Chapter 6: Beautiful Girl Goes Shopping at the Mall (Part 2)

"Ayumi-chan, do a little spin over there."

Without even wondering why, I just did as told, turning mechanically on the spot.
My pale pink flared skirt fluttered lightly, lifting a little.

"Perfect, Ayumi-chan! That glimpse of thigh is just right!"

"Ayumi-neechan, you look amazing this time too!"

"Alright then, let’s buy this one too."

"I see. Yes, I suppose so…"

While Mom and Kaname were giggling and having the time of their lives, I was completely worn out.
How many times had we repeated this same conversation? And how much longer would it continue?

The clock had already passed 3 p.m.
I hadn’t even eaten lunch yet.

After buying underwear, we went around to different clothing stores, hopping from one to another, and ended up with a mountain of clothes.

I was basically Mom’s plaything.
So this is how dress-up dolls must feel.
Now I kind of want to tell all the girls of the world: Don’t make people play dress-up without mercy.

To make matters worse, even Kaname—who’d refused to enter the lingerie shop—joined in when it came to picking out clothes, making it all the more chaotic.

They made me try on all sorts of outfits, and in the end, they bought nearly all of them. Naturally, that meant the money ran out.

Mom even whipped out her credit card in the end, determined to buy everything. And she did. A ridiculous amount.

Sure, I didn’t have many clothes, but this was overkill!

By the time the endless changing marathon finally ended, I was completely exhausted—practically dead on my feet.

"Ahh, being able to see Ayumi-neechan in so many different outfits—I’m the happiest guy alive."

"Don’t hug me just because you’re happy! People were staring, it was so embarrassing!"

"That embarrassed look is part of the flavor. Hugging you is delicious once, making you blush makes it twice as good."

…I have no idea what that means.

"Alright, Mama’s going to buy ingredients for dinner now."

"Wait, they sell food here too?"

From what I’d seen, the shopping mall “Mama Port” was full of stores selling clothes, shoes, and knickknacks. Oh, and there seemed to be a movie theater too.

"Not here—outside Mama Port. There’s a supermarket there."

"Huh. But wait, why talk about dinner ingredients when we haven’t even had lunch yet?"

"I had a hamburger, though."

Right. Kaname had been chilling at a burger chain, enjoying his meal while I was stuck trying on bras.

Traitor!
I went through such humiliation while he was living the good life…

Well, not that it was his fault or anything.

"As for me, I’ve already had my fill just from seeing Ayumi-neechan looking so cute!♪"

"You get full just from looking? That’s a level beyond ascetic monks."

"One day, Ayumi-neechan, you too will reach this level of enlightenment!"

Mom said that, then pulled three Noguchi-sans (¥1000 bills) from her wallet and handed them to me.

So she still had money… Well, of course she did—she just said she was going shopping for groceries.

"Mom, you still had money?"

Kaname seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

"Hehehe… The money I’ve been using so far was the 100,000 yen (~667$) Papa gave Ayumi-neechan, plus his secret savings, and some cash and credit cards I ‘borrowed’ from his wallet."

How much are you taking from Dad!?

That’s just cruel! He’s gonna be broke!
What’s he even going to do for lunch at work on Monday!?

"Anyway, putting that aside, Ayumi-neechan, use this money to grab something to eat."

I nodded and tucked the 3,000 yen (~20$) war fund into my wallet.

The black leather bi-fold wallet was the same one I’d used when I was still a guy, which made it feel a little mismatched now.

"Oh, and by the way, that money is the Sakura family’s household budget. Don’t waste it."

Says the same woman who just went on a shopping spree—with someone else’s money, no less.

I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Dad. Maybe I should comfort him when we get home…

"See you later!" Mom waved a hand casually, then dashed off with incredible energy.
Even though she was a mother of two and already in her late thirties, she sure was lively.

"Ayumi-neechan, what do you wanna eat?"

"Hmm… anything’s fine, really."

"How about Denny? I found it while I was wandering around earlier."

"Denny, huh? Sure, let’s go there."

Denny's was a family restaurant. A little pricey, but supposedly pretty tasty.

At this hour, it probably wouldn’t be crowded, so we could rest a bit too.

"Oh, wait—how are we supposed to contact Mom later?"

I didn’t have a cellphone. How were we supposed to meet up again?

"Ah, I’ve got one!"

"What!? You have a phone, Kaname!? And I don’t!?"

That revelation hit hard.

He’s an elementary schooler—and I’m about to start high school—and he’s the one with a phone?

And not just any phone, but a smartphone. A slick black one.

I’d always said I didn’t need one since I had no one to call, but… yeah, look where that attitude got me.

Maybe I should ask for one after all.

Denny was surprisingly busy, even though it was a bit before 4 p.m., that awkward in-between time.

But there were still some empty seats, so the two of us decided to go in.

"Welcome! And thank you for coming to Denny!"

A male staff member came toward us with a light, cheerful greeting.

"How many… how many in your party?"

The moment he saw my face, the man froze for a second. I noticed that even the customers near the entrance were glancing at me from time to time.

I don’t think I have that noticeable a face… I’m not particularly foreign-looking, and my hair is black. There shouldn’t be any reason for all this attention.

"Two."

I forced a smile and replied, hoping he’d guide us quickly—it was getting awkward.

The man’s expression immediately brightened into a full smile. "This way, please," he said, leading us inside.

We were seated at a table by the window.

For the record, the restaurant appeared to be entirely non-smoking—no smoking sections.

"Ah, finally I can sit down."

As soon as I plopped into the chair and set down my things, I said that aloud.

