“Hey, why have we been walking around aimlessly for the last, what? half-hour?”

Mayumi pulled out her phone and responded, “It’s been a lot longer actually, almost fifty minutes now.”

“Hey, why have we been walking around aimlessly for the last fifty minutes?”

“Yaesu mall doesn’t open until ten, so we have a bit of time.”

“Then… Then why’d we come two hours early?”

“I wanted to explore the city a bit.”

“...I don’t get it, the city looks the same here as in Kashiwa. What’s so special about it?”

Mayumi put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment, “Nothing really. I suppose it’s just nice to break away from the everyday monotony.” 

“Break away from the monotony, huh…” I guess she’s not wrong, but two hours early at this time in the morning? 

Katsumi turned his eyes away from Mayumi and took in the sights of the busy capital-city. 

Sure it’s a different ward, but it’s all the same. 

Side-by-side the two wandered the busy streets aimlessly. Even though the city never slept, there was a fresh atmosphere about it. As if the new day brought cleaner air and an excitement for what was to come along with it. However, the same couldn’t be said for the person slouching next to Mayumi. 

A light breeze blew against them, Mayumi’s hair fluttered in the wind which was to be expected. But this light wind pushed up Katsumi’s bangs, and when they fell back down they nearly covered his eyes entirely. He ran a hand through his hair to fix it and muttered, “I could seriously use a haircut…”

“Why don’t we stop somewhere and get you one then?”

“Nevermind, I think I’m good. Wouldn’t want to get made fun of in class for trying to change my style.”

“You sure?” Mayumi was tapping on her cellphone, then turned her screen to show a marker on a map, “There’s a place that’s open nearby, we could get rid of your nasty mop of hair.”

Did she just say ‘nasty’? Has she always thrown in comments like that? 

“It’ll be good for you, trust me.” Mayumi gave a little smile, trying to reassure him. 

What is she, some government lapdog trying to brainwash me?

After a few more minutes of walking, Mayumi turned her phone-screen back to Katsumi, “Take a look at these, what’d you think?”

On her screen was an array of different hair styles, ranging from some he’d seen quite often to others that looked plain terrible on purpose.

“You want me to choose one…?”

Mayumi nodded. 

It’s been so long since I’ve gotten one… Ha— she’s probably right, it’ll be good for me. 

Katsumi stared at the phone for a moment longer then tapped on one. 

Mayumi turned the screen back to her and inspected his choice. She looked back up at Katsumi then back at the screen.

“I think it’ll look good on you.”

Why’d that make me feel… weird… Katsumi shook away the feeling.

The pair walked for five minutes and arrived at a quaint looking hair salon.

“Isn’t this place for women?”

“No… look, there’s a guy in there.”

The man in question looked very feminine. Katsumi gave her a side-eye. 

“I’ll be with you, it’s fine.”

With a sigh he reluctantly followed her in.

A woman with a blonde comb-over greeted them with a smile, “Welcome, are you here for a walk-in or do you have an appointment?”

“He’s here for a walk in,” Mayumi answered.

While Mayumi began arranging the appointment Katsumi looked over the hair salon. It was mainly occupied by women and that one feminine looking man he saw. But with this closer look, near the back, he saw something wild.

Katsumi blinked twice, thinking he might be hallucinating.

What?

In the back was an extremely muscular foreigner—barely fitting in his seat. The man was smiling and laughing with the hair-stylist. 

Katsumi decided to ignore this and turned his attention back to Mayumi and the lady at the counter.

“He’s been refusing to get a hair-cut for so long that you had to drag him out?” The woman joked. 

“Yes… something like that…”

The lady made another comment, this time directed at Katsumi, “I don’t know how you got such a sweet girlfriend with hair like that.”

Why can’t I go anywhere without being berated? I mean it’s clear she doesn’t mean any harm with that but still… Do I look that bad?
“We’re not together,” Mayumi said. “He’s just my friend.”

“I see… Well maybe after I fix him up you’ll wanna be with him.”

Katsumi shook his head no, which caused the woman to laugh.

“Alright, we got a spot open for you, follow me.”

Mayumi remained in the seating room while Katsumi followed the woman back to a booth.

 

“Alright, what’d you think?” The hairstylist asked.

Katsumi and the woman stepped into the waiting room—where Mayumi had been for the last twenty minutes.

Mayumi’s eyes widened slightly, “it looks great.”

The hair-stylist lady gave a triumphant smile.

Katsumi’s head had been converted from an unstyled mass of hair to a masterfully done middle-part. 

I have a weird idea that Arata had been crushing over guys online with this style and wanted to see it in real life… It looks nice though.

“And remember the direction for styling it in the morning, alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

 

“I didn’t expect it to be this crowded, I thought most people shopped online these days.”

“I guess it’s a bit surprising.”

The duo stood at the main entrance looking in at all the shoppers milling about.

“Ready to go?” Mayumi questioned, looking up at Katsumi. 

It’d be pretty stupid to say no, we’ve come this far, “Lead the way.”

