Tadashi walks a little nervously up to Honey's cubicle. He peeks around the corner, just to make sure that he isn't interrupting some major chemistry experiment, and when he finds her just sitting on the counter apparently working on some notes, he takes a deep breath and enters. "Um, h-hey Honey," he says, hands in his pockets and trying to act casual but failing miserably. "H-how's it going?"
Honey looks up from her notes to see Tadashi walking in. "Oh, um, hi Tadashi!" She says with a smile. She had no idea her friend was coming to visit, it made her happy to see him walking towards her. "It's going pretty good!"
"Oh, good!" Tadashi winces slightly, kicking himself for using the same word that she just had. Why did he always get so tongue-tied around her? "So, um, whatcha workin' on?" he asks, trying to move the conversation in a more normal direction.
"Oh, it's nothing big ..." She looks down at her notes and frowns. "Actually ... It's nothing at all, really." She then crumples her paper up, stands up, and goes to place it in the trash. "Just some ideas that weren't all that great." She then decides to change the conversation, she didn't feel like discussing her failed ideas. She'd been in quite an idea slump for a little while now, and she didn't feel like explaining. "So, what made you decide to come see me?" She asks with a curious tilt of her head.
"Oh, um, I was sort of hitting a dead end too," Tadashi admits, his cheeks instantly turning a shade redder. It wasn't quite the truth, but he didn't want to sound like he was boasting about his breakthrough when she was apparently currently having some troubles. Quickly he hurries on, "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go get some coffee or something-you know, get some fresh air, maybe help us get the ideas flowing again? Of course, if you don't want to, I completely understand! I mean, it's not like you really know me or anything yet..." Even though I'd really, really like to get to know you,he mentally adds.
"Oh ..." So many thoughts instantly flood through her mind. Isn't that technically a date? She asks herself. No, it's not like that at all, She answers herself in her mind. Are you absolutely suuuuure? She asks herself in a sing-song voice. Yes I'm sure! She answers again.
After she realizes she has been bickering with herself for at least a minute now, she smiles brightly and says: "Oh, Tadashi! That sounds like a lot of fun!"
"Great!" Tadashi grins, feeling extremely relieved. For a minute there he had been worried that her lack of response had meant that she didn't want to go with him, but she seems cheerful enough about it now. The insecure part of him still wonders if maybe she's secretly just going along with this because she feels that she has to be polite, but he tries to shove those feelings down and hope for the best. "Um, I know a really great place not too far from here," Tadashi says, realizing that he'd gotten lost in his own thoughts for a minute and blushing even further. "It's not too far of a walk if you'd be interested."
"Oh, yeah, that's fine!" She says with a smile.
"Awesome!" Tadashi tries not to smile too widely, super excited by his success so far, and then freezes as he realizes that he has no idea what he's supposed to do from here. Would she just follow him? Is he supposed to offer her his arm? Would that be too formal? Worse, would she think he was being too forward? After a moment's mental debate, he decides to go for it-after all, you couldn't go wrong with chivalry. To keep things light, however, he put on an over-the-top British accent as he does so, pretending to bow as he says, "Right this way, mi'lady!"
She giggles at the polite and silly gesture and, deciding to play along, does the best British accent she can manage. "Why thaaaaaaaank you milord." She quickly does a silly little curtsy.
Tadashi laughs too, glad that she's going along with it. "Shall we?" he asks, offering her his arm.
"Oh ..." Honey can feel her face getting warm. "Um, o-ok." She cautiously hooks her arm around his, making her face an even brighter red. She didn't usually act like this around people. She didn't know why she felt so ... Uncomfortable? No, uncomfortable wasn't the right word. Hm ... Augh! She couldn't put her finger on it.
