In the darkness of their bedroom, Nana opened one bleary eye and stared at the bedside clock.
Cyan numbers impassively displayed three-thirty-nine in the morning. Two slow winks later, it was three-forty. Five hours and twenty minutes remained until whatever plans Peach had in store were to be executed.
A frustrated groan escaped her lips before she could suppress it and she immediately regretted it. Behind her, Popo's rhythmic breathing was interrupted by a sleepy, interrogative grunt and she winced. She'd already woken him once before and although he was understanding about her worries, she still felt bad. With a great deal of willpower, Nana kept her body relaxed and her breathing slow.
Eons passed before the clock turned three-forty-one, and Popo's arms simply tightened around her. He mumbled something incoherent and his breathing returned to its deep sleep cadence. Nana sighed with relief and slackened into Popo's comforting warmth.
All this worrying was silly. The outing was going to happen regardless of how much sleep she was losing, so there was no reason to worry about it. Better to try salvaging some sleep so she can better face the day. Who knows—maybe she'd even have a good time.
With newfound determination, Nana took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Just before sleep claimed her, she gently seized Popo's wrists. Once his hands were properly repositioned over her stomach, a sigh of satisfaction was the last thing she remembered before her eyes fell closed.
The scent of breakfast caressed her nose, and her eyes fluttered back open.
Although the temptation to just sleep in was strong, she knew better. Still, that didn't stop her from taking a moment to roll onto her back and pat out a lazy drum solo on her belly as she stared at the bedroom ceiling.
"Don't wanna," she eventually grumbled and heaved herself out of bed.
Yawning into her hand, she found her way to the kitchen table and took a moment to admire Popo at the stove as she sat. He hummed while he cooked, flipping a pancake with one hand while tending to strips of bacon with the other. Nearly a minute passed before he glanced over his shoulder to give her a small smile.
"Morning, Nana," he cheerfully intoned. "Didn't sleep too well?"
"No, I had another staring contest with the clock." She scratched her head, frowning when her fingertips encountered several nasty snarls in her hair. "How long've you been up?"
She followed Popo's gaze to the stove clock, which read seven-twenty-one. "I started breakfast, oh, about a half-hour ago." He turned back to his cooking with a soft, humming chuckle. "Anyway, you still have some time before you gotta be at your thing, so grab yourself a shower and I'll have some hot food ready by the time you get back down here."
"What? No…no, don't worry about me," Nana waved dismissively and slouched in her chair. "Peach has this uh—" She paused, rapidly snapping her fingers to jog her memory. "—brunch thing as our first stop. I'll eat then."
Humming thoughtfully, Popo nodded. "A light breakfast, then; got it."
Nana let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Popo, that's not what—"
"Just trust me," Popo plated his food and took a seat beside her. He snatched up a strip of bacon and took a bite, speaking around his chewing. "Between rounding everyone up, getting to wherever you're eating, and finally getting your food, it could be a couple more hours. I just don't want you going into this all crabby, you know?"
Nana thought that over while she watched him cut up his pancakes and drown them in syrup. He had a point and, sadly for her, they both knew it. Of course, the exaggerated moans he made while eating only served to irritate her and make her stomach growl. His eyebrows shot up at the sound, and a triumphant smile blossomed across his lips.
"Okay, you win" she finally said with a wry smile, covering his smug face with her hand. His laughter was muffled as he gently kissed her palm. She couldn't help rolling her eyes as she stood up. "I'll take two pancakes and some bacon."
Having instantly gone back to stuffing his face, Popo sketched a lazy salute and grunted in affirmation as she left.
After an energizing shower, Nana wrapped herself in a towel and rifled through the contents of her wardrobe. Clothing-laden hangers were shoved aside, drawers were closed almost as quickly as they were opened, and shelves were pored over in the name of casual fashion. Crazy Hand's gleeful declaration that the summer season had begun—much to her and Popo's chagrin—ultimately had her taking a page from the Inklings' book. Minutes later, Nana was admiring a reflection that sported a pale pink T-shirt that hung a little past her hips, over a simple pair of stretchy black cycling shorts that ended just above her knees.
Now dressed for the day, Nana quickly parted her hair with a few practiced swipes of her comb. She was just reaching for her usual hair ties when she noticed a small wooden box on the wardrobe's shelf. Smiling fondly, she carefully undid the simple latch and lifted the lid.
Inside, nestled amongst dark blue velvet, lay a pair of silver hollow cylinders and a thin, flexible rod with a loop on one end. Gingerly, she picked up a cylinder and admired how the sunlight danced across the intricate scrollwork etched upon it. Humming quietly to herself, Nana carefully used the rod to pull her hair through the cylinder and easily style one pigtail. After the second pigtail was formed, she quickly checked her reflection to make sure the hairclips were even before dashing back downstairs.
True to his word, Popo was just setting her plate on the table as she entered the kitchen. Looking up from his handiwork, he favored her with a grin and a surprisingly blatant once-over that immediately heated her face. Although his attention was never unwelcome, she still half-heartedly rolled her eyes.
"It's gonna be hot out there," she scoffed, drizzling a small amount of syrup over her pancakes and bacon. "This was the most comfortable outfit I could scrounge up without violating a decency law."
Popo snorted as he set a glass of orange juice beside her plate. "Right, sorry about that. I was just surprised you're wearing the hairclips I got you, is all."
A forkful of pancake stopped halfway to her mouth while she stared at Popo with a smirk. "You liar; my hairclips are on my head, not my legs!" She stuck out her tongue before popping the morsel into her mouth.
Mirroring her smirk, Popo shrugged and walked towards the sink. Nana giggled and focused on her eating; turned out she was hungrier than she originally thought. After clearing her plate, she looked up and gave his backside an appraising stare.
