Summer Shopping (Ryu)

[kazue]

When people think of summer they see sun shining, school out, beaches, pool parties, camping and loads of other things to do. For Kazue, shopping always seemed like a good idea. She could load up on clothes and stuff she needed for next year. Now, the young girl didn't drive and her mother didn't worry about letting her walk around New York, seemingly unprotected. We all know how appearances can be deceiving though. Kazue was probably the last person in the world you would want to make angry. Oh she looked innocent enough. Wavy black hair done up in pigtails, a dark purple sundress with white flowers all over it. Ballet flats and her little hands full of shopping bags. Behind the young girl were her best friends. A calico cat that was older than her and a little fox. Both were attached to her via a leash.

People walked past amused that both animals were carrying little jewelry bags. Aiko the fox loved the attention, Bandit didn't. They were her mother's pets and had been around since before Kazue was born. She grew up with them and sometimes they were like her brother and sister. Kazue's mind wandered to the idea of having REAL siblings. The ones who looked like you, and loved you the way only family could. For so long it had only been her and Silk. Now... at 15, she finds her father and finds out she has two siblings living here. A brother and a sister. Every teenager she passed she looked at their faces and wondered "Is that my brother? Could she be my sister?" In honest... the young girl was going mad wondering who her siblings were.

Not paying attention to the sidewalk ahead of her she would walk directly into a lamp post.

"Oh son of a-!"

The fox and cat sat down and if you didn't know better you would think they were laughing at her. Kazue certainly thought they were.

"Oi, don't laugh... That hurt."

She didn't seem to care about the people who looked at her like she was stupid for walking into that post. Yet she couldn't stand the idea of her pets laughing at her. She really needed to get out more, she was becoming her mother. She would lean down and scoop both pets up. Bandit sprawled out over her shoulders and Aiko was content hiding in one of her shopping bags.

"I think we need a rest guys. I can't carry you and next years wardrobe."

A woman walking by gave a bit of a snicker as Kazue spoke to her pets. The half Japanese half Spanish girl glared at her but said nothing. A temper like her mother's was dangerous if not concealed. However, she did like using her father's approach. After a moment of looking at the woman who snickered at her, Kazue's lips turned into her father's trademark smirk.

"Yes, lets all laugh at the girl talking to her pets and pretend that at the end of the day we don't go home and cry in our bon bons because of how alone we are."

The sarcasm dripped from her lips like poison. Her father had straight sarcasm but adding to it a mix of her mother's sharp pointy words and you had straight poison. The women flushed a bit and looked away. Kazue kept her smirk.

"That's what I thought."

[Ryu Hikari]

Ryu climbed off his bicycle and walked it as he made his way down the sidewalk in the downtown core, Mai having left their mansion earlier, to go shopping with her friends. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved light blue dress shirt, the top two buttons undone, his kitten Shiro previously perched on his shoulder, now sitting comfortable on top of his bike seat, it was a warm, clear summer day, with a few wisps of clouds here and there drifting lazily across the sky.

His headphones clamped over his ears as usual, people who walked past him swerved to avoid him as he glanced up occasionally, alerted by Shiro pawing at his arm, to make sure he wasn't walking headlong into a tree, and a few times he had to move to the left or the right to avoid an obstacle in his path.

Just as a new song came on, Ryu felt Shiro paw him once again as he looked up and saw a familiar face with a familiar smirk with another woman that was flushed a bit and looking away. A just as familiar slight smirk appearing on his face, Ryu would quickly wheel his bike over to the two girls.

"Hey Kazue, is this woman bothering you? Honestly, some people have no manners these days..."

[kazue]

Kazue jumped a bit hearing some random voice come up beside her. Bandit made an annoyed sound as he had been lazily relaxing before almost being thrown off her shoulders. Aiko peeked up from one of the many shopping bags Kazue carried and sniffed the air. The woman glanced at the two teenagers and moved off and away from them. Kazue turned to finally look at who had startled her.

"O-oh... Hi Ryu... Eh? Oh heh, no."

Kazue reached up rubbing her forehead where she had bumped into the lamp post. Aiko was leaning out of her bag sniffing at the air. Another feline was near by and it wasn't till the fox was lifted up that she saw the new playmate. A white cat sitting on Ryu's bike seat. Excited about this, Aiko practically leapt from the bag. Kazue scrambled to catch her.

