Kagura Out Shopping Again Part 2
I leave the hospital about the same time I see a helicopter land on the roof. I produce wings to fly and see what's going on with the scene. The doors of the helicopter slam open to reveal two men on stretchers. These guys look in very bad shape. One of them has his knee bent up, unable to move it. He's got his neck bandaged up and has a painful grimace on his face. The second guy has cuts all over his legs and arms. He's barely conscious.I see one of Sakura's clones flying around. "What's going on here?""Those two were involved in an accident. There's a huge accident on one of the crossroads. These two were in the front." The one that is in pain is rolling over on the stretcher, throwing up on the rooftop. "There's a reason Hiro and I don't drink. These two were drinking and the guy vomiting was doing the driving."I suddenly feel the need to get to that accident scene. It's a very strong urge. In fact, I'm being called there.I fly in the opposite direction of where the helicopter came from. I'm scanning the streets until I see the intersection. That is one huge scene. It didn't just involve cars hitting each other. There are police cars at the scene. In the middle of the intersection, I can see a young man with black hair and a purple high school uniform. As I fly in closer, I almost can recognize the boy's face.I swoop to the pavement and kneel to him. He's barely awake. I check his neck and find a weak pulse. He's still alive, barely conscious. He's got blood coming out from his stomach and looks like his legs are broken. But the face looks so familiar. I can sense shinigami descending for him like vultures on a carcass. One is a woman with light blue hair and a pink kimono. I don't pay much attention to her. Instead, I'm focussed on this boy."Kid, are you the son of Urameshi?" I look at him. He's about the same age as Hiro. Same sort of uniform that I've seen Hiro wear when he's working and going to school from the temple. He's not awake to answer me, but his silence gave me more than enough of a confirmed thought."So you're Yoshi Urameshi. Yoshi, I know you think you've met your father's fate, back when he was a year younger than you. For someone here, it's like de ja vu." I sigh while thinking about the blue-haired woman. I roll him onto his back and look at his stomach. I open up his jacket and shirt to reveal a huge gash. "I just won't let you die." I raise my powers and place my hand over his wound. I allow my powers to surge through his body.Within the powers, the wound on his stomach closes and no longer oozes blood. The bones of his legs mend as he's healed throughout his body. Within the powers, he comes to and opens his eyes. "Are you an angel?" When I landed, my wings didn't vanish.Breaking from the crowd of officers, I can see a very stressed face of Megumi, as she runs towards me sitting with her brother on the ground. I didn't see that blue-haired woman anywhere, like she vanished to somewhere else. There is more than one pedestrian accident victim out here on the street. Nobody is driving in this area. There are plenty or cars still wrecked. Some cars have the dead lingering outside of their bodies and cars.Megumi kneels on the ground next to her brother, wearing a mask. He's still looking confused by the scene he's in. "Can you tell me what happened here, Yoshi?" I ask him.He looks at me, still very confused. "I was walking across the street, with the Walking sign still on, when this car came out of nowhere and hit me." He looks around and points to the car, which is smashed through the window of a clothing store. "They were speeding. He didn't see me at all. I got hit by that car and it flung me onto the ground, scratching my stomach. My legs were broken when I landed on them. I thought I was going to die, just like Dad did." "It wasn't your day to die, so you didn't." I look over at the car through the window. There are skid marks forming circles, like the car had been out of control. I leave it up to the cops to figure out what happened."The guys involved are at the hospital, now. Both looked very beat-up. One of them was barely awake, while the other was throwing up. I was told that the two had been drinking."Sakura's clone flies over to me from the hospital. "You can rule out one of the guys. The passenger of this car has just died. His injuries were so bad that he wasn't able to pull through." That was the guy that couldn't move at all."Yoshi, are you okay?" asks Megumi. He's nodding and standing up on his own, but I can see Megumi was upset by the sight that her brother was caught up in this accident and could've easily died. She no doubt had seen the blue-haired shinigami. Maybe