The Horrors of Shopping

It was rather surprising. After all this time, Kurapika still was closed off to all the others. Well everyone except one particular stubborn girl. It may have taken awhile, but she had eventually broken down at least one of his many barriers, as he found he was slowly getting more comfortable around the spoiled fortune teller. Though it didn't seem like it, Neon had definitely been working on making him relax more, to loosen up, and it eventually began to bear fruit.

At the current moment, they were on their way to the mall, with Neon having convinced the blonde bodyguard to let her go. At first, she didn't want the entire escort, and he refused to let her go out without one. But at some point they settled with a compromise: She would be allowed to go out as long as she picked at least one of her guards to be with her at all times, with the rest setting up a perimeter to watch from a distance. Otherwise, he would choose, and all of them would accompany the Nostrade heir. However, before he could change his mind, the young Nostrade agreed to his terms, as long as she had the option of switching the guards if she ever got bored. With the terms settled, it ended up being Kurapika she had chosen to escort her.

So, with the two of them in the back seat of the car, they arrive at the mall, where he steps out first and helps Neon out. Together they enter, or rather Neon immediately heads inside and Kurapika follows, and the first thing she did was close in on a shop, with her guard close behind. As they progress through the store, with Neon going through racks upon racks of clothing, Kurapika ended up with an ever-growing pile of clothes stacked in his arms.

"Kurapika! Look at this!"

"Kurapika, do you think this would look good on me?"

"Oooooh, what about this one? It's cute, right?! Or maybe this one?"

With every article of clothing, ranging from a cocktail dresses to elegant gowns, from casual to formal wear, Neon always held up the article to her body, and asked Kurapika for input.

"What is it Neon-sama?"

"Ah…Of course. It would look great on you."

"Um, sure…It's cute. But I think the other one is better…"

Most of the time, she took to his praise and threw the garment on him somewhere, though there were the occasional few that she gathered anyway even if his opinion on them were that it didn't suit her. Those usually ended up thrown at his head.

The irony is, every one of her guards dreaded the idea of shopping with Neon, complaining about the sheer amount of clothing she bought with each session. Even Kurapika had managed to weasel his way out of accompanying her on occasion simply to avoid the fate of carrying all her things. And yet as of late, with his newfound comfort around the girl, he simply put up with it.

That didn't stop his arms from growing tired, having to hold the weight of her purchases though. It only grew worse as they stopped by the changing rooms, and Neon would only take in one article of clothing at a time.

One by one, she would come out a display each purchase, again asking for an opinion for each one.

"What do you think, Kurapika? Isn't it great?"

"Come on, Kurapika admit it! This is gorgeous on me!"

"I looooove this one, don't you Kurapika?"

Of course, every single time, he gave her an opinion, even though he was way out of his element.

"Of course, Neon-sama."

"I, um… I mean…Neon-sama it's a bit-"

"Ah, I guess so."

And just as she finished trying on her clothes, and he thought it was the end of it, she hooks an arm around his full one and drags him back through the store.

"We're not done yet! I was thinking about getting you something!"

Groaning inwardly, he says nothing, only letting his charge drag him around without complaint. He didn't have it in him, not when she seemed so genuinely happy about it. Thinking about it, it rather shocked him she would even consider getting him something. And yet…He had a feeling it would only be something that was entertaining to her.

His suspicions were confirmed when she started picking out dresses, holding them up to his frame to decide which would fit better.

"Okay Kurapika, pink or blue?"

"Ah, Neon-sama…You don't have to get me anything, really."

"But I want to! Now answer the question!"

Closing his eyes for a moment to calm down, he took a deep breath and reopened them. Left with no choice, he picked the color that hopefully would embarrass him the least. "Blue, Neon-sama…"

Her lip out in a pout, she held up both rather shiny dresses, only to put the pink one back on the rack. "Fiiiiine….though I thought the pink one would have been cuter!"

Sighing, the head guard simply agreed with her, having the dress thrown on top of everything else and following the ever excited teen to the register. Paying for the mass purchases, Kurapika is forced to carry all of the shopping bags, though still doesn't mind. Sure, he was going to be humiliated later, but the fact of the matter was that she did somewhat keep him in mind, and instead of getting everything for herself, she did buy one thing for him. That was one huge step for someone as self-centered as Neon.

However, it wasn't until they were back in the car and on the way back to the Nostrade mansion that he learned just how bad she had it in for him.

"By the way Kurapika, when we get back I want you to try on that dress!"

"E-eh..? Wait, Neon-sama, I'm sure it fits just fine-"

"Now now Kurapika! We have to make absolutely sure it fits!"

"But Neon-sama-"

"Oh stop that! Be grateful I didn't make you change while in the store! Besides, I think you'll look adorable since you already look so girly!"

That shut him up, and had him grumbling to himself while looking out the window.

"Oh! And Kurapika?"

With a short "Hm?" in response to her question, he was suddenly tackle hugged by the fortune teller. "Thanks for shopping with me! I can't wait to dress you up!" She began to giggle, and it would have become pure laughter if she had known just how much that statement had him flustered.