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“Did you arrive, Elysia?”

On the day the play I had received a ticket for was showing, upon arriving at the meeting place, I spotted Selian dressed in casual clothes. Instead of the uniform she often wore when we were together, she was wearing a pink frilly dress that I rarely saw her in, lightly cinched at the waist to subtly highlight her figure, and high heels which she usually claimed hindered her running. Her hand, waving in my direction, was adorned with a thin bracelet that shook along with it.

Seeing Selian all dressed up like this made me realize once again that she was quite the beauty.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, I just arrived as well.”

“By the way, why did you insist on meeting here? Couldn’t we have just come together from the dormitory?”

It was the weekend, and since there were no particular academy schedules, it would have made sense to leave the dormitory together. For some reason, though, Selian had made a point to arrange our meeting at the fountain in the city.

“Walking together is nice, but having a set time and place to meet has its own charm.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of charm that was, but if Selian was satisfied, I figured it wouldn’t be an issue.

“We still have a lot of time; shall we go to a café while we wait?”

The play was set to start at 4 PM, but the time was just barely past 1 PM. Since we had already eaten lunch at the Student Restaurant, I suggested visiting a café to pass the time.

“Umm…”

However, instead of responding to my suggestion, Selian placed her finger on her chin and stared at me intently, deep in thought. She even lifted her arms to check for any stains on her outfit, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Now that I think about it, Elysia has always worn the uniform.”

“Uh… right?”

I noticed I was always in uniform, and I hadn’t seen much casual wear myself, but truthfully, I wasn’t in a position to say anything. After all, whenever I went out, I was always in uniform, and the only other outfits I had were a few casual shirts and gym clothes.

Although I’ve gotten somewhat used to wearing a girl’s uniform, I still felt uncomfortable about picking out and wearing girl’s clothes. Even though I knew the day would come when I’d need casual wear, I had never gone out to buy any.

“Alright, let’s go clothes shopping for you today. Come on, follow me!”

With an eagerness reminiscent of Anne, she grabbed my arm and started leading me. I briefly hesitated about whether to follow her, but it was only for a moment. Honestly, there was no point in resisting; Selian’s strength was far more overwhelming.

*

“This is the brand where I often shop for clothes. I’m sure you’ll find outfits you like here.”

The place Selian took me to was one of the stores specializing in women’s clothing. Even I, who had only studied women’s clothes through texts, recognized this brand.

The store was quite spacious, stocked with all sorts of clothes and accessories. It seemed to be a popular shop, as many customers were already browsing through the items inside.

Although I had gone shopping with friends before, I had never personally bought any clothes. I had always stood back and watched my friends buy outfits, commenting things like, “That looks good!” and “That’s pretty!”—that was the extent of my involvement.

So there I stood, unable to move or decide what to look at first, just glancing around aimlessly in the middle of the store. Since Selian had wandered off to a corner to check out clothes, I had no choice but to inspect the nearest rack.

What caught my eye was a dress similar to the one Selian was wearing. So this was a brand she liked; it was the same one!

Feeling that a dress was too much, I moved on to the next display. This time, there were flouncy skirts on display. Some were even shorter than the skirt I was currently wearing, looking as if they might require cautious walking. Naturally, I passed on the skirts as well.

After shifting my gaze around several times, I finally spotted some clothes that met my standards. It seemed that due to my time as an assassin, I was naturally drawn to dark, plain clothing. I picked up a pair of black pants and held them against my waist in front of the mirror. The black pants were unadorned aside from the brand logo on the back.

I thought about checking out other options but quickly realized that they looked too similar to the pants I was already holding, so I stopped. I might as well buy a few t-shirts that matched these pants.

“Did you find anything you like?”

While I was choosing pants, Selian also seemed to have found something nice, holding a flowy garment in her hands.

“Yeah. Just like you said, there are a lot of nice clothes here.”

Of course, to me, all the clothes looked the same, but it didn’t cost me anything to give that little compliment, so I didn’t mind.

