Shopping Infuriation

Azami stands at the front gate of the school, Inei and Chura walking up together. Azami looks at them with a puzzled look.

"Hey Inei, and Chura, you both came together to school today?"

Inei looks down a little bit and then Chura smiles.

"I caught him coming down the road when I left my house, so we decided to walk together, right Inei?"

Inei looks at her, then Azami.

Chura really thought this through, I did not think she was dumb but she certainly surprised me with this response.

Inei nods, Azami smiling, then turns to walk, inviting the two to walk with her.

"Okay! Well, we better be off to class, it does start very soon."

Inei and Chura nod to Azami, both of them walking up and walking beside Azami going to class, Inei then notices Chura and him falling behind Azami, Inei keeping up speed walking.

Wow I know we are in a rush, but Azami is so fast; and I am long-legged compared to her!

Chura begins falling behind further, slightly jogging time to time.

"Hey, can we slow down?! My body does not go this speed!"

Azami looks back slowing down immensely, looking away with a blush then looking back to them.

"Oh! My apologies, I did not even realize, I am just trying to get to class quickly."

Azami begins walking at a regular pace, Inei noticing a drop of sweat coming off of her cheek. Inei furrows his eyebrows but chooses not to engage in the matter.

Why does she seem so, nervous? She seems like she is hiding something, but I do not think Azami would do that. I will let it go.

They reach the class, the bell ringing right when they enter, the professor beginning the lecture as they are taking their seat. Inei talks to himself as he sits.

What is up with the professor? He seems irritated today, he never starts lecture right as the bell rings.

Inei's phone buzzes in his pocket, he lifts an eyebrow to the message.

Aneko?

Inei doesn't look around, feeling a presence on him as if someone were looking, then opens her message.

"Hey Inei, can I ask you a favor?"

Inei responds then immediately gets a message back, the presence leaving him when his message sends.

"How can I help Aneko?"

"Can we skip the lunch hour and the rest of the day and go to the mall?"

Inei is taken aback a little, moving his head back and then texting her back.

"Is it important that we do it soon? Why not wait till the weekend?"

There's a moment where everything is still, then Inei receives a response.

"No, it has to be today. You will be busy all weekend with basketball and media, I need a dress for my club."

Inei then responds to her.

"Okay, what are we telling the girls?"

There's a moments pause, then a response to Inei's phone again.

"Nothing, we are going to get a dress and that's it."

Inei shakes his head softly then texts her back.

"Okay, understood."

When he sends this text, a loud buzz is heard from a desk, the professor stopping his lecture and looking in the direction of the buzz. Inei instantly realizes who it was without looking.

Oh shit.

The professor clears his throat, Aneko sitting with her arms straight, her hands in her lap covering her phone, a faint blush on her face.

"Aneko? Was that your phone?"

Aneko sweats with nerves and fear, looking down with her cheeks becoming more red, her eyebrows furrowing.

"No sir."

The professor presses on, anger in his tone.

"Do not lie to me. Was, it, your, PHONE?!"

Aneko snaps back, standing up in her chair.

"So what?! I am a grown ass adult! Deal with it! You never had a problem with that guy being on his phone and he sits right in front of you, he's on it right now!"

The guy looks up from his phone, shrugs then looks back down on it. The professor points his finger at Aneko aggressively.

"He is not making noises and bothering the class! You either sit down in your chair and pay attention or leave the room and don't come back!"

Aneko snaps, gritting her teeth, and grabbing her stuff.

"Up yours teach!"

Aneko storms out of the room, the professor and everyone watching her as she leaves. There's a moment of silence then Inei's phone buzzes on the table, a game notification having popped up. The professor angrily stares down Inei, pointing to the door.

"Out!"

Inei furrows his eyebrows and grabs his stuff, walking out of the classroom, running to catch up to Aneko who has swiftly taken off.

Aneko begins to walk across the street when someone grabs her arm, her turning around quickly and performing a roundhouse kick, Inei having dodged it efficiently. Aneko then takes her bag to swing it at him then stops when she realizes it's him, letting her arms and bag drop yelling at him.

"Inei, what in the world are you thinking?! You scared me half to death!"

Inei, who defensively has his hands up, exhales heavily, handing Aneko his phone.

"I got kicked out after you left, a game on my phone sent a notification and it buzzed loudly."

Aneko shakes her head.

"That professor, what is up with him, kicking you out of all people?!"

Inei shrugs, then Aneko grabs his hand, taking off with him after having picked up and putting her backpack back on.

"Well at least now we don't have to wait for lunch period, let's go to the mall."

Inei picks up his pace, walking equally beside Aneko, letting his hand sit, but Aneko not letting go. Inei looks at her in confusion as they walk.

"It is purely for safety, Inei. Do not overthink it. There are a lot of people out right now that would love to kidnap me. Normally you would be Azami."