she's the sign death is really going to happen. She's not from Earth, unlike Sakura and me. She's strictly from Heaven.Yoshi walks away from the scene, looking back at his sister. I know she's a cop, and there's some kind of rule about people just putting their hands on one. But, I can see her still shaken up by seeing him moments ago on the verge of death. I can see she's scared."I had a psychic vision coming here today. It was like from the past, my father's past, I mean. I was driving here to this scene. Those guys were drunk. That driver didn't see Yoshi until it was too late. He threw Yoshi with the side of his car and spun around until he hit that building. Yoshi was dying. That woman that you saw. That was Botan. She was coming here for one purpose." I hold Megumi in my arms and have her head resting on my shoulder. Tears are rolling down her cheeks."I knew his injuries were serious, almost fatal. His bleeding wasn't going to stop. I couldn't have him die, especially not this close to Christmas. As much as it's hurting you to even think about him dying, I can only guess the deeper wound it would have on your father's heart. I didn't want him to bury his own son. I couldn't do it, let Yoshi die. I had to heal him. I use my powers to heal. I used to use them to destroy and kill. I can't kill anymore, so they're healing powers." I can see Yoshi didn't walk away too far. He's over at the car that almost killed him, giving a detective his story about what happened.I cross over to the clothing store and see the car. I see the detective looking at me. "Did you see the men who did this?""Yes. They're at the hospital. However one of them has died of his injuries. Both the driver and the passenger were drunk when they caused this accident. When I saw the driver, he was sick to his stomach. I figure it was from the alcohol in his system. Maybe it was also because he was injured so badly, he couldn't flatten out his leg. He's not in the greatest of shapes right now.""I've been informed he did kill a few more people in this accident. The driver is looking at some serious time in prison for these deaths.""I not so sure if he'll make it, either. He's got an injured neck. He might not live long enough to make it out of the hospital.""So this is probably going to be an accident and not a murder. Maybe the driver doesn't realize he killed anyone." "Wait, were you in a helicopter yourself when you saw them, Ma'am?"I produce my wings and levitate above him. "I'm an angel. I saw those men while I was in flight." I look at the store that the car was crashed into. I don't believe I'll buy anything from there. It's more of a bridal store than anything. I might get a dress there, close to Hiro and Sakura's wedding date. However, I'll let their parents help them pick out their wedding clothes.I don't feel like buying clothes for anyone. I want to just get fun things for them. I could go back to Santa's Toys. Instead, I see a store called "Movies and More". I want to check it out. I'm swooping in closer and I can see it's a very popular store. I land in front of the entrance and cause the doors to part. My wings disappear, as I enter the store.It's a huge place. They've got movies, music, videogames, toys, and they have clothes, more like fun clothes. I've read somewhere Xbox consoles can play dvds. I see a display case with movies and TV shows, all in box sets. I didn't see any movies for Sakura and Hiro. Maybe they don't watch movies. I know their games are lacking. They have Minecraft and Fortnite. There has to be other games they could play.I walk to the Xbox section and see a lot of games. Red Dead Redemption looks like a lot of fun. I take the game off the shelf. I also locate a basket next to the gaming section. It was empty and sitting out on the floor. I put the Red Dead Redemption in the basket and look for more games. I can see Dragonball Z. Oh cool, it's set up for both adventure and one-on-one fighting. Multi-player looks cool. Maybe I can give it to Hiro, with the idea he can play it with another one of our temple mates. I put it in the basket, too.As I'm looking through the games, I come across a game with its controller. Peppa Pig's Shapes and Colors. Right next to it is Numbers and Letters. Both games say between six months to three years. I'm thinking about buying both games for Ringo. The controller has two colorful balls on sticks for him to control, and a touchpad. I take both items and place them into the basket. The controller says it can be used on all console platforms.After leaving the gaming section, I notice a teenager walking around, holding herself. She's got band tshirts with her and wants to buy them, but she really needs