"Oi oi, Aiko. You wanna strangle your self? Stupid fox."

She held the fox against her chest in both arms. Bandit reached down with a paw and smacked the fox on the nose. Kazue began fumbling and trying to shift everything around so that she could get a good hold on Aiko.

"You would think, with as old as they are, they would stop acting like children. Nooo, mom had to treat them like babies all their lives..."

Kazue spoke sarcastically to her self. Suddenly the knowledge of her audience made her blink and she smirked nervously at Ryu. A bit of a pink hue touched her cheeks from embarrassment. She would clear her throat a little and try to pretend she hadn't been talking to her self.

"Er, uh... so what are you doing out here? Oh uhm I mean... well... not that you wouldn't go out... just I..."

She freed a hand to methodically smack her self in the forehead and winced as it was still sore from the post bashing.

"Let's try this again... How's it going Ryu?"

Another nervous smirk. The poor girl... she was at that age where she was interested in boys and Ryu, in her book was a rather cute boy. Aiko blinked and Bandit suddenly sat up. Was he going to have to look after Kazue like he did Silk? Quite possibly. Silk wasn't here to watch over the girl herself right now. The feline on the young girl's shoulders channeled his creepy unblinking stare and stared at the young boy with the bike and red hair.

[Ryu Hikari]

"Did that woman hit you? People these days..."

Shaking his head in mock exasperation, Ryu didn't know Kazue had actually walked into a lamppost, hence why she was rubbing her forehead. His eyes widening slightly in mild surprise as a fox came leaping out of one of Kazue's shopping bags, her owner scrambling to get a hold of her. Shiro on the hand would mew happily at not just Aiko, but the calico cat perched on Kazue's shoulder... after mewing rapidly in shock at first.

Ryu rubbing the top of Shiro's head to calm him down, Shiro would paw away at his fellow feline after the latter had bopped Aiko on the nose. Ryu raising an eyebrow while continuing to smirk slightly at Kazue, though more in an awkward moment kind of way, to spare her more embarrassment, he'd pretend to act like he hadn't seen her blush and heard her talk to herself.

"You sure you've smacked your forehead enough times there? I think you left a permanent hand print on your forehead. And it's going good, just taking Shiro for a walk, not that the little guy needs it, he gets more walks from still technically being a stray more than when I take him out. How about you? You sure you have enough clothes there?"

Reaching out with one free hand, Ryu would gently rub Kazue's forehead to prevent a bruise from forming while continuing to smirk slightly at her before quickly fading into a blank stare, one eyebrow raised as he noticed the calico cat staring at him. Suddenly he was having a staring contest with a cat. A CAT. Casually shrugging to himself, he'd continue to rub Kazue's forehead for a good few minutes, pulling his hand away after.

"Feel any better?"

[kazue]

"Hit me? Oh no. I bumped into the lamp there..."

Kazue said with a weak smile. She would return her own awkward smirk. Though after a moment she would look away biting at her lip. His mention of her smacking her head made her laugh a little and she reached up to rub at her head but he took her by surprise and did it for her. Her eyes went wide and the blush returned to her cheeks. When he finished she quickly laughed a bit nervously, smiled weakly and stepped back a bit.

"Eheh yea, feels better..."

She looked down at her clothes and blinked.

"Oh uh yea, some of these are for my mom though. She asked me to grab her a few shirts while I was out... something about having given Bandit and Aiko a bath and her shirts being ruined."

Kazue looked over at the little feline that Ryu carried with him and smiled.

"Aww Shiro is adorable! Much cuter than these two pain in the butts."

Bandit and Aiko seemed to take offense to this and both snorted at her. Bandit lightly nipped her hair and Aiko licked up her arm causing the young girl to make some startled sounds.

"Gah! Ick! Guys! It was a joke, come on...oh gross Aiko..."

[Ryu Hikari]

"..."

A lamppost. Of all the things to run into, she runs into a LAMPPOST. If Ryu was one of those mean guys, he probably would've flat out laughed at her sheer klutziness, but thankfully, he was not. Instead, he would just smirk just as awkwardly as Kazue, while rubbing Shiro's head, his kitten mewing contently at him.

