Shopping Is Hard for a Shut-In
"Y-you want me to…make you into a woman?"
The moment those words hit her ears, Lua's mind spun into chaos.
Every phrase she'd ever absorbed from countless media over the years—the staircase to adulthood, a woman's precious first time—kept flashing unbidden through her head.
"W-w-what do you mean by that? I…I really don't understand…"
"I-I mean exactly what I said."
Juju fidgeted, shoving her hands in and out of her hoodie pockets out of sheer embarrassment.
"I want you to teach me a little, Teach."
"E…eeeek…"
Lua's eyes spun in circles.
"Th-that's a little early, don't you think…? Or maybe I'm just not ready yet…"
"Ugh…"
Juju bit her lip in frustration.
"So you think so too, Teach."
"N-no, it's not that I don't want to…"
In the end, Juju clenched her fists and forced the words out with everything she had.
"I want to get prettier as a girl too, okay?!"
"……"
"……"
"…What?"
Tears welling in her eyes, Juju stumbled on, voice small and hesitant.
"L-last time at the gate… Himari thought I was a guy, remember…?"
"Ah, y-yeah, she did."
"Even if I'm not into dressing up, I figured I couldn't just leave it like this… so I wanted to ask you for some advice…"
Only then did Lua smack her own forehead.
So she'd still been stewing over what happened at the gate.
Well, getting mistaken for a guy would be a pretty big shock.
No matter how much she loved sports and stayed active like the boys, Juju was still a girl. Himari's mix-up must have accidentally poked at that feminine instinct to want to look pretty.
"Even if I can't match Himari or you, Teach… if I dress up a little more—clothes, accessories, whatever—maybe, just maybe, someone might call me cute…"
Juju hung her head, face flushed crimson as her voice trailed off. The sight itself was adorable, though she clearly didn't see it that way.
"…Yeah. I get it."
Lua gave Juju's shoulder a light pat.
"Sorry for misunderstanding. If that's what this is about, I'll help however I can."
"F-for real?"
"Yeah!"
Once Juju had asked for help, refusing simply wasn't an option for Lua.
"But can I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why ask me? You've got Himari, and friends from your class too, right?"
Juju answered with a bright, sunny smile.
"That's easy—you're the cutest person around me, Teach! Of course I'd ask you!"
"……!"
Lua clapped her hands over her cheeks and spun away.
Honestly, whether it was Himari or Juju, they both had this habit of just blurting things out like that.
And so, the shopping trip to draw out Juju's feminine charms began in earnest.
The two of them first stopped in front of a directory board listing all the stores in the mall.
"Where should we go first?"
"Ah, well, of course—"
Lua scanned the holographic directory this way and that. Juju waited patiently, putting her full trust in her.
"Of course…"
—Gulp.
In that instant, Lua realized the truth.
She'd been bluffing.
I don't even dress myself up—how am I supposed to help anyone else…?!
She had no fashion brands, no sense of style. The only experience she could claim was customizing game characters—and that was completely useless in real life.
"Teach? What's wrong?"
But she couldn't tell Juju she was giving up—not when the girl was counting on her alone.
Guess I've just gotta wing it…!
Lua pointed at a store on the directory that looked like a women's fashion brand.
"G-great! Let's go here!"
"Got it!"
Getting to the store meant pushing through the crowd all over again. But with the goal of helping Juju fueling her, Lua found the courage to forge through the throng.
They arrived at their target store.
A pleasant fragrance greeted Lua and Juju.
"……?"
"Where are the clothes?"
No matter where they looked, there were no clothes—only what appeared to be cosmetics.
"Oh my, little customers! Hello there!"
"Hiek?!"
Before Lua could get a word out, a cheerful clerk swept up and greeted them.
"Looking for anything in particular?"
"Ah, uh, w-we, um."
Lua froze solid on the spot, but the clerk guided them deeper into the store with a gentle smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Bath bombs are on sale today. Would you like to try some?"
Looking closer, the place Lua had chosen wasn't a fashion boutique at all—it was a store selling bath products and cosmetics. And of all places, it happened to be a brand notorious for its aggressively attentive staff.
"Teach, you brought me here 'cause—s-scent is important for a girl, right?"
Juju whispered the question. But Lua was already half-checked-out from the sudden clerk assault.
"Euh-uh-eh."
"So that's it, huh? I'll pick carefully!"
Juju helpfully translated Lua's alien gibberish all on her own. She stepped forward boldly and dipped her hand into the water where the clerk had dissolved a bath bomb.
"Whoa… that's cool. Wanna try, Teach?"
Juju rolled up Lua's sleeve, lifted her bodily, and helped her wash her hands. When Lua reluctantly splashed around a little in the sink, a lovely scent drifted to her nose.
Thanks. You can put me down now.
"Euh-eh. Ueh-euh-eh."
Fortunately, Juju understood Lua's baby babble perfectly and set her back down.
"Oh my, you two get along so well—like sisters!"
"Hehe, well…"
"Would you like to look at some other products?"
Luckily for Lua, Juju answered the clerk in her place, which took a real load off.