"You know, Popo," she began after taking a long pull from her juice. "You could start taking my place in these things if you'd just grow out your hair."
Popo chuckled and adamantly shook his head. "Not a chance; we look too different now, even by everyone else's standards." He finished washing his plate and utensils before turning around to face her, drying his hands with a towel. "Besides, I don't think I can pull off your outfit," he finished with a grin.
"Tell you what," she said, rising from her seat and crossing over to where he now leaned against the counter. His grin didn't waver, even as she strolled up and slid her arms around his waist. "If I'm in a good mood when I get home, you might just get to."
At a casual glance, Popo's answering embrace appeared nonchalant; he'd simply rested his hands on her shoulders. However, signals roiled beneath the surface of his unchanged expression. Even if she'd discounted the usual blush coloring his face, his inner thoughts were still betrayed by a combination of dilated pupils and bobbing Adam's apple.
Not that she was in a place to judge those reactions, of course. Her breath hitched when his fingertips lightly traced along the contours of her back as they migrated downwards, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. As his hands came to a comfortable rest on her hips, his thumbs massaged tiny circles into her sides through the fabric of her shirt. By itself, not too bad, but the way he'd paused to briefly trace those thumbs over the waistband of her shorts made her heart hammer against her ribs.
"Think I'll hold you to that," he finally murmured, leaning in with his head slightly angled.
Only when Nana tilted her head to meet his incoming lips did that damn stove clock drift into view. It had just ticked over to eight-fifty-five, and with a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl she pulled back slightly. Popo looked confused for a moment before he tracked her gaze to the clock and frowned.
"Hey," she said in a soft tone and lightly traced a fingertip along his jaw. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Biting his lip, Popo nodded and loosened his hold enough for her to slip away. Just as hesitantly, she disengaged and dashed towards the front door. From a nearby wall hook, she grabbed a black messenger bag containing her currency cards, some snacks, and a water canteen. After a quick double-check to make sure everything was accounted for, she pulled on a comfortable pair of boots and made a quick exit. She was one step out the door when Popo suddenly seized her hand. A startled squeak escaped her as he spun her around and pressed his lips firmly, yet gently, against hers. A few seconds later, he pulled back with a wide smile.
"Good luck out there, Love," he said, throwing her a wink as he closed the door.
Sunlight, heat, and the lingering effects of Popo's kiss all joined forces to make Nana's head spin. A soft groan escaped her and she slumped against the door to get her blushing under control. Curse Popo and his random bouts of smoothness! On the one hand, she was damn proud of how bold he'd become in their time away from home…
But on the other hand, he shouldn't be leaving her so flustered!
Regaining her composure, thankfully, was a simple matter of taking a deep breath to clear her head. Within a few seconds, she'd pushed off from the door and made her way towards Peach's miniature castle.
It was a rather peaceful morning, as far as mornings went in the Residential District. Cicadas were buzzing, which reminded Nana of those weird cartoons that liked to occasionally show still images of power lines. Tinny, static-y music drew her attention to an upper level of the neighboring fortress where Bowser lounged with a ridiculously small book in his oafish mitts. Only when he turned the page—licking his claw tip to do so—did he notice her. With narrowed eyes, the overgrown turtle glowered at her over the tiny reading glasses precariously perched upon his snout and arched a bushy brow.
The urge to frown back was strong, but she kept her expression blank as she met the Koopa King's gaze. Bowser's eyes slowly widened in horrified realization. In an instant, his head whipped towards Peach's castle, then back to Nana, before making a sound somewhere between a squeak and a growl and ducking into the fortress in a blur of motion.
Nana could only stand there dumbfounded as, one by one, iron portcullises slammed down over the fortress's windows in a chorus of cacophonous clangs. A final, larger gate dropped down over the main entrance as she walked away, wondering just what she was getting herself into.
With the gloomy fortress behind her, she tamped down her worries and headed for the gleaming beacon that was Peach's castle. The archway over the front door cast a comfortable-looking shade over the four women lounging therein, though Nana had a suspicion that she wouldn't get a chance to enjoy it much before they were all whisked off to…wherever it was they were going. But even brief shade was still shade, she figured, as she raised her hand in a wave and casually ambled over.
Daisy stepped out from under the shelter and jogged over to meet her. Nana's concern about being underdressed was immediately dispelled upon seeing the other's sporty outfit of orange shorts and a yellow sleeveless top.
"Welcome to the party, gal," she exclaimed, draping an arm over Nana's shoulders and guiding her towards the shady alcove. "We should be kickin' things off any minute now!"
Everyone else seemed to have their own interpretation of how best to dress for the heat. Zelda's simple blue and white dress, for example, was made from a very fine linen material; the fabric's breathability almost completely offset how much the outfit covered. The ensemble that Peach wore—a pair of white, wide-legged culottes with a pink short-sleeved blouse—was a loose enough fit to allow even the faintest breeze to instantly cool her off. And Samus, in her rough olive military pants and matching tank top, just looked plain unwilling to be affected by the heat.
After a quick exchange of hellos, Nana leaned against the wall beside Daisy. Beneath the awkward silence lay a tinge of frustration and impatience, made infectious because of Peach's folded arms and tapping foot. Zelda and Samus didn't appear at all concerned.
Nana awkwardly cleared her throat. "So uh, is this all of us or—?"
An uncharacteristically sharp gesture by Peach cut off the rest of Nana's inquiry. The princess frowned at her hand and sighed when she looked back at Nana.
"My apologies," she muttered, looking out towards the street. "Everyone else is running late, and I have no idea why. The bus was supposed to start in the newcomers' streets and finish with picking us up here. What could be taking it so long?"