Seeing her blush, Tadashi wonders if maybe he is being too forward. Still, it would be rude to try to suddenly change things now, so instead he forces a grin onto his face and tries to keep things as casual as possible. "Are you more of a coffee or a tea person?" he asks as they make their way through the lab, deciding that this is a fairly safe topic to go with and, besides which, a potentially very important piece of information to know. If there was one thing he'd learned while working in his aunt's cafe, it was that you could actually tell a lot about a person from their favorite choice of beverage. Himself, for example-he was definitely a coffee lover, but only if it was made extremely sweet and smooth. That fit his high energy personality which was covered by a more gentle, laid-back exterior. Aunt Cass was obsessed with black tea-again, she had the sweet, calm exterior sometimes associated with tea drinkers, but her personality definitely had a kick to it. He waited with great interest to see what Honey's response would be.
"Oh ... Well," Honey had to think about that for a minute, surprisingly. It was a strange question to ask, but, oh well. She'd still answer it as best she could. "Um ... I actually think I like both, depending on how I'm feeling," she finally answered. "If I want to just sit and relax and just daydream, I prefer to slowly sip some nice herbal tea. But if I'm really feeling like going out and doing something exciting, usually coffee is what I drink."
"Nice." Tadashi nods appreciatively. That's a pretty good answer. "I'm definitely coffee-I need as much energy as I can get between school and working here in the lab. Plus, trying to keep up with my little brother is a full time job all in itself-that kid is absolutely wired!"
Honey giggles. "Aww, sometimes I wish I had a younger sibling," she admits. "I think it would be fun!"
"Do you have any older sibling?" Tadashi asks, finding himself getting caught up in the interest of the conversation.
"Oh, I'm an only child," Honey answers. "No brothers or sisters, younger or older. It was kinda lonely at home, y'know? Nobody to watch over. Nobody to really look up to either. You know , in a sibling kind of way?"
"Wow, I'm sorry," Tadashi says, giving her a sympathetic look. "That must have been rough. I don't know what I'd do without Hiro!"
"Ah, no it's fine!" she says, putting a smile back on her face. "I mean, I don't know if I'd still be the same person if I had any older or younger siblings." She then looks down at her arm that was intertwined with Tadshi's and turns slightly red. "So, um, where are we headed?" she asks, trying to keep things from lapsing into an uncomfortable silence.
Tadashi nods to her first statement, impressed by the wisdom of her words. He honestly feels the same way about his own life-as much as he missed his parents, he knew that he might have ended up completely different if they'd been around and he hadn't had to spend so much of his time taking care of Hiro, and he wouldn't have traded any of that for the world. His brain still stuck on this idea, it takes a moment to register her question, and then another to actually process it enough to form a coherent answer. "Oh, um, it's just a little coffee shop run by one of the campus ministries called 'Holy Grounds'." He snorts slightly at the pun, and then hurries to reassure her, "Don't worry, it's not as campy as it sounds. They actually make a pretty mean latte, and I've been going there since I was like five and my parents would bring me with them over here to the university while they were working."
"Aww, how sweet!" she giggles before adding, "It sounds wonderful!"
"Great!" Tadashi feels relieved that she's okay with the choice of venues, and together they make the rest of the walk in companionable silence. Once inside, he leads her up to the counter where a cheerful looking woman greets them.
"Well, hello there Tadashi!" she says, the pair of glasses on her nose seeming almost too big for her tiny frame and wispy strands of brown hair floating away from her bun, but still managing to project a general air of warmth and caring as she leans over the counter to squeeze the boy in a hug. "It's been so long since I've last seen you! How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, Miss June," Tadashi replies, knowing how ridiculous the two of them must look but hugging her back anyway.
"I'm so glad to hear that." The woman nods approvingly and then turns her attention to Honey Lemon. "And who's this? I don't believe I've seen you in here before, my dear!"
"Oh, u-um hi." Honey gives a small wave. "I'm Aiko ... But uh, my friends call me HoneyLemon." She looks the cheerful lady up and down. She was absolutely adorable! She definitely made the entire place more happy and cheerful, just what Honey liked to see in people.
