Of Gangs and Groceries
Gwydion and T4

Chapter 14

Dragon looked down at Dilandau, knowing that he would stay down this time. Hitomi too looked on, dropping the metal pipe with a loud clang. Her hands were still shaking.

Stunned, the bagger looked up at the anxious cashier. He noticed his switchblade laying on the floor next to the thin ropes that Dilly had used to bind her. He slowly lowered his unfired gun.

"Not bad," he mused aloud as he nudged the unconscious man with his foot. Hitomi flashed a nervous smile which paled to plain uneasiness as she unconsciously touched the rope burns on her wrists. "I can't believe I just..." she mumbled.

Satisfied that the other gang leader was not getting back up anytime soon, Dragon ran his free hand through his hair, relieved that his worst injury was a scratch on his arm. He glanced at Hitomi and noticed her red wrists.

"Um, are you alri - "

"HITOMI!" came a shout from the thinning mass of rumblers.

Her eyes widened. It couldn't be. "Allen!?" she gasped.

"Can you hear me!?" he continued yelling. She turned to look in the direction of his voice. "Don't worry! I'm almost there! I - " Allen's voice stopped short as he tumbled to the floor, not far from where Hitomi and Dragon were standing. Both looked at him. He looked up.

After a moment of shock, Hitomi knelt down. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern and confusion.

Allen blinked. Wasn't that supposed to be his line? "I'm f - Hey, what about you!? I mean, you were kidnapped and I came to save you, but..." His eyes fell on Dragon who had one eyebrow raised and was smirking, amused at the rich boy's antics.

"You're still alive?" scoffed the gang leader. "And here I was betting otherwise. Lawyer boy can be quite the rebel, huh?"

At that, Allen realized his position and scrambled to his feet. He shot Dragon a dark glance, but ignored his snide comment. "Let's get out of here, Hitomi."

She blinked and stood up next to him. Realizing he was right, she followed Allen who was already heading toward the fire escape. Slowing her pace, she glanced back at Dragon with a rather unreadable look. It almost looked like resignation, but that was probably only because she hadn't slept for a couple days.

The gang leader sighed and watched the fighting as the last few men standing went at it. It was finally over, though seeing only a fraction of the damage made him wonder if either side had really won. He glanced at Dilandau. He had been completely ready to kill him earlier, but now, knowing that it was finished, he was glad that Hitomi had gotten to him first. He reached for the ring dangling around his neck as he tossed the gun onto the fallen man's chest. But he was still left with at least one problem.

"What to do with him this time..."

She shut the door behind her slowly. Allen slouched down in a chair, already feeling the bruises start on his back and shoulder. He knew he was going to be sore for a good long while. Looking up, he saw Hitomi rushing across the room. Upon seeing a loaf of bread, she ripped open the bag and stuck two slices in her mouth, tearing off a huge bite. With less energy, she grabbed the rest of the bag and plopped herself down in the chair across from Allen.

For a while, the two sat in silence, Hitomi steadily eating the whole time. After a few minutes, she squinted her eyes to see the alarm clock next to the bed. 5:47 pm on what she assumed was Sunday. Her mouth had the last bite of her fifth slice of bread in it as she began to speak. "Allen," she said then swallowed. He looked at her with a tired expression. "If your offer still stands, I would like to..."

"Of course it does," he assured her, sitting up in his chair in earnest.

She nodded slowly, taking in his words. "Thank you." Gradually, she got herself up and moving around the room, packing her belongings into a suitcase that had been stored under her bed. Allen just watched her methodically pack her things, her life, away. As she was refolding a sweatshirt, she began talking in a calm, but worn-out voice.

"So it seems you were right all along." The words hurt her. "I don’t know what I was trying to do. I just wanted to work this out by myself, ya know? I didn’t ask for all this trouble. I don’t want to be someone’s charity case." The words flowed out her mouth too easily.

Allen finally stood and went over to her. "Hitomi, you’re the strongest person I know, and you’re no one’s charity case. You’re my friend. You know that."

