Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ This is Not My Life ❯ The grownups get to make the rules, and we have all the fun ( Chapter 7 )

“The grownups get to make the rules, and we have all the fun”

--KEN—

This is wrong. Wrong, wrong wrong.

We're in Akihabara. AKIHABARA. Omi should be running around like a kid at Christmas or something. We're standing on a street surrounded by all the newest spiffiest high tech stuff in all Japan. Not to mention at the lowest prices. He should be ogling some computer or buying a new game, or...or, something.

But...

He's not even looking!

He hasn't so much as stopped to even glance into a single window.

He's staring at his feet.

Like... .

Like, we were at...a wake or something.

It's just...wrong.

It's not Omi. Omi's not like this. I've NEVER seen him like this. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

WHY is he acting so...wrong?!

I've reassured him a dozen times that Aya and Yohji will come back! We're ditching work! We're in his favorite place in all of Tokyo...heck, all of Japan, I'm pretty sure! And, and he's acting like someone died! Why won't he believe things will be okay?!

C'mon, Omi...you've just gotta feel better. PLEASE believe me that things will be okay. You're...freaking me out. I feel like I don't even know you all of the sudden. I...I want the old Omi back.

Dammit. Now I'm starting to get depressed! I can't get depressed! If I'm depressed, I'll never cheer him up! And I have to...I just...I HAVE to cheer him up.

God, I suck at handling these sorta situations. I'm the biggest social klutz you ever saw. I'm just gonna screw things up worse, I know it. I wish Yohji were here. Yohji knows how to react to anything. I bet he would have been able to fix whatever's wrong with Omi in like, two minutes or something. But no. If stupid Yohji were still here, there would have been no problem with Omi in the first place. Grrr, when he comes back I'm gonna knock him into next week. He'll be so bruised he won't be able to get a date for a month, at least! Ha, now that would be the ultimate punishment, wouldn't it?! No dates for Yohji. Ha. Man oh man is he gonna be sorry for making Omi feel bad. Stupid effing Yohji.

Okay, I need to stop dwelling on this and focus on finding the biggest and spiffiest arcade in Akihabara. Then...I'll MAKE him have fun. Yeah.

There's one...but I bet I can find a better one. Not awesome enough, nope!

Another one! But it's only five stories. I know I can do better than that.

Damn it's hard to not go into some of these stores. But no stops for me till I've set Omi right. Hmmm....

There we go! Seven stories! And it's got a man in a bear-suit standing outside! Yeah, if the place bothers to hire someone to stand outside in a stupid costume, you know it's gotta be good.

I suddenly feel...evil.

So I walk over to the man in the bear-suit and tell him that I think Omi needs a hug. The expression on Omi's face quite clearly indicates that he most certainly does NOT want a hug, but with a little help from Mr. 500 yen piece, the bear is more than happy to relentlessly chase Omi up and down the street. Well, that might not do anything for Omi, but I certainly feel better. Hehe.

When Omi comes back, he has the most murderous expression that I have ever seen grace his face. Well, at least it's an emotion different from before. Some kinda progress...I guess.

Oh well, I won't let him stay that way for long. First stop, photo sticker booth!

Omi just looks at me questionably (he's trying so hard to stay angry too.)

“Before and after pictures! When we're done here you'll be amazed to see how miserable you look now, just watch!”

“Whatever.”

I sigh and push him into the booth.

“What background do you want?”

Omi shrugs...and says nothing.

So I hit the option for `dancing rainbow stars.'

No reaction.

“Smile!”

Scowl deepens. I think he's actually making an effort to be miserable. Well, he's asking for it.

The picture of us pops up on the screen. Man, he looks like some sort of puppy that just got kicked.

Time to...decorate. Hehe....

So I take the pen and give Omi horns...and an eye patch...hmm...oh yeah, accentuate the frown a bit...make his eyebrows look a bit grumpier...stamp a ghost floating over his head....

Hm, the picture's missing something....

Oh right, I didn't do anything to my side of it yet.

A quick halo scribbled over my head does the trick.

Brilliant. I knew I should have been an artist.

And Omi...says nothing! Well there's a shock.

So I print the stickers out and stick one on his forehead.

He wants to take it off. It's SO obvious he wants to take it off. But it's also obvious that he doesn't want to reward my childish behavior with a reaction. So he leaves it there. Just to prove something. Well gosh Omi, you sure showed me.

He's going down.

I drag him up the stairs with the intention of taking him to one of the game floors...but a UFO catcher grabs my attention. Okay, I need to make a stop here before we go farther....

A thousand yen later, I haven't made any more progress with the damn machine.

I'm getting mad.

So I hit it. It does nothing. I call it names. No reaction. Hey this UFO catcher and Omi would hit it off pretty well.

So I do the only thing I can.

I drop three hundred more yen into the slot. I'm gonna get it this time, grrr.