His awkward smirk slowly fading, especially after hearing Kazue laugh a little, he would ignore to the blush that returned to her face as he concentrated on rubbing her forehead just enough so the bruising would not be too bad, once he was done, he would pull his hand away and carefully stare into empty space as she quickly laughed nervously and smiled weakly while stepping back a bit.

"... Good."

Well at least all those shopping bags full of clothes weren't solely just for her, but between the amount of clothes for her mom and herself, Ryu thought she had bought out the entire store or something. While Bandit and Aiko snorted at Kazue, the former nipping at her hair while the latter licked up her arm, Shiro pawed happily at Kazue before Ryu scooped the little guy up and carried him in his arms, Shiro lying down and settling in comfortably.

"I'm pretty sure all kittens are cute, Kazue. I don't know why, but it's like my dad attracts nothing but stray kittens to him, and he ends up nursing them back to health. Hold still..."

Pulling out a handkerchief from his jeans pocket, Ryu would reach out and wipe up the trail left by Aiko on her arm, looking down at the handkerchief after he was done and then up at Kazue, then down at the handkerchief again, before holding it out to Kazue to take.

"How about we go and get something to eat, my treat? I'll make sure no one walks off with any of your twenty something or more bags, and if they do, I'll make sure they'll never walk again."

[kazue]

Well, Ryu was playing it awfully cool. Why couldn't Kazue? It is probably something she can blame her mother for later. Some odd genetics that make her a total goof around guys she thinks are cute. Ryu spoke of his father and kittens. Kazue blinked and tilted her head a moment. She was trying to remember if she had met Ryu's dad at the pool party. She didn't think she had.

"I'm sorry, who is your dad again? I don't think I met him."

He told her to hold still and she watched as he produced a handkerchief in which to wipe the fox slobber off her arm. She blushed a little from embarrassment as he cleaned up her arm. Then the awkward moment came where he stared at her and then the handkerchief. It went back and forth for a bit and then she laughed a little and took it.

"Er, yea I'll clean it up and send it to your place."

She stuffed it into one of her many bags. Aiko just wagged her tail. Kazue reached over and lightly scratched at the kitten's ears. Ryu asked if she wanted to go get something to eat. As per every females brain the thoughts that raced by were thousands. Mostly 'does this means he likes me too?' and 'oh my god, what if someone sees us together? I hope they don't think we are dating.' but in honesty the girl actually wants people to think she is dating. Kazue blinked at his words about her bags and that if someone tried to walk off with them they wouldn't walk again. She laughed a little.

"Well... that sounds a little extreme for a few shopping bags, but Lunch sounds good. Since its your treat, you pick where we go."

She smiled and yes, she did say few. You should see it when Silk takes her shopping. If you ever wondered why a woman would need a pick up truck with monster truck wheels, watch Silk find vintage stores, gothic clothes shops, oriental markets... then you will understand. She slipped Aiko into one of the bags again and this time, Aiko kept her head out and just stared at everyone. Her tail could be heard smacking against the sides of the fancy paper bag.

[Ryu Hikari]

"... I'm pretty sure you didn't either, I think Mai said he had gone to rest or something, but my dad is--"

Somewhere down the next block over, a loud jackhammer went off, seems like some road repairs were being done, resulting in the last part of Ryu's sentence being drowned out yet again.

"..."

Sudden construction aside, he'd reach into his pocket and pull out a handkerchief after getting over his initial wonderment and mild disbelief, though not annoyance surprisingly, he'd concentrate on cleaning up her arm completely, resulting in not noticing Kazue blush again. Finishing up, he'd look back and forth between the handkerchief and Kazue, before deciding to give it her.

"... That's okay, you can keep it... I insist."

Shiro happily mewing at Kazue, basically asking her to keep scratching, unlike Kazue, Ryu did not have a million thoughts running through his head all involving people thinking if they were dating, he was just wondering what he should have for lunch and making sure no one boosted any of her clothes.

"... I know a few good places to eat, including a place that has really good Japanese food."

Since he was the one picking the place, Ryu would head down the sidewalk at a casual pace, wheeling his bicycle beside him. After crossing two streets and down one street, Ryu reached the place, a small but clean Japanese restaurant, as he pulled the door open and walked in after letting Kazue go in first, parking his bike up against the wall and out of the way.

