Alright, I've finished this chapter.

"You didn't tell me you did so well on your test, Usagi-chan!" Naru exclaims as she looks over the test Usagi handed her. An 81 was written on top of the paper, a smiley face drawn next to it. The highest score she's seen Usagi get since they've become friends.

"Yes I did! I told you once we got the tests back." Usagi huffs, pulling her duffle up over her shoulder. "You were just," huff "too busy staring out," huff "the window! Oooww, Naru-chan, please help me!"

The girls stop walking, going to the side of a building to stay out of the way of any people who needed to get through. Naru grabs a strap of the duffle bag, and slides it down onto the sidewalk. "Why'd you pack so much stuff?" Naru asks as she looks at the duffle bag. It was overstuffed, too full for one weekend sleepover.

Usagi lets a sigh of relief as the weight is taken off of her and rolls her shoulder. After a few seconds, she looks at Naru and smiles excitedly, "I wanted to be prepared for the best weekend of my life! Two days and three nights with my best friend!"

It was the sleepover the two have been planning for weeks. They'd get takeout, do each other's' makeup, and stay up all night together.

"It would've been ruined if you didn't do so well on your test." Naru gives Usagi a look, scolding her again for not asking her mother permission to sleep over until literally last minute.

Usagi smiles sheepishly, "but I did! And it's all thanks to you! If you didn't help me, I woulda bombed it! But I didn't, so mama gave me permission to sleepover, my allowance, and some extra as a reward!"

As much as Usagi complained about her mom, Naru knew she was nice. If she asked her mom last minute for a weekend sleepover and extra money, her mom would've laughed and told her to plan her money better and to schedule an appointment for said sleepover at least three weeks in advanced. Which is exactly what she did to make sure it would be the best weekend of their lives.

"What are you going to do with the money?" Naru asks, and grabs a hold of one of the straps. Usagi grabs the other and the two continue their walk. "We've already got enough money saved up for pizza and chicken wings from that cool new restaurant that opened a few months back."

"I'm going to spend it on the je- oh, wait! Why were you staring out the window during class? You didn't even notice when I tried to show you my test!" Usagi says, remembering the topic at hand before the sleepover came up.

"I was staring out the window?" Naru blinks. She didn't realize she had zoned out during class.

Usagi frowns and tilts her head to the side as she inspects Naru's face. "Yeah, you were. You didn't even write any notes for the day."

That would explain why Naru couldn't recall what happened during class. Class was a blur, the only thing on her mind was how weird her mom appeared to be behaving. She didn't see her this morning before school, no breakfast was on the table, and now Umino is handing out flyers for a sale? It was unusual. She was used to breakfast being a maybe in the morning, but at least her mom leaves a few poptarts in the toaster for her. Why would she have Umino of all people hand out flyers?

Poke.

Naru jumps back, her hand letting go of her strap of the duffle bag. It slams to the ground. Usagi stares at Naru, her hand in the air where Naru's cheek just was. "Naru-chan..."

"Sorry," Naru sighs and runs a hand through her bangs. "I'm just thinking about my mom. I'm just worried. But it's fine."

Tension is in the air, something Usagi wants to pop, but not now. Naru looks stressed, which it's probably being made worse by not knowing what's going on. "Okay, Naru-chan," Usagi smiles softly, "let's go to your house and we can order the pizza."

It's oddly silent for a moment before Naru nods. The moment of tension dissolves as Naru picks up the strap and the two continue walking. They don't talk, Naru keeping her eyes forward while Usagi keeps her eyes on Naru. They pass the crosswalk, making their way into the Juban Shopping District. They unconsciously walk closer together as they pass crowds of people, stopping only when they hear a familiar voice.

"Sale! Sale!"

"Umino?"

"Oh! Hi Naru-chan, hi Usagi-san!" It takes a bit of maneuvering, but the girls manage to make their way through the crowd without causing any injuries with the duffle bag. In the center of the crowd stood Umino, standing on top of a stool, handing out what Naru recognizes as the flyer Usagi showed her during lunch.

"What are you doing with those flyers?" Naru asks, handing Usagi her strap and taking a step forward to grab a flyer out of Umino's hand. The women he was handing flyers to walk away, looking at their flyers in excitement. Usagi takes the chance to drag the duffle bag out of the center of the crowd, leaving Naru with Umino.

"Your mom gave me them, telling me to give these away!" Umino says proudly, handing a short girl with silver hair a flyer. Naru notices how her expression sours up as she looks at the flyer before walking away. "She said if I gave away them all, she'd give me a watch as a reward."