"We’ve had a long day, huh!"

Kaname sat across from me.
Well, he was partly responsible for why I was so tired! Teaming up with Mom, bringing out all those cute outfits, making me try them on…

"So, Ayumi-neechan, what are you going to eat?"

"Wait, I’m deciding now. Have you chosen already?"

"I had a hamburger earlier, so I’m full. I’ll just go with the drink bar."

"I see."

I opened the menu and scanned through it.

Hmm… I was starving, so I was definitely going for a hearty meal! The aroma inside the restaurant made my stomach growl even more.

"I’ll have this hamburger with rice and soup, and I’ll do the drink bar too."

"Ayumi-neechan, can you really eat all that?"

"Hey, you’ve always eaten about this much, haven’t you?"

I said that, pressed the call button, and quickly placed my order.

The female staff member who came over also widened her eyes slightly when she saw me, but she took the order without a hitch.

With the order placed, we had nothing much to do, so I watched the people passing by outside the window.

"Being here together like this feels kind of like a date, doesn’t it, Ayumi-neechan?♪"

"No way! We’re clearly siblings!"

"No, no, it doesn’t look like that at all. You’re shorter than me, and even if you’re the same age, it’s totally believable."

"Do I really look like a grade-schooler?"

"Hmm… barely middle school, I’d say!"

I’m starting high school this spring, and they’re calling me barely middle school?

I’d always had a baby face as a boy, but being told I looked like a grade-schooler was still a blow.

"Hey, Kaname. Do I really stand out that much?"

Even sitting down, I could feel people glancing at me.

"Yeah, you probably stand out a lot. I don’t know… it’s like you’ve got this aura."

Aura? What does that even mean? Some kind of fighting power or something?

I’m terrible at fighting. Never had a fight before, but I know I’d lose badly.

If Dad had an aura, fine, I’d get that—mostly in a battle sense. But as a regular person, I don’t think I have anything like that.

"It’s more like… a celebrity vibe? Even from behind, people can tell, ‘Ah, this girl’s definitely cute.’"

I still didn’t quite get it, but at least I understood that I stood out.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve ignored Mom’s choices and bought less flashy clothes myself.

While I was thinking that, our order arrived.

The hamburger on the sizzling plate went sizzle-sizzle, making an incredibly appetizing sound.

I was so hungry that I couldn’t help but smile.

"Itadakimasu!"

With that, I took a bite of the hamburger.

Delicious~♪

Another bite.

Delicious♪ Hunger really is the best seasoning!

But one thing was bothering me.

"Hey, Kaname. If you keep staring like that, it’s really hard to eat."

"Ah, don’t worry about it."

"I do worry! Why are you staring at me eating so much? Do you want some?"

"No, I just thought it looked really tasty."

"Huh. If you want some, I could give you a little."

I wasn’t sure why he was saying “tasty” while looking at me, but if he wanted a bite of the hamburger, I didn’t mind giving some.

I cut off a bite with my knife, speared it with my fork, and held it out to Kaname.

"Here."

"Wha—this is an indirect kiss with Ayumi-neechan!"

"Do siblings even say that normally? If you say something weird, I won’t give it to you."

"No, I want it! Feed me! And if possible, please do ‘aahn’ too!"

"Don’t get too carried away. Here."

Kaname made a slightly disappointed face, but he opened his mouth and took the bite from the fork.

"How is it? Tasty, right?"

"Yeah, I feel really satisfied."

Kaname sometimes says things that make no sense at all. Especially today, now that I’ve become a girl, it’s even more pronounced.

We spent a while quietly eating hamburgers and rice.

"I’m full now."

About a third of the rice and a third of the hamburger were left.

Why?! I was so hungry, but I couldn’t even finish a full portion!

"See? Ayumi-neechan, your body’s smaller now, so your portion sizes are smaller too."

"Oh… I hadn’t realized that."

"Then… can I have what’s left? Is that okay?"

"Uh, sure. Did you get hungry too, Kaname?"

I pushed the hamburger plate toward him.

"Nope, I want it because it’s your leftovers, Ayumi-neechan."

"W-Wait! I’m not giving it to you! That sounds weird!"

"Nope, not giving it back~♪ I’ll enjoy the leftover rice with your saliva-covered fork."

"Stop saying it like that! It sounds really perverted!"

It wasn’t like this when I was a boy. How did things get so messed up? I just wanted to believe he was teasing me.

Despite the way he said it, Kaname cleaned up all my leftover hamburger and rice.

Y-yeah… you shouldn’t waste food… Damn it. If I weren’t so tiny, my little brother wouldn’t tease me like this.

After resting a bit and passing time at the drink bar, we got a call from Mom on Kaname’s phone, so we left Denny.

When we stepped outside, the sun had already set, and the stylish street lamps softly lit the area.

Mom had returned from putting the groceries in the car, so she was empty-handed.

"Shall we head home, then?"

"Yeah."

"Ayumi-neechan, did you have fun today?"

"Um… not really?"

"Mom’s shocked~! You should have said you were happy to go shopping with Mom."

"Mom, I really did have fun!"

"Oh my, then tell Mom later what a good time you had, okay?"

Finally, we were heading home.

It had been a day full of embarrassment. Today was, in my mind, utterly humiliating. The way Mom spent money so freely was spectacular, though I usually never see anything like it.

It had been a long day. Thinking back, I had become a girl this morning, and on the same day, I bought girls’ clothes. Proper girls’ clothes. Even a bra.

Am I adapting too well? Am I a pervert? No… I want to say no. I had no choice… It was like an unfortunate accident.

We got into Mom’s car and headed home.