["Hey Ryu... Long time no see man..."]

A familiar voice would call out, as a guy sat behind the counter, smoking a cigarette.

"Hey... Table for two."

"Mm... Yeah. Oh? Girlfriend? Cute..."

"Ha ha ha... Nice thought though."

Taking one last drag from his cigarette, Kenji, the guy behind the counter, would put it out, he always never smoked when customers were around.

[kazue]

"Oh, Japanese food sounds good."

Kazue smiled and followed Ryu with out any question as to where they were going. Of course she had to stop scratching at Shiro's ears, but that was alright. She needed her hands for her bags anyway. Bandit would fall asleep on the walk, like any old lazy cat would and Aiko was just so excited there were new people in her group that she watched Ryu and Shiro the entire walk. Kazue silently cursed the jackhammer though. It seems she keeps missing parts of Ryu's sentences that are really vital. His last name at the pool party and now his father's name. Let us hope she wouldn't have to use either in a sentence. It would make her look stupid if she couldn't remember them.

Upon entering the Japanese restaurant, Kazue smirked at the guy behind the counter. He first welcomed Ryu in Japanese then spoke in English. So many people are multi or at least bi-lingual now. The English comment from the Japanese smoking man and then Ryu's reply... Ouch. Hit her right in her little heart. Nothing was going to get that sting out anytime soon. At least she knew where they stood though, so her brain could shut the hell up. She smirked like her father and decided to join in on the joke making.

"He wishes."

Yea... that felt pretty good actually. Best leave it there Kazue and not say anything more. Kazue would find a seat and sit down with her bags near by. She was rather grateful to sit down as shopping was a lot of walking. Looking around she smiled. Ryu had good taste. Her mom told her how you could always tell when people took care in the work they did and Kenji must have loved his job. Bandit remained asleep on the young girl's shoulders and Aiko remained in the bag. Silk had trained them to behave when inside a restaurant.

"So Ryu... what do you think is best here?"

Kazue asked since he was technically her guide right now. The young girl looked him over a bit and had to quickly look away, lest someone think she has a crush on him.

[Ryu Hikari]

Wordlessly, Ryu would lead Kazue to the restaurant after she had accepted, it was pretty obvious Ryu was a regular from Kenji's greeting. Besides, Ryu rarely spoke in Japanese except when he was with his father and little sister, or with someone he knew spoke it. As Ryu peered at Kazue from the corner of his peripheral vision, instead of simply telling Kazue what he thought was best here, he'd go for a less orthodox way of recommendation, as Kenji flicked his cigarette into the garbage can beside him.

"Hey... Can I head into the kitchen?"

"Sure."

Kenji replied, looking rather bored behind the counter once more, cradling his chin in the palm of his hand as Ryu deposited Shiro on the counter in front of Kenji, and disappeared into the back where the kitchen was.

"Hey, miss... I know he may seem kinda superficial an' all... But he's a pretty together guy, most ways. Could do worse... Heh..."

Kenji grinned as he rested his arms on top of the counter, Shiro looking at his fellow feline napping away and the bag Aiko was in. The faint sound of clanking and cooking could be heard in the background, Ryu was definitely a regular all right.

"He's got girls who are friends... But gets shy around any girl he really likes."

[kazue]

Ryu said nothing about what he recommended here, instead he took off into the kitchen. That was new. She hoped she wasn't that bad to talk to, you know, that you wanted to run away from her the moment you got her somewhere. The clanking and sounds of cutlery eased her. Though how unusual she thought, that he was so welcome here he was permitted to use their kitchen. Kazue was content to sit with her thoughts in silence but the owner spoke up and Kazue's blush returned. This guy didn't quit.

"Oh uh... eheh."

She laughed a bit nervously. Was it that obvious she liked him? Shy? Was Ryu being shy? She supposed she didn't know him well enough to know when he was being shy. Though now that was something she would be on the look out for.

"I don't think he's superficial. He seems nice enough to me. Though a little extreme on beating people up and not letting them walk should they try to skitter off with my bags. It's nice. Kinda sounds like something my mom would do."

She smirked just like her father. Silk had loved seeing that smirk on Kazue's face and instead of asking the girl to hide the features that resembled her father, Silk was more than happy to see them every day.

