A/N: Here's chapter 2, let me know what y'all think!
Pros and cons of shopping with Nagatoro flowed through Senpai's head as he piggybacked her to the undisclosed location.
On one hand, the guest work of finding a suit/tuxedo was now simplified; he knew any choice he made on his own would be subjected to Nagatoro's teasing, so being able to receive an immediate approval like this was very appealing to him.
On the other, money was a bit of a concern. He had enough, but that money had already been reserved for the collector's edition of the newest Bragon Quest. A small sigh escaped his lips.
Guess I'll just have to wait to buy that…
Moreover, shopping with his kouhai was uncharted territory. He had no fashion sense or style, only wearing the clothes his mom would occasionally buy for him. Not that he had any interest in shopping in the first place.
"Senpai, you've never shopped by yourself before, huh?"
His luggage's voice broke his train of thought.
"Wha- what makes you say that?"
"Your outfits scream 'my mom picked this out for me at the department store'." She teased while flipping the back of his shirt collar to identify the brand.
"Like, what brand even is this? Yusilo? Generic! Generic Senpai!"
She began wriggling on his back, which caused his grip on her legs to waver, but before any accidents occurred, Nagatoro hopped off.
"You're not as weak today!" She commented, smirking as they continued to their destination.
"Well…" He crookedly smiled, remembering the attempted pushups he did a few nights ago.
Nagatoro did feel lighter compared to last time… and I don't think her weights changed… but...
"Maybe you just got lighter?"
"Eeeyaa! Senpai is hinting at my measurements!" She shrieked as she hugged her body in pseudo embarrassment.
Senpai looked off to the side in annoyance and sighed, "Where are you taking us anyway?"
"Not telling, but I will show you the dress I'm interested in." She remarked as she pulled out her phone.
After a few seconds of scrolling through her pictures, she revealed the screenshot she saved.
Naoto hesitantly looked, peering down at the screen only to be captivated by the sheer elegance of the garment. A lengthy blue dress with sequenced trim around the hip area was shown, Senpai looked at Nagatoro while visually projecting the dress onto her.
"What do you think?" She asked with devilish grin. "Too much for a virgin like you to handle, right? Right?" She prodded, jabbing his sides with a sneer.
"I think… it's not bad." He mumbled while eyeing a nearby telephone pole.
"'I think… it's not bad' Ahahaha, look at Senpai trying to save face!" She imitated, before running in front of him and posing.
"See? See? You can't even look me in the eye."
Nagatoro thus began an impromptu modeling shoot, striking numerous, suggestive poses that only made Senpai blush with embarrassment. He wondered where she obtained the confidence to pose like that in public.
"Ara~ Senpai-kun is getting excited."
"Paisen can't handle this.
"Torture!"
Nagatoro's… friends… Naoto reeled as Gamo-chan placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Sup?"
Hayase glared at the hand on Senpai's shoulder before answering, cueing the artist to step out of Gamo's reach.
"Senpai and I were on our way to the outlet store to find our outfits for the dance."
"Ohh, Paisen actually had the balls to ask, huh?"
"That sounds like fun, we'll come too."
"Shopping spree!"
Naoto sighed exasperatedly; in his mind, this was the worst-case scenario.
The four of them each had their own brand of mischief (barring Yoshi), with Nagatoro as the leader.
He envisioned himself being dressed in all kinds of weird outfits, fully expecting that nothing was out of the question when it came to sating their desire for entertainment.
As they reached said store, Naoto noticed that his kouhai had noticeably grown quieter.
"Oh, and what do we have here? A group of friends helping out this young man pick out an outfit?" One of the store patrons stated as she walked up to them.
"Ah, I guess we do look like that." Sakura smiled while turning to Naoto.
"Time to find you some style, Paisen." Gamo-chan remarked as she browsed some nearby coats.
"I thought we were just shopping for my suit?" The regret began to set in as the second year looked at Hayase for help, who was casually staring off to the side.
She caught his pleading gaze, but simply replied with an expression of disinterest.
"Good for you, Senpai; having all these girls help you pick out clothes. It must be nice to have all our opinions improve your style for other girls to admire, huh? Good for you." Nagatoro's hollow eyes bore into his being as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Well… yours is the only one I care about." He remarked while adjusting his glasses, before realizing he vocalized his thoughts once again. It wasn't like him to consistently articulate his thinking; something about his kouhai changed that.
A visible steam began to arise from Nagatoro's ears while she immediately looked around to see if any of her friends overheard that. Fortunately, only Yoshi did.
Before she could think about her next action, Gamo-chan called out to them,
"Paisen, Hayacchi, we got outfits for you!"