"Bayonetta," Samus flatly stated.
"…Point taken," Peach sighed again, delicately pressing her fingertips to her forehead. "I honestly thought she would decline the invitation this time; especially after what happened last time."
Nearly everyone's attention was on Peach while they waited for her to clarify. Samus was more engrossed in whatever was on the screen of her wrist-mounted computer. While she casually tapped away at the keypad, Peach eventually went back to staring out towards the street. With wide eyes, Zelda's lips compressed into a thin line and she threw up her hands.
"Well," the Hylian exclaimed. "Are you gonna tell us what—"
The rest of her words were swallowed up in the cacophony of a roaring engine. All eyes—except Samus's—turned towards the street as a speeding bus skidded to a sudden halt directly in front of the castle.
"Transport's here," Samus said, her eyes still on her computer as she headed for the bus. She pointed her index finger to the sky and twirled her hand in a tight circle before boarding. Peach and the others shared a glance before following suit.
"Peachy, darling," Bayonetta drawled from inside the bus. "Be a dear and drop it for now? Your snippy attitude is holding up the queue and our day."
Standing just outside of the bus, directly behind Peach, Nana stifled a laugh. She really didn't want to agree with Bayonetta, but she could also admit it when a point was made. Sometimes. After a tense silence, Peach sighed dramatically and stepped fully onto the bus.
As Nana came aboard, she quickly spotted Leaf, Isabelle, and Wendy in the middle of the passenger hold and headed their way. At least she'll have good company today—
"Halt."
Grumbling, Nana stopped mid-stride and turned towards Bayonetta, who lounged upon a side-facing seat as though it were a throne. She was clad in a pristine white dress adorned with white fabric roses and featuring a neckline and divided skirt that were way too daring for Nana's tastes. The sharp gaze peering out from beneath a matching, ridiculously wide-brimmed sunhat gave Nana the sense that she was being judged.
"And who…might you be," the Umbra Witch inquired, an amused smirk curling her lips.
Several response options presented themselves to Nana. In the spirit of keeping things moving, she opted for a wry smile and a wink.
"Oh, you'll have to wait just like everyone else," she said in a singsong voice. "We're introducing ourselves at brunch, remember?"
It was a real shame they were running late, else Nana would have stuck around to revel in the brief annoyance that passed over Bayonetta's features. Instead, she turned away and strolled toward her friends.
"Halt," Bayonetta repeated a few seconds later.
Behind Nana, Daisy scoffed in frustration. "Oh, come on!"
"And that, girls," Wendy, leaning over the back of Isabelle's seat, said as Nana flopped onto a seat across the aisle. She made a grand gesture towards Nana, manicured claws spread wide. "That's how you handle Bayonetta when she tries to push you around."
Leaf's voice drifted from the seat behind Nana's. "I get she was a multi-time champion in the last tournament, but that's no reason to act like that."
"Oh don't worry; she was like this before all those wins," Wendy smirked and shook her head, turning to stare towards the front of the bus. "Anyway, if you stand up for yourself she'll back off." She suddenly snorted and turned to Nana, adding some teeth to that smirk. "You might not be off the hook though; she gave you quite the nasty look when you walked past."
Grimacing, Nana closed her eyes and massaged her forehead with her thumb and pointer finger. Just wonderful: a whole day of dealing with sniping from Bayonetta.
The soft, incessant jingling of a bell dispersed the brooding miasma that threatened to fill Nana's thoughts, pulling her to the present. She opened her eyes and traced the sound to Isabelle's headband as the little dog woman bounced in her seat. Her eyes all but sparkled and her mouth trembled, as though she were forcing herself to keep a straight face.
"Isabelle, are you al—?"
"THAT WAS SO COOL, NANA!"
Nana smiled reflexively as she recoiled from the secretary's outburst. Her eyes flicked towards the front of the bus, just long enough to catch the open scowl on that witch's face, which turned the involuntary smile into a genuine one. Affecting a casual air, she waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, that was nothing," she laughed, stretching her legs out and crossing them at the ankles. "I've dealt with people like her all my life, so I know how to handle them. If she's gonna be like this all day, it'll only make her look petty, you know?"
Isabelle, much calmer by now, nodded as the bus finally started moving. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense…" She folded her arms and scowled (Nana had to fight really hard to not laugh). "It still doesn't give her the right to interrogate us just because we're new here."
Shaking her head, Nana pulled her canteen from her bag and took a drink. She savored the refreshing water for a moment before closing the vessel and stowing it away. "Well, that explains why we're all running so late now."
Both Wendy and Isabelle nodded, and then the latter turned her adorably amusing glare towards the back of the bus and raised her voice. "It sure would have been nice if someone had warned me beforehand!"
A loud, monosyllabic laugh rang out from several rows back, and Nana turned to watch as three girls started to work their way up the aisle. Leading the procession were two human brunettes with green eyes. The girl in front, wearing a green dress with turnips printed on it, was focused entirely on fiddling with her phone as she navigated the aisle. The slightly taller girl behind her, in a similarly-cut blue and yellow striped dress, seemed to make it a point to glare at everyone as she followed along with folded arms, though she was hard to take seriously due to her strange hairstyle of three pigtails—two sticking out from the sides of her head and one sprouting from the top. Bringing up the rear was an Inkling with bright pink hair contrasting sharply with her dark skin, dressed in a dark gray and pink T-shirt, matching shorts, and a red and white hat with a mesh backing. Despite her alert eyes flicking around, she looked incredibly bored.
Within moments, all three girls stood surrounded by everyone else. Oblivious to her surroundings, the girl in green slid into the empty seat in front of Isabelle's, leaving the girl in blue to glower down at everyone else. The Inkling girl, leaning against the back of Isabelle's seat, looked on with mild interest.
