Chapter 8: My Angel Looks Good in Everything

I was shopping for underwear with Koharu-chan at a women’s clothing store.

I was picking out bras that fit my size—F70—and according to Koharu-chan, my choices were too plain and boring.

I told her, “It’s not like I’m showing them to anyone. As long as they work as underwear, isn’t that enough?”

But she shot back, “Murakumo-kun might see them, you know! You have to choose properly!!” Then she launched into a passionate explanation: “Even if a guy says he only cares about what’s inside, if the underwear is lame, it still kills the mood!”

That... kind of sounded like a personal story with Nozomu-kun, didn’t it? I don’t think it’s unreasonable that I jumped to that conclusion.

Also, I’m still a guy inside, you know? I found myself thinking that too.

Anyway, in the end, I let Koharu-chan pick out most of them for me.

After all, neither of us really knows what Murakumo-kun likes, and apparently, I have no fashion sense. So I figured it was safest to let Koharu-chan choose what she thought would suit me.

Besides, she looked so happy and excited picking out underwear for me. Watching her like that made me happy too. I still didn’t quite get what was so fun about choosing underwear, but if she was enjoying it, then I guess it was fine.

The underwear she chose was mostly in soft, clean-looking colors like white, pale blue, and light pink.

I couldn’t help but think how different they were from men’s underwear, which tends to come in darker shades.

When I pointed out how everything she picked was in lighter colors, she said, “Because I think those suit you, Haru-chan!!”

Do I give off that kind of image...? Now I was curious what kind of image Koharu-chan had of me.

And, well, I didn’t tell her this, but... that guy has already seen me in my underwear plenty of times. Honestly, I think he’s seen me more often without underwear. And it’s not like he ever seemed particularly interested in what I was wearing underneath... but maybe now he will?

—No, hold up. Whether he’s interested in my underwear or not doesn’t matter. That’s right. It doesn’t matter.

Whether it makes him happy is irrelevant!! ...At least that’s what I told myself, but in the end, I just let Koharu-chan pick out what she thought would look good on me.

After we finished picking out underwear, we regrouped with the boys who’d been looking at outerwear.

The clothes they picked were... well, they were pretty easy to figure out.

But I get it. Even I would want a girl to wear clothes that show off cleavage or a mini skirt.

It’s still May, but it’s already getting hot, so I didn’t want anything made of thick fabric.

Also, even with the school uniform, I’d noticed it gets stuffy because of my size. Where, you ask? My chest.

So maybe that’s why women’s clothes often show cleavage—to help with the heat. That kind of made sense to me now.

Among the outfits, the pleated mini skirt really caught my eye.

It was cute, and it had that innocent yet subtly sexy vibe. I’d felt this with my uniform too—just the way a pleated skirt flutters can really stir a guy’s heart. I honestly think it’s the best.

After that, I pretty much holed up in the fitting room.

First up was a pure white one-piece dress. It hugged the waist and accentuated the upper body’s silhouette. It looked like something a beautiful girl would wear while standing in a sunflower field or meadow.

This outfit was 100% someone’s guilty pleasure. And surprisingly, the one who picked it out was Koharu-chan.

“It’ll definitely look good on you!” she insisted and pushed it into my hands.

Personally, it was way too girly for me, and I had a lot of resistance to putting it on.

But when I actually wore it and looked in the mirror, it matched my straight, soft black hair perfectly. I thought, “If I just wore a white straw hat with this, it’d be perfect.” It looked that good.

If I thought that much about it, it’s no wonder Koharu-chan and the clerk were practically squealing with excitement when I stepped out of the fitting room. I felt like I was seeing a new side of them.

By the way, Koharu-chan opened her arms and invited me to run into them like, “Come here!” but I politely declined.

I had a feeling that if I did that, something inside me would break.

That’s when I realized—the underwear she picked out earlier was in the same vein as this. White, clean-looking clothes to go with my black hair, and a girly aesthetic. That was the image she had in mind.

Next up was a mini one-piece dress that Nozomu-kun picked out.

The straps were just thin strings, showing off the shoulders and cleavage, and the hem stopped above the knees. It was a dress, sure, but it was a totally different style from the one Koharu-chan picked.

But this one was good in its own way. It was exactly the kind of outfit guys would like. In other words, I liked it too.

When I saw myself in the mirror, I actually looked really cute. I couldn’t help but do a little twirl.

I felt like I finally understood a little bit of why girls enjoy fashion.

I did think, though, “If only this wasn’t me in the mirror...”

The thin, light fabric made it cool and surprisingly easy to move in. Judging by how it looked in the mirror, it didn’t seem like the skirt would flip up enough to show my underwear, so it wasn’t bad.

Then again, even if it did...

When I came out of the fitting room, not just Nozomu-kun, who had picked it out, but Koharu-chan and the store clerk were all nodding in approval. Apparently, they liked this one too.

As a little bonus, I did a quick spin and let the skirt flutter. All three of them looked delighted and kept begging, “Do it again, do it again!”

Murakumo-kun, meanwhile, had his usual sharp gaze. Actually, he looked even grimmer than usual.

