Flip The Script

"You don't have to follow me around the mall."

 

 

 

 

Hinako gave her brother a pat on the head, "Who's going to carry your bags?"

 

Toshi rolled his eyes as he walked towards the mall from the train stop, "I dunno. I happen to have been working out."

 

Hinako nodded and gave her brother a sideways look, "Yeah... I noticed. Look Toshi-kun, I'm getting concerned. I get the whole self-defense thing, but if you get too many muscles well... We know what those guys are like."

 

Toshi gave her a sideways glance back, "Not a clue."

 

Hinako slowed down for a second then eyed her brother from behind, "Uhh... well..." She moved to catch up, "Let's just say big guys don't get married as much."

 

Toshi blinked a bit, "Huh?"

 

Hinako sighed and looked defeated, "Every girl knows the guys with huge muscles are sluts and while every girl loves to play with a bad boy, nobody MARRIES the bad boy."

 

It was Toshi's turn to slow down, "Say what now?"

 

Hinako let her head hang low, then slowed down until her brother caught up, "Look. Women are always up for... you know... but as we get older we get it under control and so while we like to have fun when we are young, as a woman ages she seeks stability. Everyone knows men who work out are sluts. Fun to play with, but it's strictly ride and fly."

 

Toshi came to a stop as the conversation turned serious. He snapped his fingers, "Oh, you mean pump and dump."

 

Hinako thought for a second, then burst out laughing, "Hah! When'd you get so funny?"

 

Toshi's lips formed a thin line as he pressed them tight together, "Unintentional, let me assure you." He spotted the mall up ahead and resumed walking that way, "But seriously, I can handle this."

 

Hinako rolled her eyes, "But seriously, I don't want you getting ripped off. One look at you and the salesman will undoubtedly try to sell you whatever gives him the highest commission."

 

Toshi squinted out the corner of his eyes, "Are salesmen usually male or female?"

 

Hinako looked sideways back at him, "Uh. Could be either or. Why?"

 

He looked thoughtful, "I was just wondering if you should call them saleswomen."

 

Hinako curled her upper lip, "That just sounds weird. A salesman is a salesman. It doesn't have a gender. Why would you add 'woo'?"

 

Toshi shrugged, "I... suppose it doesn't matter."

 

Toshi sped up as they got to the entrance and grabbed the door handle. Hinako came to a stop as Toshi opened the door for her. They both came to a halt, staring at each other, "Brother, what are you doing?"

 

Toshi looked at the door then back at Hinako, "Opening it-" He paused, "Ah. Right."

 

She stepped through and walked up to the inner door to open it for Toshi, "You're getting weird again."

 

Toshi stepped through trying not to allow his annoyance to show through. It faded when he saw the size of the mall, which seemed to dwarf anything he'd seen before. He was surprised at the sheer size of the place and how many people were there. Another thing that stood out was how few masks people were wearing, "Hey sis, what happened to COVID?"

 

Hinaka looked at her brother, "Co-what now?"

 

Toshi looked back at her, "Co-" He cut himself off, "Sorry. I think my brain was remembering something wrong again." As they walked along, Toshi stopped at a kiosk to check out the map, "This place seems rather packed. Is something special going on?"

 

Hinako shook her head, "Seems typical for a Sunday to me."

 

Toshi nodded, "But, wouldn't it be easier to just order things online?"

 

She looked at him funny, "You mean, with a computer? Like what?"

 

He shrugged, "I dunno... clothes? food? I noticed when I tried to order stuff online they just gave a phone number to call."

 

She reached out to touch his forehead, "Feels okay."

 

He brushed the hand aside, "Will you stop that!"

 

Hinako closed her eyes, arched her eyebrows up high, took a deep breath, and then let out a long-suffering sigh, "You are my brother. You are trying to remember how things work, but seriously, who would order food that might rot before it got to you? Or clothing? What if you had to return it because it didn't fit? How expensive would that be to try stuff on and return it?" She squinted for a second, "And what if you damaged it trying it on, and the place you bought it from noticed, then you'd have to pay for it then they'd return it and charge you more shipping." She rolled her hand in the air, "I mean, you'd have to be made out of money to afford that. It's far cheaper to just show up at a store." She gestured up to the third, possibly fourth floor, "Besides, everyone shows up here. Why would you want to skip going to the mall?"

 

Toshi bit his lower lip then decided to go all the way down this rabbit hole, "Well, what if, theoretically, there was some sort of deadly pandemic? Like Ebola or something?"

 

Hinako stared at Toshi, "Are you turning into a germaphobe? And what's Ebola?"

 

Toshi sighed and shook his head, "Never mind. Let's get this done." He started to make a beeline for the electronics store.

 

Hinako followed along, glancing at the display windows of various stores as they walked along, "Uh... we got all afternoon. If you wanted to check out something else, that's fine."

 

Something caught Toshi's eye. It was big, flashing, and full of video screens, "I think I'll take you up on that." Toshi turned and started walking towards the video arcade.

 

Hinako did a double take, "Ah-buh-wha?" Toshi walked over to the token machine and started to fish out some money. Hinako stood at the entrance and looked back and forth between the Young Mister store across the court, then back at Toshi, "Uhh..." She walked over to join him, "You feeling okay?"

 

Toshi nodded, "Yeah. We're not in a rush, are we?"

 

Hinako thought about it, "Ahhhh... nope. Not. At. All." As Toshi grabbed his tokens for the games, Hinako traded in some money as well, "So... what kind of games do you like?"

 

Toshi started to wander about, "I don't know. None of these seem familiar."

 

Hinako nodded and looked around, "Okay... Well... I'm into the racing games myself."

 

Toshi nodded, "Not too good at those." He paused and came to a stop in front of a game with a funny name, "What's that?"

 

Hinako looked at it and squinted, "Oh... uh... Side scroller. I think you get power-ups and fight your way through enemies and bullet hell."

 

Toshi clicked his tongue, "No. The name. Woowolf?"

 

She nodded, "Yeah. It's like the movie. You can turn into a half-woman, half-wolf hybrid."

 

Toshi paused and spoke carefully, "Not... werewolf?"

 

She thought for a bit, "Wear... wolf. No. Never heard of a movie called that. However, sounds like a cool idea. You aren't cursed. You wear the wolf." She motioned like she was putting on a coat, "Maybe it's something they sell. Wow. Now that sounds like a cool anime." She gestured like her hands were paws and made a dramatic pose, "Wear Wolf! Like the Sailor Rangers, but they turn into giant monsters." She smirked and got a devilish look as if thinking naughty thoughts, "Ooo... or a wolf version of the Power Scouts. Now that'd be- Err." She coughed then looked curiously at Toshi, "Do you remember them? You used to love magical boy shows."

 

[EDITOR: In case you haven't noticed, wolf boys are this world's version of cat girls. For some reason I see Power Scouts: Wear Wolves as this anime where you have all these glittering, magical boys who put on wolf ear headsets, then they get sideburns and claws and fight monsters while their clothes get ripped to shreds. If I must suffer such nightmarish imagery, I will inflict it upon you as well.]

 

Toshi shook his head, "Uh... no." For some reason, this conversation just made his heart sink. He glanced around at row after row of video games that looked like a warped version of games he used to play in his youth. One couldn't help but notice that it seemed to be mostly girls playing. He was beginning to resign himself to just picking at random when he did a double-take. He spotted a dusty game in the corner that looked familiar.

 

"Now that game, I think I know."