Bored, Yuuki left the clothes store. He leaned against a railing, absently gazing down at the floor below.
He suddenly whipped his head around, feeling as if he was being watched, yet there wasn’t a single familiar face among the passersby. Must’ve been my imagination. He thought.
“I beckon thee, minion!”
A few minutes later, Yuuki received a cringy DM from Yui, so he returned to the fitting room and called out to her.
“Voila!” Yui threw open the curtain, appearing in a light pink dress and white blouse.
As Yuuki found himself distracted by Lyucifer’s apparel, which was messily dumped inside a basket, Yui looked at him as if to say “go on already.”
“Wow, amazing.”
“You’re terrible at this. No matter, I expected as much. Alright, repeat after me ‘Yui is a Cyutie!’”
“Yui is a Cyutie?”
“Say it like you mean it.”
“Yui is a Cyutie?!”
“This isn’t a horror movie. Now, from the top.”
Yuuki wanted to avoid saying something stupid and get weird looks, so he changed the topic instead.
“Black is good but I think bright colors suit you best.”
“M-Mhmm. Alright, guess I may as well buy it.”
Yuuki was by no means an expert but he tried finding something to compliment, regardless.
Yui then turned toward the mirror, checking herself out as she pulled on the skirt’s hem to check the quality of the fabric. When she saw the price tag, however, her face turned sour.
“Although, they are both spring items, so they should go on discount soon. No point in buying them now.”
“Mhmm.”
“Also, you could be tricking me for all I know.”
Yui appeared surprisingly level headed.
I’d expect the literal devil to be a little more impulsive or is that asking too much? Yuuki thought as Yui suddenly pointed him in the face.
“Once more, repeat after me ‘Yui Astyutie!’”
“Yui As what?”
“You look confused. Baffled, even.”
Because I am. Is it... some kind of slang? Yuuki fired his brain on all cylinders, attempting to decipher what it could possibly mean.
Just as he was about to call it quits, Yuuki experienced a sudden revelation. He stepped toward Yui, slowly extending his arm toward her butt.
Yui jumped back, her face covered in shock. “Wh-What do you think you’re doing?”
“Checking for teeth. Ass toothy, and all.”
“It’s As-tyu-tie!”
Ass toothy wasn’t it, judging by her visceral reaction.
“Astyu... ty? Like the ty in itchy, tasty?”
“Do I look like a zombie to you?”
Shopping for clothes ended up getting put on hold, Yuuki’s question remaining unanswered. Yuuki walked outside the store and waited for Yui to finish changing.
“Next up we’ve got, uhh…”
Yui aimlessly wandered the place, looking all around. She seemed to have no destination in mind, appearing to be out of ideas.
After a few minutes, Yui spotted a giant bear plush sitting at the front of a knick-knack shop and began moving toward it.
“So cute.”
Yuuki watched Yui get sucked in by the knick-knack shop’s gravitational pull out of the corner of his eye as he carried on forward.
“Where are you going?” Yui ran up to him, tugging on his sleeve.
Yuuki didn’t like her condemning tone. He looked Yui in the eye and said, “No, where are you going?”
“You’re supposed to follow along with a warm smile, not run away from me!”
Why can’t you just say where you want to go instead of making me play guessing games? Yuuki, formally Yui’s servant for the day, argued no further, entering the store alongside her.
The inside was bursting with knick-knacks, toys and sweets. Yuuki had never seen anything like it.
Yui went down one of its cramped, narrow aisles with a familiar stride.
As she passed by a row of penguin bird-thing plushies, Yui gave each of them a quick tap on the head. She seemed awfully pleased with herself, even if it made her seem somewhat lacking upstairs.
“Astyute, huh?”
“Hmm? Too late for compliments now, buddy.”
Yui appeared to have taken it as a compliment. The darkness runs deep.
She proceeded to wander about the store, commenting on weird foreign dolls and shady anime merch as she went.
Eventually they stumbled across a modest literature corner, a book on blood types catching Yui’s eye. She asked, “What’s your type?”
“Normal.”
“Blood type, wise guy.”
“B.”
“B? Hmm, you don’t say.”
“What’s with the creepy grin?”
“Oh, nothing.” Yui said, passing him a side glance.
What’s so funny? Yuuki felt the urge to sock someone’s chin.
“What do you think’s my type?”
“Beats me.”
“Play along, please.”
She said, seamlessly switching from happy to angry. All because my answer wasn’t absolutely perfect. Yuuki went into thinking mode.
“AB?”
“Wrong.”
“B?”
“Wroong.”
“A?”
“Can you get anything right for once?” Yui snarled, heaving a comically heavy sigh. “Unbelievable. You’re a terrible judge of character.”
“Because I couldn’t guess your blood type?”
“You should really read up on these things, especially the proper way to treat an O lady.”
“Pff.”
“Don’t ‘pff’ me, bub” Yui took the book, flipping through it before showing it to Yuuki.
“O types tend to be careless, tardy and live in filth. Wow, literally you.”
“As if you’ve ever been to my room.”
“Doesn’t matter. I didn’t write the book.”
“Uh-huh, now can you read what it actually says?”
Yuuki looked over to the strengths section. “O types are caring, sisterly types, always willing to compromise with others for mutual benefit... yeah, bogus. Or maybe you’re just lying about your type.”
“And now he’s calling me a liar. Great.”
“You’re actually an AB, right?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Mina’s an AB.”
“There you go, treating me like the little sister type again. I really don’t think me and Mina are all that alike, contrary to popular belief.”
“I just thought it fits you, is all.”