KOF School

Sneaking

Iori went over to his uncle who was busy checking out some trench coats.
"Uncle, we have a problem," Iori said soon as he was close enough.
"What is it?" Kazuhiro asked, taking a trench coat off the rack to take a look.
Iori just nodded towards where Aiko and Masaomi stood. And that was enough to make Kazuhiro gasp and jump out of his skin.
"Niisan! What is he doing here?!" Kazuhiro immediately held the trench coat in front of him, pulling Iori closer to hide him as well. "I thought Aiko was supposed to distract him?"
"Well, yeah, but he ended up making another plan of his own with Aiko," Iori sighed. "They're shopping for us."
Kazuhiro groaned. "And they have to come here too?"
Iori shrugged. "Apparently, yes. Because we usually go to Grand Market Square so it's, a good call to come to Epiphany Plaza... but we did the same thing too."
"Fine," Kazuhiro sighed. He peeked slightly to see what they were doing and found them making a beeline for the counter. "They're gonna pay. Alright. Iori, stay close."
Iori was amused when Kazuhiro put an arm around him and brought him towards the counter, still holding the trench coat up to hide them. They slowly walked over to the counter and stood behind the two of them. Masaomi glanced at them and frowned in confusion before turning back to the counter to pay. Iori smirked and poked his sister's shoulder, causing her to turn to look in surprise, a little weirded out.
But then she smiled when she spotted the two of them peeking at her. Aiko waved at them before turning back to the front. Masaomi was finally done, pulling Aiko closer to hurry away from the 'weirdos' hiding behind the trench coat.
Kazuhiro watched them leave, still holding the trench coat up when he turned to look, then sighed in relief before turning back to the counter to pay for the coat.
"Here, we'd like to buy this coat," Kazuhiro politely said as if he didn't just do something funny.
The cashier nodded and scanned it before taking out a paper bag to pack the coat. He looked at the two of them intently, then smirked as it clicked.
"You guys on a heist behind your family?" The cashier asked.
Kazuhiro nodded. "Yep. That was my brother and his daughter just now. We're shopping for Valentine's Day."
"Oh," the cashier chuckled. "A family Valentine's. How nice. I'm pretty sure they were getting stuff for you guys too."
"Don't tell us what they were," Iori quickly said. "As much as we would like to know, let's keep it a surprise."
"Very well," the cashier placed the coat in the large paper bag. "You two brothers too?"
The two of them exchanged glances before Kazuhiro smiled at the cashier. "Yep."
Iori shrugged. This wasn't new. They were soon done and out of the shop. Iori quickly took his phone out and started texting his sister to ask where they were.
"They went to a different floor," Iori informed. "And she's not telling me the exact location."
Kazuhiro snorted. "They're planning surprises for us when we're planning stuff for them."
"This is fun," Iori smirked. "Alright, where shall we go now?"
Kazuhiro frowned. He shopped for the rest, even bought something for himself, but haven't gotten anything for the one in front of him yet.
And the same went for Iori as well...
"Iori, I actually have no idea," Kazuhiro sighed. "You have any suggestions?"
Iori shrugged. "I have no clue either."
In the end, they just walked around and wound up in Shoji, a department store that sold stuff from snacks to stationery. They ended up entering that.
"Uh... I'll be looking at something else over there," Iori said before parting from his uncle.
Kazuhiro nodded. This was his chance to get him a gift. He looked around, skimming shelves and shelves, and eventually spotted something that Iori might like.
It was a thermos tea set with four cups. He remembered how Iori liked his tea, his whole family did, but always complained about using the dainty tea sets that they had. But used them anyway. Kazuhiro smirked and picked it up hiding it under his coat as he made his way to the nearest sales assistant. Whoever saw him would've thought he was shoplifting.
"Can you take this to the counter for me?" Kazuhiro told the lady in a low voice as he handed the box to her. "It's for my nephew, he's over there."
The saleswoman took a look and nodded with a smile as she took it and went off. Kazuhiro heaved a sigh of relief and went to Iori.
Just as he was looking at rows of incense.
"Whatcha seeing?" Iori practically jumped out of his skin when Kazuhiro appeared like that.
"Incense!" Iori said, taking a box of carnation-scented incense sticks and handed it to him. "You haven't bought anything?"
Kazuhiro remembered the flask and realised it would be a good idea to go and pay for it now before Iori was done.
"Yeah, I'll be right back," Kazuhiro said, holding up a finger before hurrying off.
Iori watched in surprise, then shrugged and decided to take something for his uncle as well. Just then, a humidifier night lamp caught his attention. He remembered how Kazuhiro had sometimes complained of dry skin, especially during the winter, and sometimes during the summer as well. It would be perfect for Kazuhiro, seeing how the light can be turned off for bedtime too.
Iori took a box and ran towards the counter. He stopped short when he spotted Kazuhiro standing there and quickly hid the box behind his bag, then grabbed a packet of chocolate-covered peanut bars before stepping behind his uncle. He was buying the incense too, so he had an excuse saying he was buying it for the altar or something like that.
"What are you buying?" Kazuhiro asked.
"Incense?" Iori said. "For Moms' altar."
Kazuhiro smiled. "Ah."
"And peanut chocolates," Iori quickly added, shaking the packet.
Kazuhiro nodded and stepped off the counter when he finished, deciding to look at something else. Iori quickly put everything on the counter.
"This humidifier is better used with essential oil," the cashier said as he handled the purchase. "Would you like some?"
"Uh..." Iori turned to see Kazuhiro looking at some indoor shoes before turning back to the cashier. "Yes, please."
The cashier then took out a few options, and an entire set of all flavours as well. Iori groaned. There were a lot to choose from and the set was expensive too. So he decided to go for the sandalwood scented and bergamot scented essential oils. The cashier had everything packed in paper bags before handing it back to him. Iori bowed and ran back to his uncle.
"Wanna go where now?" Iori asked.
Kazuhiro shrugged. "I don't have anything else in mind. What about you?"
Iori shrugged back. "I don't either. Wanna just go home?"
Kazuhiro nodded. "Sure. Let's go back before your father gets home."