"Well, it's so nice to meet you Honey Lemon," the woman says, giving her a wink. "Everyone around here calls me Miss June. I'll take it you're a friend of Dashi's?"
Tadashi instantly turns red at the use of the old nickname his family sometimes used for him, but he has to suffer in silence since there's no way he'd ever tell off someone as sweet as the Miss June, no matter how embarrassed she made him feel.
"Oh, yes!" Honey answered, not even noticing Tadshi's embarrassment. "Actually, he invited me to come here today and I think it will be a good chance for us to get to know each other a little better!"
Tadashi instantly perks up at that. She actually wants to get to know him better too? YES! Inside he does a tiny victory fist pump, but he forces himself to try to keep a cool, calm, collected exterior. Miss June, having known him for as long as she has, can see right through that, but all she does is give him an amused smile before turning back to Honey.
"Well dear, what would you like today?" she asks, allowing Tadashi a chance to recollect himself.
"Hm ... I'm not sure ..." Honey Lemon takes a quick look at the items she could get here, before answering, "Um, I think I'll just take a latte, please."
"Absolutely," Miss June replies with a wink. "And for you, Tadashi?"
"I'll have the same," he answers, giving her a grateful smile for not having used the nickname again.
"All right, be back in just a moment with your drinks," Miss June tells them, whisking away back into the kitchen. True to her word, only minutes later she returns with two styrofoam cups filled with the most amazing smelling lattes ever to grace the SFIT campus. "Now you two head on out to the porch out back," she says, playfully shooing them along. "It's too pretty a day to stay inside, and I'm sure you two could use the privacy."
"Oh, thank you!" Honey couldn't believe how friendly this person was! "Let's go, Tadashi!" she says.
"All right," Tadashi agrees with a slight grin. Waving his thanks to Miss June, he follows Honey out onto the back porch, which is comfortably furnished with some faded willow furniture, a porch swing, and a beautiful view of a small garden.
"You know, there's actually a legend behind this place," Tadashi says after a few minutes of companionable silence. He straightens up from where he'd been leaning on the porch banister and points to a little plaque by the door. It's old and faded with time, but it still clearly reads:
May all who bide here, whether friend or foe,
Find harmony between them before they go.
"Basically it just means that most people who come here end up coming away much closer than when they'd arrived," he explains, feeling his ears turning slightly red and not able to meet her gaze, but continuing on anyway. "Even people who seemed like they hated each other end up leaving with peace between them. It's almost like there's magic here or something, y'know?" He dares to meet her eyes before continuing, "And...I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I'd like to get a chance to become really good friends." He hurries to add, "Only if you want to, of course!"
Honey giggles. Gosh, Tadashi sounds so flustered! She thought to herself. It was kind of endearing.
"What do you mean?" she asks out loud. "Of course I want to become good friends with you, Tadashi! I don't see why anyone wouldn't want that! I mean, from what I can tell, you're a really sweet guy!"
Tadashi feels an intense blush crossing his face, and he's about to stammer out some sort of response when suddenly the wind picks up sharply. Usually he wouldn't have paid it much attention, but it's so intense that it whips around the two of them like a hurricane. Tadashi instinctively closes his eyes and put up his arms to shield his face against the gale and any flying debris. As it is, he can feel long hair whipping his face, assumedly Honey's, and, oddly enough, he can also feel something fluttering around his legs. Before he even has time to consider this, the wind disappears as suddenly as it had come. Blinking slightly, Tadashi lowers his arms. "Hey, are you oka-" he starts to ask Honey, turning to make sure that she's okay, but his question is cut off by an involuntary gasp. What on Earth? He stares at her in disbelief. Something had just gone very, very wrong.