"Well, I haven't noticed him being shy, but... then again I take after my mother and talk entirely too much. So... I don't think he gets much chance to talk."

She laughed a bit at her self. Bandit continued to nap and Aiko just stared at Shiro. The fox was happy. This outing had been rather adventurous. Much better then just buying some clothes. Her and Bandit got to meet a boy who, Kazue was so obviously crushing on. Aiko got to make friends with a new kitty-playmate and she got to go into a restaurant where the likely hood of Kazue giving her little nibbles were high. This was a good day for the fox indeed.

[Ryu Hikari]

Still grinning at Kazue, even though she was smirking, Kenji could tell she was embarrassed, especially as she laughed nervously. Ryu may not seem superficial, mostly due to his sarcasm, but running a small restaurant near the school had its perks, he heard things from various students, including ones that used to go to school with Ryu back in Japan. His tail flicking happily, Shiro would continue to watch the bag Aiko was in as Kazue continued to stay seated, he wanted to play with Aiko!

"I heard that in middle school... He once confessed to a girl he'd been mooning over for two years... And then waited for her in front of the Tower Records in Shibuya for six hours. Hya ha ha ha poor dope took that long to get the drift!"

Leaning forward slightly as he rested on his right arm, Kenji continued to grin at her.

"He locked himself in his room for a month... And just listened to Neubauten, hour after hour! Or was it Nirvana? Heh heh... Completely crashed and burned!"

"Yaaaaah!! What're you telling her?!!"

A voice cried out, as Ryu came walking out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl in each hand, looking slightly panicked and embarrassed. If this was an anime, he'd have an anger mark on his forehead and a couple sweat drops.

"Ah... Who cares? You have someone on the phone that wants to place an order."

Laughing away, Kenji would pat Ryu on the shoulder as he passed by the counter, still looking a little embarrassed. Getting up off the stool he had been sitting on, Kenji disappeared into the back, leaving the two of them by themselves, relatively speaking. Stopping beside their table, Ryu would place the two bowls down, one in front of Kazue, who would see he had made katsudon, and took a seat in the chair across from her.

"..."

[kazue]

Aiko sat and stared at Shiro. The white feline was watching her and it was making the fox want to play and run around more and more. Unable to take it, the fox leapt from the bag and scampered over to where Shiro sat. Looking up at the counter she woofed and barked and danced in a circle trying to entice the little feline to come play. Kazue carefully watched the canine, she didn't want some health inspector to come in and shut this place down cause of a few animals. Aiko had been trained well though she would behave.

The young girl's attention changed to the man behind the counter. He was talking about Ryu liking another girl. It seemed as though the man was making fun of Ryu for having done what he did, but Kazue thought it was sweet. Her mother wasn't one for mushy stuff like that and so that is where there was separation between the two. Kazue thought things like that were cute and sweet. When Ryu came out embarrassed she smirked softly at him.

After the man left to go talk on the phone, Kazue blinked at the bowls of katsudon and smiled a bit. Looking down at the food that Ryu had prepared she giggled a bit. Her mother once told her that when she was with Kazuya... he would make her food like this.

"You know Ryu... I think it was very sweet... telling that girl and waiting for her I mean."

Kazue said as she got some chopsticks ready before glancing up at him. She wouldn't say any more on it as to not embarrass him further.

"This smells great. My mom told me that my dad used to cook Japanese for her. He taught her to make katsudon just like this."

Kazue said motioning towards the bowl that Ryu had set before her. Her mother had shown her the proper way to taste katsudon and other Japanese food so that Kazue would never lose her culture. So Kazue although she did things daintily, she did them with an expert hand. The taste was almost the same to her mother's but her mother had altered the recipe. Her mother had added spanish spice to it to make it her own. Still it tasted very good and little Kazue would make a very pleased squeak.

Hearing the squeak Bandit's ears perked and he groggily sat up on her shoulders. A tired meow left him as he sniffed the air and sleepily looked around. Seeing the boy was still around, Bandit once again began his creepy, but now tired stare at the young boy. Aiko stopped her bouncing only for a moment to look at Bandit. She seemed to shake her head at him before returning to playing with Shiro. Kazue realized her squeak might have startled Ryu, after all who squeaks when they like something? Giggling a bit nervously she would look down.

