V4: Chapter 29: It is a Shopping Day? (Part 1)

Chapter 29: It is a Shopping Day? (Part 1)

The shopping mall is bustling with people on this holiday. The food court, in particular, is especially crowded, and due to the holiday and its location, it's full of students. It's probably because most students are on summer break; my middle school is also closed, and everyone's enjoying the holiday.

My outfit today is an oversized shirt, aiming for a slightly casual look. You could say it's appropriate for the occasion, or simply reflects my mood. So, I came shopping today, but... I didn't come to buy anything for myself.

Besides, it's not the time of day to head straight to the food court at a shopping mall, so the reason I'm waiting here is... because I was meeting someone.

I spotted a figure with familiar long gray hair. Apparently, she wasn't the type of magical girl whose hair color changed during transformation.

I say this with the caveat that it was probably her, since this was our first meeting. But she was heading straight towards me, so I couldn't be mistaken.

"...Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait long?"

"No, I just got here."

That's true; it hadn't even been five minutes since I arrived.

I could have gone to the association to pick her up, but unusually, she wanted to meet outside, so I was waiting like normal student.

"Let's go look at clothes first."

"...Actually, the amount I've received is enough for me, you know?"

That's not how it works. After all, just a few days ago, Squire was...

★

"Not having clothes to wear to go shopping for clothes... Isn't that a matter of life and death for a girl your age?"

"...I didn't need them."

★

We walked through the crowd, which flowed like a stream. It was unthinkable before, but after the attack on the association headquarters, it seems Squire is now able to roam freely because of concerns about the security of that room and rights. It might be a nuisance for high-ranking government officials and those with sensitive issues they don't want investigated, but that's none of our business.

"Are you feeling alright? There are a lot of people around."

"...Not so good. But it's much better than you'd imagine, I guess?"

She still didn't seem to be feeling very well.

Naturally, the thoughts of everyone passing by were flowing into her... that's the state she was in. If I was in her shoes, with endless amounts of irrelevant information flowing in, I wouldn't want to go out normally.

"Could you stay close? That would make it a little better."

"So you're deliberately concentrating your magic on me?"

"That's right. If I peek a little too much, I'm sorry... okay?"

That much wouldn't be a problem at all.

To begin with, today's outing was more for my own ego... or rather, I'm dragging her around just to get a present for her.

Walking through the shopping mall hand in hand, we looked like close friends. At least, no one would ever guess that the top and leader of the magical girls were here.

"Squ..."

"Takamiya Chinatsu. Just Chinatsu is fine. It's not fair if only I know your name... right?"

Certainly, she must have known my name from the beginning, since she can read thoughts. Even so, the reason she never called me by my real name was because we always met in our transformed state... it must have been out of consideration on her part.

Actually, this is the first time we've gone out together normally.

"Well then, let's go, Nacchan!"

"Naccha...!? Uh, yeah. Let's go... Shizuku."

The summer heat isn't so noticeable inside the air-conditioned room. I take Chinatsu's cool hand and we start walking towards our destination. I have so many things to buy that I'm actually running quite short on time. I want to at least look at clothes before lunch.

★

I was struggling to decide what present to give Squi—, ahem, I mean, Chinatsu-chan, but I decided on something "personal." That's because she has very few personal belongings. Her room is simple, and she doesn't have many clothes. Or rather, she spends most of her time transformed into a Magical Girl.

I think this is a bit much. It's not about necessity or anything like that. The present and mission I came up with this time is to "paint her extremely simple room with my own style"...that's it.

No, I'm not going to put my merchandise in there or anything like that.

AEON is wonderful; they have everything from clothes to furniture... and even daily necessities and luxury goods. It's definitely the only place to gather various things in one day. 

Tomorrow, I also have to prepare for "that" event that's just a few days away.

"That's nice, really nice! Okay, next, this and this..."

"W-wait... I don't need that much, you know?"

"It's okay, we're not buying everything, we're just trying them on. Come on, let's go to the next one?"

I can just use a delivery service to pack everything, so I can buy whatever I want without worrying about the consequences. I like choosing my own clothes, but choosing clothes for other people is fun too...

It reminds me of Chloe, who used to treat me like a dress-up doll, but others are others. I am me.

"I thought Gothic or Lolita would suit you..."

"W-where even would I go... wearing this?"

