Girls’ Nights Out! 2-Sora’s Fashion Show

(Akane's PoV)

—

The walk back through the alleys was considerably faster.

Mostly because Hoshiko had hooked one arm through mine and the other through Sora's, then decided we were all going to walk at her speed.

Which would've been fine if she didn't also insist on gesturing while talking.

Every few steps, one of us nearly got dragged into a wall.

"OH! By the way!" she announced. "I still want to go to that ramen place, you know?"

I sighed. "Hoshiko..."

"NO ARGUMENTS! The old angry man! The two-day broth! Non-negotiable!" She turned toward Sora. "You're invited too!"

Sora blinked. "Me?"

"Of course you!"

"Oh..." She smiled. "I-I'd love to."

She sounded almost surprised by her own answer.

"Wonderful!" Hoshiko declared. "Wear something you don't mind spilling broth on when the time comes! It will be a beautiful day. Me, Baby Wolf, you, and Shin! Amazing!" After his name, I saw Sora's body flinch.

Then she glanced at me.

"Hey, Lady Folder. Did baby wolf ever tell you about the time she scared a customer out of my studio?"

I looked at her, remembering the exact thing she wanted to say. "Don't."

"Oh, you're going to LOVE this." Hoshiko giggled. 

"I didn't scare anyone—" I tried to say, but Hoshiko ignored me.

"This guy came in asking about a piercing." She could barely contain her laugh. "Nice enough at first, but then he started acting weird. Smiling too much, touching everything, trying to get a little too friendly…" She gestured wildly, nearly hitting a drainpipe. "And Akane was sitting in the corner doing her homework."

Sora glanced at me. "Homework?"

"Yes, Sora. I occasionally study; otherwise, I wouldn't be one of the top students, don't you think?" I sighed.

"R-Right..." Sora said.

Then, Hoshiko continued.

"So this guy kept talking and talking until this baby wolf finally puts her pen down."

I groaned. "Here we go."

"She didn't even say a word. She just looked at him." Hoshiko added, preparing for the climax.

"I looked at him," I agreed. "That's the only thing I did. I swear…" 

"…FOR FOUR MINUTES!" Hoshiko said. "But the funny part was that Akane had grabbed a butterfly knife from the closet next to her and she was swinging it while staring at him."

"Yeah. It was… an automatic reflex." I scratched the back of my head.

Sora started giggling.

"Akane then asked, 'What are you looking at, asshole?' And then the guy just... left!" Hoshiko laughed. "He left without saying another word."

Hoshiko threw her hands up.

"That day, I lost a client. He didn't even take his umbrella!" She grinned. "I've been using that umbrella for two years."

Sora burst out laughing. "Akane!"

"What? He was loitering."

"He was TERRIFIED!" Hoshiko cried. "Your face is a weapon! You look like a girl who's seen somebody's browser history!"

I snorted. "I'm going to start charging for this."

"You'd go broke, baby wolf. I'm a public service."

She kept talking as we walked.

Apparently every corner of the neighborhood reminded her of another customer.

There was the man who'd asked for a barcode on his forearm, then returned a week later to proudly announce that it scanned as a discount coupon for a pizza chain.

Then there was the bridegroom who'd brought his mother along to approve his tattoo. She'd rejected a dragon, a skull, and a sword before finally allowing him to get a tiny crab.

An ugly, tiny crab. Yeah. Amazing.

I still remembered Hoshiko showing me the photograph.

The poor creature looked as confused as the groom probably felt.

Then there was the client who fell asleep halfway through a tattoo and snored so rhythmically that Hoshiko had apparently finished the entire outline in sync with his breathing.

"And my favorite!" she announced as we finally emerged onto a wider street. "This guy wanted his cat's face tattooed on his chest."

"Oh?" Sora asked.

"He brought a photograph. It was a beautiful little cat, and I said, sure, no problem." Hoshiko grinned. "So halfway through, the guy starts crying."

"Crying?" Sora asked, blinking her eyes.

"Yeah! I thought I'd hurt him, so I stopped and asked if he was okay." She paused dramatically. "He says, 'It's just that she's in the next room, and she's wearing a tiny tuxedo. I'm so happy to have her…'"

Sora blinked.

"...The cat? What do you mean?"

"EXACTLY WHAT YOU HEARD! THE CAT!" Hoshiko practically screamed. "HE BROUGHT THE CAT! IN A BAG! WEARING A TUXEDO! AND I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT!"

I started laughing.

"She sat on my counter for the entire session with her little paws tucked under her chest, staring at me like I was personally responsible for every problem in her life! And that guy kept crying while telling me the story of his cat."

That finished Sora.

She stopped walking and bent forward, one hand pressed against her stomach. "A... a tiny tuxedo..." She could barely get the words out.

Hoshiko looked delighted. "A TINY TUXEDO!"

Sora laughed even harder.

I stood there watching her for a moment.

An hour ago, this same girl had been crying in a deserted park, apologizing for feelings she couldn't control.