Nana wasn't sure which surprised her more—Isabelle's sudden amused smile or Wendy's complete lack of outward reaction to this girl's nasty looks. Isabelle's tongue poked out of one corner of her mouth as she reached into a pocket on her khaki skirt. And then another pocket. Wrinkles creased her brow as she leaned back and slid a tiny paw into an equally tiny pocket on the front of her pink, leaf-adorned button-down shirt. After rummaging around in that pocket for an impossibly long amount of time, she produced a pair of eyeglasses with thick black frames that shouldn't have fit in there.
"Bernice," she gently chided. "Did you forget your contacts again?"
"I had to get dressed fast," Bernice exclaimed in a slightly husky voice before slumping forward with a dramatic sigh. "Primm decides at the last second that she doesn't wanna go, and she knows I didn't want this one—" she gestured towards the girl in green. "—goin' by herself!"
A thoughtful expression crossed Isabelle's face while she tapped the glasses against her chin. "Well…I suppose that makes sense. Consider yourself lucky that our prescriptions are so similar."
Even from the back, Nana could clearly see the relief in Bernice's posture as she reached for the frames. "Gee, thanks—"
In a blur of motion, Isabelle's paw withdrew to hold the prized eyewear out of reach. "Ah-ah; not until you apologize to me!"
The hand reaching for the glasses immediately reversed course and smacked into her owner's forehead. Bernice looked to her companions; the girl in green impassively typed at her phone, and the Inkling simply shrugged and gestured to get on with it. A few seconds passed and she finally bowed her head, grumbling something under her breath.
Isabelle's ears twitched and her smile broadened, presenting the frames with a small flourish. "See? That wasn't so bad."
Further grumbles made Isabelle's eyebrows rise, though she said nothing further as Bernice snatched up the glasses and turned away to put them on. For several long moments, she stared blankly into space and slowly blinked. Finally, after a quick shake of the head, she looked between Nana and Leaf with a friendly smile.
"Well, in case you didn't overhear all that, the name's Bernice," she cheerfully said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the girl with the phone. "And that's my antisocial sister, Gretchen!"
An irritated sigh escaped Gretchen's mouth as she pocketed her phone and folded her arms. "Don't tell people I'm antisocial," she said in an airy, sophisticated-sounding voice. "I'm simply making sure that I continue to accrue bells in my absence—is that so wrong?"
Music emanated from Gretchen's pocket just before she'd finished speaking, prompting a frustrated snarl. In the blink of an eye, the gizmo was in hand and at her ear.
"Whaddya want, Cesar," Gretchen demanded, her harsh voice stripped of its previous accent. "Wait, stop—stop. Everyone on the list had bad prices!? No, I—shut it!" Leaping to her feet, she stormed towards the back of the bus, passing by the Inkling along the way. "You listen, and you listen good; If you don't find a way to unload those turnips and get any kind of return, I'm going to…"
A combination of distance and Gretchen lowering her voice cut the rest of her words to a general angry din. Bernice sighed and took the freshly vacated seat. "I don't even know why she keeps playing that dumb market," she muttered with a sigh. "Girl has more bells than all of us could spend combined."
"I dunno," the Inkling suddenly chirped, turning towards the group with a broad smile that bared her fangs. "I can spend a lot."
Wendy snorted and rolled her eyes. "If you want to try getting into her good graces, be my guest. I'll tell you right now though; she'll treat you like a servant."
The weird appendages that comprised the Inkling's hair twitched and her smile faltered. The bandit's mask-like marking over her eyes stretched slightly on one side as she arched one of her little eyebrows and stared towards the rear of the bus. "Don't think I can deal with that," she said with a firm, single shake of her head.
"Don't listen to her, Moni," Bernice scoffed, folding her arms. "Wendy's blowing things completely out of proportion." As Wendy opened her mouth to protest, Bernice turned to Leaf and Nana and continued in a louder voice. "Anyway, I don't remember you two from last year; you both newcomers?"
"I'm Leaf, and I sure am," Leaf said, sticking her hand out, which Bernice shook. "The invitation was extended to include me this time, so I'm looking forward to scoring some wins with my pokémon team!"
"Oh, that's right; I remember you out there on the second day." The villager's attention, as well as her outstretched hand, shifted to Nana. "And what about you?"
"Name's Nana, and this is my third tournament," Nana said, firmly grasping the offered appendage in a quick handshake. Upon release, she gestured to encompass the bus and its passengers. "It's my first time doing this, though; last time I was here, it was just four of us having tea parties in Peach's room and gossiping about the same things over and over."
From the moment Nana said her name, the shadow of an unreadable expression subtly settled over Bernice's features. Even with Nana's tacked-on halfhearted joke at the end, the villager's odd look never wavered. But before Nana could say anything, Moni stepped between them and pointed excitedly out the window.
"Look, look," the Inkling shouted, her hair tendrils spasming rapidly. "We're here!"
Grateful for a distraction, Nana turned her attention to the window and marveled at the sight that greeted her. True to the Inkling's words, the tree-lined road was now a street flanked by a seemingly endless variety of stalls and buildings. Shops and street vendors zoomed by, too fast for her to get a look at their wares, for several minutes while the bus wound its way through an urban maze. She frowned when, as the transport slowed to a stop outside of a lavish-looking restaurant, a crowd formed on the sidewalk—no doubt attracted by the sight of their official vehicle. None of the other passengers seemed to be reacting too much to the public, apart from a couple of polite waves here and there, so Nana just shouldered her bag and prepared to exit.
Time to get this started.
"There I go, prattling on again," Isabelle said, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, it's really great to meet you all!"