Inei doesn't react, then grips her hand in his, noticing Aneko's cheeks turn light pink, Inei talking to himself as she drags him down the street.

Aneko is not fooling me, but I will play along. She is not exactly the type to be scared unless it is a bunch of people like at that party. She's so aggressive, I cannot see a reason she would need me.

About that moment cool air hits his hair and face, making him wince as he is still being pulled, Inei looking around seeing multiple stores. Aneko then steers him and walks into the first store on the left, a woman's clothing store of every type hanging on every shelf, the store pink with mannequins displaying the clothing. Aneko quickly yanks Inei down to her height, Aneko aggressively begins whispering in her ear.

"You are here to help me pick a dress, okay? Nothing else! Do not be a pervert looking at all the underwear and bras! I will make you sit outside, understood?!"

Aneko then lets go of Inei as he rolls his eyes standing up straight, Aneko smirking with a hand on her hip that is not holding his hand.

"Good! Let's begin looking for the perfect dress!"

As they both look, Inei slowly tries to free his hand every now and then, Aneko not losing her grip even when looking at products. As they walk through the store, they both stop in their place coming across a maroon dress. They both look at it in awe, Aneko finally letting go of Inei's hand to look at it and inspect it, looking at it at all angles. Aneko looks to Inei who nods softly at her. She smiles and begins walking away with the dress, Inei walking behind her. She enters a changing room and Inei waits outside. Inei thinks to himself as time passes on.

All this time and she finally let go of my hand, it's all sweaty and wrinkly now! It's nasty! I just want her to try on her dress and get out of here, I still have practice later.

About that time, Inei hears Aneko speak to him.

"Inei come in!"

Inei turns and opens the door looking down, turning and closing the door, then turning back to see Aneko, her dress only covering her bottom half, standing with the dress in her hands in her bra, a bright blush over her face. Inei then begins to blush, turning to open the door again and Aneko grabs his wrist.

"Wait! You will risk exposing me again, don't open the door!"

Inei stops then turns back to her, flustered, Aneko covers her chest with her arms to her best capability.

"Don't look at me pervert! I didn't say turn around!"

Inei turns back to the door again, his hands in his pockets and his head down with a flustered look on his face. Aneko's voice then sounds angry as she proceeds to put the dress on.

"Why did you even come in?! I said wait to come in, why did you come in at all?! You pervert, you knew I would be undressed!"

Inei pulls out his phone, typing quickly then reaching his arm back, handing her his phone without looking. Aneko's voice reads the message from his phone:

"I misheard you, I thought you said to come in right now, I thought you were already dressed, I am so sorry!"

Silence sits on Inei's shoulders as he waits, then his phone taps his shoulder and he grabs it, hearing Aneko speak.

"I will believe you, but you need to take me to eat after we finish here. Deal?"

Inei does not move other than his head in a nodding motion, then suddenly a hand caresses the far side of his face with two fingers, pushing his head to turn and look at Aneko, Aneko removing her hand and stepping back, modeling the dress.

"How does it look?"

Inei examines her, the dress fitting her frame perfectly, the colors of the dress complimenting her hair and eye colors, giving a warm feeling about her as she poses. Inei gives a small smile then types on his phone, handing it to her.

"You look amazing, even better than the dress I gave you before, excellent choice."

Aneko blushes heavily with a smile, turning her head away a little, handing Inei his phone.

"Thank you, Inei."

Aneko then reaches to her back, undoing her zipper, as she begins to pull down her dress Inei quickly turns away in shock, not looking. After a couple of seconds, Inei hears Aneko giggle.

"I knew you really weren't a pervert. You still owe me food though."

After a few more moments, Aneko hugs Inei from behind completely dressed, then opens the door grabbing Inei's hand in the same hand after opening the door, taking off towards the checkout. When she reaches the checkout, she hands the dress to the cashier. After a scan, the cashier informs Aneko of the price.

"That will be seventy-one thousand three hundred seventeen yen."

Aneko and Inei look at the cashier in shock of the price, Aneko pointing at the shelf.

"It was with a sign that says it was seven thousand one hundred thirty-one yen! That cannot be right!"

The cashier sighs, walks to the rack and moves a pant leg covering the last zero. Aneko grits her teeth.

"Fine! I did not want the stupid dress anyway, and I will not support a business that lies to their customers, come on Inei!"

Aneko grabs Inei's hand, storming out the business and along the walkway.

But she really liked that dress, how can she just leave it like that?

Aneko speaks as she drags Inei along again.

"I am hungry now, let's go eat!"

They walk to the food court where the lines are long for every place to order food. Aneko points at one place.

"That is what I want."

Inei nods and they get in line. As they wait in silence, a couple of girls approach Inei, looking at him with wonder.

"Wow, are you Inei? Like, the Inei?!"