Then there was the combination of a slightly thick V-neck shirt that really emphasized my cleavage, and a mini pleated skirt.

That was Murakumo-kun’s pick. Probably a full-on display of his tastes.

The shirt was so tight I thought it might actually be too small. It clung to my body, clearly outlining my shape, with the chest and cleavage emphasized to the max. The mini pleated skirt highlighted my waist, hips, and thighs, and the way it fluttered was sure to catch a guy’s eye.

Looking in the mirror, it actually didn’t look too bad. I felt like throwing something over the top might help balance it out, though.

When I stepped out of the fitting room to show them, Murakumo-kun gave me his usual sharp once-over from head to toe. Koharu-chan praised it, saying it looked amazing on me, and the store clerk got so excited she lost the ability to speak.

For the record, Nozomu-kun was sneakily glancing at my chest when Koharu-chan wasn’t looking. Yeah, I get it.

If you’re a guy, your eyes just kind of go there before you even realize it. It’s instinct.

That’s how I ended up trying on all sorts of outfits, feeling more like a dress-up doll or a model in a fashion show than anything else.

The store clerk praised me with such joy and sincerity for every single outfit that I got totally swept up in it and ended up picking way more clothes than I needed.

She was really good at her job. From what I could tell, she genuinely looked happy and excited, not faking it at all.

But after choosing a bunch of outfits, I suddenly remembered that I’d need to trim it all down to fit my budget.

I was just starting to think about which ones to keep when someone picked up everything—clothes and basket—and walked straight to the register.

It was Murakumo-kun.

“Wha—Murakumo-kun!? I haven’t even decided which ones to buy yet!”

“I’m buying them.”

What the hell is this guy saying!?

“Well, I can kind of see where he’s coming from,” said Nozomu-kun, who turned around when he heard my voice.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I think he just wants to see Haru-chan wearing lots of different clothes. I mean, I’d be a little creeped out if someone did that to me, though.”

“Well, it’s him. If you look at all the things he’s done so far, that intensity kind of makes sense.”

“You’re really loved, huh? Woowoo” Nozomu teased, making a whistling noise.

No, no, no. Shouldn’t this be something I get a say in? Isn’t it kind of wrong for him to just unilaterally decide?

But then again, that’s how Murakumo-kun’s always been. One-sided, pushy, deciding everything on his own.

And for some reason… I’ve always just gone along with it.

—Wait, does that mean I’m the problem??

Before long, he came back carrying several large shopping bags.

“Haru.”

“...?”

“Show me when you wear them, okay?”

This guy, seriously… doing all this just for that. …He’s really hopeless sometimes.

Well, I guess when someone goes that far, you can’t just brush them off.

“—Okay, I’ll look forward to it. …Thank you.”

I answered, giving Murakumo-kun my best smile.

That was my mistake.

“Eh!!? Nngh, nnnh!!!”

Still holding the shopping bags, Murakumo-kun suddenly pulled me into a tight hug and covered my mouth with his lips.

Hey!! Think about where we are and what’s going on!!

I tried pushing him away, but he didn’t budge an inch.

Great, I thought, this is bad.

Then—

“Haru-chan’s clearly upset. Think about the time and place. We’re not alone here.”

Nozomu-kun said that, lightly smacking Murakumo-kun on the head. Murakumo stopped moving and finally let me go.

“Sorry, I got carried away.”

Murakumo-kun actually apologized—pretty rare.

“You okay, Haru-chan?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little surprised.”

“Murakumo-kun!! I get how you feel, but you can’t just do that all of a sudden!! You have to think about how Haru-chan feels, too!”

Koharu-chan was worried and spoke up, but then she said something unexpected.

“—By the way, Haru-chan, which one are you going to wear?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, let’s get changed already!”

Looks like Koharu-chan was already eager for me to try on the clothes we just bought.

Come to think of it, it all started from me wearing just a T-shirt and pants, so I guess this was the natural next step.

So we decided to change, but there was another problem.

Both Koharu-chan and Murakumo-kun made their own requests.

Koharu wanted me to wear the white one-piece dress; Murakumo wanted the low-cut shirt and mini pleated skirt. Wait—that’s exactly the first outfits each of them made me try on.

Nozomu, meanwhile, was watching Koharu’s expression and told me to wear whatever I liked.

Honestly, Koharu-chan’s recommended white dress was pretty girly, and no matter how much she said it suited me, I felt too much like a girl in it and was hesitant to wear it.

In that sense, Murakumo-kun’s blatant taste was actually a little easier to handle. It also matched my personal preferences better.

“Sorry, Koharu-chan, I’m going to wear what Murakumo-kun picked. The white dress feels too girly for now… but once I get used to it, I’ll definitely wear it!!”

I apologized to Koharu-chan, then went into the fitting room to change.

Nozomu said something like, “Oh, so you’re going with Murakumo’s choice after all,” but that didn’t really matter.

It just happened that Murakumo and I shared similar taste in clothes.

With all that drama, my outfit picking and changing finally finished, and before I knew it, it was already lunchtime.