She nodded but didn’t reply. She just hated the feeling of being defeated like this. The packing was almost done as she pulled the alarm clock out of the wall at 6:09 and stuffed it into her suitcase. The bag of bread remained out as she zipped the suitcase closed. With one last glance around the room for memory’s sake and one last check that she hadn’t left anything, she sighed. "Let’s go."

Hitomi reached for the rusted doorknob and pulled, ready to leave this portion of her life behind her. However, she soon realized that it wasn't quite ready to be left. There in her doorway, fist raised as if about to knock, stood Dragon, a look of mild surprise on his face.

Caught a bit off guard, the gang leader quickly tried to replace the look with his normal scowl, but it wasn't working very well. He was still rather uncomfortable with the idea of even stopping by. He had just worked up the courage to knock, when the door had simply opened. Needless to say that it hadn't helped his situation.

"Hey," he said simply, trying to remember what had convinced him that this was a good idea.

"Are you here for a reason?" asked Allen as he glared at the one man that always managed to make life miserable whenever he showed up.

The gang leader leader began studying a particularly nasty stain on the wall, not wanting to say that one small sentence. Especially in front of lawyer-boy, though he supposed it would be for the best that way.

"I need your help," he mumbled quickly. Oh, how he hated admitting that. Hitomi stared for a quick second before laughing, not the jolly 'you just told a great joke' laugh, but the quiet laugh of disbelief and irony. "What?" she said as she put down her bags. "Haven’t we helped you enough?" She raised her red wrists to his eyes while Allen stepped a bit to the side.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry, ok? Not like that was my fault or anything..."

"Not your fault?" Hitomi muttered in disbelief while rolling her eyes. Of course, it was his fault.

The gang leader ran a hand through his hair, aggrevated. "Argh, that's not the point! I... I wanna turn Dilandau in," he said bluntly, but he hurriedly added, "Not like I can't take care of him myself or anything. I mean, this is the second time we've caught the idiot; it's just that, well, the guys are starting to look for a bit... harsher punishment, and I'm not sure I'm willing to put a bullet in his forehead, ya know?" The gang leader began fingering the ring under his shirt again and sighed. "I just know the police won't believe me if I try turning him in by myself." He watched Hitomi and Allen's faces for their reactions.

Hitomi blinked skeptically. He had sure seemed ready to put a bullet in his head earlier. She gave Dragon a dark glance. The gang leader noticed, but didn't say anything. He guessed by her expression that she was questioning his sincerity, and as much as he wanted to prove that he had meant what he had said about turning Dilly in, his previous actions had probably already convinced her otherwise.

On the other hand, Allen, having given a bit of thought to the matter in the few seconds of silence, spoke up, "I suppose it won’t do to have him still roaming around." Mainly, he was thinking of Hitomi’s wellbeing, but who could blame him? "And certainly, no one would trust the likes of you." Dragon's eyes narrowed at the comment, but he held his tongue, knowing he was right. Allen glanced at the shaggy-haired ruffian with a bit of disdain, ready to say he’d help then be through with Dragon forever, but realized that it wasn’t exactly his place to decide. "Hitomi? What do you think?"

She broke her gaze at Dragon and looked at Allen, then back to the waiting Dragon. "It’s not like he ever helped me," she replied coldly. The gang leader opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. If he screwed this up, they'd never agree to help. He hated the thought, but if he somehow ended up in a similar situation again, with no one to stop him, he might really kill someone. That thought he hated most of all.

After holding her stony expression for a moment, she resigned with a tired sigh, "But he certainly can't do it by himself." She was about to pick up her bag, but after she took another glace at Dragon, she knew it would never do to go to the police station like this. "Before we go anywhere, you've gotta get yourself cleaned up. Who'll believe someone who has encrusted blood all over his face?" She shook her head. He really did need their help.

With a smirk, Dragon looked up and down Hitomi. "Maybe, but I'm not sure they'd really take a girl in her pajamas too seriously either, so if I clean up, you change."

She looked down at the pajamas she had been wearing for what, three days straight? The idea of changing appealed so much that she just mumbled, "Yeah..." She turned to go back into the apartment she had expected never to enter again, dragging her bag behind her. "15 minutes. Downstairs," she called over her shoulder to the two at the door.