The other girl joins in from the other one's speech.

"You're that college basketball player right? The one that beat Washito?!"

Inei nods to them, the girls becoming excited, Aneko smirking while standing next to him. Inei slowly starts to become anxious from the attention.

These girls are too much for me, they are going to start drawing attention and I do not want that.

One girl runs in place, both girls quickly pulling out their phones.

"Oh my gosh you have to take a selfie with us!"

"Yes you do! We have to have this photo!"

The girls get close, slightly pushing Aneko out of the picture, Inei standing in shock as the girls get on either side, one holding their phone up to take the picture.

"Oh my gosh Inei lean down a little, you're too tall!"

Inei doesn't react, keeping his cold blank face as he leans down, the girls putting their faces next to his with smiles. She takes the selfie and then they do the same with the other girls phone. Aneko watches with disbelief and frustration. Then the girls grabs a hand from Inei each.

"You should totally come eat with us! It would be so fun!"

At that point, Aneko steps between Inei and the girls, her arms crossed, anger radiating off of her.

"He is with me. He will not be going anywhere with you."

The girls silently examine Aneko, then start ripping on her together.

"Who asked you? You look like someone took a makeup palette and slapped you with it."

"Yeah, why would a cute boy like Inei have anything to do with you? You're not even funny, just ugly physically and socially."

Inei then frowns, hearing a slight sniffle from Aneko, who is clinching her fists hard with her head down.

"You leave me alone, and you leave Inei alone, or you will regret even taking a selfie with him."

The girls back down a little bit, then one speaks up.

"You can't threaten us, we will sue you."

Aneko then lifts her head alighting for her eyes to be seen, rage shooting at the girls from Aneko's eyes alone.

"You cannot sue from a body bag."

Then, the girls look at her in shock, then walk off, saving at Inei. Inei slightly shakes his head at them, being next in line. Aneko walks up to the counter and then Inei orders his. As the cashier names the price, Inei goes to pay and is cut off by Aneko who pays for their food together. Aneko then snatches the receipt from the cashier, walking off, Inei making eye contact with the cashier then following behind Aneko. As Aneko takes a seat, Inei takes his across from her, Aneko lays her head in her arms on the table.

This evening has not gone according to plan for Aneko. She's with her crush, made a mistake, and girls flirted with me. I need to make this up to her.

Aneko speaks up suddenly, turning her head for her chin to lay in her arms.

"Inei, can I tell you why I am so mean?"

Inei gets down to her level, nodding his head. Aneko sighs then speaks.

"Up until college I was always pushed around and made fun of. Mainly because of my secret passion. I do not ever tell anyone what it is, but I do not want someone being mean to me ever again because I don't want to feel that horrible way anymore. Being hungry makes it worse but it doesn't fix it."

She makes eye contact with Inei, speaking more.

"I know I was kind of being dramatic, but I figure if I am mean no one will have anything to do with us. I have been pushed around too much."

Inei types on his phone, sliding it to her, Aneko reading it quickly.

"I have to go to the bathroom, I will be right back, okay?"

Aneko furrows her eyebrows, laying her head back in her arms on the table.

"Whatever Inei, just go."

Inei stands up and walks off towards the bathroom. Tears slowly begin dripping down Aneko's cheeks.

"What an idiot. Who leaves in the middle of a deep conversation? I was trying to open myself to him."

Aneko sits silently for a moment, then suddenly Aneko's head is snapped up by force, being pulled out of her chair and on the floor. Aneko's head hits the floor, making her dizzy. As she stumbles to stand up, she sees the two girls from the line in front of her, one punching her in the stomach. As Aneko leans over, the other girl pushes Aneko to the floor. Aneko gasps for air, hearing the other girls speak to her while she's down, also speaking to each other.

"Wow, look who is so strong now? Have you had enough?"

"I don't think she has, let's show her what it really means to be such a mean woman."

At that point, the girls reach down and grab her, then Aneko snaps up from the table, waking up from a nightmare. Inei stands beside her with his hand on her back, looking at her with concern. Aneko breathes heavy, then blushes, looking away for a moment.

"Welcome back, you can take a seat."

Inei doesn't move, Aneko looking at her.

"I'm fine! What else do you need?!"

Then, Inei slowly moves his other arm, a bag with the logo from the store they were at first. Aneko blankly stares at the bag, then up to Inei, then back to the bag. She slowly takes the bag, opening it, the dress she loved sitting folded nicely in the bottom of it. Aneko tears up more, looking at Inei with pure innocence.

"You did not have to Inei, you really didn't, when did you get this?"

Inei types on his phone, putting it in front of her.

"I did not go to the bathroom. I know you wanted that dress, it looks amazing on you. You should not act so irrationally because of other people."

