Trying On Clothes

After we finished shopping at Unishiro, Seram was carrying two large paper shopping bags.

“…We certainly bought quite a lot.”

“Well, when you’re putting together an entire wardrobe, you naturally end up with quite a few things. I actually wanted to buy more, but—”

“Th-this is more than enough. Anything more would only place an additional burden on Jin-dono…”

“See? Seram-san keeps holding back like this.”

Apparently, Kaho had wanted to buy a few more things, but Seram had refused.

I could certainly understand why Seram felt reluctant to spend so much when it wasn’t money she’d earned herself.

After all, the combined cost of her underwear and clothes had already far exceeded the wages she’d earned helping me.

“As long as we’ve bought enough for her to get by, that should be fine. I can always come shopping with her again if she needs more everyday clothes.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Seeing that Kaho had accepted the situation, Seram let out a relieved sigh.

“It’ll be a hassle carrying all this around. Why don’t we head back to the car and drop off our bags first?”

“I don’t mind carrying them. I could easily carry this much around all day.”

“Even if you’re fine with it, you’ll be getting in everyone else’s way.”

Walking around with two enormous shopping bags would inconvenience other shoppers.

Besides, I’d bought a few additional clothes for myself, so I wanted to put my purchases away too.

With that decided, we returned to the parking lot, left our newly purchased clothes in the car, and headed back inside the mall.

“All right, that takes care of the clothes shopping. Now we can each go buy whatever daily necessities we need—”

“Hey. Aren’t you forgetting something? My reward?”

Kaho interrupted me, tugging at my sleeve.

She was smiling, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all. I could feel a strange pressure coming from her.

“I’m kidding. I’ll buy you something, just like I promised.”

“Yay! Sorry, Seram-chan, but would you mind coming with me to a store I want to visit?”

“Of course not. You’ve given me a great deal of advice today, Kaho-dono.”

“Thanks!”

The moment I agreed, Kaho broke into an excited smile.

The speed at which her attitude changed was downright frightening.

Once she’d obtained Seram’s agreement, Kaho hurried through the shopping mall and led us to a women’s fashion boutique on the fourth floor.

The store’s logo was so stylish that I couldn’t even read it. How was I supposed to pronounce that?

“…This isn’t an expensive store, is it?”

“Don’t worry. This place isn’t that expensive.”

Even as I asked Kaho, I discreetly checked the price tag on a nearby shirt.

It wasn’t as cheap as Unishiro, but at least a single shirt didn’t cost tens of thousands of yen.

For the moment, that was enough to reassure me.

Since it was a women’s clothing store, most of the customers were female, but there were also a few men who appeared to be accompanying someone, so I didn’t feel particularly out of place. Still, I might be mistaken for a suspicious character if I wandered around examining things on my own, so I decided to stay close to Kaho and Seram.

Kaho browsed through the clothes with practiced ease, as though she’d visited the store many times before.

In stark contrast, Seram and I followed her with considerable hesitation.

“This place is quite different from Unishiro.”

“Well, Unishiro is a store aimed at the general public.”

Even Seram, despite being a woman herself, seemed surprised by the boutique’s glamorous interior.

Nevertheless, whenever something pretty caught her eye, she couldn’t help picking it up or touching the fabric.

Perhaps she was more interested in fashion than I’d expected?

“Seram-san, are you interested in that dress?”

“N-n-no, not at all! Besides, something this cute would never suit me!”

When Kaho spoke to her, Seram shook her head vigorously.

The dress she’d been touching was a pale blue one-piece dress.

“What? What are you talking about? You’ve got such a great figure! Of course it’ll look good on you! Come on, let’s have you try it on!”

“Wait! Didn’t we come here to buy clothes for you, Kaho-dono!?”

“Trying things on is free, so you might as well! Come on, I’m going to try some clothes on too!”

As Kaho grabbed some clothes and began dragging her away, Seram looked toward me with an expression that practically begged me to save her.

I deliberately pretended not to notice and sat down on one of the chairs provided for resting.

I thought I heard someone calling, “Jin-dono!” from behind me, but I pretended not to hear that either.

“Jin-san, look! Look!”

While I was checking the weather forecast for the coming week on my smartphone, Kaho emerged from the fitting room.

She was wearing a lightweight knit top beneath a sporty black jacket, paired with a long golden-yellow skirt. It was an outfit suited to autumn.

“Isn’t that jacket a little too big?”

“Long, oversized styles like this are fashionable right now! This is stylish!”

When I pointed it out, Kaho raised her index finger and wagged it from side to side.

The expression on her face practically screamed that I didn’t understand fashion, which was slightly irritating.