"15 minutes?" mumbled Dragon, "I always thought that girls took at least an hour." Or so he had learned from Millerna's complaining at work. He turned to look at Allen, "I'll be heading back to my place. When I come back, I'll have Dilly with me, ok?"

"Hey," Allen caught the attention of the gang leader who was already heading down the stairs. He stepped out of the apartment, pulling the door shut quietly on his way out so that Hitomi wouldn't hear their voices. "After this, it's over."

Dragon raised an eyebrow. "It's over? Considering Dilandau will be in jail, I'd say that's a fair bet. Unless of course you plan on attacking with a bunch of your little lawyers-in-training." The mental image forced a smirk to his face. He could just imagine the warehouse being overrun by lanky blondes using pens and paper instead of clubs and guns.

"Hey," Allen said with a serious face, pulling himself to his full height. "I was just trying to be nice and warn you. Hitomi's leaving. Since you seemed all head over heals about her earlier, I just thought you might want to know."

"Have you gone completely insane?" The gang leader gave a short laugh before turning back around. "Head over heals? She hates my guts! I'm the cause of all of her problems, remember? Maybe if that wench finally leaves there'll be some peace and quiet around here, then we can both be happy." He rolled his eyes. "So she'll be gone for good, huh? It doesn't surprise me. She's not the type. To be living around here, I mean. Although she also seemed too stubborn to leave. Guess she got roughed up one too many times, huh?" he added dryly as he glanced back at Allen.

"Right. Don't like her one bit, huh? Your babbling speaks for you." Allen gave a wry grin and went back in the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Unfortunately, the last sentence of Dragon’s babbling stuck with him. She had been roughed up a lot lately. She must be tired and worn, upset and frustrated. He decided that he would have to make sure to help her be comfortable and to show her how much he cared for her.

"I do NOT babble," muttered the gang leader harshly as he began decending the stairs once again.

"You're late." Allen looked at his watch meaninglessly.

Dragon hobbled into the narrow alley where Allen and Hitomi were waiting, dragging the unconcious gang leader next to him. "Well, sorry, this guy's not exactly light as a feather," he grunted. He had no idea that making it out of the warehouse would be so hard. Dilandau wasn't exactly the biggest guy in the world, and he was supposed to be strong. Right?

Hitomi rolled her eyes. She seemed a lot calmer after a quick shower and a clean change of clothes, but that didn't mean she was terribly happy about the situation. Grabbing her bag, she made her way to Allen's car. Dragon stumbled after, Dilandau on his shoulders.

After loading the bag and body in the back seat, Allen and Hitomi took their seats in the front, leaving Dragon in the back with his "friend."

"So, you picked up his gun, right?" Allen asked, glancing at Dragon in the rearview mirror.

"Are you kidding?" he said, trying to get as far away from Dilandau as possible, which wasn't easy considering he kept falling over, "I walk in with a gun and you think they'll believe me? There was no way I was getting my fingerprints all over that thing."

Allen sighed and shook his head while turning to look at him. "Which is why you put it in a bag without touching it." The gang leader looked away, trying not to look like he was sulking at his own ignorance.

Hitomi made a small smile. "Hold on." She turned around and straining over the seat, she started searching the backseat for something. She poked around Dragon, who offered a quick "watch it!", but didn't find what she wanted. She grabbed Dilandau by the shirt and pulled him forward until he leaned heavily on Allen's chair. "Great..." She mumbled as she pulled the bread bag out from where Dilandau's boney bum had been, all smushed. "Don't want this any more." She took the bread out of the bag and tossed it in the back, falling on Dragon's lap, who offered yet another "watch it!", but a bit more forceful this time. "Here." She handed Allen the bag. "You'd better do it."

"Heh, you think he can?" sneered Dragon, trying to regain some of his "tough guy" status, "My gang may have just been in a fight, but you walk in there and you won't be coming back carrying a gun." He smirked and added, "Maybe a few more bruises though."

