Chapter 32

"Yuu-chan, what do you think of this outfit?"

As she said this, Shin’s mother brought over a new set of clothes—a subdued, mature color palette.

It had been six years since I became a girl. I’d worn all kinds of outfits by now, and I no longer felt any resistance to skirts like I had in the beginning. Still, even now, overly cute designs made me a little embarrassed to wear.

That’s why the modest outfit Shin’s mother was holding right now suited my tastes perfectly.

"It’s nice."

"You think so? Then why not try it on right away?"

Ever since hearing Shin’s story yesterday, I felt like the distance between his mother and me had shrunk. While there’d been a wall between us when cleaning up after dinner, now it hardly felt there at all. She was even helping me pick out clothes like this.

...Really, I didn’t understand why she was being so kind to me. She hadn’t even asked about my past since last night’s dinner.

"Come, come, this way!"

Guided by Shin’s mother, I stepped into the fitting room.

She kept bringing me outfit after outfit, which was a bit overwhelming, but this was my first time choosing clothes with someone else, so it felt refreshing. In the other world, I’d mostly just worn whatever was provided, and though I’d bought clothes myself a few times, I’d always been alone.

Before being sent to that world… back when I was little, my own mother would just hand me secondhand clothes from relatives. Even as I grew older, I wore whatever she haphazardly bought for me.

"I’ve tried it on."

"Yuu-chan, you look good in anything…"

When I opened the curtain wearing the outfit she’d given me, Shin’s mother smiled and said that. Her expression was gentle, without a trace of anything unpleasant.

Looking at her, I couldn’t help but think… she really felt like a mom.

Well, of course she was Shin’s mother, but what I meant was—she matched the image of what a "mom" should be.

Maybe Shin’s mother was just close to my ideal image of one. My own mother had always been high-strung, completely different from her, which might’ve made the contrast even stronger.

"Since we’re here, let’s go ahead and buy this one too."

"Eh, but the money—"

I hurriedly tried to stop her as Shin’s mother folded the outfit I’d just tried on and placed it in the shopping basket. This was way too much. There were already over five pieces in there.

"It’s fine. Today’s my treat."

"No, I couldn’t—"

"Really, it’s no trouble!"

She brushed me off, but I still felt awful about it. The clothes in this store weren’t cheap—the total for everything in the basket would be a significant amount.

"Shin’s mother, this is really too much—"

"Hmm…"

I tried again to refuse, but Shin’s mother suddenly made a troubled face.

"Um, is something wrong?"
"It’s just… calling me ‘Shin’s mother’ feels a little…"

Was that not okay? Maybe I should’ve used "-san" after her name instead.

"Well, at this point, why not just call me Okaa-san? Or, written as ‘mother-in-law,’ Okaa-san."

"...Huh?!"

As I hesitated, Shin’s mother dropped that bombshell.

Th-that was definitely a problem, wasn’t it?!

"N-no, I can’t possibly—"

Calling her "mother-in-law" would make it sound like Shin and I were married. But we were strictly just best friends—nothing like that.

"No good?"

"N-no way! I mean, Shin and I are just ‘best friends,’ after all."

Even if I’d said yesterday that we were close, we weren’t engaged or dating or anything.

"...Best friends? But for that, you two seem…"

Shin’s mother tilted her head in thought, then suddenly clapped her hands together as if realizing something.

"Boyfriend?"

"Eh?"

Boyfriend… a male friend?

...Well, I didn’t know why she’d switched to English, but technically, that was correct.

"Yeah."

"Right, right."

Shin’s mother smiled and nodded repeatedly. Seems she was satisfied now.

"Then let’s go look for more clothes!"

"Eh, we’re still going?!"

After that, I spent a while longer browsing outfits with Shin’s mother. Trying on clothes was exhausting, but… I think I had a little fun.