Chapter 20: Food Department Crisis!

Ryuu You may not know what's going on, so I'll catch you up. Me, Hemu, and Muri are stealing food from the the department store near by. We discovered the little town this morning, and were hungry soo... yeah. Just don't think too badly of us, okay?
"Shhhhh," I whispered, creeping along the trees. "Food department... food department... ah! There it is!" "Shhhhh!" Muri scolded. "We have to focus on quiet, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot." I responded, back to whispering mode again. Hemu giggled and shook his head, looking down. We followed his gaze to see an old man looking up into the trees, confused.
"Oh for the love of all that's holy!" Muri whispered, glaring down at the man. He tugged at me and Hemu's sleeves, "We'd better get going!"
"Wait! Brother, we could use him." Hemu smiled, looking down at the man, who was now walking away.
"Use him? What for? What use would an old geezer like that be to us?" Muri whispered.
"We can't just run into a store like this!" Hemu motioned to his dirty clothes and ashen face.
"He has a point." I whispered. Muri just nodded.
"We could be the grandfather of Ryuu, 'cos he looks young enough to be my grandchild." Hemu smiled, looking over me.
"Catch him then!" I whispered, pushing them out of the trees. I watched Hemu and Muri as they had a talk with the old guy. While Muri gave the old man his most innocent smile, Hemu worked a beaded neacklace out of the man's pocket. They thanked the old man, Hemu tucking the necklace in the folds of his clothing, slipping into an alley with Muri as the old man walked away.
I had only witness them do this twice, but I now knew a lot about their rules and their special power. Hemu and Muri had to be together while talking to the person. They had to have one of the person's belongings, something he touched recently. I saw a faint golden glow come from the alleyway as an old man staggered out. I stepped from the trees onto the sidewalk, waving at the old man. He winked back and walked slowly to my side, his back hunched, a slight frown plastered upon his face.
"I can see what mom was complaining about when she kept saying 'Sit up! Straighten your back!' like a crazy old woman." Hemuri grumbled, leaning on his walking cane. "Anyways, let's just get the food."

~|*_*|~

"Will you be paying with credit? Or cash?" the cash register lady smiled sweetly at me, ignoring Hemuri completely.
"Ummmm..... grandpa?" I nudged Hemuri nervously, "Are we using credit card? Or cash?"
"Oh! Ummm....." Hemuri jumped, rummaging through his bag.
"Oh brother." I muttered, shaking my head. Working with inexperienced little kids was hard.
"Is there something wrong?" A sweet voice entered my head. I looked up to see the cash register lady staring at me dreamily, her arms stretched towards me.
"Uh, no." I stammered back. "Is there something wrong with you?" Woah! Why did I say that? I was about to say sorry when Hemuri slapped the lady across the face. "Grandpa!" I cried, gasping. What had gotten into him? The shoppers in line behind us quieted, surprised by the old man's sudden outburst, gasping at the scene. The cash register lady snapped out of her daze, glaring at Hemuri.
"Please do not ever stare at my, uhhh.... grandson like that. I will not have him flirting with the likes of you. Keep in mind you do not have time for boyfriends on a busy shopping day like this. By the way, I will pay with cash." Hemuri handed the cash register lady a $50 bill and he grabbed our bags and walked out the door. "Toodle-oo!" He called back to me. "Oh, and grandson, please collect my change."
"Well, grandpa calls!" I chuckled nervously grabbing the coins from the lady and rushing out the door after Hemuri.