Disclaimer: I don’t own Malice Mizer. Actually, I can’t own Malice Mizer since they are real people. But I’m just using them for my own little plot devices. Just thought I’d warn you.
Warnings: None! Yay! Well, something does happen to Kozi…but that doesn’t really count. ^_^
One-Shot
Mana casually, at least it seemed to be casual, glanced over his band mates as they were packing away their instruments after practice. He was mentally checking each one off of an imaginary list, carefully evaluating their movements and general mood. Finally, after a few moments of deliberation, the doll-like guitarist had picked the one he wanted and was promptly separating him from the others.
“Gackt, may I ask a favor of you?” Mana inquired innocently, staring at the vocalist with wide blue eyes. Gackt looked around in a slightly suspicious manner, wondering what Mana could want from him.
“Go ahead and ask,” Gackt said nicely, figuring the only way he would be able to find out would be to let Mana speak.
“It’s nothing really important,” Mana began, toying with the hem of his sleeve “It’s just that I need to go shopping for something and I don’t want to have to go alone. Will you go with me?” The guitarist smiled coyly, a smile so soft that you really had to know the man to see it, and then batted his eyelashes twice for good measure.
“Well,” Gackt sighed, knowing that Mana often times took hours to find just a few items, “I was planning on writing some new lyrics today.”
“Oh, I understand. I’ll just go by myself,” Mana said sadly, walking off to gather his belongings together. He was quietly folding his sheet music and slipping it into his purse when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“How many things do you have to get?” Gackt questioned, feeling slightly guilty for brushing his friend off just because he took a little longer than normal to shop for things.
“I just have to get one thing,” Mana explained calmly, brushing his hair over his shoulder, “It’s starting to get a little chilly and I want to get a scarf. Just a simple scarf.”
“I’d be more than happy to go with you if that’s all you need to get,” Gackt said brightly, smiling sweetly at Mana.
“Thank you,” Mana said softly, once again smiling vaguely, “When will you be ready to leave?”
“Right now,” Gackt stated, “I’d just have to get my jacket.” He gestured casually towards where all of their coats or jackets were hung along the wall.
“Then let’s go, so we can get to the stores before the usual rush of people,” Mana stated happily, hurrying off to grab his coat as well as Gackt’s jacket.
“Are you wearing good walking shoes, Gackt?” Yu~ki asked teasingly, watching the vocalist with amused eyes. Kozi, Kami, and Yu~ki had surrounded Gackt the second Mana had walked off.
“The last time I went shopping with Mana, I didn’t get to go home for a good six hours. And then he had to pick up just two items,” Kozi said, grimacing slightly, “I ended up carrying around at least twenty shopping bags stuffed to overflowing with various things. Mana is one of my best friends, and I adore him, but it’s really dangerous to go shopping with him.”
“I know; I’ve gone shopping with Mana before,” Gackt said wearily, running his fingers through his auburn hair, “I couldn’t say no. I mean he just needs to buy a scarf.”
“A scarf,” Kami said pensively, tapping his fingers lightly on the back of his other hand as he thought, “In that case, you can probably expect to be home just before dark. That is if everything goes smoothly.” Kami was just about to say more when Mana flounced back over, his knee-length black skirt fluttering lightly around his stocking-covered legs.
“What is everyone talking about?” Mana asked coolly, toying with the ends of Kami’s long hair. His blue eyes were blank as he stared at each of his band mates in turn.
“I was just saying how happy I am that you asked me to go shopping with you,” Gackt said quickly, not wanting to tell the truth and hurt Mana’s feelings, “Kozi, Kami, and Yu~ki were agreeing that it’s great when they get to spend time with you and they said they wouldn’t have minded if you had asked one of them.” Gackt lightly bit his tongue, waiting for the guitarist’s response.
“Is this true?” Mana questioned softly, letting the dyed orange strands of Kami’s hair fall back into place.
“Yeah, Mana, of course it’s true,” Yu~ki said cheerfully, lightly hugging Mana. He was careful not to muss the doll-like man’s dress though, knowing quite well that Mana didn’t enjoy having his clothes wrinkled.
“In that case,” Mana said merrily, clapping his lace gloved hands together, “Let’s all go together!” His loose blonde hair fluttered lightly with his movements, the prismatic strands glittering briefly in the sunlight streaming through a high set window.
They looked around at each other, waiting for someone else to hurry and say something to Mana. Gackt stepped back infinitesimally, very willing to let the other three get themselves out of going shopping with the guitarist.