"I'm sorry, this is really good."

[Ryu Hikari]

Shiro pawing playfully at Aiko as she sat and stared at him from inside the shopping bag, his tail flicked happily as Aiko bounded out of the bag and over to the counter, woofing and barking and dancing around while Shiro mewed at his new buddy, he was having fun!

"Oh... Don't worry about your fox running freely around. Ryu brought Shiro here all the time, as long as she doesn't wander into the kitchen, it's fine."

Kenji disappearing into the back soon after to take the call and order, Ryu sat down across from her and smiled slightly back at Kazue, despite still being a little embarrassed, more so hearing her giggle a bit after looking down at the food he had made.

"? What?"

Staring blankly at the bowl of katsudon, thinking that was what she meant, then at Kazue herself, he'd cover his mouth with his hand to hide his embarrassment.

"... Huh... You really think so? I mean... that is nice of you, thanks."

Getting his own pair of chopsticks ready, he was grateful she didn't say anything further on the subject, and that the katsudon smelled good, when it came to cooking for someone, Ryu took extra care to make sure that the food not only tasted good, but looked good as well.

"Seems I now have an interest in things... I wouldn't have bothered with before. That's pretty neat. Ha ha..."

Smiling slightly at Kazue, a blush visible on his face, he wasn't startled when he heard her let out a pleased squeak, he was actually a bit embarrassed, normally the hired help were the ones that did the cooking, even though his taught him how to cook. His mother had cooked too, but his father was a little better in the kitchen.

"... Itadakimasu..."

Picking up a small bit of rice from his own meal, he would notice the older feline staring at him again, albeit less creepily and more tiredly, as he ate politely. Shiro mewing away at Aiko after the fox had looked over at the older feline, Ryu would turn his head slightly to glance behind him, a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at how happy his kitten was.

His eyes shifting back as he heard Kazue giggle a bit nervously, he'd give her a small smile, like he hadn't even heard the squeak and try to put her at ease.

"... Thanks... It's been a while since I last cooked katsudon, not since my father taught me how to cook."

Shrugging casually at Kazue, Ryu would continue eating, checking on Shiro every once in a while.

"Oh... Who is your mom again? I don't think I met her at the pool party either."

[kazue]

How adorable the two were, though it seemed they embarrassed easily, or at least Kazue did. This was nice, and Kazue could understand how someone could think they were on a date. She even thought this kind of looked like one. She kept those thoughts to her self though. Better to push them away than to blush like crazy again. She thought it was nice of Ryu to ignore all her little quirks such as squeaking and the blushing, or even when she talked to her pets and her self. It was better than being looked at like someone released her from the mental ward. She blinked when he asked about her mom and tried to remember if he had met her. Indeed he hadn't.

"Oh, her name is Silk Velasquez. I'm actually surprised you didn't see her because... well not many could miss a loud spanish woman with silver hair and eyes that burned you with fiery hatred."

Kazue joked and smiled a bit. She loved her mom.

"She uh... takes some getting used to. Most people find her off putting. She actually owns half a company in Japan called Sanada Corp. Don't know if you heard of it though. She said it was actually more popular when she was our age."

She ate a bit more of the katsudon and would look over at Aiko and the kitten. After a little bit though, even the excited Aiko would sit on the kitten to calm it down. She didn't harm it, but it was something Bandit used to do to her. She would hold the kitten down and then start to groom it. Hopefully with any luck she could calm it the way Bandit did when she was young. Speaking of Bandit. The large lazy feline would yawn, his eyes finally looking away from the boy in order to do so. He certainly felt too old to be giving people hardcore 'this is my human' stares. He gently nuzzled Kazue's cheek with his face and purred rather loudly.

"Hai hai Bandito, but un piqito..."
Translation "Yes yes Bandit, but a little..."

There was quite a bit of thick spanish accent in those few words. She would take a little bit of the meal between her index and thumb then offer some to the large lazy cat on her shoulders. He gladly accepted it and nuzzled her again. She cleaned her finger tips off on a napkin and sighed.

"Sorry about him. It is easier to give in to his demands when he wants food or something cause other wise he will steal what he wants."

She said explaining her old cat. After Bandit had licked his lips clean of the yummy snack he returned his attention to staring hardcore at Ryu once again.