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CHAPTER 9
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
Four o’ clock, this is the exact moment when Hikaru finished getting ready for dinner. With Amber taking up much of their time readying herself, she didn’t finish until thirty minutes after Hikaru, absorbing a grand total of two hours preparing. This agitated Hikaru, the last thing he wanted was possibly being attacked inside Mrs. Poliani’s home. He eyed Amber while she placed one of her high heels on.
“This isn’t a date, you know, it’s not necessary getting all dolled up,” Hikaru irritably stated.
“For your education, people will indeed think we’re a young couple,” said Amber. “And I told you already, it’s a fancy place, and you’re still underdressing.”
“What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?”
“Sorry, but jeans and a plain white shirt isn’t exactly screaming I’m wealthy and important. I told you already, materialize a suit.”
Hikaru gazed down at his clothing— to him it looked good enough and nothing else mattered.
“You just better make sure you flash that wad of cash around,” Amber continued. “Because you’re definitely not dressing up to par, and they might not allow you inside.”
Hikaru gazed at fake euros he’d materialized, then looked at some originals that Amber previously afforded him. After making sure each euro appeared exact, they managed perfectly forging the currency—still— for some reason, Hikaru didn’t feel right about the idea.
“You know, we really shouldn’t be doing this,” he mentioned, but Amber ignored him, rolling her eyes while strapping on her last shoe. “What if we get caught?”
“Will you stop worrying so much, it’s getting on my nerves, besides, no one’s aware when we use our powers anyway.”
“Correction, no one seems to perceive when we perform outlandish feats with our powers, but these bills, they’ll see.”
Hikaru stood up from the couch, then placed the money inside his pocket. Amber got up as well, her height almost even with his. As she stood, staring at Hikaru’s clothing, Amber lightly shook her head.
“Alright, here’s our plan,” she said, raising her hand to prepare an entrance. “We’ll make a passage amidst the dining room so we can slip in undetected. Afterwards, we’ll walk to a table and say we were seated there, got it.”
“If you ask me, this is very risky. Just because that man on the streets in New York didn’t see our powers, doesn’t mean no one else will. Fact is, the guy could have been a nut or in denial, plus, we haven’t tested this theory on enough people to pull such a stunt.”
“Well I didn’t ask you, and if we are spotted, it’ll be a good thing—at least we’d be able to inform people that we’ve been stuck in this crazy mess for days.”
Hikaru sighed as Amber opened a passage despite his warning against it. She stepped inside, carelessly entering into the restaurant with Hikaru behind her. As both awaited reactions when arriving in the middle of an aisle near people dining, everyone gawked at them for a moment. Hikaru got shaken by this, believing the crowd could see Amber’s passage, but as they snootily turned their heads to eat and gossip instead of screaming in fear, it became apparently obvious that none of them spotted the opening, nor did anyone perceive their spontaneous entering as unnatural. The portal closed on its own accord, and Amber grabbed Hikaru’s hand, leading the way to a table.
This place is unbelievable, Hikaru thought, taken by its magnificent beauty.
There were golden sparkling chandeliers over painted high ceilings, and gorgeous white fabrics hung from every table, as eye catching silverware sparkled atop the cloth; beautiful chalices filled with red and white wines rested neatly on creased nice fabrics, and sounds from forks clinking against porcelain plates lingered underneath soft music from catering violinists.
“Lets sit here,” said Amber, placing her purse on the pure white floor beside a seat.
She pulled out a chair and sat down, then Hikaru followed suit, while staring at tailored fancy clothes that each male wore. Realization instantly occurred; like Amber mentioned before they’d left, he’d dressed far too casually for blending in with the crowd. A couple sitting some tables away ogled at him in discuss, and making matters worse, Amber accurately anticipated this situation.
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“You see, I told you to dress better,” she hissed irritably.
Hikaru shook his head in compliance that he agreed; mainly so Amber would shut up. Although many people paid no attention to his lack of posh attire, Hikaru felt like every eye inside the restaurant now locked its sight upon him.He became very eager to leave, but feared causing anymore of a commotion.
“Will you stop worrying,” whispered Amber.
“How can I not worry,” Hikaru said, keeping his voice low.
Amber ignored him and picked up an unopened menu in front of her, so he did the same. After gazing at plenty of unrecognizably highly priced foods, he gently tapped his foot on top of hers to get her attention.
“What?” Amber sighed lowly, peaking her head out left of the open menu.
“I don’t know what any of this stuff is.”
“Then I’ll order for you.”