"Then get your butt out and come with me. Remember, this is a favor we're doing for you." Allen got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"Wait a sec. I don't want to be alone with him, even if he is unconscious still," Hitomi grabbed the handle and got out.

"Hey!" cried Dragon as he opened his car door, trying not to let Dilandau fall out with him. "Someone has to stay with this idiot, and it can't be me since neither of you would ever make it back." He reached in his pocket and pulled out his switchblade. "Don't feel comfortable? Just keep this at his neck." He tossed the knife to Hitomi who caught it and flicked it open to take a look. "If you can whack him on the head with a pipe, I'm sure you can poke him once or twice if he wakes up."

"That was different," she muttered as she leaned on the hood, keeping her eye on Dilandau. "Hurry back."

"We'll see about that..." thought the gang leader wryly as he made his way to his warehouse. He was hoping they wouldn't meet up with any of his gang simply because he did not want to explain things. He'd managed to get Dilly out alright though, so Allen should be no problem, considering he was concious and walking on his own.

Allen followed Dragon inside. The place was a mess, not that it had ever been nice, but random people were laying on the floor in small pools of blood, groaning. Allen kept his eyes on Dragon's back as they quietly climbed the stairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, the gang leader turned to inspect the area where he and Dilandau had been fighting. He remembered kicking the gun away, but had no idea where it ended up. He just hoped no one in his gang had found it and taken it. After searching the floor for a minute and not finding it, he was getting a little worried that perhaps someone had picked it up, but he was relieved when he found it between some empty boxes.

"Hey, give me that bag, would ya?" Dragon yelled out to Allen who was currently looking behind a box that had an arrow pointing to the ground and upside down words reading "THIS SIDE UP".

Allen glanced at him, "You sure you don't want me to do it?"

The gang leader glared at the other man, walked over to him, and grabbed the bag out of his hand. "Yes." He put his hand in the bag, reached down and picked up the gun. "Alright, we got it. Now let's get out of here before you cause me any trouble."

Shrugging, the blonde bounded down the stairs and out the side door. "Let's go," he said to Hitomi who was leaning against the car with a wary eye on the dozing man inside.

"Okay." She jumped in as Allen started the engine.

Dragon opened the back door and after struggling with Dilandau's falling body, he squeezed in and slammed the door. Unfortunately Dilandau just would not lean the other way, leaving the other gang leader cramped. "Can we hurry it up?" he growled as he tried to shove the him away, failing miserably.

"We'll go the speed limit," Allen replied matter-of-factly. "I can't think of a worse scenario than this to get pulled over by the cops in."

Hitomi shrugged. She'd been in worse situations, but she wasn't about to protest that this would be a bad one. Glancing behind her, she saw Dragon clutching the bag with some random bread crumbs and the gun inside which, in turn, jogged her memory. "Hey, what'd you do with the other one?"

"Why do you care?" he replied defensively. Having Dilandau leaning on him was making him rather grumpy, even more so than usual. "You won't have to worry about it. It's not like you'll be around."

"Be around? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, what if I did keep it? You'll be off in some big mansion no where near here, so how would you ever know unless I told you? It's got nothing to do with you, so just drop it."

She turned in her seat to look at him. The confusion on her face turned to concern. Was he saying that he'd kept it? He, of all people, should know how dangerously stupid that was. Despite the forward request, she asked in a quiet voice, trying to hide her slight worry, "You aren't going to keep it, are you?"

The gang leader just looked at her and blinked. He had gotten a nice angry yell all ready for when she started her lecture, but considering that her tone was far from the accusing one he had been expecting, he was a bit at a loss for words. After a brief pause while trying to regain his train of thought, he eventually muttered, "Look, I'm not stupid, ok? Just because I borrowed it for a little while doesn't mean I plan on actually using it on somebody."

She looked at his face for a brief moment. He seemed, well, at least not angry. Glancing down, Hitomi noticed a fuzz on the chair and, picking it off, she said what she imagined would irritate him in the quietest, least blaming tone she could muster: "Well, it looked like you might have."