Blushing, the little secretary hopped down from the chair she stood upon and took her seat. Before awkward silence could descend upon the long table everyone sat at, Peach stood and began to clap. Nana and a handful of others joined in the polite smattering of applause, to which Isabelle raised her glass in the air. Ice cubes clinked and sloshed from the motion before she drained the glass in a single pull and immediately motioned their server over.
Nana was of two minds regarding their private room. On one hand, the seclusion was nice, but on the other hand, there was at least some entertainment to be gleaned from watching Security Miis come from out of nowhere to disperse the nosey mob that had surrounded their bus not long ago. The need for privacy won out, though Nana honestly hoped they could stroll through the Tourist District without a retinue of guards hovering around all the time.
"Alright girls, that concludes introductions," Peach said, gently tapping a glass with her fork. Dismissing her thoughts, Nana took a quick bite of her scrambled eggs and turned her attention to the princess. "So while we finish brunch, I thought I would go over our schedule for today and—"
Obnoxious throat-clearing from the other end of the table drew a sigh and an eye roll from Peach. Nana and everyone else—except for Samus—turned towards Bayonetta, who leaned back in her chair to prop her feet on the table.
Peach took a long, deep breath. "Yes, Bayonetta, what is it?"
The overly diplomatic tone brought a smirk to the Umbra Witch's lips. "I'm just surprised you're still making schedules for these little outings."
"It's crucial for coordinating group activities. Of course, if you wish to act independently from the rest of us…"
"Ho-hooo, no. No-no-no-no," Bayonetta drawled, laughing into the back of her hand. Said hand drifted towards a glass to her right, only to withdraw when Isabelle suddenly smacked it. They exchanged the briefest of narrow-eyed glares before Bayonetta turned back to Peach as though nothing happened. "I shan't pass up this opportunity for entertainment, after all."
All eyes—except for Samus's—turned back to Peach. The Princess's normally full lips were pressed into a thin line while she loudly tapped one finger on the tabletop. That tapping was the only sound that filled the room until she finally scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Then I'll go over the itinerary," she muttered wearily and started distributing sheets of paper.
With only two items on the list—three if one counted the get-together at Peach's castle afterward—there wasn't much to go over. The first activity, nebulously labeled as 'shopping', was to take place at the large shopping center within walking distance of the restaurant. Nana wasn't sure why several hours were devoted to this, as her outings to the department store usually took less than one, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Instead, she focused her attention on the 'spa visit' entry below, which had a detailed list of services and amenities. The boasted sauna, steam room, and hot tub facilities in particular caught her eye, reminding her of the bathhouse back in Murasat.
It wasn't long before everyone was back outside, striding towards the shopping center. Most of them, anyway; Nana lamely trudged along, simply trying to endure the oppressive heat. Above, the sun had nearly reached its zenith, and the cloudless sky granted it free reign to scorch anything caught out in the open. Unfortunately, the sun's position also meant she couldn't even put the taller women to use as a source of shade. She cast a furtive glance towards Rosalina and wondered if she could somehow maneuver herself to keep the much taller woman's open book over her head, but their wildly different gaits would make such a task extremely difficult, not to mention incredibly rude.
Within less than a minute out here, her skin was coated in a sheen of sweat, and no amount of lifting or tugging at the damp fabric of her shirt would get it to stop sticking to her.
Nana eventually gave up the endeavor. A heavy sigh—nearly imperceptible from the rest of her heat-induced mouth-breathing—escaped her as she assessed her companions. If they were uncomfortable, they didn't show it. Not even Isabelle seemed to be affected, and she was covered in fur! Taking in a deep breath, Nana willed herself into a straight-backed posture and quickened her stride to keep up with the rest of the group; the last thing she wanted was her struggle to provide ammunition for Bayonetta's sniping.
About halfway to the shopping center, it occurred to her that she could have used her ice powers to lessen the heat's effects, but she'd already committed herself to this arbitrary test anyway, so the thought was stubbornly shoved away.
"Are you alright, Nana?"
Shaking off her reverie, Nana quickly pasted on a smile and turned to Leaf, with whom she'd fallen into step. "Me? Oh, I'm fine." Leaf raised an eyebrow and Nana's posture deflated slightly. "Alright, so it's a little bit hotter than I'm used to."
Leaf pushed her hat up slightly to scratch her head. "Do other seasons just…not exist where you're from?"
"We have a warm season," Nana replied defensively, focusing on keeping her tone friendly despite the heat's persistent efforts to ruin her mood. At least there were only a couple more intersections to pass before they reached the enormous shopping center. "Enough to where we don't have to wear parkas outside all the time for a few months, anyway." She paused to wave her arm in an all-encompassing gesture. "It's nothing compared to this kiln we're walking through."
Face scrunched up in thought, Leaf laced her fingers behind her head and looked to the sky. "It's not that bad." After a few steps, she raised an eyebrow and cast a sidelong glance at Nana with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Must not be as tough as I've heard if you can't handle a little sun."
"Hey, I'm tough!" Grinning, Nana drew herself up to her full, unimpressive height and affected a macho swagger until Leaf cracked and burst into laughter. "Wait, who said I was tough," she asked once the pokémon trainer regained her composure.
"Well, you sure put the fear of Arceus into Red the first time you strolled up to his Charizard and grabbed it by the throat," Leaf said with an appreciative tone. "That's just something you don't do unless you have a death wish!"
The memory of that match brought a fond smile to Nana's lips. "That was such a long time ago… I'm surprised he remembered that!"
"He had a lot of stories when he came home."
While they chatted, Nana occasionally took note of their surroundings. Partly to make sure the group was still together, mostly to watch the other people. Much to her surprise, the other pedestrians on their sidewalk gave them a respectable berth as they passed by. Equally surprising was a complete lack of visible Security Miis present, but there wasn't much time to dwell on that, for they had finally arrived at their destination.
