Leyu & Clarice

[x-sanfuaiyaa.livejournal.com]

Clarice takes Leyu shopping for a birthday gift for Shiro. The little girl shows that she's more similar to her brother than anyone expected.


They made quite a pair, Clarice thought as she tried not to giggle. The purple teenager dressed in (of all things) a purple Rock Me Amadeus t-shirt with Mozart on the front, ripped jeans and her checkerboard shoes. For Leyu she'd even put her hair up in two messy buns, although they were not quite "odango atama."

There were no words to describe how Leyu approved of her brother's choice of girlfriends. She was pretty, sweet, nice, happy, and purple. In Leyu's opinion, the more outrageous the mutation, the better. Ever since coming to America, she'd been hoping to manifest a large pair of glittery butterfly wings. And maybe even antennae.

Holding onto Clarice's hand as they maneuvered their way through the mall, her eyes darted around to find the best place to buy her brother a birthday gift. She didn't have very much money, but was intent on spending as much as she could on Shiro. He deserved it.

Sticking her tongue out at a middle-aged woman that was glaring at them from a bench, Clarice guided Leyu into Hot Topic, her favorite store. Well, not counting the fabric store or thrift shops. Her favorite full-price store. "Oooh, cute!" she squealed, looking at a black and white stripped top with black arm-warmers attached, "but not guy-ish. Okay. Shiro. Not me. What do you see, munchkin?"

Giggling, Leyu skipped down the store, earning her chuckles from the store's staff. There were black jeans that were probably big enough to fit two Shiro's, t-shirts of various musical groups Leyu had never heard of and doubted that her brother would like anyway, buttons and stickers with slogans like "I Kiss Boys" (which she sure hoped Shiro didn't want), and lots of other stuff unsuitable for him. "I don't see anything . . ."

"I do," Clarice called to her, waving at an employee she kinda talked to sometimes. The girl had been at the club on Halloween last fall and let Clarice use the employee discount if the manager wasn't around. Rifling through the stack of t-shirts, she pulled out a faded orange one in Shiro's size, "You like?" It had ninjas on it that said 'Ninja's flip out and kill people.'

Leyu cocked her head to the side, inspecting the shirt. "Nii-san wa ninja ja nai!" It was kind of funny, though, and Shiro would probably like it. "He's not ninja, but he'll laugh and like it."

"They're out of samurai shirts," Clarice informed her tartly, folding the shirt back up and staring up at the wall again before selecting another shirt, this time it said 'I just want revenge, is that so wrong?' She didn't mention that she had underwear that said the same thing.

"That one!" Leyu squeaked, pointing at the shirt that Clarice had just pulled out. "That one is Nii-san's!"

Laughing, Clarice took both shirts to the register, looking longingly at the striped shirt. Next month, she told herself firmly. "You want to get the revenge shirt?" she asked, intending to get both regardless.

Nodding, Leyu reached into her pocket for what little money she had, hoping that it was enough to cover the price of the shirt.

"Hey, don't break the bank," Clarice said watching Leyu count the money out slowly. "I'll get the shirts, you buy us ice cream? And help me make him a big birthday sign too."

Leyu frowned. She didn't have enough for the shirt, and she really wanted to spend her own money for Shiro. The little girl had obviously taken the same lessons in pride as her brother had. "Okay," she said a bit dejectedly, stuffing the small wad of cash back in her pocket. The promise of ice cream cheered her up a bit, though.

Nine years old and already an expert in Japanese stubbornness. It figured. "Hey, you work for your half, I want to make a big sign for his door and put it up so when he gets up for class, it's in his face. Lots of glitter and sparklies."

"Can I paint kanji for him?" she asked, a smile growing again. "I like kanji. Mariko-nee-san was teaching me shodou before we left home."

"Absolutely," Clarice agreed, it would be good for her to practice and for Shiro too. Taking the bag in one hand and Leyu's hand in her other, they headed to the food court. Ice cream, "Just don't say anything mean on accident. I better buy more glitter...I used a lot when I made the name signs for everyone."

"I don't know the kanji for the bad words," Leyu replied, but didn't admit that she did know the bad words. Just one of the many things that Shiro had taught her, even if this particular lesson was by accident. "I need to practice his name when we get home. He changed how he wrote it, ne? He used to use the kanji for 'castle,' but now he used the kanji for 'death.'" She frowned. "I don't like it."

That was not good, but Clarice was not about to make a big deal out of it now. She couldn't read kanji, but she hoped Leyu was wrong, "I thought his name meant 'white' or something like that?" Clarice asked, trying to change the subject.

"Words can mean different things, like in English. I think Nii-san just liked that kanji," Leyu explained with a shrug. Reaching the food court, all of her troubles were forgotten, and she pressed her face up against the glass, trying to figure out which flavor she wanted.