to use the bathroom. I can see she's not alone in the store. The restrooms are in the far back of the store. "Can't you go back there and use the bathroom?""The girls' bathroom is out of order." She's standing in the store, wincing."Can you use the boys' room? I'll guard the door for you.""There's somebody in there. I can't go in." She's standing in the store, pinching her legs together.I can remember an alleyway behind the store where she can at least squat on the ground.I lead her to the self-service cash register with my items and hers. I quickly scan all of our items, both mine and hers. I put my items into the bag I brought with me and give hers to her in a plastic bag. I walk her out of the store and lead her to the alleyway. There's a large green dumpster for her to hide behind. She hastily pulls off her pants and presses her back against the brick wall. I'm using my body to shield her. Almost right away, I see a puddle of urine growing across the pavement."Thank you. Thanks for helping me in the store. You didn't have to buy my item for me. I've got money with me.""Consider it my Christmas present. It was for you, correct?""Yes it was. I'm not finished shopping in there, though." I help her stand completely."I'm not done in there either, but I didn't want to trip the theft alarm." I walk back into the store with her.I walk into a section of the store that sells anime and toys. There's a whole set of Dragon Ball Super in a box set. That would be neat to get. I also see an even bigger Dragonball Z series. All the episodes are included in the box. It's a lot of money, but Sakura has given out a lot of money for everyone's bank accounts. She must know someone who is loaded. Maybe it's that Laura Banks who is wealthy beyond her means.I think now I'm done with this store. There is an electronic store next to this one. I'm thinking about getting Sakura a DVD-player. I walk back to the self-check out and purchase the items I've picked out.I walk out of the Movie store and walk a short distance to Marko's Computer Shop. I can see this store sells all sorts of electronics. I walk inside and head towards the DVD players. I see a Sony that can play on all TVs. There is a box underneath the displayed item. I guess it's everything that goes with the DVD player. It's in a locked glass case, probably to prevent theft. I look around the store until I catch the eyes of an employee. I see the employee walk over to me with a set of keys on a ring on his belt."Will this be it for you, Ma'am?""Yes. I need to get it for a friend of mine." He nods and smiles. "It's a present for her and her fiance.""That's nice of you. I'm getting married myself very soon. My girlfriend and I have been engaged for months. It'll be in January.""She and her boyfriend will have their day in October." I walk over with the employee to a cash register. While walking over to the register, I see the same teenager walk into the store with her mom. The teenager is walking around like she knows what she wants. She can be seen heading to the gaming consoles area. Her mother however looks kind of worrisome. Something seems off about her."Can I go look at your consoles? I might pick out something for myself." The guy nods and is more than willing to hold onto the DVD-player for me. I walk over to the teenager, while making it look like I'm staring at the consoles. There is a Nintendo Switch that's catching my eye. It's got Minecraft and Fortnite in a package deal. That will definitely for me.The teenager picked out a Switch for herself and pulls out her debit card. "Don't worry. I've got money on this thing. I work for a fashion design studio. I'm training to be an artist and clothing designer. I'm getting paid very well.""That's amazing." And she looks old enough, about 19 years old and is dressed in clothes I haven't seen anywhere else. She must've made them herself.I look at her mom. "What about your mom?""My mom? What do you mean? I'm not with my mom. I don't know that woman." Okay, I thought she might be her mom. Could she be a stalker? Or is she saying that because she's trying to disown her.I'm keeping my eye on the woman. She's about 50 years old. While this teenager is skinny like a hotdog, this woman with her is as big as a tom turkey. I walk with the teenager to the cash register where the employee. Both of us have the consoles we wanted with us."Go ahead and ring my stuff up first, then hers." I slide my card into the reader.The employee looks at the girl beside me. "Oh Shiori. You're shopping with her?" "This girl is my fiancee.""She said she works for a fashion studio.""Yes. She's designing her own wedding dress. The studio pays her a huge fortune." I'm looking at