Meri Kurisumasu

Chapter 7: Bra

In the mall, hundreds of shoppers ran about frantically for last minute gifts. In each store, there were more emplyees, and more security than at any other time of the year. Some, scrambled among the other shoppers, desperately hoping to make it where they wanted to go, while others, who had reached a more perfected expertise with shopping, had no problems.

Uub stared at all the people in wonder as Bra dragged him through the crowds with ease. She knew all the high traffic areas and what route to take to any store there. In minutes, to Uub's surprise, they were in a fancy clothing store filled with designer labels.

Bra stood Uub in front of a mirror and began bringing clothes over to him.

Not used to such attention, Uub tried to get out of the clothes shopping, saying he wasn't really that cold, despite that fact that his lips wewre practically blue. Bra just smirked and ordered him to stay put.

She started with pants, since in her opinion they were the base of any man's outfit. She attempted to get him to try on some of the latest trends, but he was more than happy with a simple pair of black pants, and thought it foolish to try anything else on.

Bra couldn't believe Uub could be so disinterested in what they were doing. This was the kind of thing that thrilled her. Getting through a fashion disaster like Uub was a dream come true, and to do it on Christmas Eve! The hardest day to shop on, but she could do it. She was an expert. There's was nothing she couldn't do, and she could prove that to anyone she had to.

She started with a white T-shirt, to give him that grungy, yet still fancy look, but Uub said the two didn't go together and that it looked odd. She tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't hear it.

Next, she gave him a long sleeved dress shirt, 'plain white to start' she thought. He seemed to like it well enough, but he said somehting was missing. She handed him a black blazer to match the pants and he smiled, then frowned. "Aren't I too dressed up?" he asked. Bra looked him up and down and nodded. "Yeah, let's get something a little more casual and sexy.

The white shirt and jacket came off, and she grabbed a black t-shirt. Uub put it on and found it wrapped around his broad chest rather tightly. He grimaced and went to take it off, but Bra stopped him. "Leave it on." She told him. "It looks really good on you." It did too. He had grown up a bit since she last saw him, and he was now taller, with broader shoulders and a more filled out chest.

Uub shook his head and looked at Bra pleadingly. "Please. It's so tight, you can see everything through them."

"But that's a good thing." She told him. "You have the kind of chest you wan't people to see."

"I guess so, but I still think it looks weird."

"Alright, we'll put something over it, okay?"

Bra went to another rack and pulled off a collared silver shirt. She had Uub put it on over the black shirt, and buttoned it almost all the way up, so just a bit of the black showed, enough to still accentuate his chest. They both smiled.

"It's perfect!"

After Bra paid, an amount Uub thought was extremely rediculous for some clothes, they headed back to Capsule Corp.

"So tell me about Christmas." Uub said while they were driving. Bra smiled and looked at him for a second, then returned her focus to the road. "Well, it's a Christian holiday for one. My family isn't really religious, but Christmas is a holiday my mother always enjoyed, so that's why we celebrate it at the company every year."

"Do you like it?"

"It's okay I guess. I don't know. My mom makes such a big deal about it that I have to like it." Bra bit her lip in shock at her actions. She had never said that before. "I never told anyone that sometimes I want to be more than just 'the daughter of Bulma Briefs'".

"I can understand that." Uub told her. "Sometimes I wish I could be known in my village for something other than my strength."

"I guess we have something in common then, huh?" The both smiled at each other, then they fell into an akward silence.

"You know." Bra said, interupting the silence. "That outfit really does look good on you. We should go shopping together more often."

"Maybe."

They arrived back at CC, where music was pouring out from the main hall. The decorations were all up, and so was the tree. Uub gaped at it in awe, and Bra smiled at him. "It might seems strange now," she told him, "but it'll all fall in to place evntually." Then, she took his hand and led him inside.