Chapter 129
Chapter 129
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 128 Underwear Shopping
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I kept studying with the club members, focusing on the written exam subjects.
As new students, the written subjects carried a bit more weight than the others anyway, and most of the classes were theory-heavy to begin with?
"Exams are such a hassle..."
"...You're not really studying much, are you, Young Lady?"
"That's true, but a hassle is a hassle. With exams just a week away, how could it not be?"
"Ah......."
It was one of those situations where everything felt like too much effort.
Exams might normally be no big deal, but feeling annoyed about them was perfectly natural.
Honestly, this was annoying enough that I could blame it on the Academy rather than myself.
Right now, all I could do was lie in bed and kill time.
"No."
"Why now...?"
"Lize, hear me out. I just realized something—if exams start, won't that actually be a good thing in its own way?"
"...Is that so?"
Lize looked at me like she was wondering what nonsense I was thinking this time.
But this time, it really was a solid thought.
I felt a little wronged that she was giving me that look before I even explained.
"Listen."
Anyway, still lying on the bed, I turned Lize's gaze toward me.
And then...
"On exam days, classes end earlier than usual, right? You only do the exam periods, and skip the rest!"
"......"
"You finish the morning exams, and that's it. Isn't that actually great?"
I said it with a bright smile.
In fact, during midterm season at the Academy, once the morning exams were done, regular classes ended right away.
"Isn't that pretty nice? No need to slog through boring afternoon classes, and once your exams are over that day, you head straight back to the dormitory?"
"...I wish you'd at least study for the exams while saying that."
"Come on, what do I need to study for? It's all stuff I already know."
"I hope you don't jinx yourself and mess up on the actual exam."
Lize was pretty worried, but I had zero intention of slipping up on the midterms.
Because it was me, after all?
I'd studied diligently since I was really young, and I'd put in serious effort on this kind of thing, so there was no way I'd screw up now.
Besides, messing up an exam wouldn't ruin my life or anything.
Though I did need to upgrade my dormitory room.
"Hehe... dormitory upgrade..."
"Young Lady, does that mean they'll move you to a better room right away...? Or is there a limit to how much you can upgrade at once...?"
"...Probably not."
"But... if you upgrade the dormitory grade too much at once, won't they drop you back down just as fast if your grades slip later?"
"...No, come on, surely not..."
Surely not... right?
When I first inquired about dormitory rooms, they only mentioned upgrading based on exam scores.
But... if it worked like Lize said, wouldn't that be too harsh?
Wouldn't that make it impossible to study hard for exams?
If you prepare diligently but only get a mediocre grade upgrade, of course your motivation would tank.
"...Lize, don't jinx it like that."
"Understood."
Anyway, we were passing the morning with that kind of idle chatter.
I'd been studying nonstop during the weekdays and was pretty tired... so I planned to really rest this weekend...
"Ah."
"...What now?"
I'd planned to rest, but then I realized there was something else I needed to take care of.
I'd been so focused on exam prep lately that I'd overlooked it, but it definitely needed resolving.
It was frustrating, pretty uncomfortable, and honestly, after holding out for days, it was getting hard to ignore.
"Let's go buy some underwear!"
"...Pardon?"
It hadn't grown to the size of someone's head or anything, but my old bras were starting to feel tight.
With nothing else to do today, and no better time than a weekend of lounging around, I figured now was it.
*
So I headed out with Lize.
Someone had kept insisting on wearing her maid uniform, but since I'd firmly told her no maid outfits, she was in a shirt and an ankle-length skirt.
Holding her hand, we strolled slowly around the Academy campus.
"Doesn't it feel like forever since we last walked around just the two of us, Lize?"
"...It does seem that way."
"Lately, we've been studying with the club members nonstop, so I can't remember the last time it was just us hanging out. We used to do this all the time before."
"...Eh."
We were just holding hands and wandering the Academy paths, but honestly, it was pretty fun.
Just like I'd told Lize—lately, we hadn't had many days like this.
I'd come out to buy underwear that fit my grown size, but this was a good chance to enjoy some maximum Lize time and have fun.
Of course, I still needed to buy the underwear.
The ones I had on now were already making my chest feel stuffy... and besides, we'd talked about going shopping together before?
"Lize, where should we go first?"
"For now... I think handling the urgent thing first would be best. You've been uncomfortable for days..."
"Hmm... yeah, you're right. It's pretty bad even now."
"If you'd prefer, we could visit somewhere else first..."
"No, let's do what you said."
Lize was right.
No point putting up with the chest discomfort while wandering around.
Better to tackle the most urgent and important thing first.
And so, Lize and I made our way to the underwear shop inside the Academy campus.
Clothing stores might carry some, but... picking and buying underwear carelessly would definitely be a bad call.
We headed to a place that was pricey and well-known.
"I always think this, but going out shopping for clothes is such a hassle."
"You're saying that, but... don't you have quite a few clothes in your wardrobe?"
"Yeah, but wearing the same outfits over and over would look bad in all sorts of ways. It was unavoidable. Actually, I think you and Mother picked out more than I did."
"You've picked out plenty too, Young Lady. The dress and cardigan you're wearing right now—you chose those."
"Hmm... did I?"
I did have a lot of clothes.
Lize was right that some were my picks... but I remembered Rozalin choosing most of them.
Probably the majority in my wardrobe matched Rozalin's tastes.
Well, "tastes" just meant normal, pretty, cute stuff anyway.
As we chatted like that, we finally arrived at the women's underwear specialty store.
"...Shall we go in?"
"Yes."
The moment we stepped inside, we were surrounded by nothing but underwear.
Rows of bras and panties of all kinds... even some downright risqué styles.
"Ooh."
Maybe it was my memories from my past life, but it felt a bit erotic somehow.
Not enough to make my face flush with intense embarrassment, though.
I'd been living as a woman for over ten years, seen plenty of women's bodies, and spent tons of time around them—so no way was I some pervert getting excited or shy over a display of underwear.
"Hmm... what about something like this? Nice and plain design, right?"
"...Yes."
"The Academy uniform shirts are white, so... it's tricky. Should I just get white ones?"
"I think you should go with whatever's most comfortable for you, Young Lady."
"Hmm..."
We were browsing around, checking out underwear designs with Lize, but for some reason, she was holding back more than usual.
Normally, when we shopped for other things, she'd chime in on every item right by my side.
She was extra quiet today, which felt a little off... probably because it was underwear.
Maybe she figured letting me pick what I liked was best.
"Wow... whoa... Lize, Lize, check this out."
While looking around, I spotted one piece of underwear and quietly called over the silent Lize.
"...Young Lady?"
"Whoa... this is wild, right?"
"Th-that doesn't seem like the kind of underwear you'd wear, Young Lady..."
I held it up to show Lize as I spoke, and that's how she replied.
Lize had always treated me a bit like a kid at times, and since I actually was younger than her, it was familiar.
Especially since what I was holding was bright red lingerie with holes punched all over it?
It was so exposed, I wondered if it even functioned as underwear. Honestly, you don't get to see stuff like this in person often.
"It's fascinating."
"...Young Lady, even so, that kind of underwear..."
"I'm not getting it. You know my usual style anyway, right? Something decent and plain is fine."
"...Yes."
It was a specialty underwear store, after all.
The kind of place bound to have every variety imaginable, which made it all the more intriguing.
I'd come for underwear to wear myself... but seeing all these types kept sparking weird thoughts.
The kind of thoughts that would get me scolded hard by Lize or anyone else around—and maybe even a smack on the head—if I said them out loud?
Of course, I wasn't an idiot, so I kept them to myself.