The claw completely misses the box. I don't even get it picked up so I can drop it. It looks so easy too! Just teetering there on the edge...

Omi's just standing there watching me bang my head against the catcher machine.

I'm reaching into my pocket to pull out a few hundred more yen, when something shocking happens. Omi talks to me!

“Um, Ken kun? WHY is it so important that you win a lighter engraved with Lupin III ?”

He's got to be kidding! Isn't it obvious?

“Christmas shopping!”

Omi blinks.

“Don't tell me you don't look at the contents of that catcher machine and think `wow, what a perfect present for Yohji!'?”

From the blank expression on Omi's face, I guess not.

Then he twitches a bit, and I can tell from the way he's biting his lip that he's trying not to laugh.

“What?” I ask, innocently.

“You...do your Christmas shopping...at the arcade?!”

“Sure do!”

“It all makes so much sense now.”

“What's that supposed to mean?!”

“Well, I was trying to figure out where the hell you would have found Aya kun a scarf covered with little orange frogs.”

“Do you know how LONG it took me to win that?!” I clutch my chest dramatically. “There's love in that scarf!”

Yep, that did the trick. Omi's started laughing.

“Yeah, you could just see the well of emotion in Aya kun when he opened it too!”

“Hey! He liked it!” I say defensively.

Omi smirks. “If I remember correctly, his exact response was `Hn. Nice color'.”

“From Aya, that's actually a huge compliment!”

“Mmm, right. You could tell he just LOVED it. Which is obviously why he lets the cat sleep on it.”

“Well what was I supposed to get him? The cupboard's too full for another coffee mug! Besides! Frogs are cool!”

“They sure are. And there's just something about Aya kun that screams out `frog lover' isn't there?”

“Well, it was better than the impersonal gift certificate you gave him!”

“It's what he asked for. And he got a book with it--which he actually read--which is a bit more use than that frog scarf ever saw.”

“You're just jealous, `cause it never occurred to you that you could make Christmas shopping so much fun!”

“Well you're right about that. It DEFINITELY never occurred to me.”

He's smiling! He's honest to god SMILING! Okay, so it took some ego-bashing on my part, but hey! That's the kinda friend I am. Dude, I rock.

“So are you going to keep insulting me, or are you gonna help me win Yohji's present?”

“You're really serious about getting that for Yohji kun?!” Omi asks incredulously.

“Of course! He smokes like fifty packs a day, so it's definitely useful. And doesn't Lupin seem like a good match for Yohji?”

Omi looks thoughtful. “No, actually, I think Yohji kun would be disturbed by the implication that you think he's like Lupin. Get him the one with Fujiko on it. He'll like that better.”

“Wow...you're right. Man, you're coming with me for ALL my gift shopping from now on!”

Omi just rolls his eyes. “You do need all the help you can get.”

“I still stand by my opinion that you're jealous,” I reply stubbornly.

“How could I be so transparent?” He responds dryly, “Now move and let me get it before you waste any more money.”

“Oh right, like you're gonna be able to do any better.”

“Watch and learn.”

“Well?” He's not doing anything at all! What's he thinking...?

“Shh. Just wait a second.”

Um, okay...I still don't see how he's getting any closer to winning anything....

Then I notice one of the arcade employees patrolling around the corner. Omi's suddenly dropping a coin into the machine. And he does the lousiest job at catching anything I've ever seen. Man, I don't think he was even trying! What's up with that?!

And he's gone back to looking like a kicked puppy. Oh man, I thought I was making progress....

Wait. The employee is coming over to us. Uh oh, I hope she didn't see me punching the machine!

But she doesn't say anything. She pulls out a key, and unlocks the glass door, standing there expectantly. Omi points to the one of Fujiko and she drops it into a gift bag with the arcade logo on it, and pats Omi on the head. He rewards her with the fakest expression of shock and gratitude I've ever seen. What the hell?!

Omi's shock may be fake, but mine's not! I didn't know the arcade did that!

Omi casually hands me the lighter and turns to go up the stairs. I run to catch up with him and give him an accusing suspicious look.

“What?” he asks innocently, “Didn't you know they did that?”

“No!”

He smiles. “They're very concerned with maintaining customer satisfaction. I learned that from watching some of the girls from the flower shop, ha ha.”

“I don't know whether to be embarrassed or impressed,” I state truthfully, rubbing the back of my head. “I certainly would have never tried that.”

He shrugs. “Eh, you always look too confident for them to have intervened anyway. They go for the disappointed people.”

“Uh. Thanks...I guess.”

“C'mon,” he says, tugging my arm a bit, “there's a game upstairs I want to play.”

“Now THAT'S more like it!” I reply cheerfully. And before he can change his mind, I'm pushing him the rest of the way up the stairs.

He's gonna have fun, goddammit. Even if it kills me!

A/N: Title taken from a song by Jesse Winchester