"Um, yeah I'm-" Honey is caught off guard by the sound of her voice. It was ... Deeper. No, that can't be right. "I'm fine." She finishes, but her voice still sounds deeper than what it was originally. Before her brain even registers anything more, she looks at Tadashi ... And she can feel her jaw drop. Standing in front of her was a girl. Was that- no, it couldn't be! It was impossible!
"T-Tadashi?" Honey finally asks the girl. After a few moments of silence, her brain processing all that has happened, she looks down at herself. She wasn't wearing her original outfit anymore- she was wearing a pale yellow pair of skinny jeans and a, she had to admit, very snazzy bright yellow button up. Everything about her had changed. In fact, her head somehow felt lighter. She runs her hand through her ... Hair? No, no no no no no! Her hair is extremely short! Then, not knowing what else to do, she pulls out a small mirror that she happened to keep with her at all times. She opened it, and what she saw was frightening. The reflection that staired back at her was that of a guy! "I-I'M A GUY!" she shrieks, not knowing what else to say. "And-and you're a girl!"
Tadashi, who had mainly been paying attention to the crazy transformation that Honey Lemon had apparently just gone through, hadn't even noticed what had happened to himself. Looking down, though, he realized that something very, very, strange and very, very wrong had happened to him. His whole frame was a lot smaller and his hair had apparently grown by a good foot. Furthermore, his clothes had changed-he was still wearing an olive green blazer and a white t shirt, but both were much more tailored to fit his new form. Even worse, his brown slacks had been changed to a skirt that rested just above his knees. "What-what the heck?!" he finally manages to get out, feeling both terrified and extremely uncomfortable. He cringes slightly at the sound of his own voice, which is now several octaves higher, even more so than it usually went when he was freaked out. Finally he manages to pull himself together enough to meet Honey's worried eyes with his own and he squeaks out, "We've-we've been genderbent!"
"W-what?!" Honey exclaims. "How in the world?!"
"I don't know!" Tadashi looks appropriately disturbed by the sudden change of events. "I didn't even know that this was possible in our universe!"
"Well, how do we fix it?!"
"I don't know!" Tadashi replies, running his fingers through his hair in a panicked way. And then he squeaks as another horrible thought hits him, "Oh my gosh, what's everyone going to think when they see us like this?!"
"I-I don't know!" Honey once again looks down at her new self. "What CAN they think?"
"Oh gosh, we're in so much trouble..." Tadashi sighs as he runs his hands over his face. One solid thought finally comes to him. "I don't think we can go back to the lab until we've got this fixed," he tells Honey.
Honey raises an eyebrow. "Well, where do you suppose we go?"
"I don't know, but we need to go somewhere where we can try to figure this out without having people freaking out and complicating matters," Tadashi replies, trying to think logically but not doing so well considering he was on the verge of a total panic attack.
"Um ... Well, let's try to think this through," Honey says in the most calming voice she can manage given the circumstances. "Where would be the best place to go?"
Tadashi considers this. "Um... maybe some public place where we can sort of be hidden in plain sight and can easily hide if we happen to see anyone we know?" he suggests weakly.
"Um ... Alright."
Tadashi sighs slightly. "Now if only I weren't a total introvert who spent all my time alone in either my room or the lab, I just might know where to find one of those places. Do you have any ideas?"
"Um ... No, I mean, the only place that I could think of is my apartment." Her face reddens and she speeds up her words, quickly continuing, "But I don't think you'd want to come over because I REALLY need to clean it up ..."
"Believe me, I completely understand," Tadashi reassures her with a half-smile, not wanting to add any discomfort to the situation. "And I'm pretty much in the same boat- my aunt doesn't want me having visitors in the house while she's gone." His eyes go slightly wide as the mention of his aunt gives him an idea. "Wait a minute-how about the mall? I doubt that we'd run into anyone we knew there, and even if we did there's plenty of places to hide, and we could probably find someplace quiet to sit and figure this out."