As I lifted the pants I had chosen to show Selian, she only gave a fleeting glance at what I was holding and said nothing. Instead, she brought her clothing close to my waist.

“I think this will suit you. Why not try it on?”

“Huh? You mean the pants?”

At my question, Selian snatched the pants from me, then handed me the skirt she was holding. When I remained still, she pulled me toward the fitting room and simply shoved me inside.

Of course, I knew what she intended. She was clearly testing the skirt on me. I was just too shy to acknowledge it. Even though they were both skirts, the experience of wearing a school uniform versus a casual outfit felt different.

Peeking through the fitting room curtain, I met Selian’s gaze. I slightly shook my head, trying to express that I wouldn’t wear it, but Selian instantly shook her head in response, as if dismissing my feelings.

Right. It’s better to just get it over with; I’d wear it and be done.

Surrendering, I unzipped the school skirt and let it drop to the floor. I took a step, placed the skirt onto the shelf, and tried on the skirt Selian had given me. It felt strange, somehow even though they were both skirts, this one draped more freely.

With no mirror to check how it looked, I opened the fitting room curtain, and Selian was standing there, eyes scanning my outfit.

She then reached out, handing me yet another piece of clothing, and quickly closed the curtain again. I distinctly remembered her only having a single skirt just a moment ago!

Checking what was in my hands, this time it was a blouse instead of a skirt. I felt less resistance changing into it compared to when I was swapping the skirt.

Now I was dressed in the clothes Selian had picked out from top to bottom. Opening the curtain again, Selian scrutinized me once more.

Yet this time, she didn’t force me back into the fitting room, so I cautiously stepped outside.

“Doesn’t it look odd?”

I spoke up to break the silence from Selian. Truthfully, I preferred the previous pants, so I intentionally gave a negative comment, but it seemed that Selian had a different opinion.

“No, it looks great on you! Much better than the pants you picked earlier.”

She didn’t even mention the pants, but somehow, Selian knew my thoughts and had quick wittedly dismissed them. At this rate, it looked like I had no option but to buy this outfit.

“But I still want to try it on…”

“Nope! This outfit is definitely prettier!”

With her firm response, I couldn’t argue about the pants anymore. It was too late to back out, and I had to accept that I would end up buying these clothes.

In the end, I relented and went back into the fitting room to change back into my school uniform, holding the clothes Selian had chosen in my hands.

However, when I stepped out of the fitting room, Selian had another outfit in her hands.

“Selian?”

Why was Selian holding more clothes when I had already decided what to buy? Couldn’t she just try on the other clothes in a different fitting room?

I glanced over to see if the other fitting rooms were occupied, but there were many empty ones available.

“Here, try this one on now.”

She took back what I had worn earlier and handed another garment to me.

“No, I’m buying this one…”

“Nope. I think this one will suit you better. Hurry and try it on!”

What could I do when Selian said so? She was a girl, and it was clear she could judge better than me when it came to women’s clothes. Since she had picked something that she thought suited me, it would feel rude to refuse.

Eventually, I went back in and changed into the new outfit. However, it seemed that each time I stepped in and out of the fitting room, Selian ended up with more and more clothes in her hands.

…Was that just my imagination?

*

After trying on the myriad of outfits Selian brought, I finally got the green light for one set of clothes. In the end, I was wearing a plain white t-shirt, a flowy black skirt, and an ivory cardigan over it. I carried my school uniform neatly packaged in a shopping bag.

“This will be perfect for now. Let’s hurry.”

Time was already past 3:30 PM. I couldn’t believe we had spent over two hours in this fashion show. Unlike me, who was exhausted from changing clothes multiple times, Selian still looked lively, showing no signs of fatigue despite going back and forth with the clothes.

“Phew, yeah…”

At least, I was relieved I didn’t have to wear heels like Selian, as I hurried along to keep up with her. The theater wasn’t too far away, so I confidently thought we would arrive on time. Unless something else popped up.

“Waaah!”

It’s always at times like this something happens.