Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 13: A Small Trip

It had only been a few minutes since we'd left the house for the store and so far, there hadn't been a single obstacle to stop us. A few cars passed by and there were very few people on the sidewalk. It wasn't a surprise to us since this street mostly consisted of our neighbors and some shops we knew, such as the barbershop, the general store, and a few small secondhand shops. It wasn't as elegant as many other streets in New York, but I preferred it this way. It was less busy and crowded, and the best path for me to take when I walked to my school.

Of course, our destination this time was the grocery store, which was stationed near a secondhand bookstore and a small newspaper stand. As we entered the store, a brunette-haired bag boy and a black-haired cashier turned around and saw us. "Oh, welcome Hayate. Doing your mother's errands again?"

I smiled at the cashier. "Yeah. We're just buying some vegetables for her this time. And Kaz is with me today." Speaking of the little devil, I turned around to see him grinning in a sheepish manner.

"Y-Yeah. Hi there, Ms. Sinclair." Usually, everyone could see Kazuki's smile when they greeted him. Of course, considering that he rarely tagged along with me to the store, it was understandable why he was acting like that. Not to mention that he was not the type to go out more often. It wasn't just because of his age. He would rather read fantasy novels than to go out and spend time with his friends. Truth to be told, I felt a bit sad for him. Despite his optimistic attitude, he was very shy towards strangers. And this was no exception when meeting the employees in the store.

"Oh, hi, young Kaz. Nice to see you helping your big brother out on some grocery shopping." Ms. Sinclair then held her hand out towards Kazuki. I guess it was her way of telling him that it was okay to trust her. I don't know, she often has certain ways of befriending anyone she met. In fact, when I first met her during my first grocery trip with Mom, she just offered me a high five and a candy. Yeah, she was a real social butterfly back then and even more so now, not to mention she has her way with words.

Well, almost.

As I looked down, I saw that Kazuki wasn't budging one bit. I could even feel that he was clutching his green shirt too tightly. "Come on, Kaz. Shake her hand. I promised that she won't do anything to harm you."

"Really? Are you sure she won't say anything strange just like Zac?" Yikes. I could hear Ms. Sinclair gasp upon hearing that. Sure, I admit that she has her own ways of greeting new people, but I doubted that she was like him.

"No, she would never say anything inappropriate. Heck, she's not like him at all." No sooner had I said this, I heard a growling sound right behind me. I knew who that was as I turned around to see Ms. Sinclair pouting at me. "U-Uh... I didn't mean in like a weird way!" Ugh, me and my big, fat mouth. I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but I was too panicked to say anything to her.

But before I could do anything, the bag boy approached her and said, "Um... as much we'd like to discuss this even further, how about we leave these boys for a while to shop some vegetables? We can't waste their time chattering about random stuff all day."

Saved by the bag boy. I sighed in relief as I saw Kazuki leaving by my side and grabbed a cart for me to use. But before I can enter the grocery store, I approached him and grinned at him. "Thank you, Brig! You saved my neck back there!"

"No problem! But one tip: Unless you want to make an enemy out of Ms. Sinclair, be careful of what you say." He's right. Ms. Sinclair may be sociable and nice, but she can be a rage monster right on par with my mother. I know because Zac ended up as one of the first victims to her rage. Just the mere memory made me shiver. Thankfully, Brigham told me about her in advance, and you can guess where I am today. "Anyway, you best get on with your shopping."