The Raven Conspiracy

Chapter 15 - Are We Shopping?

Chapter 15 – Are We Shopping?

To my amazement, we stopped at the mall. It wasn’t the centre that I usually did my shopping at, but I had been there a few times. I scanned the large signs on the outside walls. A supermarket, the big-name clothing stores, a wholesaler. Nothing out of the ordinary. One of the least likely – I thought – places for a detective to investigate.

“Looking to buy butter on special or something?” I asked, glancing at an advertisement outside the supermarket.

“That’s not why we’re here.”

“Pity,” I double-checked the price. It was rather low. Perhaps telling my mom about the sale would lessen her anger to me, but somehow I thought it would take more than cheap dairy products to heal the rift.

We walked away from the busy supermarket area to where smaller, quieter stores stool. There were few people – most shoppers were at work anyway. My eyes drifted to the window of a shoe store and landed directly on a pair of stunning heels. As soon as I got my first pay-check, I knew what I’d spend it on.

“Maya,” Kairo called impatiently. He waited a good few metres away. Reluctant, I walked away from the shoes and caught up.

He stood outside a tiny, games-and-comic-book type store. Assassins Creed merchandise, anime posters and Avengers figurines decorated the window display.

Inside, the meagre blue light was focussed on a Lord of the Rings replica sword. My eyes widened – it looked exactly like Glamdring from the movie. Never mind the shoes – my pay-checks would go into saving up for that instead.

I examined the contents of the shelves with renewed interest. I didn’t watch anime or read manga, but some of the items were intriguing.

“Maya, I need you over here,” Kairo called me over to the counter.

A young woman with a short, neon-blue hairstyle sat behind it. With her small build and large eyes, she looked like one of the anime characters she sold posters of.

“Thanks for helping out, Hana,” he said.

“It’s no problem. I’m stuck here with nothing to do all day – I welcome the change.”

“When are you taking your trip? Didn’t you want to travel to and work in Japan?”

“I still do, but my parents won’t let me go until I finish my degree and can pay for it. So, what do you need translated?”

“It’s not a lot – just a symbol.”

“Aw, can you draw it for me?”

“I have a photo.”

“You know, it’s not that difficult to draw them – you always bring pictures. Sometimes I wonder if you actually know how to use a pen.”

He responded with a polite smile.

“Maya, do you have the camera?” he turned to me.

I passed the camera over to Hana.

“So, your name is Maya,” she said as she popped the memory card into the computer. “Is Jen on leave or something?”

“Jen...found a new job,” he answered for me.

“I see. Good for her!”

She found the photo of the tattoo.

“This it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s quite easy...It means death. Ironically sad, if you think about it. This girl got a tattoo that means death – and she died.”

She looked at the picture thoughtfully,

“It’s quite strange to find a Kanji tattoo that actually makes sense. Lots of people get these tattoos that are supposed to have deep meanings that they got off Google translate, but because they don’t check it properly or understand the way the language works, they end up with utter nonsense permanently marking their skin.”

“That’s quite...interesting. Thanks again for the translation.”

“Don’t mention it. Hey – have you watched that anime I told you about yet?”

“I haven’t had a chance,” he answered, apologetic.

“It’s okay – next time.”

She tilted her head and waved at me.

“Nice to meet you, Maya.”

“You too,” I responded, returning her broad grin for a less enthusiastic one of my own. Despite me remaining confused about the relevance of everything that happened, we left.