That was quite the tragedy, wasn't it?_Part 2

It looks like I'm okay...

She was satisfied when he didn't react, so she turned around and faced the mirror once more. Masachika, on the other hand, was busy trying to remain expressionless while the older women around him glanced warmly in his direction. "Oh my. Do you think he's waiting for his girlfriend? To be in high school and in love again... How cute," they said with their eyes.

This is just like a rom-com, thought Masachika as he tried to escape reality.Listening to her change didn't even cross his mind, nor did he even notice.Alisa's worries were all in her head. She would probably be pretty disappointed if she ever found out he was more concerned about the other women glancing at him than her getting changed,though.

Heh. Nice. I look really good, if I do say so myself.

She posed in front of the mirror while singing her own praises. She was sure of her victory (it was anyone's guess as to when this had become a contest) and began to reach for the curtain when she was suddenly struck with anxiety.What if he didn't react? What if he just said "Yeah, you look nice" while not paying attention and looking at his phone? ...It might make her cry. The thought alone was causing Alisa's heart to beat like a drum.

H-hmph! I'd slap the hell out of him if he did that!

Alisa swiftly flung open the curtain after pumping herself up and wrestling her anxiety to the ground.

"What do you think?"

She leaned into one leg with a hand on her hip, as if she was posing like a model, as she shot an instigating look at Masachika. She genuinely looked incredible thanks to her amazing body and good looks. Immediately, all the women throughout the store directed their gazes at her and gasped in admiration.Masachika was no exception.

Who doesn't love it when girls dress like this?!

Masachika powerfully shouted that in his heart while he slammed his fist onto an imaginary table. It looked like Ask Masha was right for a change.Nevertheless, Masachika knew that Alisa wanted him to drool over her.Whoever blushed first, lost. That was why he decided to not even attempt to evade but attack instead!

"You look incredible. The pure-white dress looks especially good on you,since you have such nice milky-white skin. It seriously emphasizes your clean,feminine look. I didn't think you could get any cuter, but here we are."

"...?! O-oh...Really...?"

Masachika's counterattack staggered her, and she started to feel jittery after being complimented in such a straightforward manner. "Okay, let's try the next outfit...," muttered Alisa unintelligibly as she closed the curtain as if to run away,and they simultaneously crouched in a fluster the instant they could no longer see each other.

Wait,wait,wait, thought Alisa. Hold on. What? He just showered me with compliments!

Oh god! I'm so embarrassed! I can't believe I said all that without laughing! Masachika was reeling. Holy crap. Saying that right to her face was so embarrassing! How is she always able to say stuff like that with a straight face?! I mean, she's doing it in Russian and thinks I don't understand, so I guess that makes sense, but still!

Masachika clutched his head, fighting through the embarrassment with so much focus that he didn't have the energy to care about the surrounding women's heartwarming stares. Little did he know that Alisa was covering her cheeks while fighting through her embarrassment as well.

Wait. C-cute? D-do I look that cute? Wait, wait, wait! M-me? Did he say I was cute? Ahhh!

But she couldn't deal with the embarrassment and smacked the floor a few times...until she realized the noise she was making and stopped in a panic. After needlessly clearing her throat, she faced forward and gazed into the mirror...but when she noticed she was grinning from ear to ear, she instinctively bumped her forehead lightly against it. She rubbed her forehead against it, using the pain and chilling sensation to pull herself together.

Phew... I'm okay. Now that I think about it, he wasn't saying anything out of character. Of course he'd say something like that. Kuze's the kind of person who would compliment a girl. Very commendable of him, if I might add.

But when she threw her hair back while arrogantly judging him for some strange reason, she suddenly got the impression that he seemed very skiled.

Skilled at what, though?

But she didn't even have to think about it for more than a second.Masachika seemed like he was used to complimenting girls. But who had he been complimenting so much that made him get used to it? There was only one person who came to mind.

Yuki...?

The thought immediately cleared her head. She thought back to how they were having the time of their lives window-shopping together a few hours ago,and uneasiness spread through her heart.

"..."

After pulling herself away from the mirror, she looked down at the clothes and picked out a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt with some English written on it before changing once more. Perhaps Alisa had an idea why she went with a boyish outfit deep down inside but chose not to acknowledge it. If she said she selected the clothes for no particular reason, then that was that.

"So? How do I look?"

Alisa opened the curtain with an expression brimming with confidence as if to say, "I have nothing to hide." But Masachika wasn't so dense that he couldn't notice why she may have chosen such an outfit. He had enough tact (or perhaps brains) to not voice this out loud, though.

"You look really stylish in this outfit. You're more beautiful than cute if that makes any sense, so that outfit really looks good on you, too. Jeans seriously emphasize how nice your body is, unlike skirts."

"O-oh? I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

Alisa accepted the excessive compliments this time without allowing herself to get flustered and thanked him with a smile, unusually enough.

"Let's move on to the next outfit, then."