Nana couldn't get a sense of just how massive the gray and gold marble building—easily bigger than the Primary Arena—was until the group came to the corner just across from it, where the street had terminated in a T-intersection. With no other structures blocking her peripheral vision, she could see just how far the shopping center stretched in either direction. A short distance up the street was a long walkway, shaded by a peaked awning, which led towards the sets of double doors comprising the main entrance. Flanking the walkway were twin rectangular pools from which water spouted and sprayed in intricate displays.
Once it was safe enough, the group crossed over to the other sidewalk and made their way toward the entrance. The doors ahead opened and closed at regular intervals for the patrons that entered and left in a steady stream, allowing for bursts of unintelligible sound—and as they got closer, gusts of air escaping the building—to blow over them.
It wasn't too far a stretch for Nana to imagine herself striding towards some immense slumbering beast if she closed her eyes.
Gusts of frigid air blew down from ceiling vents the moment she'd crossed the threshold, a sudden reminder of just how much she'd been sweating into her shirt. Even with every muscle tensing from the shock, she couldn't stop herself from letting out an embarrassingly girlish shriek. Thankfully, the discomfort quickly gave way to relief, and with it, an invigoration that swept away the fatigue brought on by the outside conditions. She blinked a few times as her vision regained a sharpness that she didn't realize was missing and stared ahead, pointedly ignoring the looks her brief outburst drew.
With so much to take in, it was impossible to focus on one thing for more than a few seconds; there was always something hovering in the margins of her vision demanding attention. The five floors of individual shops on their own would have given her enough trouble focusing, but regular screams of excitement kept yanking her attention towards actual amusement park rides taking up the vast central area of the colossal interior.
"Um, Nana," a voice suddenly spoke from Nana's right. Already recognizing the tone, Nana turned towards Peach, who wore the pinched smile of masked impatience. "I understand this might all be new to you, but we do have a schedule to maintain, so…"
With a great deal of effort, Nana managed to affect a friendly expression as she nodded. "Sure, sorry about that," she said, joining the rest of the group a short distance ahead. Once everyone was together, Peach did a quick headcount before leading them all toward wherever she was planning to take them. Nana still insisted on rubber-necking as they walked, taking note of the network of bridges crossing overhead at various angles and marveling at the kiosks and shops they'd passed that offered tantalizing glimpses of their wares.
"It is an impressive building," Rosalina suddenly remarked. Nana craned her neck to look up, up, and up at the woman awkwardly shuffling (probably to match strides with everyone else) beside her, who closed her book and tucked it under one arm. "It's a bit excessive for my tastes, though," she added with a friendly smile and a twinkling unhidden blue eye.
"Well…" Nana started to reply defensively before hesitating; she felt no need to put up a front for Rosalina. A split second later, she shrugged and continued. "We definitely don't have anything like this back home." She gestured vaguely. "You could fit the land my village sits on inside this place! Where are we going in here, anyway?"
Resting her fingertips over her mouth, Rosalina let out a quiet laugh before tapping her chin in thought. "I believe we are going to one of the anchor stores." Nana must have looked confused because Rosalina quickly clarified. "It's sort of like the department store near our houses. Anyway, this particular store's specialty is fashion apparel."
"Useless clothing, you mean," Nana quipped with a wry twist of her lips.
This time, the tall woman threw her head back in uproarious laughter. "It has its uses," she replied after calming down. "Superfluous uses, such as displaying status or attracting a mate, but uses nonetheless."
Nana snorted derisively, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Instead, she looked out across the amusement park area the group was now skirting. She made a note to come back here another time with—
Oh, that looks interesting…
On the opposite side of the vast grounds was a tall, vertical section of white wall that rose from floor to ceiling. Dotting its surface were countless little blue protrusions that people were using as handholds to, with the aid of strange-looking harnesses, scale it. On the upper floors, passersby regularly stopped to lean out over the railings so they could watch the participants. She bit back a laugh as some poor sap struggled to reach a spot just below the second-floor balcony, only to rappel back to the ground level in shame.
But as much as she could watch amateurs try to climb a simple wall all day, Nana instead shifted her attention towards the store looming ahead. The sign above the yawning, well-lit entrances—one on the ground floor and one on the second floor—proudly displayed 'Fine Label's' in fancy joined letters of silver and purple. Further up, a suddenly-animated Gretchen launched into a deluge of information about the place to Moni. The poor Inkling, to her credit, endured the other girl's patter, but the way she constantly fiddled with her pointy headphones betrayed her true feelings.
Nana hoped she could do a better job of masking her own boredom as they entered the lavish store.
All things considered, this wasn't so bad.
Once she got past the mannequins dressed in fancy, highfalutin fashion, Nana was pleased to discover a surprising variety of clothing styles to browse. She meandered throughout the maze of racks and displays without much thought, except for how little this activity promoted socialization. Everyone had scattered like snowflakes in a windstorm once they'd crossed the threshold. Peach, for all her behavior just minutes earlier, made no effort to round everyone back up.
Her fingers were brushing over a woolen sweater as she looked up to survey the other patrons. People were surprisingly pretty good about giving her fellow Smashers space, although she noticed many instances of phones snapping photos. She couldn't do anything about that, though, as taking pictures wasn't against the rules as long as one didn't actively bother a Smasher to do so. While most of her party was ignored in favor of its more striking members, that didn't stop Nana from occasionally checking to make sure those devices weren't trained on her.
Not that she had anything to worry about; her outfit was about as far removed from anything a fan could recognize her in as she could get.