Honey's eyes widen at the words. "The mall?!" she practically squeals. That was a bad idea, considering the fact that she's currently a guy and she probably looked ridiculous, but she didn't care. She absolutely loved the mall! "Yes! That would be perfect!" she eagerly agrees. "I know every store in there like the back of my hand! I go shopping there all of the time!" She looks down at herself and adds, "I could probably get some really cute outfits too while we're there—you know, since I probably need some guy clothes now…"
Tadashi smiles slight-he always loved it when she got excited like this, it was always so adorable. But then the last statement registers in his brain and he freezes. He hadn't even considered this possibility, but now he realizes that Honey has a good point. "Esch... I'm guessing it might not hurt me to do the same," he admits, grimacing slightly as he looks down at his current outfit and realizes that probably nothing in his wardrobe is going to fit him at this point.
Honey had finally managed to calm herself down, until Tadashi mentioned he might get some new outfits, too. That sends her into another spasm of happiness. "Oh my gosh! I could totally help you pick out clothes!" she cries.
"That-that would be great," Tadashi answers, forcing a bright smile onto his face. Honestly, he could not think of anything more embarrassing than going shopping for female clothes with the girl that he had a crush on, but hey, if it made her happy, he'd go with it.
"Eee! Alright let's go!" Honey grabs Tadashi's hand, ready to drag him to the mall, but almost immediately lets go. "Sorry ... That was a bit rude," she apologizes.
"N-no, it's fine," Tadashi tells her with a slight grin as he tries to fight down a seriously excited "squee" of his own. She had actually just held his hand! Maybe not purposefully, but it was still something. Shaking off the jittery feeling and blushing slightly, he tells her, "L-lead the way!"
"Oh, really?" Honey smiles, happy to see that her friend is almost as excited as she is. "Well let's go!" This time she grabs Tadashi's hand and doesn't let go. Now that she knows he doesn't feel awkward, neither does she. She soon leads him out of the café and towards the mall. "I'm so excited!" she tells him eagerly as they start walking down the street.
"Y-yeah, m-me too," Tadashi agrees, knowing that his face is completely red but unable to keep himself from grinning like an idiot. Oh my gosh, she's holding my hand! She's holding my hand! And she's not letting go! Squee!
Wait, had he just said "squee"? Tadashi, get ahold of yourself! he silently reprimands himself. It's bad enough that you're stuck as a girl-don't you dare start thinking like one! Still, he can't help but feel like he's glowing all the way to the mall.
When the duo finally reach the mall Honey is practically about to jump out of her clothes she's so excited ... That probably wouldn't be the best idea, though. So, instead of making a fool out of herself, she turns to Tadashi. "Alright! What store should we visit first?"
"Um, you tell me, you're the clothing expert here," he responds with a nervous grin.
"Oh alright! I just didn't know if you had a preference." She quickly scans around. "Um ... Maybe we should go into JC Penney's first ..."
"Sounds like a plan," Tadashi agrees, feeling somewhat relieved. At least she was naming a store that he was familiar with, and it had the plus side of having both men and women's clothes.
"Alright!" Honey exclaims with a small jump as she pulls her new shopping buddy into the department store.
Tadashi allows himself to be pulled along, part dreading this, part oddly fascinated with the idea of getting to see what it's going to be like actually going shopping while on the opposite side of the gender pool in a department store. "U-um, so do you want to find clothes for you first?" he suggest weakly, wanting to prolong the awkwardness for as long as possible and desperately hoping that maybe somehow he'll get switched back before he has to go through it. It was a long shot, but he could only hope.
"I would ..." Honey begins. "But, I think we should shop for you first! I've NEVER been able to do this for anyone before."
"O-okay," Tadashi agrees nervously, resigning himself to the fact that he's going to be seriously embarrassed one way or another this afternoon and he'd better get it over with. And hey, on the bright side it seemed to be making Honey happy, and he'd do almost anything to make sure that she was able to keep smiling (especially since they were in a situation which could easily become very awkward or even depressing if not handled properly.) "W-where do we start?" he asks, trying to keep a fairly cheerful smile onto his face and hoping that it didn't look as forced as it felt.