“Well,” Kami began slowly, trying to avoid having to look at Mana’s hopeful blue eyes but failing in his attempt, “I don’t have anything planned. I’ll go.” Mana smiled lightly at the drummer, batting his long eyelashes before he turned to look at Yu~ki and Kozi.
“I think going all together would be great,” Kozi stated brightly, grinning widely as he managed to put Yu~ki on the spot. The bassist flushed a deep crimson as expectant eyes pinned themselves to his face; three out of four sets were shining with a light that screamed they’d kill him in a heartbeat if he said no and the last remaining pair of eyes looked simply hopeful.
“Group activity, here we come!” Yu~ki exclaimed, relaxing when everyone looked happy with his answer, “We need some more bonding time.”
“This is great. Now that everyone is agreed that we’ll all going, let’s hurry up,” Mana stated directly, handing Gackt his black jacket as he gestured towards the door way, “We only have about four hours before the best shops start to close.” He hastily walked off, his hair flaring out slightly behind his shoulders.
Kami snatched the three remaining jackets off of the wall, handing two of them to their respective owners as he shrugged on his own. Mana was waiting impatiently out in the hallway when his friends joined him, tapping one of his platform shoes lightly against the flooring.
“We should be afraid,” Kozi whispered into Kami’s ear, scrupulously watching the volume of his voice so that no one else could hear, “Very, very afraid.” The drummer nodded vaguely, glancing around as Mana led them out of the building.
The guitarist wove his way through the densely packed crowds of people, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to be sure that he hadn’t lost one or two of his band mates along the way. Miraculously, all of them were managing to keep up with him.
“I didn’t know a person could walk that fast in platforms,” Gackt commented casually as he strained his neck slightly to keep Mana in sight, nervously skirting around a group of teen girls. He pointed them out surreptitiously to his three friends, not quite wanting a scene in the middle of the sidewalk. Kozi and Yu~ki immediately ducked around the other side while Kami caught up with the vocalist.
Gackt and Kami hurried forward a bit, hoping to catch a glance of at least one of their band mates. They found Kozi leaning against a lamppost, looking very disturbed.
“Kozi, are you alright?” Kami asked worriedly, his eyes darting around as he hoped to get a glimpse of Yu~ki.
“I’m fine. I never want to experience that again, but I’m fine,” Kozi muttered, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. He shuddered slightly, sighing as he slumped ever more against the lamppost.
“I don’t think that we want to know what happened to you,” Gackt stated flatly, smiling widely when Kozi nodded his head in agreement, “Do you know where Yu~ki and Mana are?”
“I lost Yu~ki when we were dodging that group of girls. I was extremely distracted for a moment and he was gone when I looked for him. Mana probably hasn’t noticed that we’re missing yet,” Kozi said jokingly, smirking as he continued, “Knowing him, he wandered into a shop already. He’ll come looking when he wants our opinions on something.”
“Should we wait here for Yu~ki or go looking for Mana?” Gackt questioned contemplatively, fiddling absentmindedly with the zipper on his jacket.
“I say we go looking for Mana, because Yu~ki will probably do the same,” Kami suggested, glaring over his shoulder at a person who had just bumped into him. Kozi gave his vote to look for the other guitarist and the trio set off down the sidewalk again, though walking much closer together than before.
They were meticulously looking though shop windows, scanning the contents of the stores for either Mana or things that would catch the lovely man’s attention. Surprisingly enough, they didn’t find Mana; they found Yu~ki.
“Hey, where did you three wander off to?” Yu~ki questioned good-naturedly, pulling Gackt through a doorway as he talked. He caught Kami’s wrist and Kozi’s forearm, yanking them in as well. The group found themselves standing in the middle of a quiet, dimly lit store. A lone sales girl was perched on top of the counter, lazily watching them from behind her fashion magazine.
“We could ask the same of you,” Kozi replied smart-alecky, looking around their new surroundings.
“I didn’t wander off,” Yu~ki stated firmly, gesturing for the three to follow him, “I was found and dragged in here. Mana spotted me just after we were ducking around those girls. I figured it would be best if I stayed with him, since I didn’t see anyone else. Now it’s all of your turns to tell him what shade of blue best matches his eyes.”
The three followed Yu~ki back along the winding pathway he took through the clothing racks. At the very back of the store, Mana sat happily perched on a high stool. He had several dresses, skirts, shirts, and headpieces laid out in front of him on a countertop and a large pile of things he had already picked through off to the side.
