Yosuke yawned and stretched his arms as they walked. Narukami's stared ahead as he ducked one of Yosuke's hands, narrowly avoiding a smack in the face. The friends had been quiet for a long time, but it seemed short-lived to Yosuke's pal.
"Yo," the brunette muttered. "Where do you think all of these new Shadows are coming from?" Narukami gave a small sigh. Actually, he didn't really have any ideas. Since the P-1 Grand Prix had ended, Shadows started popping up all over the TV world. Thus far, only one person had been taken hostage by the. Otherwise, they seemed pretty docile.
Yosuke saw the minor flicker of doubt in his friend's usual neutral countenance, and gave a nod.
"Me either, bro."
"Yosuke! Narukami!" A voice chirped. The boys looked up at Aila Sonnel, who waved furiously at them. Her brown locks bounced around her shoulders and her vibrant blue eyes shimmered excitedly as she waited for the boys to catch up with her.
"Heya!" She greeted when they reached her side. She smiled brightly.
"What's up, Aila?" Yosuke ruffled her hair, to which she gave a playful glare.
"Sorry we're late," Narukami interjected. Aila turned to him.
"It's okay. Where's everyone else?"
"Chie and Yukiko both had something come up," Yosuke explained. "And Rise and Kanji both had to work," Narukami added, "so it looks like it's just us three today."
"That's fine!" Aila explained. "I brought someone, anyway!" She reached behind her to bring Naoto forward. The boys hadn't even seen the lady detective. Naoto flushed at the abruptly forced entrance.
"Aila," she muttered in embarrassment.
"Woah, how'd you get work off, Naoto?" Yosuke asked.
"Aila came by and found out that I had the day off. She insisted that I tag along with everyone today."
"That's right!" Aila said. "So let's get started with some shopping!" Everyone-especially Naoto-looked surprised.
"Shopping?" Aila dragged her towards the small-town shops, the boys trailing behind on their heels.
…
Aila thumbed through the dress rack in one of the stores, settling on a denim blue number. As it happened, Kanji worked part-time there and was hovering beside the guys.
"This one!" Aila suddenly exclaimed. She pulled out two dresses and turned to Naoto, a dangerous glint in her eyes. She hurriedly shoved the detective into one of the dressing rooms, tossing blue fabric at her. "Hurry and try this one on!"
"Wha-what?" Naoto squealed, her voice getting unusually high-pitched. The boys watched uncertainly.
"Should we help her?" Kanji asked.
"I dunno…" Yosuke answered. "Aila's kinda scary when she gets that look in her face."
"No doubt," Yuu agreed.
Aila had gone into her own changing room to try on a dress, and came out as the boys muttered to themselves. She'd chosen a yellow sundress with a knitted top and thin shoulder straps. One big white daisy sat on her right hip. She gave the ogling boys a grin.
"Cute, right?" She winked, then went to Naoto's door. "Are you ready yet?"
"…." Silence came from the other side. Aila knocked on the loose wood.
"Naoto-chan?"
"…I don't want to come out," the girl's voice came.
"Why not?"
"…"
"C'mon, Naoto. Come out."
"…"
"I'll come in there to get you," Aila threatened with a smile. Finally, Naoto opened the door.
The dress Aila had pickup for her was a navy blue denim fabric. It went straight from her chest to her knees, leaving the lower half of her scrawny legs bare. Like Aila's, it had thin straps tied at her shoulders. It was decorated with several useful pockets at the hips, chest, and the edges of the skirt. Aila beamed, bringing Naoto to the nearest full length mirror. She forced Natoto to look at herself.
"You look awesome!" She told her. Naoto blushed further.
"I look ridiculous…" the detective stated. Aila threw on the usual cap that Naoto wore, then put her hand on the girl's shoulders.
"No. You look beautiful, Naoto-chan," Aila insisted. "Plus, you still look like you in denim! You really oughta show your lady-ness more often."
"I don't know about that…" Even as Naoto said this, however, she looked at her reflection differently. Aila noticed easily.
"This dress is perfect for you…."
Suddenly, Aila got a solemn look. A memory was coming to mind…
"Aila, his dress was made for you," another brunette had stated, holding her friend's shoulders.
"I dunno if it's really for me, Mina…"
"Nonsense! You look beautiful! And you ought to show it off to everyone!"
"I don't know that this is really 'me'," Naoto went on. Aila snapped back into the present at the sound of her voice.
"Nonsense. You look very 'you'." Then, in her memory's echo, she said, "If you're not going to get it, I'll buy it for you."
Naoto jumped in surprise. "N-no, you don't have-"
"Tsk, tsk," Aila held up her hand. "Don't bother arguing, Naoto. We're getting you this dress."
"They both turned, all at once remembering the boys' presences. All three were leering at Naoto, especially Kanji who had a deep red flush set into his cheeks. Naoto gasped and dashed back into her dressing room. Aila giggled softly.