His face darkened a bit at the comment. "You think I would've have actually shot him? I only brought the gun because he always uses one. I had to make sure I came out on top, and that's just what happened."

She looked up at him for a split second before the words just about burst out her mouth. "Yeah, I think you really might have shot him!"

"Well I wouldn't have! Alright!? Just because I'm not a saint like you doesn't mean I'd just go out shooting people! I wasn't exactly fond of you at first, but I didn't run off to find a gun so I could off you now did I!?" he yelled back, fists clenched.

Allen, who had been minding his own business for the most part, mumbled, "But it seems you've become awfully fond of her since..."

A moment of awkward silence fell over the car, well, besides some light snoring from Dilandau, as what Allen said registered in the other passengers' brains. Dragon was the one who finally broke the temporary silence.

"Look, lawyer boy, I have no idea where you got a crazy idea like that, but I think you must've gotten punched one too many times. Do you have any idea how much trouble this wench has caused me?" The gang leader glanced out the window as he added, "So she's not as annoying as I first thought. That doesn't mean anything."

Dragon just caught Allen sorta rolling his eyes and smirking in the rearview mirror, but chose to ignore it. He had said more than enough.

Hitomi, noticing the slightly smug Allen and the oddly quiet Dragon, realized it was her turn to say something because the silence was growing more and more awkward by the second, but she wasn't sure what to think, let alone say. Finally, she said in a joking tone, "Well, I guess you're a little less pig-headed than I first thought."

The gang leader turned to glare at her. "Gee, thanks so - aww, no!!" He cut himself off with a string of curses as he realized that Dilandau was indeed drooling on him.

"What? Upset we figured out you're just a big softy after all?" Hitomi teased.

"Can we just hurry up and get to the station already!?"

"I can't believe you'd leave us hangin' like that. First you aren't even around when we need you most, and then you go and turn in Dilandau to the police without tellin' anyone about it," said a gang member in disbelief, "We're a gang, man, a team, and you start runnin' around solo?"

Dragon looked around the warehouse at the beaten and bruised faces glaring back at him. After returning from the police station, which was quite an ordeal in and of itself, he was greeted by what was left of his gang bombarding him with questions and accusations. He wasn't sure he liked the direction the conversation was going.

"I didn't want any of you getting involved with the police," he explained for the third time, "As the leader it's my job to make sure the gang is safe, and that's what I was trying to do by turning Dilly in."

Chid spoke up. He had liked Dragon since they met. He would even say they were friends, but no friend would do this. "Dude, you didn't discuss it with us. You just up and left. You went to the police, for cryin' out loud. The police! Since when does any upright gang go to the police. We take care of our issues within the group! You've gotten soft, man. Soft. Ever since that girl showed up..."

"Hey! That girl has nothing to do with this, alright? She's not even living around here anymore, so let's just leave her out of this," he said, eyes narrowing. What did Hitomi have to do with this anyway? Sure, since she showed up, Dilandau had seemed a bit more tenacious than in the past and he'd actually attacked his gang while he was gone with Allen trying to find her... but that had nothing to do with it!

"Dragon," Chid began again, "You know you've been corrupted by her, man. Everyday you leave us. Every afternoon, you're hanging out with her. Don't think we didn't notice. And, even worse, when you're supposed to be with us, you sneak out to, well, you know, go make out with her or whatever." Chid, like any other healthy young man, would jump at the opportunity to hang out with a girl for a while, but he well knew that there were limits. His boys come first.

The leader stood there and blinked for a moment. Yeah, he left, but he was working, not hanging out with her. Well, in a way, it could be described as such since she was always there, but that was beside the point.

"I don't know who gave you that idea, but I can assure you I am not out with that wench!" came his slightly irritated reply. "First of all, she's not my type, and second of all she's got that lawyer boyfriend of her's. Every time I leave, it's for the good of the gang." He wasn't sure they'd buy that last part, but it was at least sort of true. People needed money to live.

"Stop trying to cover it up! We know what you're doing!" someone called from the back of the room while another voice called in a rather suggestive manner, "We saw her. Who's type isn't she?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he snapped. "I wouldn't lie to you guys! How long have we been together? Huh!?" He clenched his fists. He just couldn't believe it was coming to this.