Aneko goes to shout at him for calling her irrational, then stops, looking at the dress again. She looks at Inei and stands, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Inei. You really are a sweet guy. I take back anything I have ever said mean about you. You really are such a kind soul."

Inei blushes, softly holding her back, a camera clicks and they both look, the two girls standing with their mouths open.

"Oh, my, gosh! They ARE dating! No wonder she was so mad!"

"We need to post this right away! We need to be the first to post the info!"

Aneko then furrows her eyebrows.

"Can you bitches leave us alone?! We're just friends, nothing more than that! Can friends not hug each other?!"

One of the girls smirk, holding the phone in front of her that she took the photo on.

"People will believe whatever the internet says, and it will spread like wildfire, what are you going to do about it?"

About that second, a light flashes and the phone crumbles to pieces; all four of the people, the two girls, Inei, and Aneko look in shock as the pieces fall to the floor. The owner of the phone shouting.

"What did you do to my phone?!"

Aneko looks at her.

"Honestly I did not do anything! How could I do that?!"

Inei looks at it in confusion.

How in the world could that happen? That's so unrealistic, I did not even see anything happen because of the light!

The second girl grabs the girl with the broken phone's wrist, pulling her away as she tries to fight Aneko.

"You're lucky! We will see you on campus! This is not over, you owe me a new phone!"

As the girls walk away, a young boy stands holding a tray of food, Inei and Aneko looking at him.

"Order for Aneko?"

Inei and Aneko look at each other, then Aneko begins to laugh, confused by what all had happened and shocked by the poor timing of the food. Inei smiles and takes the food from the boy, placing it on the table as they both take their seats. They each open their food, Aneko putting the dress to her side, looking at it with a smile, then eating her food. They both eat their food quickly, then Aneko sits back in her chair, looking Inei in the eyes.

"What do you think happened to her phone? That was very odd right?"

Inei nods, Aneko looking to the ceiling, leaning her head back over the chair.

"It was like it was cut into pieces at unnatural speed, almost like aliens did it with invisible lasers!"

Inei smirks shaking his head.

If it were aliens the last thing they would be doing is cutting up a woman's phone unaware of the situation.

Aneko then stands quickly, walking over to Inei, grabbing his arm and pulling him.

"Come on Inei, I have something I want to give you, for the dress."

Inei shakes his head, showing her that she does not have to, as she pulls him along, she shakes her head back to him.

"No, I insist, we can call it evens for the dress."

They approach a cookie stand, every type of cookie imaginable sits on display, Aneko points to them.

"Pick two of them, and I will get two."

Aneko waves his hands, expressing again that she does not have to, Aneko then crossing her arms, talking to him sassy.

"If you do not pick I will pick for you, so you better pick what you like so it does not go to waste."

Inei nods reluctantly, then looks at the cashier, pointing at the snickerdoodle cookies, and putting up two fingers. The cashier nods and grabs them, Aneko questioning him.

"You do not want two different ones? Just snickerdoodle?"

Inei nods and Aneko giggles, picking a red velvet with whipped cream one and a birthday cake one. The cashier bags up the cookies and Aneko pays, then they sit at some benches within the mall, Aneko getting her red velvet out and Inei eating one of his snickerdoodle cookies quickly. Aneko looks at Inei and puts her cookie towards him.

"Try it Inei, it's really good!"

Inei bites the cookie, the flavor melting in his mouth. Aneko then smirks.

"Inei! You got frosting on your lip, hold on."

Aneko takes her finger, scooping the cream from his lip, then sticking her tongue out, wiping the cream along it, Aneko winking at him. Inei looks away with a blush, Aneko giggling and punching him in the arm.

"Chura is right, it is fun to tease you and get a reaction."

After that, Aneko and Inei finish their cookies, Aneko having small talk with Inei. She then takes his hand and pulls him along, walking through the rest of the mall, looking at different stores at the many items. As night falls, they leave the doors of the mall, Aneko smiling.

"Hey, I have to run Inei, see you tomorrow! And thank you for today, it's the first time I've had good fun in a while."

Aneko then runs off, Inei then turning and walking off alone to his home. Suddenly, there is a cold breeze down his neck, a voice whispering in his ear.

"Stop playing with them, Inei."

Inei looks around quickly, the sidewalk having become empty for the moment, Rina rounding a corner from an alleyway. Inei readies himself, Rina putting her hands up.

"I have no intention to fight you. I just want you to remember that in the end you are truly mine, and you have no say. I broke up with you, you are under my control."

Suddenly, Rina stops, turning her head, then looking back at Inei.

"Someone is watching. I must go. This will not be the last you see me."

She breathes in then blows, snow and ice with white fog covers Inei, Inei bracing himself. When everything clears, Inei stands up straight, Rina gone in an instant. Inei furrows his eyebrows, then begins walking home with purpose.

You do not own me; not now, not ever. You will never control me, I will not be so nice next time.