Chapter Four
The only thing that rivaled Kana's skills as a ninja was her caloric intake. In only one meal, the girl could eat enough food to feed three people well for four days, and she would have it all burned off within five hours. Today her meal included three fruit, yogurt, and nut parfaits; two double cheeseburgers; four milkshakes; five large waffle fries; two slices of chocolate cream pie; and a sunday. Kin just had water.
"Why did I have to treat you to lunch. It's not fair." Kin took a sip of her water then sighed. " Even the water has a sour taste in my mouth."
"Ya sure you don't want any?" Kana asked, offering Kin a bag of waffle fries. Kin groaned and put her head down on the table.
"No thank you. I had to pay, remember. The hole in my pocket must be huge." She grumbled into her arm.
"I think it's a hole in your head actually." Kin said, taking a sip of vanilla milkshake.
"Wow! I never thought I 'd see the day when she was too tired to even talk." came a voice from behind Kana. Kana dropped her head back to look at the new comer.
"Oh, hey Hanabusa! It's only you." she said. Hanabusa was a tall girl. She was about six foot two inches, and had long medium brown hair. She was wearing a zip up jacket, over a plain, green long sleeved shirt. She also ware flared jeans, and she was wearing white ballerina flats. She looked really tall, especially next to Kana or Kin. Kin was five foot three inches, and Kana was shorter by two whole inches.
The tall girl sat down next to the blonde girl with good graces, and pulled a carton of waffle fries towards her.
"Hands off, their mine!" Kana said as she noticed the food being pulled away from her. "Some people have no respect for other people's things." Kin actually burst into tears and Kana gave a satisfied smile, digging back into her food with renewed vigor.
"Hey, you've got four others! I think you can let go of one container." Hana looked over at Kin. "Why don't you eat some, I mean, it's not like she's going to bite you of something." Hana asked Kin, offering her a waffle fry. Kin threw Hana a dirty look and dumped her head back into her arms with a groan. "Let me guess. Kin dug herself into a hole and then offered to take you shopping in order to make it up."
"That's right" Kana said. "It's just about the story of her life. Hey, you going to finnish those?" She asked, reaching for the fries.
"Of course I'm gonna eat these! Brat!" Hana responded, pulling the fries out of reach. "You're really greedy when it comes to food, you realize that?"
"I can't help it if I'm always hungry. It must be genetic or something." Kana said, a slightly annoyed.
"You've got four more right in front of you." Hana said, pointing at the boxes.
"Oh, yeah." Kana said, as though seeing them for the first time.
"'Oh' is right, ya goof-ball." Hana retorted, shoving another fry in her mouth.
"Should have known, Kana's in the food court." Ari said, joining the group. She sat down with good graces next to Kin. "Looks like Kin was the big spender this time!"
"How did you figure we were here?" Hana asked, seemingly clueless. "Two and two together. Kana equals food, which can translate to food court. Process of elimination."
Kin had started wailing at this point, completely devastated.
The group soon finished, with Kana only lost a sunday and the fry container, and the group headed out to explore the rest of the mall. Ari picked up a few hair care products, while Hana got all excited about the exotic plants display, and ended up buying some of the seeds on sale. Kana explored the clothing, and even though she bought nothing, she was able to put together some very cute outfits. Kin, being broke and depressed, bought absolutely nothing.
"Hey! Let's all go to Kana's house." Hana suggested. Ari agreed.
"Well, you guys can all stay the night, if you can find a way to sleep with Mute and Nuke around." Kana said. "I'll make stir-fry." Everyone perked up at hearing this. Kana's stir-fry was always good. She wasn't always the best when it came to cooking, her policy was 'if it doesn't kill me then it must be edible' , and she was trained not to be too picky about her food, with the whole raised by panthers and eating raw meat thing, so she really didn't have much when it came to domestic skills. But if there was one thing Kana could make, it was stir-fry. Somehow, she could never mess it up. "So, do you guys want chicken or beef?"
"Chicken of course!" Kin said. She had perked up when she herd the word "stir-fry". It was her favorite food, and she never missed a chance to eat Kana's. "That was a speedy recovery." Kana said, throwing Kin a smile. "Either way, we need to stop by the market place. I'm running low on food."
The market was never crowded around this time of day. People were already home eating dinner and those who were at the mall never came here unless ordered by a parent. But since Kana lived alone, she had learned to shop for herself, and she found this time more preferable. She quickly picked up the items she needed, and was heading to grab the last item on her list, rice, when she stopped short, half way to picking it off the shelf.
"Risu" she murmured, almost completely inaudible. Kana's mind automatically went into overdrive and instincts took over.
"Ari, above you!" Kana said, without even looking. Ari, trusting Kana, retaliated, canceling the primary attack, and Kana did a flip, avoiding the shuriken that were headed for her in the secondary. Kin, who had been holding the glave to make shopping easier for Kana, tossed her the weapon. Kana caught it with one hand, and looked up at the ceiling. "Getting pretty brave, attacking me in broad daylight with my friends nearby." She said in a loud voice. Ari put her hands into her pack, a determined look on her face. "Ari, don't. You'll terrorize the whole store." Ari reluctantly withdrew and empty hand.
"Their directly above us." Kin said. Her "echolocation" was a useful technique. She would make a quiet noise, such as clicking her tongue or humming a note, and add her aura to it. She would then read the rebounding to map out an aria, find enemies, she could even follow aura patterns.
"Thanks, any plant life up there?" Hana asked, sounding only mildly interested. Unlike her two friends, she had no quarrel with Risu, but she was fiercely loyal to her special people, and would help them.
"Some mold" Kin answered immediately. "Will it work?"
A devious grin met Hana's face and she looked at the ceiling, her aura rising. "Yup." She responded, her hands forming her sign. Hanabusa's gift was with plants, she could cause them to grow and even move, simply by attaching her aura to them. She had a talent for causing huge amounts of damage, with the simplest of flower petals. Hana's lips moved as she focused. "Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it . . . and . . . now."
As if on cue, high-pitched screams reached the ears of the four girls. They moved from the aria quickly, grabbing the rice they needed, and headed for the check out line, as a store manager and security personnel headed to scene.
"Score: Kana, two; Risu, zero." Kana said. "They honestly should know better. I spent the first ten years of my life hunting wild animals and playing with two oversized kittens, who do not know how to hold back. I mean, come on! Did they really expect to sneak up on me?"
"Apparently, they did. They aren't very subtle, are they." Ari replied. "And they're training to become ninjas. I mean, what would happen if Risu broke a nail? Any mission she was on would be forfeit. That would be horrible!"
"Come on guys, this isn't really nice, and Risu is already mad at Kana, so maybe we should lay off for a bit." Hana said.
"We're not being nice? You just set a bunch of 'living mold' on them." Kin argued back. "Don't be lecturing us!"
"They should be glade that that is all I did. And I do have a set of morals you know. . ." Hana shot back.
"Both of you, quit it." Kana said, getting tired of the bickering.
"Maybe we should just leave them here." Ari mumbled to Kana. "If their going to bicker like some old married couple, then why don't we let them do it in a store instead of your nice, quiet home."
"Let's just get checked out. If they follow, they follow, and if they annoy Mute or Nuke too much, they'll chase them away." Kana growled, an air of exasperation around her. Ari agreed and she followed to the check out line.