Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ A Heart Two Sizes too Small ❯ Part ( Chapter 2 )

Part 2

So many people, and not nearly enough places to hold them all! I should have brought Aya with me, he might have been able to get the people to move Ken thought wildly as he was once again elbowed in the gut and shoved to the side. Spotting an opening in the sea of ever violent people Ken made a dash through the throng and into the nearly deserted store. A bookstore no less, hence the lack of people he mused. A glance over his shoulder at the milling shoppers sent a shudder through his spine and made him appreciate bookstores anew. With a shrug he began to browse, aimlessly wandering down the aisels. His Christmas shopping finished and out of the way, two weeks ago actually meant one glorius thing. He could begin shopping for himself, sugoi! Pausing in front of an anime display Ken began persuing the titles. "Something new..." he murmured aloud to himself.





Their next mission should be to hunt down the creators of malls and Christmas. Now there were some dark beasts if he'd ever seen any. The two perpetrators had to be in cahoots, it was all just an evil scheme cooked up to give Yohji plenty of stress. And if what Ouka-chan had said about stress being the cause of hair loss, then he was doomed to be bald before he was thirty! Of course Red was always stressing over something and the ice prince did still have nice thick, shiny, vibrant hair. And why were his thoughts on hair anyway? It made no sense to him what-so-ever. If Asuka had still been alive she would have been laughing her ass off at him right about then; while Aya would probably have been hacking him to bits for the new nickname.

Several women and occasionally men had attempted to chat him up that day but for once Yohji Kudou was having none of it. He needed a smoke, and that meant he had to get outside the mall and fast. Phone numbers and good times could wait, or else his lungs might explode from the nicotine withdrawl. As he pushed his way through the throng of people he caught a flash of silver and then the twinkling of light out of the corner of his eye. Curious Yohji stopped and turned in the direction of the object that had caught his attention, causing a few people behind him to run into each other and cursing him in rather colorful ways.

All he could see though was a sea of people. His eyes roamed over the mass but to his chagrin he saw nothing that could explain what had caught his attention. Giving up he made to continue on when he spotted the flashing silver again. Focusing on the spot he'd seen it last Yohji was rewarded with a glimpse of a jewler's cart before his view was entirely obscurred by the shoppers moving en masse.

Nicotine craving warred with natural curiosity as Yohji stood there, shifting from one foot to the other in indecision. Get a cig and a few minutes away from the over crowded mall, or find out what merchandise was to be had?
"Mou," he said with a slight smirk forming on his lips "curiosity kills the Balinese yet again."
With a snicker and smirk still in place Yohji began the ever tedious process of moving against the tide of people. His reward he happily noted was the safe arrival at the jewler's cart.

He had perused nearly every shop in the mall, including vending carts. So naturally he expected to instantly recognize both the small display of merchandise and the seller. Strangely though he was wrong. Spread out before him was an assortment of rings, daggers, bracelets, gauntlets, pendants, necklaces, and earings. If the display sign was to be believed, which he had no reason not to, they were all silver and handcrafted. Now this was definately an interesting development he thought happily.
"Irasshaimase!" The cart's owner greeted happily.

As Yohji had been surveying the merchandise a woman stepped away from the cart's cash register and came to stand next to the small table in front of Yohji. She was a matronly type, thick dark hair gathered and clipped back at the nape of her neck. She wore a simple pale blue kimono decorated with orchirds done in a slightly darker shade of blue. Her eyes were an unusual, and uncommon violet color that shined with hidden mirth. Pale orchird skin held only a few wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, the only sign of her age as she stood proudly before him. The woman appeared regal, yet kind and for some odd reason that Yohji could not fathom she instantly brought a mental image of Aya to his mind. Same regal posture, pale skin and the eyes, the same bewitching unique shade of eyes; but that was were the similarities ended. Yohji shook his head slightly to dispel the eerie thoughts. Guilt of not finding a present for Red must have been doing funny things to his mind.
"Aa, I'm looking for something to give someone, as a present."
Yohji said, fumbling for the words to vocalize his request.
"Ano, what does this 'someone' like then?"
The woman asked, smiling at Yohji's discomfort.
"Well..."
Yohji began than paused. What did Aya like anyway? His sword, that gold earing of his, reading, glaring at people? Not exactly a normal list of things a person likes.
"Perhaps it would help us to find something for this 'someone' of yours if you described them a bit ne?" The woman questioned politely interupting Yohji's vagrant thoughts.
"Well he-"
"He ne?" she said with a slight giggle. "Kareshi desu ka?"