Honey puts a finger to her chin. "Well, first we need to figure out what your style is," she explains as she looks Tadashi up and down. "What would you say your style is?"
"Um...usually I just wear slacks, a t-shirt, and a sweater or blazer of some sort," Tadashi replies, feeling completely out of his depth. "Pretty much whatever's comfortable."
"Hmm ... Ok. Now what about colors? Do you prefer anything specific?" Honey asks.
"Um..." Tadashi considers this. "I guess I've always been partial to green and brown?"
"Oh! Alright! I think I have just enough to work with Stay right there, I'll be right back," she says before running off.
"Okay, great!" Tadashi tries to sound cheerful, but, honestly, being left standing in the middle of a store while his crush was off trying to find gender appropriate clothing for him wasn't the most reassuring thing in the world.
Honey goes through the clothes racks like a hurricane. She, with her trained eye for fashion, is quickly able to pick out a couple of outfits that fit the comfortable style her friend enjoys. It's a little trickier to find the specific colors, or at least things close, but she eventually comes running back to Tadashi with two outfits she believes are perfect for him. One of the outfits is a very simple green button up shirt with some adorable skinny jeans to go along with it. The other outfit, Honey Lemon's personal favorite, was a cute, loose, gray sweater with an owl on the front. This shirt had a pair of light brown leggings under it. "Alright, there's not much here ... These outfits are pretty simple." She frowns for a moment but then quickly smiles again and adds, "But you'll still look cute!"
"O-okay," Tadashi says, trying not to blush bright red when she makes the "cute" comment. Oh gosh, he was acting like a teenage girl with a crush? Well, then again, technically he sort of was… That could possibly explained a lot of things about why he was feeling so emotional. Now, if only that could explain the random feeling in his midsection...
Shaking his head to clear away the thoughts about the phantom pains and focus on the present, he somewhat awkwardly accepts the clothes and asks, "Um... so, do you want me to try them on now?"
She nods swiftly. "Of course, silly! When else?"
"A-all right," he agrees, scanning the store for the nearest dressing room. Frankly, he's slightly terrified at the prospect of actually having to go into the ladies' dressing room, but it doesn't seem like he has much of a choice.
"Alright, I'll be waiting for you!"
"Okay..." Gulping convulsively, Tadashi makes his way into the dressing room. He ducks his head, trying not to see anything around him and hurrying into the nearest open stall. Quickly he shuts and locks the door behind him, letting out a slight sigh of relief that he'd made it this far. Then he stiffens slightly as he considers the prospect of actually having to figure out how to put on women's clothing and, even worse, having to actually deal with his new form for the first time. After a moment's internal struggle, he finally just decides to get it over with and, squeezing his eyes shut, he quickly does his best to get dressed by using his other senses. To be honest, the button up shirt was fine, as was the sweater. But both the jeans and the leggings were way, waaaaaay too tight for his taste. Seriously, how did girls manage to breathe in these? Knowing that Honey would want to see him in at least one of the outfits, he elects to go with the sweater and leggings combination since that was slightly more comfortable. On his way back out into the main part of the store to find Honey, he felt extremely conspicuous (even though in reality no one was really paying any attention to him.) Just as he was preparing to exit the door, he found his attention diverted by two teenage girls who were standing in front of a mirror and having a rather animated discussion.
"Do you really think this dress will get Daniel's attention?" the one girl, who was wearing a rather skimpy dress and looking rather uncomfortable in it, asks her companion, turning to get a better view of herself in the mirror.
"Believe me, this will totally work!" the other girl quickly reassures her. "Wear this to the dance and there's no way that he won't finally ask you out."
"I don't know... I just-something just doesn't feel right about this," the first girl sighs.