After a short moment of walking, Mayumi paused and stared at the name of a store. She looked down at her phone then back at the store front.

“Are we going in here? ‘S-t-o-ra’?”

“It’s pronounced ‘Stola’,” Mayumi nonchalantly corrected, “It’s a women's clothing store.” 

He glared at her out of the corner of his eye, “Come on.” Katsumi passed her by and headed in.
She quickly caught up with him and added, “It wouldn’t kill you to be a bit more tactful.”

“It might.”

I really don’t like this… the employees probably think it’s weird for me to be shopping here… giving me weird looks. He gave a sideways glance at the women working the cash-register. There were a few other women working in the store but contrary to Katsumi’s paranoia, none of them seemed to care about his presence. 

Wait, what am I thinking? He turned his attention to Mayumi. The workers think we’re together, this isn’t weird at all. Why am I getting so nervous and acting like a kid? 

Mayumi was bent forward silently inspecting a pair of jeans. Some hair fell in front of her face, prompting her to brush it back behind her ear. 

It’s like she’s so peaceful and kind… The problem though is that whenever she talks it’s to correct something I’m doing or saying .

“Murakami, you’re staring.”

She’s been kind before… I don’t think it’s fair to say she’s mean all the time.

“Murakami,” Mayumi sighed loudly, “Murakami hold this.” 

“Hah—? What?”

Mayumi had suddenly thrust two pairs of jeans into Katsumi’s arms followed by a look of disapproval.

What was that for? Did I offend her somehow? Katsumi did a scan of the store and saw that one of the nearby employee’s was giving him a similar look. He quickly averted his gaze and caught up with Mayumi who was now halfway across the store.

“Here, hold these too.”

I didn’t know clothes could weigh this much… and we’re only at the first store.

Mayumi studied the pile of clothes in Katsumi’s arms and said, “I’m going to try some of these on.” She neatly picked up a few of the items and hung them over her arm. “I think there should be some seats outside of the changing room.”

This is awful, there’s no upside to being here… “Yes dear…”

“Hm? What was that?” 

“Nothing, nothing.” 

Mayumi spun back around and headed towards the fitting rooms.

I’ve been relegated to the role of carrier-boy or outspoken boyfriend. 

Sitting alone on one of the benches outside the changing rooms, Katsumi began to doze off. Despite the amount of shoppers in the mall, the store they were in had very few patrons. 

The still, quiet atmosphere, combined with how early in the morning it was made for the perfect conditions to fall asleep. As he leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes a door swung open.

Katsumi jerked up-right and looked around startled, “H-huh? What’s going on?”

“What do you think?”

Mayumi came out in a slightly baggy, white cardigan that exposed her shoulders. It was long in the back but became shorter as it approached the front. Instead of the jeans she was previously wearing, she had on a pair of high-waisted jean shorts. 

“It’s uhm—” What do I say here? If I say she looks nice will she think I’m creepy? What if she doesn’t like it and is just messing with me? But wait, if I don’t say anything she might take that as me calling her ugly… What the hell, I’m over thinking this way too much… “Yeah, I think it looks nice.”

“Hmm… I think it’s a little plain—”

Katsumi grit his teeth.

“—but it’s not bad,” Mayumi said while turning around in a mirror. “Please hand me that cream sweater and black skirt, I’d like to try those on next.”

“Here,” Katsumi handed her the two pieces of clothing and she disappeared into the changing room again.

After a moment the clothes she was previously wearing appeared draped over the door. 

“Can you put these aside? I’d like to buy them.”

Is she talking to me?

“Murakami?”

“O-oh, yes, sorry.” 

“And also bring me the Khakis and the white turtle-neck.”

Katsumi got the items and went to bring them.

“Oh, and the beige overcoat please.”

With a sigh he went back and got the overcoat.

He placed the pile of clothes onto the bench and quickly moved to take the clothes that Mayumi had draped over the door.

“...The new clothes?”

“Ah! Sorry, hold on,” Katsumi rushed over and handed the new clothes over the door.

No response came from Mayumi.

Really? Not even a thank you?

A few minutes later Mayumi came out of the stall again. This time, she had on the black skirt and baggy cream-sweater. She lifted up her arms, showing just how big it was on her. It was like she was wearing a small blanket.

“It’s really soft,” Mayumi spun around in the mirror.

Katsumi didn’t respond to her comment. Instead, the twirl prompted him to make a comment of his own.

“Don’t you think that skirt is a bit… too short?”

“Hm? You think so?” She replied in her usual monotone voice.

“Yeah… I mean, I just thought that really wasn’t your style,” I thought she was more long flowing dresses or… like, less… revealing clothes, I guess?

“What do you mean?” She was still inspecting herself and adjusting her hair in the mirror.

“...I guess from what I saw you liked baggier clothes.”

“I think it looks cute. I’ll get this too.”

Now is she doing that just to spite me? Or does she actually like it?

After trying on a few more different outfits the Mayumi went to the cashier—Katsumi following in tow, holding all the clothes she wanted to buy.