Chapter 76 – Whatever Happens, Happens

Hand in hand with Umi, we entered a thrift store.

The store was located on the first floor of a small building, sandwiched between two larger buildings. As soon as I opened the door, the smell of wood permeated my nose. The smell reminded me of an old closet.

"Let's look for some shirts… Oh, how much money did you bring, Maki?"

"Mom gave me twenty thousand yen for this…"

It was a lot of money for a high school student to bring, but when I told my mom about the date and this shopping trip, she immediately gave me two ten thousand yen bills. She gave me my allowance like usual too.

Because of that, I probably had enough money to buy a whole outfit as long as the stores we went to had reasonable prices.

"Umi~ What do you think about this one? This seems like something a boy would like~"

"Military-styled… Nah, Maki is quite short, he'll just look childish if he were to wear it."

"Really? I think he'll look cute though."

My job here was to accept my fate and be their doll.

Umi had been paying close attention to my attire lately, so I should be in good hands.

By the way, the female clerk had been watching us while grinning… Ugh, this is embarrassing…

"Mm… Well, we'll decide on his jacket later, first let's focus on his shirt first… Maki, try this one."

"Sure…"

They narrowed down the choices to three shirts, so I brought all of them to the changing room.

Why were they putting so much effort into choosing my shirt though? Wouldn't it be covered by my jacket anyway?

"What about the accessories, Umi? Maybe a scarf would look good?"

"Yes, but we don't need to buy one, I gave him one the other day. Maki, wear that one tomorrow, okay? Don't you dare wear your own scarf."

"…Got it…"

I was wearing the scarf that Umi gave me.

It was a checkered scarf with dark gray as its primary color and red lines. It didn't seem to go well with my uniform, but the scarf was warm and it was soft to the touch so I wore it a lot.

…Well, that was a lie, I actually wore it because Umi's smell still lingered on it.

After that, we continued to pick more clothes until right before the shop closed. By that time, Umi seemed satisfied with her choices.

Branded jacket, high quality shirts and so on, altogether cost me ten thousand yen.

I previously tried them on and they actually looked pretty good, and they were comfortable to boot. Too bad my face just wasn't good enough, but it made me look presentable at least, so I won't complain.

Umi really went all out, huh? Amami-san too… I'm grateful to both of them…

"Thank you, Umi."

"You're welcome. Wait, your scarf looks messy, come here."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes… Jeez, pay more attention to it, okay? …There we go, all done!"

Umi fixed my scarf as we walked out the store.

I thought that slumping it over my neck with a loop would be enough, but according to her, there were a lot of ways to make it look more stylish.

Fashion is deep, huh? Everyone seems to be doing it casually, but I can't wrap my head around it. They're amazing…

"Jeez, you guys are like newlyweds. Are you sure you guys aren't dating yet?"

"…Well, apparently not… Because of… Things…"

"…Yeah…"

"I see. When you guys finally tie the knot, tell me immediately so I can congratulate you both~"

I hoped that both of us would  be able to settle this matter properly soon. Tomorrow's date should help us with that, so I can't afford to mess it up.

After leaving the thrift store, we went to various stores nearby to get other things that I needed like shoes. We finally took a break after all that was done.

"Ugh… I'm tired…"

I left them to go to the toilet. Inside, I let out a deep sigh.

It was currently 7 pm. We arrived at the station around 5 pm. So we spent two whole hours looking for clothes.

I shopped before, but I usually decided on what I was going to buy before going to the store, so this was my first time doing something like this.

I was exhausted, but those two seemed energetic. They were currently deciding on where to eat dinner.

Personally, I just wanted to go home and eat dinner there, but I decided to bear with it since they went out of their way to help me today.

I'll do my best to repay them… And of course, I'll do my best for the date.

…The real deal will start tomorrow, huh?

Suddenly, Umi texted me.

[Asanagi: Oi~ you alive?]

[Maehara: Somehow.]

[Asanagi: Good. We decided where to eat already, so come over quickly when you're done.]

[Asanagi: There's this all-you-can-eat meat restaurant. It's gonna be good.]

[Maehara: Got it.]

[Asanagi: Oh, also.]

[Asanagi: Thank you, Maki.]

[Asanagi: For going along with our selfishness.]

[Maehara: I don't mind.]

[Maehara: Seeing you guys happy made me happy too.]

[Asanagi: I'm glad you think that way.]

[Asanagi: Also, Maki.]

[Maehara: What is it?]

[Asanagi: I can't wait for tomorrow.]

[Asanagi: I'll wear my cutest clothes for you~]

In other words, tomorrow she'll dress up properly instead of wearing her oversized hoodies like usual.

Honestly, she was cute enough even if she wasn't dressed up.

The thought of her going all out motivated me even more.

"…Alright, now that I'm pumped up, let's do this!"

I was about to leave the toilet and ran to the place where they were waiting.

"Whoops!"

"Whoa!…"

Just as I left the toilet, I bumped into a man wearing a suit who was trying to enter.

The things that the person brought were scattered on the floor.

…Crap…

"S-Sorry! I'm in a bit of a hurry… I'll lend you a hand!"

"Ah, it's okay, I was careless too… Huh?"

Just as I was about to pick a piece of paper that fell nearby, the man stopped moving.

"Huh, I was wondering why you sound so familiar, so it's Maki."

"Eh?"

I looked up when he mentioned my name and saw someone I'll never forget for my entire life.

"…Dad…"

"It's been a while, Maki."

The man, Maehara Itsuki, stroked my head gently.

He was my father.