The Date

The day finally came around, the day of me going out with Erina. All of the things that's been happening to me begin to replay inside my head as I wait for Erina to arrive. 

I wasn't really excited about it much as I knew for a fact what was going to happen. As my money would be drained empty just to make her forgive me. 

Even if I am feeling that way, the residents of the house that I currently live in. Especially the female residents don't let me off that easily, as they all trying to make me look presentable enough for the date. 

All because I say that I will simply wear what I usually wear to the date. And the moment they hear that, none of them refuse to let me go out with such an outfit. As they say, it's not suitable for a date since it's battle armor, an outfit for those who are going to fight. 

The girl's persistence is something that I couldn't argue over. In the end, I had to wear what they thought the best for the date. 

… 

'For sure I am the only one who's going to be wearing such an outfit as Erina would surely be wearing her usual outfit.' That was in my head when I waited for Erina. 

Out of nowhere, a voice suddenly can be heard. And it seems like it's calling me… 

"Eizo! Sorry to make you wait!" A familiar female voice was calling me and when I turned around. 

A girl, Erina is standing there while wearing an elegant and cute dress. The way she dresses and the way she looks makes her look like a noblewoman.

I didn't know that Erina had this side of her. Her orange hair is shining due to the sunlight. She seems to be a bit shy as she blushes a little.

But when she sees my appearance, she immediately frowns.

And her expression doesn't stop there, her face is getting redder and redder.

And her emotions exploded.

"What are you wearing?"

I was surprised to hear that even if I don't wear my armor, I think such an outfit would suit me. But it seems like the outfit that the female residents chose is something bad I guess to be able to offend Erina like this. 

"Is there something wrong with my outfit? Does it look weird?"

"You should tell me you are wearing that outfit, it makes me look like I am not putting effort at all."

"Eh? So you want me to wear my armor?" I said that as I was a bit confused, "If you are the one who's not putting effort, then why did you dress up like that."

"Don't ask such a dumb question. This is a date and I need to dress up for it. It's just you just look really good in yours that makes me look ugly. If we stand together, I feel like I am not suited for you at all."

I don't expect such a response from her at all. It's something that I didn't expect coming from her. 

I thought she would tease me for it for wearing such stuff. Though I don't know what response should I give her after she had uttered all of that. 

"Well, don't worry too much. We can go shopping for clothes that will make you not ugly, also I will pay for them. Let's go!" I said that to her.

Erina suddenly punched me on my shoulder, "Are you saying that I am not beautiful, you jerk?"

"That hurts! What the hell?"

"Hmph!"

"You are so hard to handle. Can't you just take what I say as a joke?" I paused for a bit, "And if you want me to say my honest opinion, I think you do look beautiful today."

She seemed to be happy when I said that, but she didn't want to admit it so she turned around to not show her expression.

"Just don't make any more comments, or else you will be the only one who pays for everything today. I will only buy whatever I want and you will pay for everything, okay?"

"Sure, do whatever you want. Like isn't that the reason you called me out here?" I said that.

Erina suddenly turned around again, "What's with that? You make it sound like I called you out here just because I wanted money. You know, that hurts, Eizo."

All of this time, I thought she was the kind of girl that only cared about money. But looking at her now, I realized that it wasn't the case. I was really rude to her by thinking like that.

"Sorry."

"Hmph, I don't care."

She's just acting tough, so it's obvious she does care.

I smiled a bit and decided to hold her hand, "Let's go."

"Wha—!? W-w-wait!" She stuttered as she said those words. 

"What? Did you not want to walk while holding hands?" 

"That's not the case! It's just that I am not prepared, so it's embarrassing."

"Okay, then let's go."

We began to walk while holding hands, Erina was still embarrassed about it and she couldn't really keep a calm face. While we are walking, many people are looking at us.

I really have no idea why they are looking at us. Is it because Erina looks so beautiful today? Or is it because they recognize us?

I think it's probably because of the latter reason.

I decided to ignore it and move forward, and after walking for a while, we arrived at the place.

There are lots of shops but I decided to head to the clothing shops first as Erina wanted.

"Where are we going, Eizo?"

"We are going to buy you some clothes. As I am the one who is going to pay, you will only buy what you like."

"Listen here! I am not asking for your money or for you to spend-"

I quickly cut her off before she could say what she wanted to say, "It's fine, I am doing this because I want to show my gratitude for you because you have been helping me ever since I came here. Besides, I have enough money."

"Gratitude? You didn't need to, I helped you because I wanted to. Also, there's no need for clothes as well. You know what, never mind. Let's just go to the shops and see if there is any good stuff."

After hearing her answer, we walked inside the clothing shop.

"Welcome to my shop, how may I help you two?"

Erina didn't say anything and just looked at me.

"Oh, are you perhaps here to buy a gift for your girlfriend?" The shopkeeper said that to us.

I didn't respond to her and just looked at Erina.

Erina blushed and said, "I-I am not his girlfriend. We are not even lovers..."

The shopkeeper smiles, "Is that so? I am sorry for assuming such things."

"It's fine, anyways I would like to look around. Thank you."

"Please enjoy your time, sir."

With that, the shopkeeper leaves us and continues on doing her work.

Erina quickly looks at the clothes and starts browsing.

"Hey, do you have any ideas about what are you looking for?" I ask her as I know for a fact that it's surely gonna take some time for a girl to an outfit that she likes. 

"Well, anything would do." She said then and looked at me for a bit, "Why don't you just pick something out and show it to me."

"Are you sure you wanted me to look for it? I am not very knowledgeable about these kinds of stuff."

"Well, at least it's better than having me looking for something. I might not like it anyway."

"Okay, then. I will look around and show you the clothes. Wait here."

With that, I started to look for the clothes that I thought would fit her.

As I looked through the clothes, I noticed a certain type of outfit that might look good on Erina. The outfit has a color combination of black and white. It looks plain but the design is really eye-catching.

"What do you think of this?" I show her the outfit and ask her.

Erina stares at the outfit and she seems to be interested. "So you like me to wear this?"

"Yeah, you would look good in it. What do you think?"

"Well, it looks interesting. But I would rather not try it."

"Huh? Why?"

"I just don't like it, it's not suitable for me." She smiles at me as she says, "Just kidding, let's me try it on and show it to you. Don't be surprised how pretty I become after this..." 

With that, she left me as she went ahead to the dressing room to test out the outfit. 

Even though I think it would look great on her, I somehow have doubts that it would be a good match. As my fashion sense is not that good, at least that what I think.