“You know…I’ve never picked my own clothes before.”
That was Blade’s first remark as he stood in front of the rows of racks.
“Fashion isn’t really that tough. You’re expressing yourself, you know? You should just wear whatever clothes you like, in any way you like. That’s all, really.”
Yessica’s cheerful tone made it sound so simple. Ever since his days as a Hero, Blade’s clothing and armor had been provided to him, preventing him from ever choosing his own. He didn’t even know how to choose or what kind of clothes he liked, for that matter. He knew selecting based on how much defense his clothing offered wasn’t the right move here, but otherwise, he was lost.
“Do you think I like this outfit?” He was pointing at the school uniform he was wearing.
“Well, if you don’t know, I can teach you a good way to figure it out.”
“Teach me, yeah.”
“If something makes your heart race, choose that.”
“My heart race? That’s a pretty high standard…”
“Okay, then how about whatever makes your heart skip a beat?”
“Skip a beat? I don’t think I really get that, either.”
Hmm… Wait a minute.
“I think I like this uniform,” he said, pulling at the one he had on.
“All right. What do you like about it?”
“The way it seems so normal!”
Uniforms were good. In fact, they were amazing. Having a uniform meant everyone wore the same thing. Whoever thought up uniforms was just incredible. Blade had so much respect for them.
Back in his Hero era, he was always wearing this one-of-a-kind armor, things that existed nowhere else in the world. It’d always break pretty quickly on him, though, unable to withstand the rigors of intense battle. Then he’d just switch to some other one-of-a-kind item. One after another. Endlessly.
“Hmm, okay. Then how about this?” Yessica hummed to herself as she held a shirt up to Blade’s chest.
“What’s this?”
“Just a regular shirt. The normal medium size, right off the rack. See?” She pointed behind her. There, on the rack, were several shirts with the same pattern, all lined up in a row.
“Wow. Awesome! It’s so ordinary!”
“So, here, I can pick out a normal shirt and normal pants for you, okay? You know, I’ll just choose stuff that matches.”
“Okay! Sure!”
Blade gave Yessica several enthusiastic nods. Somehow, being with Yessica made him feel totally natural. At ease, even.
Earnest and the others continued to tail Blade and Yessica.
“Yessica told us that we shouldn’t go shopping. I’m sure of it. But here she is! Shopping!”
Claire didn’t know what to do with herself. Previously, she had been branded a “crap dater” for taking Blade shopping.
“Yeah, but it’s not like she’s shopping for herself, is she?”
Earnest peeked inside the store to check. During Claire’s date, she had been excitedly running around, buying clothes and cute things for herself and making Blade carry it all for her. Right now, Yessica was just buying clothes for Blade.
“Oh. So if you help the guy shop for stuff, that’s allowed? Shopping as entertainment? …I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Huh? What’s the difference, though?” Claire didn’t seem to understand.
Earnest had no choice but to spell it out for her.
“Look, stay back, okay? This would be impossible for you.”
“Wow, harsh…”
“Oh… They’re both coming out.”
Earnest and the others quickly hid. The two of them had agreed to be tailed, so there was no need to hide, but… Well, it was just so awkward whenever their eyes met.
The couple left the store and headed toward the opposite end of the block, avoiding the streetlight their tailers were all stacked up behind. The group moved from one light to the next, continuing their surveillance as they maintained a constant distance from their targets. A child approached them, looking amused, but they shooed him away. A stray dog came up to pee on them, but they shooed it away, too.
“Blade looks so happy,” said Sophie.
“He’s interested in clothing?” said Earnest. “I’ve never seen him in anything but his school uniform.”
“Hmm. So a good woman knows how to make her man smile,” muttered Lunaria. “That’s pretty tough. I’m learning a lot today.”
“Well, I can make him smile, too,” protested Earnest. “I always do. Whenever I give him a massage, he’s always got this big, goofy smile on his face. Did you know that? Hey, did you? You didn’t, did you?”
“Oh, they joined arms again.”
“What?” Earnest turned around at Lunaria’s observation and glared at the couple.
“Whoa, don’t do that, Anna. We’re just here to watch over them, remember?” Claire did her best to calm Earnest down.
“Oh, they’re going into another clothing store. Women’s this time.”
“Huh? Isn’t that exactly what I did? Seriously, why is it okay for Yessica but not for me?”
“You stop glaring at them, too, Claire!” said Earnest.
“You’re the one making us.”
“Shhh! You’re both distracting me!”
“Hey, does this look good on me?”
“Looks great!”
“Okay, you pass.”
“Heh-heh!”
Blade knew how this process worked: The girl would try on some clothes and, once she opened the curtains, he’d give his appraisal. Whenever she tried a new outfit on, he had to say “yes, it suits you,” no matter what. That was enough to earn him a passing grade each time. He was starting to feel a little pleased with himself.
“How about this one?”
The curtains closed and opened again, and Yessica struck another pose. This time, the outfit covered a lot less skin than the previous one. But Blade didn’t hesitate. He knew the rules, and he followed them once again.
“Looks great on you.”
“No, not quite. You should say ‘wow, that’s sexy,’ or ‘that’s really hot,’ or something.”
“Oh, I should?” Another new lesson learned!
“Hey… Blade?”
“Yeah?”
Yessica brushed her hair back, stood straight up, and changed her pose again. “Does this rile you up at all?”
“Rile me up how?”
“Hmm, maybe it’s still a little too soon for you.”
“Too soon how?”
Yessica whisked the curtains shut again. “You can peek if you want.”
“…Why would I do that?”
Blade raised a confused eyebrow. Why would he want to peek? For what purpose?