"Apparently, it doesn't matter how long we've been together," another gang member remarked, "You still seem to ditch us for what you think is more important."

Dragon was at a loss. He couldn't tell them why he was always gone. I mean, seriously, who ever heard of a gang leader having a job as a bagger at a grocery store? He looked around, studying everyone's faces. "Is this how you all really feel? You all seriously think that I've abandoned this gang?"

Everyone averted their eyes. The silence that followed more than answered his question. Without another word, Van turned and walked out of the old warehouse.

"So, it's over?" Momaru confirmed for something like the one hundredth time.

"Yes, Momaru. I'm not going back. Tomorrow, I'm going to see Mr. Moleman and explain the situation, well, part of it, and tell him I'm not going to be able to continue work. Then, I will go to the grocery store and turn in my smock." She sighed. The thought of the whole business she and her brother had been through lately was more like a B movie than her life.

Her brother gave a small smile and sighed. "I'm glad," he said, his book in his lap, "I still don't know why you didn't just leave sooner."

She nodded slowly. "I had to try to make it work. Maybe someday this'll all make more sense. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble." She gave him a quick hug. "Let's just think about the future now. You have to start school soon, and I'm thinking I should as well."

"Yeah, that'd be good, I guess," he replied only half-heartedly. He was saved from having to fake any more interest as Allen walked into the room at that moment.

Hitomi glanced up, "Oh, hey, Allen."

"I was just coming to see if you're okay, wanted anything to drink or anything." Allen babbled. In all honesty, Hitomi and Momaru had been shut up in the room her brother had been staying in the past few weeks for more than two hours. Frankly, he wanted to see Hitomi.

"I think we're fine," she began, but was interrupted by Momaru.

"I think I'll go find Mr. Scherazade. He said he'd play Super Smash Brothers with me this afternoon." Momaru ran out of the room in search of the butler, leaving Allen and Hitomi.

"Uh... so, Yukari called earlier," Allen mentioned.

"Oh, I'll call her later."

Moving to lean on a nearby dresser, Allen looked at Hitomi. "So how are you doing?" he asked, "I know you had wanted to work things out on your own, but I think being here with Momaru will do you some good." He was trying to be supportive, but he wasn't sure if he was succeeding.

She made a weak smile. "Yeah, I suppose so."

The two remained in thoughtful silence for a few moments before Hitomi spoke up again. "Allen, you know I really appreciate all you've done for me, right?"

"Yeah," he said suspiciously.

"But this will only be temporary. I can't keep coming back for help," she explained softly.

"I never thought of it that way. You're my friend. Whatever you need, I will always be here for you." Allen crossed the room and sat down next to her.

She put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I know, and I appreciate it." There was a tone of finality in her voice that let Allen know she wouldn't be around much longer.

As Hitomi walked out of the grocery store, she noticed some renegade carts headed straight her way.

"Hey, watch it lady!" yelled the orange clad bagger, only two carts left in his hands. Hitomi jumped out of the way, letting the carts crash into the side of the building. She looked up in time to see the bagger coming toward her, mumbling something under his breath as he reached for the fallen carts. When he stood up again, he finally started to growl an apology until he saw who it was he almost ran into.

"Oh, it's just you," said Van, adjusting his orange vest. "What are you doing back here? I thought you were off living with that boyfriend of yours?"

Rolling her eyes, she retorted, "Hello to you, too." Motioning to the entrance of the store, she added, "I was just turning in my smock. That's all."

"Well aren't you lucky," he replied as he shoved the carts into each other, "You got another job or just gonna live in the lap of luxury?"

"Why do you care? D'you have a better suggestion of a lap I should try out?" she asked sarcastically.

The bagger smirked, "Well, I do know of one that is currently unoccupied; however, it too is looking for somewhere to stay." He shrugged. "Too bad, huh?"

"What? Is your warehouse's lease up?" she teased.

"Yeah, something like that," he said with a bit more spitefulness than he meant to as he took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair.

She looked a bit confused. "What's that mean?"