the woman that came in with her."Is that woman her mom or not?" Shiori is trying to get him to say no, begging with him, in fact."She is, but...look," she sighs. "She and my father are divorced. I don't like her, never have. She got me in trouble with the law when I was just a child. I was sent to juvie when I was only eight years old for stealing. I didn't want to. She..." The girl is now troubled. She looks like she wants to hide somewhere, like under the register. I advise both of them to go to the manager's office. I ask him for the shirt he's wearing. It's not like he'll be topless. The shirt is short-sleeved, and he's got a sweater under it.I put the shirt on and stand at the register. There are other customers in this store. There is a mother with a small child approaching the counter. I can check her purchases out, while looking at Shiori's mother. I watch her intently. I really don't trust her. She approaches the counter with a cellphone in her hand.I ring up the price. "10 thousand yen."She presents me with a credit card. The card is being declined."I'm sorry, but you don't have money on this card.""But I need it. Please, try again." I know better than that."Do you have cash?" She's got a purse on her. It almost looks like a diaper bag. She's trying to keep me from looking inside."I don't. I'm broke." She tries to cough. She coughs a lot. She's got no mask on and blue lips. "I can't breathe. I must have the virus. I don't feel so good." I'm not sure if she's sick or if she's faking. There is a temperature gun at the register. I point it at her."It's 96.7. The illness has it at 100.4 or higher." Meaning I think that's just blue lipstick on her mouth. "Can I see what's in your bag?""Why? It's private. I'm telling you. If you must know, it's old clothes. There's a place to take them for the homeless." Somehow, I don't believe her. I reach over the counter and steal the bag from her. "Hey! You thief! I want to speak to your manager right now!" She obviously doesn't want me to open her bag.I can feel the bag is heavy. It's full. I turn to an area at an angle so I can see her, but she can't grab the bag from me. I open the bag and feel around inside. There are a lot of things in it. My hands are grabbing phones, tablets, portable DVD-players, headphones. She's even got movies and games from next door in this bag of hers. I know for certain she didn't buy any of these items.I trip the silent alarm and force the doors to lock, so she can't leave. I find a cable tie behind the counter. There is also an open lock used to keep cases closed. I quickly get behind her and yank her arms behind her body. She's struggling, but I've got the cable tie twisted like a pretzel and have the lock securing the make-shift handcuffs. "YOU NEED TO LET ME GO!"I just ignore her. I just have her wait by the register until I see flashing lights and hear police sirens. Cops are wanting entrance into the building, so I unlock the door."This woman, Risa Arono, has stolen merchandise on her." I ring up the prices of all the items, including the ones from next door. "20 million, 5 thousand yen worth of items on her."I see the store manager leave his office. "I caught the whole thing on my security cameras. This woman behind the counter is speaking the truth.""THIS IS ALL THE FAULT OF MY DAUGHTER! SHE PUT THEM IN MY BAG! I JUST CAME HERE FOR A PHONE! SHE'S THE THIEF!" I pull out a fat billfold full of yen. The billfold also has Risa's ID."This woman made her daughter shoplift when she was just a child. Then she got her arrested. Imagine the trauma an eight-year-old girl must have to have suffered being framed for something like theft, then to be thrown in jail for it. A so-called parental figure just wanting her punished for doing what her mother is telling her to do. Thank goodness she's got two parents, or maybe just one. Her father is her only real parent." I look at Risa. "Yeah, I don't know what daughter you're talking about. She's not here. She's been at home with her father this whole time." Yes I lied, but I'm protecting the whereabouts of Shiori, so that's why I said she's not here."She's not here now. I've got a backdoor in my office. Her fiance has taken to her father's house. She wants to press charges against you, Risa."The police force Risa to follow them outside. "Do you want a job here, Ma'am? I could use the help.""Sure. I could use the extra money." This can be my second job. I protected his store and his neighbor's. A job as a cashier can be a reward for me. The teaching job will be for tonight, anyways. I see the store closes at 8 PM, which is when my History class begins....
Shizuru-Minamino
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