Now she was standing in the middle of a busy street, laughing so hard that she could barely breathe.

Her hair was slightly messy, her cheeks were pink, and she wasn't even trying to look dignified.

I smiled. It was nice seeing her like that. Really nice.

"Don't worry, Lady Folder!" Hoshiko declared. "I've got a lot of years' worth of horrible customer stories. I can tell you a different one in every shop we visit!"

Sora wiped her eyes. "S-So…" she breathed. "How many shops are we visiting?"

Hoshiko grinned. "As many as it takes!"

'Oh, God. This is going to be a very long day…' I thought, but I was smiling.

The shop Hoshiko wanted to visit was called Moth & Marrow.

Naturally, it was underground, because apparently Hoshiko considered normal shopping streets offensive.

We found it beneath a stationery store, down a narrow flight of stairs with a hand-painted bat on the door.

Inside, the air smelled faintly of cedar and old velvet.

Black lace hung from crowded racks. Plaid skirts, oversized cardigans, long coats, silver chains. An entire wall was dedicated to boots, with a rolling ladder beside it so customers could reach the higher shelves.

Sora looked around with growing disbelief. "Oh my..." She covered her mouth. "I've never seen such a shop…"

A girl behind the counter glanced up. She had pale hair cut in a sharp bob, a silver ring through her lower lip and the sort of expression that suggested she'd already judged your entire wardrobe before you opened your mouth.

Then she saw Sora.

"Oh." She came around the counter. "Wow. Okay."

Sora straightened. "Excuse me?"

The girl studied her face. "You know, you have a really good face for this."

Sora blinked. "I... thank you?"

"Sit. Don't touch anything. I'll bring you some outfits." And then the girl walked away, followed by the sound of steel hangers touching.

Hoshiko practically vibrated with excitement while Sora looked at us with deep confusion.

"Oh, don't worry, Sora, that girl has the amazing talent to find the perfect clothes for everyone," Hoshiko said. "Just stay here."

"O-Okay…" Sora scratched the back of her head.

Then Hoshiko pulled two stools in front of the fitting room and made me sit beside her.

"Judges!" she announced, and from somewhere inside her bag, she produced a roll of receipt paper and a pen.

I stared at her. "Why do you have those?"

"Because we're giving scores, of course!!" Hoshiko said; her happiness was contagious.

"You can't score people…" I sighed.

"I'm scoring CLOTHES, baby wolf!" She patted my back. "This is going to be the best day of my life!!!"

"That doesn't make it less weird." I smiled.

"Shhh. Fashion is serious business." She said.

Then the girl came with some clothes, and immediately led Sora to the changing room.

The first outfit was a disaster. An absolutely magnificent disaster.

That girl had chosen a studded leather jacket that was at least three sizes too big, a skirt that seemed to consist entirely of safety pins, and a pair of boots with nine buckles on each side.

Sora emerged from the fitting room looking like a child who'd raided a medieval armory.

The jacket sleeves even swallowed her hands.

She looked down at herself, and then at us.

"...I look like a hedgehog that went to war."

Hoshiko dropped her pen while I buried my face in my hands.

Behind the counter, the shop girl turned away very quickly and pretended to rearrange some hangers.

'Oh, God.' I was going to die.

"S-SCORE?!" Hoshiko wheezed.

I held up my receipt paper.

3

"THREE?!" she cried. "Rude! Sora is still a beautiful girl."

"Only the boots earned those three points," I said, my voice flat.

"Well..." Hoshiko said.

"The skirt is a safety hazard," I added. "She's going to puncture an artery."

"I can hear you," Sora told us with a pout.

Then she retreated behind the curtain with as much dignity as someone wearing four hundred safety pins could manage.

The second outfit was better.

The third was actually pretty good.

By the fifth, Sora had stopped apologizing every time she came out.

By the seventh, she was giving her own opinions.

"The collar is a little tight," Sora said. She kept looking at herself in the mirror, while rotating her body side to side, sometimes even raising her foot.

"Then try the other blouse," the shop girl suggested.

"The pockets on this skirt aren't real." She said.

"Welcome to women's fashion," I muttered.

Then, with a smile, Sora disappeared behind the curtain again.

"She's really enjoying this, isn't she?" I asked. 

Hoshiko nodded. "Yeah!! She's sooo adorable!! I can't wait to hug her!!" 

When Sora came out, she spoke again. "Is there a version of this cardigan in navy?"

Hoshiko looked offended. "Navy?! Sora, this is a goth shop! Everything is black! Navy is too basic!"

"Then..." A pause. "I'll try black." Sora said.

"SLAY!"

I laughed.

Honestly, watching Sora negotiate clothing choices with two goth enthusiasts was more entertaining than I'd expected.

Then the curtain opened again.

And this time, I forgot what I was about to say.

Sora stepped out wearing a black pleated skirt with a delicate silver chain hanging at one hip.