He put his hat back on, studying the ground, "Well, apparently it was decided that as of late I wasn't being loyal enough, wasn't being a good leader. I wasn't there when they needed me most, so they decided it was time for a change. So yeah, look's like my lease is up."

Hitomi wasn't sure what to say. It sounded like one of those times to say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," but, frankly, she wasn't. "Well," she ventured, "sounds like a good opportunity to take a step up in the world."

He gave a small chuckle and a knowing smirk. "I had a feeling you'd say something like that. I'm not looking forward to having to depend on this dump for my entire cash flow, but..." he sighed, "I think it's about time I moved on. They were a bunch of losers anyway."

Hitomi grinned at the loser comment. She could have said something mean, but decided against angering him. Instead, glancing at the chain around his neck, she offered, "It'd make your mom proud."

He reached for the ring, took it out of his shirt, and studied it for a minute. "Yeah, probably." Feeling like it was time to divert the attention away from himself, he said, "So you never answered my question. You got a new job somewhere, or have you decided you need a break from all the stress I put you through?"

"Yeah, well, I'm looking for a new job because I'm planning on starting college in a few weeks. But, I'll need one closer to school," she replied. "And a break from you would be nice too," she added with a smile.

"Now don't say that. You know you'll miss me." Seeing the skeptical look on her face, he continued on before she could take another jab at him. "So college, huh? Sounds boring. Sitting in a classroom, listening to a bunch of old people talk about a bunch of dead people."

"Better than being here the rest of my life," she snorted back. In the corner of her eye, she saw Amano mosey out of the store with a confused look on his face. He headed off in the other direction, searching the parking lot like he'd lost something. Maybe it was his mind.

Ok, so sure, Van wasn't exactly thrilled with his job, but he was the only one allowed to say out loud how much it sucked. "Well, I guess that all depends, doesn't it? What if you go to college and still end up with some crappy job? You could even end up worse off than me." Oh yeah. That would show her...

"Well, you're right. What jobs are better than wearing a stapled together, sweaty bright orange vest and collecting carts? I guess I just have huge dreams for myself. You know, you can have big dreams for yourself too. You don't have to stay here the rest of your life." Although her tone sounded a bit sarcastic, she meant it.

He snorted. "Could you honestly picture me in one of those little purple coats like lawyer boy? I wouldn't last 2 seconds in a place like that. I'll get out of here eventually. Maybe not some fancy job or anything, but I won't be pushing carts forever." He pulled at a loose piece of fabric on the vest and added, "And this vest may be sweaty, but it's got class."

Hitomi was about to make a snide comment, but Amano shouted from behind her, "There you are!" Both looked at him, confused. "I need the vest. I'm on carts." He was already sweaty from his quick walk around the parking lot which didn't bode well for the vest after another hour of cart duty with Amano. Van peeled the vest off himself and threw it at Amano who caught it, put it on, and warned the other bagger, "You'd better get inside. The manager is looking for you, especially since you're already ten minutes late."

He shrugged. "So what's new? But ya know, it's really hot out here, and I'm gettin' pretty thirsty. I think I'll go get a drink in the back first," he said with a smirk, glancing back at Hitomi with a slight nod before heading back inside, ignoring her obvious disapproval of his laziness.

Amano rolled his eyes at the other bagger. Being a relatively good bagger himself, that kind of attitude always irritated him. But, he wouldn't let it get to him. Instead, he glanced at Hitomi who was also turning to leave, mustered his enthusiasm, and called out, "Have an awesome day!"

The End

A/N: Haaaaaaaaa, ok, that's it! Now... I know a lot of people will be disappointed at the lack of Van and Hitomi-ness, but really, in order for them to get to that stage, we would have had to keep this story going a lot longer. They've got a lot of issues to work out, don't ya think? And we didn't think the story needed to go any further. We think the ending suits it, and we both hope that you do too. ^_^ Anyway, as this is the last chapter of OGAG, for the last time, this is T4 and Gwydion, singing off.

Unless we decide to write another story, lol. (But to squelch any rumors now, no, there will be no sequel.)