"All right."

It wasn't long before Alisa had long forgotten her goal to make Masachika feel hot and bothered as she started to genuinely grow fond of the fashion show for what it was. She switched outfits and posed in front of the mirror before showing Masachika, who praised her by using every compliment he had ever learned from comics, video games, and anime. His sense of shame slowly dulled while Alisa slowly began to enjoy herself. It was just as Masachika expected.She didn't have any friends to go shopping with, and whenever she went shopping with her sister, Maria would simply say, "Oh,you look so cute," no matter what Alisa wore, so this was the first time she ever had someone compliment her in such detail like this.

What should I choose next? Decisions , decisions.S

She was in such a good mood now that she was even humming to herself in her head while she picked out her clothes. If Yuki were there, she would laugh at Alisa for being so easily charmed, but Alisa herself was not self-aware enough to realize this. Instead, she mirthfully reached out for outfits that she usually would not wear "just in case."

This is a little too...risqué, isn't it? I'm sure Kuze will still compliment me,though.

It was a miniskirt and camisole that was far skimpier than anything else she had worn. The miniskirt seemed especially short, since Alisa naturally had such long legs, to the point that describing it as below the crotch would be more fitting than above the knees. It was something she would normally never wear under any circumstances, and even if she did, she would never wear it in front of a boy. However, Masachika's constant praise helped her drown out the faint voice of reason in the back of her head. In fact, she was so excited that she didn't even realize there were two people on the other side of the curtain now...

"What do you thi-?"

Only after she leaned forward and placed her right index finger on her cheek with a wink did she notice that Yuki was standing right next to Masachika. The moment their eyes met, Alisa's winking eye froze shut. Meanwhile,Yuki was blinking at the sight while holding two paper bags full of anime goods.

"Wooow,Alya.Sexy."

"...Yeah."

Yuki whistled with a natural expression while Masachika averted his gaze with an indescribable look on his face, instantly dragging Alisa back into reality.The blood drained from her face before immediately rushing back into her cheeks.

"...Right."

Alisa pulled her crimson, twitching cheeks into a tight smile while swiftly shutting the curtain and quietly curling up into a ball.

"<I want to disappear...,>" she mutteredin a fading voice after looking at herself in the mirror once more.

"What'd Alya say?"

"She said she wanted to disappear."

"Heh! What an innocent little babyyy. Ha-ha!"

"You're sick."

Even a whisper that soft couldn't escape these two siblings.

After calming down and purchasing two of the outfits she had tried on, Alisa left the shopping center with Masachika and Yuki, and they started heading home.Alisa's mood, however, did not get any better even after they got on the train,and Masachika and Yuki simply played on their phones without chatting as if they were trying not to make the situation any worse for her. "Well,see you Monday,Alya."

"I had a lot of fun today. Let's do this again sometime."

"Yeah,see you two Monday."

The train pulled up to Masachika and Yuki's stop. After they got off the train, Alisa immediately sank into her seat.

"<That didn't just happen...>"

Alisa thought back to how she'd made a fool of herself (by her standards)earlier, making her want to fall to the floor and writhe.

"<I bet they think I'm some sort of promiscuous schoolgirl after seeing me in that short skirt...>"

She buried herself in the paper bag resting in her lap while the shame and regret consumed her...when she suddenly realized something weird.

"...Hmm?"

It was very weird. Why did they get off at the same station? Their houses were three stations apart, so it wouldn't make sense for them to get off at the same station.

"What the...?"

There were only a few possible explanations. They were still not planning on going home yet. Or maybe they were planning on going home together?

"What in the...?"

And her assumption was technically correct. There was no way Yuki could bring her anime merchandise back home to the Suou household,so she decided to enjoy her spoils of war at the Kuze residence-circumstances that Alisa was completely unaware of.

"Are those two really...?"

But she managed to stop the seed of doubt from growing any more than that.

Wait. No. They probably just wanted to stop by another shop before heading home.

After persuading herself that it was all in her head, Alisa suddenly remembered something else and pulled out her phone.

Hold on. What did she call it again? A "boyfriend shirt"?

While relying on her memories, Alisa searched the internet until she found a certain image, causing her eyes to open wide.

"Huh?!"

The random squeal caught the surrounding passengers' attention, but Alisa was too deep in thought to care. It was a picture from a comic geared toward young women. A boy and girl were facing each other while sitting on the bed, but while the girl was wearing a baggy collared shirt and faintly smiling,the boy...was completely bare from the waist up.

W-w-w-w-wait,wait,wait! What did she mean by that?!

The seed of doubt she was suppressing shot powerfully into the air and pierced the ceiling.

Wait! What?! Are they...?!

Alisa gazed in wonder at the erotic scene as she replaced the characters with Masachika and Yuki in her head before erasing the thought in a panic.

What is going on?!

She spent the rest of her time on the train agonizing about what it all meant without ever finding an answer.