The black dress with white accents suits her doll-like image so well, it's almost frightening.

It's good, really good... so cute I want to hug her.

Her fumbling with the unfamiliar platform Lolita shoes is also adorable.

"You already see, right...? It's embarrassing, so please stop..."

"Okay, next up!"

"You clearly don't hear me...!"

The next outfit I handed her, who surprisingly didn't seem entirely opposed, was what's known as "landmine-style" fashion. I figured this kind of fashion would suit her well because of her fair skin... and indeed, my judgment was correct.

"Next, a white dress and... something casual like this hoodie would be useful, too. You might actually look good in girls' clothes, too?"

"You said we wouldn't buy everything...!"

"Oh come on, it was just a white lie."

She must have known from the beginning that I was just going to dress her up and then buy everything for her. Even so, her protest was a small act of resistance... or rather, her words were protesting, but her heart was honest.

Then I played dress-up with her until lunchtime.

The bill was ridiculously high, but my mother had given me permission to use my earnings as a Magical Girl instead of my personal allowance for today's expenses.

In other words, I'm invincible today... I can shop as much as I want...!

As if to vent my usual frustrations, I bought clothes left and right, then carried the completely burnt-out Chinatsu-chan on my back and headed to the food court.

Well, she was already completely burnt out to begin with, so it's all good.

★

".....Tired."

"You must be tired. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

"The same as Shizuku's is fine..."

She's slumped over the table, looking exhausted even thinking.

We still have more shopping to do for lunch, will she last until the end at this rate...? Well, Magical Girls are tough... she'll be fine.

"There is something called mental fatigue too, you know?"

"Okay, okay, I'll go buy it, just wait a moment, okay?"

If she really didn't want to, she would have said so... so she must be enjoying this situation. She's been a bit of a shut-in, so her stamina just hasn't caught up. Besides, dressing people up is fun, but being dressed up takes quite a bit of energy...

Eating too much will probably make her sleepy, so takoyaki would be good. It's perfect for times like this, no doubt about it. As for drinks... the one at the shop next door looks interesting, so that'll do.

After finishing buying everything and returning to our seats, Chinatsu-chan sat up.

She looked really exhausted, which was understandable. Because of this crowd... Unforgivable...!

"Wrong target."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to give you some student-like memories..."

"Ugh, no... I won't be fooled, okay? Don't worry, I was having fun."

I tried to bring tears to my eyes, but no matter how much I tried to hide it, she could see right through me. Well, let's put that aside and eat the takoyaki. Since we're here, let's eat it while it's still piping hot...

"What's this drink?"

"It's Sunshine Tropical Juice, but it's only available in summer."

"I'm not asking for the name of the drink, .....But...."

A large glass with one... just one?

The juice was a yellow juice that gave off a tropical vibe. There's only one straw, but it has two ends. I guess it's what they call a couple's drink, I don't know.

"Th-this is..."

"No, I was just curious about the taste. There's no need for two people to drink it at the same time, right?"

I can go to a yakiniku restaurant alone, or a sweets buffet alone. I can even go to an amusement park alone. That's the kind of person I am, so whether it's for couples or kids, if I'm curious about the taste, I'll just order it... but maybe I should have restrained myself a little this time.

"Ah, ahh...!"

"Hahaha, I got to see an interesting expression. This alone made coming here today worthwhile... no, no, I'm just kidding! I'm just kidding!"

I tried to soothe her as she clenched her fists and her face turned bright red. If I teased her too much and she ended up hating me, I probably wouldn't be able to recover. Though I don't think that'll happen.

"…Let's drink it quickly."

"Yeah, I'm pretty thirsty."

Chinatsu-chan brought the straw closer to her mouth, looking a little sulky. Following her lead, I also brought my lips closer to the straw to drink the juice.

I sipped the juice from the straw, our foreheads almost touching. It was sweet and sour, the taste of youth… or so people say, but I doubt youth has a taste. That said, it was certainly delicious.

"It's fun, isn't it?"

"That's good. But today… it's only just begun, right?"

"…Yeah."

It was only just past noon, and we'd only bought clothes. There were still many other things we needed to buy. They say girls' shopping takes a long time…and since we also needed to buy furniture, it was bound to take a while no matter how hard we tried.

And, I also had something I needed to buy.

You'll understand why in due time.