Having explored most of this floor, Nana hopped onto the escalator for the next level. Far fewer customers were milling about here, allowing her to relax more as she moved among racks of sporty-looking clothing. At least these seemed better suited to her style. Unfortunately, she could already buy stuff like this at the Residential District store, so her interest was rapidly depleting.
What was the point of all this, anyway?
Aimless wandering eventually brought her to a section devoted to women's swimwear. The variety of styles on display was certainly tempting. But she was already in possession of a perfectly functional, if admittedly boring, one-piece from the department store. She'd just started to walk away when sudden thoughts of Popo gave her pause.
Her face burned at the thought of their last visit to the district pool. The number of times she'd spied him not staring at her legs could have been counted on a woodworker's hand, and she'd be lying if she said she discouraged his behavior. At home, she'd often lounge around in little more than a long T-shirt and test his ability to maintain eye contact during conversations. He'd certainly gotten better at it since their first day here, but he wasn't made of stone; those deep blues of his kept drifting southward no matter how hard he tried!
Unfortunately, her wardrobe changes weren't reciprocated. For whatever reason, Popo wouldn't follow suit with the other guys at the pool and go shirtless! No matter how she commented on the heat, nor how deliberately she applied sunscreen to herself (not that that had anything to do with the problem), he didn't seem to get the hint. Seeing more of him without needing to patch him up shouldn't be too much to ask for, should it?
Perhaps, Nana pondered, if she wore something a little more daring, Popo might feel compelled to match her. As casually as she could appear, she glanced to the left, then to the right, and then quickly looked over both shoulders before stepping forward to browse through the displays.
She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for. But even a few minutes of rejecting swimsuits allowed her to at least build up a list of designs she wouldn't mind being seen in, bolstering her resolve to find the perfect attire. Unfortunately, with such a large selection of swimsuits left to sift through, Nana had no idea how long this could take. Quietly grumbling under her breath, she quickly set about consolidating the rejected garments onto one rack.
A shadow loomed from behind her just as she was transferring a hanger holding what looked like just strings and a price tag to the rejects rack. Just as Nana began to turn around, the hanger was snatched from her hand.
"Someone's feeling bold today," Bayonetta crowed, appraising the skimpy thing with raised eyebrows. The Umbra Witch's glasses, catching the light, flashed white for a brief instant as she turned to level her sharp gaze at Nana. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Nana clenched her jaw and slowly folded her arms across her chest. The much taller woman, when no verbal riposte came, turned her attention towards a nearby full-length mirror and held the hanger up to her front. "Hmm, not bad. But as much as I just love being the center of attention," Bayonetta continued. "Even I find this to be a bit much."
Staving off the horrifying image of Bayonetta sashaying around in something like that was no easy task. Grimacing, Nana squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head until the vile thought was fully exorcised from her mind. Sadly, this did very little for the smirking real Bayonetta that stood before her when she opened her eyes, but one problem at a time.
"Why are you doing this?"
If Bayonetta noticed the weariness in Nana's question, she didn't show it. Instead, she hung the offending swimwear on a rack and quickly moved beside Nana to drape an arm over her shoulders. "You do know who I am, right?"
With an annoyed grunt and roll of her eyes, Nana shrugged off the other woman's appendage. "Yes, I know, we all just introduced ourselves—"
"Yes, yes," Bayonetta cut in, shaking her head. "But there's so much more to me than just my name. Why, I hardly had any time to go into my multiple tournament victories!"
"You mentioned them four times."
"And I won five of them," the Umbra Witch sneered, suddenly looming in front of Nana. "As to why I'm doing this, is there something so wrong with making friends during an outing?" Before Nana could reply, Bayonetta bent forward at the waist until their noses were nearly touching. "After all, even sharks need a chum now and then."
Lacking a clever retort, Nana simply glared back. Beneath the defiant mask, however, was a rapidly growing sense of discomfort. She knew full well that it was probably the closeness of their noses, but at this point, she had no choice but to stay still and hope that Bayonetta would get bored and simply leave. If she so much as leaned back, she would surely never hear the end of it. She had to stand her ground. Within the confines of her folded arms, frigid sensations begging for release welled up beneath the surface of her palms. Slowly, carefully, she folded her hands into fists and took even breaths to will her powers under control. A fight right here, while not wholly unwelcome to her, certainly wouldn't do her any favors if Peach had to pick her up from Security Mii custody.
At least Peach's boring tea parties were civil.
"What in Hades is going on up here?"
Engrossed in the staring contest, Nana could only dimly register the voice as Palutena's. Fortunately, Bayonetta broke the stalemate when she turned away to watch the green-haired goddess step off of the escalator and advance towards them with parade-precise footfalls.
"Hmm, deus ex machina," she muttered quietly. Smirking, her eyes flicked back to Nana. "Lucky devil." Straightening back up to her full height, she continued in a louder voice. "Oh, nothing… Just giving some fashion advice to our lost little friend here."
Despite the simple knee-length blue sundress, Palutena exuded a powerful aura of dignity. That aura instantly dissolved when she stuck out her tongue.
"Yes, I'm sure you deliver all of your sage consultations while invading your client's personal space," Palutena said with a playful smile. "You know, I've always considered myself rather fashionable." She rounded on Nana with a conspiratory grin. "Perhaps if you tell me what Bayo here told you, I can help coordinate—"
Bayonetta suddenly clasped her hands together with a loud, single clap. "You know what," she asked, sucking in a hissed breath through her teeth. "I need to talk to Peach; I don't think her little fashion show is accounting for all of these extra newbies."
Without waiting for a response, Bayonetta strode away without another glance. Nana waited until the witch was fully out of sight before she relaxed and let her arms fall to her sides.
"Thanks for stepping in," she said after composing herself. "Does she always do this?"