“Oh good, Yu~ki found you three,” Mana chirped, his blue eyes fixated on a lacy dress. He had pulled his gloves off earlier and was running his bare fingers over the silk lace trim.
“Actually, Mana, they kind of found me. They were walking past the store and I pulled them in,” Yu~ki explained, looking very grateful for the coincidence.
“So I guess it was good I told you to go look for them,” Mana stated offhandedly, sliding off of his seat and holding the dress up in front of him, “Do you think that this would look good on me? I like the deep blue lace on it but do you think the light blue lace looks better?” He set down the first dress and snapped up on that looked only slightly different.
“It would look great on you and I like the dark blue,” Gackt said quickly, smiling at the guitarist. Mana nodded and carefully set the dress on top of a large pile of clothes.
“Would somebody grab those clothes and bring them up to the counter for me?” Mana asked sweetly, picking his gloves up as he hurried up towards the front of the store. Each of the four musicians stared at the pile, sizing the stack up.
“I’ll carry half,” Kami volunteered, not about to let Mana wait for them. He cautiously separated the top half of the pile, watching to make sure he didn’t snag any lace or ribbon. The drummer rushed over to where his friend waited, his long orange hair fluttering with his movements. Kozi quickly scooped up the rest of the clothes, just as careful as Kami had been.
The previous bored looking sales girl was frantically ringing up the prices, blushing slightly under the five sets of eyes that were all but focused solely on her. Mana handed over his credit card when the total was named, gesturing for someone to grab the bags stuffed with clothes off of the lightly polished countertop.
“Where to next?” Gackt asked in a slightly worried tone, fiddling with the handles on the shopping bag clutched in his hands. Yu~ki had another bag while Kozi had the last two. They agreed that someone, namely Kami, would have to try and keep up with Mana so he got out of carrying things that way.
“I know a really great shop that sells piles of scarves,” Kozi piped up, eyes flashing with hope that he would get enough of Mana’s attention to distract him from the rows of shops on the street.
“Is it nearby?” Mana questioned nonchalantly, his sapphire eyes flicking over to where Kozi stood, “I still have quite a few more stores that I want to look in and I don’t want to waste time with a long side trip.” The other four looked at each other, their confused looks blatantly apparent.
“Um, Mana, this whole trip was so that you could buy a new scarf,” Kami quietly pointed out, one of his hands tangled in long orange hair to keep it from blowing around in the slight breeze that had whipped up.
“While that’s true, you four also came along with me so all of us could spend a little quality time together. Now, let’s go to the next store and see if I can find a scarf to my liking,” Mana stated, turning on his heel to hurry down the sidewalk.
“I’m starting to think that Mana didn’t want to spend quality time with us or even really needed a scarf. I think he wanted people to haul around the stuff he’s bought,” Yu~ki said jokingly, smiling softly.
“That’s probably true,” Gackt sighed, “But at least he asked us instead of paying someone he didn’t know.” Kozi slowly looked over towards the vocalist, chewing on his lower lip as he fought to not laugh.
“We’re free labor, that’s what we are!” Kozi giggled, his cheeks pink from the aborted efforts to not laugh. The other three joined in his laughter, momentarily allowing themselves to be distracted. After a few seconds had passed and their giggles subsided, they realized they had lost Mana again.
“Well, he wouldn’t have wandered too far. I mean, we do have all of his stuff,” Kami optimistically pointed out, standing on his toes to look for Mana’s brilliant blonde hair in the crowd.
“Let’s go look for him,” Gackt said, leading his friends through the crowd around them, “I think that I’m going to have to buy something for Mana once we find him.”
“What, may I ask?” Yu~ki questioned, leaning closer to Gackt. Kami and Kozi slid towards the vocalist as well, nearly smashing the man in the process.
“I’m not quite sure about the exact thing I want to buy for him. Just something so we can track him more easily,” Gackt stated, smiling oddly.
“I know of something. It won’t help at first, but it would be useful if we lost Mana for a while and someone else found him,” Kozi said, frowning at the thought of losing his friend before brightening back up when he resumed speaking, “I saw something about it on television. They just inject a microchip under the skin and it has all kinds of identification stuff on it when you scan it.”
“Kozi, they do that with dogs, not people,” Yu~ki teased, throwing his free arm around Kozi’s shoulders, “Besides, Mana isn’t stupid. He’s more than capable of getting himself home. At least I hope he is…”
“I’m so glad to see that you’re all so sure of my intellect,” Mana snapped from behind them, startling all four of the musicians quite badly.