Her blouse was white, with a lace collar and loose sleeves that flared slightly at the wrists. Over it she wore a deep plum cardigan, soft and slightly oversized.

A black velvet ribbon had replaced her usual hair clip.

And the boots... Jeez.

Black, laced all the way up, with a modest heel.

They suited her perfectly, way too much.

I stared, and so did Hoshiko.

Sora looked down at herself, then turned toward the mirror.

"Is it...?" She hesitated. "Does it look strange?"

For once, Hoshiko had absolutely nothing to say. Her pen was halfway to her mouth.

I almost laughed. Almost. Because Sora looked genuinely beautiful.

And the strange part was that she hadn't done anything dramatic.

She was still Sora.

Same soft features. Same neat posture, though she'd finally stopped holding her shoulders as if somebody were about to inspect her uniform.

Without the folder and the school clothes, I could actually see her properly.

She'd been hiding a very pretty girl underneath all that ugly uniform.

Hoshiko finally exhaled.

"Well..." Her voice was unusually quiet. "Hello."

Sora turned to look at the back of the cardigan. "I don't look ridiculous, do I?"

"Ten," I said.

She looked at me.

"Hm?" She blinked her eyes.

"TEN!"Hoshiko repeated.

I held up my receipt paper. I'd written 10 in enormous block letters and underlined it twice.

"Possibly eleven. That ribbon is doing some serious work." I said.

The shop girl nodded. "Agreed."

She even held up her own paper. 10

Sora covered her mouth, and for a moment, I thought she might start crying.

Instead, she laughed.

Then, very carefully, she took a little step backward and turned in a slow circle.

The skirt flared around her knees. The silver chain swung gently at her hip.

She stopped in front of the mirror, her cheeks flushed.

"I... I look like someone else," she whispered.

I shook my head.

"Nah." She looked at me through the mirror. "You look like yourself. You've just got a bit more room now."

Sora looked at me for a few moments, and then she smiled, giving me a very beautiful smile.

"I'll... I'll take it," she announced.

Hoshiko practically jumped off her stool. "YES!"

"All of it," Sora added.

Then she pointed toward the fitting room. "Except the safety pins."

"AHAHAHA!" Hoshiko laughed, and I couldn't help but do the same.

And after our laugh, Sora literally bought everything she had just tried. 

Then she walked up to us and asked, in a very soft, almost embarrassed voice, "Do I really look good in those clothes?"

Hoshiko nodded 49491 times in the span of 5 seconds and said, "YOU WERE SPLENDID!! YOU LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE WHO'D STEAL EVERYONE'S BOYFRIEND WITH A SINGLE LOOK!" She got closer to her and grabbed her hands. "If I were into girls, you'd surely be my type, I swear!!" 

"Believe her. I think the same thing," I said, smiling. "You look really good, Sora!" I added.

Sora stood silent for a few long instants before speaking, her eyes looking at me with something unreadable. 

Then she just lowered her hand with a soft, almost invisible smile and said, "Thank you... So much..."

"Don't get used to compliments, you beautiful idol, because you're probably gonna receive the next ones next year," I said.

"Ohhhh! Okay." Hoshiko then released Sora's hands and clapped her own together. "Now, let's move to another place, shall we?"

"Where?" I asked.

"Hehehe... what comes after clothes, baby wolf?" Hoshiko grinned, almost mischievously. 

"Uhm... Linge—" 

"NO! MAKE-UP!" Hoshiko shouted.

Sora could barely contain her laugh.

'Ah... Having friends surely feels... nice.' I thought, feeling the warmth in my heart.

By the time we climbed back up to the street, Sora had a garment bag over one arm and another shopping bag in her hand.

We'd bought the skirt, the blouse, the plum cardigan, another black skirt with a gauzy hem, a long coat with silver buttons, and even the velvet ribbon.

Hoshiko had also insisted on adding a pair of fingerless gloves.

"For the aesthetic," she'd explained.

Naturally.

At the register, Sora had reached for her wallet.

Unfortunately for her, I was faster.

"Akane," she'd protested. "You said everything, but this is too much!"

"That's the rule, beautiful idol," I said, smiling.

"But these clothes must have cost—"

"Oh, I can't hear you!! Something's making me deaf!!" I said out loud. 

"I'll pay you back, I must..." Sora sighed. 

"You'll pay me by wearing some of them on Monday, Sora," I replied.

She stared at me. "I can't wear this to school!"

"The cardigan, maybe. The ribbon's definitely fine. You should know the rules, don't you?" I teased.

Sora opened her mouth, and then closed it. She then looked at the bags and then sighed in defeat.

"...Fine."

Good girl. I put my card away.

There'd been that familiar little tightness at the back of my neck when I paid. Old habits, I suppose. Money had never been a simple subject for me.

But tonight I wasn't buying anything to prove a point.

I just wanted to spoil my friend.

And if I couldn't buy my friend a pretty skirt every once in a while, what was the point of having money?