Palutena let out a quiet laugh. "Well, yes, but only because you're new to her. She should ease up after today."
With a frustrated groan, Nana rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "After today—I seriously have to put up with this all day?"
"Only when she's not bugging Leaf, Isabelle, or Moni."
She dropped her hands and tilted her head back until she stared at the ceiling. "Fantastic. I thought Wendy was kidding."
Palutena laughed again and gently patted Nana's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. She shouldn't bother them as long as they stay with the rest of the group. And since she won't bother you with me around, why don't we try to solve your little swimsuit problem?"
Finger raised, Nana opened her mouth to deny why she was standing amongst all these swimsuits in the first place. But one look at Palutena's arched eyebrow and knowing smile was all it took to kill the words on her tongue. With a sigh, Nana shrugged and slumped her shoulders. "Sure, why not? I'll take whatever help I can get at this point."
"Wonderful!" Palutena clapped her hands twice and stepped past Nana to leaf through the racks. "So what exactly are you looking for?"
"That's the problem," Nana groused. "All I have to go on is this vague idea of something more exciting than my old one, but not too exciting."
"Yep, that's…definitely vague," Palutena replied, cradling her chin. "Let's try another approach—why do you want a 'more exciting' swimsuit in the first place? As I recall, the old one seemed to do a fine enough job getting a certain someone's attention."
Heat rose to Nana's face as quickly as the goddess's lips curled into a Cheshire grin. Before she could reign in her emotions, Nana's eyes narrowed, and Palutena quickly pressed her fingertips to her mouth to stifle oncoming laughter. "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled lamely, puffing out one cheek to affect a pout. Snorts began to escape the other woman now, and Nana quickly folded her arms and averted her gaze. Several long, annoying seconds dragged by as Palutena kept moving into Nana's constantly changing view until she finally deflated with a defeated sigh.
"Maybe I want more of that attention," she finally admitted in a soft voice.
"A-ha!" Palutena clapped once and held her palms together, and her expression shifted from open amusement to a dignified, regal smile almost as fast as a Mii could change their face. "Even that basic criterion will assist me in completing our objective." Nana flinched when the goddess suddenly affixed a critical eye upon her.
"Hmm…exciting, but not too exciting, and trying to get more attention from the blue boy," Palutena quietly murmured as she waded into the maze of clothing racks. With a face hot enough to shape steel on, Nana kept her eyes on the floor and gamely trailed behind.
A surprisingly painless hour or so slipped by (Nana silently admitted it would have taken much longer without Palutena's guidance) and it felt like they were finally closing in on their goal. Infectious anticipation emanated from Palutena as she stared at one of the few remaining racks. Humming in thought, she reached forward and slid two hangers from side to side for a long minute before she nodded and held her prize aloft.
"Alright," she exclaimed, excitedly waving a black two-piece in the air. The volume of Palutena's voice drew some looks from nearby patrons; Nana cringed and raised a hand to the side of her face to avoid eye contact. "Two-piece swimsuit, still somehow modest, dark material to contrast your skin, and designed to keep a certain someone from getting bored looking at it!" She giggled when Nana, furiously making shushing gestures and noises, surged forward and snatched the hanger from her hand.
"Not so loud," Nana hissed. "Sorry," she quickly added with a grimace. Palutena simply smiled and waved dismissively before turning towards the previous clothing rack. With some of her guilt assuaged, Nana focused on examining her prize.
A glance at the attached tag revealed the words 'Boat-Gal Fleet Fashions', along with the price. The other side of the tag featured a girl with her gray (or maybe it was silver?) hair done up in a side ponytail, modeling a teal version of the swimsuit. Nana really hoped the girl's grumpy face wasn't a factor in Palutena's selection process. But the picture was at least helpful, giving Nana an idea of what the garment would look like on her.
Once she found a full-length mirror, Nana held the hanger to her front and assessed her reflection. Sudden thoughts of parading around in front of Popo in this thing filled her head, providing ample fuel for the fluttering in her stomach. His bugged-out blue eyes would peer searchingly at her while she sunned herself on the sand, or he'll be so distracted that he'll walk into easily-avoidable obstacles if she so much as walked just slightly ahead of him...
A hand suddenly patted Nana's shoulder, jolting her out of her reverie. Shaking her head, she blinked at the reflection of Palutena standing behind her, an all-too-familiar smile gracing her features. Following the goddess's green gaze, Nana quickly realized she had a big goofy grin on her face and bit her lip to get it under control.
"So whatcha think," Palutena casually asked, buffing her nails on the front of her dress. "Are you going to buy it?"
After a long moment of staring at the floor, Nana rounded on Palutena with a confident smile. "Yeah, I will. Thanks for all your help!"
"Oh, it was nothing," The goddess playfully demurred with a limp-wristed wave. Almost imperceptibly, her teasing smile turned prideful. "You'll be a hit at the fashion show wearing that, so you can thank me then!"
The confidence immediately transformed into confusion. "The what, now?"
"You didn't hear what Bayo said about Peach's fashion show?" Palutena pointed towards the changing rooms, in a far corner of the floor. Nana peered in that direction and frowned at the Smashers milling around there, many of them holding armloads of clothes.
Nana's brows furrowed as her gaze snapped back to Palutena. "I try not to listen to her. What the hell is a 'fashion show'?"
"Oh, it's simple," Palutena halfheartedly rolled her eyes, gently turning Nana to guide her towards the rest of the Smashers. "We just take turns showing off our outfits to everyone else! Sometimes people put together multiple ensembles, though. It may take a while to get to everyone."
Clenching her jaw, Nana bit back her sudden litany of opinions and shuffled alongside Palutena with grim resignation.