"Jasmine, we've talked about this!" the second girl answers, huffing slightly. "Do you want to be forever alone?"
"No," the first girl admits, her lip trembling slightly.
"Good. Then we're getting the dress. Trust me, everything's going to work out great."
Normally Tadashi didn't like to get involved in the affairs of strangers-he honestly felt that it was somewhat rude and he knew he wouldn't like other people to do the same thing to him. But he couldn't just stand by and let this poor girl make a decision which he knew could lead to some fairly devastating consequences. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he says, walking over and shaking his head. "This is totally not the way to go!"
"Uh, excuse me, but this is a private conversation?" The girl who'd been pressuring the other one into getting the dress gives him a derisive look. He ignores it, though, instead going over to the girl who was actually wearing the garment in question.
"I think I heard your name's Jasmine, is that right?" he asks gently.
"Y-yes," the girl replies, seeming nervous.
"That's beautiful," Tadashi says, giving her what he hopes constitutes an older sisterly type smile. "It's a perfect fit for a beautiful young girl."
"O-oh, I-I'm really not that pretty..." she stammers, her cheeks going even redder than they already were.
"Yes, you are," Tadashi replies firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "I don't know exactly who's been lying to you, but sweetheart, you honestly don't need to wear something like that to get a guy's attention. You've got your own natural beauty, and anyone who's worth your time will be able to see that without your having to expose yourself. Honestly, most decent guys actually prefer girls to be dressed modestly so that they're not having to struggle to keep their thoughts pure."
"R-really?" Jasmine looks up at him with big, hopeful eyes. "H-how do you know that?"
"Uh..." Tadashi tries to think of a good explanation-he can't exactly say that he knows from personal experience because he is a guy since he's currently genderbent and it would probably only freak her out if she knew. So he quickly answers, "I-I have a brother and a lot of my friends are guys. But, that aside, you should never try to change something about yourself just to get someone's attention. Believe me, when the right one comes along, they'll like you for exactly who you are, not some fake person that you're trying to be. And don't let anyone-and I mean anyone-" he casts a scathing glance over at the girl's companion, "tell you otherwise. Okay?"
"O-okay!" Jasmine nods her head, looking like she was close to tears but also having a huge smile on her face.
"Good." Tadashi returns her smile with one of his own. Then, suddenly feeling awkwardly unsure of what to do after giving her that mini peptalk and realizing that Honey was still waiting for him, he quickly nods his head goodbye and then hurries out into the main store where he almost smacks right into his own shopping companion.
"Whoa, Dashi." Honey giggles at the use of her friend's silly nickname. "Watch out, that was almost bad. What are you rushing away from?"
"Oh, I just-I realized that I'd been in there for a while trying to figure out how to get these clothes to work, and I didn't want you to start worrying," Tadashi replies, blushing slightly. It's half the truth, anyway. Beginning to feel the uncomfortableness of his current garments again, he tugs at the bottom of the leggings to see if that would loosen them at all, but unfortunately they continued to hold their vice-like grip on his calves.
Honey giggles. "Oh, I take those leggings are straying too far from the comfortable style you enjoy?" She doesn't even wait for Tadashi to answer. "Hold on I'll go find something a bit better," she tells him and then takes off yet again.
Tadashi sighs with relief, glad that she isn't offended by the fact that he wasn't more enthusiastic about her first choices. Still, he can't help but feel slightly awkward as he stands there in the middle of the store waiting for her to return. He feels even more awkward, though, a few minutes later when she returns with something else for him to try on. "Is that-a skirt?!" he cries in disbelief.
Honey looks down at the item of clothing she brought Tadashi. "Well, yeah. I mean, skirts are pretty comfortable."
Tadashi's about to protest when he realizes that he'd already been wearing a skirt for the past hour or so already and, as weird as it was to admit, he realizes that it actually been fairly comfortable. "Okay..." he finally agrees after a moment's internal struggle, giving up the fight for dignity in favor of actually being able to feel like he could breathe in his clothing. "Just...just don't laugh, okay?"
