Connect

9: Shopping With Fangirls

The bus stopped in front of the mall and Len and I walked out. We sauntered across the parking lot and towards one of the entrances.

"Do you think they're already there?" Len asked.

I shrugged and looked at the time on my phone's display. "We're early," I said. "It's only three...we're supposed to meet in half an hour!"

Len shrugged. "Your fault."

"How is it my fault?" I balled my fists and yelled, "You're the one who showed up early!"

Len poked my arm. "You're the one who ran after the bus and nearly tripped down the stairs as the subway train sped away!"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. We walked towards the mall's glass door entrance. I grabbed the silver metal handlebar and pushed it gently.

"Ladies first," I smirked at Len. He stuck his tongue out at me and walked in.

Instantly, we were blasted with cool air. We both closed our eyes, stopped in our tracks, and let out a long, overly dramatic sigh of relief.

"It's not that hot but I still love this," I said as we moved on, our sneakers slipping slightly against the reflective floor.

"It's cool," Len smirked. I rolled my eyes.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Let's look around," Len suggested. "I can watch you buy panties."

"You're so gross!" I wailed, smacking his arm and making him laugh.

"I'm kidding!" He stifled his laughter and I crossed my arms.

"Let's go to the pet store," I said. "They've got bunnies."

"Oh, so you're going to look at bunnies," he drawled. "If you're not going to buy the bunnies, then leave the bunnies!"

"Oh, shut up," I grabbed his arm and dragged him past the shops. Occasionally, he'd resist and comment on the places we were passing.

"Hey, they've got the new edition of Ultra Road Fighter II!" He gaped at a video game poster in front of a large game shop.

"Come on!" I grabbed both of his arms and pulled. He crashed into me, his eyes still glued to the poster.

"Geez, Gumi, I just wanna see the game...," he whined, "Maybe they have it set up inside!"

"Come back on your own time!" I said. He kept looking at the poster but he didn't resist. I pulled him away and we kept walking.

"I am here on my own time," Len mumbled, "I only came 'cause you asked me to."

"Okay, okay," I said, "Let's head back to our meetup point."

"Where's that?"

"The other end of the mall," I said, leading him over to a mall of the area. "It'll take maybe five minutes if we walk."

Len grinned deviously. "Wanna race?"

"Huh?" I blinked. "Race?"

"Okay then, it's settled," he clapped his hands together and got ready to sprint. "Let's race."

"I don't think we should..."

"Loser has to treat the winner to something tasty and expensive," Len interrupted me, upping the stakes. "Come on, Gumi...I'll even toss in a picture of Kaito if you win."

I growled. "Why do you have to bring him up?"

"Hey, you could use it to bribe Neru or something," he said, "Anyway...you up for it?"