Naru's eyebrows crunch up, her mom would never make promises like that. Throughout her twelve years of life, her mother has never once attempted to bribe someone, even in that way. She didn't even like the idea of children coming into her store. It was something she's heard her mother talk about to her friend after they kicked out some teenagers who tried to steal some earrings. "When did she do this?" Naru asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"This morning!" Umino bends over to grab the last of his flyers, and calls out to a group of older woman walking by. Once they grab the flyers, he turns back to Naru, "I was walking to school and she stopped me by the collar and asked what in the store I liked the most."

Naru blinks. That's definitely not her mom's way of doing thing. "Oh..." She turns and looks back at Usagi, who was sitting on a bench, watching some tourists. "Well, uh, we've gotta go."

"Bye, Naru-chan! Tell Usagi-san I said goodbye!" Umino waves, and Naru nods, walking over to Usagi and tapping her on the forehead. Usagi looks up and smiles.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Naru grabs a strap and nods to Usagi, who lefts her side. They tug the duffle bag up and begin walking.

"What did Umino tell you?" Usagi asks as she loops her right arm with Naru's left arm. It's awkward, but they manage to do so without dropping anything.

Naru lets out a sigh of frustration, and shakes her head. "It's even more confusing. I'll tell you everything he said when we get to my room." For some reason, she feels like discussing it anywhere else would make the situation worse.

Usagi nods, and the girls turn the corner before they're stopped by a large amount of people inside and outside Naru's mom's shop. "What the?"

The scene reminds Usagi of the American Christmas movies she'd watch with her papa. The day after Thanksgiving, early in the morning, adults would get up and go to the stores before they open to stand outside and wait to the first inside. Once the doors open, the long line would turn into a vicious mob. Now that Usagi thinks about it, she didn't get to see much after the main character attacked the elderly woman for a microwave, because her mama came in and shut it off.

Thankfully, no one was fighting.

The jewelry in the store shined, the price tags with "S*A*L*E" shined even more. Rings that should be 400,000 en were marked down to literally half. Necklaces that weren't allowed out of the glass without the supervision of Naru's mother and a security guard were being handed around like it was playdough at a school yard.

Naru found it unsettling.

Placing the duffle bag in a corner of the store, away from the crowds, Usagi and Naru link arms and walk over to Naru's mom, who was shouting through a mega phone, "Thank you all for coming today! Welcome! Welcome to our store! Please go ahead and try them on! Welcome! Everything's on sale!"

"She's really into this," Naru whispers, and Usagi nods. She's known Naru's mom for a while, and she's never seen her act like this.

"Maybe she's just feeling business orientated today?" Usagi whispers back, watching as Naru's mom was practically shoving a necklace onto a woman's neck.

"Mama," Naru calls for her mom after she finishes putting the necklace on the woman.

Her mother turns to look at her and smiles. "Welcome home!" She exclaims, her heels clicking as she walks over to Naru and Usagi. "Oh, who's this?"

Naru and Usagi blink, turning to each other then back at Naru's mom. "Mama, this is Usagi. My best friend…" Usagi doesn't flinch when Naru squeezes her arm, managing to hold back a frown at Naru's mom.

"Oh, oh! I didn't recognize it was you, Usagi! It's so nice of you to come!" She lifts her head arms and motions around the store, "It's a bit crowded but please take you time and look around."

Usagi nods.

"And because you're Naru-chan's friend, I'll give you an even bigger discount!"

"Really? All right, score!" Usagi's eyes shrine and she follows Naru's mom as she goes around the counter. Naru follows, keeping a tight hold onto Usagi's arm.

"Do you like diamonds? I bet you do! How about this ring?" Naru's mom brings out a box and opens it. Inside is a ring with a beautiful diamond on top. Usagi and Naru both gasp.

"That's so beautiful."

"That's so expensive."

Naru and Usagi look at each other and giggle. Beautiful and expensive did tend to exist together.

Naru's mom laughs, wagging her finger, "Expensive it is, 500,000 en but I'll give it to you for 30,000 en."

"30,000 en for 500,000!" The two girls shout in unison. Before they can even say anything else, they're both shoved out of the way, and everyone in the store runs towards the counter. Naru grabs Usagi's arm and they run into the corner of the store while Usagi exclaims that the Christmas movies were right

"Jeez," Naru huffs, placing her hands on her knees. "That's just ridiculous." Usagi nods in agreement. "Come on, let's go upstairs. I can't stand to be in here anymore."

Whew, the story is halfway done.

Please tell me what you think!