Hikaru slightly shuddered, much concerned that Amber would order something unbearable to eat, but he had no choice other than making a wild guess at it himself, so he waited patiently. Amber placed the menu back on the table. Hikaru stared at her for a moment, then looked downward at decor table fabric. A waiter approached reasonably close, eying them both oddly.
“And what would the young couple like to order?” he asked.
Hikaru noticed that this assigned server spoke Italian, which wasn’t strange, but he also noticed that he’d understood every word the waiter conveyed, making it odd since he didn’t know much of any romance languages.
“Pasta Con Pomodoro E Basilico per due,” said Amber.
“And what to drink?” Asked the waiter.
“Acqua,” retorted Amber.
As their astute server turned around slowly and walked down the aisle, Hikaru saw another employee intercept him. Using his sixth sense, he eavesdropped on their conversation. He could feel the vibrations of both voice’s on his tongue, almost making him want to speak aloud every word these employees said.
“That table is reserved for Mr and Miss Venici, so why are those two kids sitting there?”
“It was not I who placed—”
“I don’t care who sat them down, just make sure that our special guest, who should be arriving in five minutes have a table.”
The waiter raced to an empty dining table and began clearing it of dirty dishes. Hikaru let out a breath of relief after figuring out they wouldn’t be moved nor questioned.
(Didn’t I tell you to relax,) Amber spoke through telepathy, eyeing Hikaru’s nervous expression. (I swear, you’ve fought in life threatening battles, yet you’re afraid of sneaking inside a restaurant, now that’s plain silly.)
(You’re just lucky the dreamstorm decodes language barriers, otherwise this plan would have blown up in our faces.)
Amber smirked at Hikaru’s snide remark. “Actually, it wouldn’t have, for your information, I’m half Italian and can speak it fluently,” she whispered.
Hikaru stared blankly at Amber’s face, trying to figure out what happened with the timid yet innocent girl he once knew. His concentration of thought immediately broke down as the waiter brought them twin cups filled with water, then set wine glasses on the table.
“Your food will be ready in a moment,” he said, and after those few words, he trotted off quickly.
Hikaru set up straight, finally deciding that everything appeared as if progressing properly.
“Isn’t this music lovely,” said Amber, smiling constantly.
Hikaru agreed without saying a word, the restaurant shined luxuriously, but guilt still meagerly struck against his conscience; truthfully, they’d gotten their steward in some amount of trouble. The music played on while everyone sat, stuck between individually elegant conversations. With ten minutes passing quickly, the waiter serving Hikaru and Amber’s table came rushing plates of food out, then paced off quickly after serving them, for the more important guest (the Venici’s) who arrived fashionably late. Hikaru dug into his plate immediately, while Amber eyed him in shock, stunned by his hastiness.
“Show some restraint please.”
“What, I’m hungry.”
“I understand, but this isn’t a casual place, remember.”
Hikaru slowed down…. As he and Amber ate, neither conversed much, until finally, they both finished dinner. Their appointed host came back, then wrote out one paired billing on a tiny piece of white parchment, casually placing it face down on the table before storming off to Mister and Miss Venici. Amber picked up the paper, while Hikaru pulled counterfeit money out of his side pocket.
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it,” she said, raiding through her purse. She pulled out euros and placed them on the table side. “Well, that should cover it, let's leave.” They both got up, pushed their chairs in, and paced through the restaurant. Hikaru opened the front door, graciously holding it for Amber to walk through first. “Such a gentleman,” she scoffed, pinching him roughly on his cheek while passing.
Hikaru shot off an aggravated glare, then began pacing beside her along the sidewalk. “So what’s up with you paying?” he asked.
“I decided that you were right,” said Amber. “It’s not a good habit to use our gifts for unlawful purposes just because we can, so I paid them with real money instead.”
Hikaru placed both his hands inside his pockets while walking, then thought thoroughly about what Amber told him.“Wait a minute, you got those real euros from your mother’s purse.” He frowned up with an expression of disappointment. “That doesn’t make you any less of a thief, in fact, I think it’s worse stealing from your own parent.”
Amber stopped walking, and Hikaru halted because she did. “If you must know, I replaced the money in dollars from my allowance I’d saved up, so mind your own business!”
Hikaru ignored her short burst of anger, then opened a passage to Nara, Japan.
“Well lets go, there’s something we need to investigate… thoroughly,” he said ominously.
Feeling heavy seriousness in her partner’s voice, Amber grabbed his hand, and they both walked inside.