“How did you get behind us, Mana?” Gackt hurriedly asked, trying to switch the subject even though Kozi and Yu~ki had been joking. Mana glared, as if telling Gackt that he knew what the vocalist was attempting to do, before he cleared his throat and explained.
“I was walking along, thinking that you four were right behind me, when I turned and saw all of you were gone. Naturally, I back-tracked to see if I could find you,” Mana stated tersely, still slightly upset over the debate that had been taking place seconds before he arrived, “I, somehow, managed to pass you when I went back. That’s how I got behind you.”
“It doesn’t really matter now,” Kami said cheerfully, cutting off a remark from Kozi, “Let’s go see if we can find you a scarf, Mana!” He grabbed the man’s upper arm, careful not to wrinkle the sleeve, and dragged him down the sidewalk.
*Three Hours Later*
“Mana, can we go home now?” Yu~ki asked in a strained voice, staring at the guitarist with pleading eyes.
“I haven’t found a scarf yet,” Mana objected, pouting back in return, “I don’t want my neck to get cold. I might get sick.”
“At least then we could go home,” Gackt muttered under his breath, setting down the piles of shopping bags he was carrying while Mana looked through clothing racks. The vocalist pushed his limp chestnut hair out of his eyes, viciously glaring at the strands.
“You know, Mana, it is kind of getting late. Perhaps we could come back tomorrow,” Kami suggested, silencing his three friends with a frantically waved hand. Mana turned around, a hand on his hip, and stared at the four with blank blue eyes.
“But it might be cold and I might need my scarf tomorrow,” Mana countered, returning to his search. Suddenly, he grabbed something off the rack and marched over to where the scarves were arranged on a shelf. He snatched up a simple black one and all but ran to the cash register.
After paying for the two items, Mana flounced back to the slightly confused four. He was happily clutching the tiny shopping bag in his lacy grip, smiling happily.
“We can go now. I found a scarf,” Mana chirped, sapphire eyes flashing brilliantly, “Why don’t you all come with me to my apartment for tea, so I don’t have to struggle with all these heavy bags by myself?” They quickly caught a taxi; surprisingly enough they all fit and so did all of Mana’s purchases.
“Where should we set everything?” Gackt asked, watching Mana wander into the kitchen.
“Just put everything in the living room,” Mana called out, snatching his tea set out of the cabinet, “I’ll be just a minute; make yourselves comfortable.” They followed instructions, arranging themselves on a plump couch and chair set.
“I wonder what he found,” Kozi said in slightly worried voice, suspiciously looking around the other guitarist’s living room, “Because, if I remember correctly, I saw several scarves just like the one he bought.”
“Mana probably just found something he really liked and decided he could settle for a simpler scarf,” Kami stated, fiddling with the ends of his hair.
“I set the tea to brewing,” Mana cooed, strolling into where everyone else sat waiting, “I guess now would be a perfect time to show you the outfits I got for all of you.”
“Outfits for us?” Gackt questioned, leaning forward to better see what Mana had found.
“Yes. I know we’ll probably have to find nice wigs to go with these. Well, Kami’s hair is long enough that he won’t need one,” Mana said as he rummaged through all the bags, pulling out items and setting them on the floor, “Most likely, we’ll have to do a little tailoring on the clothes as well. But, all in all, I think that it will be a nice change of pace for a few photos.” He cheerfully held up a kimono, a shrine maiden outfit, and a pair of Victorian styled gowns in turn.
“What do you think?” Mana asked brightly, gesturing at the now straightened clothes laid over his coffee table. And all he got in response was four completely blank stares.
*Out in the hall, after everyone (except Mana) has left Mana’s apartment*
“I want to know just how he managed to grab all of that with out us noticing!” Kami exclaimed.
Author’s Note: I don’t know how long Mana would need to buy things. I just thought that this would be funny. ^_^ I hope you agree. Does anybody know if they did the microchip implants on animals when MM was still together? I’m not sure, but it made it in anyway. And I wasn’t insulting Mana in anyway, (In my eyes, he’s just about perfect) but the little…chitchat about his ability to get home was funny. (At least to me) And as for the clothes at the end, most Malice Mizer fans should know to which outfits I was referencing. Gackt was wearing a kimono, not a shrine maiden outfit, right? ^_^