The Secret To Getting Out Of Debt

     Jay didn't like the thought of going outside, but since Viva said she was meeting with an old friend that afternoon and he didn't want to intrude, he followed Luccin and Kake to the market. It was already half past noon when they finally docked off of the jammed waterways, where an intimidating crowd of shoppers and venders bustled ceaselessly everywhere he looked. Jay felt queezy. There were too many strangers' eyes darting to and fro, impossible to keep track of. With his hair in nothing but a loose ponytail and only a pair of sunglasses thinly veiling his eyes from the rest of the world, he couldn't help feeling almost naked.

     "Hey!" someone in the stands yelled. Jay's heart leaped up his throat. They were onto him! He was found out! Somehow, he was going to have to run away fast, fast, grab Violet and run away-- "Heyyy, hey!" the merchant yelled again.

     Jay turned to Luccin, imploring her with his eyes to help. She looked around with simple curiosity, then caught eyes with the merchant. She gasped.

     "Telden! What a surprise!"

     "What did you expect? You're in the market, girl, and the market's like my backyard!" The merchant chuckled and spread his thick arms wide, and Luccin leaped up to return his warm embrace. Two sparkling green eyes inspected the two strangers with mirth. "I see you've found some new folks here."

     Luccin detached herself from his arms. "Yes, Telden! They're wonderful, say hello to them!"

     He nodded to them with his thick, bristly head. "How you folks holding?"

     "Awesome! This place is awesome! Hey, big guy, can I set up a stand next to yours? Can I? I'll give you some free leather, custom fit, quality handmade, guaranteed lifetime!"

     Kake was practically bouncing to the sky. Jay blushed, secretly thankful that the tofu ground here was too hard to act like a trampoline.

     "H-hello, Mr. Telden. We're doing marvelous, thanks to Luccin's help. Thank you for asking. And, please, f-forgive Kake, he's just a little boy..."

     Telden roared with laughter, slapping Jay's back amiably. Jay thought the impact had torn a hole in the new Soy Stop clothes Viva had given the whole group [white and rimmed with gold designs; I've fallen in love with the game Journey, how can I not start designing clothes like those in my head? Oh, but these are more Chinese, and they're t-shirts and shorts]. "Quite the talker here, have we!? No need to act like that, chum! We're a free folk this side of the Forest!" He turned to Kake. "Open stall right there, young man! Show me what you got--but mind, don't you dare start stealing my customers!"

     Kake squealed with delight. He hurried to the space and began setting up shop for the first time since he had met Kuchiha [i believe...? It's been a long time since i refreshed my memory on the first book, i really don't care anymore. this is too much fun to stop].

     "So, Luccin. What're you getting today? More gum?"

     "Oh, no, it's not for me." She smiled at Jay. "That gentleman over there can explain."

     "Huh? Who? Me?" Jay blushed even deeper. "I--I--"

     Telden laughed again, drums booming up from deep in his broad proud belly. "Now don't be shy! Speak up! What you be wanting today?"

     Jay's hands instinctively came up and fingered his sunglasses, praying they would be thick enough to hide the color of his eyes. "M-m-mask."

     "What's that? Speak up! You want a mask?"

     "No! No, I mean, um," he twisted a lock of hair bleached white by soy milk, "I'm looking for some wigs, or hats, and hologlenses."

     "Oh, so that's what you wanted!" He clapped his calloused hands together. "That wasn't so hard, now was it!? Come here--I've got exactly what you need!"

     "You are going down. So. So going down."

     Runo rolled his eyes. "What is it now?"

     "You escaped!" Kuchiha threw her arms at the open window, as if the force in her words and the expression in her face could not suffice to describe the magnitude of the injury. "Escaped!"

     "I'm not gonna pay for someone else's crime."

     "Who was it that got me drunk, huh!? You shoulda stopped me before I did too much damage!"

     He raised an eyebrow and pointed at his left hand, the hand he held his whip with. A bandage was wrapped tightly around it. "See that?" He pointed to the bloody rags and a wooden piece split in half in the corner of the closet. "See what you did to my clothes, and my whip handle?" He pointed to himself. "See what you did to my face?"

     "Oh, boy, when I am through with you your face won't look nearly as nice as that! Just you wait! I'll get you back for this--" she fingered her broken nose "--and this--" she lifted the rags to reveal more rags, this time her own "--and this!" She swept her arm around to encompass the entire cramped closet, the food packaging room outside, and in turn her forced employment to the restaurant as compensation for the damage she'd wrought.

     "Like I'll let you do it again. Let me tell you now, I only got hurt yesterday because you were drunk. I can read you like a book when you're sober."

     "You wanna try me, sauce-face!?"

     Runo swung his legs up and placed them in a fighting stance on the windowsill. "Ohhh, girl, you do not want to piss me off any more than that."

Table of Contents

Chapter 35

Chapter 37