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Friends at the Mall
I woke up at our agreed time of 9am, to see Delila pacing the room. I stared at her as she walked to one spot then turned around and walked to another then back again. She turned to me, finally noticing I was awake. "Kimiko, what do I do?!" she said as she took a hold of my shoulders and shook me like a maniac. "Hey, take it easy! What's wrong anyway?" I said as I forced her to release me from her grip. "Ok, I promised my friend that I'd go to the mall with her today. But we're supposed to go back and see the others in the feudal era! I don't want to ditch my friend, but we can't keep the others waiting so long for us!" I smiled knowing the simplest of solutions that for some reason Delila is never able to come up with. "Just go to the mall with your friend. The guys can wait one more day for us. It doesn't seem like it would be a big deal." I casually said. Delila thought for a minute, then nodded. "I guess. Ok. The mall it is. But YOU'RE coming with me. I'm not going to leave you alone after what happened yesterday!" I grunted, displeased, but I agreed to tag along. Besides, I didn't have anything else to do. Plus, since I'm not supposed to be seen, it'd be nice to see what a Mall actually is like. I grabbed my knew hat and overcoat. and slipped them on. Delila put on a jacket then got on my back. I leaped out the widow and began running across the roof tops, following the directions Delila instructed along the way on how to get there.
"Land over there in the back parking lot. No one's there, so we shouldn't be seen." Landing lightly on the slush covered pavement after about five minutes, we headed around to the front entrance. I immediately grabbed my head, for a migraine washed over me the instant I stepped in. So many things pounded all of my senses with giant mallets. Delila patted my back. "Don't worry, you'll get used to this. It'll just take you a little while." Easy for her to say! But eventually, my sense finally adjusted to the loud noises and the strong smells, and the migraine slowly disappeared. "Come on, she said she'd be on the other side of the food court." Delila said and I followed her down to a large area with tables and metal chairs everywhere. Food counters covered the sides. Everything that wafted into my nostrils in this room made my mouth water. I looked around and saw a hand wave to us. "That's her, come on." Delila said as she began to head toward the table her friend waited.
"What took you so long, Delila? I thought you weren't coming!" the girl said. She had short blond hair kept up in a pony tail, and wore a blue skirt with a white turtle neck. "Hi Sherry! Long time no see?" Delila said excitedly as she bent down and hugged her friends. We sat down across from the girl as they began to chat. "By the way, I never asked who you were." the friend said as she directed her attention to me. "Kimiko Fudo." I said. The girl smiled. "Well I'm Sherry Berkin. Nice to meet you Kimiko." she said as she extended her hand to me. I grabbed it and she shook my hand. "I haven't seen you in school Kimiko. Are you new here?" Delila immediately interrupted, immediately making up a cover up story. "Uh...Kimiko's, not..from our school district. She lives west of us, about ten miles." Delila said quickly. Trying to change the subject, Delila said "Hey, is anyone hungry? I know I am! I'm buying." "I wanted to try that one place over there. I hear they make a great sub." Sherry said and pointed to one of the food counters. "Ya that sounds good.I'll go with you. What about you, Kimiko? Want anything?" Delila asked. I looked around. I had no idea what these places served. But then, my problems were solved. Glowing a golden light so heavenly that it almost seemed to light up the room at first glance, was the giant yellow "M". "CHEESEBURGERS!!! I yelled with delight and I pounced up from my chair, only to have my shirt choke me and drag me back down in my seat. Delila had grabbed the neck of my coat She glared at me with a look saying "Don't even think about it!!!" Sherry sat there looking at us dumbfounded. Delila laughed uncomfortably and said "Uh, Kimiko really likes cheeseburgers." as she let go of my shirt collar. "I can tell." Sherry laughed. "Well come on, lets get our food and come back here." Sherry said and she began skipping off to one of the food counters. Delila turned to me. "Look, here's five bucks. You can get ONE cheeseburger." she angrily whispered to me. "You know what? Just order a number Three. Trust me, they'll know what you're talking about. Don't do anything stupid or I'll REALLY put those beads of subjugation to work!" Delila continued as she put the money in my hand, then ran after her friend to wait in line for her food.
I jumped up and down happily than ran to the golden M and waited in line to get the food of the gods! When I finally reached the front, I thought to myself, "Ok, time to see if Delila's secret code really works." A man behind the counter greeted me. "Hi. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order?" I looked around to make sure no one else was looking, and placed the bill on the counter and slipped it towards him. "Uh, I'll have a Number Three, if ya know what I mean." I said and I winked at him. "Ook, uh what kind of drink do you want with that?" The man said as he looked at me with a weird look. "Surprise me." I replied. The man went to the back of the room and grabbed a paper bag and put a few things in it, then came up front with a cup and pushed a button on a machine and instantly a dark, bubbly liquid began pouring into it. Once it had been filled, the man put a lid on the cup and put a long hollow cylinder in the top. He put the bill into another machine and pulled out a different bill and some small coins. He then handed everything to me. "A dollar thirty seven is your change, and have a nice day. " He said as he ushered in the next customer.
I ran back to the table. Delila and Sherry had already gotten their food and had started eating. I sat down beside them and opened the package the man behind the counter had given me. The secret code worked! I pulled out the glorious food, wrapped up in the paper that kept it so warm. But something else was in the bag too. I pulled out the object. A weird red container was now in my hands. Inside it, many little warm yellow sticks. I stuck my nose to it and took a whiff. It smelled good, so I decided to try it. I took one of the yellow sticks and thought to myself "I hope this stuff is edible." and I popped it into my mouth. Wow! These yellow stick were pretty good. Not NEARLY as good as the almighty Cheeseburger, but it was pretty dang good! I began stuffing the rest of the yellow sticks into my mouth. Now for the liquid. I took off the cap and pulled the cylinder out of it and looked down into the cup. I stared at its contents. A dark liquid was slightly bubbling and making a weird fizzy noise. It looked like a brown acid. Delila elbowed my side. I looked at her as she picked up her cup and put her lips around cylinder and began to suck the liquid in her cup into her mouth. Getting the idea, I did the same. "For acid this sure does taste good!" i thought to myself. I chugged it down till I was left trying to slurp up mere drops. And now, for the main event. I took the paper off of the wonderful cheeseburger and breathed in its glory. I stuffed the delicacy into my mouth. I smiled as I chewed. I let every bit land on every taste bud before I finally let it slid down my throat and land in my stomach. I sat back and began licking my fingers.
Sherry looked at her watch. "Oh man! It's ten o'clock already? Sorry guys, I have to go. I have dance class in half an hour so I have to get home. Sorry I couldn't have stayed longer. See ya Delila! Nice to meet you Kimiko!" Sherry said and she picked up her bag and headed towards the exit. Delila picked up our empty wrappers and cups and threw them in the nearest trash can. She came back to me and said "Good, you didn't do anything stupid! Alright, ya ready to go?" I nodded and we left out the back entrance. Delila climbed onto my back and I began leaping back home and soon enough we were back inside Delila's room.
It's still early enough, we can go back to the others in the feudal era now. Delila said a little while after we had returned. She grabbed her bags and I let her put my hat and over coat into it. "Ready? Alright, time to go." We headed out the back door and headed to the well. We leaped down then climbed back up into the changed world and started walking down the road to Kaede's village.
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