As the group obtained said outfits, they headed to the dressing room.
Naoto had received several different ensembles that clashed against his own sense of style dramatically, but he figured he'd rather get it over with sooner rather than later.
He went into the changing room tentatively, unsure how this situation came about, and how he was going to pay for all these should they prove to be (somewhat) trendy.
For the first outfit, an urban city chic that highlighted various grey and black overtones, as well as a grey hat. An outfit Nagatoro herself picked out, which seemed to sort of match the outfit she wore when he went on the fake date with Sakura.
He looked in the mirror and sighed, this outfit betrayed his view of himself indefinitely.
I don't see myself wearing this out in public… but if Nagatoro likes it… then maybe…
"Paisen, hurry up!"
"Hurry up!" Yoshi repeated.
He sighed once again, and hesitantly emerged from the dressing room, mentally preparing himself for their ridicule. As he made his appearance, the friends all displayed looks of astonishment.
"I don't really think this suits m-"
"Ohhh wow, that actually looks good on you Senpai-kun."
"Not bad, not bad."
"Thumbs up!"
The three of them all gave their approval, manifesting a slight blush on Naoto's cheeks. Turning to the stall next to him however, he noticed his junior had not yet appeared.
Grunts and sounds could be heard from said stall, prompting Gamo-chan to knock on the door.
"You alright in there, Hayacchi?"
"Rrrrr!"
With a sigh, Gamo slipped into the stall, only to be pelted with complaints.
"What is with this dress you picked out Gamo-chan! It's way too tight!"
"I picked that size because of your proportions, but it seems you grew in this area."
What proceeded were shrieks that only meant one thing; Naoto adjusted his glasses at the cliché situation.
"Paisen's sure to be happy." He overheard from the stall, confirming his suspicions of what 'area' they were referring to.
After a few minutes, his kouhai emerged, donning a stunning red knee-length dress, with an open slit from the waist down. The dress bolstered Nagatoro's curvature, highlighting several aspects of her body that Senpai often tried to avoid.
Naoto began to tremble from nervousness at the appearance of his date.
"What do you think, Senpai?"
An innocent stare with a tinge of deviousness locked onto the second year, causing him to dart his eyes until he finally had the will to say something.
"I th-think it looks good." He stammered, while Nagatoro took a step closer.
"Is that all? Just, 'good'?"
He trembled even more at her proximity,
Calm down… calm down… think of something to say that'll satisfy her.
"Ah that's no good Senpai-kun, you'll need to do better than that."
"Paisen is beet red!" Maki laughed, pointing at Naoto who was indeed quite flush.
"Red!"
After a few deep breaths, he turned his attention to her once more. This time, he viewed her in earnest, taking in all the features that were emphasized by the dress.
Hands folded behind her back, she maintained her gaze, the center focal point of her pupils housing Senpai's image. She was sure he would say something arbitrary or mundane, so she readied herself to tease him.
"N-Nagatoro…"
"Yes, Senpai?"
"Y-you look really b-beautiful in that dress."
A deafening silence fell after that statement, and the crew immediately turned their attention to Hayase.
As they predicted, her expectations betrayed her, and she was left with an astonished look that seemed uncharacteristic for her. An evident blush began growing on her face, as she struggled to accept the compliment.
"Th-thank you…"
Senpai looked up with a small smile; he was able to be a little more honest with his feelings, and he was proud his words conveyed that.
The smile didn't escape Nagatoro's radar however, as she walked up to him and pressed her finger against his chest.
"What's with that creepy smile, Senpai? You proud you were finally able to give a decent compliment? Creepy Senpai."
The noodling began.
Later that night, after a series of modeling and approvals/rejections, Naoto hung up 6 new outfits (including the rental suit) that had been endorsed by the Nagatoro clan.
So much for the collector's edition…
He flopped onto his bed recalling the events of the day. His kouhai had donned three more dresses outside of the red one, but the first proved to be Naoto's favorite.
Although, that dress didn't really win the approval of the friends. He was glad he expressed his interest in it all the same.
He mindlessly scrolled through various online forums before receiving several LINE notifications.
Opening it, he read:
"Hopefully you developed a little more of a fashion sense today, Senpai."
"It was a little gross seeing you in all those different styles though, some of those outfits totally didn't fit your loner aura!"
Followed by a bunch of "Gross!" sticks.
Senpai smiled, thinking back to when he had this much fun before... He replied to his kouhai's message.
"Yeah I feel like I learned something. Which dress are you going with?"
"If I tell you now, your lewd thoughts will begin. Pervy Senpai!"
"Sh-shut up!"
