A Dash of Chili Powder

27

Amaya set her large load on the counter, her ears twitching at the brown-haired boy's warm welcome. She studied his happy face, watching his expression shift to slight stone. He pointed a long finger directly at Amaya.

"You frown too much, Ami-san," he said flatly, retracting his finger.

She looked up at Rage, then back to the boy, then right back up at Rage. Whipping out a hand, she tugged on his sleeve. She was very confused. Not just confused, but a little disturbed.

How did he know her name?

And as if she wasn't confused enough, the boy answered that mental question with his smile returned. "Rukia used to talk about you all the time." His smile widened, like he was remembering a moment or two shared between Amaya's cousin and himself. 

She tugged on Rage's sleeve again. This guy was just...weird. "Um...I think I'm gonna go wait outside," she muttered, lettin go of his sleeve. The boy at the counter was too happy, too knowledgable, and he knew her name. He was too kind, but he was kind of intrusive. She can frown all she wants.

Speaking of frowning, that's exactly what she did.

"Alright, Ami-san. See you around," Kazuki chimed, waving his uncaloused hand as he sensed the small girl leave. He stood up straight and stretched his hand out towards the basket she set down. It took him a while but he found it and pulled it close to him, a little surprised by how heavy it was.

"So, big guy, are you Ami-san's bodyguard?" he asked simply, a poor attempt in trying to make small-talk. He knew the guy couldn't talk, but he was talking out of habit and out of pure wish to attain any knowledge of Rukia's whereabouts. After all, the pretty girl was his best friend in childhood.

The couple just stared at each other, tempers flaring, hands gripping each other's faces.

"Hm... Maybe I should leave," Kakashi chuckled softly to himself. He didn't trust the two by themselves, but, it appears, they need to be alone for five minutes. Only five. If he left them alone any longer than that, who knows what can happen? But if he left, what would they do?

Burn the hospital to the ground? 

He chuckled again and shook his head. No. They wouldn't do that. They're not that stupid.

Hit a nurse and hurt each other?

Now that was more tangible. They were a violent pair and they didn't exactly like nosy people. So, Kakashi thought, they would definitely hurt something. 

He supposed it was better than the vast amounts of other things he was thinking of.

"Kiba." It was Yuki, her voice thin and strained. The poor kid was most likely about to go insane. He knew how much she missed the Inuzuka boy. The two were practically inseparable. And to think that he died only made her miss him more. 

"Yuki." And Kiba was less than friendly in the way he said her name, his clawed thumbs running her cheekbones. He may have been being gentle but Kakashi didn't like how his voice came out.

The girl was his kid and he would be damned if any bastard talked her in a derogatory way. Mhmm. *snap snap*

[*.*]

Gracie

[*laughing and crying in the fetal position on the floor* That's what I mean! Your choice of words just... It's all serious, then..."snap, snap" BAHAHAHA! XD]

Amaya thought SHE was confused? Her confusion only made Rage even more so. The teen had just said her name but Amaya's expression clearly stated that she had never seen him before. But the teen's aura was just so bright and passive... he didn't seem like a threat.

Rage watched Amaya excuse herself and scurry out of the store, peach eyes blinking. Surely she wasn't scared of such a person?

"So, big guy, are you Ami-san's bodyguard?" the brown haired teen asked as he began checking out Amaya's basket.

Just as Rage reached for his satchel for his pen and marker, his hand froze midway.

This guy was blind. He couldn't read. On top of that, he couldn't see any kind of expression on Rage's face... although, he'd known Amaya was frowning...

Rage had always thought that a deaf person was his best match for communication. He now realized that a blind person was his worst.

He sighed quietly and shook his head at the answer anyway, reaching into Amaya's tiny purse for her bill. He was going to seem so rude now.

"You stupid. Idiotic. Insensitive. Jerkish." Each word was punctuated with a kick to Vell's ribs. He caught the blond girl's foot after the fourth blow.

"Is EVERYONE trying to rupture my internal organs today?" he snapped.

Kugomi's face was contorted in stubborn anger, but tears were flowing down her cheeks and she sniffed. "More than a year! You've been gone from more than a year without even trying to get a hold of me - I thought you were dead! And here I find you waltzing around stuffing your face with junk food!"

Vell got to his feet, dropped Kugomi's ankle, and grabbed on of her earrings instead. She squealed. "You're not even supposed to be in this village," he accused.

"Neither are you," she shot back, face pugnacious. "Your big bro's here and you said you never wanted to see him again. But you're here!"

...

Kugomi's expression went from crying and wrathful to just crying in mere seconds. "I missed you so much!" she sobbed, suddenly embracing him tightly. "Baka! Baka baka baka baka!"

The silver haired teen looked down at her in exasperation as she cried into his chest. He wanted to say something snide about her tears, how she was being a big baby. But....

"..." Vell enclosed his arms around her just as fiercely, fingers running through her short, shaggy blond hair - but his eyes remained dry. "I missed you too, ya little brat."