For a moment no words came to Yohji's mind as the woman's innocent question reverberated around in his mind. He opened his mouth and tried to formulate a response but words continued to elude him, instead a few indignant squeaks came out. Heat flared up his neck and across his cheeks in a gloriuos shade of red that rivaled Aya's hair in vibrancy. His reaction spoke volumes to the woman and she raised a hand to her mouth hiding the very unprofessional grin that threatened to sread across her face.
"Iie, we're just friends. I think"
He added unsure of himself for the first time since puberty.
"Tomodachi ne? So desu ka. Ano, sounds as though you are treading thin ice then with your friend."
"I guess you could say that" Yohji agreed after a moment's hesitation.

It was partly true. Everytime he managed to earn a certain degree of respect in Red's eyes he did manage to flub it up, and he had nearly been introduced to Mr. Pointy Katana-sama a few times more than he liked to admit. As his mind flitted over past events Yohji missed the woman's small frown of worry and the nearly imperceptible narrowing of her eyes.
"Yes, our friendship is treading thin ice," Yohji agreed. "He dosn't trust anyone, dosn't want to let anyone in. He's been hurt before, I think..."
"I see," the woman murmured, lips pursed in thought.
Her eyes skimmed over the table beside her briefly before lighting up happily; a sparkel returning to her eyes.
"This, I think, will be perfect for your friend."
Gently she reached out and selected a necklace. Two seperate chains were held together by what appeared to be a single pendant. Lifting it off the table, she held out the necklace for Yohji's inspection.

The pendant turned out to be two katanas one crossed over the other. Holding the two together was a small circle embedded with amethyst jewels. Reaching out a hand to touch it he noticed that although the katanas were next together with the circle connecting them they weren't actually connected. Two parts of a whole. Two seperate necklaces, that when placed together made one. Intrigued Yohji raised curious eyes to meet those of the smiling woman. The light in her eyes sent a shiver down his spine. "The eyes, so very much like Aya's, or rather, more like how they should be" he thought.
"This is a special item" the woman said, "meant to be given to one whom you care about greatly."
At the woman's words Yohji could feel his blush from earlier returning.
"Tell me something, do you know what shape represents love?"
The question was so random, it threw Yohji for a moment into confusion. "A heart", he answered at last perplexed at the woman's logic and the direction of her comments.
"Yes, and if you were to draw a heart how would you do so?" Not waiting for his reply she continued on. "You would start at one point, move upwards, curve and move downwards then stop and repeat the action again but in the opposite direction ne?"
As she spoke she drew a heart shape in the air accentuating her words with each movement. The whole time her eyes were locked solely on Yohji's. "In effect it is the perfect symbol for love, for it starts at one point then ends. But friendship is not that way." Pausing a moment she traced a circle in the air the continued on. "Friendship is represented by the circle, it has no beginning and no end. It is continuous. You will love those in your life, and it may last till death do you part, but it will end when the other moves on. And in your next life you may not even meet that other soul ever again. But friendship, true friendship is forever. Those you count as friends will always be there, and love born of friendship never fades." Placing the pendants into Yohji's outstretched hand she released the chains, allowing the silver to pool into the palm of his hand. "Strong links make strong chains, binds that can never be broken. Your friend is lucky to have meet you in this life, and those past."

Nodding softly Yohji murmured his thanks, and paid the strange woman. He was handed two seperate velvet boxes for the necklaces, instead he placed the boxes inside the bag and turned to leave; necklaces still in hand. For some odd reason Yohji could not bear to put the necklaces away, out of sight. As Yohji placed the boxes into the little shopping bag he noticed the bag held a strange symbol on it. Squinting he tried to read the uninteligible kanji beneath it, to no avail. Curious as to the name of the vendor he turned back hoping to glimpse the cart's sign. However where there had once stood a small jewler's cart, there was only a cardboard cutout from a new movie; advertising its availability on DVD. The woman with the pecuilarly familar eyes and the cart were just, gone.

TBC

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