at all times, not daring to look to the side for fear of seeing the wood break. Nevertheless, that did not stop the groanings of the wood from reaching his ears, nor did it stop his minds eye from playing out what would happen in his mind. He knew what flying through the air really fast and crashing would do to you.

Yugi was enjoying himself immensely. He had chosen this ride because he thought Kenshin would enjoy it too. After all, he was used to moving really fast, wasn't he?

Yugi looked at his companion, but Kenshin's face was carefully expressionless. However, Yugi did notice his eyes were wider than normal and he had a death grip on the bar across their laps. He was gripping it so tightly that not only were his knuckles white, but Yugi half expected there to be imprints of Kenshin's hands on the bar.

"Kenshin, are you okay?" Yugi asked. Kenshin didn't respond, just kept staring forward, as if ignoring it would make it go away. ,p>Suddenly, they sped up faster than they had been going before and went into the last two loops of the ride. The first one was small, making the car gain even more momentum for the last loop. Due to the increase in speed, the wood gave even more than it had for the rest of the ride, eliciting a small gasp for Kenshin. He cringed as he waited for the sound of the wood splintering, allowing them to fly through the air to their doom. Surprisingly enough, and much to his relief, the wood held and they began to slow down. The ride was finally over.

Kenshin just sat there. His fingers hurt from clutching the bar too tightly, but he just reveled in the fact that he was still alive to feel that pain. After a few seconds, he pried his fingers off the bar and followed Yugi, shaking slightly from the ordeal.

/./It wasn't that bad,/./ Battousai said, trying to comfort Kenshin but it ended up coming out more as a taunt.

/Don't even start. You were cowering in the back of my mind the entire time./ Battousai was silent, opting instead to let Kenshin calm down first.

"Gomen, Kenshin," Yugi apologized as they walked aimlessly around the park. "I thought you'd enjoy that ride because when I watched you practice, you were unbelievably fast. I just thought that you'd be used to moving at high speeds," he explained.

"While I am used to moving at high speeds," Kenshin said a little breathlessly, "it's a little different when you're in control."

"Gomen," Yugi apologized again.

"Don't worry about it."

They went on a few other rides like the Ferris wheel and the graviton, where you stand against a wall plane that moves up with you on it because of centrifugal force. By now it was around one, so they went into one of the restaurants within the park to eat. Kenshin discovered he shared Yugi's love of hamburgers, although he didn't much care for soda. He didn't like the 'carbonation', as Yugi called it. After lunch it was getting pretty hot outside, so Yugi pulled Kenshin over to the water slides. Since they hadn't brought the appropriate attire, they had to buy some from the small shop, put there for that very purpose. Yugi purchased out two swimming trunks, and then he and Kenshin went to put them on. Yugi finished changing, and waited for Kenshin.

"Come on, Kenshin, what's taking so long? Just put them on, and let's go!" Yugi urged, impatiently.

"Have you people no sense of decency?! I'm not going out there dressed like this!" came Kenshin's muffled response.

Yugi sighed. "Why? What's wrong?" He was standing outside of Kenshin's door with a pair of forest green swimming trunks on.

"Well for one thing," Kenshin said, opening the door, "I'm nearly naked." Kenshin's attire was the same as Yugi's expect his were dark blue. His pale skin stood out in stark contrast to the dark material.

"Kenshin, everyone dresses like that," Yugi said. His eyes trailed down to Kenshin's chest, where several old scars could be seen.

Kenshin noticed. "And that's the other reason I refuse to be seen in public like this," he said, disappearing back into the dressing room and closing the door. Yugi realized he'd been staring at Kenshin's scars a little too late and hastened to apologized to the closed door.

"I'm sorry, Kenshin! I didn't mean to stare. I know! Wait here, I'll be right back!" Yugi said, before he rushed back into the shop. He came out with a T-shirt the same color as Kenshin's trunks and knocked on Kenshin's door. "Here, Kenshin, put this on."

Kenshin opened the door and, after slight hesitation, took the proffered shirt. He re-emerged dressed in the dark shirt and shorts, looking a little more relieved. Although it was still revealed more of his legs than he felt comfortable with, it was better than wearing the shorts only.

After the first water slide, Kenshin decided he did not like them. At the top, he got into a tube and slid down. That was fine until halfway down when the top half of the tube disappeared. As a result, Kenshin almost went over the edge on a few of the turns and was, needless to say, very relieved when he reached the bottom in one piece. It was then that he decided to just sit back and watch Yugi go on all the different rides. By the time Yugi had reached the bottom, Kenshin was already dressed in his usual clothes.

Yugi looked up at him and smiled. "That bad, huh?"

"Yugi, I'm sorry, but I've found that I really don't care for any of these rides. But I don't want to stop you," Kenshin explained.

Yugi shrugged. "It's getting too hot to be out here, anyway. I'm just gonna go down one last time and then we can leave, okay?"

"Alright, Yugi, I'll be right over there," Kenshin said, pointing to some tables in the shade.

"Alright, I won't be too long!" Yugi called, as he raced up the stairs to the top of the slide. There was a little bit of a line, so he had to wait. Looking down, he searched around until he found Kenshin. True to his word, the red head was sitting at one of the table under a palm tree. As Yugi watched, one of the park's security officer's came over and started talking to Kenshin. The line moved up, drawing Yugi's attention away from the ground. He moved up with it, and looked back down again. Kenshin was shaking his head, arguing with the security officer. After a few more seconds Kenshin nodded, and the security officer handed him something from inside his coat. Apparently it was a pen, because Kenshin took a napkin off the table and started writing something on it. Yugi was almost at the front of the line now and there were quite a few people behind him. He watched as Kenshin stood up, placed the note on the table, and started walking toward the main path with the security officer. Yugi turned to go back down the stairs, but he would be too late. He decided to go down the slide and then find Kenshin. It was finally his turn, and he slid down as fast as he could. It seemed to take forever to reach the bottom, but when he finally did he hurried out of the pool. He ran to the last place he had seen Kenshin, but the red head was already gone. Yugi looked a bit more, before finally going back to the table where Kenshin had been sitting. He picked up the note on the table and read it.

Yugi, I'm sorry but something has come up. I would have waited for you, but he was adamant that I come now. You may have seen me leaving with a security officer. Don't worry, I'm not in any sort of trouble. I just have some unfinished business to attend to. I'll be home later.

-Kenshin

Yugi sighed. "Grandpa's not gonna like this."