Still, unlike Kaho, I didn’t visit the city very often, so I couldn’t really argue when she started talking about the latest trends.

“Anyway, where’s Seram?”

I’d spent some time looking over Kaho’s outfit and chatting with her, but Seram still hadn’t emerged.

Unlike Kaho, she wasn’t changing her entire outfit, so I couldn’t imagine it taking that long. What was holding her up?

“I’ll go check on her.”

Growing concerned, Kaho headed toward the fitting rooms to see what was happening.

“Whoa! You look amazing! Come on, let’s show Jin-san!”

“W-wait! I’m too embarrassed to show Jin-dono!”

Apparently, Seram had finished changing quite some time ago, but she’d been too embarrassed to come outside.

Kaho and Seram continued arguing in the fitting room for another five minutes.

Eventually, Seram seemed to give in and reluctantly emerged.

The pale blue dress complemented Seram’s golden hair and fair skin beautifully.

As Kaho had said, Seram had an excellent figure, and the dress alone made her look remarkably elegant.

The only thing that seemed out of place was the sword she held in her hand. If she’d been carrying a fashionable accessory like a parasol instead, she would have looked like a sheltered young lady from an aristocratic family.

Perhaps because she wasn’t accustomed to wearing such clothes, Seram looked terribly embarrassed.

“Well? What do you think, Jin-san?”

Kaho looked at me with an expectant gaze that carried a hint of pressure.

Even I could figure out what kind of response she wanted.

“You look beautiful. I think it suits you.”

“I-is that so?”

When I honestly told her what I thought, Seram’s face turned bright red, and she lowered her head.

Apparently, she wasn’t accustomed to receiving compliments like that. Considering how beautiful she was, I found that rather surprising.

“You didn’t compliment me at all when I showed you my outfit…”

While I was still surprised by Seram’s innocent reaction, Kaho directed a resentful stare at me.

“I think you look cute too, Kaho.”

“Thanks for the completely unenthusiastic compliment.”

When someone made it that obvious they wanted to be praised, it naturally made me less inclined to compliment them. I couldn’t help it.

After that, Kaho tried on several more outfits, and Seram ended up trying on more clothes along with her.

Although Seram had been embarrassed at first, she apparently didn’t dislike dressing up. Partway through, she even seemed to be enjoying herself as she tried on different outfits.

“Hmm. Yeah, I think I’ll go with the first jacket after all.”

After an hour and a half had passed, Kaho finally seemed to have decided what she wanted.

I wanted to ask what the point of all that time spent trying on clothes had been, but I knew bringing it up would only put her in a bad mood, so I kept quiet.

“All right. I’ll go pay for it, then.”

“Here’s my loyalty card. Make sure you use it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When I accepted her loyalty card, Kaho suddenly looked serious, as though she wanted to say something.

“I know. I’ve already taken it to the register. I’m planning to pay for it together with everything else.”

“Ooh! You’re surprisingly thoughtful for once, Jin-san!”

“Shut up and hurry up and get changed.”

I pushed Kaho toward the fitting room, venting some of my pent-up irritation in the process.

I ignored her protests about how I didn’t know how to treat a lady and went ahead to pay at the register.

But first, I needed to check the price of Kaho’s jacket.

“Twenty thousand yen, huh…”

It was a little expensive as a reward for a college student, but considering how much thought she’d put into coordinating Seram’s outfits, I supposed it was reasonable.

She was remarkably good at choosing a price that stopped just short of making me object.

I had a feeling Kaho would do quite well for herself once she entered the workforce.

By the time I finished paying, Kaho and Seram had changed back into their original clothes and emerged from the fitting rooms.

“Here you go. Your reward for helping us out today.”

“Thank you! Man, I was running short on spending money this month, so this really helps!”

Although it was a little early, I handed Kaho her reward, and she happily hugged the paper shopping bag bearing the store’s logo.

“And this one’s for you, Seram.”

“For me too?”

When I held out another paper shopping bag, Seram gave me a puzzled look and peeked inside.

“Isn’t this the dress I tried on first!? Jin-dono, I never asked you to buy this…”

“That’s true. I bought it because I wanted to get it for you. That’s reason enough, isn’t it?”

“…Thank you, Jin-dono. I’ll treasure it.”

When I stated that firmly, Seram, who had been holding back out of consideration for me, smiled happily.

She then hugged the bag containing the dress close to her chest as though it were something precious.

I was glad she’d accepted it.

After all, it would be a little disappointing if every single piece of clothing she owned came from Unishiro.

There was nothing wrong with having at least one nice outfit for special occasions.

Seram was a girl too, after all.