The problem was that Juju bought everything the clerk recommended. She had no idea what was good or what she needed, so she just purchased it all. Lua never even got a chance to stop her.
"Thank you! Please come again!"
When she came back to her senses, both her hands were full of bath bombs and sprays.
"Um… Juju, your budget…"
"I-it's fine. For becoming a charming woman, this much spending is…!"
"I-is that so?"
"……"
Juju checked her withdrawal history on her phone, her lips trembling.
"Yeah… I should pick the clothes more carefully…"
"Ah—look at the time…!"
Himari, who'd been enjoying a pleasant conversation with Sua, suddenly noticed the clock inside the café and snapped back to reality.
The hour she'd promised Lua was almost up.
"Senior, I'm sorry, but I think I need to go meet Teacher now."
"That's a shame. I was really enjoying our talk."
Of course, their conversation had mostly been about Lua.
"Why don't you come with me? Teacher will be happy to hear that you came, Senior."
"But…"
"It's fine."
Himari stood and held out her hand to Sua.
"If there's one more person by Teacher's side who cares for her the way I do—wouldn't that be a good thing?"
"……!"
Sua's eyes widened a little.
"Yeah. Thank you, Hoshikawa."
"Himari is fine."
Before they knew it, the two had grown close.
—Bzzzzz….
Just then, Himari's phone on the table vibrated. The caller ID read Teacher Han Lua.
"Yes, Teacher, this is Himari. I'll join you right away."
"Himari…"
At the strained sound of Lua's voice from the other end, Himari's eyes sharpened.
"Teacher?! Where are you? Is something wrong?"
"H…help me… third floor women's clothing…"
—Click.
The call cut off. Himari and Sua exchanged a look, then bolted out of the café.
"I don't know what's going on, but it sounds dangerous!"
"What if a gate appeared nearby…!"
Himari rested a hand on the hilt of her Japanese sword, and Sua pulled out the staff she'd folded into her pocket, unfolding it ready for use.
They raced urgently up to the third floor.
—Tap.
They stopped and scanned the area, and Sua pointed first toward one side of a store.
"There!"
"?!"
There sat Lua in a customer chair, on the verge of melting into a puddle.
"……"
"…Well, at least it wasn't an emergency."
Sua breathed a sigh of relief and put her staff away. Himari hurried over to Lua and supported her back.
"Teacher, what happened?"
"Well… we came to pick out clothes for Juju… but I couldn't decide what looked good… and then my stamina just…"
Looking over, Juju was scratching her head as she browsed clothes. Judging by the pile of tried-on outfits beside her, nothing had quite hit the mark.
"We bought a bunch of bath bombs and sprays earlier, so we decided to be more careful with the clothes."
As Lua said, the clerk and Juju seemed to have some differences of opinion.
"Boyish styles really suit you, miss."
"No, that doesn't mean I have to only wear that kind of thing…"
"Please recognize your own charms!"
Juju, who had no eye for fashion and no confidence, had run into an unusually stubborn clerk—and they were getting nowhere. Lua, stuck in the middle, was the only one suffering.
"Unnie, what's going on?"
"Huh? Sua? How'd you get here?"
Sua scratched her cheek, looking a little guilty.
"Well… I ran into Himari by chance. She said she came with you, so I tagged along to say hi…"
"Perfect. Help us out, pleaseee."
Lua clung to Sua's clothes. After hearing her sister's situation, Sua nodded.
"Sure. That's easy enough."
Sua sidled over to Juju.
"Hi there, underclassman Yu Juju."
"Huh? Ah? Who're you?"
"I'm Han Sua, Teacher Han Lua's little sister. Nice to meet you."
The two shook hands on impulse.
"N-nice to meet you…"
"Having a hard time picking clothes?"
Sua flipped through a few of the piled-up outfits, then deftly paired tops and bottoms, holding them up against Juju's body as she carefully made her selections.
"Yeah. This might look better than I expected."
"F-for real?"
Color returned to Juju's face.
What Sua had chosen was a soft, fluttery skirt that fell to the knees, a lace-trimmed top, and a denim jacket.
"Will this really… look good on me?"
"Just trust me, underclassman."
Half-doubting, Juju headed for the fitting room. Honestly, Lua tilted her head a little too—but the moment she saw Juju in the new outfit, she had no choice but to acknowledge Sua's sense of style.
The usual boyish vibe was gone. Standing there was a bashful beautiful girl, pure and simple.
"Wow, you're pretty!"
"Yes. It suits you."
When Lua and Himari both gave her a thumbs-up, even the awkward Juju started to smile, little by little.
"I-is that so? Heh, hehe."
Meanwhile, Sua handed her card to the clerk.
"She'll wear it out—please package the clothes she took off."
"Ah! Senior! No way! These are my clothes, so I should pay…!"
"No, no. This is a gift for my underclassman."
Blocking Juju as she tried to pull out her wallet, Sua leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"And at the same time—a little bribe to take good care of our Han Lua."
"……!"
Juju stared at Sua's face in shock, then suddenly bowed at the waist.
"Thank you, Unnie!"