—
After finishing lunch.
The two walked into another clothing store.
Only this time, it was Himeno Yuki who wanted to buy clothes, so Hikigaya sat in the rest area.
"Hey, why did you just sit down?"
"Well, even if you asked me to come, I don't have much confidence in my own aesthetic sense. I won't be much help, right? Wouldn't it be better if you chose yourself?"
"It doesn't matter."
Himeno Yuki unceremoniously grabbed Hikigaya's arm and pulled him up.
"You just need to stand by and give your impressions."
"Fine, fine, please let go quickly."
Hikigaya said with a face full of helplessness. Simply giving impressions wasn't that difficult.
Afterward, Hikigaya dutifully followed behind Himeno Yuki, watching her occasionally pick up clothes from the display and hold them up against herself.
"Let's go with this one."
Yuki picked out a white trench coat and held it up. For some reason, a faint smile appeared on the corners of her mouth.
Immediately after, she took a blue shirt and a black pleated skirt into the fitting room.
"No peeking~"
Yuki poked her small head out from behind the curtain.
"I won't."
Hikigaya was speechless.
Besides being treated as a pervert, peeking was completely meaningless.
Why would anyone in the world do something so foolish?
Soon.
Himeno Yuki stepped out of the fitting room.
She was wearing a pure white trench coat, with her lotus-root-like snow-white calves exposed. If not for her hair color, she would look like a pure young girl.
"How is it?" Himeno Yuki put her hands in her pockets and opened the trench coat fully outward.
"Hmm…"
Hikigaya nodded appreciatively.
"It suits you quite well."
"Thank you."
Yuki turned her body sideways, looking at her own legs and said:
"But I'm actually not used to this style. I feel like it doesn't really match me."
"Then why did you try it on?"
Hikigaya's mouth twitched; he was utterly speechless.
After all that effort, it turned out this person had never even worn this style before.
"It can't be helped."
Himeno Yuki said somewhat helplessly:
"If I went with my usual style, Ichinose and the others would probably be a bit troubled."
Unexpectedly.
Even buying clothes required considering the existence of Ichinose and the others.
If she dressed too flamboyantly, even if Ichinose and the others didn't say anything, Himeno Yuki would probably feel like she didn't fit in.
And precisely because she didn't want to seem out of place, Himeno Yuki had no choice but to compromise and restrain herself.
Wanting to integrate into a group.
To some extent, one needs to consider the people around them; this is the price that must be paid.
"That's quite tragic."
Hikigaya nodded sincerely; he would never want to change himself just to fit into a group.
"Forget it, let me show you my previous style."
Himeno Yuki ran off in small steps and soon returned with a pile of clothes. She entered the fitting room and poked half her head out with a mischievous grin:
"You can peek this time."
"I won't."
Hikigaya rolled his eyes.
As he said, peeking was meaningless. This person just liked to tease him; if he actually looked, he'd probably be punched out of there by Himeno Yuki.
A short while later.
Yuki walked out of the dressing room again.
On top was a white tight-fitting T-shirt, and below were blue tight jeans, paired with a white canvas belt with a large heart-shaped buckle at the waist.
XP (fetish).
It made Hikigaya pause for a moment; it surprisingly wasn't the gyaru style.
Instead, it gave a feeling of vitality, yet the heart buckle gave off a faintly wild, uninhibited gyaru impression.
It was somewhere in between; Hikigaya didn't quite understand it.
"How is it?"
Yuki leaned her delicate body forward, her soft right hand lightly stroking her thigh, showcasing her perfect figure in front of him.
"Even if you ask me that…"
Hikigaya's face flushed.
"I can only say it suits you very well?"
This person really looked good in anything.
Although he thought the pure style of the trench coat earlier was nice, he felt this conservative yet slightly "lewd" style fit her better.
"Right?"
Looking at Hikigaya, Himeno Yuki flashed a triumphant smile and struck several more poses.
Then…
She went to try on more clothes.
Soon, more than an hour had passed.
"How is it?"
"Hmm, it suits you quite well."
Hikigaya's face was calm; he felt numb. Just how long was this person going to keep trying things on?
"Ah, how perfunctory."
Yuki was a bit dissatisfied and checked her phone.
"Forget it, feels like the time is about right. Let's call it a day for now."
"Phew."
Hikigaya finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He saw Himeno Yuki take the white trench coat and the more gyaru-like youthful outfit and walk to the front desk to have them packed.
"Hm?"
Hikigaya asked with confusion:
"You thought one didn't match you, and you thought the other was inconvenient to wear. Why are you buying them?"
As soon as he spoke, Hikigaya saw the clerk covering her mouth and giggling.
"What?"
"I say."
Yuki turned her head and gave him a harsh glare.
"When a girl is buying clothes, a boyfriend only needs to give compliments."
"…"
Hikigaya was speechless.