"I wouldn't dream of it Tadashi." Honey says with a serious look on her face.
"Okay then..." Tadashi heads back into the dressing room to try the garment on. To his great surprise, he finds it extremely comfortable. He still feels a little silly when he walks back out to show it to Honey, but at least he can breathe in it.
"You. Look. ADORABLEEEEE!" Honey proclaims as she sees her friend walk out with the skirt on. "I'm glad you didn't like those skinny jeans, that skirt fits your style much better!"
"Y-you think so?" Tadashi asks, his cheeks turning bright red and not quite sure how to take the praise. It was supposed to be a compliment, he knew, but technically he was still a guy, so was it really a good thing that apparently he could wear a skirt well?
"Yes!" Honey exclaims happily.
Tadashi's about to respond when suddenly two girls passing by start giggling and he can hear one of them saying to the other, "Aw, lucky gal! Her boyfriend's actually taking her out shopping!"
"I wish mine would do that," the other one agrees, shooting Tadashi a slightly envious look.
"Wait, she's not-I mean he's not..." Tadashi starts to protest, but by then the girls are out of hearing range. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry..." he apologizes as he turns back to Honey, his face going bright red. "I didn't even realize that people would think that you-that is, that we..."
"Oh, it's fine," Honey Lemon giggles. "Silly mistake-I'm honestly not surprised they made it. Most people who see a guy and a girl out shopping together would assume that they were a couple. But it doesn't mean anything-we both know that we're just really good friends!"
"R-right…" Tadashi can't quite meet her eyes, fearing that she'd see from the expression how deep her words had cut. In trying to aver his gaze, he manages to catch sight of a clock on the wall, and he feels vaguely panicked. "Oh my gosh, I hadn't realized how late it was!" he cries. "Hiro's going to be getting home from school any time now, and I still need to get back to the university to pick up my moped before heading home!"
"Hiro?" Honey Lemon gives the other college student a curious look, and then her eyes light up with understanding. "Oh, your little brother, right?"
"Yeah," Tadashi agrees. "And I promised him that I'd be home by the time he got there!"
"Well then, we're going to make sure that you keep that promise!" Honey Lemon says firmly before giving him a gentle shove towards the door. "Get going!"
"Thank you for understanding…" Tadashi gives her a grateful smile before looking down and groaning slightly. "Only-shoot, I'm still dressed in these clothes, and I haven't paid for them…"
"Oh, I can fix that!" Honey Lemon brushes aside his concerns with a wave of her hand. Before Tadashi can ask what she's doing, the blond pulls a pair of nail scissors out of her purse and starts clipping price tags. "There we go!" she says in satisfaction. "I'll just bring these to the register and pay for them with whatever clothes I end up getting!"
"Are-are you sure?" Tadashi asks uncertainly.
"Oh, trust me, people do this all of the time!" Honey Lemon answers brightly.
"No, I mean-I feel guilty for leaving you to pay!"
"Oh, if that's all, don't worry about it! I'm more than happy to do it-consider a 'thank you' for actually coming shopping with me!"
"You're… you're welcome…" Tadashi blushes slightly. "I... I actually kind of had fun… Maybe we can make this a more regular thing-once we get back to normal, I mean! As interesting as shopping for female clothes is…"
"I get it!" Honey Lemon laughs, before giving him another gentle shove. "Now go! You don't want your little brother to be worried!"
"He'll be worried plenty enough when he sees me as a girl…" Tadashi jokes wryly before doing as directed. As he pushes the door open, though, he turns back and calls, "Thank you again! You're a life saver!"
"Not a problem!" Honey Lemon calls back happily, waving as she watches the young man go. Wow, Tadashi really was a great friend! And now… She turns back to into the store and starts heading for the men's department. She has some shopping of her own to do!
